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Soulati-'TUDE!

Upscale Toto Toilets Seeking Comfort-Loving American Consumers

05/28/2014 By Jayme Soulati

ALT: "Toilet-Jayme-Soulati"

How about a multitasking toilet, Toto?

Ever remodeled a bathroom and had to select from the wide varieties of commodes? I have done several bathrooms in my time, and ensuring you get a workhorse for less money and fewest gallons per flush is daunting, especially when you look at the price tag.

I looked at the Japanese Toto toilets advertised regularly in the magazines I read; however, the cost for a really neat heated seat with little water usage was nearly the price of the bathroom remodel itself. Instead, I settled for a custom-color Kohler with a self-closing lid so it doesn’t slam.

Toto Toilets Are Smart

Toto toilets are so upscale that few Americans have ever used one. Japan is finally ready to take on the American Standard U.S. market with its smart toilets. Apparently, Toto wants to be like Apple. No one knew they needed an iPhone until Apple came along and made phones smart. Same goes for toilets, according to Toto’s chief executive, Mr. Yoshiaki Fujimori.

In a Wall Street Journal story May 27, 2014, Smart Toilets Arrive in U.S., Fujimori said,”Industry presents iPhone–industry presents shower toilet.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Branding Tagged With: Apple, Bathroom, iPhone, Japan, Kimberly-Clark, Smart Toilet, Toto, United States, Washlet

Rolling Stone PR Faux Pas

07/18/2013 By Jayme Soulati

flawsome.jpgToday, the sentiment by many an American is to Boycott Rolling Stone. Is that the same reaction by its 20-something readership?

That publication put the Boston Bomber on its cover looking sultry and sexy. Why?

It’s said the editors/publishers put that teenager in the demographic of its readership and thus the publication owed it to (whom?) to cover the topic. In its defense, the magazine did say the kid became a monster on its cover albeit in small print.

The Rolling Stone PR Faux Pas

What exactly is the faux pas of Rolling Stone? It’s abiding by rights granted by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; freedom of speech in this regard.

What then did Rolling Stone do to piss of America?

It took an emotional issue oriented to terrorism against this country and portrayed it unerringly on the cover of its well- read and highly subscribed to-popular magazine.

Sure enough, Rolling Stone created a global PR crisis for itself. Prior to Rolling Stone publishing its cover, editors and publishers had weeks to prepare for the backlash that would and did inevitably result.

They developed messaging; they consulted lawyers; they trained; they wrote statements for public consumption; they readied the flood gates. They knew it; they ignored it; they welcomed it.

Now, media the likes of Dayton Daily News, a small community paper catering to less than 1 million, are running the story and cover to capitalize on the debacle. Of course, that’s how the gravy train works. Blood sells, after all.

How many Facebook posts did you read yesterday that are anti-Rolling Stone? Did traffic increase exponentially to its website to the point of busting the server?

The magazine didn’t care; it wanted this attention knowing full well the emotional upheaval would come and pass. Knowing full well the teens and 20-something readers and potential subscribers would devour the coverage and buzz about it on their social channels, too.

The outcry against the choice Rolling Stone made to exonerate a soon-to-be-convicted terrorist against the United States of America is just.

What’s unjust are the lives and limbs lost and horrific emotional upheaval as a result of the crimes perpetuated against the Boston marathoners, spectators and this country’s citizens.

In this case, Rolling Stone went too damn far. No act of terrorism should be regarded as opportunistic by media pushing the envelope of public dissent to see just how far it can go.

I customarily applaud corporations for testing waters and planning a publicity stunt for 10 minutes of fame. In this case, that magazine disgusts me for its obvious lack of sensitivity. Please, corporate America, withdraw your advertising spend and put it toward funds for victims of the Boston Marathon. They need help to regain a semblance of normalcy in a life disrupted. Please, corporate America, your customers will thank you.

(Jayme Note: This piece is not for me to capitalize; I rarely write about such things when they occur, e.g. Paula Deen. In this situation, I couldn’t rest.)

Related articles
  • Rolling Stone’s Journalistic Faux Pas
  • Rolling Stone made an excellent journalistic move – but we’re still allowed to be angry.
  • Man on the Edge – Is Rolling Stone Glorifying a Terrorist?
  • Rolling Stone defends ‘rock star’ front cover featuring Boston marathon bombing suspect
  • Magazine Cover Ethics: The Cute Terrorist and The Rolling Stone Boycott
  • Rolling Stone puts Boston Marathon bombing suspect on cover – Chicago Tribune
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Filed Under: Branding, Public Relations Tagged With: Boston, Boston Marathon, Dayton Daily News, Facebook, Public Relations, Rolling Stone, Terrorism, United States

The Happy Friday Series: 24 #RockHot Guest Authors

07/05/2013 By Jayme Soulati

thank-you.jpgThe day after a U.S. holiday is always low key, and that’s why we’re going to bang it up today and clang the pots and pans in honor of the 24 #RockHot guest authors I cajoled, nudged, begged, and just plain old invited to write for the longest-running series a blog has ever had (and longest sentence, too!).

What began as an experiment with zero nada expectation has become a weekly post on Fridays about happy. Thank you to each of you below who willingly participated and accepted my invite to be part of this blogger’s happiness project out of the blue.

Along the way, two goals were created:

1. That Jayme Soulati would never need to write (because nothing was in queue) unless she wanted to (Secret: I have a post I wrote after something significant occurred and I will post it when there’s a need.)

2. To get through one entire year of guest authors every Friday until mid-January (Jan. 17, 2013 launched the series), and so far so good!

Without further ado, let’s get on with the show! I thank, am grateful, adore, appreciate, and have so much respect for each of the people in this community below who so graciously shared a piece of their happy. XO to each and all.

24 #RockHot Happy Guest Authors

Each of these titles begins with “The Happy Friday Series:”

January 11, 2013 — Everyone’s Happy! Kick off post by Jayme Soulati

January 18, 2013 — Power Of A Smile by Peg Fitzpatrick

January 25, 2013 — Top Five Cheery Songs by Susan Silver

February 1, 2013 — Creating Optimism in Traffic on Foursquare by Paula Kiger

February 8, 2013 — Glass Half Empty And Happy by Jenn Whinnem

February 15, 2013 — Five Favorite Dances by Erin Feldman

February 22, 2013 — Smiles From Alaska by Amber-Lee Dibble

March 1, 2013 — Should Life Be Serious? by Jamie Wallace

March 8, 2013 — Science of Happiness and Do-Overs by Geoff Reiner

March 15, 2013 — Finding Happy with Scoliosis by Sandy Appleyard

March 22, 2013 — Embrace Happiness Today by Mark Harai

March 29, 2013 — Be The Sun And Serve by Betsy Cross

April 5, 2013 — How To Find Your Happy by Amber-Lee Dibble

April 12, 2013 — Let Go Of Sad by Nancy Jean

April 19, 2013 — A Chat With Pooh by Stan Faryna

April 26, 2013 — Five Seconds And Happy by Brian Meeks

May 3, 2013 — What’s So Great About Being Happy? by Sharon Gilmour-Glover

May 10, 2013 — Spring Does Come To New England by Michelle Quillin

May 17, 2013 — Tunes of Time by Brad Lovett

May 24, 2013 — Amazing Online Friends by Kristen Daukas

May 31, 2013 — Beads, Buttons and Crochet by  Christine Esposito

June 7, 2013 — Fine Art Photography and Family by Ed King

June 14, 2013 — Taking Risk For Desert Passion by Brian Wrabley

June 21, 2013 — Life-Crafting Goals to Push The Envelope by Adrienne Jandler

June 28, 2013 — Thriving Or  Surviving? by Carolyn Nicander Mohr

How To Write For The Happy  Friday Series

Yes, it is no small feat to find a different guest author weekly for this series. That’s why you ought to consider it. I’m told it’s a highly therapeutic happening. When you think about what makes you truly happy or what your interpretation of happiness is and could be, writing about it becomes an awakening.

Happiness is introspective and few of us desire to take that kind of hard look inside; when you do you share among friends and it feels so very good.

If you care to write for this series, and I implore you to consider it, here’s how:

1. Send me a note, tweet, post of intent everywhere (even in the comment section below).

2. Write your post and give yourself two weeks to get it done.

3. Deliver it with an author bio, photo for the story, links to your blog, etc.

4. If the headline or content within needs tweaking, I reserve the right to edit. If the content really needs tweaking, I’ll send back to you for review and approval.

5. Share the heck out of it when it appears here!  Easy!

(P.S. There are bound to be link mistakes above; please inform me right away, and I will correct! Thank you!)

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Filed Under: Happy Friday Series Tagged With: Author, Friday, Google+, Happy Friday Series, Jayme Soulati, LinkedIn, Social Media, United States

Anatomy Of Feel-Good PR Stories

05/14/2013 By Jayme Soulati

desert-tortoise.jpg

advocacy.britannica.com

The single-best place to find the single-best headlines in addition to feel-good PR stories is the bottom feature story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Within these pieces are sensational and zany stories about topics you can’t imagine. Today’s story is one of the best feel-good features I’ve seen there in awhile as it melds the rough and tough U.S. Marine Corps with the desert tortoise.

Yes, our nation’s military dual as conservationists. Hard to believe, eh?

The Story

On a training exercise in the deserts of California, in Twentynine Palms to be exact, the troops were charging a hill and shooting at targets until one of the softer-hearted screamed “tortoise alert!” (Those last four words are speculation.)

The exercise ceased and the turtle doctor was called to the scene; he’s part of “a little-known army of biologists and other scientists who manage the Mojave desert tortoise and about 420 other threatened and endangered species on about 28 million acres of federally managed military land.”

When the tortoises are scared, they pee themselves. I’m only telling you that so I can use this word I’ve never seen from the story…”an unplanned micturition can cause dehydration and even death.” (The best explanation for that is the turtle wets the bed, and BTW? My spell check did not like that word.)

So, the biologist shows the Marines how to soak the reptiles in water until they drink enough to carry on. Apparently, these desert dwellers don’t need a drink for about two years, and when they dribble from fear, their supply of water is exhausted.

Elements of a Good PR Story

Let’s look at why this story works for national news:

  • Endangered species protected on federal reserves
  • A team of biologists functioning within the military under a bit of secret cover
  • The Marine Corps doing drills in the Mojave desert
  • The Marine Corp as conservationists; ceasing all ops until the tortoise families are safely moved to distances away from training sites.
  • Background about the reptile and its habits (the water factoids)

And, that really good headline tops it off, “The Few, the Proud, the Tortoises: Marines Protect Endangered Species; An Army of Biologists Are on Nature Patrol at Military Bases; ‘Walking Ravioli’

Your Good PR Story

Considering trying for national news with a good media relations professional? Here are some elements you can’t be without:

  • Hard news with a soft news twist
  • Current events angle; news that ties in with world affairs
  • Data: could be new research, patterns of behavior
  • Third-party Spokesperson: academic, scientist or other expert to vouch for the data
  • Consumer: Person who receives the service, uses the product with a good story
  • Company executive: Someone with the Message Map in hand who can present the company in proper light

The final item on your list is to have a professional pitch this to national media. It will be a huge challenge if you try to do it yourself.

By Jayme Soulati

Related articles
  • DESERT TORTOISE: There’s an app for that
  • Unwanted Pet Desert Tortoises Spur New Rule
  • Storytelling And The Media Relations Pitch Revisited
  • Five Tips About Earned Media
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Filed Under: Media Relations Tagged With: California, Desert tortoise, Endangered species, Marine, Media Relations, Mojave, Mojave Desert, PR, Public Relations, United States, Wall Street Journal

Twitter Hoax Spirals Markets

04/24/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Hackers got into an Associated Press Twitter account on April 23, 2013 and erroneously tweeted that two bombs in the White House had injured President Obama.

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

Stocks took an immediate downward spiral, “erasing $200 billion of value from U.S. stock markets Tuesday, underscoring the vulnerability of financial markets to computerized trading programs that buy and sell shares without human intervention,” according to today’s Wall Street Journal front page.

In the rest of the article, the alleged responsible party is the Syrian Electronic Army, a group backing Syrian President Assad. The group has apparently hacked into other national media in the U.S. and tagged websites.

The electronic software that deciphers tweets to influence trading are programmed to detect “bomb, hacked, blowing up” and other key words that indicate a disaster or lack thereof.

But, the facts remain; this incident took place over two minutes and U.S. markets were affected, although they nearly recovered the loss at the close of trading.

The Influence of Twitter

Let’s digest this story a moment. I’ll wait.

Were you astonished that a mere tweet could affect the financial markets of the U.S. with extension into global trading? Two minutes is not long, but apparently it is for traders.

At some brokerages, the humans (not the computer programs) with cognitive ability to monitor news feeds to corroborate a White House explosion, mentioned to traders, “careful, these Twitter ” and no phone calls were made to clients. Smart.

Luckily, the Associated Press took swift action to tweet retractions and hacked posts so everyone knew; however, the damage was done. Cyber-terrorism at its finest.

Analyze Your Twitter Account

  • How’s your password? When has it been changed?
  • Who has access to your corporate or company account?
  • Do agencies or third parties have your passwords?
  • What are they permitted to say?
  • Does the C-Suite monitor the Twitter stream to ensure content passes muster?
  • Who monitors the stream all day long?
  • What if your company didn’t monitor all day and your account was hacked, how long would it take for you to catch an erroneous tweet?

The likelihood of hackers caring about a small company account on Twitter is probably low; but stranger things have happened.Twitter has become a channel of influence; it’s no longer “I’m having steak for dinner tonight.” Pay attention, People; we’re in an era where our owned messages are sometimes not ours.

 

 

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Filed Under: Public Relations Tagged With: Associated Press, financial trading, hoax, Twitter, United States, Wall Street Journal, White House

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