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Brandon Carter| The First Commercial I Had to See Twice |
| 14.11.2009 00:34:11 | |
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The other night while watching a football game I caught this commercial. For the very first time in my life I actually hit rewind on the DVR to re-watch a commercial. I love the quality and visual humor. It continues the ongoing trend of the beer and liquor companies producing the best advertising - my other favorite set of commercials are the Miller High Life delivery guy spots. Granted, I'm a twenty-something drinker, so I'm in their target audience. But believe me when I say that there are dozens and dozens of companies marketing their products to me that fall flat on their faces. Listening to your CEO with his bad toupee doesn't appeal to me; laughing always does. Tags: Advertising | liquor | beer | Marketing Hits: 337 | Read more... |
| Twitter Explains the Trending Topics |
| 21.10.2009 23:07:23 | |
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Not sure if this has been around for a bit and I've just been sleeping, but Twitter has now added brief summaries of trending topics. This morning when I clicked on to Twitter.com and saw "RIP Kanye West" in the trending topics, I didn't have to scan through 400 tweets to find out what was really happening. 
It's a good idea and may help in putting a halt to some of the hysterics that the crowd on Twitter can generate just by seeing a topic over to the right. One click, and "Oh hey, Zach Braff isn't dead. Thanks Twitter!" Tags: Twitter | Social Media | Rumors | Hysteria | Crowdsourcing | Commiunication Hits: 378 | Read more... |
| Details on the #Gypsy HSN Launch Party |
| 22.09.2009 05:40:03 | |
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If you follow Sprout on Twitter then you've seen us hint at a Provo Craft Twitter Gypsy party this week. I can confirm that we are indeed having a blowout party with our Provo Craft friends, and here are the details on how to get involved. First off, we're celebrating the worldwide launch of the Gypsy on HSN, Thursday at midnight (eastern time. It'll actually be Wednesday night for those of us further west.) Jinger Adams will be debuting the mobile crafting device during several segments that will run throughout the day Thursday at midnight, 1 am, 8 am, 11 am, noon, 4 pm, and 9pm. (View the schedule here) We're having a celebration online to help promote the launch as well as help answer your questions about Gypsy. We'll have epic giveaways, product experts, streaming video of Gypsy parties and more throughout the night and into the early morning (and continuing into Thursday night!) This party is built around Twitter, but you dont' have to be on Twitter to get involved. We want anyone and everyone to get involved and join the conversation, and win some schwag in the process. Here's how: If you're on Twitter, follow the @provocraft account and tag your Tweets with the hashtag #Gypsy. Follow the hashtag to keep up with the rest of the conversation - the best ways to follow are TweetChat and search.twitter.com. If you use Tweetdeck or Seesmic Desktop, then simply plug #Gypsy into the search box, hit return and you'll have a column dedicated to it. If you're not on Twitter (and even if you are), then come to cricut.com/gypsy starting at 11pm EST Wednesday night and join the conversation through the chat portal we''ll have up. You'll be able to see all the Tweets, while still chatting, asking questions and showing off your projects/blog. We'll have streaming video up, poll questions and more. This is Party Central, please join us! You can ask questions, show off projects or your blog, connect with other crafters. @ProvoCraft will throw out poll questions and get your opinions, but basically the night is devoted to crerativity - the party goes where you want it to. Provo Craft will be doing a major giveaway leading up to every appearance by Jinger, so you'll want to be paying attention. Basically, I'll say that if you've ever wanted a Cricut Expression (or another Cricut model), you'll want to stay up with us. Be prepared for anything! We may as you to post a quick snapshot of your latest project, or something pink in your house, so have a camera ready if you'd like to win that Cricut. Don't worry, not all giveaways will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. We may ask for your most embarassing craft story in 140 characters, with the most embarassing winning (so that scrapbook page you did with your child's name misspelled throughout may pay off!) Are you having a Gypsy watch party? If so, let us know. Send us pics that prove it and you'll get a reward. Or even better, break out the webcam and stream it (using UStream or Justin.tv) and not only will we reward you, we'll place your stream on Gypsy Party central. To sum - Big party starting late Wednesday night; we're giving away lots of Cricuts and accessories; we'll answer your Gypsy questions; you'll get the chance to chat with the rest of the community and show off your projects and/or blog; join in via cricut.com/gypsy and Twitter hashtag #Gypsy and have some fun! Need help? Any questions? Feel free to leave them in the comments or email me brandon @ sproutmarketing.com Tags: provo craft | scrapbooking | craft | hobby | cricut | gypsy | hsn | Social Media Hits: 902 | Read more... |
| PR For the Rest of Us: What's Your Story? Think Like a Journalist |
| 21.05.2009 11:15:37 | |
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The second post in a series on PR for small businesses, which is also being simulcast on my personal blog at http://www.bscarter.com. Comments and questions along with additions are most welcome... ---------------------------------------------------------- In my last PR for small business post I talked a little about knowing your audience. This would help you define more closely who you need to focus on and find the best mediums to reach them. Kind of a durr! post, I know. But you'd be shocked how many people develop an amazing product, thinking it's so awesome it'll just sell itself...then watch it fall flat because it never finds its way to the people who can't live without it. Moving on... The next step is important: Find your story. Even better, find your stories. How is your nail salon different? What does your auto repair shop do better than any other shop in your area? Do you have kick-ass customer service while your competitors are notorious for their lack of it? Maybe your company has a great charitable or environmentally-friendly commitment. This isn't limited to your business, either. Maybe you as an individual have a compelling story - dip into your personal background. Overcome a rare disease or rare childhood? Adopted 6 children from Africa? Leave a high-paying corporate gig to jump out on your own? All of these are compelling and make for great reads. Tie your business or yourself into a national story or emerging trend, and you greatly improve your chances. Look for compelling stories everywhere. What may seem like everyday, mundane to you might be a revelation to the readers of your favorite trade publication; or what seems like an overplayed (among friends) personal story or belief might be an inspiration to readers of the local newspaper. Relevant to 2009 - New media. What's going to drive hits to a blog, or make for interesting chatter on a podcast? The key to all of this is to think like an editor. Think of the story in its final form - what's the headline, the subhead, is there a picture?, who is quoted, and on and on. The best PR people don't think like PR people, they think like the journalists they have to work with on a daily basis. Which brings me to my next post, where we'll chat about identifying outlets, editors, journalists and others who will want to hear your story, tell your story and make you a freakin' star. Tags: Hits: 332 | Read more... |
| PR for the Rest of US: Public Relations for Small Businesses and Startups |
| 06.05.2009 05:57:07 | |
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Over the course of next few months, I'm doing a series over at my personal blog (http://bscarter.com) on PR tactics for small businesses. There are a lot of PR blogs out there that talk about the industry as a whole, or what tactics the big firms/companies are using. These are useful, but there is a serious lack of good information for the majority of us out there trying to promote startups, small businesses, individuals...things like nail salons and moving companies. There are a few sources for those of us who aren't repping Microsoft or P&G. Hopefully these blogs (which I'll continue to simulcast between bscarter.com and the Sprout blog) will help arm you with a few basic tools to take with you in the battle to get noticed. One of my biggest frustrations as a PR guy is the lack of relevant information for those of us that don't have massive accounts like Dell or Microsoft. I think it's great that Sony launched a Twitter game for 'Terminator Salvation' and that (Name of Huge Agency) landed (Name of Huge Company) for (Name of Upcoming Campaign). Every one of those stories has something to gleam off the top that we can all use. For instance, I didn't even know you coul play games thru Twitter.com. Cool, I guess. But does that really help me in my day to day life as PR guy at a firm specializing in small business? I'm working with startups and small businesses who struggle every day just to keep their doors open.
I need information that helps me on THIS level of PR. My campaigns are much different - I'm just trying to get my client's name out there. My client doesn't have the money to pull off massive events. They're not paying some Web development company tons of money to develop a Twitter game. Most of them won't even spend $400 to put a release on the wire. And agencies signing big accounts? Great. Doesn't help me much. Theoretical thought pieces on the industry? Great stuff, but not helpful in serving my clients. So for those of us looking to build a foundation through PR tactics, I'd like to do a few blogs on specific things small businesses and startup operations can do to get their name in front of their preferred audiences without pouring a boatload of money into it. (I'll post a blog later on which sites have good advice that can make you a better PR person at the exact moment you read them. This is a good example.) I realize I'm far from a perfect PR guy, but I've worked for big companies and one-man operations, so I feel like I have something to contribute. I also strongly encourage you to share your thoughts and criticisms in the comments, or send me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Today, I offer tip #1: Know your Audience, Your CustomersThis is fairly simple, and most businesses should have this figured out by the time they get to a stage to roll out PR. By know your audience, I intend that you should have an idea who is the most likely consumer of your product or service, and a few things about those people: Where do they get their information? Are they TV watchers? Do they read the local newspaper? Are they online in social networks? The best way to do this is to talk to your current customers. The Six Sigma types call it VOC (voice of the customer, natch), but you don't even have to get all scientific the way they do. The goal is to find out their stream of influence and insert yourself into that stream. It might be Twitter, the local news, friend's recommendations (aka word of mouth), newspapers, magazines...and on and on. What moves them to decisions? What moved them to your store or product? Chances are what moved them will move others as well. Knowing where to direct your efforts is half the battle. If your audience doesn't watch much TV, don't spend much time pitching broadcast outlets. If you're in a scientific field, your readers probably are into journals and peer-approved areas. Focus your efforts, because time is short and few outlets have the wide grasp of the Wall St. Journal. Immerse yourself in their world. Learn the language and secret handshakes. You should be talking to your customers regularly anyway, it's good business. By becoming a part of their stream of influence, you broadcast the message you want Knowing where to direct your efforts is the first and most important item you can learn. As we progress, I'll talk about what to do next, finding opportunities, reaching new audiences and actual tactics you can use. Again, jump in the comments and throw out your thoughts and criticisms if you feel compelled to.
Tags: PR | Public Relations | Twitter | Brandon Carter | Voice of Customer | VOC | small business | startups Hits: 638 | Read more... |
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