How I selected my reading list

First of all, I chose blogs that were easy for me to understand.  I am new to this and am eager for the facts in clear language, free of too much industry lingo. Secondly, I chose blogs I thought I would want to read.

I looked for simple page layouts, photos and even a touch of humour. The last thing I enjoy is something that sounds too stiff or corporate-like. Any writers that touched on real life situations definitely inched up their appeal by doing so.

I started with a recommended list of top 10 or top 100 PR blogs and chose.  After that I thought it would be interesting to choose some from Britain and Australia, to see if location still mattered.

Others I picked up while I was researching and I liked what they had to say or were suggested by friends.

I’m still examining my strategies as I read the feeds, though I find the sheer volume of reading  and digesting all the new material a challenge.  It will be an ongoing process.

Some of the blogs I chose and why:

Stuart Bruce – not the usual corporate stuff! Informative and relevant and I loved the picture of him with his family with the elephant. That was probably the clincher.

Chennai Social Media – found it while researching. It’s full of practical tips on how to use existing vehicles well.

Chris Abrahams – I came to it for the language, I’m sure. It’s clever. It’s also a bit complicated for me and one that may fall of the list in future.

Influential Marketing   - Informal language, good information, photos. Love it.

Media Culpa – I was probably attracted to the name. It appears to be a good source of information. I’m going to keep reading it.

Social Media Marketing – I chose this because it’s made it Britain and I wanted to know what’s different coming out of the U.K. vs. the U.S.

Strategic Public Relations – not sure I’m going to stay with this one. With everything out there, it seems to be lacking the personality of some of the others.

The Buzz Bin – interesting content. I like its style and format.

The Intangibles – This is a no brainer. Of course I want to hear what Boyd is telling the world. I also like the informal language, photos and humour.

The PR Warrior –  I chose it because it is Australian and I wanted a different viewpoint. I liked it right away for its personality and the smiling face right at the top.  I’m not that complicated.

The Wall - I chose this one again for its foreign content and so far, have not been disappointed in the content.

Exploring our geeky sides

 

 

A fallen angel from the Lynx Excite campaign

This module, I was most impressed by Augmented Reality (AR). The sci-fi quality of that type of application really appeals to the geek in me and I can imagine it has almost limitless potential.  I came across many impressive ways it was used for public relations activities.

 

To start, I saw how Adidas had launched its new Scotland Football Shirt in a mall in Glasgow, allowing people to put themselves on screen with their favorite players. What a way to create publicity and give a few people a thrill. Those who interacted with the set up in the Buchanan Mall, really seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

 

The Youtube video for Layar. an AR browser for mobile, shows how easy it could be to shop for houses using their service. One can identify houses for sale, then call up information and even call the realtor. That would be a fabulous service for a local BIA or tourist board.  View it here.

 

I tried a watch on here, an interesting way to capture attention and potentially, bring a consumer a step closer to a purchase.

 

Finally,  I found the Lynx Excite campaign using fallen angels.  View the response to them at a London tube station. They left a pretty big impression.

 

 

 

The competing aps this week were QR codes, LBS aps and a discovery engine like Stumbleupon.

 

QR codes or Quick Response codes (photo) work the same way as barcodes, but are two dimensional and hold much more information. They work by having the user take a photo of the code with a mobile phone, which initiates action such as:

 

Connection to a web address

Download a MP3
Dialing a telephone number
Prompting your email client with a sender address

 

They can be read from any angle and can be used in multiples to hold a great deal of data. Now next time you see a realty ad with one of these babies, you'll know what you're missing.

 

Location Based Services (LBS) can be used like maps to show you where the nearest corporate or savvy service has provided data. If you don't happen to know where the nearest Starbucks is, don't fret. Many of the services will offer perks if users in the area "check in" with them, which also lets their friends keep up with them.

 

One of the largest LBS,' Foursquare, invites feedback about the local services, so if you trust what others have said, you may avoid a bad experience somewhere. Seems a little sketchy to me...

 

In terms of PR applications, if your service generates good feedback, it's helpful. LBS check ins can also trigger local advertisements.ON a practical note, it has been said that LBS' can help users keep track of their mileage (if they continually check in as they go through their routes).

 

Discovery engines have been created as a means for beleaguered internet and mobile users to cope with the bombardment of information that all this new technology is offering them. User preferences are provided and thereafter, the engine provides content to match the profile. It sounds a little creepy, but is actually kind of fun. Its hard not to like something that consistently pops up with info to match your interests.

 

Of course the searches are not completely innocent. A rating system drives competition between companies and Stumbleupon offers paying option to help them your "engaged" mind. It sounds like a viable marketing tool.

 

 

 

Appifying just about everything

When I first saw the quote  “Mobile app developers will ‘appify’ just about every interaction you can think of in your physical and digital worlds"  (Scott Ellison, IDC mobile and wireless),  I had a hard time with it. I thought it was geeky and overblown. Was my future phone going to make my future coffee? As I may have mentioned, I don't have a smartphone. Then I started to look at the trends and I started to feel like the world was becoming the one Woody Allen woke up to in The Sleeper.

I found that,  according to a study commissioned by mobile application store operator GetJar, the mobile application market will reach $17.5 billion by 2012. By then, the number of mobile application downloads will have also grown to nearly 50 billion from just over 7 billion in 2009, and that a year ago January 26, The Globe and Mail reported that:

“...research firm Gartner Inc. forecast the worldwide mobile app market to surpass US$15.1-billion in revenue in 2011, an increase of 190% from the US$5.2-billion mobile applications generated in 2010. By mid-decade in 2014, Gartner is expected that figure to reach US$58-billion, marking growth of 1,000% from 2010 levels.”

1000% increase by 2014?

Then I learned that they can locate and unlock a Zip Car, act as health monitors for diabetes patients and track the development of a pregnancy. That applications are growing in the areas of mobile payments; spooky, J. Bond-like "near field communications"  (contactless data transfer between compatible devices placed within 10 cm of each other); money transfer through short message services (a need in the developing world); location based services (aps that tap into your phone’s GPS to offer location based services such as directions to local businesses) and last but not least, for all the marketers: mobile search aps to drive sales and marketing  opportunities on the phone.

There could easily be an app for making the coffee. Wait for it. 

A blessing and a curse

As I delve into the explosion of social media tools, I am astounded by the innovation and creativity through which they are used. I really love Twitter for its potential to create positive change - greater transparency, an honest news feed (or atleast one that is unfiltered by corporate interests), its use in crisis communications.

Sometimes I am a little unsettled by the way some platforms, which appear at first to be benign mediums for social interactions, have opened the doors to so much marketing, while somehow managing to label it organic. It's a wierd dilemna for someone who works in public relations!

Maybe I just have something against Starbucks http://www.facebook.com/ads/stories/. I loved the Skittles campaign http://mashable.com/2010/10/18/skittles-dazzle-the-rainbo/.

I haven't really sorted out how individuals really steeped in social media find the time to do anything but stay current. Is that why so many people are stuck to their smartphones? I guess I answered my own question.

Great video on social media use for PR

Really great video on the changing face of media and how to use social media well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOzylUcfUeQ&feature=related

Getting to know more about social media

Social media is not completely new to me, but I am a bit of a dinosaur when it comes feeling comfortably savvy about all of the ins and outs and their uses for public relations. I  admit that I have not taken the time to re-familiarize myself with the new FB or to completely understand the "like" functions and what all the connections imply. I have noticed the new connections to Twitter and am occasionally asked via email to participate in petitions that appear connected to FB through applications.

I have a Twitter account, but I have never tweeted and I don't have a smart phone. I know that many cynical non-users believe the users tweet each other when they go to buy coffee. But I am a bit of a fan. I see Twitter as very important in replacing some of the traditional media functions.

Being available to individuals not constrained by corporate interests, Twitter has a role in liberating important world news and events from potential political and corporate interests. No meetings required. No committee decisions needed. I appreciate it for that, though I fear what might be a social addiction to those short sentences. Don't get me started on texting.

It's been a while since I was directly involved in media relations, but I got rid of my own cable subscription last year and admit to using some of the major papers as litter box liners while catching up on the news online, so I can see the world of media has changed and I've changed with it, though I didn't notice it happening.

This course is my attempt to catch up with the world around me and learn more about the implications of  emerging social media platforms and evaluate their uses for public relations activities, good and bad.