Solvent financial entities boost comms amid panic

Financial companies that are in good standing are communicating with customers and the media about the advantages of investing through their company even during these hard economic times. The majority of these companies are addressing the economic and at the same time explaining why it is still important to continue investing. The director of corporate PR at Charles Schwab, Sarah Bulgatz, said that Schwab has been using many different communication channels to reach its consumers.

“Consumers in general are wondering what's going on and what will happen next,” Bulgatz said. “People generally have a ton of questions, so we've attempted to anticipate and answer some of them in a proactive way. Everything we're doing is designed to try and help people put the situation in some perspective and make good investment decisions, not [ones] based on emotion.”

Schwab and T. Rowe Price have also taken out ads in national newspapers along with large amounts of online information partnered with media outreach showing not all financial companies are in trouble said Steve Norwitz, T. Rowe Price's VP of PR.

“One of the concerns people might naturally have is that if Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG, and companies like that can lose their financial footing, then why can't anybody?” Norwitz said. “We want to reassure customers that's not the case with us.”

I found this article interesting because of the economic crisis and all the financial institutes going out of business I had assumed the majority of financial companies were doing poorly. It's good to see that the companies that are not in economic trouble aggressively communicating this fact to the media and consumers to keep them investing and ease some of the panic.
http://www.prweekus.com/Solvent-financial-entities-boost-comms-amid-panic/article/118427/

Hope for New Plan

The Stocks staged a partial recovery Tuesday following the previous session's historic loss, as investors hoped a revised financial rescue plan will emerge.
Republicans blame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the defeated $700 billion economic rescue plan. They accused her of delivering a partisan speech just as they were attempting to round up votes in favor of the bailout. Video courtesy of Fox News. (Sept. 30)
Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up almost 218 points, or 2.1%, at 10583.36. The S&P 500 rose 2.6%, to 1134.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.5% to 2034.07.
President George W. Bush made a brief statement at 8:45 Eastern, saying the economic damage to the nation will be "painful and lasting" if Congress fails to pass a $700 billion bailout bill. The bailout's failure has thrown into limbo the prospects for a federal intervention that the White House and many financial-industry veterans believe is necessary to alleviate the burden of soured credit bets lingering on many banks' books. Those instruments have clogged Wall Street's usual financing activities for months and, in a worst-case scenario, could lead to an even more intractable freeze-up that would deal a severe blow to the broader economy.
While im not politically savy, my opionion is that instead of using tax payers money, the foreign aid should be cut back. We spend so much money on other countries it is about time we spend money on us. After the US is resolved with financial expenses, then we should spend more money on other countries. This is a serious issue right now and ALL expenses need to be cut back. Some people were fortunate to not have lost alot of money, but the people that did are going to have to seriously change their life styles!! PRAY FOR EVERYONE!

'Craig' opens up on the Net

PRWeek interviewed the brilliant creator of Craigslist.com last Wednesday, Craig Newmark. We are all aware of the change in the role of communications and media. Newmark just gave his two cents. He highlighted the fact that PR practitioners can’t fake sincerity anymore. Phony attempts are suspect among youngsters, and with the word-of-mouth in the millions you can’t afford to be fake. They can smell you a mile away. Scary? No.

Newmark also suggested that PR folks need to be fully engaged in new technology and keep a spotless reputation. After I read the interview I thought to myself, “I knew that.” But hey, this guy created the website that I dedicate many hours of my web surfing to, so- I read it again.

The three things that are being crammed down our throats in PR Campaigns class- twitter, blogs and facebook, are legit. Thanks Quackenbush. I get it now. It just took the creator of Craigslist to peer pressure me. You win. Facebook, here I come.

PR agencies have new moves for attracting college students

PR agencies are updating their strategies to attract you customers. College students are more than ever connected through new media and technology, and PR professionals want to reach them through these tools.

Havaianas flip-flops company hired Alison Brod PR to launch a 2 day, 5 university tour to promote the brand to college students.

Havaianas president said that research has found that with college students, there is such thing as "over promotion," and it can quickly make things very uncool. They wanted a very relaxed, "organic" campaign that appealed to young adults in their own environment.

Alison Brod PR launched a "Color Wars" campaign on the college campuses, where the winning team won a trip to Brazil. They found that this grassroots approach worked very well.

The "Color Wars" promotion included ambassadors on the campuses, the company Web site and a Facebook page. Along with new media approaches, the PR agency used traditional media such as local radio stations and the campus newspapers.

Bush, Bailouts, and Bling!

As the Bush Administration reaches its end, the media has been in a frenzy over the mortgage bailouts as if it was Ms. Spears exiting a limo. The public address over Senor Bush’s federal plan to save our butts has caused quite the controversy bringing mixed opinions on how to handle the crises.
Should congress allow the allotted $700 billion taxpayer dollars to rescue our doomed mortgage giants? That may depend where you blame the fault; unethical bank lenders or irresponsible home owners. Either way, the situation still stands, there is not a whole lot to look forward to in America in the near future, except maybe the season premier of Grays Anatomy.
I think America has lost sight of what it means to be a united country. By all means YES, help the mortgage giants. It is not out of sympathy, or pity for that matter, but because we forced ourselves into a corner with little options of escape.
If we stop the blame game, it’s easy to see its everyone’s fault. The economy isn’t supported by one industry but by several factors that all contributed to the downfall. How can the American people not want to use the tax dollars to save the economy of our nation? We complain about spending on the war in Iraq and then turn right back around and complain about spending on ourselves. If anything, this is exactly why we pay taxes, for times of emergency, and to allow us flexibility for the inevitable dynamics of an economy.
The anatomy of an economy is extremely dynamic. We need to allow for it to take its course and not be overcome by individual greed stemmed from realty TV. Most of our generation doesn’t even know what a real depression is. So we might not be able to own our big trucks, live in big houses, or afford our daily Starbucks, but if we stick together on this one, we are going to be alright.
--United we stand, divided we fall--

Anti-abortion images spark strong reactions in downtown Austin

Abortion and anti-abortion issues have and will always be a controversial subject, but when two 26-foot trucks showing images of 10-week-old aborted fetuses drove through downtown Austin, it sparked an outrage from the public. Bill Calvin, the truck driver, said the graphic nature of the images serves to prove his point. Not everyone agreed with his method but it definitely accomplished what he wanted.
I personally don't disagree with him protesting abortion, because everyone has the right to do so. I'm somewhat on the fence about how I feel about the way he went about getting his message across. I feel like there is a time and place for these kind of messages to be disseminated and this wasn't very appropriate.

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/091708kvue_abortion_images-cb.86fb819a.html

International Diabetes Federation pushes for disease awareness

The International Diabetes Federation has called on citizens worldwide to raise awareness and come up with creative ideas in preparation for World Diabetes Day, which is held on November 14. This year, the theme is "Diabetes in Children and Adolescents" because more than 200 children are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes every day. Each year, 70,000+ children under the age of 15 develop diabetes, and the numbers are growing. Several global projects are already underway.

I've always associated diabetes with adults, but now that I know it affects children at an alarming rate, I know how serious it is. It frightens me to think about our future. Unless our society takes drastic measures to improve our health and awareness, the numbers are likely to increase. This is a very important campaign, and I'm surprised that I haven't heard more about it.

Seattle

It's hard to find something not related to the economic crisis right now, but I'm looking through cnn.com and came across this article over Seattle. I've always liked Seattle, maybe because my dad was a big Frasier fan, so I look through it.

I find it to be a good example of blurring the line between Advertising and PR. Like a lot of students, I switched from Advertising to PR to graduate earlier, thinking there's not a big difference between the two. This article shows why people sometimes think that.

I was in a class where the professor said PR is credible and Advertising is incredible. Incredible meaning unbelieveable, not in the awe-inspiring sort of way, but more along the lines of not being believable. Basically, they're full of it.

Had this been on a travel website or a commercial on TV, I wouldn't have paid as much attention to it. Commercials can make Arizona look like a tropical paradise; but it was on cnn.com, making it seem strange that it looked a lot like a paid advertisement.

The article doesn't just give you general attractions in the city, but gives you specific names, websites, prices, and sometimes even phone numbers. It's like your own personal travel agent hacked into CNN.

Protect Your Brand and Reputation on Twitter

With the recent success of Twitter and its more than 2 million users, companies such as Dell are beginning to realize the influence that Twitter could possibly have on their customers. Although Twitter is beginning to help corportate companies with brand marketing Twitter can also lead to some problems. PR Week has created a detailed corporate guide to enhance safe practices on Twitter. The first rule of course being to fully understand Twitter, its norms and how people use it in their daily life. Other rules such as protecting your brand and being consistent are included in the 10 rules.

I think that this was a good idea for PR Week to write about because with the amount of new people and businesses begginning to use Twitter there should be a standard guideline. Rules should definately be followed in order to protect ones business and brand.

http://www.prweekus.com/Protect-your-brand-and-reputation-on-Twitter/article/116690/

Campaign promises... Hope or Hoax

Both presidential campaigns this year have made big claims about what America would become under their rule. Both candidates promise to produce change in Washington and to throw out pork-barrel spending in Congress. However both offer different views on how they would lead America into the coming years. McCain promises to continue America's focus on foreign interests and has until recently supported lower levels of regulation on companies. Obama preaches about broad social programs and ending the war in Iraq.
But whatever the hopes of these candidates are, the recent financial news has shot any hopes of new spending to the ground. A total of $700 billion tax payer dollars are being put toward an asset that no private institution will buy. And while a portion of this investment will be made back eventually, the incoming preident will still be sitting on top of a deficit of over one trillion dollars. This means that the only financialy sensible campaign platform would be to stop spending on as many programs as possible and to raise taxes as much as the taxpayers can endure. Ofcourse there is no way that this strategy would fly in a general election and so the campaigns have been reduced to a hypothetical situation of what they would do if there were any money to do it with.
Is there any way to convince the majority of a country to vote for you based on the platform of offering less social programs and higher taxes?

Hacking of Palin's Yahoo Account

Sarah Palin's personal yahoo e-mail account was recently hacked into by an "Anonymous" group. They allegedly found her attempts to bypass Alaska's freedom of information law.

O.K. First off, Why is Sarah Palin using her personal e-mail for business? That should be common sense. But I agree she should have her personal space and this information should be confidential even though it deals w/ Alaska's freedom. The "Anonymous" group went so far as to publicize her contact list and personal photos! This is a complete invasion of privacy and shouldn't have gone this far. Even if they were just trying to publicize her business w/ Alaska they shouldn't have gone so deep. I do however, think it was a terrible mistake on her part to use her personal e-mail for business!!

Second off, poor Palin! She keeps getting tossed in the media scramble for little things that really shouldn't matter. Who cares that her daughter is pregnant! It's like bringing attention to Jamie Lynn Spears having a baby. No one knew who she was until she got knocked up. If anything this may even be better PR for Palin because now people are actually paying attention to her and interested in what she has to say and how she will present herself. Why does it matter that her daughter is pregnant? If anything, we should be giving her congrats for becoming a grandmother, not pounding on her for it. It's her personal life and has absolutely nothing to do with politics! If her focus was still on Alaska and not the nation Alaska most likely wouldn't even know about it, and if they did, they probably wouldn't care.

Either way her image isn't looking so great from all the stuff the media is digging up on her. At least she is a strong individual who can hold her own.

Oh say can you... Believe this guy?!?

The Dallas Mavericks star forward, Josh Howard is back in the news. A recent Youtube video shows Josh Howard disrespecting the national anthem. Now this is not the first time a negative light has been shown on the young star. Earlier this year he admitted on a radio show that he, along with most players in the NBA, smoke marijuana. Also, this comes on the heels of a recent arrest for street-racing.

Now I understand that every American has the right to remain stupid. But it boggles my mind that Howard not only puts himself down, but he drags others with him. His Marijuana remarks negatively portrayed every player in the NBA. His remark on the national anthem?

"I don't celebrate that S***. I'm black."

Nice work Josh. I'm sure the African American community is thrilled with your blasphemy. The icing on the cake? This was said at a charity flag-football game for youths.

Can somebody find a good role model for these kids out there?

Song about Twitter

This is too true!

http://tinyurl.com/5g5we6

And if you want to follow me, I'm dquack.

Race for the White House Dives Into Daytime

As the race for the White House comes to a close, it seems as though the presidential campaigns have opened new doors in order to appeal to "out-of-touch" America. For many, enveloping themselves in a news cast or political talk show is more pain than pleasure. To combat this, both John McCain and Barack Obama - and their family members and running mates - have made several guest appearances on daytime TV shows. A Reuter's article claims the candidates' stand on the issues has been overpowered by new found stardom, however, I disagree. What better way to reach avid watchers of daytime dramas, reality and talk shows than to include themselves in their broadcasts? Obama has appeared on "The Late Show With David Letterman" and "The Ellen Degeneres Show" while McCain has been on "The View" and cooked ribs during "Rachael Ray" (which will air 9/22). In such a neck-and-neck race, the candidates realize they have to branch out to appeal to certain niche audiences in an effort to grab their interest and their vote. I think as long as people don't base who they vote for on which candidate sits better on a set or laughs harder at a joke, daytime TV appearances are fair game.

BlogHer Hits the Road to Boost its Membership and Awareness

Online women's network BlogHer is planning a six-city “Reach Out” tour to expand the number of its bloggers and boost brand awareness. The tour will start on October 11 in Boston and from there travel to four or five other cities. It will host one-day blogging workshops that highlight the benefits of women blogging and being part of an online community. The organization is seeking to involve aspiring bloggers in other parts of the country.

I think this tour is a great idea for the blogging community in general but also for women. It gives them a chance to understand what an online community really is, what the benefits are from being apart of one, and what steps to take to become part of one. It would give someone like my mom, who is technology/computer illeterate, a chance to be a part of something that is growing in our world today.

Social Media Programs: Cultivate-Don't Control.

The role of social media is at its height and our generation is supporting it as a form of communication in PR. This article offers advice for the PR practitioner who uses social media networks for organizing its efforts rather than forcing control over them. Some believe the development and use of these programs is the gateway to taking over social networks. The author steps over this belief and stresses the importance of the "four pillars of social media success": planning, recruiting, training and promotion. Using social media programs is not one of the four, but it can be used as a mean of communication in each.

Personally, I have explored more new media in the past month than ever before. It is prime time for exploring blogging, micro-blogging, twittering, podcasting, and every other form of social networking that doesn't involve verbal communication. I support the idea of using these programs as a vessel rather than trying to gain control. We are the ones who are going to take new media a step further in the field of PR, and the majority of us are the only ones who have time to focus on the media applications. Rather than seeing it as childish or irrelevent, try to understand how important social networking is in the world of technology and communication.

Election turning into a celebrity circus

As the time comes for us to elect the man that shall run our nation for the next four years, why must we know what brand of shoes his wife is wearing? Is it really important what kind of music his daughter is listening to? According to Larry Hackett, managing editor of People magazine, voters are just as interested in a candidate's personal life as well as their position on major issues, as told in an article in PRWeek. When Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) brough on his babe of a running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), he chose People to introduce her to the world as opposed to a more political driven source of media, such as The New York Times or Meet the Press. Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Joseph Biden (D-DE) also had a feature on the magazines cover.

It's really funny to me that not only are both candidates featured in People magazine, but Us Weekly also chose to exploit their lifestyles. However, the articles are dramatically different. Their Obama story is all about how he loves his wife and his daughters. While poor Palin gets hated on for having a daughter with a bun in the oven and a love for killing giant animals (hot woman + rifle = NIIIIICE). It's easy to see that this trend was a long time coming though, considering people like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Springer are elected public officials. Hmm, maybe I will run for mayor of San Marcos?

Apple Doesn't Offer 'One More Thing' at 'Let's Rock' Event

Apple underwhelmed both fans and industry watchers today with a "Let's Rock" event in San Francisco that ended up being more holiday-product showcase than typical Apple innovation fest. Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn't even bother to offer "one more thing" -- his standard refrain used at the end of many of his speeches to launch an Apple product or service. The new iPod Touch and iPod Nano versions unveiled today were more evolution than revolution.

Apple is known for their technology and coming out with new and exciting products. It seems like they are just updating, which leads me to wonder if they have hit a roadblock.

McCain campaign and Palin's pregnant daughter

Recent news is reporting the discovery of Republican Vice President hopeful Sarah Palin's daughter and her pregnancy out of wed-lock. The article found in PRWeek states that the news of Palin's daughter's pregnancy shows that the McCain camp did not completely review his running-mate. Reports say that after hearing the news, McCain's team rushed to Alaska to investigate the situation. Since then McCain's team has denied the trip to Alaska being in reference to this new information.

I personally do not think that anything having to do with Palin's daughter's extra-curricular activities and her becoming pregnant at 17-years-old is relevant to the campaign. Nor does the discovery of this pregnancy in no way show that the McCain camp has been inadequate in the reviewing of Palin. I think adviser Steve Schmidt puts it best when unpredicted things happen in life as he tells the Huffington Post, "Life happens."

All about Twitter

For those of you who are interested in learning more about Twitter, check out this primer, written by Omar Gallaga at the Statesman. He, along with several of the people he mentions, will be at Mass Comm Week.

CW Network Compromises Integrity for Ratings

The network that used to be known for showing re-runs of Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond has traded in for a more risque reputation in an effort to draw teens. Television shows like Gossip Girl and the remake of 90210 are in two prime time slots. Instead of being a family-friendly network the CW is encouraging advertisers to purchase ads during the shows that depict high school students as drug crazy sluts.

I understand television shows want to push the envelope on what is shown and said on the air, but it has gotten out of control. The CW should have higher standards considering how many teens watch the network. With the Parents Television Council on the backs on advertisers, hopefully the CW's public relations team will be able to inform the network of the disapproval. It sounds like the PTC is threatening a boycott of any advertisers that knowingly contribute to the network. Not only is this affecting their reputation, but potentially advertisers. I can't say I blame the PTC- I would be outraged if I was a parent and my child was watching this crap.

Webisodes- The New Generation for Television Shows

Who needs a television anymore when you can watch almost anything on the Web? You can watch anything from television series and movies, to live video podcasts and newscasts. Why wait to see your favorite show premiere on television, or a new movie to come out on DVD? The new website Hulu allows you to watch television shows before they are aired on TV. On TV Links you can watch streaming free TV, movies, cartoons, anime and documentaries. 

A great example of the Web expanding in entertainment is the launch on a new Web video series from HBOlab (the offshoot of HBO that focuses on online programming). The 10-episode show will be called "Hooking Up" and will premiere Oct. 1 on  YouTube, MySpace and hookingupshow.com. They did not recruit your typical actors, instead they found stars on the Web. Web stars like Jessica Rose from "lonelygirl15" and other YouTube talent video bloggers sxePhil and KevJumba. The show will be based on fictional students that spend there time e-mailing, instant-messaging and Twittering.

People in the industry are all starting to realize that there is much money to be made online. Could the Web eventually take over television and cable's public viewership?

Microsoft Ad Draws Criticism

The Microsoft ad that aired Thursday night during the first NFL game of the regular season has Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld in it. Seinfeld follows gates around a shopping mall as he tries on shoes. This ad really has nothing to do with anything, or does it?
This is Microsoft's first commercial in a $300 million campaign and was viewed by hundreds of thousands later on YouTube, all in an effort to make Windows more appealing. All this commercial has done is bring attention to the company and its products. This type of ad is called a "teaser ad" because it really doesn't talk about the product, it just brings attention to the topic. This lays the foundation for later commercials that will better inform the consumer of the product. I'm sure Microsoft has some tricks up its sleeve after this commercial.
When I first saw the commercial I watched and waited for something to pop up or be said that had any relevance to the main characters that I knew, and when nothing came about I was shocked. After reading up on the topic I'm beginning to see what Microsoft is doing. They had their recognizable chairman, Gates, and an extremely well-known comedian, Seinfeld, just walk around while Gates shopped for shoes. All this has done is to create excitement because people want to know what is next. Sure some people may think the commercial was a waste, but those people are still talking about it, still writing about it, and still blogging about it, aren't they?
And that is exactly what Microsoft wants.

Nonprofit PR trends

City Harvest, one of the most well-known nonprofits in New York City, has hired Rubenstein Public Relations (RPR) to provide media outreach for its yearly events. City Harvest delivers food rescued from local restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, farms, wholesalers and manufacturers to more that 260,000 people in need. By hiring RPR, the 26-year-old nonprofit veteran hopes to secure pre-event interviews for chefs who support City Harvest and prepare food for the organization's event.

I found this article interesting because I have been noticing an increased trend in the nonprofit need for PR. Giving from the goodness of our hearts just isn't happening anymore if our hearts aren't even being targeted or marketed well enough. Even well-known nonprofits are having to hire on agencies (both PR & advertising) in efforts to gain more attention and support.

Advice for PR people

BusinessWeek senior business correspondent David Kiley has some advice for PR people – serve the media. This will help you serve your client. One of his biggest complaints is PR people who pitch their clients for a story after a story runs. “Hey, I saw where you just wrote a story about XYZ. Well, I want to tell you how my client does that as well.” In the PR world, we call these bounce backs but in the world of journalism, they are called annoying.

I agree, we need to serve the media. The difficulty is in the world of information and new media, some of our traditional methods are falling by the wayside. We need to make sure we keep evolving and stay up-to-date.