Drew B's take on tech PR

PR blog aggregator, Charles Arthur

I have just been pointed in the direction of a blog aggregator called "Headlines from PR weblogs" by Constantin Basturea at PR Meets the WWW.

Also today I came across Charles Arthur's blog (The Independent) for the first time. Great blog. It's also the best example of a staffer on one of the UK papers using a blog which feeds directly from his job. Most journalists who keep blogs are freelance, or if they're staffers then their blogs are more personal journals. Great to see Charles slating PRs too.

PR blog - use of blogs in business

Here is some great information on how we in PR consultancy should use blogs. NevOn points out 12 ways businesses can use blogs, from Online Business Networks. Of particular use is the section on media.

Buzzword Bingo makes it into Subaru's PR

A blog on Adrants slates a press release by Subaru's agency DDB Worldwide for using boring canned quotes.

When I was a junior PR and I first read Buzzword Bingo as an email joke circular, we would use the lingo in emails to the PR bosses. Needless to say that rather than picking up on our 'Martin Lukes' office lingo, they actually thought we were communicating more effectively!

Here's Subaru's crap quote by Subaru EVP Fred Adcock: "As we continue to innovate and expand our product lineup in the U.S. market, we need to communicate the Subaru brand promise in a way that is relevant, memorable and differentiated in the marketplace."

Task for the day, send an email using a whole row of Buzzword Bingo Lingo, and see what kind of response you get.

CEO, crisis blog, pitching to blogs

So, Richard Edelman III of Edelman and sons, has started a blog. That's a PR CEO blog. It's been written about everywhere else so I thought I'd put it here too.

Over at Micro Persuasion, Steve Rubel is reporting that "If the media are becoming blogs, then PR people also must learn to adapt.... Agencies/corporations should have a TypePad account ready to roll for when the next crisis breaks." We'll have to think about that one!

And at A Penny For there's an interesting blog on PRs pitching to bloggers. It would be good to read more stories like this.

5,000 corporate blogs

I read that the number of serious corporate blogs has reached 5,000. Shel Holtz points to a Business 2.0 article which explores the growth of blogs as business communications tools. I agree with the article's conclusion that: "blogs will become less distinguishable from traditional websites and it will all just be -- again -- about publishing on the Web."

Blog like SEO

Commoncraft has written about the Four Steps to better Online Communications, and highlights how keeping a blog improves search engine visibility. Firms who do not have corporate blogs are missing a trick for precisely this reason. Writing a well worded blog will mean less money needs to be spent on SEO.

Apathy

Here in Europe, mention the word blog to random colleague or friend and nine times out of ten you will get a blank expression, or one of bemusement. In PR circles its more like seven times out of ten, and in technology circles its about evens. But I have spent several years immersed in blogs and have found that a very low level explanation is needed on a weekly basis to demonstrate their value. Here it is.

As you should know, a blog (or web-log) is simply a regularly updated website which communicates the author's views to an online audience. Blogs often take the form of online journals, and the vast majority are simply that - journals. They are often naturally written, opinionated and biased. But they nearly always prove to be compellingly addictive. Now they are starting to emerge as a new brand of 'stand-alone' journalism.

Blogs are being used by early adopters for news and opinion forming. Many companies such as Microsoft, Sun, Google and Nike have their own blogs, and most freelance journalists are turning their websites into blogs.

What is the PR opportunity for harnessing the potential of the blogging community?

Firstly, targeting blogs as a media channel can generate good PR. Blogs which write about your company or product will generate word of mouth, form positive opinions and improve search engine rankings. As many journalists keep blogs, this will also build better relationships with offline as well as online media.
Taking IP telephony, for instance, here are a few blogs which are well read and which translate into traditional offline media coverage:
Om Malik
Christian Harris
Ben Hammersley
Azeem Azhar

Secondly, publishing a corporate blog and promoting it to a target audience of customers, partners and press, offers companies a way of communicating news and opinions in an unobtrusive yet compelling way. New products, media coverage, and opinions can be published easily and quickly.
Here are some corporate blogs which do this well:
Google
Microsoft
Sun Microsystems

The reality is that blogs are changing the way firms and opinion formers are communicating with each other, with the media, and with consumers. Companies are NOW using them to publicise what they are doing. For example, Apple launched the iPod to bloggers to create word of mouth. And this link to a feature in The Guardian on how Blinkx launched to blogger Om Malik and then generated 6million links and 130,00 downloads of its software. If that's not proof that this is really happening then I don't know what is.

Drew B's take on tech PR

Tech makes life worse for over 50s

For the older generation, technology is a curse rather than a blessing. This is the news out today which I heard on The Today Programme then saw in most of the national papers. Although Manchester online says the story best. This is all according to a survey of old biddys. Unsurprisingly, Yours Magazine, which is behing the survey, doesn't have a website. But it was present at the recent National Stitch & Creative Crafts Show! That's ok then.