On a westbound American Airlines flight this week, I was surprised to see Waiting for “Superman,” the tough-minded documentary about the failure of our public schools, on the drop-down screens.  For those of you who fly a lot, you’ll know that you are far more likely to be forced to sit through Grown Ups or The Other Guys or any other film stocked with recognizable stars and comfortably devoid of content than you are to be confronted with a movie that actually addresses a subject that could make people locked into a jumbo-sized cigar tube even a little bit nervous.

Waiting for “Superman” can and should make you nervous—if not angry.  By the director of An Inconvenient Truth, this documentary catalogues the manifold failings of public schools in districts across the nation, and avoids offering any simple or easily digestible answers.  We’re in crisis, it says, and we’re not serious about the solution.  Both American Airlines and Participant Media should be congratulated for the work they did to get the film on in-flight screens—and the latter, in particular, should receive extra kudos for what they are doing in terms of stimulating and organizing a response through their “take action” website.  Participant Media is also working with longtime Lipman Hearne ally Active Voice, who has pioneered techniques for using the power of documentary storytelling to nudge public opinion on issues from HIV/AIDS to immigration to food justice.  With Superman, Active Voice is developing community discussion guides that can be used to mobilize parents and grassroots organizations around the fact that “every neighborhood needs a great public school.”  Details about upcoming screenings are available from info@activevoice.net, and other avenues for engagement can be found at the Participant Media “Superman” link above.

Maybe I’m a bit more attuned to the importance of making this issue visible because of our work with the Gates Foundation, and other organizations that are addressing the problem, but the endemic problems in our schools can’t just be wished away.  So click in, get involved, and fly American—my return in-flight feature on United on the same West Coast loop was just more of the usual pabulum.

- Rob Moore, President and CEO

Traditionally, these imperatives have put community colleges in a tough spot. There is a natural tension between their institutional commitments to open-access for all students, and their characteristically low graduation rates.

This challenge has made it particularly gratifying for us to partner with Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count. Since 2008, we have been working with ATD – which has received significant funding from Lumina Foundation for Education and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – to help community colleges stay true to their role while improving their outcomes. What began as a 26-college pilot program in 2004 has blossomed into a network of 130 such institutions spread over 24 states and the District of Columbia.

The success of this initiative receives some much-deserved credit and recognition in this Sept. 6th cover story in Community College Week. By highlighting the practices some “leader colleges” have employed to boost their graduation rates, the article provides ample food for thought for institutions struggling with similar challenges.

What is less well known is the big news management opportunity in the Tuesday morning after a holiday weekend. This is when the President can take advantage of a slow news cycle and reset the national conversation to his agenda and his priorities.

President Bush and his PR team were beyond excellent at this maneuver. Please note I’m not passing judgment or sharing my personal opinions about the content of these announcements—I’m referring to the technique. Bush, his press aides, and other staffers would undoubtedly find a way to release major news at about 7:10 a.m. on the Tuesday after a three-day weekend—right during “The Today Show.” I still remember how they rolled out a Supreme Court nominee that way, as well as economic policy announcements and other initiatives.

The advantage is that while the rest of America is still hitting the snooze button Tuesday morning, the President has deliberately said: “Here’s what I think is important. Now, follow my lead.” It also throws a bit of a surprise factor out there.

President Obama has mastered the Friday afternoon document dump, but not the Tuesday reset. He didn’t do it after the Fourth of July holiday. And the Tuesday morning after Labor Day has come and gone without such a move. Instead, Obama presented his new economic plans on Labor Day itself (when no one was paying attention) and will speak further about it tomorrow. That leaves today open to the President’s critics to control the airwaves, newspapers and websites with attacks and criticisms (as was the case during this morning’s “Today Show” news segment).

Does a day or two really make a difference? Yes, in this high-stakes political world it does.

Regardless of whether you are a fan or critic of Obama or Bush, it’s important to understand news management. And news management doesn’t always mean one wins with the public. But a Tuesday morning reset is a powerful tool. The PR team with the current occupant of the Oval Office should consider it when the next holiday weekend presents itself.

While the clients and issues we deal with don’t receive the same level of scrutiny as pronouncements from the White House, they do require the same level of strategic thinking and understanding of news cycles. In today’s competitive media world, visionary people and institutions want to do all they can to ensure they are heard above the news echo chamber.

- Adam Shapiro, Vice President, Public Affairs

This topic has had a lot of coverage for several years, starting even before Enron and other high-profile ethical messes. The global financial meltdown has given this issue even more steam. I just hope that this time the discussion evolves past “teaching ethics,” which is a questionable concept (adults learning to be ethical). I see a lot of business schools digging way deeper than new courses or experiences or requirements of some sort. They are looking at their entire cultures, the values that the institution stands for, the deeper ethic of the place and how the entire enterprise reflects that there is a lot more to sustainable business success than technical skills, hands on experience, global perspectives and the many other buzzwords nearly every business school today tries to use to differentiate its value in the marketplace. Beyond the fact that this is the right thing to do and will, if pursued seriously, perhaps up the esteem the world currently has for business education, it’s also a smart strategic step from a reputation building standpoint. I’ve studied many business schools and never seen one that doesn’t have at its core particular values and a related educational culture that really makes it unique. I see an era where great business school brands will be built on the character of institutions and how well they cultivate a new set of values in students. For further reading on the subject, I recommend this recent article in the Baylor Business Review.

- Tim Westerbeck, Managing Director & Principal

Like Tweets and most texts, bubbles are short, with a recording limit at one minute.  But Bubbly has added intimacy – users hear a favorite, well-known, or trusted voice instead of just reading a simple message, which, for celebrities, could have been written by an agent.

While the BBC is leading networks in using Bubbly to release breaking news, the Indian film industry is using Bubbly as a tool to build buzz – and brands.

Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor, Bollywood stars who appear together in the film “3 Idiots,” were using Bubbly to promote the film before its release.  Their bubbles soon had hundreds of thousands of followers, and built incredible anticipation over the movie.  The film swept India’s 2010 Star Screen and Filmfare Awards, and has grossed over $86 million – the highest profit in history for any Indian-made film.  It seems the film owes some of its box office success to Bubbly.  And so do its stars.

Bollywood stars aren’t free from Hollywood’s standards of youth and vitality to grab choice roles and maintain careers.  And what better way to appear young than to be among the first to popularize a new social media tool?  In a recent interview, the mid-40s Aamir Khan was asked how he stays young looking enough to play a 20-something college student in “3 Idiots.”  He answered that it’s essential to eat a balanced diet, drink lots of water, and get plenty of rest.  He could have added bubbling to the list.

The list of countries in which BubbleTalk has been launched is limited so far, and there aren’t immediate plans for a U.S. (or U.K.) launch.  So while there aren’t options here now for utilization, there is time to investigate how potential users respond to this new media and the potential impact on communication channels here.  Is enthusiasm for Twitter fading?  Nonprofits struggle with being both media savvy and able to implement new options usefully, could BubbleTalk be the righ solution?  Or is this mode of information dissemination not the right match?  One blogger notes, “ears are for music and for live communication, not for news that I scan more quickly with my eyes.”  Let us know your initial reaction to this emerging tool.

- Liz Arora

Upon reading the first article in a three-part Business Week series examining high-profile searches for new business school deans, it struck me that it is hard to overstate the importance of getting this process right. As with a corporate CEO position, the individual leading each of these institutions — or at any top business school — is brand ambassador number one, and will play a critical role in stewarding these global enterprises amidst the most highly competitive period in business school history.

Being a b-school dean today is one of the hardest jobs in the world. Each of these institutions will do well to select someone who not only has the hard credentials, but understands that these are also complex brands for which their leader must embody the brand promise with diverse and demanding constituents around the globe. Their most valuable asset, their reputation, is on the line.

- Tim Westerbeck, Managing Director & Principal

The number of Tufts applicants choosing the video option has been significant, but not overwhelming – about 1,000 of the 15,000 applicants this year submitted videos. The responses range from students showing off card tricks to day-in-the-life montages to flying a remote-controlled blue-elephant helicopter (representing Tufts’ mascot, Jumbo the Elephant). Some of the videos have even gathered a YouTube following – the most popular one features Amelia Downs; her video has gotten more than 6,000 views.

So what does this all mean? Will videos ultimately replace the written essay? Tufts admissions staff insists that they remain “committed to the traditional essay-writing requirement” and that videos are genuinely optional. But this is clearly the year of the video for colleges and universities – between the “Lipdub” phenomenon and Yale’s YouTube musical “That’s Why I Chose Yale,” universities’ staff and students are increasingly turning towards video as an effective means of marketing their institution. So it seems natural that prospective students are likewise using this medium to market themselves. Only time will reveal to what extent video and other social media vehicles will come to dominate the higher education communications sphere.

What do you think about colleges allowing prospective students to submit application videos? Do you foresee the end of the traditional college essay? Share your thoughts in our comments section.

1. Budgets
2. Raising money
3. Alumni engagement
4. New Competitors
5. Demographics

The fans of acrostics will see it all spells BRAND – and stands as a shameless plug for my just-published The Real U: Building Brands that Resonate with Students, Faculty, Staff, and Donors, which contains perhaps the only chapter in a book published by CASE that starts with a rude quote by Bo Diddley.

So, Scott, since I stepped in for you, how about a nice blurb on the book?  Available now!

- Rob Moore, Managing Partner

Another curiosity is the seemingly broad use of the word “brand” being used to compile the list.  In addition to Valentine’s Day (really!?) there is an eclectic mix of people (Alexander McQueen), products (Apple iPad) and annual events (Super Bowl). Should these topics really be compared to each other from a marketing perspective? Will tracking of such mixed topics really help Twitter’s future monetization? And more importantly will those Justin Bieber followers succeed in taking over the Twitterverse?

Share your thoughts on what trends and behaviors should be tracked on Twitter in the comments section.

The technique was created by a group of students at Hochshule Furtwangen University in Germany, who wanted to “show the whole world that studying does not have to be boring.” They shot a video in which students lip sync to a song, while the camera follows them through campus, resulting in a highly-choreographed musical university tour. This spurred the creation of the “University LipDub Project,” which challenges students of other colleges to produce their own videos and show what their campus has to offer (and to see if their creation is worthy of “going viral”).

What started as a European phenomenon gradually moved over to Canada, where the Université du Québec à Montréal’s “LipDub” video made quite an impression – it became so popular that it was featured on CNN and, to date, has received over 4 million hits on YouTube. Now, U.S. universities have begun to catch on, with Texas State University and Suffolk University being some of the first to embrace the trend.

A prime example that this phenomenon has the chance to transition from a grassroots amusement to a legitimate communications department marketing tool is Johns Hopkins University’s end-of-the-year “LipDub” video. Created to thank their donors for their continued support, it shows how the whole university community can collaborate and lend their voice to promote their community and showcase the spirit behind the brand.

The key to not killing this concept before it leaves the ground is to remain inclusive when it comes to who is primarily representing the university. It is ok for the university staff to have a stake in the video, but don’t lose the student-run feel. As with the popular strategy of featuring student blogs on admissions websites, like MIT does, it is the sense that it is providing an unfiltered, first-hand account of campus life that is the spark behind these videos.

Have other examples of social media trends storming your campus? Share them in the comments section.

-Erin Kelly, Marketing Intern