Tag: public relations - Page 5

It's that time of year again where marketing managers are frantically working out how to best spend their marketing budget for 2015/16. There is a lot of fine tuning to be done given the changes in marketing technologies, applications and an ever changing consumer behavioural pattern.

Just 2 years ago, who would have thought Instagram would take over the world of social media? That LinkedIn would become the most power recruitment platform taking significant marketshare from Seek, Monster and Indeed? 

I must confess, I am a slow adopter of Instagram. It's not because I didn't believe that it is a good marketing medium or any less of a social media must-have than Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook - but due to the fact that there is only so many applications a person can learn well before you have a major overload and start becoming ineffective.

My business does a little B2C but to be totally honest, we are more B2B marketers than B2C.

Instagram has more than 75 million daily users, and accounts for more than 13% of all internet users. So, why did it take so long to adopt this powerful marketing medium? The truth is that many marketers are slow and lazy for that matter, and have not adopted this medium as fast as they should have and are now failing to provide clients with the right marketing mix to powerfully promote their products and services.

Let me preface this post by explaining that I’m Australian. Yet even though I’m Sydney born and bred, when it comes to business I gravitate towards American companies because I believe that Americans do it best.

By now, the majority of the Western world has seen that video of Anna Wintour being doused in a bucket of iced water. But this was not the handiwork of an anti-fur campaigner.  Wintour’s water attack is part of the viral campaign that netted a charity over $50 million.

While a sex tape is a good way to get media exposure for some; Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and alike - it's not the right way to get the type of media exposure to escalate your business's chance of being written about.

When I first started doing PR, I used to write a media release and fax it to a media outlet - all with varying results. The headline, like it is today, is worth it's weight in gold, and if you have a strong first paragraph, you may get that call back you have been waiting for.

That was soon followed up with 'pitching' on the telephone and depending on what mood the journalist was in or your ability to 'sell' a story to them, you either walked away with a published article or your press release was thrown in the trash can.

In 1998, the faxing part changed to emailing which was fantastic because it was a much faster and less tedious way of getting a media release out to journalists. It also was a much more environmentally friendly way to operate and allowed for changes to be made to ensure that each email sent out to a journalist was a one-to-one marketing piece rather than an everything to everyone, hit and miss style approach.

The Wolf of Wall Street was in many people's opinions a celebration of the bad life - drugs, sex, expensive toys, opulent homes and super expensive suits.

As we watched on as Leonardo DiCaprio spruiked, "The way I look at it, their money was better off in my pocket," many of us couldn't believe that world existed quite like that. But it does. And it's right here on our doorstep too.

"Same bed, but it feels a bit bigger now" is the lyrics in the famous Bruno Mars song "When I was your man". An apt description of Marketing Eye's business expansion into the US market. It's the same company, but it's a bit bigger now. 

What started out as a step to expand the international footprint of our brand, has taken on a whole new dimension. Australia and America have long been tied and now more so than ever. The ebbs of the economy has led to an opportunity for Australian companies that are geared for expansion to leverage the strength of the Australian dollar, and affordable set up costs in the US market without breaking the bank. The downside, is US dollars are not worth as much, as the dollar loses its grip on parity.

Historically, Australian companies that have expanded into the US have benefited immensely from foreign exchange rates. After the initial shock of start up costs, companies see the silver lining of building businesses in the US and bringing US dollars back to Australian shores.

This time last month US Airlines were left red-faced when an employee replied to a customer with a cryptic tweet, accompanied by an image of a woman and a very strategically placed toy aeroplane.  Understandably, this social media marketing blunder horrified the world and the image went viral.  In addition, the airline’s bizarre apology was retweeted over 12,000 times. 

The PR fallout from this ill-advised US Airlines post served as a reminder of the power of social media and how it can cause irrevocable damage to a company’s brand. 

Here are the six lessons to learn from this PR plane crash, and other social media disasters:

Why marketing automation is more than just a buzzword; it’s a way businesses can flirt with customers.

You walk in to your favourite restaurant and immediately, something beautiful captures your attention.  Summoning all of your courage, you walk over to that breathtaking prospect and begin your introduction.  I’ll stop you right there - I’m not talking about a man!  I’m describing a potential new client, and that instantaneous attraction of making a new connection.  Similar to dating, you must approach business like you would a potential mate. 

Yes, I’m encouraging you to flirt with your customers.

Landed in Atlanta, and within minutes and I am getting the run-down on what's going on in the office. Clients are happy, new brands are being launched, marketing campaigns executed, clients acquired in January have been on-boarded, moved to a new office within our building because of our continued fast growth and a new employee has started.

It's no secret that our Atlanta team is the highest performing marketing team I have ever worked with. As a team, they are game-changers. They see things that other's don't and communicate creatively and insightfully our clients brands in a way that resonates with their target market.

Winning is part of the culture. Each member doesn't know how to lose. They push each other to perform at a level that blows my mind and are forward thinkers. I never have to ask if something has been done - because it was finished yesterday.