One of the more popular PR stories doing the rounds in the past few days has been the launch of a PR campaign in Minneapolis to curb (ahem) public urination. I am not taking the p… OK I’ll avoid the obvious.
“Among the poster slogans they are considering is “Go before you go,” aimed at tavern customers who relieve themselves in public.”
Thanks to Trevor Cook.
Mediamap’s latest issue of its ExpertPR newsletter has been out for quite a while and I forgot to link to it. Lots of articles including hiring consultants and web-based meetings.
According to a recent survey of e-mail marketers the top three challenges facing the profession are:
1) Spam and e-mail filters
2) Inbox Clutter
3) Development (or not) or qualified e-mail lists.
An interesting list of the one hundred most hackneyed cliches found in news scripts…
Dogbert nicely sums up our discussion earlier this week on the empty promises sometimes offered in the quest for new PR accounts….
Jim Horton is the keeper of that most excellent of online PR link resources Online-PR.
Jim is also writes one of the most honest and interesting of daily PR blogs.
Jim has been “blogging” for quite some time using HTML pages which makes it hard to link or navigate previous posts. He has finally made the step to full-blown blogging software and his blog can now be found at: http://online-pr.blogspot.com/.
It’s recommended.
This is definitely a Friday post…
B.L. Ochman posts a story of a woman who Googled her blind date only to discover he was a wanted by the FBI.
She alerted the authorities and he was promptly arrested at their arranged meeting place.
Now that’s a killer application for Google…..
Constantin Basturea links to fascinating piece in Harper’s on Napoleon’s press management strategy in the 19th century.
�The action of the local press once assured, we must seriously consider
the r�which the press of Paris can play in the departments.�
Some things never change….
Phil Gomes has some interesting comments on yesterday’s post about empty PR promises.
Phil also lectures part-time at San Francisco State University and he’s looking for PR case studies.
Rainier PR in the UK have been busy recently releasing some interesting research. They have followed up their recent study on the effectiveness of PR (from a media standpoint) with a study on what are the essential ingredients for the success of a start-up.
They surveyed fifty UK start-ups and found that 34% believed PR was essential to successful achieving their business objectives.
The top five issues facing start-ups were:
1. Recruitment of senior management (72%)
2. Solid investment (64%)
3. Clear product/service roadmap (56%)
4. Infrastructure (42%)
5. Public relations (34%)
As a follow up they’ve produced a whitepaper on how PR can help start-ups (PDF).
John Porcaro is a marketing manager at Microsoft who blogs. I’ve mentioned him before here (see my blogroll on the right hand side). John has an interesting post querying the effect of blogging on business.
“Blogs offer a way to start a conversation. I�m amazed at how much more involved I am in customer issues from the hour or two a day I spend blogging.”
There are also some interesting comments at the end of the post:
“They (blogs) keep our staff, customers and users informed about the latest and greatest developments in our products… they allow developers to quickly highlight specific functionality….they close sales.”
Now I think of blogs as a tool, not a religion but it’s interesting that more businesses are thinking through the potential knowledge management and collaboration applications of blogs which in many ways provide a more flexible means of communication and management inside and outsite a firm.
We already use blogs internally for projects and discussions as well as externally for our customers and partners. It works and we know people read and reference them – because they tell us.
That’s a powerful communications tool at a very competitive cost.
Additional Reading:
Computerworld looks at Business Blogging.
Microsoft uber-blogger Robert Scoble gives some insights on how Microsoft’s marketing folks are realizing the potential: “Teams are now calling on me to help them out with marketing. Now that I’m getting a traffic flow, and that blogging is getting more and more visibility, teams are asking me for help in learning the new world. Not to mention that I’m getting invited to speak at industry conferences like Demo.”
Murphy's Law 