Every Dot Connects

I was raised on General Motors cars; that was my father’s choice of wheels. My first car was a Cadillac–an 8-year-old one that my dad, an automobile dealer, bought for my 16th birthday. it was a behemoth V8 gas guzzler, and I loved to drive it. My current car is a 2002 Ford Focus wagon I bought when it had just over 20,000 miles. It happened to be the best car in my budget range when I went shopping, and it’s been an economic, efficient ride. I figure my late father would forgive me for venturing outside of the GM family.

I’ve been paying attention to Ford’s marketing and PR efforts since my friend Scott Monty was hired to lead their social media efforts. Scott was one of the first people I followed on Twitter, and I’ve had the privilege of meeting him in person a few times.

So I was really intrigued that Ford chose to reveal the new 2011 Explorer, not at a car show, but on Facebook, in conjunction with a live unveiling in Herald Square in New York City and in these additional locations: Toronto, Washington, DC, Miami, Chicago, Dearborn, Dallas, Denver, and Los Angeles.

Check out the Ford Explorer Facebook page, which served as the hub for all the day’s activities and a repository for the reveal videos. Scott was in New York, “manning the Interwebz” as he tweeted.

I watched a few of the videos and learned about the design and safety features of the new Explorer, including inflatable seatbelts for rear-seat passengers. That’s a great feature, and I hope it’s adopted by other automakers.

Oh, and I also registered in the sweepstakes drawing to win one of the new Explorers. Ford had announced that if they got at least 30,000 fans … er, “likes” … on the Facebook page, they would give away an Explorer. They went well over that mark last week, and the page now has over 53,000 likes.

It looks like nearly every post on the Facebook page has gotten over 100 comments, so there has been a lot of engagement with both fans and detractors. I’ll be curious to see reports on the results of the Facebook-driven launch.

What do you think about yesterday’s Explorer launch: was it simply social media hype, or does this signal a new type of interactive marketing event to not only reach but engage the masses?

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Please indulge this off-topic post. It’s an important day for me personally, World Sjogren’s Day.

Sjogren’s (pronounced “show-grins”) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes white blood cells to attack the body’s moisture-producing glands. Some four million Americans, 90 percent of them women, are living with Sjogren’s. I’m one of them.

There is no cure. Symptoms can range from mild to debilitating, and the best you can do is learn to manage them.

What’s it like living with Sjogren’s? Well, just imagine ….

• that you are constantly wiping grit from your eyes, and eye drops afford scant relief
• that you can’t swallow foods like crackers because you don’t have enough saliva
• that your dry mouth causes rapid tooth decay and you make frequent visits to the dentist
• that your dry nose predisposes you to sinus infections, nose bleeds and respiratory problems
• that no matter how much water you drink, you can’t replenish your body’s moisture
• that your skin is so dry you use night cream under your makeup
• that you feel constantly fatigued and the doctor simply chalks it up to depression
• that you have episodes of joint and muscle pain with no explanation
• that for days on end you feel as if you have the flu, except you don’t
• that you have good days and bad days, but you can’t predict when they’ll occur
• that you’re sent from doctor to doctor for more than a decade before being diagnosed, and even then specialists disagree with each other

I don’t have to imagine any of these things; I live them.

Yet I’m fortunate. Although this is a systemic disorder, none of my major organs have been affected. I’m still mobile, still able to work, and have never been hospitalized due to Sjogren’s.

Click the graphic below to enlarge; it’s from the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation site, where you’ll find much valuable information for patients and healthcare providers.

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I’ve known about this product for a few months and it’s such an exciting idea that it was hard keeping the secret. (But I did!)

As an Austinite since age 3, I’ve grown up in the shadow of the University of Texas tower. I’m also a UT graduate, and a lifelong Longhorns football fan.

So when I found out that the University had licensed a 1:400 scale-model replica of the iconic tower as a container for a bottled water product, I was “hooked” instantly.

It also did not surprise me that the brains behind this idea is Tim McClure, the “M” in Austin’s GSD&M ad agency and the man who created the “Don’t Mess with Texas” campaign — the most successful anti-litter campaign ever. In 2006, the famous battle cry was voted America’s Favorite Advertising Slogan.

Tim McClure, UT President William Powers Jr., and Steve Gurasich

The tagline for H2Orange (and don’t you just love the name?) is “Drink water. Bleed orange. Fund Scholarships.” Approximately 40 percent of the proceeds from bottled water sales will be used to fund scholarships, and the company hopes to create enough sales to fund $1 million in scholarships annually.

Other investors in the venture, University of Texas graduates all, are are golf legend Ben Crenshaw, business giant Red McCombs and former UT national championship quarterback James Street.

The 16.9-ounce water bottles will go on sale August 25, the first day of classes at UT. The suggested retail price of $1.19 to $1.49 is slightly more expensive than generic brands, but less than premium brands of bottled water.

Environmentalists will be pleased to note that the H2Orange tower bottle is 100 percent recyclable, and carbon credits have been purchased through Green Mountain Energy to offset any environmental impact from the manufacturing and transportation of the bottle. And the water? It’s collected from Texas rain water, and is purified and bottled in Texas.

Every Dot Connects’ long-time advisor and friend Brenda Thompson is handling publicity and media relations for the launch of H2Orange purified Texas water. For more information, contact Brenda Thompson Communications, (512) 461-5644, or email info@h2orange.com.

Facebook page: H2Orange – Drink water, bleed orange.™ Fund scholarships.

Austin American Statesman coverage: Fans who bleed orange can now drink orange

KVUE-TV video coverage: UT unveils H2Orange water to raise scholarship funds

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In case you haven’t noticed, I let this blog grow stale following my illness last fall. As I recovered, I started using my Tumblr blog, conniereece.com, to curate content for clients or those who are new to social media. I’m continuing that practice but intend to occasionally post longer pieces here on Every Dot Connects, like this one today: Cause Marketing: H2Orange bottled water launch.

I invite you to check out my Tumblr blog as well. Each day I pick a few items out of the dozens (sometimes 100+) that I read and post them using the Tumblr bookmarklet (probably my favorite social media tool ever). Several people have told me they find this blog helpful for getting up-to-date with the ever-changing world of social media and social networking, without spending hours and hours searching and reading.

Many thanks to those who have wondered where I was and to those who have poked and prodded me to get back to “serious” blogging. I heard you; I’m just stubborn and take my own sweet time doing things.

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