Apr 22 2007

One

April 22, 2007 – 6:22 am

I have a client who says that only 17 percent of businesses survive their first year. We’re one of them.

Only twenty-five percent of businesses open their doors again after a natural disaster. We’re one of them.

Livingston Communications turned one year old. We made it… and we were profitable. We went from ground zero in a basement and no clients to offices in Old Town with more than $215k in gross billings. We’ve had great experiences, from promoting Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna’s new book “The Paths We Choose,” and the Washington Nationals to well over a dozen stories placed in the top 50 newspapers in the country.

We embraced new media with authority, and became a local expert in the field. And we also continued a personal tradition of B2G work with majors like General Dynamics IT, BEA Systems and Verizon Wireless Federal.

It was a good beginning and there are many people, too many people to thank for their support here, but we are grateful for everything they’ve done. Without them the company would not be successful.

Now it’s time to begin year two, a year of continued growth. We have several new media and PR projects on the table, which will carry us through the quarter. And with that, we’re on our way. To start the new year with a bang we’ve got Laura Ries of “The Fall of Advertising and Ries of PR” and “Origin of Brands” fame in our weekly Buzz Bin interview.

Also, I’ve joined Second Life is “Livingston Zenovka.” It seemed like a fitting move for year two. Second Life is an increasingly popular virtual world populate by individuals and corporations alike. Second Life and Spin Thicket seem to be the primary social networks for me. Like Kami’s interview says, you have to be careful not to join too many or fatigue can set in. I am contemplating buying property on Second Life and opening a store front for the company there… We’ll see.
Here are some quotes to start the week:

  • “If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone,â€? John Maxwell.
  • “He who moves not forward, goes backward,â€? Goethe.
  • “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning,â€? Ben Franklin.
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (1)
Apr 20 2007

Kami Watson Huyse Communicates Social Network Overtones

April 20, 2007 – 1:45 pm

Kami Watson Huyse is one of the talented successful PR pros who has successfully navigated into the new media environment. Communication Overtones is one of my favorite reads, and given her ranking in the blogosphere, it’s apparent I am not the only one. She discusses the plethora of new social networks, the fatigue they can cause, and their dynamic impact in news and crisis situations. Read on to learn more about Kami’s views on social networks.

How has Communication Overtones benefited your business?

It has served as an educational tool for both me and also for my clients. It serves as a place to get instant feedback on ideas and tactics that we might be considering for a client. It has also helped us find and develop new business.

How can new media forms help during a crisis PR situation?

New media provides a means by which one can open a direct and instantaneous channel of communication with those who care most about an issue. Also, it is a no-fuss way to get information out fast. Look at the incident at Virginia Tech. Social media sites served as a way for people to quickly connect and also for reporters to get rich information quickly. I think organizations that don’t factor new media into their crisis planning will pay the price in public sentiment

What do you think are the biggest issues facing the new media industry?

I think one of the biggest is fatigue. In how many new platforms and communities can one person realistically join and participate fully? For companies, the question becomes, “Which of these networks are most important for us to participate within?� I think that organizations run the risk of running after the latest gizmo in order to keep up with the competition. This is still a business decision, the extent to which a company or organization wades into the social media waters still needs to be based on strategic principles.

What are your favorite social networks and why?

Back to the last question, I am a member of way too many networks and may be bordering on overload (lol). I regularly use YouTube, mostly for clients; Flickr, to add some spice to my blog; and del.icio.us to for bookmarking and also for monitoring for clients. These three, in addition to my blog, which at present is hosted at Blogger.com, are my workhorses.

I also am on Twitter, which is fun, but which is still peripheral, and I do a great deal in Second Life. Namely, I have monthly meetings of marketers and PR folk there in my Second Tuesday in Second Life series. Additionally, I have a Facebook and MySpace site, as well as a profile on LinkedIn.

What corporate blogs/social networking initiatives do you admire and why?

I have admired Southwest Airlines entrance into the new media space. Their blog is fun, but at the same time addresses the pressing issues when necessary. I think they have done a fine job of balancing the informational needs of those that read the blog, and also of pulling in participation from across their employee base. The blog really affirms their existing culture, and I think it was sage of them to capitalize on that.

What tips would you offer other corporate bloggers?

Be real, be open and be willing to let criticism ride. I think that the companies that allow the critical feedback to appear on their site are winning points with customers. Just last week I conducted a focus group and asked the participants what they felt inferred credibility to a website. They said many things, but one that stood out to me was that they felt unvarnished consumer feedback added credibility. The day of the filtered “testimonial� is dead. Most customers know that it is a bunch of hooey.

Time magazine dubbed bloggers person of the year. What’s next for our industry?

Actually they dubbed YOU, the person of the year – meaning that there must be recognition that ordinary people are now the content creators. Niche blogs that have a small, but respectable, audience are the gatekeepers for information about that topic. Certainly the mainstream media has recognized this and regularly uses bloggers as a source. But more important than that is that if there is a vacuum of information, people will create their own. Again, think of how word of mouth worked at Virginia Tech to get the news out about the shootings. We live in a world where this is happening, and we as communicators are obliged to understand it and use it for the better good of our organizations and the people they serve.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (3)
Apr 19 2007

Enough, Let Virginia Tech Mourn In Peace

April 19, 2007 – 10:00 am

Enough is enough. It’s time for the media to stop exploiting the tragedy that occured at Virginia Tech this week. NBC’s release of the Cho Seung Hui video was absolutely innapropriate. This shameless exploitation has created a disgusting anti-hero, and has excerbated the families terrible mourning process.

Further, the New York Times and other media outlets have initiated Google Ad Words keyword campaigns to serve up ads any time someone searches the incident. There’s no justification good enough to explain this kind of mercenary capitalistic activity… making money from grieving families who have lost their children to a mad man.

It’s time to stop, and let these families and the Virginia Tech community mourn in peace. Further, if there are a series of copy cat shootings with multimedia confessions, who is to blame? The media. Personally, I am not watching or reading any more. I’m voting with my clicker.

The Buzz Bin will not publish on April 30 as part of the blogosphere wide Silent Vigil in memorium of those who lost their lives.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (1)
Apr 18 2007

Goodness Gracious, Great Blogs of Fire

April 18, 2007 – 2:15 pm

I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, here are this week’s hot blogs and links from the ether, including a newspaper turned blog and a great philanthropy program.

First up is the redesigned www.usatoday.com. That’s right, USA Today. Their new format has revolutionized the way newspapers publish, turning the entire site into a megablog with each story accessible to commenting, and enabling commentators to tag their blogs via a Blogger-esque Identity page. This must be donned some new blog safe zone now. What a gutsy adventure the team at USAToday.com has embarked on. I congratulate Gannett for revolutionizing newspaper media forms… again.

Here’s a story found through Spin Thicket. Marketing Daily’s Karl Greenberg reports that Nissan has integrated its corporate citizenship and philanthropy program with its communications department. The resulting “haloization� of branding efforts is meant to build more trust into the corporate brand, creating an image of citizenship that most companies haven’t even conceived of yet.

“In the past, corporate citizenship has been a series of random acts of kindness driven by interests of senior executives of a company, without a lot of research or a lot of strategy–a side activity,” says Simon Sproule, corporate vice president/global communications, corporate social responsibility and investor relations at Nissan. “If you look at an investment which is in the millions of dollars a year, trusting that to third parties is not the right way to manage our reputation and brand. When you are responding to someone else’s program, it’s never as good for you as if you went out and created it.”

This type of intelligent marketing and humanitarian effort is exactly what is needed to turn the tide against the increasingly negative image of corporate America. Though a cited SHRM survey demonstrates that there are no tangible brand benefits to such a program, I don’t think any philanthropic program has been this strategically engineered before. It will be very interesting to watch Nissan’s progress.

More Links
Here’s a testy title from Mack Collier, “Your Company Blog Sucks, Now What?â€? The big epiphany? “The problem was, the blog wasn’t positioned from the reader’s point of view.â€? Hello! Yes, it does help to actually create value for your readers. Good tips here for PR and corporate folks trying to master the blog game.

Speaking of, the local Washington metro area PR agency blog market is getting crowded. A couple of recent entrants include Elizabeth Shea’s Sounding Board from the newly rebranded SpeakerBox, a second SpeakerBox team blog, and Jeff Majka’s the PR Guy. Welcome to the game, my friends. Also notable is Alice Marshall’s long-standing Presto Vivace blog. I like her short vignette style.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (4)
Apr 17 2007

The Apollo Awards

April 17, 2007 – 2:45 pm

There’s a great new award out there for DC area companies recognizing employee growth and development. Helios HR announced the 2007 Apollo Awards recognizing companies who promote a continuous learning environment as apart of its culture. Deadline for nominations is April 26th. Award winners will be recognized at a breakfast ceremony June 8th in Tysons.

Helios HR President Kathy Albarado says it’s not enough to offer attractive benefit packages and flexible work hours, to attract and retain top talent, organizations must commit to offer meaningful career experiences as well.

I wish there were more companies I worked for in the past that offered meaningful career experiences. I don’t know any of my previous employers that ever looked at it that way.

Judges for the 2007 Apollo Awards include Sharon Armstrong, author of Stress Free Performance Appraisals, Tim Burn, editor of SmartCEO Magazine, Robert Carr, Chief Professional and Business Development Officer of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Dolores Esser, Commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission.

These judges will recognize companies that go the extra mile. If interested, visit http://helioshr.com/2007-apollo-awards.php for more information and to apply.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Michele Capots | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (0)

Obama’s Image is Everything

April 17, 2007 – 8:48 am

Last week on David Letterman, Barack Obama talked about kicking the habit. The Washington Post’s Reliable Source wrote about it the next day. Letterman asked him point blank “Are you still smoking cigarettes?�

He replied Nicorette.

Can you imagine? Trying to quit smoking with the whole world watching. And truthfully, from a public relations stand point, it would be all about damage control if he picked up a cigarette. Today’s society doesn’t want a smoking president.

If he fails, and picks up a cigarette, the message he will be sending to America is that he is weak. He isn’t strong enough to be president. And then what, if by some amazing chance, he got elected as a smoker, would he be outside the White House smoking waving to tourists as they walk by? Getting that last drag in before he hopped on Air Force One.

I doubt America would stand for a smoker as their leader, especially as more and more states are enacting bills to prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants, even outside, next to your dog, beside your cat, in your own home. Having a smoker in Office would clearly go against the messages the people want to hear.

Smoking is dirty. I can say that because I smoked, a lot, over the last 15 years. What message would Obama be giving the younger generation, the young and impressionable, if our President was a smoker.

But what if he doesn’t. What if the Nicorette works for him and he kicks his smoking habit once and for all. Then it’s one more point in Obama’s category. Overcoming his weakness will actually increase his ratings. Now he’s even more of American’s choice because, yet again, he’s shown he’s just like everyone else.

Quitting smoking is hard, and as I said, I can’t imagine doing it in the limelight. I quit because I thought I had asthma. I got hypnotized, which I never expected to work. As I was going “under� and repeating the mantra, ‘I am a nonsmoker and I will be a nonsmoker for the rest of my life,’ all I could think about was smoking that next cigarette.

But I didn’t. And I didn’t the next day. And I don’t have asthma, so technically I could start smoking again. And someday I might. I miss it like crazy sometimes, that dirty, filthy disgusting habit. But smokers are my people. So Obama, whether he’s a smoker or a nonsmoker, he’s my people too.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Michele Capots | Posted in PR Industry Trends | Comments (2)
Apr 16 2007

New Media Here to Stay

April 16, 2007 – 7:08 am

Strumpette’s comments in last week’s interview on the blog bubble bursting were certainly strong and thought provoking. It’s a common opinion that surfaces on the blogosphere relatively frequently. Yet, this seems to be more of a “our way of things is not endangered” mentality then one backed in economic realities. So I felt compelled to write a counterpoint, and so our first entry this week is dedicated to new media’s staying power.

Naysayers compare this to the dot-bomb crash or the VC bubble of the nineties. The dot-bomb crash in the nineties was an IPO-driven quagmire with executives starting companies on promise and no business plan. There were no users. The new media revolution is a user-driven event with consumers and increasingly business users driving content creation. Instead of businesses trying to find customers, this time businesses are trying to play catch-up with their customers. This great demand for new content distinguishes blogs, video driven content and other social media.

Created with purpose — whether it’s entertainment, simply publishing an online journal or promotion — this content was created to communicate. And so it has taken mindshare away from traditional media. New media creation has given everyone a voice (good or bad), and as such has provided great freedom.

Further, now that everyone has a voice mass, monolithic media forms are suddenly being held accountable by some of their readers/viewers. I am a moderate on the negative impact suffered by old media from this sudden change. The major brands still and will have authority, but at the same time, they are challenged to become more relevant to their changing target audience.Old content vehicles will need to evolve to continue to be major information sources.

There’s no better example of this than USA Today.com’s recent revamp, which allows it’s readers to comment on all stories. Seems to me that the USA Today team got the message.

Gen Y and Brian Solis

Even more interesting is the generational break of Generation Y towards social media. Gen Y cares very little about what Baby Boomers and Gen Xers like Strumpette and I think about their entertainment habits. Waggener Edstrom President Frank Shaw may think the world is overreacting about blogs, but I think this is a generational mistake. Sounds like grandpa saying, “That rock ‘n’ roll’s just a bunch of noise!” And as Baby Boomers retire, there will be very little choice for PR folks and marketers. New media will have to be reckoned with because the next generation of buyers communicates differently.

In another Buzz Bin interview, PR 2.0’s Brian Solis also discussed some of the reasons why the new media world is not likely to implode, “The main difference between now and then is that companies are focusing on building products and services – and also a community around them – before they even think about taking VC money.”

Brian goes on to say, “Web 2.0 opened the door to a more interactive Web. Office 2.0 is helping businesses become more productive wherever, whenever. Enterprise 2.0 is streamlining internal and external workflow, processes and services. This time around, it’s about solutions. It’s not based on hype, but rather, capabilities and community.”

There’s a usefulness to some of the new media that’s not been seen before. The best example of this is the ongoing push to make Google Earth and other mapping technologies relevant, everyday tools for businesses and consumers alike. But here are many, many others from Second Life down to Blogger.

Content Shake-Up
Strumpette’s right in one sense. Some of this content will fail, and there will be a shake-out. That’s because a lot of the new content is garbage. It’s uninteresting, it’s mindless blather or shameless corporate promotion that frankly is not compelling. As such the lack of interest will grow.

With increased competition from new content creators it will be harder to distinguish content. Some of the new content creators are real, others are attracted by the hubris of Web 2.0 and as such they will fade away into the night. This content is not meant for blogs, or You Tube, and the bandwagon creators will find some other interest. This may be the extent of the so-called blog bubble.

But content will continue to evolve and that means better quality and more interesting new media for all of us. It’s a Darwinistic survival of new media’s fittest. And in the end, content is king.

Monday quotes

Here are the weekly quotes to get your week going:

  • “One can survive everything nowadays, except death, and live down anything, except a good reputation,â€? Oscar Wilde.
  • “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for,â€? William Shedd.
  • “All genuine progress results from finding new facts,â€? Wheeler McMillan.
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (3)
Apr 12 2007

The Ultimate PR Blog List

April 12, 2007 – 11:00 am

The Ultimate PR Blog List is written and maintained by Constatin Basturea. Check it out. And if you’ve got a PR blog, submit yours to the directory. Also check out Todd And’s power rankings for the top 150 marketing blogs on the Internet. Thanks to Communications Overtones for pointing these out, as well as a nice write up on the state of the PR blogosphere.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (1)
Apr 11 2007

Knowledgeable Workforce

April 11, 2007 – 10:41 am

I can’t relate to charts, graphs and percentages. It’s like math to me. My mind doesn’t work that way, which is why I’m a writer. When Geoff presented the ‘Human Capital: Greater Washington’s Knowledge Workers Executive Summary,’ a study by the Greater Washington Initiative, an affiliate of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and said blog about it, I thought, no problem.

I went through the document with a fine tooth comb. I looked at all the charts, graphs and percentages and tried to make sense of it all. It’s all good, what it’s saying for Greater Washington. Let me throw some statistics out there. The study says we have 1.1 million knowledge workers, which are defined as those whose daily job tasks require them to use, analyze and develop ideas and information, the nation’s highest concentration among all metro areas with more than a million people. It compares our knowledgeable workforce against San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and New York.

It means we’re up there with the best of them. Our knowledgeable workforce, which also includes suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia, is expected to grow 16.1 percent by 2014, reaching 1.3 million workers. From 1999 to 2005, it grew 20 percent. This is good news, but I’m still trying to figure out what it means for me. Personally, how will this affect me?

It says our largest talent pool comes from professional services, which includes marketing and public relations. When it comes to PR, the knowledgeable workforce is nearly 2.5 times larger than the national average and outpaces all major competitive markets. Since 1999, we have added 5,900 employees in PR. In the last five years, one of the fastest growing occupations included public relations specialists.

Does it mean more jobs in the future, a larger talent pool to choose from, increased competition? I’m not sure how it breaks down for what it means to me as a writer and a pr professional. I like things spelled out. So, I struggled as I opted to tell you about this study because if I can’t tell you what it means to me I certainly can’t tell you what it means to you. I guess what I could say is that we’re in the right field, one that is constantly evolving, especially compared to the dwindling world of newspapers and magazine from which I came.

This completes my second blog entry. Well, that’s not technically true. I’ve written a few others. I like it. Although I’ve published in national newspapers and magazines, it’s different. Somehow the print world seems safer. Here, you hit click and it’s just “out there.� As a writer, it’s a different experience. But I’m getting used to it.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Michele Capots | Posted in PR Industry Trends | Comments (1)

Sprint Highlights Corporate America’s Negative Hubris

April 11, 2007 – 6:55 am

OK, anyone see yesterday’s Washington Post outlining the unbelievably high executive pay at Reston, VA-based Sprint? Is it any wonder that America has zero trust that big business will do the right thing?

Look at these numbers: “Sprint Nextel reported yesterday that chief executive Gary D. Forsee’s 2006 compensation totaled $21.3 million while former chairman Timothy M. Donahue’s totaled $36.2 million.” These guys have run Sprint into the ground and they’re making this kind of cash? Hmmm.

PR teams have issues to face in the coming years addressing situations like these. Until big business gets more accountable for its behavior, negative hubris will continue to disseminate into the general media and throughout the blogosphere. Outrageous executive pay, shameless profiteering and unfriendly environmental policies hurt brands, and overall hurts trust in corporations. Credibility becomes harder to generate, and rightly so.

This is the great challenge for PR over the next ten years… And the facts may simply be aligned against us. The truth weighs hard in the scales of perception. Companies must become better citizens if we are to be successful.

Bad Branding II

Anyone see Bacon’s announcement to become Cision? What is cision, a slang version of decision? Why is this better than the venerable brand Bacon’s? I’m sorry, but this one seems like a fruitless expenditure and one that will cause confusion with Bacon’s customer base (guys like me!). Thanks to Mr. T in DC for pointing this one out.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in PR Industry Trends | Comments (2)