Fear of internet crime is now more prevalent than concerns about more conventional crimes such as burglary, mugging and car theft, according to a report in the Guardian.
In planning online PR programmes this is an issue that needs to be considered.
Friday, October 13, 2006
GoogleTube
John Harris has an alternative view of the Google acquisition of YouTube.
Thus far, there seem to about sixty, most full of fear that their beloved virtual community is about to be turned into a drab corporate hell-hole, and as the US wakes up, the volume of anti-Google agit-prop will surely skyrocket. Looking once again at Google's own video site, you can only sympathise: its front page offers the obligatory home-made clips, but its "featured" section rather tediously flags up The Cartoon Network, a new Oasis DVD and Sky Sports' coverage of the Ryder Cup. There is also the dull sound of cynical commerce: charges for video "downloads", when - doh! - the whole point of streaming technology is that no download is required.
Apple's secret society exposed
I am not sure what TechDigest is doing.
It reports (and one can only assume from an insider tip off)
The problem here is that secretive companies get 'exposed' and cannot get across their own viewpoint when they are secretive. Apple has a reputation as "uber-secretive" and so is under constant attack and investigation.
It reports (and one can only assume from an insider tip off)
Take one uber-secretive company, the ongoing saga of the perils of blogging at or about work, and someone who claims to be working for Apple (and in the UK at that) and all the ingredients are there.It seems to want to scoop the next blogger to get fired for blogging about their employer.
The problem here is that secretive companies get 'exposed' and cannot get across their own viewpoint when they are secretive. Apple has a reputation as "uber-secretive" and so is under constant attack and investigation.
Exhausted celebs
Does the use of famous names still have the power to attract the public to events and causes, or have we over-used them, and is their power diluted by B lists and scandals? Love them or hate them, celebrities are still sought after to help promote new products, launch events or attract clients to a new venue.
Active Events discusses this issue. Celebrity has always been with us. It is something that society enjoys. The Hittites, Ancient Greeks and Romans had celebrities.
Today there is a big gorilla in the room. It is really easy for celebrity status to emerge in social media very fast which can make some celebs appear passe.
Active Events discusses this issue. Celebrity has always been with us. It is something that society enjoys. The Hittites, Ancient Greeks and Romans had celebrities.
Today there is a big gorilla in the room. It is really easy for celebrity status to emerge in social media very fast which can make some celebs appear passe.
Press relations and the vultures
The CIPR Active Events blog reported on its media conference that Justin Hayward and Sam Stokes from MS&L began the conference with ‘Selling-in you stories playing a game of network bingo. Justin, Head of Technology & Telecommunications, went on to discuss the rapid changes in media and recognising ways to remain relevant as more consumers turned to the web as an information resource.
Perhaps the best way to remain relevant is to create news stories that journalists want to find, have it in social space or, at worse where an RSS feed will find it and save all the cost of the phone round and 'selling in'.
The old model is dying, the vultures are sitting on the shoulders of tradition means of press story distribution.
Perhaps the best way to remain relevant is to create news stories that journalists want to find, have it in social space or, at worse where an RSS feed will find it and save all the cost of the phone round and 'selling in'.
The old model is dying, the vultures are sitting on the shoulders of tradition means of press story distribution.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Online is now bigger than magazines and papers
From e-consultancy, a pick-up from the FT:
European consumers are now spending more time online than reading newspapers and magazines, according to a new study.The Jupiter Research survey, covered in the FT, shows internet consumption has doubled from two to four hours per week in the last two years, but is not cannibalising print and TV.
If ever there was a reason for PR to take the Web seriously this is it.
Risk trust and reward
What a sensible post at J LeRoy's blog:
Risk and trust are a balancing act online and we have to be sure that we both tell our clients and, like Google, have a plan in place for when it goes wrong. If we do these things the rewards are great.
Issues management planning in PR is often put to one side in the excitement of planning programmes. It should be an integral part.
....... we have to assume a certain amount of risk tolerance when we venture forth into the world of net based business.
This week, even vaunted Google was hacked. The post was actually quite brilliant and has made its point.
Risk and trust are a balancing act online and we have to be sure that we both tell our clients and, like Google, have a plan in place for when it goes wrong. If we do these things the rewards are great.
Issues management planning in PR is often put to one side in the excitement of planning programmes. It should be an integral part.
Why Internet Mediated PR will win - it's measureable
Where the Internet is really making TV look creaky, though, is in the most important area of all, the one that determines where the money goes: audience measurement.
So claims Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune
Readers know, by and large, what it means when they hear that a TV show has 3.2 million viewers: The Nielsen Media Research monopoly has extrapolated from its sample of the U.S. population's viewing habits to arrive at that number, and if that show is on a network, it will be, in all likelihood, canceled very soon.
But people outside of the business often stumble over the meaning of Internet-specific measurement terms such as "hits," "page views" and "unique visitors," to name some of the most common ones. They don't grasp how site rankings are arrived at. And, bigger picture, they fail to understand, perhaps, how very fragmented the Internet audience is: Social networking site MySpace made news recently when it climbed to the top of the Internet heap - by tallying just 4.5 percent of all U.S. Internet visits.
So consider this a primer, necessary in so new and dynamic a medium, on Internet audience measurement.........
We its quite good and worth reading.
We do need to harness some of this stuff. But there are caveats. This is not a 'mass audience medium' and so the numbers can and do conceal a lot of information and comparisons are very hard to make. But if we use it wisely it will offerpower to Social Media PR such that now one has seen before.
Shopaholic dream
Printed material can be turned into a remote control for digital content. Imagine clicking a product on the catalog, only to have it fire up the Web browser on your PC that brings you to the store’s online checkout counter with the item in mind already in the shopping cart.
Cameron or Murdoch - you choose
Rupert Murdoch said he was not yet impressed with David Cameron, leader of the Conservatives, because he is a 'PR guy'.
But, you might be successful as a publisher - who knows .
Rupert, you're charming, very bright and behaves as if you doesn't believe in anything other than trying to construct what you believes will be the right public image. But really just another jumped up journo."Look, he's charming, he's very bright and he behaves as if he doesn't believe in anything other than trying to construct what he believes will be the right public image," Murdoch said.
"He's a P.R. guy. He came out of public relations. He was a lobbyist and P.R. man for Carlton Television for seven years, and then went into Parliament five years ago, and that's the only experience of life he's had."
But, you might be successful as a publisher - who knows .
One in five don't trust the net
David Smith Sunday in the The Observer reports that
This is an issue for PR. We depend on people finding a reasonable comfort zone using Social Media.
People fear they are more likely to become victims of online crime than they are to be mugged or burgled, research shows. A survey at the start of Get Safe Online Week reveals that 21 per cent of people now believe they are at greater risk from e-crime - up from 17 per cent last year. This fear of online crime is deterring the public from using the internet for everyday activities, the survey on getsafeonline.org found, with early a quarter of respondents too concerned about e-crime to bank online.
This is an issue for PR. We depend on people finding a reasonable comfort zone using Social Media.
Second Life, Work and PR play
More from BL Ochman. She says:
"Its Hard to understand how an interview with Second Life creator Philip Rosedale could be boring, but Toby Sterling at Associated Press asks questions that are (extremely) far from insightful. The Guardian, on the other hand, has a meaty article.
I agree, the Guardian article is excellent and presents how people Use SL, to promote their organisations and even trade with this 800,000 population.
Some examples:
Universities are staking out places on Second Life to offer virtual courses.
Politicians have started doing interviews in Second Life
Doctors are doing simulations that may have real-world benefits
The Hedrons will become the first British band to do a virtual concert in Second Life
The BBC has rented an island on the site for music festivals.
There is much more in the article. It offers good ideas and is well written.
"Its Hard to understand how an interview with Second Life creator Philip Rosedale could be boring, but Toby Sterling at Associated Press asks questions that are (extremely) far from insightful. The Guardian, on the other hand, has a meaty article.
I agree, the Guardian article is excellent and presents how people Use SL, to promote their organisations and even trade with this 800,000 population.
Some examples:
Universities are staking out places on Second Life to offer virtual courses.
Politicians have started doing interviews in Second Life
Doctors are doing simulations that may have real-world benefits
The Hedrons will become the first British band to do a virtual concert in Second Life
The BBC has rented an island on the site for music festivals.
There is much more in the article. It offers good ideas and is well written.
Consumer trials online
From BL Ochman, comes this find.
It is another form of online promotion. Give active users a product to try and focus their response into a single social media site and the result is coverage, comment and buzz,
It is another form of online promotion. Give active users a product to try and focus their response into a single social media site and the result is coverage, comment and buzz,
Email - Porous, Transparent and an Agent
Email is a great channel for communication. It is also easy to use.
It makes organisations porous (information leaks out). It makes organisation transparent (information can be shared easily) finally it is easy to for people to change the content, for the technologies to alter that structure and re-purpose the content. It is truly a thing of the Internet because the Internet vests email with its own agency - a capability to do things beyond the initial purpose.
This is evident from the Sunday Herald's story yesterday.
It makes organisations porous (information leaks out). It makes organisation transparent (information can be shared easily) finally it is easy to for people to change the content, for the technologies to alter that structure and re-purpose the content. It is truly a thing of the Internet because the Internet vests email with its own agency - a capability to do things beyond the initial purpose.
This is evident from the Sunday Herald's story yesterday.
SCOTLAND’S green watchdog played down the risks of radio active contamination at a popular coastal resort in Fife following an 11th-hour intervention by government spin doctors.Internal emails reveal the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) delayed and then altered a news release after it had been described as “not entirely helpful” by a senior Scottish Executive public relations official.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
How to pitch a blog
Lee Odden tells that Online Marketing Blog gets about 5-10 pitches per week on average, which provides more than enough of a sample on how blogs are getting pitched these days. What’s the verdict? It doesn’t look good.
This is a good post on how to be really good at blogger relations and makes these points:
- Be relevant.
- Personalize.
- Make it easy.
- Schwag is good.
- Be persistent.
Its relationships, stupid
Charline Li focuses on why Google and YouTube would be interested in working together. She makes this point:
In PR we can focus on the social element. The channels are interesting and can be ceeded to the folks like marketers, but the social group is the key.
This is where Public Relations has to focus.
In practice, YouTube is interesting for PR because it is a place where we can engage with social groups and their conversations.
It’s not just the sheer numbers that grabs Google’s attention. YouTube is a gem because it figured out what Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and all of the other video players in the marketplace couldn’t – that it’s not about the video. It’s really about the community that’s around the video.
In PR we can focus on the social element. The channels are interesting and can be ceeded to the folks like marketers, but the social group is the key.
This is where Public Relations has to focus.
In practice, YouTube is interesting for PR because it is a place where we can engage with social groups and their conversations.
ROI and relationship value
JP Rangaswami is one of the good thinkers. He is following through Charlene Li's discussion about discussion on Calculating The ROI of Blogging. He quotes: Strategy Under Uncertainty in Harvard Business Review, November/December 1997,
Well, I am glad he has had his pop at current accounting practice. When all value is a metaphor, you are left with the elements and knowledge. If all knowledge is freely available through the Internet the balance sheet rests with those who can use knowledge to convert elements using knowledge.
Throughout mankind's history (as for every other sentient being) this depends on relationships.
Why are we so slow in looking as relationships and its social value?
That is why I the Relationship Value Model is helpful.
If we restrict ourselves to measuring investments by ROI alone, we run the risk of weakening our capacity to survive, much less thrive, in an age of strategic uncertainty. Big Bets are like early stage investments, you have to work out what percentage of your investment portfolio you want to expose to those risks and returns; that percentage could be zero, but you then give away the right to receive hockey-stick returns. Big Bets are measured like early-stage VC portfolios. Options are just options, the price you pay for a place at the table, and you decide which tables you need to sit at. Options need option pricing and suffer time decay. No-Regrets Moves, in contrast, are all about ROI. You have to do something, now all you’re working out is the best something. Build Or Buy. Which Build. Or Which Buy. And there’s probably no better tool than ROI to work this out.In a long and very interesting post he concludes:
There is a destination. One that values human capital and relationships and institutional knowledge. And we will get there. So I will continue to track the conversations on the blogosphere looking for signposts that will make it easier to get to the destination.
Well, I am glad he has had his pop at current accounting practice. When all value is a metaphor, you are left with the elements and knowledge. If all knowledge is freely available through the Internet the balance sheet rests with those who can use knowledge to convert elements using knowledge.
Throughout mankind's history (as for every other sentient being) this depends on relationships.
Why are we so slow in looking as relationships and its social value?
That is why I the Relationship Value Model is helpful.
Dog blog
He's got a hairy coat and a glossy nose and is fast becoming a Norfolk celebrity, says EDP24
For Murphy the dog has got his own internet blog which has just celebrated its 1000th visitor.
There are regular updates, the topics including 'What we did for our holidays' and 'Separation Anxiety', a common problem when dogs have to be left outside shops or toilets for brief periods while their owners pop inside. And there are loads of photos of the duo.
Its a new angle for blogging. Niche.
For Murphy the dog has got his own internet blog which has just celebrated its 1000th visitor.
There are regular updates, the topics including 'What we did for our holidays' and 'Separation Anxiety', a common problem when dogs have to be left outside shops or toilets for brief periods while their owners pop inside. And there are loads of photos of the duo.
Its a new angle for blogging. Niche.
Biofuels blog for farmers
Farmers are some of the biggest adopters of new ideas and technology. Now they have a chance to take part in a new blog from FWi and its sister publication ICIS.
This is a publication useing blogs to cover an emerging interest for an industry. Another application for blogging.
ICIS's Simon Robinson has started a blog about biofuels, looking at how crops could figure in fuelling the planet in the future and talking about non-food crops for power and the potential that farming has to replace large parts of the petrochemicals industry.
This is a publication useing blogs to cover an emerging interest for an industry. Another application for blogging.
ICIS's Simon Robinson has started a blog about biofuels, looking at how crops could figure in fuelling the planet in the future and talking about non-food crops for power and the potential that farming has to replace large parts of the petrochemicals industry.
Celeb podcast for PR campaign.
Former Senator and health care advocate Bob Dole made available today the tenth and final episode in his podcast series, Ten Things Seniors Need to Know about Medicare's Drug Coverage, reports Medical News Today. In this podcast Dole discusses some of the enhanced features that Medicare is offering beneficiaries to help them prepare for the 2007 enrollment period. This episode can be downloaded at http://www.bobdoleonmedicare.com, as well as on iTunes and other podcast directories.
This is an example of both political application of social media and a practical use of a 'celebrity' to put across a point.
This is an example of both political application of social media and a practical use of a 'celebrity' to put across a point.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)