Trevor Cook on public relations, social media and politics

Category Archives: Advertising & marketing

Help – the word most used in Darling’s budget speech

April 23, 2009 – 7:17 am

So says the Times. Other key words were economy (no kidding) and support. I wonder if the same will be true when Swan does his effort next month.

By Trevor Cook | Also posted in Politics | Tagged | Comments (0)

Domino’s hits some social media whitewater

April 17, 2009 – 7:51 am

Readwriteweb: “In terms of its social media presence, Domino’s Pizza gets a lot of things right. It has a YouTube Channel, a Twitter account, and both a Facebookand MySpace profile. What Domino’s could not plan for, however, was that two of its employees at a North Carolina franchise would use YouTube to broadcast a rather disgusting video that would [...]

By Trevor Cook | Also posted in Internal Communications, Public Relations, Social Media, Workplace issues | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Conformity theory and the alcopops debate

April 17, 2009 – 7:43 am

The freakonomics blog on the NYT has an interesting look at the role of conformity in communications. Basically, it’s hard to convince people to stop doing something if they think everyone else is doing it. People don’t want to rise above the crowd and be exemplary. So public service messages that suggest that many people [...]

By Trevor Cook | Also posted in Social issues | Tagged | Comments (0)

Should beer companies sponsor ANZAC day?

April 10, 2009 – 9:47 pm

In recent years, ANZAC day has morphed into an opportunity for young (and not-so young) people to get shit-faced and soppily nationalistic, which makes it an ideal target for a big beer company. VB’s “raise a glass” campaign will no doubt find favour with anyone who thinks binge drinking is an appropriate part of remembering Australians [...]

By Trevor Cook | Also posted in Social issues | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

Managing your personal (social media) brand

April 8, 2009 – 12:36 pm

From Mashable: “In this post, you’ll learn how to conduct a situational analysis, figure out exactly what your personal brand is, select the best social media tools to connect with your audience, build your online empire and finally, market your brand for career success.”
Good stuff. Check it out.

By Trevor Cook | Also posted in Social Media | Comments (0)

The challenge of tobacco retailing

March 24, 2009 – 8:46 am

Newsagents who sell tobacco products would do well to read Steven Denham’s blog post on the challenges they are facing in newsagencies in the UK.  We are seeing various changes here in Australia – SA, NSW to name two.
via The challenge of tobacco retailing.
Yes its getting more difficult, that’s the general idea. But it [...]

By Trevor Cook | Also posted in Business & economics, Social issues | Tagged | Comments (0)

Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption

January 13, 2009 – 7:25 am

This NYRB article is well worth reading. The scale of the problem seems extraordinary:
No one knows the total amount provided by drug companies to physicians, but I estimate from the annual reports of the top nine US drug companies that it comes to tens of billions of dollars a year. By such means, the pharmaceutical [...]

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Master list of social media marketing examples

January 8, 2009 – 9:39 am

A while ago I posted a list of social media examples that are helpful if you want to design your own effort,here is a much bigger list – should be something there for everyone! Thanks to B. L. Ochman of NYC for the pointer

By Trevor Cook | Also posted in How-to do social media, Social Media | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Weddings are expensive, so what about sponsorship?

January 5, 2009 – 4:35 pm

From one of my favourites, the bad pitch blog, comes news of one of the craziest marketing ideas of 2008:
From: Elizabeth Flowers [mailto:weddingsponsorship@gmail.com]
Subject: Wedding Sponsorship
Hello, My name is Liz Flowers and my fiancé’s name is Scott Bland. We are a “not your average couple,” looking for a “not so average, ‘think out of the box’ [...]

By Trevor Cook | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Dell service gets booed and then cheered

January 5, 2009 – 4:01 pm

Frustrated with a lack of response, my friend Lee Hopkins, who lives in Adelaide, used his popular blog to try and get Dell to help with a new product. It took a while but it worked:
Further to my plaintive cry for help of last Friday, I received a call from Yvonne Patze, a Senior Sales [...]

By Trevor Cook | Also posted in Business & economics, Enterprise 2.0, Social Media | Tagged , , | Comments (1)