By Katie Earley, Copywriter

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I read today on Mashable that Google Wave is dead. It seems like only yesterday people were begging for invites and getting all hyped up about this new gadget. I know we were excited. But personally, once I got an invite, did my happy dance, and began to explore, I was kind of lost. My friend and I tried to use it for a project we were working on, but in the end just relied on our Gmail and Gchat and phones.

On first reading the news today I was surprised, remembering how young the product still is and all the excitement around it, but it’s been so long since I’ve heard any mention of it that it’s not that shocking after all.

Did you Wave? Are you surprised or saddened by its end?

by Susan Gosselin,

Vest Director of PR

I don’t know Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Christian Publisher Thomas Nelson, but I love him anyway.  Why?  Because he publishes one of the most prescient, interesting blogs out there on social media, leadership and publishing.  I read his blog religiously, and I feel like I understand what he is trying to accomplish in life–and it is nothing short of rewriting the rules of management for the modern, plugged-in CEO.

He has a beautifully designed blog/website that discusses everything that’s on his mind professionally, and sometimes personally.  And it’s not just self-important product rants.  He’s showing us what he believes, his hopes for the future, his philosophy of management, and where he believes his company fits in in this crazy world.  It’s a vision that’s compelling, whether you are a fan of Christian books or not.

I love Michael’s blog because it makes him:

Accessible–to all his publics, inside and outside the company

Inspirational–because he always has something positive or futuristic to say

Real–because he’s not trying to puff himself up or create some kind of sales conversion

Transparent–because he makes his motives perfectly clear to everyone

Not every CEO has the personality to do what Michael Hyatt has done.  But I think there is a lesson for every CEO in his accomplishments.  The business world would be a much better place if more leaders adopted his philosophies.  Michael, as they used to say on “Hee Haw”— SAAAALUUUTE!

I found this article, and thought it would be a good follow up to my blog about World Cup marketing.  In this article, Barry Finkelstein (Vice President/Director of Public Relations of Erwin-Penland in Greenville, SC), talks about some valuable marketing lessons that we can learn from the World Cup.

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Like the Olympics, the World Cup is about bringing the World together to show national pride, athleticism and sportsmanship.  In my opinion as a soccer (football) fan, the World Cup is more intimate at bringing the world together because cheering on our home team is our common goal.  Trust me, that pun was intended.

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By Katie Earley, Copywriter

About a month ago I shared some of my favorite writing and editing blogs, so I thought it was time to share some of my favorite advertising and social media blogs.

Adrants – Snarky advertising commentary.

Chris Brogan – New marketing and social media information.

The Denver Egotist – Good ads. Good commentary. Often humorous.

AdFreak – A great way to keep up with new commercials, especially during the summer television off season.

MediaBadger – Cool name and useful social media information. Lots of facts and data.

Brand New – Where you can see company branding materials go from bad to worse (or bad to good, or good to bad, or good to great…) before your very eyes.

Social Media Explorer – Jason Falls blog focuses on social media and the like, and he gets extra points for being from Louisville and I heard him speak once. It was a good time.

Mashable/Social Media – If for no other reason than their weekly recap of Twitter trending topics. This is how I learned who Justin Bieber is.

Penn Olson – Often shares infographics. I love infographics.

image: Arturo de Albornoz

By Katie Earley, Copywriter

I’m not sure I’ve heard one negative thing about this current Old Spice campaign with eye candy actor Isaiah Mustafa. It’s funny, clever, entertaining, and is getting the attention every advertiser dreams of. Yesterday I started seeing short clips with Old Spice guy addressing individuals (both famous and not) who asked him questions on Twitter. I was impressed, but even more so after seeing this ReadWriteWeb article on it.

Mustafa and a team from Old Spice’s agency Wieden + Kennedy made 87 videos yesterday in 11 hours. Wow. And then continued the next day. This project is both an astounding display of creativity and a wonderful example of connecting with consumers.

from despair.com

by Susan Gosselin,

Vest Director of PR

Most people think that p.r. people are hired to cover things up, and “pretty up” the facts. CEOs, pr flacks and corporate talking heads have done a darn good job of proving them right over the years.  Remember how Enron denied being in trouble right before the company crashed into financial oblivion?  Even parsing the facts (Clinton saying “I didn’t have sex with that woman” comes to mind) has become rampant. People have always been able to spot a liar.  But in today’s fully enabled social information age, there are hundreds of ways they can now call you on it…and publicly prove it.  The most important thing you can do as a leader is turn off your spin machine.  Here’s how.

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by Susan Gosselin, Vest Director of PR

Just because you have your own account on Twitter doesn’t mean it’s your private space.  It’s shockingly public, searchable and now…archived.  The Library of Congress archives every tweet posted by everyone, every day.  Right now, they say you can’t go to the library to look up one person specifically.  But they do have searches by subject and can use your tweets for datamining on general trends.  It is only a matter of time before your daily rantings about long airport lines, where you’re meeting up for drinks, or links to Perez Hilton are deemed historically significant and public domain.  So, when tweeting, just remember not to say anything you wouldn’t want your grandmother–or your great, great grand daughter–to hear.  Also keep in mind, many search engines are now looking for tweets and public Facebook comments when you type in a general search request.  So your comments today can be searched and seen in new and different ways.

Just because the government isn’t capturing every piece of data on the Internet, it doesn’t mean no one else is.  I was shocked to find a site called the “way back machine” that takes a snapshot of everything on the web every day.  Want to know what a company claimed on its website in 2002?  You can find it.  So just because you’ve taken information down, doesn’t mean it’s ever really gone.  This can have huge implications for companies in the midst of scandal or rapid, controversial change.

Want to know other ways you’re being watched?  Check out this great little story from Mashable. If you really want to get scared, try this ingenious game, Smokescreen.  It is designed to teach teens about Internet dangers, as you try to complete missions with completely plausible, real world privacy problems plaguing you at every turn.

What’s the upshot of all this?  Remember that whatever you say in even the most casual forum is searchable and analyzable by anyone.  If you want to send a truly private message, send a text, email or better yet, pick up the phone. Even then, if it’s in writing, it can be found by anyone with a subpeona.  For companies, remember that the bold statements and prognostications you make today will keep you accountable tomorrow. Consider it the other side of the coin of the Social Media revolution.

By Katie Earley, Copywriter

(I give you cool points if you knew that this post’s title is from a VeggieTales song.)

I remember sitting in the car with my dad around the age of 16, and telling him about this awesome new CD-burning technology my friend had. Now we could share CDs! Perfect for the music-loving teen living on a limited allowance. Dad was not necessarily impressed by how this new tool could actually SAVE money, but replied that it sounded kind of illegal. Surprise! Dad was right! Again.

Fast forward 10 years and introduce social media, and the lines between sharing (Isn’t that what social media’s all about?!) and copyright infringement is even blurrier. I think in most cases though, there is an extent to which sharing needs to be embraced because it’s essentially free advertising. And even 14-year-old Katie knew that saving money was a great idea.

Example: OK Go’s “My ‘Friends’ Are Cooler Than Your ‘Friends’” Contest. Not only is their new video awesome, as they traditionally are, but it’s great how they are encouraging their fans to share the video: The fan who gets the most comments by sharing the video on Facebook wins an engraved iPad with the whole OK Go catalog.

By distributing their music video for free, they’re getting tons of free publicity to encourage fans to purchase their CD. Smart. They realize the truth of Jr. Asparagus’s motto: When you share, you get your share of friends.

by Susan Gosselin

Vest Director of PR

Used to be, when you put out television advertising, the only thing you ever had to worry about was cutting through the clutter and sales results.  But in today’s world of mashups, youtube, fan art/fiction and media creation programs nearly anyone can use your intellectual property for their own.  It’s something brand managers should really be thinking about as they create their campaigns.

Exhibit A:  Esurance. Most of you recognize the perky pink haired cartoon spokesmodel for esurance, right?  Well, apparently, the face that launched thousands of new insurance accounts launched something else the company didn’t intend: an army of amateur artists, film makers and cartoonists making x-rated art with her image. (the illustration above is a very, very tame rendition.) The problem was becoming so bad that Erin’s many doppelgangers were completely drowning out the company’s legitimate presence in the search results, and hijacking the company’s presence on the Internet.  Who would have thought something like this could have happened even a few years ago?  But, there are plenty of perverts out there with photoshop, animation software and video editing suites and plenty of time on their hands.  I suppose no one should be surprised.

From a crisis management perspective, this is a classic example of when to cut bait. Happily, this is what Esurance has decided to do. No amount of indignant press releases or targeted lawsuits would have ever stamped out this brand infestation. It would have only served to bring more attention and search results to the cause.  Since it’s just a brand character and not the company’s core product, they can afford to do this.

Poor Erin.  Now that she’s been fired from her day job, she’ll have to go out onto the mean streets on her own.  Sounds like the beginning of a comic book series, to me.