Michael Klusek April 23rd, 2005
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Speak Up. Richard Edelman President & CEO
Edelman is the only independent global PR firm.
If everybody knows everything, how can a company have any control? Wolf suggested every private space is now public–note the number of people mourning the death of Pope John Paul who took digital photos as they passed the bier. Carson of Buzzmetrics offered further insight into this issue. Buzzmetrics’ review of mentions of the 20 top global brands indicates that corporate generated content is responsible for only 12-14% of search results, while consumer generated content is 26%. The consensus is that a company’s goal should not be CONTROL, it should be AWARENESS of what’s being said and fast RESPONSE.
Michael Klusek April 20th, 2005
Communicating with the Valley: What Can Blogging do for You?.
Can you use blogs as part of an integrated communication strategy? As well as a new channel for the voices of individuals and journalists, blogs are a new communication channel that organisations can utilise to communicate and engage directly with their stakeholders. As such, blogs can be used as part of an integrated communication strategy to enhance and complement the rest of an organisation’s communications activities.
Blogs provides a bottom-up, grassroots method of sharing information about organisations through the web. They can be used to:
- Generate interest about the company and/or its products and services among current and potential customers, partners, resellers, media, and industry influencers.
- Build buzz and positive word of mouth promotion for the company and/or its products and services
- Spark informal conversations about the organisation and/or its products and services
- Position executives or R&D teams as thought leaders
- Offer an outlet for news and information not important enough, or even suitable for a press release, but still worthy of being communicated
- Differentiate an organisation from its competition
- Provide an alternative to one-to-many email broadcasts
- Enhance internal communication
- Target very specific groups – people with specific demographics, opinions, perspectives, worldviews and interests
- Reach audiences that may be difficult to reach through conventional communication channels – e.g. tech-savvy audiences
- Monitor public opinion and sentiment
Michael Klusek March 15th, 2005
NevOn.
Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 51-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Download the file here (MP3, 23.3MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need software such as the FeedDemon RSS aggregator, or the free ipodder or DopplerRadio).
These podcasts are excellent. A very good way to learn the ins and out of what’s happening in the blogosphere and how marketers and PR can get a grasp of the new approaches required.
Michael Klusek March 15th, 2005
CorporatePR: Blogging.
If you are a PR practitioner and haven’t started reading David Berlind’s Media Transparency Channel, you should start now. Case in point (emphasis mine): While this again is an example of how a the practice of media transparency can be embarrassing to interviewees, the companies they work for, and their public relations representatives, there’s an upside. Transparency should make all three of those parties much better at what they do because they know that there’s more on the line than just the story itself. And why shouldn’t that be the case. Everytime a journalist writes a story, their ass is totally on the line. Why shouldn’t the demand for that excellence be pervasive throughout the entire food chain of a story. While PR people’s asses are often on the line in more private settings (clients reaming you after the fact, you gently explaining that if they could have spared you more than 5 minutes of prep time, and that just before the interview/call, perhaps they wouldn’t have been embarrassed) these days a bright light is increasingly shining on our day-to-day practices. AND THIS IS A GOOD THING! Transparency is another reason why blogging is good for PR people. By blogging, we are putting our ass on the line publicly. Speaking from personal experience, it gives you a whole new perspective on the journalist’s job (and we are operating without the editorial safety net!). And you will find that your readers are only too happy to point out your errors, your sloppy thinking, the fact that you are a horrible terrible nasty PR person and therefore everything you say is a lie…(I digress). But all of that feedback, as Berlind says, helps you become better at your job.
Michael Klusek March 14th, 2005
Link: PR MACHINE.
Known for ROI-focused brand advancement campaigns and strategies, Robb Hecht is a PR & marketing communications consultant experienced in partnering with some of America’s respected Fortune 1000 corporations, Wall Street investment firms, start-ups, PR agencies, C-level executives, dot.coms and national magazine brands like Volt Information Sciences, E*TRADE Financial, Interpublic, Bozell Sawyer Miller Group, ProcureStaff, 24/7 Real Media, Euro RSCG, Winstar and the Industry Standard. He is producer of PR Machine, an online interactive vehicle for driving effective brand marketing communications.
Michael Klusek March 9th, 2005
Musings from POP! Public Relations: What does the P in PR stand for?.
Right now, there are very bad forces affecting public relations. We are supposed to be a bridge for the press to get to CEOs, not a barrier, but the industry has fallen into the trap of blocking access for the press. There is this tremendous force that is trying to convert public relations into advertising, especially at the conglomerates, and that will be the downfall of public relations. Let me reiterate that: we are supposed to be a bridge for the press to get to CEOs, not a barrier.
Instead of trying to control the message, which is what PR has become, how about working with the public to fully disseminate the message? Our industry is PUBLIC relations, and bloggers are another facet of the public that we need to reach out to, and ensure that they are fully apprised of our message.
Michael Klusek February 25th, 2005
Micro Persuasion: "Steve Rubel on how blogs and participatory journalism are impacting the practice of public relations."
Exciting news from Constantin Basturea. The known universe of active PR bloggers has surpassed 100. I bet we’ll see that number triple by June as PR professionals tap into the opportunity to use their blogs to humanize themselves and our profession. We need more transparency in PR. They will realize the power blogs have to enhance their credibility with the media. I know for me my blog has done wonders building my relationships with the press. Why? Because I sense they read my blog and see I am the real deal, not just someone peddling pitches. They realize that I am here to treat them like clients, feed them valuable information (even if it has nothing to do with a client) and not just spam them another press release.
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Media watcher Steve Outing tells newspapers…
"The citizen-journalism movement is where journalism is heading. Newspapers, if they want to stay in the game, need to acknowledge the ‘lecture’ model of journalism is dying, and join in the "conversation."
I did an interview with a magazine today. I told the reporter that I can envision a day - 50 years from now - when the way journalists wrote will feel as stiff as 1770 English does today. The era of conversational language is here. Long live Cluetrain.
