Amazon-Facebook Link Utilizes Word of Mouth

A new link option between Amazon and Facebook reflects a newer area of social media communication with traditional roots. The article “An Amazon-Facebook Alliance to Make Shopping More Social” by Claire Cain Miller, as seen in the Bits blog of the New York Times, discusses what this new alliance has in store. When users connect their Facebook profile to Amazon they see their profile picture on Amazon’s site. Additionally, they also see which of their Facebook friends have upcoming birthdays and can receive gift suggestions based on those friends’ books, movies, tv shows, etc. they claim to like on their Facebook profiles and Amazon wish lists. Then, based on what their friends like, they can also view recommendations for things to buy themselves. Shopping activity on Amazon is not shared with Facebook.

This is a very interesting development with roots in word of mouth communication. Whether compensated or not, word of mouth has always been a powerful drive of sales. This traditional method gets a reinvention here by connecting friends who would shop together or communicate about purchases offline in an online world. Perhaps the only thing that is missing is an integrated IM chat service so they can shop online at Amazon together in real-time and trade likes and dislikes. Also, what about Twitter? Why not partner with Twitter and have real-time scrolling of their friends’ comments on product purchases at their disposal? There are definitely more possibilities with this and I am interested to see where they take it from here.

BP PR Blunders Harmful to Tourism

The most current website update claims the cap on the well is holding, but the fact remains that the damage has already been done. This damage has negatively impacted the environment, the people, BP’s image and tourism. However, the damage is not as widespread as some may think. There have been many reports about beaches on the Gulf Coast that have been hit by oil, and people tend to assume that all the beaches in and around those areas are affected. That is not the case with Florida, where the Manatee and Sarasota beaches remain pristine and unspoiled. A recent article I read called “Our beaches are just fine; PR pros use web to get word out” by Sara Kennedy talks about this fact and how PR professionals have had to cope with the aftermath and its effect on tourism. In this specific case they put up live web cams and used social media to get the word out, which has boosted their bed tax collections (charged on accomodations). Yet, while they are benefiting, other areas remain damaged and tourism has slowed tremendously. BP’s bad PR and crisis management skills are responsible for this harmful outcome.

A New York Times article titled “BP’s PR Blunders Mirror Exxon’s, Appear Destined for Record Book” by Anne C. Mulkern of Greenwire focuses on how these two incidents occur and also points out specific BP blunders. The most obvious mistake made was that they did not have a plan in place, which is the most essential rule of crisis communications. Even my college textbooks emphasize that fact, making it a part of Crisis Management 101 (or perhaps the most important and basic step of crisis management). BP has also emphasized science over people, showing little to no remorse for people and emphasizing the attempts of containment over everything else. In doing so they have gained few sympathizers and any positive PR has been drowned out by one attempt failing after another (at least until now and only time will tell if this solution proves to be permanent). BP has been throwing money at the problem, and focusing so much on an immediate solution that they have forgotten about focusing on PR depicting a positive response from people about cleanup efforts. This is an example of PR that would show a concern on BP’s part, and this has been lacking in their current strategy. It is almost like BP has become an acronym for Bad Pr. They have not done enough yet to help the people and environments within these tourist areas that have been impacted. It is my belief that if they had a plan in place a lot of the damage, both physical and emotional, could have been limited or even prevented. A better response to people and the environment has been needed since the spill first started and is especially needed now. Only then can BP begin to move forward.

Press Releases: Yesterday’s news?

There are people out there who claim that the press release is dead and no longer effective. For these people, a press release has the appeal of snail mail and it is quicker to look to Twitter for spur-of-the-moment news.  Although we are becoming more and more of a digital society, where people are clamoring for ‘of-the-minute’ news, there is still a place for this traditional PR tactic. It simply needs to be written and distributed in the most effective manner. According to PR Newsers Joe Ciarallo, a recent survey of 750 journalists in 15 countries indicates that 75% of respondents consider a high quality and well targeted news release sent  by email to still be effective. It makes sense that this would be the response. During my college days all of my PR textbooks talked about the importance of knowing your target audience. It is paramount to know who your target audience is for a press release. Otherwise, it becomes a waste of time. This means that if you know your audience and take the time to write a high quality piece, your press release will be effective.

Another thing to think about is putting your press release in a different format. One might think press releases distributed through social media would solve the problem. Not quite. The survey finds that only 15.09%  of respondents consider this useful. What could be more useful is something like this approach I came across recently, where a small press release with tiny print was sent out along with a magnifying glass to help journalists read it. Reinventing the press release, using a method like that, is a clever way to get a press release noticed and read. If anything it keeps the press release relevant. Think about it, how do people like Madonna stay popular? They reinvent themselves. How do companies keep products relevant? They reinvent them for a whole new generation. The same thing can be done with the press release. Whether you send out a high quality, well targeted press release, or reinvent the format of a press release to draw more attention to it, there are still ways that the press release can be a relevant and useful PR tool.

Upcoming and Current Social Media Trends

This week’s post is inspired by an article titled “5 Social Media Trends to Watch Right Now” by Barb Dybwad from Mashable.com. After reading it, the article stuck with me and got me thinking about which trends I had seen and which I had not seen and whether they are upcoming or current and popular. First on their list is ‘Location, Location, Location’, and by that they mean the feature that allows you to broadcast your wherabouts on Twitter, Google Lattitude, Foursquare and Gowalla. This one seems like it is becoming more and more popular and serves as a good tool for attracting customers to your location from a business standpoint. It is my belief that the number of participants in this will grow. Second is ‘Group Buying’ where people can team up to get deals on products and services. The article mentions Groupon and LivingSocial, but it does not mention one that has recently come to Portland and that is Mobba.com. Seeing as this is a new one and has a local focus, as does Groupon that focuses on Los Angeles, this trend seems like it will spread to many major cities. Really, who does not want a great deal these days?

Third is ‘Mobile Ads’ and they discuss Google’s recent aquisition of AdMob. Now I have heard for a while that this was the next big thing but I have yet to see it on my Sprint cell so I remain a bit of a skeptic as to its longevity and growing popularity. Perhaps it appears when running things on a Sprint phone that I do not normally use. I am not discounting it as an effective means of social media, I think it sounds quite good, but I can not be sure until I see it spread more and hear more about its effects. The same goes for their next topic of ‘Mobile Payments’ with Square plugging into an iPhone and PayPal apps for iPhone, Blackberry and Android. It sounds like a useful tool but I have not seen major use of it yet. The last is social media policy or the outlining of appropriate practices for company employees using social media. I have seen this crop up more and more on websites of companies and have heard it come up more and more in conversation. An essential tool to keep everyone on the same page and acting as a unified front. In summary mobile ads and mobile payments are ones I would deem as upcoming, and location, group buying and social media policy are ones I would deem as current and popular.

Print: Here today, gone tomorrow?

When I was at a recent informational interview at Grady Britton I posed a question that sparked an interesting discussion and, as a result, this blog entry. Doing my homework and clicking through their website I noticed over and over again the phrase “print’s not dead yet”. That got me doing some more thinking about print and whether it is still (and will remain) a viable channel of communication. A lot of people are quick to dismiss it as a dying medium, but I disagree. The following are my opinions in a nutshell. Thinking back to my college days I remember a publishing and printing class I took as a communications elective class. The class was filled with fellow students who were crazy about books. Even moreso than myself, and I consider myself a devotee, in that they also loved the smell of books (I kid you not). From this I concluded that there will always be people out there who crave the tangible nature of print, whether they love the smell or just want to be able to touch, hold, highlight, scribble in margins and dog ear its pages as they read.

Even with the advent of e-readers and online news, I feel that there is still a market for print. Those who like to clip and post newspaper and magazine articles, highlight, scribble in margins and dog ear pages? You need to actually have a tangible print version to do the first, and the rest is much easier with print. Also these electronic devices require rechargeable batteries and those need outlets to recharge. They are not as pool or beach friendly as a print version book, newspaper or magazine. Get one of the print versions slightly wet, and it is not the end of the world. Run out of battery charge, or get sand or water in an e-reader and it is never a good thing but rather a hassle. One that requires additional expenses such as batteries, repair costs, and waterproof covers. Where will people who get burnt out on the hassles and downfalls of electronic devices go? Print. Furthermore print as a communication industry technique offers a type of visual component that is different than that served up with other tactics, and can make for a more well-rounded and profitable campaign. It is also still the most affordable and the most easily accessible. Thus I believe there will always be a demand for print and, consequently, a place for print in the toolbox of the media professional.