Marketing Begins At Home :: Public Relations and Social Media From David Parmet

Does Social Media Marketing Mean Socially Responsible?

Published on 2/1/2010 in Clue-less. Comments

Maybe I’m just being a sanctimonious jerk, but…

The other night I noticed certain Mommy bloggers / tweeters hawking a brand of children’s lunch foods owned by a company not known for promoting eating this is – shall we say – healthy. This particular product (rhymes with “unchables”) has more sodium in a single serving than my driveway after a snowstorm and has about as much nutritional value as a cheesecake and a can of soda. And you wonder why Johnny can’t even get out of his chair, let alone read.

The company behind all of this is owned by a conglomerate better known for pushing cigarettes to minors in any country that will let it get away with it.

The promotion itself was quite slick. They even asked respondents to put the appropriate hashtags in their responses. I’m sure it was all very well thought out by very smart and social media-savvy people and it will win scads of awards and be written up in all the social media marketing books that seem to arrive on the bookshelves with alarming regularity ….

But….

Are we really doing ourselves any favors when we stoop to this level? Giving crap away for free to mommy bloggers doesn’t make it any less crappy. And putting the veneer of social media hipness over it just makes the whole thing seem sleety.

At least to me.

But don’t let me rain on your parade by being so sanctimonious.

Marketing to Mommy Bloggers and The FTC (cindikate.com)
Three Reasons Not to Use Influencer Engagement (socialmediatoday.com)

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A SHIFT in New York

Published on 1/29/2010 in Marketing Begins At Home Video Club and NextNY. Comments

DSC_0090, originally uploaded by david parmet.

Last night I joined a gaggle of New York’s most digital in welcoming SHIFT Communications to New York.

Here’s an interview with a obviously delighted Todd Defren who clearly believes New York is ready for SHIFT’s brand of social media savvy:

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I Shoot The Moon

Published on 1/22/2010 in Photography. Comments

moon, originally uploaded by david parmet.

My first attempt at astrophotography.

Basically I attach my D80 to the back of an LX200 using a special adapter and *presto* the telescope becomes a super telephoto with a 2500 mm focal length. This is actually three images combined into one so I could get the whole of the Moon into one frame.

I’ll put up a cleaner version tomorrow.

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Old School With A Slide Rule

Published on 1/15/2010 in Photography and Profound Thoughts. Comments

originally uploaded by david parmet.

Dad says that anyone who can’t use a slide rule is a cultural illiterate and should not be allowed to vote. Mine is a beauty – a K&E 20-inch Log-log Duplex Decitrig

Have Space Suit – Will Travel 1958. by Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988)

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The Social Media Crack House

Published on 1/11/2010 in Stating the Obvious. Comments

Sue and I spent Saturday night at the Roger Smith in Manhattan. I was the winner of the “impress us with your haiku” contest and the room was our reward.

While sitting at the bar, we met Brian. Sue offered him an idea for the next give-away, which he promptly used. And on Sunday morning we ran into Howard Greenstein who was on his way to meet with Aliza Sherman who I didn’t even know was in town.

All of which prompted Sue to observe that this was all getting a bit comfy.

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