PR 2.0 Chat TV: Kenneth Cole and Groupon
Photo from Social Media Commando blog.
PR 2.0 Chat TV is a new #pr20chat community feature Heather Whaling and I are kicking off in 2011. Our model is one 5-minute segment once a week highlighting current PR/social media trends and/or a popular topic on the current week’s #pr20chat. We expect PR 2.0 Chat TV to evolve and would love your input on how to make it better. And please share any potential discussion topics in the comments.
This week on PR 2.0 Chat TV, Heather and I dove into Kenneth Cole, Groupon and when PR/Marketing cross the line and try to be too opportunistic. Kenneth Cole was just being an egotistical idiot. Or trying to be clever and it didn’t work. But I think Groupon broke that old rule my parents always told me when I was growing up — Be yourself.
Groupon excels at building community. The company created a solid community initiative to help those less fortunate than us across across the world. And then they tried to act too cool for school by making funny jokes about their customers and the issues for which they were initially trying to raise money and awareness.
I thought it was a fail. In fact, our video went a little long because Groupon bugged us, or at least me, so much. But not everyone agreed — here’s Nate Riggs post I mention in this week’s episode. Anyway, would love to hear your thoughts on our POV when it comes to exploiting PR/Marketing opportunities. Let us know what you think and what you’d like to see us discuss on future episodes.
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- Tweets that mention Public relations: PR 2.0 Chat TV: Kenneth Cole and Groupon – Justin Case You Were Wondering -- Topsy.com - [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Heather Whaling and JGoldsborough, Adrienne Fletcher. Adrienne Fletcher said: RT @JGoldsborough: #pr20chat ...
- Groupon's Super Bowl Ads: DATA on the Backlash Bandwagon | Columbus Social Media + Social Media Strategist | Nate Riggs & Social Business Strategies - [...] and Heather Whaling discussed Groupon’s Super Bowl ads as an example of how companies often misalign their brands with cause ...
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Who am I?
I'm a business communications consultant at Fleishman-Hillard. I used to call myself a PR professional, but I don't use that term anymore because people hear PR and they think only media relations.We do a lot more than that at Fleishman-Hillard Kansas City (FHKC). I specialize in social media, but am trying hard to brush up on my measurement and analytics. Every strategic consulting conversation should start with your business goals and how communications can help you reach them. My motto: "Your brand is what your customers say it is." 
Thanks for the mention, Justin. I’m actually writing more about Groupon today, based on some data my friends at Astute Solutions published on their blog yesterday from their Astute SRM mashup on the Super Bowl Ads. Aparently, the backlash to Groupon was not as bad as everyone thought… http://blog.astutesolutions.com/bid/39897/Brand-Mashup-after-the-Super-Bowl
@nateriggs Very interesting stats, Nate. Thanks for sharing. Look forward to your post. What’s interesting is that in in a recent post about crisis communications, I was talking about building goodwill so that when something negative happens to your brand, people know and trust your company so they stand up for it — just like we would for a friend offline. Kudos to Groupon for obviously having done a solid job building community before the ads. The reaction and affect might have been much worse for a brand that hadn’t already been actively listening and engaging.
@JGoldsborough Thinking back to your comment on my blog, I believe it’s easier to build good will when you are supposedly saving people 40% to 50% on stuff they didn’t even know that they wanted… To reference the movie Gladiator, it’s kind of like the roman soliders throwing loaves of bread to the crowds in the coliseum
@nateriggs Very true. Have a theory that brand success lies in three maine factors, in this order — 1) product quality, 2) price, 3) company reputation via engagement and goodwill or lack thereof. Thoughts?
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