Drew B's take on tech PR

links for 2007-02-17

• FT.com / Your money - Web offers dream of riches
  Ellen Kelleher of the Financial Times does a *very* basic article on what blogs are. Other features in this paper have been better positioned and better researched.
• UK farmers get broadband, blogging, and social networking at The Blog Herald
  According to the Guardian, around 70% of British farmers are now connected to the Internet, with a large percentage of those having broadband connections. This is leading to increased online activity
• 30 things we learned at 3GSM 2007
  Mobile social networking is a hot topic. There were lots of companies - many of them startups - promising to create MySpace-like communities for mobile.
• 3 UK Offers Range of Social Networking Sites Via 3G Phones
  3 UK announced a partnership with social networking gateway provider Intercasting which will allow users access to online communities from their mobile handset.
• Vecosys: London social media scene rocks next week
  Events coming up next week include BarCamp2, Identity Society, Future of Web Apps, Who Wants Tomorrow's Papers, Geek Dinner, Girl Geek Dinner, and What Comes Next Web 3.0.

FAT BLOGGERS

This'll be my weight update... cringe.

Wk 1 - 13st 1, 183 pounds

On blogging in the media this weekend

On Radio 4 this weekend, Newsnight's David Grossman took a look at the UK's most prolific political blogger, Guido Fawkes. Listen here.

Some new PR blogs for my RSS reader

Following the blog special in last week's PR Week, I've come across some new PR blogs that I'm subscribing to. Ellee Seymour who was profiled in the PR Week feature and I'd not come across her blog before. It's a good read.  HackFlack is a blog that talked about the PR Week feature - I found it trawling through blog searches. HackFlack says: "In 2005 I jumped across the fence to learn a new trade in PR. This blog charts my journey from Hack to Flack." Tim benjamin was also written about in the article, and his blog's here. He has an impressive CV and blogs about some cool stuff. Lastly Manchester's PushOn is a SEO flavoured blog with some good PR content in amongst the web tinkering chat.

Obama's social online fan club

Today's FT carries a story on Barack Obama's social media following - in particular, the fastest-growing group ever to emerge on Facebook: "Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)". You can see the group here (Facebook membership required) and the story is on the front page on FT.com right now:

Mr Obama’s recruits there will pale in comparison with his virtual support group of devotees who have signed up to his cause on Facebook, the social networking site that has spread like wildfire among college-going youth since 2003.

In the three weeks since Mr Obama created his exploratory presidential committee on January 16, a spontaneous online community group on Facebook “Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)” has enlisted 244,225 members.

That makes it not only the fastest-growing Facebook group but also perhaps the most instantaneous creation of a political community of supporters for any presidential candidate.

links for 2007-02-09

• A Glimpse of Democratized TV
  "In five years, fifty percent of the content you watch on your high definition television will not be delivered by your cable or satellite provider but by a "youniverse" of publishing individuals connected to the Internet."
• Xansa at NASSCOM 2007
  One of our clients, Xansa, is reporting from NASSCOM India using Twitter, Flickr and blogs.
• PR Week's weekly podcast - Blog Special
  "Lewis PR's resident blog expert, Drew Benvie, talks to PRWeek about the blogs all PROs need to know about and why keeping abreast with just some some of the ones that matter is time well spent." argh!
• Scoble blogging from LIFT - Wikipedia running out of cash?
  "Florence Devourad, chairwoman of the Wikipedia Foundation, warned the audience this morning at LIFT that they need more funds to keep servers up and running."

links for 2007-02-07

• IMified - Instant Productivity
  Imified is an instant messenger buddy that works accross all major IM networks and offers access to a growing number of web applications and tools. Courtesy of Micropersuasion
• Tom Coates talks a little about moving to the US
  One of the UK's biggest tech and media bloggers says about his possible move: "It was a good week that calmed many of my gut-wrenching horror nerves about the practicalities of moving to the US"
• European startup Plazes raises €2.7m
  Plazes, based in Zurich and Berlin, is announcing its first institutional round of financing
• One-Third of Frequent YouTube Users are Watching Less TV to Watch Videos Online
  "Over three-quarters (76%) of 18 to 24 year old males say they have watched a video at YouTube, and 41 percent visit YouTube frequently."
• An Inventive Video Journey To Web 2.0 : Somewhat Frank :: Web 2.0 ● Technology ● Life :: Blog by Frank Gruber
  A cracking video about what Web 2.0 is, titled, "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us"
• About stealth and buzz marketing in the UK: Psst! Have you heard? | Advertising | MediaGuardian.co.uk
  "The buzz marketing industry in Britain is almost totally unregulated. Stealth marketing, when it occurs, appears to be in breach of several articles of the Committee of Advertising Practice Code"
• Micro Persuasion: Indy Colts Internet Guru Blogs on Sports Marketing
  Superbowl winners the Indianapolis Colts' sports marketing boss blogs, and more on their soon to be launched social network.

Media management 2.0 - Boston-gate stunt of the year

Blogging here has been a little light over the past two weeks as I've been on paternity leave. Barely time to open the iBook let alone check out the news. I've had to do a bit of work too, here and there, but only today did I manage to get some time to catch up on my feeds.

The best PR story I've seen from my break (and perhaps of the last 12 months) has to be this tale of guerilla stunts and hilarious media management. Guerilla marketing firm Interference Inc has pulled off a whopper of a PR stunt in the US that has set the world's media on fire: [link] "So these two guys put some LED monster things around the city of Boston as guerrilla viral advertising for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoon. This being the US they get arrested for being terrorists clearly intent on blowing up the city with their LED monster things. They then have the best post-court press conference ever, in which they insist on talking about the history of hairstyles and nothing else."

This story has been massive, and has dwarfed everything else online even in the run up to the Superbowl: "On BlogPulse's video rankings, the Boston issue takes two of the top five video slots, including the #1 position. As of midnight this evening, it also ranks #1 on Technorati. Quite a few variables are keeping the story alive, from debates over whether the campaign's a success (measured by awareness & reach) to the unrepentent antics of the two guys who ran around Boston putting up the devices."

My interest in this story focuses not only on how and why the stunt became so huge (why exactly did this become reported as a bomb threat when it's reportedly been done without alarm before?) but how the story perpetuated online and how the media was managed.

Blog comments include: " 'I’m sorry, that’s not a hair-related question' really does need to enter the vocabulary of future post-arraignment press-conferences" and "Given the choice of saying “no comment” or making fun of the media for persisting to ask questions that they know can’t be answered, I am damned happy to see someone stand up and indirectly point out the utter and completely inane stupidity of the reporters on the scene."

What a huge stunt that's raised far more awareness for Interference Inc, Turner and ATHF than I'm sure they could ever have hoped for. And what a response to the media at that press conference. Successful result? Seems they're having to stump up $2m in compensation, so not ideal! But was the publicity for the show worth it in the end? Just to put it into perspective, the fine works out at less than a 30-second Superbowl ad.