Karen’s PR & Social Media Blog

The Super Bowl is an iconic American past time were friends, families, and fans all come together to watch some great football.  Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens for their win against the SF 49ers.  While there has been a lot of focus dedicated to the various teams playing in the game, it was interesting to see what was emerging via social media as well.

What did we learn from this year’s Super Bowl overall?  There are some trends we have seen consistently not only the commercials, but how they are using social media itself.  However, as many on my Twitter feed mentioned, the real story was what was happening in terms of engaging fans via Twitter and other social media platforms.

Power of newsjacking for brands:  David Meerman Scott first coined this phrase a few years ago and has a book on the subject as well. From what we can see, newsjacking really was clearly seen in this year’s Super Bowl and was actually listed as one of the key trends to watch for 2013.  Oreo brilliantly created a visual communicating how you can still dunk a cookie even in the dark when there was a power outage in New Orleans.  Definitely a great example of real-time marketing strategy at play.  Well played, Oreo. Walgreens also jumped on board as well by offering candles, but what made Oreos stand out from the crowd was the fact they added the visual component that was aligned to their brand.

Always expect the unexpected and be prepared for any crisis to happen:  This of course happened during the Super Bowl when the there was a power outage which caused other brands like Oreo, Walgreens, Tide, and even the MLB to jump on board with their commentary and integrated their brands to the mix. Many reasons were given for why this happened, but the classic jab towards the Superdome came from Audi by mentioning how they are going to send LED lights to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.  Ouch.

Fans and other social media users jump on board to get their 15 minutes or so of fan by providing witty and humorous commentary on social media:  With the commercials, performances during the game, and football in general – fans were very active in engaging in conversations via Twitter.  From conspiracy theories to blaming Beyonce for the power, the list goes on and played out via Twitter to create the organic hashtag #BlackoutBowl.  The power outage was actually the most talked about item of the Super Bowl – which of course is probably not what CBS and the NFL expected for the game.

Storybranding is absolutely key to integrate with brands and their campaigns:  Jeep, Ram, and Budweiser really tapped into this aspect for their commercials by telling a story to share with others in a visual and strategic manner in their commercials.  The reaction to all three commercials and campaigns has been extremely positive. Here is the commercial for Ram that focused on Paul Harvey and farmers:

Commercials used hashtags, but some were not trending.  Many of the brands were using hashtags that were not associated with the brand itself, which was a risk to take.  Instead of going to the hashtag strategy, Oreo went and directed people to go to their Instagram page and use their cookies cream hashtag. The result?  Before the commercial, they had 2,000 followers.  Now, they have over 30,000 following on Instagram.  I would say that was a success.

In summary, what we have seen here with this Super Bowl is the emergence and importance of several key strategies for public relations and strategic communication professionals to recognize.  First, you have to be on top of things for your brand in terms of social media.  Opportunities may arise to tie in your brand with a popular topic or issue, so timing is everything.  Storybranding is key for brands to integrate into their various messages to reach their audiences.  Crises do happen and it really all depends on how you react to them – and we got a chance to see some brands interact and engage with each other in making the most out of the power outage.

Overall, I think we are going to remember this Super Bowl for a long time for many reasons, but this was the one that brought about newsjacking, storybranding, and showcased power of brand personalities.

Hope you all are having a great day.

Best Wishes,

Karen

One of the best ways I think to see a football game is on the field – and this is what I was able to do this past weekend at the Army v. Boston College Football game.

It was our fall break at the University of Louisville, and I spent my time visiting Kristin and Scott up in Highland Falls.  But the question is – how did I get the chance to hangout on the sidelines?

Well, I made a bid on an auction item that allowed me to work with the radio show at West Point for the chance to hold their microphone on the field.  I had a chance to be interviewed on the radio show, go up in the pressbox, and see the game from the best seat of the hosue!  I have to thank Dad for encouraging me to do this since he had the chance to do the exact same thing when he was up visiting Kristin for her birthday a few weeks ago!

I have been up at West Point several times over the years visiting Kristin – it is a wonderful place and there is nothing like it.  The atmosphere is energetic and there is so much history, tradition, and commitment among all those who are at West Point.

Best seat in the house at the Army v. BC Game!

With this amazing opportunity to see a game at this level, I knew that I had to make sure to get both pictures and videos of this event to be able to give others an idea of what it is like to be at an Army football game.  I actually made two Ptchs – one is with some of my pictures before, during, and after the game and the other is just video clips I took on the field. I also made sure to use Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to share my experiences through updates and photos as well.

Ready to watch some Army Football! Go Black Knights!

Overall, I had an amazing time in NY and experiencing my first Army game with Kristin and Scott – they were fabulous hosts!  I would also like to thank Tracy from the USMA Athletic Department who was really helpful in making sure I got on the field and helped me get around to the various places at the game. I would highly recommend looking at some of these auction items to see if you can try to get the same experience – this is one I will never forget and I was able to not only enjoy myself at the game, but I was able to capture some of the great memories and views I had to share with others.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen

Track and field was a big part of my life – I started off in junior high throwing the shot put and being coached by my Dad (or otherwise known as “Coach Dad.”).  Dad coached me throughout my career and was a great motivator, supporter, and workout partner.

Dad (aka Coach Dad) and I at the 2000 Golden West Invite

I competed in high school were I threw the shot put and was ranked #1 during the 2001 Outdoor season after being off the HS Girl’s National Shot Put record by a quarter of an inch. Yep – quarter of an inch – so close yet so far away.

What did distinct me from other athletes at the time was my website.  It first started off as a Val Kilmer fan site (yes, the actor – hey, I was in Junior High at the time! ).  However, it transformed into my student-athlete resume for college coaches to follow my stats and accomplishments as a student-athlete. In college, I used my website to promote our team competitions, trips on the road, food we were eating at competitions (of course – was a foodie even then!) and sharing what it was like being a student athlete.

All-American Throwers at the University of Florida (2003-2004)

When I retired from track and field in 2006, I finished as a Four-time All-American (3X at the University of Florida and 1X at University of Southern California), Two-Time SEC Champion, USC School Record Holder in the Shot Put, and 2004 Olympic Trials Finalist.

Throwing for the USC Trojans (2006)

I got the wonderful opportunity to write a guest blog post for Melissa Agnes on her blog.  The conversation emerged when I was corresponding with the co-hosts of “The Crisis Show” (Melissa, Jonathan, and Rich), and the issue of social media monitoring and athletics came up.  I shared some of my own experiences as a former track and field athlete with a website and online newsletter with the group – which resulted in the guest blog post.

As mentioned in the post, I had the chance to participate and compete for two established academic and athletic programs. I competed for Florida from 2003-2004, and graduated with my degree in Public Relations and went to USC for my Master’s and competed for the Trojans during the 2006 season. While both are wonderful schools and I am proud to be a graduate from both, they do have different views of whether or not a student-athlete should have a voice on social media.

Based on my experience, I think student athletes do need to have a voice and a partnership and education initiative should be engaged. In the guest post I wrote for Melissa, I offered some points for others in the sports and social media community to think about and consider.  This trend of social media monitoring among athletics will continue to grow – but we need to have these conversations as a community.

A lot of the lessons I learned from being a track athlete online are now being applied in my academic and professional career.  Managing a proactive reputation online, time management, correspondence with fans of a particular team, engaging in proactive conversations online, and even crisis communication messages strategies. I had first hand experience in all of these activities in the ten years as a student-athlete.  While some these lessons were tough, they were very educational for me and have shaped me into the person and professional I am today.

Researcher, Professor, and Consultant in Social Media, Crisis, and Public Relations at the University of Louisville

I would like to thank Melissa again for the opportunity to share my story on social media within athletics from a former-athlete perspective.  Hope you all are having a great day.

Best Wishes,

Karen

It seems like it was just yesterday in many ways, but there are certain things I definitely remember as a track and field athlete.  Throwing lots of items, lifting tons of weights and doing burnouts with Dad in our garage at home (probably to this day my toughest workouts ever!), and traveling around the US and seeing various colleges.

I retired from track in 2006 as a 4x All-American and USC School Record Holder in the shot put

Even when I was a track and field athlete, I was still very engaged and active with new media.  I was one of only athletes who had a personal website and created my own newsletter I sent out via email called Kmail. While Twitter had not been launched yet and Facebook was still in its infancy stages when I was competing, there were still discussion boards, blogs, and other websites dedicated to communicating and sharing information and opinions.

Competing for Florida at the 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

I had the great opportunity to be a guest panelist again this week on the show “The Crisis Show” with Rich Klein, Melissa Agnes, and Jonathan Bernstein. This week’s show focused on a range of crises currently happening, but I was brought on board to discuss the issue of athletics and social media.

It was reported several universities were monitoring student-athlete tweets for particular words, but many other universities are doing this as well.  Oregon just created their Quack Cave to monitor what is going online and in social media – so this is becoming a trend in collegiate athletics. While it is very important to look for early warning signs and extreme cases, there are some things we can all take away from this current development from a social media perspective.

However, as I mentioned on the show – universities have monitored what student-athletes have said both in person and online for many years.  I competed for both Florida and USC in track and field – while both universities have great athletic and academic programs, they had different views for having student-athletes having a presence online.

The ideal situation would surround education when it comes to social media practices for athletes.  Holding workshops, having an active conversation with student-athletes, and encouraging a partnership with faculty who are teaching social media classes at the university as well.

Student-athletes are students and will eventually become alumni and enter into their professional career after graduation.  While there are some athletes that continue on and go pro, many athletes do not.  Having a presence in social media as an athlete will help give them hands on training managing their reputation, engaging in conversation with fans as well as those who have opposite views, and to conduct themselves professionally in the media.

In my personal experience, I gained a lot of experience and learned some valuable lessons from being active as a student-athlete online.  By having a voice on social media, I also got several opportunities that really opened doors for me professionally.  This experience helped shape me into the person and professional I am today. The most important and priceless brand anyone can manage and protect is their own.  This experience will transfer into any situation, business, and organization.

Hope you all are having a great day.

Best Wishes,

Karen

The London Olympics was classified in many ways as being the “Social Olympics” with the increase presence of sponsors, athletes, athletic associations, and others using social media as a major platform for updates, pictures, and real-time coverage of the games. While there were many highlights from the US team, there were some crisis situations emerging from the games.  One in particular I think will not only impact many professional athletes, but will have an effect on collegiate athletes as well.

The issue I am talking about is about Rule 40 from the IOC, which focuses on the fact that athletes could not thank their sponsors during the games, but only thank the Olympic sponsors of the event.  Many of the track and field athletes took this initiative to Twitter in particular by launching a hashtag campaign #WeDemandChange.

Now, Michael Phelps has had to deal with this very issue recently due to a photo ad with Louis Vuitton.  The ad was released early, and there was some talk about whether or not this was a violation of the IOC rule, but according to Phelps’ agent, it is not a violation.

This raises an issue not only for future athletic events at the Olympic and professional sports community – but also for collegiate athletics.  Some are siding with the IOC, and others are saying that they like the fact athletes were using social media to bring about this issue to the mainstream media.

One of the main reasons this issue came about was the fact that many of the athletes coming to the games were not being sponsored by the Olympic sponsors.  Track and field athletes in particular do not make as much as other athletes like in basketball or football.  In track and field, the ones who are making money have to break world records or be #1 in their event – and most of these athletes are runners. Personally, this is one of the main reasons I decided to retire from track and field as a shot putter in 2006 – for a female thrower, it would have been extremely difficult to make a living competing as a professional athlete.

Will there be more restrictions due to these new trends with social media for collegiate athletes?  What about those associated with teams? The issue of free speech within the social media community has been a hot topic of discussion, and I think with this case involving Rule 40 and the IOC, I think we are going to see more of these initiatives being implemented at all levels of athletics across the board.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen