FreeThink: October 2007

FreeThink: a blog published by Maxwell PR

Social Networking = Less Social

Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, there's no doubt about it - if you're looking for a social networking site you have plenty to choose from. Part of the appeal of these sites is the ability to portray your ideal self - hiding your flaws and in the process acquiring hundreds of "friends." Yet by trying to fit the socially accepted mold are we at risk for losing ourselves in the process?

A recent article from the Christian Science Monitor found that heavy users of online social networking "feel less socially involved with the community around them." What does this mean? Even though technology is an integral part of our lives, and as part of "Generation Y" I'm as heavily connected as the worst of them, I propose a revolutionary idea: next time you're looking for some social interaction go offline - call people you know in the real world and meet them face to face. See what happens when there’s not a computer between you, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

-Katy

posted on October 31, 2007

A blog about "The Slog"

Horizon Air recently launched a new ad campaign aimed at travelers going between Seattle and Portland. The 200-mile stretch of Interstate 5 dubiously received the name, "The Slog," depicted as an Oregon Trail of sorts, filled with hardships and strife.

The campaign is anchored with a cleanly designed Web site, and is accompanied by online videos highlighting the various points along the way and effective radio ads that always happen to air when there's traffic. The campaign also includes print ads and a branded truck that makes stops along the highway to hand out brochures.

In short: we think this is an effective and creative way to reach a commuter audience, and the smart-and-snarky advertising industry newsletter Adrants thinks it's one of the best airline campaigns the editors have ever seen.

- Laura

posted on October 29, 2007

Kashi Barters for Better Living

Kashi, a favorite brand of Maxwell PR, is in the midst of a sampling program The Great Snack Drive that encourages people to trade in their junk food for healthier Kashi TLC snacks. Consumers could meet up with the road trip when it stopped in San Diego, Chicago, Boston and New York, or go online to make the trade virtually and have a yummy Kashi alternative sent to them.

This got me thinking: when promoting a healthier product and an overall more natural lifestyle, does it help any if the customer goes back to their house filled with old habits and unhealthy brands?

This program is great because it not only allows for the opportunity to try better-for-you items, but also provides an outlet through which to purge the bad. To date, 909,278 snacks have been traded, according to the online Snack-o-Meter. Way to go, Kashi.

- Sam

posted on October 24, 2007

The Longshot

Whether you're an amateur chef, golfer, or homebrewer, you probably have visions of making it to the "big time" and getting your own show, making the tour or seeing your beer on the shelf at local supermarkets or stores. Chefs have the Food Network, Golfers, the U.S. Open and homebrewers, Sam Adams gives you the "Longshot" - my personal favorite.

The Longshot is pretty simple, brewers enter their beer into four regional competitions and the four "Best in Show" beers from each region moves on to the finals at the Great American Beer Festival. At the festival, two finalists are selected and their beers join a third - a Sam Adams employee-brewed beer - in the Longshot six pack available in stores February 2008. Not only does Sam Adams make the beer, but the winners' name, hometown and picture are on every label.

I commend Sam Adams founder, Jim Koch, for being true to his homebrewing roots and giving every one of us a shot at finding our face on a bottle. I took my shot last year and definitely will do it again.

- Bruce

posted on

Good Company Hunting

I've been struggling for some time to reconcile the adoption of the green movement by mainstream business. Is it authentic? Is it motivated by values or consumer trends? Will it water down standards people fought so hard to establish? I don't have all the answers yet, but I have noticed a silver lining. Businesses and individuals that live their values to the core are raising the bar.

Check out http://www.bcorporation.net/, a new community of businesses - Seventh Generation and Method are among the founding companies - that is challenging the difference between a good company and just good marketing. And Treehugger today highlighted a new social networking site called http://www.actics.com/, which they dub an ethical Facebook. Here's what they said: "You choose your corporate or personal values and state how you act them out. It is then up to your friends, clients or investors to rate you out of 100 for how true you are to your values. To help you out, they can also send you suggestions and endorse you. A great feature of this software is that a plugin, showing your ethical performance, can be integrated into your website or your company's intranet if you want to share your results with a bigger network."

It'll be interesting to watch who is up to the challenge.

- Jen Maxwell-Muir

posted on October 23, 2007

The Auro Ring: A Runaway Success

In July we launched a sampling program for Auro EZ Match socks for kids, called The Auro Ring. What was meant to be a two month giveaway period lasted all of three hours, as that is the amount of time it took to have 8,000 people register for a free pair of socks.

If you haven't heard of them, Auro EZ Match socks are comfy cozy and have a three ring system that makes sorting the laundry a snap, check it out at http://www.aurosocks.com/. It's been awesome to see how many people out there love the Auro brand as much as we do. In the months since the launch of The Auro Ring we have developed additional incentives and there are now close to 24,000 members!

In case you've ever wondered, people LOVE socks.

- Sam

posted on October 22, 2007

From The Newest Maxwell-ite: Kim VanSyoc

Before starting at my new job at a much smaller PR firm, I frequently reminded myself that people often say good things come in small packages. Jewelry - check. Chocolate - check. An envelope with plane ticket to somewhere sunny in the middle of winter - check. A new job - TBD.

Now that I've been a member of the Maxwell team for one week, I've learned that good things don't come in small packages - really great things do. While Maxwell may be a smaller PR firm in terms of the team size, clients and square-footage, their ideas are bigger than anyplace I've ever been! In fact, the ideas are so big that I'm a little ashamed I ever questioned the contents of this small package. And, to be honest, I have a feeling I'm not alone.

So, to those potential clients who have overlooked boutique agencies because they are unsure of their ideas and capabilities or potential employees that are simply wooed by big names and big buildings, here's some food for thought: the Mini Cooper didn't become a world-renowned phenomenon because it was big.

- Kim

posted on October 11, 2007

	This spirited, open forum by Maxwell PR staff members, studio mates and colleagues features people who are, in our opinion, doing the right things to get people talking. You'll see us rave about organizations building communities and rant about those who are missing obvious opportunities. We sprinkle in a little marketing and PR rhetoric from time to time for extra vigor and enthusiasm, and will share observations and insight based on our own experience honing our craft every day.

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