Bill de Blasio to Bloomberg: Move Over

In the last public polling of New York voters from NBC and the Wall Street Journal, it appeared that Democratic mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio would win in a landslide election against his Republican opponent Joe Lhota, and that’s exactly what happened. 73 percent of likely voters cast their ballots for de Blasio, while Lhota ended up at a comparatively puny 24 percent. These strong results can be attributed to a large number of factors, and for de Blasio, it all came together at the right time.

For starters, let's take a look at the soon-to-be former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg is one of the more well-known names in the country and arguably the most powerful mayor in the world with his network of both public and private connections through all forms of government, businesses, and investments. While not everyone has agreed with his tactics, he has left an undeniable mark on the office with his Republican-turned-Independent policies in a solidly Democratic state. However, one of the reasons why de Blasio ran away in a landslide is because of Bloomberg. It seems New Yorkers may be a bit fatigued after his three terms as mayor.

For de Blasio himself, regardless of politics, he has done just about everything right to be a strong political candidate. He used his campaign experience as a political operative to make himself a well-known and vocal public servant, running counter to an opposing candidate that wants to uphold the status quo.

What businesses can learn from de Blasio is how he managed to get himself out into the limelight. He started small, then worked his way up and made a name for himself. When campaigning, he knew exactly who his targeted audience was: the people of New York City. He also understood his voters wanted a change from Bloomberg. And finally, he advocated himself in clear support of his own cause with no evidence (so far) of flip-flopping, something which helped get President Obama elected in both his terms.

With Centel Media™ help, you can achieve your goals, just as de Blasio did yesterday. Our online reputation management firm seeks to provide all businesses with proper control over their image. We offer services that will publicize your brand through press releases, as well as optimization assistance for social media and Google Adwords, further boosting your ability to advertise yourself online. Knowing the wants of your customers, and running a clearly identifiable ad campaign will add up in a big way to make your business more successful than ever before.

Jonathan Wong,

Creative Writer,

Matthew Shaffer,

Editor-in-Chief,

Centel Media™

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Not Everyone in Red Sox Nation is Celebrating

Baseball fans across Boston celebrated in riotous joy Wednesday night at the final out of game six of the 2013 World Series. For the third time in a decade, they have become the national champions. The media frenzy capped off the win with commentaries and analysis of players, managers, coaches, umps, and any other topics and angles they could find.

Yet a disturbing undertone hummed beneath the usual statistics and congratulatory numbers repeated in the news and splashed across our computer screens. In describing the winners, the losers were held up to scrutiny as well. Not necessarily just the St. Louis Cardinals, either.

One popular memory dredged up for review was the last time Boston played a game six at Shea Stadium. In 1986, the Red Sox were in a ‘win the game or lose the championship’ situation against the Mets. In a disastrous mistake, Bill Buckner failed to make a rather routine play, allowing a ground ball to roll between his ankles. Boston lost the game and the championship, and Bill Buckner lost his outstanding reputation.

In his 20-year career, Buckner participated in 2,700 games, won a batting title, and played in All-Star games. But mention his name to baseball fans across the country, and what will they remember? Buckner’s mistake.

Titles like the World Series are never won or lost by one person. A whole team is responsible for the position in which they find themselves during a championship run. But, when a team fails in such as way as the Red Sox did in 1986, the fans often need a scapegoat. Poor old Buckner just happened to find himself in the crosshairs.

In Wednesday night’s game, Cardinal’s rookie pitcher Michael Wacha took the blame for the devastating loss. Wacha had been a superhero, a young kid who leveled Boston in game two, and whose postseason stats astonished even the most seasoned fans. But by the morning after the World Series loss, pundits clamored to figure out “What happened?” as they pointed fingers at his disappointing performance and burdened him with their defeat.

In today’s world of internet immediacy, one mistake can be magnified until reputations are decided by skewed or inaccurate information. Centel Media™ is an online reputation management company who can protect your image and your name from a bad call. Let us make sure that you have what you need to level the playing field in your own high-stakes game.

Chris MacEachern,

Creative Writer,

Matthew Shaffer,

Editor-in-Chief,

Centel Media™

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is a Scottish variant of All Hallows Eve. The holiday is thought to have both Christian and Pagan roots and has become a day of trick-or-treating, scary stories and horror films.

However you celebrate the day, Centel Media™ would like to wish you a safe and happy Halloween. 

Amazon ReKindled After Losses

Amazon has become an iconic website on the Internet and is widely recognized as one of the premier Internet-based companies alongside giants such as Google. Unlike its competitors, Amazon is known for dealing in quality products that all buyers can trust. Additionally, they have expanded their services. Amazon is no longer just the middleman in sales between producers and consumers, but a producer of its own, creating the Kindle Fire to compete against Apple's iPad and other tablets. This appears to have paid off, as in a recent report their investment has narrowed initial losses and boosted sales figures.

Knowing when to grow has been part of Amazon's success, and any business can learn a thing or two from them. The online retailer has actually been working with losses since they decided to produce their own products. Now, they have managed to cut those losses by almost 150% from the same time a year ago. This is due in large part to their expansion into more international markets, offering more services to their Amazon Prime users, and free video streaming content.

Their rebound is astonishing considering the fact that this year has been dreadful for any type of business who deals in product sales. Even EBay posted a disappointing forecast citing complete lack of consumer confidence, a statement supported by many analysts who expect this to be one of the worst holiday shopping seasons in recent memory. Amazon, on the other hand, is looking forward to a prosperous holiday season due to the loyalty of their Amazon Prime members, who will take advantage of sales starting on Black Friday.

If you want to make sure that your company is prepared for this holiday season, it would be wise to utilize your full online potential. Centel Media™ can help your company achieve this with our online outreach services. We will increase your number of followers and likes on your social media pages through our social media optimization services. We can also promote your company by issuing press releases, and increase your company’s appearance on search engines through Google AdWords optimization. While holiday sales figures are predicted to be dreary, that doesn't mean your company can't be like Amazon. Take advantage of the lull by embracing new opportunities.

Jonathan Wong,

Creative Writer,

Matthew Shaffer,

Editor-in-Chief,

Centel Media™

U.S. No Longer Trusted

Trust has always been hard to come by. When trust is broken, it’s often impossible to mend. In the case of the United States government and many other countries, trust has been lost. Germany's Chancellor, their version of the President, found out from a German magazine that the United States may have been spying on her through her cellphone. As we will see, careful wording, transparency and trust are closely linked.

While this isn't the first breach of trust between the United States and other countries, the topic hasn’t lost any steam. In a White house press release, the United States denied spying on the Chancellor and many other accusers, however, they did not deny spying on foreign leaders and other individuals in the past. Some of the media has pounced on the wording, but I don't think anyone is surprised by the terminology. Espionage has been a major, if illegal and immoral, part of both the public and private sector.

This is why trust is hard to come by. While we would like to be trusting of everyone, it simply does not happen in the real world. Competition is everywhere and many look after themselves to get a leg up against rivals.

Keeping trust often requires you to give it in return. You can’t expect others to open up to you if you’re not opening up to them. Transparency is the key. It may reflect on your company poorly in the short-term, but in the long-term, your clients and contacts will appreciate it. If you’re open, others will see that you’re willing to take on their opinions and adapt to make them more at ease.

For a business, maintaining trust with both clients and customers is one of the greatest assets your company can achieve in its lifetime. With proper trust comes business ventures, more customers, and greater opportunities that you would not have otherwise. At Centel Media™, we have the tools to help you attain that trust. A well-known strategy to build trust is to create press releases, which can develop a platform for your business's intentions. We also create company blogs and will even submit a Wikipedia article to further support your cause.

If you’re struggling to start or maintain a relationship between you and your customers or you and other contacts, Centel Media™ can help you regain a trustworthy name.

Jonathan Wong,

Creative Writer,

Matthew Shaffer,

Editor-in-Chief,

Centel Media™

Starbucks's Prices Boiling Over

Coffee shops are a way of life for many Americans. The smell, the caffeine, and the atmosphere are enough to perk up even the worst case of the Mondays. The most notable chain of coffee shops is Starbucks. Starbucks distinguishes itself from its competitors by offering premium quality coffee with a price to match. While the prices are a tad high, many people in America don’t seem to mind, as the shop is one of the most popular destinations for coffee.

However, it seems that in China a report by the official China Central Television or CCTV news agency uncovered that Starbucks was making rather large profit margins on its sales there by taking advantage of unsuspecting Chinese customers. Apparently, their coffee is more expensive than in a majority of other markets. This negative report is not something any company would want, and the best way to counter it is by spreading the right information to fill in the gaps.

While it is true that Starbucks charges more in China than it does elsewhere, there are several factors that are responsible for premium price tags. In this Eastern country, the cost of food tends to be higher than in the United States due to differing regulations, which forces Starbucks to ramp up their prices. Additionally, the Chinese tend to behave more casually in cafés than they do in America: instead of taking their coffee on the go, Chinese people hang around inside the café more often. This has the side effect of forcing Chinese Starbucks to build larger shops in order to accommodate all of the customers. And finally, China has higher import rates and tariffs, which certainly doesn't help this whole situation.

Most interestingly, there is a lot of support for Starbucks online from Chinese users. This is quite a departure from traditional Chinese views on this sort of Western lifestyle. Like Apple, Starbucks is seen as a premium brand, and many are willing to pay a higher price in order to maintain that standard in their lives.

If your company needs to deflect damaging content, Centel Media™ can provide plenty of strong support in your endeavor. In a case like this, we would create a negative article suppression campaign. To give your brand more exposure, we can also create press releases that will boost the legitimacy of your side of the story in defense of your company. If you need more online support, social media might be the way to go. Centel Media™ has services to make the most out of social media by optimizing your pages.

We want your company to be in charge of your own image, not the media.

Jonathan Wong,

Creative Writer,

Matthew Shaffer,

Editor-In-Chief,

Centel Media™