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 »

When Israel Hyman and his wife left on their trip to Hawaii, they had no idea that a goodbye “Tweet” would cause them to become victims of burglary.  But he believes that when he informed his Twitter followers he was off on vacation, that opened the door (no pun intended) for an opportunity for someone to rob him.

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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?

A report came out yesterday stating, “Social networking sites such as Facebook could raise your risk of serious health problems by reducing levels of face-to-face contact.”  

What I don’t understand is why they are blaming isolation issues on sites such as Facebook and MySpace? 

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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.

We are in an industry and era where digital success equals company greatness. The hard part is proving it to the old fashioned. I just got an email from my good friend who decided to pack up and travel the world before settling down with his life. Staying in touch with someone who is traveling the world can be very tough or expensive if you dare to make an international phone call. My friend created his own RSS feed so his friends and family could keep in touch and witness his adventure through maps, pictures, and exciting stories.

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When I was in journalism school, I came across a thread of emails on an alumni listerv debating the ethics of doctoring photos in PhotoShop prior to publication.  Most considered it as unethical as doctoring quotes.  Unless, of course, we are talking about trashy celeb magazines; then the rules appeared to be a little more bendable.

Another parallel is emerging with social media. While blogs give everyone a chance to tell stories and voice opinions, cell phones and digital cameras have incited citizen photojournalism, as well.  In fact, Yahoo and Reuters have begun to post pics submitted by amateur photographers.

This trend might strike fear into the hearts of struggling photojournalists everywhere. But if the pros are debating the ethics of doctoring photos, and the bloggers and camera-phoners are simply calling them as they see them, so-to-speak, who has the better handle on the ethics of freedom of speech? — Joanie Hammes

Burger boys Jack In the Box have apparently recovered from their fit with E-coli to throw zingers at their competitors, such as Hardee’s.  In a pair of advertisements, the (creepy looking) Jack character leads a carousing office meeting, implying, perhaps, that the Angus meat in competitors’ burgers come from…well, the least appetizing part of a cow.

Hardee’s parent company CKE is understandably perturbed at being the *ahem* butt of the joke.

The commercials, however, are pretty funny and rival most ads included in this year’s Super Bowl broadcast.

Advertising is different than PR, and it is the venue where the most direct attacks on competitors take place (Bud vs. Miller; Pepsi vs. Coke).  But still, there must be some sort of ethical threshold, right?  Isn’t there a space for relying on the quality of your product instead of bottoming out (oops) at the lowest common denominator?

CKE has asked Jack In the Box to refrain from airing the ads, but AP writes that a CKE executive “said that the company asked Jack In the Box to drop the ads, but that the chain refused and pointed to a Carl’s Jr. TV spot suggesting Carl’s Jr. milk shakes were superior to those served by competitors.”

Clearly they’re comparing asses to utters. — Alex Parker

No matter what, word-of-mouth is out there.  How you choose to use it, can work to your advantage. 

If you didn’t watch the Sopranos last week I am sure you at least heard about the controversial series finale, leaving fans and bloggers alike with questions and mixed feelings.

HBO series ended with a blank screen and made viewers, like myself, feel unsatisfied … until I got on my computer only hours later.

Making it on the CNN homepage and hundreds of blogs, the real scoop was announced. 

This is a true test to word-of-mouth and what the power of blogs can do.  Once logged into the blogosphere I learned what the ending truly represented, and a light bulb went on.  “It all made since.”

Was this what the creator, David Chase, wanted to happen?  Did he want us to feel like we needed more information to the point where research for closure was a must?  Did Chase want us to tap into our new social resources to find out what everything meant?

I would like to believe yes.  I think it’s great that the show is now over but the word is still out.  People are still Googling and blogging about what it all means.  This series finale took advantage of the tools of the 21^st century and caused more of an uproar than ever before. 

Between freaking out thinking my cable went out at the exact wrong time, to feelings of relief and satisfaction when my research led me to the bloggers with answers.  This gave me more of a roller-coaster ride with my emotions than my past relationships — I loved it!  -  Molli Megasko