104 West Partners

Thoughts - 'Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley'

From the desk of Elaine Schoch...

The New York Times did an article Sunday regarding how the PR industry is leveraging social media channels and key social media influencers more to spread the word for its clients rather than traditional media outlets and influencers.

Influencer relations isn’t new – neither is having a social media program – and it’s a program we at 104 West (and many other firms) have leveraged for years for our clients. The point the article was trying to communicate is that the influencers are changing. They’re not the traditional print reporters anymore, but rather social media players with huge Twitter followings, be it analysts like Jeremiah Owyang or Rachel Happe; consultants/bloggers such as Chris Brogan or reporters/bloggers like Pete Cashmore, or even CEO’s such as Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com.

What disturbed me about this article is that it didn’t go into how you have to have an integrated and phased approach to create a successful program, especially for startups. We all know that social media is making the PR industry evolve and at a rapid pace. The information world we knew has changed and the information gatekeepers are changing guard. However, you can’t just rely on social media to do the job, you have to leverage both new and old media to be effective and sustain a presence. While social media can create hype and drive traffic, it alone can’t sustain an ongoing presence among influencers and a brands customers.

Think about it, how are you going to get to my mom who doesn’t have a Facebook page, she doesn’t reads TechCrunch or RWW or even the Wall Street Journal but rather the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and usually catches her local news on NBC each night. However, she would love to play with Wordnik, the site/startup the article referenced (as an ex-English teacher and wannbe crossword puzzle champ this would be the best site for her!). She might be a “nobody” but she is a power player in her little town in TX and can influence buying/user behaviors – not on the scale that Pete Cashmore can, but trust me, she has a big mouth...

The article goes into great detail about hitting the social media influencers and I completely agree but depending on your brand, social media influencers may not be the best ones for you to focus on. You have to know who your influencers are and WHERE they are. They may not be online tweeting or blogging, instead they could be industry analysts who you need to reach to be included in their reports, they may be reporters who write for a weekly industry newsletter. Now granted, more of these players are creating a presence online, particularly in the blogosphere and Twitter but their audience (your customers, i.e. my mom) may be getting the information else where.

While the PR industry is changing and the communication channels are shifting, the industry is still based on forming relationships and telling your clients story to the right people at the right time. It’s our job to know who the right people are and the right timing – that’s never going to change. 

104 West has an app for that

From the desk of Elaine Schoch...

There are only three good ideas in the world, it’s just a matter of who gets to them first. In this case Brad Feld beat me to it (go figure). I had started writing this post regarding some of the teams favorite iPhone applications when I saw his post come through today doing the same. Oh well, I’ll still share...

Meredith recently asked me what my favorite iPhone applications were so she could start building her arsenal of apps. (She FINALLY made the switch from the BlackBerry to the iPhone – yeah!) I compiled my list for her but went a step further and asked the team what theirs were too. Clearly, the main apps the phone came with – email, maps, calendar, Safari, photos, clock, etc. - are some of our most used applications but here is a run down of some cool ones we really like.

Maps: While this is one of the basic apps that comes with the iPhone, we can’t tell you enough how many times it has gotten us places and saved us from being late.

Facebook: We all use it but don’t love it since its interface really isn’t that great. Hopefully the updated version being released will be better.

TweetDeck: This is a newer app and if you use TweetDeck on your desktop you’ll understand how helpful it is. It mirrors the TweetDeck columns so you’re never out of sync.

Twitterific: Why Patrick still likes this one is crazy, but he does... It used to be on my top five list until TweetDeck came out.

YellowPages: Yes, people still use them just not in their traditional form.

iTriage: Full disclosure, they’re a client but they can save your life (according to The New York Times). It helped Patrick get some quick information at a doctor's appointment last month.

At Bat Light: As a baseball fanatic, Patrick uses this app to keep up-to-speed on what’s going on in the world of baseball.

NYC Subway Map: One of our teams essential iPhone applications; we have a few clients in NYC that we regularly visit.

The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and AP Mobile (Associated Press): Duh...

Shazam: Ben and I love this one! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve impressed my know-it-all music husband by rattling off the artists name of a song playing on XM.

OpenTable: This app has been a great help when traveling and making reservations ASAP. We also like Yelp for reviews.

Where: This is an awesome app that helps you locate things around you – restaurants, Starbucks, movie theaters/showings, cheap gas, etc.

Crazy Penguin Catapult and TowerBloxx: These are two of our favorite games by Digital Chocolate, another client. They are also two of the five games Digital Chocolate has produced that went to #1 on the iPhone. We all spend time playing these when there is time to kill or need a mental break.

Recorder: We use this for press briefings, meetings and I personally use it to record my little girl laughing. It helps to listen to when you’re having a bad day.

WeatherChannel: Unlike the weather app that came with the iPhone, this app has a lot more information and provides the forecasts a few days out.

AccuTerra by Intermap: These guys have a few maps (and more coming) that hikers and outdoor enthusiasts will love. Not only can you explore and view maps of national parks like Yosemite, but you can map your hikes in real-time, view elevations, add notes and pictures you took along the way. And then you can SHARE it with your friends. This is my new favorite app (I’ve had a sneak peek at at few maps coming out soon that I’ve been playing with this summer. As a client, we get some perks...) Check out their quick video.

What are some of your favorite apps??

Social Media - The Wild West of PR?

From the desk of Kathryn Marshall…

Although the PR industry is more than 100 years old, the introduction of social media over the last few years has made it feel more like the wild west. Being so new, there are no hard rules (laws) to social media but there is “etiquette;” the rules/laws are still evolving. And just like the wild west, there’s a land grab going on to see who can be first to stake their claim and define the new law of the land. 

I had the luxury of listening to one of social media’s pioneers yesterday – Southwest Airlines – when I attended the PRSA Colorado luncheon. Paula Berg, manager of emerging media at Southwest Airlines shared her trials and tribulations about riding the blogosphere "like a wild horse."

For more than three years, Southwest Airlines has navigated the uncharted territory of social media - first, with its award-winning corporate blog, Nuts About Southwest, later with tools such as Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Paula’s entertaining presentation was framed with real-life case studies that took us through Southwest’s journey of the highs and lows of using social media tools to reach an entirely new demographic, increase sales and create a valuable base of loyal Southwest followers.

One of the things I found interesting was her recommendation that companies start their foray into the social media world during ‘business as usual’ times so they can learn how the tools work and begin building/engaging with their audience. This sounds like a given but some of Southwest’s airline competitors have made the mistake of jumping into social media during a crisis only to find they were far behind the conversation that had started. They had no relationship with the people who were commenting and therefore, no credibility, and they had no practices in place for dealing in this type of environment.

Berg also talked about leveraging their online community for market research. In one instance, Southwest turned to its followers to launch a focus group on whether or not to move away from “open seating” on their flights, a signature differentiator for their airline. This is becoming a common practice among brands leveraging social media and proved extremely successful for Southwest – more than 700 people responded and ultimately  convinced them not to change.

As far as additional tips for success when using social media, Berg recommended:
-    Acting fact when working in online communications (no time for red tape)
-    Engaging openly in conversation
-    Taking the good and the tough feedback to build credibility
-    Engaging an executive sponsor to champion the effort from the top down
-    Building a strong team of social media people who inherently love to put themselves out there so you’re not pulling teeth to get content,
-    Most importantly – show results that demonstrate the power of online communications

Social media may be new, it may feel scary because it is unfamiliar, but it’s only going to grow in importance. So saddle up... 

Great New Successes: PRSA Gold Pick Award and a new client

Last night at the PRSA Colorado Gold Pick Awards, we picked up a Gold Pick for our campaign for the March of Dimes Colorado Chapter, "Tiny Survivors: Colorado's Fight Against Infant Prematurity." We are adding this to the three Hermes Awards we recently won to make a nice wall of awards.

“We’re grateful to 104 West for the strategy and execution they lent this important first-ever communications campaign,” said Shelly Goodchild, state director of the March of Dimes Colorado Chapter. “It was invaluable in advancing awareness of premature birth and ways to prevent it.”

In addition to this award winning work, we are excited to announce that we are expanding our tech client portfolio with the addition of Daily Makeover and DailyMakeover.com. In addition to the social media and community building work we are doing for Daily Makeover, we are also working with the beauty and style editorial community.

We have hit the ground running with Daily Makeover and recently worked with the national media to help show the world what Susan Boyle might look like with a slightly altered hairstyle and make-up. As the conversation around her makeover swirled, we worked with Daily Makeover to gauge public opinion on makeovers in general. The result was a central position for Daily Makeover in one of the most closely watched beauty and style stories of the year.

We are looking forward to continuing to create and execute award winning work for all of our clients, including one of our newer clients Daily Makeover.

 

104 West Receives Three Hermes Awards!!!

Earlier this week we learned that our firm was awarded three Hermes Creative Awards – two Platinum and one Gold – for our work on BitGravity, The March of Dimes Colorado Chapter and MX Logic. We’re really excited about these awards and wanted to give a shout out to our team for a job well done. These awards are even more meaningful this year given the state of the economy. It’s been tough few months for every industry so being recognized by a third-party for our work is a tremendous honor.

• One of the Platinum Awards was for the March of Dimes Colorado Chapter campaign, “Tiny Survivors: Colorado’s Fight Against Infant Prematurity.” We deployed an aggressive, objectives-driven media relations campaign leveraging the nation’s first Premature Birth Report Card grading each state’s rate of preterm birth. The media campaign ultimately reached more than 2.8 million viewers.
• The other Platinum Award for “Bit-by Bit: BitGravity Gains Ground on Competition and Earns a Seat at the Table,” which introduced BitGravity into a crowded market dominated by a few well-known behemoths.We worked to de-position the competition and establish BitGravity as a key player in its space.
• The Gold Award was for our media relations campaign that transformed the MX Logic blog into a media hub that leveraged fresh content and increased the company’s visibility and credibility as a leading email and Web security provider.

Has Twitter Jumped the Shark?

From the desks of the 104 West team...

Ever since the Fonz foreshadowed the demise of the 1970s TV hit Happy Days by donning a pair of water-skis and jumping over a shark in a leather jacket and all too tight swim trunks, the concept that an idea or person or thing has over-extended itself has been deemed “Jumping the Shark.”  (Ok, for some of you, it may be before your time – quick YouTube clip to catch you up.) You can almost hear Garry Marshall and Jerry Paris (the show’s producer and director) sitting around a table saying, ‘hey I’ve got an idea….’  And you just know that all the good ideas had been exasperated and the end was inevitable.

With all the exposure, the celebrity tweets, the local newscasters pining for new followers, you wonder if somewhere in the not too distant past, did Twitter jump the shark?

Interest in Twitter has escalated at a fever pitch in the past few months. We remember reading about Twitter on the front page of CNN.com on March 31^st and remarking about what it meant for Twitter and its mainstream adoption.  Fast-forward a month: Ashton Kutcher, the former star of “That 70s Show” (there’s shark-jumping-Fonzie water-skiing irony in there somewhere) and CNN staged a follower-generating contest, Oprah (that’s right, Oprah!) started Tweeting live on her show, and celebrities like Shaq and Britney Spears have incomprehensible follower numbers.  Seemingly, overnight, Hollywood and pro athletes are overshadowing the early celebrities of the service – tech stars like Robert Scoble.

We don’t know how many users Twitter has acquired since that CNN piece last month but it has the trappings of a fad -- this week we learned 60 percent of users stop tweeting after one month. Here at 104 West, we’ve been discussing whether all of this buzz and media interest can translate into real usage by real mainstream audiences. Can you equate media interest with usage patterns? As PR professionals, we hope so, but none of our parents, few of our spouses and not many of our friends outside tech are tweeting, even though most of them have heard of Twitter.  In Twitter’s case, the echo chamber seems to be reverberating violently, evidenced dramatically by today’s disturbing news from Silicon Alley Insider  -- it seems that people are doing press releases about who has decided to follow them on Twitter!

What do you think? Is Twitter just “inside baseball” – for those who love all things techy or new? Is the hype around Twitter helping it move forward and pushing it to a better format or model? Will it remain in its current form or change out of necessity; or has this most recent spurt of interest created an environment where Twitter may be on its way to “jumping the shark”.

We want to hear what you think…Excuse me, Richie Cunningham just started following us…gotta tweet…

Colorado's Best PR Firms

Thanks for shout-out from The Denver Egotist, which listed 104 West as one of Denver's Top Technology PR Firms. 

More on VCIR Winter Conference

From the desk of Kathryn Marshall...

I found this year’s VCIR Winter conference in Beaver Creek nothing short of impressive. Despite the gloomy economic winter, the VCIR conference was a wonderful (and much needed) reprieve from the seemingly endless string of tough business news – nearly 300 entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs and service providers gathered to talk about Colorado’s most promising investment opportunities

One of the highlights for me (besides the skiing) was the media panel moderated by Brad Feld of the Foundry Group. The panelists included Spencer Ante of BusinessWeek, Rebecca Buckman of Forbes, Dan Primack of peHUB Wire and Mark Veverka of Barron’s. Some of the highlights of the panel included discussion about the changing media landscape and whether or not print media would survive. This topic hit close to home, particularly since we just witnessed the closing of Denver’s nearly 150 year-old Rocky Mountain News. The panel also debated the industry’s most promising up and coming companies, and many agreed that an economic recession is a great time to start a new business given the bargains on resources, labor, real estate and other services.

Hats off to Seth Levine of the Foundry Group and Mike Bearup from KPMG for putting on a Class A event.

VCIR Winter 2009

From the desk of Patrick Ward...

104 West spent this week at Venture Capital in the Rockies, orchestrating a panel with Spencer Ante from Business Week, Becky Buckman from Forbes, Dan Primack from PE Week and Mark Veverka from Barron’s. Despite the obvious headwinds in the financial and credit markets, it was a great few days, listening to smart entrepreneurs, seeing old friends, participating in the mandatory ski day and generally taking the temperature of the symbiosis between start-ups and VCs in the Rockies.

Just a few highlights for me were Iggli, a new way to engage with friends and attend events together, NetFactor, a fascinating way to convert B2B web traffic into hot sales leads, MarketForce, a really sophisticated updating to the mystery shopping world, Atrato, another impressive attempt to solve complex storage problems, and, one of my favorites, because it symbolized so much,  Justin’s Nut Butter, which is just simply smart.  

There was some scuttlebutt about who was investing what and where, but I think that misses the many positives about both the overall environment and about the group of companies at VCIR as a microcosm of that environment.

• This group was widely heralded as the strongest VCIR class in recent memory.
• The attending media were a first-class sampling of the industry’s premier reporters covering this market. 
• The emerging clean technology market was there in full force both as investors and entrepreneurs. 

In general, it was fascinating to see a much broader range of categories beyond the classic Web 2.0 or corporate IT.  If only the skiing had been better…

Congratulations to Seth Levine from Foundry Group and Mike Bearup from KPMG who co-chaired the event.  Now we can look forward to VCIR Fall!

I Want My Rocky!

From the desk of Elaine Schoch...

It you follow @themediaisdying on Twitter you may feel like the media/pr world we know is in fact dying - at least I find myself feeling depressed after seeing their ongoing tweets about layoffs and papers shutting down. With that said, it’s been one week to the day that the Rocky Mountain News ceased publication – but it hasn’t died. (Yeah!) Many of the staff members haven’t stopped writing/reporting for the Rocky – they’re now posting articles to IWantMyRocky.com. The site is “a gathering spot for Rocky alumni and readers, bringing you the news of your favorite reporters and columnists and even a scoop or two that you might have seen on the pages of the Rocky.”

Check it out and support your favorite local reporters - perhaps they will be one of the leaders in "reshaping" the media landscape. Who knows...