Robbed of Mayoral Duties

After several public mishaps, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is finally being stripped of most of his powers. The Toronto City Council met yesterday to discuss whether they should revoke more of Ford's mayoral privileges after he publicly admitted to buying and using cocaine. Specifically, the majority of the council (39-3) has voted to cut his office budget by 60 percent and remove him from executive committee chair. Ford will, however, "retain his title and ability to represent Toronto at official functions."

Photograph by Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP Photo

What led Ford to be in jeopardy of losing his mayoral duties in the first place? His unfortunate personal affairs recently became very public. When confronted several times with the accusation of smoking crack cocaine, he finally admitted to the mistake saying, "Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. But do I? Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago." Yes that "drunken stupor" was plural, as in more than one occasion.

Despite obvious reasons for Toronto City Council to question the competency of Ford in office, he didn't seem to take the news very well. During the council session, Ford and his brother (a council member himself) became outraged yelling "punk" and "scumbags," while the public chanted back at him, "Shame! Shame!" Ford was also heard calling the meeting a "coup d'etat." To add insult to injury, Ford knocked over councilor Pam McConnell in the midst of his frenzy claiming he was rushing to the defense of his brother. He offered no apology when prompted but simply said, "I picked her up." 

While removing some of his privileges is a start, it would appear that Mayor Rob Ford could use a little crisis communication, and some serious rebranding and damage control if he plans on running for re-election or for Prime Minister, as he has stated recently. 

Do you believe Ford can come back from these series of events and if so, what steps should he be taking? Let us know in the comments below!

Miley Cyrus, PR Pro?

It has been over a month since Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance, yet she is still making it into every magazine, newspaper and website we can get our hands on. Whether it’s twerking with a foam finger to a national audience, breaking off her engagement with fiancé, Liam Hemsworth, or hitting No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 charts, Miley is everywhere.

What’s her secret? Great PR.

Miley has brilliantly utilized her fame to gain even more recognition. While most might think of Miley as a child star who has gone off the deep end, there is no doubt that she can still capture our attention.

Rethinking Miley’s moves:

• About a year ago, Miley’s long, brown hair slowly transformed into a short, blonde and bold cut. She had been out of the limelight for a while, so what better way to create a buzz than to tweet a picture and keep the audience in suspense about her new look.
• Four months ago, Miley dropped a music video for her first single “We Can’t Stop,” from her new album. While everyone was in shock at how different this was from anything she had done before, Miley got to sit back and let the video do its work.  She had successfully rebranded herself. No longer were her fans expecting her to cater to the pre-teen crowd.
• After the drop of her music video, everyone wondered what Miley would do next. Her VMA performance not only brought about an array of reactions, it sent the audience a very clear message: she was here to stay.
• Left in the dark about her new look, style and voice, Miley fans celebrated the release of her MTV documentary in early October. The documentary offered viewers a new perspective on her life and created a connection that fans were missing since her 2013 “debut”. Without realizing it, fans across the world had reconnected with their childhood idol, and could once again relate to her new sound.

The next time you see Miley pull another one of her crazy stunts, you’ll know that it isn’t Miley being like every other superstar, but rather Miley being a PR genius.

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Hiya Ray.

Vacationing in Pakistan

Terrorists. Drone strikes. Al-Qaida. These are some of things that may come to mind when you hear the name Pakistan, but what about food, scenery, and ancient ruins? My family is from Pakistan and I’ve been there to visit almost every year. The first thing I can tell you is that you’ll never find better food anywhere in the world. Pakistan, and the people of Pakistan, is so much more than what the world thinks of them as; there aren’t terrorists or extremists hiding around every corner in Pakistan. Instead you’ll find people in need of help.

Ever since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States of America, Pakistan has been the recipient of millions of dollars of US aid, meant to further the fight against militants and terrorists. Meanwhile, Pakistan has been trying to revitalize its own economy through tourism in order to help its struggling people. Pakistan should put the money towards helping the people, and creating a better name for itself worldwide. Nobody I know has ever wanted to go on vacation in Pakistan because it’s viewed as unsafe; that’s the attitude that the Pakistani government needs to be working to change.

To bring in more tourists and create more money for the economy, Pakistan needs to show people everywhere that it’s safe to visit the country. Pakistan’s Swat Valley used to be a premier vacation area because of its amazing scenery, but now it’s a nearly desolate, former battleground. 

The government needs to convince media and tourism agencies to promote Pakistan as a tourist destination again. Pakistan also needs to get off the USA’s travel warning list. The country needs to put itself into TV ads, onto more travel sites and offer deals and packages as incentive for people to visit. Once locals start returning, Pakistan can show the rest of the world that it’s safe to visit. 

There are plenty of people who want to see what Pakistan is like because it’s so different from the USA. People want to sample the amazing food, or explore the huge excavation sites of ancient ruins. Whatever your interest, there’s something waiting for you to discover in Pakistan.  They just need to brand themselves a little better in order to get you there.

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Faiz Mandviwalla.

5 Questions To Ask Before You Rebrand

As companies and products grow, change, and evolve, the way that we market and brand them has to change as well. Most if not all companies come to a point where they feel that it's time for a rebrand. This is usually when the company discovers more about who they are, who their customers are, and what the company's goals are. You can watch the growth and journey of most companies by following their rebranding efforts over time. A great example of this is the Starbucks logo, which has transformed dramatically from the original maroon logo.

A successful rebrand goes far beyond changing a logo and updating a website, there is plenty of planning and behind the scenes work that has to take place. Before jumping into a rebranding, here are 5 questions that you should ask yourself and your client:

1. Why are we going to rebrand? Rebranding isn't a quick overnight job, so you want to be sure everyone is in it for the right reasons. Are you working to solve a problem that may not require such a drastic step? What exactly is the client unhappy with?

2. Are we ready for change? A call to rebrand takes participation by the team in order to be effective. Everyone has to be ready for and agree with the changes to come so that they can adjust their work accordingly.

3. What is our story, and how does our brand tell that story now? If you and your client want to rebrand to properly tell the story behind your brand, you have to first define what that story is. How does the current brand lack in getting the message across?

4. Has our customer based changed since our last branding effort? If you are now targeting a different audience, you want to make sure that your rebranding efforts will resonate with them.Discuss what elements of your new audience will be reflected in the new brand.

5. Will the new brand last? A rebranding campaign can be evolutionary or revolutionary, meaning it can be a first step for more change to come, or a bold and more permanent change. Talk about if you could see this brand staying relevant and meaningful 5, 10, and even 20 years down the road.

For more great tips and thoughts on rebranding, check out this great article on INC.

Have you ever successfully completed a rebranding campaign? What challenges or difficulties did you face?

The Balancing Act of Logo Redesigns

If a picture is worth 1000 words then the same is true for a company’s logo.  A logo is an essential part of a strong brand. It often serves as a company’s first impression to the public and, if effective enough, can evoke an emotional and galvanizing response. To put it simply: a logo is the most visual representation of a company’s identity.

However, as companies change, so do their logos. While some logos have stood the test of time (think Johnson & Johnson, Ford and FedEx), the recent years have been remarkable in terms of the number of brands that have transformed their logos. In the past year, Hooters, Vh1 and Wendy’s have created sleeker, more streamlined logos to appear more contemporary and modern in the face of a competitive and evolving market.  

Logo changes are a massive undertaking and because a drastic redesign can cause public outcry, the stakes are high. Change for the sake of change can backfire and damage a brand and its long-standing reputation. Clothing giant GAP’s new logo design in 2010 was pulled within a week of its introduction, while Tropicana and Starbucks received significant backlash for their new logos as well.

The key to a successful logo redesign is to maintain the central element of the company’s identity. Good logos are timeless and versatile; if a redesign is overly trendy or if the company attempts to be something it’s not, this can be detrimental to the brand. Successful logos boil down to methodical, thought-out concepts and flawless execution that aligns with rebranding efforts. Logo redesign is quite the balancing act but if done correctly, can propel your company to great success!

In your opinion, what makes a successful logo redesign? Let us know what some of your favorite logo redesigns are!

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Cara Graeff.

The Rebirth of Social Networks

By now I’m sure we are all too familiar with the life cycle of most social networks. Typically, it is short and sweet. While social networks fade into the background everyday, there aren’t as many stories of them making a comeback. Over the past week, however, two social media platforms have announced some big changes that may just create a new narrative when discussing the life span of social networks: the rebirth.

• Instagram - While Instagram has never waned in popularity, the addition of a video sharing feature may prove deadly for another growing platform: Vine. Last Thursday, Instagram launched a new video sharing feature that not only allows users to capture 15 seconds of video (9 seconds more than Vine), but also add on Instagram’s infamous filters. While some have pegged this as the death of Vine early on, others predict an opposite fate. Some believe that this will be Instagram’s downfall. Because users are accustomed to their niche apps (Instagram for photos and Vine for video), they may not be too thrilled with the inclusion of both on one feed. Others appreciate the simplicity that this change will bring to their home screens. This is still a new development. Only time will tell which app will survive in the end, or if there is room for both in our lives.

• Myspace - Myspace was probably the social network that took the hardest hit when Facebook began rising in popularity. It went down as the site that tried to do everything. As stated before, people have said that they prefer their niche platforms: networks that do only a few things, but very well. Ironically, Facebook’s popularity is beginning to decline for that very reason, trying to do it all. Myspace, however, seems to have learned from its mistakes. Earlier this month, Myspace aired its new commercial that features popular music artists such as Pharrell, Sky Ferreia, and Mac Miller. The purpose is to completely rebrand Myspace by going back to what originally made them successful: a place to discover and share new music. With a beautiful and simplistic new design and celebrity endorsements, I think it’s safe to say that Myspace may be experiencing that rebirth phase. 

What do these changes mean for us? It means we need to be even more diligent to keep up not only with the birth of new networks, but the rebirth of old ones as well. Don’t be so quick to delete those apps off your phone. Give it a month and a great rebranding team and you may find yourself signing back in. 

Wait…What’s MySpace again?

Hearing that Justin Timberlake is going to revamp the social networking site MySpace will either excite you or confuse you. I was one of those people who never had a MySpace, so hearing that it was bought and going to be rebranded did not interest me in the least, at least I didn’t think so. 

As PR students, when we read these stories it is important to look at them from many different angles and try to dissect all the little details in the story. Although I had no connection to MySpace, I had a connection to the word “brand” or in this case “rebrand”. 

Rebranding is great way to introduce and reintroduce yourself to the public. Newer audiences are attracted to products every day, but they don’t want something old and dated, they want the latest and greatest. This is just what Justin Timberlake is doing with MySpace. MySpace instead of having vertical scrolling will have horizontal scrolling. Music will also become a highlight as well. Playlists and featured music will be apart of the standard page. This new site will be a complete combination of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pintrest all in one. 

It has been years since people have been on MySpace and it seems many have forgotten about the social site. This rebranding will help add a new edge to the once very popular social media source. All products should take notes from Justin Timberlake’s handbook. He took a risk by buying this product but he knows what people are interested in. Adding a more youthful feel to the site will be sure to increase its number of members. 

There are certain products where it is acceptable to leave things as they are, but social media is not one of them. Social media outlets are forever changing and people need to keep up with the times and change the product to fit the people. 

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Alison Curran