Why You’ll Never Get on Oprah…and Why That’s OK

September 16, 2008 By 10 Comments

A lot of businesses focus on “making it big” in the media. While it’s great to be interviewed in Entrepreneur Magazine or be a guest on Oprah, the average business owner will not have this success.  And you know what? That’s okay.

Take a look at the diagram above. Say you have a press release and you have two options. You can send it to the Oprah show and pray every day that they choose you to be on the show OR you can distribute your search engine optimized press release using a distribution service, knowing it will definitely reach a wide variety of channels online, including Yahoo!, Google, RSS feeds, blogs, journalists and others who may want to interview you further or write about your release on their websites.

Now, each of those channels has anywhere from dozens to thousands of readers who will see your press release. Many will click on the link to your website to see what you’re all about. Some of those will even buy from you.

So rather than putting all your eggs in one basket with the Oprah show (or major media channel of your choice), you do better to diversify and let larger numbers of people in smaller, under served niches find you.

As David Meerman Scott says in his book The New Rules of Marketing & PR, the market for press release is changing:

  • Marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of under served audiences via the Web. 

  • PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It’s about your buyers seeing your company on the Web.

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Filed Under: PR Tagged With: , ,

When Your Brand Becomes the Product

September 15, 2008 By 2 Comments

Red Bull was founded by Dietrich Mateschitz and officially launched in 1987.  Ten years after its launch Red Bull was finally brought to the United States first being introduced in California.  In 2000 Red Bull had approximately $1 billion in worldwide sales.  In 2006 more than 3 billion cans of Red Bull were sold in over 130 countries.  Red Bull now accounts for approximately 50% of the energy drink market in the United States and up to 80% in other countries with an approximate 65% overall market share.

Those are just some quick and dirty facts about Red Bull to help frame the what is really interesting about Red Bull.  I think one of the most interesting aspects about Red Bull is how their brand has become the product (energy drinks).  Even though there are now over 150+ competitors in the energy drink space, most people I know still refer to energy drinks as Red Bull.  Red Bull is commonly mixed with Vodka and is one of the main ingredients in drinks such as Jagerbombs.  Even when a bar doesn’t offer the brand and instead uses a competitor, you will still hear people request Red Bull and Grey Goose or Red Bull and Vodka.  In my opinion this is one of the best things that can happen for a brand.  Since the brand becomes the product, the demand for the brand increases.

One of the reasons for Red Bull’s success, besides being the first to this niche market, is how good they are at buzz marketing.  Red Bull sponsors events such as windsurfing, snowboarding, cliff-diving, break dancing, art shows, music concerts, video games and several other sporting/social events.  Red Bull also hosts the Red Bull Flugtag which can be best understood by watching this video:

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So what can we learn from Red Bull? Of course, most of us can’t afford to sponsor extreme sporting events, art shows or the like but we can do things differently than the rest of our competition.  Try to be the first one there.  If not, then do it differently then those before you.  Try new things.  Explore new options.  Don’t do the usual.  Don’t be like everyone else.  Don’t be afraid to fail.  Be interesting.

Red Bull is known for always trying to market their brand differently in new and creative ways.  It is because of this that the brand has not failed or fallen off even though it is now in an extremely competitive space.

Now I turn it over to you – what are other products that you can think of where the brand has become the product?  I can think of a few but am interested in others thoughts.

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Photo by Dawn Ashley

Filed Under: Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Videos Tagged With: , ,

One Simple Question: What are you working on?

September 12, 2008 By Leave a Comment

We are taking a break from our normally scheduled posting about internet PR and marketing to bring you something very cool.  A new Twitter-like micro-blogging service would like to ask you one simple question: “What are you working on?”

Earlier in the week Yammer won TechCrunch 50 and officially launched their service following their presentation.  Yammer is a micro-blogging tool for companies – think: Twitter for Business.  Yammer allows colleagues to interact with each other in real-time by posting short messages which are then displayed to the entire network of employees.  Users can ask questions, share information, post links, etc.  Users can also create hashtags to group a conversation on a particular topic together.  Each user has a profile which shows previous conversations which can easily be referenced thus building a knowledge base for each employee.  The user profiles also creates a company directory on Yammer.  This is a very useful feature for large companies which may be spread over several offices.

You can post messages to Yammer in a variety of ways: via web, desktop app, SMS, Blackberry app, iPhone app or IM.  This is great because it allows users to stay constantly connected to the network and also allows them to choose which platform they prefer to use.  For example, I have a hard time staying active on Plurk because of the need to login to their website in order to post messages.  However, I use Twitter all day long because of Twirhl (desktop app) and TwitterFon (iPhone app).  Therefore, I think it is great to see Yammer launching with the ability to already choose your preferred method of communicating with the network.

Yammer uses a similar model to how Facebook was when it first launched by using the domain address of the users email account to verify and accept them into the network.  Anyone can sign up for the service with a valid business email account and start inviting colleagues.  Privacy is maintained by only allowing access to a company’s network to those with a valid company address.

The service is already gaining popularity quickly.  One day later the service had 10,000 people and 2,000 companies on its network.

Yammer is free though they do have a paid model for companies wishing to claim their network and gain administrative rights over their users.  You can view the video of their demo at TechCrunch50 and then sign up here.  Also, here are some screenshots of Yammer in the wild:


Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: ,

A Rant About Interruption Marketing

September 8, 2008 By 2 Comments

As I’m sitting at the Inbound Marketing Summit anxiously awaiting the conference to begin, I’m reminded about interruption marketing. Both of the keynote speakers today, David Meerman Scott and Seth Godin, have both written extensively on their blogs and in their books about interruption versus permission-based marketing.

On a daily basis we receive various forms of interruption marketing. While not wanted, I have grown accustomed to many of these forms of marketing and thus simply tune out when confronted with them. However, on Labor Day it was a different situation…one which I couldn’t tune out.

<rant>
I had traveled down to Watch Hill, Rhode Island with my fiancee, her family and we brought along our dog for her first adventure in the ocean. There I was, a perfect day to be at the ocean….approximately 85 degrees, slight breeze, no humidity and not a cloud in sight. “What a great day to relax and enjoy some time away from my hyperconnected life” I thought to myself. I had been doing some reading as waves crashed into the shoreline with my dog thoroughly confused at why the water kept “attacking” her as she tried to lay in the sand. Just when it seemed that all was perfect I begin to hear the roar of a small airplane. I looked up in the sky and guess what I saw? A small airplane trailing a long banner for Cox cable service. At first I didn’t think anything of it because we’ve all had similar experiences when relaxing on the beach. But, throughout the course of the afternoon I saw a plane probably another 3-4 times, each time with a new banner. Since there aren’t big billboards in the ocean or along the beach, companies turn to banners flown by plane as a way to interrupt people relaxing with their friends and family. I mean, really, do you think I’m going to run out to my local dealership to purchase the car you have a special on this weekend or a great deal on local cable service because of a banner that I had to stare up into the sun and squint to try to read….which is of course after I had to put down my book and have the nice silence I was enjoying disturbed?!?!
</rant>

While my rant is only one example of many different forms of interruption marketing, I think it is one that highlights why inbound marketing is so important. The potential customer is giving you permission to tell them about your services instead of interrupting them when they’re trying to concentrate at work, spend time with their family, etc.

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For those not able to attend the Inbound Marketing Summit, it is being streamed live.

You can also keep up with all the chatter on Twitter about the Inbound Marketing Summit.

Filed Under: Inbound Marketing, PR Tagged With: , ,

Introducing PitchEngine: A New Take on Social Media PR

September 5, 2008 By 1 Comment

Today I interviewed Jason Kintzler, founder of PitchEngine.  Jason has been a journalist, television anchor, PR guy and is now the founder of his first web startup.  PitchEngine was created out of Jason’s passion for media and a desire to close the technology gap between media, PR pros and business in general.  PitchEngine is something that I’m very excited about and think that anyone who is involved in PR should give serious consideration to using.

Why do you think PR and social media fit together so well?

One of the biggest pieces of social media (that often gets over looked) is the technology aspect. Social media isn’t just about the conversation, it’s about sharing content like videos, photos, comments and more. That part alone is a natural for PR pros who are interested in delivering media PR assets. It replaces the need for a printed press kit and saves them time and money on image CDs, folders, etc.,

I also think from a business marketing perspective that PR people are critical to engaging consumers. Marketers tend to “push” brand content out to consumers, where (good) PR pros are more likely to engage with them and develop relationships with consumers – similar to that of media.  Either way social media certainly blurs the lines of marketing and PR – something everyone is very excited about.

How would you describe a social media release to someone who has never heard of it before?

That’s easy, it happens all the time!  Traditional press releases are limited in functionality and flexibility – A rigid Word document with type. Maybe an embedded, low-resolution image or a few links are included.  PR pros must find ways of providing high-res images, video, logos and other content to media contacts and then figure out how to deliver it – email attachment, press kit by mail, image CDs, etc., Sounds pretty frustrating doesn’t it? Add to the fact that no one does it consistently, which makes media crazy.

The social media release is like a micro-website that allows PR pros to include all of the assets in one nice little package. It can be tracked, archived and is living – since it’s comment enabled media can add comments and questions at any time, while PR pros can make changes whenever they want- unlike a printed and circulated traditional press release.

Why should a business who has always distributed traditional print press releases consider creating and distributing a social media release?

It’s no secret that I don’t believe the current methods of PR distribution are flawed. You take rigid Word docs and pay to send them out to as much media as possible. Seems like all those flyers you get in your mailbox at the Post Office, doesn’t it? With an SMR like PitchEngine’s, users not only learn how to engage in social media, they also become better PR people delivering more concise pitches in a clean, web-enabled format. I do think the transition will be gradual, so the two formats can certainly live together for the time being.

How is PitchEngine different from other internet PR services that are available?

The big PR services out there all involve distribution via wire services. There are a couple services that provide ways to include web-enabled content for distribution through those services.  Unlike those services, PitchEngine wasn’t designed to accommodate traditional distribution services, it was designed as a tool for PR and media, that’s a big difference. It’s far more social, and hands-down the easiest of all those services to use- that’s not coming from me, it’s coming from the great feedback we’ve been receiving since our alpha launch last month.

What does the future hold for PitchEngine?

Well, I have to hold some stuff in reserve, but I can tell you it’s incredibly exciting. Getting off the ground is the first step, and making sure the users are getting everything they want is key. We’re working on partnerships with other innovative social media applications and finding more ways to change the game entirely. PitchEngine lends itself very well to an international user base – I think you’ll be seeing some rapid growth there very soon.

I’m not afraid to challenge tradition. I don’t answer to board members, share holders or web “experts” and I believe that will allow PitchEngine to remain innovative.  Users will ultimately decide the future, and from the response so far, they’re hungry for it. It’s wide open, and that’s very exciting.

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PitchEngine makes it possible for PR pros, brands, and agencies to build and share digital, social media releases (SMRs) with their contacts for free. The SMR takes the press release to the next level, eliminating the need for antiquated email attachments, word documents, image CDs, and more. PitchEngine SMRs can then be delivered by email or via integrated social apps like Twitter or FriendFeed. Users and media recipients can also post them to Facebook, Digg and other bookmarking/news sites.  PR pros can upgrade to a customized Newsroom for their brand or client where we’ll host and archive all of their SMRs. The media side of PitchEngine (coming soon) will offer media the ability to filter press content and even approve or deny pitches from PR pros.

Filed Under: PR
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