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Archive for March, 2009

I attended Edelman’s Digital 101 symposium this weekend at JMU. It focused on how social media can be used in Public Relations. We also worked on “mini campaigns” in small groups during the two sessions. My group’s client was Burt’s Bees. While we were researching the company, I could not help but notice the parallels [...]

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Moving on from last week’s discussion of mishandled transparency, I want to talk about how companies can utilize new social media and transparency during times of crisis. A slideshow by Livingston Communications, “Crisis Communication on the Social Web,” emphasizes that it is critical to not forget the human element of crisis communication. It is not [...]

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The Fine Line

The Whole Foods scandal I talked about in the last post was about blatant dishonesty in new social media. Now I want to post about finding the line between astroturfing and ethical behavior when talking about corporate social media. The blog post from The Buzz Bin, that I referenced in the last post, “Astroturfing on [...]

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I have posted a lot about organizations that have effectively used Web 2.0 to convey transparency and authenticity. Now I want to look at the other side of the coin: when companies have used new social media to impede transparency. To begin this discussion I will talk about astroturfing.
According to The Buzz Bin, astroturfing is [...]

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You know your brand is authentic if people are willing to tattoo your logo on themselves. Harley Davidson is one of those iconic brands people identify with. An article from BizTimes discusses how Harley crafted its brand over a 105-year legacy. Harley has a lot to show for itself with its motorcycles, branded merchandise, licensed [...]

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Barack Obama utilized social media effectively in his campaign for the presidential election.  While Obama is a politician, not a businessman, there is still a lot that business people can learn from him about using social media and being authentic.
According to The New York Times, Obama teamed up with Marc Andreessen, a Netscape founder and [...]

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