May 18th, 2010
News or noise? That’s the question facing journalists and those who need accurate reporting …which would be all of us … today. The greatest shifts in standard reporting practices since yellow journalism are accelerating, several recent surveys show.
A great surge among reporters using social media tools … blogs, videos, podcasts and Twitter … has taken place. The latest Survey of Media in the Wired World found that almost 70 percent of journalists use social media, up by 28 percentage points since 2008. Nearly 80 percent of journalists said bloggers are important opinion-shapers, and 91 percent thought social media actually enhanced journalism.
Is that just Putting on a Happy Face? Maybe. Other surveys show journalists are deeply concerned about their profession. The disappearance of gatekeepers (i.e., editors) who monitor objectivity and check facts is not such a good thing. Neither are layoffs, which are frequent among working journalists. Those who are left have much larger workloads, smaller traditional news spaces and many demands to produce content for multiple platforms. Of course, social media have opened up many new sources and given journalists a chance to actually have two-way discussions with their readers and viewers.
It’s no surprise that a recent survey showed most journalists find that public relations firms are more important than ever to their work. Public relations professionals, often former reporters themselves, can help working journalists find good ideas for stories, provide accurate relevant information, and locate experts and others who are good, solid sources. Working together, we can make sure legitimate reporting will be heard over all the noise online and in traditional media. And that’s good news.
What are your thoughts about this shift? Contact me by commenting here, or e-mail me at ktwinem@paulwerth.com.
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April 14th, 2010
 Hello, my name is Kim, and I’m a word geek. Fair warning: I consider Scrabble to be a competitive sport. And I’m not a supporter of counting proper names as per the “new rules” of the game. Sounds like cheating to me.
In college, I willingly decided to write a thesis on Cajun French’s metamorphosis into English through gradual adoption of English words. What people do with language is fascinating to me. This natural curiosity is what led me to a career in communications, and eventually I came face to face with another kind of linguistics — the keywords leveraged in search and digital marketing.
A recent AdAge post about the future of social media got me thinking about the semantic Web — #10 on this list of 2012 trends. Instead of rankings based upon everyone’s search frequency, search results will be ranked based upon each individual’s affinity for search terms. This will be derived from social media conversations with keyword mentions.
This change is taking search to a new level. Filtering search results based upon previously expressed interests is nothing new in the retail world. Most retail clothing sites already give me handy “You may also like…” suggestions. Now, generic search will serve up the same filtering, across the Web.
What does the semantic Web mean for marketers?
- Transparency will persist in importance. The relatively new FCC guidelines for blogger disclosure of sponsorship are just the beginning. Accuracy of information will become more objectively vetted, driving digital accountability.
- Privacy protection will continue to be a sensitive issue. What are the implications of tracking each person’s search interests and using the information for marketing? This concern overlaps with neuromarketing fears.
- Relevance of search results will theoretically be enhanced. The semantic Web will provide information in the context of each individual’s innate interests. But, what if people don’t want filtered information? Fine-tuning search based upon each person’s desired settings for filters will be critical.
- Limiting the World Wide Web to individual interests could defeat its very purpose. The Web puts us in a position of having the world at our very fingertips. If overly restrictive, semantic Web executions could have us all wearing blinders. And keep in mind that those blinders will be crafted based upon an interpretation of our interests — not truly our own determination. This New York Times article does a good job of explaining the problem of digital fragmentation, where we self-select the content with which we are most comfortable — instead of reviewing 360-degree viewpoints. This is a significant problem for objective and factual news reporting and assessing opinions from all sides.
Where do you see this trend going during the next three years? Are you already planning for the implications on your target audience promotions? Plan ahead now, while you have the luxury. Contact me by commenting here, or e-mail me at kratcliff@paulwerth.com.
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January 21st, 2010
Today’s news media are a far cry from what my mother experienced in the Walter Cronkite-era of my youth. Social media invigorate our communications, broaden our networks and make content-sharing much more immediate.
How will our communications possibilities be transformed by the mainstreaming of social media this year? Here are my thoughts:
- People will continue to gravitate toward news that is shareable. We are social beings, and there’s power in using our social networks to share news in real time. On Sunday mornings, I curl up with my newsreader and share content with friends separated by time and space. Big news organizations realize this and have made the ShareIt icon ubiquitous, because news shared in context takes on greater meaning. There are more news stories out there and more in-depth discussion as a result of sharing content.
- News publishing that encourages us to be the correspondent isn’t just more engaging – it has more impact for the news audience. This interactive map from The New York Times’ site is a good example. The before-after impacts of the Haiti earthquake are palpable. It’s clear that we like to share the news with our friends, and we like it even more when it’s combined with visuals that “take us to the news.”
- Action-oriented news can make a difference. Recent fundraising for Haiti relief efforts and geo-targeting police abuses in Iran give us practical ways to use Twitter for human benefit. When news becomes meaningful information that people care enough to do something about, it makes a measurable difference.
Simply reading a two-dimensional paper at the kitchen table in the morning like my mother used to do is no longer enough. We must be able to experience the news through our senses, in multiple dimensions – along with friends on the other side of the world.
The kitchen table “newspaper” experience just got personal, global and substantive. And, because new media are breaking down communications barriers, even my mother is tapping into the possibilities. She recently joined Facebook.
If you are marveling at the new media mix and relishing the possibilities, drop me a line at kratcliff@paulwerth.com, or comment here. I look forward to reading your thoughts – and starting the dialogue.
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November 30th, 2009
What’s that sound? It’s the sands of time, the ticking clock and and my unfinished to-do list — all being eaten whole by Facebook, Twitter and my blog. Prioritizing social media time is a challenge in today’s communications world. How do people draw the line between true engagement and online time-wasting?
I was recently asked a question about this on a panel. The question was:
How do you find hours in the day to “do” social media for yourself and clients? Doesn’t it take up all of your time?
The answer? It can — if you let it. The best way to carve out the time is to set limits on how much time to devote to each social media footprint. The worst thing for me is to leave my time wide open. Like most of us, I can’t usually afford to let my time evaporate. I’ve got a family to get home to, client deadlines to meet and other normal life commitments.
I try to spend 30 minutes on each Twitter account per day — 15 each in the morning and the afternoon or evening. I keep myself focused on content within my industry areas of interest and don’t get sidetracked. With the blog, it’s a couple of hours a week. Just one post a week, usually. And then I’m reading others’ blogs through my reader, usually an hour a day.
Then there’s Facebook. How much sharing is enough, really? I try to limit myself to sharing just a few items per day of others’ content, with a couple of status updates and/or content of my own.
It does add up, all told. At least 10 hours a week is a standard commitment for just one social media account.
What are others’ experiences? Amber Naslund, director of community at Radian6, recently put up a good series of posts about time management in the midst of social media. Bottom line, it’s about knowing one’s goals and setting priorities aligned with them. She shares helpful information to guide social media priorities.
For me, it’s all about the balance. Easy to write about, not easy to strike! DM me on Twitter with questions, or leave a comment here on the blog if you have ideas that work for your own social media time management.
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September 9th, 2009
Brands that elicit emotion attract devotion—and loyal followers. In The 18 Immutable Laws of Corporate Reputation, Ron Alsop describes this phenomenon:
That elusive emotional spark between a company and its stakeholders makes some reputations soar and never lose altitude.
Sophisticated measurements—even MRIs as described by Martin Lindstrom in Buyology—can track individual emotional reactions and the brain’s response to the appeals of marketing. Neuro-marketing is all the rage now thanks to self-described brand futurist Lindstrom, and the revelations from his $7 million study are riveting. The study provides evidence that purchasing decisions once considered to be driven by deliberate thought are in fact driven by instinct, deeply embedded and hard-wired into our nervous systems.
But describing and quantifying emotional connection to brands is different than feeling the connection. Lovemarks, coined by Saatchi and Saatchi, describe the beyond-brand nirvana of sensory connection to products. Lovemarks are in the upper-right corner of the quadrants formed by the love and respect continuums, squarely defined by high love/high respect. Our senses are clearly connected to our emotional responses to branding, and lovemarks embrace this.
One brand that’s leveraging the lovemark and Alsop’s seventh law is Ohio: The State of Perfect Balance. This is Ohio’s new brand. The “O” logo is now on driver’s licenses and is being implemented across all areas of state government. From the economic development perspective, the concept behind this brand is that business leaders can build their business AND love their life—something that’s clearly not possible on the coasts and in other areas that require large commitments of time for commute. Place branding has the power to draw more people to Ohio through emotional connections.
Take a moment to consider the brands that evoke emotional reactions for you. Comfort. Inspiration. Hope. Love. Protection. Relaxation.
What gut-level reactions do you associate with different brands? Compare notes with your colleagues. Is your own company’s brand a lovemark? Almost every brand has a lovemark they can cultivate and leverage. The best way to discover it is through research. Take action today to make your brand a lovemark.
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August 28th, 2009
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August 18th, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Paul Werth Associates senior account supervisor Caroline Cofer Golon has been featured – along with her cat Romeo – in Columbus Dispatch feature writer Joe Blundo’s Aug. 18 column. This is the latest coverage of Golon’s endeavor to raise money for animal rescues leveraging social media platforms.
The Dispatch column chronicles the Werth origins of Golon’s free-time pastime, which arose from a friendly debate among colleagues whether Twitter users would follow updates posted in the guise of her Persian rescue cat Romeo.
More than 6,000 Twitter followers later, having raised more than $20,000 for animal rescues and more than $250,000 in earned media coverage, Romeo’s popularity continues unabated, Golon said.
“Romeo has become something of a star,” Golon said. “While this is a fun personal project for me, it also allows me to make a difference for worthy animal rescue causes across the country. I have also been invited to speak about my experience at professional conferences and by pet-focused businesses. Who knew that Twittering could make such a difference?”
“It’s a testimony to the power of Twitter – or, perhaps, cats,” Blundo wrote in his column’s introduction. “Of course, the cat has a good ghost-Tweeter: Caroline Cofer Golon, who works for Paul Werth Associates, a public-relations company in Columbus.”
About Paul Werth Associates
Founded in 1963, Paul Werth Associates is a full-service public relations, marketing and public affairs firm counseling clients throughout the United States. The firm has offices in Columbus, Ohio and Washington, D.C.
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August 18th, 2009
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August 14th, 2009
As a student in my beginning years of college, my fine art professor told me, “You must have a unique style.” Which I didn’t.
As I gravitated toward design, my new professor told me, “Whatever you do, don’t have a unique style. You must adapt and design to your clients’ needs, not yours. An agency whose work all looks the same will be temporary.”
That really stuck with me. It wasn’t just one of those things that I learned in school and applied it because someone told me that was the right answer. It was, and is, one of those things that just makes sense. Her lesson is something that I truly believe and will always think about before approaching any branding project.
But, there are trends, and sometimes those trends tend to grow into styles, and once that happens, it’s all over.
The other day I walked through our break room and saw an annual report lying on the table, designed by another agency. The cover caught my eye because it was smartly designed. But once I opened it, I knew the agency that designed it.
Later in the day, I received a direct mail piece from a company. I investigated further and found that it was created by the agency that designed the annual report. Again, I saw the same trendy look. These work samples were created for two different clients, in different industries—but the designers executed almost the exact same brand guidelines. It seems that the agency is using the same brand for its book of business. That’s just not right. Clients deserve better than recycled brands.
Here’s my approach—and what you will see in the work of Paul Werth’s creative:
The brand represents the one-of-a-kind soul of an organization and should shine through in every work of design. Our work reflects each company’s unique soul, not our own.
Ask yourself this question:
Does your agency interview you before each project, as a continuing opportunity to know what you and your projects are all about? Are they seeing your brand through their company’s lens or the lens of your company’s soul?
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on authentic and unique, company-specific branding. Please drop me a line, as a comment on this blog or personally, at kwaldron@paulwerth.com.
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July 20th, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Who swiped the missing slice? That’s the mystery Corporate Research International has posed in The Missing Slice Sweepstakes, an online contest created in conjunction with Paul Werth Associates, a Columbus-based public relations, public affairs and marketing firm.
Seeking to spread the word about Corporate Research International’s capabilities to support small businesses – like independent pizza shops – through its customizable mystery shopping product Eye On Your Business, the Findlay, Ohio-based shopping research provider developed with Werth The Missing Slice Sweepstakes, which engages local pizza shop fans to nominate their favorite for the Missing Slice Award.
“The Missing Slice Award is given to the pizza shop that serves pizza so good you can’t help swiping a slice,” said Mike Mallett, president of Corporate Research International. “CRI wants to provide local pizza shop customers with a forum to tell their whole community why their local pizza shop is better than all the rest.”
Werth developed a short humorous online video to help promote the contest, which will award $1,000 in free pizza to the winner of a drawing among all contest entrants. Werth also developed promotional material toolkits for pizza shops and is leveraging Corporate Research International’s Facebook page, Twitter account and small business blog to help share contest details.
More information about Eye On Your Business is available at www.EyeOnYourBusiness.com.
About Paul Werth Associates
Founded in 1963, Paul Werth Associates is a full-service public relations, marketing and public affairs firm counseling clients throughout the United States. The firm has offices in Columbus, Ohio and Washington, D.C.
Paul Werth Associates has previously received nine Silver Anvils, which is the highest level of recognition in the public relations industry. The Silver Anvil Award recognizes complete programs incorporating sound research, planning, execution and evaluation. They must meet the highest standards of performance in the profession.
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