Another Goodie from Gas Pedal

#857: The "8 Ways to Make a Charity Promotion Worth Talking About" Issue

Most businesses do some sort of charitable partnership, which is great. But, unfortunately, most aren't worth talking about and don't get the recognition they deserve. The brilliant team at Threadless, however, has everyone excited about their Good Shirts program to help UNICEF deliver some much-needed aid to kids in Africa. A few ideas you should borrow from this project: 1. Make it outrageous 2. Make it easy to participate 3. Make it interesting for big talkers 4. Make it naturally viral 5. Make it match your core business 6. Make it fun 7. Make it forwardable 8. Make it 100% 9. Check it out: See the designs and get involved 1. Make it outrageous Every word of mouth initiative takes something unexpected, outrageous, or unbelievable to inspire conversations. For this campaign, one of the shirts for sale costs $300,000. Buying it means UNICEF can make a cargo flight of goods to those in need. It may just be the world's most expensive T-shirt, and it's a fantastic reason to tell a friend. 2. Make it easy to participate For $18.57 you can buy a shirt that gets mosquito nets for those who need it. That's an affordable, easy way for a lot of Threadless fans to get involved. There's no team to organize, no fundraising campaign to lead -- just a simple purchase that's easy to do and easy to talk about. 3. Make it interesting for big talkers As important as it is to make your charitable project accessible for all your fans, getting just a few big influencers involved can dramatically increase the buzz. That's what their $300,000 and $75,000 shirts are all about. As soon as a celebrity buys one, they're going to get a ton of press (they sold a $300,000 shirt!) and every fan that bought one of the other, cheaper designs gets to tell friends they're also involved in the campaign. 4. Make it naturally viral These shirts are goofy. They're drawings of whatever your donation is supporting -- a worm represents deworming tablets, there's a water bucket for a family water kit, and a milk carton for therapeutic milk. Strangers are going to ask about them, and people familiar with the project are going to immediately recognize them. The shirts themselves are naturally viral, and they're going to lead to a whole bunch of conversations about Threadless and this great cause. 5. Make it match your core business Threadless is selling shirts for charity -- and everyone knows them for selling great shirts. Too many businesses attempt a complex cross-promotion (you know, the law firm doing some walk for something, etc.). But if you can tie your charitable campaign to what your business does, a) it'll be better for the charity (because you're good at it and know what you're doing), and b) it'll be good for business, because more people will learn what you're great at. 6. Make it fun Charitable causes face a common word of mouth challenge: People don't like to talk about difficult topics. The issue Threadless is helping to address isn't a light one -- it's about kids facing starvation and disease in one of the world's most desperate regions -- but the simple, light-hearted shirts give talkers an easy way to show their support without having to go into the details of the issues. 7. Make it forwardable Like every great word of mouth project, everything about this campaign is easy to share. Each page is ready to share on Facebook and Twitter, they've got embeddable videos you can use, and the whole thing kicked off with a great email that survived lots of forwarding (trust us, we tested it as we all passed it around the office and to our friends). You can do all the other ideas in this newsletter perfectly, but if it isn't easy to share, your word of mouth quickly dies. 8. Make it 100% All of the proceeds from the sale of shirts are going to support this cause. If you're going to partner with a charity for a promotion, you should also go all the way. You're doing all this work to rally fans around a cause you believe in, and you're going to risk breaking their trust with some policy about covering your costs? Whenever you're asking your talkers to give 100%, you have to lead by example. 9. Check it out: See the designs and get involved Learn more about this amazing cause, see all 12 designs, and find out how you can get involved. Check it out: Threadless

Handling Negative Comments

Great advice from the folks at Gas Pedal:

How to respond to negative word of mouth

Negative word of mouth happens to every company. Nobody is immune. But great brands have a plan that helps them convert a lot of the angry critics into happy fans. What you should do: 1. Act quickly 2. Be human 3. Write for the record 1. Act quickly When a customer is upset, you need to act fast. A quick response (even if it's just to say, "I'm sorry, I hear you -- let me get back to you") helps soothe the original critic and also helps avoid an outbreak of more negative sentiment from others. It's common sense, but it's also been proven in studies: In one experiment, when a single table complained about food in a crowded restaurant, 26% of guests made similar complaints. 2. Be human A canned response is worse than no response at all. Identify yourself, speak like a real person, and give them a way to follow-up with you. No frustrated customer has ever been won over with corporate speak, and there's no reason to expect it to start working anytime soon. 3. Write for the record When you're responding -- especially in online forums -- remember that you're not just writing for the original critic, but for everyone else who reads it later. You want people to see that you tried to make things right. Even if you can't fix the problem, it's important to show that you're listening and that you care about keeping customers happy.

A Sweet Tweet from Austin Tidbits

austintidbits Austin Tidbits

Thanks to @Rachel_Elsberry for the #StyleMasters swag bag goodies! Come snag your swag bag tomorrow at Malverde from 6-8 pm.

Oct 26, 1:43 PM via Echofon

#853: The "Lessons from Restaurants" Issue

According to the National Restaurant Association, there are 960,000 restaurant locations around the country. That's a lot of small businesses, franchisees, and entrepreneurs to learn from. A few ideas to get you started: 1. Take reservations 2. Be available 3. Focus on the atmosphere 4. Check it out: LEGO remakes of classic photos 1. Take reservations Add an element of exclusivity and potentially increase your efficiency by asking customers to make a reservation. Many restaurants do this, but it's always interesting when a fast food brand tries it. That's what Chick-fil-A did for the launch of their new breakfast menu. Through the campaign, they asked fans to take reservations to claim a time to come in and try a complimentary sampling. The result was tons of fans scheduling sessions to taste the new menu -- and dragging friends with them. The lesson: How could you use reservations to boost your product launches, special events, or customer service? Learn more: IBTimes 2. Be available A fundamental way of building a brand is establishing reliability. When customers can rely on you, they trust you. We often think of great customer service brands like Rackspace, Zappos, and Southwest for this. But did you know Waffle House has become legendary for always being open? They're so reliable, FEMA actually uses them as an indicator of how bad a disaster is. If they're closed, they know they've got a lot of work to do. And even when something does force Waffle House to close, they have a mobile command center they bring in to get things up and running as quickly as possible. When things go bad, everyone has learned to rely on Waffle House for a hot meal, coffee, and a sense of "normal." The lesson: If you can earn a sense of reliability among your fans and customers, you can be the first place they turn (and the first they talk about) when they need help. Learn more: The Wall Street Journal 3. Focus on the atmosphere For a restaurant, atmosphere can be everything. We all know that no matter how good the burger is, it can be hard to ignore psychedelic carpeting and questionable cleanliness. Take Boston Market for an example of how some fundamental changes to an atmosphere can make a big difference. Never really known for their ambiance, they recently tested using real plates, more staffers per shift, and even outfitting their cooks in chef whites. The result: Double-digit increases in guest counts and sales. It's been so successful they hope to roll out the overhaul to all their restaurants this year. The lesson: Maybe it's not your product that's holding you back -- maybe it's the delivery. Try a few tests and see what gets your customers excited.

Christine TusaWell-Healed Happy Hour

Thank you everyone for coming to our fantastic event tonight. It was a sassy good time. Congrats to Amy Gayhart for winning "BEST HIGH HEELS". And shockingly, our runner up turned out to be Jenny Bruemmer Sparks. (only because she only owns this one pair)

Special thanks to Rachel Elsberry for putting this event together and Flemings for being the host with the most. Cheers!!

Rachel - Congratulations on making Michael Barnes' list of Austin's 500 movers and shakers, the AMERICAN STATESMAN OUT AND ABOUT 500.  You were included under the STYLE section, and Fleming's was listed along with Pickie Pie in the newspaper.

 

Congratulations to you, and thank you for the exposure.     Darryl, Boyer, James & Erick.

Pickie Pie Makes the List!!

We made the Out and About 500 along with a bunch of great friends!

It’s here! 2011 Out & About 500: Style

By Michael Barnes | Wednesday, September 28, 2011, 04:07 PM

The 2011 Out & About 500 will be rolled out today through Friday, one category at a time. Buy Sunday’s American-Statesman for the complete list of Austin’s most social citizens.
Send updates and nominations for 2012 to mbarnes@statesman.com
STYLE

Style Star: Dean Fredrick Miller. Dean Fredrick Austin, Dress for Success, Yellow Jacket Social Club, HAAM, SIMS Foundation, Austin Music People Linda Asaf. Linda Asaf Design, Downtown Austin Alliance
Connie Bakonyi. Austin Fashion Association
Cheryl Conley Bemis. Fashionably Austin
Ross Bennett. Ross Bennett Collection
Lisa Brooks. Diaz & Brooks
Justin Brown. Wilhelmina Brown
José Buitron and Bill Pitts. Jose Luis Salon
Gail Chovan and Evan Voyles. Blackmail, Neon Jungle
Katie and Matt Culmo. By George
Stephanie Coultress and Todd O’Neill. Estilo, LEAP
Mandy Dugan. CW Star
Rachel Elsberry. Pickie Pie Productions, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
Brianna Fleet. Butterfly Entertainment
Elizabeth Gibson. Eliza Page
My-Cherie and Anthony Haley. Shimmer & Bliss Accessories, Webber Productions, HRWK Public Affairs Consulting, Seton Forum, Austin Black Lawyers Association
Chad Harlan. Chad Harlan Photography, La Pistola Photography
Ricky Hodge. Ricky Hodge Salon
Patty Hoffpauir. School of Human Ecology, The Garden Room
Ron King. Ron King Salon, L’Oréal Professionnel USA
Jane Vanisko McCan. ShopShiki.com
Deborah Main. Deborah Main Designs
Joel Mozersky and Ted Allen. One Eleven Design, Avenue Five Institute, El Arbol, Uchiko
Nancy Nichols. Nieman Marcus
Rochelle Rae. Rae Cosmetics
Christian Ramirez. Last Call, Univision
Allen Ruiz. Jackson Ruiz Salon
Fern and Jerre Santini. Abode, Four Seasons Residences
Kendra Scott and Albert Koehler. Kendra Scott Design, LifeWorks, Dell Children’s Medical Center
Kimberly and Marcus Strenk. Kimberly Strenk Public Relations
Tracy Tenpenny and David Clark. Tracy Tenpenny Design
Sue Webber. Webber Productions

Fire

Our hearts go out to those impacted by the vicious brush fires that have claimed about 500 homes in Central Texas this holiday weekend.  This is a photo of the Austin skyline.

Austin Fashion Association-Back to School on KVUE

The Austin Fashion Association's Connie Bakonyi and her daughter Lindsey featured on KVUE for Back-to-School on a budget, a segment secured by Pickie Pie.  Click here to watch.

Betsey, Brunch and Creme' Brulee'!

Pickie Pie Productions is producing and promoting a Fashion Brunch along with our client Fleming's at their Domain location.  The event features various retailers in the Domain which we've secured and benefits Dress for Success.
In addition, we've secured spots and mentions in various media outlets including a segment on KEYE's We are Austin Live featuring Chef Boyer Derise making creme' brulee' and three adorable models from Betsey Johnson.  Click here for link.

Let's Do Lunch-Back to School on KEYE

Capitalizing on the time of year, we booked our client Kathryn Dagar-Albarado of Dagar's Catering on KEYE for some healthy and fun back-to-school lunch tips.  Click here to watch.