Obama’s “Secret” Afghanistan Trip: Latest Obama Drama Is an Election Year PR Ploy Public Relations…By Lisa Vallee-Smith, APR, Co-CEO of Airfoil Public Relations No one would ever call President Obama anything less than a savvy newsmaker in his relationship with the media. Rather than assuming the belligerent stance toward reporters of a Richard Nixon or the news conference schedule deficiency of George W. Bush, Obama has attempted to “friend” the White House press corps and to become a partner in broadcast media’s efforts to market the news.
Google vs. Groupon: Let’s Revolutionize (or at Least Fix) Groupon’s Social Coupon Model Marketing… By Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D., Blogger, Dig Nuggetville Imagine this scenario: A shopper pulls into a shopping mall and before she gets out of the car, she opens up her Groupon app on her smartphone, and then opts in. The Groupon app immediately communicates back to the databases at headquarters in Chicago and identifies this user’s profile (i.e., likes and dislikes) based on purchase history. By the time she walks into the mall, Groupon would have already electronically auctioned information to retailers and service providers at this location who previously uploaded specific deals, which are then activated.
D&O Insurance Coverage Remains a Key Concern, Towers Watson Survey Finds IR Therefore I Am… By Gene Marbach An increasing number of corporate directors and officers are showing more interest in the insurance programs their companies use to protect them against potential litigation, an indication they are growing concerned over the wide range of exposures confronting them, according to an annual survey by global professional services company Towers Watson (www.towerswatson.com). The 2011 Directors and Officers (D&O) Liability Survey also found that many U.S. public companies as well as private and nonprofit organizations increased their D&O liability limits last year.
Does Your Brand Have a Pulse? 5 Ways to Develop a Lively Social Media Presence By EmpowHer for the Power of Women in Communications Channel Brands that win in social media are not those that constantly advertise in the same marketing-speak, robotic, corporate tone of voice, but those that engage with their customers like a real human being; building trust and loyalty amongst their audience. Brand-building has traditionally been an exercise in pushing the most flattering, corporate-approved messaging possible. However, today, brand-building has evolved into so much more –
Wall Street Employees, PR Machines Spout Differing Messages on OWS Huffington Post As May Day protests hit major cities this week, breathing new life into an OWS movement, some financial institutions reacted rather oddly. “These are challenging economic times and we understand that customers are demanding a lot from financial institutions,” Wells Fargo spokeswoman Holly Rockwood said of Tuesday’s demonstrations in San Francisco. Wells Fargo is not alone in its attempts to put forward a kinder, gentler face. Financial institutions are starting to actually deal with public hostility. In January, Edelman’s 2012 Trust Barometer survey revealed that just 45% of people polled in 25 countries said they trusted the financial services industry; in U.S., the number was just 41%. And 96% of PR execs at financial institutions polled by communications firm Makovsky + Co. said their firms invite negative public perception through their actions or inactions …
PR Pros on the Go: Barbagallo Boards PAN Communications as SVP, Client Relations BusinessWire PAN Communications, a public relations and digital media leader driving integrated communications strategy for emerging and innovative growth companies in technology, consumer engagement, and healthcare & life sciences, today announced the hiring of Jim Barbagallo as Senior Vice President, Client Relations. Barbagallo has over 25 years of experience as a PR executive. Before joining PAN, Jim worked for Porter Novelli, a global PR agency, as a partner and managing director in the Boston office where he was responsible for client relations and for contributing to the firm’s growth strategy in addition to expanding the firm into the Austin, Texas region …
84% of U.S. Small Businesses Using Mobile Marketing See Increase in New Business Activity MarketWatch Web.com Group announced the results of its Small Business Mobile Survey, which indicates that while 69% of small businesses consider mobile marketing crucial to their growth in the next five years, a majority of them are yet to fully leverage mobile marketing. Last year comScore reported that out of 234 million U.S. mobile consumers, 82.2 million use a smartphone. While 60% of small businesses surveyed have a website, only 26% have a mobile-friendly website (same layout/content as standard site adjusted to suit your smartphone screen) while an even smaller percentage (14% of small business owners have a stand-alone mobile website (content/layout designed specifically for mobile purposes). Of those, 84% indicated that they have seen an increase in new business activity due to their mobile marketing efforts …
Pepsi Resurrects Michael Jackson for Marketing Campaign Chicago Tribune Michael Jackson is dead, but PepsiCo Inc. still plans to use his image to sell its soda. The beverage brand, which has struggled to eclipse rival Coca Cola Co., is pairing with Sony Music and Jackson’s estate to roll out an exclusive campaign pegged to the 25th anniversary of the performer’s multi-platinum “Bad” album and tour. One billion soda cans featuring Jackson’s image will be sold around the world, Pepsi said. China will get the first batch, launching Saturday. Later this month, special-edition 16-ounce cans will be available in the U.S., followed by rollouts in other parts of Asia, South America and Europe …
Facebook IPO May Value Company at $77 to $96 Billion ABC Facebook, announced that it is raising as much as $13.6 billion in stock, which would make this the biggest Internet IPO since Google’s in 2004, with an offering price of between $28 and $35 a share. The company filed with the SEC on Thursday afternoon, stating it will sell 337 million shares. The share price range could value the company from $77 billion to $96 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. In the build-up of events leading to Facebook’s initial public offering of its stock, what happens next is the “road show” – usually a two-week, multi-city tour by top management, where potential buyers – big institutions mostly – get the chance to ask questions …
Hawk to Dove, Trio of Fed Officials Say No to QE3 Reuters The expectation that moderate U.S. economic growth will continue to create jobs is feeding optimism among Federal Reserve policymakers that they won’t need to resort to a controversial third round of bond buying to stimulate the recovery. A trio of Fed officials — San Francisco Fed President John Williams, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser — spoke with unaccustomed unity in Santa Barbara on Thursday, summarily rejecting further easing unless the economy takes a turn for the worse. The unity was all the more striking because the three represented the full policy spectrum at the Fed, from the dovish Williams, considered to be among the most employment-focused of Fed policymakers, to Plosser, one of the Fed’s most hawkish members …
Crisis Comms: 99% Spring Disrupts Verizon Shareholder Meeting Six Times Huffington Post Verizon, a company making billions and tripling its CEO’s pay while demanding givebacks from its workers, saw some serious public kickback yesterday. The 99% Spring movement let Verizon know that 99% are trying to bring big corporations back under democracy’s control. Yesterday’s Verizon shareholder meeting in Huntsville, Alabama was disrupted six separate times by members of the 99% Power coalition, part of the 99% Spring movement. The Verizon shareholder meeting comes as the company is in negotiations with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) …
Yahoo Confirms CEO Lied About Tech Degree in SEC Filings Time Magazine A disgruntled Yahoo shareholder questioned the qualifications and integrity of recently hired CEO Scott Thompson after exposing a misrepresentation about the executive’s education. The fabrication confirmed Thursday by Yahoo Inc. gives New York hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb more artillery as he tries to topple a board of directors favored by Thompson, who became CEO of the troubled Internet company four months ago. Loeb discovered Thompson doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree in computer science from a small college in Easton, Mass., as Yahoo stated in a regulatory filing last week. Yahoo confirmed Thompson’s credentials had been exaggerated in the filing with the SEC …
No Rogue Sites: Ad Industry Takes Major Step to Fight Online Piracy BtoB Magazine The American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers jointly released a statement encouraging marketers to take affirmative steps to address the problems of online piracy and counterfeiting. The Statement of Best Practices was released Thursday at the International Anti-counterfeiting Conference in Washington, D.C., and is supported by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The statement urges marketers to develop best practices to reduce online piracy, such as including language in media contracts to prevent their ads from appearing on “rogue” websites that infringe on intellectual property rights …
Mobile Ad News: Nearly 40% of U.S. Adult Mobile Phone Owners Say Making Purchases via their Device is Important Seattle Post Intelligencer Placecast announced the results of a survey which reveals that 20 percent of all adult mobile phone users (who own smartphones or standard cell phones)–representing about 39 million Americans–said they’d made an online purchase using their phones in the past year. The results come from the third wave of a poll commissioned by Placecast and conducted online by Harris Interactive. Purchase rates among smartphone owners was significantly higher than purchase rates among those who own a standard cell phone: 34 percent of smartphone owners have made an online purchase on their device in the past year, versus 20 percent of standard phone owners. Overall interest in using phones for purchases has grown by 8 percentage points in the past two years, with 38% of all mobile phone owners saying it is at least somewhat important …
