The Buzz at Lyman PR
The Social Media Experiment has Concluded
Social media is here to stay as an integral component of communication programs; the days of experimental one-offs on Facebook and Twitter are well past. In 2010, companies that have already embraced social media programs will capitalize on the power of online word-of-mouth, and ensure social marketing syncs with broader marketing initiatives.
Is your company still new in the game and not sure which direction to go? This article from eMarketer looks at how to use social media as a marketing and communications tool and the need to define a clear strategy –even if it’s a beginner plan. The sooner you ramp up a cost efficient and effective social media program, the sooner you’ll measure and demonstrate return or growth, and have your execs talking about it in the board room.
eMarketer: Why You Need a Strategy for Social Media
Planning and organization no longer optional
Social media has matured to the point where marketers are no longer asking whether it should be part of their marketing mix but how and where they should participate. A clear strategy for the channel is now necessary.
“The low cost of social media can lull marketers into improvising solutions,” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the Insight Brief “Five Reasons Why Marketers Need to Have a Social Media Strategy.”
See the rest of the article here.
How to be Social with Social Media
Twitter, Facebook, a phone, call??? This Mashable article looks at 5 ways to effectively communicate when we have more options for being social than ever before.
Original article here by Sorem Gordhamer
5 Levels of Effective Communication in the Social Media Age
In the era of social media, our networks are much larger than they have ever been, and we have more ways to communicate with those in them. Even if you are not very active on Facebook () or Twitter (), my guess is that your sphere of communication has expanded significantly in recent years. Who you communicate with and how you communicate has changed radically. This new connected era brings both opportunities and challenges.
In the past we had a set of contacts, all of whom generally knew how to reach us — via phone, e-mail, or regular mail. Today, thanks in large part to social media, we have many different levels of communication, each with a specific purpose and etiquette. When we do not understand the role of these levels, they can become huge time wasters. When we do understand them however, they can help us more effectively engage and navigate these new waters.
Level 1: The Public Reply
Just about everyone, including Bill Gates (who if you have not heard, recently joined Twitter), has learned the importance of having both a means to communicate with people, and a channel where people can respond. Though you can do this on Facebook through comments on Fan pages and in groups, this seems most applicable to Twitter, where people use @replies to send and receive short, publicly viewable messages.
The public reply provides an open and transparent channel for people to interact with public figures, brands, and each other, without the pressure of response that comes with e-mail. Public interactions are a great starting point for engagement that never existed before social media, and if done correctly, can often lead to more fruitful direct communication.
Level 2: The Direct Message
Once a relationship is established through public communication, the next step is often a direct message within a social network. A direct message creates a private connection without opening the floodgates of e-mail. In fact, in may even be preferable to e-mail in the long term.
Why? Especially with Twitter, a DM has a character limit, and can only come from people you follow. If you have ten e-mails (of unlimited length and possibly unknown sources) and ten Twitter DMs, which are you likely to open first? For an increasing number of people, the answer is DM.
Once you make a connection through DM and get permission to follow-up via e-mail, the e-mail is often better received. Facebook, where most people allow private messages, can also be a means to take communication to the next level.
Level 3: Email
E-mail still has its place in this new era. It allows for more in-depth communication, can be easily forwarded, and sent to numerous people at once. When e-mail is used skillfully, it enables deeper communication. When not used effectively, it can become a huge time drain, as people write lengthy messages without much thought of the time and attention they are asking of recipients.
This fine line makes e-mail tough to master in the social media age. If you’re looking to advance to the next communication level with someone, respect this direct and private channel, and be sure to keep your e-mails succinct and meaningful.
Level 4: Phone
Hearing someone’s voice allows people to get a better sense of one another. While communicating via text, a person can take time to carefully craft his or her words, potentially presenting an image that may not be true or is harder to trust. A phone call allows for more immediate back-and-forth, and can be particularly helpful if a subject matter is delicate or people are considering a more in-depth relationship.
Some time back I was communicating with an editor about an issue that we had bounced back and forth several times. Finally she said, “Let’s chat about it on the phone.” This furthered the dialogue significantly and bypassed what may have taken weeks to sort out via e-mail.
Level 5: In-Person (or Video Chat):
I have met numerous people in person that I first communicated with via social networks. All of these meetings were enhanced by the natural progression of our first digital communication. While at one time face-to-face interactions were the entry point, today, in-person meetings often come at later stages.
Particularly if people are considering working on a project together, an in-person meeting allows for the most in-depth connection. For some people Skype () or other video chat may be enough to experience this.
Too often people think communication is only through words, but our bodies communicate as well. They communicate how comfortable or uncomfortable we are discussing a matter, our level of passion for a subject, and our hopes and fears. Meeting with someone in person allows for communication to occur on multiple levels, and people often come away with a much better sense of each other.
Conclusion:
In this era of social media when we are reaching out and engaging more and more people, the question is not just “Should I communicate with someone?” but “How should I communicate with someone? How can I build engagement one step at a time?” The more we allow for and understand the importance of all the various levels of communication, the more we can skillfully and effectively use each one.
What’s in a Name? With Social Media, More than You Might Think
Names are important because let’s face it, who wants to go through life with a moniker that mom & dad thought would be cute and results in getting you beat up at school every day? And as Entrepreneur dramatically wrote, for your business “the right name can make your company the talk of the town; the wrong one can doom it to obscurity and failure.” Gasp.
Now social media enters the name fray and casts another light on the choice of a handle for businesses, with the potential for ‘social media stardom’ or alternatively, circling the Internet drainpipe.
To illustrate the importance of naming, I was doing Twitter keyword searches and came across @TheNapaValley, which has 488 followers, follows nobody, is on 20 List, and hasn’t Tweeted once. Not one time. Still gearing up for Tweet numero uno, which the Twitterverse appears to be eagerly awaiting.
While the wrong name isn’t likely to topple your company’s social media efforts, the right one will be easier to find and simpler to share with others. A few suggestions:
> People tend to intuitively search so try to have social media names match or be similar to your company’s real name. For example, Lyman Public Relations - Website: LymanPR.com; Twitter: @LymanPR; Facebook.com/LymanPR
> Last year Facebook introduced vanity URLs, which enable you to select any (available) name for your company at Facebook.com/username
> If your company has a geographic orientation that’s relevant to customers, consider including a locator, such as The Westin Verasa, Napa – Twitter: @WestinNapa; Facebook.com/WestinNapa
> Search engines now crawl social media pages and return keyword hits in results and news feeds. This makes it increasingly important to have name consistency to enhance search engine optimization
A Sign of the Times: When a “Luxury Resort” is Not a Luxury Resort
For months we’ve been seeing and hearing from tourism clients that their guests are increasingly cautious of the term “luxury” and the stigma being affixed to it. Specifically, both individuals and companies are shying away from creating any potential perception that they’re enjoying a degree of lavishness for fear of backlash.
Following is an article on this very topic that appeared in today’s Wall Street Journal, and sheds more light on the current – and hopefully temporary – trend away from “luxury” language.
Don’t Use the R-Word: Hotels Find Trick to Business Bookings
by Kris Hudson
To attract business conferences in these tough times, some luxury resort hotels have resorted to a sort of strategy of last resort: They’re dropping the very word “resort” from their names.
The Ballantyne Resort in Charlotte, N.C., changed its name during the summer to the Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge after several corporate clients indicated it would have a better chance of landing their business if it weren’t called a resort. Same for the Westin Stonebriar near Dallas, formerly the Westin Stonebriar Hotel & Resort. Ditto the Renaissance Orlando at Sea World, no longer the Renaissance Orlando Resort at Sea World.
Other than the name-dropping, little else has changed. The bedsheets at the Ballantyne remain Egyptian cotton, and guests still can book an appointment at the spa. Guests at the Westin Stonebriar still can get a tee time for the property’s Tom Fazio-designed golf course. And those at the Loews Lake Las Vegas—a resort no more—aren’t deprived of the property’s “white-sand beach” on the lake nor master sushi chef Osamu “Fuji” Fujita’s culinary creations.
“It doesn’t change who we are,” Renaissance Orlando sales director Gary Dybul said. “But there’s no reason to put roadblocks in the way” of landing conferences.
That such trivial compromises are needed to salvage business is a sign of the times for luxury hotels and resorts. The industry is in the throes of its worst downturn since the Great Depression, with occupancy at historic lows and many properties facing foreclosure. Resorts must also contend with public backlash against the conferences they host.
The resort stigma was stoked by widespread outcry late in 2008 about a $400,000 sales retreat that American International Group Inc. planned to host at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort in Dana Point, Calif. Facing scorching criticism, AIG, the recipient of $180 billion in taxpayer assistance, canceled the event. The 400-room St. Regis couldn’t recover from the bad publicity and was foreclosed upon by one of its lenders, Citigroup Inc.
Hoteliers call the resulting fallout the AIG effect. Politicians railed against companies—especially those that got federal aid—meeting at resorts in live-it-up locales like Las Vegas. In turn, companies and government agencies revised travel policies to discourage, if not prohibit, resort stays. Particularly sensitive to the backlash were financial companies, government agencies and medical companies—those that do business with the government or have millions of customers to answer to.
Read the rest of the article here
Study by Social Media Examiner looks at social media usage, strategies and 2010 predictions
Social Media Examiner recently studied MarketingProf’s The State of Social Media Usage and published a distilled version of findings. Specifically the authors looked at: 1) What’s Normal in Social Media Usage 2) Social Media Strategies and 3) 2010 Predictions.
It’s a very worthwhile read with insights on how companies are using social media — both to their benefit and detriment. While the article is titled New Study Reveals Facebook Better Than Twitter the authors uncover much more.
Late Flurry of Ad Dollars Fans Recovery Hopes – WSJ.com
Print media are likely celebrating the end of 2009 and looking forward to 2010, particularly after a glimmer of hope emerged from an uptick in year-end ad spending.
Read about the details in this Wall Street Journal article: Late Flurry of Ad Dollars Fans Recovery Hopes – WSJ.com.
TastingRoom™ Unveils Innovative T.A.S.T.E. Technology™
Seghesio Vineyards Ships the Industry’s First Tasting Kits Using T.A.S.T.E. Technology Packaged for Consumers and Trade
(December 17, 2009) – HEALDSBURG, California – TastingRoom Inc., today unveiled an unprecedented industry decanting and wine sampling innovation to give wineries the ability to offer authentic, sample-sized tastes of their bottled wines from perfectly-preserved, small (50ml) glass bottles and tasting kits. TastingRoom™ creates these unique tasting samples via its new, patent-pending T.A.S.T.E. Technology™ (Total Anaerobic Sample Transfer Environment), to deliver wineries sampling formats for direct-to-trade and direct-to-consumer sales and marketing efforts. The innovative decanting and packaging technique preserves the integrity of the wine, enabling wineries to deliver a “perfect pour” and allowing customers to taste and experience wines as if they were sitting at the tasting room bar. Seghesio Vineyards is the first to ship the new packaged tasting kits with other premium brand wineries announcing soon.
While a “try and buy” sampling technique has been a mainstay of the winery business through tasting rooms and distribution sample efforts, never before have wineries been able to distribute smaller wine samples that duplicate the taste of a larger, finished bottle.
In addition to ensuring preservation of taste, TastingRoom’s high-quality packaged six-pack (or tasting flight) is an easy and lower cost way to reach and expose customers and distribution channels to wines.
T.A.S.T.E. Technology: Perfectly Preserved Mini Wine Samples
TastingRoom worked for more than a year to develop the T.A.S.T.E. Technology, alongside notable industry partners, top Napa and Sonoma wineries, academic enology scientists and Tragon Corporation, the world’s leading sensory evaluation company.
Using T.A.S.T.E. Technology, wine is transferred directly from larger bottles into its new smaller formats in a sealed, zero-oxygen chamber. The cutting-edge production facility and equipment was designed from the ground up to be a high-volume, commercial solution. A focus on wine quality drives every step of the transfer and testing process, so that wineries can be assured that the samples are a true representation of their wine.
“I know firsthand that wineries and winemakers pour their heart and soul into their wine,” said Tim Bucher, founder of TastingRoom, Inc. and inventor of T.A.S.T.E. Technology™, (and also a technology and food & beverage veteran). “Everything we’re doing on the production side is focused on 100% quality delivery making sure that a winery can be as proud of the 50ml samples as they are of their original-sized bottles.”
“The test results speak for themselves,” claims Jane Robichaud, Vice President of Sensory and Consumer Insights at Tragon Corporation. “TastingRoom, Inc. has created an advanced technology that has shown it faithfully represents the source wine. Their oxygen-free, end-to-end production environment is a significant accomplishment in wine bottling.”
Seghesio Vineyards Ships the Industry’s First Sample Kits Using T.A.S.T.E. Technology™
Seghesio Vineyards is the first winery to work with TastingRoom and their T.A.S.T.E. Technology to decant, package and ship packaged tasting kits of their top wines and upcoming varietal releases. The first packages were delivered to a select group of their customers and featured the 2007 Cortina Zinfandel, 2007 San Lorenzo Zinfandel, 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel, 2006 Omaggio, 2005 San Lorenzo Petite Syrah and the 2004 Aglianico. These tasting kits are also being shipped through the wholesale channel to facilitate wine presentations to top retail and restaurant accounts.
“This is something my family and I believe will be revolutionary for the wine industry,” said E. Peter Seghesio, CEO and winegrower, Seghesio Vineyards. “We’re excited to be the first winery to bring our tasting room experience directly to our customers, as well as to be able to work with our distribution partners across the county to deliver new releases to top restaurant and retail buyers nationwide. With so many wineries making account calls to the trade, the luxury of giving top buyers the opportunity to taste our wines in a kit form at a time that’s most convenient to them is a great advantage. The marketing and sales uses and possibilities for this type of product offering are endless.”
TastingRoom, Inc. is based in Sonoma County, with offices in Silicon Valley, Napa Valley and Paso Robles. For more information on Tasting Room, Inc. or T.A.S.T.E. technology, email info@tastingroom.com.
Horizon Air’s Winter Service to Mammoth Mountain Resumes 12/17 With Flights from California and Pacific Northwest
-Two Daily Non-Stop Flights from LAX
-Daily Non-Stop Flights from San Jose, CA and Reno, NV
-Daily Same-Plane, One-Stop Service from Seattle, WA and Portland, OR
-Resort in Full Operation with More than Six-Feet of Snow this Month
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. — Horizon Air’s winter service to Mammoth Mountain resumes this Thursday, December 17, carrying skiers and boarders from Los Angeles, Portland, San Jose, Reno and Seattle to a ski resort that is already reaping the rewards of an El Niño winter with a base of 3 to 6 feet and more on the way. The flights mark the beginning of regular air service to Mammoth throughout the snow season.
Travelers can enjoy two daily nonstop flights from Los Angeles as well as daily nonstop service from San Jose and Reno and direct (same-plane, one-stop) service from Seattle and Portland. Flights will continue through April 11, 2010.
“We have been eagerly anticipating the expanded number of Horizon Air flights to our area,” said Rusty Gregory, CEO of Mammoth Mountain. “With El Niño expected to provide one of the best snow seasons ever, the timing couldn’t be better.”
Mammoth Mountain is just 15 minutes from the Mammoth Lakes Yosemite airport. During last year’s inaugural season of service, thousands of Southern Californians took advantage of Horizon’s 70-minute flight from Los Angeles instead of enduring five hours or more of driving.
Horizon is offering special low fares for flights on select days between Mammoth and each city. Fares start at $49 each way from Reno, $69 from San Jose or Los Angeles, $144 from Portland, and $149 from Seattle.
The Mammoth winter season flight schedule will run from Dec. 17, 2009, through April 11, 2010, and is available for sale now at www.horizonair.com or by calling 800-547-9308 (TTY at 800-682-2221).
Mountain to Hit Full Operation With 5 to 8 Foot Snow Base
Recent storms dropped more than three feet of snow on the mountain, with more on the way, ensuring some of the best ski and snowboard conditions in the country. The entire resort will be in full operation for the holidays, including the opening of the new Village Ski Back Trail.
Well known for long seasons and plentiful snowfall, Mammoth Mountain is California’s favorite mountain resort and is consistently ranked among the top ski resorts in the country by SKI Magazine. Other winter activities around Mammoth include cross-country skiing, ice skating, snowmobiling, dog sledding and dipping into the hot springs. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area owns and operates a variety of resort businesses, including recreation, hospitality, real estate development, food and beverage, and retail. For more information on Mammoth, or to purchase vacation packages including transportation, lodging and lift tickets, visit MammothMountain.com or call 800-MAMMOTH.
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Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is the leading four-season mountain resort in California. With 1.2 million annual skier visits, Mammoth Mountain is currently the third most frequented ski resort in the United States. The company owns and operates a variety of resort businesses including recreation, hospitality, real estate development, food and beverage and retail. Specific businesses owned and operated by Mammoth Mountain include Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, June Mountain, Tamarack Lodge and Resort, Mammoth Snowmobile Adventures, Mammoth Mountain Bike Park and the Mammoth Mountain Inn. Mammoth Mountain also operates Juniper Springs Resort, the Village Lodge and Sierra Star Golf Course in Mammoth Lakes, California. For more information on Mammoth Mountain, visit MammothMountain.com or call 800.MAMMOTH.
Horizon serves 48 cities throughout Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Baja California Sur (Mexico), and British Columbia and Alberta (Canada). Together, Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines serve more than 90 cities and are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK).
Epix Introduces First Interactive Social Viewing Expereince of Feature-Length Films Through Partnership with ClipSync
Private Screening Room Enables EPIX Subscribers to Watch Their Favorite Films While Interacting with Their Friends in Real Time
New York, NY and San Francisco, CA – December 1, 2009 – EPXTM, the next generation premium entertainment service from Viacom, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and MGM, has launched the first true Social TV platform that makes TV viewing highly interactive at its website www.EpixHD.com. EPIX developed the platform in partnership with ClipSync, using their technology to deliver the first social viewing experience of feature-length films to its subscribers. EPIX’s use of ClipSync’s Social TV platform delivers interactive features to create a new movie viewing experience in a more engaged, shared and fun environment.
Read the full release
Five Wine Tweeters to Follow, and Why
One of the beauties of Twitter is being able to keep an eye on topics, dialogues and people of interest. Wine is no exception and thankfully some of the best vino minds are Tweeting, many posting excerpts from their blog.
Here are five users to check out, and why they’re worthy of a Follow:
@CrushPad – A little bit about everything on wine & wine topics worldwide
@TopWineNews – You guessed it, news about wine: top picks, market trends, serving tips & even notifications about the next “advanced wine-grape grower workshop”
@RickBakas – Director of Social Media for St. Supery = wine + food + social media guru
@ NatalieMacLean – aka NatDecants, and winner of the “World’s Best Drink Writer” award. Focus is on great values under $20. Also check out the wine & food pairing widget
@BackRoomWines – aka Daniel Dawson, former sommelier of The French Laundry turned wine merchant. Not the Twitter star of others on this list but when it comes to selecting a great bottle, Dan’s the man
