When Brands Try To Be Cool
Recently, RadioShack announced that it’s changing its name. Or, more precisely, it wants you to use its nickname. In what’s billed as an informal move, the retailer has launched a campaign inviting us to call it “The Shack.” I can understand wanting to lose the dated “Radio,” which connotes a bygone technology era. And, the chain […]
Read MoreCola Rivals Engage…With Each Other
It took me a while to get the Coke-Pepsi social media handshake thing. I’m referring to that moment of Twitter diplomacy a couple of weeks ago. The brand rivals agreed to make nice and follow one another, through a notably civil but tepid public exchange of updates. The detente was a response to a challenge by Australian marketing firm […]
Read MoreCitizen Advertising, 2.0
My Twitter account was recently suspended. It was an accidental move apparently caused by an attempt to control spam, and it was rectified within 24 hours or so. But for a short time, I was one of hundreds of legitimate users left out in the cold, vainly posting messages asking assistance. As one fellow complainer posted to the […]
Read MoreInvesting In The Recovery: Why PR?
Although the economic recovery is still far from certain, some in our business are preparing for it in plans for new new hiring, deal-making and restructuring, as reported in today’s New York Times. This is smart thinking, and it gives me hope that the outdated “conventional wisdom” of cutting discretionary marketing spending during a recession has […]
Read MoreHas Twitter Jumped The Shark?
It’s a running joke among people in communications that, today, everyone’s a social media expert. Those who aren’t experts are usually self-proclaimed evangelists, mavens, gurus, specialists, advocates, or at the very least, enthusiasts. It’s striking, isn’t it, how quickly so many have become so adept at using new networks, platforms, strategies, and tools? My point […]
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