Entries Tagged 'Technology & Gadgets' ↓

Just read a really interesting story by Jason Horowitz over on The New York Observer called ‘Publicists Lauded for Flackery; P.R. Gods Get Freedom From Press.‘

It spells out how Richard W. Edelman, president and chief executive of the public-relations firm Edelman, sees blogs as setting them free from the tyranny of mainstream media.

Speaking at PR Week’s annual public-relations awards:

“It used to be I would schmooze you and I was your flack,” said Mr. Edelman, whose firm netted about $260 million in 2005. “Today, if we want to get a message into the public’s conversation, we just make a post on a blog. If The Wall Street Journal goes after a client, we don’t have to accept that anymore. Let’s post the documents we gave The Journal; let’s show the interviews the newspaper decided not to show. “You’re not God anymore,” he said.”

It is amazing to me that while blogs are lauded as a new and potent defense against spin doctors and marketing hype (and rightfully so) that the world of spin doctors has been similarly set free.

Now that’s a powerful shift in our collective reality.

Although far less known, the second video (Crash Different by Hunter Cressall) is good enough to make you snort your drink through your nose. This can be spectacular when you’re drinking Red Bull while wearing a white shirt (makes a mess of that beautiful Apple polished aluminum as well). The Crash Different video plays off the look-and-feel of the Apple ‘Think different’ campaign. Hey, even if you have seen this video you could watch it twenty times and still laugh out loud (note: this second video has some profanity).

!vb:vs,15151! Now back to our normal programming…

Fight, fight, fight!

What happens when a married couple who are deeply in love (awwwww), work in the same field, and share many of the same professional and personal interests? Do they fight all the time? Shannon and I have many similar interests like technology, computers, golf, music, internet marketing, motorcycles, and many others. Yes, that’s right. Shannon not only LOVES to play golf, she even LOVES to watch it on TV (I am not making this up!!!). While the thought for some of having no separation between work, home, and hobbies (but mostly watching golf) might send some couples screaming from their home I’d say it is as close to heaven on earth as you can get!

Shannon and I are hard-pressed to have a conversation where we don’t have a mutual interest so work discussions are just as cool as a good convo on our mutual passion for motorbikes. OK, I don’t mean to make you queasy with all these personal comments on our business blog about interactive recruitment marketing BUT we like to have fun too and today we thought we’d share some recent barbs that we’ve been trading on the subject of the Mac vs. PC platform.

It’s not fair to label either of us a ‘PC person’ or a ‘Mac person’ because we love and use both systems…WHEN they’re working. Not as much when we’re the family tech support department. I did make the switch one year ago to a Mac. Shannon quite enjoys making fun of me for buying a Mac, but the jokes are tongue-in-cheek and a play on the seemingly age old schism that exists between Mac and WinTel PC elitists that centers on the shortcomings of each platform. In my own experience I have found that Mac’s have plenty of shortcomings, just like WinTel machines, they’re just different shortcomings and I currently happen to prefer Apple’s shortcoming to that of Microsoft’s.

So you can imagine our delight when we find a couple of wonderful parodies that poke fun at both sides.

The first video is a spoof of what would happen if Microsoft re-designed the product packaging for Apple’s iPod. Yeah, we know you’ve probably seen this one ten times already given its hugely successful viral run over the last two weeks, but just in case you haven’t stumbled on it go ahead and watch the video now.

!vb:gv,4313772690011721857,1! Now, head on over to our next video post that has the Hunter Cressall, Crash Different spoof (you won’t be dissappointed).

You may recall our post on word of mouth marketing that promoted the use of blogs and wikis as excellent word of mouth marketing vehicles. I thought I’d add on to that thread with a Top 5 list, or a list of 5ives like Merlin Mann likes to do.

Top 5 Reasons to have a business blog (elevator pitch)

1. Blogs are the most cost efficient means of connecting your business with your people (your customers, your vendors, your job seekers, your employees, your press, your critics, your champions, your next big thing (word-of-mouth).
2. Blogs are two way, interactive vehicles – a social media – they help create conversations.
3. Blogs are viewed as authentic, no bull,
   

   transparrant transparent, real, credible vs. traditional marketing approaches that are often viewed with distrust and cynicism.

4. Blogs get you close to your customer. How close? Ask Bob Lutz, VP and General Manager of GM. Go read his hugely successful auto blog Fastlane. People talk with Bob. Bob listens. Bob talks, people interact. Millions of cars are re-designed, sold, improved. Kinda cool.
5. One word: Google. An entire company built on the back of social and word of mouth marketing. And you thought it was all those TV ads they ran, er…

I just re-read what is now an ‘old’ article from Business Week that was the first highly influential business magazine article that nailed business blogging. It was way back in May 2, 2005. Here’s the article - it was their cover story.

Some helpful quotes:
“If people are talking about my brand (which people are apt to do), I’d rather be part of the conversation.” Heather Hamilton’s blog on Microsoft recruiting.

“What’s going to sell the tourism product more,” asks David Heidenreich, of Ripple Effects “a paragraph of marketing fluff my copyrighter develops or Joe from Pittsburgh talking about his whitewater rafting experience – and here’s a video of him falling out of the raft.”

What are your top 5? Do you agree with these or do you have a better list of 5ives? Come on, share the wealth.

“77% of Google users don’t know it records personal data”

I’d like to say that with my technology and Internet background that I knew as much about Google tracking me as this article in The Register and others I’ve read point out - but I didn’t. While I’m not in the blissfully ignorant category that this story highlights it never makes you feel good about a company or brand when you feel duped by them. Never mind the fact that Google’s privacy policy clearly outlines this practice - they have to, and Google knows that very few people read web site terms or privacy policies (to our own detriment).

On the other hand, Google originally promised NOT to track certain personal data from their popular e-mail service, G-Mail, and later went back on their word (yes, their policy states they may do that as well). How will job seekers react if Google becomes an online recruitment powerhouse and then turns the tables on them?

Google’s recent stand against the Government is bringing their tracking of personal information in to greater focus for all of us and recent news suggests that Google’s stand against Big Brother may have more to do with their own Orwellian self interests than the protection of your privacy. Apparently, Google might be a bit embarrassed by all the porn that searchers find on the engine every day. We’re not getting on the ‘beat Google with a stick bus’ just yet, after all, they’re just a business out to make money and we’ve got no problem with that. What I do object to is some of the holier than thou philosophies (do no harm) that they espouse when they act no differently than other businesses.

Is there any movement on people taking note of corporate morals and ethics? Sure. Take a look at the news portal, ethike* that specializes in news on corporate citizenship, ethics and morals from around the world (I’d recommend that you read their About Us page). Perhaps we’re on the cusp of a whole new business world that the currently idealist Gen Y will help turn in to a future pragmatist’s manifesto.

*In the spirit of openness I wanted to mention that ethike contacted me a month ago about some potential business dealings between us. I do not mention them here to promote them for my benefit but because of the relevancy that their site has on the topic of privacy and corporate responsibility that this story is about. Wow, I feel like a big honest windbag now.