Professor Chandler, the Dog Ate My Homework

I’ve been working on my assignment since Wednesday and was relieved to be done last night.  This has been a lot of work, right?!  But when I went to drop it in the box this morning, it was nowhere to be found! :’(   Even a computer search would not locate it.  Tears welled up in my eyes as I started rehearsing my speech.

“Professor Chan... um Eric…  there’s been an accident.  My homework didn’t make it”.   

As the first drop fought to leave my eye,  I realized… I am in a crisis!  I gave myself a mental smack, got a hold of myself and remembered that I saved a work in progress on my work computer before I left Friday night!  I'd have to create a timeline and tip sheet again but you know what?  It served as an opportunity.  Because I thought of something that I wound up incorporating into my assignment.  I won’t say what, because I’m going to pretend it was a part of it all along!  Score one for pulling it together in a crisis :)

Not a good day in the Pizza Kitchen.... Or was it?

If you’ve ever wondered what makes Domino’s pizzas so damn good, well, just hope it isn’t the less than savory ingredients that employees were caught adding to pizzas in this video.

This was an absolute PR nightmare for Domino’s. If there’s one video they didn’t want to go viral, this was it.  But thanks to the power of social media, the original video amassed millions of views and large media channels globally picked the story up.

Earlier this year Domino's launched a a bold campaign by running an electronic ticker in Times Square displaying in real-time what consumers really think of the brand (good, bad or neutral — on a 4,630 square-foot billboard) and it coincided with the below TV Campaign.. 



The campaign was a hit, increasing sales by double-digits in the first quarter it ran. Since then, Domino’s has continued to strive for transparency by vowing to use un-retouched pictures of its pizzas in its ads.

A Life in a Day

A beautiful example of crowdsourcing. 

Enjoy!

Weinergate sexting mess

The saying goes "April showers bring May flowers." For Congressman Anthony Weiner, April brought a torrential May storm.

On May 27, 2011, Weiner, used his public Twitter account to send a sexually explicit text to a 21 year old Washington State woman. The link was quickly removed, but screen shots of Weiner’s original message and the photo were captured on Twitter, and sent to a blogger who published them on his website the next day.

In our Crisis Communication Lesson, Eric Chandler wrote “Tell it all and “Tell it fast”. Weiner took the ignore, deny, lie, point the finger approach, displaying for us all what not to do. Where were his advisers? Weiner waited four days to come forth in a series of interviews. He denied sending the photo, suggested someone hacked into his account, and said the photo was definitely not him. Shovel, shovel... keep digging that hole, dude.

This mess ended in public embarrassment and his resignation. It could’ve ended less painfully if Weiner immediately came out with it, accepted the blame and told the truth, instead of waiting and finally coming out like a cornered rat.

Memo from Jay Carney (a.k.a., Curveball)

Hi Team:


I just got off the phone with Shailagh. It's official:  Joe has decided that he's not remaining on the ticket with Barack. This isn't a huge surprise, given all the scuttlebutt we've been hearing. But three months before Election Day? I guess it's better than three days before ...

Joe's team agreed to make sure that we're fully aware of their plan before we move ahead with our own efforts. This will all go down at some point tomorrow, but details are still TBD. This is all I know, but I'll keep you posted. 

I know that everyone's swamped, so I'll be in touch with a few of you to handle it. I know, it's a pain, but look on the bright side. It'll make for good interview fodder someday.

I'll be speaking with Barack later this evening. Thank God we've been working on that crisis plan!

Talk soon,

Jay



(This is a fictitious situation and memo from Press Secretary Jay Carney.)

Video: The Ultimate Event Promo

A friend sent me the URL to this clip this morning: "I'm doing this next year. Wanna join?"

I won't share my response, but what immediately came to mind was how this video nailed the heart and soul of of the Tough Mudder event.

It's not exactly a social media-related event, but inspiration comes in various shapes and sizes. And on that note, I might just go out and find a puddle of mud this afternoon.

Yes, Virginia, There is an SEO Clause (for PR Pros)

Thank you, Nicole, for reminding me to post this article from PRNewDaily.com. The headline?

What Google's Newest Search Algorithm Means for PR Pros

I post this as a reminder to keep 'search engine optimization' top-of-mind as you continue to move ahead with your public relations careers.