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  • Hyundai’s “Suicidal” Marketing Crisis

    In April of 2013, Hyundai released a commercial known as “Pipe Job” that left many people in the UK confused and shocked. The commercial’s primary goal was to illustrate the car’s new water engine emissions in a humorous way. However, due to this very commercial, Hyundai soon found itself in a potentially “suicidal” PR and marketing crisis.

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    The ad was written about a topic that should clearly never be joked about and is very personal for many people across the world. The ad shows a man who is attempting suicide through inhaling harmful emissions, but fails due to the company’s new water engine emissions. Obviously, Hyundai released this ad in hopes that their audience would find humor in the failure of his attempt at suicide because of their water engine emissions. The company soon found that the ad produced the opposite effect. One of the main people who caused the uproar regarding this commercial was blogger Holly Brockwell. Holly wrote an emotional post regarding this poor taste in marketing.

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    Unfortunately for Hyundai, this entire crisis could have been somewhat avoided. While of course it could have been completely avoided by simply never allowing the commercial to air, it could have also been avoided if the company had a crisis management plan implemented. Instead, Hyundai was slow in their apologies and even ignored reporters when they reached out for answers. This lack of communication for those with questions is what ultimately left Hyundai in a PR crisis that was nearly impossible to overcome. While Hyundai finally released apologies and statements, the damage that has been done is immeasurable. In the end, companies must be proactive when dealing with crises that involve their products to have a chance at managing them before they have a chance to become something larger.

    -Ryan Nagy

  • Averting Crisis In San Fransisco

    For most companies, an intern can be a great asset to the inner workings of an organization. However, for one Oakland TV station, KTVU, a single intern from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) managed to put them right in the middle of a national crisis. On July 6th 2013, after an Asiana Airlines flight crashed during its landing in San Francisco, news stations jumped at the opportunity to be the first to report on the crash and have the most up to date information. Sadly, in the rush to get information to the public, producers at the KTVU station verified false information from an intern regarding the names of the pilots on board the flight. The names provided to the news anchor were not only racist but very disrespectful.

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    The negligence of the TV station and their failure to confirm sources and exercise careful editing resulted in negative worldwide media attention. KTVU confirmed incorrect names that were given to them by an intern working at NTSB. Careless editing must have occurred for the producers to think that these were probable names of the pilots. Also, the producers should have done further fact checking because the source ended up being unreliable and unofficial.  The intern at the NTSB who provided the false information was consequently fired from their position.

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    When publishing a news story, it is crucial to not act with a reckless disregard for whether the information shared is false or not because the station could be sued for actual malice. Asiana Airlines could have opted to sue KTVU for defamation but did not to do so. This particular situation portrays why the media has laws such as these in place to prevent false and damaging claims being published publicly. The airplane company Boeing also attempted to manage the crisis through social media, stating in a tweet that “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by today’s incident at SFO.  We stand ready to assist the NTSB.” Boeing stood by the NTSB and supported them because although they had nothing to do with the racist remarks, they knew that the incident was the effect of careless editing and negligence.

    As part of their crisis management plan, the Office of Public Affairs issued a press release on behalf of the NTSB formally apologizing for the “inaccurate and offensive names.” They issued a statement of regret followed by corrective action, “We work hard to ensure that only appropriate factual information regarding an investigation is released and deeply regret today’s incident. Appropriate actions will be taken to ensure that such a serious error is not repeated.”

    Do you feel that the NTSB and KTVU handled this crisis to the best of their ability?  What other incidents have you seen in the news that have resulted in a formal public apology?

    -Aaron Love, Kara Zimmerman, Rachel Clay, Rebecca Hobbs

  • Crisis, Chaos, and Control

    Just last week a gunman open fired at the LAX airport, killing a security guard and injuring two others. The damage could have been much worse had it not been for the quick response of airport police. The terrifying incident was reported live by bystanders who used social media outlets such as Twitter and Instagram to relay their experiences.

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    All major news channels picked up the violent and tragic story, each shedding its own perspective and suggesting motives. However, it quickly became evident that not all reports were verified. LA Times had to retract their false statement that the gunman was dead due to their rush to be the first to put out information.

    In crisis situations such as the shooting at the LAX airport, there is no doubt that today’s media outlets are timely in relaying information to their audience. However, there is a major problem with the accuracy of this information. While it may seem better to have some information available to the public, rather than none, there can be disturbing side effects if news outlets provide incorrect information.

    Then, almost one week after the shooting, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck commented on the incident, requesting improved “curbside camera surveillance at LAX, noting that police “struggled” to determine how a gunman arrived at the airport in last week’s deadly rampage.” By not having a firmer and quicker response to the LAX shooting, the incident has left room for speculation. There has been a public outcry on what should be taken from the shooting, and what security issue is most pressing.

    While it is evident that the media is quick to respond to crisis situations, the quality with which they address tragedies such as the LAX shooting needs to be considered. The public must remember that a quick response by news broadcasts doesn’t necessarily mean that the information is reliable, and a delayed response by officials most certainly doesn’t help crisis situations either.

    -Meghan Carey, Jade Lester

  • #YTMA… What’s that?

    This past Sunday, November 3rd, YouTube decided to take a leap and reinvent the fundamentals of music video awards as we know them; YouTube held their inaugural YouTube Music Awards (YTMA). The live-streamed event, sponsored by Kia, took place in New York City. Directed by Spike Jonze, YTMA was an interesting and unconventional mix of miscellaneous acts, unscripted hosts (Jason Schwartzman and Reggie Watts), and awkward moments. Although they received criticism of their “home made” feel they did one-up their MTV awards competitors in one aspect, along with live performances by popular artist such as Eminem, Lady Gaga, and Arcade Brothers they also incorporated “live music videos”.

    According to Ad Age, YouTube averages more than 1 billion viewers each month and is owned by Google, the most powerful of all internet companies. With this is mind we can only assume that the YTMA was a huge success. Wrong! The viewership was astonishing low, it was only viewed by 220,000 people at its peak; to put this into perspective the MTV VMA’s viewership was at 10.1 million this year.

    So where did they go wrong? Although both Kia and Youtube advertised on their websites’ homepages for some time prior to the event. YouTube neglected to realize the importance of advertising on their mobile app.  This was a huge miss to their prime public because mobile apps are 40% of where their user base are present.

    Also, unlike watching music video awards on TV, YouTube had a social media disadvantage.  Like many live TV events YMTA did have a hashtag, #YTMA, for viewers to tweet while watching the event. The hashtag reached a decent number of about 30,000 tweets, but there was potential to have had much more. Once again they forgot to keep in mind that many of their viewers watch from mobile devices, making it difficult to watch and tweet at the same time. This resulted with a large decrease of tweets about YTMA when the event went live, which possibly hindered other tweeters to start viewing.

    These two factors alone go against the Audience Theory by Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca which states “approaches will achieve the greatest adherence according to an ideal audience.”  YouTube’s target audience is the social media and mobile users, and because YouTube did not take into account these minor but impacting factors, it may have cost them viewers.  Nicholas Carr the author of The Shallows says, “most TV shows and movies are also trying to become more Web-like”. I think YouTube may be going in the wrong direction. They have excelled as an online video website, for their sake they should keep it that way and stop trying to be more TV-like.

    -Kelsey Raskob

  • Now You Know What The Fox Says

    Music is a universal language. No matter what country you are from or what form of dialect you speak, music can touch souls and be listened to by everyone, regardless if you can understand the words or not. With this being so, music comes in many forms and continues to evolve throughout the generations. The pressure in the music industry has always been to create the newest, most creative style of music and present it in a fresh approach. The expectancy violation theory explains one’s reaction to an unexpected event or behavior. Violating this is a tactic that is actually the objective for many artist today. Catching viewers off guard by showing them something different they would never expect, is what sells records. Bard Ylvisaker and his brother Vegard accomplished just this when they posted their Youtube video “The Fox.” Their goal was to create a funny video by singing about something totally random in a serious looking manor. The video by the Norwegian duo was never expected to reach the popularity it did, having more than 120 million views to date. What set this video and song apart from the other millions of video’s that have been posted to Youtube, is the fact that it does exactly what this theory states, it violates all expectations viewers had prior to watching it.

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    Who would have guessed by simply looking at the title “The Fox”, that this video would take something random such as the sound made by a fox, and create a serious and professional music video revolving around the amusing topic. Saying the video has gone viral is an understatement. The brothers and their video have done everything from playing live at a Lower East Side club, to making appearances on the Today show, and even having an article written about them in the world-famous magazine Rolling Stone. They quote in the magazine “We’re exhausted, but like, a happily exhausted.” The popularity of this music video has thrown them into a whirlwind of publicity, with their appearances being sought after as the hottest thing to date. Youtube was the perfect platform for a video such as this. Having the visual addition of the music video to accompany the song are what made this concept such a success. A song such as this would have never became such a hit if it were to have been included on a CD track list. As music evolves, so does the ways in which is it presented to the public and the Ylvisaker brothers hit the musical jackpot with their creation, and presentation of this song.

    -Kaitlin Batson, Alex Corrigan, Parker Farfour & Caitlin Ford

  • Her Butt Says What?

    We have all seen bands passing out flyers on the streets and flooding social media with their music trying to create a brand image, but when does this go too far? Self-promotion is the most inexpensive and quickest way for musicians to gain followers, but to make this work you have to differentiate yourself from others and attempt to be “heard by the masses” through all the clutter around you.

    The first person who came to mind was Macy Gray at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. She was wearing a dress stating when her album dropped and “buy it!” written across her backside. Was this a fashion faux pas or genius advertisement? Since Gray was already a well-known musician she knew she was going to be photographed in this dress, which of course would end up all over TV and magazines. Unfortunately, people must have felt some dissonance with this approach because this album only sold 593,000 copies in the US, compared to her On How Life Is album which has sold 3.2 million.

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    More recently, a female artist by the name of Amanda Palmer has promoted herself on the website Kickstarter. This is a website where projects of all kind are brought to life through the direct support of others. Kickstarter states, “Since our launch on April 28, 2009, over $800 million has been pledged by more than 4 million people, funding more than 45,000 creative projects.”

    Here, you can see the video that Palmer made for the site, asking for money to create her first album after breaking away from a major label. While her original goal was only $100,000 she ended up with $1 million and counting. Palmer was successful because she broke through the clutter on the internet and did something different that people noticed. She is also fulfilling her fans needs by letting them contribute to the success of her music.

    Musicians will keep using self-promotion weather it is passing out flyers, using social media, wearing dresses with album dates or even receiving money off Kickstarter. There will always be newer and better methods to promote music, and people like Macy Gray and Amanda Palmer have paved the way for these innovative ways.

    -Ashley Creps

  • Branding Through Your Speakers

    Nowadays it is almost impossible to escape the sounds of music. Beginning with your morning alarm, music can be heard throughout the day whether through a ringtone, car stereo, speakers, or even advertisements. Many companies are harping on this trend by finding ways to integrate particular artists, bands and up-and-coming music groups into their brands.

    The use of music is a strategic marketing tactic because it helps to bridge the gap between companies and consumers by allowing them to share similar lifestyles. If the music used in advertisements positively resonates with the audience, then it is likely that the product will, in-turn, be portrayed positively. According to Simmons and Simmons, “Consumers who live part of their lives through music are passionate people who care about the content they chose to engage in.” This is why the use of music must match the purpose of the message in order to be memorable and thus successful.

    The Uses and Gratifications Theory can also be incorporated into this idea of music and branding. This theory deals with how people use media to their advantage, either to gain something or form some sort of image/relationship with something else. Consumers are also able to use the media for reference to gain knowledge about a brand and their products.  In this case, brands are using music to help form their image and how they want to be seen by their publics.  By purposefully incorporating artists that they think will further their particular commercial, campaign or even runway show, brands can use music to solidify their message and image.

    Taco Bell’s commercial for Doritos Locos Tacos incorporates the use of music by featuring “Take a Walk” by Passion Pit. The commercial features the quick paced song along with multiple snapshots of tacos piling up on top of each other while moving across the screen.  At the end of the ad, the voiceover says “Taking tacos where no one thought they would go.”  This is a small but memorable connection to the title of the song played in the background and would be noticeable to anyone who knew the title or heard the lyrics.  The message Taco Bell was trying to send their audience was that their tacos are easy to take on-the-go and are able to be eaten everywhere.

    Can you think of any examples of how a brand has used a popular artist in their commercial?  How has the music affected the way you think of the brand or company?

     -Aaron Love, Kara Zimmerman, Rachel Clay, Rebecca Hobbs