Archive for the 'Media' Category

28
May
10

Is Social Media our Industrial Revolution?

By Mark Plumb Leave a Comment
Categories: Blogger, Blogs, Business Strategies, Communications, Crisis Communications, Journalism, Journalist, Marketing, Media, Social Media, TV, Twitter and Uncategorized
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Yesterday, I was watching a report about the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  I was surprised to learn that the spill was larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster. I was even more surprised to see how many reporters and analysts were ready to offer opinions on how to clean up the spill, how the U.S. government should be involved and the restitution BP should pay to the American people.  There was instant reaction by bloggers, Twitter and through other types of social media.

I was struck by how social media journalism has become mainstream.  I wasn’t watching objective journalism reporting the events of the day; I was on a roller-coaster of emotion.

The media industry used to be shaped by journalists. Today, enthusiasts, analysts and zealots masquerading as experts join them. Social discussion, opinion and advocacy journalists are filtering the news I see today.  This is a transformative time as we are able to participate in the news and information being disseminated. We are no longer only consumers of information.

Social media has evolved to influence the information we obtain. It is increasingly becoming the preferred method for the acquisition and spread of knowledge among common people.  Is social media our generations’ version of the Industrial Revolution?

In business terms, it is redefining how marketers respond to the marketplace.  It is increasingly important for businesses to have a social media strategy.  Without it, companies are missing important customers, stakeholders and influential opinion makers.  There are conversations taking place about your industry, your company and your market. You need to participate in those conversations to ensure the most accurate information is being disseminated. You need to listen to those conversations to understand consumer perception.

Most importantly, if you are active in social media, your influence in those conversations increases.  This has additional business value:

  • Improved search engine rankings (SEO)
  • More traffic to your company website
  • Ability to quickly respond to crisis situations

Participate in the conversation, by posting a reply to this blog. If you need to improve your social media prominence, contact us at Weise Communications. Check out Weise Communications on Facebook and “Like” it for future updates.

30
Apr
10

Meeting with the media

By Heather Horsey Leave a Comment
Categories: Communications, healthcare, healthcare marketing, Journalist, Media, Media Relations, Newspapers, PR, Social Networking, TV and Uncategorized
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At the Wednesday, May 26, Colorado Healthcare Communicators breakfast, Denver-area media members shared tips, tricks and thoughts on how best to communicate with them. Media members at the breakfast included:

  • Justin Jimenez – Examiner.com
  • Misty Montano – CBS 4
  • Tim Ryan – 9News
  • John Romero – Fox 31
  • Daniel Smith – Your Hub
  • Clayton Woullard – Your Hub
  • Natasha Gardner – 5280 Magazine
  • Jill West – Entercom Radio: KOSI, Alice, 99.9, KEZW
  • Amber Johnson – Denver Post’s Mile High Mamas
  • Mike Cote – ColoradoBiz Magazine

Meeting with the mediaThough these exchanges happen on a fairly regular basis with many different organizations, there is always something for attendees to take away. From this meeting, the media panel emphasized that increased workload and multiple platforms are keeping them very busy. With shrinking staff and increasing content to be created (several outlets talked about new newscasts that are being added and increased frequency of newsletters), media need to do their jobs faster and better. To cut through the clutter and get coverage in a crowded space communicators have to understand the media and help them get the content they need when and how they need it.

By crafting a story to a specific media outlet and showing the contact why this story matters, communicators can help the media to cut time reading through information not pertaining to their outlet or audience. Once the media expresses interest in a story, communicators can further assist by telling the story in the same way that the media tells it. If you are trying to get a story covered by:

  • Television – explain the compelling visual images that could accompany the story.
  • Radio – describe how the story translates to sound including what sound bites are available.
  • Print – identify the most important facts and make clear why the readers of that specific publication would be interested.

At the end of the day, trying to get the media to cover a story means you have to think like the person on the other side of that email, phone call, conversation, Facebook message or Tweet. Why do they care and why will this story interest readers, viewers or listeners?

09
Dec
09

The evolution of inner space

By Jay Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Business Strategies, business to business, business to consumer, Businesses, Creative, Media and Uncategorized
Tags: , ,
The Jaz Drive. Solid State Storage.

The Jaz Drive. Solid State Memory.

After recently purchasing a new external hard drive and being amazed by the advances in technology with respect to cost, I ran across the following infographic and it immediately caught my attention. This infographic shows the evolution of storage media, from the original record players to the latest flash drives and hard drives.

The old rule of thumb has been that every six months technology will double in size or speed and half in price. Well, that may not always be true, but if you haven’t been shopping lately for technology, you’ll be amazed by the current prices.

11
May
09

healthcare and social media (part 2.)

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Blogs, Communications, Marketing, Media, New Media, Press Release, Social Media, trends, Twitter, Viral and YouTube
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As promised, Part 2 of Healthcare and Social Media will focus on two hospitals we think are doing a magnificent job integrating social media into their marketing strategy.

#1 The Mayo Clinic

Last month, the Star Tribune’s Chen May Yee reported on the Mayo Clinic’s communications manager, Lee Aase. Aase is essentially responsible for the hospitals social media marketing programs. He currently keeps the community up to date on the Mayo Clinic’s latest news and events via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Blog accounts.

Aase explains that many patients say they chose the Mayo Clinic for treatment after watching video content on the hospitals YouTube channel. Most notably, “Aase found a six-month-old YouTube video of an exuberant white-haired couple playing the piano in the clinic atrium, to the surprise and pleasure of onlookers. He posted it on Sharing Mayo Clinic. In two weeks, the number of views soared from 1,000 to over 68,000.”

#2 The Children’s Medical Center of Dayton

Dayton Children’s Web site recently posted a media release that detailed their social media marketing implementation strategy. Some of the high-level points include:

-Created a Facebook page in December 2008. The page now has over 500 fans.
-Started the campaign internally, asking employees to become fans of the page first.
-Facebook “Cause” page enables fans (over 800) to donate to Dayton Children’s.
-Marketing communications and development departments are sharing maintienence responsibilities.
-Twitter account was launched in March 2009. They now have over 650 followers.
-Dayton Children’s launched their YouTube page over a year ago.
-Video content includes TV commercials, new stories and patient stories.

Both the Mayo Clinic and Dayton Children’s are doing a great job incorporating social media into their overall marketing campaigns. It’s very interesting that the Mayo has a blog and Dayton’s Children does not. In the same token Dayton’s Children is networking via a localized social media channel (937moms.com) and the Mayo is not.

We hope today’s second installment is very helpful and, we would like to know how your healthcare organization is using social media to reach your employees, patients and families. Please share your story here.

07
May
09

National Breast Cancer Foundation using mobile marketing to reach women

By Joshua Woolery Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Brand Loyalty, Communications, Marketing and Media
Tags: , , , , , , ,

nbcf-promo1According to Mobile Marketer, the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is now using text-messaging to connect with women all of ages.

NBCF is giving women the opportunity to receive text-message reminders for exams, mammograms and appointments. The foundation is hoping that mobile marketing will enable them to hit critical segments within the population, including young women and women of color.

I think this is an extremely smart move by NBCF and I’m glad to see an organization of this size embracing mobile marketing. The text messages should help remind women about their appointments, especially those who may be hesitant or forgetful. This means that more women will come to the hospital to be screened, ultimately saving the lives of more moms, sisters and wives.

The possibilities for text-messaging reminders in the healthcare industry are nearly endless. Reminding patients of important dates can help improve the overall well-being of our communities.

What is your healthcare organization doing to help improve your patients’ experience?

How can make this experience be more personal?

We’d love to hear what you’re doing and how you’ve made a difference for your patients!

30
Apr
09

General Mills…to disclose or not to disclose?

By Joshua Woolery Leave a Comment
Categories: Ads, Advertising, Blogger, Blogs, Brand Loyalty, Cheerleading, Communications, Disclosure, Endorsements, Ethics, Marketing, Media, Product Placement, promotions, Royal Caribbean and Social Media
Tags: ,

General Mills is now using a blog-influencing campaign to encourage over 900 bloggers to try their products and blog about them. The network, MyBlogSpark, is distributing free product samples for the group to try.

genmillsblogsparklogo

Brandweek’s Brian Morrissey mentioned in his article that, “The company (General Mills) suggests bloggers inform readers they receive products for review, although that is not a requirement for participation in the program. It does not compensate the bloggers in any other way, according to David Witt, brand public relations manager for the company.”

Moving forward, I think corporations reaching out to influential bloggers is a good strategy. However, as we made clear in our previous post (CARNIVAL) it is vital that these bloggers clearly disclose the nature of their relationship with said corporation.

At the present time, General Mills does not have a policy like this in place. I feel they should require their members to disclose their relationship in order to participate in the network, instead of taking advantage of the FTC’s sluggishness in putting forth legislation that addresses this issue.

What are your thoughts on bloggers disclosing their relationships with corporations?

28
Apr
09

social media…does your company “get it”?

By Joshua Woolery 1 Comment
Categories: Ad Agency, Advertising, Best of, Blogs, Communications, Marketing, Media, New Media, PR, promotions, Public Relations, Social Media and Twitter

Adopting social media campaigns can be quite a challenge for many businesses. Leading executives are often hesitant to allow consumers to control what is being said about their brand. Many times, consumers aren’t looking for complete control; they are looking for innovative companies to meet them halfway.

Lee Odden recently posted an article on the Online Marketing Blog titled, “25 Must Read Social Media Marketing Tips.”  This post provides tips and best practices from major players in the Social Marketing arena, including representatives from Best Buy, Wells Fargo and General Mills.

The post offers great ideas, strategy and direction for companies who have yet to fully commit to pursuing social media in their marketing strategy. Because of the length of the post, I am only going to repost my favorite pieces of advice from Crayon’s president, Joseph Jaffe.  Below he shares five tips for companies trying to make sense out of defining a social media strategy.

1. Don’t cede control completely to your consumers. They don’t want it. Meet them halfway. Partner with them. Work with them.

2. Marketing is not a campaign; it’s a commitment. If you want lifetime relationships with your consumers, you need to invest in them…genuinely…for life. Begin with investing in what we call at Crayon, “commitment to conversation” (monitoring, optimization, response, outreach, etc.)

3. Learn to deal with negativity. You want the love, but can’t deal with the hate. Criticism is not your enemy; apathy and indifference are. Any negative response from consumers (whether by blog, email or customer service inquiry) is a cry for help AND an acknowledgement that they care (enough to reach out to you…).

4. As per my earlier point, think strategically. We’re currently working with some of our clients to define a social networking strategy. (BEFORE cart before the horse deploying a “Facebook App” for example)

5. That said, we also advise companies to invest in “well-structured experimentation”. We distill this into a very real and workable number – 4: 4 experiments over a calendar year. Is one experiment per quarter that unrealistic or irrationally exuberant? I think not.

Joseph offers some really good advice above. Click here if you would like to read more tips that other influencers have suggested.

27
Apr
09

Media on Twitter

By Beth Hardy 8 Comments
Categories: Media and Twitter

picture-2 Many people have been talking and blogging about this. But in the event you haven’t heard, the Web site MediaOnTwitter.com provides a free, comprehensive database of media who are on Twitter.

A team of PR pros developed this database, including Denverite and partner at Digital Idea Media Melissa Hourigan, social media PR maven Sarah Evans, HARO founder Peter Shankman, and TrackVia’s Ed Dunigan, among others.

As Melissa said, “…we were able to create the most comprehensive MediaOnTwitter global database available. There were a few late night work sessions but the opportunity to give the Twitter community something useful was driving the team to get it done.”

The database enables users to locate media by beat, location, name or media outlet on Twitter. And did I mention it’s free?!

I’ve already started using MediaOnTwitter to find and follow journalists, and I’ve discovered the database to be simple and easy to navigate. This is a great resource for PR people and media alike. Thanks to all who developed this database.

To learn more about MediaOnTwitter, read Melissa’s blog post on Twitter Attraction here.

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