Mickey being ruined, er, re-branded
November 6, 2009
Whaaaa????
Anyone else read the news that someone – apparently interns – convinced the House of Mouse that it would be a good idea to re-brand Mickey Mouse for a video game? Set in a “cartoon wasteland?”
As someone who works with brands on a daily basis, I certainly understand the need to keep images fresh, but doesn’t Disney already do that with of its Princesses and all those lovable Pixar characters?
To me, this has disaster written all over it – and Mickey looks creepy based on this first glance.
You??
You don’t know Jack!
November 5, 2009
EO’s most recent learning event featured sales guru Jack Daly.
Daly is a high energy guy who has a lot of great techniques and philosophies to share.
He says, “Selling is nothing more than getting people to make decisions in our favor. Selling is the transfer of trust. People tend to do business with people they like and with people that are like them. People tend to do business with people, not companies.”
As for goals: “Unwritten goals are nothing more than dreams. Things that get measured get done.”
Daly also pointed out that despite all of his proven techniques, very few of them are actually implemented by those who could benefit the most.
NAU PRSSA Celebrates 30 Years
November 4, 2009
The NAU PRSSA Chapter celebrated its 30th anniversary by inducting 23 new members. This brings the chapter’s membership to more than 30-strong.
Chapter President Meghan Almaas and her executive board held the induction event at NAU’s DuBois Center. As the chapter’s PRSA professional advisor, I was also invited to speak and participate in the ceremony.
Students always ask such good questions: “What do you think of the international PR opportunities?” and “Have you ever hired someone without a PR background?” are two that come to mind.
In short, my answers were, “there are tremendous international 
opportunities in PR and no, HMA Public Relations has not hired anyone without a PR background.”
It is always fun to be around such enthusiastic PR students. In fact, six of them are going to be attending the PRSA’s International Conference in San Diego, Nov. 7-10. I am hopeful their optimism and energy will rub off on some of the other attendees.
Arizona Broadcasters Association Inductions
November 2, 2009
The Arizona Broadcasters Association has inducted four new members.
They are Kent Dana, Dave Pratt, W. Steven Martin and Bud Foster.
Kent, who has spent more than 35 years in Phoenix television – most recently with KPHO-TV, said he was “currently between opportunities.”
Dave Pratt, who was introduced by Mark Curtis, was at the event with his wife, Paula, their four children and Paula’s parents. Dave has nearly 30 years on the air in Phoenix.
W. Steven Martin spent nearly 27 years at KNIX-FM and is also a member of the Radio Hall of Fame.
Bud Foster’s TV career has spanned more than 36 years in Arizona, most of it in Tucson. He is also a member of the NATAS Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter Silver Circle Society.
Also honored was Dr. W. Dale Hoskins, one of my professors at Northern Arizona University. Dale received the Jack Clifford Excellence in Broadcast Education Award. Dale has been at NAU since 1977 and has had a positive impact on the careers of scores of broadcast journalists now working throughout the country. He always talks about how proud he is of his former students. Now – Dale’s former students can be equally as proud of him!
Donny!
October 30, 2009
Alas, no follow from @donnyosmond
Well, my birthday wish/social media experiment did not net out all the results I was hoping for. My ultimate goal was to create enough buzz on Twitter that Donny would follow me back as a birthday gift.
Through a variety of different tweets, including photos and videos, many of you helped in the process. But alas, no follow. My guess, he really isn’t the one managing his Twitter account. And that to me is where the issue is with many of these celebrity accounts.
Those of us working in the social media space are regularly telling our clients that they must be transparent if they choose to use social media. Engage with your followers, it is a great way to add a personality to the brand. We all have stories where we received a reply from a brand that we had been tweeting about. I was hoping to add the Donny story to my anecdotes about the power of Twitter.
So would it have really hurt Donny to follow me and send a quick happy birthday reply? Of course not. I’m not expecting to chat with him on a daily basis but if you are going to be in the space than I have an expectation that you are going to participate in it as well.
And speaking of participating, a special shout-out to those of you who joined in the effort. I appreciate it and am happy to return the favor!
Sports Junkies Get Fix
October 29, 2009
This is the small window during the year when all four major sports are underway.
A sports fan’s clicker can get burned up quickly going between NBA, NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball World Series games.
Add to that: the high school football season is in full bloom, the Valley is currently hosting more than 100 teams from around the country who are participating in the Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series and countless soccer and other youth sports leagues underway.
You don’t need a ticket for everything. If you did, it would certainly be an “E-Ticket.”
They Like Me! They Really Like Me!
October 28, 2009
A few months back, I wrote a blog post about a letter I had received in the mail from the Screen Actors Guild regarding a commercial they were making using a photo of me from back in my high school days as a cheerleader. Well, after doing some digging, my friend Carla (who is also in this commercial) found it on YouTube. Good ol’ YouTube – you can find anything on there! Even T.G.I. Friday’s commercials.
Enjoy it here; I’m left of Kayla, who’s in the center of the big group of cheerleaders.
The “Anti” Campaign
October 27, 2009
Michael Jackson’s fans are nothing if not loyal – and fighting mad. So loyal (and mad), in fact, they are banding together in a media relations and viral campaign aimed at getting movie-goers NOT to see the film made from Jackson’s final rehearsal footage.
Their anti(promotional) video has gone viral, and it seems folks are starting to catch on. Top celebrity blogger PerezHilton and several others are already talking about it, leading “traditional media outlets” to begin reporting on it as well.
So, will this cleverly-named anti-PR campaign succeed? Is the messaging strong, factual? Do you feel a call to action? Will you see the film?
PRSA/PRSSA Shadow Day
October 26, 2009
On Friday we participated in the PRSA/PRSSA Shadow Day, in which an ASU PRSSA student had the opportunity to sit in on a day at the office of a PRSA counterpart. HMA was fortunate to be teamed with two students, Emily and Christine, and Alison’s PRSSA mentee, Britnee, joined us for the latter part of our day.
The girls arrived at 10 a.m. sharp with plenty of questions. They spent some time chatting with both Abbie and Alison about everything from the interview process to social media.
As Scott was out of town, Abbie, Alison and Beth headed to lunch at the Vig with Emily and Christine, and Britnee met us there, where we talked about our experiences at ASU, and the conversation turned back to social media.
Britnee and Emily both found all of the information about Twitter and Facebook as tactics rather than strategies very useful. “It makes sense that social media is one strategy and not to be used RATHER than, but in conjunction with, the other strategies of a campaign,” Britnee said when we grilled her about what she’d learned that day. “And as far as ROI, I loved learning about hashtags and applying social media measurement as it grows.”
They also learned about how all marketing communications can work together toward a goal. For Christine, it was her first taste of life at an agency, and she was ready for more! “Having yet to intern or experience life in a public relations agency, it was fascinating to see just how much multi-tasking goes into every day,” she said at lunch. “Going from writing an article to pitching a story to creating online content to staffing a photo shoot – life at an agency seems anything but boring, and something I am ready to try.”
We think these girls are ahead of the curve – they’ve joined PRSSA and are taking full advantage of it, have had several interesting internships and are just about done at ASU. They’ve also, as Abbie pointed out, begun their due diligence in PR – stuffing envelopes (something they helped with at our office).
Look for big things from these girls!
Subway Kids & Sports Grant Applications Due Next Week
October 21, 2009
Are you a member of or do you support a great children’s organization?
Then Subway Kids & Sports of Arizona wants to hear from you! The organization is now accepting grant applications from non-profit organizations across the state. Proposals must illustrate how your organization’s needs directly relate to the mission of Subway Kids & Sports of Arizona. To obtain the application and criteria, please click here. To be considered, organizations must submit 10 copies of the application, along with any accompanying materials, by 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009.
Grant recipients will be announced at the 10th Annual Subway Kids & Sports Golf Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. Recipients will also be posted to the website in December.
