People love to set up dichotomies and the latest one circulating around the web is that age old duel: Advertising vs. PR. It sort of reminds me of the war between the sexes. Sure there are certain things men can do better than women and vice versa but in the end there are a lot of similarities along with the obvious differences. And, over the years, as women have gained more equality and taken on roles traditionally handled by men, the differences have become more muted.
The she same erosion of differences between PR and Advertising has been subtly occurring as PR assumes more advertising roles with the advent of the Internet. Like the proverbial woman behind the man’s success, however, PR’s role is not always obvious, and it’s still often seen in its pre-Internet days as simply a media-feeder.
There is no reason, however, that that has to be the case. With the web enabling anyone with an Internet connection to become a publisher, public relations doesn’t have to depend on the media to tell a client’s story. Instead, it can act as both publisher and promoter. A perfect example is PR man extraordinaire David Meerman Scott, who by authoring books and skillfully promoting them, has turned himself into a brand name and high-priced speaker and consultant. Similarly, individuals with the worldwide megaphone of the Internet and shrewd personal branding can at any age turn themselves into successful brands and businesses. I’ve written before about the successes of some millennial Internet whizzes like Dan Schwabeland Shama Hyder.
Companies today like Jet Blue and Zappos can amass over a half million Twitter followers while brands like Adidas and Nike can have millions of Facebook fans and engage directly with customers and prospects. Viral marketing campaigns like the Blendtec’s “will it blend” campaign have amassed far more attention at lower cost than paid advertisements. This is not to say that advertising is going away. It’s just that both professions are evolving as more and more advertising and media move online.
As ChrisFiorentz commented on my last blog post, “If anything public relations continues to evolve and integrate with other disciplines such as marketing, to the point where PR and marcom are almost used interchangeably.”
The New York Times recently wrote about the evolution of traditional advertising into what it calls “free advertising,” with the growth of the Internet. This is especially interesting since its definition of “free advertising” is everything public relations does.
Here is how the Times defined “free advertising.”
“It can take many forms: Getting a journalist or blogger to review a new mobile phone, placing a video on YouTube, spreading the word via bloggers, and starting aFacebook group dedicated to a brand or product.”
In my book all of that “free advertising” can easily be subsumed under PR. In fact, it’s what we do everyday for our clients.
Consider too what Jennifer McClure, executive director of the Society for New Communications Research, has noted, “Over the last 20 years, PR has been primarily about media relations. As an industry, we’ve forgotten that PR doesn’t stand for ‘press release.’ It means public relations. That means assessing, establishing and counseling companies on how to have good relationships with constituencies.”
- Learn to use new communications tools (social media) effectively
- Expand the number of communicators in your organizations and empower colleagues across all disciplines to have a voice by teaching them how to use these communications tools
- Give up stringent control of the message and sole control of your relationships with media and instead allow for relationships to develop organically and dynamically and robustly with all our audiences and across all levels of the organization
- Fundamentally change the image of PR and re-educate your organizations, clients and our own industry about what the true role of PR is and always has been - that of relationship-building.
The talk was precipitated by one of these pseudo scientific piecesthat throws around statistics, i.e., “70% of today's PR firms with their traditional public relations and communications business structures will not survive the fast-approaching social media avalanche."
Of course, there is nothing like outrageousness to get someone’s attention. The trouble is it’s grossly inaccurate.
As a longstanding PR professional, from my perspective, PR is thriving as never before. Sure, the newspapers we have been wedded too are imploding, but the Internet has provided an entirely new life for PR.That’s because PR is not tied to any one media but serves a company’s public.
In fact, this interactive age plays to PR’s strength, its ability to build relationships, create enticing content and get others excited about a company, individual, product or service.
PR is also a necessity in this age of personal branding where messaging and content carry the day. Public relations practitioners like no other profession know how to hone and shape a message so it tells your story in a way that resonates with others.
True, we may not be the most techno-savvy folks, but equally important, we know how to use technology to service our clients.Any company worth its salt today should be consulting with PR people on its blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook profile, Linkedin profile and other social media. As Guy Kawasakinoted, when talking about his Twitter account to the New York Times,“It’s a marketing tool.”
So before we assign PR to the ash heap of history, consider that public relations has only been around for a wee thousands of years.Julius Cesar, for example, in 50 BC wrote his campaign biography for PR reasons -- to convince the Roman people he would make the best head of state.
I started thinking about all of this over the weekend when I attended a great conference run by PR Boutiques International.Full Disclosure: I am a member of this fantastic group of small PR shops based around the world. Eric Schwartzman,who spoke at the conference, reminded us that “New media doesn’t kill old media. Old media just adopts.”
Similarly, public relations isn’t dying.It’s evolving – and getting better.
I've written before about the Young Turks of Personal Branding these amazing Millenials who seem to emerge from the cocoon fully formed and ready to rule the world.
I recently connected with another Millennial master of the universe, Shama Hyder, aptly named since she serves as an online marketing shaman, working her magic so flat-footed Internet newbies soar online. At just 23, Shama has created a six-figure company with five employees. Her company, Click to Client, specializes in social media marketing, helping companies market their businesses online. (Full disclosure: I am working with Shama on some online marketing initiatives.)
Shama, a born entrepreneur, who started her first business at age nine, ran a coaching business that she subsequently sold, and started her current business while in graduate school. Extremely disciplined and focused, Shama works a mere 18 hours a day. Yes, you read that right.
Early on, Shama recognized that she had a talent for marketing." Marketing is typically hard for people, but it's so natural for me," says Shama, who even in high school was writing personal development style newsletters for her peers.
Credit Shama's success as well to her ability to listen to her customers. When she started her business in 2007, she called it After the Launch and focused on generic business consulting. Her clients, however, didn't quite see it that way.
"I originally didn't want to get boxed in and thought I would be better off positioning myself as a general business consultant," says Shama. "But we weren't really doing that. Clients hired us to handle their online marketing. In fact, our clients referred to us as their online marketing experts. So I did what any smart marketer would do. I stole our elevator pitch from our clients," Shama says with a chuckle.
All well and good, but how has Shama managed to differentiate herself from the zillions of other folks calling themselves online marketing firms?
"We specialize in online marketing for reputable service-oriented companies," she says. "They don't need the long red sales pages with' buy now and we will throw in the knives' type marketing. They are a sophisticated company reaching a sophisticated audience. In terms of our services, we actually take over online marketing for companies. We serve as their online marketing department if you will."
Shama has also practiced what she preaches, marketing her own business and creating a personal brand strictly through social media. Not only is she active on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, (she has close to 10,000 Twitter followers, for example), but she also has a newsletter and a web TV show, ShamaTV.com, starring Shama and, her Internet-savvy pooch, Snoopy. She is also in demand as a social media marketing speaker and generally speaks at roughly four events a month.
Interestingly, Shama at first was hesitant about letting clients know how young she is.
"I thought it would hurt my brand as a CEO of an online marketing firm. But, one day, a client let me know that they hired us because of me! That I was young enough to have grown up with this 'internet stuff' so it came naturally. I was shocked to hear this! A few other clients said the same thing. At that point, I realized that my age wasn't a hindrance, but an asset.
Shama may have hit the nail on the head when she talks about her generation:
"Social media comes naturally to our generation since our baby boomer parents were much more interested in sharing their life lessons than previous generations," says Shama. Our parents would say, 'Here is my book, my life story, learn from it, sweetie. Do what I say, not as I did myself.' They were all about openness and communication."
Here is some advice from Shama on creating your brand online, what she calls establishing your online BOD:
Brand: Can your brand be summed up in one word or phrase? Is it that easy to sum up? Because it needs to be online.
Outcome: What can you do for others? Not your process, not your personality. What is the final result?
Differentiator: What makes you different online? What makes you stand out from the rest?
Move over Simon Cowell. Make way for Nalts and P0YKPAC
Say what?
Welcome to the new world of online advertising where companies no longer need to pay mega millions to plop a Coke can in front of a TV celebrity like Cowell. Instead, there is a new breed of celebrity out there – Web stars who go by handles like Nalts and POYKPAC.
These new-found celebs, some of whom were holding down day jobs at Kinko’s and Blockbusters, while they were posting entertaining videos online at night, have shot their way to stardom and a decent living. It’s not uncommon for these Web stars to have hundreds of thousands of fans and supporters.
I got an inkling of the power of this new world recently when I spent a little time with the folks at Hitviews, which marries Web celebrities with brands. Hitviews is the brainchild of Walter Sabo, an old-time, bigwig radio guy and self-described “analog person,” who knows how to monetize celebrities. Sabo had the vision early on to recognize that the Internet is spawning its own celebrities. “I love a great show,” is how he puts it. Two years ago, he stumbled across the funny, engaging videos of a then 18-year-old web celebrity named Caitlin Hillor as her fans know her, TheHill88.Call it the Web 2.0 version of the Hollywood-discovers-star-story. Hill, who has 69,595 fans, and on a bad day gets 50,000 views of her videos, was unemployed at the time, when Sabo recruited her to enlist talent for his new company, Hitviews.
Today, Hill, as Hitviews’ Creative Director, presides over a stable of 50 Web stars, which includes everyone from a successful pharmaceutical executive to a former Kinko’s cashier. Sabo and Caitlin had the genius to recognize that these web stars in their own quirky way could be turned into 21st century Web pitchman.For example, a recent video Nalts created for Hitviews’ client Reader’s Digest generated 700,000 views in less than a week.And despite the economy, Hitviews is chugging along quite nicely as a high-growth startup since its November 2008 launch.Today the company’s stars have cumulatively attracted over 779 Million views and 2,217,554 subscribers.
Make no mistake. This is not Madison Avenue transported to the Web. Hitviews stars are not creating slick, high-toned ads but telling engaging stories that because of their fun and spontaneity encourage a viewer to click onto a sponsor’s site.
The force propelling companies like Hitviews is the power of video. Consider that from just November 2007 to November 2008 there has been a 70% increase in viewership of online video; by 2012 Cisco forecasts that 90% of all web traffic will be for videoIt’s not unlikely for a video posted by a popular Web personality to be viewed 500,000 times a day. Yikes. Other Web portals such as Newsweek.com, USAToday.com, and FOXNews.com are at a little more than half that traffic.
None of this means, that you and I are going to shoot a video and ride our way to stardom. Unlike your average Joe with a video camera, these web stars like Caitlin Hill are extremely talented. They also understand that the Internet is decidedly not TV. Their videos excite interaction and get you to click.
Barton Goldenberg, president of Bethesda, Md-based ISM, a social media consultancy, in a recent USA Today article explained the new paradigm:
“The old model of an Ed McMahon-type guy pitching you something is long dead, because today people won’t listen to TV ads, but they will listen to each other on these (social media) sites.It’s all being reversed now. Ads won’t drive brand loyalty, people will.”
That bears repeating. “Ads don’t drive brand loyalty, people will.”
In a sense the Internet has done what the old hippie movement promised but never delivered on. It has returned the power to the people. Which is that it has allowed you and I to have an amplified voice. While we may not be enormous Web stars, in our own niches, our stars can shine a little brighter, and with the enormous power and reach of the Internet, anything is possible. And, for brands, companies like Hitviews have allowed them to hitch a ride on Web stars and directly reach out, touch and engage millions the old fashioned way – through celebrity, entertainment and interaction.
If you’re in PR, as I am, there’s always a bit of soul-searching along with ire when your profession takes a hit. The latest case in point is a blog the other day by marketing expert and PR extraordinaire Seth Godin.
In his blog, Godin faulted most PR firms for doing publicity, not PR.
“Publicity is the act of getting ink," Godin states. While “PR is the strategic crafting of the story.”
Godin, of course is a PR extraordinaire himself. Think of marketing whizzes and gadflies and more than likely the first name that come up is his. In fact, like a celebrity, you can just say “Seth” and any market-savvy person will know whom you mean.
And, his latest PR firm salvo is PR genius itself, a readymade self-generating PR machine. In fact, my own post is proof of that.
And, yet, I find myself taking issue with his point.
Public Relations, as anyone worth his PR stripes will tell you, is not simply the issuing of press releases, which sprinkled like seeds, can occasionally germinate, but won’t create a bountiful harvest.
Instead, PR practioners excel at creating messages and themes that together create a story. It all begins with strategy, not tactics. It’s the concept of personal branding writ large. Before you can promote yourself, you need your elevator pitch, your personal story about why anyone should give a you know what about you and what makes you unique and special. The same goes for a company. Think Ritz Carlton and you think extraordinary service. Think Amazon and you think the easiest-to-use bookstore-and more in the world.
My firm, and I know many other PR firms (and we invite you to see how we work, Seth), first spends time with our clients getting inside their skin so we understand their business and how to talk about it in a way that resonates for clients and prospects. From that, we craft messages, and yes, stories about executives and the brand.
Seth's distinction between publicity and PR is too pat. Yes, I confess, as a PR person we are interested in getting ink for clients. But it's not coverage for coverage sake but part of a coherent strategy that helps build a client's brand. And, while, I'm sure there are PR people who fling out meaningless press releases like they are tossing pancakes, that's not what any serious practioner does.
What in fact is the biggest challenge in PR today is that the media world as we know it is deconstructing as traditional media tries to find its place in this wired world where anyone can be a publisher and the price of content is often free.
That means that practitioners of PR have a zillion more platforms besides old media to tell a story and get people talking be it in self-published articles, blogs, forums, video, Twitter, Facebook…you name it. But none of this bounty frankly means a damn unless it is crafted with strategy and at the end of the day tells a coherent story. The challenge frankly is understanding how to use all these new tools and meld them together in a coherent, compelling way that encourages interaction.
So, Seth, I couldn’t agree with your story-thesis more. It’s just that's what any good PR person (and there are a lot of us out there) does.
Quick branding test: What do the cartoon character Bob the Builder, Moses and one of Santa’s elves have in common?
Answer: They are all alter egos of the amazingly eclectic, not-afraid-to-act-goofy Lou Bortone, an online branding expert.
Bortone, like a lot of marketers, is a whiz at promoting others, but had left his own promotion more to chance.“I was a branding guy telling everyone that they should be using video, yet I didn’t have my own consistent videoblog!” recalls Bortone. He was, however, producing videos for others.
That all changed about a year ago when someone he was trying to sell video branding to asked to see his video. That was the beginning of LouTube, Bortone’s clever, zany attempts to combine branding with humor. Check out his Ten Commandments of online video, where Bortone speaks in his “voice of God” tone while donning a “Moses wig.” Or listen to his elfin voice as he reads a rhymed Christmas story dressed as one of Santa’s elves that ends in a humorous plug for his video service.
“Keep in mind, I’m a bit of an introvert and very camera shy, so this was a stretch for me,” says Bortone. “At the same time, by embracing my warped sense of humor, I seem to have hit a chord with my target market.Now I wear costumes and recite funny little poems about Facebook and Twitter. So, “LouTube” has become a part of my brand!
Bortone, a one man marketing talent show, is a copywriter, videographer, and branding coach for entrepreneurs; over the course of his career, he’s worked in radio and TV, including as an SVP of Marketing at Fox Family Worldwide in Los Angeles.
So what can we learn from this would-be Moses?
Here are Bortone’s top five suggestions for personal branding:
Develop a “who & do what” statement – The “who” is your target market and the “what” is the primary benefit they get from you.For example, my “who and do what” is: “I help entrepreneurs build breakthrough brands on the Internet so that they can get booked solid!”
Define your “why you do it” statement – The “why” is the reason you do what you do.It’s what you stand for.It’s important because it’s what will attract the right clients to you. My “why” is: “I stand for your brand!”
Focus on building relationships – Social networking and video are similar in that they are tools to help build relationships on the web.You gotta give before you get!Engage, contribute, share… Build your social capital.
Maximize social media – Entrepreneurs can develop their brands relatively quickly and inexpensively using free services such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.These have become powerful business tools for creating connections, demonstrating your expertise and enhancing your online visibility.
Use Online Video to stand out and be noticed – As a long-time “video guy,” I’m especially partial to video as a resource to break out of the pack and be noticed.Online Video builds an immediate connection and makes you memorable.
Meanwhile, Bortone is continuing to evolve his “video guy” brand with his latest iteration an OnlineVideoBranding site, now in beta. "I keep saying ‘beta” means we ‘beta get it done soon!’”“Actually, it’s a site where people can find my latest videos and tutorials,” says Bortone. “I can also share online video branding tips and do some freebie giveaways. Hopefully, it will become a place where entrepreneurs can come to learn about branding with online video.Since it’s a WordPress blog, I’ll be able to change and update the content often.
Any last words?
“One point I’d love to make is that a lot of my personal branding philosophy comes from the fact that I’m a “Book Yourself Solid” Certified Coach.Book Yourself Solid is a bestselling book and program created by Michael Port.
“The Book Yourself Solid system really hit home with me, because the branding ideas emphasize authenticity and service. It’s like marketing and sales for people who don’t like doing marketing and sales.Pretty cool!”
Why do some e-companies go out of their way to make it impossible for their customers to communicate with them?
It’s one of life’s little, annoying ironies. Here we are in our interactive-to-a fault age, and some companies that are Internet-based act as “Keep off the Grass” Idiots.
You probably have your own Internet company horror story. Mine concerns an aptly-titled e-mail company called MailChimp. The company easily lets you send high-volume email and provides templates to help you prettify your email. It also provides a pay-as-you-go option, which is especially helpful if you don’t send many emails, and don’t want to be stuck with a monthly or yearly fee.
Sound good. But here’s the rub. We recently attempted to send a note out for a client using its service. My assistant innocently attempted to change the name on the reply line of our email (which had my name) to that of our client. MailChimp’s system wouldn’t let her do so so she contacted by email (no phone option exists) MailChimp’s customer service. Instead of helping her, MailChimp’s tone deaf customer service accused her in an online conversation of spamming. She tried to explain and was promptly accused of being rude. Mailchimp then turned around and in an Internet nano second disabled our account. Ouch. It kind of felt like we were maimed.
That was bad enough. The MailIdiots refused to answertwo emails I sent explaining what we were trying to do and asking for a courtesy callback. I also typed in a note on MailChimp’s website explaining our problem and asking for help. That was almost a week ago. The company’s customer service went MIA in our case.
Kind of amazing isn’t it? Here is an email company that refuses to answer emails!
Rather than continue to hit our heads against the MailChimp wall, we decided to vote with our feet. We opened an account with a MailChimp competitor, Constant Contact, which went out of its way to be helpful. Unlike MailChimp, Constant Contact provides a phone number for you to talk with an actual human being. Who would have thought that phone contact would be such a luxury? The company made it exceptionally easy and in under an hour our note was distributed.
I understand that e-companies want to avoid the cost of having someone man phone calls. But in one fell swoop MailChimp damaged its brand. Moreover, its executives have no personal brands. At least it should instill a culture where emails get answered and customers are helped, not slapped. Well, MailChimp, you are now Exhibit A in the Fast Company Personal Branding Expert Blog Hall of Shame.
What Internet customer service stories have you experienced? I’d love to hear from you.
How do you reinvent yourself if you’re a middle-aged, non-techie working in yesterday’s business?
Just ask Flyn Penoyer who five months ago at age 58 reincarnated himself as a web marketing guru helping small businesses harness the power of the Internet. A successful sales consultant for over 20 years, Flyn had a long-time dream to be an Internet marketer but didn’t fully take the plunge till necessity and opportunity called.
“I decided sales consulting was a dead end in Silicon Valley, where I’m based; the market was shriveling up like turtles,” said Flyn with characteristic honesty.
To grease the skids, Flyn about a year ago enrolled in Stompernet, an online marketing program, joined social networking site LinkedIn and partnered with someone with the technical skills he lacked. Less than a year later he had his first Internet client, and was the top-rated expert on LinkedIn under its marketing sales and sales techniques categories. Come later this month, he’s launching his first information product, which is designed to help others succeed on LinkedIn.
Having remade himself into a web entrepreneur, he’s hung out his Internet shingle with the mission of helping small businesses grow using SEO, social marketing and web lead generation strategies. Check out his free reports on online networking.
As a networking maestro, Flyn quickly realized the power of LinkedIn for personal branding. “I have used LinkedIn to build up my reputation as an expert, help a lot of people making myself a valuable resource, and gain a tremendous amount of visibility in the process.”
Like most personal branding success stories, Flyn’s strategic use of personal branding has had a large pay-off. “Now, my efforts on LinkedIn are providing me most of my business income without any prospecting or advertising,” he says.
Flyn’s key rule for LinkedIn success:
“You need to follow a pure networking, as opposed to a prospecting strategy. If you prospect you may get a customer but the concept of prospecting is one person at a time while the concept of networking is all about developing valued relationships that over time lead to opportunities for everyone. It’s the difference between fishing with a line and trawling.”
So what else can we learn from Flyn?
For one, how to better sell on line. According to Flyn, there are three things every business needs to do online:
• Create websites that engage customers. “That way you can capture visitors who are not ready to buy now but may be in the future.”
• Create effective selling propositions. Engage visitors on your site in a conversation.
• Leverage the power of the Web 2.0 tools for developing relationships with customers.
How does a self-described “floor guy” become a social media expert?
If you’re Rob McNealy you fall into it (pun intended). After a marine business he had started wasn’t making money, he accidentally got into the flooring business by way of a friend who had a flooring company. Four years later, he not only has a successful flooring business but a thriving business empire that includes several floor businesses, a startup radio show and web consulting business along with a medical consulting firm (co-run by his wife, Kristie).
Here is Rob’s story of how it all happened:
“I’m an ex-corporate refugee who hated the corporate life. After my flooring company took off, I asked my wife, ‘Do you mind if I become the floor guy?’ And, she turned to me and asked, ‘Do you mind if I don’t do a medical residency?’ She was finishing medical school at the time. And, that’s how two entrepreneurs got born.
"I was the hardwood floor expert for a radio show and as a hobby started a radio show on small business. I interviewed some people on the show doing new media and got the idea to put the show on the internet. I got much more traction online than on the radio. The blog and podcast took off after that.
"People started asking me for help with their media work and before I know it, we had become web consultants.”
Don’t for a minute, however, think that Rob is simply running businesses. A marketing maven, he had the foresight to realize that he needed to create brands. As he puts it:
“Branding is nothing more than simply looking at yourself as a product, and marketing that product. At this time, I have two brands that overlap, Rob the "Startup Story" Entrepreneur Guy, and Rob, the Floor Guy.”
Rob also had the insight to recognize that Twitter is a branding tool and in just a year as become a top 100 Tweeter. He’s also active on LinkedIn and Facebook.
“Twitter is the best relationship building tool on the web at this time,” he says. “Twitter is a great way to communicate with others, as well as communicate your brand to a large audience in a very efficient manner. You get to have conversations from your desk. You don’t even need to buy someone coffee. The great thing is, you are talking with many people at once.
“The strategy for me is to meet great people. Those connections can lead to friendships, business ventures, investment opportunities, and of course, promotion for Startup Story (his radio show). Most people tend to hang out on only one social media platform, so it made sense for me to play in many sandboxes at the same time.”
How does he do it all?
“Ancient Chinese Secret,” jokes Rob. “Actually, I am usually multitasking. I run multiple montiors, and have multiple social networking platforms running in the background. I will often be twittering or on Facebook while working on clients' social media projects, or doing paperwork, etc. I put in three to four hours a day of screen time on social media, however, rarely is social media the only thing I am doing.
"We work a lot, as we run several businesses. Most of the time, we work 12 hour days. I currently run two workstations with two monitors each. My wife and I use five computers between the two us. However, one of my affiliate marketing friends runs four monitors, so I still have room to grow.”
Here is some advice from Rob on using social media to grow your presonal brand and business:
"Web/Social Media offers the best bang for the buck for marketing, hands down! Not only is it cost effective, it's a great way to market your personal brand, so people get to know you. Once your brand is known, work will come your way, as you are the one that people think about. For instance, in the social media and entrepreneurship networking circles, I really promote Startup Story and entrepreneurship as my brands. However, I've also gotten dozens of flooring projects, as people know that I am a floor guy, even though I don't promote the flooring business in that way."
How are you using social media to build your business? I’d love to hear from you.
I had the privilege this week to enter the media future – or at least a very smart person’s view of it – and learn that the future is all about personalization.
“The future of local TV (and seemingly everything else digital) is personal,” was the rousing cry of NBC Universal Chief Digital Officer George Kliavkoff who spoke this week at NY:MIEG's holiday breakfast as part of a Q&A session with Limor Schafman, president of The KeystoneTech Group. “Think about all your favorite news and information websites. With any of them 90 to 96% of the pixels are wasted on you,” said Kliavkoff. Instead, using the smarts of technology, you will be able to get served content and advertising that you want. Kliavkoff’s takeaway: The online future includes a lot more personalized products and services.
The prognostication was made at the ultra slick, electronic showcase of The Samsung Experience at the TimeWarner Center, which gleamed with electronic high tech before a sold-out crowd of the media upper crust, along with a few wannabes.
Overseeing this media blitz was Bill Sobel, a middle-aged, rumpled, down-to earth guy who is anything but high-tech in style. However, don’t let his appearance fool you. Sobel, who conceived and runs MY Mieg, is Mr. Media, a master connector and media impresario, who could be an electronic gizmo himself since he radiates enough energy and enthusiasm to light up the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.
The Q&A covered what’s happening and will happen in digital. Among some interesting points made:
Online media leads to more TV consumption. Forget the fear of cannibalization when you put TV clips online. NBC found that online streaming of the Beijing Olympics actually drove viewers to watch more TV than they would have if they were only TV viewers.
Easy does it. Hulu, a joint venture of NBC and Fox, allows viewers to search CBS and ABC content even though it doesn’t have licensing agreements with ABC or CBS.“It’s easier to search on Hulu than on CBS or ABC,” said Kliavkoff.
Digital all the way. We haven’t seen anything yet, according to Kliavkoff, who said that behavioral marketing and other forms of personalization will transform the digital experience.
So, as personal branders, what does all this mean?
I think it means that we need to be sure we’re on the digital forefront in everything we do. That, we need to make everything we do as easy as possible for folks and to insure that we not just put our personal stamp on what we do but that it speaks directly to the person we’re doing it for.
