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SPEED PITCH: STATUS

Posted on 05 August 2010

New times call for new business models, and STATUS is merging the world of social media with the world of public relations. But do Natalie Hills and Brad Forth have the plan that can change your business? You be the judge.

How They Tell It:

Status Social Relations was co-founded in 2010 by Brad Forth and Natalie Hills, with the understanding that Social Media is not just a trend. At Status Social Relations, we help individuals as well as companies establish and sustain Social Media pages,opening a broad range of options for productive connectivity. We enable meaningful projection of identity and empower effective promotion of unique, personal, professional or entrepreneurial paradigm. Grounded in the scholarly as well as commercial culture of artistic communication, Brad and Natalie collaboratively strive for the most aesthetic presentation of individuals and companies. Clients receive personal attention needed to support the creation of Social Media pages that reflect your desired image. SSR provides our clients with services related to Social Media including: The initial start-up of a Facebook or Twitter page as well as the creative development of your Social Media page(s); a photography session with Brad Forth in which we provide you with professional, high quality images ranging from individual or staff portraits, shots of your interior or exterior space for businesses, and product shots; Facebook FBML coding; and monthly management and updates of your Social Media pages.

If you or your company already have these accounts in place, we can critique the information and content you currently have to see where improvements can be made.

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What the Experts Say…

“My initial take on this is that it will be limited, but it will work. What I mean is that if you want to have a special niche, then that’s great. You can basically be a “social media specialty shop.” But if you are going to have clients that need to have more services like crisis communication or strategy, then you might be limited. Basically, if you want to eventually be a fully integrated marketing and PR agency, it wont work, because you’re leaving some tools out of the toolbox— you need as many tools as you can use, because you’ll never know what your customers will need. But if all you want is to serve that area (social media) really well, then it’s a great idea for a niche. I do wonder, though, how a company like this will manage in the long term, as social media becomes the new norm.”

Brett Turner
Director of Public Relations
Jackson Marketing

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“Bringing beauty to social space is a worthy endeavor. There are three pressures in this segment, though, that may make a sustainable business model challenging: first, the increasing momentum for integrating social media into a comprehensive marketing program; second, the difficulty in outsourcing a heart-and-soul based media to outsiders; and, third, the do-it-yourself appeal of social media.

The opportunity lies in the third pressure—the doit- yourself appeal of social media. Status can differentiate themselves by helping clients not only look good but by being good as well. Being good means effectiveness is being aware of individuals in the marketplace, paying attention to them, listening to them, and responding to them. The sustainable opportunity is training and development— giving the people behind the beautiful brands the mindset, tools, and skills they need to deliver beautiful enduser experiences across all interactions with the company.

To the extent Status Social can help clients look good and be good on social media, they’ll have a sustainable business model as social space continues its intense evolution.”

Trey Pennington
Owner,
The Pennington Group

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Now You Weigh In…

We want to hear from you. Give us your thoughts, ideas, and feedback. Post your comments below.

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Posted in Business Black Box, Find A Topic, Speed PitchComments (2)

Tags: business, commercials, creative advertising, Denny's, Marketing, non-profit, public relations, sales

Denny’s free breakfast stunt: Ready, Fire…Aim! Aim! (Oops! to late.)

Posted on 04 February 2009

A 7-figure check from Denny’s to the network, along with agency fees for a very creative feel-good ad, gave the restaurant chain 60 seconds in America’s most watched football game, and lines out the door for 1 day. During the Super Bowl, they ran a creative ad that, unless you live in a cave, you’ve heard about. “Free breakfast for everyone in America on Tuesday.”

For 2 days, people applauded. “Brilliant idea!” Then came the lines. The local papers in every market with people complaining. And on and on. But more importantly, I believe a classic example of “Ready, fire….aim! aim! aim! Oops. Too late.” Focusing too much on award-winning advertising stunts, wih not enough marketing think-time, happens to businesses of all sizes. A few things to consider:

What was the objective? If it was attention, homerun. But was it the right attention? Did it deliver incremental sales? Customer loyalty? Goodwill? Time will tell…so far, well…not so good. Here’s a few ways they could’ve really created long-term marketing opportunities, AND made the entire event profitable, versus a big expense AND minimal long-term impact:

1) Different offer: “On Tuesday, 1/2 of America will eat for Free…thanks to YOU. Bring a friend, we’ll do the rest.” Result: Profitable event, connect people to each other. Create a sense of community. Existing Denny’s fans bring a possible new fan. Business people, bible study groups, stay-at-home moms and other groups who ALREADY meet regularly now don’t have to make a NEW decision, they just have to shift locations to save money on a meeting they’ll already have and had planned to spend money anyway. That’s the group restaurants want: People who already spend, not people waiting for the freebee.

2) Non-profit tie-in: What if $ was pledged to a World Hunger organization? Step 1: Buy 1, get 1 free (BOGO), then $ to charity. Gives Denny’s a measurable way to test interest. If it works, gives the company an opportunity to move from a 1-time stunt to something like, “World Hunger Day” every month. 1st Tuesday of every month, Now we have a sustainable marketing/PR initiative leveraging an expensive Super Bowl ad to create a long-term customer traffic pattern: “Eat at Denny’s 1st Tuesday of every month…2-for-1, and together let’s help world hunger charity ______. Denny’s Grand Slam Breakfasts: Changing the world.” Maybe eventually, the World Hunger tie-in becoms so popular, the 2-for-1 goes away and it becomes, “You eat, and we’ll feed a family in YOUR name”. Now Denny’s walls become filled with pictures of hungry families all over the world who are fed by XYZ World Hunger Organization thanks to Denny’s and YOU (enter customer name here).