I’m a person who gets very little enjoyment from eating healthy. I live on a steady diet of caffeine washed down with occasional dives into the candy drawer. I will almost never choose a salad over a bagel, and to this day I have flashbacks from preschool of being forced to eat green beans.

Thankfully, not all facets of my life are as blatantly unhealthy. With 98 percent of my job consisting of writing, I’m dependent on a healthy regiment of structure and style to keep my writing in tiptop shape.

Here are a few of my daily supplements that every writer should have:

AP Style Book: Like the food pyramid, this book provides all the rules to write by. Is it “toward” or “towards”? What is the proper use of a semi-colon? This hand guide offers all the details to keep your writing up to par.

A Red Pen: Dr. Samuel Johnson was a brilliant 18^th century author famous for his rough drafts. His would fling his barely completed drafts of the parliamentary debates at the page boy, who would run them to the print shop where they were published and distributed on the streets of London. Without ever reviewing his work before it was published, without having to write a second draft or have an editor review his work, Dr. Johnson wrote brilliantly crafted prose that made him “arguably the most distinguished” author in history.

Dr. Johnson was an anomaly. His first drafts may have been brilliant, but for the rest of us, editing is essential. Never go with a first draft, recognize that spell check won’t catch everything, and always have a red pen ready to rewrite and cross out errors.

Peer Editing: I have a problem where, after investing too much time into a certain piece, I become emotionally attached to a draft and refuse to change it. A second (or third) person reviewing your writing can catch mistakes you overlooked and offer valuable critique and feedback. And, most importantly, they are able to be subjective.

Reading: You’ve heard it before, and it warrants repeating: Reading is the key to great writing. If you don’t read, you will never fully appreciate or achieve quality prose. Here are just a few of my favorites:

I, Claudius: Told from the perspective of the Emperor Claudius, this book follows the beginning the wild characters, devious plots and, more often that not, murders that marked the beginning of the Roman Empire.

Pride & Prejudice: Who doesn’t love a good Jane Austen novel? This is widely regarded as one of the best, and one of the most therapeutic books ever written.

Diary: Written by the author of Fight Club, I have often heard this book described as the novel to make you love reading again. Don’t believe me? Just look at the inside cover.

Me Talk Pretty One Day: If you ever need a laugh or think your family is weird, this is the book for you. It is a series of short stories tracing the author from Raleigh, N.C. to New York, to Paris and back. I carried it around in my purse for two years straight, turning to a page at random whenever I had a moment to spare.

Here is a picture from that forced yet enjoyable week in Berlin, featuring myself and some newly met friends standing in front of the Alexanderplatz U-Bahn (rapid transit) station.

If you had gone inside the Alexanderplatz station last month, you would have found this:

Volkswagen, known for its ingenious advertising including the “Think Small” campaign, installed a “Fast Lane” slide in the Alexanderplatz subway station. This clever marketing stunt, “dedicated to everyone who enjoys speeding life up a little,” is a follow-up to Volkswagen’s “Fun Theory” initiative, which promoted good behavior by making it enjoyable. In Sweden, this meant transforming a set of subway stairs into a giant piano keyboard. A reported 66 percent more people than normal took the stairs over the adjacent escalator that day, and the stunt generated international publicity.

These “outside-the-box” campaigns are proving far more adept at drawing positive attention to brands than traditional marketing methods. While Volkswagen could have purchased a commercial instead of a giant slide, it’s unlikely that another traditional ad would generate the same level of buzz as the “Fun Theory” stunts: the video of the Alexanderplatz U-Bahn slide has more than 1.3 million views since posting on June 11, and the Piano Stairs video has more than 12 million. Compare that to Volkswagen’s other commercials on YouTube, only one of which has more than 1 million views. Taking something as mundane as a subway station and turning it into a living Willy Wonka playground is getting people to talk about the brand, not to mention putting a smile on commuters’ (and YouTube watchers’) faces.

Enjoy

Saks Fifth’s new advertising campaign “Think About…” turns the recession on its head, using a lighthearted approach to contrast the anxiety of the recession. The campaign was taken directly from their depression-era campaigns, where advertisements such as “Why don’t you tie black tulle bows on your wrists?” lined the columns in Harper’s Bazaar. The modern campaign, expanded to include e-mail, events and social media, reminds consumers that the company can relate to their economic difficulties: they’ve been there, they survived, and things eventually got better.  What’s more, it’s a reminder to consumers that it is once again ok to spend.

The campaign is a refreshingly upbeat change from recent years, when Saks Fifth was posting double-digit sales declines. Saks Fifth was one of the companies hardest hit by the recession, with its reputation as a luxury store deterring customers and forcing it to sell luxury goods at 75 percent off. Since then Saks has struggled to regain its footing, drastically cutting inventory in order to reestablish its exclusive reputation and avoid the embarrassing sales that had angered its suppliers.

As the advertisers of Mad Men put it, advertising is all about creating happiness. Of the numerous sacrifices families were forced to make during the economic downtown, luxury and high-end fashion items were among the first. This campaign creates a staunch and welcome contrast to the darkened economy by using playful messages to remind the recession-weary consumers about the joys of luxury.

While it may be a while before the store returns to its double-digit sales of yore, there are small steps to be made: customers might not be able to afford the full designer outfit, but they can still have shirt or the lipstick. It’s those baby steps that will pull the retailers, and in turn the consumers, out of the recession. As Saks Fifth knows, it’s just a matter of time; after all, they’ve been through this before.

Darlene Sanguenza's photostream on Flickr

Every year, the holiday season starts earlier, bringing with it gifts that all of us can appreciate: the sales, the deals, the promotions. And with an ever increasing portion of the population becoming involved in social media, companies are shifting their holiday advertising budgets into online interactivity.

My favorite holiday social media campaign at the moment is SephoraClaus. Sephora, the high-end European cosmetic company, is granting the cosmetic wish of one Twitter user per day. In order to be entered, Twitter users need only enter their wish, any item from the Sephora, which will then be posted on their Twitter account with the hashtag #SephoraClaus. One winner per day is selected, and their wish is granted.  On the SephoraClaus website, you can even scroll down and see all the wishes that have been made (a great way to get ideas).

There are several reasons why I see this as the perfect holiday campaign.

First of all, it perfectly targeted its audience. Sephora’s target audience is predominantly young, female, and trendy, which, aside from the female aspect (55% of social media participants are female), although males tend to be the main influencers), is a solid description of social media participants.

Secondly, the campaign builds on itself.  It was designed in a such a way, through Twittering, dialogue, and the hashtags, as to expand the company’s online presence. I myself learned about the promotion not through Sephora, but through the Tweets of my fellow Twitters. The more people to make a wish, the more people hear about it.

Finally, there is an innate genius is giving people the chance to “wish” for their dream product: they’re going to look through all of your merchandise. If you’re presented with the opportunity to win a free gift of your choice, you’re going to dive through the company pages looking for the most expensive and exciting product. That time spent on the Web site makes the SephoraClaus partakers more familiar with the merchandise, and all the more likely to make a purchase.
So SephoraClaus, may you bring many a wishful woman their dream products, and congratulations on your masterful social media strategy. And for the record, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for my Burberry Brit Sheer Glaze Set

As a child, I would do anything to ge my hands on sweets

Last week, my childhood was revisited in a peculiar manner; the present me, the social media fiend and student blogger, and the old me, the sugar-toothed 3 year old, came into collision. The result was not pretty.

Skittles' failed attempt at Twitter

On Monday Skittles decided to be a revolutionary amongst candy companies, and switched their homepage to a Twitter feed. Anything that was said about Skittles was posted for the world to see. This may indeed have been a great move, except that people found out about it.

If anyone checked the Skittles homepage Monday afternoon, all they saw was a stream of Tweets bashing Skittles. People eager for their 10 seconds of fame (Most were inappropriate, many were hilarious, and almost none of them offered any positive feedback. As far as generating publicity, the stunt was a huge success. However, it generated more animosity than support.

By Tuesday, the Skittles homepage was changed to a Facebook group.

To be honest, the Facebook group annoyed me far more than the Twitter feed. While the Twitter feed was new, experimental, and provided “lively” feedback, the Facebook page felt like a flop. As Shiv Singh posted in his blog:

“I want to feel enticed when I visit the Skittles. Seeing a Wikipedia page does not create a craving for me. And I can’t imagine it does much for the teens who are Skittle’s core customers.”

This generic layout and color scheme fails to highlight Skittles' colorful products

Instead, the Facebook page used the same colors and layout as every other Facebook group, which effectively drained all the personality out of the Skittles brand. All that was left was an unsuccessful PR effort.

Currently, the Skittles homepage is set to a YouTube video of a Skittles commercial.

Like most people out there, I’m put off by Skittles’ overly eager attempt to enter into the world of social media. A strong YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter presence may have helped their company, especially as most of their customers are preteens and younger and likely to be tuned in online.  However, this aggressive social media ploy has created a mockery rather than any foundation of support. And because Skittles is no longer generating its own materials for the homepage, an age restriction has been imposed.  Why would a company risk sending away its strongest brand endorcers?

While parts of it induced laughter from viewers, I know most of the reaction I saw was less than friendly. Yet unlike most outrageous publicity stunts, Skittles is not lacking in name recognition.  People already know about the company, and seeing it mocked on its own website is hardly beneficial to ones brand image. Additionally, Skittles’  attempts to demonstrate its social media presence has eliminated all two-way discussion, except by creating unity amongst the brand mockers.

In my mind, it serves as another perfect example of “What NOT to do.”

For another analysis of the Skittles media strategy, check out David Armano’s blog post.

And on that note, I would like to say Congratulations to Paul & Priscilla Yates!! I couldn’t ask for a more incredible sister-in-law.

Now, you might ask, how does this relate to PR?

Aside from the occasion ringing of wedding bells, family celebrations and upcoming graduation parties, there has been increasingly little to celebrate. If it isn’t your retirement fund, it’s the housing crisis. If it isn’t heated political debate, it’s the plummeting economy and growing unemployment rate.  When you take in the grand picture, it’s hard to be optimistic.

That is why I would like to take this time to highlight a company that is taking the initiative to serve its employees.  Despite the economic turmoil it’s facing, this company continues to offer the training, wages, and benefits that other companies are slashing daily.

Last week we gave presentations in my Advanced PR Writing Class on CSR (for a brief overview of the topic, check out my previous post). Our assignment was to give a presentation about the CSR efforts of one of CRO’s Top 100 Companies for 2008. I jumped (literally) at the chance to write my presentation about a company I have grown to know and love.

It’s a company that I am sure you are all familiar with:

Starbucks.

Copyright Starbucks Coffee Company

I’ve been an avid coffee addict since I was 5 and began stealing my mom’s coffee mug whenever she left it unattended. When I found out a Starbucks was being built across the street from my high school, my world found a new level of previously unexplored elation, and I proceeded to spend insane amounts of money and gain 10 lbs. from white chocolate mochas. The world was right.

These days, with the economy gone sour and my expendable income down to $0, it is a far rarer occasion that I get to enter into a Starbucks and savor my beloved latte.  However, I can now take pleasure that my latte is serving not just a company whose products I enjoy, but also my community as a whole.  Now that’s Happiness in a Cup!

I decided to focus my research not on their fair trade coffee, which is what they receive the most recognition for, but for their employee policies. Here are some aspects that impressed me most:

Titles: Throughout the company, employees are referred to as “partners,” emphasizing their beliefs that each employee has something of value to contribute to the company.

The Benefit: If employees feel that they matter to a company, they are more likely to take pride in the work they do. They are also more likely to remain loyal to the company, reducing costly turnover.

Benefits: Starbucks offers health, dental, and vision benefits to all employees who work more than 20 hours a week. Additionally, they get paid sick days.  As a student, this particularly impressed me: I know people who have worked for a company for years, have dangerous jobs, and occasionally work more than 60 hours a week, but they are not given health benefits. When health care costs increased dramatically in 2006 and 2007, Starbucks shouldered the extra financial burden instead of passing the expenses onto their employees. Additionally, the benefits are not just treatment oriented; employees are offered discount gym memberships and other incentives to lead healthy lifestyles.

The Benefit: Again, worker satisfaction. Not only are workers going to feel like they matter to a company, but they’re receiving benefits that most companies are cutting.

Competitive pay: As a graduating senior about the face the onslaught of student loan payments, I’m hoping to land any job after college, gladly accepting minimum wage as long as it means a steady paycheck. Starbucks pays its employees higher than minimum wage, helping them to support themselves and, once again, demonstrating employee appreciation.

The Benefit: Aside from generation high employee satisfaction, this helps widen the applicant pool. If people know that the job offers high pay and benefits, more people will apply. I’m willing to bet that Starbucks receives more applications per opening than, say, KFC.

Opportunity for Advancement: Not only does Starbucks thoroughly train all of its employees, but it offers them the opportunity to advance within the company. Whether they seek out management or corporate positions, the opportunities are there for the desiring worker.

The Benefit: One of the great desires of the European Socialist party was for “meaningful work”.  This includes, not only adequate pay, but chances to move up and accomplish something.  Companies benefit when their managers and corporate planners have worked in multiple positions throughout the company; they have the experience and the perspective that allows for necessary changes.

Employee Input: Every 2 years, Starbucks issues a survey to their employees to assess both employee satisfaction and how the company is living up to their mission statement. Of the 172,000 employees worldwide, over 100,000 submitted their opinions.

The Benefit: As the people who interact most with the customers, the employees have the best perspective as to how the company is meeting the needs and demands of its customers. By listening to the employees and getting regular feedback, Starbucks has been able to improve both their employee satisfaction (and thus retention rates, etc.) while improving their overall image. If customers know that the company is working to serve its employees and greater community, they will be more likely to continue to purchase their products.

As you can see, Starbucks has made a strong effort to give back to and improve the lives of their employees, and they have done so in a very real way.  Additionally, they have managed to do so in a sustainable manner that benefits both the employees and the company as a whole, making it both a fiscally and socially responsible choice.

Finally, I would like to congratulate them for once again making it onto CRO’s Top 100 List for 2009.

So sit down, relax and savor that latte and know that your hard earned coffee money is going towards a company that’s giving back to the American people. And that is  something to smile about.

Copywrite Warner Brothers Pictures

As many of you know, especially those that follow me on Twitter, the opening of the movie Watchmen has sparked great debate. Critics have scathed it (check out A. O. Scott’s hilariously witty critique) while some viewers have raved about it. Regardless of the viewers opinion, nearly every review cites the same fact: it was based off a graphic novel.

The reviews for the movie have little to no consistency, but two patterns can be derived:

Pattern 1: Viewer saw Watchmen without reading the book and [loved the movie so much/hated it with such a fiery passion/enjoyed the cinematographic to such a level that] he/she went out and [bought the book and has done nothing but read it since/bought a copy of the book just to be able to burn it and has been posted blogs and Tweets about how horrible the film was since the moment they got out/watched every other Zach Snyder film].

Pattern 2: People saw Watchmen having read the book and [loved the movie for having captured so much of the original book/hated Zach Snyder for failing so miserably/hated Zach Snyder for even trying].

While I have yet to see the movie, I have thoroughly enjoyed following the debate. Indeed it is familiar debate between movie goers and readers. The primary problem is that, regardless of the fact that it was based on a book, the movie fails to stand on its own two feet. The movie has requires supplement from the book to be considered at all tolerable by the majority of viewers.

And naturally, my ever inquisitive mind has drawn this topic back to public relations.

When a variety of media outlets is being used by an individual or company, a great deal of effort must be made to ensure that they are both free-standing and complementary. I have grown tired of reading a blog or following a company on Twitter and having to do a lengthy Google search to figure out who it is that I’m reading.

When using a variety of media, be it TV shows, podcasts, websites, blogs, Twitter, or whichever the individual or company has deemed appropriate, they need to be congruent. This includes not only the messages being conveyed, but the format as well.

Here are 5 basic tips I’ve compiled for making sure that your media outlets being used are complimentary while being able to stand on your own:

1: Have an established plan and purpose for each outlet before creating it. Each separate outlet needs to contribute something new for it to be of value. Is it’s purpose to reach out to a different age group? Or does it exist to engage viewers in discussion? Whatever it may be, it needs to have a point and purpose, adding its own value.  Additionally, if the purpose is not established before the outlet is being utilized, a great deal of ambiguity and wasted time can result.

2: Have contact information available on all outlets. This is something I feel strongly about. It is both discouraging and annoying when I come across a blog or a Twitter that doesn’t provide me with any means of getting in contact with the individual or company it represents. Part of the horrors and opportunity that the Internet provides is that people no longer have to search for information; it comes to them.  This means that public expect for information to be provided before they even have to ask. Don’t make a potentially engaged reader have to search Google to figure out who you are, but tell them before they ask and offer them the opportunity to learn more.

3: Provide links to all your media outlets. This may be more difficult on some outlets, such as Twitter with its strict character limit, but this is an easy step that directly increases credibility. However, on websites and blogs this should be common practice. Simply by providing the links, you’re making it easier for individuals to become more deeply invested in your media presence. Even if they don’t start following you on every outlet, it is still an easy way of demonstrating your commitment to reaching out to publics.

Starbucks uses a consistent interior decorating scheme to promote brand recognition and image.

4: Consistency, consistency, consistency. This includes everything from the main messages being conveyed to the voice being used, the information being provided, and even the color palette. These seemingly minute details make a huge difference in perception.  Would Starbucks be as memorable it if Consistency sends a positive message to publics and can increase consumer confidence, while not doing so can lead to anything from confusion to distrust.

5: Be complete. This goes along with having all of your contact information on the same page. Each media outlet should provide all the information one might need. After coming across one outlet, one should have no question about the nature of the brand, the purpose, or the messages. An identity needs to be fully established with each outlet, or else it loses credibility, and in the end is a waste of time to readers. If you don’t provide the information in an easily accessible manner, people won’t ask for it.

These five simple steps, though not fully comprehensive (what a long blog post that would be!) can help bring a sense of unity to a brand image, be it for an individual or a company, while giving each outlet a sense of purpose. The variety of the outlets being used should not jeopardize the unity of the message or brand, yet each outlet must add value.

For more information on building consistency of your brand image, check out the Personal Branding Blog.

Just remember, you don’t want your brand image to be the next Watchman!

Veronica Corningstone from the movie "Anchorman"

Anchorman touched me in a way that few people can relate to; it was like a beacon of hope, for growing up I too dreamt of one day becoming a TV news anchor.

It was probably due to the fact that my family never invested in cable TV or bought a lot of movies.  My nightly entertainment was the news.  TGIF was followed by 60 Minutes, and I would hang on to Barbara Walters’ every word until my parents caught me and inform me that it was hours past my bedtime.  I watched news anchors with a raptness bordering on reverence.  When we did school career projects, I would immediately be at the TV stations interviewing television broadcasters, astounded by my luck at sitting next to and conversing with my Good Day Oregon and KPTV Fox 12 idols.

In my eyes, the news was the very representation of democracy.  Every anchor held equal opportunity to attract my attention,  depending on their nightly performance and story content.  It seemed the purest method of information-transfer, with knowledge and intellect being shared by our trusted news anchors. I would ask to hear over and over stories of Walter Cronkite, who was able to change the course of the Vietnam War simply by sharing his thoughtful opinions with his loyal viewers.  As I grew older, I also became true convert of the Church of New York Times, with Nick Kristof serving as my inspiration.  By the time I was in college, I was a full-blown news junkie.

Then everything changed.

Gradually, the news industry started talking about something called ‘citizen journalistm’.  Few words could convey my horror at this development.  My TV anchors and newspaper reporters were being replaced and thrown into the mix of ordinary people.  Reporters weren’t people, they were gods among men! They were specially trained to follow each lead, to deny any personal bias and to convey their stories with an eloquence and twist of phrase that I refused to believe any citizen capable of.

TIME magazine cover December 25, 2006

My initial belief was that this was some ploy by the news industry to bring back viewers.  By that time the newspaper industry was already slipping and news outlets were struggling to incorporate traditional media outlets with the opportunities and threats of the Internet. I assumed it was like reality television, the Survivor of the newspapers: citizen journalists were cheap, often free.  They weren’t necessarily making quality news, but they could do it for far less than I assumed any experienced reporter would charge (this was before I took the time t newspaper salaries). TIME Magazine hailed the movement by making EVERYONE the person of the year. I merely rolled my eyes and waited for it to end.

I can honestly say that I began to lose faith.  As blogging caught on, I became even more disheartened and annoyed.  Suddenly everyone had something to share, yet I stuck to my belief that only the highly trained had opinions worth noting.  To top it off, I had just learned about the tactics of Fox News and other blatantly biased news stations.  Coming home from college was a slight relief, where I briefly returned to the trusted news anchors who had lead my through my childhood.  “Why, Wayne Garcia?” I’d ask, “Why is this happening to me?”  Invariably, the anchors would then feature their “Your News” segment, and I would turn off the TV.

Gradually I was able to find solace through education.  In my PR training, we discussed and partook in the ‘citizen journalism’ development that  I had previously hoped was a mere fad.  I came across the blogs of other writers and PR practitioners who not only have something to say, but often do so in a more entertaining and enlightening manner than traditional news could offer.

However, I am notoriously stubborn.  I was not ready to drop my deep held, though muted, hatred of citizen journalism.  I even went as far as mentally associate the downturn of the news industry as, if not the cause, at least the warning signs of the current recession/depression.

And then when I woke up this morning, I checked my inbox.  There sat an email was from my sister, whom I regularly call and rant on and on to about exciting developments in social media, though  most of the time she probably has no idea what I’m talking about.  The email contained an article from CNN about how Twitter was, once again, the first outlet to inform the public and even publish pictures about a plane crash in Amsterdam.  Suddenly, my eyes opened up.

This was not the first time I’d seen something like this happen.  A few weeks ago I was on Twitter and noticed several posts about a plane crash in New York that had taken place a few hours prior.  When I checked www.nytimes.com, they had yet to publish anything about it.  Only the AP made any mention of a place crash.  My teachers had shared similar stories about how Twitter had informed them about earthquakes in Indonesia and other similar catastrophes that the news had been slow to publish.  And suddenly, it all clicked.

Photo provided by DrPhibes on Flixster.com

It was just like in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Suddenly my heart expanded the three sizes it had been lacking, and my mind embraced the idea of citizen journalism.  It isn’t incompetent people just wanting to get their name on paper, but a way of real people sharing the things that actually affect them.  And with the vastness of the Internet and social media outlets such as Twitter, the news has become an instantaneous feed; I no longer have to wait until tomorrow to learn about what’s happening today, right now.

It all came back to why I fell in love with the news in the first place: as a child, I was seeking any source of knowledge I could get my hands on, and my trusted anchors were always there to inform me, to fill my eager mind with all the latest information of the day.  Now that I’m older, I have Twitter and some brilliant blogs to keep me informed in real time, giving me a depth and variety information than traditional news outlets cannot realistically provide.  And so I came to recognize social media and citizen journalism as the revitalization that our news industry needed.

How has citizen journalism and the growing influence of social media changed your perspective of the news industry? Have you had a similar “conversion” moment?