A Touching Scotch: We were intrigued to learn The Macallan, a single malt scotch, unveiled late last month what it calls the first touchable, interactive video “created by a brown spirit brand.” The brand, whose distillery was founded in 1824, collaborated with photographer Steven Klein on a movable piece of art in the form of a 60-second video [https://cinematique.com/watch/1860]. The touchable part comes when the consumer presses a portion of the mural as it scrolls by on his/her mobile platform, such as a smartphone. When one of 13 touch points is activated, the technology catalogues the area touched and later provides the user with information corresponding to that touch point, Samantha Leotta, The Macallan’s senior brand manager, tells us. Information includes background on the whiskey, the distilling process and what inspired Klein. In addition to the added experience, consumers who may not be able to afford the whiskey still can engage online with the brand via the video. The Macallan and its agency M Booth found there was a demand for knowledge about whiskey. Indeed, followers are spending “40% more time” with the touchable video compared to the brand’s other short-form videos. A tip for brands interested in deploying touchable video for storytelling: “You can have the best technology…but if there isn’t a demand for the information [or story it’s conveying] people won’t care…they won’t engage with it for very long…that’s a good filter [for brands] to use,” Leotta says.
United We Stand, But Not on Descent: It’s hard to estimate the shelf life of the United Airlines-Dr. Dao crisis, but at the moment nearly every move the airline makes is scrutinized. United seems to be responding responsibly, though. Not long after the unfortunate Apr. 9 incident came to light, reports appeared about Simon, a 3-foot-long bunny, found dead in the cargo hold of a United flight from London to Chicago. The airline apologized and began an investigation. Last week brought a video of a United ticket agent who cancelled passenger Navang Oza’s reservation because Oza was videotaping the interaction. United apologized. Another incident came to light last week when Nicole Harper told a Fox affiliate flight attendants denied her entrance to a bathroom during an Apr. 10 United flight. She was given paper cups to relieve herself and used them in view of nearby passengers. United apologized. It also noted the flight was making its final descent when Harper rose to use the facilities. FAA mandates passengers must remain seated during final descent. United tried to make nice on Twitter last week but that flopped. Attempting to piggyback on the good fortune of teen Carter Wilkerson, whose record 3.6 million re-tweets of his request for a free year’s worth of Wendy’s chicken nuggets topped Ellen DeGeneres’ selfie tweet from the 2014 Oscars. In a May 10 tweet, United reminded Wilkerson of an offer of a free flight to the Wendy’s of his choice. The twittersphere exploded, with one tweeter urging United to invite Dr. Dao on the trip. Last week wasn’t all bad for United: Shares rose 5% May 9 to a new high on reports of strong April traffic.
Mis-Comey-nication: PR and communications lessons from last week’s ouster of FBI director James Comey. 1. As was said on this page and by Adriana Stan of W Magazine ( PRNP, May 1), there’s no longer a distinction between internal and external communications. 2.A high-profile dismissal is best done with dignity and face-to-face. That this one wasn’t may hurt the president’s standing with FBI employees and the public. 3.Sing from the same hymnal. Various explanations for the firing are weakening the White House’s strength.
News Bits: Props to Reuters for its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealing brands and influencers who received Apr. 20 letters from the Federal Trade Commission warning them to disclose paid relationships in social media endorsements ( PRNP, Apr. 24). Adidas, Johnson & Johnson, Dunkin’ Brands and Hasbro were among the 40+ brands. Influencers included Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum and Allen Iverson. – More than 75% of marketers polled by the Association of National Advertisers and the USC Center for PR say they’ll increase spending on PR during the next 5 years. 54% say PR will become more closely aligned with marketing. Not surprising: social listening, digital storytelling and real-time marketing were seen as important PR trends.
Corporate Affairs, Northwestern Mutual
People: GCI Health named Victoria Fort SVP/market leader in its D.C. office. -- Former Obama appointee Jordan Valdés joined APCO Worldwide as a senior director. -- The Human Rights Campaign named Chris Sgro its communications director. -- Northwestern Mutual added corporate affairs to the title of Courtney Reynolds, VP, communications. -- Former Ogilvy VP Nick Ludlum joined CTIA as its CCO.