Shell Regrets Social Media Campaign

In a creative, but failed attempt to encourage public contribution to its marketing efforts, Shell asked people to submit their own memes. Shell was perhaps naive in thinking that people would support its positive thinking about the company's contribution to the environment.

The campaign around the "Let's Go" slogan brought a mockery of images with captions such as "Because there are still places we haven't f'ked. Let's Drill" and "Proudly plundering and destroying environments for almost 200 years."

At least Shell hasn't hidden from the reaction. On its site, the company has posted the memes and made this statement:

"We at Shell are committed to providing consumers with clean and abundant Arctic energy. We're also committed to the open exchange of ideas and the wonder of human creativity which makes our job possible.

"It is in this spirit that we approached the exciting untapped resource of socialized media with our Let's Go! Arctic user-generated advertising technology. While we do realize that a very small portion of the user-generated content below does not accurately represent Shell's commitment to providing consumers with clean and abundant Arctic energy, this pioneering experiment in user-generated content does reflect our commitment to freedom.

"Shell remains proud of our commitment to freedom. The freedom to develop newly available and abundant Arctic energy reserves. And the freedom our consumers have to discount the work of a very small number of extremist individuals who remain determined to stand in the way of our quest to bring first class heritage technology to bear on the top of the world. We thank you for sharing in our commitment to freedom.

"And thank you for contributing to our Let's Go! Arctic campaign."

Discussion Starters:

• Should Shell have avoided the campaign entirely, knowing that this could be the result-or was this an unintended, unpredictable result?
• How do you assess Shell's reaction-its statement on the website? What else, if anything, should Shell say about the memes received?

NLRB Weighs in on Social Media Policies

What should companies include in their social media policies? The topic is still debatable; again, the National Labor Relations Board is taking issue with several restrictions identified in corporate policies and guidelines.

In a 24-page memo, the general counsel of the NLRB calls out General Motors, DISH Network, and Target as having policies that either too severely restrict employees' online activities or go so far as violate the National Labor Relations Act. The Act protects employees' right to collective bargaining and concerted activity to achieve their demands in the workplace.

The memo provides examples from GM's policy, which the NLRB believes are overly restrictive:

"If you engage in discussion related to [GM], in addition to disclosing that you work for [GM] and that your views are personal, you must also be sure that your posts are completely accurate and not misleading and that they do not reveal non-public company information on any public site."

The NLRB believes that "completely accurate and not misleading" is overly broad and may restrict employees' communication with each other. Similarly, GM's warning that employees should "[t]hink carefully about 'friending' co-workers" discourages employee communication.

DISH and Target have other problems in their policies, according to the NLRB, for example, restricting employees from speaking with reporters and bloggers, and "releas[ing] confidential guest, team member, or company information, respectively. These guidelines prevent employees from sharing information about their working conditions, a provision of the Act. 

The memo highlights Walmart's social media guidelines as a lawful model. Walmart's guidelines broadly discourage "inappropriate postings that may include discriminatory remarks, harassment, and threats of violence or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct."

NLRB on social media

Discussion Starters:

• Assess the NLRB memo. How well is it organized? Is the writing style effective? Is the content clear?
  
• If you were the head of corporate communication for GM, what, if any, changes would you make to the social media policy, which has been in place since 2007, according to GM spokesperson Mary Henige?

Adidas Responds to Controversy over "Shackled" Shoes

Adidas has apologized for an advertisement that some consider racist. The chains around the shoes are said to be reminiscent of slavery-and prisons, particularly because of the orange color. With the tag line, "a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles," the shoes cost $350. A Washington Post article sums up the "dangerous message" Adidas and other companies are sending: "We want your money, but we aren't concerned with being sensitive to your history, culture and socio-economic plight."

 

Outrage was rampant on Facebook, with comments such as this one, posted by Antonio Leche: "Slavery isn't a fashion example. Everyone involved in this show should be fired ASAP! This is the new reason I won't buy any Adidas anymore!"

In a statement, Reverend Jesse Jackson voiced his criticism:

"For Adidas to promote the athleticism and contributions of a variety of African-American sports legends -- especially Olympic heroes Wilma Rudolph and Jesse Owens and boxing great Muhammad Ali -- and then allow such a degrading symbol of African-American history to pass through its corporate channels and move toward actual production and advertisement, is insensitive and corporately irresponsible.

"These slave shoes are odious and we as a people should be called to resent and resist them. If put into production and placed on the market, protests and pickets signs will follow. Adidas cannot make a profit at the expense of commercialized human degradation."

Adidas did respond to the criticism, first with this statement:

"The JS Roundhouse Mid is part of the Fall/Winter 2012 design collaboration between Adidas Originals and Jeremy Scott. The design of the JS Roundhouse Mid is nothing more than the designer Jeremy Scott's outrageous and unique take on fashion and has nothing to do with slavery.

"Jeremy Scott is renowned as a designer whose style is quirky and lighthearted and his previous shoe designs for Adidas Originals have, for example, included panda heads and Mickey Mouse. Any suggestion that this is linked to slavery is untruthful."

Of course, this didn't resolve the controversy, so Adidas tried again-and cancelled the shoe release:

"Since the shoe debuted on our Facebook page ahead of its market release in August, Adidas has received both favorable and critical feedback. We apologize if people are offended by the design and we are withdrawing our plans to make them available in the marketplace."

Discussion Starters:

• What is your view of the Adidas ad? Do you see it as racist, harmless, or something else?
• How do you assess the company's response? What might have been a better response to the criticism?

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, Testifies

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's chairman and chief executive, testified before the Senate Banking Committee regarding losses that could balloon to $5 billion. Questions focused on whether the bank should have done more to stem risky derivative trades by the chief investment office. As a strong opponent of federal banking regulation, Dimon was on the hot seat about this perspective.

In advance of the testimony, BloombergBusinessWeek compiled this "Timeline of Risk," under the article title, "House of Dimon Marred by CEO Complacency Over Unit's Risk."

During the testimony, Dimon made several comments of particular interest to business communication students:

• He referred to the bank as having an "open kimono" with regulators. Dimon used this same odd, but common business expression on Meet the Press. Here's an interesting discussion of the phrase.
• "The American business machine is the best in the world." The New York Times DealBook calls this a "little burst of patriotism." It's a admirable attempt at emotional appeal.
• Jeff Merkley, a senator from Oregon, said that JPMorgan Chase was saved by the 2008 bailouts. According to DealBook, this was the first time Dimon got "testy." He replied, "You're factually wrong," to which Merkley said, "Let's agree to disagree." Business communication students may question what constitutes a "fact" in this disagreement. 

Discussion Starters:

• What the entire video testimony. At what points is Jamie Dimon most and least convincing?
• What are the strongest and weakest lines of questioning by the senators?
• Overall, did Dimon's testimony strengthen or weaken JPMorgan Chase's credibility regarding the losses?

Apple Keynote at the Worldwide Developer's Conference

Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, was the keynote speaker at the 23rd Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco. Apple showcases its new products and software at this annual event for developers.

Siri, Apple's intelligent assistant, was the opening act for Cook's keynote (watch here). After a few jokes and Garage Band drum strokes to warm up the crowd, Cook took the stage. He focused on the scope of Apple's business and the developers' role, for example, creating 650,000 apps now available.

Cook emphasized his pride in seeing developers work on Apple technologies to make a difference in people's lives, and he showed a video to highlight a few apps used by blind people and teachers.

Mashable assessed Cook's performance in this way:

"It wasn't as if Cook lacked presence; if anything, he seems more comfortable on stage. He grinned broadly. He spoke with far more passion than at his previous two events as CEO, the iPhone 4S and new iPad launches. There were a few moments where, hands steepled, gaze fixed, Cook seemed almost to choke up when praising Apple developers as employees."

Other executives then introduced a new line of Macbooks and new features on operating systems. No new iPads or iPhones were introduced.

Discussion Starters:

• Watch the first 15 minutes of the keynote here. If you were Cook's speech coach, how would you summarize his strengths? What suggestions would you have for his future speeches?
• Consider the audience's perspective: in what ways did the first 15 minutes appeal to developers?

Start-Ups Banish Traditional Meetings

According to a BloombergBusinessWeek article, shorter and fewer meetings are preferred in start-up companies.

Business professionals are well aware of wasteful meetings, often good only for donut-eating and catching up on email. A "Meeting Cost Counter" calculates how much money (in salary) each meeting costs a company. (Download here or here.)

The BusinessWeek article argues that sit-down meetings are particularly difficult for technology workers, who need blocks of time for programming and other work. GitHub, a start-up that stores computer code, is one company where almost no face-to-face meetings take place. At Grouper, a blind-dating company, employees attend a daily morning meeting that lasts only 10 minutes, and people are required to stand.

Although someone is quoted in the article as saying, "no meeting should ever be more than an hour, under penalty of death," this seems a bit extreme. On the other hand, why are meetings scheduled for one hour by default? This is equally silly.

According to the article, traditional meetings also are problematic because they are typically led by managers. Instead, online collaboration provides a more level playing field, where employees at all levels can contribute equally.

Still, face-to-face meetings are important for certain situations. A Harvard Business Review Analytics Group survey found that managers prefer in-person meetings-even if it requires them to travel-for the following reasons (percentage of respondents follow each reason): 

• Meet new (94%) or existing client (69%) to sell business
• Negotiate contracts (82%)
• Interview senior staff for key appointment (81%)
• Understand and listen to important customers (69%)
• Identify growth opportunity (55%)
• Build relationships/manage geographically dispersed team (55%)
• Initiate discussions with merger and acquisition targets (52%)

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• In addition to those listed above, under what circumstances do you believe that face-to-face meetings are important?
• What alternatives exist to face-to-face meetings? Which are viable options for places where you have worked?

Coca-Cola President Argues Against Soda Limit

Last week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed limiting sugary drinks to 16 ounces. This change would apply to sodas and other beverages sold in NY restaurants, at movies, and by street vendors.

USA Today interviewed Katie Bayne, Coca-Cola's president of sparkling beverages in North America. Bayne's response to the proposal focused on what people "need"-an interesting argument-and the lack of evidence to support the Mayor's proposal.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q: But critics call soft drinks "empty" calories.

A: A calorie is a calorie. What our drinks offer is hydration. That's essential to the human body. We offer great taste and benefits whether it's an uplift or carbohydrates or energy. We don't believe in empty calories. We believe in hydration.

The Mayo Clinic agrees that soda hydrates; however, nutritionists recommend water over soda.

Q: What do you say to those who believe that sugar - particularly in soft drinks - works on the brain like an addictive substance?

A: There is no scientific evidence.

Discussion Starters:

• Do your own research about whether sugar in soft drinks has addictive qualities. What do you find? Does it support or contradict Katie Bayne's response that there's no scientific evidence linking the two?
• Read the entire interview. Overall, how do assess Bayne's responses?
• Part of the Mayor Bloomberg's argument, in the video above, is that the size of drinks has increased. How do you assess this argument? Is this a convincing data point for his decision to cap the size of soft-drinks? 

LinkedIn Responds to Password Hacking

It's time to change your LinkedIn password. A Russian forum user posted 6.5 million passwords from the site, and LinkedIn has confirmed their authenticity. The hacker also claims that he stole 1.5 million eHarmony passwords.

LinkedIn has responded to the incident with this post on its website:

An Update on LinkedIn Member Passwords Compromised

Vicente Silveira, June 6, 2012

We want to provide you with an update on this morning's reports of stolen passwords. We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts. We are continuing to investigate this situation and here is what we are pursuing as far as next steps for the compromised accounts:

1. Members that have accounts associated with the compromised passwords will notice that their LinkedIn account password is no longer valid.
2. These members will also receive an email from LinkedIn with instructions on how to reset their passwords. There will not be any links in this email. Once you follow this step and request password assistance, then you will receive an email from LinkedIn with a password reset link.
3. These affected members will receive a second email from our Customer Support team providing a bit more context on this situation and why they are being asked to change their passwords.

It is worth noting that the affected members who update their passwords and members whose passwords have not been compromised benefit from the enhanced security we just recently put in place, which includes hashing and salting of our current password databases.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our members. We take the security of our members very seriously. If you haven't read it already it is worth checking out my earlier blog post today about updating your password and other account security best practices.

LinkedIn has been active on Twitter, with four tweets so far about the incident.

Discussion Starters: 

• The company's communication process via email is a bit complex. Do you understand why the management team chose this process? Would you propose a better process?
• This paragraph could be written more clearly: "It is worth noting that the affected members who update their passwords and members whose passwords have not been compromised benefit from the enhanced security we just recently put in place, which includes hashing and salting of our current password databases." What changes would you suggest to the writer?

Typos by the Romney Campaign

It hasn't been a good week for Romney copy. The candidate's campaign made three typos this week.

First, the campaign launched its new app, which promises "A Better Amercia." Users can overlay Romney messages onto their own photo, but the typo became an embarrassment  for the candidate.

Next, the campaign misspelled a Facebook post, offering a "sneek peak" of an upcoming ad.

The third error was spotted on the Romney website, which misspelled "official" as "offical."

Now, the campaign is hiring a copyeditor-probably a good idea:

We are looking for talented writers with proven ability to write and concept clear, concise, punchy, and effective content across web, mobile, print, and video. Must be able to deliver creative headlines, social media posts, promotional tactics, email copy, website landing pages, blogs, interactive experiences, and application assets.

Skills and Responsibilities: 

• 2+ years of professional experience writing in marketing, advertising, or journalism (agency experience preferred)
• Conceptual thinker and storyteller
• Ability to edit and proof own work
• Thrive in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment and generate high-quality work
• Ability to follow and improve upon established brand voice guidelines
• Salary based upon experience level and quality of samples submitted
• Portfolio or writing samples and resume required

Discussion Starters:

• What's your view of these typos? Are they poor reflections on the Mitt Romney campaign, no big deal, or something else?
• In what ways will the copyeditor position help prevent future typos? In what ways might this position not help the situation? In other words, what else needs to happent to prevent future typos?

"I Love New York" Makeover

To increase tourism, Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo is spending $5 million to reinvent the classic logo, "I (Heart) New York." David Lubars, chairman of BBDO, the advertising firm working on the campaign, says that the logo needed to be revitalized because it's been "co-opted" by other countries:

"If you go to Russia, if you go to Spain, you see ‘I heart something,' and it's lost its New York cachet. My team's assignment was to bring new cachet back to that logo and make it mean something important."

As part of their summer campaign, The New York State Tourism website, http://www.iloveny.com/, encourages people to draw their own "heart." Drawings are varied and creative but perhaps a little boring.

In a press release, the Govenor's office explained the rationale for this approach: 

"This is the first time in nearly 40 years, since the logo's inception, that New York State has officially asked the public for their interpretations of the 'I Love NY' and for the reasons they love New York."

New TV commercials will air for seven weeks during the summer. You see the logo prominently used during the commercials, which target tourists within 5 or 6 hours of driving distance to major NY cities. 

 Discussion Starters: 

• At the end of the press release, the Governor's office cites several statistics about NY tourism and spending. What in this section are most and least convincing reasons to invest $5 million in this campaign? 
• Offering the failed "New Coke" campaign as an example, Brian Sheehan, advertising professor at Syracuse University, warned, "You should mess with an icon at your own risk." What is your interpretation of Sheehan's view, and do you agree with him? What are the risks to NY in this campaign?  

Twitter: Flat Percentage of Users, but Deeper Engagement

New research shows that only 15% of online adults use Twitter, and only 8% use the service every day. Although the percentage of users remains fairly stable and is fairly small, the number of daily users has doubled since May 2011 and quadrupled since late 2010.

Authors of the February 2012 Pew Research Center's report credit smartphones with the increase in usage. According to Aaron Smith, Pew senior research specialist, "I do think it's notable that typical day Twitter usage is growing even as the overall usage stats have remained fairly consistent, [which] would imply that existing Twitter users are growing more engaged over time, with mobile being a big part of that story."

It took a while, but younger users are getting onboard with Twitter. Between November 2010 and February 2012, the percentage of Internet users between 18 and 24 on Twitter has increased from 16% to 31%. In addition, one in five in this age group uses Twitter.

Discussion Starters:

• Read the Pew report. What other conclusions can you draw from the study?
• What is your own use of Twitter? If you fit within the category of growing users, why has your usage increased?
• How is this new information relevant to corporate communicators?

Welcome to Twitter, Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs has finally joined the list of companies that tweet. During its first few days, Goldman produced this string of yawn-inducing tweets before the holiday weekend started:

A writer for CS Monitor offers these tips for Goldman on Twitter, with a healthy dose of skepticism:

1.  Be cool.  Not everything on your stream has to be PR

2.  Tweet research like UBS @UBSAmericas

3.  Also join StockTwits and be sure to blast some equity upgrades and downgrades through there - its [sic] where all the tickerhounds and traders and investors are, may as well engage.

4.  Follow good people, smart people, not just lame, mainstream, boring, "safe" people

5.  Wouldn't kill you to throw some RTs around.  You'll probably be at 50k followers before year-end, that kind of thing goes a long way in social media

6.  Have some fun, be quirky.  Why not change the avatar to a picture of a squid for a day, why not tweet a link to an old Muppet Show clip.  This ain't LinkedIn, this is the Twitter, relax.

Goldman has launched this page without a social media manager, for which the company has been advertising. The company describes the position in this way:

"Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is looking for a Community Manager/Social Media Strategist to serve as the administrator for Goldman Sachs social media communities.  In addition to the management of these communities, this person would play a strategic role as initial point of contact for our relationships with representatives of the various social platforms.  The Community Manager/ Social Media Strategist will be responsible for ensuring active and engaged communities around a defined topic or topics by managing long-lead editorial calendars, monitoring online conversations and participating in those conversations to build brand visibility and thought leadership. The goal is to establish a positive online presence for Goldman Sachs as well as to integrate our messaging into the online community in a compelling and valuable way for participants. In this role, the Community Manager/ Social Media Strategist will be part of our Brand Management Group."

Although 11,901 followers is impressive in four days, this is no match for "GS Elevator Gossip" tweets that have been active for some time, with 264,000 followers. The GS Elevator tweets are jokes-comments that could be heard on the elevator at Goldman Sachs. They're too racy to publish here, but you can view them on the GS Elevator Twitter page.

Discussion Starters: 

• What should be Goldman's approach on Twitter? How would you define the company's objectives?
• Write a few tweets that meet CS Monitor's suggestions.
• The CS Monitor writer suggests changing the Twitter image to a squid and linking to a Muppets video. Do you understand the references for Goldman Sachs?
• This is a holiday weekend. Would you expect Goldman Sachs to tweet on Memorial Day?

In Yearbook, Students Called "Mentally Retarded"

Mesquite High School in Texas printed yearbooks that referred to some students with special needs as "mentally retarded." "People-first language" is preferable to such labels. Parents and students were "shocked" and "appalled" at the use of the word. In addition, some students' photos were printed without permission.

Laura, Jobe, the district's communication director, blamed the editorial process: "There was an oversight in the editing approval process. Those who work inside the special education department know these requirements." She also said, "Some of the disabilities the students in the Special Education Program have are being blind, deaf or non-verbal … (students' names) are both blind and deaf, as well as mentally retarded." Did she miss the point?

On behalf of the district, Jobe offered this apology, "We earnestly regret the term ‘mentally retarded' was included… and offer our apologies to our students and their families." The school district has collected all yearbooks from students and is getting them reprinted with the errors corrected.

"Spread the Word to End the Word" strives to eliminate the use of the "r-word," which the campaign considers hate speech:

"When they were originally introduced, the terms 'mental retardation' or 'mentally retarded' were medical terms with a specifically clinical connotation; however, the pejorative forms, 'retard' and 'retarded' have been used widely in today's society to degrade and insult people with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, when 'retard' and 'retarded' are used as synonyms for 'dumb' or 'stupid' by people without disabilities, it only reinforces painful stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities being less valued members of humanity."

Discussion Starters:

• What should be the editoral process for approving text and photos in a high school yearbook?
• Who is responsible for the error?
• What's your view of the word "retarted"? Is it offensive, outdated, funny, or something else?

U.S. Presidential Candidates Go Social

President Obama and Republican contender Mitt Romney are using social networking to boast their campaigns. Today, the Obama campaign is releasing a new platform called "Dashboard." Katie Hogan, spokesperson for the campaign, described the purpose of Dashboard:

"Dashboard is our online field office - a hub for campaign volunteers and supporters to communicate with each other and become members of neighborhood teams. . . .

"Supporters can use the tool to set goals, communicate those goals, and see what other supporters are doing. Supporters who want to be engaged can go to Dashboard, message other supporters in their area, and have a conversation about how to get started. It provides a good volunteer experience online that is directly tied to our field operation goals."

Built into the system is a keen focus on setting goals and friendly competition among neighborhoods. With a Facebook-like interface, volunteers are expected to use the site easily.

Since the fall, Mitt Romney's campaign has used a different home-grown system, "MyMitt."

Images via Raw Story and Signal News.

Discussion Starters:

• If you supported one of the candidates, would you use his social network? Why or why not?
• Why would both campaigns create their own platform rather than use Facebook as their main tool for volunteers?
• Consider signing up for both sites. What differences do you notice? Which is more effective for what purposes?

High School Group Performs "Wegmans, The Musical"

You can't pay for publicity like this. A high school drama class in Northboro, MA, chose food market Wegmans as their topic for a musical production. Students at Algonquin Regional High School were inspired by the local store opening in October, for which people camped out over night.

The Consumerist describes the history of "Wegmans: The Musical":

"'I was just feeling all around me the excitement and buzz about Wegmans. It seemed like an event, it seemed like a good idea to create a musical about,' their teacher told the Worcester Telegram.

"The show grew out of improv exercises earlier in the school year where students sang about Wegmans. Its plot centers on dueling twin brothers who work at Wegmans and at a competitor, and a spy sent to steal the secrets of Wegmans who instead falls in love with the store."

The local Wegmans store supported the students by donating shirts and sign for the set and by treating the cast to dinner after the show.

But Wegmans Corporate seems quiet. The company has an active Twitter account, but there's no mention of the musical.

Discussion Starters:

• What would be an appropriate tweet for Wegmans to write about the musical?
• If you were the VP of marketing for Wegmans Corporate, what, if anything, would you do to promote the YouTube video?
• What, if anything, should Wegmans Corporate do to recognize the students?

GM Quits Facebook Advertising, But Why?

Ad Age and others are criticizing General Motors, not for quitting Facebook but for failing to get the most from the social network. The timing was unfortunate for Facebook, in the midst of its initial public offering, but there's little evidence that the withdrawal impacted Facebook's IPO success.

Ad Age calls GM's Facebook presence, for which the company spent $30 million, "wrong" and "boring," with the following examples of posts:

• We're excited to announce the return of a V-8 powered, rear-wheel-drive performance sedan to our robust U.S. lineup, the Chevrolet SS!" (Well, of course you are. Maybe you should ask us if we're excited.)
• "Check out this picture of our Chairman and CEO, Dan Akerson." (Don't know about you, but I go to Facebook hoping to see the Chairman of GM's picture.)
• "Just wanted to let our millions of Facebook fans know, we're still here, and we 'like' you back!" (OK, thanks for checking in.)
• "GM is full of history and classic cars that we all know and love." (Uh huh. That's so exciting.)
• "Check out our latest Faces of GM video to find how John uses what he does at the race track to make the cars he works on even better." (Wake me when it's over)
• "Ever wonder what happens with leftover scrap metal from our vehicles?" (Umm, no, can't say that I have)
• "Happy Administrative Professionals Day to the women and men who keep our offices and dealerships running all across the globe! Thanks for all you do each and every day." (I'm sure they felt very rewarded by this post.)
• "We're thrilled to announce that Chevrolet sold 1.18 million vehicles worldwide in the first 3 months of 2012." (Of course you're thrilled. But we don't really give a damn.)
• "Hey GM Fans! Let's have a little fun before the weekend begins... What's your favorite current GM vehicle and why?" (Whose idea of fun is this? And the reason we have to have this fun is that GM is not online during the weekend, even though the Internet is, and always has been, 24/7, 365 days a year. Yes, even weekends. Hint: you want to make some trouble for GM? Post on Facebook and Twitter during the weekend. They won't see it til Monday.)
• "It may be Friday the 13th, but we think of it as just another day for you to drive your GM vehicle." (We live to drive our GM vehicle.)
• "One in four Buick Veranos sold have worn the most colorful hue offered, Crystal Red Tintcoat." (If that's not thrilling, tell me what is.)

For another view, Reuters critized Facebook, saying that the company didn't adequately sell GM on the benefits of paid ads. The article explains GM's decision this way:

"GM dropped its Facebook ads because they were less effective than other options such as Google's AdSense, the sources said. Facebook's ads garner about half the clicks per page view, a measure of effectiveness, compared with the average website.

"Moreover, Facebook's ad prices were expected to rise after the company's IPO. Ad prices are set in auction and vary depending on the target audience."

 Discussion Starters:

• What's your view? Did GM fail to take full advantage of social networking on Facebook, did Facebook fail to deliver, or is there another story here?
• Regardless of the decision, how could GM have done a better job engaging customers on Facebook? Rewrite a few of the company's posts, above.

Sponsors of an Award Demand that They Receive It

In an odd turn of events, the 2012 BII Scotland Annual Awards ceremony surprised attendees. The British Institute of Innkeeping Scottish Awards includes "Bar Operator of the Year," a prize that judges say was slated to go to BrewDog, a brewery in North East Scotland. However, at the last minute, the award went to Diageo, one of the event's main sponsors.

On its blog, BrewDog had quite a bit to say about the situation. From the company's perspective, BrewDog was the clear winner, in part because of comments made by Kenny Mitchell, BII's chairman of the award committee: 

"Diageo (the main sponsor) approached us at the start of the meal and said under no circumstances could the award be given to BrewDog. They said if this happened they would pull their sponsorship from all future BII events and their representatives would not present any of the awards on the evening.

"We were as gobsmacked as you by Diageo's behaviour. We made the wrong decision under extreme pressure. We should have stuck to our guns and gave the award to BrewDog."

A Diageo spokesperson issued a simple statement in response to the controversy:

"There was a serious misjudgement by Diageo staff at the awards dinner on Sunday evening in relation to the Bar Operator of the Year Award, which does not reflect in any way Diageo's corporate values and behaviour.

"We would like to apologise unreservedly to BrewDog and to the British Institute of Innkeeping for this error of judgement, and we will be contacting both organisations imminently to express our regret for this unfortunate incident."

BrewDog was unsympathetic to the apology:

"As for Diageo, once you cut through the glam veneer of pseudo corporate responsibility this incident shows them to be a band of dishonest hammerheads and dumb a** corporate freaks.  No soul and no morals, with the integrity of a rabid dog and the style of a wart hog.

Discussion Starters: 

• How do you asssess Diageo's response to the situation? What is missing from the company's response statement?
• Identify the number of words in the quotes, above, that are uncommon in the United States. What do they mean?

Let the Commencement Speeches Begin!

Politicians, CEOs, actors, comedians, and others are taking flight to speak at colleges throughout the States. A partial list of 2012 speakers is at Graduation Wisdom, a site that also lists one view of the "Top Ten Speeches" from years past.

President Obama delivered the commencement speech at Barnard College today. Of course, he focused on equality for women, encouraging the 600 Barnard graduates to "fight for a seat at the head of the table."

Mitt Romney, the President's likely Republican competitor, delivered the commencement speech at Liberty University. Romney's conservative views, according to the Huffington Post, were "well received at the Christian university."

Discussion Starters:

• Compare these two speeches. Other than the political messages, how do you assess the delivery of each? Which do you think is more effective?
• What do you expect from a commencement speech? Who is delivering the speech at your university this year?

Retailer CFO Loses Job Over Social Media Posts

Maybe this is why so few CFOs use social media. Women's clothing retailer Francesca's fired its CFO today for his tweets and Facebook posts that revealed too much about the company.

Francesca's issued a press release announcing the decision but didn't mention which posts, specifically, were of concern. However, the statement said that Gene Morphis had "improperly communicated Company information through social media." Below are two examples of Morphis's Facebook posts.

 

In another post, Morphis criticized co-sponsors of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, a law that defines financial reporting standards: 

"Audit committee. Damn you Paul Sarbanes! Damn you Michael Oxley!"

Discussion Starters:

• What should be the social media guidelines for corporate CFOs? Should they differ from guidelines for all employees?
• Was the Board right in terminating Morphis?
• What could have been done to prevent this situation?

Facebook's IPO Video Focuses on Emotional Appeals

This is not your grandmother's IPO video. Facebook has taken a unique approach in luring investors to buy a stake in the company's initial public offering. 

Staff members tell the Facebook story through a 30-minute video that the CFO says is consistent with their "focus on authentic, engaging communications." Mashable agrees that the video is a different approach to IPO communications:

"It's an interesting take on the normal business investment pitch video-instead of a heavy emphasis on dry finance numbers, Facebook plays to the heartstrings.

"Soft lighting, multiple interview angles and background music fit for sunrise in a nature show combine to make a clear emotional pitch to potential investors."

A theme throughout the video, as you might expect, is connecting people and "changing within a generation, the fabric" of how people communicate. In simple language, Facebook executives explain their platform and how their product functionality makes the web social. They compare Facebook to a game.

Section 3, Advertising, begins to cover financial information. The section profiles Ben & Jerry's, who claim that every dollar spent on Facebook returns $3 in incremental sales. Sheryl Sanberg, Facebook's COO, claims that online advertising will increase, in part because of Facebook's value proposition of "reach, relevance, engagement, and social context."

Section 4, Finance, starts 23 minutes into the 30-minute video. In this section, CFO David Ebersman reviews the number of users (including global penetration rates) revenue (advertising and payments), capital expenditures, operating margins, and future investment plans.

The video ends with Mark Zuckerberg claiming that almost every app will be connected to Facebook in some way.

Discussion Starters:

• Watch the entire video. Does it convince you to invest? Which are the most and least convincing arguments?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook's approach compared to more traditional IPO communications?