Today Richard Addis argues the case for making newspapers free.
It is well argued and makes a lot of sense for a web 1.0 mind.
Of course he did not factor in the revenue stream from mobile, or interactive posters or other forms of digital signage. There are opportunities to provide content for other media and then there is the podcast ( vidcasts where there is a ton of money to be made.
With a bit more imagination, the day of the free newspaper, a 'marketing device' to get 'digital eyeballs' is not far away.
What then, will be the role of press agentry? Will it be as an aid to driving eyeballs to digital properties?
Monday, September 11, 2006
Creating a print mag to drive web traffic - but sell it online
ASOS.com, the online fashion retailer that sells cheaper versions of celebrity outfits, is to launch a monthly glossy magazine to attract more customers to its website. The Aim-quoted group is to charge £1 for ASOS, which will be sold on its website. Am I sure that I follow this Guardian story?
Long Tail - a reading challenge
Chris Anderson has presented us with a list of papers that are a must read.
They deal with the issue of the 'long tail'.
This is important to PR practice for a range of reasons.
There are the traditional reasons. The long tail is how organisations can generate revenues that are denyied to them when they have to limit their offering because of contraints like warehouse or showroom space (but can offer/display such products online at marginal cost and thereby offer a wider range). Another argument is that the long tail allows small organisations to compete in markets where mass marketing and product bundling is common.
Also the long tail is importnat in areas like the knowledge that an organisation might make available to, for example, journalists and, on the darker side, the long tail is where people will find criticism that could be half a dozen years old.
They deal with the issue of the 'long tail'.
This is important to PR practice for a range of reasons.
There are the traditional reasons. The long tail is how organisations can generate revenues that are denyied to them when they have to limit their offering because of contraints like warehouse or showroom space (but can offer/display such products online at marginal cost and thereby offer a wider range). Another argument is that the long tail allows small organisations to compete in markets where mass marketing and product bundling is common.
Also the long tail is importnat in areas like the knowledge that an organisation might make available to, for example, journalists and, on the darker side, the long tail is where people will find criticism that could be half a dozen years old.
The Bog Standard Press Release died last week
The 'bog standard' press release is now dead.
What journalist given the choice between a New Media Release and releases currently in use would opt for the old one?
There is no choice. Press releases as we know it will continue for several years but will progressively become less effective, less used and less relevant as the media builds its new publishing model on a combination of on-line and print.
This week the NMR podcast introduced some applications of New Media Release.
The gene is out of the bottle.
Links to the top topics on NMR podcast covered can be followed here:
Here is a practical example of how a newspaper generates, re-purposed copy from a NMR. we have to be able to offer content like this as well as the 1000 word backgrounder or knowldege resourse generated via this technology and posed to del.icio.us for added depth.
What journalist given the choice between a New Media Release and releases currently in use would opt for the old one?
There is no choice. Press releases as we know it will continue for several years but will progressively become less effective, less used and less relevant as the media builds its new publishing model on a combination of on-line and print.
This week the NMR podcast introduced some applications of New Media Release.
The gene is out of the bottle.
Links to the top topics on NMR podcast covered can be followed here:
- Todd Defren’s post, “Top 5 Principles of the Social Media News Release”
- New media release principles applied to Chevy Super Bowl College Ad Challenge
- SpiralFrog new media release #1
- SpiralFrog new media release #2
- Shift Communications new media release on winning the Novell AOR business
- Shift Communications’ social media release for Novell
- New Media Release wiki
- Google Groups mailing list for New Media Release discussion (please join!)
Here is a practical example of how a newspaper generates, re-purposed copy from a NMR. we have to be able to offer content like this as well as the 1000 word backgrounder or knowldege resourse generated via this technology and posed to del.icio.us for added depth.
Enterprise tagging - managing corporate knowledge
From Shel Holtz I find that Cogenz, Niall Cook’s startup that aims to bring social book marking to the enterprise level, is looking for corporate beta testers.
What Cogenz does is offer a capability whereby people can create a knowledge base that links people, departments, places, expertise and knowledge resources in a way that makes it easy to find and re purpose.
It is worth following the whole story from Niall's site to see how useful such a resource can be now and in the future.
To be able to create a New Media Release with such a competence will be easy and will make the whole process much more manageable for the Media Relations specialist.
Of course there are many other applications and some of them will make some organisations fundamentally more competitive.
What Cogenz does is offer a capability whereby people can create a knowledge base that links people, departments, places, expertise and knowledge resources in a way that makes it easy to find and re purpose.
It is worth following the whole story from Niall's site to see how useful such a resource can be now and in the future.
To be able to create a New Media Release with such a competence will be easy and will make the whole process much more manageable for the Media Relations specialist.
Of course there are many other applications and some of them will make some organisations fundamentally more competitive.
Beyond the New Media Release
What must we do to our media releases to serve the publishing industry.
First of all we need to be able to offer formats that are helpful. Just as a paper press release is unhelpful to a journalist these days, so too is a format that forgets the media need to use SMS.
There is another consideration which is described byAdrian Holovaty who gives a good idea of what 'repurpose' means and says: "I don't mean "Display a newspaper story on a cell phone." I don't mean "Display a newspaper story in RSS." I don't mean "Display a newspaper story on my PDA." Those are fine goals, but they're examples of changing the format, not the information itself. Repurposing and aggregating information is a different story, and it requires the information to be stored atomically -- and in machine-readable format.
This is important for public relations on a number of counts.
Would we have to provide the wider and broader content? Does this mean that the New Media Release is inevitable? Yes it does in order that we can offer the formats that are realistic for todays' media.
But we have to go further.
This is how XPRL and NewsML will be helpful to the media and to readers who want to go beyond the news story to offer more facts.
IPTC G2 Family of Standards (which is the new NewsML) will allow news agencies to smoothly exchange news -- text, photos or other media -- while using standard XML modules and tools. The result will be lower costs and shorter development for news agencies and news system vendors who facing the challenges of presenting the news on the web and personal electronic devices.
The PR industry has to work on this to stay with it.
First of all we need to be able to offer formats that are helpful. Just as a paper press release is unhelpful to a journalist these days, so too is a format that forgets the media need to use SMS.
There is another consideration which is described byAdrian Holovaty who gives a good idea of what 'repurpose' means and says: "I don't mean "Display a newspaper story on a cell phone." I don't mean "Display a newspaper story in RSS." I don't mean "Display a newspaper story on my PDA." Those are fine goals, but they're examples of changing the format, not the information itself. Repurposing and aggregating information is a different story, and it requires the information to be stored atomically -- and in machine-readable format.
This is important for public relations on a number of counts.
Would we have to provide the wider and broader content? Does this mean that the New Media Release is inevitable? Yes it does in order that we can offer the formats that are realistic for todays' media.
But we have to go further.
For example, suggests Adrian "say a newspaper has written a story about a local fire. Being able to read that story on a cell phone is fine and dandy. Hooray, technology! But what I really want to be able to do is explore the raw facts of that story, one by one, with layers of attribution, and an infrastructure for comparing the details of the fire -- date, time, place, victims, fire station number, distance from fire department, names and years experience of firemen on the scene, time it took for firemen to arrive -- with the details of previous fires. And subsequent fires, whenever they happen."
This goes some way beyond a New Media Release because it uses will use the NMR tags to mix and match news stories.This is how XPRL and NewsML will be helpful to the media and to readers who want to go beyond the news story to offer more facts.
IPTC G2 Family of Standards (which is the new NewsML) will allow news agencies to smoothly exchange news -- text, photos or other media -- while using standard XML modules and tools. The result will be lower costs and shorter development for news agencies and news system vendors who facing the challenges of presenting the news on the web and personal electronic devices.
The PR industry has to work on this to stay with it.
To offer PR services do you need a licence?
Toni Musi Falconi, as always with his finger on the button. He has entered the debate about whether PR practitioners should be licenced.
He makes this comment: Pressed by increasing social and media criticism of our profession and a recent comment by Richard Edelman on the potential merit of licensing, PRSA the other day asked its ethics committee to discuss the issue and make recommendations to the Board.
Criticisms emerged when the Committee decided to keep contents of the meeting confidential and subsequently a brief summary of that discussion was published on the PRSA website.
Interestingly, the debate on licensing of the profession is open also in many other countries. Some have already proceeded (Nigeria, Brazil, Panama, Peru amongst others), others are in the process (Russia for one, but also Puerto Rico…and one may also argue that the 2005 decision of the UK’s CIPR to be the first European Union country to be formally recognized by the national Government could well lead to this result, and this would inevitably influence the ongoing discussion in other EU countries).
He makes this comment: Pressed by increasing social and media criticism of our profession and a recent comment by Richard Edelman on the potential merit of licensing, PRSA the other day asked its ethics committee to discuss the issue and make recommendations to the Board.
Criticisms emerged when the Committee decided to keep contents of the meeting confidential and subsequently a brief summary of that discussion was published on the PRSA website.
Interestingly, the debate on licensing of the profession is open also in many other countries. Some have already proceeded (Nigeria, Brazil, Panama, Peru amongst others), others are in the process (Russia for one, but also Puerto Rico…and one may also argue that the 2005 decision of the UK’s CIPR to be the first European Union country to be formally recognized by the national Government could well lead to this result, and this would inevitably influence the ongoing discussion in other EU countries).
A profile of the PR person worldwide
Public relations professionals worldwide are being profiled by the Global Alliance. Toni Musi Falconi reports on preliminary findings.
They are more or less equally divided in three main categories (30%): private industry, public sector, consultancy and services, while the non profit sector is close to 10%.
79% are either directly heads of their organization or report directly to top management, while a solid 79% indicate that the main part of their job consists in developing and implementing communication and relationship strategies and programs.
71% travel intensely in their home country while 36% travel frequently international.
67% earns a minimum of net 40 thousand US dollars per annum, but 12% more than 100 thousand, while 61% also benefit from free health insurance and 47% from a supplementary annual bonus.
58% is in the 25-44 age range, while 34% in the 45-60 one.
68% are women, 80% has a university degree and 98% speaks the English language.
They are more or less equally divided in three main categories (30%): private industry, public sector, consultancy and services, while the non profit sector is close to 10%.
79% are either directly heads of their organization or report directly to top management, while a solid 79% indicate that the main part of their job consists in developing and implementing communication and relationship strategies and programs.
71% travel intensely in their home country while 36% travel frequently international.
67% earns a minimum of net 40 thousand US dollars per annum, but 12% more than 100 thousand, while 61% also benefit from free health insurance and 47% from a supplementary annual bonus.
58% is in the 25-44 age range, while 34% in the 45-60 one.
68% are women, 80% has a university degree and 98% speaks the English language.
Jamelia and the sun opportunity
Jamelia reveals how she can't wait to get married on Victoria Newton's Bizarre podcast offered by the Sun's web site.
Two things are important here. The first is that the Sun is working hard to get its readers to go on line and is providing simple and easy to follow instruction. second is that the Sun's podcast is another vehicle for communication.
Picture: Hometown AOL
Footbal podcasting
Every self respecting Association Football Club should have a podcast and Sunderland AFC is no exception.
The use of new media by football clubs and their technology uptake makes many businesses in Britain look neanderthal.
The use of new media by football clubs and their technology uptake makes many businesses in Britain look neanderthal.
Second Life compromised
Second Life, the fast-growing online virtual community has suffered a computer security breach that exposed the real-world personal data of its users.
Linden Lab, the company behind the Second Life site, said in a letter to its 650,000 users this weekend its customer database - including names, addresses, passwords and some credit card data - had been compromised.
Old fashioned hacking has not gone away. Linden labs now has an issue management job to do because so many companies have begun to take space in their virtual world to gain commercial advantage.
Why blogging is becomming maintream in corporate communication
With companies increasingly using blogging to communicate both internally to staff and externally to clients and customers, 10 of silicon.com's 12-strong CIO Jury IT user panel said corporate blogs are more than just another technology fad that has found favour among senior managers.
Silicon.com have asked for examples.
Christopher Linfoot, IT director at LDV Vans, said: "Like all new technologies corporate blogs are often misapplied but there are valid applications, usually employee communication and not external. We do have a couple in use here in the former category."
New media platforms - old corporate wars
The Enquirer has this take on a YouGov pol. A survey of British directors, carried out by YouGov, has discovered that 29 per cent of them are prepared to steal corporate data when they change employers. But the hidden danger is from the mobile phone.
The chief devices fingered for enabling such data to be stolen are primarily memory sticks (obviously) and also digital music players – like the Apple iPOD. But what the experts appear to have forgotten is that a standard feature of any Nokia Series 60 3rd edition handset is its ability to appear to be a memory stick.
There is no doubt that many platforms offer communication capabilities to steal information from an employer.
Manginging porosity is a public relations issue as this post points out.
A lesson learned
Government minister David Miliband has vowed to continue experimenting with online engagement after his department's first move into wiki-policy ended in disarray, reports c|net.
Miliband commented on his blog: "Since writing this I gather that we have demonstrated the extreme openness of the wiki by playing host to some practical jokes... Strange how some people get their kicks. But the experiment will continue."
This was a brave idea and is an excellent case study. Using Social Media is not just a question of starting a blog or setting up a wiki. It is a serious undertaking offering great benefits but with its own management needs.
Just like starting a press relations campaign, a wiki or blog needs a strategy behind it.
It was not for nothing that I have campaigned for the PR profession to develop a strategy capability and gave an example of how strategy might be developed.
No we can learn the lessons from David Miliband's brave attempt and move on.
More comments from Tech Digest here.
Miliband commented on his blog: "Since writing this I gather that we have demonstrated the extreme openness of the wiki by playing host to some practical jokes... Strange how some people get their kicks. But the experiment will continue."
This was a brave idea and is an excellent case study. Using Social Media is not just a question of starting a blog or setting up a wiki. It is a serious undertaking offering great benefits but with its own management needs.
Just like starting a press relations campaign, a wiki or blog needs a strategy behind it.
It was not for nothing that I have campaigned for the PR profession to develop a strategy capability and gave an example of how strategy might be developed.
No we can learn the lessons from David Miliband's brave attempt and move on.
More comments from Tech Digest here.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Doctors don't like spin - pubs dont like quacks
A report suggesting Oxford has the biggest binge-drinking problem in the South-East and the highest death rates from liver disease should be treated with caution, health chiefs and pub landlords according to the Oxford Mail.
North West Public Health Observatory use of statistics need a health check and so too should all surveys used in PR. T
According to National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, NWPHO provides a resource for Public Health information and intelligence in the North West of England.
I expect the reputation of both organisation is what they deserve. One for rigging results and the other for endorsing quacks.
North West Public Health Observatory use of statistics need a health check and so too should all surveys used in PR. T
According to National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, NWPHO provides a resource for Public Health information and intelligence in the North West of England.
I expect the reputation of both organisation is what they deserve. One for rigging results and the other for endorsing quacks.
YouTube vid not fun anymore
The short video blog postings by lonelygirl15 on the YouTube website have attracted millions of viewers since they started appearing in May says Dan Glaister the Guradian's man in Los Angeles. But the postings' polished nature and the intriguing inconsistencies in the stories led many to suspect that lonelygirl15 was fake.
Exposed this week, the responce from Alissa Brooke, a blogger who has hosted a forum on the lonelygirl15 phenomenon wrote: "Well, that's no fun any more."
So fake blogs damage brands - We can take from this that sstroturfing is bad news for PR practitioners.
Exposed this week, the responce from Alissa Brooke, a blogger who has hosted a forum on the lonelygirl15 phenomenon wrote: "Well, that's no fun any more."
So fake blogs damage brands - We can take from this that sstroturfing is bad news for PR practitioners.
Frenchmen are better bloggers
Eurosoc tell us that Charles Bremner had a good post in the Times (Sept 6th) on how the blogging phenomenon has taken off in France. Apparently the country has more bloggers per capita, and more internet users who read blogs, than anywhere else in the world.
Bremmer reports that the blog epidemic has resilted in schools punishing pupils who ridicule teachers with text and video and the police have prosecuted bloggers for inciting violence on the city-edge housing projects. Psychologists are warning parents that blogs can cut kids off in a narcissistic bubble. The government says that internet should be kept out of children's rooms.
It would seem that when 7% of the population is blogging all sorts of mayhem ensues.
Bremmer reports that the blog epidemic has resilted in schools punishing pupils who ridicule teachers with text and video and the police have prosecuted bloggers for inciting violence on the city-edge housing projects. Psychologists are warning parents that blogs can cut kids off in a narcissistic bubble. The government says that internet should be kept out of children's rooms.
It would seem that when 7% of the population is blogging all sorts of mayhem ensues.
Does this mean a third of clients want to use Social Media.
Over a third (37 per cent) of respondents to a silicon.com reader poll think business blogs are not a good way for companies to communicate with customers. But just under a third (32 per cent) disagree - saying corporate blogs can be a good way for corporations to reach out to the people who ultimately pay their wages.
Does this mean that a third of all clients are potential bloggers?
If so what wouold you advise them?
Have you honed your social media strategy skills?
This is getting quite exciting.
Does this mean that a third of all clients are potential bloggers?
If so what wouold you advise them?
Have you honed your social media strategy skills?
This is getting quite exciting.
Blogs and wiki's for corporate branding
David Meerman Scot has a case study of a company punching above its weight by using Blogs and Wikis.
The Social Software Debate
I don't know how he does it but JP Rangaswami but manages to find the most interesting items online .
His lates offering in which he states: "If the CIA, or for that matter any major grouping of intelligence services, can truly grasp the value of social software, then there is hope for all of us." is a must to read and floow through.
His lates offering in which he states: "If the CIA, or for that matter any major grouping of intelligence services, can truly grasp the value of social software, then there is hope for all of us." is a must to read and floow through.
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