The hashtag, when used correctly, can reach a broader group of people than those who follow you on Twitter or connect with you on LinkedIn. It facilitates branding and allows companies to create catchy slogans motivating audiences to remember and to respond. However, the hashtag is more complicated than just throwing a few words together. Here are a few basic …
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
There’s an old saying in journalism, the camera doesn’t lie, nor does it blink. But until recently, the camera has always been in the hands professionals. Not in the hands of citizens documenting police or airline brutality. Now everyone with a cell phone, and that’s pretty much everyone, is a documentarian, taking cameras and matters into his or her own hands. And …
Mexican Standoff
Nordstrom and Ivanka Trump find themselves in a Mexican Standoff following Nordstrom’s decision to drop her fashion brand from their stores. A spokeswoman for Nordstrom insisted that the company made the decision based on plummeting sales and not as a political statement following Nordstrom’s company wide pro-immigration email. “For us, the two were not connected.” As expected, President Trump gunned-down Nordstrom in …
Gloria Steinem: Never Not Controversial
Know your Audience. In a struggle to re-invent itself, Lands’ End featured an interview with feminist Gloria Steinem (notable for her work in abortion and reproductive rights) in its “Legends” catalog, before considering the audience. The company, popular for its khakis and primary-colored knit sweaters, contracts with many Catholic schools for uniforms and the catalog reached students’ homes. Generating much anti-abortion criticism and many …
Dotting the i’s
Fortune 500 companies sometimes can’t resist the social media mistake of subtle commercialization, which usually backfires. Here, General Mills eulogized their hometown legend, Prince, by being too cute with a Cheerio dotting the i. In another General Mills advertisement from the brand, Hamburger Helper, their “helping hand” mascot, “Lefty,” a four-fingered, left-hand white glove was pictured and referenced. “Respect for the home …
Thank you for this moment
Early in life, we are told that fighting fire with fire will only make matters worse. But the fire of gratitude, diplomacy and goodness will squelch the fire of crudeness and rudeness, every time. Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift proved this useful lesson when she eloquently delivered her acceptance speech at the 2016 Grammy Awards. While the memory of Kanye West’s interruption …
A painful Holiday commercial
In the Hippocratic Oath, doctors promise to first “do no harm.” Advertisers should give their brands and consumers the same care. In last season’s holiday commercial, Coca-Cola insensitively and inadvertently harmed their brand. Opening with a bucolic view of the indigenous community of Totontepec in Oaxaca, Mexico; the Spanish text proclaimed that 81.6% of Mexico’s indigenous people feel marginalized because Spanish is …
If you can’t say something intelligent…
If you can’t say something intelligent, don’t say anything at all. It’s crucial to think before you speak, especially when speaking to the media. The purpose of an interview should be to advance your product, company or cause. In short, to lead the interview in a direction that is advantageous. In a recent interview with the UK’s Evening Standard, Tinder CEO Sean Rad, …
Tell it like it is
Google defines can·dorˈ kandər/ a noun as: the quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness. ”a man of refreshing candor” synonymous with frankness, openness, honesty, truthfulness, sincerity, forthrightness, directness, plain-spokenness, bluntness, straightforwardness, outspokenness; informal … telling it like it is Candor is one of READY FOR MEDIA’s C’s of Communication, along with Clarity, Conciseness and Credibility. Taking the initiative to come clean about an …
Not what you say, but where you say it!
“BREAKING NEWS: Unconfirmed reports are coming in of an explosion on the North bank of the Singapore Marina. City Authorities urge the public not to panic, and to not hinder the emergency teams that are converging on the area. UPDATE: Singapore Authorities have officially announced a state of emergency and declared martial law.” US game maker, Activision, published this announcement …