By Jenny Fujita and Joy K. Miura, Fujita & Miura Public Relations, LLC.
Last June, according to the July 9, 2001 issue of PR Week, "Heinz announced it would disclose the new (ketchup) color in 'a few weeks.'" Notice that the real news, Heinz's next ketchup color, hadn't been communicated. Still, this pre-announcement release resulted in more than 100 media placements all over the nation leaving the public waiting in baited breath until the new color was made known. And when it was, the PR frenzy began all over again.
We “like” The Right Slice. On Facebook. And otherwise. The company makes deep dish pies with hand-rolled butter crusts filled to the brim with local Kaua`i ingredients. They’ve got a nice website and are astute in their social media interaction. Recently, they placed an offer on their Facebook page asking for “volunteers” to test a bake-at-home pie and provide feedback about their experience.
Recently the Philadelphia Orchestra, an institution in the City of Brotherly Love, announced that it was declaring bankruptcy.
According to Newsworks.com, orchestra president Allison Vulgamore said, “We actually have not marketed our concerts very well, and not spent sufficient funds on marketing.” The article continued to say that “Insufficient marketing is one of many elements causing the orchestra to come up short” and that “…organizations such as the orchestra tend to focus their marketing dollars on subscription sales because it's more efficient, but they will have to change with consumer patterns.”
This post is brought to you by guest columnist Jonell Kaohelaulii, Marketing Manager at Kukui Grove Center. Located in Lihue, Kauai. Kukui Grove Center offers more than 60 shops and restaurants.
Social networking has been a part of the customer service and shopping experience at Kukui Grove Center for over a year. Our presence on Twitter, Facebook, Posterous, and other social media sites has allowed us to expand our online reach, beyond traditional website capabilities, to build relationships and communicate with our customers about services, sales, merchants, and community events.
We utilize social media to increase Kukui Grove’s advertising exposure at every opportunity. After a year of creating a database of online followers and fans, we decided to test Kukui Grove’s social media reach initially by promoting a new Toddler Thursday event via our Twitter and Facebook pages. The results were amazing! Attendance increased each week. Recently, we garnered our largest turnout of more than 81 toddlers thus, providing valuable entertainment for our weekday consumers and increasing pedestrian traffic for our merchants.
Recently we were asked to judge King Auto Center’s “School Commercial Contest.” They made it easy for us. All we had to do was log on to www.kingautocenter.com and view each of the commercials (you can go there yourself to check them out), and then judge them using the score sheet they emailed us. Smart.