High-Tech PR Blog >> Beyond the Hype

Blurring the Lines in the Blogosphere

There was an interesting development in the story on Bear Sterns and the difficulties surrounding two of its hedge funds.  The New York Times ran this story on how Richard Martin, the person running the division that managed the funds had blogged about dealing with this and his life on Wall Street on his personal blog. 

What is interesting here is how this personal blog written for his friends and family has made its way into mainstream media and provides an element to this unfolding story at Bear Stearns.  Was his post meant for only his friends and family, or was it a more calulated move to shed some light on his perspective for a wider audience?  Who knows for sure?  If you go to his blog you will see that it's open to "invited" readers only.

But what is the broader lesson to be learned in this?  I think it's about understanding what is the level of transparency you are comfortable with as a blogger.  If you are blogging on a personal level, where do you draw the line, particularly as it relates to work?  If you are blogging on a more corporate basis should you avoid revealing too much about your personal life or principles?  These are questions that you should ask yourself as a blogger and review every time you are about to hit that publish button.

iPhone, YouPhone, Weallphone?

Willyouphone? It's an understatement to say the iPhone has lots of buzz in the media. It seems every major newspaper and business publication has published multiple articles, including a photo spread of complementary products in Time which features our client Zink Imaging, about the iPhone as the big day of first shipments drew closer.

There is even coverage of the buzz itself. Or how to leverage the buzz -- I like Valleywag's article for PR agencies of high tech products that need to be put out of its misery.

Is the buzz too much? Has it "jumped the shark?" I must admit when I saw ABC's Good Morning America running a clip of a parody of Steve Jobs from NBC's SNL that it seemed close.

But no. I say kudos to Jobs. He has once again proven he is a master of PR.

I was particularly aware of this as I media trained a new executive of one of my clients. As we walked through the training I kept referring back to the interview that Jobs did with Walt Mossberg. Walt, one of the best, if not the best tech journalists around keeps asking Jobs about futures and his answer is the same every time "We don't talk about future products." I counted at least three times when he said it.  One mantra we have when doing our numerous media trainings is to stay on message and don't move into futures or other news. Jobs does this simply in this interview and I think I will reference it in other trainings.

So, what do you think? Too much buzz? Will you buy an iPhone or has the buzz turned you off?

As the Healthcare Industry Turns

I'm sure I'm not alone in my opinion that most healthcare conferences follow the “soap opera” model. Much like story lines in “Guiding Light” or “As the World Turns,” you may have attended a health conference in 2001 and then another in 2007 – and you find yourself in the middle of the same conversation. While some of this remained true at the recent TiECON event in Boston, it was also refreshing to hear that there’s finally industry movement along a few fronts.

Yes, the experts were still saying things like, “medical devices are hot,” and “healthcare costs are rising.” But, some of the issues that had only been talked about conceptually in the past are actually being implemented, if even on a small scale, today. EDC/paperless trials are finally being conducted on an enterprise-wide scale, most health systems have either already implemented or are considering EHR and everyone across the health and life sciences chain is taking the patient/consumer into account as they try to enhance their business models.

For example, panelists discussed the impact of consumers on health coverage. One of the panelists pointed out that he views the “right” scenario looking something like an Expedia experience – where patients/consumers can log onto the Web to find the right doc and the right hospital for the specific procedure they need. They can look further into the hospital’s and physician’s quality track records and can determine which health plans cover which treatments and where. While the experts think a fully-executed version of this model is about 10 years off, Thomas Summer, CEO of MassMEDIC described what Massachusetts is currently doing along these lines through NEHEN.

Another very compelling discussion centered around the escalating cost and ever-ailing health coverage system in the U.S. Two main themes prevailed: Are we focused on the right patient groups? And, can we finally admit that other countries may be doing things a little better than we are?

One of the panelists in the “Competition and Consumerism” track made the point that even though, in theory, many of the patient-directed programs that numerous employers and payers are offering (things like incentives for working out, incentives for staying healthy), healthcare costs will still continue to rise. Why? Because, “...those programs are targeted at the insured, but they do not address the 45-50 million uninsured in the country – the very group that drives the high costs of healthcare coverage.” In terms of the U.S. vs Europe and other countries, panelists agreed that we continue to pay more and get less. The panel continued by describing the health systems in Switzerland and Australia, which the experts agreed were doing some things very right. While most of these arguments and discussions were good, I didn't walk away with a clear understanding that anyone had the answers. The health/life sciences industry is begging for thought leaders to help clear up all this confusion. Perhaps I’ll attend a conference in 2020 to hear some of the solutions?

Blogging is the "Coffee Talk" of your Brand

I just saw an email preview of Jupiter's recent research by Emily Riley on "Maximizing Blogs: Fostering Brand Advocacy" and it brought up some thought-provoking points about how many advertisers maintain or plan to create blogs, but few consumers actually read them when researching products and services.  So, I'm wondering if corporate blogs aren't actually being read by consumers making buying decisions, why do companies still create them?  This question arises from some of our existing B2B clients and potential clients as well.  They wonder why should they appear in the blogosphere if that is not what their customers are reading to make buying decisions?

My opinion is that brand identity is an emotional sell and blogging gives senior executives the chance to reveal a more personal side of themselves to potential customers, partners, influencers and the world at large.  While blogging might not have a tangible ROI attached to product or service sales right now, it does give a tangible shaping of brand identity. 

In some ways blogging is like "coffee talk" because it is a direct and personal way to share thoughts, experiences and expertise that people might not otherwise see, and those impressions do matter.  It gives executives the chance to connect to issues larger than their company and gives readers the chance to connect to the executive writing the blog, not just the company.  If customers like what you have to say on the blog, chances are they'll like the services you have to offer or be more inclined to purchase the products you have to offer.  Like minds think alike, don't they?

As I look at some of the posts from our senior executives, I can see the personality of each person shine through and that gives our clients a better sense of who the senior executives are and what they are knowledgeable and passionate about.  Our blog has been a great vehicle for Lois to share her views on industry news and that's valuable information for companies that are thinking about working with us. Her post, "Teach Your Children Well" shows her long-standing media knowledge and relationships and inherent integrity.  SVP Ted Weismann's blog, "IT Trust in Social Media" shows his expertise on the topic of the influence of social versus traditional media.  SVP Christine Simeone's blog, "Grace Under Pressure" gives a peek at how she does media training and lets you know she's a Tom Brady fan.  EVP Bill McLaughlin's post, "Does Social Media Translate Globally" let's you know that while he encourages clients to integrate social media into PR, you can't use a cookie-cutter approach across countries.

I'd be curious to know who has been reading the LP&P executive blogs and whether you agree that they give you better insight into the personality of our agency and our senior executives.  What does it tell you about the LP&P brand?  Does it make you want to work with us more? 

What is Important to CIOs These Days?

Gary Beach of CIO Magazine came by the other day to talk with our senior team and some clients about "The State of the CIO 2007" and other updates.  Gary is always a great speaker and brings not only the data his pub cranks out, but also his own recent insights from the many C-level meetings and conferences he regularly attends.

Some interesting takeaways from Gary's discussion included:

1. The breaking down of CIOs into four distinct categories: Business Leader, Innovation Agent,  Operational CIO and Turnaround Artist.  Our enterprise clients are trying to get a handle on the changing role of CIOs vis a vis the C-suite, so it was interesting to see that the Innovation Agent is most likely to report to the CEO.  Gary showed a variety of data (soon to be updated) that indicates that, for the most part, the penduluum is swinging away from cutting IT costs and gaining efficiencies to using IT for business growth and innovation.  A  major shift that requires a whole new set of messages to reach th is group.
2. Getting in the door with the CIOs is harder than ever.  The 500 CIOs surveyed spend, on average, 4 hours a week meeting with vendors and 2 of those hours are with existing vendors to manage the relationship.  Companies that need to get in front of the CIO need to get to the "Why XX [fill in your company or product name]," as Gary succinctly put it, very very quickly to grab a few of those precious 120 minutes per week.
3. The number one influence for CIOs, according to Gary's research (which will be updated over the next quarter) is their peers.
4. IT budgets recently have experienced their highest increase in 18 months.  Stay tuned to CIO for the specifics on this not-yet-announced piece of data.  That bodes well for the industry.
5. A recent CIO poll showed that 50% of CIOs are bloccking access to YouTube for their users.
6. Measuring and reporting the value of IT has jumped much higher on their list of priorities.

Overall, the meeting with Gary confirmed our assessment -- and our clients' views -- that the times are definitely a-changing in the CIO's world.  Which means that anyone trying to reach them has to bring great value and arm them with the stats to prove how this will move the business forward.

One of our clients, Jeff Tench of Level3, asked Gary what is driving this shift.  The answer -- customers, primarily, along with employees and partners -- dovetailed with what Jeff is seeing in his own company.

All in all, it was an interesting session.  Gary provided a great tidbit, as he often does, for ways to figure out how you can add value to that CIO's company in a sales situation:  "check their 10-Q's business risks section."  It may sound simple, but I'll bet a lot of people are slapping their foreheads as they read this and saying, "why didn't I think of that?"

And I must admit that my subject for this post is a blatant rip-off of Gary's idea for getting attention for white papers that are geared for the CIO -- "ask a question the reader will want to know the answer to."

Follow the money (er, announcement, that is)

Where does the news really originate these days?  The lines are getting pretty fuzzy.

Trolling through my Bloglines playlist, I found this link on CNet to an interesting post about AT&T hiring 2,000 additional workers to deal with the anticipated frenzy when the iPhone goes on sale next Friday.  Interesting, I thought.  Let me see how the master promoter Steve Jobs, ably assisted by a very savvy AT&T (and their agency, our friends at Fleishman-Hillard) are taking advantage of the anticipation to build the suspense AND do the right thing from a business perspective to handle the expected rush to buy.

So I clicked to the story and was told it was reported by CNN, so I clicked to that story, which tells pretty much the same tale, with this elaboration:

The employees "have already been hired and they have already begun working," said AT&T (up $0.00 to $39.53, Charts, Fortune 500) spokesman Michael Coe.

But further up in the CNet post it says:

A report yesterday said AT&T plans to close its stores at 4:30 p.m. on iPhone Day, reopening at 6:00 p.m. to start selling a certain product.

So I clicked on that link and it took me to the exact same story posted on CNet's Crave blog.  When I clicked on the report link there, it took me again to the same story and the same blog site.

Being both a former journalist and a long-time PR type, I next started checking to see if AT&T had released anything official about these hirings or store closings.  Nada.  One of my colleagues made this find.  Two weeks ago, AppleInsider reported that a college student said he'd been hired as a temp for the expected onrush of customers.   

I guess the bottom line is that AT&T probably has done this; their spokesperson confirmed it.  But the facts around the story are swirling from conversations being reported by news sources such as Reuters and then a series of blogs.

We definitely are in a new world when it comes to news dissemination.  It means that a conversation with a savvy reporter may be all you need with a hot story like this to get the wheels in motion for great press and lots of speculation.  But it also means that rumors and inaccuracies could spin something out of control too.  This is what a lot of our clients are weighing as they work with the blogosphere as well as the traditional influencers.

I guess I want to make sure we don't have to be CSI specialists to determine what the news truly is and whether or not it is accurate.

The Old Rules of New Media

On Tuesday morning I participated in a PR News Thought Leaders Roundtable in Boston. The topic was "The Future of Integrated Communications." Over the course of a couple of hours about 15 senior level communicators from agencies and client organizations in the area talked about everything from the impact of social media on integrated communications, if integrated communications is really being implemented effectively anywhere, and what changes we can make or suggest in order to deliver more strategic, integrated marketing programs.

Diane Schwartz from PR News and Angela Jeffrey from VMS moderated the discussion. A couple of overarching conclusions came out of the discussion:

• message consistency across stakeholders is the holy grail and a key reason to put a priority on integrated marketing communications
• there aren't an overwhelming number of great examples of truly integrated communications programs as companies struggle with logistics and politics, among other things, in order to make it happen
• social media must be integrated into the communications mix, but the degree of emphasis very much varies by audience and by industry. As an example, Kathy O'Reilly from Lycos had example after example of how she has very effectively integrated social media into her programs. On the other hand, Craig Martin from Feinstein Kean Healthcare and Steve Singer from Dana Farber Cancer Institute spoke of the risks and challenges inherent in blogging in particular given the highly regulated industry they are in
• blogging deserves exploration and focus from companies, while podcasting is not as hot as it was expected to become given the additional effort required to create and listen to a podcast and the fact that you can't quickly scan podcasts like you can blog entries

It's always great to sit in a room and hear both war stories and success stories from people in the same profession. I walked away with some new ideas about how to counsel clients on better integrating their communications efforts and further perspective on how social media is changing the world of PR and marketing. An upcoming issue of PR News will have much more comprehensive coverage of our discussion, and I will offer a link here when it's available.

For now, here is a video of the panel's moderator and PR News' Vice President and Group Publisher, Diane Schwartz being interviewed about the PR industry and the impact of social media

IT Trust in Social Media

Always on the hunt for hard numbers that illustrate the shifting influence of social vs. traditional media, I was struck by survey results published recently by IT Toolbox, an online community of IT professionals that claims 1.2 million members.  Based upon responses from over 2,000 members, the major takeaways from the results are that IT spends more time consuming social media than traditional trade publications or vendor material, and also trust the material they find there more.

The full results can be found here.  Here are the data and conclusions I found most interesting:

1. While IT spends more time reading content generated by peers (blogs, wikis, IT Toolbox, etc.), they still reference vendor web sites more for making purchasing decisions.  But that doesn't necessarily mean they trust vendor content more than user-generated content.

2. About two-thirds of respondents stated that the consumption of social media makes for a more informed purchasing decision.

3. Three-quarters say that the value of social media as part of the purchase decision-making process lies in giving IT buyers more objective feedback from multiple sources, which includes more conversations with peers.

4.  Executive-level decision makers consume the most user-generated content, followed by IT analysts, developers and lower-level influencers.

5. More than half say that social media allows them to "probe more deeply into a solution than dealing with a vendor and their customer references."

Now, the results should be viewed relative to the sample size.  It is compelling evidence, however, of the influence of social media on IT purchasing decisions.  Looking at the results more holistically, it reinforces the need to integrate social media with traditional media and vendor content.  I recently wrote about how the vendor's own web site should evolve to allow for more community-driven content, with trust being an important justification.  These results give more credence to this idea.

Teach Your Children Well

I was out of the office for personal and business reasons for a couple days last week and I feel a little like Alice stepping through the Looking Glass.  First of all, as Don Jennings notes in an earlier post, many of us are disheartened about our good friends in the media being caught in layoffs.  Barbara Darrow, for example, is one of the best journalists in the business.  I've personally been referencing her in my executive media trainings for years as an example of a journalist who builds good, mutually respectful relationships with her best sources.  It is one of the reasons she often has the scoop.  It also helped her gain access to many top executives who enjoyed talking with her and respected her ability.  The technology industry is worse off today without Barb serving as a watchdog.  I'm hoping some smart publication will snatch her up quickly so the equilibrium of the planet can go back to normal again.

Then I started reading the blog postings about Google deciding to double its PR team (perfectly appropriate for a goliath growing as quickly as they are), but declaring they are not bringing anyone in with either PR or journalism experience.  They say they are going after top graduates from the best schools for the positions.  One assumes they have a great training program to quickly get these people up to speed on how to handle PR for the most watched company in the tech industry. 

But who is going to bring those people along and mentor them?  PR is not a product that can be manufactured by rows and rows of people pushing the machinery along.  It is a strategic science that must be orchestrated carefully and that requires knowledge, relationships and -- I can't get away from this word -- experience.  It made me smile to think of all of those bright and eager young people representing Google as they deal with the media and the bloggers and the analysts, as well as the Google partners.  Despite the evolution PR is going through, companies continue to choose agencies based upon a model that involves teams of very experienced people who strategically plan and direct the programs for our clients supported by more junior level people. 

We have incredible young people -- top grads from the best schools -- who have come along very quickly and are getting great results for their clients.  But they are part of teams led by experienced PR sages.  They are not on their own.  I can only imagine the reaction I would get if we brought a team of these bright young people on a new business pitch and told the company -- "they are grads from the top schools and there is a not a lick of PR or journalism experience in the bunch."  I am sure I would be laughed out of the room -- or forcibly ejected along with my eager young team.

As a former tech journalist and long-time PR veteran, I certainly will be watching these developments with great interest.  But I'll also be decrying the scorn for experience -- both within the publications and now from this industry leader.  I certainly understand that the pubs are cutting the more experienced people because they are making tough business decisions and the top salaries go first.  But what is Google's excuse?  (Kudos to Tom Foremski for questioning this as well.)

We have survived for nearly 21 years because of the experience we bring to the table and the great team of people whose knowledge and connections our mixed teams leverage every day.  I think back to our 20th anniversary party at Fenway last year when Barb Darrow's colleague Steve Burke (who survived, thank heaven!) raised a glass to me and toasted, "To the survivors, baby!"  Let's hope this is just an aberration and not a trend.

Meanwhile, though, I'm not going to plan any more days out of the office for a few weeks . . . 

These Times They Are A Changing...

March used to be the month of Madness but perhaps June is the new month of madness.

Take the changes in the media and storage trade show landscape for example. This month should have marked the annual passage for vendors and customers at Long Beach, California for Storage World Conference.  Many of us used to wait to see who would keynote the event, who would be hosting a party at the Queen Mary or who would launch a new product. More importantly, many of us would go with anticipation to see who would garner the coveted SWC ASNP/InfoStor MVP Award or Storage Connection Industry ACE Award.

Also, last week marked a changing of the guard at CMP Publications. The shift from print to online continues with CMP announcing it's folding Network Computing and Optimize into InformationWeek and folding SysAdmin into Dr. Dobb's Journal. Also, CRN moves from publishing three times a month to twice, while VARBusiness will now publish once a month.

Why should we care? For two reasons. First, CMP follows on the heels of other publications, particularly those in the storage market, which have shifted from print to online. Computer Technology Review and InfoStor in particular. Second, the balance between print and online continues to challenge publishing houses.  More importantly, there are editors, reporters, colleagues and friends who have been impacted. 

And words do little to cover how personal the changes have become. Perhaps one editor impacted by CMP's restructuring summed it up best, "it has been very nice working with all of you over the years, and I do hope you'll keep in touch."