Sliced Bread

E-mail Recall? You Mean, "I just realized my pitch sucks"

Hey PR folks!

How many times have you wondered whether or not that media contact is even glancing at your pitch before hitting 'DELETE' ?

I'd like to believe the e-mails I construct shape a well-thought-out story idea that's actually useful to those I'm reaching but for those times in which my attempts fall short, I'd like to think that either:

a) No one ever prints out my message to do this to it.

OR

b) They do, and I unknowingly serve to provide some comic relief as people mock my #pitchfail.

-

Thanks for sharing, CrunchGear.

Digg, Hobos and Jimmy Fallon

Twitter is some kind of wonderful - it surprises me a little every day.

Maybe not through Twitter, more than a few have likely experienced some form of Social Media Wow! (Sort of like ShamWow but a lot less water-friendly.) Good or bad. Be it in the form of a heavy sigh - like when that random person finds you on Facebook and you realize it isn’t a stranger but that kid from back in high school who had the locker next to yours and would listen in on your conversations with friends between classes but would always avoid eye contact, (go figure they now want to see where you live, look at your pictures and watch for your status updates to feel a part of your life without actually being in it…at least beyond the quick click of the +Add as a Friend button.)

Or something more along the lines of, ‘is this really happening!?’ - being when a colleague of mine lost his mobile on the train only to find it online...via the girl who found it at the stop after his and thought to find him on Facebook to return it.

David Prager has a story about it today too. He woke up yesterday morning and absolutely felt the power his @ identity had, like never before. Earlier this week, the Revision3 co-founder and Diggnation contributor was working into the early hours of the morning when he was interrupted by a homeless man entering his San Francisco apartment. @dlprager’s reaction? - Tweet about it. Line by line, he shared the thoroughly odd encounter with his thousands of Twitter followers. Some of those still awake expressed confusion and concern about David using Twitter instead of contacting the police – he responded not by calling for help but instead, by turning on his Webcam to live-stream the action.

Some argue that his encounter was just a viral stunt to plug Diggnation’s Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose (Digg founder)’s appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that next day. Either way – millions are now talking about it - who before today, probably didn’t know David Prager, or much about Revision3, not to mention @jimmyfallon’s nerdy, beer-spilling sit down with Albrecht and Rose.

A legitimate #hobobreakin or not, it’s a prime example of the digital media phenomenon, and the way it’s redefining the flow of information: 1) the lifecycle of ‘news’ is dramatically shorter - from introduction, to buzz, to saturation and quickly, exhaustion; and 2) the reach is exponentially broader and deeper in the spread of any message, from simple and insignificant to actionable and meaningful.

So we see that while uncomfortable and awkward, not all break-ins are necessarily bad – sometimes a person just needs a toilet and a bed. (Although David is likely the only person who’d condone not calling the cops regardless.) Or perhaps we see a lesson in viral marketing – dos and don’ts and maybe how far is too far?

A Brilliant Find

Stop motion and lyrical genius.

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie. Remarkable and magical.

The Mightiest Citizen Engagement

As the day is nearly upon us, this Inauguration will prove to be unlike any other in history. While we have already begun to hear and see, this change in administration will bring about action that should will hopefully take our nation in the right direction - for awhile.

The day he gave his victory speech, Obama took the next step, from several before it, down a newly paved path for all of us. And that's not the only thing that makes tomorrow something to talk about.

For the first time, we'll be engaging in a Presidential Inauguration with means never before used. While it's exciting to simply get to watch the event, we'll now be participating in every way possible. From live blogging, to streaming video, to instant images of the action, to Twitter's by-the-second stream from those not just there but everywhere around the country, and some, the world.

As the crowds begin to gather and anticipation grows, it will be something - to watch, listen and see every perspective from every medium.

Social Media Instruments

Focusing more intently on thinking about social media strategies that work, I came across an interesting point in a relevant posting.   

Instead of referencing social media as a tool, this new media communications professional/blogger poses that we should instead think of it more as an art. Basically, that any monkey can use a ‘tool’ but only talented artists can play an instrument and make it work beautifully -- a strong metaphor when you consider how much noise there already is in the digital media world.

Others have explored the strategy and success of social media campaigns from conception. Too often we see (and some implement) recommendations that adhere to pedestrian (and overused) steps that simply ensure clients are able to jump onto the social media bandwagon: start a blog, join Twitter, create a Facebook group.

First, not strategic. Second, not necessarily does every company benefit by being in the space. It's crucial to consider if the culture of the company is in a condition to take advantage of social media without becoming stagnant or redundant. Sometimes the best question to start with is if the client will find value in it and if not, will education of social media shift that perception?

A past client situation comes to mind: Our team brought up starting a blog - a few times - knowing the company was full of strong, engaging, creative writers with important things to say. But in our client’s opinion, (who was very aware of what was and wasn’t being talked about in her industry) any blog the company contributed would’ve only been static in the industry conversation. Instead of starting a blog just to have one, the company still won’t go there until they’re confident that they have something meaningful to say that will help them stand out in the medium. And we trusted her.

Before recommending any strategy to the client, shouldn't we evaulate the environment that company is entering specific to their industry and determine the best, if any, approach? Yes, unless we want our client to be the next 'worst example' story.

Virgins & Suicide

Insensitive or ingenious? PRWeek (and everyone else) reports on two recent ad campaigns sparking controversy among consumers, bloggers and the media but are they proving effective in building the brands? Some agree that extreme ideas do rise above the clutter, despite the risk. Others, like a Ruder Finn EVP, says an apology is the right thing in this case.

PepsiMax may have gone a bit far with it's German-run ads, but then again, the message wasn't intended to offend.

After the 'Whopper Freakout' earlier this year, Burger King's agency has, if nothing else, spurred some serious conversation with the Whopper Virgins campaign. What's fascinating is that people are really, really peeved. Step outside the fact that the promotion of fast food is furthering our society's health problems, and the larger criticiscm of the indecency of featuring the indigent, and look purely at the creativity behind the campaign. And it is likely that the Crispin thinkers anticipated this sort of backlash right there in the brainstorm.

We've seen time and again that when it comes to ethics, ad folks tend to play with a different rule book than their PR-counterparts, but I can definitely recognize this campaign for what it is to a creative mind...and that isn't because I'm an 'ignorant American.'

Online Sweeps Perhaps?

I've seen quite a number of colleagues partake in the extracurricular activity of catching up on their shows while claiming to be going through 'Google alerts' or some such activity. News flash - if you seem to look particularly entertained while sitting in front of your computer screen during the normal 9-5, it's pretty obvious that you aren't reviewing that monitoring report due to the client by end-of-day.

Now the habit will become monitored. Not for wide-spread public knowledge necessarily but available nonetheless. Makes sense, since so many outlets are making it possible to view programs online -- if anything it will prove, (as if any broadcast company doesn't already realize) the need to rake more dollars into online ad budgets.

Personally, I don't have a TV so why not continue watching on my laptop - which I can take anywhere in my house and beyond - as opposed to spending the few hundred $$ on a big box, (like the HDTV I supposedly have to have by Feb. 2009)? Just means my conversation time about last night's gripping episode of Lost is a bit delayed - I can deal. Too bad I can't watch on my Blackberry on the commute home...though that's not far off, I'm sure.

PS - for those of you who don't hide it well, don't think it makes a difference if you're watching The Office at the office...nice try though.

The Social Media Conversation

Catching up on past tweets after being MIA yesterday for a client meeting, I came across one by Brian Solis, blogger, principal of FutureWorks and social media influential. Based on Robert Scoble and Darren Barefoot's Social Media Starfish, created last year, to demonstrate the ever-changing social media landscape, Brian has created an interactive Conversation Prism. Intended to "evolve as services and conversation channels emerge, fuse, and dissipate."

Check it out and add your input. There could not be a better tool for PR/marketing folks right now - those who can't claim it their day job to spend enough time following this stuff to be up on every little in and out, that is. Thanks, Brian!

AP Bureau Chief Causes Stir

Have a quick read through this blog post by Ragan-writer Michael Sebastian. Folks have been chattering about the topic and this is the first I've heard, (have admittedly been out of online-touch lately, yes.) Turns out The Associated Press' new Washington Bureau chief, Ron Fournier, is experimenting with AP-style changes.

Encouraging reporters to use more emotion in their writing, and sometimes even a first person perspective, Ron says, “being released from the tired conventions of news writing is exactly what journalism needs.”

So basically, he's real-world testing his theory that what will keep traditional news reporting alive is a transition to more of a commentary-ish style of writing. And bloggers are reacting. Is this the movement traditional media has been waiting for, to help further the evolution of merging its conservative roots with the ever-growing-in-popularity nontraditional media? Some say yes, some say it’s scandalous.

Getting Digital

You know Web 2.0 has reached every industry when it even plays a part in fighting crime. Ok, maybe not in the real world but "Law & Order SVU" has featured a story line with a kidnapping orchestrated through virtual reality. The mystery hosted an online stalker in "AY," a Second Life copycat, turned in-the-flesh monster -- a little too far-fetched but well thought out creative nonetheless. Not to mention, for those folks that don't get it yet, it's becoming difficult to ignore the impact this digital evolution is having on society.