Area 224

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What IS Area 224?

Believe it or not, we get the question all the time. As we near the anniversary (ahem, 02.24.09) of the firm’s founding, maybe we should explain how we got the name?

Simply, 224 is an area code here in the North Suburbs of Chicago. It’s an overlay area code – but it’s not just for mobile phones. The story goes that this part of town ran out of numbers quickly when 847 – which equates to “VIP” on the letters on the phone, look it up – was created. So 224 was  launched, but not used all that often.

Checkmark
Random checkmark because why not?

More to the point here, we made a call once to a neighbor, from our own 224 number, and they asked if we were in Texas on business. No…

This got me thinking that part of my job – at the intersection of digital and traditional communications, social and mobile, PR and marketing – is to demystify concepts. “Area 224” sounds mysterious. Reality: not that mysterious.

Same with communicating your message. Don’t overthink it.

We’ve launched and relaunched a couple times, had a few changes to the website, had to deal with a tech issue here and there. And we don’t blog like we used to…but that’s okay, since we’re working.

What IS Area 224?

So yeah, here we are – Area 224 is an integrated marketing communications firm that can work with you to help you better connect to stakeholders, better get your messages across, and better impact the bottom line.

Thanks for stopping by. Spin through the blog posts and let us know if we can help.

Written by · Categorized: PR

How to Learn PR from Pinterest, Downton Abbey and Susan G Komen

Pink Car
Used with cc License, thanks Fabrice79

What a week, huh? If you haven’t been paying attention, you missed a ton. Here’s a recap. Oh, and spin on over to New Frugality to take a look at a cool side project that Dave’s part of.

1. Pinterest is officially huge – and possibly overrated.

Heard about Pinterest yet? Well, we don’t wanna explain it – we’ll leave that up to the experts. Like Francisco over at Social Mouths. His post tells you just about everything you need to know about Pinterest.

What’s the PR takeaway?

80 percent of users, according to Francisco, are female. Thus, know your audience.

The delightful Sean McGinnis asks whether Pinterest will become the next Quora or Empire Avenue. Good questions.

2. Downton Abbey is worth the hype.

Haven’t seen the BBC-turned-PBS English Lords and Ladies Programme yet? Neither had Dave before two weeks ago.

Now, I’m officially hooked. And almost caught up. Why? It’s a quality program(me).

What’s the PR takeaway?

Storytelling is NOT going anywhere. Thus, learn to write – and learn how to tell a story.

The richness of prose is not JUST because people spoke more formally back in the day (the 1910s). The complex characters, the story arcs that are going for years. When’s the last time you actually sat down and planned your business for the long term?

3. Susan G Komen for The Cure didn’t read the tea leaves.

Yeah, it’s a firestorm. But, as Dave shared on Facebook earlier today, the real issue here isn’t pro-life vs. pro-choice, or access to women’s health care. The real issue is “pinkwashing.”

What’s the PR takeaway?

Think things through, and don’t be a bully. Thus, just because someone wants to give you money in exchange for association with their brand – make sure that’s a good idea.

Komen underestimated how polarizing this issue would be; as a result of their off-again, on-again support of Planned Parenthook, they alienated first the Left, then the Right. AND, as a result, they are now subject to more questions – from the Left, Right AND Middle – as to how they spend their money, what they spend it on, and whether it’s all supporting their cause – or just pinkwashing.

Pink Guns Don’t Help, either.

Hype from Pinterest, Story from Downton Abbey, and Pinkwashing from Komen. Lots of PR Learning this week.

 

Learn from the Big Boys – Connections R Us

Fiber Optics
Thanks, watradehub.com
Want to be a real, live, in-the-flesh Social Media Marketer Extraordinaire? Start with these steps. Seriously.

The Daily Dose of Advice comes from Scott Stratten, UnMarketing himself.

“Reminder to take 5 minutes to reply to others today. Engage. Interact. Build.”

But how, really, truly, do you DO that? And can you invest only 5 minutes and make connections?

Well, yes. And no. We went with 10 minutes, you may want 15 or 20 or 30. But 2011 is all about small steps toward big things. So here goes.

1. Set the e.ggtimer. We said that you can learn from the big boys here, and there’s no bigger boy in the world of lifestyle redesign than Tim Ferriss. He’s the guy who first tipped us onto the timer. It is awesome for two reasons: (1) simplicity and (2) keeping you on task. We recommend you set it for 10 Minutes.

2. Begin surfing. We recommend you do this BEFORE looking at emails but AFTER getting your daily fix of Facebook and Twitter. Why? You want to get some mental cues from what you’ve seen on those sites – but you don’t want to make this reliant on what work is clogging your inbox.

Huh? Well, there are folks we are friends with on Facebook and connected with on Twitter who aren’t world famous. That’s part of the mission here. Learn from the Big Boys, but connect with the others, too.

3. Comment if you have something to add. We hit up a couple sites upon the recommendations of friends and contacts. On Quora, which is getting a tremendous amount of buzz, we had, well, nothing to add. Yet. But the standout site from Danny Brown got us thinking. And commenting.

4. Keep track. Chris Brogan recommends a spreadsheet or a Google Doc or a CRM program. Awesome.

Is that it?

Well, this should be part of a daily ritual. ESPECIALLY if you want to make real connections with real people.

Why Are We Doing This Again?

Spending the balance of the year posting items that didn’t make it out of our “Drafts” folder. You’ll thank us later.

You are not alone in hating busy work. Busy work is not cool, a real downer, very unhip.

We had great dialogue recently with a guy named Mike Cassidy, also known as Membership Jedi.  Mike tells us that he likes to ask WTFF – or, to be more Rated G, “Why Are We Doing This Again?”

Actually, Mike’s thoughts are really good ones – and, when applied to Social Media Marketing, really timely. Here’s an example, “ripped from the headlines,” using a hypothetical company that is ready to “dabble” in Social Media.

Executive Team: “Let’s Get On Tweeter.”

You: “Why?” (NOTE: Don’t correct the executive team at this juncture.)

ET: “It’s what every other [insert industry] company is doing.”

You: “Why?”

ET: “It will allow us to connect with our customers.”

You: “Why?”

ET: “So they can tell us what they like about us.”

You: NOW it’s time to stop asking “Why?” And here’s why.

Depending on your industry, you’re going to have a varying degree of “like” of your products. If you are a mobile phone company and you have a spotty network, the “likes” will be focused on issues centered around things that don’t matter to the user experience, like how pretty your logo is.

And in just about any industry, your likes are going to be ratcheted up higher and higher depending upon what level of bounty you are putting on the like. “Like us and get a $5 coupon.” “Like us and be entered for a chance to win a spanking new vehicle.” The execs need to know that the like has to be attached to something – and they may not like what they’re hearing.

Be prepared, young Jedi, with a solution, too.

If you’re in a high-volume customer interaction universe, it could be possible that the “dislikes” are already being registered when the customer is on the phone with a rep, or in the store at the cash register. Solution: get hold of that feedback. Measure what that would mean to your department if you had to act on it on behalf of the organization. Provide an alternative – even if that alternative means “doing nothing.”

In most cases, the knee-jerk reaction from the Executive Team is “get us on the Flavor of the Week.” That Flavor right now is Social Media, but in a few months it could be something entirely different. If you ask why, and you do so in an insightful way, and you provide solutions to the potential problems, you’ll be well on your way to selling this social thing. IF it makes sense for your company.