The PR Warrior: October 2008

"Welcome to the new www.britneyspears.com! We're taking you where no paparazzi lens ever could with pics, vids and news from Britney herself."

(Message on http://twitter.com/therealbritney)

After years of being stalked by the paparazzi and pilloried by the media, Britney Spears has moved to take control of her 'brand' communications by undertaking an integrated social media program that allows her (or at least, her 'people') to communicate directly with fans.

The program is a multi-headed 'beast' and brings together a number of popular social media platforms.

At the heart of Britney's online effort is a revamped website which, according to her Twitter page (also a new initiative), received over a million hits within its first 24 hours of operation.

Since kicking off on Twitter on October 11, Britney has already (at time of writing) attracted 5315 followers.

* Photo sourced from britneyspears.com

Then there's the Britney Spears blog, the Facebook page (with over 282,000 fans) and MySpace page (437,000+ friends as well as 250,000+ comments).

As well, she's had developed her own social network - circusvip.com - in preparation for the launch of her sixth album, Circus.

Something must be working because her new single Womanizer has shot to the top of the charts.

Techcrunch reckons having Britters on Twitter is 'solid gold' for the microblogging platform.

"A few more of these and it will be hard to argue that it (Twitter) isn’t going mainstream", writes head T-Cruncher, Michael Arrington.

Whle much of the content across the various platforms is being driven by 'Team Britney', which is understandable, the gal herself pops in for a few comments. Probably more input from Britney on Twitter and the blog would enhance credibility, but all in all, from a PR and marketing perspective her social media effort is well done and over time should go a long way to helping her rebuild credibility in the marketplace.

Okay, it's the last day of my 3-week holiday tour of the west coast of the United States (hence my absence from this blog) and I'm kicking back in Santa Monica, a glass of crisp Napa Valley sauvignon blanc in hand.

So in the interests of proving that I have been keeping at least half an eye out for some of the time I've been cruising around, here are some broad observations from my trip as to which brands - in my humble opinion - get 'it' in the States (and no, I'm not going to define what 'it' is!):

Abercrombie & Fitch gets 'it'.

Every time you walk past an A&F outlet, the same scent wafts from the store. Their outlets, like a number of US fashion companies - e.g. GAP, Banana Republic, Lucky Brand Jeans, American Apparel, American Eagle Outfitters, and Urban Outfitters - portray their brand well and very consistently (although there tends to be a fair bit of product overlap between them). Just about every third person in LA is sporting an A&F T-shirt or hoodie, while thousands of young 'uns are emblazoned with the GAP logo.

Disneyland gets 'it'.

* Disney on parade

Hell of a reputation to live up to as you could imagine, but the brand did. The cleanest, safest place on earth. Very friendly, as you'd expect. (OK, the bland piped music can get a bit much, but that's the price you pay for being fair-and-square 'main street'). Having a major parade every day (and big fireworks three days a week - as big as any small city's New Year's celebrations) - most (dumb) companies would cut such activities in the interests of the bottom line, but not Disney. Such 'extras' are non-negotiable as far as Disney is concerned, and it builds the brand and brings in the cash. The number of adults wearing mouse ears and Mickey T-shirts at the park was astounding - ker-ching - as well as a bit scary! And, in a surprising turn of events, the best meals we ate throughout our whole trip were at Downtown Disney (shrimp & crab ravioli anyone?). Great stuff!

San Francisco gets 'it'.

* Union Square in the heart of San Francisco

One thing that stands out to me is that San Francisco is genuine and authentic and certainly lives up to its 'brand'. From the city's deep love of sports, music and theatre through to unique architecture, amazing shopping and wonderful scenery - San Francisco has enough 'tourist' attractions to keep visitors happy without taking away from its natural attributes. Some people think San Fran is like Sydney and with its bay and magnificent views, that's a fair call. However, I reckon the city is more similar to Melbourne for all the reasons stated above, which are very 'Melbourne' attributes.

Las Vegas gets 'it'.

* Donny & Marie Osmond revive their career in Las Vegas

As we all know from the CSI TV series, Vegas is brash, crass, impersonal, overtly commercial and totally in your face. And unashamedly so. People love Vegas for that very reason. Loads of flash, plenty of trash and absolutely zero substance. But if you want to be entertained in a glitzy way, Vegas is the place to be. The city has stayed on this track for years and there's every reason to think it will happily continue down this path. Ker-ching!

Barack Obama gets 'it'.

* Barack & Michelle Obama (SOURCE: Michelle Obama's Facebook page)

There was a short period when McCain got close to Obama in the polls (post-Palin running mate announcement). However, in the ensuing weeks, Obama has stuck solid to his campaign and kept his nose pretty clean. Showing enough fire and spirit but steering clear of bashing his opponent unnecessarily, Obama looks set to become the first black President in US history. I watched on TV one of his speeches 'on the stump' - pretty impressive. A lot of rhetoric, naturally, but he matched it with zest and vibrancy (pretty hard to do after such a long campaign, you would imagine). Words along the lines of: I can take four more weeks of Republican crap (my word) but America can't take four more years of Republican government - great stuff!

Michelle Obama gets 'it'.

The power behind Barack's push for the US Presidency. The woman's got style and plenty of sass...and she's damn clever and charismatic. Two presidents for the price of one?

Rainforest Cafe gets 'it'.

Boy, do they ever! Having eaten in Rainforest Cafes in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Disneyland - to the demand of my kids who had never seen one before (neither had I) - this is certainly testament to the restaurant chain's power. Brand experience is the key, and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that immersive experiences is potentially the most powerful form of marketing a brand can offer consumers. Rainforest Cafe do it better than most - the cafe sits in the middle of a make-believe rainforest, complete with animated 'gorillas', 'elephants' etc. A merchandise shop at the front entrance helps tick the cash registers over that extra bit! Ker-ching!

Starbucks gets 'it'.

Drinking coffee in the US is so hit-and-miss (more miss than hit, by a ratio of 98:2), Starbucks - despite not being great coffee for anyone like me who emanates from a city with a true coffee culture - it's certainly a lot better, predictably so, than any other option (save maybe for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf chain). Starbucks has 'won' the coffee war by sheer weight of numbers and while Melbourne baristas (or the Italians) stay out of the States en masse, the company has got it made. Ker-ching! Did I mention Starbucks doesn't advertise at all? Word-of-mouth, product placement and public relations - plus the brand's expansive geographic reach - gives it the edge they need. Catch 'em if you can!

Barnes & Noble gets 'it'.

I love Borders, but I L-O-O-O-V-E Barnes & Noble! Are they ever going to come to Australia??

Hotel Roosevelt gets 'it'.

A shining beacon right in the heart of trashy Hollywood, the Roosevelt is steeped in history and has been faithfully renovated and cleverly rejuvenated to attract not only visitors to the city but also LA's cadre of cool denizens. It used to be a joke, by all reports, but now it's the place to go in Hollywood. A class act!

Lids gets 'it'.

Great shop chain dedicated to hats for the cool crowd. Founded in 1995 and with more than 800 mail-based, airport, street level and factory outlet stores in the US, Puerto Rico and Canada, the Lids company is a 'must' for someone wants the 'right' hat for their noggin.

ABC Stores get 'it'.

These retail outlets - and they dominate Waikiki Beach & surrounding areas of Honolulu - are a godsend for tourists. Think 7-11 on steroids. And if you reckon Starbucks rules by way of dominance, wait to you see the retail areas that ABC Stores occupy! Absolutely amazing!

America's cleaners get 'it'.

The cities I visited - Honolulu, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles - were as a rule very clean (streets and restrooms) - this was pleasant if unexpected surprise. Melbourne take note.

What about the US media, and advertising in general?

I spent a bit of time reading the daily newspapers, mainly the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle - and I've got to say, apart from their size (a chopped down broadsheet), they're a bit 'thin'. The likes of the Herald-Sun, Telegraph, SMH and The Age are far better publications (okay, I'm biased, but it's an easy argument to win I reckon).

US magazines, however, are fan-bloody-tastic! And obviously much cheaper here as well.

The telecommunications companies don't advertise anywhere near like they do in Australia.

US television has stacks of medical advertising - 30 second ads about the products themselves and 60 seconds of legal disclaimer about the myriad side-effects they can produce. Viagra stands up (errr, out) as the product most advertised.

Politics is rammed down the throats of Americans, not just in news headlines but with entire channels devoted to the minutest detail about the forthcoming Presidential election. The crazy thing is not many Americans choose to vote. Maybe they've been pummeled into submission?

The TV commercials that I saw were mostly factual-based, or straight-down-the-line in terms of promoting a brand or product. 'Creativity', in its purest advertising sense, didn't seem to be too evident. Not much in the way of wild and whacky ideas wrapped up as 'advertising'. And you know, I like that! US advertising seems almost old-fashioned and they don't seem to forget the basics. Unfortunately, in Australia our TV advertising mostly tries to be too clever by half and the result is often expensive and ineffective TVCs that don't entertain, nor do they probably sell like they should. I was expecting a lot of that style of advertising in the States but it simply was not the case.

Fast food and upsizing still dominates the meal-time landscape. Unbelievably so.

Morning TV starts at 5 am ('til 7 am). One TV show starts at 4 am. The early bird catches the worm?

Sport rules. At any given time, visit a bar and the punters are glued to the TV watching baseball/basketball/gridiron.