By Ben Haber
With so many businesses, media outlets, and celebrities now on Twitter, now may be the time for new security measures. Hackers wasted no time today posting various inappropriate and false tweets on the Twitter pages for FOX News, Barack Obama, Britney Spears, Rick Sanchez, and even Facebook. Since being posted these tweets have been taken down, but screen shots of each are below.
Add comment January 5th, 2009
By Kyle Austin
Given our past coverage (and coverage of our coverage) of how Apple has handled the intrigue and borderline obsessiveness into Steve Job’s health, we’ve taken interest in following the latest twist in the continuing saga. Today, Jobs tried to clear up missing Macworld this year in an open letter to the Apple Community.
In which, he finally points to the cause of his gaunt appearance over the last year:
“A hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.”
Full letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs below:
Dear Apple Community,
For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.
Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.
I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.
As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.
Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.
The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.
I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.
So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.
Steve
1 comment January 5th, 2009
By Kyle Austin
The New York Times runs a CBS Network display ad on the front page of its print edition for the first time today (courtesy of NYTimes.com)
The next steps for the New York Times Co. and its flagship, promises to be one of 2009’s biggest media stories. The Times Co. ended 2008 by cutting its dividend and putting the Boston Globe and its Red Sox stake up for sale; in an effort to raise funds. Due to the fact that the Times Co. continues to loose ad revenue in its print edition and online and owes $400 million to lenders in May.
Today, the Times made news (yes, it broke its own story), by running a display ad (pictured above) on the front page of its print edition. It marks the first time that the “old gray lady” has run an advertisement on its front page and leaves only the Washington Post (I predict Marcus will run one this month - now that he is in complete control), as the only major daily who has not run an advertisement on its front page to-date.
Of course, the Wall Street Journal has capitalized on advertising on its front page for some time (predating Rupert’s arrival) and the move from the Times seems dated.
One can only hope that it’s the first move, of many, to stabilize the national paper of record this year (perhaps even becoming a non-profit?).
Add comment January 5th, 2009
By Kyle Austin
(”Tail of the Tape” Courtesy of Valleywag)
With all the turnover, consolidation and closing doors in the media industry over the last several months (Compounded by Michael Arrington’s latest fit); the 2009 media landscape is shaping up to be very different than the one we encountered in January 2008.
On a slightly more upbeat note, the Wall Street Journal threw the latest wrinkle into your media outreach plans this week, by launching its new Digits blog. While those outside of Silicon Valley and the media (& PR) industry may see it as a minor move - it could alter the tech media landscape.
Finally, the Journal has put considerable resources into its technology blogging, in a direct effort to compete with the Times’ Bits Blog.
The Journal’s (now former) Business Technology blog, which was almost solely manned by Ben Worthen, was never easy to find - as editors at the WSJ.com failed to make it an integral aspect of their technology coverage (Something that the nytimes.com has succeeded in doing with Bits). In finally making the official move to Digits, the Journal has a platform for its 22 tech writers (10 more than the NYT’s uses for Bits) to cover breaking technology news in real-time along with news from start-ups, which may not make it into the print issue.
Sure, some will poke fun at the Journal (and perhaps rightly so) for seemingly copying the Bits’ blog structure (Julia Angwin plays the Bizarro Saul Hansell role) and name (Bits, Digits, Code, Oh-My!).
However, with the Journal’s sources and “inside” reporting, the addition of (not just another) tech blog to an already crowded market is nothing to sneeze at for folks like Michael Arrington and Om Malik. They will break stories and there will be people lining up to talk with them (knowing that they have a new platform to cover more stories).
Add comment December 31st, 2008
By Ben Haber
Michael Arrington caused a major stir in the PR industry yesterday, announcing that TechCrunch will no longer honor any embargoes - even if they agree to it.
Arrington wrote: “A year ago embargo breaks were rare, once-a-month things. Today, nearly every embargo is broken, sometimes by a few minutes, sometimes by half a day or more.” While a broken embargo can become a major issue for companies, TechCrunch’s decision is going to put many PR people in a difficult situation of offering TechCrunch an exclusive or bringing their news to a group of other outlets that will honor an embargo.
But in reality, isn’t this all about trying to secure more exclusives? TechCrunch now has an excuse to break any news they hear about, even though they may find themselves being left out of the loop when some companies decide they are better served going to other outlets like GigaOM and WIRED where they can pre-brief reporters and bloggers and ultimately share their story with a larger audience. However, at the same time, there will be plenty of companies that will cave in to the pressure of obtaining one highly visible post and offer TechCrunch an exclusive.
It will be interesting to see if other outlets begin adopting these rules as well, and how successful TechCrunch is at securing meaningful exclusives.
Do you think this was a good decision - what’s your take?
Add comment December 18th, 2008
By Kyle Austin
There has been a lot of buzz through the blogosphere and Twittersphere, following a piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday on how marketing is changing in this Web 2.0 world. Although folks like Emily Steel at the Journal cover how online marketing is changing on a daily basis; this academic piece reads like it should have been published two years ago (or at least a year ago- when videos like this were popular).
Salvatore Parise, Patricia J. Guinan and Bruce D. Weinberg of MIT Sloan Management Review (for the Wall Street Journal) set out to interview more than 30 executives and managers in both large and small organizations that are at the forefront of experimenting with Web 2.0 tools for marketing.
The problem is, as Frank Shaw over at Glass House points out, the article is full of examples that were new, 4-5 years ago. Ever heard of engaging a popular blogger by giving them a product in advance of launch for review? How about keeping an eye on Digg and Delicious to see if your product / news is generating buzz?
How about some of their broad advice, which is incorporated into many forward thinking marketing departments already, but sounds a bit too juvenile - without getting into prospective ROI in today’s economy:
There may be some marketing executives out there that are resisting the urge to “sell, sell, sell” but finding them in this economy, is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.
The opportunity, which was really missed within this article, was the chance to highlight how Web 2.0 marketing tools can be used to directly affect businesses’ bottom lines. A chance to discuss how cost-effective social media tools can be utilized to secure message penetration - as bigger ad budgets are cut. A chance to discuss the real-time measurement that Web 2.0 campaigns offer.
Guess we’ll have to wait for that story in 2010.
1 comment December 16th, 2008
By Ben Haber
Right before the holidays layoffs have continued to hit the media hard. Just this week three major publication/outlets, CNN, Fortune and USA Today have had layoffs, cutting some very notable reporters.
As we mentioned earlier this week, there are also layoffs anticipated at the Associated Press in early 2009.
Add comment December 5th, 2008
By Kyle Austin
(Alan Mullally, Ford CEO, discusses the company’s new direction in a YouTube video posted on TheFordStory.com, which was launched last week)
While folks like Jason Calacanis can make a strong argument that Silicon Valley has surpassed Detroit with its savvy in manufacturing more energy efficient vehicles; somewhat surprisingly, Detroit continues to illustrate its savvy in using sophisticated digital marketing and social media strategies. Some of which - could even make Silicon Valley marketing types jealous.
Alas, the world seems somewhat backwards.
Emily Steel chronicles how the social media and digital marketing brain trust of Ford, GM and Chrysler are working from their “War Rooms” in Detroit, while their CEO’s continue to lobby Congress on Capital Hill for funds in today’s Wall Street Journal.
According to Scott Monty , global digital and multimedia communications manager at Ford, it’s utilizing social media to reach the consumer directly, over an extended period of time:
“With digital media, it lives on for a long time. It’s picked up in Google searches, people pass it along and share messages they care about with blogs and their social networks of choice.”
(Scott Monty -above- Leads Social Media Efforts ‘from Twitter’ for Ford)
According to Steel, Ford is also using the social media campaign to cut costs:
“To save money , Ford is also reaching out to consumers directly through blogs and other social media. The company has enlisted members of its staff to respond to blog postings and messages on Twitter.”
The strategy is a sound one and as Steel quotes Monty in the beginning of the article “The auto makers in general have gotten a black eye in the media, and we didnt’ feel like we were getting a fair shake.” With that in mind, social media appears to be giving the automakers a new avenue into the ears of Americans (and hopefully into the ears of their congressmen and women). As you can see on Twitter, the story has grown outside the walls of mainstream media and into social media conversations across the country.
Given the daily news of major corporations cutting their marketing budgets (GM is going to cut $600 million from its marketing budget) and advice for sticking to what is core in order to keep your job in the downturn - it is refreshing to hear that cost-effective social media strategies are being looked at as core crisis communications’ tools in the current recession.
Of course, the idea isn’t completely new. Forrester put out research at the beginning of this year that social media could thrive during a recession (even though hardly no one thought we were in a recession at that point). Their reasoning at the time included three major points, which seem to be echoed by the automakers in their current initiatives:
If you also add, they can be measured in real-time, unlike most traditional marketing efforts, you get some pretty good reasoning why the likes of Ford and GM are counting on using social media to get their message heard during the most crucial period in the history of their companies.
2 comments December 5th, 2008
I’m presenting in one hour to the European Agenda Setting Conference on the impact of the social Web. Great presentations this morning from Roland Schatz, President Media Tenor, David W Moore, author of The Opinion Makers, and Ramu Damudaran, Director Civil Society at the United Nations.
Here’s my deck if you’re interested:
Add comment December 4th, 2008
By Ben Haber
It’s being reported today that CNN is preparing to pitch a new, less expensive wire service to regional newspapers, thus becoming a direct competitor to the Associated Press.
The New York Times reports that CNN has been testing a new wire service for about a month now, which has been on display in some newspapers. However, this week editors from about 30 papers will visit CNN’s headquarters to hear the plans for a broaden service that can provide coverage national, international, and maybe even local news — at lower cost than The A.P.
Upon hearing this news, Associated Press president and CEO Tom Curley took a slap at the CNN Wire, saying that is is ‘remarkably, abysmally written.’
With the newspaper industry going through a mass shakeup, the Associated Press had previously been relatively unaffected to-date. Howeve, about a week ago the A.P. acknowledged that they are in a hiring freeze, and may need to reduce their staff over the next year.
Add comment December 1st, 2008
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