Nicolas Sarkozy turns to Twitter to boost his Presidential Race

Nicolas Sarkozy did something clever: he is boosting his online presence on Twitter, the popular microblogging. The official account of M. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic, is being fed in part by M. Nicolas Sarkozy himself as a private citizen.

During an interview on Europe 1, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the French Minister of Ecology, stated that she is all in favor. Not surprisingly, she is slated as becoming the official spokesperson of the future candidate. "This offers direct means of communication. I find it fun. I understand that it is based on the concept that NS (=Nicolas Sarkozy) will write and tweet the message himself."

The first tweet appeared on February 15, 2012 was signed NS. The message said: "I accepted the invitation of TF1 to appear in the news segment at 8pm tonight and I'll meet you all there." All that was missing: XOXO!

Two hours after the tweet hit cyberspace, the NS Twitter account already boasted 15,593 followers. To compare: main rival François Hollande has 147,186 followers.

Even in traditional France, politicians are harnessing the power of social media!

Is Pinterest Good for Companies, Firms and Freelancers?

Pinterest has been hailed as the latest must-have social network for companies, firms and freelancers. Mashable, the Huffington Post and TechCrunch all predicted a bright future for Pinterest. According to comScore, Pinterest hit 11.7 million unique monthly U.S. visitors, crossing the 10 million mark faster than any other social media site before.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard, not unlike pinning stuff (photos, recipes, business cards and the like) in your cubicle at work or on your fridge at home. Pinterest allow for digitally organizing and sharing images and links on themed pinboards. Users can also share their pins on Facebook and Twitter.

As with LinkedIn and Facebook, users can create a branded Pinterest page to promote their business, expertise, brands, events or any other info. This could support their corporate brand or service offering.

Pinterest could therefore be relevant for marketing strategy, since it serves as a clever addition to the existing social media mix. As with other social media, it also allows for monitoring competitors’ activities, brands and IP.

Will Pinterest become the next Facebook or Twitter? I don’t know, but it worth monitoring! Since Pinterest is free to use, there is no harm in trying it out. In the mean time: happy pinning!

(Image courtesy of TechCrunch)

Vermont Prison Inmate Inserts Pig on Vermont Police Car Decals

Vermont State Police cars feature 16-inch decals consisting of the state police crest. The official crest depicts a spotted cow against a background of snowy mountains.

However, the latest batch of decals depicts something different. A Vermont state trooper discovered that one of the spots on a cow contains an image of a pig.

The recalls were produced by a Vermont correctional unit's print shop. The State of Vermont uses correctional facilities for some of its print products, including the cruiser decals. Someone working at the print shop changed the emblem from the officially sanctioned design.

The prank image of a pig has been shown 30 police cruisers for the last year.The sixty 16-inch door decals will be removed as soon as it is practical.

State police spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro stated that the inmates’ version is “an apparent reference to the pejorative word for police.”

She pointed out that "it dishonors the memory of those past and present members, especially for those who have lost their lives in the line of duty."

The "source and timing" of the change to the design is under investigation.

Police Major Bill Sheets said in a statement that "while some may find humor in the decal modifications, the joke unfortunately comes at the expense of the taxpayers."

The new police car decals will be made by next week at a cost of $780.

Lessons to be learned:

1. always check your printed materials before distributing it
2. check the quality of your graphic designer and/or print shop
3. turn a setback into an advantage. I strongly advise the police to raffle off the “pig decals” for charity

The Art of Retracting a Press Release

Suppose you provide communications support to a global, non-profit entity, such as the global milk sharing network (Human Milk for Human Babies).

During your PR activities, you come across a woman who is asking for milk for NY friend currently living in Paris. The friend has a hard time finding enough milk for her baby, and turned to the hm4hb website for assistance.

As a PR professional, you see a golden opportunity to get the purpose of the non-profit across. Since the French webpage of the non-profit is not very active, you boost it with a press release, promoting that webpage. You then send the release to about two dozen French media outlets, including Le Monde that picks up the story. Le Monde also talks with the director of the milk bank in Paris who claims that milk sharing is governed by French law. It is therefore illegal to share milk via a website A TV5 reporter states the same.

The non-profit, fearful of French police showing up at its French offices, wants to retract the press release. Just pulling the French and English version down from the website will not do the trick.

So what are the options?

1. Amending the press release and resending it to all media and journalists, including Le Monde and TV5.
   Lesson to be learned: obvious mistakes are best handled this way, especially for listed companies.
   
   
2. Reposting the press release on the website.
   Lesson to be learned: leverage the power of your website (and social media) to do damage control.
   
   
3. Replacing the press release with a letter explaining the intentions of the non-profit.
   Lesson to be learned: asking forgiveness always put a company in a positive light.
   
   
4. Getting legal advise on the law in France. Lesson to be learned: always have legal look at a press release before sending it out.
   
   
5. Do nothing. This way, its will blow over; quite likely sooner rather than later.
   Lesson to be learned: least said, soonest mended.

But the best strategy (of course) is to avoid the need of retracting anyway!

La Redoute’s Advertisement Faux Pas

La Redoute is a popular French clothing company. On its website, is published a nice advertisement for its line of children's clothes. The image shows four cute kids in colorful beachwear. The photographer also captured a man in the background not wearing one stitch of clothes.

The photo was displayed on the website for almost a whole day before the company realized the faux pas and removed it. By then however, it had gone viral.

The company turned to social media to do damage control.

"La Redoute apologizes for the photograph published on its site and is taking steps to remove it," a company representative tweeted.

On Facebook the company posted: "We will strengthen the validation process of all brand communications for this cannot happen again in the future." Over 1,000 users commented; quite a lot were amused.

Some cynics wondered if it was all a well-planned and executed PR stunt. One of them saw it as: "A marketing coup by La Redoute's web team ahead of winter sales."

Although it would definitely be a good marketing ploy, it is highly unlikely it was done on purpose. In its official statement to press, a spokesperson of La Redoute stated: "An internal inquiry has been opened to determine how the error happened."

Following this debacle, the following was tweeted: "Oh and La Redoute also appears to sell a t-shirt that spells holiday as "holyday"…Zut!

It might not have been fun for La Redoute, it’s even worse for the skinny-dipping man. For now his identity remains a mystery. Hopefully it stays that way.

About The Five Types of Prosumers

Euro RSCG has been conducting research about prosumers (professional consumers) for some time now. With the rise in social media use, the importance and impact of prosumers has been growing.

Prosumers differ from consumers. Prosumers have (relatively speaking) more influence, are more involved, and are more digital-savvy. compared to “regular” consumers. For brand owners, prosumers are important. Companies want to know what motivates them.

There are 5 prosumer archetypes based on social media use, the way content is shared, and reasons to be active on social networks

1. Utilitarians are the natural allies of brands that make appealing offers
   
   
2. Entertainers get excited by stimuli
   
   
3. Advocates as a good citizen and to contribute to a better world
   
   
4. Co-Creators support brands that approach them in a personal way and help them to come into contact with others
   
   
5. Competitors assume that brands are in competition, as they themselves would.

To learn more about prosumers, check out the video below. It also includes world domination by Google in 2050 and Lawrence Lessig becoming US Secretary of Justice in 2020 and declaring copyright illegal!

Enjoy!

A Steve Jobs action figure - just what Sheldon Cooper et al want….

It only took three months after the tragic passing away of Apple’s iconic founder Steve Jobs for a company to come up with merchandise. The company “In Icons” is going to launch Steve Jobs action figures.

The company’s website has pictures of the poseable Steve Jobs figure on its website. The figures are expected to be shipped in February and will cost $99.

The Chinese manufacturer believes that the 12-inch-high Jobs doll will become a collector’s item. They might be right; there is a lot of viral buzz and the item already appears on eBay for around $135.

If you take a close look at the doll, you will see that it is rather eerie. The level of detail is too much, including pores on Jobs' forehead, subtle wrinkles under his eyes, and veins on his hand. According to the company, the item will come with 2 pair of extra hands; 1 in case the original set goes AWOL and one set with pointing index fingers.

In case you wonder, the Steve Jobs action figure comes with a whole set of clothes and accessories that would make Barbie green with envy. Items include: 2 pairs of glasses, 1 black turtleneck, 1 pair of blue jeans, 1 pair of sneakers, 1 black leather belt, 2 apples (one with the iconic bite) and 1 bar stool.

Needless to say, Apple, Inc. is not amused. According to The Telegraph, the conglomerate is allegedly threatening to sue the toy maker unless they cease trading.

It would not be the first time; back in 2010, Apple blocked M.I.C. Gadget from selling a Steve Jobs action figure on Ebay, stating that the action figure was a violation of its copyrights and trademarks.

FAQ that Companies Have for Their PR Agencies (Part II)

This post is the continuation from the previous one that you can find on my precious post.

7. Companies must have a dedicated (and charismatic) spokesperson

For startups, putting the CTO or VP R&D without any media experience in front of journalists and the media is disastrous. In many cases, the interview will result in a monologue about all the cool features of the amazing technology/product/service, peppered with tech lingo.

The journalist needs to write something cool that everybody can easily understand. Listen to the PR agency and your marcom; they will tell you who would be good for the interview and prep them accordingly. Technical information, including diagrams, should be sent upon request by email.

Please note that there is no such thing as “off the record”. Any information you share about upcoming investments, major deals or product developments will be covered by the journalist. Also make sure that all information submitted is accurate. A good journalist will do his or her homework and will know if you fibbed.

8. What you said is not always what you get

Journalists and the media can use received information as they see fit. A journalist might write about your technology under a funky heading that make you cringe. Journalists might even misquote or relate incorrect information. There is not much you can do about it, except asking your PR agency or professional to contact that journalist, thank him or her for the great article and gently correct the mistakes. Don’t expect a correction though.....The only way you can do damage control is on your own corporate blog, Facebook, or Twitter account.

9. Social media for PR entails more than harnessing the power of Facebook and Twitter.

Many countries outside of the US have there own social networks (and search engines). China uses Baidu, Russia Yandex, and the Germans prefer Xing over LinkedIn.

PR agency (or in-house professional) should also target the most influential bloggers in your industry, such as Technorati or the Huffington Post. Using op-eds is also useful, such as offered by the NYT are effective.

10. Professionals have been trying to come up with a “calculator” - without success
The best way for companies to get a grip on results is to ask for reports on progress and exposure. It is important to realize that exposure might take time. To give an example, the CEO of Curapipe was interviewed at WATEC on 19 November 2011. An excellent article appeared in the Mexican media on December 27; more than a month later. Due to the power of going viral, articles can be reposted and blogged about for a long time!

(Image courtesy of Jeff Bullas)