What Show Business’ Most Recognizable Names Can Teach Us About PR and Branding

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Jay-Z. Lady Gaga. Kim Kardashian. Whether these names make you giddy or gag, there’s one thing for sure – you know exactly who they are. With longstanding stints in the public eye, these celebrities have establishing a recognizable, trademark presence and personal brand down to a science. Even if you’re not looking to make yourself the next rap-repreneuer, eccentric musical goddess or love-to-hate pop culture fixture, this group delivers some great takeaways that can inform developing and innovating branding and messaging in just about any industry.

Jay-Z

Jay said it himself: “I’m not a businessman; I’m a business, man.” This guy has his hand in more projects than most people manage in a lifetime – besides his obvious source of primary income as a rapper, he owns record labels, liquor brands, nightclubs and more. The backbone of his brand is elevating himself as a high-class jack of all trades, but with a twist – it’s not his businesses that make him, but the other way around.

What he can teach you: Build yourself or your brand up to be the authority, the reigning expert. Identify areas where you can position yourself as a thought leader, early adopter or innovator and capitalize on them. If you’re like Jay and can truly master a number of empires, by all means, do it and do it proud. However, it’s far better to be absolutely stellar at one thing than to be just ok at many – that will build a reputable, strong presence within your industry or with your customers.

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is a chameleon when it comes to her style du jour – who could forget her infamous meat dress? – but her brand has been consistent from the start. She lives the old Oscar Wilde adage, “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Gaga uses her quirkiness and willingness to dance to the beat of a slightly different drummer to stay on people’s radars, as well as her passionate devotion to human rights causes.

What she can teach you: I’m in no way suggesting a lawyer or C-level executive must oversee meetings in a bedazzled egg capsule to maintain industry relevancy and garner attention. But, it is important to build your own brand of weird – it may not even be weird in the literal sense, but just how you set yourself apart from your competitors. Why are you different than them? It also never hurts to attach yourself to a cause, whether it’s fighting for better content marketing or making sure your organization spends time giving back. Just one thing – if it’s the latter, please be genuine. There’s nothing worse than using a philanthropic cause just to look good.

Kim Kardashian

Ms. Kardashian cultivates a wide-eyed, vapid persona that makes her seem… well, dumb. But you know what? I’d bet you the whole Kardashian-Jenner and West fortune she’s not.  Think back a decade. No one knew who Kim Kardashian was. And although she may not have burst onto the scene in the most flattering light, she definitely rose above it and has built herself an empire. Sure, she’s famous for simply being famous, but she’s effectively leveraged that to build businesses and amass a fortune that is nothing to sneeze at.

What she can teach you: You can make a comeback. People make mistakes, and these people run companies and develop brands. Maybe a new logo didn’t sit well with diehard fans or a social media manager made a snafu on Twitter. Acknowledge your error, listen to your audience and put a plan in motion to make it right. It always helps if you can laugh at yourself a bit, too – the humanity will be appreciated. Plus, if you’re on the radar for doing something not-so-great, a well-executed new strategy will be even sweeter once carried out.

What other celebrities do you think have PR and branding down? Let us know at @wrightoncomm.

San Diegans Oppose City Funding New Chargers Stadium

San Diegans Oppose Building New Chargers Stadium

63 percent of San Diego County residents oppose the City of San Diego funding a new Chargers stadium

SAN DIEGO, August 26, 2014 – A study conducted by (W)right On Communications found that 63 percent of County residents would oppose the City of San Diego funding construction of a new stadium for the Chargers. Of those who oppose, 67 percent said that they do not support public funding of a new stadium even if that means the Chargers would move to Los Angeles. The results were nearly the same at the City level: 59 percent of City of San Diego residents opposing, and of those, 63 percent said they would not support it even if it means the Chargers would leave town.

“Because many in the community have advocated to replace the aging stadium, we were surprised to see that a majority of San Diego county residents opposed making such an investment,” said Hamish Marshall, Director, Research & Analytics at (W)right On Communications. “This is critical because should the mayor propose a new stadium plan, San Diego voters will ultimately have final say on whether public funds can be used for it.”

Last season, only 513,641 fans visited Qualcomm Stadium to see the San Diego Chargers play, which ranks them 22 out of 32 NFL teams for game-day attendance. Formerly known as San Diego Stadium and San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, the Chargers played their first game at the multi-purpose facility in August 1967. It is the fifth oldest stadium in the National Football League. In 2003, San Diego hosted Super Bowl XXXVII, and although the event was a success, then-Commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced that it would be San Diego’s last Super Bowl until it builds a replacement for Qualcomm.

The survey was produced by recently launched (W)right On Communications’ analytics division, WOC Intelligence, a data-driven decision-making initiative that strategically helps reveal the heart of key issues through expert survey development, implementation and analysis.

An online survey questioned 375 San Diego County residents between July 21 and July 24, 2014. Results weighted by age, gender, income and County region, with the margin of survey error being +/- 5.1%, 19 times out of 20.

(W)right On Communications Launches WOC Intelligence

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New survey reveals San Diego County residents strongly favor SeaWorld fireworks

SAN DIEGO, August 21, 2014 – To gauge stakeholders’ opinions – from hyperlocal through national markets – and leverage those detailed insights for data-driven decision making, San Diego public relations firm (W)right On Communications has created WOC Intelligence.

(W)right On’s new research capability is one of the first of its kind among San Diego-based PR agencies. WOC Intelligence is a market and public opinion research service that strategically helps reveal the heart of key issues through expert survey development and skilled analysis.

“It’s part of our core values to work with client partners to develop intentional and strategic campaigns that produce exceptional results,” said Grant Wright, CEO and managing partner of (W)right On Communications. “Since intelligence gathering has long been a critical part of how we develop strategic communications plans, WOC Intelligence continues (W)right On’s investment in the right tools to ensure our strategies are informed by the best information available.”

Based from (W)right On’s Vancouver, BC, office, Director of Research and Analytics Hamish Marshall is at the helm of WOC Intelligence. A former advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada, provincial premiers, city mayors and dozens of elected officials, Marshall has strong experience throughout the USA, Canada and UK in all data collection methods to provide critical insights for strategic planning, marketing and other organizational activities.

WOC Intelligence conducted a recent survey of San Diego County residents on a variety of topics coinciding with the agency’s key practice areas in hospitality and tourism, energy and water usage, and health care. Among the results, WOC Intelligence found that the majority of San Diegans think SeaWorld should continue its fireworks. 74 percent of San Diego County residents are in favor of keeping the SeaWorld fireworks. 15 percent are either moderately or strongly opposed and 11 percent said they weren’t sure. The results did not vary between City of San Diego and South or North County residents, nor 18 to 34 year olds versus other age groups.

An online survey questioned 375 San Diego County residents between July 21 and July 24, 2014. Results weighted by age, gender, income and County region, with the margin of survey error being +/- 5.1%, 19 times out of 20.

The Next Big Social Media Platform

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In a recent discussion about opportunities to engage a lackadaisical customer base, a client asked, “What are the kids using these days?” Regarding social media, it’s something we hear often.

Sometimes the question is “what’s the next Facebook,” or, “are people still getting information from (insert name of platform),” but at the heart of the query is an understanding that social media is powerful and the landscape is ever-changing. It’s not 2007; businesses have caught on and understand that information isn’t consumed as it traditionally was. Chat up your friends around the water cooler and it’s likely that they’ll cite an article, meme or trend that they discovered through a “new media” channel (social networks, blogs, vlogs, etc.).

So, the question remains: what’s the next big social media platform?

To understand the next standout social media platform is to first understand basic principles of how people communicate. Second, it’s to understand the latest ways the Internet is being used.

Humans are thoughtful, emotional and social creatures. We express thoughts and feelings through speaking, touching and body gestures. When we do this with other humans, we call it socializing. While socializing, we anticipate cues to help us gauge impact, interest and agreement that will influence how/ what we communicate going forward. We prefer to socialize with others who have similar view points, or at least similar approaches to communication, although diversity keeps things interesting. We communicate to achieve outcomes, express ourselves or even just pass the time. This is human communication in a nutshell.

Figuring out how the Internet is being used is much more difficult, but to simplify, we can split the answer into two components: occupying through content and fulfilling a need. The guy who’s leaving YouTube comments that have nothing to do with the video is occupying himself by producing content. There’s no goal he’s trying to accomplish through his actions, nor is his commentary part of a larger plan. He’s commenting because it’s easy and he is entertained by others’ responses. The key here is it’s easy.

Fulfilling a need is simpler to understand. Two examples of innovative Internet applications that address needs are WebMD self-diagnoses and EBay’s new Group Gift, which allows a group of people to pitch in on a present. For businesses, it’s important to understand how customers are fulfilling their needs on the Internet. That serves as a foundation to determine what social channels to focus efforts on and what approach should guide their overall social media strategy.

In our experience, there are steadfast social media criteria to help determine what the next big social media platform will be:

  • Appeal – If the platform is too niche, it won’t get mass appeal (although hyper-targeted platforms can be incredibly effective for certain brands, but that’s for another blog)
  • Solving a new need – Providing a solution to something people didn’t realize was a problem
  • New way of solving an old need – Solving a problem better than a previous solution
  • Scalability – Ease by which new users join and connect, and degree to which connecting and growing circles improves the experience
  • Simplicity – For something to catch on, it has to be easy for the general public to do because if it can’t be figured out by a quick trial, people will move on

Based on these criteria and my diligent research, I present to you the three apps most likely to be the next big thing:

  • Circle – A mobile app that shows you what’s happening nearby right now and adapts to your location to provide useful information anywhere you go. Sound familiar? Ashton Kutcher is a key investor in the Palo Alto-based venture. The app has amassed a user base of 12 million spread across more than 1,700 U.S. cities. The app claims a million users join every month. Uniquely, Circle doesn’t try to make you build a new network for the app, but instead uses the contacts already in your phone. Sharing your plans with friends is incentivized by earning points which can be redeemed for real life value, such as an Amazon gift card or a weekend in Las Vegas.
  • Nextt –  Ever scroll your Facebook feed and think, “Who cares?” That’s because what’s shared on Facebook, and many other sites, are happenings of the past. Nextt focuses on the future and, more specifically, your circle of friends’ future. Nextt solves the main problem of online social networks, which is preventing you from interacting with friends offline. You know, like when you’re with friends at happy hour and everyone’s nose is in their phones. To solve this, Nextt gathers you and your friends in one convenient place to effortlessly organize and plan upcoming gatherings.

What’s Nextt for you? from Nextt on Vimeo.

  • Highlight –  This app is a location-based social network that makes local searches more social. Highlight draws data from friends and feeds you information about those around you. Whether someone is biking past your apartment or a pal just wrapped up at work, Highlight will tell you everything you could ever want to know about your friends. Sound a bit intrusive or creepy? Let’s be honest and agree the notion of privacy is much different than it was a decade ago, not to mention that it’s up to you what amount of data you allow the app to share with friends.

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow friends to share events of the past. Twitter and Foursquare allow communication surrounding the present. Nextt will usher in the new wave for social media: the future.

As a bonus, I came across some wacky and poorly thought out social media platforms and apps while researching this post. For your entertainment, here are the Bottom 3 newest social media apps. Enjoy!

  • Yo – This app asks you to build a circle of connections so that you can merely send people a “yo” message. That’s it. Seriously. Somehow, the app secured $1 million in initial seed funding, but considering it has no revenue stream and a use that’s more novel than captivating, Yo (in its current state) is heading for the app graveyard.
  • Yik Yak – An app that allows people to anonymously share messages with people in their area without actually knowing them. This article brilliantly quipped that Yik Yak “combines comment section trolls, schoolyard bullies, a person’s random thoughts and a whole lot of f*bombs” and questioned its usefulness after causing two false school evacuations in a week.
  • WhatsApplebee’s – Ever find yourself in an Applebee’s (drawn in by a “two for $20” combo, no doubt) and felt the urge to chat it up with fellow patrons without having to stop chewing the gummy sirloin you ordered? WhatsApplebee’s (not officially affiliated with Applebee’s) allows you to chat with other patrons, but it only works when you’re in an Applebee’s. “That’s awesome,” said no sane person ever.

Communication Changes, Constantly

At (W)right On, we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of good communication practices. Had the agency been around in the 50’s – 90’s, things would have been easier – there was stability and relative predictability. There were also far fewer communication channels (e.g. in TV, radio and print), journalistic work wasn’t executed at such breakneck speed and attention spans were longer.

Times have changed, and “dramatically” would be an understatement. Hundreds of communication channels became thousands, then millions with the blog community; communication became instantaneous and instantaneously global; Gen Y (Millennials) entered the scene having only known life with a gadget in their hands; sound bites became character bites (no more than 140); recipients’ message absorption capacity decreased with a greater need for stimulation and interaction is increasingly digital instead of human-to-human. I could go on. Stating these facts is not meant necessarily as an indictment of them. To the contrary, there’s much good to be found in them – it’s simply recognizing that many aspects of communication have profoundly changed.

But through these decades, and for centuries prior, there remain constants in stories.

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Stories will never go out of style. We humans often have the most engaging conversations when a story is shared: Around the dinner table. When there’s actually news. Sharing wisdom with a child or friend. Motivating a group to action. For entertainment and relaxation.

The same rule applies to business communication, too. The art of and need for storytelling – beyond a status update or picture share – is ageless. Involve any element of intrigue, protagonists and antagonists, humor, conflict or any of the universal themes we gravitate toward and your message will get across.

While distribution channels and methodology will continue to evolve, telling stories is a stalwart in conveying messages. Well-told stories capture attention, elicit emotion, engage the audience, provide relevance and inspire to action. For organizations, stories can connect and emotionally invest people in their brand.

Storytelling – just one of many constants in the sea of communication change.  What’s your story?

5 Social Media Lessons from my Green Tea Party Protest

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Here’s what I learned trying to bring back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass after my favorite tea was discontinued.

I discovered Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass a few years ago and became hooked on its soothing, subtle flavor. All other green teas were too bitter or tasted like grass. Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass became a daily ritual for me.

But late last year, I had trouble finding my beloved product. In January, I discovered that Good Earth had overhauled its product line in a rebranding and my favorite flavor had been discontinued, tossed aside in the pursuit of the millennial market.

I did what any devoted customer in the 21st century would do: I complained to Good Earth on its Facebook page. The company responded, steering me to their new product, Citrus Kiss – part of a sassy new lineup that also included Tropical Rush, Sweet Chai of Mine, Wild Chaild, etc.

Yes, Citrus Kiss contained green tea as well as lemongrass, but it also contained stevia (a natural sweetener) which means it tasted nothing like Green Tea Lemongrass (GTL). Unacceptable! And a waste of my money!

I started a Facebook page called Bring Back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass. Other disgruntled fans of the former product found the page and ultimately it drew nearly 200 fans.

In the process, I learned five lessons about social media that I’ll share below. You’ll have to read to the end to find out whether I scored a victory or not:

1.       It’s not the size of the audience but the depth of their engagement that matters

The Good Earth page has over 64,000 “Likes.” My page has only 749. However, my protest page attracts more comments on its material with real conversations taking place between commentators than the brand’s page. The small number of people involved are very invested in the cause and know that they’re part of a community that cares just as deeply (and who would never steer them to a pre-sweetened alternative!). Bring back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass!

2.       You can’t buy engagement

Early in my protest, I would go to Good Earth’s Facebook page and comment using my page’s identity on the complaints of other ex-GTL customers. My message was always respectful. I just wanted to let the poor tea drinker know our page existed and that they could find others who shared their passion for the product there.

Then, suddenly, Good Earth’s social media folks banned my page from commenting on their page. That made me mad and I had to get even.

So I spent $30 or so to grow my page’s following quickly – targeting fans of Good Earth’s page specifically. The campaign added 100 followers in a flash. But those folks, like Good Earth’s thousands of followers, didn’t interact like the ones who engaged organically. So I didn’t continue it. Instead, I would occasionally post as myself on Good Earth’s page with a link to the Bring Back GE GTL page. That strategy was slower but far more effective. I would have done it more often but I’ve got other things to do besides fighting to bring back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass.

3.       The Facebook algorithm is a beast and must be fed continually or atrophy

Once I had more of an audience, I felt Good Earth would take the page more seriously. However, I noticed that if I got too busy to show my page some love for a few days, my next post would get fewer likes or comments. On the other hand, if I kept up my activity, I saw more interaction.

Another helpful activity was to continually like, comment on and tag commentators in replies (if their settings allowed it). This helped stimulate more engagement, which raised the visibility of the posts so that more people saw them. But it was also a strategy that recognized we are all human and social media must always be approached as a conversation and not just ad copy or canned responses.

4.       Social media is a conversation

That’s truly the only approach that works.

I shared my picture on the Bring Back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass Facebook page so people would know I am real and just like them. I made some really cool connections, too, which has become my favorite part of this experience.

Al and Sheila from New Jersey mailed me a few GE GTL Decaf teabags after they won an eBay auction of some of the discontinued stock. I loved Al’s note that came with the bags. I mailed one of those teabags back to Christina in Tulsa who had tipped me off to the eBay sale in the first place. There were so many others… Inna from San Clemente. Lisa. Chanan. Nigel.

One person credited GE GTL with getting him through MBA school. Another said it got her through chemo.

It’s also true to say that we were all having a conversation with Good Earth on its Facebook page, too—or at least trying to. But did we get anywhere?

5.       Social media is powerful

It worked. Sort of. At the end of April, Good Earth announced that they would be bringing back a limited supply of GE GTL. In late May, they began taking orders. They were sold out in five days. I got two of those cases, or 12 boxes of 20 teabags. My Facebook friend Paula also found me five boxes at a CVS in Escondido since I shared some of this information on my personal Facebook page, too. (Thank you, Paula!)

The question now is whether the new Good Earth products are generating the sales the company had hoped for when they ditched their loyal customers. If not, they should bring back the classics, Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass and its decaf cousin.

Our mighty little community demonstrated the marketplace demand, and, now, Good Earth has a national network of passionate product enthusiasts they can activate the minute they decide to do so.

So, Good Earth, what are you waiting for?

 

P.S. For those of you who care about the business side of this, Good Earth was started in Santa Cruz, Calif. in 1972. It was acquired by Tetley in 2005, a subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages.

In January 2011, Tata shut down production of Good Earth in Santa Cruz and moved all the ops to New Jersey. In 2013, it launched the rebranding and basically did away with the company’s heritage and its product lines.