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| April 2010
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« March 2010 | Main | May 2010 » Facebook's f8 Conference - Happening NowPosted by Jason Swartz on April 21, 2010 at 2:11 PMIf you're a technology geek like me, and are curious about what's next for the social web, check out Facebook's f8 Conference happening live, here. Topics include new social tools and techniques, business growth strategies and more - brought to you by members of the Facebook team and the developer community. You can also watch the keynote from Marck Zuckerberg, Facebook's 25-year-old founder, where he discusses what's next for his little website. Enjoy. We should all mourn the decline of the trade mediaPosted by Matt Kucharski on April 17, 2010 at 9:05 AMI'm a huge believer in multi-channel, integrated communications, but I can't help but be saddened by the news last week regarding Reed closing down several venerable trade publication titles. Here's a good summary from FishbowlNY. In addition to seeing some really smart journalists on the street and some really good purveyors of information going dark, this is bad news for business marketers. A lot of new media pundits will use provocative phrases like "traditional media is dead," "trade publications don't matter anymore" and "magazine advertising is a waste of money." I think these are self-serving oversimplifications. It's absolutely a given that we live in a multi-channel communications world where we need to interact with our audiences through a range of mediums, but we shouldn't celebrate the decline of traditional media outlets like these -- we should mourn it. If you're an executive in a business with high-involvement products and services -- ones where your customers are making "bet their company/bet their job" decisions, then you should be especially sad. Every single one of those buyers looks to third-party sources to validate your company's claims. The fewer those sources, the fewer opportunities there are to show your customers that you've got a credible track record. "Yeah, but nobody reads those trade rags anymore..." Yup. I've heard that one as well, and it's an oversimplification too. While fewer and fewer of us are reading the print versions of these publications when they hit our inboxes, we absolutely value the information when it's put in front of us. That means instead of relying on the trade publication to be both the content developer AND deliverer, we need to take on the distribution role ourselves. Let the publication write the article -- and then YOU take responsibility for putting that article into the hands of your key audiences -- through your sales force, through social media, through email, through Web postings. We don't need traditional media to die in order to validate the importance of social media. It's a loss for everybody -- new media advocates included. Beyond Clips, Clicks & HitsPosted by Tony Morse on April 5, 2010 at 9:34 AMTwo of our leaders, Marian Briggs and Matt Kucharski, presented a Webinar last week about measuring the value of communications. The presentation is available below: Padilla Beyond Clips Clicks And Hits 040110 What's the Value of Your Marketing and Communications Investments? During a challenging economy, every dollar spent on marketing and business communications is open to scrutiny. So measuring the effectiveness and impact of these programs is more important than ever. Yet even with today's advanced technology and tools, many organizations aren't sure how to determine the value, effects and relative return on their communications efforts. This presentation offers a fresh perspective on communications measurement including insights on the best strategies, methods and tools to help you calculate the value of your communications investments - and make the most of your marketing spend. You'll Learn: The Webinar is also archived for viewing.
The Disappearing Line Between Reality (PR) and Script (Advertising)Posted by Scott Berwitz on April 2, 2010 at 9:42 AMUpon leaving "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" Spencer Pratt, villain of the enormously popular "The Hills", said "I'm not a reality star...I'm a...character (emphasis added)." In a stroke, and likely without realizing it, the loathsome Pratt actually articulated the very real issue of the blurred line between reality and entertainment, where the consumer is unable to discern between an objective, unbiased viewpoint and a scripted/paid act. The confusion between truth and propaganda takes on far greater significance in the practice of public relations than in the world of reality TV. Whether Spencer actually is a detestable snot or is simply playing one on TV has (hopefully) little impact on our lives. Whether a document is an objective news item or an advertisement masquerading as one is remarkably more significant. 
The dissipation of this once "never-to-be-crossed" ad/editorial line is rapidly increasing as flailing media outlets are putting their editorial for sale to secure dollars once reserved only for ads. If it becomes more common, there will soon be no difference between public relations and advertising. Even if a news item is purely editorial, it will be looked upon with suspicion...is the reporter for real? Or is he/she getting paid to "play a character?" Given how threatening this trend is to the PR industry, it's surprising how many of our industry peers not only fail to stop it but actively perpetuate the practice. We've all heard the stories of PR people masquerading as random bloggers to promote client products, to say nothing of communication vehicles where paid spokespeople are presented as objective news sources. The PR industry has spent its entire life differentiating itself from advertising...promoting the value of the article over the advertisement. The idea has always been that a disinterested, unbiased, objective third party validating a company's claims is tremendously more valuable and credible than an organization subjectively talking about how great it is. When conducting PR for your company, make sure that you and your firm understand the difference between paid and earned media...and practice the latter. Lest your company become another Spencer Pratt of the media world. |
