Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Companies are missing out on a trillion dollar Hispanic market.

What does a punk band know that a large company does not?
Here are two music videos by the punk band The Bronx
They are from their last two albums.
See if you notice a difference in the music.





Pretty big leap right?  For the last few years, multiple articles have pointed out that most companies are simply ignoring the fast growing Hispanic population of the United States. 

So why should companies care about targeting the Hispanic demographic?  Would your company like to tap into a TRILLION dollar market?  If it's so lucrative, why aren't most companies aware?
                                                                                          

The only thing I could think of was racism.  Racism blinds people to the opportunities of mutually beneficial relationships with those around them.  For instance, Nielson ratings has been accused of under counting hispanic and black audiences.


However, after reading this blog by Dian Hasan I've changed my mind.  Any company that wants to attract and retain loyal Hispanic consumers needs to do some in depth research.  If your company is looking towards targeting this market you should definitely read what Dian has to say first.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

How would a RoboCop statue help Detroit's image?

So Detroit is in the process of trying to rebuild itself and it's image.
Check out this commercial for Chrysler featuring Eminem.


Pretty cool.  Wieden+Kennedy did an awesome job.
Well, what if their campaign looked more like this?!



According to a news story by Reuters, there is a group on facebook raising money to bring a RoboCop statue to Detroit.  Of course the mayor wasn't sold on the idea, but the group continues to raise money to make their dream come true.  Oh yeah, and there's at least 1,500 members in the group. 

What do you think?  Is this merely a funny stunt that should not be taken seriously or do you think it will it do more harm than good?

With the Detroit 1-8-7 coming out on ABC, I think they will have enough problems without having to resurrect Officer Alex J. Murphy.

Personally, I think that Detroit should highlight more of it's Motown history in it's future persuasive campaigns. 

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Quit Hiding Behind Facebook!


When I was a kid one of my favorite movies was Jaws.
After that movie, I was fascinated and horrified by the concept of something I couldn't see coming up from the depths to devour my delicious body. Well I just came back from a PR conference put on by the awesome members of the local PRSSA chapter of DePaul University in Chicago and my mind has been blown away by new ideas and concepts.

For instance, almost every young professional we met encouraged us to increase our security settings on Facebook because employers will check your page to make sure you are not leading a double life as a foul mouthed pool hustler before they hire you.

But! What does your profile say about you when your interviewer looks at Facebook and runs into a profile that resembles Fort Knox?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, than what does your profile say when they can only see your profile picture?

For instance, which do you think would give an employer a favorable impression of this dude.

Burt Hendellman
or


Burt Hendellman
Kids: Gene, Matt, and Sally
Studied Engineering at University of Illinois

What do you think?

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

It's too warm, let's go to Chicago!

This wenesday I will be joining my fellow members of Eastern Illinois university's PRSSA as they go to DePaul University for a conference.  We also get the opportunity to tour one of Chicago's PR agencies.  I opened up my email the other day to find out I would be visiting none other than the legendary
 



As they were McDonald's first and only PR agency, GolinHarris has been an industry leader for decades.  They have worked with numerous large accounts and have earned multiple industry awards.

So after reading up on them, I thought well, let's see what their employees think.  I found this video on YouTube and thought it was kinda cool.









Friday, January 7, 2011

Christmas

It's a new year, and I plan on getting back into the world of PR news, but I've been mainly busy playing with the Photoshop software my sister got me.  Here's a picture I took in Italy this last summer.  Yes, a lot of people can use Photoshop, but it's still fun!