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Adweek's "Hot List" for Top Digital Brands Games and Gadgets

11/11/2015

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    Today I took Adweek's survey for the Hot List of Top Digital Brands, Games and Gadgets. I was surprised to see that I was unfamiliar with many of the products mentioned in the survey.
    I had never heard of 7 out of the 24 top answers in this survey, and only answered 5 of the questions correctly. For the ones that I did know, my answers were in the top 2 selections for each question. I was totally lost in about 11 of the total 24 questions.
    It was sort of embarrassing realizing how uninformed I was technologically at this point. For example the first question of the survey in the picture above, I had no idea what Vice Media was. However, after researching Vice Media, I realized I was not missing out on much and was relieved. 

I had no idea about any of the selections in the following question of the survey.

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What does this have to say about me as a person of the technology generation?

    I have been off on my game. Maybe it is because I am getting older so it is harder to hear about all the newest sources since my life is always so busy. Or maybe I just don't pay too much attention anymore. I don't know. What I do know is that I am going to make an effort now to remain up to date on all the trending advances so that I can remain one leg up in the business sense. These things may seem juvenile at times, and don't get me wrong sometimes they are, but it is so important to know these things and make to effort to try new things and in some cases study them a bit so you can stay ahead of all the new technology that coming. Now and also in the future. 

Here are the brands I was unfamiliar with during this survey. 29 brands in Adweek's survey that I NEVER heard of. Compare your knowledge. It reminds us that although we now life in a world of unlimited knowledge, we can still learn a lot from sharing knowledge with each other.  

​Beware, there are many. Here they go,

Vice Media
Airbnb
Crossy Road
Fallout Shelter
Plated
Whisper
Kik
Periscope
Quartz 
Vox Media
Grantland
Bleacher Report
Wired
Oculus Rift
Vimeo
Funny or Die
DEFY Media
Maker Studios
Stay Melo
Comedians in cars getting coffee
Park Bench
Casey Neistat
PewDiePie
Tyler Oakley
Grace Helbig
Shaun McBride
Viber
Polyvore
Jet

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Thanksgiving Hero's 

11/5/2015

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First of all I want to start off this blog by saying thank you to the many companies that are closed this Thanksgiving and allowing their employees to spend a paid Christmas with their families. You have given more of a gift than you could know. Thank you for saving us from this holiday nightmare. I hope this spreads and buts an end to this madness. For the sake of the workers.
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Society Lost in Consumerism

I think this is a great step in the right direction for American society. Too often we are lost in the world of consumerism by putting merchandise at the top of our priority lists. We let the things we own define us as a person when they really do not. Thanksgiving is missed by many hardworking parents every year because their companies care more about making money than they do about their employees. That is the bottom line. They don't care that their empolyees don't get to spend anytime with their families during the holidays. People will be fired from their jobs if they refuse to work on those day, particularly in the retail buisness. CEO of these companies need to take a look at these facts. They are not the ones loosing out on family time. They are probably travling and vacationing with their families during this time while their in-store retail employees are working their butts off every year, missing the fun and joyious memories of the holidays. Hard working families, single mothers, single fathers should all be rewarded on these days with paid vacation. At least, a day off. I will definitely be joining this campaign and sharing this idea with friends!
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Black Friday : Retail Hell,
Imposed on Employees by Compaines

Is this the way you would like to spend your holidays every year? Dealing with crazed shoppers for 72 hours straight. Is that what we look forward to? I worked in retail for many different companies. It is a nightmare to say the least. In by time working I missed out on every holiday every year with the exception of Christmas. These companies did not care that I hadn't spent one holiday with my family in 2 years. I just was not their concern. In my opinion companies need to have more respect for their employees and stop treating them like slaves. No price is worth loosing all the great memories the rest of your family share while you are working in a retail store watching other families enjoy their day together. It is a horrible feeling and I know it first hand. In my first years in retail I could not believe I did not get these days off. I knew I had to get my butt back in school so I could distance my self from any other retail jobs in the future. I could not live my life missing out on everything, especially not that huge turkey my grandma makes every year!
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Fight Back!

Lets takes some steps toward humanity. Lets stop embarrassing ourselves every year by acting like barbarians at a target to get 20 bucks off a television set. If you have a family member who is missing out of Thanksgiving this year because of their retail job, fight for that person by boycotting this ridiculous ritual of buying products like vultures on a Fridays morning.
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Bandwagon Brands

10/29/2015

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Bandwagon "Likes"

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We see them all the time. Photo's, comments, products that we wonder what all the fuss is about. But, how many times have we feel victim to these things just because we wanted to feel in-the-loop or part of the fun. Companies and advertisers know about these tendencies and they play on our insecurities all the time. They know that if you see everyone getting hype about something, chances are you will catch  the fever. Or at lest do some investigating, which is their goal anyway. 
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We all heard the rumors about the reality star Kim Kardashian paying for Facebook and Twitter followers. But, using this business to create false credibility for products and services is another thing. People do rely heavily on the ratings or other consumers especially when purchasing merchandise through online sources. So  when you compromise the integrity of those information sources it actually hurts the online business chains. It makes the whole system unreliable. It is important that we maintain a level of integrity if we want to have a successful future. All this falsification needs to stop. I do not want to feel that I can not trust anything I find on the internet.
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What Are You Looking for in a PR Employer?

10/22/2015

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Take a look at the top 16 PR firms of Los Angeles for 2014. With so many choices it can be hard to make a decision on which to pick as a career choice. 
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Choices, Choices, we must make them.

         Looking through the top 16 PR firms of 2014  Konnect Public Relations and J Public Relations caught the most of my interest. Both firms, at first glance, you can tell are very female oriented. I liked that. Most of the agencies seemed to have many women. Those two would be on the top of my list for sure. It was amazing to see the dominance of women in this field.

          When it comes to choosing a PR firm to work for it is much different than choosing one for company needs. With so many choices  you have to investigate to see which one will keep you happy the most when making the career decision as to which one to choose. It needs to be something you are passionate about to be able to deliver the best results in your work.
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        Konnect Public Relation would be my first choice. They offer similar PR  that is practiced by J Public Relations with the addition of promotions for companies investing in babies and children. Babies and children also attract women, that my be why this was a deciding factor in my selection. The real reason though is that diversity leaves room for more opportunity. If you fail at something there is more room for you to grow and explore to find what it is you are good at. Perhaps you get bored with one campaign, you can ask to be reassigned to a different type of account.
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​           J Public Relations caught most of my attention by the end of my research on the firms. It was the aesthetics of the office that grabbed my focus for the most time. It stood out the most. I would love to work in this pink office! Come on, it's ever girls dream. I also discovered  that both companies had much similarity. However J Public Relations was focused entirely on entertainment businesses where as Konnect Public Relations also included  promoting for businesses dealing with children and babies. That gave the firm more diversity, a big thing for me,  I always look for and enjoy it. ​In the end both are great firms and I would be lucky to work for either of them.
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Public Relations Can Be Found in All Parts of the Bible

10/15/2015

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Public Relations in the Bible

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Different forms of public relations can be found all throughout the bible. Writings, sermons, churches, public announcements, and sometimes books were the most commonly used during the time of Jesus.The bible its self is a form of PR in the way of getting news about God to the masses. Today it can be seen in much more modern forms as magazine posts, blogs, newspapers, flyers and much many others. At the end of the day it serves the same purpose.  In the time of the Old and New Testament these were the only ways of getting the word out, as well as any other important information. Jesus' use of these throughout the bible proved to be very efficient. Ever encounter was a opportunity for salvation in Jesus' eyes. That is what made his so successful.
After all, public relations is a natural, essential and recurring element of human social interaction - Ron Smith "Public Relations the basics". 

Oral Traditions

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Some of the most famous orrations come from dialogues and speeches in the bible. People all around the world know Jesus' speeches word for word. Jesus did this as a sort of persuasive public rhetoric. Other powerful speakers like Aaron (Moses' brother) and John the Baptist are called by God specifically for their strengths in speech. Skills of speech giving shape much of the etiology of events in the scriptures. Oral teaching was his main method of getting his word out, and it served his purpose well because people from all parts of the world felt his influence. Jesus'  disciples,  friends and followers  played a big part in the spread of Christianity, undoubtably through oral method. Today oral tradition is not as powerful, but at that time its power was unmatched. Reasons for this were the illiteracy and usability to write of most of the population, and the fact paper was not available to all. Jesus was one of the greatest public relations workers for God of our time. -Jessica Almutairi

Written PR in the Scriptures

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The scriptures are believed to be written by divine inspiration. Meaning what these writers wrote was under the direct instruction of God. It is there for believed by many to be "unflawed". Exact words from God to his people. Some even believe them to be word for word Gods will of the writers. This gives the literature credibility, and  determined which writings would be made part of the canon. Made up of storytelling, apostles teachings, inspired scripture and recorded events and dialogues, these writing include many elements that would be considered public relations today. Rhetoric, background information, message framing, reputation management, and relationship building among many were used for gaining attention and advocacy. The scriptures remain to be the most efficient way of spreading Christianity throughout the world. 

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VW Scandal : Using "Defect Device" in Order to Pass EPA Emissions Testing

10/8/2015

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      VW was caught this year in huge scandal where they misrepresented the quality of their vehicles. VW admitted to having installed a device that could detect when the cars were being tested for emissions, making the cars perform better during testing. That device has been installed in about 11 Million vehicles world wide. These "defeat devices" allowed for the sales of cars from VW that omit 4x's  over the accepted limit of omissions in the US.

Attempt at Saving Their Image

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    In an attempt to save their image, Volkswagen let go of their chief executive Mr. Winterkorn and replaced him with former Porsche boss Matthias Mueller. Mueller released a statement saying that he would fix the mistake by "leaving no stone unturned". Nothing  else has been said about their plans to fix this problem except that they will start recalls in January. This is not the best response to the crisis. The public wants to hear more!
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       If I were CEO of the company I would take into consideration that It going to take more than a little management change to clear the air of VW's enormous fail. In that sense they did not handle the crisis well. Consumers, activists, organizations and many other groups are outraged by the news. Their integrity is totally lost here. Obviously, I don't think it was wise for the company to come out and admit to all the allegations of intentionally installing these devices, but I don't think they had any other choice in the matter. I think that they are handling the issue of admittance in the best way possible considering what they have done.  VW could have set up a better team to handle their crisis. Knowing that the company has been struggling with image issues for years now, they should have had a crisis management team ready to explain possible solutions and handle the public more efficiently by providing extensive explanations. How could you trust a company that so plainly admits to deceiving everyone for so long?  

       By having a crisis management team ready I would have taken advantage of message framing discussed in Public Relations the basics by Ron Smith. This is a method where time is key. By this I mean telling your story before the public tells your story for you so that you have "some level of control over how the story unfolds."  Spinning this story in their in their favor is nearly impossible now.
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VW Scandal : Using "Defect Device" in Order to Pass EPA Emissions Testing

10/8/2015

0 Comments

 
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      VW was caught this year in huge scandal where they misrepresented the quality of their vehicles. VW admitted to having installed a device that could detect when the cars were being tested for emissions, making the cars perform better during testing. That device has been installed in about 11 Million vehicles world wide. These "defeat devices" allowed for the sales of cars from VW that omit 4x's  over the accepted limit of omissions in the US.

Attempt at Saving Their Image

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    In an attempt to save their image, Volkswagen let go of their chief executive Mr. Winterkorn and replaced him with former Porsche boss Matthias Mueller. Mueller released a statement saying that he would fix the mistake by "leaving no stone unturned". Nothing  else has been said about their plans to fix this problem except that they will start recalls in January. This is not the best response to the crisis. The public wants to hear more!
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       If I were CEO of the company I would take into consideration that It going to take more than a little management change to clear the air of VW's enormous fail. In that sense they did not handle the crisis well. Consumers, activists, organizations and many other groups are outraged by the news. Their integrity is totally lost here. Obviously, I don't think it was wise for the company to come out and admit to all the allegations of intentionally installing these devices, but I don't think they had any other choice in the matter. I think that they are handling the issue of admittance in the best way possible considering what they have done.  VW could have set up a better team to handle their crisis. Knowing that the company has been struggling with image issues for years now, they should have had a crisis management team ready to explain possible solutions and handle the public more efficiently by providing extensive explanations. How could you trust a company that so plainly admits to deceiving everyone for so long?  

       By having a crisis management team ready I would have taken advantage of message framing discussed in Public Relations the basics by Ron Smith. This is a method where time is key. By this I mean telling your story before the public tells your story for you so that you have "some level of control over how the story unfolds."  Spinning this story in their in their favor is nearly impossible now.
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 One of the Most Viewed Online Ad Campaigns ever!

10/1/2015

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Jean Claude Van Damme with Volvo

Beware! This video will amaze the pants off of you. 
November 13, 2015 this video of Jean Claude Van Damme doing a split between two semi-trucks driving in reverse. They did an excellent job of catching the attention of viewers. The video was done this way purposely to shock audiences, being that it was most difficult doing the driving in reverse. The goal of the ad was to reach the particularly large online audience. Promoting their new power steering technology, Volvo wanted looked for an ad campaign that was just as revolutionary as their new technology. 

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The video has had 80,870,649 views to date. At its release, it was the most talked about ad campaigns ever made. It still hold a record as an ad getting the most buzz . In addition to the obviously incredible stunt they pulled off, the company used attachment to attract action star fans of all ages. Ron Smith, the writer of "Public Relations the basics" discusses the role of fame in taking an otherwise routine event and making it newsworthy. Jean Claude Van Damme achieves this with his participation in the ad. Think about it. Would this ad campaign had been as successful if a no name man pulled off the same stunt? Probably not. People would not have cared as much, despite the fact that they have done the exact same thing. It is hard to think about, but it is true. The following comment confirms my argument.
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Volvo wanted to showcase the reliability of their new steering technology, so they used a action star figure as its human counter part. Inspiring and convincing consumers of the amazing capabilities of human beings as both physical and intelligent superiority. The intelligence of Volvo engineers and their new technology, and Jean Claude Van Damme's flawless physique and strength.  
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Mc Donalds Vetos the "Peace Day Burger"

9/24/2015

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Mc Donald's denies any beef with Burger King after the company launched a "Peace Burger" idea with out first informing Mc Donald's. "A simple phone call will do next time."  was the response from Steve, the CEO of Mc Donald's concerning Burger Kings MCWhopper idea. 



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Burger King was "left hanging" after Mc Donald's CEO Steve explained that their rivalry was friendly, and nothing like battles actually going on in war today, and perhaps they could collaborate on something more helpful in the future. He seemed disgusted at Burger Kings comparison of the two. After all, is there much of a battle going on? Mc Donald's is, after all,  much more successful than Burger King. What would Mc Donald's have to gain from this investment but a shame that they did not think of it first?
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This picture gives some hints as to why the food chain CEO would think it a bad idea. Burger King takes up 1/3 of the Mc Whopper packaging as well as the bag. If you notice is is not split 50/50.  Mc is two letters out of the nine that make the name if the "peace" burger. This would have automatically turned me off as a CEO. It is obvious and out front.
This picture also is symbolic of the unequal benefits this collaboration offered the Mc Donald's company. Burger King was not only trying to ride the coattail of their more successful competitor, they were trying to dethrone them. Mc Donald's seen it this way, and that is why the plans for the Mc Whopper fell through. 

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