admin, Author at Change Communications

Social Media Marketing Beyond Facebook

If this image is all too familiar to you as a brand marketer, it’s because Facebook has finally killed organic reach and the “free ride” is over for brands. This has been occurring for the past year so it should come as no surprise to anyone managing a Facebook page.

Originally, as businesses posted on their page, people who “liked” the page would get the business’ posts on their feed. This was organic, and companies had to get people to like them so that these users could see their post. Now, according to this Business Insider article, “the ad agency Ogilvy was reporting as far back as February of 2014 that only about 2% of users were seeing companies’ Facebook posts.” Essentially, Facebook has taken out what was organic about their site for businesses, and turned it into a money making machine. Like any advertising tactic, Facebook ads do well for some brands but not for others (Noah Kagan has an excellent, comprehensive post on how his Facebook ads have performed).

That’s why it’s critical to look toward other social media services to market your business, so that you’re not completely dependent on Facebook and its whims (this goes for any platform). Forbes recently published “Social Media Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2015” and it predicts that Twitter’s new business advertising model will increase in popularity, Instagram will become essential for image-based social media marketing and social media marketing will finally be embraced as a core pillar of content marketing.

While Facebook once hooked its users (and still does), many younger users are beginning to move away from Facebook and turn to other social media platforms: Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, even Ello have emerged to steal away the hearts and minds (and ad dollars) of youths.

With new platforms come new concerns, but sometimes, being the first to market on a platform can push sales. Universal Pictures stated that millions of people viewed their first Snapchat ad for the film “Ouija” and FOX released a 6-second “tweaser” on Vine for “Wolverine.” Both engagements were successful for the films in reaching a younger (under-25) demographic.

Ultimately, brands and marketers need to stay on the forefront of what their audience do on their free time. Fads come and go, so brands need to keep up and play along with them by being present on many platforms and open to new opportunities. In doing so, if one rises or falls, your business will thank you for not only being on Facebook.

By Brian Liberman

The Holidays in Union Square SF: A Brighter Celebration

It’s that time of the year again. You know, that time of the year when you get all those advertisements about Black Friday, when you scour online forums to find the perfect deal, when you can enjoy the winter season with a cozy cup of hot cocoa, caroling, decorations, and a two block open pedestrian-friendly plaza in the heart of San Francisco, Union Square – wait, that’s new!

San Francisco has always known how to be festive. From the outdoor ice skating rink, to the humongous Christmas tree in front of Macy’s, Union Square has been an international holiday destination that brings thousands into the city each year. This year, Union Square decided to change its traditional pace.

From November 28th to December 31st, the central subway construction will stop and astroturf will cover the streets for Winter Walk SF where two blocks of Stockton Street will be open for pedestrians only. Winter Walk will have caroling, demos, live music, and other surprises as well as be illuminated by an impressive light art show projected on the Macy’s Men’s Building featuring Jack Frost’s adventures as he spreads festive icicles throughout San Francisco. As an added bonus, Off the Grid food trucks will be there every other day of the week (M, W, F, Sunday) to help show off SF’s great food truck culture.

For more information on Winter Walk SF head over to WinterWalkSF.com and we hope to see you there!

By Brian Liberman

Threshold Interactive Wins WOMMY Award!

We’re popping the champagne today to celebrate our amazing client Threshold Interactive‘s WOMMY award win!

Threshold was honored for their launch of Butterfinger Cups (which we’re addicted to – for the holidays, we’re totally okay with you sending us a crate of Butterfinger Cups), where they used a variety of social media strategies to get the public salivating.

Congratulations, Threshold!

Lesson For Startup CEO’s: Don’t Torpedo Your Brand

Tinder’s demotion of (soon-to-be former) CEO Sean Rad illuminates the need for brands to have the right face representing them.

It’s largely believed that Rad was ousted from his position due to his inability to maintain a culture that doesn’t create such major PR and ethical problems as the sexual harassment lawsuit lobbied at Rad’s best friend, former Tinder CMO Justin Mateen (who was already generating negative PR before the lawsuit). While Rad’s ability to grow Tinder and create a mega-popular sensation is undeniable, his ability to foster an atmosphere free of harassment was clearly in doubt by his superiors at IAC, who own a majority of his startup.

Several CEO’s have had to step down from their positions as the face of their brand for business reasons — including Mark Pincus of Zynga, Andrew Mason at Groupon — but those demotions typically occurred because the business was faltering. In Rad and Tinder’s case, business couldn’t be better, with a bright and lucrative future for the brand on the horizon.

Due to the sexual harassment lawsuit, Tinder had a rightful PR problem. Like Tinder, Uber is currently facing a barrage of negative press, in part fueled by CEO Travis Kalanick’s crass comments. Kalanick is better protected since Uber isn’t owned by a corporation like IAC. However, his personality is affecting the brand and its lack of goodwill and he’s definitely making the PR problem worse.

What the Rad situation highlights is the need for CEO’s, especially startup CEO’s, to represent their brands in a manner that is acceptable not only to their user base and financial overlords but to potential acquirers and stakeholders. That might mean running a tighter ship and not letting your best friends operate with impunity, or it might mean keeping your comments to yourself when it comes to press.

The “move fast and break stuff” motto of Silicon Valley is represented in their unorthodox, brash manner of CEO’s like Kalanick, Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel and Rap Genius’s Mahbod Moghadam. That devil may care attitude might be okay when you’re a new startup trying to establish yourself, but for brands on the verge, it presents a major PR issue. And these are just the CEO’s who don’t exactly say or do the right things in the public eye, let alone the growing subset of startup CEOs who have been convicted of committing crimes, like RadiumOne’s Gurbaksh Chahal or NextDoor’s CEO Nirav Tolia.

Of course, every CEO wants to be a nonconformist like Steve Jobs and no one’s arguing that CEO’s should be cut from the same cloth. But there’s a difference between making bold creative decisions and excusing sexual harassment.

Ultimately, all of this can be avoided if a CEO acts ethically and creates a supportive working environment, representing his/her brand in a professional manner. Unfortunately in today’s Silicon Valley, that might be easier said than done. There’s a reason that Valleywag seems to have no dearth of stories about startup CEO’s behaving badly.

How To Rock a Communications Internship

If you’re a communications major, chances are, you’re looking for an internship to jump start your career. Although internships are a learning experience, you’ll be steps ahead if you work on a certain set of skills. After all, it’s a great time to get into a career in communications, with communication graduates experiencing the largest increase in salary from 2013-2014 (by 10.1%). So what skills do you need to show off your communications degree and impress your new bosses?

Writing – Lose the Typos and Be Clear and Concise

Write Write Write! We can’t stress it enough. Your job is to communicate effectively so make sure there are no typos (not just in your work but in all your forms of communication) and that you stay concise. Don’t give us a story, just get it done.

Know What’s in the News – Especially With Your Clients

If you do not know about the Ebola virus, it’s time to read the news. Reading the news can not only inform you about bad press, but also trending topics that can affect your or your client’s industry. Who knows, maybe your CEO will participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge or be available to speak about a breaking story.

Always Keep the Big Picture in Mind, But Don’t Be Afraid To Be Creative

When you’re assigned a task, always keep the bigger picture in mind. Your job is not merely to follow specific instruction, but to think critically of the task at hand so that you can input ideas that can enhance the bigger picture. Constantly thinking about the big picture will show your employers that you can think creatively and independently, read between the lines, and understand how each detail fits, or can fit, into the big picture.

Be Proactive

If you have nothing to do, ASK. Communications is always happening where you work. After a couple of days of work, you’ll soon realize that communications never ends, so you shouldn’t have too many spare moments.

The Extra Mile

If you think something can look better, sound nicer, or seem simpler, FIX IT and show your boss the changes you made. They will most likely thank you for your hard work and hawk-like eye. The takeaway is to never do the minimum and always blow peoples’ minds away.

Empathy

Even though you may be working at the same company, you may not have the same vision, and that’s ok. Just make sure that you agree to disagree and respect each other’s opinion. This way, you can focus on what would be best for the company.

It’s not easy to work in the communications industry, and it’s not for everyone, but if you make yourself aware of what the industry expects of you, you can improve and enhance the skills that you need to be successful in this career.

By Brian Liberman

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Our favorite time of the year – Fall – is here! Why do we love the Fall season so much? In San Francisco (where our summers are famously cold), Fall has the best weather. Don’t believe us? Just check out this shot we took of the Palace of Fine Arts last week.

Fall is also the busiest time of the year for us and our clients, and we like to stay active. Here are some other things we’re excited about this Fall:

-Union Square SF’s Fall Fashion Fest

As far as we’re concerned, Fall Fashion Fest is the best time to go shopping (forget the holidays – too crowded). The best weather and some amazing deals will be front and center on October 9 in the shopping mecca of SF – Union Square. Plus, there’ll be food, drinks, music, entertainment and everyone going gaga over the glorious weather (oh yeah, we’re just gonna keep rubbing that in everyone’s faces, especially when all we hear year-round is “oh, don’t you just hate the fog?”).

–Threshold Interactive hires Julie Gordon as new Creative Director

Julie Gordon has a really awesome resumÃ©! She’s worked on every major brand that we admire and has changed their respective markets (Apple, Netflix, Pixar) and now she’s joining our beloved client Threshold Interactive. As a female-owned business, we love seeing more women in creative roles. Even though the numbers are increasing (even the 2% Conference upgraded to the 3% Conference, heh) there still aren’t enough. Threshold not only has Julie, but Steffany Carey as their creative directors: two brilliant creatives who just happen to be women.

-The Top of Broadway Community Benefit District‘s upcoming new website

We’ve been working with the Top of Broadway Community Benefit District for a few months and have been deeply impressed by the dedication of their board members, business and community leaders. From Naked Lunch to Tommaso’s to the Beat Museum to Monroe Lounge, these entrepreneurs are not only working hard to make their businesses the best that they can be, they’re also giving back to their community. They even kicked things off by participating in Bold Italic’s North Beach microhood. With the addition of new restaurants Little Szechuan, Elaine’s and nearby Doc Ricketts, the Broadway district in North Beach is thriving. We can’t wait to show it all off on the new website.

–Apple’s October 16 iPad event

We’re still playing with our iPad 2’s and we’ve been waiting (and waiting) for the major upgrades and enhancements. Hopefully the October 16 event unveils the extras we’ve been waiting for so that maybe my mom can enjoy my old iPad 2.

-New season of “The Walking Dead”

Braaaaaaains!

Union Square SF’s Fall Fashion Fest – Oct. 9

Although we’re not the most fashionable people (OK, we dress TERRIBLY but who doesn’t want to wear a t-shirt and flip flops every day), Union Square is celebrating San Francisco’s stylish scene with its second Fall Fashion Fest on October 9. Expect tons of great discounts, promotions, trunk shows, pop-ups, food, entertainment and extremely attractive people in Union Square.

In addition to the nonstop shopping, this year will see an afterparty at Hawthorn, benefitting GLIDE Memorial.

Grab your Louboutins and meet us there! We’ll leave the flip flops at home.

RSVP for the FREE event

An Ode to Pop Candy

Before Nerdist, before Watch What Happens Live, before geek was chic, there was Pop Candy and its creator, Whitney Matheson.

Yesterday, we learned that USA Today was slashing its newsroom, with several venerable editorial staff being left in its cost-cutting wake. We were surprised and disappointed to see Whitney Matheson’s name on that list, along with several other undeserving cuts.

Without getting into all of the many, many issues with today’s media, we’ll just focus on celebrating Pop Candy, one of our all-time favorite blogs.

I still remember handling PR for Yahoo!’s entertainment brands (which were totes ahead of its time, BTW!) and any time we’d get a mention on Pop Candy, my colleagues and I would squeal with a fervor typically seen only at One Direction concerts. Pop Candy was always our holy grail simply because we read and loved it.

The best part about PR is getting to see clients that you love covered by media that you deeply respect and often read yourself. A day didn’t go by when I didn’t read Pop Candy, and when I did skip a day, I felt like pop culture was passing me by and I was still wearing stonewashed jeans (“What do you mean Counting Crows aren’t cool anymore??”). Pop Candy was like my Facebook feed before it became Upworthy clickbait and annoying memes. I discovered things on it.

It had a refreshing voice. It was funny and sharp without being mean or sycophantic. It exposed all kinds of very cool artists that you wouldn’t have otherwise heard about. It was sweet, nurturing and gentle towards its readers and the artists they were fanatical about without being sentimental. It was oftentimes a neat little space for people who didn’t always fit into neat little spaces.

It’s a damn shame that Pop Candy is going away, and it’s a damn shame that we’re in this state in the media industry where writers like Matheson and her equally talented colleagues at USA Today can lose their jobs so unceremoniously.

Pop Candy’s not dead. Long live Pop Candy.

Written by Katy

Watch “Something Wicked” in L.A. With Us

Hey Los Angelenos! Put down those bon-bons and shut off your Netflix. We’re inviting you to come watch the upcoming thriller “Something Wicked” with us on September 12.

The movie is opening in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, NV in more than 50 locations, from Chino to San Bernardino to Irvine and everywhere in between.

While notable for being the late, great Brittany Murphy’s final film, the indie flick features up-and-coming actors Shantel VanSanten (CW’s “The Messengers,” FOX’s “Gang Related,” “One Tree Hill”), Julian Morris (Amazon’s “Hand of God,” ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars,” “24”) and John Robinson (“Big Sur,” “Lords of Dogtown”).

We’ll be hosting screenings in Burbank and Pasadena on the 12th and hope you can join us!

Airbnb: Not So Bad Being The Butt of Jokes

Ever since Airbnb unveiled their new logo, they’ve been the butt (or balls, if you prefer) of jokes. Apparently, everyone on the Internet has their mind in the gutter when they look at Airbnb’s logo. And Airbnb likely wants it no other way. After all, what’s some innocuous teasing when you could really be punched in the gut by negative PR, given the recent ire toward housing issues potentially caused by Airbnb, or the lack of support when renters have squatters, or the ongoing legislative battle.

Airbnb’s logo laughter couldn’t have come at a better time for the thriving company that propelled the not-quite-accurate “sharing economy” label into popular lexicon. If you’re going to choose between hit pieces, you’d rather have TechCrunch call your logo a female anatomy than have Valleywag write about how you abandoned a beleaguered renter in her legal battles.

Of course, not all toilet-minded logos work out. The University of California faced similar jokes but far more rancor when they revealed a new branding mark that was so negatively received, they changed course and reversed their decision. And what happens when you revamp your logo but no one cares? Such was the case with Yahoo!’s logo tweaks. Airbnb’s logo falls into neither category; instead, taking much of the focus away from its recent difficult press and into something lighter and fluffier, which couldn’t have worked out better for Airbnb, despite spokespeople claiming to be butt-hurt about it. Sometimes, it’s not so bad being the butt of jokes.