An Olympian feat to blog in Vancouver
Many watch the Olympics to see humans triumph over the greatest odds to achieve their Olympic dreams. And with the ubiquitous presence of social media in our society, no doubt many will follow these triumphs on their favorite new media channels. Or will they? Before the 2010 Olympic Winter Games even begin, there has been a cloud of confusion settling over the competition. Although it is predicted that more than 200 million plan to watch the games over the 17 day period, it seems they won’t have such luck online.
It turns out many Olympic athletes are confused as to whether they can share their experiences on blogs, Twitter or other social media sites. According to the International Olympic Committee, “athletes and other accredited people must keep their posts confined to their personal experiences… Only those persons accredited as media may act as journalists, reporters or in any other media capacity.” Athletes are also banned from blogging about sponsors or advertisers who aren’t official Olympic partners.
Poor communication about the dos and don’ts of blogging, and fear of breaking IOC rules, have left most athletes simply abandoning their blogs and Twitter pages. As such, the Committee has come under fire from many fans wanting to gain a first-hand perspective from their favorite athletes. Lindsey Vonn, one of America’s best chances to score a gold medal, told 35,000 Twitter fans she sadly has to refrain from tweeting until after the Games.
If the Committee had better communicated its guidelines prior to the Games, millions of people would have the opportunity to engage in the experiences and emotions athletes go through during this most elite athletic competition. Without a doubt, it would have added another meaningful layer of understanding about the extent of human endurance. After all, aren’t the Games just as much for the audience as they are for the athletes?
-- Jenn DeBarge Goonan, Senior Account Supervisor
Tags: Twitter blogs socialmedia
Did you like this post? Please share it:
 |  |  |  |
Email Post
Comments (0)
Journalists getting social to find sources
If your clients aren’t talking about social media, get them started now! A new study from Cision and George Washington University finds nine out of 10 journalists turn to at least one type of new media channel for story research and source information. That’s especially true for newspaper and online journalists, three-quarters of who use social networking sites for research, compared to just under two-thirds for magazine writers.
The big takeaway here is that while journalists used to go directly to the source for information, they are increasingly looking to social media to act as conduits. This means that we need to make sure our clients are participating in and taking ownership of the online dialogue and their presence across social media, blogs and traditional online media. This requires an entirely new level of rigor and in many cases, new skill sets to maintain their brand.
This could be a good opportunity to start a dialogue with your clients about the importance of online brand maintenance and reputation – beginning with a basic audit of their online presence. From there you can start to home in on the key places where consumers are talking about your brand.
Tags: media blogs socialmedia research newmedia
Did you like this post? Please share it:
| | | |
Email Post
Comments (2)
Changes on the way for blogger outreach
With the new FTC guidelines for online disclosure just around the corner, brands, agencies and bloggers are all doing their best to understand what this means for online reviews and product information. Jason Kottke successfully (and humorously) turned a 57-word blog post into 375 with the disclosures he included. At the same time, a new site launched which is trying to standardize the disclosure copy that bloggers, tweeters and other online content creators can use to disclose their association with a product or brand.
You’ll notice there are several “flavors” of disclosure – this is probably not the be-all-end-all solution, but if you are looking for ways to ensure your online contacts are being transparent, you may want to use this copy as a suggested starting point for the disclosure statement.
Certainly this is going to be an interesting aspect of the communications world to follow in the coming weeks and months. With the FTC more likely to slap a fine on the associated brand than the offending blogger, we can likely look forward to at least a few large brands serving as the unfortunate examples for the larger community of what might happen if the new guidelines are not followed. For many, disclosure has always been a part of how we as communications professionals do business – but these new guidelines certainly underscore the importance.
Tags: socialmedia mediarelations newmedia blogs
Did you like this post? Please share it:
| | | |
Email Post
Comments (0)
New Cone Research Shows Growing Consumer Interaction with Businesses Online
There’s good news for businesses online!
New media users are increasingly interacting with companies and brand in this environment. In fact, interactions are up 32 percent from 2008 with almost 80 percent (78%) of new media users engaging with businesses through traditional online or social media channels. This is according to our latest research, the 2009 Cone Consumer New Media Study.
The2nd annual new media study, an update of the 2008 Business in Social Media Study, is a three-part survey which explored new media users’ interactions with brands, their support of social and environmental issues and their engagement with corporate responsibility practices. The research also reveals new media users:
- Feel a stronger connection to (72%) and better served by (68%) companies they can interact with via new media
- Believe companies should market to them through traditional online advertising (43%, up from 25% in 2008)
- Believe they can influence corporate responsibility decisions by voicing opinions via new media channels (62%)
- Believe companies and nonprofits should use new media to raise money and awareness for causes (79%)
For additional findings, please visit www.coneinc.com/consumernewmediastudy to download the research fact sheets.
Tags: PR newmedia cause media mobile blogs CR marketing socialmedia research
Did you like this post? Please share it:
| | | |
Email Post
Comments (0)
The key to PR 2.0 is marketing 101
During the last few months, I have heard clients, co-workers, industry colleagues and just about every marketing professional I know state that there is a lot of jockeying for position within the social media space. Even though the idea of social media has been around for a while, it seems like everyone who works in marketing communications has just awakened from a deep sleep, all at the same time, and decided that social media is going to be the focus of his or her job.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s exciting and it’s a fresh approach to what we do. However, it doesn’t, or shouldn’t, really change things that much for marketers who care about their craft. So what if the media landscape has changed drastically within the last year? So what if consumers are getting their information from completely different places than they were just six months ago? Truth be told, when the dust settles, it still boils down to a sound strategic approach and a good idea.
Of course, we need to understand and continually adapt to the new playing field. We need to know that there is a right and wrong way to approach bloggers. We should be open to a constant, steady stream of new technologies, social networks, content creation concepts and digital partnerships from which brands can potentially benefit. But, the key thing that we, as marketers, should understand is, for the first time, we have the opportunity to establish a two-way dialogue with the very consumers we are trying to reach. That’s a great opportunity, but we won’t get the chance again if we blow it with a bad idea or approach.
So before any social and/or traditional media campaign is executed, it’s important to first think about the basics. Understand your objectives, know your target, carefully build your strategies and bring to life a creative platform and idea that truly earn valid consumer and media attention. Even though we are in the world of PR 2.0, it is important not to forget the basics of marketing 101.
-- Mark Malinowski, Vice President
Tags: blogs socialmedia newmedia PR marketing strategy
Did you like this post? Please share it:
| | | |
Email Post
Comments (0)
One bad PR apple doesn’t have to spoil the bunch
On Monday, as my team and I were finalizing pitching assignments for our mommy blogger media list, we came across this post from Momdot.com advocating mommy bloggers join in a “PR Blackout Challenge” for one week in August.
On her blog, MomDot founder Trisha posted:
“With the allure of giveaways, reviews, and blog trips, Mom Bloggers have turned from what they love the most, their family, into working directly as public relations for their captive audience. It boils down to knowing your worth and then standing up for it…We want to see your blog naked, raw, and back to basics. Talk about your kids, your marriage, your college, your hopes, your dreams, your house and whatever you can come up with for one week.”
As PR professionals working with a juvenile products client, my team spends a good amount of time identifying mommy blogs and fostering respectful, involved and professional relationships with these bloggers. We love our mommy bloggers, and we hope they love us, too. Yes, we offer gear because we hope it will be positively reviewed, and yes, we hope it will be used in reader giveaways and as contest prizes. We do this not because mommy bloggers have a “captive audience” but because we believe in word of mouth, and we know that moms are each other’s allies, whether next door or via the World Wide Web.
The whole point of blogging is the sharing of information, whether it be the amount of dirty diapers your husband (didn’t) change, the “surprise” redecoration your twins did with a set of permanent markers and your new white couch or, drum roll, the amazing new lightweight stroller that saved the day on a recent trip to the zoo or the hook-on high chair that allowed mom and dad to sit in a white-clothed restaurant and enjoy a real meal that didn’t come in a Styrofoam box.
I understand that mommy bloggers likely get hundreds of spam-type emails from marketers (and PR folks) every week, offering coupons and links to giveaways, with the sole strategy of online saturation/domination. But, mommies…that’s not me or my team.
So, my own plea to my mommy blogger friends: don’t participate in the PR blackout —participate in a brown-out. Delete the spam emails and canned requests for free publicity, and maybe throw away your calendar of deadlines. Your real PR partners will operate on your schedule, because we know you. We’re friends.
--Lisen Syp, Account Supervisor
Tags: moms blogs clients
Did you like this post? Please share it:
| | | |
Email Post
Comments (0)
Trust in media?
From today's eMarketer newsletter comes some very interesting stats regarding trust of various media:
- Not surprisingly, recommendations from friends (word of mouth) is #1 at 48%.
- Online news is slightly more trusted than newspapers.
- Trust of private blogs is DISMAL. (Fewer than 1 in 10 people say they are an 8, 9 or 10 on a scale of 1-10 where 1 = "don't trust at all" and 10 = "trust completely")
What does this mean?
My gut reaction is BALANCE. A balance of: online and offline media; traditional and non-traditional; media focus and direct-to-consumer buzz generation through social networks. A program that garners millions of blog impressions but does not inspire consumer trust may be less likely to move the business needle than a well executed online media relations campaign and direct-to-consumer outreach.
Mike Hollywood, Director of New Media
Tags: Trust wordofmouth blogs media
Did you like this post? Please share it:
| | | |
Email Post
Comments (0)
Home