The Perfect Leading Man and Premiere: REAL STEEL

It’s no secret that I have a huge crush on Hugh Jackman. Ever since he reeled me in with his masculine good looks as Wolverine in X Men, I’ve been smitten ever since. Add in his Australian accent, dancing and singing skills, his family man persona, and you’ve got pretty much the ideal package. In all the interviews I’ve seen, he comes off as such a nice, easy-going guy. My mom went to see his show in Toronto recently and was wowed by his talent and willingness to chat to fans.

So when my wonderful roommate Ginger invited me to the Canadian premiere of REAL STEEL here in Toronto and said that Hugh would be there, along with some of the Canadian cast, I jumped at the opportunity.

Hugh arrived on the red carpet at Scotiabank Theatre and spent 20 minutes or so chatting to reporters, and posing with fans and signing autographs.

Hugh Jackman at the Canadian premiere of REAL STEEL, © DreamWorks II Distribution Co. LLC. All Rights Reserved.

After the movie, VIP guests were treated to a fabulous party at the Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District, which was organized by the Disney team and 5th Element Events. The venue was transformed with sleek “blue steel” hues, complete with a raised DJ booth over the bar that was designed to look like a boxing ring. Themed cocktails named after the robots in the film were passed out on trays, one of them – the “Noisy Boy” was a delicious concoction that had actual pop rocks in it.

Hugh arrived and mingled with the guests, along with cast members Dakota Goyo and Kevin Durand, and director Shawn Levy.

Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy, © DreamWorks II Distribution Co. LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Us girls enjoyed the cocktails, the company, and the scenery!

Vicki and Katelan enjoying “noisy boys”

Jenna, Kevin Durand, Meredith

The perfect leading man, Hugh was a true gentleman and graciously responded to every photo and autograph request. My friend and I caught him on his way out of the party, and when asked if we could grab a quick photo, he responded: “of course you can! As we walk, as we walk!” as he dashed out into the night. Swoon!

Hugh Jackman, Jenna, Meredith

Until next time, Hugh!

*Thanks to Ginger and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada for the sweet invite!

The value of relationships in PR

Everyone knows relationships matter. Not just with clients or at work, but in life – it’s all about who you know. That’s why it always surprises me when some people are so quick to damage relationships just because they’re in a grumpy mood, or having a bad day.

Working in PR, I do quite a bit of blogger outreach. I frequently hear my colleagues who work on the traditional side of PR constantly pitching reporters and media, and sometimes people on the receiving end of the call are not so nice. I’ve been pretty lucky in that department, as the majority of people I’ve contacted in the last year at my job have been friendly and responsive. Even if they decline a particular program I’m pitching, they tend to give a reason why, or a simple, “no thanks.” However, this week I had my first relatively rude, abrupt email declining an invite to participate in a program I’m working on behalf of a client with.

Now, I’m the first to admit I’m an overly sensitive person to begin with, and I suppose this person could have been having an off day, but when someone is unnecessarily rude to me, unfortunately I can’t forget it. It makes me not want to ever reach out to this person, because why set yourself up for rejection again? If colleagues ask me for recommendations on who to work with on future programs, I usually will suggest friendly people I’ve worked with before, and I’ll make a note to not reach out to x blogger based on previous correspondence. I’m sure that many bloggers get tons and tons of terrible pitches on a daily basis, but I actually make it a point to spend time drafting a pitch to be as clear and concise, and personal as possible. I actually do research on each and every person I reach out to, I check out their Twitter account, their most recent blog posts, and so on. Basically, I put time into reaching out (which should be part of every PR professional’s job), so it’s frustrating to get a rude response back.

I think it was Maya Angelou who put it best:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

Similarly, I’ll never forget the time I volunteered for LG Fashion Week back in 2010. I was so excited to help out, and had a less than ideal experience. There was one publicity firm in particular who was helping organize the event, and the representatives from that firm were so unfriendly and rude to me, that it pretty much turned me off of wanting to be involved in fashion PR and publicity. A  year or so later I can see that this firm is very successful, and has amazing clients, but I could never work for them because I would hate to work for a company who’s team members are just not nice people. My point is – relationships DO matter. Don’t be rude to the “little” people – you never know what they have to offer now, or a few years down the line.

Canada Post promotion disappointment at TIFF

It’s been a really long time since I’ve blogged on PR Passion-ista (apologies!), but something happened this week during TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), that gave me some inspiration for a post.

Last Tuesday I was waiting in line at the Elgin theatre to see Damsels in Distress at the Visa Screening Room. I noticed a few promoters going up and down the line – there were guys dressed up as old fashioned photographers, and girls going around with iPads. One girl in particular approached the woman in front of me in line, and began to tell her about this promotion Canada Post was doing – did she want a free limited edition postcard, or a chance to win tickets to another TIFF film. The woman was really rude to the promotions girl, and I felt bad for her, as I know how tricky it is to get people interested in your promo and get them to sign up for whatever it is you’re selling. Then the promo girl approached me and asked if I wanted to enter to win tickets. I said, “sure, what does it involve?” She said all I had to do was login to Facebook either on my smartphone or the iPad she was carrying, “like” the Canada Post Facebook page, and post on their wall that I was in line at the Elgin. Normally I don’t like signing up for things, but partly because I felt bad for her since the other lady was so rude, and partly because I had about an hour to kill before they started to let the line inside the theatre, I said sure why not. She walked me through the process, all in all it took about 10 minutes, but I figured the prize was pretty sweet. Fast forward half an hour later, another promoter says “hey do you have Facebook on that thing?” (meaning, my Android). I said yes, and he proceeded to tell me about the contest again “all you have to do is like our page, and post on our wall” I said yup, I’ve already entered.

The next day, I logged into Facebook to see if  Canada Post announced the winner of the TIFF tickets. I thought my chances were pretty good, as only four other people posted on their wall. Instead, I see the following message from Canada Post:

I was a bit puzzled at this. Not once did either promoter mentioned that one of the components of winning these tickets involved finding them at the Elgin. Normally I would just drop it, but I was really irritated because I felt like I was lied to or something. How can you hold a contest and tell people incorrect entry information and expect to get away with it?  I replied to the thread and this is how the conversation went:

First of all, the team was NOT telling people to find them in line. Doesn’t that defeat the entire purpose of having the promo reps carrying iPads for people to enter in? How would that even work, would a promo person come up to us, tell us about the contest, get us to enter on their iPad, then they walk away, then we just turn around and call them over again? It seems redundant and nonsensical. Secondly, it wasn’t just myself who didn’t “hear” the rules of entry – a couple other people mentioned they thought they would do a draw on their Facebook page. Thirdly, I’m pretty sure that Facebook doesn’t allow public pages to hold giveaways on their page – I’ve worked on numerous Facebook contests for different brands at work, and we’ve always had to build contest tabs or find other ways to give away tickets.

Kudos to Canada Post for responding, but I’m still really irritated at the miscommunication of both promoters. Next time you hold a contest or giveaway, make sure your promo team is giving people the correct information. Not only is it annoying to have to go through more than three steps to enter, but to have your entry void because you weren’t properly informed is not cool.

Debate: Should PR pro’s exchange money for content?

Should PR agencies pay bloggers to write product reviews and do contest giveaways? This is a hot topic in the world of blogging and PR right now, and I keep seeing posts and tweets emerging about the issue of compensating bloggers to provide certain content.

Everyone has their own opinion on this matter, but as someone who has a keen interest in social media, works in PR, and reads a variety of blogs on a regular basis, I think that bloggers should blog about issues and products and events they LIKE and believe in, not just what PR people pitch to them.

The idea of paying bloggers or giving them free swag in the hopes they will write about your product has always been kind of shady, as it can diminish the blog and blogger’s credibility. For example, I would be quite disappointed if I knew that one of the fashion and beauty blogs I read featured “best beauty products” only because somebody paid them to do it. For me, it takes away the blog’s authenticity and credibility, as I read blogs because I like hearing people’s opinions on things. Take Janine Falcon’s Beauty Geeks blog, for example. When she features a new product and raves about it, I want to go out and buy it because she’s a credible source. If she raved about lame products all the time, simply because a PR person paid her to, it would take away that credibility.

My reasons why I don’t think all bloggers should necessarily be compensated:

1) We will do the work for you

A good PR agency will take care of all the legwork for you. Providing high res images, links, content, and handling shipping fees and packaging for product reviews and giveaways should be taken care of on the agency’s end, so the blogger won’t have to worry about handling the extra administrative time and cost. PR agencies are simply bringing certain products or events to the bloggers attention, and if the subject matter fits into the blog’s demographic, then great!

2) Add value to your blog

In PR school we were always taught to target the right audience and make sure to tailor your message accordingly. The same goes for pitching bloggers. If I am trying to get a blogger to host a giveaway for Pampers, I’m not going to contact every blogger I know who writes about fashion and lifestyle, because Pampers wouldn’t add value to that particular blog. Instead, I would approach mommy bloggers, and if it’s something that would add value to their blog and increase readership, then it’s a win-win. My friend works for a major film company and has told me stories about how some bloggers demand payment to do giveaways for free movies passes, in addition to the swag and passes they received themselves! I would never expect someone to feature a product they didn’t believe in, so often time I will send them a package to try out themselves, no strings attached.

3) Paying bloggers turns PR into advertising

If every blogger begins demanding payment for posting links, reviewing products, and holding contests, it weakens the popular word-of-mouth appeal bloggers had in the first place. Blogging has become so popular because consumers are interested in hearing second and third opinions, and exchanging information in an honest, candid manner. The transaction of exchanging money for content makes it more like advertising, in that we are paying for a direct message instead of passing along content and products and leaving it up to the blogger to put his or her own spin on it. Is it just me, or should people blog for the love of blogging, and not because they expect payment? I started my own blog as a way to improve my writing, enhance my online profile, and exchange ideas with people about hot topics, like this one. I’m not in this to get paid, I blog because I like doing it. Granted, my blog isn’t updated that regularly, but there are tons of bloggers I know who blog because they genuinely love blogging. If they get free products and swag because of it, then great. But they shouldn’t feel compelled to feature products or content that they wouldn’t stand behind. Otherwise, I think they’re selling themselves short.

One of my favourite disclaimers comes from the Canadian style blog The Style Spy.

They clearly state:

“We have a very strict editorial policy at The Style Spy, you can’t pay to be featured. What you see is simply what our editors and reporters love and have scoped out especially for you, the reader. It’s important for us to be authentic and real, we understand that you trust us on our picks – so we make sure, we only showcase the best of the best.”

I love that disclaimer. . Not all PR professionals send tons of irrelevant product pitches to bloggers and expect huge write ups and features for nothing. Rather, we seek out opportunities that will be mutually beneficial to both of us. I’ve met a lot of great mommy bloggers during my last few months at a PR agency, and I really value our working relationships.

I understand that some blogs are incredibly popular and get high traffic to their site, but I don’t think everything should boil down to a financial transaction. I’m sure that many people will disagree with me, but I thought I’d voice my two cents on the paid blogging issue. What are your thoughts on this issue?

G20: “The World is Watching” yet Toronto is divided

I debated about writing a post on what I experienced this weekend in Toronto at the G20 summit. Usually I try to stay away from politics and controversy online, but I have too much I need to get off my chest. So here are my thoughts–I’m sure a lot of you will disagree but I’m always up for engaging in intelligent discussion.

Saturday Recap

I was visiting my friend’s condo in Yorkville when we turned on the TV and saw reports of “protesters” jumping on a cop car and smashing a Starbucks window. Immediately I was appalled…I thought, way to get respect and credibility for your cause. After watching CP24 I learned that it wasn’t just G20 protesters causing damage, rather, it was the “Black bloc” who was responsible. My friends and I decided to walk the few blocks to where all the action was. After passing through Yonge and Dundas we were utterly shocked. News reports just said ONE Starbucks location had been damaged, yet the chaos and havoc wreaked on Dundas square was jaw-dropping. Nearly every store front in the vicinity had been trashed, with shattered glass strewn across pavements, furniture pulled out of stores, mannequins ripped in half and smeared with feces. It was completely disgusting and made me furious that any “human” would be capable of such blatant disregard for property. After seeing College Park Winners, Tim Hortons, American Apparel, Athlete’s World, Bell, and Rogers all destroyed we moved towards Queen’s Park. It was here that I realized “the world may be watching” but Toronto as a city was completely divided.

American Apparel store at Yonge and Dundas destroyed

(photo courtesy of http://www.blogto.com)

Found this great video on my friend Ginger’s blog.

Of course the most shocking and disturbing part of Saturday for me was the destruction caused by the Black bloc. However, I was disheartened by civilians’ treatment of the Toronto police force. People were lining up, taking photos and gawking at police in riot gear. I heard hundreds of unoriginal complaints like “is this where my tax money is going?” “why don’t they just Skype next time?” etc. Whatever, fine. The police stayed strong and silent, didn’t respond to heckling or photos or generally annoying people. When they actually arrested a couple hooligans, I thought “finally!” I was surprised they had showed so much restraint amidst the chaos. Frankly, after seeing the damage caused to the city, if I were on the force I would be ready to clear the streets immediately. But no–dozens of people around us started chanting “let him go! let him go! This isn’t democracy! The world is watching!” My friends and I looked at each other, shell shocked. Were people actually defending these protesters?!

Striking photo by Ryan Dury

Before I write a 10 page summary of my experience, here are a few key points:

1) Police are DOING THEIR JOB. It is not their choice to wear riot gear and they did not choose to have the summit in Toronto. They are here for OUR protection, and they are putting their lives on the line as well.

2) After the massive destruction and anarchy on Saturday afternoon, police have every right to ensure the safety for the general public is being maintained. That includes clearing streets, pushing people out of the way (burning police cars anyone?), and arresting those responsible for the riots. After the Black Bloc shedded their black gear, they blended in with regular protesters, making it difficult for police to find the real perpetrators. Yet people were condemming police for “violating” their right to freedom of speech. I’m sorry, but after an attack on the city, police have every right to shut even peaceful protests down if it means securing the area. Shouldn’t Torontonians be united in the police effort to find the real bad guys and get them off the streets?

3) Protesters–why on earth were there so many different issues being protested?! I saw signs for improved immigration, anti-abortion, North Korea, G20 $, Harper, seal hunting and so forth. Is it just me, or does having 4,000 protesters all arguing for different issues weaken all their arguments? Why not have one main cause to fight for, or at least break into groups. It seemed so ridiculous to me, like the G20 gave everyone who ever had an issue with something the justification to come out.

4) Sunday’s “event” really bothered me. Although I was safe at home in Mississauga, I saw on the news and via Twitter that a bunch of peaceful protesters and bystanders had been detained at Queen and Spadina. The most upsetting thing about this for me was how a large amount of people were blaming police, arguing that human rights laws were being violated, and complaining that innocent bystanders were unfairly detained. I’m sorry, but what IS an innocent bystander? Although I was on scene for some of the events on Saturday, when police told us to move, you better believe we moved out of their way. Despite all that happened on Saturday, people still flocked to the city and gawked at police, took photos, and didn’t leave. All of a sudden, they claim they were mistakenly caught up in it, and had no idea, and it’s so unfair, etc. No, it’s not unfair. These people made the decision to get involved just by being present in that area. Again, police had every right to clear the streets for everyone’s protection. I’m sorry if they felt their human rights were being violated, but I think safety and caution trumps protesting rights. Had there not been any riots the day before, than sure, it might have been a bit much for police to detain peaceful protesters. But based on the events that took place, police can’t afford to let that happen again. I saw so many tweets condemming police and their “brutality” and lack of explanation for detaining these people. Sorry, but what did those bystanders expect?

Police detain protesters at Queen and Spadina

(photo courtesy of http://www.blogto.com)

Although it’s a bit of an exaggeration, I compare the Black Bloc riots on Saturday to a small scale terrorist attack. The city was helpless as these savages destroyed our city and no one could stop them. To me, the obvious plan of attack from Toronto is to unite together as a city, with our police force leading the way to keep us all safe. The fact that protesters gave them a hard time and people started criticizing every single police action is depressing. Why couldn’t we all come together to fight off these criminals and ensure they stayed the hell away from our city? Instead, we have a divided Toronto–some think police did a great job, others are horrified at their actions or lack thereof, and others are ambivalent. Of course, perspective is everything, but I’m disheartened that we are blaming the police force–our protectors–instead of the government and the actual Black Bloc members.

Related Posts

Police Trap G20 Protesters at Queen and Spadina

Photos from Toronto’s downtown core during the G20 summit 2010

Police attempt to clear crowds amid G20 unrest

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Virgin America and Klout pick Toronto “influencers” for free flight

Klout has been taking over my Twitter feed for the past week. Everywhere I look, people are either announcing their Klout status, how they won a free flight to L.A. or San Francisco because of their influence, or pouting that Klout must have mistakenly forgotten about them/had technical difficulties when assessing their Klout or lack thereof.

For those of you unfamiliar with this promotion, Virgin America partnered with Klout to offer free return flights from Toronto to L.A. or San Francisco to influencers in the Toronto community between June 23 and August 23. Klout is an analytics service that tracks users retweets, @ replies, shared links, and overall reach and influence on Twitter.

Hello there, Green-Eyed Monster

I must admit, at first I felt a case of sour grapes coming on. After seeing dozens of people I follow, communicate with, and network with at Toronto events get invite after invite, I felt a bit left out that I didn’t receive an invitation. It was like not being asked to join the cool kids club. I was even more annoyed to see my Klout score is a measly 22, I’m influenced by no one, and influence no one, according to them. Now, I suppose I’m relatively new to being an “influencer.” I’m a student, a soon to be intern, and have a handful of great people I regularly engage with on Twitter. No, I don’t think I particularly deserve to win a free flight based on my “influence” or Twitter “reach”, but I started looking at profiles of people who had won flights and was baffled that certain people who had less than 500 followers, or who had a high number of followers but only followed a hundred or so people back were chosen as influencers. It made me wonder how exactly Klout is measuring true influence and reach. I know there’s a description on their website of how they measure, but it’s all kind of mumbo jumbo to me. As my friend and classmate Ginger Bertrand pointed out, the whole Virgin America-Klout free flight giveaway has a Mean Girls feel to it. Some third party application has reviewed your profile and decided you weren’t influential enough to qualify. I realize this thinking is a bit childish, but it reminds me of how parents and teachers used to say, “if you don’t have enough candy to share with the whole class, you shouldn’t be handing it out.”

Don’t get me wrong–I’m happy that certain people in the Toronto community got the recognition they deserved. People like @erin_bury, @clickflickca, @unmarketing, @jgombita to name a few definitely deserve to be identified as thought leaders, producers of great content and avid engagers with a number of people, and all of them certainly influence me on Twitter.

Brilliant Marketing?

Once I got past my initial sour grapes reaction, I decided that the promotion is actually quite brilliant. Virgin America is certainly an innovative airline with a heavy focus on using social media to promote their services. What better way to get more brand recognition than to hand out free flights to the most influential people in Toronto? I found it interesting that Virgin America does not require winners of this promotion to discuss it on Twitter. Some would argue it’s akin to sending bloggers free items in the hopes they will blog about them, but winners have no actual requirement to discuss the promotion. Of course, most winners ARE talking about it, because it’s a neat idea, it’s an ego-booster, and it’s a pretty cool strategy on Virgin America’s behalf.

Moving Forward

Everyone likes the idea of rewards. Consumers want to feel special, even it’s as little as a $1 off coupon for a Frappucino at Starbucks. We like to be rewarded for loyalty, and being rewarded for having a strong online presence is quite awesome. My only hope is that more companies follow Virgin America’s suit, and that they don’t forget about the little guys too. Plenty of my fellow classmates at Humber PR have just joined Twitter in January and have already amounted an impressive amount of followers, have created interesting conversations, and are keen on networking. I think that deserves to be recognized too!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Virgin America-Klout free flight promotion. Do you think it’s brilliant marketing, or merely a popularity contest? Were you one of the lucky winners, or do you feel like you should have been chosen?

Related Posts

Virgin America Offers Free Flight to Twitter Influencers

Virgin America Handing Out Free Flights to Those with Twitter ‘Influence’

Are Virgin America’s Free Flights a Good Social Media Strategy?

Influencers Fly Virgin America Free to Toronto

Adidas vs. Nike in “Epic” World Cup Ads

The Fifa World Cup is the most exciting sporting event for me. I could care less about hockey, golf and baseball, but every four years I become giddy and rush to find my England car flag so I can drive around town honking at other England supporters. I love the sport, the camaraderie brought on by strangers who share a passion for their teams, and  I LOVE seeing the commercials/advertisements from the sponsors featuring my favourite soccer players.

The ads are typically exciting, inspirational and create hype for the World Cup. I couldn’t wait to see what the sponsors would come up this year, especially from Nike and Adidas. However, I was completely let down by the Adidas ad. In fact, I think it’s one of the worst commercials I’ve ever seen. Both sponsors tried to create “epic” ads featuring famous athletes but only one succeeded. I think the Adidas ad bombed and the Nike ad was spectacular because of two main reasons: creativity and audience.

Nike’s “Write the Future” ad

vs.

Adidas Star Wars Cantina 2010

1) Originality/Creativity

Nike’s “Write the Future” hit the nail on the head. From the first few seconds, I was drawn into the exciting, fast-paced, visually appealing commercial. The concept itself was innovative and intriguing–it showed world class soccer players making great plays only to reveal scenarios of what could happen culturally, personally and professionally if they messed up a kick or goal.  For example, when Wayne Rooney made a bad pass he had a vision of being ridiculed in the U.K. media and having to live in a trailer. He then decided to get the ball back and had visions of being knighted by the Queen. Thus, writing your own future. It played like a movie–you wanted to find out what would happen next in the sequence of “what ifs…?”

On the flip side, the Adidas ad completely lacked in originality and creativity. I know Adidas has a Star Wars product line, but using Star Wars characters is not the least bit appealing, new or fresh to me. It lacked excitement, intrigue, as well as an overlying theme. There were random “celebrities” and athletes scattered haphazardly throughout the commercial–ranging from David Beckham to Jay Baruchel to Snoop Dogg to Noel Gallagher?! For a commercial that is intended for the World Cup, I don’t understand how any of these people (with the exception of David Beckham) would be involved in this ad. Also, there were maybe two references to the World Cup and soccer. Plus, I found all the “celebrities” were wearing boring, everyday items from the Adidas line. I find it ironic that the closing slogan is “celebrate originality.”

2) Who’s your audience?

In every single one of my PR classes at Humber we are taught to think about who our audience is first and foremost. You can’t expect to sell a product or service, start a marketing campaign or write goals and objectives without determining who your audience is. This is something Nike did fantastically, and something that Adidas failed to take into consideration.

Nike made a commercial for Nike Football–for the World Cup. Consequently, its ad featured a multitude of international soccer players, soccer fans, and regular everyday Joes who were excited to be wrapped up in this international event, even from their homes and workplaces. The ad showed communities rallying together in support of their team, and the ad was clearly for the World Cup.

Adidas, on the other hand, neglected to think about who their audience was. I realize there are a lot of Star Wars geeks out there and that Star Wars is a hugely popular movie franchise. However, I loathe Star Wars and know many friends who have never seen a film. My point is–not everyone is a fan of Star Wars. I’m not sure why Adidas chose such a specific theme to touch on in their World Cup commercial, especially since it should be appealing to an international audience. Despite the fact that I am David Beckham’s #1 fan (he has and always will be my favourite soccer player), I was embarrassed for his performance and association in the ad. I know Adidas sponsors him and he must remain loyal, but even as his huge fan I was completely turned off  by the lack of originality and humour in the ad. In fact, it was cringe-worthy to me.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh, but after comparing the two commercials I’m stunned that anyone at Adidas would have okay-ed the ad as their big World Cup promotion. For two competing, massive sports companies, how is it that Nike continues to produce inspirational, entertaining, must-see ads, while Adidas comes up with lackluster performances and continues to be the lead sponsor in the World Cup? I would love to hear people’s thoughts on the two commercials–maybe there are some Star Wars fans who want to defend the Adidas ad?

Related Posts

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