Time for a change. Having sold Fuse PR to Racepoint Group in 2006, and as much as I will miss everyone, it's time for me to leave the business in very fine hands and, well, do something else instead.
One thing I'm really looking forward to is developing and growing MarCom Professional. We've got some cool ideas, as you'd expect I hope, and we'd love to hear your feedback and ideas too. So, fancy a pint? If you are in London on the 20th May, I invite you to join us at the Dog and Duck in Soho.
I've just made an event post with the what, where and when, and I hope to see you there. Of course, if you fancy having your own meetup elsewhere, please make an event post and we'll promote it in next week's roundup.
Talking about "where and when", you'll be able to see if Andrew Grill makes it on the 20th. As he describes in his post this week, he's fired up Google Latitude on his mobile to communicate his location real-time to gain practical insight into what location based services might actually feel like for the end user. Pontificating on location based marketing is all very well, but its success will pivot on gaining insight like this into the consumer experience.
Best regards, Philip and the MarCom Professional team.
9021OMG How Blatant is That?!?
by Chris Applegate of Outside Line
In these days of campaign seeding, blogger outreach, teasers for TV spots, and grassroots promotion, it’s refreshing to see that some people are still playing it old-school. Witness this weeks episode of 90210, and Dr Pepper’s non-to-subtle product placement. Apparently the line of dialogue “We’re on a road trip. Drinking Dr. Pepper is practically a requirement” actually features in the episode, but we’ll have to take Vulture’s word on that, as we’re too busy watching Lost and Green Wing to sully our Sky+ planners with American teen cheese … More...
In Social Media, The SEC Protects Investors and Companies by Removing 'Relations' from IR
by Brian Solis of PR 2.0
What follows is the unedited version of my post on TechCrunch, "Corporate Tweets and the SEC: Sometimes It’s Better To Keep Your Mouth Shut."
Credit: Daniel Y. Go
Last year, I covered the landmark SEC decision to recognize corporate blogs and potentially other forms of Social Media as a recognized form of meeting public disclosure requirements under Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) – in some cases. It was a significant validation of a widely recognized medium for facilitating information between companies and stakeholders. More...
Advertising Spilling Over
by Chris Applegate of Outside Line
We highlighted a BMW advert a few weeks back where Content played second fiddle to Placement, with a BMW mockingly towering over an Audi billboard, answering it’s call.
As we said then, very aggressive, very American. But what if you were to go somewhere else? Somewhere like American but without the bravado?
Yup, it’s Canada - Montreal in fact - where a paint company promoted their “recylced paint scheme” with a genius bit of billboard work, recycling the Apple paint spills, and again making Placement the king. More...
Where am I? With Google latitude now everyone knows
by Andrew Grill of Gigafone
As many of you know, I worked in the mobile location (LBS) space for nearly 4 years while GM of Seeker Wireless, and as such I still have a real passion for the LBS space.
I have been following closely what Google have been doing with Google Mobile Maps, Google latitude, and now the Google latitude API.
Today I read on the Google latitude site that they now have the ability to allow a badge or application to display your current location - as detected by Google mobile maps (GMM).
This is significant, because now bloggers and developers can use the power of Google’s massive location platform (with a user’s permission) to start to do some really smart things with location and LBS. More...
Scott Monty of Ford Motor Company discusses social media
by David Meerman Scott of David Meerman Scott
Yesterday I was at the worldwide headquarters of Ford Motor Company and had an opportunity to connect with my friend Scott Monty, Ford's digital and multimedia communications manager.
I asked Scott about what social media initiatives are happening at Ford. Watch the video to hear Scott talking about the new Fiesta Movement, working with bloggers (hint: they are not all the same!), and why all large companies need to be active in social media.
Direct link to YouTube video here.
It was particularly interesting for me to learn about the Fiesta Movement. More...
Collapsonomics and surviving a recession
by Rebecca Caroe of Creative Agency Secrets
I have written about new business models and new ways of working and earning in the new economy. Now Dougald Hine who I met earlier this year has started a new project specifically to write and consult on the wittily-named "Collapsonomics ". Here's the definition collapsonomics, n.
1. The study of economic and state systems at the edge of their normal social and economic function, including preventative measures to avoid destructive feedback loops and vicious cycles.
2. A consulting practice based on the scientific and historical understanding of collapse conditions, and responses to them. More...
Lines Blur as 'The Idea' Reinforces its Hero Marketing Status
by Trevor Young PR Warrior of Parkyoung
In marketing, advertising, public relations, promotions etc, there is constant talk (and rightly so) about the idea of being 'king'. And, as Tourism Queensland's 'Best Job in the World' campaign has clearly demonstrated, what was inherently a 'PR idea' has been largely developed and driven by an advertising agency - Cummins Nitro.
He/she with the best idea wins! The line between marketing disciplines is certainly blurring, even more so as social media starts to work its way into the communications equation. More...
FriendF(r)eed?
by Ben Matthews of Pudding Relations
There’s been a lot of buzz on Twitter of late about the rapid increase in FriendFeed follower notifications that people are getting.
FriendFeed recenty redesigned its design to become more in line with Twitter’s ’stream of consciousness’ style. Facebook also recently tried to do something similar with the changes to their news feed.
This was a a smart move by FriendFeed; Not only can you see your friend’s status updates, but also any blog posts, images, videos, and many other social content all from your FriendFeed home page. More...
Before You Open Your Mouth: The Keys to Great Public Speaking
by David Meerman Scott of David Meerman Scott
Nick Morgan asks: "Why is most public speaking so awful? Why do we subject our fellow human beings to this form of torture when there are so many better things we could all be doing, like cutting our toenails, baking snickerdoodles, or watching re-runs of The Prisoner?"
Nick is the author of my favorite book on public speaking Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma.
I have worked closely with Nick on improving my speaking skills. He knows what he is talking about!
Nick just released a ChangeThis manifesto called Before You Open Your Mouth: More...
What we all really want is ATTENTION
by David Meerman Scott of David Meerman Scott
Since it's Friday, I'd like to be bold and boil down thousands of conversations I've had over the past ten years into one word: ATTENTION.
Image credit: engincamp
Entrepreneurs, CEOs, and business owners want people to pay attention to their company. Marketers, PR pros, advertisers, and salespeople are on the payroll for one reason: To generate attention.
In thinking about attention, there seem to be four main ways to generate it today.
You can BUY attention
This is called advertising. More...
