The 5th Gear: Marketing, PR, and Ideas for 11/18/13

One of SHIFT’s 7 core values are connected which means much more than just having a full Address Book app on your phone. Connected means knowing what’s going on, knowing what’s worth reading and sharing. Here are the top 5 most interesting reads that SHIFTers found this past week.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

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To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story

Executive Vice President Catherine Allen on why this matters:

We’re in the business of telling stories and connecting with the right people. It’s how we tell those stories, and how we inspire audiences or build relationships that matters more than a PowerPoint slide.

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The Extra Legroom Society

Vice President Christopher Penn on why this matters:

My read for this week is behavioral, in this excellent piece in the New York Times about the Extra Legroom society. As a presumably #honorable and #positive human being, creating division and strife is bad, bad for society, bad for our own lives. The more we emphasize our differences, the more likely we are to find reasons and excuses to not find common ground, to work together, to be kinder to each other. At the root of most divisions is money and resources; when everyone has enough and perceives others around you to be more or less the same, you share common ground and a common outlook on life, as well as a sense of “we’re all in this together”.

On the flip side, as a #smart and #connected marketer, creating divisions (especially economic ones) sells, sells, sells. We create extra levels and gradations of status up to what the market will support, and the more grades of status you have, the higher your profit margins, because you will sell up to what people can afford. The quandary that we as marketers and PR professionals face is how to balance the two sides of the coin. How do we maximize our efforts while at the same time avoid creating a society in which we’d rather not live?

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Here’s What Happens When You Ask People to Draw the USA From Memory

Account Executive Denise Bertrand on why this matters:

On a less serious note….this one made me think. Kind of scary what people came up with… shows what the value of education is!

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Cultural differences still define OmniPub deal

CEO Todd Defren on why this matters:

Via Steve Barrett at PRWEEK: “…You can almost sense the reticence (from the) Omnicom folks as they come to terms with the reality of a deal that, on the surface, doesn’t create much of an upside for them, especially in the PR realm.” Also, if you work at these agencies and you’re concerned about your post-merger future, drop me a line, eh? We are hiring like crazy.

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BatKid Saves San Francisco

Senior Marketing Analyst Chel Wolverton on why this matters:

If you haven’t heard, San Francisco, my home for a few days, was terrorized by the Penguin and Riddler, tying a young lady to the trolley line, breaking into banks, and kidnapping the beloved LouSeal. But it was #SFBatKid to the rescue. And for that he received the thanks of a lot of folks including the DOJ with a news release, the President of the United States, and Kid President.

This will melt your heart and it should. All hail BatKid!

Chel Wolverton
Senior Marketing Analyst

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