Are Infographics the New Slide Shows?
By Kyle Austin
July 7th, 2010
Infographics are quickly becoming a media and public relations industry buzz word / topic. Why you ask? Two major reasons. As corporations continue to shift into their role as media companies and content curators, they’re realizing the opportunity to package interesting data to the media and consumers in new ways. More importantly, media organizations and editors are now focusing on finding new ways to engage their readership. Infographics happen to solve both of these problems by packaging data in a way that makes it both engaging and easy to read.
A few weeks ago I sat down with Sam Whitmore of Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey for Racepoint Group’s video newsletter to discuss how brands and agencies can leverage infographics and why they’re becoming the “new slide shows” for media outlets desperate for engaging content. While Sam cautioned that infographics aren’t B-roll (most media outlets like to play a role in building them), he did pass along some interesting insight into how PR practitioners and marketers can leverage the media’s interest in this new category of content.
For more insight on infographics, along with the latest news and trends in marketing, PR and communications in the technology space subscribe to Racepoint’s “The Point: Tech Edition.
Entry Filed under: Blogging,Branding & Advertising,Digital Media Relations,Entertainment Technology,Google,Internet,Mainstream Media,Marketing,Online Video,PR Tools,Public relations,Social Media,Video
21 Comments Add your own
1. David Tebbutt | July 7th, 2010 at 10:38 am
It would have been great if Sam could have had an example or two on that wall next to him to bring it to life.
Do you have any links to share?
Thanks.
2. Kyle Austin | July 7th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Hi David,
Thanks for your interest. Agreed, it would have been good to have some examples for our impromptu discussion.
The most recognized media infographic that people point to in the media, is this one from the NYT’s – using Netflix’s data: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/01/10/nyregion/20100110-netflix-map.html. Specially designed for the Web it’s interactive in nature.
An example of an infographic that our sister company (Digital Influence Group) did can be found here: http://digitalinfluencegroup.com/instruments-of-influence
3. Molly Galler | July 7th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
RT @kyledaustin RT @RaceTalk: Are Infographics the New Slide Shows? I sit down with @samwhitmore to find out http://bit.ly/c7lCMQ
4. RaceTalk | July 7th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
New RaceTalk Post: Are Infographics the New Slide Shows? http://bit.ly/9se19V
5. Lauren Bernardi | July 7th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
RT @kyledaustin RT @RaceTalk: Are Infographics the New Slide Shows? I sit down with @samwhitmore to find out http://bit.ly/c7lCMQ
6. Jennifer Grabowski | July 7th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
RT @RaceTalk: New RaceTalk Post: Are Infographics the New Slide Shows? http://bit.ly/9se19V
7. Laurel Cormier | July 7th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
RT @kyledaustin RT @RaceTalk: Are Infographics the New Slide Shows? I sit down with @samwhitmore to find out http://bit.ly/c7lCMQ
8. Sally Whiting Bain | July 7th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
RT @RaceTalk: New RaceTalk Post: Are Infographics the New Slide Shows? http://bit.ly/9se19V
9. Ginger Lennon | July 7th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
#PR peeps should check out this new @racetalk blog post to learn about using #infographics for clients http://bit.ly/9se19V
10. David Tebbutt | July 8th, 2010 at 4:27 am
Via @racepointgroup – a blog post and vidcast on interactive infographics. See comment 2 for examples. http://bit.ly/brXoai
11. Kyle Austin | July 8th, 2010 at 10:23 am
More examples here: http://mashable.com/2010/07/01/social-media-infographics/
12. David Tebbutt | July 8th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
It’s funny, I saw them and was less impressed than I was with the Netflix one. I think it was the interactivity that hooked me. I’ve spent 14 hours today working on my own infographic in HTML/CSS – the time consuming bit for me is getting the right bits of the image to be ‘hot’ – it’s all coordinates and z-indexes. Gimme another 14 hours and I’ll probably have it licked.
It’s relevant to Racepoint, so I’ll let you know.
13. Kyle Austin | July 8th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Great David, look forward to seeing / hearing about it…
14. David Tebbutt | July 13th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Kyle, I have finished the Infographic but I’m not ready to go public. If you send me your email address, I’ll send you a link. I’m david at tebbo dot com
Don’t worry if you’re too busy etc. Entirely optional.
15. David Tebbutt | July 17th, 2010 at 4:50 am
Okay. I’ve gone public now, Kyle.
http://www.tebbo.com/howtohandlethemedia is where the How To Handle The Media interactive infographic lives.
If people want the background, I’ve blogged it at
http://teblog.typepad.com/david_tebbutt/2010/07/interactive-infographic-how-to-handle-the-media.html
And if they want to know how to do something similar without Flash, JavaScript, plug-ins etcetera, the low-down is at http://teblog.typepad.com/david_tebbutt/2010/07/under-the-covers-of-a-handcrafted-interactive-infographic.html
Thanks for the inspiration, Kyle. It took a big chunk of my time, but I learned masses from the experience. And I feel pretty good about the end result.
So, fortunately, do a lot of people who’ve seen it.
16. Kyle Austin | July 19th, 2010 at 8:14 am
Very cool David and a topic that we’re most interested in. I may use the link in an upcoming post on delivering your story to the media.
Thanks many for engaging in conversation around this.
-Kyle
17. David Tebbutt | July 19th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Hello Kyle. Glad you like it.
Of course you may use it. I suppose I should have slapped a creative commons “free to reuse with credit and without adaptation” on it.
Oh well. Another thing to put on my to-do list.
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