We have a big group offering up their opinions this week! In PRobecast episode #106, Topazers Joanna DiTrapano, Evan Siff, Renatta Siewert and – a new addition to the Topaz team – Justin Martell join me in talking about NextG Networks putting a cell phone tower in someone’s yard, retailers buying back gadgets, free in-flight Facebook and Flickr’s PR woes.

Nice tree…err tower – A Long Island family is saying that they were lied to when a cell phone tower was put in their front yard. Apparently, Calfornia-based NextG Networks put up the tower telling the family that it was an extra light that the town required. Brookhaven Superintendent of Highways, John Rouse, is accusing the company of putting up the tower without permits. According to NextG, the FCC granted them the right to put the tower up – but on someone’s property?

Retailers buying back gadgets – Several major retailers are starting to buy back products from their customers, offering them money off a future gadget. Gazelle founder Israel Ganot said it’s very similar to when consumers go to buy a new car – you trade in your older model. To me, this sounds like a smart move for retailers – this will generate foot traffic and will offer them a cheaper alternative to buying a new phone.

Free in-flight Facebook – Seven major airlines are offering free in-flight Facebook for the month to promote their in-flight WiFi services. If flyers want to go to additional sites, a fee of $4.95 for short flights or $12.95 for long flights will apply. The in-flight WiFi has been available for years, but has not been heavily promoted. Do you think this will help get the word out and have people more apt to buy the in-flight WiFi in the future?

Flickr makes 4,000 photos vanish – Flickr user, Mirco Wilhelm, reported another Flickr user of having “stolen material” on an account to the company. However, when the staff member went to delete the account, Mirco’s account, not the culprit’s account was deleted – deleting about 4,000 photos and they are unable to get them back. Flickr apologized by offering four free years to compensate. Understandable, Mirco didn’t think that was a good compensation. Firstly, how does Flickr not have the ability to just turn off an account rather than just delete the entire account from their database? And, secondly, what is a good PR move for Flickr?

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, retailers choosing to buy back products and gadgets win the PR Power Ranking. Not only is it good for the retailers themselves – by increasing traffic to the stores and offering store credit – it’s also good for customers and is environmentally friendly! No longer do customers have to pay outrageous prices for new phones and they don’t have to figure out ways to recycle their old ones.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Facebook, Flickr, NextG Networks, Tech Buy Backs

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Analyzing customer information to identify marketplace trends. Presenting a glossary of technical terms to spotlight a company as a problem-solver. Commissioning a survey to validate a company’s competitive differentiators. Using years of forgotten usage reports to take the lead in describing different types of consumers. Tapping a company’s technology experts to outline tips for users. Repositioning a white paper as a report on technology dynamics shaping a market segment.

These are all recent examples of a strategy that has emerged as a staple of PR programs in 2010 – data-driven PR. No longer are we dependent on the often too-scare new product announcement, referenceable customer or relevant editorial opportunity to provide a springboard for media outreach or placements. But data-driven PR is more than just another channel to deliver a company’s story – it’s a channel PR people can control and one into which we can have more creative input. And data-driven PR is proving to be a important element in thought-leadership initiatives, particularly when the data is repurposed beyond a media pitch — as an article abstract, a speaking submission, a blog post, a news release and/or an issues-expert alert (repurposing is another important PR trend…but that’s a subject for another post).

Data-driven PR is nothing new – it was one of the first strategies Topaz used with its early clients who had little “real news” to offer – but it is an approach to PR that has taken on a new life in 2010. And one we expect to drive in even more directions in the year ahead.

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Technorati Tags: content, data-driven PR

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In PRobecast episode #100, Evan Siff joins me in talking about Do Not Track Tech, AT&T, Facebook profiles more.

Do Not Track, an advertiser’s nightmare? – The FTC wants to make available the choice as to whether or not consumers would like to stop advertisers from tracking them online. This will work by inserting a line of instruction into the conversation taking place between the browser and the website. This is definitely not something that online advertisers are going to take lightly, what do you think?

Facebook goes more personal – Facebook recently revamped their profile pages, making users profiles more personal by pulling personal information such as employment, interests, etc. to the top of their page. Did you upgrade your profile? What do you think?

AT&T is the Worst Mobile Carrier, says Consumer Reports – Consumer Reports surveyed over 50,000 readers on their cell phone providers and found that AT&T ranked lowest in each category, except for texting. U.S. Cellular ranked highest, followed by Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and then AT&T. This is a pretty big blow, considering many people chose AT&T based on the fact they had the iPhone. Do you have AT&T?

Keep a Child Alive campaign hits one million dollars – Last week, many celebrities joined the Keep a Child Alive campaign which asked them to sign off social media sites until the campaign raised $1 million to support families affected by HIV and AIDs in Africa. They did hit $1 million after billionaire pharmaceutical exec Stewart Rahra donated $500K. However, before the campaign had actually hit its goal, one celebrity in particular – Usher – already went back onto social media, ditching the campaign. Was this a good PR move on his part?

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 was a tie between Facebook and Consumer Reports. Facebook because the news of its new profiles got a lot of hype and Consumer Reports for being the voice of consumers.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: AT&T, Consumer Reports, Facebook profiles, Keep a Child Alive, Usher

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