Evil Dead, Awesome Ad

Every now and then you’ll see a piece of advertising that makes you go “whoa”.

“Whoa” is precisely what I thought when I saw this little number over the weekend:

No, your eyes don’t deceive you. Those are “zombiefied” posters from popular Broadway musicals. Everything from Mamma Mia to Hairspray with a little Les Miserable and Jersey Boys mixed in for good measure.

It’s the latest advertising push from Toronto’s wildly popular Evil Dead: The Musical. I suppose I’m a little biased since I’ve already seen it twice and might end up seeing it a third time before the end of its current run at the Diesel Playhouse, but you have to admit, that’s some witty creative.

Richard Ouzounian, theatre critic for the Toronto Star wrote a nice piece on the campaign which includes this zinger:

How long will that fun last? It depends, one supposes, on how long producer Cameron Mackintosh is willing to let the image of his iconic beloved Cosette from Les Miserables look as though she was standing in for Stephen King’s Carrie.

According to the article, they’ve already received a cease and desist order from the producers of Mamma Mia! (No, I’m actually serious. Read the article.) The campaign has been credited to Saatchi & Saatchi.

Thirsty Thursday. So Hot Right Now.

Last week marked the sixth installment (maybe seventh? eighth?) of the hottest networking event in Toronto’s PR/marketing student community. What started as post-work drinks between a few PR friends has grown into a monthly gathering of students/entry-level types from across the GTA.

Although we’ve grown slightly, Thursday Thursday still remains true to its original purpose: a time to kick back after work, meet some new people and keep it as casual as possible.

This month we had about 15 people show up at one of Toronto’s finest dining establishments, the Red Room on Spadina, to unwind over some drinks/food and talk about everything both marketing and non-marketing related.

Pics below:

Some thirsty folks..

The drink of choice…

Parker “P-Dawg” Mason

More thirsty folk, including Rayanne Langdon (second from the left)

Bathroom graffiti. Mandatory for all Thirsty Thursday venues.

*Chris “The Adonis” Clarke was also present, but I didn’t get any good pics of him.

Good times.

Based on conversations had that evening, I think we’ll be having at least one more of these before taking a break for summer, so be sure to make it out to the next one!

And on a separate note, you might have noticed that Fuzzy Gloves blog posts have become a little infrequent as of late. However, I do update on Twitter regularly, so if you want the inside scoop on what’s happening in the life of Scotty Mac, you might want to follow my Twitter feed @ http://twitter.com/Scotty_Mac.

It’s All About the Free Stuff

Every now and then, I get an email from a potential PR student looking for advice on PR school.  I’m asked everything from how to get in, to what school they should go to, to what program they should take….

Well, in my very limited experience (a whole six months working with a PR firm) I can safely say…….that in my humble opinion……..

It just doesn’t matter.  No one really cares where you went or how long you went there for.  They don’t care what courses you took and which professors you had….

What they care about is YOU.  What’s your deal?  What can you bring to them?

And the great thing about being a student is that this is the perfect time to develop your “personal brand”.  It’s a time to enhance yourself both personally and professionally.

So, how exactly does one go about doing this?

Two words: Free stuff.

As a student, you have to take advantage of the student discounts.  And I’m not just talking about Toonie Tuesdays (although those are pretty sweet).  I’m talking about the countless conferences and networking events that run from September through June every year. 

Whether it’s the weekly IABC or CPRS seminars taking place, the always engaging CMA conferences and panels or one of those crazy techy conferences, you can get into all of them at a fraction of the cost (or sometimes free), all because you’re a card carrying student.

……and while I may sound like a raving PR nerd by ranting on about the benefits of discounted rates on conferences/networking events, I can honestly say that taking the time to attend just a couple of these events can make the difference between you or the other guy/girl getting hired for that intern position.  Trust me.  My cubicle is right next to Maverick’s front entrance, meaning I see every single information interview walk through those doors.  There’s a lot of ‘em. 

And now for my massive plug: Thirsty Thursday Student Networking Event at the Green Room this Thursday (Feb. 7) from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.  It’s free, the beer is cheap and there are already 45 people confirmed on the Facebook group.

The Pitch

 

When I first started working at MAVERICK Public Relations this past September, I never would have guessed I’d be pitching for new business just three months later.

Yet, there I was, huddled around a boardroom table with two other Mavs, clicking through a PowerPoint slide 8 a.m. on a Monday morning.  It was my first new business pitch and naturally I was a little nervous.

Some thoughts…..

Five Quick Pitch Tips (for PR students and Interns)

Keep the nerves under control.  Although I’m a strong believer in the notion that a few butterflies can actually help you perform better, you don’t want to be a jittery mess up there.  Do whatever you have to do to calm those pre-presentation jitters, whether it’s some deep breathing, talking with your co-presenters or running through the presentation by yourself a few times.

Watch your colleagues.  Although it might be tempting to think about what you’re going to say when others are presenting, it’s better to sit back and listen to your team members.  This way you won’t repeat something that’s already been said and you might even be able to come up with a few tie ins for your own section.  Most importantly, you’ll be learning from the masters.  Your colleagues have done this sort of thing countless times and should have it down to a science by now.

Know your stuff.  For example, if you’re in charge of the media relations section of the pitch, have a clear idea of what outlets you’ll be targeting and why.  More importantly, be familiar with the outlets you decided to leave out (and why?).  Chances are you’ll have a few questions directed at you after the presentation, so you have to be able to answer with very little hesitation.  This also helps with #1 (nerves).  The better you know your stuff, the more confident you’ll be.

Eye contact.  Pretty obvious, but easy to forget when the pressure is on.  Make sure you read the (potential) clients’ expression.  Are they confused?  Bored? Tense? Relaxed?…etc.  Modify your presentation style accordingly.

Enjoy it.  Take advantage of your time in the spotlight.   Before you know it, you’ll be back in the office putting together media lists so take advantage of this opportunity and make it your own.  Strut your stuff!

For more tips…..listen to Inside PR 41 through 43…

**Oh yeah……The pitch went very well and we got the business.  Boo yeah!

Tricky Tricky Facebook

Technorati Tags: Social Media, Marketing

Canadian companies continue in their struggle to implement Facebook as a meaningful marketing tool.

The latest: “The Molson Canadian Cold Shots Campus Challenge”.  The Facebook page challenged Canada’s student population to upload pictures proving that their school was the numero uno party spot in Canada. 

In marketing speak, the page allowed Molson to “increase brand awareness and product trial among 19 to 24 year olds.”

In reality, it amounted to the Facebook version of Animal House, with 17,000 members posting pictures of them and their plastered friends in an array of less than flattering party poses…

I was made aware of the initiative in Monday’s AdNews Daily but was sad to see that the site had already been prematurely shut down as a result of “complaints that they [Molson] promoted binge drinking.”

Don’t Molson Cold Shots in general promote binge drinking?  I mean, that little target sign at the bottom of the can is just begging to get shot gunned…

Yet another lesson in Facebook marketing.  It’s all trial and error folks.

In other beer news…..Young PR Meet-up this Thursday night.  Go sign up on the Facebook group.  It’s at the Green Room at 7 p.m.  We have 38 confirmed already. 

Run it up the Flagpole and See….Who Salutes….But No One Ever Does

*9:30 am  Monday Morning*

Old CEO Guy:

We have a problem.

Peppy HR Lady:

What’s that?

Old CEO Guy:

We’re experiencing a serious labour shortage and it’s only getting worse.  We have an aging work force, many of whom will be retiring in the next few years and we don’t have enough people coming into replace them.

Peppy HR Lady:

I know.  Plus morale is at an all time low.  Jim from accounting just went on stress leave.  Diane from marketing just gave her two weeks notice. 

Old CEO Guy: 

It’s hard to find good talent these days and we’re losing all our young people to the competition.  What do we do?

Peppy HR Lady:

Maybe we should pay them more?

Old CEO Guy:

Absolutely not.

Peppy HR Lady:

Benefits?

Old CEO Guy:

You have to be kidding.

Peppy HR Lady:

More vacation days?

Old CEO Guy:

They have enough already.

Over Caffeinated Twenty  Something Sitting in the Corner With His Laptop:

How about an office lip sync to Flagpole Sitta?  We could put it on YouTube.

Old CEO Guy:

Who the hell is he?

Peppy HR Lady:

Beats me.  This YouTube is supposed to be cool though.

Courtesy of today’s Globe and Mail and quite possibly the greatest recruiting tool ever made (unintentionally)……

From the kids that brought you Collegehumour.com…

Connected Venture’s Harvey Danger lipsync:

Funny Seeing You Here…

Hmmmm…….does that last post say October 21?

Yikes.

I’ve stopped blogging.

I haven’t just stopped blogging.  I’ve stopped reading, listening, commenting…

I’m completely shut out.

2 reasons:

1) There isn’t anything good to read.  There are a handful of blogs that I’ll always read, but the whole PR blogosphere seems to have cooled off a little in the past few months.  There’s nothing new…..and much fewer posts coming up in my Bloglines account.

2) I’ve been working longer.  Agency ain’t your typical 9 to 5er.  So, when I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is read/write about marketing and PR.  However, I have caught up on my South Park episodes.  And I found this delightful little show.

Anyway, I wanted to get something up on my blog before Thursday night’s Talk is Cheap being put on by the most connected dude in PR academia right now (at least in Toronto), Gary Schlee.  Not only am I attending, but I think I might be speaking on a student panel.  So, I didn’t want to go to this big social media event without having an updated blog.

Shameful stuff, I know…..

But….hopefully I’ll find some inspiration among the hundred and something tech savvy PR’s registered to attend.

Young PR Meetup/Young PR Links/MasterCard Saves Toronto Rinks

Technorati Tags: public relations publicrelations MasterCard Toronto Young PR Meetup Networking

3 things:

One:

Another young PR meetup this month.  “Third Thursday” is going down at The Abbot on the Hill (1276 Yonge).  Starts at 6:30.  Check out Student PR blog for more details, or just go sign up on the Facebook group.  We already have 14 confirmed, so get in on it while it’s still fresh….

Two:

A couple of posts you should read if you’re a student/entry level in PR:

Richard Millington recently posted re: online bullying of PR professionals (specifically those in the younger demographic).  Read the comments.  I find this to be a really disturbing trend.  Downright ugly.  Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down.

And….Paull Young kicked off a nice little conversation re: online reputation management for young PR professionals.  Again, read the comments.  Great tips.

Three:

Monster PR move by MasterCard last week (courtesy of Melissa on the MAVERICK Facebook group).  The company donated the funds needed to keep Toronto’s outdoor ice rinks (scheduled to be closed until the new year) open this Christmas.

The catch?  Well, there wasn’t one.  No corporate logo, naming rights, etc.  Just a good old fashioned “no strings charitable act”.  The Financial Post’s Holly Shaw did a nice little write up on Friday, including a quote from Robert Levy of Brand-Spark which sums things up very well:

“This is also totally consistent with their marketing. MasterCard’s whole message is that there are a number of priceless emotional things in life that you can’t put a price on, things that they are not going to tell you to use a credit card for. And if you connect the dots, hockey and [skating] at Christmas belong in that category - you can’t put a price on that experience. It is a very nice [marketing message] at a high level, even without official branding in return.”

The move cost the company a mere $160,000, a fraction of the cost of a traditional advertising campaign. 

Is this something we’ll be seeing more of in the future?  It should be.  Generation Y is packed full of skeptics.  Corporations will have to find increasingly creative ways to reach their audience.  MasterCard did just that and now they’re enjoying the benefits: an estimated equivalent of 2-3 weeks television advertising. 

Good stuff.

The Wind

Julie beat me to it, but I wanted to post this anyway…..beautiful stuff.  It doesn’t even feel like you’re watching an ad. 

 

Unfortunately, I’ll be enduring the latest reincarnation of those Chevy “Our Country” ads for the remainder of this Sunday afternoon.  Pats and Cowboys.  Getcha’ popcorn ready.

‘Creepin’ at Work: Facebook at MAVERICK

Anyone who is friends with me on Facebook may have noticed a few extra Scotty links coming up in your news feed the past couple of weeks. 

The reason?  The Mav Pad (as I like to call it)…….aka…..the MAVERICK Public Relations Facebook group.

Wait wait wait…..don’t go anywhere just yet.  This isn’t just another Facebook group.  It actually *gasp*…..does something.

Shortly after my starting work at MAVERICK, I was having a conversation with a fellow colleague RE: the online wonder that is the book of face.  Turns out that a little over half of the people at the office were active Facebook members and more were signing up every week….

So, naturally someone came up with the idea of starting an office Facebook group.

I’ll put it out there right now….I am highly cynical of Facebook groups, mostly because they don’t actually serve any purpose (with the exception of a few).  I’m a member of about thirty groups, and I never check any of them.  I sign up, see who else is a member, and that’s it.  Many groups are created on impulse, then left alone for months at a time…….long forgotten……..these are the ghost towns of Facebook.

I wanted to spare our office group that long, painful death, so I did a little research to see how we could keep our group active.  At first, I wasn’t coming up with much, but then one Tuesday morning while in the shower (isn’t that where you come up with the best ideas?  Love it..), I remembered a little Post a Link application that I’d noticed.

The Post a Link application allows you to copy and paste a link into a little box and then post a summary along with it.  It’s easy to learn, easy to use, and highly addictive.

The final product looks something like this:

It’s a little blurry, but you get the idea.  So, it’s basically a social bookmarking software for the whole office.  A private area where members can post, summarize and discuss links of interest.   

It’s two weeks old and so far, it’s looking pretty good.  At the end of every week I summarize the links/conversations that have taken place in The Mav Pad’s Post a Link application and email it to the whole office (for those office members who have not taken the leap into social networking).  Last Friday, this resulted in a stimulating conversation amongst Mavericks via email regarding a YouTube clip of Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty getting burned by a cancer patient.  Mavericks weighed in on what was right/wrong on how McGuinty handled the situation and how his PR people should prepare him for similar situations in the future. 

Mmmmmm……conversations.

The real challenge comes in the weeks/months ahead when that “brand new smell” starts to fade.  Will our little social bookmarking group continue to thrive or slowly start to wilt away?  Only time will tell….but I’m feeling very happy with the way things are going right now…

So, next time you start a Facebook group, whether it’s political, work-related or “just for fun”……take ten minutes and think about how you can keep your group active.  It really pays off. 

Technorati Tags: Social Media, MAVERICK Public Relations, Facebook