The ad, a cutesy-mootsy "Momversation" about how "babywearing makes my back hurt!" didn't really go over well. Babywearing moms, in particular, were not happy. An anti-Motrin backlash ensued, that got all the worse because Motrin appeared to not be listening over the weekend. If you have the time or energy, you can go see the whole thing unfold over on Twitter if you care to go back 70 or 80 pages. It was truly a hissy fit of epic proportions.
And of course, inevitably the anti-Mom backlash has started, mostly from men it has to be said, and mostly men who aren't parents, who are inevitably telling Moms to get a life, it's just a stupid ad. And inevitably, these men are missing the point.
The problem with the Motrin ad wasn't really necessarily the ad itself. I mean, yes, in its cutesyness and its attempt to sound hip, the ad missed the mark. It managed to sound both patronizing and critical of a childrearing philosophy that women feel passionate about (namely, babywearing). Was that really the big deal? Not especially, no.
The real issue is that Moms have been telling brands like Johnson & Johnson (who owns Motrin) how to approach them for years now, and Motrin didn't bother to pay attention. And Moms are tired of it.
The number one rule on how to approach Moms (or anyone, really) is simple : Listen first.
If Motrin had been listening, they'd know that women are passionate about babywearing. They'd know that there are already debates about it, support groups, that babywearing itself is a philosophy. They'd know that saying things like "supposedly" babywearing is a bonding experience and that babywearing "totally makes me look like an official mom" are not funny. They'd know that any woman who babywears would not find that commercial entertaining.
They'd also know that women hate being patronized, hate it when childrearing decisions are mocked or poked, prodded or marginalized. It's already tough enough out there for Moms. It's a hard job and people don't take it seriously, instead calling Moms (and Mom-bloggers) narcissistic and hysterical and over-reactive and a thousand other unflattering names when they speak up about kid issues. Treating Moms as if their child-rearing decisions are a joke is automatically a bad idea for a company who wants to get Moms on its side, and even worse when those same Moms have been telling these companies how to approach them for years and companies so obviously can't be bothered to pay attention.
They'd also know that when Moms are pissed, they band together. And that their voices are loud.
They didn't listen, and they continued not to listen when their ad started to attract attention, when Twitter got loud and boisterous. Which in itself is simply a failure of Motrin to monitor their own social media footprint, which is inexcusable in November 2008, and someone needs to get a Social Media Monitoring 101 class first thing this morning.
Women spend 85% of the household income, especially when it comes to things like typical household painkillers such as Motrin. Mom-bloggers are an incredibly influential group that marketers have been wetting themselves over for years. In the end, there's really no justification to air an ad like this, one that obviously wasn't vetted and actually alienates the target audience. This was a massive social media fail on Motrin's part, not because the ad was dumb, but because they didn't bother to pay attention to the one thing we've been telling them to do for years already: Just. Listen. And for that, they paid the price.
Check out my blogs at ThreeSeven and ecochick.ca.
]]>And for a long time, your sister has been making really bad choices in men. And even though you kept telling her that these jerks she was with were no good for her, in reality all you could do was watch, because she wasn't going to listen to you anyway.
]]>And for a long time, your sister has been making really bad choices in men. And even though you kept telling her that these jerks she was with were no good for her, in reality all you could do was watch, because she wasn't going to listen to you anyway.
There was this guy she was with in the 90s, this guy Bill, who was pretty smart and a lot of fun and actually had a lot of potential, but the problem was he had a tendency to put his penis in places where it didn't belong and broke her heart.
Then in late 2000 she started dating this George guy who was all folksy and down home and churchy and you know, the guy could be a lot of fun at a party, just as much for the fact that he was as dumb as a stump as for the fact that he'd get into the rye and wear lampshades on his head. George was kind of a goof, but he seemed generally harmless. And that time when your sister got beaten up pretty bad by a bunch of loser idiots, he went after them and kicked the shit out of them and had them running for the hills and really, around that point you had a bit of a soft spot for him. He might be a big dumb goof but he's protecting her, you know? But then he got too big for his britches and started picking fights with everybody, and he had all these idiot friends like Dick and Donald who were in reality not his friends but just liked him cause he had muscle and clout, so they'd suck up to him so he'd do them favours, and they'd whisper in his ear and tell him what to do and who to beat up all the time and he ended up in all these fights all over the world and all the people who were his real friends turned against him. All in all, this guy was an ass.
Around 2004, there was a time that another suitor was sniffing around. John. John seemed nice. Responsible. Smart. Kind of academic. But the problem was, he was pretty wishy washy. And so when George and all his friends started spreading a bunch of false rumours about him being a big wimp, and you knew they were lies, you couldn't get your sister to listen. And in the end, she stayed with George. And George just kept being George. He kept picking fights and spending all her money and got her house foreclosed and racked up massive credit card bills.
And you know, it took a lot but finally, she started to see through George. Started to see through him and his loser friends, his friends who are bullies and homophobes and rich assholes and jerks. Started to see through his crap spending habits and his proclivity for picking fights he couldn't finish. Finally, she decided enough was enough. She was kicking George to the curb.
But then another one of George's friends, another guy named John, came along trying to court her. John was an old guy who seemed nice enough (except for the old man pervyness, I mean, ew) and wasn't such a bad guy, but the problem is he had the tendency to be... unstable. Perhaps a bit senile. (Like the time he called your family "My Fellow Prisoners" at Thanksgiving Dinner.)
But the big problem with John was that he had this sister, this bitch sister who was always around and was a mean, highschool pitbull, who always talked to you like you were 12 years old and was completely patronizing and manipulative and could never give a straight answer.
And you could see what these people really were, but you knew your sister had a track record of picking these men that were just so wrong for her, and you were petrified that she was going to end up dating this dynamic duo.
But finally, she met someone new. Someone nice. This guy was likeable. I mean, he looked like a total dork. Skinny little punk with ears like Dumbo. And his name was Barack. (Really? Who names their kid Barack?) But Barack had an infectious smile. And oh, this guy was smart. Smart as a whip. He'll talk to anybody but what's more, he'll *listen* to anybody. Really listen, not just give ear time in order to make it look like he's paying attention when he's really thinking about something else. He's lived many places and done many things and worked with lots of people and was really quite interesting. But what you really liked about this guy wasn't the things he did. It was the change you saw in your sister when he was around.
When Barack was around, she was different. She was empowered. She felt like she could take her life into her own hands, and make a difference to herself and those around her. For too long George had been telling her that he knew what was best for her, and she sat back and let him make all the decisions. And look at the mess he'd left her in. No more. Now, she was inspired. When she was with Barack, she wasn't just thinking about whether or not he was doing the right thing so that he could take care of her. She wasn't sitting back and letting life happen to her. When she was with him, she took control of her own life. She said, I Want To Change. And I know it will be hard work and a long road and it won't be quick or easy, but I listened to quick and easy lies the last 8 years and I'm tired of them. I want to work *with* someone, instead of sitting back and letting them do the work for me. And so last night, she and Barack started going steady for what will be at least 4 years if not 8. (she's a serial monogamist, that one.)
And you and your family are breathing a sigh of relief.
Visit my blogs at ThreeSeven ecochick.
]]>It's about millions of people just like You. People who are being inspired. Being engaged. For perhaps the first time in their lives, feeling like they are a part of Something. Something they'll tell their grandchildren about. Something that will be legendary. Something that will change America, and change the world.
And it's not going to be because Obama is in the White House.
It's going to be because You put him there.
]]>It's about millions of people just like You. People who are being inspired. Being engaged. For perhaps the first time in their lives, feeling like they are a part of Something. Something they'll tell their grandchildren about. Something that will be legendary. Something that will change America, and change the world.
And it's not going to be because Obama is in the White House.
It's going to be because You put him there.
You got out there and you participated. You made phone calls. You canvassed. You donated. You talked to your family and your friends and your enemies and perfect strangers about wanting Change. About being tired of partisan politics tearing your neighbourhoods and your country apart. About believing that you have the power to change everything.
This election isn't about Republican vs. Democrat. This election is about people who believe in the power they hold to change the world.
This video isn't about Obama. It's about everyone else in the video who believes in what Obama represents.
If you believe in that power, then I beg you: Please, please, please vote. Go now. Go stand in that line. Don't let anybody stop you. Don't walk away if it's cold or raining or long. Don't get frustrated if someone tries to tell you you don't need to be there. You do need to be there. Because today, America can change the world. And it starts with you.
We're watching.
Visit my blogs at ThreeSeven and ecochick.ca.
]]>The air quotes prove to me one thing: That the rhetoric war around abortion has gotten so advanced, especially the anti-abortion rhetoric, that people don't even see the issue they're talking about anymore. It's simply words that we hurl at each other now, words that polarize, that on one side demonize women as militant feminists who just want to sleep around willy nilly with no consequences and kill their babies anytime for any old reason, and on the other side that classes those against abortion as religious, deceptive wingnuts who insist they know better what Women should do with their bodies than the women themselves, who place the life of the fetus above the life of the woman at all costs.
What everyone is forgetting in this war on words is that abortion itself is not the problem. Abortion is the symptom. Fix the disease, and this symptom will resolve itself.
The disease is the insistence on pushing polices that continue to marginalize women.
The disease is refusing funding to groups that educate and empower girls and women to know exactly what their bodies are capable of from the time they're capable of doing it, or to teach them to pursue birth control because of ideology, making them more likely to find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy.
The disease is attempting to deny women access to their legal right to birth control, leaving them with less control over their own bodies and reproduction.
The disease is refusing to institute reasonable maternity leave policies to protect women's jobs while they give birth and care for their child, leaving women with babies and nobody to care for them.
The disease is the failure to facilitate adequate, affordable health care coverage that allows women to have the means to pay the thousands of dollars in medical bills it will take to be pregnant and give birth to a child in America.
The disease is the stigma we slap on unwed mothers as having bad judgment, as being sluts and easy and stupid, as having ruined their lives, while at the same time letting unwed fathers off the hook, making women ashamed of pregnancy instead of celebrating it.
The disease is the bizarre juxtaposition where people insist that having children is a "lifestyle choice" on one hand while on the other hand insisting that "life begins at conception" and that "childbirth is sacred", thus polarizing the two mentalities and leaving women caught in the middle.
The disease is paying women less than men for working the same jobs, thus making them less able to financially manage having a family.
Let me be clear. I would love to live in a world where abortion was never necessary, where women never found themselves pregnant and frightened and alone and having no idea where they're going to pay for their own grocery bills, let alone pay for a child. I would love to live in a world where a pregnancy is always celebrated, where a child is always welcomed and wanted and loved, where the mother isn't stigmatized and marginalized and left to fend for herself by the same people who insist her child's life is more important than hers. I would love to live in a world where every child knew exactly what their body was capable of from the moment it became capable of doing it, instead of making those children feel ashamed of their bodies and unable or unwilling to have tough conversations about the responsibilities of sexuality and birth control when they are faced with the situation.
If we did these things, if we simply said "let's change. We are going to give women - and men - the tools to control their own bodies, whether it's education, whether it's empowerment, whether it's just a plain old rubber condom" - something would change.
If we give women better choices before they face the choice of abortion, the choice wouldn't have to be made in the first place.
]]>She's a "Barracuda". She's a "Pitbull with Lipstick".
What's the implication here?
]]>She's a "Barracuda". She's a "Pitbull with Lipstick".
What's the implication here?
That she's not soft. She's not weepy. She's tough, sharp, a bitchy, edgy
woman. That she will fiercely bully you out of her way if you're in it.
That she's someone to be afraid of. That's she's not a typical woman.
The ability to create fear in your opponents is what counts, then. Not
experience. Not levelheadedness. Not trustworthiness or intelligence or
any of a hundred things that people usually look for in politicians.
No, Palin is to be respected because she's a "pitbull in lipstick".
Yes, we know she's beautiful and looks great on camera but don't worry -she's a bitch. That's important, because the only way anyone could think a woman could get along in the cesspool that is DC would be if she is a bitch.
And the whole thing is terribly troublesome.
Because, underneath this whole message? There's a disturbing undercurrent of
sexism. John McCain and his staff are propping her up and creating this image for her, this image of her being this vicious, scrappy bitchwoman. They call her a barracuda and a pitbull and they get a wide smile on their faces, because they like the characterization. They think that saying it will make their opponents cringe in fear. But you get the sense that they really don't believe she's a barracuda at all. Rather, you get the sense that they think the whole thing is.... cute. That they don't see Palin as a pitbull, but rather a chihuahua on John McCain's sparkly golden leash, doing her tricks and baring her teeth for the GOP, trying to look vicious just like the crowd wants her to.
And I wonder how many women at the GOP convention that heard Palin utter the words "I'm a pitbull in lipstick" and cheered outwardly while cringing inwardly. Because that image, that woman as vicious dog in heels impression, hurts all of us. We've gone far past that 80s stereotype, that you have to "grow a pair" and "become a man" to get ahead in this man's world. Or.. have we?
I also have to wonder if Palin herself even likes this kind of characterization? Or would she prefer simply.. being a candidate and leaving the lipstick out of it?
I'll leave you with an excerpt from the lyrics to the song Barracuda by Heart. They're actually far more apt for John McCain's campaign and VP pick than I think even he knows.
If the real thing dont do the trick
You better make up something quick
You gonna burn burn burn burn it to the wick
Ooooooh, barracuda..........
Visit my blogs at ThreeSeven (all that's irrelevant and amusing) and
ecochick (all that's green, cool and Canadian).
Twitter. I'm using Twitter Search (formerly Summize) at http://search.twitter.com and searching for the tags "#BlogHer08 OR BlogHer". New tweets are coming through constantly, and Search will tell you when there's a new one and to refresh. I'm getting constant news. interesting tidbits from the sessions, and I've found tons of new Twitter friends this way too.
Qik. Erin at Queen Of Spain Blog has been wandering around with a cool Nokia N95 Video Phone, talking to everyone she meets and streaming it live to us periodicallly. So far we've seen Mochamomma dance for us, had an encounter with a large blue dog (only at BlogHer!), and got to see new Bluetooth headsets being handed out. OK, so we're not getting the headsets ourselves, but it's the next best thing!
Live Blogs. Denise is updating the live blog list from every session as they come in, so keep refreshing!
Pity Parties. So far I've seen plans for at least two "formal" pity parties for those of us who aren't at the conference. One's being spearheaded by TypeAMom, with a live chat on Saturday night where there will be a whole pile of awesome giveaways. There's also BlogHop 08 being organized by Robin at Pensieve, where everyone is invited to write a party post and link it back. There's also a live chat for BlogHop on BlogTalkRadio starting at 10 tonight.. get primed!
Reaching out to other blogs. Melizzard at Breaking The Dress Code started a cool initiative: If you're not at BlogHer, head over and comment on her post, and she'll comment on your blog. Great way for all of us to start finding some blogs we've never seen before.
I can't hear you talking about BlogHer la la la la la. Are you simply looking for distractions? Then head on over to IzzyMom, where she's compiled a list of interesting distractions for you to peruse while you sit in BlogHer denial.
Anyone have any other suggestions for stalking or distractions?
Visit my blogs at ThreeSeven (all that's irrelevant and amusing) and
ecochick (all that's green, cool and Canadian).
I should be nice and relaxed. We spent two lovely weeks in Nova Scotia and PEI, sunning and seafooding and boozing and sleeping and generally unwinding. And yet here it is, the middle of the night and I'm wide awake.
It's guilt. Massive, raging guilt. 40 pounds of guilt. Well, maybe 38 if it's been a good dog food week. You see, we've evicted The Beagle from the bed.
]]>I should be nice and relaxed. We spent two lovely weeks in Nova Scotia and PEI, sunning and seafooding and boozing and sleeping and generally unwinding. And yet here it is, the middle of the night and I'm wide awake.
It's guilt. Massive, raging guilt. 40 pounds of guilt. Well, maybe 38 if it's been a good dog food week. You see, we've evicted The Beagle from the bed.
My poor doggy. It's not his fault he's a high maintenance princessy pain in the ass. From the time he was a puppy, he has always been the kind of dog who wants what he wants. And generally, he wants it now. And one of the things he has always wanted was to sleep in the bed with the pack. And you know, if he just jumped up at the foot of the bed and took up a normal Beagle-sized amount of space and didn't bug us, that would be one thing. But that of course is not the case. He doesn't just sleep in the bed. He sleeps IN the bed. Under the covers. On our feet. Seriously. It kind of goes like this:
Dog jumps up on bed on to one of the sleeping humans. No preference here to which human; either one works.
Dog walks across now only semi-sleeping human using extremely poky feet.
Dog walks up to human's sleeping face, sniffs sleep breath, licks human face. Human grunts, pushes dog.
Dog starts plowing under the covers.
Human starts pushing dog away to keep him from going under covers.
Dog pushes his entire body weight against half asleep human. No contest here, really.
Dog weasels down to human feet, plunks entire body weight on them. Sighs loudly. Passes out.
Everyone sleeps for 20 minutes.
Dog wakes up hot.
Dog walks across human to get out from under covers. Emerges panting from heat.
Dog walks back across human to get to the exact same spot he was in just a moment ago except over covers rather than under. Plunks on human. Sighs loudly. Passes out.
Repeat ad nauseum.
As you can imagine, this has resulted in 5 years of crappy sleep. We've tried to prevent it, but until you have met this dog, you will not understand the level of stubbornness, the amount of attitude he brings to bear in these sorts of situations. And when you're mostly asleep, it's often just easier to let him do whatever he wants.
But we've had enough. When we returned from vacation we resolved: this is it. The dog is out of the bed.
He's not taking it well.
The first night, he was trying to get on the bed every few minutes. I had to sleep with a spray bottle of water in my hand, so that when he jumped up I could defend the sanctity of the bed with anti-terrorist weapons. This is war, people.
He didn't know what to do. He roamed around the bedroom, panting loudly, peeking up on the edges of the bed, generally having his snout out of joint. Despite the fact that there were two perfectly comfortable dog beds on the floor as well as a chair, none of that mattered. He wanted the bed. I'd threaten him with the Water Bottle of Good Behaviour and he'd go plunk on a dog bed for a few minutes, almost fall asleep, then realize that he was not getting the bed he was Entitled To and the whole cycle would start again. I actually got less sleep that night than I would have had he just been walking on my head as usual.
The next night, he got huffy. We told him to go to HIS bed, and he basically said "screw you" in dog language and left the room entirely to sleep on the couch, surely hoping we'd see the errors of our ways and come and beg him to walk his muddy feet all over our white sheets while we're sleeping. Obviously this backfired as it left me with a glorious dog-free bedroom. But then he came back upstairs, tried once to get in the bed, then gave up. The Beagle bed infestation appears to be over.
But oh, the poor dog. His spirit is crushed. He looks at me with those little eyes, wondering if I love him anymore. And when I woke up at 2 and couldn't sleep and came downstairs and laid on the couch with the remote and laptop, and he came downstairs to see me and cuddled right up against me, I couldn't help but lift up my blanket and let him plunk on my legs.
Sometimes, happiness is just a warm Beagle.
]]>It's been a while since there's been something super fun coming out of Origins in terms of freebies and discounts. This one's definitely super fun. Today through July 20, get free shipping and a free Smileage Plus Liptint with any order. These sweet liptints come in four shades - pinky Sugar Cane, pale Raw Honey (as shown at right), rich Organic Plum and deep Off Beet. Formulated with Organic Beeswax, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Cocoa Butter and Organic Aloe Vera, with an organic essential oil blend of Tangerine and Lime, these liptints are sure to keep your kisser smooth.
Never tried Origins products before, and wondering what you should try out? They have a wonderful Organics line, certified organic by the USDA, with a range of cleansers, creams and potions. They work very well, feel great on your skin and are scented amazingly with essential oils. If you're sticking with your skin care regiment, I've found that even their non-certified products use many natural, organic ingredients, so you almost can't go wrong. One of my favourites is the Heart and Soles foot care line. With a great foot scrub, foot cream and an awesome heavy-duty heel cream, this set is awesome if you're a home pedicurist like me.
And with a free 95% organic lip balm (and free shipping) - it's a great time to try this line on for size.
]]>
Pat enjoys writing, is reasonably good at it, and wants to write more. Pat decides to start a blog. Pat writes about whatever is most relevant, most thought provoking in Pat's life - field of work, motorcycles, parenting, gardening. Pat's blog is pretty good, and people start reading it. People like the blog because of the tone, the turn of style, the knowledgeability about the subject matter, the sense of humour. Pat's blog soon gets popular. Really popular. Eventually mainstream media takes notice and Pat and the blog get featured in some article in a newspaper or a clip on TV.
And when it's featured, the reaction is inevitably harsh. People judge Pat for everything from having "enough time to blog" to "exploitation" to "narcissism" to any number of other choice, flattering words. People say things like:
This always happens, right?
No, it doesn't always happen. None of this vitriol is unleashed when someone writes about gardening or writing or a field of work or about anything else. So why does it happen when women write about being a mother?
Being a mother is hard work. I'm not even a mother and I know this, mostly because I read blogs written by mothers. Cool mothers, fun, interesting mothers who love being a mother. Who are also sometimes
overwhelmed and insecure, who are winging it as they go along, who openly say that mommyhood is hard work. Mothers who would never give up their child for anything and they don't regret a thing, but who also say they struggle with the shift in their own identity from being "Person" to "Other Person's Mother".
Until blogs were invented, I can only assume the only outlet mothers had to express these feelings, these inner crises, were other mothers. And I wonder just how many women actually admitted to each other that they did struggle with identity, with lack of sleep, with trying to manage a human being who can't speak english or wipe their own ass. And they struggled with wondering why they gave up Banana Republic suits and two martini lunches for this?
Maybe before the blog, mothers just shut up. They shouldered the weariness and the insecurity and the difficulties and everyone else assumed that motherhood was easy, or if it wasn't easy they didn't care because god, that's boring. And if you actually said anything to anyone else about the fact that this isn't as easy as everyone thinks it should be you worried about being branded as whiny, as high maintenance, as weak, so you just kept quiet.
Then blogs appeared and moms started talking, started being open about motherhood, about the stuff that happens every day, the good and the not so good, that it isn't always a walk in the park, and apparently there are people who are being exposed to the facts of motherhood for the first time and oooh my, they are horrified. They're horrified about the fact that you're blogging in the first place. They're concerned, my oh my, they are so concerned "for the children". Mommy must be a narcissist if she talks about her own life as a mother. Mommy must be exploiting her child if she talks about potty training. Mommy must be incredibly selfish if she takes time to sit at the computer and blog. And Mommy must be the devil incarnate if she actually makes any money from writing about this stuff.
And they're disgusted. They're disgusted that women even bother writing their blogs in the first place, why would you write about your pathetic, boring, useless life of being a mother, you sad, sad little person?
The message? Even though you spend more time mothering than you ever did at your paid job, even though it may be far harder to do, shut up. Shut up and raise your kids quietly in the background like everyone else. We don't want to hear about your little problems, because now that you're a mother, now that you don't have any
other identity except that of mother, you and your issues are irrelevant. Come back and talk to us when you have something important to say.
Could it be because as far as we think we've gone for sexual equality, for believing that all lives have equal worth, that if you're a mother and you want to talk about mothering, you're automatically less worthy just because you are a woman and a mother? Because being a mother simply isn't worthy of attention?
Perish the thought.
The only thing to be done?
Keep blogging. Because you're right, Mommies: Mommyhood is tough. And life is tough. And others who are going through the same things that you are will be able to read your blogs and realize they're not alone. And maybe, just maybe, those who judge will actually realize that Mommyhood has more value than even they thought it did.
And in the end, isn't that the point?
Shannon blogs at ThreeSeven and ecochick.ca
]]>Welcome to Improve This Pitch!
Introductions -
Susan - 20 years in software industry experience, strategic marketer with her own company (getgood strategic marketing), well known in mom blogosphere
Maria - CEO of Consumerpop marketing, background working with Kraft, Kleenex, Campbells, Contributing Editor to BlogHer, writes entertainment blogs, contributes to 5 blogs
Mir - pro blogger with 7 sites, first blog was wouldacouldashoulda, and she privy to lots of pitches.
All three have backgrounds in advertising and marketing as well as being bloggers, so can speak to both sides.
Liz - writes mom 101, also cool mom picks, a review blog for parents for products, background in ad agency
Liz: Why are we here? Because the old PR paradigm is not working anymore. It seems we're hearing that a lot, but PR people don't get it. They still use the traditional model of taking a press release and blasting it out and seeing what sticks. Susan got one recently that hhad been sent to 30,000 people. There's no personal touch, and that approach is not working anymore.
Liz sharing a pitch that she received:
"Dear Liz: I'm in a bind. Want to talk to you about great tasting food and regularity." Blah blah, it went on, to the tune of 12 paragraphs about why she should write about colon health cereal on her blog (where colons are not normally discussed.) Normally she would just delete something like this but it was too funny, so she saved it for this conference. Sadly, she is getting more pitches like that are like this than not. This session is to help figure out the difference between bloggers and journalists, and how to have your efforts NOT blow up in your face, since bloggers are a volatile bunch and we love to bitch about bad pitches.
Mir - Admits she is very passionate about pitches she gets and is very vocal about ones she doesn't like!
Why wouldn't you just ignore and delete bad pitches? She does sometimes, but she's frustrated: She's being pitched on her personal blog for things that have no relevance, like events in countries she doesn't live in and things she never ever talks about. The pitch claims they know you, but the content makes it very obvious that they don't know you. She and Liz often talk to each other about the bad pitches they get, and will also often respond to the company about how bad their pitch is and give them advice.
It feels insulting as a personal blogger to receive these pitches because they approach her like a journalist. Journalists exist to disseminate informaiton, that's their job. Mir blogs because it is passionate for her, she wants to do it. To be treated like a number devalues what she is doing. They ask her to pitch for them for free, and they don't pay attention to who she is and what she does. if you're going to approach on a personal level, know her on a personal level.
Susan - There is a huge difference between being personal and being personalized. In most of these cases, the pitches aren't personal: they have your name but the pitch is generic. They forget that the blogger is not a journalist, they are not the intermediary like the journalist is. The blogger is not *just* the delivery medium, not just the voice: the blogger is also the audience.
At her blog at getgood.typepad.com, Susan has written a manifesto including four Ps of what marketers should do to approach bloggers. Marketers need to keep in mind that blogging is Personal, and it's about Passion. Bloggers write because they care about a topic, they are passionate about it. Even if they monetize it, they still started out with a passion, and that's why they are there.
One of the four Ps is Prepare. This is the step most agencies don't do as well as they should: getting to know the person they want to talk to. It is a huge message: *read the blogs you're targeting*. Yes, it's time consuming, but it's probably the only way to get it right.
Second P - participate. You have to be a part of the community you're talking to. Get in there and be a part of the conversation. If this is your product or your service, then I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to talk to your customers. Once you've done that, then you can send the pitch.
Maria - when you're blogging about TV you're not selling a product, you're getting the audience to watch the show. If you want to pitch Maria, read the blog, see what shows she is interested in, find out what she's watching already, if it's a new show, would she be interested in that kind of show? etc. Great way to reach the right people. All TV pitches she's gotten have been personalized. They used her name, and from the content she can tell they read her blog. The pitches offer something useful for her and her readers- exclusive content, pictures, interviews. What they offer enhances the blog content she already provides and her readers will appreciate this. They get it right in terms of being friendly, respectful, not insistent or demanding, offering and allowing her to choose whether to take it up on it. Maybe Hollywood folks are used to egos!
Question: What are red flags in a pitch that automatically make you less interested?
Mir - When get a pitch that starts HEY, wouldacouldashoulda! (ie. they use her blog's name instead of her name) she knows she won't be interested. She received a pitch a couple of days ago. The very first sentence of the pitch said, if you want to write about this information please use the following sentence. (room filled with shocked gasps!) Bloggers don't really take well to being told what exact words to use. She has gotten pitches formatted in six different fonts, ones with carat marks that shows it's forwarded content, ones with the wrong name and telling her about something that she would never be interested in in a million years, ones targeting the wrong geographical location. She's often found herself e-mailing people back and tellilng her everything she did wrong. In one case, apparently so many people wrote this pitch-er back that she sent out a second email defending herself, which was worse ("I understand you don't live in NYC but you have friends who do!")
Liz - us bloggers are all smartasses. We tend not to ignore bad pitches, we respond to them or tell each other about them. It frustrates her to no end when she takes the time to tell a PR person what they did wrong and how to approach her and they don't write her back.
Mir - She once received an email where the pitch-er called Mir by her blog name and not her actual name. She wrote them back letting them know that this was an issue, and was responded to with "a lot of people like to be addressed by their blog name and not their real name". This was a big issue: Don't tell the blogger they're wrong if they take the time to correct you!
Liz -once got a pitch from a food company. "Since you've written about living healthy"...She wrote back, "where exactly do I write about living healthy on my blog? " Guy wrote back and dug his hole even deeper.
One example of good engagement - when "Charlie" outreached to Mir. His pitch had the following things going for it:
1. It was obvious that he read her blog, knew her, knew what she wrote about. When he contacted her, it was clear he knew her and her writing style.
2. Approached in a friendly manner. He offered his product up to her to say hey, I'm not exactly sure if you're interested but I have this if you want to try it.
The approach made Mir more responsive to anything else coming from him in the future. She'll now always read his emails adn take the time to respond. Even if she says she thinks the idea is a bad one!
Susan - one thing you need to remember is many bloggers have more than one blog. Pitchers need to understand that each blog has a purpose. Pitch to the right blog - and approach the person and not the blog.
Maria - Also remember that as marketing/pr people, you spend a lot of time with the product or service and you believe in it: the bloggers don't care like you do and neither will their readers. You need to tell them what is in it for *them*.
Question. Person in the music world, feels the bloggers are the snarkiest ones in the world, has had a bad experience with dealing with music bloggers. Knows why publicists are pitching you, all day long clients are screaming at them about 'what did this blog say'? Sucks to be a publicist sometimes when you have clients who really don't understand blogosphere. Many times when they read blogs - cannot find bloggers' names. Only info you can find is what on the website and often can't even find it there. How do you approach these people?
Mir: you don't need to address her as "Mir Kamen" Mir is good. If a blogger doesn't have their name on there, realize that it's possible that could be for a reason - they may not want to be pitched.
Susan - people are anonymous for different reasons. In that case, you could simply say "hi" and provide a really good pitch, not just "Hi, blog name". If you're using email blasts STOP NOW PLEASE.
Liz - or just say, "I cannot find your name!" be honest.
Question: blogger has background in PR, doesn't mind news releases. Why isn't there a "don't send me a news release" list?
Maria - most bloggers do not have a journalism background, and that's what PR people need to understand.
Liz - people's personal blogs are more like their home than their business. You're talking about very personal issues, revealing yourself, and then someone comes along and pitches you to pimp their product. It's offensive. It's the same as pitching the right audience in traditional media - you wouldn't pitch nine inch nails to parents magazine.
Susan - Once saw a pitch with a 1000 word email and a 1000 word attachment, blasted out without any attempt to make it relevant to the blogger.
Maria - There is one narrow slice where receiving a press release may be appropriate - went to a tech conference to cover it for blogher. She's on a list now from that conference where she gets press releases all the itme, but in this case was filling the role of a journalist, so in that role pitches are ok.
Question - If you've written negative reviews on products, does it make sense for the product folks to come back and comment on the review? Is it insulting?
Mir - Does almost no reviews, if she writes a review it's not because someone pitched her, it's because she has something she loves and wants to talk about it. However, if someone does respond to a negative review there's a wonderful thing that can happen - engagement. One example was when a rash of mom bloggers were having problems with Dell computers and writing about it. Dell people started popping in to the blogosphere and offering to help. Great example.
Maria - if someone tried to use the product and had difficulty, a great response is "wow, that's great feedback" and offer to help fix it. Take the opportunity to turn an unhappy customer in to happy customer.
Susan - writes both complimentary and non complimentary things about companies - and has gotten no feedback on either. To her it seems strange that they aren't reading the words.
Maria - if someone takes tthe time to respond to your pitch in any way, you should write them back.
Question - reviews business books, always floored at people who don't respond when they review books because it's additional presence for them. Sometimes an author will come on and say "thank you for the review", or ask to use the feedback in other PR. it's win/win, because the blogger is looking for personal publicity too.
Liz - Exactly, when they highlight you, it makes you want to do more business with these people.
Question - person works for food client, trying to engage bloggers. What about the idea of doing an exclusive interview with a top chef that would drive traffic, would this be something that might interest bloggers? What are unique things pr firms can do to engage bloggers?
Susan - one of best campaigns she's seen was for greenstonemedia - gave a bunch of bloggers exclusive access to Gloria Steinem. That has to be something that the blogger wants to write about.
Maria - Exclusivity is a big benefit. She got an offer from a show that has an amazing strong female character, one that was great for blogher readers. They offered the bloggers the chance to interview the stars, only 10 blogs would have these interviews, great to drive traffic.
Mir - You need to pay attention and need to be specific. For that idea, you wouldn't pitch it to every food blog, because every food blog is not the same. All blogs tend to get lumped in to a uniform group, but we're all different, different subjects, different geography.
Maria - For example, some food bloggers talk about food you eat, some talk about food you make. Don't confuse the two. And pay attention. One blogger was very vocal about her hatred of a certain company and their processed foods - then they pitched her. Ha.
Question - Do we as bloggers like association with mainstream reporters or do we like to look at ourselves as bloggers? Are we regular media or are we a different beast?
Mir - views herself as a journalist for some of her gigs. She writes a blog for a client about certain things - to get press releases for that subject is perfectly OK, but when they pitch her on her personal blog the same way it's insulting. They want her but they don't know why they want her, they just think she has a lot of eyeballs.
Maria - You can't just go to technorati and look at the numbers and find your bloggers that way.
Liz - the content is just as important if not more than the demographic.
Susan - I know we're talking a lot about the mommy blogger segment. These rules apply to any segment, but big consumer companies want to reach mommy bloggers, this is why most examples are coming from this group.
Maria - Some bloggers do some gigs as a journalist, yes, but you still have to pay attention and get it right. eg. at BlogHer - all the editors are women. Someone got all the addresses of the editors - pitched all editors on product for babies. Sent it to non- moms, sent to some men!
Question - March of Dimes - product is content for before/during/after pregnancy. They want to draw attention to the fact that they have information. How would a blogger feel if march of dimes commented on a post or emailed you saying hey, I saw you had this issue, here's some information? How would that come across?
Mir - given that it's information and not a product, Mir would leave the comment up and let people see it. However, a pitch out of the blue on baby stuff she would delete since it would be obvious that they don't read her blog, otherwise they'd know she isn't in a baby stage of life.
Liz - you can also consider framing it as helpful information - I know you write about this specific issue, here's information that we have that might help. When you're dealing with personal stuff, it would be nice if it felt like an altruistic move. Just tread lightly.
Maria - in even offering information, know your audience! See huge oprah blogstorm on thyroid issue for example.
Susan - When you approach them in this case, tell them you've noticed their issue, tell them you have more information and let them know you can send it to them.
Question: Jen is an artist, writes about creativity. As a creative person, she sometimes wishes people would write her and say "we love your blog, we love creativity, can we collaborate?" Turn it in to working together as partners as opposed to a push/pull thing. A great approach is to craft a relationship with the blogger.
Susan - exactly, this is a prime case for blogger relations. Traditional marketing can slice and dice and reach out to people because they match a certain demographic profile. But outreach to bloggers is like making friends.
Maria - We realize in this session that we're picking on the marketers, but we *are* marketers. We know both sides and we're trying to help.
Mir - When she gets a pitch that basically says "write about me so I can get publicity" she will write back and say "if all you want is space on my blog, then go buy an ad on the ad network." Do you want advertising or do you want to relate to a blogger? For PR folk, be clear about what you want before you go out into the blogosphere.
Question - Person is a blogger and podcaster - another suggestion would be sponsorship. She likes to podcast on her blog, if a company were to come to her and say hey, we like what you're doing, can we sponsor your podcast? She'd be very up for that. The marketers should realize they maybe don't have to be blogged about, but they can attach themselves in a different way to successful content.
Susan - Great point - marketers should ask the blogger "what can I do for you?"
Question - have you thought about taking your email address off your blog if bad pitches are too cumbersome? - do you think that bloggers will remove email addresses?
Mir - I doubt it. Blogs are conversations and people don't want to not give you a way to contact them.
Maria - Looks at it as spam management. It is so worthwhile to have the email address out there that it wouldn't be worth it to cut it off just to cut out the bad pitches.
Susan - And even if she wanted to take it down it's too late, she's on so many social networks that she's totally findable no matter what.
Liz - We want to hear from Maria about metrics and measuring the success of why you do this in the first place.
Maria - If you are pitching to a traditional journalist you know the success criteria. You can say X readers read something. If you get something in the NY times, you get demographics. You can't really figure that out with blogs. If you are smart setting it up, there are ways to measure it quantatitvely. Eg. give out a "code" to redeem, and give every blogger a different code to track. Set a fixed time period and measure your sales response. Test whatever it is you're trying to drive and see if it moves. If you want to drive awareness, then you look at the blog's metrics and see how the numbers change. Look at it as a way of doing qualitative research. Get ideas on how to best outreach and build your campaigns. It's tough to sell this non traditional approach to people who only know the traditional way.
Question - interested to hear about getting pitches in comments. Would have thought that would be a way of interrupting the convesation. If you have a conversation going about a topic, is it appropriate for a producer of a product to wade in to say I can help with X product?
Mir - tricky territory. if you leave it in the comments it sounds like a pitch and you're looking for publicity. Mir is much more likely to respond positively if it's an email.
Maria - if the comment adds quality to the comments - it's no problem, if it provides context and information. Something like that can be done. But the more personal it is the more tricky it is.
Mir - Don't pretend you aren't from a company if you are. Please be transparent, people will figure you out.
Susan - If I put a comment on someone's blog and mention a product, it's almost a guarantee it's not a client's product. If it's her personal opinion she'll do it in the comments, if it's a client's she'll talk via email. Only exception to this rule is correcting blatantly wrong information and even then be careful.
Question: You're saying initial outreach should be a personal email. She's heard of social media press releases with links and video. Should she be using that?
Maria - that could be a whole conference on to itself, lots of differing opinions on the social media press release.
Mir - Once got a pitch like that with links to youtube videos that were just awful. She could have totally torpedoed them on her blog.
Maria - Ultimately if it's just a fancy press release it will be about as successful as a traditional one.
Question - What if I just want to tell you about a promotion or a contest?
Mir - Sure, if it doesn't contain the line "if you want to write about us use the following sentence".
Susan - once you do reach out to someone and they write back and want to engage with you, you need to make sure you STAY engaged. If they reach out and you don't respond, you've lost the relationship and probably permanently.
Question - rules of engagement, what info do you want when you're sending out products?
Liz - understand that if you're giving bloggers products, there could be limitations and conflicts for the blogger. Ad networks like BlogHer say you cannot keep the product if it's over a certain value. Marketers should be aware these conflicts can occur.
Maria - And understand that when you say "I can't accept it because of my ad contract" you really can't accept it!
Question - She gets a lot of pitches from publicists and from people who "think" they are publicists! What percentage of pitches come from companies that should know better, vs. people who are just making honest mistakes?
Maria - 90% of pitches she gets are getting it wrong. The ones she has received from companies that are getting it right range from smaller firms to large ones.
Liz - keep in mind bloggers get solicitations from other bloggers all the time (let's swap links etc.) and these can still be done badly.
Mir - doesn't feel bad turning down PR companies, but does feel bad if gets pitched badly from fellow moms because she'll still turn it down.
End of session, thanks to all!
]]>There's a new Star Trek movie coming out, which will tell the tales of the early days of the Starship Enterprise crew as they attend Starfleet Academy. Picture it: young Kirk, Spock, and McCoy having romulan ale keg parties. Just like keg parties at any university today, except the strippers are green. They've announced the cast. This, my friends, is how you cast a movie. Eye candy buffet.
]]>There's a new Star Trek movie coming out, which will tell the tales of the early days of the Starship Enterprise crew as they attend Starfleet Academy. Picture it: young Kirk, Spock, and McCoy having romulan ale keg parties. Just like keg parties at any university today, except the strippers are green. They've announced the cast. This, my friends, is how you cast a movie. Eye candy buffet.
Chris Pine is the young, virile, surely sleeping with anything that moves Captain Kirk. Pine has had several parts in various movies and shows, including Six Feet Under, CSI: Miami, and ER.
Zachary Quinto from Heroes and 24 is young Spock. He's been splendid in every role I've seen him in. Even the look is perfect.
Simon Pegg will be playing the role of Scotty. That's Shaun from Shaun of the Dead. I wonder if there will be any zombies in outer space. Nicely cast, though; he does a great deadpan.
Eric Bana will be playing the role of Nero. I don't know who Nero is. But Eric Bana's hot.
Read the rest - including pictures! - at ThreeSeven.
]]>First, you see a woman vet picking up a soaking wet and obviously smelly dog on to an exam table. The dog immediately shakes, covering her with his wet furry spray. In this situation would you
1. Duck and swear
2. Grab a towel
3. Giggle like a dumbass and try to look like this is the funniest thing you've ever seen in your life.
Clearly, if you take One-A-Day, you will choose option 3. Because women are doing more than ever before!!
]]>First, you see a woman vet picking up a soaking wet and obviously smelly dog on to an exam table. The dog immediately shakes, covering her with his wet furry spray. In this situation would you
1. Duck and swear
2. Grab a towel
3. Giggle like a dumbass and try to look like this is the funniest thing you've ever seen in your life.
Clearly, if you take One-A-Day, you will choose option 3. Because women are doing more than ever before!!
Next, you see a busy businesswoman at her desk, on the phone, reaching for papers while she talks. She knocks over her coffee and it spills all over the papers on her desk. If this happened to you, would you
1. Curse under your breath
2. Stand up and try to keep the coffee from spreading further
3. Smile and roll your eyes to the heavens in an "Oh, That Beaver Cleaver!" kind of way, laugh and giggle as you try to shake the coffee off your papers like it's a game.
If you take One-A-Day, bingo! Option 3 again, gold star! Because busy women are too busy cleaning up coffee and laughing at soaking wet dogs shaking all over them to eat properly!
Read the rest at ThreeSeven
]]>Seriously.
Imposition of homework limits.
What could possibly go wrong?
]]>Seriously.
Imposition of homework limits.
What could possibly go wrong?
Picture Average Family in Averagetown on a typical Tuesday night in October.
"Johnny, go read your homework assignment," says Daddy.
Little Johnny, being a shrewd little bastard, sets his kitchen timer and proceeds to read. When the bell goes "ding!" then little Johnny stops reading.
It doesn't matter that little Johnny is a slow reader and that it might take him a little longer. It doesn't matter that if he were to practice reading, he will get better and read faster and learn more. No, little Johnny has done his provincially mandated 10 minutes tonight. Now he can go watch TV and sit on his 7 year old arse, cause John Tory said so.
And if little Johnny gets in trouble with the teacher for not having done his reading, who does he complain to?
Why, the new government department that will be set up to rat out mean teachers, of course! Yes, the new Homework Enforcement Department will patrol the schoolwaves, ensuring no student does one minute more homework than they are legally forced to by law. The Homework Limit Violation Hotline will be manned 24/7 by a whole new team of bureaucrats so that indignant parents and illiterate children can call and whine that Little Johnny's scheduled Wii time has been interfered with, because his allotted 10 minutes of homework took 12 minutes. 12! Mein gott! The horror!
Teachers, of course, will be required to coordinate homework levels with each other. Geography will have 2 minutes tonight. English, 3 minutes. That leaves 5 minutes to split between social studies, math, french, and science. What can you learn in 1 minute 20 seconds, I wonder? I suppose you could tally up a list of sums. If you had a calculator. Maybe read a page or two about Mon chien fetching la stylo. But that's it. And they better not go over, because the Homework Enforcement Department will be on some teacher's ass the next day, fo sho.
Pitched battles will ensue in the staff room if there is a science test the next day. Nobody else will be allowed to assign homework, because Johnny needs the FULL 10 MINUTES to study. And if the 10 minutes is up, and he fails because he didn't have time to read about how plants grow? Not his fault. The Homework Enforcement Department says.
Yep, this is a great idea.
Read more of my stuff at ThreeSeven.
]]>Monday Awesomeness: You're dealing with the night Prison Break is on, people. Nothing will topple it. I'm a little bit nervous that they won't keep up the quality, but for now, I have no reason to doubt it.
]]>Monday Awesomeness: You're dealing with the night Prison Break is on, people. Nothing will topple it. I'm a little bit nervous that they won't keep up the quality, but for now, I have no reason to doubt it.
The best new Monday show looks to be Samantha Who. The previews look very funny, with the awesome Jean Smart apparently having recovered all her marbles after her stint on 24. Christina Applegate is Samantha Newly, who has just woken up from a head injury with no memory of the heinous bitch she used to be.
Monday Suckage: All new Monday drama. Fox's K-ville looks horrid and insensitive, given that most of New Orleans hasn't fully recovered from Katrina and that crime is a massive real-life problem. NBC's Journeyman looks equally awful, but this one has the advantage of being totally pointless. Finally, NBC's Chuck has a nifty website, but it kind of looks like it's trying too hard to be down with the kids.
Tuesday Awesomeness: The Tudors, a historical series coproduced with ShowTime, with the yummy Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a young Henry VII. Entertainment and Learning wrapped up all in one. Pushing Daisies looks odd, and quirky, and thoroughly strange, but I think it will be worth watching if just for the animation. That might get old quickly, though.
Tuesday Suckage: Cavemen. How someone thought turning a TV commercial into a sitcom would be a good idea, I do not know.
Wednesday Awesomeness: I'm hoping to transfer my once-rabid love for Grey's Anatomy to its spinoff, Private Practice. What the show needs to keep: Funny, smart, slightly oddball but fun plotlines. What the show doesn't need: Shonda Rhimes.
Wednesday Suckage: Life. NBC brands it as a comedy/drama. I really don't see how locking someone up for 12 years for a murder he didn't commit and having him lose everything would be terribly funny.
Thursday Awesomeness: Big Shots. I dunno. It might suck. But if they did it right, it might be seriously funny.
Thursday Suckage: Grey's Anatomy. I'm not going to rant about this again. Let it suffice to say that I would not be surprised in the least if Grey's is axed by the end of the season.
Friday Awesomeness: Not a lot to pick from on Friday. If I have to pick one, I'll go with Torchwood on CBC.
Friday Suckage: Moonlight. Don't watch the preview, it's 2 minutes of your life you could spend far more productively cleaning out your belly button.
Weekend Awesomeness: Da Kink In My Hair, a new series on Global based on the trey anthony play of the same name. Another winner is Brothers and Sisters, a sweet, heartwrenching family drama.
Weekend Suckage: Viva Laughlin. God, who thinks this crap up?
What are my predictions for what's going to be a hit, what's going to be canned, and what's going to be the biggest show of the season? Read the rest at ThreeSeven.
]]>It's a tough life.
]]>It's a tough life.
One of the highlights of my day has become the mail. Arriving between 10 and 11 am, the mail brings untold surprises in to my day. Could a new magazine out of the 14 I subscribe to have arrived? My hometown newspaper? An exciting bill? One never knows what the mail might bring.
Like today.
Today I opened the mailbox to find...
Read the rest at ThreeSeven...
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