Thought Bubble
With unemployment hovering at around 8 percent nationally and the presidential bid ramping up, the economy and job creation remain hot topics in the news.
CooperKatz client DialAmerica, one the nation’s leading teleservices providers, has made a companywide commitment to hire and support members of military families. As a part of this commitment, DialAmerica partnered with Jobs4America and the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, pledging to have 20 percent of its workforce be military-affiliated by 2014.
Online privacy is a hot topic for everyone, and CooperKatz dove headfirst into the issue for our client, the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), a self-regulatory body that develops industry best practices and effective solutions for consumer transparency and choice.
CK’s role was to help the DAA spotlight the effectiveness of its Self-Regulatory Program, designed to give consumers enhanced control over the collection and use of data regarding their Internet viewing for interest-based advertising purposes – working alongside policymakers.
In celebration of all the college football festivities, Coldwell Banker Real Estate released its annual College Home Listing Report (College HLR), which ranks college towns across the country in home affordability. This year, the College HLR ranks the average home listing price of three-bedroom, two-bathroom properties in more than 115 college towns home to schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Last week I had one of my best “only in New York” experiences to date: parading through Times Square with more than a dozen brand icons and mascots.
The parade included The Michelin Man, Colonel Sanders, Tony the Tiger, The Kool-Aid Man, French’s Mustard, the Vlasic Stork, the Crash Test Dummies, a Kia Hamster, Mr. Peanut, Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, The AOL Running Man and my favorite, CK client, Sparky the Fire Dog, the official “spokesdog” for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). All of these iconic characters made their way from the Times Center, through Times Square, to the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame. It was truly a sight to see. I even spotted a few jaded New Yorkers doing double takes.
This was the culmination of Advertising Week’s annual Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame public vote. It was exciting to have the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) official mascot Sparky the Fire Dog among this year’s nominees for favorite icon. Not only is Sparky celebrating his 60th birthday this year, but the Advertising Week event came just days before the kick-off of the NFPA’s annual public awareness campaign, Fire Prevention Week (October 9-15).
At an awards luncheon on a sunny Autumn afternoon, CooperKatz received an ‘Honorable Mention’ in the PRNews Platinum PR Awards for ‘Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet Day’! As finalists in the Word of Mouth / Viral category, CooperKatz was noted for its 360-degree approach to PR and social media in the planning and execution of this campaign.