See you in the .. FUTURE

Today we had a special lecture in our social and digital media class that emphasized social capital (check this too) and connectedness through our network we’ve developed in the last four months. It was presented thousands of years ahead of 'now' ... in the future. My HumberPR social media gangsters introduced “Future Camp”, led by Zack Sandor-Kerr and Jenna Stothers, where we discussed how we’ll stay close when our course is done and we are let loose in the real world.

Ideally, I hope to stay connected through the random phone calls and texts that we share, but also to utilize some of the social media platforms we’ve discovered to keep in touch. Our Facebook group will remain; we’ve also developed a new Twitter hashtag (#) that we could use to mobilize monthly events. Our favourite, Why Not Wednesdays will be converted into the hashtag #YnotW.

With another semester ahead of us, I’m sure the sinking feeling of our time together coming to an end will hit in the not too distant future… But I feel confident I’ll be able to reach out whenever, wherever, to the future generation of PR practitioners and the current best buds in the universe. Good luck to all and don’t forget… @JaymesBeatty.

Special Shout-Outs to HUMBER ON TWITTER! (click to connect to their fantastic blogs)

Patrick @PatHPR
Jeff @ChefDeafJeff
Sarah @LatishaFlash
Zack @ZackSandorKerr
Jenna @Jenna Stothers
Sarah @SarahLongPR
Laura @LauraTeed
Kathleen @KathleenNapier
Kiel @KielCulture
Amanda @AmandaLeone
Deborah @DeborahWaines
Zofia @ZofiaSzaflarska
Ben @BWylie1
Michael @MichaelCayley / @MemeticBrand


and follow the trend #humberpr #YnotW

Good Day!

Old Spice Reintroduces the Man's Man.

Old Spice. The scent is familiar and wraps your mind… you think… Grandpa? Well, not anymore.

The brand is iconic when American gentlemen think about male grooming products. When faced with new competitors and the rise of social media, the Proctor and Gamble brand has adapted and grown to successfully challenge the new guys, particularly AXE and the multitude of ‘metro’ man grooming products. Old Spice assessed their primary audience’s online activities and met them on their grounds.

Using a website, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to manage their online presence has brought the “Old” Spice back into significance. Branding a new line of products that will “make you smell like a man, man” paired with hilarious marketing and advertising has rejuvenated the Old Spice brand and introduced a new female fan base.
Their Twitter account is just one of the many tactics Old Spice has used to further their branding strategy and engage with their audiences. The account is updated daily and creates a true dialogue with other tweeters through replies, video links, funny quips and other nonsensical man things that you can’t help but laugh at. Their fan base is rising and in regards to other major competitors, Old Spice has a leg up as they have more Twitter followers than AXE. Old Spice has successfully extended their market reach through this medium.

Old Spice has created a relaxed and entertaining branding campaign, reiterated through all mediums and producing consistent content that unifies their social media presence into something really… mountain fresh. An opportunity Old Spice could capitalize on could be to extend their tweet content to include what their competitors at AXE have done including: contests, giveaways, events and news.

Old Spice may not have reinvented the wheel, but they have adapted to the ideals of PR 2.0 and done it so very, very well.

Take a look at Old Spice through a different lens. See what my co-conspirators Pat, Eva, Ben, Ginger and Laura have to say about Old Spice and corporate social media.

PR 2.0, the love child of Web 2.0 and Public Relations

There has been a renaissance if you will, in public relations. Known as PR 2.0, it breaks away from traditional public relations and marketing activities, best typified through the 1900’s as the archaic “man with the megaphone”. PR 2.0 has renewed credibility, exposed a newfound transparency, and opened communication previously marred by our society’s stigma of the PR industry. And it’s all because of the Internet, Web 2.0 and social media.

Social and digital media should be considered the love child of the Internet and Web 2.0. The development of Web 2.0 heightened interaction and shifted power on the ‘world-wide internets’ from traditional producers (businesses and organizations) to consumers as producers (think YOU; YouTube, blogs and Facebook). From a PR perspective it's important to remember that while Web 2.0 influences PR 2.0, PR2.0 is not Web 2.0 and was never intended as such.

The transition of public relations to incorporate social media has been no different than any other adaptation the field has encountered through waves of technological progress. Marshall McLuhan’s famous “the medium is the message” still holds true as public relations activities will continue to link customers and businesses yet the medium is PR 2.0. The easiest way to frame this relationship is to consider PR 2.0 as the vehicle public relations has used to adapt to the social and digital media phenomenon. PR 2.0 utilizes Web 2.0 and social media to change the
terms of engagement between business and consumer, allowing the PR professional and business to listen, learn and share with their audiences. This has revitalized interest in public relations and opened the door to two-way communication. As Deirdre Breakenridge explains, “PR 2.0 puts the public back in public relations”.

So what does that mean for the PR professional? It means that due to increasing broadband connectivity, Web 2.0 and social media, the PR professional has new ways to communicate with audiences and a new medium to conduct the same (but think 2.0’d) activities. The one-way communication of the past has been replaced by online interaction, two-way dialogue and sharing. PR can tap into the sentiments of the global community and in effect, reestablish a business, product, or service to reflect the wishes of their potential or real consumers. It means that PR has changed, and here’s how:

- PR and building relationships is like Canada and hockey. PR 2.0 brings networking into the mix on a whole new level; online.
– No one can hide anything thanks to the Internet. Therefore it is essential that PR 2.0 practitioners embrace this and stay ‘real’ (transparent) with their audiences. People will see through the bullmish in “the age of awareness”.
– The idea of incorporating two-way communication, learning and sharing from Web 2.0 builds credibility. Introducing a new 3rd party endorser, PR 2.0 highlights the ‘blogger’ as the new go-to individuals, like the journalist in years past.
– PR 2.0 allows companies to better gauge public opinion, on a micro/macro level, whenever needed and at the click of the mouse. PR practitioners can proactively seek new and diverse audiences.

It is undoubted that PR has evolved to incorporate the potentials of Web 2.0 and social media, how pervasive it shall become in both everyday life and my aspiring public relations career is something I look forward to witnessing. If you haven’t already, you can connect with everything that is me by visiting here! I'm everywhere...

43things.com has its 15 minutes

What do you want to do with your life? What would you like to accomplish? As we entered the New Year, thoughts gravitate toward your resolutions. I finally figured mine out, not to procrastinate. Hehe. 43things.com believes with any hope or goal, you shouldn’t have to go it alone!

43 Things or 43things.com is a social networking website that was launched New Years day, 2005. It is run by the Robot Co-op, a small company based in Seattle founded by blogger Erik Benson, Maktub keyboardist Daniel Spils, and former Amazon.com and Microsoft executive Josh Petersen.

Built on the principles of tagging, rather than creating explicit interpersonal links, anyone can create accounts and then list a number of goals, hopes and resolutions – conveniently limited to a list of 43. These goals are grouped and connected to other people through key words, terms or ideas.

For example, Losing Weight. Right now there are 17,000 people with this tag on their list.

Users can share success stories, cheer each other on, and even give up on their goals (hm). Users can also post photos, essentially blogging about their pursuits. 43things adds tips and tricks regarding New Year’s resolutions. I suggest everyone to take a look at what people want to do this year – it’s wicked funny.

The website design is very straightforward and user friendly, allowing a visitor to jump right in. One very cool aspect is the “popular goals in your area”. Where you can see what people around you are 'doing'.

While there is no clear “about us”, 43things lists guidelines that basically spell out the policies. So should you join? I’m not. For the same reason no one takes resolutions seriously in the first place. I agree that connecting with others sharing a common goal can be supportive, motivating and a place to share the struggle. But by early March I suspect all that remains are empty promises.

WHY? Because 43things is isolated from the rest of the social media world. While having an iPhone app, searching their respective Twitter and Facebook pages... I nearly coughed due to dust. 43things was considered a game changer when it was released however, the last Tweet was 10 months ago, and while having 1,600 fans, their Facebook fanpage had no recent posts, pictures or communication. The site boasts “Currently there are 2,130,631 people in 15,163 cities doing 1,658,588 things, including a “recently posted goal” on the home page, in large font, “eat a tampon.”

Are you kidding me? Who moderates this site?

Who is using it? Here’s a link to their demographics profile. I think 43things is relatively useless in the public relations industry. It can be used to obtain research information regarding people’s attitudes and goals for the New Year. Here is a good example : Market Research and 43things.com. It could also serve a product launch like a new diet plan. Personal trainers could find a group of dieters, fitness facilities looking to attract new customers... all because they found a niche of similarly connected profiles.

All in all, I think 43things has had its 15 minutes.

Here are what others have to say:

For a quick overview check this out
For an in-depth look @ 43things visit click here
Wikipedia
A video about 43things.com

Also check out Jen’s take on 43things.com

Don't forget to comment!

You've been tagged! A How-to for tags

OH NO! A panic washes over as you ponder the most dreaded of social media scenarios. Where have I been? Who was I with? Who's been talking about me?! Seems to me, it's always the most unflattering or inappropriate picture right? For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, today's lesson is on tags!

Tags or tagging is prevalent throughout the internet. What is a tag? Well, a tag is essentially a key word or term that can be used with a blog, tweet, website or image.

How are tags used? Tagging helps describe any aforementioned item and allows it to be found through a search, grouping other items containing similar tags.

Our class assignment in social and digital media was to scoure the depths of the world wide internets, in search of this: the best how-to for tags. A picture is worth a thousand words and this post really exemplifies the simplistic nature of tags and tagging. At the bottom of this post you'll notice my tags or "labels" pertaining to keywords or terms i.e. tags, tagging, and how-to.


A quick example.

Say you see a blog post or a photo that has been tagged "Jimmy". By clicking that tag, or searching for the tag "Jimmy", you'll open up all other similarly tagged items, i.e. blog posts, photos, etc.

If that didn't do the trick, here are some others that I stumbled upon worth mentioning.

- how to effectively use tags in your blog (click here)
- how to use tags (click here)
- and ... for the hasty and visually inclined,

Although I was familiar with tags, this how-to experience gave me an opportunity to expand my knowledge and showcase network learning. Tags can be utilized to introduce new people, discover new interests, and connect with other people through a multitude of networks. As it turns out, the best how-to for tags was a blog post found on the ning.com network. I'm IN that network and can now say... "I've utilized my networks as a learning asset." When you think tags, think connecting.

Kick-ass! If you'd like to know more about tags, check out what Rachael and Katy, my co-conspirators have to say!

Wanna know more about Twitter? Or how to embed a video?
Click here! to see a collection of the best online how-to's in the universe.

Connect with the Humber Public Relations 2010 class!

I'll see you soon.