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Meet Peter Shankman, Guest Commentator For Marketing Land’s 2014 #HashtagBowl
All right, so many of you may already ‘know’ Peter Shankman, as active as he is on various social networks. You may also recognize him as a published author, entrepreneur and public speaker who is not shy about sharing his views on branding, improving customer service, social media, PR, marketing and advertising.
Peter Shankman is best known for launching HARO (Help A Reporter Out), a clearinghouse to match journalists with expert sources for print, online and broadcast media; he sold that company to Vocus in 2010.
In 2013, he co-founded Shankman|Honig, a new consultancy group which is “designed to help corporations, businesses, and retail operations create stellar customer service that resonates in our new “conversation economy,” driving revenue, repeat business, and new customers.”
Meanwhile, he continues to operate The Geek Factory, a boutique social media, marketing and PR strategy firm he created in 1998.
Now, he’s adding a new ‘job’ to that impressive resume, as one of Marketing Land’s brand experts who will be commenting on the winners and losers of Super Bowl XLVIII advertising throughout the game in the Hashtag Bowl live blog.
Peter Shankman
Co-Founder & Principal, Shankman|Honig
- Age: 41
- Apple or Android? Android
- HQ: New York City, NY
- Favorite Brand: United
- First Car: Hyundai Excel
- Hobby: Running, Skydiving
Recently, Peter has appeared as a marketing pundit for several national and international news channels, including Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. In addition, he’s also a go-to source for major media and trade publications, and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Daily News, The Associated Press, Reuters and USA Today.
Social Media Savvy
Without a doubt, Shankman knows his way around social media – with over 160K followers, he’s a verified user on Twitter and on Facebook, where he has over 143,000 people following his status updates, many of which include a glimpse inside his daily routine of work, Ironman training workouts, global travel and family life.
In 2011, Peter authored a tweet that was voted as one of the Top Ten Tweets of the year by Twitter, out of more than 160,000,000,000 tweets sent.
Hey @Mortons – can you meet me at newark airport with a porterhouse when I land in two hours? K, thanks. :)
— Peter Shankman (@petershankman) August 17, 2011
For the record, Morton’s Steakhouse indulged Shankman’s off-the-wall and not entirely serious request.
Image via Shankman.com
As you can see, this frequently repeated story of customer service via social media had a happy ending, with Morton’s sending a tuxedo wearing delivery man to meet Shankman at EWR within three hours of the initial tweet.
While the story is now several years old, it still illustrates that the expectations and stakes (readers take note — you’ve been spared the obvious ‘steaks’ pun here) are even higher these days for brands on social media, and opportunity is knocking at the door.
There’s no bigger platform than the Super Bowl, where brand advertisers have an opportunity to engage in the “conversation economy” that Shankman so often speaks about.
Do it well, and you have brand loyalists for life. If brands make a misstep in advertising or in social media, it’s a sure-firestorm of bad publicity; after that, it’s all about how well you recover.
Read on for an early look at what Peter expects to see from this year’s Super Bowl advertisers and the opportunity (for success or failure) that lies ahead of them.
Which Super Bowl Ad Teasers Have Caught Your Attention So Far?
Not all Super Bowl ad campaigns are created equal; fairly often, brands walk the thin line between creative, funny and offensive in order to create buzz. At best, teaser ads are effective in building anticipation; others may ruin the mystery and make the prime-time ad a letdown. At their worst though, teaser ads can be confusing or an ad done in poor taste can be a huge turn off to consumers long before the full commercials air.
Shankman cited one early example of this, Audi’s confusing “Dog Show” teaser, honestly quipping: “the Audi thing with the dog show freaked me out – even kind of grossed me out.”
Still, Shankman says that some brands are poised to do well in social media based on the creative elements leaked already, noting that Bud Light’s use of celebrity and integration of the hashtag #UpForWhatever already sets the stage for sharing socially.
“The Don Cheadle ad should generate a ton of interest, and tweets galore. A llama!”
Also on Peter’s list of ads to watch, is the full version of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Bud Light ping-pong ploy:
What Other Notable Things Should We Watch For?
Since Super Bowl XLVIII marks the first time in years the big game has been played in outdoor, cold-weather environment, and the weather has been an ongoing storyline since before the introduction of the “polar vortex”. The athletes are trying not to let the cold weather interfere with their game plan, but can marketers say the same?
As a native New Yorker, Shankman is no stranger to winter weather, but says companies involved in the festivities should have backup plans in their playbook:
“There’s a good chance for a big storm. It’ll be interesting to see if any companies have crisis plans ready to go if the game is impacted by the weather.”
That word of warning may not just apply to in-game advertisers, but all of the on-site marketing activities and events happening near the stadium, and the social media marketing that will be happening in conjunction.
No matter what happens, Peter will be standing by and ready to live blog here at Marketing Land during our third annual #HashtagBowl on February 2, 2014 – coverage begins at 6:00 PM EST. Stay tuned to meet the rest of our live blogger roster this week, as we profile the key players who will be analyzing the commercials that air throughout the game.
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