Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz have released their third PR podcast. This week’s program covers RSS, iPod Shuffle, New Communications Forum 2005 and blogging in the workplace amongst other topics. In a related subject, Steve Rubel recommends a podcast with Robert Scoble on how blogs are impacting business.
Colin McKay has two very interesting posts. First a look at how Unilever handles the marketing of a consumer food product that generates passionate fans and detractors in equal measure. Marmite is a spread made from yeast extract (mmmm..). Its distinctice taste is not for everyone, but rather than ignore this love-hate divide, Unliver uses it very cleverly with seperate websites for people who love and hate of the product. The Guardian has an article on the 100 year anniversary of Marmite.
Secondly, Colin points to a story (Free registration required) from the Guardian on how media planners are going to greater lengths to secure new business pitches… and how basic slip-ups can undo all the hard work:
“In another, following a successful pitch, an agency director left his notepad, on which he had jotted, “We’re going to have trouble with the c*** in the glasses”, under the nose of the said bespectacled client. Needless to say, the business was taken elsewhere.”
Mark Borkowski writes in the Guardian (that’s a lot of Guardian links today…) about the growing democratization of PR…
“There is no doubt that People Power is getting stronger and corporations more jumpy. So they should be. We’re all more in tune with what is a stunt, hatched for publicity, and what are genuine product benefits. In future, when a human voice cuts through the robotic chanting of advertising copy and the blandness of today’s political rhetoric, we must cheer it wholeheartedly.”
Mike Manuel extends his thesis on the importance of media-facing blogs for PR people:
“When you think about this in the context of PR, you can point at all sorts of audiences where strong and consistent lines of communication are important, including employees, customers, partners, and yes of course, journalists. In fact, I think the media � especially the tech media � provide PR peeps with a very compelling reason to consider something akin to a communicator�s corridor, or rather a password-protected blog designed exclusively for communicating with this particular audience.”
Michael Kaplan offers some advice on getting the most from your PR agency.
Robb Hecht points to another indicator that Lizzie Grubman is successfully navigating comeback trail.
A (ahem) software solution to writing effective press releases……
Murphy's Law 