Yes, this headline is a question because I’m not sure I know the answer.  I know the right answer for me personally but I’m not sure there is a right answer that applies to everyone or everything. Continue Reading »

I love Sprint’s new commercial for the 3G “Now Network”.  I’m a sucker for a good factoid — there is something about it that draws me in.  And I especially like the call out to Twitter … and the reference to dippers made me laugh.

The campaign is produced by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco and they stand by the statistics being real.  Which of course makes me appreciate it even more.

What’s even more fun is the new Sprint Web site with more in the “now” facts.  ADWEEK points out that you can actually download a widget offering a selection of data and that we can soon see this campaign in print.

So you know I love it, but looking online it seems as though consumers don’t find it as thrilling as I do.  What do you think?

I’m guilty as charged. I love social network sites, Facebook, LinkedIn; I am on them for both my personal and professional life. But how far is going too far regarding the control social networks have on your life? Facebook is now telling us when we include content or pictures it’s on there for good, even if you delete it – is that right, legal? So, if I throw a cupcake at someone I don’t like through Facebook’s “food fight application” and then we become better friends I cannot take it back – devastating, sorry friends.

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The financial crisis is showing its first signs of hitting the communication industries, as evidenced by this article in the Wall Street Journal this morning.

“In recent years, marketers have set aside a portion of their ad budgets to experiment with digital technologies such as Web video, mobile phones, gaming and virtual worlds. But with broader economic turmoil reaching Madison Avenue, these “experimental” budgets are among the first to hit the cutting-room floor.”

It goes on to say that most companies are going to go back to traditional and tried and true advertising.

This is the start of a new trend that won’t change for a couple of years.  As companies cut their spending on advertising in this area, they will look for ways to maintain visibility.

We already know social media works through PR to build awareness, credibility, and communities.  We already have experience using this strategy to reach audiences at a grassroots level.  We can capitalize on this trend and keep companies in the space without their having to advertise…and we can do it a lot more cost-efficiently for them.

Our apologies to our advertising counterparts, but it’s time for PR to take the lion share of the communication budgets.