In this episode of PRobecast, Justin Martell, Caitlin Smith and Avi Aronson join me in discussing the Gmail iOS app that is no more, plus how brands are using social media to monitor customer discussions about Black Friday. If you got up at 2 am to shop, wouldn’t you want your favorite brand to have fully-stocked items?? We also couldn’t avoid a rant or two about Kim Kardashian’s extremely short-lived “marriage”, plus Justin Bieber’s chance at Daddy of the Year.
Google yanks Gmail iOS app – Google’s much-delayed iOS app became available yesterday, but was pulled soon after due to bugs with the app. Why would Google publish an app with obvious problems? Did you download it, only to be disappointed?
Social media presents opportunities and dilemmas for retailers – If you woke up at 2 am for Black Friday mob shopping, wouldn’t you want your favorite brands to have a full selection of items available? We would here at Topaz! It’s up to the brand to monitor their social media channels, and if they’re not paying attention for the yearly craziness also known as Black Friday, it’s their loss with disappointed customers.
We also couldn’t help ranting a bit on Kim Kardashian’s “wedding” and “marriage”, along with The Biebs and his paternity test. We’re dying to know the results.
In this episode of PRobecast, Renatta Siewert and Caitlin Smith join me in talking about free blackberry apps, Dr. Pepper Ten and Lindsay Lohan’s trouble with the law.
Blackberry to give free apps to compensate for outages– Last week we discussed the Blackberry outages that effected users worldwide. Now, the company is offering users select premium applications free of charge that are supposedly worth over $100, along with one month free technical support to the company’s enterprise users. Is this enough for users to forget about the outage that was heard across the world?
Dr. Pepper’s ‘Manly’ Drink – So a new advertising campaign for Dr. Pepper Ten is causing quite the stir over the internet. Many are saying the campaign is sexist. The ad starts out with a man in fight/war gear running through a jungle shooting laser guns, saying that the new beverage is “10 manly calories” and is not for women. This ad was developed after research found not many men opted for diet beverages. Do you think the way Dr. Pepper went about advertising this was wrong?”
Lindsay Lohan might be going to jail – Lindsay Lohan is, once again, in trouble with the law. This time her probation is being revoked and she will be forced to complete 16 hours of community service at the morgue. Apparently, this spawned from her being kicked out of the Women’s Center for not showing up 9 times. The judge also said that she doubted Lindsay had visited her shrink once a week – something she was required to do. If you were Lindsay’s PR rep, what would you have her do. Can she save her image?
Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.
This week Blackberry won. I mean, they tried. We don’t necessarily think their peace offering was effective, but they did try putting themselves in a better light by offering a few premium applications to users.
In this episode of PRobecast, Tony Sapienza, Renatta Siewert, Sam Friedman and Justin Martell join me in talking about Ford’s and Chrysler’s misleading advertising, the Blackberry outage and Bank of American’s new charges.
Ford’s and Chrysler’s Misleading Advertising Campaigns – Ford Motor Co. and Chysler Group are have had complaints to the FTC over misleading advertising that lead some of the general public to think their vehicles are made in the USA – particularly the Chrysler 300 and the Ford Edge. Apparently, these models are assembled in Canada and often have Mexican-made parts, which go against Chysler’s “Imported from Detroit” tagline and Ford’s radio spot that advertised it being an American car. What do you think of the companies’ advertising their cars as American?
BlackBerry outages spread to North America – Across the world, Blackberry users noticed an outage in their services – one of the biggest outages yet. Since the European infrastructure failed, emails and messages sent were so backed up in the RIM systems, it caused outages in the US and in Asia. With outages happening a couple times a year, people are rethinking keeping their Blackberries, opting to upgrade to a DROID or iPhone. Can Blackberry keep up?
Bank of America sharpens messaging about new fees – Last week Bank of America announced a $5 monthly fee for debit card users – causing public outrage. They now have repositioned their messaging, explaining who will be charged with this fee and how it can be avoided. According to this PR Week article, a recent survey found 36% of Americans have “very little” or “no” confidence in US banks. While BoA is saying this new fee is to recover lost revenue, do you think consumers will look to bank elsewhere?
Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.
This week it was a 4:1 vote – Blackberry. With the general population being so dependent on technology, especially mobile, Blackberry needs to make sure outages like this don’t happen again. This one on of the biggest stories of the week and had people questioning whether or not they should still be used, and that is why this story won as the Power Ranker.
