Updates from GoldinPR employees about our clients, experiences, industry articles and perspective pieces.

Social media. Almost everyone I know is on at least one social media site. For many of us, social media is at or fingertips at the push of a button on our smart phones. It can be easily stated that social media has swept up the globe, accumulating more and more users daily. While social media sites can help a company exponentially grow, ensure that friends can remain in contact, or simply provides users with a space to share amusing photos, articles and more. But what happens when we slip up and a post or photo doesn’t go over the way we thought it would? In today’s world, we only have a few short seconds to delete a post before thousands of people see it.

The following examples were posted on PR in Your Pajamas by a guest writer, Rachel Hyun Kim. In her article, she provides four examples of this year’s social media fails thus far. Check out some of the mistakes these celebrities and companies made!

McDonald’s #MCDSTORIES

In mid-January, McDonalds launched a Twitter campaign involved the hashtag #McDStories, asking users to post nostalgic stories on Happy Meals. However, this campaign quickly took a whole different meaning, as users would use the hashtag to share horror experiences and shock tales. From poor work conditions to appalling food quality, McDonald’s campaign turned negative attention back to itself.

Woody Harrelson’s AMA

On February 3, 2012, Woody Harrelson hosted a Reddit AMA, where users can ask questions to individuals who have a unique story or occupation. While AMAs are generally used to promote thoughtful dialogue and discussion, Harrelson’s AMA took a different approach. Reddit users quickly got the impression that the movie star was simply using the site for marketing purposes, and lashed out. Immense backlash was fired against Harrelson, his publicists and his upcoming movie, and Harrelson became infamous in Reddit history.

Chris Brown’s Post-Grammy Tweets

One of the winners of the 2012 Grammys was R&B singer Chris Brown, who won an award for Best R&B album. After the Grammys, Chris Brown celebrated his victory on Twitter, sending out tweets to his followers. But instead of thanking them for their support, he instead focused his updates towards his haters, bashing them with disparaging remarks and F-bombs. Given the singer’s already shaky reputation, these tweets have further solidified the controversy around him.

Toyota’s #CAMRYEFFECT Campaign

During the Superbowl, Toyota planned a major Twitter campaign meant to promote the Camry. Creating a number of Twitter accounts labeled @CamryEffect1 through @CamryEffect9, Toyota intended to engage users by directly tweeting them. However, this had the opposite effect: users accused Toyota of bombarding and spamming them with unsolicited messages. Though Toyota quickly suspended the accounts, this campaign still resonates as an example of a failed, large-scale endeavor.

Wow! These social media slip-ups caused some serious backlash for these companies and celebrities. Take these lessons and apply them to the way you utilize social media. Think twice before posting something, because you never know how the general public will react to it. You never know who’s looking at your profile! See this article from Inc.com for tips on how to best use social media!

By: Alison Mancuso 

For the past two months the Public Relations Society of America has been working hard to come up with THE PERFECT definition for public relations. PRSA has taken this task so seriously that they have developed  the “Definition of Public Relations Task Force”, woah.  After months of research and thousands of suggestions, the task force narrowed it down to three definitions:

1. Public relations is the management function of researching, communicating and collaborating with publics to build mutually beneficial relationships.
2. Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.
3. Public relations is the strategic process of engagement between organizations and publics to achieve mutual understanding and realize goals.

Many professionals gave the PRSA flak for this definition. Accusing the definitions of not being “modern” enough or containing too much lingo and jargon. Many  professionals claimed the definitions are repetitive and are too wordy. But despite the criticism, PRSA stands by their choices.

According to David C Rickey, PRSA Secretary and Chair of the Definition of Public Relations Task Force, the definition has ”given public relations and other communications professionals a platform to shape a modern definition of public relations, has been robust, spirited and, perhaps most of all, strongly opinionated—all good things for the profession.”

The PRSA  developed these definitions by asking professionals in the industry to define it themselves. They found common words and themes and picked the most popular. They didn’t just make this up. All the jargon and lingo in the definition came straight from us. It is how we best define our field.  The fact that these definitions have no clear diference is a good thing. It means we all have a general understanding of what our industry requires of us.  It means we are all on the same page.

So in an industry where our job description is not quite set in stone, it is nice to have an overarching definition. A definition that points us in the right direction.

This year, for my PR Writing class with Professor Mary Ingles, I was assigned a portfolio project which I will work on throughout the entire semester. For this project, I had to choose a client, and complete a series of portfolio components for them which range from writing news releases to creating a PSA for my client.

Although there were a plethora of choices of PR firms and companies that I could pick, I picked GoldinPR to be my client. I believed it would be an incredible opportunity for GoldinPR to grow and publicize itself. Thus far, my project has been very successful. Throughout the first half of my semester, I have created a fact sheet, a PSA, a feature story (which will be published in the November issue of The Warrior) as well as several other portfolio pieces for the organization. This has been a great opportunity to fill in the missing gaps which GoldinPR has since they are such a new organization.

I am hoping that through this project, GoldinPR gains more recognition amongst students at Marquette as well as employees of local Milwaukee businesses. This experience has been a great one, filled with fun and interest. It’s been great learning more about the organization that I am proud to say I am part of. I am proud to present the work that I have put in to GoldinPR and I hope to see the firm grow and continue to be successful as a result!

-Alison Mancuso

Account Executive: Warriors Team

The Brand: A Catholic, Jesuit University with a long history

The Goal: How to make a 475 year old tradition relevant today

David Murphy and Matt Wessel, both Marketing Managers for Marquette University, shared their thoughts and ideas behind the initiatives in place to update a valued tradition in Jesuit education to the rapidly changing world of digital communication.  Using new digital technologies in conjunction with emphasizing Marquette’s values, Marquette has the ability to bring intangible concepts to life.

With alumni, students, parents and prospective students, both regional and local, Marquette tries to leverage social media and new media.  When Marquette asked alumni to list three positive attributes about MU, the number one response was the Jesuit tradition.  The marketing team decided to create a video emphasizing a Jesuit education.  But how do you make it make sense?  Speak the audience’s language and capture who Marquette is – show that a Jesuit education empowers students to change the world.

Marquette is using social media to show a positive light.  For example, to show Marquette traditions through social media outlets, the university’s Flickr profile featured a slide show of the Tuesday night Mass targeted to alumni in order to relive the MU traditions.  Because of this social media initiative, a group of alumni gathered for an actual alumni Tuesday night Mass all promoted through Facebook.

Another example of how Marquette is leveraging new media is the yearly Christmas video and message.  The Marketing department creates this holiday video each year to be distributed through broadcast, social media and online.  Even though there is not a viral component, it is enjoyable to watch and share socially.  This is an example of traditional and new media used together.

One final example of MU using social media would be through the inauguration of Father Pilarz.  The inauguration included a website, invites, brochures, videos and social media directed towards alumni, delegates and students.  Marquette also created a video for the special occasion that relates to Father Pizarz as he joins the Marquette Community.  Marquette leverages content and creative as much as possible.

Students recite Father Pilarz’s favorite poem 

Social Media has created many new avenues that have brought MU into new territories.  Marquette can now use these mediums to blast media and share results.  David Murphy and Matt Wessel emphasize listening when social media offers opportunities.

Overall, they offered a simple list of tips they follow when incorporating new technologies and digital communication initiatives into a 475 year old tradition of Jesuit excellence:

• Embrace the unfamiliar
• Speak the customers language
• Be the first to the market
• Build a sense of community
• Traditional and Social Media ping pong
• Have a message with emotion
• Quality over quantity
• If you’re small, play like you’re big…if you’re big, play like you’re small
• Don’t be afraid to crawl before you run

Google + has been the newest social media buzz throughout the world. The innovative feed, easy uploading capabilities, creating circles and much more are the perks of being invited to be a part of this exclusive connection tool.

The “feed” as the creators of Google + call it is similar to Facebook but there are some little tweaks that Google + has that Facebook never thought of. For example, editing your feed status after it has been posted. This prevents users from making mistakes on their posts. Along with that, uploading materials on your Google + page is effortless and rapid. Users find it easier to upload their favorite photos so that they can all be in one place to share their friends and acquaintances.
Circles are a capability that social media users have not seen in the past. Google +’s circle function allows users to group their friends, family and co-workers into individual units. Through those circles the user can see the feed on each individual circle. However, there is a savvy ability of circles, only the creator of the circle is allowed to see the name of their circles, leaving users the authority to name their circles anything they desire.

Google + is an inventive social media site that has said to be the potential substitution for Facebook. Could it possibly be? Myspace was vanquished by Facebook, therefore could Google + be the one to surpass Facebook in the social media world?

Written by:

Alexis Dremonas

Co-Founder & Firm Director