Can Businesses Learn PR Lessons from Lady Gaga?

Interesting article this month, and fired up feedback from readers, in EverythingPR on key lessons that businesses can learn from, who else but, Lady Gaga.

Yes, I am talking about how you and your company’s conservative CEO might gain a promotional nugget or two from the over-the-top pop singer best known for adorning out of this world getups, making people do a double take.  How can that be, I wondered at first.  But the author actually makes some great points, including differentiating yourself and capitalizing on what makes you different, recognizing your customers, ah fans, and recognizing the power of social media and using it to your advantage.  I would also add not being afraid to be controversial (at times and within reason, this can work for companies and CEOs) and realizing that behind every strong figure is a good PR firm.  

Zenzi Communications, an award-winning, integrated marketing & public relations agency based in San Diego with offices in Boulder, Boston, and San Francisco, has launched a series of events aimed at bringing together local business leaders and industry experts to promote healthy business development and expansion. These events, “Be Known Be Found Fridays,” will be held monthly and will feature a different topic each session.

The topic of the first event is “Integrating Traditional Media with the Digital Ecosystem” and will take place on Friday, June 4, from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m.  Featured speakers include:

- Joe Corr, associate technical director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky

- David Slayden, executive director at Boulder Digital Works

- Thomas Dahl, founder of Akavit Group

- Joe Pezillo, co-founder of Push.io

- Anke Corbin, partner at Zenzi Integrated Marketing

The session will be held at Boulder Digital Works, 1011 Walnut St. Second Floor, Boulder, CO 80302.
Beer and snacks will be served. The event is free and open to business leaders throughout the Boulder and Denver areas.

Attendees should RSVP at http://zenzi.eventbrite.com/. Space is limited.

It is a common – even prescribed – practice in marketing to try and get a high profile name linked with a product to get the word out…to help with the “push”, to add legitimacy, glamour, and popularity. I recently set out to find a celebrity to team up with the Keep A Breast foundation and pro surfer Jodie Nelson for Paddle With Purpose, a 39.8 mile solo paddle from Catalina to Dana Point.  Unfortunately due to movie premiers, tour dates, hair and make-up appointments, etc., my target celebs were unavailable. However, our animal friends are proven crowd pleasers and they come without any requests or monetary needs. All we have to do is let them do what they do naturally and hope the cameras are rolling.

Proven by the success of Jodie Nelson’s amazing solo paddle when “Larry” the 30 foot Minke whale unexpectedly joined Jodie for a portion of her journey. The spontaneity was priceless…it was something that no one person could bring to the table. It was non-threatening, magical and the timing was just perfect. People relate to nature and animals, and definitely some animals rank higher than others. Don’t know of many “whale-haters” – I think they are up there with Giraffes and Panda Bears. We see them as awesome and mysterious and powerful and more importantly we WANT TO SEE THEM! It was pure magic that someone doing something so selfless was unexpectedly accompanied by a gorgeous whale just out doing his own thing.

Larry proved to be a huge and unexpected draw that we could never have planned for – and the Today Show took note! Add to that the fact he will not embarrass himself in interviews or prove to be a fraud, or take up some sexually deviant behaviors. Larry wins on all counts!
Watch the Today Show feature on Jodie and Larry here:

Experience Project helps charities with TwitCause and lands a spot in the San Francisco Chronicle!

Got a tweet to spare? It could help the charity of your choice.

A week ago, a record number of status updates on Twitter and Facebook using the phrase “#BeatCancer” helped raise $70,000 for four non-profit cancer organizations.

Meanwhile, sales of a virtual crop for the popular Facebook game FarmVille raised nearly a half-million real dollars to feed poor children in Haiti. And a group called TwitCause used tweets to promote organic foods and a walk to benefit diabetes research.

These are just a few of many recent examples of how social networks have quickly become a powerful yet inexpensive tool to raise money and awareness for charities, even at a time when the economy has reduced overall donations to nonprofit groups. Read More.

TV Personality Sam the Cooking Guy sliced and diced alongside four local San Diego cooks during the Fresh Express Undressed Salad Contest, held at Von’s Shopping Center in Carmel Valley. Four contestants and fans watched as they prepared and sampled salads using the fresh seasonal greens.  The goal was to use  ingredients designed to highlight the most flavorful qualities of the salad.

Watch the video here: