ID Tags

Creating the Perfect Toolkit for Event PR & Social Media

Brandon Chesnutt — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:08:34 +0000

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend two days at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale. One of the world's most prestigious luxury and classic car auction companies, Barrett-Jackson hosts major flagship events that attract hundreds of thousands of attendees from around the world. Barrett-Jackson events are also broadcasted on SPEED, allowing viewers to watch the rare and exotic vehicles cross the auction block from the comfort of their own couch.

Video of the Week: At Twitter, the Future is You!

Nikki Little — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:02:48 +0000

Oh how we love Video of the Week posts on the Identity blog. It gives us an excuse to sift through all the nonsensical and wacky videos on the Internet to find one worthy of donning the treasured Video of the Week title. Although some of us, [cough] Brandon Chesnutt [cough], spend way too many weekly hours outside of Video of the Week searches watching ridiculous YouTube videos.

3 Ways to Leverage Messaging in Your Next Corporate Meeting

Andrea Trapani — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:16:30 +0000

Corporate annual meetings are a great opportunity for executives to share important messages that are part of their overall communications strategy. All too often, companies look at these meetings as solely an opportunity to update their employees about goals, numbers and the fiscal focus for the year ahead, while communications is left in the dust. That unfortunate, shortsighted approach creates a visible missed opportunity that will leave a gaping hole in the internal communications program for the year ahead.

Make Your Marketing Copy Sing Like Jazz

Tom Nixon — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:33:31 +0000

Dizzy Gillespie famously said of his work in jazz music, "It's taken me all my life to learn what notes not to play." Such is the art of jazz improv, and such is the art in writing copy for marketing materials.

Friday Video – Kaylee Blowing Out the Candle

Nikki Little — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:14:53 +0000

Happy Friday! It's dreary and slushy in Detroit, so we need a fun video for an afternoon pick-me-up. This is an oldie, but a goodie. Little Kaylee has to blow out her birthday candle to make a wish, but she's having a tough time. She certainly is determined, though! Maybe a little too determined, because I feared she would pass out before the video ended! Take a look, and enjoy a chuckle. Kids make for such good YouTube content, don't they???

How Community Financial Institutions Can Capitalize on Big Bank Resentment

lukecapizzo — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:31:18 +0000

November 5, 2011 was a watershed moment in the financial industry. After years of consumers fleeing community banks and credit unions for Bank of America, Chase and other mega-banks, Bank Transfer Day marked the arrival of the “Bank Local” movement. This is a story that reaches beyond the financial sector to encapsulate the demand for local, original and unique retail and service options across all industries. The space lends itself to those who invest in their communities and are not afraid to be vocal in creating and publicizing their niches.

A Young PR Pro’s Transition From Client Support to Management

Sarah Collica — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:12:17 +0000

After young PR pros have landed the agency job they tirelessly hunted for, immersed themselves in the entry-level support role and officially launched their PR career, the next phase is something I like to call the support to strategy switch. While we were first brought on board to aid account managers in the tactical elements of the communications campaigns for their clients, we have now proved ourselves enough to take on the role as account lead. Just like any transition, there are growing pains. Similar to the journey from college to career is the process of getting accustomed to managing client accounts. It’s time to take it up a notch. So what can you do to make the move to management as efficient and accelerated as possible? Here are a few things I’ve learned through my experience:

You, Sir, Are No Nigerian Prince – Email Marketing Guidelines You Must Follow

Chris Heckman — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:01:38 +0000

Let’s do a quick run down: Kodak Imaging Network fined $32,000, YesMail fined $50,000, Jumpstart fined $900,000 and ValueClick fined $2.9 million. What did these successful, upstanding companies do to get hit with these fines? They sent spam. We all get spam email. “Buy this, enlarge that, etc.” It’s to the point where it seems like spammers can do whatever they want. While there will always be rogue Nigerian princes out there, the United States does have laws mandating what is and what isn’t legal for email solicitation. This law is called the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. CAN-SPAM stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act.

The Art of Storytelling in Marketing & How You Can Learn From Chevy

Nikki Little — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:51:42 +0000

How many predictions posts related to the communications world have you read in the past month? My guess would be at least 10. There have been all sorts of predictions, some interesting observations about the year ahead (such as small is big and social media crises will continue) and others just stating what we've already been talking about for awhile now (like content rules and measurement is in). For more smart observations about the year ahead, Shauna Nicholson makes you think with her expectations for 2012 in this post about marketing beliefs.

An “Ex”cellent Response to the FedEx Video Fiasco

Stacy Butts — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:46:53 +0000

What started out as a customer service “don’t” for FedEx has turned into a PR “do.” We’ve all watched—all 9 million of us!—the YouTube video of the FedEx employee carelessly tossing a computer monitor over a gate and onto the lawn of his customer. In case you haven't, here it is: