Currently viewing the category: "Current Affairs"

2013 Mid-Year Report: The Year’s 5 Buzziest Stories & Trends So Far

On May 15, 2013 By

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already nearing the halfway point of 2013! As such, let’s take a look back at five topics that have caught our attention so far this year….

 

1.  Security breaches

Hacks and breaches are an unfortunate and all-too-common occurrence these days. While data security is critical [...]

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On LinkedIn’s 10th birthday – 10 tips to optimize your page

On May 8, 2013 By

It’s hard to believe that everyone’s favorite professional networking site is celebrating its 10th birthday. But, unlike your probably awkward 10-year old tripping over their own feet and trying to figure out who they want to be when they grow up, LinkedIn –at 225 million users– has firmly established its place in the social media [...]

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Responding to tragedy – What brands (and brand marketers) sometimes forget: social networks are communities, not just channels.

On April 16, 2013 By

In the immediate wake of yesterday’s bombing at the Boston Marathon, at least one prominent social media marketing expert, Chris Brogan, questioned the notion that brands should suspend or alter their social media activities when tragedy occurs. Striking a similar chord, tech blogger Chris Pirillo — who has built [...]

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Roger Ebert and the Power of the People

On April 4, 2013 By

With Roger Ebert’s passing today, we’ve lost not only a legendary movie critic, but also a man who recognized that the power of the people, as much as his own reviews, could decide the fate of a movie – and even a product, company or person.

Many may not know, but Ebert [...]

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Happy Birthday, Twitter! 7 Ways Twitter Has Changed PR…

On March 22, 2013 By

Yesterday marked the 7th anniversary of the first tweet. For a service that was initially met with much skepticism (why does the world care that I’m eating a sandwich?), Twitter has steadily become a necessary PR tool, taking its place alongside (or in some industries, ahead of) the traditional [...]

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Carnival of horrors

On March 15, 2013 By

It’s been a bumpy ride for Carnival cruises for the last couple of years. The company has found itself in the news far too often — and it’s not because of its stellar performance on their part. Carnival Cruises Lines’ not so Triumphant, not so much Splendor and Costa Concordia (owned by [...]

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How does an aging brand stay hip?

On March 13, 2013 By

South by Southwest (SXSW) just turned 26. For most people, 26 is still a relatively youthful age — a time when idealistic folks are establishing careers, setting up independent lives, and deciding whom they want to become as adults. But for the Austin-based festival dedicated to the latest trends in [...]

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Certifications: Do they carry weight or are they fishy?

On March 7, 2013 By

Last month, I was listening to KQED while getting ready for work. Usually I tune into the weather and the traffic that doesn’t apply to me, but they played a segment that piqued my attention: Is Sustainable-Labeled Seafood Really Sustainable? In this segment, they explored the art of “greenwashing” – [...]

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Is it ever OK to publicly dispute a product review?

On February 28, 2013 By

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently and very publicly challenged the fairness and accuracy of an unflattering New York Times test drive of his company’s Model S electric sedan, a number of observers wondered aloud whether it was a wise move. As the old saw goes, “never pick a fight with someone [...]

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Is Social Media the New Fortune-Teller? Predicting Oscar Winners Based on Social Media Sentiment

On February 26, 2013 By

Look no further than social media to predict the winners of award shows – not to mention box office grosses, outcomes of sporting events, and more. For every uninformed social media user, there are many more experts weighing in on events and topics in social media, coming together to offer sound insights [...]

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Lessons Learned from the Super Bowl: Knowing the WHY Behind a Campaign’s Success

On February 5, 2013 By

Anyone who watched Sunday’s Super Bowl doesn’t have to look much further than the power outage to find the WHY behind the Niners’ much-needed-but-not-quite-enough momentum. Yet, finding the WHY behind the advertising campaigns that worked requires a deeper look.

In Twitter We Trust

Sorry, O’Doyle, but Twitter rules! [...]

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2013 Predictions

On January 16, 2013 By

Last week, the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), a Sterling client, hosted their annual “Predictions” event – bringing together some of the brightest minds in the Seattle tech industry to get their take on what trends and events defined the previous year — and what will be big in the coming [...]

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2012′s Most Notorious Events

On January 3, 2013 By

Happy New Year! As we head into what will inevitably be an exciting 2013, it’s interesting to sit back and reflect on some of the most notorious events of 2012 that caught our attention, and the lessons we’ve learned from each…

In January, just in time for Martin Luther King Day, many visitors to the [...]

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Will Redbox streaming spell the end for Netflix?

On December 12, 2012 By

We’ve written about Netflix a few times on this blog. Beginning in July 2011 with their poor execution in communicating a major pricing structure change, it seems this former media darling has been on a downward spiral in the news ever since. And their stock performance [...]

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That’s the Spirit

On November 29, 2012 By

We’ve all seen Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, that heartwarming and inspiring black-and-white film classic where Jimmy Stewart discovers the amazing impact that his life decisions have had on his friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors. Always the guy who put others’ needs first, George Bailey never got to travel the world, go to college, [...]

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Cyber Monday May Not Be the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (For Shopping)

On November 27, 2012 By

Cyber Monday is Black Friday’s nerdy cousin – the one that was quietly dismissed for several years until all of a sudden, it became the genius creator of a multi-billion-dollar startup and is now laughing all the way to the bank.

The term “Cyber Monday” may seem a bit antiquated now, but [...]

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Amex Small Business Saturday – a Stroke of CSR and Marketing Genius

On November 21, 2012 By

American Express Small Business Saturday is a fantastic idea, and as this year’s Small Business Saturday approaches, American Express deserves some special recognition. They have successfully created an amazing all-in-one corporate social responsibility / marketing program that absolutely hits the nail on the head in appealing to both America’s hope for a [...]

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Honest Review or Link Bait?

On November 15, 2012 By

A very snarky and entertaining restaurant review made the rounds yesterday. It was composed entirely of questions for the restaurant owner, and contained gems like the following:

“Did panic grip your soul as you stared into the whirling hypno wheel of the menu, where adjectives and nouns spin in a crazy vortex?”

“And [...]

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How Social Media Became THE Destination for Election 2012 Predictions and PR Lessons

On November 7, 2012 By

The 2008 US Presidential Election may have been referred to as the “social media election” but that was then, and this year’s election campaign season was unlike any before it.

Four years ago, 1.8 million tweets were sent on Election Day. But now, in 2012, there [...]

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That’s a Wrap – Start-Ups: Silicon Valley

On November 6, 2012 By

The first thing I asked myself when I sat down to watch the premiere of Start-Ups: Silicon Valley last night was, “This is an hour long?” As I prepared myself to succumb to the hour-long event, I settled in to see what insights Bravo could offer about the entrepreneurial and innovative valley [...]

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The Silence of the Cougars

On November 1, 2012 By

Last week, Washington State University football coach Mike Leach publicly banned his players from using Twitter. When asked what prompted the decision, the notoriously blunt coach’s reply was, “Because I decided to, that’s what prompted that.”

Now, as a WSU alumna and die-hard Cougar football fan, far be it [...]

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The Gap: Manifestly Smart in Dousing a PR Fire

On October 24, 2012 By

Gap, Inc. neatly sidestepped a potential PR nightmare last week when it pulled a controversial T-shirt from its stores. Native American groups pointed out that the T-shirt printed with the slogan “Manifest Destiny” celebrated a belief espoused by 19th century American settlers that served as justification [...]

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Just Don’t Do It — Defending Your Brand in a Crisis

On October 18, 2012 By

Amid recent doping scandals and controversy, Nike has recently decided to drop US cyclist Lance Armstrong from its list of celebrity athlete endorsements. Nike stood behind Armstrong over years of allegations surrounding his use of performance enhancing drugs, but after the US Anti-Doping Agency released detailed reports of the charges against him, [...]

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When Hashtags #Fail

On October 9, 2012 By

At $100 – $120K a pop, a promoted hashtag is a terrible thing to screw up. Yet, it happens more often than you might think. Companies start out with the well-intentioned idea of promoting a benefit of their brand, only to have their hashtag “hijacked” by tweeps sharing negative sentiments, usually driving more engagement and [...]

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Google Algorithms and Online Reputation Management

On September 28, 2012 By

Google’s autocomplete feature has long been a source of convenience – and sometimes shock and amusement. On the practical side, it’s so easy to just type in a couple words or even a few letters and select the result that matches your query. After all, if you’re looking for an answer to [...]

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Communicating a Pricing Change… the Right Way

On September 24, 2012 By

Last July, my colleague, Scott, wrote about the Netflix debacle with their unexpected pricing change and the brouhaha that ensued.

Netflix’s 60-percent pricing increase on their DVD streaming service left customers feeling confused and betrayed, resulting in hundreds of thousands more subscribers jumping ship than the company originally [...]

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Event Logistics: Managing the Unexpected

On September 18, 2012 By

Editor’s note: the following post is an example of the logistical challenges of managing a large scale event and is not a political endorsement.

Bringing a carefully planned event together, large or small, public or private, involves a number of challenges, and a great deal of patience.  However, when things change at the last minute, [...]

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Can Apple Still Amaze and Delight Without Surprising?

On September 13, 2012 By

Apple fans are spoiled. For many years now, the company has delivered cutting-edge products that amaze and delight customers, if not always tech pundits.

Until the death of co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, one of the highlights of an Apple event was the trademark “one more thing” [...]

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Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

On August 21, 2012 By

Some companies really don’t get that we live in a connected digital age where a single customer’s voice can do substantive long-term damage to your brand. Last week’s social media fireball around Kaitlynn Fisher’s court case made it painfully apparent that Progressive Insurance is anything but. In [...]

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