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Social Media Snippets

Insights on social media, online marketing and the world of public relations

Analyzing the Motrin Moms AdNovember 20

YouTube Screenshot

Anyone with an interest in social media has by now heard about the blow up over the Motrin Moms commercial. For those that missed the boat, McNeil Consumer Health Care, the maker of Motrin, released a snarky ad that poked fun at Moms who merely use front slings as a fashion statement while positioning Motrin as a solution to the aches and pains that come with the trend.

Outraged moms who took offense to the ad teamed together on Twitter to let their voices be heard. From there, the fire was fueled throughout the blogosphere to YouTube and beyond (it even triggered this immediate Motrin Ad Alternative spin off). By Sunday night, the ad was removed the Motrin’s PR team kicked into crisis communications gear.

Jeremiah Owyang and Troy at Travel 2.0 both provided nice assessments of the situation.

To be honest, I’m a bit torn. Motrin’s brand managers and ad t

Need to Shoot Video on the Run? Carry a Flip.November 18

About a month ago, I finally had the opportunity to pick up a Flip camera for a client. Yes, jussssst a bit behind. After numerous posts from Lee Aase on the tool, it was time to give it a whirl. I dig it.

Advantages?

It’s small, compact, shoots decent quality, includes a zoom feature and is incredibly user- friendly. It can also be purchased for around $150 - a pretty great deal. To top it off, the Flip is an all-in-one tool that you can pull out of the box, shoot video and have a spot uploaded to YouTube in five minutes without having to crack open the instructions.

Disadvantages?

With the good of course comes some bad. The zoom is pretty limited and the Flip struggles to record decent sound unless you or your subject are close to the mic. The Flip is also not made for the shaky hand, but luckily there are small, cheap flexible tripods that work great to keep things steady.

Utility
Granted, the Flip is just a tool and we all know tools and technologies change overnight, but how might a PR p

People You Should Know - John McCreaNovember 14

Last week, I posted about LinkedIn’s launch of a series of new applications for their site. Within my post, I referenced Plaxo and connected with John McCrea who currently works as Plaxo’s VP of Marketing. Having previously discounted Plaxo as a worthwhile site for my professional networking needs, I asked John to shed some light on the site’s current business model and tell us about his own work in the digital space.

My perception of the site has admittedly changed and I look forward to diving in further to explore networking opportunities.

Sorry for the length on this one, but there is some great insight here. Be sure to connect with John on his blog or on Plaxo, which also provides links to his other social media sites. Thanks for taking the time to fill us in John.

-Scott

How has Plaxo evolved since its start and what do you see as the primary focus for the direction of the site?

John McCrea

JM: Though there have been many changes along the way, it is interesting to note that our central miss

Ning - Creating Your Social Network on the FlyNovember 12

Chances are you’re either an active participant on social networking site Ning or have at some point visited a Ning site. Founded in October 2004, Ning was created with the intent of providing a basic, customizable platform for anyone and everyone to develop their own social network.

The beauty of the platform is that it requires no technical capabilities and similar to sites such as Facebook and MySpace, incorporates popular application tools that allow you to add photos, video, post events, create groups, generate discussions, etc. In addition, you can choose to make your network public or private as well as pay a small monthly fee to remove advertising for branding control.

As of October 2008, Ning announced that they surpassed 500,000 social networks. According to Lindsay Peifer, about 65% of those networks are active. As for user demographics, the site tends to skew toward 18-34 year olds.

If you’re working to build community, y

We Communicate, We Collaborate.November 10

Last month, I posted about 8 Emerging Trends in Social Media as defined by digital guru, Steve Rubel. One of those trends identifies the current shift from companies and brands moving beyond open communication with customers to engaging customers and audiences in a collaborative manner.

Video stands out as one area of social media that has experienced a big shift toward collaboration. Earlier this year, PR WEEK announced Edelman’s launch of Edelman Studios. The idea being that Edelman is working to connect clients with anyone who has a creative idea to submit around a particular project assignment.

Most of the videos that we consider “viral” are typically either accidental or created by ordinary people with creative ideas. The notion being that consumers can connect with other consumers in a much more authentic manner than agencies that focus too much time on creating overproduced, message-saturated spots.

Dell and Starbucks are two additional companies that have done a great job of establishing a collaborative framework with customers. Dell’s IdeaStorm allows users to submit and vote on new ideas for Dell to implement with their vario