Photo courtesy of Randy Le'Moine PHotography via Flickr
It’s time for my weekly round-up of the best blog posts I have seen around the web this week! Here’s the top five in no particular order…
Blink-182 Finds Fans Illeagally Using Their Music on You Tube and Rewards Them via MackCollier.com
“I’m so in love with Blink-182 right now! The band is getting ready for their first new single in eight years, and they came up with a pretty fascinating way to promote the song. They teamed up with AT&T and found every instance of where a fan was using their music without permission in their videos on YouTube. Then the band took a few dozen of the videos and spliced them together to create a music video for their new single, Up All Night. Then they named all the fans at the end of the video that were represented in their video.
And they thanked them.”
Boutique PR Agency vs. Large PR Agency: The Pros and Cons via Spin Sucks
“Most of you know I spent the early days of my career at Fleishman-Hillard. I loved that job. It was where I learned all about PR, but also where I came out of my shell.
When I interviewed for the job, the GM of our office, Gary Kisner, asked me where I saw myself in five years. I remember looking around his office and saying, ‘In here looks good.’
He laughed at me and offered me the job on the spot.”
Abercrombie’s Latest Move – Bad PR or Calculated Branding Campaign via PR Breakfast Club
“Being the news aficionado’s that we PR Pros are, by now I’m sure that you caught the news that Abercrombie & Fitch coincided a release about their fiscal 2nd quarter earnings increasing 64% with a not so subtle side note that they have offered money to Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino from MTV’s “Jersey Shore” to stop wearing the clothing brand on their show. Hmmm. Interesting footnote to an earnings release, don’t you think?
Now, I have never seen one millisecond of the TV show but I have seen commercials for it leading me to believe that it not only isn’t something that I would want to watch but falls under the category ‘Realty Trash’ in my book. However, Abercrombie’s announcement did give me pause to think, ‘Was this a smart move or bad PR?’ After all, it seemed like a calculated risk for them to blatantly send a message to viewers of one of the top Reality shows in the U.S. that they think Mike ‘The Situation’ is a bad influence and dare I say, a loser.”
Is PR the New Face of Journalism? via The Buzz Bin
“Newspapers have been through a cruel cycle. Newsrooms get cut, reporters do more with less and readers and advertisers focus on digital – repeat. The documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times does a great job telling us how 2009’s economic downturn shook the industry.
What it doesn’t cover is that new media isn’t finished with journalism. How will we pay for news when information is free?”
Five Tips for More ‘Targeted’ Press Releases via PR Newser
“We’ve noticed on our Twitter feed that a PRNewser story posted last year has had a resurgence of popularity: ‘Survey: 75 Percent of Journalists Find ‘Targeted’ Press Releases Useful.‘
With that in mind, we thought it was time for a follow-up that takes a closer look at how to make your press releases more “targeted” and “high quality.” For many, this will be a refresher course, but it’s good to be reminded. After the jump, five tips for making your release a must-read to the writers you’re pitching.”
And a recap of what happened on Cision Blog
Twitter TMI: Are your corporate tweets too personal?
“When you’re tweeting for a brand, what you say on Twitter can be a bit of a mixed bag. People tweet what they are having for lunch, but is that kind of tweeting out of place for a brand?
I recently tweeted something I thought would show my sense of humor. I like to think I’m so funny I should be a stand-up comedian. Unfortunately, I lost a follower because they thought my tweet was unprofessional, but on the other hand, another follower gave me a tip for the problem I tweeted. Was my tweet too personal? I’m not really sure. I didn’t think it was when I tweeted it, but looking back maybe it was. I try to let my personality show through my tweets on the @Cision handle, but how personal should you really get when tweeting from a corporate handle?”
How has Social Media changed our ability to generate earned media?
“As the saying goes, ‘A happy customer tells one friend, and unhappy customer tells everybody.’ What happens when that unhappy customer has a massive following on Twitter, Facebook or Google+? Social media has super-charged earned media allowing your brand advocates or brand attackers to quickly promote or tear apart your brand or the branded content you’ve worked so hard to create.”
Biz vs. Art: Who’s Hiring – A Teaser
“We have been crunching some numbers over here at Cision blog, really taking a hard look at newspapers during these tumultuous years to help give a little more articulation to what is largely regarded as their death, and lo do we have some more figures for you. This time we have dug into some beat comparisons, drawing out what looks to be a substantial shift in newspaper coverage since 2009. There are many conclusions we are hoping to draw, but you are going to have to find the long of it at our sister site,The Navigator, tomorrow. With this post I was hoping to raise a few questions.”
Using tags to track your blog’s direction
“Usually when I’m tagging a blog post I’ve just written, I’m thinking about highlighting people, brands and concepts that I’ve mentioned in the post that readers might be searching for. But tags can serve another very important function, which I think few bloggers representing brands take advantage of: tracking the progression of themes and topics that weave through your content.”
