Quick PR Reads You Can Tackle Between Bites
Happy Tuesday, which just happens to be my two-year wedding anniversary. The traditional two-year gift is cotton and the modern gift is china, neither of which I got for my spouse this year. In this week’s PR news, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is still recovering from their terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Oscar day, brands are jumping all over the latest (and perhaps oddest) meme trend, and more.
Like Something Out of a Movie
Accounting giant PwC had a tough week after an envelope mix up, and a bit of on-stage chaos, at the Academy Awards when the wrong envelope was handed to Best Picture presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. PwC received a stream of angry Tweets, hot-take memes and more on social media after the mix-up. But the venerable company has remained silent, save for a brief statement issued after the ceremony. As the social media whirlwind moves on to the next cause célèbre, perhaps remaining silent is the best way to prevent the story from dragging out further.
To VR or Not to VR?
Virtual reality (VR) is pretty much a reality these days thanks to Oculus, Sony, Samsung, Google and more bringing a variety of headsets to the masses. But the tech, which once seemed like a huge opportunity for marketers, still hasn’t quite caught on. One key to making a VR ad successful so far is taking consumers on a journey that isn’t just about selling a product. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare accomplished this recently for Excedrin: The VR experience took consumers into a world where they could experience the symptoms of a migraine, like blurred vision and sensitivity to light. The ad worked, with Excedrin sales rising 10 percent after the campaign roll out.
Zoom in on this Headline
I’m 36, and sometimes viral memes even confuse me, and the “zoom in on the nose” meme is one of them. However, brands are jumping all over this Internet trend of placing microscope text on Twitter photos with directions to zoom in on an object, creating a virtual scavenger hunt on a single image. Timing is key to leveraging the fast-paced world of Internet memes. Brands must be quick to develop their content or risk looking dated.
ICYMI: From Papal Visits to Product Launches with Peter Stanton
Stanton Communications founder and CEO Peter Stanton joined Bulldog Reporter to give a webinar on PR sharing insights from years of managing major events. Peter has led Stanton Communications through a wide range of events from the 2015 New York Papal Visit to Baltimore’s Preakness Festival. Peter shared his philosophy of event PR including thinking on your feet, maintaining flexibility and putting faith in your teammates. Check out the archived webinar here.
Tools and Tricks: Pocket Makes Lunch Break Happen
As the noted obsessive reader of Stanton, I can’t just rely on bookmarking pages or emailing myself links to articles for clients and this column. Enter Pocket, a handy tool to not just save things on the web for later, but also keep them organized! Every article you save to Pocket allows for tagging, so I’ve got client tags, Lunch Break, makeup looks to try and true crime stories at the ready for reading and sharing. I’ve turned on a few colleagues to Pocket and hope you find it just as useful.
