So, you deleted your MySpace account, finally got the hang of another “new” Facebook layout, and now you’re hearing about Google+. In the world of social media, the only constant is change so get ready to embrace it, because Google+ is most likely here to stay. Comparing Google+ to Facebook isn’t exactly comparing apples to apples. Facebook is pegged as a social network, ideal for sharing photos, news and chatter among friends. Google+ is being looked at as a social media tool better suited to business, but the extent to which it may evolve is yet to be seen.

Why Sign Up?

Why NOT sign up? Get on there and check it out. For the most part, people are going to sign up – after all it’s Google. People like Google, people are familiar with Google, Google has a lot of money and a lot of expertise, and Google+ is already growing…rapidly. (continue reading…)

Communications and media as we know them are evolving at a rapid pace. The manner in which we communicate and what is considered “media” is ever-changing. I remember public relations in the era of blast fax distribution and the pre-World Wide Web era. I realize that I’m dating myself by making these statements, but the fact remains:  those of us in public relations are ever-challenged to keep abreast of “new” media and to discover ways in which to use it to our – and our employers’/clients’ – best advantage.

Take social media, for example. Consumers are increasingly relying upon social media for their information – going to a company’s Facebook page, for example, before visiting a company’s website. And consumers demonstrate their brand preferences (and loyalty) by following and liking their brands of choice on Twitter and Facebook. In fact, a recent Nielsen report states that 53% of active online adult social networkers follow a brand, that social networking and blogging now account for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet and that Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do on any other U.S. website. Pretty compelling statistics…and pretty valid reasons why public relations professionals need to include social media as part of their overall communications tactics.

Naysayers may dismiss these statistics, but I recall a similar conversation about the World Wide Web nearly 20 years ago. Enough said.

But beyond B2C communications lies the evolution of “media.” Media is ever-increasingly an online vehicle as printed media – printed news media, most especially – fades away. Writers and editors rely on social media platforms to magnify their voice and reach in the hope that it will (1) increase their reach and (2) drive traffic back to their articles/website, thereby increasing their readership and the value of their advertising.

Even what we consider “media” sometimes comes into question: are bloggers considered media, for example? In my opinion, creating online content does not a member of the media make; however, those with the forum and the voice may not be afraid to use it. So we as public relations professionals must manage these relationships just as we must consider social media platforms as media relations tools – platforms for engaging with the media and platforms for communicating with our various publics.

Does your company need assistance navigating the evolving world of social media? Do you have the tools necessary to harness the power of social media in order to communicate your messaging in a cohesive and an articulate manner? Domus does! Put our expertise in public relations and social media to work for you. Visit www.domusinc.com today and be an active part of the conversation that’s taking place in the world of social media.

For more on this topic, see “Public Relations in a Social World” posted on COMPREHENSION – PRSA’s blog: http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=3557.

Amy Whilldin is an Account Director at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

A wise person once said, “We were given two ears but only one mouth, because listening is twice as hard as talking.” This is especially true in our industry, as agencies must be good listeners to understand direction provided by their clients in order to deliver the best outcome. Most of us think we are good listeners, but in reality, we’re not.

Listening requires careful attention. Sometimes people don’t pay careful attention when someone is speaking to them, thinking instead about how to press their point when the other person stops speaking. Also consider that people talk at about 125 words per minute. However, we think at a speed that is four or five times as fast, at 500 words per minute or more. This means that our thoughts move much faster than the words we are listening to and makes it not surprising that we often let our attention wander.
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As PR and social media continue to overlap at a rapid pace, what next? Today, the boundaries between advertising, marketing and PR are becoming more blurred than ever. While PR is all about making announcements that you hope will grab editors’ attention and result in increased coverage and exposure, the goal of social media for business is to gain that loyal list of “followers” whom you must converse with, create dialogue with and hopefully …convert into customers.

Recently, we’ve all seen endless debates about who should “control” social media in ad agencies. And that “someone” should be the PR professional – often the eyes and ears of the agency.

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In today’s tough business climate, companies are seeking ways to cut their marketing budgets as they look to bolster profit amid continuing concern over the state of the economy. It is a well-established fact, that in hard times, companies cut all marketing costs that are not tied to direct sales.  Whether your company intends to decrease spending or not, before you slash and burn across the board, you may want to consider preserving or even investing more money into public relations. Public relations is a proven, measurable, cost-effective method for generating visibility, credibility and thought leadership. A survey of chief marketing officers at major national and global advertisers conducted by the Association of National Advertisers found that the value public relations delivers as part of the overall marketing mix is increasing.  In addition, results from a recent survey by Vocus, a leading public relations software management company, found that 42 percent of those surveyed said their PR budgets would increase in 2011 versus only 29 percent who responded to the same question last year.

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Measuring Public Relations has never been simple. It’s difficult to tie it directly to sales; unless glaringly obvious it’s tough to determine a hard and fast public opinion of your company; and without a consistent measurement tool or equation your public relations ROI can differ depending on who you ask.

For example, in public relations we measure a total number of impressions by multiplying a publication’s circulation number (which in itself can be unreliable) by a specified number. This is known as the “pass along rate.” I stick with the number 2. Meaning, for every person that subscribes to the publication, there’s one additional person reading it. Some folks are not as conservative and will use a pass along rate of 2.5 or 3. By using “2” I may err on the conservative side but at least I’m not making any false promises. The pass along rate is justified for many reasons; dentist and doctor’s offices often have magazines in the lobby so several people are reading them, there’s usually more than one person in a household reading a magazine that’s delivered there, and in other cases people will share magazines or interesting articles with friends and colleagues. Regardless of the ways to justify it – there’s no exact science to it.
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For those of us in marketing who watch Mad Men, we see a simpler, yet antiquated, ad industry business model. Paid media drives all of the billings and revenue, Public Relations and Market Research are burgeoning, yet-to-be-trusted disciplines, and the internet is a nickname for Betty Draper’s hair curlers covering.

But, in this TV show, the definition of what an ad agency delivers is crystal clear, and to me, always has been. In this seductive reenactment of the early days of the industry, Don Draper’s agency’s role is to understand a client’s business, develop the compelling point of difference for the brand, conceptualize the main campaign idea and then use mass media to turn up the noise level in the market.

It’s still the same today, only now agencies, on behalf of their clients’ brands, have a myriad of traditional and electronic avenues beyond mass media with which to build clients’ brands while keeping an ongoing conversation with their prospects, customers and referrers.

So, the answer to Advertising Age’s April 25, 2011 cover story, “Why Does it Seem Like Agency has become a Dirty Word?” is simple to me. It’s semantics – no matter what you call my company, Domus, Inc., we still have always taken the same approach, both before and since internet marketing became an option: 1) Define the market need, strategically position the client against that need (considering their core competencies and where their competitors are positioned) to create a compelling point of difference; 2) know their target audience(s) demographics, psychographics and media habits; 3) develop the creative concept that breaks through and has “legs” for promotion and longevity; 4) consistently implement a cohesive message; and 5) measure, measure, measure – and adjust accordingly to maximize our clients’ ROI on building not just their brands but, importantly, their businesses.

On the cover of the same issue, Advertising Age also points out that agencies are “ …starting venture funds, buying brands and developing products.” I don’t think this has as much to do with the industry’s identity crisis as much as it has to do with the fact that they need new accounts and revenue streams to survive and thrive, and they are finding more self-reliant, innovative means of accomplishing this objective. Kudos – entrepreneurial approaches helps the agencies as well as their clients and make for a more vibrant industry.

So I can’t resist the notion that, somewhere in a room, a group is brainstorming our industry bible, Advertising Age’s potential new name: some options are: We Brand for you but Can’t Brand Ourselves Age; Former Admen Turned Entrepreneurs Age; First We were an Ad Agency then a Digital Agency and Now a 360 Agency, and my favorite, We Don’t Know Who We Are Age. I suggest it remains Advertising Age and we stop talking to and about ourselves and focus on the clients’ needs in our ever-changing communications world. When marketing decision makers on the client side need help introducing, growing or saving a brand they say either “What does the ‘Agency” think? or “Do we need an new/different ‘Agency” to help us get this done?

If you want to learn about Domus, Inc., visit www.domusinc.com or call me directly at 215-772-2805. We know who we are and can deliver what you need.

Survey question: Marketing Directors, how do you define what your agency’s role? Do you still use the term agency?”

When Toyota’s first recall was announced a few weeks ago, their brand image took a hit, but not enough to destroy what had taken decades to solifify. But then they got hit with another recall and another, with the most recent being steering problems with the 2009-2010 Corollas. Not only has one after another problem arisen, but most of them affect newer models, which is indicative of the current state of the automaker’s quality. And, if that weren’t enough, a former Toyota lawyer is alleging that Toyota had been involved in “a calculated conspiracy to prevent the disclosure of damaging evidence.”

The damage now is severe, especially given that the U.S. Congress has decided to hold hearings, which means that the news will drag out for a long time to come. Moreover, Toyota’s President, Akio Toyoda, initially stated that he would not appear before Congress, although he just reversed course given the mounting bad news.

So, can Toyota recover? It will be difficult and costly – a PR nightmare – but they have no choice. They became an industry giant by owning the word, “quality”. This will be the beginning of a long decline if do not take immediate and long term steps to regain that brand position in people’s minds.

Domus is an advertising, public relations, and internet marketing agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

There’s a saying that even bad publicity is good publicity, but unless you’re Paris Hilton that is far from the case. Some companies may not see the value in public relations, but if they become victim to a devastating media disaster then the value of public relations becomes priceless. However, PR isn’t just meant to quality control major disasters, it’s one of the main branches of an integrated marketing campaign. PR will raise brand awareness through legitimate industry sources vs. paid advertisements and help shape how customers view a product, company or even…you.

For instance, the State Lotteries are no stranger to negative publicity. The amount of press covering stories of lottery winners whose lives have been negatively affected by the money trumps the number of positive winner awareness stories. With a solid PR program, that could be reversed. By broadcasting on tier one outlets and creating feature stories, positive life changing stories would be heard, attracting consumer attention which will help raise sales.

Bad publicity might get you on the map, but a negative impression is hard to shake. By implementing a fully integrated marketing program with a strong public relations presence and internet presence tracking, any product, brand or company can raise awareness levels and inevitably raise sales.

Domus is an integrated marketing communications firm based in Philadelphia. For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.