:: digital exercise ::

Train Your Eye of the Tiger with the Social Tamers of the Buzz Factory

noreply@blogger.com (No Limit) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:23:00 +0000

Today, the team talks about Twitter, Tweedeck and Facebook Studio! It's a Two for Tuesday!

Twitter reportedly eyeing acquisition of Tweetdeck

EC: This could go down as one of the biggest moves by Twitter ever made, should it happen. TweetDeck is one of the most popular mobile and desktop social clients out there, and it is in direct competition with the offerings of Twitter in those spaces. The acquisition appears to be a strategic ploy against UberMedia, which was also looking to buy Tweetdeck in order to gain control of 20% of all tweeted content, as well as to possibly build a Twitter competitor. I can only hope that they don’t just kill off TweetDeck. Millions of users, from consumers to corporate, would be left without their favorite app for content creation and consumption from not only Twitter, but also Facebook, Foursquare, and other networks. A competitor from UberMedia would only appear more welcome to those users. My suggestion for Twitter: cover yourself with the acquisition, improve your marginal native mobile apps with the newly acquired talent, and keep Tweetdeck around for at least a little while. At least UberMedia largely keeps their acquisitions intact.

CB: As we see time and time again in life, competition breeds superior products. Twitter should hold off on acquiring the competition and instead look within to improve their native application. Once again, I will pose this question: Who actually uses Twitter.com?... Exactly. The same is true on mobile platforms. Third party applications (I prefer Seesmic on my mobile and Hootsuite on my desktop) continue to up the ante and force Twitter to improve their product, which they have yet to do to this point. I do not personally use Tweetdeck, but I know millions do. I feel the acquisition would not cripple Tweetdeck Nation, but it would definitely cripple the evolution of third party applications.

Facebook reveals Facebook Studio for connecting agencies

EC: Facebook has proven to be an excellent platform for innovative social campaigns and driving consumer action and interaction, and it shows no signs of slowing. With the launch of Facebook Studio, the company itself is now leading the charge in proving itself as a viable ad platform by cheerleading the most inventive campaigns and providing an industry directory and learning resource. What’s exciting is that it’s now more apparent who exactly the masterminds behind these campaigns are, and it can only help bring those leaders in the industry more recognition as well as push newer campaigns up to the next level.

CB: Finally! This is amazing news. My experience thus far (only about 13 months professionally) in the social media agency realm has been nothing but friendly. Sure there is competition, but when it comes to true creativity, social media professionals often come together at networking events to discuss ideas, what works, what doesn’t. This industry is still EXTREMELY young and sharing ideas can only help the evolution of it. Facebook has not always greeted businesses with open arms, but it is extremely clear that with these recent developments (among others) Facebook is beginning to really open their doors to business involvement. It will be interesting to see just how many “secrets & successes” get shared on this network and how Facebook will manage the privacy as well.

A Blog Post By: Chad Bryant (@chadATL)
Chad is the Social Media Director at No Limit and has finally ditched his Windows Phone for an Android. You can challenge him on Words with Friends (chadATL).
..

A Blog Post By: Evan Connors (@evcon)
Evan is a Social Media Coordinator at No Limit and accidentally the whole thing.

Double Rainbows Climbing Through Your Window

noreply@blogger.com (No Limit) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:11:00 +0000

YouTube releases EOY numbers

When businesses first consider diving into social media, the first networks on their mind are usually Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Although these networks are great for personal connections and sharing company news, deals and initiatives, YouTube seems to be forgotten.

The power of YouTube was once again displayed in 2010, as more than 700 billion YouTube videos totaling 13 million hours of video were uploaded this year, according to the official YouTube blog. That’s 700 BILLION videos. That’s like saying everyone on the planet uploaded about 9 videos just this past year. If your brain hasn’t exploded yet, YouTube also released the Top 10 Most Viewed videos of the year.

The top 2 videos had more than 100 million views combined. For those nay-sayers who think viral videos can’t be done through a corporate entity, see #5, Old Spice’s social media advertising campaign received 25 million views, proving businesses have just as much viral capability as personal vlogs, parodies or songs.

With 2011 on the horizon, how does your company plan on using YouTube in the coming year? Will you personally respond to customer service issues? Will you create a multi-million dollar production or simply use a webcam and $2 to create the next viral masterpiece? Through the years, it has been proven time and time again, viral success is not determined by the amount of money spent, but by how creative the artist is. Put on those thinking caps and let No Limit guide you along the path of viral video success…

A Blog Post By: Chad Bryant (@chadtbryant)
Chad is a member of the Social Media Squad for No Limit and is the only member of No Limit who can name more than three Atlanta Thrashers players.

Keeping your brand identity untangled

noreply@blogger.com (No Limit) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:03:00 +0000

This weekend, I caved to my inner child and saw the movie Tangled. Actually, I didn’t cave at all. I wanted to see it. With cinematic masterpieces like Wall-E and Up bolstering the “coolness” of animated movies, seeing a G-rated film featuring the comedic styling of forest animals is a lot more hip than it was 10 years ago.

Anyways, about five minutes into the movie, I was suddenly reminded that this was, in fact, a Disney film. Not a Pixar movie and certainly not a Dreamworks production. But what was it that allowed me to pick out the creative force behind a film I'd only seen five minutes of? Simple: a song.

Disney has done a particularly good job of establishing a brand identity. Think of it as a recipe: take one part princess, one part dashing prince/scoundrel, throw in an anthropomorphic side kick and sprinkle heavily with musical numbers. Sound familiar? It should—that describes nearly every animated Disney movie.

It’s the songs, though, that differentiate Disney films from the otherwise very similar productions of Pixar and Dreamworks. Ask someone in their twenties if they can hum the tune of “A Whole New World” or “Under the Sea,” and you won’t be disappointed. So as soon I as heard the first few bars of an opening song in Tangled, I knew it was a Disney movie.

That kind of instantly recognizable quality or qualities is the key to a strong brand identity, and a strong brand identity is critical to the long-term success of a business. On Saturday, Disney broke the 100 million fans mark across their assortment of Facebook pages. Those 100 million people all know what to expect when they sit down to a Disney movie, and that identity is something Disney has worked hard to foster and protect.

It’s easy to look at an industry giant and say, “They’re doing a great job, be like them.” But let’s scale things down and look at how one mid-size pizza chain has managed to accomplish the same goal of creating a unique identity that separates it from the pack.

Toppers Pizza is a 28-unit eclectic pizza franchise with locations throughout the Midwest. Their focus has always been on 18-34 year olds, and they have tailored both their product and brand identity to appeal to that demographic. With slogans like “We come fast, no apologies” and “spank your buds,” and menu items like the Hangover Helper and Mac ‘N Cheese, it’s instantly clear not only who Toppers is reaching out to but their approach to the entire pizza industry.

Toppers’ identity is also buffeted by social media, which may be their version of Disney’s songs. With massive bracketed contests like the recently concluded “Spank Your Pizza,” Toppers (with the help of No Limit Media Consulting) reaches out to its fans on a daily basis, getting their input and sending out swag in return. The level of fan interaction has even reached the point where a tagged photo of empty Toppers boxes on Sunday morning is a regular occurrence.

Toppers’ brand identity—its combination of message, product and social media—has helped the chain steal market share from national competitors and generated system-wide AUVs (the average sales per unit) of $966k, well above industry standards. That same identity is the guiding force in its national expansion and the reason it will succeed wherever it goes.

Just like you know what you’re getting when you pop a Disney DVD into the player, Toppers’ fans know exactly what to expect from the second they order to the instant they open the box and get punched in the face with flavor. And they keep coming back for more.

A Blog Post By: Brian Diggelmann (@bdiggelmann)

Brian is the newest member of the No Limit team and enjoys grown-up movies too.

Free Speech on Facebook?

noreply@blogger.com (No Limit) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:56:00 +0000

With Facebook constantly making waves throughout the news headlines, it’s become almost commonplace to see the world’s largest Social Networking site discussed daily. Usually, these stories focus on the company’s growth, societal impacts or technological advances. This week, however, Facebook shifted the focus of another topic altogether—free speech. Earlier this week, a federal agency announced that Facebook posts now fall under the protection of free speech laws, including comments made within the workplace about employers.

This announcement followed a lawsuit by emergency medical technician Dawnmarie Souza against her former employer—an ambulance service company called American Medical Response. Souza was allegedly fired by the company after posting negative comments about her supervisor on Facebook. Despite the company’s statement that her dismissal was unrelated to these updates, the case could still have major ramifications regarding the use of Social Media in the workplace.

The potential issue with Souza’s termination, according to the New York Times, CNN and Mashable, is that her supervisor is not allowed by law to fire her for her Facebook comments. According the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency that checks into claims regarding unfair labor practices, the right to be critical of your superiors at work—including remarks made on Facebook and other social networking sites— is a protected right. The statement by the agency further contends that such comments are protected under a law called The National Labor Act, which allows workers to discuss working conditions (for better or worse) without fear of termination. Souza made comments about her supervisor being crazy on her personal account during her own time outside of working hours.

By no means does such an injunction mean that you should log onto Facebook or Twitter and proclaim your newly-discovered civil liberties to all of your friends, co-workers and bosses. But it’s an interesting sign of things to come, especially considering that this precedent-setting case could impact corporate policies about an employee’s use of Social Media. Many companies adopted a conservative approach to Social Media corporate policy, restricting or prohibiting the use of such sites by their employees. But as Social Media has transitioned from perceived novelty to a regular facet of everyday life, many of these policies seemed outdated.

So perhaps it’s time to put posts, tweets and check-ins on the same level as water cooler conversations and happy hours? What do you think? Should Facebook be counted as an extension of free speech?

A Blog Post By: Max Blau (@maxblau)
Max is the Social Media Director at No Limit. He is an avid fan of Mobeta Wings and catfish.

Conferences, Expos and All of the Above

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:43:00 +0000

So last week I was given the opportunity to take my first business trip to Las Vegas and Los Angeles for Pita Pit’s annual convention and the West Coast Franchise Expo. And what an experience it was.

My day started bright and early on Tuesday morning with my first venture to the airport at 5:30 a.m. However, that was not to catch my own flight, it was to deliver my father to the airport in time to catch his 8:15 flight back to Idaho. From there, I went back home to make sure I had everything and realized I was missing my business cards (which all of you know is crucial to a first business trip) that also had my last name spelled wrong. Running a tad later than expected, I rushed to the office to grab the business cards I had received and I was off to the airport.

As always, I never run on time when I am going to the airport. I’m not exactly sure what goes through my head when I am preparing to go to the airport, but I always seem to arrive at least 20 minutes later than I had planned. I ran up to the AirTran counter with no confirmation number and asked them ever so nicely to check me in to my flight that was departing in 50 minutes. With an astounded stare, my agent looked at me and said, “lucky I am nice… run through security and don’t stop until you get to your gate.” And listen I did. I sprinted to my gate as fast as I possibly could with no time to stand in the line at TSA and forgot my belt. Too bad, no time to waste…. and finally I arrived at my departure gate. I asked the agents if there were any available seats left on the plane as the flight was completely sold out to Las Vegas. As I sat patiently waiting (or really not so patiently) I finally heard my name called and I ran up to the desk to find out I had the LAST seat on the plane. Thank God.

First stop… Las Vegas. After my four hour flight, we finally landed in Vegas and I was ready to get back to work… or so I thought. My phone was dead, my computer was dead and when I arrived to the hotel my room was unavailable for another two hours. Perfect. So naturally, I began making friends with all of the people in the hotel to distract myself from my endless travels. Finally I met the nicest man who worked at the concierge who was nice enough to charge my phone for me so at least I had some form of communication. The weirdest part about chatting with all of the hotel staff was that almost everyone I spoke with had a connection to my hometown, Coeur d’Alene. It was the weirdest thing ever… how did so many people from such a small town end up in Las Vegas? Well that was exactly the answer I needed… small town… to Las Vegas. Got it.

When the conference started the next day, I was ramped up and ready to go. However, I don’t think the majority of the room was with me. I guess that’s what Vegas is best for… gambling until the wee hours of the morning. Right away, I knew it was going to be a challenge to have all of the conference attendees in the same room at any given point. And that proved to be true. Las Vegas is great for so many reasons, getting people to attend a conference, the first class shows, the gambling and the nightlife. However, because of all of these reasons, it probably isn’t the best site for a company conference.

What was worth every minute of the conference was the world class speaker, Troy Hazard, who had an amazing message that all walks of life can relate to. He is an amazing entrepreneur, businessman and has truly found ways to make every day better than the last if you just pay attention and stop making excuses. Lesson learned sir; if I will take one thing away from his 4 hour session it will be to pay attention to the details and to stop rushing through life thinking I am “too busy.” Organization is a practice that turns into a habit. If you can set simple goals of what you hope to accomplish everyday and the plan how you hope to improve the next, you create a consciousness that helps create good business practices that will save you millions. Well at least I hope so because it worked for Mr. Hazard.

On Thursday, it was time for No Limit to do their presentation on the use of Social Media and Public Relations.

Innovation, creation and having a constant voice; all critical to having a successful social media presence. There was a great dialogue and by the end of the presentation, almost everyone in the room seemed to be engaged in the message and was interested in creating a consistent page with a unified voice that could constantly be monitored by our social media team. I thought the presentation went surprising well, until we broke into small groups. First round of breakout sessions and no one comes to the table. Apparently the presentation was so good that no one had any questions or they were completely offended that we told them they didn’t understand the power of social media. Then breakout session two comes along and we get about 6 franchisees to come to the table and had a great dialogue on what No Limit planned to help them with, from getting ideas for their local markets, using us to help with their social media pages and also helping them get extra press attention. Suddenly, everyone was captivated by the conversation and was excited about the endless possibilities. I suppose six is better than none.

Friday came along and it was time to DRIVE to Los Angeles for the West Coast Franchise Expo. The good part about the drive is that we had a Prius and only used half a tank on the way. It was incredible! The bad part is that we spent another four hours in the car driving across the desert… have you ever driven across the Mojave Desert? It was about 95 degrees and dry with absolutely no scenery. It never ceases to amaze me how sprawling Los Angeles is. It just keeps on going and going and going. We finally made it downtown and instead of doing a “traditional” dinner with our clients, we went to the Los Angeles Lakers game, which was absolutely amazing where we got to do some star gazing. No, not the stars you see in the sky because you can’t see the stars in LA. Instead, we got to see people like Justin Timberlake, Klohe Kardashian, Monica, Paula Abdul, Andy Garcia, Will Farrell and of course the infamous Jack Nicholson. What a game to watch and of course a great time to spend with clients since really none of us had ever experience a game in the Staples Center.

When we woke up the next morning bright and early, it was time to go to the Expo and meet with our clients AAMCO, The Goddard School, Lenny’s Sub Shops and the Pita Pit. All of which had booths set up for potential franchisees and vendors to stroll around to. Walking up and down the aisles, I began talking to all sorts of brands who had created an innovative niche in each market. The mass appeal was strong for some of the brands and discussing growth was always a goal when speaking to each different concept. In the realm of today’s business, people are trying to find the next “big thing.” What is interesting about these shows, especially in terms of potential franchisees is that half of the people there have no idea what they are looking for. Over hearing a majority of discussions, people have narrowed it down to a broad range of service, food, retail or specialty. There is no concept of specific brands, only general categories that interest each individual. The problem with an expo is all of the choices! How do you possibly pick from a room full of different concepts? The answer… you don’t. You find out enough information to go home, do more research and narrow your options down to the final candidates. And often this never happens. The concept to me is amazing and to sell a franchise concept in a room of 50-100 other brands, you have to be a great salesperson.

Only spending about 2 hours at the show, we rushed back off to the airport and boarded the plane back to Atlanta. Due to total exhaustion from all of the excitement from the last five days, I fell into a deep sleep for a majority of the flight home….and it felt amazing.

Looking back on my first business trip, I have come to some realizations. Every trip is what you make of it and you need to do everything you can possibly do. Take notes, talk to everyone you are surrounded by and try to learn something new from each person you speak with. All of these things will help you prepare for the future and become more engrained and educated in your field. Networking is huge and these types of trips are the perfect opportunity to branch out and ultimately expand the endless horizon of opportunities that is set before you.

A Blog Post By: Jordy Patano (@jordypatano)
Jordy works with the PR team at No Limit. She is a recent graduate of Emory University, and is currently checking into rehab for her Quad-Shot, Non-Fat, Vanilla Latte addiction.

Publicity, darling. Just publicity. Any kind is better than none at all.

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 21:28:00 +0000

The internet: it’s become our world.

In The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg describes the early stages of Facebook as a way of “taking the entire social experience of college and putting it online." Well, today, with Facebook at whatever number in the hundred millions it’s now at, and hundreds of millions of other sites competing for whatever’s left over, it seems like the entire experience of life is now online.

And everything online is personal—everyone and everything, including celebrities and even businesses, feels like somebody you know, perhaps because with a few clicks you can literally know everything about them. Just look at Facebook, for example, how similar the business pages are to the user profile pages—and it goes beyond the basic structural setup of photos and contact info. What it comes down to is that businesses themselves function like autonomous beings, like people, with carefully cultivated personalities, voices, and reputations. And in a world where reputation has become synonymous with representation, this is incredibly important. But it’s also incredibly flexible, just as it is with people.

Lindsey Lohan is not rich and famous for being an upstanding citizen and a positive role model. She is, quite obviously, neither of these things. But she’s rich and famous. Tina Fey is also rich and famous, but in this case it’s for being hilarious and lovable—her public persona, which coincides with the character she plays on 30 Rock, seems so genuine that she can embarrass herself and still come out on top, because she’s calm and confident about her image, and she doesn’t seem to have anything to prove. Or how about politicians (let’s not name specifics here)—their reputations are directly linked to their power—they have to be likable in order to achieve, which is why they’re always getting caught with their pants down, literally and figuratively.

The same thing is true for businesses. They can be a Lohan or a Fey or a politician, but like celebrities they profit off of publicity.

Sun Chips compostable bag was great in theory, but they canned it because people were “complaining” about the loud bag. Now, I don’t know about you, but I thought this was stupid—if anything, the machine-gun volume of those compostable bags seemed to give Sun Chips their day in the sun. I for one bought Sun Chips because I wanted to see how loud the bag really was and because clearly their heart (or at least, their representation of a heart), seemed to be in the right place, and because I like Sun Chips. I don’t think any of the complaints or the Facebook groups were malicious or even campaigning to do away with the bags—they were just doing what online communities so often do, pointing out facts, making jokes, and forming a little temporary community out of a mutual laugh, before moving on to the next thing. Sun Chips could’ve been a Tina Fey, stuck to their guns in the face of embarrassment, appreciating the publicity and coming out on top. Instead they pulled a cowardly politico move and got rid of the bags altogether, giving off the impression that they were hugely embarrassed by the whole affair and unable to cope with the ambivalent nature of a publicity they didn’t have control over.

But what if the key to success in today’s fast-paced, media-saturated, virtual world of excess is to always act like you’re in control? To take whatever reputation you’ve earned and just run with it? This is not to say that you shouldn’t work to craft the reputation you think will bring you the most business—on the contrary, it is about maintaining that reputation and sticking to your guns. Otherwise, you’re a flip-flopper. And nobody likes a flip-flopper.

Unless of course, you just screwed up right from the start—let’s look at Sketchers here—and their stupid idea to create a shoe and a business model exactly like TOMS. They called it BOBS, and people instantly responded in a way that any smart marketing person should have foreseen: ridicule. I don’t know what Sketchers expected or how they thought they’d get away with it in a world as closely connected as ours, but the results were an epic business fail. Sketchers stopped promoting BOBS almost as quickly as they started.

This is like Lindsey Lohan starting her own sitcom called Forty Rock in which she unironically plays a character named Tiz Temon. Stupid. Lame. Kind of awkward. Plagiarizing is illegal people, even if you switch a few letters around.

Simon Mainwaring of Fast Company summed it up best: “[Sketchers’ BOBS debacle] is a great example of where where so many brands go wrong. Consumers do not respond to the ‘how’ of what you do but the ‘why’. That's because the ‘why’ is emotional and something they can connect to. The ‘how’ is simply the expression of that emotion.”
This is exactly what I mean about how social media has made business personal.

This is also where we come in. Public Relations has always been about creating the face for a business, taking care of the personal touch, the bedside manner, the surface appeal. But whereas traditional PR is focused on forming relationships with traditional media outlets (who will then transmit the messages to potential consumers), social media PR cuts out the middle man and communicates directly with consumers. Social media PR is all about BEING the brand itself. Customers, consumers, and clients become fans, followers, and friends. Traditional pitches and press releases morph into the careful construction and vigilant maintenance of a “personality” that will draw in the kinds of customers—or, rather tellingly, “friends”—that the business is catering to; a kind of virtual camaraderie, if you will.

So I guess ultimately, what it comes down to is coming up with an original idea that fits with the personality of your brand and the demographic you’re looking to reach, and sticking with that idea through thick and thin—learning how to be flexible enough to evolve and grow. Learning how to laugh at yourself; creating the kind of personality that lets you laugh at yourself.

Toppers P izza is a brand that has perfected their personality, and seen huge success as a result.

- Innovative product ideas? How about The Tall Boy, a pizza made out of their world famous Topperstix, which by the way came around 8 years before Dominos’ Cheesy Bread and Cinnastix (Toppers = TOMS, Dominos = Sketchers).

- Savvy social media campaigns? Check out Spank Your Pizza, going on now—an innovative way of using crowdsourcing and an unprecedented tournament-style format to let Toppers fanatics literally create their own pizzas, and compete to have their personal pizzas featured on Toppers menus nationwide.

- A well-established, flexible personality? Check. From their strange evil baby mascot to their “Hangover Helper” pizza, Toppers has creatively captured the college demographic in a way that no other pizza chain has.
Results? Toppers Pizza is one of the top 50 fastest-growing chains in the country. They’re making an average of $966,000 a year per location, which is 35%-45% higher sales than their competition, and with only 28 units total so far, Toppers has managed to shut down more than 10 Papa John’s, Pizza Hut’s and Domino’s, just by opening in their markets!

“The reason for our success is simple: We are not one of the ‘Wal-Marts’ of the industry. The big chains have lost identity and brand connection,” said Scott Gittrich, founder and CEO of the growing Whitewater, WI-based 26-unit franchise brand. “Our customers are fanatical about our brand. Our quirkiness and edginess has given our brand character, thus we have been able to continue our growth and bonding with an untapped national demographic – the 18-34-year olds.”

Toppers knows what’s up. Which is why even when they were featured on The Tonight Show’s “Headlines” for being the most disgusting ad for pizza Jay Leno had ever seen, they just took the Rhonda Farr approach—any publicity is good publicity. Their ads may be irreverent, but their pizza is delicious, and they have an army of fanatical fans to back them up. Including this guy…

A Blog Post By: Hilary Cadigan (@idacyral)
Hilary is a member of the Public Relations team for No Limit. She graduated from Emory University and is a contributing writer for Lumino Magazine.

No Limit 2.0: A Look inside our recently expanded office

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 20:20:00 +0000

A little over two years ago, No Limit was a company of one. Since October 2008, founder and CEO Nick Powills has taken this business and developed it into a 10 person company. Given the recent economic downturn over the past few years, this type of growth, to put it simply, has been flat out impressive. Over the past several months, our office had become too small to hold staff (especially with all the pitching going on in such close quarters). As a result, No Limit took over the space next door, knocking down walls and doubling our office space.

For those of you who have been avidly following our blog every week, here’s a chance to take a look behind the scenes of where all of our Public Relations magic and Social Media wizardry goes down.

A Blog Post By: Max Blau (@maxblau)
Max is the Social Media Director at No Limit. He is an avid fan of Mobeta Wings and catfish.

Managing Your Social Media Presence or: How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:07:00 +0000

I was struggling to think of some way to tie in Halloween with PR for this week’s post, but I struck out worse than A-Rod in a division clinching game. Instead, I opted to settle for a related theme: zombies! For some inexplicable reason, zombies have exploded onto the pop culture scene over the past few years. They’ve been an increasingly hot topic ever since Romero’s Night of the Living Dead way back in ’68, but the past ten years have really been the Decade of the Living Dead.

Movies like 28 Days Later, Shawn of the Dead, and Zombieland have become classics in their own lifetime. As usual, the internet has hopped on the bandwagon with sites like zombieme.com and dozens of Facebook apps. But the rising interest has not been limited to the media. Zombie pub crawls featuring dozens of people made up to look as if they’ve just risen from the grave (and possibly been hit by a few cars on the way over), and taking over towns for a night of drinking and staggering have sprung up across the nation. Actually, that's more of a typical weekend in some college towns than an example of zombie fandom.

Right about now, you may be wondering where the turn is in this blog. What do zombies have to do with public relations or social media? In truth, not a whole lot (unless you look at my list of clients I’d least like to represent where they fall just after the devil and Mel Gibson). But if you’re willing to follow a loose metaphor and learn a thing or two about monitoring your social media presence, stick around.

With the rise of social media, anyone connected to the internet can be a critic. Dedicated aggregators like Yelp, Kudzu and Angie’s List have made big business of collecting and organizing reviews, but posts on Facebook walls or tweets can be just as influential. Hopefully, your brand has mostly positive comments on these networks, but you’ll inevitably pick up a few negative ones no matter how good your service or product is.

Think of these negative comments as zombies. They wander around aimlessly, shuffling amid millions of similarly ornery zombies (comments) until BAM! Some poor sap stumbles into them while researching your brand and gets a bite taken out of his brains (interest in pursuing your brand). Before you know it, that prospective client, franchisee or consumer has read enough bad things about you to take his brains (business) elsewhere. So how do you combat this zombie horde longing to munch on the gooey bits of your brand's prospects? Read on fearless zombie killer!

To keep this ridiculous zombie motif going, let’s break it down this way. There are two tools anyone hoping to survive the zombie apocalypse (negative comments online) needs: a good lookout (monitoring) and a strong plan of attack (engagement). Monitoring, or listening, is exactly what it sounds like. Keep an ear to the ground, a finger on the pulse, and eye on the horizon. Specifically, you want to know what’s being said about you, your brand and your product, on what networks, by who and how influential those voices are.

There are dozens of tools out there to help you do this, some more effective than others. Superficially, you can use Google Alerts, Twitter search or engines like Friend Feed to catch mentions of your brand. This is a great start, especially when you search frequently and with good keywords, but these tools have their limits. If you have the budget, you really want to invest in a dedicated social media monitoring platform with an experienced team like No Limit behind the wheel. This, by the way, would be the equivalent of having Woody Harrelson’s character Tallahassee from Zombieland watching your back.
When monitoring, you want to watch for certain key comments, often grouped into one of the following categories: questions, complaints, compliments, inquiries and leads. A good monitoring platform will allow you to add word filters to your search, facilitating the organization of comments. Once you've got your comments squared away, its time to deal with them. Keep in mind, monitoring is a vital part of the strategy, but without coordinated engagement you can look forward to being an all-you-can-eat buffet for some chump zombie.

Engagement is the second requisite tool. Once you’ve identified a conversation, tweet, Facebook post, or blog post that mentions your brand, you have to do something with that information. The correct response to a question or complaint can build brand loyalty, resolve a nasty customer service dispute or even drawn in new franchisees or clients. The trick to engagement is fast action, which is only possible through active monitoring!

Let’s go back to the zombie comment feasting on the brains of our unlucky googler. What if you had gotten to that zombie first and given him the antidote to his malaise? Could you have prevented that encounter and regained the lost business you suffered as a result of it? Answering every negative comment online would be nearly impossible, but sincere responses to those you are able to can transform your brand image online. Whether done through the original medium of the complaint or via email, working to resolve complaints or amend customer service issues can turn the authors of those zombie comments into allies, fighting for your brand online.

Engagement works on the other side of the isle as well. When someone posts pictures of themselves with your product, make a big deal out of it! I was reading an email from a Facebook fan the other day that said the first meal she had after giving birth was ordered from one of our clients. That’s a huge testimonial that deserves to be shouted from the mountaintops. You may have brand advocates out there fighting zombies on their own time. Identifying them (through monitoring) and offering them support (through engagement) helps both your causes.

Long story short, if you get stuck with a bad image online, start keeping closer tabs on who’s saying what about your brand and get involved in those conversations. If you get stuck in a zombie apocalypse? Remember rule number one: cardio.

A Blog Post By: Brian Diggelmann (@bdiggelmann)

Brian is the founder and current president of the campaign to reclaim the term "Tier 1."

Chad Bryant takes SocialScope (Beta) for a test drive

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:48:00 +0000

I love me some beta testing. Whether it be a new video game, app, hardware or product, I just love getting my hands on something new. SocialScope (@SocialScope) is a social media app that has been touted as a gift from the interactive gods themselves. It is a mobile app that combines Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Flickr into one mobile program. The app launched as a beta about two years ago and have kept it private ever since. Thanks to my friend Evan Connors (@evcon), a social media fanatic much like myself, I finally received my beta invite. By the way, if you are looking for a young buck for social media projects, check Evan out. I definitely recommend his services. He is a recent grad from UGA and unable to provide his exceptional services. You can get more info on him here. /end of personal plug.

I had been following SocialScope for the past year or so when I first started diving into the mobile app universe. Unsatisfied with the other social networking apps made available to Blackberry users, I waited patiently for my invite. Months went by until the day finally arrived last week. After a few days of playing around with the app, here is my review.

MULTIPLE NETWORKS, MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS
This is the first app where multiple networks are combined into one singular application and feed. Not only that, but if you have multiple accounts on networks or are an admin of Facebook pages, you can utilize multiple accounts. This is by far my favorite feature of the app. All accounts are fed into one main feed and then can be viewed by each individual network, making it a one stop shop for all your social networking needs. Because of this use of multiple accounts, it is now possible for me to not only post personal updates, but also post on all of my client’s accounts seamlessly on the go.

DESIGN/FUNCTIONALITY
When I first opened up SocialScope, it felt much like an iPhone app. Scrolling through the different feeds, it was responsive and smooth. The design was of highest quality compared to UberTwitter, RIM Twitter, and the Official Facebook App. You can definitely tell this has been worked on during the two years. Feeds update quickly. Posts, check-ins and status updates are smooth. In fact, I would argue that each mini-component of the app is the best version of that network. Foursquare, for example, on SocialScope, is cleaner, more organized and the feed is much easier to read. Instead of sorting by location, time, etc. like the official Foursquare app, the feed is simply filtered by time. Simplicity = gold.

Being able to open one program and be connected through various networks is what gives SocialScope its charm. The seamless functionality and design are a bonus. The fact that this third party application is perfecting companies’ official apps has me excited for the future of SocialScope and mobile social networking in the future.

Pros: Multiple Networks, Multiple Accounts, Singular Location // Closed beta gives it an exclusive charm // Design and functionality

Cons: Having all networks refreshing in one mega-app drains battery life more, but barely noticeable

OVERALL: 4 mustaches out of 5

To sign up for the closed beta of SocialScope follow them on Twitter @SocialScope and sign up on their website www.getsocialscope.com

A Blog Post By: Chad Bryant (@chadtbryant)
Chad is a member of the Social Media Squad for No Limit and all he does is win.

No Limit reviews The Social Network

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:44:00 +0000

The highly anticipated movie, The Social Network, opened to rave reviews a couple weeks ago. This is the movie about the founders of Facebook and a behind-the-scenes look at how Facebook got its start. It’s tagline is “You Don’t Get to 500 Million Friends Without Making a Few Enemies.”

I eagerly went to the 7:35 showing last night to experience the hype for myself. I can be somewhat critical of supposed “rave reviews” but to my delight, this one really lived up to its publicity. I would go so far as to say it is one of the best, if not the best movie of the year.

The subplot of the movie depicts just how influential social networking is. In a matter of just minutes, Mark Zuckerberg, the creator, sent out an email to an exclusive list of less than 50 people. Only hours after he sent his email, thousands were already plugged in. The “friends” became the influencers and connectors to add more people to the network. This exact point is why social networking is perhaps the best marketing tool available today. Anyone on Facebook is a connector because it is so easy and immediate to spread the message.

An interesting question was raised during the movie: had Facebook gotten advertisers too early on, would it have been as successful as it is today? Would it have lost its “cool factor” if advertisers had infiltrated the site too early? The movie suggests yes and I would agree. These social networking sites are created as a way to create, and maintain personal relationships. With the addition of advertisers, the sites become less personal and lose that “x” factor. Facebook got its financial support from angel investors and only later did they use advertisers to help raise revenue when it had already gone viral and people became addicted to the site. But, advertising is a bit different on Facebook. It’s not your just typical pop up ad. It’s company-sponsored applications to allow their users to do something; it’s an ad that generates support for itself by having people “like it”. Mostly it’s interactive and engaging.

The bottom line here is that Facebook and social networking have changed the way that people communicate and like to be communicated to, and its connected the world. More than 70 translations are available on Facebook and 70% of Facebook users are outside of the US.

If you haven’t seen The Social Network, I highly recommend seeing it. It will show you just how influential Facebook is and rise some questions to keep you wondering for days.

A Blog Post By: Kristen Healey (@kristenhealey)
Kristen is an Account Manager at No Limit. She enjoys traveling and aspires to be a salsa dancer.

Behind the Scenes of a Toppers opening: How PR and Social Media turn an ordinary event into something extraordinary

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:27:00 +0000

With the help of No Limit Media Consulting, Toppers has turned what can often be a boring event into something much bigger and more exciting. Look no further than Toppers’ recent opening in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 2nd for proof of what Franchise Public Relations and Social Media can do for a brand’s event.

In what has become a tradition for the brand’s store openings, franchisees Bob, Dave and Rick Fullarton gave away free pizza for a year to the first 50 customers in line for the opening! Led by No Limit PR specialists Kristen Healey and Hilary Cadigan, Toppers managed to secure a ton of press in the local market promoting the opening (including TV, Print and Radio). Social Media continued the hype by not only extending the life of their press, but also hyped up the event across their Social Media profiles.

Check out the combined results of No Limit and Toppers' combined efforts craziness below!

Tomorrow, Toppers will be at it again as they open another store in the Bay View neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Expect equal, if not more people to turn out as this fall right in the heart of Toppers country! People are already in line to claim their free pizza for a year, despite the store not opening until tomorrow morning at 10:30am! So RSVP on Facebook, get in line now and become a part of Toppers’ fanatical following!

A Blog Post By: Max Blau (@maxblau)
Max is the Social Media Director at No Limit. He is a recent graduate of Emory University and manages the music blog War on Pop.

Franchises Adapt to Smaller Footprint; Through Kiosks, Trucks and Pop-Up Stores

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:06:00 +0000

While the current economic conditions have led to many financial obstacles for small business, franchise brands are still finding innovative ways to grow. One emerging trend is a move to smaller and portable spaces including kiosks, trucks and pop-up stores. These types of options allow people to open their own business for a much lower start up cost.

The kiosk model is one innovative method that allows franchise brands to expand in high traffic venues such as malls, shopping centers, the streets of major cities, and airports. One brand who is finding success with the kiosk model is Smart Tax, who launched in November 2009 with ten locations and will open almost 30 units for tax season 2011. One of Smart Tax’s growth strategies has been to open kiosks in wholesale operators, where they will have 4 operating kiosk centers this year. This not only allows the brand to enter a high demand outlet but allows more consumers to become familiar with the product and ultimately build resonating brand awareness. Additionally, the franchisees opening the kiosks are able to capitalize on a smaller initial investment, portable space and a larger growth potential.

Many restaurant concepts have now taken the typical delivery method one step further by offering the entire experience/product from the truck. Trucks can be a great way to attract larger volumes of people and change locations throughout the day. This model allows for flexibility and on-the-go meal options.

While Pop-Up shops are not always permanent business opportunities for franchises, they are a fantastic way to introduce a brand’s product and build a buzz with a region you are looking to grow. For example, The Pita Pit built a full, usable shop outside FOX Studios to be interviewed for 8-weeks this past summer on the morning show, FOX & Friends. This mock-shop allowed street traffic to sample the product and get hooked on the unique, healthy cuisine found in cities across the United Stated. Not only did this introduce New York City to Pita Pit, but it also enticed many entrepreneurial minded travelers to consider partnering with this young and innovative brand. With the holiday season approaching, we will see an incredible amount of pop-up shops that represent a niche surrounding holiday consumerism.

One thing is for certain, if you are looking to raise brand awareness, introduce your product/service to consumers and accomplish this at a lower start-up cost, then these options can be a great method to explore.

A Blog Post By: Carrie Magelowitz (@carriemag)
Carrie is an Account Manager on the PR team for No Limit. She is a UGA alumni and loves the Dawgs despite the fact that 11 players have been arrested this season.

Puck Drop and Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:02:00 +0000

If you have ever met me, you would know within five seconds that I have an unhealthy obsession with the sport of hockey. The NHL dropped the puck on another season last night and our very own Atlanta Thrashers will open their season tonight (of course I have tickets…). Since hockey has been on my mind for about six months (Atlanta doesn’t have the greatest of teams and has had a long summer due to their absence in the playoffs) I decided to write my blog about hockey.

The NHL is a unique specimen. It has one of the largest online followings of all leagues. Many professionals point to the fact that hockey is a much more international game than say the American football, baseball, or basketball. The league has always been on the forefront of social networking, blogging, and communications. This will be the first season in which NHL franchises will allow select bloggers to have locker room access after games. The NHL completely re-vamped their website last year, interconnecting it with all 30 of its franchises. Users could create a log in and communicate with fans from all cities and have a central profile where they could add friends, leave comments, etc. The project was comparable to a “MySpace” exclusively for hockey lovers.

The newest project that the NHL has launched is with Foursquare. There are rumors that there will be badges given out to those that follow the NHL on Foursquare and check-in during opening weekend. No worries guys, I will have my Blackberry with me as I enter Philips Arena and will verify these said rumors, right after I grab a cold one.

Hockey season is back and the NHL is continuing to embrace social media. Two of my passions coming together, much like Philly Pretzel Factory’s Cheesesteak Pretzel.

A Blog Post By: Chad Bryant (@chadtbryant)
Chad is a member of the Social Media Squad for No Limit. He recently became a season ticket holder of the Atlanta Thrashers and will soon become the mayor of Philips Arena.

“I Like It On The…” It’s not what you think… But it is Genius

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:34:00 +0000

“I like it on the counter or the stool by the door.”

“I like it in my dining room-- preferably on the chair, but if that doesn't work out, it usually goes to the couch....”

What are these Facebookers talking about?

When brainstorming a topic for this blog I was also checking into Facebook for my hourly client screening and saw a stream of never-ending posts by my friends about where they like it? So not being in the loop about this Facebook happening (which I was a little bit dismayed by) I went to the ever-resourceful Google and immediately fell upon my perfect blog post about a ridiculously smart PR campaign, thanks to my 5 minutes of procrastination.

A recent Facebook status phenomenon has taken over the social site this week, making some readers heads turn or wonder why a friend would make that thought public knowledge. But these postings are not what you think, rather a brilliant tie between Social Media and a national PR Campaign.

As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, a somewhat redundant campaign has taken a social turn, attracting hundreds of thousands of women to post where they like to…(nope get your head out of the gutter) put their purse. That’s right, where these women like to put their purse. The confusion is just the reaction the national campaign was looking for, wanting to spark a conversation among young people about breast cancer.

The main purpose in PR is getting people to generate positive talk and create a buzz that will influence a brand, person or in this case an important cause, and for that reason this campaign in my opinion is PR genius in 2 ways:

1. They realized that to get the PR they wanted they needed to create a reaction and a conversation, using the power of Social Media they made it a reality.

2. In addition to knowing how to create that reaction, they knew the biggest response would be generated by a campaign that is a little quirky and risqué. The campaigns main goal, other than creating the reaction, was to keep men in the dark about what their girlfriends, friends, sister or even mom were posting, ultimately making them spur the conversation and get educated… and it’s working.

Of all my friends “I like it on” status’, almost all of them have a male posting a comment asking “What?”

Mission accomplished.

Not only has this campaign made a perfect tie between Social Media and a PR Campaign, but has also shown the effectiveness of risqué marketing.

Bravo to Breast Cancer Awareness Month and power to the Tata’s.

A Blog Post By: Lois Krolikowski (@LoisK)
Lois is an Account Manager at No Limit. She is an avid Auburn football fan and enjoys generating buzz for her clients!

Liking the Like in Franchise Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:47:00 +0000

Next time you log into your Facebook account or surf your favorite website, stop and take a look at how prevalent the “like” has become. As a recent Mashable article pointed out, Facebook’s “Like” button has become firmly entrenched within the Social Media world, despite the feature’s relative infancy after being introduced just eight months ago.

With upwards of 500 million monthly active users along with 150 million mobile users, the “like” button has had huge ramifications on the growth of Facebook pages, website hits and user engagement. According to Facebook, the average “liker” tends to be a more social individual than a “non-liker”—they have more friends, click through more links and are in general more involved with Facebook pages. As the “like” button continues to be implemented and embedded into websites and social networks outside of Facebook, pages will only further increase their importance to a client’s Social Media strategy.

Philly Pretzel Factory has taken full advantage of the “like” button over the past six months, as they have managed to grow virally since launching their Social Media campaign last spring. The Philadelphia-based franchise used Facebook as the primary tool to host a fan photo contest, using the “like” feature as a voting mechanism, allowing fans to “like” each photo they voted for. The strategy proved to be highly effective, generating over 520 votes and growing their fan count by 766 “likes” in only 6 days. That kind of growth and interaction simply was not possible a year ago, and has since transformed the way companies can engage consumers.

As the “like” button continues to develop across different platforms, it will be especially interesting to see where the technology goes from here. To learn more about Facebook’s recent report on the “like” button and its plans for web integration, check out their insightful presentation (via Scribd) below.

Working Together to Build Social News

A Blog Post By: Max Blau (@maxblau)
Max is the Social Media Director at No Limit. He is a recent graduate of Emory University and manages the music blog War on Pop.

Life lessons with Hilary Cadigan, featuring Wireless Zone

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:49:00 +0000

Today, I rode my bike to work.

It was 5.6 miles, on Dekalb Industrial, which is as miserable a road for bike riding as it sounds. Google Maps for bikes will actually take you a full mile out of the way to avoid this treacherous stretch of one-lane speedways and puny sidewalks where broken shards of glass and spiteful tree roots come together to dance and laugh at the pain of a 22-year-old cycling neophyte in a Spongebob Squarepants helmet that she may or may not have purchased in the preschool section of Target because it came with a matching bell.

Now, this is not the first time that biking has punished me. Let’s take a little trip back to 1997, when I was in third grade and all pumped up to ride my purple Huffy big-girl bike all the way from my house to my best friend Lauren’s house (about 3 blocks away) by myself for the very first time.

I set out on this journey, much as I did this morning, with a great deal of enthusiasm and pride, grossly unsuspecting of the tragedy that would soon befall me.

So, I was biking along, feeling like a pro, when all of a sudden—boom! Obstacle. In the 1997 edition of this story, that obstacle happened to be a very small leaf pile. Well, more like a handful of leaves artfully/viciously arranged upon the sidewalk. They looked slippery, so I swerved to avoid them. And promptly flew off the curb and into the street, landing in a way that somehow ended with me underneath my bike (oh how the tables have turned) with a fractured wrist and a bruised ego.

I remember sitting there in the middle of the street, thinking well, I have two options. I can haul my broken body out of this street and make my way over to somewhere that can mend me, or I can sit here and wait. I chose to sit there and wait. But no one came, so I had to go with Plan B.

I’ve encountered quite a few situations like this over the course of my life—situations in which I fall down, wait for someone to come help me up, wait a little longer, feel pathetic, then finally get up, dust myself off, and find a way to move on by myself. I am, after all, very clumsy, but I am also very resourceful. The two tend to go hand in hand.

So I guess this is kind of like one of those “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade stories.” But it’s a little different than that. Sometimes you start out with lemonade and then all of a sudden you crash. And sometimes you start out with lemonade and then slowly but surely things start to get rough until you realize you are now 15 minutes late for work and still trapped on the wrong side of a stream of traffic that no number of crosswalk button pressings or traffic light mind-control attempts or pathetic looking facial arrangements will halt.

The other day I was working with a hugely successful multi-unit Wireless Zone franchisee from Michigan named Dave. Dave and his brother Greg have literally been servicing cell phones since cell phones arrived on the scene in 1983. They caught the wave early and managed to ride it out for the better part of the 80s and 90s with an independently owned one-stop-shop for all things wireless that began to spread across the country. Then, in the early 2000s, Verizon stepped on the scene and began restructuring it, realigning markets and creating new programs and new ways of doing things. For awhile, Dave and Greg lost their footing and business slowed. They probably felt like someone trapped on the wrong side of the street in a stupid Spongebob helmet as traffic whooshed by in front of them. This went on for a few years. But they stayed with it. You can’t just leave your bike on the side of the road. You love your bike. It can take you places. You have to stay with it.

Then one day Dave and Greg discovered Wireless Zone, the wireless retail franchise that is now the largest in the country. They were amazed to find a brand almost completely parallel to theirs—from the philosophies to the services to the entrepreneurial journey. It wasn’t long before they took on the Wireless Zone name and merged their company—a great company, with plenty of knowledge and talent and repute—with the Wireless Zone structure. This was two years ago. Now Greg and Dave have just opened their 7th Wireless Zone in the region and are about to open their 8th. Each of their new locations has been10-30% larger than they’d originally planned, and they’re currently remodeling one of their first stores to be double its original size in order to meet their customers’ needs. Business is booming, despite the rocky economy.

I want to throw a statement out there right now, in order to remove any doubt: I did, in fact, ride my bicycle from my house to my office. 5.6 miles. I made it.

And now, at the end of the day, I am preparing to load my bike into my dear officemate Jordy’s car and gratefully accept the help she has to offer without shame. But I’m still going to wear my Spongebob helmet, all the way home.

A Blog Post By: Hilary Cadigan (@idacyral)
Hilary is a member of the Public Relations team for No Limit. She graduated from Emory University and is a contributing writer for Lumino Magazine.

4Food: Bridging the gap between social media and the real world

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 21:56:00 +0000

Businesses from all different industries are diving into social media at an exceptional rate, but what if your entire business concept was built on social media? One New York restaurant is pushing the envelope and doing what No Limit consistently facilitates, bridging the gap between social media and real world actions.

4Food is a new burger joint concept that revolves around social media. Orders are taken by staffers using iPads and there is a 240-foot screen on the wall with live Twitter feeds and Foursquare check-ins. The greatest asset that 4Food possesses is customization. 4Food allows customers to completely build their own menu item, each and every time they visit. They can post these created menu items online through 4Food’s community website, and also through their own social networks. In total, there are over 96 BILLION different burgers that can be made with 4Food’s unique ingredients.

CEO Adam Kitron has put the entire marketing budget in the hands of 4Food’s consumers. In order to have customizability and high quality ingredients, costs needed to be cut elsewhere. Kitron believes that word of mouse marketing and social networking are not only the future of advertising and marketing, but also the present.

This unique mindset has gotten the startup a plethora of press including a CNN Money feature with video. No Limit is observing brands finally bridging the gap between social media and the real world. No Limit has successfully launched many social media campaigns that have done this for their clients. Weekly deals such as Social Wednesdays (Lenny’s Sub Shop), Funday Mondays (Philly Pretzel Factory), and Toppers Tuesdays (Toppers Pizza), are three examples of where socially savvy customers are presented with exclusive social media deals and called into stores. Toppers Pizza and Desert Moon are also launching social media campaigns in which they give fans the option of creating the next menu item. The winner’s menu item will be launched system-wide in January 2011.

Bridging the gap between the real world and the social media realm is a challenge, but when companies do it right, like 4Food and No Limit’s clients, the payoff is worth it.

A Blog Post By: Chad Bryant (@chadtbryant)
Chad is a member of the Social Media Squad for No Limit. He recently became a season ticket holder of the Atlanta Thrashers and will soon become the mayor of Philips Arena.

New census report shows that franchising offers stability to business owners and takes steps towards stabilizing the economy

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 21:02:00 +0000

Solidifying the importance of franchises to our nation’s economy, the US Census Bureau recently published the first- ever Economic Census Franchise Report, a collection of data specific to the franchise industry. Over the span of 3 years, having started collecting data back in 2007, the Census reports that 10.5 percent of our nation’s businesses are, in fact, franchises. Also to their credit, franchises account for nearly $1.3 trillion of sales and 8 million jobs nationwide.

In our current unpredictable economic climate, becoming a franchise owner offers entrepreneurs the freedom of owning their own business, while receiving security and support from an established brand. For one of Wireless Zone’s newest franchisee owners, making the switch from sole proprietorship to franchisee owner was just that. Having owned his own wireless store for 20 years, he made the decision to become a Wireless Zone franchisee, for the “credibility and stability that the brand offered.”

And for corporate brands, the findings give a renewed sense of optimism for continued growth. As word spreads about the profitable performance of franchises, companies can expect a rise in qualified leads from entrepreneurs interested in making the leap to franchise ownership. Brands like Lawn Doctor, a 40+ year veteran to the franchise industry, and Guier Fence, the first ever fence franchise launched in early 2009, have already seen a number of “mom ’n’ pop” businesses entrust in their brand name and their established business model. Both companies foresee the trend continuing and are excited to expand into new markets, creating new jobs and helping to boost the overall economy.

From corporate brands to eager entrepreneurs to the thousands of out-of-work employees, the Economic Census Franchise Report renews optimism for a stable economy. In the coming years it will be exciting to watch franchised businesses continue to increase in popularity, grow to multiple locations in non-traditional markets and be an integral force in returning our economy to what it once was.

A Blog Post By: Megan Kearney (@megankearney)
Megan is the newest member of the No Limit PR team and is still getting used to showering in the morning as she worked from home for three years before joining the Buzz Squad.

Places Everyone! Location-Based Marketing Takes Center Stage

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:51:00 +0000

What's the first thing you do when you enter a restaurant? Look around for friends? Peek at a menu? If you answered "Check into Foursquare," you're part of a growing demographic many businesses are trying to target.

Location-based marketing has slowly crept onto the radar as Foursquare and similar services Gowalla, Loopt and, more recently, Facebook Places have taken off in popularity. Look at Atlanta's Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport. Foursquare's location page for the airport has a total of 67,620 check-ins from 28,377 unique users. That's a lot of opportunities for airport restaurants and retailers to capitalize from. Unfortunately, many businesses have either been hesitant to dive into another new media venture or simply unsure how to do so. Earlier this year, burger-giant McDonald's took a gamble on location-based marketing and got some exciting results.

On April 16, also known as Foursquare Day, McDonald's offered a pretty straightforward deal. Anyone who checked into a McDonald's location on that day had a chance to win either a $5 or $10 giftcard. Sounds simple, right? The plan certainly was, but what happened was something extraordinary.

As a direct result of their Facebook offer, McDonald's saw a massive 33 percent increase in foot traffic to stores nationwide. They also picked up 600,000 followers on their social media pages and were featured in no less than 50 print and online articles. The kicker? The whole thing only cost the Mickey D's $1,000.

Location-based marketing is not the golden bullet to replace advertising, but it can be an important tool when used correctly. Offering a deal to the mayor of your establishment is a good start, but No Limit has begun working with clients to widen the scope of their Foursquare use. Random drawings similar to McDonald's strategy are a good way to get people fired up about coming to your location. Hosting contests or a weekly Foursquare deal day can also be a strong way to drive business.

Giving guests an extra reason to visit your store (in addition to a great product) is a surefire way to get people fired up about your brand and generate positive buzz in the local media. No Limit’s crack team of social media gurus can help you understand how to use location-based marketing effectively and with great results.

A Blog Post By: Brian Diggelmann (@bdiggelmann)
"Diggles" enjoys NPR during his one hour commute to the office. He is also great at throwing pens.

No Limit Travels to Buffalo

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:56:00 +0000

Over Labor Day weekend, No Limit traveled up with our client Wing Zone to Buffalo, New York to once again to attend the National Buffalo Wing Festival. While Wing Zone made another strong appearance at the festival, one new addition to this year's festivities was the Nuclear Challenge. Wing Zone invited people to see how many wings they could eat. The catch? These wings were covered in Wing Zone's hottest sauce--Nuclear!

While many public relations firms stop when the placements are obtained, No Limit continues to go above and beyond our client’s expectations. This time around, No Limit helped with everything from serving buffalo wings to managing the Nuclear Challenge.

While we were there, we captured the essence of the Wing Zone experience with some fantastic photos--check them out below!

A Blog Post By: Max Blau (@maxblau)
Max is the Social Media Director at No Limit. He is a recent graduate of Emory University and manages the music blog War on Pop.

No Limit fuses Social Media, Franchise PR to Generate Leads

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:54:00 +0000

As Social Media continues to move from a perceived novelty into a concrete franchise development tool, No Limit stands at the helm of this movement, progressively evolving and reinventing our tactics in order to stand at the forefront of lead generation. By incorporating these tools into our overall consulting strategy, we allow ourselves to reach potential franchisees that we may have never connected with otherwise.

By tapping into Social Networks, we are easily able to connect our clients and to their fan bases both within their markets and beyond. Not only does a client’s presence on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn provide them with another tool to connect with regular customers and potential franchisees, but also with those who live in places outside of a given company’s current reach. While in the past, these individuals would have simply had no idea about a brand’s existence, now they can become knowledgeable about franchise opportunities by means of Social Media. For example, we managed to attract franchisee prospects for the parking lot line striping company We Do Lines in Cleveland and Miami—two markets far outside their corporate headquarters in Danbury, Connecticut.

Tying in Social Media with our Franchise PR efforts, No Limit has become a leader in our field. For example, Philly Pretzel Factory transformed National Pretzel Day in late April from an in-store promotion to a nationwide celebration. No Limit secured the pretzel -making franchise a spot on the Fox & Friends morning show to kick off the festivities, while giving away free pretzels to all their Facebook fans! It’s this two-headed approach that has generated leads over and over. By using both Social Media and Franchise PR, No Limit will continue to lead the way in franchise development.

A Blog Post By: Chad Bryant (@chadtbryant)
Chad is a member of the Social Media Squad for No Limit. He is a recent graduate of Kennesaw State University and is destroying all other employees in the battle of Foursquare mayor in the office.

No Limit Uses Franchise PR to take Pita Pit to New Heights

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:48:00 +0000

Time and time again, No Limit continues to surpass client expectations by delivering exceptional results. Our latest example of this comes with Pita Pit, a 180-unit chain that has spent the better part of this summer on the Fox & Friends morning show. Despite having no locations in New York City, No Limit managed to place the Idaho-based franchise in front of television viewers nationwide for eight straight weeks.

In the past month since Pita Pit first was featured on Fox & Friends, the results have already been staggering. Pita Pit has received more franchise applications during that period than it has in any other month since its incorporation in 2005. Not only has this exposure helped Pita Pit generate unprecedented franchise leads, but has also come at a relatively low cost, primarily in the form of set construction.

By getting the fast casual brand onto a program with an average daily viewership of 1.3 million people, No Limit continues to strengthen its reputation for delivering results in a down economy. Pita Pit joins a growing list of clients featured on national television. Earlier this year, our company also booked two other clients—Huddle House and Philly Pretzel Factory—on Fox & Friends. All three companies have immensely benefited from our efforts. That’s the power of Franchise PR—exposing brands and generating leads to previously untapped audiences.

To read more on Pita Pit's progressive tactics, check out NRN's recent article on the fast casual franchise here.

A Blog Post By: Max Blau (@maxblau)
Max is the Social Media Director at No Limit. He is a recent graduate of Emory University and manages the music blog War on Pop.

Reviving the Digital Ghetto: What’s to Come for Myspace

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:39:00 +0000

Herded from Friendster and AOL chat rooms, teens were eager to try out Myspace in the early 2000s. The ability to have your own space on the internet was such a novelty, and the ease at which things could be added and manipulated gave users a sense of power over it all. But that may have been exactly what led to its downfall.

Because most Myspace users are not web developers, pages have become rampant with improper CSS coding and high bandwidth objects like videos, animated graphics and Flash. Glitter falls over pages while music blares. Pink pandas wink at visitors, butterflies scurry down the page alongside the scrollbar, a giant neon guitar obscures the barely legible bio section, and the comments section flashes and pulsates. It seems everyone’s page is covered in graffiti of some sort.

These personalized pages have became too personalized and they take far too long to load, often freezing web browsers altogether. And with so much time spent “tricking out” your own page, the notion of networking has been lost.

When Facebook emerged as a simpler, more efficient and sophisticated social networking platform, and finally opened its doors to non-student users, it was a hit. The giant recently reached the 500 million user milestone, while watching its predecessor face a 49% drop in users.

So is Myspace dead? Or can it be revived?
Late last week, News Corp, the owners of Myspace, announced plans to relaunch the struggling social site with a renewed focus on younger users and an emphasis on music and gaming. New features will start rolling out in the next few weeks, with an official relaunch set for the fall.

News Corp hasn’t indicated what’s to come as far as their aneurysm-inducing, slow loading personal pages, which are clearly a significant hindrance when it comes to productive networking. However, focusing in a new direction – or rather, refocusing on the direction for which they created the site in the first place – seems promising.

Out with the old...

In with the new...

This new, more well-defined and unique niche is one their competitor isn’t tackling. Facebook doesn’t offer much in terms of music promotion, and while gaming apps have become popular, it isn’t something Facebook touts to pull in users. So while Facebook takes on the facilitation of social connections, concerns about privacy settings and keeping up with real-time interaction, and truly becomes the chief networking hub, Myspace doesn’t have to be left in the dust. They can still foster a very broad, very active user base by focusing on the younger music and gaming fans.

Already this year, Myspace music has been overhauled and now offers a recommendation engine for users, which offers game, music and video suggestions based on users search habits. The site also plans to release mobile apps for gamers and send game alerts to players’ mobile devices.

Additionally, their “dashboard” tool, previously available only to music artists, will be offered to all users. The tool enables users to see how many times their links have been viewed or re-shared, and earn points and badges depending on their level of influence. Herein lies their key to remaining a valuable social site.

We’re eager to see what other changes Myspace will announce in the coming months, and how they’ll navigate music licensing and their new music store. We hope the “dashboard” tool is enough to keep it a relevant social medium, and we aren’t counting it out just yet!

What do you think? Will Myspace still be a growing, flourishing network in 2011 or is it just too far behind?

A Blog Post By: Lindsay Aldini (@lindsayaldini)
Lindsay is the Social Media Director for No Limit Media Consulting. She enjoys researching changing trends in social media and prefers waffles to pancakes.

Guest Service 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:37:00 +0000

Pretend you’ve just gotten home from a long day at work. Exhausted, your one goal in life is to microwave whatever is hiding in the back of your freezer and collapse on the couch. After fishing out a passable frozen dinner and waiting five minutes while cosmic rays bombard it, you make a sad discovery. Inside the black plastic tray is not the sesame chicken with noodles you expected but a greenish-gray mass of indistinguishable origin. What do you do? Many would curse their luck and reach for the peanut butter, but for some it’s the start of a guest service encounter.

Guest service is one of the most important duties of any venture, no matter if it’s a $15 billion corporation or a mom and pop down the street. Although it’s impossible to keep everyone happy all the time, doing your best to keep guests content with your service and products helps create and maintain a positive brand image and increases word-of- mouth traffic.

In decades past, guest service has been handled over the phone, by mail or in person. Television not working? Call Sears. Chocolate malt milkshake not malty enough? Write a letter. Steak too bloody? Ask to speak with the chef.

The problems plaguing these methods are painfully familiar. They’re slow, unpleasant and, more often that not, rather inefficient. So why is it that so many companies still adhere to these tired and outdated forms of guest service?

Great guest service has always been a key part of the mission at Lenny’s Sub Shops, but recently they’ve taken the concept to the next level by using social media (handled by No Limit Media Consulting) as another point of connection between the franchise and its loyal guests. By addressing guest service issues through Facebook, Lenny’s can solve problems more quickly and in a format many consumers are more comfortable with.

Take Robert, a Lenny’s guest from Arkansas. On a trip to his local Lenny’s, Robert was unsatisfied with a particular element of his trip and, instead of writing an email or calling corporate, he sent a message to Lenny’s Facebook page. Within 24 hours, he had a response from the Facebook page, apologizing for his bad experience and explaining the process by which the local manager would be informed of the situation. In addition, Lenny’s was able to send Robert some swag as an additional form of apology. The exchange clearly impressed Robert, who left a message saying, “I was thinking that I was never going to hear from somebody at Lenny’s again.”

Social media has many applications, but one of the newest and most promising is guest service. Lenny’s Sub Shops has blazed a trail by responding to guest complaints and questions through it's Facebook page, transforming a traditionally slow and tedious process into a quick, efficient way to maximize guest satisfaction and build positive brand image.

A Blog Post By: Brian Diggelmann (@bdiggelmann)
Brian is a new intern at No Limit and is currently going through intense training to become the Swagmaster!

Behind “The Decision”

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Bryant) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:34:00 +0000

Lebron James, Toppers Pizza and No Limit on the expansion of brand presence

As I sat down to watch “The Decision”—the hour long presentation on Lebron James’ impending choice on what team he will sign with—I realized that I was no longer intrigued by the outcome of this show. In fact, I really could have cared less about which team he signs with at that point.

What enthralled me was how the meteoric rise of James—already a superstar in every sense of the word—has transcended into a realm unseen by any other athlete in my lifetime in only a matter of weeks. Think about it: millions of people tuned into ESPN to watch a man accepting a job offer. More people are concerned with James’ free agency decision than the upcoming World Cup Final—the supposed largest stage for the most popular sport in the world. “KingJames” has attracted almost 400,000 Twitter followers in 3 days, despite only tweeting 7 times.

“The Decision” was never about Lebron’s choice of team. This announcement itself on ESPN was irrelevant. Tonight’s presentation, moreover, is about the introduction of Lebron the brand—the world’s largest one at this point of time.

So how does relate to what we do at No Limit? As a company, we offer Public Relations and Social Media services to all our clients—that’s what we promise at a day-to-day level. But look at what we do from a bird’s eye view, and see that we have the ability significantly improve a client’s brand image to tailor their wants and needs.

Just as Lebron held the media, blogosphere and Twitterverse in the palm of his hand over the past several weeks, No Limit has the resources and tools to work in a similar manner. We can help the world become entranced by your brand in the way you have always envisioned, and be heard in ways previously impossible.

Take a look at Toppers Pizza—a 26-unit eclectic pizza franchise that primarily caters to the college demographic. Before discovering No Limit, Toppers had a great product and unique vision, but did not have the right voice or a Social Media presence to grow buzz around their brand. With No Limit’s assistance, their brand image skyrocketed as they quickly develop a fanatical following both in-stores and online. Between ideas like “Toppers Tuesdays”—their weekly Social Media exclusive deal—or giving away free pizza for a year at new openings, No Limit allowed a great concept to shine in a concrete manner.

Developing brand presence through finding your voice and captivating your audience. Lebron did it. Toppers did it. No Limit can do it for you too.

A Blog Post By: Max Blau (@maxblau)
Max is the Social Media Director at No Limit. He is a recent graduate of Emory University and manages a music blog called War on Pop.