Pure Thinking

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How personal is too personal?

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President Obama is perhaps our best example of how Twitter can work in a politician's favor. However, according to a recent article in The Economist, Chile, Venezuela and Japan are just three examples of countries with political officials out-tweeting U.S. politicians on a regular basis.

Public figures and Twitter can create a bit of a love/hate relationship. Politicians can connect directly with voters (to an extent), dispel rumors and respond to negative media coverage openly and honestly. But 140 characters can also be very damaging if a politician is not careful. As the article suggests, this great fear of Twitter is generating bland statements that are not providing the politician's followers with helpful or useful information.

So is Twitter a good idea or a bad idea when it comes to politics? When you look at extreme cases like S.C Gov. Sanford's affair, or John Edwards' secret mistress plus child, I frankly don't think anything can help or hurt their cause at that point (nor should it! But my dislike of those two requires an entirely separate blog post). However, I do think there is an opportunity to communicate with constituents in a way that is informative and honest. Politicians could take a few clues from other business leaders - speaking honestly but leaving the personal details at home and offline.

What do you think - do politicians stand a chance at success in the world of Twitter?

--Kate

The Only Brand That Matters, or, How Punk Rock and PR Mix

    Way back in 1978, The Clash proclaimed themselves “the only band that matters,” a bold and decisive statement, that many (including myself) would argue is still true today.  Growing up, I ate, slept, and breathed music and like many kids before me, and hopefully many to come, punk rock saved my life.  I know, I know, extremely cliché. However, looking back on my experiences, the argument can be made that a movement like punk really can have a lasting impact.

    By the age of 16, I was learning guitar, playing music, and helping to promote bands and shows in the local Boise scene.  Back then, MySpace was new and cool, and sites like PureVolume reigned supreme in the blossoming world of online music.  It seemed only natural that the music I loved, bands I promoted, and scene I was involved in would gravitate towards that type of open, free, and accessible online community.

    It wasn’t until I got to college, and more importantly, when I began taking public relations and journalism classes, that I realized that the sites I was promoting music on were, in fact, social media sites.  The same DIY (Do It Yourself) work ethic that punk rock is built around seemed to be popping up more and more in my projects and classes. It makes sense that sites like Twitter and Facebook are very quickly changing the way that companies communicate in all fields. 

    A start-up, much like a new band, now has the tools to reach millions of people, talk about issues that are important, and provide us with products that impact our lives, all with that same DIY approach.  Ultimately, these companies now have the ability to communicate effectively and become “the only BRAND that matters.”

    Although my Mohawk may be gone, the tattoos, memories, lessons and most importantly the work ethic from punk rock still remains.  They are tools and experiences that I bring to work and school with me every day. 

-Geoff
Twitter: @savestheclash

Hiring employees through Twitter. Does it work?

    Although LinkedIn is used as the main social media recruiting tool, Twitter is quickly emerging as a dominant social media site to begin career conversations. The main advantage of Twitter is the speed with which you can begin engaging others. The casual nature also helps break down conversational barriers that might exist otherwise.

In order to achieve success, here are a few condensed notes to ponder when utilizing Twitter as a recruiting tool.

1.     Engage with people

2.     Follow recruiters

3.     Find a handful of solid job-related hashtags

4.     Follow associations that might be sources for candidates

Of course there's more to the story than simply tweeting, but the sooner you begin to engage, the closer you'll be to finding your way to a first interview. Happy tweeting everyone.

Facebook 411

Did you know that it took 25,000 volunteers to translate Facebook into Turkish? And that Facebook is available in over 100 languages, including Pirate!? And that the average person spends 55 minutes per day on Facebook? This chart reveals that Facebook is kind of a big deal...

The Healthcare Debate Via iPhone

A strange thing happened to me over the weekend. No, it has nothing to do with St. Mary's and Northern Iowa completely ruining my March Madness brackets, although something like that seems to happen about this same time each year.

Since my television was stuck on basketball games (March Misery in my case), I found myself watching and, at times, participating in the debate about health-care reform legislation entirely via social media - all on my iPhone no less. Twitter accounts such as @BreakingNews, @nprnews, @WSJ, @CNNbrk, @CNN, @foxnews and @shitmydadsays (kidding) provided blow-by-blow accounts of the debate (aka slaughter/carnage) in Washington, while my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts allowed for insight into my "friends" perspectives.

To think that three years ago I didn't even have an iPhone and had never heard of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Is all of that a good thing? Or, did I miss something by only being engaged in a very important issue in snip-its of 140 characters or less?

I'm honestly not sure. What I do know is that I watched my kids' swim practice, suffered through several basketball games, and attended a baby shower along with a multitude of other things while feeling like I wasn't missing a beat. 

- Larry

Twitter: @lholdren

Email: [email protected]

Dispruptive Thinking

In an Advertising Age article written by Steve Knox, CEO of Tremor, a word-of-mouth marketing organization inside Procter & Gamble, Knox writes, “The brain is designed not to think.”  He believes our brains function in a static state and to get consumers to talk, we need to cause a disruption.  A disruption is the core of all word-of-mouth marketing, and it occurs when we give consumers a surprise that doesn’t fit inside their mental model and  also ties to the core of a category or brand.  For instance, let’s take a WOM campaign by Secret brand to illustrate his point.  The core thought of consumers in the category is the more active you are, the more you sweat and the worse you smell.  Hence, a message that says “The more you move, the better you smell,” inherently disrupts our thinking.  The message remains at the core of the brand, but offers enough of an altered message that consumers want to talk about it. 

I believe Steve hits the nail on the head with his thinking, and if you don’t believe me, read the entire article for yourself. I know you’ll be on my side in the end.

 

 

2010: The Year of the Overshare

Ever heard of the term, TMI? It has become the known abbreviation for a commonly used term, ‘too much information’. This year, people have too gotten comfortable with social media and now feel the need to frequently update us on their thoughts and activities.

I was going to start this post out by saying, "pretty soon people will be tweeting from the shower and the toilet, because they just need to let everyone know what they are doing and thinking".

Funny thing is that this morning, when I looked into today’s trending topics, I realized, "wow, people already are sharing what they are thinking while they are on the toilet". One of today’s trending topics is, #thoughtsonthetoilet.

  

  

Please note: I had to censor these tweets in the image above. I actually should not have eaten before looking into others #thoughtsonthetoilet. I figured I would save you all a trip to the bathroom.

GQ points those individuals who are known to over share their life story through Facebook, whether it be happy, sad, useless, or just inappropriate.

My advice to those tweeting in 2010: please do not share TMI.

-Gillian

Purely Social was Purely Informative. See for Yourself!

With more than 75 percent of Americans citing the Internet as their primary source of information, online conversations are becoming a critical component of any communications strategy.  As a company in the consumer or business-to-business space, you can’t afford to be missing out on this conversation. But, before you start talking online, there is some homework to be done. Audience analysis. Goal-setting. Strategy development. Without this, your social media campaign is destined to fail.

At our first Purely Social workshop the other week, a group of Denver’s business leaders gathered at Snooze AM Eatery to talk social media strategy and enjoy some of Denver’s best breakfast. For those of you that couldn’t join us, here is a helpful framework for defining your social media campaign.

Who is our target audience?
o    Where do they spend time online?
o    What are they saying about our company? Our competitors?

What do we want to drive our target audience to do?
o    Do we want to generate leads, drive traffic to our website, increase sales, position our CEO as an expert, etc.?

What is the strategy for accomplishing our defined objectives?
o    Are we going to focus on social networking, expert positioning opportunities, crisis communications, etc.?

What tactics should we use to execute our strategy?
o    Do our tactics match up to where our audience is spending time online?
o    Can we realistically execute these tactics?

How do we measure success?
o    Have we benchmarked our current efforts to ensure that we have something to measure against?
o    When are we going to measure?

Spending the time doing the homework leads to a more targeted and ultimately more successful social media campaign. If you want to hear more about this and other social media topics, watch for information about our next Purely Social workshop on our social media channels.

Here is some footage from the event: