2009 Not So Bad For Journalism and Brands

As the end of the year approaches I can't help but look back at 2009 and look forward to 2010. Much has been written about how bad 2009 was, but maybe I'm naive, but I don't think it was so bad.

Much has been written about the death of the journalism and industry layoffs and publication closures, but well I agree that these are bad days for print journalism if you read Advertising Age's The Last Page it doesn't paint such a grim picture. I'm sure there are more pubs that closed but this list doesn't make me very sad. I don't think this was much of a blow to art or culture.

• I.D. Magazine
• Adventure
• GIANT
• Metropolitan Home
• VIBE
• Blender
• Men's Vogue

After seeing the second tier pubs that closed I was feeling pretty optimistic so I decided to look further and see what consumer brands we 'lost' in 2009. Again, I can't help but think this wasn't such a bad year after all.

• Circuit City - always bad service it was beaten by Best Buy. Pure survival of the fittest. I'm okay with that.
• Saturn - while this seemed like a decent brand there is no question we could do without so many car brands. Moving on without shedding a tear.
• Kadachrome - I thought this went away when the Paul Simon song got knocked off the charts.
• Expo Design - fun to walk through, but I never bought anything there so whatever.
• Pontiac - okay this one hurt. I had a Firebird and always wanted a GTO, but its best days were behind this brand. Best to put it out of its misery.
• Saab - this one was a bit of a surprise, but it shouldn't have because GM was involved and it had been years since Saab was a unique looking vehicle.

Hopefully we'll be here 12 months from now realizing that the "loss" of media and consumer brands such as the following weren't really losses at all:

• Survivor
• America's Next Top Model
• Keeping Up With The Kardashians
• Any dancing or singing reality show
• InStyle Magazine - or any other celeb focused rag
• Snuggie - or anything else currently "as seen on TV"

Closed for Christmas

This blog is closed for the Holiday.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

Best wishes and peace to all.

Photo credit (of front yard) goes to my beautiful wife.

Now For Something Completely Different

This post has little to do with PR, social media or anything else I usually write about. Today is about pointing folks to a blog that I just can't say enough about - The OCD Diaries written by Bill Brenner.

Some of you may know Bill as the IT security trade journalist (now with CSO and formerly of SearchSecurity). I read CSO (from time to time) and I follow Bill on Twitter because of my job as a high tech (security focused) PR hack. So, when he recently announced that he was launching his own blog about his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), I was interested in the opportunity to learn more about a person I've worked with a handful of times, but can't say that I know even the slightest.

In fact, based on my limited interaction with Bill and in following him on Twitter I would have described him as humorous and laid back, little did I know that he was suffering with a long line of illnesses.

I need to make this very clear that Bill's blog is not about looking for pity or bragging about what he has overcome. It isn't like that.

The more I read Bill's blog and looked into his bio I was struck by the fact that he is about my age, lives in the same area, he was editor at a newspaper that I work at as a stringer / glorified intern and he went to the same college, listens to the same 80s era metal bands and there are a number of other similarities in our family life, but happily for me, the similarities end there.

• If you are a security PR person that pitches Bill - his blog is a must read to gain valuable insight into Bill's personality. It reminds us that the people on the receiving end of our emails and phone calls are, well, people.
• If you know anyone with OCD or any similar illness, I'd suggest this blog as a resource.
• If you are simply a human being with human flaws - I'd suggest you give it a read.

Bill writes about everything - his childhood, his addictions, his losses, Metal, his heartache - everything. I hope this blog is very therapeutic for Bill and I wish him well he helps me keep my minor challenges in perspective.

I'm sure I'll pitch Bill again in the future and it will be a purely professional exchange, but I'll do so feeling as if I know him a little bit better.

Rock on Bill.

Social Media and PR - Can't We All Get Along?

Thanks to tweets from @Steveology I came to read ZAC's (Zachary Adam Cohen) recent blog post PR Firms: Zombie Wasteland and I couldn't type a reply quickly enough and in fact long before I started to type I realized that Jules Zunich had already posted a very thoughtful reply. So if you want a thoughtful reply see her piece. The below is a bit of a rant, but it will make me feel better.

I actually thought twice about posting a reply at all when I realized that clearly Zac wants some attention for his piece - which is why he said he is: 'totally expecting to get my head ripped off on some of my claims...so have at it' but then I realized that this is an interesting topic and while I am not a head-ripper, there are a few points that can't go unchallenged.

Such as:

'Traditional agencies exude a 20th Century mindset that is all about control, protection, crisis management and most of all, gate-keeping. In other words, the exact antithesis of everything the social world is about.'

Wow, I must suck at my traditional PR job because I don't have the mindset of control, protection, crisis management or gate-keeping. My traditional PR agency experience has been largely focused on B2B high technology clients, which means it is all about publicity, messaging, media coverage, buzz and reputation management. It also is one of the last industry segments that need to adopt social media. No one is buying a $500,000 router from twitter. (I'll probably get MY head ripped off for that over generalization).

Maybe it is because I'm a slow legacy PR guy, but I had to re-read this next part several times to figure out if he was serious or not:

'By the time that traditional PR firms catch up to what is going on in social media, which even now they still seem to be having trouble with, the mobile and social firms will be WAY ahead of them.'

What? that is like saying in circa 1995 that traditional PR agencies couldn't adjust to email and online publications. Using social media makes our job easier not harder.

For years us old school PR folks needed to craft messages that will be communicated via (the real) gate-keepers. Social media helps eliminate the gate-keeper making our job easier. Regarding PR 'catching-up' now, if I'm promoting a restaurant, I'll call a social media consultant to suggest a couple of tactics, but the real PR work will (and should) stay with the PR professionals.

My larger issue with Zac's piece is that he interchanges PR and advertising agencies. He talks about PR campaigns, but he keeps coming back to buying advertising. PR is not advertising and marketing isn't necessarily PR and social media certainly isn't a replacement for PR. Traditional PR is alive and well and I expect it to stay that way. I wrote not too long ago that the traditional press release is still alive and kicking and I stand by that post. Nothing says traditional PR more than the press release.

I have no desire to make this a personal attack (I hope I was successful) and in fact I want to give Zac lots of credit for starting this conversation and for putting forward his views - as wrong as they may be.

Seriously, Zac and Jules, I'll be reading your blogs much more often now. You both have some very interesting and strong opinions.

PR Folks - Stop Trying to Help Tiger

Yes, I know I am as guilty as anyone having posted that Tiger Woods should fire whoever gave him the 'I'm human and I'm not perfect' line.

Every PR person seems to have an opinion regarding what Tiger should do, but all the suggestions were pure PR 101. There was no real disagreement. Sure there were a few contrarians, but it was obvious that they were trying to be just that and they didn't have any real conviction behind the empty words.

And why did we all agree?

Because we were all advising Tiger Woods Inc. and not Tiger Woods the man. My advise to Tiger Woods the man would be to change everything he has done. Tiger, you have enough money and you are still the best golfer in the world. Hell if you want endorsements, I'm sure you can find a condom company or an energy drink like Red Bull etc. to take you on.

If you want to save any marketability you have left, do the following to remake your image:

First, divorce your wife and give her a generous settlement to make that story go away.

Then...

• Get a Mike Tyson face tattoo;
• Loose the Cadillac and get a Harley;
• Tell Phil Mickelson that he is a looser for standing by his wife;
• Next time the gallery yells 'in the hole' yell back 'oh is your mother here?'
• Sleep with anyone and everyone you want - just don't get married again.

I'm sure there is big money in being a bad ass on the PGA tour, but no one wants to support a guy that cheats on his wife and is so insincere.

Originally, I was encouraged that so many people were outraged about Tiger's extramarital affair. But then I realized that it wasn't the moral low road that upset people, but instead it was the insincerity. We talk about this in social media all the time - ghost blogging and ghost tweeting is wrong because it is insincere and lacks transparency. People resent that Tiger fooled us all.

Oh and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Tiger's latest statement that he is giving up golf indefinitely. Hell it is mid-December, Tiger, I'll be convinced that you give a damn about your family if and when you give up playing in a major.

I Report to No One - hear that FTC!

As of last week bloggers must disclose any and all financial compensation they receive.

Announced last October 5th that any bloggers who offers endorsement must disclose any payments they have received from the subjects of their reviews or face penalties of up to $11,000 per violation per the Federal Trade Commission.

In light of this regulation now impacting bloggers I want to take a moment to go back through my past posts to highlight any financial consideration received. I'm also going to take it a step further and disclose any potential conflict of interest and when appropriate any relevant motivation behind past posts.

So, when I said that CertaPro Sucks I meant that based on the 4K I paid them to do a horrible job painting my house.

When I wrote that boxing continues to KO itself. I meant that based on the fact that I used to spend about a hundred bucks a year and countless hours on boxing PPVs, magazines and watching any and all televised bouts. And no, I won't be paying for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, but I'll watch it if someone wants to pay for it for me. Anyone? I'll disclose it, I promise.

As of this moment I do not receive financial compensation from anyone to write anything on this blog. If companies are looking to sponsor my blog with cash or products may I suggest a few brands that are near and dear to my heart.

I would have no problem endorsing the following:

Apple

Territory Ahead

LL Bean

REI

Any painter not CertaPro

Lowes

Toyota - except Corolla

Ford - Mustang or F150 only

Hell, any car with retail value over 20K

What Kind of Blogger are You?

Like a lot of people I get a bit reflective around this time of year. Recently I was looking back at several month of posts and I started to wonder what kind of blogger I am. Which quickly took me down the path of how does one define type of blogger. Here is my take.

Wannabe author: This blogger posts 2000 word manuscripts about once per week. Tell tale signs to spot this blogger includes a blog title that is about a paragraph long: This blog is about my personal experiences from childhood to my early years as a struggling journalism student to my current day occupation as a freelance writer, amateur jogger, occasional poet, commentators on all things everywhere, jack of all trades yet master of none...

Drive by blogger: This blogger is only capable of regurgitating recent news stories with insightful commentary like: "Sucks to be Tiger Woods today." Tell tale signs include posting multiple times a day about things other people have already written. Sometimes referred to as The Repeater.

I, Me, My blogger: This blogger actually believes that people care what he / she thinks about everything. Tell tale signs include posting several times a week often leading off with:

"Sorry it has been so long between posts"OR "Hope you will forgive me for not posting in several hours." Other distinguishing characteristics include referring to him / herself as "Me 2.0" or "my brand identity." Sometimes referred to as The Narcissist.

Love me PLEASE blogger: This blogger needs attention and validation. Tell tale signs include ending every blog with: "tell me what you think" or "agree / disagree?" But this blogger will very very rarely post comment on another person's blog because they can't take the rejection if the blogger doesn't return the gesture. Sometimes referred to as The Needy.

Militant defender blogger: This blogger finds an issue and will search high and low for people to agree and disagree with. Tell tale signs of this less than open-minded species includes using words like: stupid, mouth-breather, idiot, nazi, and butt-head to describe anyone with a differing opinion. Always tying to recuit other to thier way of thinking. Sometimes referred to as The soccer fan of bloggers.

List maker: Easy to spot. Tell tale signs include 97 percent of all blogs have titles like: Top ten ways to attract bloggers or Seven best blog topics, Ten types of bloggers (no wait that one is okay). Sometimes referred to as The Letterman wannabe.

Thought it would be cooler blogger: This blogger can also fit into one of the above groups but the tell tale sign that he / she is a TIWBC blogger is that there are 9 posts in the first 10 days then it slows to one per week then one per month. A distant cousin to the Love me PLEASE blogger. Sometimes referred to as The Twitter'er.

Good blogger: Tell tale signs include blogging multiple times per week, providing interesting and insightful commentary, engaging in conversation with readers, posting on others blogs etc. You know who you are.