Når du ikke når frem med eget budskap og vaktsjefen er vrang, kan det noen ganger lønne seg å ta grep selv.

Gjennom god planlegging og riktig kompetanse kan en nå frem til leserne uten redaksjonens sitt fargende filter. Digitale muligheter som web-tv har åpnet for at en kan nå frem kostnadseffektivt til mange samtidig. Dette er ikke splitter nytt, men spredningen av web-tv og mangelen på godt innhold for web-tv hos nyhetsmediene på nett gjør at muligheten for å nå frem er særlig stor nå, også gjennom kanaler du i utgangspunktet ikke har kontroll over. Noen medier vil fremdeles takke nei til å videreformidle stoff de ikke har full redaksjonell kontroll over, mens andre med glede tilbyr godt innhold til sine lesere.   

Et særlig godt case klarte vi å skape sammen med Flyktninghjelpen i høst.

Flyktninghjelpen arrangerte debatt om flyktningpolitikk på Nobels Fredssenter. Live video fra debatten ble tilbudt en rekke norske medier og den ble streamet på Dagbladet, Aftenposten, TV2.no, Nettavisen, Stavanger Aftenblad og Bergens Tidende i tillegg til Flyktingehjelpens og partienes nettsider. Les mine og Flyktninghjelpens kommentarer i Kampanje her. Jeg mener at interessen for video på nett har eksplodert i året som har gått og i saken siterer Kampanje meg blant annet på følgende:

- Nå er turen kommet til både næringslivet, det offentlige og organisasjonene. Direkteoverføringer av hendelser som pressekonferanser, debatter og konferanser er i dag blitt et viktig virkemiddel for å være til stede her og nå i digitale kanaler. Gjennom livestreaming når du flere mennesker og gjerne nye målgrupper. Når nettmedier og nyhetskanaler i tillegg kan sende direkte fra hendelsen, i stedet for å referere en hendelse i etterkant, forsterker dette effekten av medieinvesteringen.

I Smartcom:tv har vi gjort tilsvarende vellykkede jobber for andre også, for eksempel Helsedirektoratet. Nå i desember sørget vi også for at Statsministerens felles pressekonferanse med Obama ble streamet både nasjonalt og internasjonalt. På denne måten blir eget nettsted bare en av mange digitale kanaler du kan nå seerne dine i – og du får et viktig supplement til de sosiale mediene. 

Det hadde vært spennende å høre om eller se lenker til andre tilsvarende eksempler. Herved oppfordres du til å legge relevante lenker under.

Sometimes there are things you want to blow your own company’s trumpet about, but such behaviour would be totally well un-English.  So it is great if someone does it for you.  Nick Burcher gets what we’re all about and has said so and that is lovely.

There is also a video of the Sky Movies HD Christmas Snow globe on YouTube here:

These Sky stunts may not have the (initial) reach of a mass doordrop or traditional TV / print campaign, but for the people who experienced them these are truly memorable. The real ROI comes from the secondary impacts though. This type of activity has the ability to be amplified by word of mouth, supplementary news coverage, through the YouTube / Flickr views and through people like me posting to Twitter / blogs etc.

Being social is not just about doing something on Facebook, it’s about doing something that makes people talk – and the Sky stunts are amongst an ever-growing number of advertiser initiatives designed to create conversation and stimulate positive word of mouth.

Yeah… So I wish I was in advertising… at least there is a place to propose ideas and execute them… The Client feels obliged to let you bring some of those ideas to life… he is paying for those ideas …

 So I wish I was in journalism… at least if I was not happy about something in the system, I could voice it and create a movement to help it get back on track…

But I am neither in Advertising and Journalism (despite the repeated beliefs of everyone around me that I should have been in either of the two)… but I am not…

I am in PR… In Public Relations… !!! Is it bad?! I don’t know you know… Coz’ it’s surely not the best thing…

While I am given to believe that with a job like mine, I change the course of communication and bring a revolution to the way my Clients perceive publicity and to help journalists see something more …

 So shouldn’t it give me the soundest sleep and the most satisfied feeling I could ever get… actually No!

PR is Media Relations in India… just that… nothing more, nothing less. So while you do have Clients participating in The Second Life, glorifying the advent of PR 2.0, the multiplying effect of Social Networking Sites that PR could benefit from… the final cake still goes to the Economic Times Coverage and the Forbes Story …

So if that Agency will finally be reviewed on that and if that finally is the mandate on which the Client judges your performance; then why invite for the Digital PR section in your PR Strategy? Why give the impression to the Agency or the PR consultant that you take the Science of Communication seriously? Coz you don’t!

And while I know I will invite debaters on this, I am more than happy to get this discussion going… my sense is that we only like to indulge in drawing room discussions about the evolution of PR, while we (Client and Agency) refuse to move out of the orthodox norms and measurements of evaluating PR performance…

 And that growing nagging feeling of a crusty evolution of the industry is what is snowballing into a dissatisfaction…of wanting to do more, of wishing I could contribute to a larger cause of the PR industry and I need to figure the starting point soon…

Web 2.0?  No problem!  Marketing your business to the over 80 Million blogs on the internet may seem like a daunting task, so why not let the experts handle it?

Facebook per il business? Dalla teoria alla pratica, ecco come Ikea ha “piegato” il social network più famoso del mondo ai propri obiettivi di comunicazione legati all’apertura di un punto vendita nella città di Malmoe.

Le azioni (illustrate nel video): 

• è stato creato un profilo Facebook dello store manager, Gordon Gustavsson
• è stato creato un album fotografico, con l’intera offerta di prodotti offerti dal negozio

Gli utenti che accedevano alla pagina potevano taggarsi a un prodotto della foto e riceverlo in regalo. L’iniziativa ha raccolto più si 700 amici nel giro di appena 2 settimane.

A turno, gli utenti hanno contribuito a diffondere il celebre catalogo (virtuale) dell’Ikea attraverso il loro profilo Facebook. I mobili e gli oggetti “taggati” con i nomi delle persone.

Via  http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10404937-93.html

Having seen a few studies on word of mouth advocacy, the returns are certainly impressive.  But what continues to bother me is that it just doesn’t happen in real life, or at least in the way the data makes out.

Every conversation needs a starting point (every meme needs a spark) and if you’re lucky enough to have a game changing product (a purple cow) you will get that.  I was lucky enough to work on the launch of the very first iMac and that was one of those products.

I believe that news drives conversation and therefore search and one of the studies I have been looking at backs this up (55% of Americans have at least one conversation every day about what’s in the news, some 2.8 conversations) and there is also pretty comprehensive evidence to suggest that advertising plays a significant role in driving conversation.

So if the product is neither ‘disruptive’, your not newsworthy and aren’t advertising, how can you be in the conversation?

I ask this because over the past few weeks I’ve yet to find myself advocating any brand, UNLESS I’m asked.

Advocacy, therefore, should also be scored on a spontaneity metric, but working on the inside of PR, you don’t care about that if the media are interested or proactive.

Don’t care? you’re fucking delighted to be frank.

And that’s why social search will increasingly become more and more important.  Yahoo! Answers trojan horse perhaps.

For every ‘can anyone recommend a good restaurant for lunch near Old Street’ email that goes round a closed community (the office), people are putting it out there, digital channels makes the asking that much easier and the pool of expertise, that much more expansive.

People want recommendations from those with experience and will actively court those people.

Nice to know that one of the old Fleet Street truisms for news thrives online:

“There are good guys, bad guys and experts!”

La comunicazione aziendale si trasforma in conversazione del marchio in rete. Solo belle parole dettate dalla vena utopistica dei professionisti della comunicazione digitale oppure trend reale?

Procter&Gamble sembra aver realmente accettato la sfida incontrando a Milano un gruppo di blogger (tutte donne, del resto si parlava di hair beauty alla presentazione di Herbal Essences), in un contesto molto particolare, dichiarando di voler ascoltare le loro voci e puntualizzando da subito che ognuna avrebbe potuto (dovuto) scrivere le propire impressioni positive o negative sul prodotto in questione in maniera libera e trasparente.

Io il prodotto non ho ancora avuto modo di provarlo, l’evento però mi ha colpita… e non poco. (Le FOTO)

CRONACA DELL’INCONTRO

24 novembre, appuntmento h. 14.00 presso l’albergo Nhow a Milano. Sarà presente Ben Cooke, hair stylist londinese e testimonial del marchio.

Parto alla volta di quella che, sono certa, sarà la solita conferenza stampa in grande stile, tipica delle multinazionali.

Arrivo al quarto piano dell’albergo pronta a esibire l’espressione seria di circostanza e, senza rendermene conto, mi ritrovo in un salotto luminoso e colorato che tutto sembra fuorchè una sala stampa. Avrò sbagliato piano? No, impossibile, confezioni brillanti di shampoo e balsamo troneggiano sui tavoli bianchi di Eero Saarinen e il mio nome sembra essere sulla lista.

Le invitate sono tutte blogger, tutte incuriosite da questa ambientazione fuori dal comune. Non credo di sbagliarmi se dico che, inizialmente, eravamo tutte un po’ sospettose: questo attegiamento “giovane e friendly” aveva l’aria un po’ artefatta.

Per creare intimità ci vogliono un ambiente accogliente, volti sorridenti, una prossemica che ispiri apertura e fiducia e poi… il cerchio. Il cerchio? Sì, siamo state invitate a sederci in cerchio, a ricreare un’atmosfera da salotto, gli sguardi rivolti all’ospite d’onore Ben Cooke, bello da vedere e naturale nei modi.

Strategia: spesso ciò che appare più semplice e informale è frutto di ragionamenti, calcoli e dinamiche incredibilmente complesse. Sono stata a lungo sul chi va là…

A differenza degli incotri più “classici”, qui le domande sono sgorgate a fiumi. Domande di ogni tipo, domande relative agli obiettivi dell’azienda, domande più tecniche legate alle composizione del prodotto, domande personali “Ho i capelli crespi, indomabili, ogni giorno è una sfida…”(sfido qualunque donna a non avere un rapporto morboso con i propri capelli). Ogni domanda ha ottenuto risposta e più passava il tempo più il cerchio sembrava restringersi, più il contatto diventava diretto.

Fortuna che i post devono essere brevi Taglio corto: sono uscita dal Nhow con un quaderno pieno di appunti frutto di una conferenza stampa professionale ed esaustiva, un reportage fotografico vivo e pieno di colori e la sensazione di aver partecipato a un evento innovativo molto ben riuscito.

Un sorriso,

m.

Earlier this year, the world’s first ‘virtual divorce’ thrust an intriguing debate into the limelight: what is the relationship between virtual worlds and the real environment we inhabit, and can we still distinguish the two?

Amy Taylor ‘divorced’ husband David Pollard after she discovered him cavorting with a prostitute in virtual reality game Second Life. The couple spent so much time playing the game, that when she found him at the computer watching his 3D character having sex, she considered his online infidelity as real as if it had taken place in the bricks and mortar world.

Sceptics view dealings in such online games as a poor substitute for ‘real life’ interactions. Yet the impact of virtual worlds cannot be underestimated. So far, over 15m people have established avatars in Second Life alone, with membership increasing by around 70,000 people a day. In June 2009, market research firm Strategy Analytics predicted global membership of virtual worlds would increase from 186 million today to 640 million by 2015 (as reported in Virtual Worlds News).

That’s a staggering one hundred million people per year, creating characters for entertainment, engagement and business. Online multiplayer gaming such as Xbox LIVE is also increasing in popularity, allowing people from across the globe to interact in real-time. We’ve even seen the first ‘virtual murder’; a Japanese piano teacher was recently arrested on suspicion of killing her ‘virtual husband’ after becoming enraged when he divorced her unexpectedly in an internet game.

This explosion of growth raises some interesting questions about the nature of relationships in cyberspace – and virtual worlds are just one part of the ever-expanding, sophisticated world we inhabit online. From Match.com to mysinglefriend®, Sugardaddie.com to ratemybody.com, the digital environment plays cupid for a vast array of relationships. To some extent, email and texts have replaced the love letter, instant messaging has become a substitute for telephone calls and social networking is now key to social contact. These days, we’re just as likely to give potential dates a poke on Facebook, Skype Chat them up or tweet sweet nothings to attract their attention.

Clearly, many of us now view the internet as crucial to modern-day communication –and not just in our personal and social lives. From a professional perspective, the web – and Web 2.0 in particular – has fundamentally changed the way we do business. Monique Lester,the Digital Media Marketing Queen of London Digital PR, says,”Web 2.0 has become an integral part of how businesses promote themselves and build a relationship with their clients. Social media marketing, SEO techniques and then a great online PR and marketing strategy have become a necessity, for both corporate and SME’s.”

London Digital PR on Work, Life and Love in a ‘Virtual’ Climate

With over 40 million members, networking tool LinkedIn demonstrates the internet’s importance to how we make successful contacts. We meet people and connect on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the like, and we use email and instant messaging for work just as much as in our private lives.

In marketing and media terms, the explosion of online communications has come as both a blessing and a challenge. In publishing, it’s little surprise that media use via the Internet is displacing traditional forms such as printed newspapers. In the developed world, we now get an increasing amount of our news and entertainment online. Add to this the huge growth in listening to and watching online programmes, and we see just how far we’ve come.

Marketers continue to spend more online than on traditional channels. Forrester Research recently released its five year forecast, predicting that by 2014, 21% of marketing spend in the US will be on interactive tools and services. Overall advertising in traditional media will continue to decline in favour of more effective online methods – with social media, email and search highlighted for particular growth.

This in itself is hardly surprising, for we live in the world of the virtual consumer. We only need consider our sphere of influence when making purchasing decisions. We research online, bank online, shop online, book holidays online. From branded emails and online customer service to consumer feedback, staff training and social media activities, brands have countless opportunities to form relationships and start a two-way dialogue in new and often unexpected ways.

For marketers who tap into the zeitgeist, the possibilities are endless – and a lot can be achieved with minimal budgets. Built around two similar sounding words, the recent ‘Compare the meerkat’ campaign used an effective and quirky viral concept to boost brand awareness, drive traffic and enable cost-effective search. A series of excellent digital executions include YouTube clips, a Facebook page and amusing Twitter feed, along with a full spoof microsite. The campaign’s success is evidence that by adopting an integrated approach driven by personality, brands can maximise the potential for engagement.

For charities too, the online world has tremendous power to influence through the ability to form relationships with people on an individual basis, on a mass scale. In essence, so-called ‘virtual interactions’ can make a real tangible difference to people’s daily lives. By using Twitter as a driving force for event organisation and providing information on Facebook pages and Vimeo’s video community, Twestival was able to provide clean water for over 17,000 people earlier this year. This is just one of many examples of social media’s power to drive change by appealing for people to join together.

Monique Lester says, “Our online interactions are not a substitute for real life, but a fundamental part of it. The challenge is to embrace all the opportunities the Web brings while still maintaining our core values.”

Turning back to the debate, it’s clear that in developed and developing countries, the online world has penetrated every part of our existence. From Facebook to LinkedIn, email to ICQ, all are controlled by real people, with real feelings, instincts and motives. Our lives and relationships are a complex series of online and offline interactions – and we can no longer see the virtual and real worlds as separate spheres operating independently. We live our lives in a post-digital age; the Internet is no longer an alien concept to be dabbled with on occasion, but something that pervades our entire lives.

Contact:

Amelia Bate
London Digital PR
info@londondigitalpr.com

Monique Lester
London Digital PR
info@londondigitalpr.com
+44 (0) 7958 411653

Digital PR, de Hill & Knowlton, junto con la Asociación de Antiguos Alumnos de la EEN, Escuela Europea de Negocios (Alumni EEN), y por la propia EEN, organizan el seminario:

“Comunicación digital y gestión de la reputación online”.

El seminario está orientado a profesionales con interés en profundizar en la utilidad de las herramientas online. Utilidad tanto en el desarrollo de la imagen corporativa de su empresa en Internet como de la revaloración de la imagen de marca mediante el correcto uso de la Red.

 Ciclo de seminarios gratuito.

Plazas limitadas: 20 asistentes.
Necesaria confirmación enviando un email a: secretario@alumni-een.org indicando nombre, apellidos, número de teléfono e email de contacto.

PROGRAMA

- La huella digital
· Qué es, para que sirve, cómo se conoce y cómo se cambia.
- Monitorización de los de medios online: webs, blogs, foros, etc.
· Cómo se hace y para qué sirve.
- Comunicar en la Web 2.0.
- Selección de canales, adaptación y envío de mensajes.
- Presencia corporativa en redes sociales.
· Youtube, Facebook, Flickr y Twitter.

FECHA: 24 de noviembre de 2009. De 9:30 a 13:00 horas
LUGAR: EEN Madrid. Avda. de Burgos 16D. Edificio Euromor. 1ª planta. 28036 Madrid.

Esta primera sesión ya está prácticamente cubierta, pero todo el que esté interesado en escuchar, compartir y aprender simplemente tiene que ponerse en contacto con Alumni EEN y repetimos la experiencia.

Ottima presentazione per digital PR in erba . I concetti sono sempre gli stessi: il monitoraggio, l’ascolto (fondamentale per chi vuole connettersi), la partecipazione, la misurazione dei risultati.

Molto interessante la slide 14 che mostra il comportamento dell’utente tipo dei social network suddivisi per gruppo di appartenenza ed età. In più la presentazione contiene numerosi link a risorse e strumenti utili per i digital influencer.

Visita il sito dell’autore: http://blankanvas.bypatlaw.com/

I forum - con +80 milioni di messaggi quest’anno - sono lo strumento preferito dagli italiani per confrontarsi sugli orientamenti di consumo ed altri argomenti che riguardano la sfera professionale e privata.

È quanto emerge dal Rapporto sulle comunità Web di Digital PR, ”Dove vanno gli italiani in rete – abitudini e nuovi fenomeni” giunto alla sesta edizione.

La blogosfera è sempre più il regno di chi ha qualcosa di interessante da dire. Sono quasi 3 milioni i blogger della penisola, ma “solo” il 35% di questi aggiorna il proprio diario con una certa frequenza (2 o più volte settimanalmente).

Facebook ha superato i 12 milioni di utenti (il 57% dei connessi) ed è la nuova piazza virtuale degli italiani. Una piazza sempre più rosa: secondo i dati dell’Osservatorio Facebook, infatti, nella fascia di utenti al di sotto dei 18 annile donne superano gli uomini nel social network più popolare del mondo.

I fenomeni emergenti di questo 2009 sono Twitter e Friendfeed. Il servizio di microblogging ha raggiunto 1 milione di utenti unici/mese nel nostro Paese (fonte: Google Trends Websites), mentre Friendfeed è ancora per early adopters, ma può rappresentare la naturale evoluzione dei forum.

Per approfondimenti rinvio alla presentazione di Vincenzo Cosenza (Digital PR) al seminario “Il nuovo potere dei consumatori sul web 2009

Coin.it, nella sua nuova versione ridisegnata ispirandosi alla tecnologie più in voga al momento, l’iPhone e CoolIris, valorizza a pieno l’utilizzo dei social media già iniziato da tempo dall’azienda.

Un sito davvero web 2.0
La novità più importante in tal senso riguarda l’area delle news che si evolve in un blog, con le ultime notizie, gli eventi, i trend e tutti i social media di Coin.
Tutti i contenuti sono commentabili e facilmente condivisibili su Facebook e sugli altri servizi web 2.0 attraverso gli strumenti di sharing presenti sul sito.
In questo modo i navigatori e i clienti potranno far sentire la propria voce rispetto alle tante attività che Coin propone quotidianamente nei negozi di tutta Italia, sia prima che dopo ogni avvenimento o proposta.

La stessa pagina inoltre diventa un innovativo collettore di tutti gli strumenti web 2.0 dell’azienda, dove i navigatori possono trovare i video di YouTube, le recensioni musicali del sito della web radio Coinmusicdesign, i tweets di Twitter, le foto di Flickr e la fan box di Facebook.
Tutti questi social media si possono seguire anche grazie all’apposito feed sviluppato attraverso FriendFeed che si aggiunge agli altri oltre 90 canali rss presenti sul sito.
Completano l’offerta di strumenti la pagina dei widget con i gadget digitali (per desktop e per iGoogle) e le Web Slice di Internet Explorer 8.

Un sito che ascolta e che offre tanti servizi
Il nuovo sito, oltre alle news commentabili, offre un altro strumento importante di feedback ai navigatori, permettendo di esprimere un giudizio sul singolo punto vendita (qualità del servizio, allestimento e commento libero) attraverso una semplice maschera grafica all’interno dell’area negozi.
Infine, grazie alla nuova struttura di navigazione, si può accedere con maggiore facilità a tutti i servizi web di Coin: l’e-commerce, il sito mobile Coin.mobi, il catalogo dei mobili sul web, la lista nozze online, il nuovo servizio Metti Su Casa con Noi, la web radio Coinmusicdesign con il suo sito di recensioni musicali, la webcam sulla flagship di Milano piazza 5 Giornate

Umberto Veronesi, Direttore Scientifico di IEO, riceve la Menzione speciale alla “cultura del fare” al Premio Pimby (Please-In-My-BackYard) 2009

Mercoledì 18 novembre 2009, in occasione del Premio Pimby, che sarà consegnato a Roma presso il Palazzo delle Esposizioni, il Professor Umberto Veronesi, in qualità di Direttore Scientifico dell’Istituto Europeo di Oncologia (IEO) di Milano, riceverà la Menzione speciale alla “cultura del fare”.

Il riconoscimento gli sarà conferito per il suo impegno nel perseguire lo sviluppo e l’applicazione di ricerche capaci di migliorare le condizioni di vita attraverso l’utilizzo di tecnologie innovative, nel campo della salute, dell’ambiente, dell’agricoltura e dell’energia, promuovendo la fiducia nella ricerca scientifica e nei suoi risultati, nell’analisi imparziale delle diverse alternative, contro ogni lettura superficiale e demagogica.

Il Premio Pimby, che da sempre ha lo scopo di valorizzare quelle amministrazioni locali che hanno scelto di realizzare opere coniugando il rispetto delle regole con il consenso dei cittadini, riunirà anche quest’anno oltre 200 esponenti delle alte sfere istituzionali, del Governo e delle Autorità indipendenti, personalità provenienti dal mondo della politica e delle associazioni di categoria, il comitato scientifico dell’Associazione Pimby, i media nazionali e i rappresentanti della business community dei settori infrastrutture/energia/ambiente.

Per scaricare il comunicato stampa in formato word clicca qui

Per informazioni:
Elisabetta Mandelli
Email: ufficiostampa@mariagiovannaluini.it
Tel: 345.46.73.880

Per ulteriori approfondimenti:
http://www.pimby.eu

Umberto Veronesi, Direttore Scientifico di IEO, riceve la Menzione speciale alla “cultura del fare” al Premio Pimby (Please-In-My-BackYard) 2009

Mercoledì 18 novembre 2009, in occasione del Premio Pimby, che sarà consegnato a Roma presso il Palazzo delle Esposizioni, il Professor Umberto Veronesi, in qualità di Direttore Scientifico dell’Istituto Europeo di Oncologia (IEO) di Milano, riceverà la Menzione speciale alla “cultura del fare”.

Il riconoscimento gli sarà conferito per il suo impegno nel perseguire lo sviluppo e l’applicazione di ricerche capaci di migliorare le condizioni di vita attraverso l’utilizzo di tecnologie innovative, nel campo della salute, dell’ambiente, dell’agricoltura e dell’energia, promuovendo la fiducia nella ricerca scientifica e nei suoi risultati, nell’analisi imparziale delle diverse alternative, contro ogni lettura superficiale e demagogica.

Il Premio Pimby, che da sempre ha lo scopo di valorizzare quelle amministrazioni locali che hanno scelto di realizzare opere coniugando il rispetto delle regole con il consenso dei cittadini, riunirà anche quest’anno oltre 200 esponenti delle alte sfere istituzionali, del Governo e delle Autorità indipendenti, personalità provenienti dal mondo della politica e delle associazioni di categoria, il comitato scientifico dell’Associazione Pimby, i media nazionali e i rappresentanti della business community dei settori infrastrutture/energia/ambiente.

Per scaricare il comunicato stampa in formato word clicca qui

Per informazioni:
Elisabetta Mandelli
Email: ufficiostampa@mariagiovannaluini.it
Tel: 345.46.73.880

Per ulteriori approfondimenti:
http://www.pimby.eu

Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia advisors are briefing Vatican officials and Catholic bishops about contemporary media at a symposium exploring the possibilities and dangers of the internet for the Catholic Church.

But looks like the Pope has beaten them to it…

And in the Facebook page fans head to head, the Dalai Lama proves the surprise loser in the popularity stakes.

Pope Benedict clocks a respectable 76,871 fans versus the Bodhisattva of Compassion’s… 3.

Holy head to head

Somewhat surprisingly I was asked about blogging yesterday – how should corporates go about it.  I was surprised because I had hoped that all of this would be second nature and in that particular vertical (pharmacuetical) you need to be a bit buttoned down on compliance in communications.

Anyway, here are the main points to consider:

Objectives

• Define what it is you actually want to achieve with a blog
• The power of blogs come from dialogue NOT broadcast and dialogue creates community
• Who do you want to talk to?
• What do you want them to do?
  • Know more about you
  • Talk to you
  • Talk to each other
  • Advocate your business
  • Support one another
  • Co-create

Dialogue

• Brands don’t blog – people do
• Will it be multi voiced reflected the whole company or focussed and targetted
• Will the bloggers be able/qualified to answer all likely comments
• Tone and style
• Policy – recommend developing ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ with HR
• Consider the organisational impact – customers won’t
• Understand blogging etiquette and make allowances

Management

• Commit the resources
• Plan an editorial schedule – work 5 posts in advance
• Stick to a minimum posting schedule
• But not too rigidly that you can’t be responsive and relevant
• Pilot internally for at least a month – 6 weeks
• Who will moderate the comments
• Who will manage the ‘community’ and will they have the creditability, authority and appropriate access
• Monitor media for reactions to blog posts
• Ensure integration with other marcomms activity

Technology (last, always last people!)

• Where will it reside – main site or own URL
• Select an appropriate platform – will you be using video?
• Who will manage and report on the analytics
• Regular analysis – (is meeting the objectives?)

It’s the fourth quarter in 2009 and a Michigan based company just reported a $1 Billion profit in the third quarter.  Pinch me – I must be dreaming, right?  Nope, Ford Motor Company – a company founded by an entrepreneur and built by the hard working people that thrived on his ingenuity and the passion that it bred, just reported this news last week.

Read more in Jenn Weesies’ recent post, she is the newest addition to our team at Biznet. Let us know what you think….

Biznet Blog » Making the Digital Commitment. by Jenn Weesies

Moving ahead is tough, especially in the absence of certainty but today there are many young intelligent people stepping up, going against the odds and making a difference.  Making the digital commitment is not simply about spending 25% of your budget on “new media”… it is about new ways of thinking.  Bringing sexy ingenuity back…  “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford

I admire how Ford Motor Company is thinking “more intelligently” – once again.

Jenn recently posted on Twitter (in response to the article in the picture) – @weesiesj Dear Business Week, u are the most depressing magazine & do nothing for the American spirit. I found a job in MICH! http://twitpic.com/lfbcn

Jenn demonstrates the American Spirit that I admire! The lost generation?  Sure, there are many that are lost (most likely) and I am sure that is not new to this young generation…  But those people that are lost (in my opinion) aren’t willing to roll up their sleeves, fail a few times before they succeed and move ahead gracefully…

“90% of social media is simply showing up” – Scott Monty

Young leaders are not simply just looking for work, they are creating it and/or finding positions within great companies where they are carving out their own success. Showing up, getting “baptized by fire” and having the will to take on whatever challenges lie ahead is how our country became great. Let’s keep it going!

For the last few years, Glide Technologies (purveyors of the well known Online Press Centre product) have conducted an annual journalist survey to delve into the nitty gritty of what kind of information journalists want and how they want to receive it.  The Glide surveys have tended to stand out from other similar, run of the mill research efforts in this area – they actually do seem to come up with some valuable insights.

The 2009 survey is now getting underway – the key difference this year is that Glide is looking for input from both journalists and bloggers (sorry, no PR folk required).  I realise most hacks would rather poke their own eyes out rather than spend time on yet another bloody survey – but if the thorough approach of recent years is replicated again this time around, I’d say it is 15 mins well spent.

As an added incentive, everyone who helps by completing a survey will be entitled to enter a prize draw and a chance to win 2 bottles of Champagne –  3 sets up for grabs – and of course, everyone who takes part will receive a full copy of the results (naturally).

So if you are a journalist or blogger, feel free to go here to complete the Glide Technologies 2009 Media Survey. Go on. You know you want to.

På en helt alminnelig, men dramatisk høstdag for litt over ett år siden skulle våre liv endre seg dramatisk. Vi jobbet i byrået som het GCI Communique der vi planla hvordan vi skulle ta digitale og sosiale medier for alvor inn i en tradisjonell del av kommunikasjonsbransjen. Vi ble plutselig kalt inn til et allmøte der vi fikk vite at våre daværende eiere Burson-Marsteller hadde besluttet å avvikle selskapet. Hva gjør vi nå?

Etter et kvarters stillhet satt Thomas, Fredrik og jeg oss ned for å se på alternativene – det var helt åpenbart – vi måtte fortsette det vi hadde startet og brant for. Sermo Consulting var allerede i støpeskjeen. Jeg flirer i skjegget når jeg tenker på arbeidsnavnet vi hadde – JET PR (forkortelsen for Johnsen, Eriksen og Tangen).

Pangstart
En god blanding av dyktighet, flaks og god timing gjorde at vi fikk en forrykende start. Vi bestemte raskt at vi måtte snu medieoppmerksomheten rundt nedleggelsen av GCI og gikk ut offensivt med beskjeden om at vi satset videre før vi hadde etablert noe som helst. Deretter tok vi frem esset i ermet. En undersøkelse om norske bedrifters bruk av sosiale medier gjort sammen med Cision dundret inn på en dobbelside i DN og spredde seg raskt på nett.

Den offisielle etableringen i Brønnøysund skjedde 1. november og i dagene som fulgte ble alle partnerne, én etter én, ringt opp av spalten “På nattbordet” i DN – Thomas, Fredrik og undertegnede (i omvendt rekkefølge ). Tror ikke det er mange selskaper som har hatt alle ansatte (på det tidspunktet) profilert der.

Intens jobbing
Selv om drømmen om å etablere noe eget var blitt en realitet tok hverdagen oss raskt igjen. 15 timers dager uten lønn for alle mann måtte til å for å jobbe inn nye kunder, etablere sosiale medier som fag i kommunikasjonsbransjen, arbeide frem tjenester og arbeidsmetodikk, og ikke minst utføre de daglige prosjektene sammen med kundene som hadde valgt å satse på oss fra starten. Men det var verdt det!

Lønn for strevet fikk vi raskt i form av en åpenbar hunger etter akkurat vår nisjekompetanse i markedet. “Alle” snakket plutselig om sosiale medier, dialog, Twitter og Facebook. Samtidig var finanskrisen i full gang og markedsbudsjetter måtte kuttes kraftig. Det var på tide med en mer moderne, målrettet og kostadseffektiv måte å drive sin kommunikasjon på for landets mange bedrfiter, organisasjoner, departementer og etater.

Sosiale medier på kartet
Det er ingen tvil om at vi, sammen med noen andre dedikerte sjeler, blant annet i Colt, har klart å sette faget som handler om sosiale medier som en naturlig del av kommunikasjonsfaget og markedsmiksen forøvrig på kartet for alvor det siste året. Gjennom en mengde foredrag, undersøkelser (om journalister og Twitter f.eks.) arrangementer som Us Now og Online Spotlight, mediedebatter (den med Aabø og Kokkvold som høydepunkt), samt hundrevis av kurs og workshops har vi vært med på å endre oppfattelsen fra noe man bruker privat til noe som er viktig og nødvendig også på jobben. Det er vi stolte av!

Voksekramper og gledesrus
Suksess kommet ikke uten litt smerter, og etterspørselen har til tider vært større enn vi klarte å levere. Et luksusproblem kan man si, men det må også håndteres. Løsningen ble Twitter. Der fant vi noen av de beste ansatte en arbeidsgiver kan tenke seg. Inn fikk vi Rikke fra Burson-Marsteller, Christina (en av de beste på kullet) fra BI, Ingeborg fra Institutt fra journalistikk (som ble kjent som første ansettelse via Twitter) og Arnt fra Recommended reklamebyrå (og Norges ivrigste tvitrer). I tillegg utvidet vi vår frilanserstab med kjernekarer og verdensklassetalenter som blant annet Designer-Markus.

Der fant vi også  det som skulle bli Sermo Consulting Sweden. Peter Einarsson & Co hadde etablert et parallellunivers hos broderfolket og vi fant raskt ut at vi skulle “join forces”. Og vips var vi 10 personer i Sermo Consulting i løpet av et halvt år – og vi var nordiske…

Historien i tall
Det første kapittelet i vår utrolige reiseskildring er skrevet og for at ikke dette innlegget skal bli på flere sider, vil jeg forsøke å oppsummere resten av det første året i tall her til slutt.

113 har søkt jobb hos oss
4 har fått jobb så langt (flere vil få det)
629 innkommende telefoner fra mulige nye kunder er besvart
0 utgående telefoner til mulige nye kunder
47 nye kunder har kommet inn (Blant annet Color Line gjennom stor pitch)
102 prosjekter gjennomført

378 personer er kurset
2.683 personer har hørt oss på foredrag
189 personer har gjennomført egen workshop

159 blogginnlegg skrevet
612 kommentarer mottatt
53.976 besøkende på bloggen

29.554 mottatte e-post
18.326 besvart

2.231 venner på Facebook
39.782 følger oss på Twitter

Tusen takk til alle som har bidratt til et så begivenhetsrikt år, alle kunder som har stolt på oss, alle kontakter vi har knyttet til oss, alle som har hørt oss snakke om faget og alle som  hjulpet oss med å gjennomføre prosjekter. Dette er bare starten!

Bloggers can yield a great amount of influence with their readers. If you are looking to do Online PR, you have to learn to pitch Bloggers correctly. Just like journalists, they are constantly bombarded by requests. Yours has to stand out – for all the right reasons.

# 1: Select Your Bloggers Carefully & Then Reach Out

Which blogs are actually reaching the audience you want to reach? Don’t look for the biggest blogs. Look for the ones that reach your audience. If you want to reach moms, you probably want to go after mommy Bloggers. If you want to reach early adopters of technology, you want to go after technology Bloggers and also generic Bloggers.

How do you know that a blog has a lot of influence/readership? There are three clearly defined characteristics of an influential blog:

• Check the page rank. Solid blogs generally have a higher Google page rank. Anything 4 and above can be seen as favorable
• Check for comments and responses left by others. An active blog will have regular comments
• Check for how many times they post. Generally, a Blogger who posts three or four times a week is more in touch with their community than someone who posts once a week
• Also check for the tone of the posts, sometimes a positive post can be written with little sarcastic, this might leave many thoughts in the reader’s mind, be careful to look at that aspect
• Research on where all, a particular blog is been referred, most of the times influential Blogs are referred on other Blogs, this will also gain insights of the reliability and genuineness of an influential Blog, not just referred on Social platforms
• Never rely on the number of visits, as it can tweaked. Best thing is to look at the number of posts and number of years a Blogger has been writing
• Have a check on the Blogs if there is an opening of Ad placements on the Blog, those Blogs can be too commercial and cannot be guaranteed of genuine reviews on a particular product
• There are few Blog who just links to other Blogs, should not be considered

Tip # 2: Provide Common Ground- And Be Convincing

How do you convince Bloggers to write about you? You must make an effort to customize your emails to these Bloggers. Capture their interest first, and then work on building a relationship. Remember – they don’t have to care about you or your product. You have an obligation to show them how it can benefit them and their readers.

Tip # 3: Giving Them Control, Make Them Feel Valued as Bloggers

According to a recent survey, it was found that majority of the Bloggers believed that it’s fine to write about products and services, given that they are free to write about it the way they want to. Give Bloggers that freedom. You can also give them something that they can give away to their readers. The easiest way to draw in large ‘crowds’ of readers is by offering a prizes, Goodies to a reader or a bunch of readers who will win in a contest. As for the mechanics of the contest, leave that to the blogger. The blogger probably knows his or her readers better than you. Entrust the prize and let the blogger create the buzz as they see fit.

On a final note, remember that it takes time and patience. When we pitch bloggers for clients, sometimes it takes pitching a 100 bloggers to get 10 positive responses. And, that’s okay. You want to find the ones that your message resonates with in a positive manner.

About 2 years ago, I was struggling with how to illustrate or articulate what I meant by ‘digital PR’ to colleagues. 

 Best place to start, I thought, was to wind all of this back to the beginning and demonstrate why you shouldn’t simply look at digital as a new or different channel to ‘deliver a message’ or ‘raise awareness’.  Of course this can be done, but what I was trying to do was demonstrate that when people turn on their PC, click the browser icon, they have an intention in mind, basic but powerful.  Far more so than picking up a newspaper or or turning on the news.

 The point is, it’s the place to start when considering digital and planning campaigns.  People simply don’t turn on their PC in order to see if people are talking about car insurance.  And is this intention that is so vital to the piece.

I boiled this down to 6 basic reasons or intents:

• News
• Information
• Entertainment
• Communication (and community)
• Self Expression
• Transactional

I was delighted to see that Ruder Finn has been using something similar of late, the intent index and that the marvellous Mr C has a really interesting take on intent as the new demographic – the best place to start is, after all, with the audience.