At the end of the award show, The Onion sent a tweet which referred to nine-year-old Best Actress nominee Quvenzhané Wallis as a vulgar word. Within minutes, the reputation of the brand on social media had completely changed. According to NetBase, a social media analytics company, 64% of the mentions about The Onion were negative after the tweet, compared to only 29% before.

But the backlash didn’t stop there. Less than 12 hours after the debacle, The Onion’s CEO Steve Hannah posted an apology to Facebook calling the tweet “crude and offensive” and labeling it “inconsistent with The Onion’s commitment to parody and satire, however biting.” But the apology upset many of The Onion’s followers and employees. As a company that is often interpreted as offensive, brand loyal fans felt that the apology went too far. Why was this situation any different than the hundreds of other celebrities they’d offended before?

So aside from the proper way to handle crisis management, this situation showed how difficult it is to maintain the reputation of your brand and please both fans and critics alike. Although The Onion offended many people with the content of the tweet, the nature of the company is known as being generally offensive. Now The Onion has a new line to teeter on—do they please the millions of people judging them for being distasteful or please the millions of people following them for being consistently satirical?

The post A Lesson for The Onion in Branding appeared first on rm.

Shortly after, Jeep became the next victim of a Twitter hack. Their profile image was changed to a Cadillac, and the anonymous hacker took stabs (“Just Empty Every Pocket”) in the same fashion as the BK attack. Everyone held their breath as it unfolded, unsure of how it would be handled. The splendor of social media lies within its ability to alleviate a sticky situation, or to hinder it further, and produce potentially disastrous results. But Burger King reacted swiftly, honestly, and even with a sense of humor—after 71 minutes of being hacked they issued a to-the-point statement, plus tweeted, “Interesting day here at Burger King, but we’re back! Welcome to all our new followers. Hope you all stick around!” With almost 60,000 new followers, BK took only a couple of hours to delete the offending messages, return their logo, and address the hack in one solitary Tweet. Jeep tweeted quickly as well, “We’re back in the driver’s seat!”

Their reactions were swift, concise and low-key: they did not try to drag it on or fan the flames. While these hack-attacks bring concerning attention to the vulnerability of technology, the two companies issued their brands’ statements… then went right back to business as usual. Rather than needlessly flooding Twitter feeds with explanations or apologies in an attempt to over-compensate in damage control, their responses served as pretty good models for how to handle an emergency such as this.

We’re not going to lie, it was slightly hilarious to watch the hacks go down in real-time. But BK and Jeep, as well as other companies affected, handled it like a champ.

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For 2013, Amazon was chosen as the most reputable brand in America, pushing last year’s winner, Apple, to spot number two. Rounding out the top ten were: The Walt Disney Company, Google, Johnson & Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company, Whole Foods Market, Sony, Procter & Gamble Co. and Costco.

Of the top ten companies, only six were awarded a “great” score (above 80). Last year’s list had eight “great” companies, and there were 16 “great” companies in 2011. Although some companies did see improved scores, there was also a drastic drop in corporate America’s overall reputation. Our view of corporations fell to the levels present in 2008, at the beginning of The Great Recession, a situation Harris Interactive called “relatively grim.”

The bottom 10 spots were dominated by companies in the financial industry with AIG and Goldman Sachs being the only two companies that scored less than a 50. The other eight lowest companies were (in descending order) Halliburton, American Airlines, Bank of America, Citigroup, BP, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Comcast.

So what makes us find a brand reputable? This year, the most important factors were playing a valuable social role, being a good company to work for, and having a good feeling about the company. People also regarded admiration, respect and trust to be important aspects of a company’s reputation.

With these factors in mind, start thinking about what your company can do to improve its image. Maybe you should be focusing on establishing a connection with philanthropic achievements. Maybe you need to improve your organizational culture. Maybe you should be communicating with your consumers more directly through social media. Learn from America’s six “great” corporations and strive to see your name climbing up that list.

See the full results of the study here.

The post The 10 Most—and Least—Reputable Brands appeared first on rm.

Advertisers have now realized how to use these videos to their benefit. Both Jimmy Kimmel’s viral video clip of 2012, “Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That” and the most recent viral “Harlem Shake” videos have been used in advertisements.

In case you’re a bit out of the loop “Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That” was a clip taken from a local news station of a woman (Sweet Brown) chronicling her experience and reaction to an apartment fire. Currently the clip itself and all of its various remakes have been watched over 75 million times! Playing off the video’s success and Sweet Brown’s new celebrity status both Shorline Dental and 1-800-2SellsHomes have included her in their most recent advertisements.

The Harlem Shake videos circulating on YouTube are by far one of the hottest viral trends, currently with 44 million views and growing. The videos all begin with one individual dancing to “Harlem Shake” by Baauea. Several seconds later, the video cuts to a clip with not just the initial individual shaking but everyone in the room as well! Pepsi was quick to respond to the new trend. Earlier this week they released a Harlem Shake ad of their own, featuring numerous Pepsi cans doing the dance.

As viral videos continue to be a large part of pop culture, more companies would be wise to start utilizing their popularity in advertisements.

The post Viral Videos in Advertising appeared first on rm.

They are a household name still, but in the whole “hey-remember-that-one-time-he-was-accused-of-murder” kinda way.

Here is the top 10 list that you don’t want to be on if you’re an athlete.

1. Lance Armstrong
2. Manti Te’o
3. Tiger Woods
4. Jay Cutler
5. Metta World Peace
6. Alex Rodriguez
7. Michael Vick
8. Kurt Busch
9. Kobe Bryant
10. Tony Romo

So where did they go wrong? Many will argue that it comes down to the athlete’s personal brand. Who are we to judge, others might say. Have you ever had to explain to millions of once-adoring fans why you lied to them about taking drugs, or confess to the entire nation that you just got “Catfish”-ed? Yet merely days ago, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis swept the nation by storm and helped Baltimore win a Super Bowl. He was embraced with open arms by people all over the country, idolized even, despite his murder accusation 13 years ago.

The trick? If you’re caught in a public relations crisis or a scandal of some sort: step up to the plate, be forthright and honest, address the situation as quickly as possible….and then move forward. This can be applied to a trickle-down sense of public relations, from celebrity PR catastrophes to our day-to-day lives. The worst thing you can do is lie to your audience, dodge them, or stonewall them. Preserve your brand: early, open, and honest communication is the best policy. Charles de Gaulle put it best: “Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own.”

The post PR and Sports: What NOT to Do appeared first on rm.

Each February artists are nominated for Grammy Awards by The Recording Academy, a large group of the music industry’s finest. All nominees and winners are chosen by votes from The Recording Academy based on technical and artistic achievement. But what if, instead, they based those votes on social media presence?

With the rise in popularity of tools like Klout and GoogleAnalytics, social media presence is becoming a more and more relevant measure of influence. Especially in the world of celebrities, the depth of cultural impact can be seen on social media and it often makes followers seem more like brand loyal customers than adoring fans. So what would the winners list look like if we based it on their Twitter followers?

According to data from Activ8Social, the results from this year’s Grammy Awards would have been a little different had the winners been chosen by their digital footprint. Here is the list of social media Grammy winners!

The post The Social Media Grammys appeared first on rm.

“Get this app to see who viewed your profile!!”

“WOW – Click here to see what people are saying about you!!”

If you are a part of the 1 billion+ Facebook users, chances are you have seen a message similar to one of these. Perhaps you have received a fake friend request from that scantily clad female or from someone with whom you have zero mutual friends? Have you ever been tagged in an image of a glow-in-the-dark Nike tennis shoe or other ambiguous object (along with 200,000 other random people)? Because of Facebook’s extremely viral nature and its millions of inhabitants and communication channels, spam is inevitable. But how can we avoid falling into a spammer’s trap?

Spammers will most often use fake features that they know will pique the interest of users, luring you into their trap with videos that don’t play or fraudulent links. If a post or a link starts out with “SHOCKING”, “SCANDAL” or “OMG!”, chances are it’s spam. If there is a post claiming to have important Facebook news that can’t be found on the website itself, such as the addition of a “dislike” button or “change your Facebook colors!”- that, too, is more than likely fake. Delete any messages or posts from Facebook friends containing mysterious links or videos.

Here are a few tips for avoiding Facebook spams:
Do not agree to install an apps if it sounds suspiciously too good to be true
Be wary of shortened links or posts on your wall from people who don’t normally post links
Adjust your privacy settings, especially the bottom section that says “Apps and Websites”
Immediately delete and do not engage any messages, posts, or links that may contain spam
Delete any messages or links posted by an app on your behalf and notify friends that your account has been spammed
Do not accept random friend requests, especially if you have zero mutual friends or connections
Be skeptical of any contests, complementary tickets, or free iPads/Macbooks/etc.
Report any comments or posts that you suspect may contain spam

As Facebook continues to grow and thrive, they are hard at work trying to keep spammers at bay. According to TechCrunch, Facebook estimates that spammer accounts, or “undesirable” users, dropped to 0.9% from 1.5% in June 2012. However, not all remaining accounts are actually people. Facebook estimates that out of it’s ~1.055 billion users, roughly 1.3% of its monthly users are “misclassified”— ranging from pet pages, businesses or organizations that accidently created an account instead of a page.

When a platform is as large and in charge as our beloved Facebook, spam is an unfortunate but unavoidable part of life. Experts and newbies alike can fall victim as spammers get sneakier, but armed with this newfound knowledge you can go about your Facebooking impervious to spam.

The post Facebook: A Spammer’s Playground appeared first on rm.

The first principle noted preaches that “the branding impact of an online campaign is only as strong as your brand presence” within the ad. Therefore, the more the brand name is shown throughout the ad, the better. If the advertisement had a “ubiquities brand presence” as Fayer states it, “consistently perform better.”

Along these same lines, Fayer mentions a tip regarding “reveal” ads. These are the ads that do not communicate the brand until the very last frame. In the Creative Best Practices study used in the brief, only one out of the 20 top performers used the reveal format!

Another more interesting tip references interactive ads. In these ads, a viewer is encouraged to drag his or her pointer over in order to access the “key message” of the ad.  According to this brief, these ads are altogether ineffective and the author advises not to “make people work for your message.” After all, less than 2.11% of individuals will actually interact with an interactive ad.

What about the more conspicuous forms of internet advertising? You know, the kind that come down literally on top of a webpage for several painfully long seconds or the ones that border/frame an entire site. The obtrusive ads that block page content can be annoying. This annoyance can lead to “negative brand favorability.” Also, ads that border/frame a website are not as memorable as more standard banner ads. It is thought that people train their eye to focus on the middle of the page and zone out the skinned ad.

The art of online advertising is ever evolving, but the lessons outlined here are a great addition to our ongoing advertising learning process.

Read the full brief here.

The post Online Advertising: Lessons Learned appeared first on rm.

As an obvious advertising enthusiast, I love watching the commercials from the Super Bowl each year to see industry trends and popular culture. With so many great advertisements, each company has to fight to find an original strategy to stand out among the rest. This year, things got a little more interesting when a power outage during the game led to delays and, because of that, many commercials being replayed to fill air time.

Take the overwhelming bombardment of advertising, add a reason to change the channel due to a game delay, and multiply the times these same commercials were being replayed and you end up with an uninterested consumer and a perfect time to leave the room for more snacks.

Oreo found the perfect way to take advantage of this mishap. During this half hour Super Blackout, their brand team posted a simple, yet relevant, ad to their Twitter account.

Since the perfectly timed tweet it has gotten 15,941 retweets and 6,030 favorites.

So how did it happen? To spread the word about their television advertisement (the battle over cream or cookie in the library) they had a full team of digital, brand, and creative staff at the office. As soon as the blackout occurred, they were able to work together seamlessly to churn out a perfectly timed advertisement and watch it go viral.

I guess I can see now what the industry trends are for the year and they didn’t come from the television commercials. In a society that craves instant gratification and personalization, Oreo has proven that real-time advertising is witty, relevant, and taking the industry by storm.

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