In this episode of PRobecast, Tony Sapienza, Renatta Siewert, Sam Friedman and Justin Martell join me in talking about Ford’s and Chrysler’s misleading advertising, the Blackberry outage and Bank of American’s new charges.

Ford’s and Chrysler’s Misleading Advertising Campaigns – Ford Motor Co. and Chysler Group are have had complaints to the FTC over misleading advertising that lead some of the general public to think their vehicles are made in the USA – particularly the Chrysler 300 and the Ford Edge. Apparently, these models are assembled in Canada and often have Mexican-made parts, which go against Chysler’s “Imported from Detroit” tagline and Ford’s radio spot that advertised it being an American car. What do you think of the companies’ advertising their cars as American?

BlackBerry outages spread to North America – Across the world, Blackberry users noticed an outage in their services – one of the biggest outages yet. Since the European infrastructure failed, emails and messages sent were so backed up in the RIM systems, it caused outages in the US and in Asia. With outages happening a couple times a year, people are rethinking keeping their Blackberries, opting to upgrade to a DROID or iPhone. Can Blackberry keep up?

Bank of America sharpens messaging about new fees – Last week Bank of America announced a $5 monthly fee for debit card users – causing public outrage. They now have repositioned their messaging, explaining who will be charged with this fee and how it can be avoided. According to this PR Week article, a recent survey found 36% of Americans have “very little” or “no” confidence in US banks. While BoA is saying this new fee is to recover lost revenue, do you think consumers will look to bank elsewhere?

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 it was a 4:1 vote – Blackberry. With the general population being so dependent on technology, especially mobile, Blackberry needs to make sure outages like this don’t happen again. This one on of the biggest stories of the week and had people questioning whether or not they should still be used, and that is why this story won as the Power Ranker.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Bank of America's Fees, Blackberry outages, Chrysler and Ford advertising, misleading advertising, RIM

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In this episode of PRobecast, Liz O’Donnell, Mike Sapienza, Caitlin Smith and Justin Martell join me in talking about what it takes to excel in PR, Microsoft’s anti-virus marking Google Chrome as a bug and the death of Steve Jobs and what that means for Apple.

What it takes to be a PR Star – An article in PRWeek talks about how nowadays, PR is much more than junior level staff being used just to write a release, distribute it on the wire, create lists, etc. With social media and other channels brands are on, it’s important that PR firms nurture all the staff to have a more complex and broad understanding of their jobs and what needs to get done.

Microsoft ‘Accidentally’ Gets Rid of Google Chrome – There was a problem with Microsoft’s antivirus software, Microsoft Security Essentials, alerting users that there was a bug on their computer. This ‘bug’ was in fact, not a bug at all – it was Google Chrome. Users were finding that when the bug was reported and removed, Microsoft actually was getting rid of the whole Chrome file. Coincidence?

The Death of Steve Jobs – Chairman and co-founder of Apple Inc, Steve Jobs passed away Wednesday at the young age of 56. While some people had their qualms about his bluntness when it came to employees, their ideas and his vision on how a business should work, there is no doubt that he is one of the biggest visionaries of our time. Some are wondering whether or not Apple can survive without Jobs. If Apple is smart it will keep the founders visions, ethics and policies to continue moving forward.

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, Steve Jobs won with a unanimous vote. Not only has he impacted all of our lives with the technology he’s produced, but he’s also been the biggest story of the week, if not the month or year to come.

Do you agree?

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Technorati Tags: Apple, How to be a PR star, Microsoft Deleting Google Chrome, PR, Steve Jobs

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In this episode of PRobecast, Renatta Siewert, Liz O’Donnell and Justin Martell join me in talking about how Budweiser is saying now product containing alcohol can use the work Bud in their name, FBI putting out a Child ID application, Comcast offering Internet services to low-income families and paperless receipts gaining popularity.

Budweiser pulling an Apple – Budweiser is pulling an Apple by saying no other alcoholic beverage can have the word “Bud” in it. The company recently sent a cease and desist letter to Budini, an Argentinean wine maker. Rather paying for lawyers in a trademark dispute, they changed their name to Bodini. Budini actually stood for Based Upon Dreams of Individuals, Not Institutions. They are donating the money that would have gone to lawyers in the dispute to benefit the Dominio del Plata Scholarship Foundation, a foundation that provides educational and recreational opportunities to the children of Bodini’s employees. At least some companies have morals.

FBI and iTunes release the ‘Child ID’ app – An application is now available for iPhones that allows parents to store information on their children if anything, God forbid, were to happen to them. The applications stores pictures, information on their height, weight, etc. – all which can be quickly sent to authorities in the case of an emergency. Nothing like being constantly paranoid, however with the recent stories of missing children, this is a good application to download.

Comcast offers Internet access for low-income families – Comcast is now offering a $9.95/month service to low income families through a program called Internet Essentials. Eligible families will be able to have Internet connection at a low price, be able to buy a more affordable netbook and have free Internet training classes. While this all seems like Comcast is opening its heart to those less fortunate, this is actually an agreement made through its Comcast-NBC merger. Let’s see how generous they are in 3 years when the terms expire.

Paperless Receipts – More and more major retailers are sending customers out of the store without their receipts. Why? Because they are being sent electronically. While Apple has been doing this since 2005, the use of mobile and the Web for purchasing has started to change the way we shop – and the things we need. What do you think of paperless receipts?

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 had a tie this week between the Child ID application and Bodini. Topazers, Liz and Renatta, both thought that the Child ID application should win this week’s ranking because it’s an application that is actually useful, and meaningful. They both said that with all the less important applications out there such as, Angry Birds, the application you can track if your friend is PMSing, and whatnot – this stands out from the pack as something that could help out a family and/or community when in need.

On the other hand, Justin and I both thought the Bodini article came on top. Rather than fighting with Budweiser, they just threw in the towel and decided to better themselves by donating the money they would have used in a lawsuit towards a good cause. This not only makes them look like the good guys, it also helps to spread the word about who they are as a company.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Bodini, Budini, Budweiser's ceast and desist, Child ID app, Comcast, Comcast's Internet Essentials, electronic receipts, paperless receipts

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