Jimmy Breslin’s famous query about the hapless 1962 New York Mets seems apropos of many PR “professionals” these days as they scramble to turn those inviting “Comments” sections of blogs into promotional nuggets for their clients.   Many of these nuggets are so blatantly obvious and written in such PR mush that they have the undesired effect […]

The rapid ascension of social media as a force in marketing and public relations has produced a nasty culture shock among communications professionals.  For those of us who came of age in a time when controlling the message through strategic positioning (sometimes called lying, by commission or omission), the reality that customers now have talk-back tools […]

The Republican party and Edelman, the public relations firm, have something in common these days.  Both are suffering a crisis of confidence of their own making.  In the case of the GOP, the habit of claiming the moral high ground on ”values” has inevitably fallen victim to a series of scandals that has shaken the faith of […]

There’s something happening here.  What it is ain’t exactly clear.  Cheap and easy-to-use social media are having a revolutionary effect on politics and culture around the globe.  For better, and for worse, power to the people is not just a slogan anymore.
Blogs, wikis, social networking sites are the elite, high end of the revolution.  The grassroots […]

The uber-blogger Kos, as in Daily Kos, has a post up today about some dumb politicians who have been caught saying stupid things in recent weeks and been greatly embarassed by their utterances having been posted on YouTube for others to enjoy.  Kos calls this The You-Tube effect and says:
Accountability. It’s not something politicians, of any stripe, are used to dealing with. […]

When Dell launched its new blog Direct2Dell blog a few weeks back, the launch was greeted by hoots of derision from critics who deplored its rather arch, corporate tone and its failure to address some of the controversial issues swirling around the company–most notably laptop computers that seemed to burst into flames for no apparent reason.
Clearly, Dell listened and its […]

The folks who brought you the very trendy W hotels are creating a new Starwood hotel brand called aloft which is aimed squarely at the ME Niche generation.  The first real life hotel will not open until 2008 but Starwood has done an incredibly clever thing by hiring Electric Arts to create an online version […]

The internet is a giant global soap box that provides companies with a cheap and efficient way to reach thousands of constituents–customers, employees, suppliers, the business press, regulators and so on.  On the surface, blogging would seem to be an especially useful way for chief executives to cut through the clutter and take the company’s message directly to […]

LiveWorld is fast-growing marketing agency whose speciality is creating, operating and  managing customized interactive online customer communities–in more than 30 languages–for large companies.  Its customers include  America Online,  BEA Systems, eBay,  Campbell Soup Company, Discovery Communications, Dove, HBO, Intel, Intuit Inc., MINI Cooper USA, QVC,  and TV Guide.  The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has a, frankly, […]

Amazon Reports Steep Drop in Income
Amazon.com reported a 58% drop in second-quarter net income as a severed partnership with Toysrus.com and higher technology investment spending cut into profits. 
Jeep Tries Viral Marketing With Karaoke Avatar Site
Jeep is trying to spread the word about its Compass vehicle by creating a web site (powered by Oddcast) that allows users to […]