D S Simon Vlog Views

Stuart Elliott, Advertising Columnist for The New York Times, discusses the role of PR and advertising in the marketing mix and how to market in a recession.

Some of Stuart’s VlogViews:

“Several times I’ve written about campaigns…and it turns out there’s no advertising agency on record involved. The PR agency is the lead agency; and they’re the ones who are doing the quote-unquote advertising.”

“It’s sort of hard to tell where advertising starts and PR ends, or where the new media come in and where the old media step back. It’s being thought of in a much different way now. A lot of those lines are blurring or being erased completely; and as a result, a lot of agencies, a lot of marketers are scrambling to try to adjust to these realities.”

The shift to an opt-in culture “is a challenge for everybody, because you have people saying, ‘I’m not going to have this commercial wash over me; I’m going to choose when and where I want to be interrupted’…It’s the consumer who decides if he/she wants to engage.”

On the current economic crisis: “The question is whether these particular tough [economic] times are so unique and unusual that some of the traditional rules are not going to be effective in this climate.”

Stuart’s New York Times Page 

Stuart’s Blog
Sign Up for Stuart Elliott’s Email Newsletter, In Advertising

Search Terms: Stuart Elliott, The New York Times, social media, In Advertising, marketing, Advertising 

Richard Laermer, Owner of RLM PR and author of “Bad Pitch Blog” and 2011:Trendspotting For The Next Decade, gives his three predictions for future trends in public relations.

Richard’s three predictions about the future of PR:

1. “I think in the next few years our ‘email-centric-ness,’ the idea of always being emailed and always getting information, that’s going to die out when people realize that it’s not helping us, we’re not getting anywhere.”

2. “Flexibility. The way that we deal with ourselves and each other will be less about waiting for things to happen, because other people are finishing the product and more about getting it done ourselves…The idea that all flexibility lies with us.”

3. “Less of a reliance on technology and more face-to-face because studies have proven, and it might be more so in the next decade, that connecting is what is going to keep us going, as opposed to all this ‘hey, how ya doing?’ Twitter and email and all that SMS stuff is great; but it’s also really time consuming, and at the end of the day, maybe around 7:45, makes us feel kind of useless.”

RLM PR
Bad Pitch Blog
2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade

Search Terms: Richard Laermer, RLM PR, Bad PR Pitches, PR News, PR News’ Digital PR Next Practices Summit, Public Relations

Peter Shankman, CEO of the Geek Factory and the founder of HARO (Help a Reporter Out), discusses how PR practitioners can grow and stay relevant. Recorded at PR News’ Platinum PR awards.

Some of Peter’s VlogViews:

“Press releases are going to die. I think the only reason they are going to stay alive is that they are required by the SEC. I don’t believe that a press release within three to five years will be a viable option for disseminating your news.”

“If you’re not transparent and you’re not truthful with what you are doing in the beginning, you’re going to get caught.”

“In the end, the concept of me me me me me me is starting to go away. What used to be about what can you give me, has really turned into how can I help you?”

The Geek Factory
HARO (Help a Reporter Out)

Search Terms: The Geek Factory, HARO, Help a Reporter Out, Public Relations, Peter Shankman, PR News, PR News’ Platinum PR Awards

Saul Hansell, Editor of “Bits Blog,” New York Times, discusses the pros and cons of writing for a blog versus writing for a newspaper. Recorded at PRSA’s T3PR Conference.

Some of Saul’s VlogViews:

“I think that blogs, at least the way we are practicing them, make for a much fuller articulation of truth with much better information then the newspaper world.”

“Instead of a newspaper story, where somebody calls up and complains and if it doesn’t reach the level of a correction, you don’t do anything about it. In the blog world somebody says, ‘well you missed the shading of what we really meant,’ and I say, ‘alright, write it down and we will put it up.’”

“As a blog, we can do things that newspapers stories can’t. Like any blog, we can link to other stories into the discussion of the day so we can help be part of the broader discussion and we can foster discussion. We have readers comment and a lot of times the news sources comment and so we end up having an ongoing discussion between participants and some very knowledgeable readers about the technology topics of the day.”

Bits Blog
Saul’s Blog

Search Terms: Bits Blog, Saul Hansell, Blogs, New York Times, PRSA, T3PR

PRSA’s T3PR Conference Series:

 Jeremy Pepper                              Deirdre Breakenridge   

   Phil Gomes                                         Joe Ciarallo   

  George Wright                                Corey Kronengold