Tweet-TV or Tweet-V?

What should we call this new phenomena?
Gone are the days of waiting to chat with your friends at lunch about the latest Gossip Girl (GG) or football game. Now we can share with our friends, followers and readership instantly. With a few strikes of a keyboard and a click or two of a mouse our ideas race off across the web for the world to see. Responses can come just as quickly. We can direct our messages to a small audience or send them out onto the ever-growing stage of social media to see who joins the show. This instant interaction has proven to be infectious.
Real time chatter about favorite programs, award shows, and game highlights is a blessing or a curse, depending on your side of the conversation or outlook on social media vs face-time. The leading platforms for the real time chit-chat are Facebook and Twitter, which is obvious to those interested or involved in social media. Because of this new buzz around instantly sharing thoughts and opinions regarding live broadcast, networks are racing to find new ways to engage the younger crowd in real time.

Social Media and Commercials

To really make an impression, a TV spot doesn't cut it. Now-a-days consumers need it all. We need a Youtube clip, Facebook page and Twitter profile we can interact with. Oh, and it all has to be easily relatable - no one wants to work to understand the connection between platforms.

The goal of using social media in a ad campaign is to build buzz among the audience and consumers before, during and after the program airs. The Super Bowl, Grammys, and most recently the Oscars all had mixed media campaigns that fell along side them. Twitter has become an amazing resource in tracking the interactions of consumers to the TV program and more notably the response the Ads that premier during the program itself.

Eminem vs. MnMs

The Super Bowl:

Equals, the biggest day for ads all years! Companies pay $3,000,000 to play their ad during the big game. It's one of very few times during the year that people actually tune in for the commercials. To capitalize on this, a "Brand Bowl" was created to track the twitter responses of ads aired during the game. The scores were tracked with the help of the #brandbowl hashtag. The winner was Chrysler featuring Eminem.

Oscars:

During the Oscars the MnM "Hostage" commercial captured the strongest brand association among Oscar viewers. Mars Inc. has a firm grip on the idea that social media has become part of today's culture. They know they need to be everywhere and interacting with their consumers on their website, Facebook, in the bloggosphere and on Twitter.

~ Sadie

P.S. I'm becoming a pro scanner/emailer/copier - the job is tougher than you'd think.

5 Tips from a New PR Intern

Being a first time blogger for the Feed the Interns Blog, as well as a first time PR Intern, I thought it fitting to share what I've found to be most helpful during my past eight weeks at Bailey Gardiner. As a newly initiated member of the Public Relations Intern Club, I've still got a long way to go and lots to learn, but hope these tips prove helpful for those also diving headfirst into the professional world.

1. Learn to adapt and be flexible - Every office or agency has a particular way of doing things, whether that be filing documents on a server, using the copy machine, or cleaning the kitchen. Going in with an open mind and your putting feelers out to pick up these types of things quickly makes the transition easier for you and everyone else you work with so you can get right down to business.

2. Ask questions - Rolling right along and merging into tip number two we find a common and even seemingly obvious piece of advice. Regardless, asking questions is sometimes hard to do when starting work in a new place. And I know, "there's no such thing as a dumb question" (even though I've definitely tested those limits), but in most cases questions are welcomed, as your superiors realize you are there to learn...not to mention there is a better chance you'll successfully accomplish whatever you've been set out to do, which makes everyone's lives easier.

3. Welcome all types of projects - Personally, interning at Bailey Gardiner I have had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects and from every one of them, no matter how simple or how complex, I have learned more about the way PR professionals function internally as well as how their work reflects externally. If you focus on the big picture, every task you put effort into will contribute to your bank of knowledge.

4. REALLY utilize social media - And I don't just mean Facebook stalking. Before BG for example, I had no idea what Twitter entailed, but have since been shown the light and the real potentials of the network. Not only can you stalk celebrities instead of just your friends, BUT you can keep up to date with trends in the industry as well as local/regional publications your company works with and even other Pros who really know their stuff. There's an indescribable amount of knowledge to gain from all the social media platforms out there -- especially when they are all so integrated with PR and marketing strategies today.

And last but not least...

5. Don't be afraid to take a breather every once in a while - By all means, make sure to maintain a professional and appropriate attitude and work ethic, but you don't need to take yourself seriously 24/7/365. As interns we have been given the opportunity to learn and grow on our path towards accomplishing our professional goals, but live in the moment and have fun with what we've been given. There is definitely a line between being driven and driving yourself over the edge and finding your own balance is key to a successful and happy life.


- Elli

Living In A Twitter World

Twitter is everywhere. I can hardly get through a day without hearing about the quickly growing social networking site. I’ll admit I was extremely skeptical of Twitter. I didn’t think it had anything to offer me. I envisioned tweets about what people ate for lunch and updates about their errands. I do not care. I signed-up after interviewing at Bailey Gardiner and learning that many in the office actively tweet. I figured even if it proved to be utterly boring and pointless, I would at least know what my potential boss had for lunch and that might be more than my competition knew. Let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised.

I gained insight into the company I wanted to work for. I learned what Jon, the CEO finds interesting, who he is meeting with and what he does on the weekends. I learned what Indra, the COO is involved in, what she views as important and where her favorite restaurants are. I gained a personal perspective on those who make Bailey Gardiner the successful company it is. Twitter brought me beyond the Web site, beyond the company blog. It brought me into their dialogue.

I strongly advocate job hunters using Twitter to learn more about the companies they want to work for, gain insight into their industry and become a part of their conversations. This in turn means that companies must view social networking as a necessary competitive advantage.

I have been thinking about this a lot in the past week. I mentioned Starbuck’s in a tweet and received information on 20% off. I tweeted about Clif Bar and quickly heard from someone who reviews energy bars.

Then, I opened the Union-Tribune on Sunday to find an article regarding travelers using Twitter to air complaints, get better customer service and learn about exclusive deals. Needless to say, I added Virgin America, Travelocity and others to my feed. If I can tweet a complaint about not sitting next to my hubby on a flight and get it fixed quicker than if I went to customer service, why not?

Yesterday, I opened my email at work to find some great articles passed on to all of us from Jon highlighting social media. It was impossible not to connect the information to Twitter. The Center for Media Research found that 72% of American Internet users trust online opinions. This means that “Consumer Generated Media” like that found on Twitter is critical to a company’s success or failure with those connected. Even more, a Razorfish study found that people are influencing each others' decisions online whether or not they are conscious of it. Companies beware! People are talking about you and others are listening!

I know I am listening. I now go beyond a simple Google search of reviews on a particular product or company. I look on sites like Twitter or Facebook to learn more. Companies can no longer tell an unsatisfied customer to f-off. The customer now has a very public forum. Take the recent guitar debacle with United Airlines. The Airline broke a guy’s guitar. He witnessed his fragile cargo being thrown and smashed. After complaining, filing a damaged goods report and getting only a “yes, we are responsible, but we will not reimburse you,” the guy wrote a song. He wrote a song about how much United Airlines sucks entitled “United Breaks Guitars”. He posted it on YouTube for the world to see and now it has almost 2.8 million views to date and a five-star rating. How did I learn about this story? On Twitter, of course.

United is now listening and so should everyone else. Social media can no longer be an afterthought whether you are a job seeker, a company or someone wishing to air a complaint. Social media connects everyone with real world conversations in real time. Use it and use it well. People are listening.