Entries Tagged 'PR' ↓

It was just a few weeks ago that my wife and I bought a new Honda CR-V.

So when I saw Honda’s upcoming Super Bowl commercial, featuring Matthew Broderick kinda-sorta reprising his role as Ferris Bueller, it was a special moment. You see, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is one of my all-time favorite movies. (Also of note, the TV spin-off was horrendous.)

I guess they did a great job in targeting their audience, since they want me – but already had me. Awwww.

I love this.

Recently, I’ve been honored to make a few high-profile media appearances and receive a tremendous honor.

1) When high-end on-call car service Uber came under fire from the DC Taxi Commission, WJLA, Washington’s ABC affiliate, interviewed me about the clash. You can read my initial post on Uber here, read the WJLA.com here and watch the story here:

2) One of my favorite new websites is www.DistrictTribune.com. They combine two totally different business models: online news content gathering and traditional print journalism.

Despite being a website, they produce a full update each week, creating a reason to come to the site each week, to see the latest content and analysis.

When they asked to profile me, I was flattered and excited!

Henry, the new site’s editor, asked me about  social media, my career, fatherhood and a bunch of other topics.

I discuss my favorite professional moment (so far), how businesses can use social media, and what projects are on my plate right now!

You can check out the entire interview here!

3) Wrapping up this admittedly indulgent post, I’d like to thank Paul Roberts for once again including this site in his annual list of Top PR Blogs.

It’s an honor to be considered in the same breath as the people on this list – and a blast to see so many friends recognized for their excellence, especially Krista Paplau, who’s blog was my favorite addition to my reader in 2011.

PLEASE read all the other blogs on this list. They are all incredible and bring unique and special perspectives to the overall discussion on marketing communications.

Several months back, I wrote about the amazing experience I had taking my 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid (named Captain Planet, naturally) to College Park Honda in College Park, MD.

The old car had 125,000 miles on it and was nearing the end – but a few repairs would fix ‘er up to last a long, long time. The customer service was top-notch as Frank, my service adviser, walked me through the issues and processes, then worked with the service department with pricing and a rental in a way that made me feel well-taken-care-of. And isn’t that the goal of customer service?

Unfortunately, while the repairs held up, the Hybrid technology began to fail and the cost of another round of repairs would cost about the same as the value of the car.

So, my wife and I went car shopping.

We spent countless hours going over our needs and wants, visiting different dealers to explore vehicles over the course of nearly a month.

But I knew when it was time to make a purchase, College Park Honda was the place to go.

We arrived knowing what we wanted, a 2012 CR-V – midnight blue, if they had it. While the exact model we wanted wasn’t available in the United States yet, despite it being advertised on EVERY Honda dealer’s website. Now, while the model we wanted got us on the lot, they only had a slightly more expensive one (MSRP) available.

Good marketing tactic? Slightly dirty? Honest miscommunication? Don’t know.

But our salesman, Calvin Wright, went above and beyond for us in the following ways that are applicable in any sales process.

- He knew is products inside and out. The only things he didn’t know off the top of his head were related to availability. He was able to look up those answers quickly. Despite the 2012 CR-V being a totally newly redesigned model, he was an encyclopedia.

- He took notes and shared them with us. He was constantly jotting down features we liked or didn’t like and things that were and weren’t included. The process was VERY open. Even if he didn’t agree with our reasoning, we went with it. One example: we wouldn’t settle for anything less than All-Wheel Drive, even though it was more expensive and harder to find.

- When it came time to negotiate, everything was on the table. There were no games. Perhaps it was the preparation we did in advance, but we had a clear grasp of what we didn’t want (which is sometimes more important than what you DO want).

- He wasn’t satisfied until we drove home in the new car. We wanted a midnight blue car. We would have settled for silver. All they had in stock was sage. Blech. Not for us. Even after we technically purchased the sage car, Calvin wheeled and dealed with other Honda dealers to get us a midnight blue CR-V. And when all hope was lost, when we would have to wait for a week to get a silver, Calvin called with a midnight blue model to our specifications on the lot. It was incredible.

Now, I’m not going to say you MUST go to College Park Honda if you live in the greater DC area. However, you should find a dealer that has service and sales departments that are as customer-service oriented as they do.

And if you do go to College Park Honda, ask for Frank in service and Calvin in sales. They’ll take great care of you.

I love seeing companies get creative.

It doesn’t always work and can annoy customers, but I appreciate creativity.

I recently went to the movies at a Regal Cinemas location.

Whereas every theater I’ve ever been to has the name of the movie on display above the entrance door, this location was thinking differently.

Apparently, they’ve had a problem with people movie-hopping (paying for one movie and seeing more than one) lately. To combat the problem, this location stopped putting the name of the show above the door, just keeping the theater’s number there.

The number of the theater was printed on the ticket stub, so that should be sufficient identification.

If you don’t know what movie is playing where, you can’t sneak into multiple movies.

However, a number of patrons in our theater expressed confusion over which movie they were about to sit through.

You see, there was NO signage alerting you that you were in the right theater. Even the smartest folk have accidentally popped into the wrong movie before – and that’s WITH the name of the movie clearly displayed.

Is confusing or even angering customers worth the cost?

Is sneaking into multiple movies more a sign of protest against outlandish ticket prices? Is this a value proposition?

I’m sure they save nominal amounts of money in the theater signs, but I hope that doesn’t factor into the decision-making process.

Have you seen this arrangement anywhere else? Do you think it’s a good idea, or one destined for failure?

[I will say this - while I'm not confessing to seeing multiple films, but The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Young Adult should NOT be seen back-to-back.]

Perhaps there is a solution somewhere in here that works for everyone: an all-day movie pass.

For one relatively low price, you can see as many movies as your tush can stand. Would something like that, basically legalizing movie-hopping for a fee, be something you’re interested in? I know I would be!

Again, I appreciate the creativity this theater showed, but think that they aren’t solving the reason WHY people movie-hop, just trying to treat the symptom.

Names, labels and classifications are really interesting.

Especially in our sound-byte society, what something is called has a profound impact on how it is perceived.

One place this concept is on plain display is the battle over abortion rights.

[Note: This discussion is not about which side I may fall on, and I hope any comments will toe the same line.]

There are two main sides that people fall into:

- Pro-Choice

- Pro-Life

Yikes! These names are LOADED with meaning in a way that may prevent them from ever coming to an agreement.

You see, when you label something as “pro-something” you are implying that everyone else is against that particular something.

I’ve never met a Pro-Choice person that was Anti-Life. Hopefully there isn’t anyone going around actively looking to get pregnant JUST to have an abortion.

And most Pro-Life people will say that unprotected sex was a choice and a pregnancy is the outcome.

How can these two sides sit across the table from each other, when they are, in fact, claiming one side is against life and the other is against free will?

In this case, the labels are clearly divisive and destructive.

Imagine if the groups were called Private Choice and Public Concern – wouldn’t those labels be more accurate and constructive?

These labels much more appropriately describe the sentiment and feelings of those involved in a way that doesn’t vilify either side in the eyes of the other.

Do you have any other examples of how labels come into play in communication?

Social Media and buzzwords seem to intertwined.

Location.

Reach.

Influence.

And the industry is primed for a new era.

You see, the early adopter phase for “social marketing” has come and gone. We’ve identified what influencers are. And now we have mass adoption of the platforms.

Facebook has over 800 million active users worldwide. Twitter claims over 100 million ACTIVE users.

This new era of social networking will be the culmination of everything that came before it. We’ve spent a lot of time online because it’s new/fun/cool.

But that won’t cut it anymore.

Which brings me to the #1 Social Media Word of 2012: VALUE.

Yes, value.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter, along with brands and their digital presence, must provide value to users in new and interesting ways.

There are literally millions of alternatives for users to be connecting with at any given time. More theater venues. More cleaning products. More celebrities.

The days of just following to follow are all but over – there needs to be a REASON for a page or network to claim your time investment.

Value can be provided in many forms, including:

1) Financial Benefit: Offering free or discounted products through your social presence will always be a terrific way to entice traffic.

2) Exclusive Content: Place photos, videos, links that your network would find valuable on your social platform. Make the content free, but make sure people know where to find it first.

3) Customer Service: Let’s face it, it’s much easier to find a company’s Facebook page or Twitter feed than to dig up a customer service hotline. Make sure your community managers understand the brand inside and out and respond in a timely fashion. You may WANT people to call a phone number, but social media has put the consumer in the driver’s seat of communication.

4) Three-Way Community: People want to connect with a brand and feel like the brand is ALSO connecting with them – while they are also connecting with other people. Fostering a platform that connects users to brand and users to users will give people several reasons to keep coming back to the brand.

Do you see any other key buzz words defining social media in 2012?