Monthly Archives: January 2011

An ode to the Steelers

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This is clearly not a sports blog, or a Steelers blog, but I have to give a shout-out to the AFC Champion Steelers today! I cannot believe that we are going to yet another Super Bowl. We are so spoiled as fans. BUT, our team deserves it. They are the masters. And we have impeccable ownership and coaching. If I could make a Dick LeBeau/Mike Tomlin/Rooney father and son sandwich for lunch today, I would. So, here are some of my most favorite Steelers things I am loving right this second. (P.S. Check out One for the Other Thumb for a REAL Steelers blog.)

Saw this little ditty on my way to work this morning


Hat tip to Angela over at The Burgh, Exposed (another great Pittsburgh blog) for this one


The original Pittsburgh polka. My favorite Steelers song

Rashard Mendenhall, proving all his critics they was WRONG! (Image stolen from OFTOT)


Here We Go, 2010-2011 version (my second favorite Steelers song, updated each year accordingly)

No words. Just happiness.


Social media loser: Wheat Thins

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There’s a lot of brands I talk about who I think are doing a great job in the social space. My post about “The Big 3″ has some of those examples.

There’s also some brands I like to talk about who are not doing a good job. Why? Well, as part of my job I research a lot of companies doing social right and wrong to learn from them. I like to affectionately refer to these brands as “Social Media Losers.”

This post I’d like to dedicate to a new loser: Wheat Thins. I’ve always been just ehh about Wheat Thins. They’re pretty good, nothing to write home about. But, this isn’t about the product itself. This is about the brand’s new ad campaign “Crunch is Calling.” Have you seen it? Take a look:

OK, so this is not a novel idea. First of all, Domino’s has been doing pretty much the exact same thing. Also, integrating people’s tweets into your ads isn’t cutting edge so much, either. Remember in 2009 when Trident took out a full page ad in USA Today of people’s tweets? That was pretty cool at the time.

So I’m being a little unfair. Advertising doesn’t have to be groundbreaking. It just has to sell your product. So then I got to know just who Wheat Thins is trying to market to. What I came up with? Teenage boys. Really, Wheat Thins? I mean, I suppose teenage boys will eat just about anything. But I don’t think Wheat Thins is really top of mind for them. I’m guessing they enjoy the likes of Taco Bell, Dorito’s, Mountain Dew, and other similar products. Yeah I am being stereotypical but shouldn’t marketers be? Don’t believe they are marketing to them? Take a look at some of their tweets. Also, I took a look down the page of the boy in their commercial, a teenage boy it looks like. I leave you with some of his tweets. He’s pretty deep:

Bottom line, I’m confused.

Winter projects

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I’m pretty anti-New Year’s Resolutions. They may work for some, but we all feel compelled to make them since that’s the norm. Come February 1, the thought of them will be gone for most who make them.

But, I am for setting goals year ’round. You know how they say to never start a diet on a Monday? Well, the same goes for never setting a “resolution” on January 1. At least in my opinion. However, I do think January, February, and even March are really good months to get stuff done. Why? Well, if you live in a cold climate like I do, you know these are the most miserable months EVER. Standing in the frigid cold scraping snow and ice off my car isn’t my idea of fun. It’s dark and cold outside, so you’re spending a lot of time indoors. Which is the perfect opportunity to tackle projects (and/or goals) you’ve been putting off. Here’s a list of things I plan on doing this winter:

1. Organize pictures

I have a giant box of pictures sitting in a closest at home. They’ve been sitting there at least five years and frankly, I am afraid to even think about organizing them. But, I must. Who wants a giant box of a mess of pictures? My goal is to get them at least semi-organized. First, I’ll spread them out on the floor organized into three sections: high school, college, post-college. Then, buy some albums and put them in there. Then it got me thinking…I haven’t developed pictures in a long time. I take all pics on my digital camera and save them on my computer and as a backup, hosted on my private SnapFish account. Which leads me to part two – which is to go through all my digital photos and print some off to have hard copies of. This sounds like a process, but it will be fun to look back at old pics (at least that’s what I’m telling myself.)

2. Organize contacts
This is another project that I’m dreading, but it is necessary. I have my personal e-mail contacts in Yahoo, my professional e-mail contacts in Outlook under my work account, and a mismash of others in my phone. I need them streamlined into one place, that syncs with my Droid, Yahoo, and Outlook. Been trying to Google how to do this and so far, no dice. This may have to been done manually. UGH.

3. Budget finances
Winter is a good time to take a good luck at the old money situation (or lack thereof). January is great because you just spend mucho dinero on holiday gifts and outfits, and you can now do your taxes once you get that buckets of fun W2 form. So, reevaluate. Get back on track. My dad and I sat down last week and mapped out my budget, which I am now following again after many failed attempts. Then you can do something fun with that tax return. Last year I paid off my credit card with it. This year, I have no credit card debt, so I’m going to save some and perhaps get me an iPad. :D

4. Organize files

I have a very packed drawer full of files – old credit card and bank statements, my car payment statements, miscellaneous medical documents, pay stubs, etc. It’s getting jammed in there. So after I get those 2010 taxes done, I’m going to go in and pitch everything that’s old and I no longer need (and when I say pitch, I mean shred and recycle).

5. Redecorate
You are spending all this time indoors, may as well make it look good! I am doing an overhaul of my bedroom. I have stuff in there I had in my college dorms/apartment, and I don’t think “shot glass chic” is in anymore (or ever, for that matter). Plus my overflowing closet needs some serious help. Perfect time to donate what you don’t want and bring in what looks good. I’m getting some current inspiration from Cupcakes and Cashmere.

What are you working on this winter?

Can we (and should we) move past Facebook and Twitter?

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Over the past few years, I’ve worked on, read about, and attended events that are all social media-focused. I can safely say we’ve made tremendous progress as a collective group (i.e. PR, ad, marketing, digital), but no one’s “there” yet. We haven’t got it all figured out yet. Even the companies who have done an excellent job aren’t there yet, although they’ve set quite the mark for the rest of us, and given us all something to shoot for.

Everyone wants to set themselves apart in the social space. They joke about clients just wanting to “get them a Facebook and Twitter page,” when new tools are coming out all the time. Case in point: This week’s tool du jour Quora. Not sure what the value is yet, but it’s spewing out all over my Twitter feed faster than Lindsay Lohan returning to rehab.

People want to be trend-setting and innovative, constantly trying the newest platforms in hopes of getting some acclaim. People say Twitter and Facebook might be good, but everyone is on those channels. It’s more than that. So they put efforts in elsewhere…

…but let’s back up. Everyone is on those channels? Well, doesn’t that mean that’s where your customers are?

The numbers alone are reason enough to stay on (and focus on) Facebook and Twitter:

The ‘book:

  • More than 500 million active users
  • 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day
  • Average user has 130 friends
  • People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

The Twitter (as of September 2010):

  • 175 million registered users
  • 95M tweets are written per day

They may be the standard and safe, but let’s face it: If your customers are in the boomer demoraphic (55-65ish), why on earth would you be on a social platform such as Quora? No offense to my boomer peeps, but they will most likely think Quora is a grain. I mean, they still think Twitter is something about a bird.

Not all brands can stray afar and still do well. Most brands are traditional with a more traditional audience that is on the social platforms their friends and family are on: Facebook and Twitter. Think about it: Successful social case studies like Southwest, Comcast, Ford and Old Spice were mainly done across Facebook and Twitter (and our good friend YouTube).

So stop trying so hard and do what’s best for your brand. Once you get a sense of what your audience likes, complains about, and questions, then it’s time to get innovative. And perhaps that innovation can happen right on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Stay thirsty and keep tweeting, my friends.