McCafe and other, much better cofee

Back in college I was addicted to iced mochas (mocha over ice, not blended). If I didn’t have one by 3pm, I would suffer the most excruciating caffeine-withdrawal headache. Then I got into the bad habit of making coffee at home before going to work, having a cup once I got to the office, then taking an afternoon break to get my 3pm iced mocha. The constant dependence on caffeine became too much for me and in 2002 I quit coffee cold turkey. It was hard, but I made it through and resisted coffee altogether for a few years. These days, I love a properly pulled espresso or macchiato and the occasional Ice Blended Mocha from CBTL on hot summer days. For me, coffee is a rare treat that I usually only indulge in on weekends or when I’m on vacation (in Paris, or Costa Rica or Hawaii – some of the best places in the world to drink coffee) – or if I stayed out too late the night before and feel sluggish at work.

Cut to last week. I had been suffering with a bad cold/flu (not the swine flu!) and stuck at home unable to do much but watch TV. After watching countless hours of pointless TV, I could not help but be drawn in by McDonalds’ McCafe commercials. After all, they spent a record $100 million on a marketing blitz to promote their new espresso drinks, and after watching so many McCafe commercials and seeing billboards everywhere across town, I just had to have McCafe.

But there was a hurdle – I don’t go to McDonalds. I hadn’t had a meal there since elementary school, and did not revel in breaching those golden arches. But Vanessa said she’d go with me, and pay, so I decided to take her up on her offer. I got the Iced McMocha (they should call it that!) with nonfat milk and Vanessa got the McCappuccino with whole milk. Peering through the window at the drive-through I watched the lady press a button on the espresso machine and out-flowed our drinks.

First sip – ugh. The chocolate was good, but there was some kind of spoiled milk/chemical aftertaste that I just couldn’t stomach. Down the drain the McMocha went. Vanessa thought that her McCappuccino was lackluster. Foam/milk/espresso ratio was off and the espresso: rancid.

After wasting $5.55 on bad coffee, we started discussing how many of our clients put so much effort into their coffee programs, and how thankful we are for that.

• At La Grande Orange, (just opened in Santa Monica), they use Mr. Espresso brand beans which are roasted over oak wood in Oakland and favored by great chefs like Alice Waters and Bradley Ogden.


• At Morels they’re making Shakeratos all summer long, my favorite Italian iced coffee in addition to brewing several varieties of sustainably produced beans from Equator Estate Coffees in individual French presses.


• At RockSugar they make my favorite Vietnamese Coffee, brewed at your table and mixed with sweetened condensed milk – tastes like chocolate.


• At Zucca, you can have a classic Italian espresso made with Illy.

Don't all those options sound nice?

Sexual Content...

Entering the field of Public Relations, I knew I would be charged with some interesting tasks but never did I imagine that I would find a second career in sex copywriting! Every week, our client WET®, an international leader in personal lubricants, aromatherapy massage oils and intimacy products posts a “sexy” poll on their MySpace page to engage their customers and fan base. My assignment is to come up with a question, provide five possible answers and create copy for each answer relating it back to a specific WET product. Though a bit of a challenge at first, I now find it to be the highlight of my week! Not only do I get to be creative but I get to show off my comedic side! The topics/questions vary from week to week, for example: Ice creams, like lovers, come in a variety of tantalizing flavors. Your favorite flavor of ice cream tells a lot about your personal love style. Pick your favorite sexy flavor and see what it says about you! Or it can be a simple question like what’s your favorite cocktail? I included a personal favorite below, try it out for yourself:

Music and intimacy are like peanut butter and chocolate… two great tastes that taste great together!

What is your favorite song to “get it on” to?

Choose from one of the following options:

Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
Push it – Salt N Pepa
She Bangs – Ricky Martin
I’ll Make Love to You – Boys II Men
Any Way You Want It – Journey

If you chose - Let’s Get It On
For more than 30 years, Marvin Gaye has been seducing the world with this classic love-making melody. Sticking to the basic rules of romance, you also enjoy wooing your lover with the sensual sounds of Mr. Gaye. C’mon baby…and add a little more fun with another classic of love – Wet Original®, the water-based, gentle, odorless, colorless, greaseless and non-staining lubricant. A favorite for those who prefer a more viscous, gel-like lubricant. Wet Original® – helping couples “Get It On” for over 20 years!

If you chose - Push it
Ooh, baby baby! This first Salt N Pepa single went straight to the top of the music charts as well as straight to the bedroom. Now you can push it with Wet® Gellee, a brand new gel-based lubricant, available in Original and delicious Kiwi Strawberry. Gellee is Wet’s twist on the classic jelly lubricant. It is a thick water-based gel formula that is ultra long lasting, sugar-free, stain free, silky smooth and never sticky. Wet® Gellee is extra thick so it stays where you put it. Now push it, push it real good!

If you chose - She Bangs
The sultry sounds of the Latin lover Ricky Martin really get you hot! The way the drums make you move your hips, you are ready to salsa all the way to the bedroom. Add some more bang to your evening with WET Fun Flavors® 4-In-1, a stain-free, sugar-free, warming massage lotion and lubricant – all in one bottle. WET Fun Flavors® gently heats on contact and warms with motion. The best part is that it comes in five sizzling flavors – Seduction Strawberry, Watermelon Blast, Popp’n Cherry, Passion Fruit Pizzazz and Tropical Fruit Explosion. Move those hips and really feel the sensation!

If you chose - I’ll Make Love to You
You are an ultimate romantic and nothing is more satisfying than truly connecting with your partner. So close your eyes, make a wish and blow out the candlelight, for tonight is just the night for you to get even closer to your lover with Wet® together™ Couples’ Lubricant. Offering couples a titillating experience that benefits each person in its own unique way - his warms and hers tingles. When combined, an incredible sensation…baby all through the night!

If you chose - Any Way You Want It
You love to laugh, you love to sing, you do everything and most important you love the lovin’ things. So hold tight, hold tight and experience something new with Wet Platinum® Premium Lubricant, Wet’s longest lasting formula, so you can go all night, ohh every night! Wet Platinum® never dries and doesn’t break down in water so it’s perfect “any way you want it” if “that’s the way you need it!”

We also post the results of each poll through bulletins on MySpace and you will never guess which song won this one… Journey!!!

Next week’s poll…What’s your signature “pick-up” line?

Lululemon we love you!

We are all big yogis and yoginis here at JS2 and one of our favorite brands related to the practice is Lululemon. We thought it would be very cool if Lululemon expanded into a national yoga studio since it is such a trusted brand with a strong company philosophy and aesthetic. Taking it a step further we paired up and began to brainstorm the most innovative ways to launch this endeavor if it ever came to fruition.

We were given the following parameters to get us started:

• Same day multi city launch in NY, LA and SF
• Align the launch with an appropriate charity
  
• Stay within a reasonable budget
• Incorporate a strong guerilla marketing strategy
• Garner mass media attention by hosting an innovative event
• Message a strong commitment to being green in all media events and communications

After much debate, the teams brainstormed their creative approaches and came up with the following ideas:

Guerrilla Marketing

• Have a branded mobile yoga flat bed truck in each market. The truck will park in front of a large office building around lunch time and offer free mini yoga tutorials, using the flat bed truck as a stage.

Simultaneous launch in all three cities

• Coordinate group yoga pose freeze with people wearing lululemon branded yoga wear in big public parks in each of the three cities all on the same day and exact time.
• Host free public yoga session in the parks of all three cities to encourage people to sign up for memberships and learn more about the lululemon studios and classes

• Timed communal meditation and/or Om chant

• Held at major parks in yoga studio markets (i.e. Central Park, Golden Gate Park and Griffith Park)

• ‘Moonlight meditation’ – 9pm PT/ 12pm ET

Green Event

• Urban gardening – planting trees (urban gardening to turn into a long term relationship within in all communities LA, NY & SF since food health is such an important aspect of the yoga practice)
• NYC - partner with MilltionTreesNYC.com program
  

Namaste!

Hit of the Week: Chain Leader Magazine

Our restaurants are Twitter-pated! The hit of the week is another strategic placement on behalf of our clients about their use of popular micro-blogging service Twitter. Tender Greens and Maggiano's Little Italy are interviewed and featured in an article in the May issue of Chain Leader Magazine about restaurants "All A-Twitter."


JS2 Communications helped Tender Greens set up their Twitter account and walked them through a "Twitter 101" crash course. Tender Greens quickly learned what to tweet, how to tweet in their appropriate voice, how to generate the most meaningful followers and get the most value out of this direct-to-customer tool.

The result: Tender Greens is currently slightly above 800 followers who they can bounce ideas off of, give exclusive information about new restaurants openings, construction updates, specials and new products. The challenge with a restaurant's Twitter is how to quantify the tweets and followers into actual "butt-in-seats." Tweeting their daily specials keeps Tender Greens top of mind for hungry potential customers at their desks. Here at the JS2 Communications offices, daily specials are usually too tempting for us to resist and we end up going to the new West Hollywood location at least 3 or 4 times per week.

Maggiano's Little Italy's Twitter is managed by Michael Breedlove. He used creative contests and ideas to generate awareness among the Twitosphere about Maggiano's and gain more followers. They are currently doing a contest which if they can reach 7,500 followers by May 31, 2009 Maggiano's will grant a wish with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in honor of their Twitter followers, $1 for every follower.

This placement builds awareness for Tender Greens and Maggiano's as innovative leaders in their industry using Twitter in creative ways that benefit their business and poise them for further growth and expansion. The article offers 8 tips for savvy tweets recommended by Erik Oberholtzer of Tender Greens, Michael Breed of Maggiano's Little Italy, and yours truly of JS2 Communications.

NY WICI Matrix Award Highlights

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending New York Women in Communication’s Matrix Awards for the first time. Some highlights:

- Brian Williams – hubba hubba! Not only is he charming, intelligent and soothing, but he’s quite the looker as well. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. His honoree, Campbell Brown, wasn’t too shabby either.

- S. Epatha Merkerson – so that is how you pronounce her name. After 15 years of watching “Law & Order” religiously, I finally had an answer. She seemed genuinely humbled to be introduced by Jeff Zucker of NBC, going in for a professional handshake but instead being engulfed in a hug.

- Donny Deutsch – I am not usually a fan but I thought his introduction of Linda Sawyer was really genuine, leaving me feeling like I would love to have her as a boss.

- Monica Langley – I wasn’t familiar with her work at the Wall Street Journal but I thought her speech was really interesting, discussing how she used her intuition and people skills to go beyond the headline to get the story.

- Leslee Dart – I interviewed her for the Matrix Journal so was really interested in what she had to say. But first Jessica Lange and Tom Hanks raved about her endlessly. Their publicist. I was shocked that they would show up, let alone sing her praises like they did. Publicity is such a thankless job but certainly not for Leslee yesterday. Tom Hanks was charming but did anyone expect anything less.

- Sherri Rollins Westin - serenaded by Elmo, what more can I say? And she apparently has a really funny daughter.

So glad I went and have become a part in the past year of such a powerful and rewarding organization. Who knows, maybe one day I will be the PR recipient.

Bold Names

It occurred to me as the fascinating albeit terrifying story about the so-called Craigslist Murderer began to unfold this week that Philip Markoff has something in common with Scotland’s Susan Boyle: Instantaneous, world-wide name recognition in the blink of an eye. For two very different reasons, both Markoff and Boyle became over-night sensations whose Q ratings (the rating of one’s overall “fame”) blasted through the stratosphere like a NASA Space Shuttle.

Sadly, the public is introduced to people like Markoff through real-time, mass media obsession with much more frequency than to the Susan Boyles of the world: For every Miracle-on-the-Hudson hero like Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger, there are 20 Bernie Madoffs. And it seems that when a true hero like Captain Richard Phillips pops onto the scene, the public is given a kind of gift; an opportunity to identify with someone who seems just as regular as you or me but for a specific set of circumstances that results in mass awareness and genuine admiration.

Here is the thing about Susan Boyle: Her story is authentic. Despite what some of my more cynical friends have to say about her, there is no way, despite all the PR and marketing savvy entertainment companies have developed over the years, that Susan Boyle could have been manufactured. And because of the massive growth of media portals over the past decade, we all came upon her in ways that seemed tailored to our individuality: YouTube and the New York Times; Twitter and The Today Show; FaceBook and CNN.com. Another interesting by-product of the Susan Boyle phenomenon is that her story sometimes connected us with people who were not previously on our radar. I have a friend who heard about Susan in the beauty parlor by the client of her hairdresser who had recently had a baby and was feeling very sheltered and disconnected from the world until she found Susan on the internet. According to my friend, the woman’s enthusiasm in sharing the news of Susan Boyle’s astonishing audition for “Britain’s Got Talent” was just as powerful as the evidence of Susan’s talent itself. Even Simon Cowell would be impressed.

When I heard about Philip Markoff earlier this week, I knew to prepare myself for the hundreds of follow-up stories that would be filed in the days to come. Sure enough, the media, in all their shark-in-the-water frenzy, sliced and diced the story with cold precision. There was the reporting of stolen underwear and the Gray’s Anatomy textbook-cum-automatic pistol hiding place; the preppy image of a pre-med fiancé juxtaposed against the portrait of a woman-hating psychopath killer. The coverage overwhelmed the senses and demanded that we PAY ATTENTION! Even as we wanted to look away, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster gives and eloquent defense of the website’s safety policies in an interview this morning with The Today Show’s Matt Lauer.

So, we are left to wonder when the next heroine or villain will bump Markoff and Boyles off the proverbial front page and what that will feel like. It seemed as if Susan’s 15 minutes were about to be challenged earlier this week when another “Britain’s Got Talent” contender, 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi, came along and was christened by the world media in interview after interview. Not so fast! – a new video has suddenly (and miraculously?) emerged of Boyle performing 20 years ago pumping new life into the Susan Boyles news cycle. Similarly, today’s Markoff news was about the 24-hour suicide watch under which he has been placed has propelled his story into its sixth day. Let’s hope the next overnight sensation will be more Boyles and less Markoff; we could all use some more of that right now.

Posted by Jeff Smith, CEO

Explore-A-Story: A Celebration of Books

On Sunday, April 19th, more than 700 guests attended “Explore-A-Story: A Celebration of Books,” a family festival and fundraiser celebrating The Wonder of Reading’s purpose: to inspire in children the love of reading. ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood was transformed into a carnival-like atmosphere complete with celebrity readers (Shia LaBeouf, Jesse McCartney, Madison Pettis, et al), children’s book authors (Hope Anita Smith, Ann Whitford Paul, Elisa Kleven, et al), walk-around book characters, food from California Pizza Kitchen, art activities, book signings, and a book fair by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

Other entertainment included the Invertigo Dance Theatre, which performed a dance to Where the Wild Things Are; music by Mariachi Cielo Nuevo; the Guild Opera Company, which performed Little Red Riding Hood and David Prather.

Despite the heat, children and their families had a terrific day and supported a wonderful organization.

Posted by Amy Fuller, Assistant Account Executive