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By Ben Haber
Every year when the B.A.A. Boston Marathon occurs, it put’s Boston-based New Balance in an awkward position. Even though they’re located in Brighton, MA, just a mile or two from the Boston Marathon course, they are not the official sponsor of the race. That title belongs to Adidas, who benefits by selling official merchandise to tens of thousands of runners.
While New Balance isn’t allowed to use the B.A.A. Boston Marathon name or logo on its clothing or marketing, for years it has tried to become involved with the race, or at least its runners. Each of the past three winters, New Balance has paid for the the Charles River bike paths and sidewalks to be plowed so runners could train in the park. They’ve also put together marketing campaigns (like this one) to reach Boston Marathon runners though motivational ads.
New Balance also created a Boston 2012 page on its website, which has unofficial Boston Marathon products for sale and an insider’s guide for the race. And get this – they’re opening a brand new retail store in Copley Square (right next to the finish line of the Marathon) on April 13, which is the day the Boston Marathon expo begins, and just three days before the race.
Clearly, New Balance is doing everything it can to be part of the Boston Marathon runner’s experience, while not being able to name the race. What do you think of their marketing strategy around the Boston Marathon?
April 5th, 2012
By Ben Haber
As we all know, SxSW has become more of an event than a conference, and a place where new, cool start-ups have a chance to break out on the social media scene. Now that the dust has settled from the 2012 show, it’s time to take a look at what’s happened to some of the most successful companies to take over SxSW (i.e. Twitter, foursquare), and which companies are trying to follow in their footpath. The following infographic from PromotionalCodes.net.
Source: PromotionalCodes.net
March 30th, 2012
By Ben Haber
This is a guest post by Mandy Miller. Follow her on Twitter at@MandyMayM.
No, it’s not a tarmac full of juiced-up jets or a platform where models walk in spacesuits. After New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Week and now Milan Fashion Week, all the talk has been of the social future of fashion. Soon, designers and buyers won’t have to dress up to go out. They can just kick it in some (high-dollar) fashionable sweats and view shows from the comfort of their own homes.
Currently, we’re all aware of the streaming Twitter feeds and communities raving about the trends, colors, patterns, etc. out of the fashion shows. Consumers are more involved in the runway, and we’re sharing and exchanging information on trends and topics faster than ever. However, before we know it, you will be able to view all angles of the show (perhaps even behind the scenes?), getting an experience like never before.
TIME recently reported that KCD introduced the first of its online-only shows with designer Prabal Gurung’s collaboration with Japanese retailer ICB label. The shows are translated into different languages for overseas editors and have been designed for over-booked editors and buyers by invite-only (I knew there was a catch!). Editors get a pre-taped runway show with online-embedding capabilities, high-resolution photos, interviews of the designer and behind-the-scenes footage of hair and makeup.
While still in its infancy, I believe platforms like this will be the future of fashion. Let’s admit it, editors and buyers are dealing with volumes of information they never have before, as are consumers. On top of that, budgets are tight, especially for travel. While the ‘modeling’ part of the runway won’t cease to exist, the pressures to coordinate shows and attend/view them on time are on their way out. Fashion will literally be tailored (pun intended) to you. You can view what you want, at many angles, when you want and interact with the show in so many more ways than at an ‘old school’ fashion show.
I also see this beginning to mold in with the trends we are seeing very broadly with eCommerce and more specifically with eRetailing. As consumers, we drive retailers and their decisions, especially online. Although we are shopping more online, that doesn’t eliminate our demand for the best shopping and customer service experience. There is still a presentation pressure that we place on retailers – urging them to provide the best shopping experience, even out of the bricks and mortar store. Situations such as the Target’s release of the Missoni line and resulting lack of store inventory and crashed server is a prime example of a shopping experience gone wrong. As our apparel industry becomes more digital and online, we will be able to not only exchange information at high-speed levels, but we will also be able to track it much faster. Not to worry, though – models will still appear to be terrifying with their hairsprayed craniums and funeral makeup (or a barcode on their forehead).
What other trends are you seeing for the future of fashion? How do you think this will integrate in with eCommerce and eRetailing?
February 29th, 2012
By Ben Haber
UPDATE: While writing this post, Pawngo closed the comment section of the blog, erasing 60+ negative comments. Since dumping the pile of Butterfingers, they have also disallowed posting on the company Facebook page and taken down Todd Hills’ phone number from their website.
As the anger over Pawngo’s ill-advised PR stunt in Boston yesterday continued, Pawngo’s CEO, Todd Hills, decided it was time to stop posting sarcastic tweets, and issue a real apology. Unfortunately, this is when it was Hills’ turn to drop the ball (perhaps he should receive a giant heap of Butterfingers).
In what appears to be an “oh crap – this really backfired!” moment, Hills wrote an apology on Pawngo’s blog, which came across as insincere, especially to New England residents. Why is it not being taken seriously? It’s all in the third paragraph…
Pawngo has been changing the world of providing credit to individuals and small businesses, and our business has grown dramatically in the past year. In the process of growing, we have received lots of attention from the press, talking about how we are opening up new financial options for many otherwise un-bankable people. However, this incident in Boston produced some press that we would rather not have.
Yes, you read that correctly. In an apology for a mean-spirited PR stunt, Hills thought it would be appropriate to pitch his company and their services. As anyone can imagine, the post was not well received by Patriots fans, who have left comments on the post. Many of these comments suggest that if Hills were serious about his apology, he should make a sizable donation to the Wes Welker Foundation.
In addition to attacking Pawngo, angry New Englanders have been targeting Groupon (who shares investors with Pawngo). Groupon has been issuing statements to everyone on Twitter individually, and even Nestle Butterfinger has been making it clear they had nothing to do with the lame stunt.
February 8th, 2012
By Ben Haber
Today online pawn show Pawngo thought it would be funny to pour salt in the wounds of New England Patriots fans, and dropped off a massive pile of Butterfingers in Copley Square. Then an employee stood behind the pile with a sign that read, “Thank you Wes Welker.”
While the saying, any press is good press, is often true, this moment is one of those exceptions. Just 36 hours after a heartbreaking loss in the Superbowl, a company headquartered in Denver (remember that 45-10 first round playoff game?) thought that for some reason, it would be a good idea to throw a low ball at six states of potential customers. After this move, is there any Patriots fan that would seriously consider purchasing something on Pawngo in the near future? I think not.
There are always certain events that PR and marketing people should stay away from, and many of these are obvious. But Pango’s PR stunt showed that the company has very little class. Instead of reminding Patriots fans about Welker’s missed catch, go join in on New York’s parade. Quite simple, this is an example of a PR or marketing idea not being well thought out. Sure, it will grab national attention for a day, but at what price? Do you really want to be the company that upsets its own customers?
The only good thing for New Englanders (besides some free Butterfingers) is that Mayor Menino is apparently going to fine Pawngo for commercial dumping.
If you want to share your own thoughts with Pawngo, their Facebook page is Facebook.com/pawngo, and their Twitter handle is @pawngo.
February 7th, 2012
By Ben Haber
On his show last night, Stephen Colbert introduced a new hash tag, #preparethem. The hash tag was in response to Mitt Romney claiming that the negativity in the Republican primary was good, because it will prepare the winning candidate for the general election. Colbert decided the candidates needed some help in this area, and posted two tweets “live” during his show, and others since:
Since introducing the hash tag on last night’s show, Twitter using have been posting their own creative lines throughout the entire day. Some are pretty well thought out and entertaining. You check them out here.
February 2nd, 2012
By Ben Haber
If you go to Google.com or Wikipedia today, you’re going to find that something’s missing (or in Wikipedia’s case – everything is missing). That’s because these two Internet giants are protesting the Protect Intellectual Property Act that’s under consideration in the Senate, and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that’s under consideration in the House of Representatives. This pair of bills, which is backed by the motion picture and recording industries, are intended to eliminate theft online once and for all – and would (for the first time) place restrictions on information and content shared via the Web.
Clearly, Google and Wikipedia are against this legislation, and aren’t afraid to make their stance clear to Congress. But whether or not their protest is successful, remains to be seen.
January 18th, 2012
By Ben Haber
Love them or hate them – no one can deny the power politicians have to inspire passion and fuel engagement. Obama’s 2008 election campaign proved that with the right social strategy, that power still has room to grow to unprecedented levels. Now it seems that every politician has embraced social media as a means to build a groundswell of support to impact change.
Yesterday morning, I sat down with MITX and Avectra to run through details for an upcoming webinar (Planning for 2012: Attracting and Inspiring your Audience like Today’s Savvy Politicians) we’re hosting to discuss just that. We asked each other – what can we learn from today’s politicians to inspire and engage our own audiences, memberships and constituents? Where do they get it right, wrong, and everything in between?
From mobilizing your ground forces to identifying and understanding your influencers, it was clear to all of us that it’s not about how many Fans or followers you get in a week – it’s what you do with them – that it’s not about what tools you’re using – it’s the strategy behind how you use them.
And don’t think that I just opened the kimono on what’s to come from the webinar – I have a strong feeling that this 45 minute call barely scratched the surface. So with that said, please join Larry Weber, CEO and Chairman of Racepoint Group; Debi Kleiman, President of MITX; and Richard Davis, CEO of Avectra on December 12th at 2:00pm EST to learn how to initiate and execute your social engagement strategy to make 2012 your most successful “campaign” yet.
Click here for more information on the event and registration details.
December 1st, 2011
By Ben Haber
How will the departures of Arrington and Parr affect TechCrunch and Mashable?
TechCrunch and Mashable – two of the most popular and influential blogs over the past several years – have recently seen major changes in their editorial staffs.
At TechCrunch, founder and lightning rod Michael Arrington left the company in September, highly visible writers Sarah Lacy and MG Siegler, and CEO Heather Harde followed suit. At the same time, Mashable has seen Jolie O’Dell, Jennifer Van Grove, Radhika Marya, Brenna Ehrlich and Erica Swallow all depart the company, and this morning it was learned that their most popular writer to-date, Ben Parr, has been fired.
TechCrunch and Mashable have been on similar paths of growth, and are now both seeing – for the first time – some major departures from the editorial staff. In fact, both outlets lost their most recognizable people (Arrington and Parr) who have built their own personal brands over the past several years.
This begs the question: are people reading TechCrunch and Mashable because the like the blogs themselves, or because they like specific bloggers? In today’s media world where social media is an extension of the blog itself, writers have become their own brands, and have built up quite a following – sometimes exceeding the popularity of the outlet they work for.
If I were to venture a guess, I’d say that Mashable will move on without any major hiccups, because their business model is more about the content then the person, and they have a lot of very good writers. However, TechCrunch has always been about Arrington and took on his personality – both good and bad. Without him on board, they need to figure out what their direction is.
What do you think? Do you read TechCrunch and Mashable because of the content they publish, or because of the people writing the content?
November 21st, 2011
By Ben Haber
Some current (and now former) Mashable writers celebrate St. Patrick's Day in March 2011.
Mashable has seen several writers flee over the past few months, as new leadership at the company works to change the direction and make the popular blog more mainstream in its news coverage.
Jolie O’Dell, Jennifer Van Grove, Radhika Marya, Brenna Ehrlich and Erica Swallow all recently called it quits, following the hire of Lance Ulanoff (the former EIC of PC Mag). Ulanoff has been tasked to make Mashable a global news organization, covering business, entertainment and sports, in addition to social media and technology news. When O’Dell left to work for VentureBeat, she attributed her departure to the direction Mashable was taking, and noted in her blog that Mashable was moving away from insightful content – which she valued and enjoyed writing. Van Grove was one of the first writers to work for Mashable, and had been at the company since November 2008. Like O’Dell, she also left to work for VentureBeat.
Business Insider has some more details on the changes occurring at Mashable from unnamed sources:
- Cashmore brought in Ulanoff to expand the site’s news coverage to general news and launched entertainment and world news verticals.
- Adam Ostrow, who had been editor in chief since the company started, relinquished his position. One source close to Ostrow described it as a “demotion disguised as a promotion.”
- Ben Parr was offered an enormous cash payout as long as he stays until 2012. One source said Parr was offered a compensation package, on top of salary, worth more than $100,000 and less than $300,000.
- Mashable let go most of its events staff: Kate Hayden. Karen Hartline. Site manager Brett Petersel was laid off in February. Mashable describes all its departures as “mutual.” Sources told us that they left because they disagreed with the direction of the company.
- Multiple sources told us Cashmore is looking to sell Mashable in the same way The Huffington Post sold to Aol.
Since Ulanoff came on board, Mashable has reportedly seen more unique visitors to the site then ever before. So even while they they are driving away some well known writers, their new content continues to bring in new readers.
UPDATE (11/21/11)
Editor-at-Large Ben Parr, has been fired by Mashable. The reasons for his termination have not been disclosed, but it is rumored that he and Mashable could not reach an agreement and that the compensation package he was supposed to receive didn’t happen, and the fact that the public found out about it was a breach of contract. Parr has not tweeted anything since Friday (11/18) which is rare for him. Except for Pete Cashmore, Parr was certainly the most recognizable reporter at Mashable. Parr has confirmed his departure from Mashable, but does not know what he will pursue next.
November 16th, 2011
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