InsidEPR

Celebrity Journalists & the Trust Factor

By Caitlin Mattias

Newspapers, and the publishing world in general, are in crisis. We’ve watched as the biggest names in national news have floundered to regain subscriber numbers by alternately posting free content online, despairing at low advertising returns, erecting paywalls and tearing them down again. Meanwhile, print subscriptions continue to be cancelled and aggregators like Google News have become our go-to source for news in real time.

Many journalists have given up the industry altogether, heading for greener (and more secure) pastures practicing public relations for companies they once reported on, or even launching their own venture capital fund, e.g. Michael Arrington’s CrunchFund. With fewer overall journalism jobs, the competition is fierce…but no less fierce than the fight for readership.

Our world is now driven by metrics like page hits, retweets, and Facebook “likes.” Though many publications have denied using web traffic as a metric in performance reviews and layoffs, there’s no denying that some journalists and bloggers have risen from the masses as pseudo-celebrities. This is especially true in the tech world.

These big names – think Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher of Wall Street Journal’s All Things D, Nick Bilton, David Pogue and Jenna Wortham of The New York Times – are becoming more relevant in a changing culture where trust is the true coin of the realm. In an online ecosystem where rumor abounds and the allure of page hits often trumps verifiable facts, readers have developed highly-sophisticated radars for paid content. We can smell thinly-veiled advertising a mile away and don’t turn to that blog or news source again as we make purchasing decisions.

All the statistics will tell you that we first trust “people like us” more than any journalist or so-called expert, but this mindset only extends so far. Especially as consumer electronics companies rely on the live media conference launch of Apple fame, we have no other choice than to turn to reporters who were front-and-center to drill down the facts for us. The question is – have these reporters developed such cache that we’ll follow where they lead?

Earlier this year, popular consumer technology columnist Rob Pegoraro left The Washington Post, but hasn’t seem to affected his invites to major product launches, like the recent launch of the Kindle Fire. He’s been enjoying his time according to his blog, spending time in the garden, but has been recruited as a freelancer by the Consumer Electronics Association and Discovery. He doesn’t get the scores of replies he was used to while working for the Post, but it’s clear that he’s still viewed as a credible source of gadget knowledge.

Josh Topolsky and a whole host of Engadget’s greatest writers left the site last spring and are close to launching The Verge,what’s sure to be a new competitor in the tech blogosphere. Knowing the quality writers backing this project, I’ll be sure to drop in to check it out at the very least.

Only time will tell how this trend continues, but do you see yourself following the journalists you trust from publication to publication? Or are they only the cogs in the wheel of great journalism that’s sure to continue with or without them?

Leaving Las Vegas

By Suzanne Panoplos

What happens in Vegas – stays in Vegas.  In this situation, I hope that is not the case.  En route back from Metaswitch’s Customer Forum in Las Vegas, I took time to reflect back on the highlights of the week and wondered what other people would be taking away from Metaswitch's four-day event. Would people remember the great customer case studies?  The industry luminaries and their insightful predictions?  Would it be Thursday’s keynote, Richard Noble, the land speed record holder and his really fast rocket car? 

In most situations, my vote would be on the Richard Noble. After all, with an audience of NASCAR lovers that is predominantly male, how could you go wrong with a presentation about a rocket car that goes  supersonic at 1000mph?  Even though I have to admit that his video demonstration of the car beating a fighter jet in a race was pretty cool, I have to think that the most important takeaway from the forum relates to the relationships that are built at these events.

Whether it is a new relationship, renewed relationship, improved relationship --- this event was all about solidifying relationships. The theme of Metaswitch’s Forum this year was the “Power of M” and as VP of Marketing Steve Gleave was delivering his final thoughts, he compared the relationship between a company and its customer as a “Marriage”.

From a PR perspective, I am not sure we are in the “marrying phase” yet; but, we definitely were able deepen our rapport with our client, their customers and our media/analyst contacts attending the event. The Forum PR team was able to spend time with the folks that we usually only communicate with over email or the phone and hear firsthand what they thought about a variety of topics. From our media/analyst friends, we heard the “back story” on what they thought about the company, our agency and PR professionals in general. (The latter topic is definitely fodder for another blog --- so stay tuned).

So as I leave Las Vegas amidst travel-weary businessmen, Vegas revelers and gamblers whose wallets are now perhaps a bit lighter, I can’t help thinking about the people we met and the “new” relationships we will have moving forward.

Quick Tips for Leveraging PR during a Market Flux

 By Jeannette Bitz

Today, Engage PR issued a news flash outlining why companies should stay the course when it comes to  PR, especially during financial market volatility.  I thought it was important to remind companies just how powerful PR can be in both stable and down markets. I remember all too well how many technology companies responded in 2007 when the US fell into a recession and several venture capitalist firms  
publicly advised companies to preserve their cash and wait out the recession.

While I have an obvious interest, there are many reasons why companies should stay the course when it comes to PR. Most importantly, customers need the reassurance that your business is solid and that the company will be around for the long haul. Unlike in 2007, there are positive economic signs that this is simply a short-term blip with several leading technology companies (some of whom have been this route before) continuing to be proactive with their PR programs. 
 
Here are a few tips on what companies should do to sustain momentum in a market flux:

• Avoid treating PR as an event. PR is a process. Focusing PR efforts solely on news events such as product announcements usually yields limited results unless the company is debuting a truly unique product.
• Look for highly-visible thought leadership opportunities that open up when less confident competitors choose the “duck and cover” mode such as contributed columns, invitation-only trade shows, keynote speaking spots, etc.
• Use the opportunity created by market uncertainty to make sure your marketing and PR messaging is well honed, addresses your current and potential customers’ most overwhelming pain points and clearly communicates your company’s value proposition in the market.
• Take advantage of social media tools to start a dialog with the media, analysts and even your customers.

These tips will help you take advantage of a down market and position your company for success once as the market returns to “business as usual”.

More Best Practices for Media and Analyst Relations from the Trenches

By Neila Matheny

In today’s issue of Engage PR’s InFocus newsletter, some of the industry’s most respected editors and analysts contributed some of their thoughts on the best practices for media and analyst relations.

While we couldn’t share all of this insight in the newsletter, there was still a ton of additional thoughts from this group that are too valuable not to share.

Before contacting the media and analyst community, be sure to do your homework. Sean Buckley of Fierce Telecom gives his advice for positive press interactions: “Read and understand the focus/coverage area of the editor you're pitching. For Fierce Telecom, it would take barely a minute to look at the site to see that it's a strictly wireline-based publication and doesn’t cover wireless.”

Once meetings are scheduled, there are several basic steps that should be taken to ensure a smooth call, which often are overlooked. Current Analysis’ Peter Jarich reminds spokespeople to “introduce yourself up front. It’s always good to know who is presenting the information."

“To maximize your impact, pause early in briefing calls to ask whether the information you're providing is what the journalist or analyst was looking for, and whether you're moving at a good pace,” adds Lisa Phifer of Core Competence.

When delivering your presentation, the following tip from Eve Grilliches of ACG Research can help guide the discussion for a productive conversation. She indicates that companies should indicate when “there is  some need or problem that can be solved. Be honest with the analyst on what that problem is and ask them how they or others are solving it.”

Even when company news isn’t the focus, a customer’s real-world deployment is center stage.  Differentiation is a key for interesting case studies, according to Chad Berndston of CRN:  “Case studies are great for clients and for channel partner references, but 90 percent of case studies, at least in my estimation, don't make for good journalism. If I'm going to write about a case study, I need a unique situation or at least one with a lot of detail to make it compelling.”

By following these tips and being thoughtful in your approach, your media and analyst relations will be successful and rewarding.

Media Moves to Corporate - What does it mean for PR?

By Fran Lowe

As media outlets continue to shrink and/or morph into new versions of their former selves, reporters are  continuing to seek out or be actively hired into corporate communications positions. Many of these positions formerly have been held by experienced public relations professionals who built their careers and expertise in corporate communications or agency PR.

Are these moves beneficial for the companies in question and bad for the PR profession in general or a positive trend all the way around?  Does hiring these media pros into the ranks of corporate communications inject new blood into PR or are the roles and requirements just too different? No doubt the answer depends on the individual(s) in question.

First a few examples: Connie Guglielmo’s move from a business reporter at Bloomberg to VP of  Corporate Communications at HP was a fairly high profile move (and lasted about 7 months). Robert Scoble’s move to Rackspace – while he continues his blog and Twitter presence as Scobelizer, is also notable. Denise Dubie left Network World to serve as a media principal at CA Technologies. And Eric Lai, who used to be with Computerworld, KQED, AsiaWeek and Thompson Reuters, is now a brand blogger at Sybase covering Enterprise Mobility. So what does it mean for PR?

Obviously corporations are attracted by a media “name” and the allure of communications experts who really “get” and can earn media coverage because they are from that world. Certainly ex-reporters provide a unique perspective as to what constitutes news and may or may not (depending on how many of their ex-colleagues remain employed in media roles) be able to tap their network to pitch a story that otherwise might not have been considered. Clearly they are expert at crafting and developing compelling messaging that will resonate with target audiences.

Of course, there are other attributes these media exiles provide, especially if they previously covered their new employer. Having industry knowledge is one thing; but if you were the reporter responsible for covering the company you now work for, and you had access to and regularly spoke with the CEO, you are a valuable commodity. You know the company’s weaknesses; where the story may not hang together; what the CEO is uncomfortable about; how the company stacks up against the competition, etc. This information is gold to a communications professional – whether operating inside the company or as part of the PR agency team.

Ironically this sort of top-level access, accorded to an ex-reporter with “street cred” is not always accorded to those within the company, effectively blunting the ability of the corporate communications team to fully perform. An interesting question perhaps is how long this level of access will continue after the ex-reporter becomes just part of the internal team?

In the meantime, the ex-reporter’s background and instant credibility can help move the company’s messaging and brand in the right direction, away from the status quo. They can also hold the line internally on what constitutes news and what is simply cover for sales or content for SEO. In my mind that’s a definite plus.

Even in the Cloud, the Customer is Still King

By Suzanne Panoplos

True to its name, this week’s All About the Cloud conference focused on all aspects of the cloud market – from public to private clouds, marketing to monetizing and let’s not forget - SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. The conference included an impressive line-up of industry experts from Microsoft, IBM, Safenet, SAP and of course Engage PR client and conference sponsor, OpSource.

Up for discussion were the benefits of a private vs. public cloud, mobility in the cloud, how to make money using cloud services, how to track user behaviors in the cloud and the best practices for connecting clouds via cloud peering. Industry experts even got out their crystal balls and predicted the future of the cloud. One theme that clearly emerged out of the all the discussions was customer experience – particularly as cloud computing moves from concept to implementation.  As more and more enterprises begin moving applications into the cloud, conference attendees and speakers alike seemed to agree that the customer experience is key.

Perhaps the biggest case study for the importance of customer experience is the recent Amazon outage.  Speakers from all companies dissected this incident and although many of them were Amazon competitors, they were almost empathetic toward Amazon. Where the empathy fell short was in the company’s handling of the situation.

As many of the speakers were quick to point out, hours literally went by without any communication.  Then after the initial notice was issued, updates were few and far between.  When the company finally issued an “apology”, the word “sorry” didn’t appear until 500 words into the company's statement.  All in attendance seem to agree that the only way cloud providers will be able to succeed is to become true “service providers”. Even in the ever-changing world of cloud computing, the customer is still king.

When it comes to PR, does activity really equal progress?

By Jeannette Bitz

One of the many reasons clients hire an outside PR firm is to provide strategic value and enhance the company’s marketing initiatives. However, if you’re focused on keeping your agency busy, chances are your PR team doesn’t have time to think and develop creative campaigns and pitches that have the greatest impact on your business.

While the agency’s job is to keep the client on course, many marketing executives are focused on keeping their agency constantly busy to justify their PR expenditure. This can take the form of writing a certain volume of press releases per month, forcing every company event into a larger industry campaign or directing your firm to go after as many awards or speaking opportunities as possible. The truth is that these types of tasks end up being more of a distraction and take time away from the agency’s primary objective of getting coverage in the outlets that impact your key influencers. It’s not to say that releases, awards and other types of programs have no value; but if your agency is mostly focused on these programs, you’re not giving them a chance to be strategic.

Clients that are willing to focus the agency’s resources on developing and driving creative initiatives often see the biggest PR results. One of Engage PR’s long-standing clients in the wireless market—a company that relies on EPR for guidance on creative ideas versus having the agency focus on tactical PR activities—was recently featured on Forbes.com. This is just one of the many feature articles we’ve secured for this client because the agency is able to focus on high-value opportunities. 

Getting coverage in any business press outlet is possible; but, it takes time to develop a story angle that is unique, relates to a broader trend and is interesting to the reporter (and ultimately their editor and readership).  It also takes time to create the supporting elements that the reporter will need to write the story. Before the Engage team pitched its client to Forbes, the team and client collaborated on the story idea and pulled together additional resources, including Twitter feedback advocating for the client’s technology. If you’re evaluating how to get the most out of your agency, step back and think, “Do I want them to be busy or do I want the big story?”

IDC @CTIA: Applications, Devices & Mobility

By Suzanne Panoplos

Yesterday, IDC hosted its annual breakfast briefing at CTIA, featuring some of IDC’s top mobile and   wireless analysts. The briefing featured individual presentations covering applications, semiconductors and mobile broadband and a panel at the end for individual questions.

The event was extremely well attended by a range of companies representing different factions within the industry. At my table alone, there were individuals from Sprint, AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent and Goldman Sachs.

So what were the key takeaways?  On the application front, it is not surprising that developers are focusing their efforts on a few mobile devices, mostly from Google and Apple:

• iPhone – 91%
• iPad – 84%
• Android Phone – 82%
• Android tablet – 62%
• BlackBerry – 34%

Whereas this is not surprising, I couldn’t help thinking back to just a few years ago where applications were not a major focus and any slide on mobile devices would have included Nokia, Palm, Samsung and Motorola.

IDC’s VP of Mobile and Wireless Scott Ellison informed the audience that the development of consumer applications overshadows business applications two to one. The focus of these development efforts:

       Consumer

• Social Networking
• Entertainment
• Utility
• Games
• Lifestyle

     Business

• Productivity
• Document Management
• Salesforce automation
• Messaging
• Health/Finance/Retail

From the semiconductor side of the industry – the focus is on developing chipsets for the home living room, gaming, personal health monitoring and industrial/home automation, which includes building control and smart metering.  802.11n is on the rise with the expectation that 802.11n-based products will dominate the market by next year. By 2013, Research Director Flint Pulskamp predicted that all semiconductors for mobile devices would be based on the 802.11n standard.

Carrie MacGillivray, Program Director of IDC, then took the stage and focused on the evolving market for mobile broadband connectivity among both business and consumer users. Carrie predicted that by 2014, there would be 30 Million subscribers in the US using mobile broadband, citing the following factors driving this growth:

• Pricing – still expensive and coming down slowly
• Prepaid vs. postpaid
• Device proliferation
• WiFi
• Education of consumers
• WiMAX/LTE

The session wrapped up with a Q&A from the audience with the discussion focusing on applications and devices. The main question was around who will support the applications – the carrier, the developer, or the vendor(Apple/Google/RIM)? Also, there was a discussion about IT having to manage disparate mobile devices brought on to the corporate network by employees.  Program VP of Wireless and Mobility Stephen Drake referred to this as the “Consumerization of IT” and indicated that by 2014, 60% of all business devices will be brought in by the employee.

Applications. Devices. Mobility.  2011 and beyond will be an interesting time for wireless with a continued focus on bringing together both work and play.

A Look into Forbes and Online Personal Brands

By Neila Matheny

 

Last week, I attended PRSA Silicon Valley’s Inside the Newsroom event with Forbes in San Francisco.  Five of Forbes’ technology editors and writers spent part of their afternoon in a room of PR professionals describing their days, their likes and dislikes about PR and the changing environment at the publication. The group was quite generous with their thoughts and time and gave us “flacks” a lot of first-hand insight into the inner workings of Forbes’ technology department.

Forbes is currently undergoing a series of changes with a website redesign, a new editor-in-chief and the recent acquisition of the digital news site True/Slant. As a result of these changes, Forbes writers are being tasked to create a personal brand, much like bloggers have traditionally done.  However, with shrinking staffs, more deadlines and more companies to cover, it seems like a huge undertaking to also create a personal brand.

Yet, on the other hand, it makes sense. Most technology reporters these days are bloggers. They have daily responsibilities on their publication’s blog or may even have their own blog. Sites like Twitter also give readers a feel for a reporter’s personal style through social networking. And with Forbes, many reporters get to showcase their anchor skills on the Forbes Video Network.  With all of these outlets for direct contact with readers, its almost more work not to have a personal brand.

It will be interesting to see how the new Forbes site will aid its writers in their brand creation. If it is anything like True/Slant, where each blog and blogger has its own name and identity, it should do wonders for the endeavor.  And hopefully, will keep PR folks from committing the biggest sin of them all, pitching the wrong reporter!

Tips for Successful PR in Europe: Richard White, AxiCom

Today’s post is the last piece of Engage PR’s three-part series with European PR partner agencies. Each partner has provided some best practices for North American technology companies looking to expand into the European marketplace and shared what companies must consider before embarking down this new path.

In our final post of the series Richard White, associate director of telecom and wireless at global technology communications firm AxiCom, shares his thoughts on how companies should engage in the European technology markets.

By Richard White

Localize the Message

The enterprise IT media landscape varies from country-to-country, which means companies must take a localized approach by make sure that everything they are doing is relevant to the local market.

Companies looking to enter into the enterprise IT market should have a plan and determine how they can fulfill their services in local markets. This may include having a local angle with a reseller, customer or company office. Making sure that the company’s sales and pricing structure is localized is also important. Reporters will look at a company’s local approach as a requirement before accepting a briefing.

Start by Testing the Waters

It often works well to start with a project for start-ups launching in Europe, which does not require a large investment. However, commitment to do basic follow-up activity is important after a company launch or debut. It is best to launch in the UK first, as many English speaking analysts are based in London or in surrounding areas. Once your company has launched in the UK, think about which other countries make sense for your business.  Other markets that seem to be popular include France, Germany and Italy.

To “test the waters,” the best recommendation is to conduct a tour where the executives meet with target media and analysts in the UK. Next, follow up the tour by issuing 1-2 press releases per quarter where the release is distributed and translated for the local market. There is no need to invest in getting “wall-to- wall” coverage to ensure a successful PR campaign in Europe.  It is also recommended to do at least one case study, which can be very powerful for helping sales.

Don’t Overextend

Many U.S. companies try to launch in five countries at once. They invest money and time by doing a tour in each of those countries to start. Then after the launch, they never step foot in those countries again, nor do they follow-up with PR in those regions. Not only is traveling to five different countries exhausting, but it’s not always a realistic expectation for a company to keep up their PR activity in each of those regions.

Start small and make sure it’s manageable. As an agency “we can scale” when needed, but can your company?  Especially when having local spokespeople, who can speak the language and respond to reporters in a timely manner, is key.

Tailor your Media Approach

Media briefing preferences vary from country to country.  Media in Spain prefers press conferences, and companies are expected to have food available for journalists after the conference. Company launches will likely attract 20 journalists. Media in Germany, however, prefer to meet one-on-one and often at the publication’s headquarters.  In the UK, France and Netherlands, the media also prefers to meet companies one-on-one either at the publication’s headquarters or at another location.

The business press is also different from country to country. For example, in France and Germany, business press reporters are very tech savvy, which means reporters will likely be more willing to delve into technical details. In the Netherlands, however, it’s almost impossible to get coverage unless your company is listed on their stock exchange.

Digital media also varies. Like in the U.S., Websites like Facebook and LinkedIn are widely used, but are customized to meet the needs of each country.