One Designer’s Rant About Gadget Reviewers’ Lack of Acknowledgement for Design

I came across this interesting article the other day on Fast Company where award-winning designer, Gadi Amit, expresses his frustration with gadget and technology reviewers’ lack of acknowledgement for the design of products they review.

With several consumer electronics clients at Concept, we certainly understand the importance of getting good reviews for all aspects of our client’s products, so this article struck a chord. Amit explains how the Internet has led to the growth of an entirely new industry of quasi-professional reviewers who simply do not understand beauty and can’t come up with any better words than “sleek” or “ugly” when describing a product’s design.

And I have to say, I do agree. Now, I’m no design expert but I do understand the time and energy that our clients, such as DXG, put into the design of their products.  DXG recently launched a new Luxe Collection line of high-fashion HD camcorders that are amazingly thin, feature chic couture-inspired designs and fit right in the palm of your hand.  The design of these camcorders is incredible and so much care and detail was put into them without jeopardizing the functionality and HD recording technology. So, I understand where Amit is coming from – design needs to be a HUGE consideration in all gadget reviews.

On a more personal note, I was shopping online the other day for an under-the-cabinet HDTV for my kitchen. First, I was underwhelming surprised by the amount of these available on the market and how few TV manufacturers have entered this space. So, with the handful that are out there, I turned to reviews to determine which would be the best for me. I have to say, I couldn’t find one good review that detailed the designs of these under cabinet TVs. And when you are looking for a compact, yet high quality consumer electronic that will get wear and tear in a kitchen, you need to know how the design is going to hold up.

Amit’s article seemed to come to my attention at just the right moment so I had to share it. Click here to read his thoughts.

Has Social Media Changed the Game of Media Relations?

Last week I attended a great Webcast titled The New Rules of Media Relations put on by PRWeek and Marketwire.  What was particularly good about this Webcast is that top journalists from PCMag.com, Reuters Health and Kiplinger shared their candid feedback on how they use social media, how PR professionals can drive them nuts, what we do right and how we can turn so-so pitches into successful pitches that result in coverage for our clients.

So, has social media significantly changed the game of media relations? The short answer – not really. According to these journalists, tried and true methods reign BUT new media outlets have made it significantly easier for PR professionals to research topics, stay current, and contact journalists.  Also, it was noted that reporters are still trying to navigate their way through this online world of social media and understand how to best leverage it to make their jobs more efficient – just like us PR folks are trying to do. That was reassuring to hear.

Webcast Participants:

• Chloe Albanesius, News Writer for PCMag.com
• Kevin McCormally, Executive Director Kiplinger Washington Editors
• Ivan Oransky, Executive Editor, Reuters Health NY
• Jessica Strange, Executive Director Media Relations, Marketwire

Key Takeaways:

• Respect Journalists & Build Relationships
  • One of the most laborious and important parts of media relations is identifying the appropriate contact at a publication
  • Take the time to learn what they write about, follow their Tweets, get to know their beat
  • Slowly begin a relationship by commenting on their articles, tweets, and mention past articles in pitches
• How to Craft the Perfect Pitch that will Actually Get Opened
  • Subject Title – keep it short and simple (you’ve got about 2 seconds to garner their attention)
  • Use bullet points
  • Avoid flowery language
  • Keep the publication’s audience in mind
  • Kevin from Kiplinger’s motto – send 3 off-point pitches and your email address is blocked
• How Journalists are Using Social Media Day-to-Day
  • Most use it to receive and share ideas, not a main source of news yet
  • Initiate discussions with folks and follow relevant industry pundits and companies
  • Corporate Blogs – Chloe is a big advocate of getting news/quotes from corporate blogs
• Preferred Contact Method
  • Yup, it’s still good ol’ fashion email
  • Using social media (ie. Twitter or Facebook) is ok too, but email gets the best response
• SEO-Savvy Releases & Pitches
  • Keep headline of release to under 65 characters to be SEO optimized
  • Embed unique keywords
  • First 2 words of a sentence and first 2 paragraphs are key
  • Cut through the clutter and get to the point
  • Interesting Note: Yahoo! will be releasing an Editorial Style Guide for the Web in 2010
• Future of Journalism
  • It’s a bright, Internet-filled future
  • Journalists and PR are in the midst of an evolution and understanding how to work with the Internet and social media
  • Types of people reporting and the overall definition of “journalism” will evolve as the Internet and social media progresses

Click here to listen to the entire Webcast.

AdAge: As Media Market Shrinks, PR Passes Up Reporters, Pitches Directly to Consumers

Michael Bush at Advertising Age published a very interesting, poignant article today about the shrinking media market and the direct effect it’s having on the PR industry as a whole. Specifically, the way in which we garner coverage for our clients, engage customers and communicate key messages.

With roughly 30,000 reporters leaving the U.S. newspaper industry in 2008 alone, it’s a sure thing that marketers are looking for new ways to communicate directly with end consumers and disseminate their product messages. We can no longer rely solely on the traditional new product pitch to a targeted list of media in hopes to secure coverage. PR professionals need to be looking at other outlets and platforms (à la Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) to engage their clients’ customers in creative, sticky ways.

The article sites great examples of how companies like Coldwell Banker, Best Buy and Mastercard are using social media tools and original content to reach customers and share messages without having to rely heavily on traditional media write-ups or reviews.

My two cents…Embracing new communication channels is an inevitable and important part of PR this day and age, however it does not lessen the importance of maintaining relationships with traditional media and news outlets. After all, that is what our job is about – relationship building. “Earned media” will always provide a company with a higher level of credibility and help them achieve leadership in their respective industries and we simply can’t forget that.

Click here to read the full article on Advertising Age.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Digital Advertising! The first digital banner ad ran on October 27, 1994 on Hotwired.com, the first commercial digital magazine on the Web and the offshoot of popular Wired magazine. Great walk down memory lane by Frank D’Angelo at AdAge here.

Are Corporate Blogs Becoming the Modern Day Newsletter?

Company newsletters are and have always been a well-known, effective way to distribute information to your customers and stakeholders. Whether you want to share news about a new product or service or simply want to inform your readers about upcoming events or promotions, this tried-and-true communication tool is a solid way of sharing information and building brand loyalty. But would you get more focused, quality readership and participation if you just bypassed the newsletter mailings and simply created a corporate blog with an RSS feed?

It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Both communication outlets have their time and place. Newsletter designs, objectives and audiences can run the gamut from employee-targeted messages to prospective customer outreach and promotion announcements. A steady stream of newsletters, whether issued monthly or quarterly, maintains your company’s visibility with a targeted group of folks who opt-in to receive your news, and is also a fairly cheap compliment to any marketing program.

So, what about a corporate blog? Has this become the must-have modern day newsletter? With more and more Fortune 100 companies taking the cue from the proliferation of influential bloggers and social media networks, successful companies such as Cisco have realized the importance of establishing an online voice and open dialogue with their clients. A blog is a simple channel to create and maintain a conversation with your customers and stakeholders, while also building thought leadership and credibility. Where a newsletter can be seen as more of a formal news and marketing outlet.

However, although more informal, good corporate blogs take time to build, so be patient and don’t expect to see the ROI overnight. They require a long-term commitment, with dedicated contributors, interesting topics and audience engagement. Share company and product news, but also open up the dialogue on interesting industry trends, competitor moves and solicit customer feedback. Also, once your blog is off the ground, an RSS feed provides seamless contact with your audience.

I’d say the corporate blog is quickly becoming a must-have part of successful business marketing and PR strategies, but it doesn’t replace the corporate newsletter, rather it compliments it. And every company has an individualized approach and objective for each communication tool which can’t possibly be covered here, but will make for some interesting subsequent posts.

Generally speaking, a corporate blog is a daily dose of coffee meant to jump-start the brain, invoke interest and immediate reaction, whereas the newsletter provides a full menu of the company’s latest happenings and long-term business opportunities.

Subscribe to a great corporate blog or newsletter? Share it with us in the comments.

Our Top 10 Rules for Effective Internal Communication

I had coffee on Tuesday with Michelle Glover, who was my boss when I was in Corporate Communications at Intuit. Michelle and I worked on internal communications for the company, which at the time had more than 7000 employees. She’s now at ROI Communications, an agency that specializes is internal communication, and the firm is going gangbusters.

I can’t help but believe their success, aside of course from the incredible talent they’ve acquired, is because companies – no matter how big or in what stage of maturity they may be – are starting to realize how important effective employee communications are to the bottom line. In an age when there are countless ways for executives to connect and have a two-way dialogue with their employees, a good internal communication strategy has never been more critical.

Every year, Fortune magazine comes out with its 100 Best Companies to Work For as well as its famous Fortune 500 list, and year after year, there is tremendous overlap between the two lists. Why is this? The classic book about employee relations, Contented Cows Give Better Milk, put it best:

From the start, the exceptional organizations have differentiated
themselves as employers of choice, thus enabling them to hire and
retain top-drawer people, and then differentiated their products and
services in the marketplace. Think it’s a coincidence? We don’t.

And neither do we. There are hard facts about the return on investment that comes with effective employee relations. However, being successful at it requires much more than an occasional email from the CEO, or quarterly all-hands meetings. Below is our “Top 10 List” for impactful employee communication:

1) Be Open, Honest and Direct. Believe it or not, most employees already know the truth, and half-truths only hurt your credibility.

2) Know the Current Employee Climate. Make sure your internal communications team, PR team, and/or HR team is taking a regular pulse on what your employees care about.

3) Prepare for Questions. Remember employees are looking for the “why?” and “what does this all mean?” every time you communicate.

4) Listen. Have a way to hear back from and respond directly to employees.

5) Be a Storyteller vs. Just a Teller. Bring your ideas to life, break down barriers and move people to action with stories that mean something to you and your employees.

6) In Times of Change or Crisis, Communicate in a Timely Manner. If there are rumors circulating, stop them before they fly. If you don’t know the answer, say so.

7) Say ‘Why’, Not Just ‘What’. In times of change, explain the root cause and impact of the change. Employees need to understand the importance.

8 ) Less is More. Be clear and consistent to communicate with employees on a practical level.

9) Communicate Your Passion. This can be a powerful emotional tool that enables you to connect with your audience and move people to action.

10) Maintain a Schedule. Have a plan that guarantees consistent communication (be that quarterly, monthly or weekly) to keep the group’s goals fresh and so that employees feel a part of the team.

What Two Years Has Done for Public Relations

It’s been two years since I started at Concept Communications and it’s just remarkable to think about how much the public relations profession has changed. Web 2.0 and the social Web have driven a significant shift in PR, taking our jobs way beyond press releases and traditional media relations.

The burgeoning use of social media tools by major media outlets, brands and business professionals, coupled with the necessity to leverage networks like Twitter and Facebook to reach customers, read news and form active communities – I’d say PR has taken on a new, hybrid role. We now support elements of business development, customer relations, marketing and community management. It’s exciting, it’s challenging and it presents new potentials every day for our clients.

Blogs, social networks, video/photo sharing sites, and social bookmarking are no longer trends or a nice-to-do-if-time-permits as they once were a couple years back. They are now an essential part of any effective communications plan and most organizations are starting to realize this. For instance, I can’t seem to watch a TV commercial or news broadcast these days without a Twitter or Facebook URL popping up on the bottom of the screen! And when I griped about an over sweetened vanilla latte from Starbucks on Twitter, I was promptly answered with an apologetic tweet and coupon. The social Web is no longer a novel idea that start-ups and entrepreneurs are using to promote their businesses on a guerilla marketing budget. It’s how brands, businesses, individuals and the news media are sharing content, influencing audiences and affecting behavior.

With all of these social tools at our disposal, it has become essential to be on the “front lines” listening to our clients’ existing and potential customers’ needs. Also, establishing trust in online communities through consistent engagement allows customers to turn to us as a knowledgeable resource and has become a key part of our jobs. The social Web has also made it very easy to stay current by following journalists and publications that report on our clients’ various industries.

So, when you think about it, our fundamental responsibility of fostering relationships and managing communications for clients hasn’t changed, but the way in which we develop and maintain those relations has dramatically changed. We now have so many different avenues to engage in conversations for our clients, reach new audiences and communicate our messages through fun, immediate channels that can spread from one to millions in a matter of minutes.