PR FIRM ON THE RUN

Paul McCartney.  Enough said right?  Apparently not, as his PR firm DawBell won the Record of The Day's best independent public relations firm.

Of course like most people in America, I was like DawBell who? 

So I went to their site and found out that they represent many

British artists, mainly up-and-coming ones.

Paul McCartney's kind words about the company shows a trust that many companies strive for.

I was really interested in their company philosophy as an independent firm.

“Innovative Publicity With Passion and Integrity” is not just a corporate marketing slogan. Right now the media is going through the most exciting transition period it has known since the advent of newspapers. Traditional PR practices are changing fast and DawBell is at the heart of those changes. As a start up company we are in a position to adapt and evolve with the media, meaning we are the most competitive, cutting edge and unique company of its kind.  We are here to do an incredible job and anything less just won’t do.

As a student at Eastern Illinois University, I'm learning all about the ever changing world of PR,
and after reading about this company I am even more excited about the field I'm going into.

I think their approach to dealing with the media is exactly the right attitude,
and i am learning a lot from their strategies.

I decided to end with one of my favorite interviews with
Paul McCartney done by the late Chris Farley

PRSSA HALL OF FAME BABY!

When someone gets into the sports hall of fame, it's usually after taking millions in salary from the particular ball club.  When someone gets into the PRSSA's hall of fame, they have made their company millions.

Such is the case with Mike Neumeir, the APR for the Arketi Group.

He has already received the PRSA Bronze Anvil for architecting a demand-creation program resulting in a $13 million increase in sales.

13 million increase in sales during a recession?!


Believe it.  I decided to check out some videos of him on YouTube to see if he had any advice for students   like me.

 

 This video on media relations was really helpful.

 Ok, the last thing I want to point out about this story is his Master's degree.  Mr. Neumeir got his in Mass Communications.  I find this interesting after several fellow students were told not to do this by local PR pro's.  When it comes to career advice, I think I'll take the hall of famers.....

So congratulations to Mike Neumeir, I'm excited to see what he does next!

Neumeier

Facebook Goes Nuclear On Google

Forget the David and Goliath comparison, this is Armageddon!  

Today Mark Zuckerberg, unveiled a brand new messaging system that has been rumored about in the press as the "Gmail killer." The plan is to make Facebook an all-in-one stop as users will be able to message to email accounts outside of the Facebook network.  

My first thought was "Wow, sucks to be Myspace."  I recently did a blog on Myspace's rebranding effort and applauded their decision to target an African and Hispanic target market.

 I said though that Myspace always felt one step behind Facebook, and this feels like deja vu.  I really hope Myspace doesn't try to pull off a rushed sub-par clone as they have in the past with many Facebook features.


What got my attention was the fact that users will be able to view Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents even if they don't have them. For me this would make or break a message system.

I saw Social Network a few weeks ago and even if Mark Zuckerberg is the jerk portrayed, the youth in me loves his gall.  I love the internet's ability to shake up old power structures.  I guess it comes with being young and idealistic.

The Y generation might be the trophy generation but we have also dismantled old power structures and turned the push system into a pull system.

The future is ours!

American Sole

Today I just wanted to post a print ad I made for class.  I think the biggest lesson I learned here was that it takes hours to do something that looks so simple.   I also learned that whatever I start with evolves, and to go with your instincts. I'm working on the language, and also making the logo smaller. Our company is American Sole, and we are currently working on a web site and press kit.

!Dios Mio Dos!

There are digital ghost towns appearing all over the internet these days. Myspace has become the creepiest one of all. Almost overnight, Myspace became a place only populated by pedophiles, spammers, and terrible garage bands trying to make it big. Of course we know where everyone went, and can you blame us?


It seems like Myspace is constantly a step behind Facebook and it people noticed.



Well, finally they have woken up and have hired Lagrant Communications, and Valencia, Perez & Echeveste firms to help them with their re-branding. So why is this so interesting?

The two firms hired target mainly a Hispanic and African American audience. With the Hispanic population becoming a powerful economic force, it makes sense to target their dollars. I believe like Ford (kept pushing bigger SUV‘s when hybrids were the trend in the early 2000‘s.), the American broadcasters are suffering from arrogance and will suffer financially in the future.

Just recently in one of my previous blogs I looked at Univision’s rise in the broadcasting ranks due to it’s Hispanic focus. I think like Univision, having a specific demographic to target gives you greater success then trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator. While this has been the practice in the past, the internet has made it obsolete.

Will this re-branding bring people back to this one ghost town? I believe it will, just as when I was a kid I still had faith Apple would find it’s way again.  Of course not everybody agrees with me, so for a more pessimistic analysis check out what Niall Kitson thinks.

NERDS!!!!!!!!!

Damn the man, save the empire!  

When it comes to responding to their customers, video game developers are king.  If a game sucks, the players will let the public know and sales will suffer.  Just look at what happened recently to Electronic Arts.  Video game fail.


So what happens when the head guys get confronted by a run of a mill nerd who obviously takes the game too seriously?  They accept that they were wrong, and explain they are going to fix the mistake!  Recently at Blizzard’s gaming expo, a fan stepped up and pointed out a big flaw in their story line.  Apparently a main character just disappears for no reason.   When confronted the developers laughed sheepishly and then promised action.  If companies would realize that humility helps credibility we’d be better off.  Check out the confrontation of the now famous kid dubbed “the red shirt kid.” 



So what happened after this?  Did he go home to his parent’s basement and fade into obscurity?  No!  Not content with merely admitting they were wrong Blizzard went a step further and made him a character in the game!  Check it out!

This might not be a big deal to most, but to the 12 million players on World of Warcraft the kid has become a legend.  So they added him to the game with the name fact checker.  This demonstrates the companies humor, and desire to keep those who pay 15 bucks a month happy.