Betty and the Doughboy...

Of course PR professionals and firms stay current on trends and online phenomenons but what about everyone else?


My love for baking stems from long afternoons in the kitchen with Grammy. Currently attending college five states away from home, satisfying my sweet tooth presents a problem. Overnight care packages provide instant gratification but more commonly, I brave boxed mixes.

Bakers are an interesting bunch. They can be coy and competitive yet sugary sweet, cautious to disclose recipes unless totally prepared from scratch. I've come to realize, many a baker occasionally substitute homemade for the home baked taste of treats cooked from boxed ingredients. Pillsbury, a household name for generations, offer such products. Pillsbury has recently designed a mechanism to take their name to the next level.

The "Pillsbury Community" provides a forum for exchange, grievances and connection. At first glance, I was convinced there were in house individuals posing as consumers, but they weren't. Any Internet user can view one of the nine topics ranging from Quick and Tasty Breakfast to Kid-Friendly Fun in the Kitchen. Members of the community have the ability to comment on threads and Pillsbury newsletters.

The first thread voiced concerns from diabetic bakers wondering why Pillsbury's sugar free product are difficult to find. "Janette at Pillsbury" comments back providing the company's perspective on the given topics. This format is FREE! Pillsbury's facilitation of this community allows for them to monitor their product line constantly with individuals who purchase their product. In regards to the discontinued sugar-free products, Amy1958 said, "No one I know has ever heard of them either. Apparently, Pillsbury did not do effective advertising." BOOM automatic FREE feedback!

Competitor Betty Crocker takes a different perspective.

Not only does "Conversations" from Betty Crocker field product questions, the company goes the extra mile. The in-house commenters provide practical product information as well as genuinely commenting on homemade recipes and sharing personal experience experiences of culinary creations utilizing Betty's bakery makings.

Community.Pillsbury versus Community.BettyCrocker represent competitive online marketing strategies cooked up to provide each organization with a taste of consumer feedback.

The winds of change...

Until embarking upon the class syllabus assignment of weekly blogging, I rated my knowledge of the internet to be a 7 on a scale of 10. My buddy, Brad Skeba, often verbalizes the motivational montra, “blow your paradigm.” Being a budding communicator, the reference to theory always gets a rise out of me. However, it wasn’t until recently that my paradigm was officially blown...

Blown away by elements of the online world that our generation has come to accept as regular everyday vernacular from hits and post to Google’s ability to take on almost any grammatical form. An online presence is paramount. Yet many underestimate it’s feasible and practical uses for business.

It’s only logical that companies would be able to quantify their effectiveness on the web. How is data collected? What tools made an organization’s presence known? And how does this all this work in concert?

According to Lisa McNeill with Ignite Social Media, she answers the question about social media campaign effectiveness constantly.Thankfully, I am not alone in my online ignorance. The difficulty in charting this media stems from its individual client tailoring approach. When it comes to traffic more isn’t always better and promotion of participation may be preeminent. So, predetermined pick a format types need not inquire.


Derek Gehl, CEO of The Internet Marketing Center (IMC), dished out how using a blog effectively propelled one of his clients to the #1 spot on Google in less than a week. The tips rang from add your blog to blog directories to providing “meta tags” with niche specific keywords, creating a virtual thermometer of options to heighten the client's degree of effectivness.

I’m intrigued with social media releases. As an up and coming newbie in the PR field I must expand my knowledge of this concept. The creation the downloadable pdf format SMR like SHIFT’s … ingenious. It’s accessible and easy to use, the paint by number for PR.

Imitation is the finest form of flattery and imitate they did.

Distributing wire services of SMRs created different structures, patterns and pricing structures for their services… thank you capitalism! The ensuing problem for public relations professionals is what service provider best fits your company’s and clients’ needs?


Survey Says…

Professionals need to think back to research classes and the theory of triangulation, using multiple methods to substantiate a theory. SMRs are fun, new and should be used as a component of the modern day press kit. Forrester Reseach’s Charlene Li conducted a study charting adult usage of social media. The findings show more than 50% as “inactives” in this medium, which proves my point that to reach an active consumer SMRs are not enough.

Don’t be too quick to pack up traditional, multi-media or news media releases just yet. Effective public relations campaigns now combine more sources, resources and research. The PR temperture is currently registering a gentle breeze of audimation. The climate is right to harness the hurricane force of the internet and blowing perspective clients away.

I digg how you twitter on my space...

Until recently I didn’t bother with the “blogosphere,” wonder about wikis or give a darn how to digg. Needless to say, every time I open my laptop and start researching for my next post, hours seem to pass as I dive deeper and deeper into the virtual world. It’s no secret that as technology evolves, societal norms change. My grandparents wouldn’t dream of answering the phone at dinner and heaven help you if your cell goes off at their dinner table. My grandparents have no idea what Google is.


Times have changed.

Just the other day, I was sitting eating lunch and catching up with an old friend. I glanced over to the next table and saw two girls sitting there tinkering on their iPhones. I thought to myself, how odd they can't just enjoy each others company. The mobility of communication combined with tech savvy has changed the method of interaction among friends and family. The mode of communications has been altered enormously for new millinium employees climbing the corporate latter. Work can be done on the rode, on the fly, or on the beach the Brooks Brothers suite mentality is being placed in the far depths of closets rather than being worn creating a larger generation gap. Blogging rocks employeers who find comfort in tradition an stability proving that work is no longer 9-5. PR is no longer solely dependent on press releases, creating spin and wowing networked media. The internet has developed in ways even Al Gore could not have predicted. Within the .com world there are subcultures that have coincidently created impromptu “target markets.” My theory... The internet should be a public relations professional’s laboratory and I'm not alone.

Hope for success…brace for failure.


Social Media Releases or SMRs are steadily gaining in use and popularity thanks from a call to order from Tom Foremski and implementation by Todd Defren and his SHIFT Communications crew. The effectiveness of SMR is not just based off of its instantaneous impact but its “loggable impact.” I now have the capabilities to save the information from the SMR until I’m ready or able to use it. It makes life easy, everything you’d need is a click away. Blogging is the new communication platform and the SMR program caters to the multimedia needs and demands of current communicators. The following video was produced by WEBIT PR and expands apon the importance of online communications and how the SMR program positivily impacts the PR world.





Blogging and social media go against the traditional grain of PR. In this day and age, communication is about fluidity and transparency, two adjectives rarely aligned with the public relations field. However, these 6 perspectives changed my perspective on the question, "why blog?" I think blogging has created an unbelievably unique opportunity for PR professionals in the fact that they can receive feedback through comments almost instantaniously. Regardless of whether or not blogging will leave a lasting impact in PR blogging is is here, blogging is now and blogging's got staying power.

Riding the virtual wave...

The next President of the United States has a MySpace, YouTube Channel and blogs. The 2008 Presidential Campaigns have been some of the most exciting to date and it’s only February! PQ Media is predicting and all-time high in advertising, media and marketing expenditures teetering around $4.50 billion. And according to Market Charts, the greatest area of growth is expected in internet ad spending up an estimated 83.9% compared with 2006 and totaling some $73 million by election day.

The freedom of information exchange across the internet is a campaign PR professional’s worst nightmare. At any moment something can be posted throwing a huge wrench into the mix either positively or negatively. What is most interesting to me about the increased web traffic for candidates, is that it is not the approved messages out there but the viral effects. It just goes to prove that organizations are becoming increasingly decentralized and the political realm is no different. The following video was released by dipdive.com and is propelling the viral video concept to new levels.



The YouTube Generation
Yesterday, I was curious as to candidates use of the virtual video world so I logged into YouTube’s You Choose 2008. There I found each candidate’s channel on the right, John McCain and Mike Huckabee and the left Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. As I clicked through the uniformed channels I thought, "Wow! What a great way to reach an audience." I wanted check the amount of channel views for each candidate to see if this new-age medium could act as a barometer of public opinion. What I found was staggering.
The total views on the Republican side were less than the views of Hillary Clinton around 1.3 million. Then I visited Obama’s. 11.9 million views! Those numbers are huge. I have yet to hear a media outlet report this major number of voters making hits to educate themselves on the political views of presidential hopefulls. My generation is tech savvy and when cnet.com promoted Obama saying he was “google-like” it obviously struck a chord with young voters. I’m not here to promote Obama or any other candidate just surfing the web and watching the waves of change.

In the beginning there was...

What is the first thing you do in the morning? Your age might dictate the answer. After questioning dozens of friends the answer was clear and unanimous, check the cell phone.

Third screen media is mobile media. Most cell phones have text or sms messaging capabilities and an increasingly large number of phones have internet access, thank you iPhone. This allows individuals to be interactive with other medias i.e. text vote a la American Idol. There is a larger implication for the communications field with the advent of mobile media, complete saturation! It is increasingly difficult for organizations to be heard though the noise of the internet.

Fox Television Network president Ed Wilson addressed my advertising class last semester to talk about the ever changing media market. He validated the theory that our generation is stuck on cell phones. He spoke of the importance of all types of media gaining access to this “third screen” saying his “organization was doing everything they could” to reach the market.

Mobile telecommunications must be embraced by corporate communicators as another viable avenue to get the message to the world. AOL bought Third Screen Media, one of the most powerful mobile media agencies, for a “undisclosed amount.” This substantiated my claim and the claim of many others that the media world is actually shrinking through these merger conglomerates. More and more organization and major corporations are creating positions like "Director of Mobile Business Development" or "Director of Mobil Products" what does this job description look like?

First there was the television, then the internet. Now, you can be reached no strings attached.




There will come a day in the not too distant future when third screens will be “the” way to communicate on all levels so … within this trend public relations professionals can’t roll over and hit the snooze button.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it...

No sane public relations specialist would willingly publish tips pertaining to how they secure clients publicity. Those coveted nuggets are tricks of the trade. The truth of this fact evidenced itself as I clicked on a link from a Google search entitled “pr for clients.”

Direct Design Communications was among the highest hits of the search. After reading the cite’s description, I eagerly clicked on only to be greeted by “you do not have access to this cite.” Case in point.

Determined not to be discouraged I continued researching and found Susan Friedmann with WorkZ created “The Top Ten (list of) Do’s and Don’ts of Working with the Press.” As I forged on through Google, my faith in blogging received a boost from Robb Hecht. He spoke about blogging's ability to take back the internet for PR. In such a cluttered world it's PR's responsibility to get the word out... everywhere.

Caution: The following recommendations have not been tested in the real world and are only theories representing the point of view of the blogger.

Know your client.

Knowing your client inside and out should not pose a problem.

Knowing how to communicate your pitch clearly to an over-pitched traditional media outlet may pose a different challenge. I once had an English instructor who gave me this piece of advice, “Write for your math teacher!” At first pass those wise words made no sense. A math teacher has no grasp of the complexities of Shakespeare nor the innuendoes needed to drive home the point of an essay. Then it hit me. The audience she was preparing me to address to would not be comprised of individuals fully proficient on the topic matter and if they were I’d be out a job. Seasoned public relations professionals write to Bill and Suzie Six-Pack.

Know who to pitch and when to pitch

As members of the public relation field it is a duty to stay current with all types of medias. Carefully examining what topics are hot and who is covering those stories is key. Understanding who would be the best “delivery person” to your target market for your client is also big. Timing. Be in the right place, at the right time, pitching to the right person. Timing is everything.

Befriend members of the media

Recognizing typically slow news days and conveniently assigning an otherwise bored reporter, a human interest or fluff story benefits both your client and the reporter. Calling in favors is a reciprocal arrangement. The savviest firms find success in giving as much as they take from media partnerships. Protect and respect your media contacts with dignified excellence remembering your firm’s public perception is a reflection of your own.
And lastly, remain sane. Confidentially surrounding key prospect strategies is critical in maintaining a firm’s unique cutting edge image. Anything less is PR insanity.