Howie Sholkin from IDG visited Topaz yesterday for a “brown-bag” focused a topic often discussed around our office – how the media is changing and what it means for PR professionals. Howie brought a unique perspective to the discussion – not only does he work with a tech media leader (Computerworld, Network World, PC World, IDC, SNW, IDG Enterprise); he’s also a veteran of tech PR. But the highlights from our discussion came from all sides – from Howie and from members of the Topaz team. Here’s a snapshot — you might from some new and some may be obvious, but they all are valuable reminders for the tech PR community:
-the shift from print to online, events, custom publishing, content marketing across the tech media landscape that picked up momentum five years ago shows no sign of slowing
- this shift presents new opportunities for PR professionals, who can help their clients and companies leverage these new channels
- while there’s still a role for news releases; releases continue to be one way to reach/influence media, but these have impact in other ways, from driving internal consensus to demonstrating momentum to website visitors
- influencer relationships are still important, but increasingly these are electronic and not just the face-to-face connections of years past
- briefings and media tours are becoming more difficult due to the distributed nature of media and online influencers
- “packaging” news for media and online influencers is of growing importance, as time-strapped journalists are turning to this information to generate stories (as opposed to those briefings and face-to-face meetings)
- video, images, audio and infograpics are becoming increasingly valuable as the media looks for new types of content

Again, most of these are points we here at Topaz have all thought about – and acted on for our clients – but it always helps to remind ourselves about the changes taking place in the media and PR. It can be a challenge, but these kinds of changes are what keep life interesting for the folks at Topaz.

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In this episode of PRobecast, Renatta Siewert and Justin Martell join me in talking about how Abercrombie & Fitch has asked for the Jersey Shore cast to stop wearing the brand on TV, Google bidding to buy Motorola and the new Amazon iPhone application for college students.

Abercrombie to ‘Jersey Shore’: Ditch our brand – Abercrombie and Fitch has sent an offer to the cast of the Jersey Shore offering them compensation for the halt of them wearing the brand on television. A&F is concerned that by the cast wearing their brand they are “distressing” fans of their brand. What do you think of Abercrombie’s offer? Is the Jersey Shore really hurting its brand?

Google Goes Soup-To-Nuts On Android With Bid For Motorola – Google put in a bid to buy Motorola for 12.5 billion dollars – a move that signals how moving into the Android market (by owning their hardware) is going to be an important strategy in the future. If the deal goes through, Apple will definitely have some big competition. Will Google every one-up Apple?

Amazon Launches New iPhone App for College Students – Amazon has launched an application for iPhones targeting college students. The app lets students do price checks on things they need including, textbooks, electronics, etc. It also allows them to list items they no longer use on their “trade in” feature. Rather than getting cash back, students will receive Amazon gift cards for items sold. Do you think this is a helpful application for college students?

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

This is it was a surprising twist, both Renatta and Justin voted for A&F. Noting that the brand doesn’t openly advertise, this is a big PR stunt for coverage and is a bold move for the company considering the popularity of Jersey Shore. This PR stunt has also received a lot of coverage and got everyone talking about the brand.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: A&F making an offer to the Situation, Abercrombie and Fitch and Jersey Shore, Amazon's app for college students, Google Bidding for Motorola

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As a follow on to this week’s PRobecast, I wanted to further discuss why e-receipts are great.

The battery on my Macbook died the last week, so I went to Apple to buy a new one. I walked in and was greeted by an Apple “Genius” who sold me a new one. Pretty standard right? Except I didn’t walk out with a receipt for my purchase, in fact I never even went to a register. The Apple employee simply scanned my credit card with his iPhone and emailed me a receipt.

Apple integrated e-receipts a few years ago and has since made it possible for any Apple employee to check you out from their iPhone or Apple Handheld. But now offering e-receipts instead of paper is becoming more popular with stores like Nordstrom’s and Old Navy starting to use this technology. Personally I love this concept; I am constantly finding old receipts from random purchases at the bottom of my purse or destroyed in my dryer after being forgotten in my jeans, just to be thrown away. Having the receipt sent right to my inbox makes it easier to actually keep and file the receipt for tax time.

In addition to being convenient e-receipts also have the added benefit of helping stores waste less paper, according to an article in the New York Times, an estimated 9.6 million trees are used each year to make receipts just in the US alone. That’s an insane amount of paper that the majority of is being thrown away or lost. Although some people may be hesitant to give out their email addresses in fear of more spam messages, I think that the benefits outweigh the cost.

E-receipts and mobile check out technology is becoming increasingly more popular and will only continue to grow. My local Stop and Shop now has the technology that lets me scan and bag items as I shop, making the checkout process so simple I just have to swipe my card at the self checkout station. Many believe that within a few years most of our purchases will come from mobile technology. If this is the case then more stores need to start implementing this technology, starting with e-receipts, before they get left behind.

I for one love it and can not wait for the day that I don’t have to stand in a check out line to make a purchase and wont have to worry about those little pieces of paper ending up in the lint tray of my dryer.

What do you think? Do you like paper or paperless receipts?

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Technorati Tags: Apple, e-receipts, shopping, technology

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