IHOP – the brand that did the flapjack flip-flop last year – is at it again, and has cooked up another tongue in batter campaign.

We all remember how the famous pancake house enraged the public with its temporary rebrand as IHOb in a move to promote its burgers last year.

Now the restaurant chain is turning up the griddle in a follow-up campaign.

The new initiative includes an aggregated list of Twitter users who told IHOP, some not in the kindest of words, to stick to pancakes.

To see if they are on the list, IHOP created the app and microsite The Bancake List. Users are invited to input their handle to see if “You’re bancaked!” pops up, with the word “bancaked” pasted on the offending tweet.

Consumer and digital marketing professionals are applauding the sassy effort, according to PRWeek.

“Two things stand out to me,” Scott Monty, former digital communications head at Ford who now runs his own strategy consulting firm, told the publication. “First, that this campaign is an extension of the previous one. It creates continuity and a familiarity with the brand, rather than just jumping from one campaign to another. The second is that IHOP has done its homework by tracking their detractors and creating the Bancake list. What will immediately happen is anyone who remembers calling out IHOP last year will rush to the site to see if their name is on it; people love seeing their name out there for others to see.”

Challenging online haters can be a risky play. No brand wants to be dragged through the online mud again. However, experts say that IHOP isn’t treating critics like trolls, but rather as pancake lovers, and trying to win them over with hamburgers.

IHOP is giving the first 2,000 Bancaked-branded Twitter users a $10 IHOP digital gift card after they tweet a pre-written, locked “apology” with the hashtags #IHOPMadeMeSayThis, #IHOPBancakeList, and #Ad. The Bancake List prompts the message, “You started this. Now you can finish it. Just tweet something nice to eat something nice.”

So, IHOP has created an app for customer leads and conversions.

“It’s easy to hate on something in a mob mentality, but challenging consumers to put their money where their mouth is invites them into their restaurant chain and to potentially change their point of view,” Kimberly Lancaster, founder of Caster Communications told PRWeek. “At the end of day, isn’t that really what PR and social media is all about, getting consumers to love or convert to your brand?”

In an interview with the publication, IHOP head of communications, Stephanie Peterson said the campaign is “leaning into the hate” and hoping to “flip it and turn into something fun and positive.”

In addition to the Bancake app, Peterson hinted that the campaign could include influencers eating IHOP-branded burger buns “so that people literally eat their words.”

Podcast Ad Revenue Continues Growth

The third annual Podcast Revenue Report – conducted by IAB and PwC – shows increasing growth in the U.S. podcast advertising marketplace.

The report, which surveyed top revenue producing podcast companies on a variety of data, reports continued growth trends at the individual publisher level. The report adds an independent market-sizing element, which echoes the pattern of increasing market wide revenues into 2021 and beyond.

This year’s report finds marketers spent $479 million to advertise on podcasts in the U.S., an uptick of 53 % from $314 million in 2017.  Based on market trends and surveys returned by significant podcast companies, the report projects that revenues will top $1 billion in 2021.

Driving the growth in revenues is podcast listening which continues to surge in the US, increasing 7% in one year. More than half of the 12+ population has listened, according to IAB and PwC.

Today’s consumer marketplace, driven by technologies like connected cars and smart speakers has created an audio-first environment where consumers use voice commands and receive responses audibly. Whether it’s while driving a car, cooking dinner, or working out, audio is the constant companion of today’s consumer and this has created great demand for content. Podcast publishers offer incredible variety and quality that is a key driver of growth not just in audience size but also in the amount of time people spend listening, according to the report.

The third annual Podcast Revenue Report by IAB and PwC report contains key insights into the business of podcast advertising. Technology driven economies like dynamically inserted ads and programmatic buying are on the rise, making it easier for advertisers to invest. Direct to Consumer and financial companies spent more on podcast advertising than any other business categories.

California Gold Mic | The Gatlin Brothers Celebrate 40th Anniversary of ‘All the Gold in California’

The Gatlin Brothers celebrated CMA Fest and the 40th anniversary of “All the Gold in California” with a big time shindig at Nashville’s City Winery.

The smash hit – and all of The Gatlin’s soulful ballads – were the soundtrack of my youth hunting trips with my dad and brother, and the colorful “All the Gold …” usually kicked in somewhere between Tchula and Greenwood, providing the perfect glow to magical adventure.

The song was so powerful, that if became the title to one of the group’s greatest hits albums.

The 18-track compilation, Best of the Gatlins: All the Gold in California, traces the work of Larry Gatlin, his brothers, family, and friends (as the various billings on the records had it) from 1975 to 1988. A greatest-hits collection, it highlights Gatlin’s early work, including “Sweet Becky Walker” and “Delta Dirt,” which were among his first chart singles. Otherwise, it’s all country Top 10 singles, including No. 1’s “I’ve Done Enough Dyin’ Today,” “All the Gold in California,” and “Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer to You).” Gatlin, who wrote all the songs and sings the lead vocals, has a traditionalist bent, though the productions are not as lush as the ‘60s Nashville sound, and the best songs, such as “All the Gold in California,” are unique cuts thematically and musically.

“All the Gold in California” Lyrics

All the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills

In somebody else’s name, so if you’re dreaming about California

It don’t matter at all where you’ve played before

California’s a brand new game.

Tryin’ to be a hero, winding up a zero

Can scar a man forever right down to your soul.

Living on the spotlight can kill a man outright

‘Cause everything that glitters is not gold.

And all the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills

In somebody else’s name, so if you’re dreaming about California

It don’t matter at all where you’ve played before

California’s a brand new game.

Larry Gatlin and his brothers made out with some of that gold, too!

Each week, The Spin Cycle will bestow a Golden Mic Award to the person, group or company in the court of public opinion that best exemplifies the tenets of solid PR, marketing and advertising – and those who don’t. Stay tuned – and step-up to the mic! And remember … Amplify Your Brand!

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