Category: General

Scott Adams casts his sharp eye on journalism…

The term �Buzz� has been around since the first bloom of the dot com bubble. Buzz is simply a cooler term for that old favourite �Word of Mouth� � an idea what has been around for decades. And let�s be honest there�s very little difference.

What is different is that the Internet potentially creates a perfect environment for powerful Buzz or Word of Mouth 2.0 (WOM 2) if you prefer.

But let�s step back for a moment. The promise of word of mouth is that people will discover information from respected sources and because they are respected, people will want to find out more. Is this not one of the basic tenets of Public Relations?

It seems to me that if any profession is ready made to manage and create buzz, it�s PR.

So why is PR not driving the discussion? Why is it �Internet� marketers who are running with the idea?

I say it�s high time we take the lead on WOM 2, understand how it works, how it�s measured and how we can integrate it into our plans and tactics.

I don�t believe that WOM 2 is about false postings to bulletin boards � it�s unsophisticated, can normally be easily spotted and it removes on of the core requirements for WOM 2 – namely the medium must be a respected source � not a stranger. It�s also why companies that hire beautiful people to loudly discuss new consumer electronics or movies in public also miss the point.

WOM 2 is about understanding who the influencers are and providing them with new ideas and products. The people aren�t necessarily your traditional media, they could be a customers, a partner or even a supplier.

So, to kick things off, here�s some essential reading:
– Professors from Yale and Harvard have conducted a study to try and measure WOM 2. You can read about it here.
– Marketing Profs have an article on �Monitoring Buzz�
– Here�s a short piece from Business 2.0 on Building Buzz
– Seth Godin�s �Unleashing the idea virus� looks at Buzz and Viral Marketing
– Emanuel Rosen�s �Anatomy of Buzz� looks at how to create and leverage WOM 2

There�s no excuse why you can�t start looking at how you can build WOM 2 for your clients.

Let me know what you think

Back in September I mentioned a fantastic feature that appeared in New Yorker magazine about the world of Hollywood PR. Unfortunately the New Yorker doesn’t publish features online but the UK Observer yesterday re-printed the feature and it’s now online. Do youself a favor and have a read!

PR news is getting harder to find online.

Last week, the excellent O’Dwyer’s announced it was following the example of The PR Network (tempremental site) by adopting a subscription (albeit for a small sum) based service. Its decision has removed one of the best (free) places on the Internet to find out what’s going on in the PR business. PR Week does publish one in-depth story online a week (and the PR Week Worldwire is worth subscribing to), but the fast starting Corner Bar PR seems to be unfortunately grinding to a halt.

So where do you go for PR content? The Holmes Report still has some great content, and you could do worse than checking out the links on the left where Phil Gomes, Kevin Dugan and Richard Bailey regularly fill their PR blogs with great news and views. You should also bookmark James Horton’s Online-PR website which includes a huge number of PR-related links.

Finally the PR services firms are a good source of PR editorial. In particular, MediaMap’s Expert PR and Press Access’ the Scoop run regular features and how-to’s.

If you have any additional suggestions let me know.

I don’t know about you, but I conservatively estimate that probably 60-70% of my e-mail is now spam. If you’re working in PR and you post press releases with your e-mail address on a website, you are probably facing a similar toll.

While products such as Cloudmark are helping remove some of the clutter the weight of spam continues to grow and it impacts everyone’s ability to effectively communicate over e-mail.

With that in mind it’s always pleasing to hear that some spammers are getting a little of their own medicine.

Alan Ralsky is acknowledged as one of the world’s most prolific spammers and recently anti-spam advocates have been signing him up to every direct mail service they can. The result? His new plush house is besieged with paper spam. He’s so annoyed he’s threatening legal action against the anti-spammers. Mike Wendland of the Detroit Free Press reports.

(In Mike’s original story, he writes: “Ralsky agreed to this interview and the tour of his operation only if I promised not to print the address of his new home, which I found in Oakland County real estate records” – hee hee hee nice way around the issue….)

Morning. I am in the midst of culling large volumes of e-mail and catching up on news and blogs.

Thanks to everyone who dropped me a line in my absence both those who are delighted that I haven’t yet shuttled off this mortal coil and even those who wish I had 🙂

Here are some stories that piqued my interest recently….

– O’Dwyer’s have announced a subscription for their online PR news, though at $20 per year it seems reasonable

– Mattel are experimenting with the power or blogging. They’ve launched Barbie’s blog (I kid you not) [FLASH required]

– Fellow PR blogger, Phil Gomes has a very interesting article on Mediamap looking at Instant messaging and its implications for PR – recommended reading for all.

You will have noticed that PR Opinion have been very very quiet for the past ten days.

Mea culpa, I had meant to post a note to the affect that I was leaving on vacation, but of course in the rush to get everything done, I forgot.

Normal service will be resumed shortly……

OK, so this is our twenty third addition to the Flash Hall of Shame. It’s an institution created to recognize truly unnecessary use of Flash to make Websites as unusable as possible.

When we visit websites, we visit them to learn, to find information, in short to discover more about what the company or organization does, is or wants to be.

If you want to find out more about the Zimmerman company, call them. Don’t bother going to their web site because if there was ever a case of form over function this is it. I’m sure it cost a fortune, the music is chic and cool, but as I often think to myself after a trip to McDonalds, where’s the beef?

Make a coffee, slip on your headphones, and enjoy the calm, information free zone provided by the Zimmerman website. (I particularly love the PR section).

There’s been a lot of response to two recent articles.

First up, Thomas Charlton and his career ending interview with Inc. has caused a lot of interest and we’re trying to find out any additional information on his departure. Trayce Zimmermann who’s a boxing publicist loved the mix of boxing and technology! Trayce thought the mixture might have been a bit “tough” for Inc and given the feedback on the magazine’s online bulletin board it would seem that’s the case. Trayce is the recipient of the most interesting PR vertical market award 🙂

I also had a lot of feedback on the story about Springbok PR closing its doors.

James Horton, who looks after the well known Online-PR site, commented that while in the past many in the PR industry had pondered if the conglomerates would fall apart over time, he believes that: “the large firms will remain because they can serve large accounts. They will, however, have offices that fall apart regularly, which they will close or replace with new teams. And, they will continue to buy mid-sized firms to bulk revenues.”

I’d agree with much of that thinking. However during the end of the last decade there were fears expressed that independent firms were becoming a thing of the past. Now, in a difficult economic climate, smaller firms have an advantage over the large conglomerates in terms of flexibility and a smaller cost base. I expect we will see an expanding number of independents who are growing quickly. And that has to be good for the PR business. Full stop.

And on the subject of small independent firms, Phil Gomes who hosts his own PR blog, has jointly founded a new independent hi-tech agency G2B Group. We wish him the best of luck!

It’s been a while since we last nominated a Flash Hall of Shamer. However Ernie Reno’s insightful interview into how he’s single-handedly saving the PR industry deserves a mention. So please welcome Avatar Communications to the PR Opinions Flash Hall of Shame.