ShrimpTank Productions

As Seen on TV

// November 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // caveat emptor, marketing, social media

The Importance of Celebrity….

In today’s culture, being on TV is king. Everybody wants to be famous. So, it’s absolutely huge when someone says “As Seen On TV” right? Well, that depends…

How many times have you been standing in line at Wal-Mart and they have a bunch of stuff that has the “As Seen on TV” label on it. You know, stuff like the Snuggie. Or that thing that cleans your windshield. Or any other bunch of stuff that you’ve seen on an infomercial at 3am. In this case, just because it was on TV doesn’t make it good. They just bought airtime.

The same can be said for companies. You can buy airtime on the news. You can also buy a slot on somewhere like Great Day SA. You might also get on TV for free if you do something special or silly enough. So when someone posts on their website, “As Seen on TV”, you might investigate further. What were they on TV for? Was it free? Was it paid publicity? Did it have anything to do with what they are doing now? Was it even for doing something good?

I could post on here “As Seen on Channel 7″. In fact, I do. I disclose that I have been on TV in my About Me page. In my case, I’m giving a general history of myself, not trying to sell anything in particular. Some places will advertise a As Seen On… on their website, but it doesn’t have anything to do with what they’re doing now. They’re just trying to add credibility.

Here’s an example from another company in San Antonio:

Whilst it’s true that they were mentioned on all the above sites, they’re advertising is still a little ingenuous. You see, what they were on all of these sites for has nothing to do with what they are currently advertising their services as. They are currently selling a web based SEO tool, whilst all the “Mentions” were for a “twitter study”. Most of the mentions weren’t even very flattering.  If you’re going to hire someone based on all the so called credibility of being famous, ask them to show you copies of all their mentions. See if it’s even good publicity. Bernie Madoff, if he were to ever be released from prison could start working as a broker again and state that he was seen on CNN and Fox News. He’s not lying. It just doesn’t mean that he was on there for the right reasons.

So always do your research. On Google, it’s easy. Type in the company you’re thinking of hiring, then do a news search. See if the news search matches up with what they’re saying. After all, you’d hate to send your kid to some summer camp because they said they were featured on TV, only to find out they were on the news because they failed their health inspections or a bunch of kids went missing on a hike….

Caveat Emptor.

Cutting through the Crap

// November 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // social media

Who do you believe?

Last night when I headed over to my local bar to meet some friends and business associates. There was a lot of buzz about the drama that had happened the night before. The first story I heard was that my friend Brandon, who own a giant Truck had run over a girl in the carpark. They then told me it wasn’t him, but that a girl had indeed been run over.  Apparently I missed the news reports, so we brought up the story from 3 different news sites, who all had vastly different stories about the events of the night before.

From WOAI:
“The driver was leaving the bar with a group of people in her car. Police said she ran over a 25-year-old woman in the parking lot, pinning her underneath the car. According to police, a large group of people started banging on the driver’s car after the accident.”

From Kens5:
“Cameron said when she tried to leave the scene, a friend of Cates jumped on the hood of her car, but then jumped off again.

Cameron told police she was afraid she would be attacked, and tried to take off. But, as she did so, Cates jumped in front of her vehicle. Cameron said she tried to stop her car, but ended up hitting Cates and trapping her under the vehicle.”

from MySA.com
“The witness told police she jumped on the hood of Cameron’s car before Cates attempted to join her. Cates tried to jump on the hood as Cameron started driving to get out of the parking lot and that’s when she fell beneath the car, the report states. Cameron tried to stop, the report states, but Cates was already trapped.”

So WOAI made it sound like she ran over the girl, and then people started banging on the car. Other reports say she drove off because people were banging on her car and she was scared and was just trying to get away. There was also some need for the reporters to buy a compass, since each news service put the Crazy Ape in a different section of town.

What this tells you is that you can’t believe the reporters, since none of them were actually there at the time and their “eye witnesses” gave a different report depending on which side of the scuffle they were on. It also seems apparent by the comments on all three stories that people have different opinions based on the type of bar it was. The Yuppie crowd thinks it was because it was a low class bar. The regulars think it was because the 2 women were fighting over a guy and it had nothing to do with the bar. Others just blamed it on the alcohol, even though the driver passed a sobriety test.

What does any of this have to do with anything? Well, when you’re looking for a new company to do business with, you need to get several different opinions. If someone gives you an opinion about a company or service and they’ve never actually dealt with that company, then maybe it’s not valid. They only have hearsay, and it may be heavily biased. Ask some people who have actual first hand experience, and then ask someone else. Ask people who’s opinion you value and trust. Remember that people who comment on those companies on the web are people who are passionate about their love or hate for that company. The only in betweens are people who are bored web surfers and wouldn’t know either way. They just want to say something. Anything.
Some people may have  a vested interest in making a company sound good. Maybe they’re getting a kickback, or they’re a sales company who’s paid to make someone look good. Or they may be in competition and will say something negative, even if it’s not true. So get several opinions and take them all with a grain of salt. Or, talk to people like Matt and Chris at KarmaSpoon, who have actual working experience with a lot of these companies and will tell you their unbiased experiences. They started KarmaSpoon after several good and bad experiences  in San Antonio and wished that someone had clued them in to some of these companies first.

What was sad about the whole story  at the Crazy Ape and all the comments, was the only person who said that they were actually worried about the girl who got run over was the Bartender Bridgette….

In the meantime, if you’d like to come and have a happy hour drink with me, I’ll still be at the Crazy Ape. It’s just off San Pedro at Ramsey, about a mile outside Loop 410. This is a good way for you to experience the difference between what’s said on the web and actual reality. Come and make your own opinion.