POP Fiction

So has everyone seen POP Fiction on E!? If you haven’t, you really should. As everyone has noticed over the past few years the tabloid industry has BLOWN UP. Paparazzi are everywhere and celebrities are not allowed to have a private life. They are under a constant monitoring system. Their every move is recorded, every indisgression reported. Well, they have apparently decided that it was time to fight back. Do you remember the pictures of Paris Hilton that came out a few weeks ago of her shopping with her “spiritual guru”?
I bet you do!
That was all staged for POP Fiction. That story was all over the news and it’s crazy to think that it was all made up. It really goes to show you that what comes out of the tabloid industry really is bull shit. I am really excited to see who participates and what they do. As a PR student this is really exciting for me because the tables have been turned. The press no longer can control it’s subjects. The subjects are manipulating the press. While this exciting right now, it has the potential to become unmanageable and when the line of news and rumors blur nothing good can come. But for now, let’s see what happens! If you haven’t heard of the show and now you want to watch it’s on Sunday nights on E! at 10:30. Happy watching!

A New Chapter

so my PR writing class is now done. tear….

I’ve decided that I’m going to keep this thing rolling and see what happens. So, expect to hear more from me shortly.

It’s time for us to really get to know each other.

Social Media Releases

This week in my PR writing class we have been talking about the up and coming social media release. This is a great new tactic for providing information and has only recently been achieving notice. A social media release is essentially the same thing as an traditional press release, the only difference is that a social media release is accessed via the internet. This e-release is aimed at providing journalists with all the information they need in a clear, concise manner. Releases include, a brief description of the announcement, quotes from the CEO, customers and analysts (if necessary), all pertinent financial information, and hyper links to many different important articles. The hyper links can generally be found organized and tagged on a site like del.icio.us. This is the most straight-forward way to provide information not to mention much easier for recipients to use.

Last year, SHIFT Communications recieved a Bulldog Award from Bulldog Reporter for “PR Innovation of the Year.” The company’s innovation was the Social Media News Release Template (SMNR) The much anticipated template allows PR practicioners to create SMNR’s quickly and accurately. The highly circulated blog, PR Squared listed the “Top 5 Principles of the Social Media News Release” back in February. They are: democratize “access”, ensure “accuracy”, embrace “context”, build “community” and be “findable.”

I think that this new way of releasing information is great. It provides PR practitioners with a new debuting information in a way that journalists might actually appreciate. PR people don’t have to waste their precious time writing long, drawn-out press releases anymore. We can get the information out there and move on, it’s great for a company’s productivity. It’s good to see that as social media becomes more and more accepted with in the media industry, public relations is really taking advantage of all that is being offered.

“Hey-Ho, Hey-Ho, the Marines in Berkeley Have to GO”

Berkeley, CA has always carried a reputation for being a tree-hugging, hippie-loving, equal opportunity environment. The reality is that there is a very small percentage of people who live such a radical lifestyle; however, as a whole the town is incredibly liberal. For the most part the liberal majority has co-existed just fine with the conservative minority but recently everything has changed.

The issues began back on January 31, 2008 when the Berkeley city council announced that the U.S. Marines were not welcome in the town anymore and that if they didn’t leave they would be classified as unwelcome, uninvited intruders. The removal vote was an overwhelming 6-3. The council also voted (7-2) to enforce a law against the marines to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation due to the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy. A few days later the the city encouraged Code Pink, a women’s peace group, to essentially sabotage Marine recruiting by protesting in front of the headquarters. The city council even went as far as giving Code Pink a parking spot directly in front of the office for once a week in addition to a free sound permit to protest between the hours of 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.

“I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don’t belong here, they shouldn’t have come here, and they should leave,” said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates after votes were cast. THIS IS INSANE!!!!!!!!

Republicans in congress are not taking this lightly. They are attempting to pass a motion to strip Berkeley of all federal funding, which amounts about $2.3 million, as retaliation for the city’s anti-war stance. If successful The Semper Fi Act of 2008 would strip the city of money allocated for school lunches, Bay ferry service, disability organizations, UC Berkeley and public safety.

“Patriotic American taxpayers won’t sit quietly while Berkeley insults our brave Marines and tries to run them out of town. Berkeley City Council members have shown complete ingratitude to our military and their families, and the city doesn’t deserve a single dime of special pet project handouts,” said one of the senators attempting pass the bill. UHHHHH pet project handouts?! So now public safety is a pet project handout. What about school lunches? This is why I hate republicans.

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates issued a statement in the days following apologizing for any offense the city’s actions could have caused. In most recent weeks, the city has slowly tried to clean up the mess they have made, by rescinding much of what they initially said. This is a giant PR mess for the city, as far as I’m concerned. The city has already begun damage control, but it seems as though it’s going to take a long time to make reparation for this issue. However, in my opinion, there is no reparation to be made. While the city might have initially come on too strong, it has a right to voice it’s opinion and the government has no place stripping money from institutions that have nothing to do with local city government.

Sticky Ideas

Some ideas are better than others, they possess all the elements that make for a long lasting concept. An idea that can go the distance. These good ideas can also be referred to as, sticky ideas. In the Book, “Made to Stick,” brothers Chip and Dan Heath explain the concept in great depth. This is really an interesting concept and very useful as it can be applied to everyday life, especially in the world of public relations. Here’s a familiar story the Heath brothers use to explain their main point: the case of Jared. Jared was the guy who lost 100 lbs. by eating two Subway sandwiches a day for three months. Everyone with a television set saw Jared at one point or another, usually he was holding a pair of his old “fat” pants. This campaign raised Subway’s sales by 18%. This is the kind of idea that really resonates with the public, making it sticky.

Dan and Chip found that there are 6 steps that must be included in order to create a sticky idea. The steps are as follows: simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional and stories. The brothers took the “sticky” concept from “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell, a book about how certain ideas and behaviors catch on in society and not others. It’s clear that these steps are really important to creating a lasting concept and the best part is, they’re pretty simple too! I think the most important thing is to really consider your audience and what appeals to them. You also have to look at what the demographic is interested in and what drives them. Once you can figure out this part, applying the steps is the easy part.

Awards Shows are an Advertisers Dream

The 80th Annual Academy Awards aired Sunday night live on ABC. I was so excited to see who everyone was going to wear and most importantly, who they were going to come with. It is my favorite award show; however, this year was different. This was the first award show since the writers strike had ended and I believe that everyone had really high hopes. Hollywood needed this show, for many different reasons. The strike drained the economy of L.A., and the city was in desperate need of a major money surge. The Oscars seemed to be the perfect opportunity to recoup some of those lost finances. The cost to air a 30-second commercial during the telecast was $1.67 million, bringing in a total of $79 million throughout the entire evening. That’s a lot of cash.

It seems crazy that advertisers are willing to pay so much to have their product promoted, but promotion on this level is almost priceless. Over 40 million people watched the Oscars this year, and while it’s considerably less than previous years, 40 million still ain’t bad. Companies that had ad’s play during the show most likely saw surges in sales throughout the days following. Outside of the Super Bowl, this is the best television event for companies to advertise and promote their products.

As a PR student, it was interesting to see that Social Media played a role in Academy Award advertising this year. The Nielsen Company’s 2008 Guide to the Academy Awards included a section in its annual numbers wrap-up of the ceremony entitled “Blogosphere Buzz.” Nielsen Online monitors approximately 70 million blogs before, during and after the Academy Awards to provide researchers with the best data possible about the popularity of the event and the nominees. For many advertisers this information is essential in their decision to promote or not. The nominees with the best blog buzz were Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Ellen Page.

A Wonder of THE WORLD

Okay, so I am not generally the type of person to become easily amazed by things, but it’s happened. Last night, I was watching the National Geographic channel (I know what you’re thinking, so stop it) when a program came on about a man made island chain shaped like the world that are being created off the coast of Dubai, U.A.E. These islands are THE MOST AMAZING THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. While I know this post has little to do with actual public relations practices, I am promoting something and I’ll at least discuss how these islands are great PR for the emerging city of Dubai.

The World Islands are comprised of 300 individual islands that when put together are in the formation of the world, each continent easily recognizable from an aerial view. The islands are made, primarily, out of sand dredged from the sea. The entire project covers 9 km (appx. 6 miles for us ignorant Americans) in length and 6 km (appx. 4 miles) in width. They are surrounded by a large breakwater and 232 miles of shoreline. That’s one large archipelago!

The idea for these islands was conceived back in 2003 when Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (what a mouthful!), the ruler of Dubai was looking for a way to increase cash flow to his nation. He also wanted to revitalize and change the way the Middle East was seen by the rest of the world. He did not want the U.A.E to seem like a barbaric nation, so he created a place that was more luxurious than anywhere else on earth.

Dubai has now become the foremost location for the rich and famous to relax and rejuvenate. I guess Sheikh Mohammed got his wish. The islands were completed on January 10, 2008 with 94% of the property already purchased by developers and investors (seems like a great opportunity). An individual island can cost upwards of 15 million USD and one of the islands still for sale is up for 250 million USD.

Okay so that’s insane but this is even more ridiculous. Each island will be modeled after its real world counterpart. For instance, France will be modeled after France, Ireland after Ireland, Australia after Australia. Most of the islands will end up as themed resorts. Celebrities and entrepreneurs alike have already jumped on the money train as well. Tycoon Richard Branson has purchased the “Great Britain” island, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have purchased “Ethiopia”, even David Beckham and Tommy Lee have purchased islands.

So basically I’m really jealous and want to go to The World Islands. Badly.