SxSW: Cannes is still king: Like the Internet, SXSW provides a lot of content that may not be as high-quality as you’d like. There are close to 2500 panelists in less than 5 days, so there could be 60 panels happening at the same time slot, so even the pros end up with more misses than hits. However, SXSW earned its reputation through Twitter’s legendary 2007 launch, as well as Foursquare’s 2009 launch, where they began with 50 users and left with 5,000. Since then, people have waited for the next big startup. Do you think it would be worth attending? Do you know of any success stories for companies or individuals?

Papers put faith in paywalls: As more newspapers close the door on free access to their websites, some publishers are still waiting for paying customers to pour in. The numbers of readers signing up so far suggest that at many papers, “paywalls” aren’t about to reverse publishers’ deteriorating finances.  However, this story has tremendous implications for our careers at PR agencies. If agencies don’t evolve to fit the changing media landscape, we will not be as valuable as we once were. While I’m not a fan of paying for online content, I think many people are – are you?

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs: We couldn’t not talk about the biggest news this week, the op-ed from the now-former Goldman Sachs employee. It’s a trend we’ve all seen for a while now; tell-alls for the purpose of attention. We all thought that while this op-ed wasn’t news (you mean banks want profit?!) it served to call out the whistleblower. We could be seeing a book deal, a big new job offer, etc., but this story was all about personal branding. Were you upset by this op-ed? What are your thoughts?

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 – if it was the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

We had a tie this week, between the paywall story and SxSW. The paywall for newspapers goes to show the implications content has on our careers as PR people, and agencies must evolve to be able to produce, manage and distribute content effectively instead of relying on media relationships. As far as SxSW, we thought it has become too much of a behemoth to be able to provide value, and Amy found “unconferences” such as our own MassTLC’s Unconference to provide the most value for your time and money.

What do you think? Be the tiebreaker!

It’s OK to be Antisocial – People are saying retweets are the new comments. Many social media experts insist that a two-way conversation between marketers and consumers is the whole point of social, and anything less than that is a reflection of outdated, broadcast-style thinking. But really – how many conversations do you engage in per day with the brands you follow? The thinking has evolved to reflect people follow brands because they want to hear from them in an efficient manner, and not necessarily talk back.

Active Video Games Don’t Keep Kids Moving – I know! You’re thinking, “That’s crazy. They play sports in active video games, dancing and all that! How could they not be more active?!” However, research has shown that in a normal home setting, kids with Wii or active game systems were no more active than kids whose thumbs got a workout. In laboratories, of course kids were more active, but it didn’t translate to real life. How does this bode for video game companies and marketing? What are some alternatives for them?

Yahoo! Japan gets a younger look – Yahoo Japan Corp. freshened up its management team, installing much younger executives as Chairman Masayoshi Son called for the company to stay competitive in the fast-moving Internet industry. Yahoo Japan, which operates the country’s most popular Internet portal and is one-third-owned by U.S. Internet giant Yahoo Inc., said Thursday that 44-year-old Manabu Miyasaka will become chief executive April 1.Mr. Miyasaka currently heads the company’s online shopping and auction services. Incumbent CEO Masahiro Inoue, 55, will step down from the board in June after an annual shareholders meeting. Seven other new executive officers between the ages of 35 and 44 also are slated to take up their positions in April, and Yahoo Japan said the average age of its executive suite will drop to 41 from 50 as the company looks to keep up with changes in the industry spurred by increased use of social media and smartphones. “Some of our rivals are young, and Internet users are also young,” said Mr. Son, 54, who is also chairman and CEO of Yahoo Japan’s biggest shareholder, mobile-telecommunications company Softbank Corp. Softbank owns 42% of Yahoo Japan and includes the latter’s earnings on its financial statements. “It’s important [for management] to stay young,” he said. Mr. Inoue, Yahoo Japan’s current CEO, said the company needs a younger leader who isn’t afraid to “destroy,” if necessary, what the company has built, as the proliferation of Internet-capable mobile gadgets such as smartphones changes the industry.

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.

We chose AdAge’s appropriately headlined story, It’s OK to be Antisocial. It’s the new wave of brand interaction, and it’s important for us at Topaz to discuss this to counsel our clients. We want to hear about our favorite brands through efficient channels like Facebook, but it’s impractical, on both the marketing and consumer ends, to expect a constant two-way conversation. It was nice for a while, but now we’re listening much more effectively!

Trademarks coming down hard on the little guy – Trademarks and patent laws have been in the limelight in the past year or so, with Apple and Google (just to name the most popular lawsuits) working hard to defeat the other. However, social media has been the channel many startups have used to “shame” larger companies. For example, Bo Muller-Moore, a T-shirt maker in Vermont, said shaming resulted in thousands of dollars in financial support. He received a cease-and-desist letter from Chick-fil-A Inc. over his use of the slogan “Eat More Kale” in September. Chick-fil-A’s slogan is “Eat Mor Chikin.” Mr. Muller-Moore created a Facebook page and an online petition that has several thousand supporters—including the governor of Vermont. He also added a “donate” link to his website, and has raised more than $10,000 to defend himself, he said. While the use of social media has not caused any (known) cases of the big guy losing to the little guy, could it still happen? What do you think?

Piggybacking on Pinterest – Pinterest’s boards tend to show pictures of shoes, nail designs, coveted products women choose. But for images of more “manly” items like cars, tattoos and bacon, soon you will be able to go to Dartitup.com, which is expected to launch in the spring. It is one of several start-ups from entrepreneurs hoping to piggyback on the recent popularity of Pinterest—even though that site isn’t yet making any money. The number of visitors to three-year-old Pinterest, which lets users create online scrapbooks to share images of projects or coveted products, has increased tenfold over the past six months, according to comScore. Roughly 68% of the website’s users are women and they account for about 85% of its content, the research firm said. Dartitup founders Brandon Harris, 27 years old, and Michael Byrne, 26, admit they aren’t sure how they are going to generate revenue for their male-oriented version of Pinterest. There is also Gentlemint.com, a photo-sharing site launched last month by Brian McKinney, 33, and Glen Stansberry, 28, of Lawrence, Kan. Gentlemint’s logo is a man’s face with a monocle and handlebar mustache. Anyone can look at Pinterest’s success and want to piggyback, and it’s true that the market for this type of thing is dominated by women. Will Pinterest for men be as successful?

Facebook profiling for jobs – Job Seekers: Are you going on a job interview? The chances are good your profile will be “stalked” by your interviewer. Interviewers: Do you want to know how that applicant you just interviewed will actually perform on the job? Check out his or her Facebook profile.That’s the advice of a new study from the Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville and Auburn University. The researchers recruited a group of four Facebook-savvy human resources professionals and students to evaluate the Facebook profiles of 56 users. The four perused each of the profiles for about 10 minutes each before grading them according to the so-called Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism). Six months later, the researchers compared the evaluations of the 56 users’ work supervisors and found a strong correlation for traits including intellectual curiosity, agreeability and conscientiousness. The evaluations are, of course, subjective, but job seekers shouldn’t necessarily worry that they need to clean up their Facebook profile. For instance, Don Kluemper, one of the authors of the study, says that contrary to popular belief, a picture of you partying won’t necessarily hurt your chances of getting hired. “I don’t think a picture of someone holding a beer adversely affected them, but [a picture of you] being drunk in a ditch somewhere might be a negative,” he says. Not surprisingly, pictures and references to traveling signaled openness to new experiences and adventurousness, while the number of friends you have indicates extroversion.

We chose the Facebook profiling story as this week’s PR Power Ranker winner. Using Facebook to supplement a job interview will only become more popular, and as younger generations who use Facebook will learn, the internet is a public place. Caitlin mentioned you should never put anything up that you’d be embarrassed about, and Justin reminded us that the same people who are hiring us also are likely to use Facebook, which has both advantages and disadvantages.

Who would you have voted for?

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Technorati Tags: Facebook, Mashable, patents, Pinterest, Start-ups, Trademarks

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Facebook to release Timeline for brands – Although the majority of Facebook users don’t approve of Timeline, Facebook will be rolling it out to brands, or fan pages. At the time of the announcement, the company said it would wait to roll out the new feature for brands. David Fischer, VP of Marketing and Business Partnerships, said Timeline for brands would be consistent with the Timeline look, but not an exact copy, of users’ timelines. Numerous polls have reported that most people don’t like the “new Facebook”, but it seems Facebook doesn’t care. What are your thoughts? Should they keep Timeline for brands only?

Why QR Codes won’t last – QR codes seemed to present an accessible and uniform way for people with smart devices to interact with advertising, marketing and media. Those little squares of code seemed to open a world of opportunity and potential. But after using them for a length of time, the perspective shifted a bit. And in many instances, the rewards (received as a result of scanning the code) did not measure up to the effort of the transaction itself. Consider a recent study by comScore, which states that only 14 million American mobile device users have have interacted with a QR code. In essence, less than 5% of the American public has scanned a QR code. So where’s the disconnect? Inadequate technology, lack of education and a perceived dearth of value from QR codes are just three of the reasons mobile barcodes are not clicking with Americans. But it goes deeper than that. Humans are visual animals. We have visceral reactions to images that a QR code can never evoke; what we see is directly linked to our moods, our purchasing habits and our behaviors. It makes sense, then, that a more visual alternative to QR codes would not only be preferable to consumers, but would most likely stimulate more positive responses to their presence. What mobile purchasing technologies do you use, and which do you see as the “clunkiest”, or the ones that won’t last?

AT&T doubles upgrade fees for existing customers – When you get a new phone under an AT&T contract, you pay a one-time $18 upgrade fee, which is allegedly what it costs the company to upgrade your new phone. They’ve raised it to $36, and without a clear explanation, the increased fee will look to consumers like just another way for the company to make money. Last month AT&T reported selling a record number of iPhones during the fourth quarter of 2011, which helped increase revenues to $32.5 billion from $31.4 billion a year ago. However, it posted a $6.7 billion loss, largely stemming from its breakup fee after a collapsed merger with T-Mobile USA.

We didn’t choose a PR Power Ranker this week, because we felt none of them deserved our approval! In reality, we couldn’t agree on which company deserved it.

Who do you think should have won? Or do you agree that none of them were worthy?

We brought back Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann, plus recounted some famous debate gaffes. We voted who was responsible for most unforgettable primary moment.

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. Was 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.

Generally we’d pick a company, or a product, etc, that fits the bill. This time, we voted on Rick Perry’s “oops” moment during one of the first debates, when he couldn’t remember that pesky third agency he’d get rid of. It was a moment of levity that none of us, least of all Mr. Perry, will forget!

Share your thoughts! Here are the questions we answered:

- What have been the highlights of the primaries for you?

- Who do you think will make the general election?

- What’s the worst thing a candidate has done thus far to push positive attention either onto him or herself, OR to push negative attention onto a fellow candidate?

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Sugar Industry In a PR Stretch: Corn Refiners Association Leverages Accusations Against Refined Sugar Industry for Pitching New Study To Create False Scientific Controversy About High Fructose Corn Syrup – The Refined Sugar Industry and the Corn Refiners Association are in yet another heated debate about whose product is better. This time, the refined sugar industry is trying to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes by publishing a survey with several limitations, and did not produce conclusive results. The survey was completed as a backlash against the CRA, which asked the FDA to print “corn sugar” instead of “high fructose corn syrup” on nutrition labels. Now there are lawsuits and complaints being made everywhere you look in the nutrition and food industry, and all that’s being accomplished is misconception. The two industries are not paying attention to their stakeholders, which are, obviously, consumers. Sugar products are in nearly everything we eat, so shouldn’t their focus be on making people healthier and encouraging moderation?

Make Every Word Count – 4 steps to becoming a memorable speaker - Patricia Fripp, a speech coach and trainer, published an opinion piece on the BullDog Reporter on how to make your speech intelligent, memorable, and audience-focused. Her four key points were organization, analysis, edit, and specify. Explicit language is a key way to sound like an expert, and it’s often forgotten in our events. Language is an important tool, often overlooked. As PR people, it’s our job to make sure our clients attend and speak at the right conferences, and we often write the proposals. 2012 should focus on speech which will invite discussion, generate leads, and eventually close deals.

Lastly in PRobecast, we’ll pick technology trends we’d like to see happen for 2012. Our discussion centered on Facebook ads versus fan pages, and which are more efficient.

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.

We chose Patricia Fripp’s article on being a memorable speaker. In PR, all too often we forget those important communications skills we learned. It’s time to make 2012 the year to bring back speaking properly while catering to your audience. Pick up your AP style book!

Who do you think should have won? Do you agree with us?

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What’s the deal for guys? It’s all about the bragging rights – Admit it. When you think of coupons, you think of your mother or grandmother. The very terns we associate with saving money – coupon clipping, penny pinching – still sound vaguely dainty. Of course men have been doing their own shopping for some time now, and guys like saving money as much as anyone. Yet men’s relationships with coupons and deals remains ambiguous and largely unexplored.

Kayak cancels controversial ads, social media nightmare ensues and Orbitz looks to capitalize – Travel search engine Kayak woke up this morning to a social media nightmare, and it doesn’t have a clear end in sight. Late last night, the company pulled advertising from the reality TV show “All-American Muslim” on TLC, apparently because an activist organization, the Florida Family Association, condemned the show. According to the New York Times, the organization attacked the show as propaganda that obscures “the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.” So far 65 other companies have left the show, with Lowe’s and Kayak being the most recent and certainly highest profile. For example, Lowe’s, which pulled the ads on Saturday has over 25,000 comments posted on the company’s Facebook page.

Facebook, Google refer suicidal people to help lines – Computer networks can’t feel or understand jokes, but software engineers have hardwired some compassion. Mechanisms in place in Facebook’s system and in Google’s search engine can look for suicidal messages and direct people to help. Facebook is encouraging its 800 million users to use a system the company created to flag suicidal or otherwise violent messages. If someone is posting unsettling photos or writing status updates about killing himself or herself, friends can click on a “report suicidal content” link.

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.

We voted on Facebook & Google’s partnership with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline as the best story this week. It may have been a long time coming, but Facebook is using its power for good, to help people who need it.

Who do you think should have won?

Milwaukee’s Co-Sleeping Ad Controversy – The city of Milwaukee’s Health Department is under scrutiny after its recent ad campaign warning parents about the dangers of co-sleeping. Their advertisement shows a baby sleeping next to a knife – not the normal picture you get in your head when thinking about an infant dozing off. The Commissioner of Health says that while the image is shocking, what is more shocking is the fact that 30 developed and underdeveloped countries have better infant death rates than the city. However, some parents are outraged and think that co-parenting is a good bonding ritual between mothers and their child. Is Milwaukee in a PR-mess that it can handle? How should the city move forward?

Overstock Backs Off O.co Name Change – About six months ago, Overstock.com started branding it O.co – in online ad, tv ads and during sporting events. They’re reverting their branding and bringing back their Overstock.com messaging because a “good portion” of those watching to o.co ads, started going to o.com. Obviously, that is a problem. Some experts are saying that by going back to Overstock.com branding, for the time being, is going to cost a lot of brand confusion with their customers. What do you think?

Justin Bieber’s Baby Drama– Looks like Justin Bieber might not have as much baby mamma drama going on as he has had in recent weeks. Mariah Yeater, the 20-yr old that accused Biebs of fathering her 4 month year old child, has quietly dropped her lawsuit. According to Yeater’s lawyer, his client was receiving death threats and decided to pursue privately. How do you think Bieber’s PR camp handled the allegations? Is this girl just looking for 15 minutes of fame?

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 week’s winner was Overstock. Too often brands have messaging that doesn’t work, and instead of addressing the problem – the messaging is never altered. While Overstock is still keeping O.co, they are addressing the problem by bringing back the more well-known Overstock.com URL. It’s a win-win for them. People know it and now consumers can get to their site.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Justin Bieber's baby, milwaukee's co-sleeping campaign, o.co, Overstock.com

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Voting with a Smartphone – Did you vote on Election Day? A Mashable writer suggested that many people don’t vote because voting is inconvenient. There’s the time limit, the specific locations as to where you can vote – all these things can often be roadblocks and the reasoning behind people not voting. He suggests the idea that smartphones could change all that. With all the apps available, a secure application could be created allowing people to vote directly from their mobile device. With people now being able to purchase things via their smartphones, why not vote?

Disney’s Deal with YouTube – Disney and YouTube have put together a deal to produce co-branded video content. Disney is trying to attract a bigger audience by teaming up with the video giant. On the other hand, YouTube is trying to better their reputation with parents by teaming up with this family-friendly company. Is this a good move for both players? Will we see more companies trying to partner with YouTube?

Social media: Every Channel Doesn’t Need to be Tapped – An article in PRWeek discusses how when it comes to social media, don’t jump in blindly. Companies need to be strategic as to which forms of social channels they decide to join – and have a plan as to what their ultimate goal is. Having a twitter account that isn’t geared towards your target audience is not going to help your presence. Being on Facebook, but not having any information about your company isn’t going to grow your “like”ers. When it comes to social media, brands need to be smart.

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 week we chose the Disney/YouTube deal as the story that comes out on top. This deal makes perfect sense for both parties, bettering the images of both parties. Disney needs to expand their audience and seem “cooler,” whereas YouTube wants to better its sometimes explicit image with parents concerned about what their children are viewing.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Disney and YouTube deal, How to use Social Media, Voting via Smartphone

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