social media

We observed a very interesting trend in social media in Europe : there’s a deeper integration between online identities and “real life” identities. This is the consequence of the convergence of at least 2 parameters: growing technologic concern for open IDs and data availability : when you’re online, you need more and more social tools in order to share, discuss, work with your peers and your communities of interests.

The two things I love most about practicing Public Relations are promoting a great cause and the urgency and quick thinking required when responding to a crisis. So, when I watched Gary Vaynerchuk’s latest vlog on his personal website I just had to share, because it is such a great example of how to respond to a potential public relations crisis using social media.

This is a great visual outlining how those commenting on blogs on behalf of the Air Force should respond in various situations.  If it were all this easy… can I get one of these for my life? 

Several weeks ago, BusinessWeek columnist Jon Fine shared a term in one of his predictions for 2009 that was intriguing because of how it describes a growing phenomenon in media today … the rise of the shadow media. The shadow media are the professional journalists, writers, editors and thought leaders who have been displaced either by choice or necessity as part of the upheaval that traditional media has been going through over the past few years.

The Public Relations profession has been facing transformation well before the introduction of  social media. As traditional media splintered at the magazine stands, through hundreds of TV channels, and yes, the arrival of the “interwebs,” the role of the communications expert has gotten more complex and less connected to the C-suite.

Dr Pepper recently teamed with celebrity "doctors," such as NBA great Julius Erving (Dr. J) and Kelsey Grammer (Dr. Frasier Crane on TV's Frasier), to bolster its brand. But given its recent public relations imbroglio, what it needs now is a savvy spin doctor.

The company has been bashed online after a Nov. 25 letter from the attorney for rock band Guns N' Roses charging Dr Pepper failed to deliver a promised free soft drink for every American if the band finally released its Chinese Democracy album this year.

My pick for the most interesting social media trend of 2008 was the growing focus on talking about social media engagement results - not just actions - across a broad spectrum of social media initiatives.
Here are three innovative uses for social media that generated strong quantifiable results (engagement, awareness, or conversion):
- In crowdsourcing, My Starbucks Idea reported receiving over 75,000 suggestions since its inception in early 2008; the company has implemented several of those including complimentary wi-fi at stores

In 2008, social media advanced from bright shiny oddity to a truly  integrated, two-way communications vehicle.  To recognize this, we are jointly assembling a “best of” 2008 list via a series of posts from our authors.  Learning from one of the biggest successes of 2008, Twitter, posts will be limited to 100 words starting…NOW

For my last interview about SES Chicago, I spoke with Pauline Ores of IBM’s Market Insights group. She will be busy next week, moderating two panels focused on social media and search marketing. I asked her a few questions about the “Social Media - Measuring the Business Value” track that she’s moderating on Wednesday.
 

Today I had a chance to catch up with Anne F. Kennedy of Beyond Ink, who’s going to be moderating a panel about global search marketing trends at SES Chicago. Anne’s been a search maven for ten plus years and serves on the Search Engine Strategies advisory board.