PR Sweeps the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival
For the first time ever, PR agencies from around the globe were invited to participate in this year’s annual Cannes Lions Advertising Festival to demonstrate their ability to successfully convey a brand message through their campaigns. While the most prized award, the “Lion” award, went to an advertising campaign, it was a PR campaign that […]
iPhone 3G S – Love it or Hate it?
Recently, Apple unveiled the latest version of its wildly popular mobile phone, the iPhone 3G S. The highly anticipated device boasts new features such as video and editing functionality, voice control, peer-to-peer networking and improved battery life. And of course as the “S” stands for speed, users can expect to download Web content and launch […]
Reader’s Digest Searches for Niche Audience
For the past 87 years, Reader’s Digest has been a prominent general-interest family magazine intended to appeal to the broad American public. In an effort to revamp and reorganize its image and survive the changing media landscape, Reader’s Digest announced it will shift to a more conservative focus and will increase its coverage of inspiring […]
Hulu vs. TV: The Future of Broadcast Media
“Hulu, an evil plot to destroy the world. . .” While Hulu may not be destroying the world, it is undoubtedly impacting the broadcast media landscape with its customizable online video service that offers free TV shows, movies, clips and other online destination sites. Hulu was founded in March 2007 and is co-owned by NBC […]
Netbooks and the Future of Media
“Information wants to be free.” According to Simon Dumenco with Advertising Age, this statement is a truism that is destroying traditional media models. He opines not only does information want to be free, technology itself – computers and software – also want to be free. There is still a lot of discussion about the future […]
Find Your Next Job on Twitter?
We’ve been blogging a lot lately about how organizations can leverage the juggernaut that is Twitter, but according to a recent article on CNNMoney.com, more and more professionals are using social networking sites to find new job opportunities. Reporter Jessica Dickler says, “In the worst job market in 25 years, building an online presence is […]
When Playing to Stereotypes Goes Too Far
Gender-focused public relations and marketing campaigns can be effective – if executed properly. However, some companies have found that targeting specific genders can cause controversy and negative consumer feedback. Just recently, Dell launched a new Web site targeted towards women called Della. The site, which soft launched on April 30, is being criticized for “pandering […]
The Fate of Free Papers
This economic downturn has hit the newspaper industry hard, and free papers have taken the biggest blow. In a June 7, 2009 New York Times article on the subject, Eric Pfanner describes the plight of the free newspaper. He writes, “They rely entirely on advertising, which is more volatile than revenue from newsstand sales and […]
Tips for Launching in Beta
If you have a Google Gmail account, you may notice the word, ëbeta’ tagged below the logo. Or perhaps you were able to experience Bing, Microsoft’s new decision engine and consumer brand, in advance of the company’s worldwide deployment on June 3. Both Bing and Gmail represent products that were launched in beta form. So, […]
MySpace Announces It Will Lay Off 400 Employees
MySpace, the one-time leading social networking site owned by News Corporation, announced earlier this week it will lay off approximately 400 employees, or nearly 30 percent of its staff, in an effort to return to a “start-up culture.” Owen Van Natta, CEO of MySpace and former Facebook executive, said in a statement that MySpace would […]