Take a tip from Fulkultur and their Ugly Dance

My extremely attractive brother doing the Ugly Dance

It seems that I have been neglecting my blog, but I have been waiting for something to really inspire me for a post. That inspiration happened in the form of a hilarious video of my brother. Who doesn’t like laughing at their little brother? We all know that Facebook is a great way to hear about funny videos and pictures, and I happened to come across a hilarious video that one of my brother’s friends made for him. 

This website features a video that you can put your picture (or someone else’s) in so that it looks like you are doing a funny dance. Kind of like what JibJab does when you can “Elf Yourself” or “Scrooge Yourself” at Christmas time, but funnier. You can change the moves that their legs and arms do so that you can make your friend/enemy/brother look as ridiculous as you want.

This interactive site is done by a band from Sweden called Fulkultur, and is basically just a really creative way to create awareness for their new song “The Ugly Dance.” This is a great public relations strategy on their part and is a fun, quirky way to let people know that their song is out there.

I do have a few thoughts on their campaign.

1.     They have done a great job to create an interactive tool for fans, and non-fans, that is fun and showcases their song in a fun, silly atmosphere. If you take a look at any of their other videos and songs, you can tell that they are all about having fun and being crazy so this website does a great job showing what they are really about.

2.     Considering they don’t have any prominent social media presence, this viral site has done extremely well for itself.

3.     That being said, they should really incorporate social media into their online presence if they want to create a community and bond with their fans. As of right now, their Facebook “interest” page has nothing on it, and only has a few hundred likes. I might not be looking hard enough, but I can’t seem to find a Twitter page, or a YouTube channel. They need to up their ante because I want to follow them! They do have a Myspace page, but I mean really, who uses Myspace anymore? 

Considering we are taking an integrated marketing communications course right now, I feel like I can say that this was a great campaign, especially since it started about a year ago and is still being widely viewed. It made me want to buy their song, what about you?

Semester one lessons learned

I am officially one eighth of the way through my public relations degree and I already feel like I have so much more knowledge than I did going into the program. Here are a few reflections from my first semester:

Grunig’s two-way symmetrical communication model is key. If there was one thing that was drilled into my head this semester, it was that this model, stemming from Grunig’s excellence study, is what public relations strives for time after time. It may not be the easiest or most realistic model to practice in real life, but it is the essence of public relations.

Social media is an intrinsic tool for public relations practitioners. We studied social media very intensely this semester and I started to see that to practice public relations with the two-way symmetrical model in mind, social media has to be used; it is not an option. It is one of the only ways to ensure one is listening to feedback from stakeholders and having a real conversation with them.

Being a great writer is a must. I don’t know how to thank my parents enough for ensuring that I started learning my ABCs and reading at a younger age than a lot of people. I’ve always loved to read and write and it made my writing lab this semester a lot easier than I had anticipated. Writing is such a large part of public relations that knowing how to do it well and actually enjoying it as much as I do makes all the difference.

 

Group work is a difficult thing to manage, but you have no choice. This is one thing I have trouble with. Some group members (more often than not) are unreliable and are more than willing to piggyback on your work. It is hard to decide on meeting times that suit everyone in the group. Personalities clash. I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you. Group work is involved in real public relations practice too, not just in class work. Better get used to it.

Tara Hunt is a genius. Anyone wishing to get into public relations should read her book, The Power of Social Networking. Everything she says makes sense in our modern, technological world.

I am extremely happy that all of my courses have been so relevant and already make sense in real life. What have you learned this semester?