Horn Group’s Social Media Webinar

I’m currently logged in to tech shop Horn Group’s overview webinar on social media. Above is a screenshot of how they see the social media universe: moving from creating content, to “promoting” it, to measurement. The moderator is citing some good stats from Forrester. Currently RSS is being more widely adopted across most demographics. And, only 29 of the Fortune 500 are blogging. If you have content, put it in a feed: “get it out there, allow people to discuss it. Socialize it, promote it.”

“Don’t just think of the wire as your only method of distribution.”

Social media newsroom: a list of press releases, a list of clips, links to your blog as well as blogs you follow. There are tech tools that allow this to happen. Make this a goal for Q1.

Should I blog? As the following questions: Time to commit? (a few hours per week). Are you willing to be openly criticized? Do you have an outward passion to share? (have the personality to participate, comment, and take the time to go offline and meet people) What’s the goal of your blog? (be honest about your motives)

What NOT to do: Don’t do it just to be “hot.” Don’t lie. Don’t just do it to try to go viral. Don’t do it without the knowledge of what it takes.

Now over to Justin, blogger from Intraware (a Horn Group client). “We’re small but public. Our investors are always looking for information.” Intraware launched a social network for athletes, Zathlete to expand beyond its core competency.

We’ll provide insights from this webinar as they become available afterwards.

The Missing CEO | Another Rupe Aquisition? | Talking Tech in 2008 | Ad It Up | Gawker Story Continues

Robert Scoble: Where the hell is Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook?

PR Week: Sources not so reliable on News Corp./LinkedIn takeover talks

Catching Flack: Windfall of 2008 Tech Media Forecasts

Strategic Public Relations: In Your Face: Ad Placements of Tomorrow

Romenesko: Here’s the n+1 piece that convinced Gawker editors to quit

Looking for a Spokesperson? Retired Athletes Less Risky

 
(image cred)

AARP today announced that tennis star Martina Navratilova as its new “Health & Fitness Ambassador.”  A WSJ article on the deal explains why retired athletes are getting more popular:

While many of the richest endorsement deals still go to young phenoms like LeBron James, who has a seven-year, $90 million deal with Nike, former players are getting far more attention than they used to.

It is in part a reaction to the wave of recent scandals in sports, in which players have been caught up in everything from steroid abuse to a gambling ring that bets on dog fights.

Companies “don’t want to get into a situation where [they] want to get out of a contract,” says Jim Andrews, senior vice president of Chicago-based sponsorship-research firm IEG, a unit of WPP. “That is far less likely to happen with a proven entity.”

So, while it’s easier for AARP to pick a retired athlete who can relate to their older demographic, all the younger skewing brands are going to have to keep taking risks. 

Dell & WPP: The End of Holding Companies?

 
WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell (image cred)

We’ve been thinking a lot about the Dell/WPP Group deal and what it means for the future of integrated communications.  Just the sheer size of the project: $4.5 billion and over 1,000 employees is almost unfathomable.  However, as we scanned through commentary on the web, or lack thereof, we were intrigued by this post on the O’Dwyer PR blog, which referenced Dell’s announcement and then said:

Bank of America may soon nail another coffin in the holding company structure. Its contract with Omnicom expires March 31. BoA has put some of OMC’s media-buying responsibilities up for review because it no longer wants to be held hostage to Omnicom’s shops.

The holding company structure is bound to unravel in `08. That will create big opportunities for nimble PR firms.

Then this got us back to thinking about a post from Jeremy Pepper back in October where he wrote:

The reality is that the holding companies do not care who gets the cash. It’s money in pocket and bottom line, and if advertising can get bigger bucks for campaigns, it’s better to go to advertising.

While Pepper’s post was in a different context – he was arguing that ad folk now how to sell themselves better and therefore can get bigger budgets than their PR counterparts – the theme relates to Dell/WPP. 

Is an advantage of creating your own agency that hopefully you will eliminate some of the infighting between different groups within a holding company? And if so, do you agree with Kevin McCauley of O’Dwyers that one of the big trends of 2008 will be the decline of the holding company model?

Clean Up That Resume

NYC Dept. of Transportation is looking for a Deputy Press Secretary

Visit Britain is looking for a Publicity & PR Evaluation Coordinator

SnL Communications is looking for a Senior Account Executive

Stanton Crenshaw Communications is looking for an Account Executive

Quinn & Co. Public Relations is looking for an Account Executive

Spin the Agencies of Record

(image from HoodEz)

This is the first edition of what we’re calling ‘Spin the Agencies of Record,’ a look the most recent account wins in the industry. We’ll be looking not only at Agency of Record (AoR) agreements but projects as well. Send us your account news to prnewser at mediabistro dot com.

This edition ranges from the global to the nichy-niche:

• HoodEz, maker of custom hood ornaments, chooses Sawmill Marketing Public Relations

• MWW to represent Asolva, a medical technology company

• BMC software to use Ogilvy for PR in India

• Ritchey Design Inc., maker of high-end bicycle components, chooses SOAR Communications

• Panda Security (IT company) chooses the Bateman Group

AP 2.0 | McCain Doing More in NH | Do You Lead Thoughts? | Looking Within | If All Else Fails, Ask Santa

NYTimes (via Romenesko): AP to change the way it files, edits and distributes stories

CBSNews: McCain Gets New Hampshire PR Boost

Financial Times: A cascade of thought leaders in need of a good idea

Influential Marketing Blog: 12 Things I Learned Reading My Own Blog

FleetStreetPR: Dear Santa 2.0: My Social Media/PR Christmas List