Author Archive
By Molly Galler
Today is the first day of the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, TX. From all corners of the earth musicians, film makers and techies join forces for a week of round the clock events and celebrations.
This year, taking center stage on the tech side are GPS based social networks. If you are an active Twitter user, you have seen these updates in your feed. Perhaps a friend has announced they’ve become the mayor of Starbucks thanks to Foursquare. These social networks are becoming more popular and their hope is to become widely adopted by the end of this week.
Caroline Waxler wrote a piece today for Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Tech blog in which she explains that two heavy hitters in the location-tagging social network space, Foursquare and Austin based hometown hero Gowalla, are viewing South by Southwest as the perfect venue to show their network’s superiority. On the head-to-head match up she writes:
“This is so closely watched at South by Southwest not because people feel like they’re witnessing magic but more for two reasons: One, everyone loves a good rivalry and two, South By Southwest attendees by definition love to geek out. (It’s affectionately known as “spring break for nerds.”) And, what better way to do that than to compete over who is the top visitor to the various venues associated with it? Foursquare is even giving out temporary tattoos to commemorate those achievements.”
Why all the fuss over this one conference? Jenna Wortham of the New York Times wrote on today’s Bits blog:
“For start-up hopefuls, capturing the fancy of the attendees is almost as important as checking out the panels and parties. The high concentration of tech savants supplies a rare opportunity for companies to woo the eyes and clicks of early adopters and influential Twitter users and bloggers capable of elevating their sites and services out of obscurity.”
SXSW runs today through Sunday March 21st and in that time frame Foursquare and Gowalla hope that the heavy hitters in tech will not only adopt their social networks into their daily lives, but spread the word to the masses. One location at a time.
March 12th, 2010
By Molly Galler
Any movie buff could tell you that the Academy Awards telecast is scheduled for this Sunday March 7th. They have seen the nominated films, they have watched the awards shows all season, and they are eager to view the most coveted validation of film success – the awarding of the golden man we call Oscar.
What they might not know, is while they are surfing the web for real time updates, photos and behind the scenes videos, E! Entertainment and Google will be teaming up to capitalize on their interest with real-time updates to E’s internet advertising.
Emily Steel of the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, “If a celebrity makes a red-carpet appearance wearing outlandish attire or an award winner makes a newsworthy speech, E will alter its Oscars-related ads within minutes. The media company’s goal is to make sure consumers searching for the subject on the Web find their way to E’s online photo galleries, live blogs and fashion-police critiques.”
Suzanne Kolb, president of marketing, news and online for E! Entertainment, says “The live updates to search ads will help position our online coverage at the top of the Google search results for people seeking Academy Awards-related content,” and really, nothing beats landing at the top of the Google results.
Despite their strategic efforts to optimize results during the Oscar telecast, E! is not broadcasting the show, ABC is. Not one to be outdone, ABC is turning to the web to take advantage of real time, web based interaction as well.
Steel reports, “New features this year on the Walt Disney network include tie-ins with microblogging site Twitter, interactive games and a live video stream from the red carpet, where hosts will interview nominees. Through a partnership with social-networking site Facebook, viewers will be able to submit questions live.”
While television spectacles like the NFL’s Super Bowl tend to attract major television advertising dollars, it seems the Oscars advertisers are more interested in the web.
If this trend continues, could we have commercial free awards show broadcasts in our future? A girl can dream.
March 5th, 2010
By Molly Galler
Yesterday afternoon, Ryan Seacrest, the host of FOX’s reality television singing competition American Idol announced via his blog that FOX would allow the recently cast Top 24 contestants to use Facebook, Twitter and MySpace during the competition.
He wrote, “In a testament to the undeniable influence of social media in today’s day in age, American Idol producers and network executives, after nine seasons have finally agreed to allow contestants to maintain social networking profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. In previous seasons, all social networking was banned, and any pre-existing profiles were deleted prior to the start of live shows. While we’re still unaware of the exact ‘rules of engagement’ for these profiles, considering they were all custom-made by FOX, we can imagine producers have established ground rules for what’s kosher to be discussed on Twitter and elsewhere.”
RaceTalk has previously reported the NBA and the NFL putting restrictions on athletes using social media close to game time, and it seems FOX will follow their lead with this new crop of contestants.
While it is unclear what exactly the ground rules are, FOX has created each contestant’s social media profile themselves, taking control before the contestants even begin pushing out information into the social media universe.
While I respect FOX’s attempt to keep up with the demand for a social media presence, creating profiles for the contestants and providing guidelines for what they can discuss seems to defeat the purpose of following their personal accounts. Why not just have a general American Idol profile and push out general, non-spoiler updates?
When the phone lines are open, I’d like to cast a vote for authenticity, please.
February 19th, 2010
By Molly Galler
Don’t forget to make a wish!
Today Facebook turns 6 years old. While most 6 year olds are navigating the perilous world of first grade and still learning to dress themselves, Facebook is a prodigy.
It’s hard to remember a time when Facebook wasn’t a part of our every day lives. Now when you meet someone new, you “friend” them. When you want to keep someone from knowing what’s happening in your life, you “defriend” them. When you take pictures at a celebration or on vacation you exclaim, “Don’t worry, I’ll tag you!” When you want to wish a friend a happy birthday, you post to their Facebook wall, maybe you even send a Facebook gift (maybe you even rely on Facebook to tell you when their birthday is).
It’s hard to recall those early days when you had to be a Harvard student to access the site. The gates slowly began to creep open allowing other Ivy League students, and finally anyone with a college email address. Now people of all ages, across the globe need only their email address to access the world’s most talked about social networking site.
What is perhaps the most surprising development in the past 6 years is the way Facebook has impacted business. If you are a consumer facing brand and you do not have a Facebook group or fan page, you do not exist. Consumers are searching for companies and services via Facebook because that is where they spend most of their time online. Businesses have begun to push out major news via Facebook, drive traffic to their Facebook page via television commercials, and even offer special Facebook-only promotions.
Technology writer Jessi Hempel wrote a superb piece for Fortune Magazine, “Facebook Turns 6!” on the six ways Facebook has dramatically impacted our lives.
What is your topic pick for how Facebook has changed the game?
February 4th, 2010
By Molly Galler
Paul Levy is the CEO of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, but that is probably not why you recognize his name.
In addition to his post as Chief Executive Officer of a major teaching hospital in a world renowned medical hub, he is also the founder and author of a health care blog called Running a Hospital and is an active Twitter user from the handle @PaulFLevy.
We met with Paul yesterday afternoon to hear about his social media success and naturally, to pick his brain.
Paul began his talk by saying, “All communications from a company should reflect that company’s values.” Agree.
He went on to say that, “At our place, the mission is to treat our patients the way we would want a member of our own family treated.” Agree again. As a side note, Paul continually referred to BIDMC as “our place,” giving a sincere sense of responsibility, community and family to the place he drives into each morning for work.
Given his position on corporate communication, and his company’s mission, in 2006 he decided he’d like to start a blog; a blog that reflected the company’s values and furthered their mission. Thus, Running a Hospital was born.
One of the first blog posts Paul published that caused quite a stir, publically disclosed central line infection rates at the hospital. The hospital staff had set a goal to lower infection rates, and Paul wanted to share their progress. He didn’t ask permission, he just posted it. Does that make you nervous?
The response did something miraculous. Knowing that their success was being publically documented, the medical staff felt an additional resurgence and enthusiasm for meeting their goal. Paul said, “That was the moment I like to say I invented transparency as a management tool.”
Not only did he see the blog as opportunity to motivate and reward his staff, but he had another idea. What if all the other areas hospital also posted their infection rates? Let’s just say, the response was not positive. I believe the word Paul used was “hostile.” No surprise here, as the BIDMC team committed to reducing their rates and sharing their progress, other hospitals felt threatened and exposed. Hello, competitive edge.
While they may have started to position themselves uniquely from the other local hospitals by sharing information on the blog, did it impact their business and revenue?
You bet it did. The Vanguard health system began to send its patients to the BIDMC emergency room instead of a competitor they had long been referring their patients to. This referral shift caused a 10% increase in patient volume. Not too shabby.
While the medical community is clearly paying attention to the blog (it is currently ranked #11 on the Healthcare100.com blog list), is anyone else?
You bet. When speaking to reporters at the Boston Globe, New York Times and Wall Street Journal, Paul will frequently begin to tell a story and the reporter will interrupt and say, “I know, I read it on your blog.”
When I asked why he chose to communicate through a blog, Paul asks, “Why wouldn’t I use a tool like this? I can share my point of view with a much larger audience than I ever could via a medium like say, the telephone.” He also goes on to say, “A blog is a lower risk method of communication. There is no risk of being misquoted.” If you are wondering if he really writes each post himself, he says, “I assure you my media team does not write these posts, in fact, I get in trouble for scooping reporters on stories without knowing it! I get the idea to write about something, and I do.”
When asked how patients have responded to the blog, Paul shares that, “Patients seem to enjoy the blog. Several of them have sent me their personal stories and when I ask permission to share the stories via the blog they always say yes. Then they forward it to everyone they know.” I think we’ve all been guilty of that type of family email!
Paul’s social media reach extends far beyond the blog. He is an active Twitter user with over 2,900 followers. He only follows 170 people which he explains are, “people I trust and who I am interested in. Their tweets have become my news stream. Twitter has become my librarian.”
Paul is also an active user of Facebook. In fact, during his talk he encouraged everyone in the room to “friend” him. He shared that he receives comments and messages from employees and friends in their twenties who he would otherwise never hear from via corporate email. He is on Facebook to reach people where they are, via the mode of communication they identify with.
Paul has also worked with his team on pages on the social networking site Grateful Nation. They have an employee challenge to see who can raise the most funds for relief efforts in Haiti. They also have a team running the Boston Marathon and that team has put their fundraising pages on Grateful Nation.
Paul Levy is a man who rather than fear the uncontrollable nature of social media has decided to dive in, learn, create, and share via the myriad of available social media tools and networks.
He has inspired his staff both inside and outside the workplace, he has challenged his competitors, and he has positively impacted his business’ bottom line. Now that’s called running a hospital.
February 2nd, 2010
By Molly Galler
One would have to be living deep under an enormous rock not to know that today Apple is launching its new product – the iPad. As the media continues to flood with buzz about the product launch, there are several key takeaways for businesses planning their next product launch:
1) Who are you again? – Part of the reason the Apple iPad is creating such a stir is that it’s attached to a major brand name. If the press and consumers already know about your company, they will be more eager to see what you do next. Building strong brand recognition should be a top priority in on-going business strategy.
2) Go big or go home – Although this may seem obvious, when launching a new product, be sure it is actually new. Offer your target market something completely unique that the industry has not yet seen or experienced.
3) Anything you can do, I can do better – Consumers are already able to read content on their laptops, mobile phones and e-readers, but those screens can be small. Apple is bringing to market a product that will enhance electronic reading with a large, sleek screen and agreements with newspapers and magazines to display their content on this new wider lay out. Why have something that only meets some of your needs, when you could have something that meets all?
4) X Marks the Spot – When blocking off a day on the calendar for a launch, be sure to do your homework. Find out what other stories and events are taking place that same day or week. For example, launching a product today, the same day as the Apple iPad announcement and the President’s State of the Union address would not be a good idea. Choose a date for your launch when the story will have the biggest impact.
5) Plant the seed – Want to make a splash on launch day? Let your top press targets know about the announcement in advance. Although the topic of embargoes is a heated debate amongst PR professionals and reporters, if a reporter is willing to honor an embargo, giving them time to research their story in advance of launch day is extremely beneficial. Highly informed, accurate news coverage is the best kind of coverage.
Disclosure: Racepoint works with Sony’s e-reader division.
January 27th, 2010
By Molly Galler
Back in October 2008, I wrote a post about charitable organizations embracing donations via text message to help meet their end of year fundraising goals. This week the island nation of Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake and two high profile charities, the Red Cross and Yele (founded by Haitian musician Wyclef Jean), urged those wishing to send aid to make a donation not via check, email, or even online donations, instead they asked for one simple item – a text message.
By text messaging a special code to the Red Cross or Yele you could make a donation to relief efforts in Haiti with the push of just a few keys on your phone. Last week I wrote about some of the exciting mobile technologies unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and its clear that the mobile trend is not just for tech, it has spread to non-profit.
The Red Cross text message donations are being managed by a company called mGive. mGive’s chief executive, Tony Aiello, told Jenna Wortham of the New York Times, “Catastrophic fund-raising is different from the everyday fund-raising that we help facilitate. This is a huge tragedy, and we simply hope to help provide relief. . . Mobile giving is currently outpacing the early days of online giving.”
How popular is the donation method exactly?
In an interview with MSNBC’s Suzanne Choney, Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless said, “All mobile texters in the United States have contributed $4 million to the Red Cross Haiti earthquake relief effort, the largest outpouring of charitable support by texting in history — by far.”
Nelson went on to say, “Previous donating-via-text message efforts raised $400,000 after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and $200,000 after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami by all wireless customers in the U.S.”
And it doesn’t end there. To get out the word about donating via text, concerned individuals posted the text message codes on a plethora of social networks, making the plea viral.
Jennifer Van Grove of Mashable wrote a post today praising the Red Cross’ decision to use mobile and social media to raise awareness and more importantly, to raise funds. Van Grove said, “The Red Cross’s involvement in the relief effort is to be commended. Not only did it immediately set up the simplest donation method possible, but its social media presence and outreach, when combined with the State Department’s involvement, has turned this into a viral funding initiative, topping Twitter trends and inspiring action.”
This week it has become clear the most effective method of raising funds is to reach people where they are: on their phones and on social networks. When launching a fundraising campaign, in the wake of a crisis or otherwise, fundraisers should consider that their staring point is in fact mobile.
January 14th, 2010
By Molly Galler
This week is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and each morning we’ve been inundated with updates on the newest unveilings from the electronics giants.
Today’s news seems to be focused on the internet going mobile. I am not talking about on your laptop or on your smart phone; I am talking, actually on the move. In your car.
Yes, that’s correct Ford has announced it will soon make an internet dashboard that will become a standard feature in all of its vehicles.
In today’s New York Times article titled “Despite Risks, Internet Creeps Onto Car Dashboards,” Ashlee Vance and Matt Ritchell give all the details of the new system:
“A complex new dashboard console from Ford, which it plans to unveil Thursday, brings the car firmly into the land of electronic gadgets. The 4.2-inch color screen to the left of the speedometer displays information about the car, like the fuel level, while a companion screen on the right shows things like the name of a cellphone caller or the title of the digital song file being played. An eight-inch touch screen tops the central console, displaying things like control panels and, when the car is not moving, Web pages. The system has Wi-Fi capability, two U.S.B. ports and a place to plug in a keyboard — in short, many of the features of a standard PC. The automakers’ efforts are backed by companies that make chips for PCs and that want to see their processors slotted into the 70 million cars sold worldwide each year.”
In addition to the new dashboard USA Today is reporting that Ford is also commissioning tech companies to create apps for this new system, one of which will read your tweets from Twitter out loud while you drive.
Obviously the concern here is safety. What does Ford have to say for itself? Jim Buczkowski, the director of global electrical and electronics systems engineering at Ford said, “We are trying to make that driving experience one that is very engaging.”
While in general, the concern here is that distracted drivers make for unsafe driving conditions for all, from a PR and marketing perspective, this also changes the game.
Currently, tradition media, both print and broadcast, is struggling to hold onto it’s advertisers who are opting for the higher traffic online and mobile outlets. Without advertising it is impossible from some of these traditional outlets to stay afloat. Brining mobile off of laptops and smart phones and into people’s cars give those advertisers one more reason to choose to advertise with online and mobile, as opposed to with traditional print or broadcast media which could be the final nail in the coffin for some of these struggling outlets.
Is Ford driving away with the future of traditional media?
January 7th, 2010
By Molly Galler
Yesterday RaceTalk presented you with “The Best of YouTube” as the first of three posts on the most memorable and entertaining social media moments in 2009. Today’s post brings you gems from your favorite social network and mine, Facebook.
RaceTalk’s Best of Facebook 2009:
1) You Like This: In 2009 Facebook added a new feature that allowed users to give a thumbs up beneath a new post rather than writing a comment. This way, you can show your approval or agreement without having to come up with a single, witty word to say. This addition also sparked a movement for a “dislike” button.
2) The Whopper Sacrifice: Which do you value more – your Facebook friends or a free Whopper? Burger King asked Facebook users to give up ten of their “friends” in exchange for free grub. Brutal? Yes. Delicious? Yes.
3) The Facebook Updating Groom: We knew it would only be a matter of time until people starting sharing news about major life events on social networks in real time. No, I mean major. Did we think a man would pause his wedding ceremony to change his Facebook status to “married”? That’s a little extreme, even for us.
Check back tomorrow as we close out the week with RaceTalk’s “Best of Twitter.”
December 17th, 2009
By Molly Galler
This morning while driving into work I was listening to the radio and the DJ announced in his morning news wrap up that McDonald’s will now be offering free Wi-Fi in all of its locations.
Normally when a popular destination announces a new, convenient service, I feel overjoyed. However, this announcement left me . . . puzzled.
If the typical McDonald’s customer is one who relishes in the low priced dollar menu, is this same customer likely to own and carry a laptop?
Doesn’t a significant amount of McDonald’s business come from the drive-through?
Aren’t most McDonald’s locations on the highway where people zip in and out with no desire to stop?
Would you ever consider conducting a business meeting at a McDonald’s?
This morning on Mashable.com, blogger Brenna Ehrlich explained, “So why the switch to free Wi-Fi? Well, McDonald’s is hoping to become a hang-out spot of the coffee shop variety — it also plans to start selling frappes and smoothies mid-2010. And given the fact that coffee chains like Starbucks charge customers to surf while they sip, the idea doesn’t seem all that pie-in-the-sky.”
While I applaud McDonald’s for joining the technological revolution and trying to bring further convenience to their customers, they seem to be offering a service to a demographic that is likely uninterested.
I don’t know about you, but free or not, I have zero intention of plugging in my laptop beneath the golden arches.
December 16th, 2009
Previous Posts
