Cedar Mill Communications

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Although the excitement level for iPad 2, which probably should be iPad 1.5, is nowhere near the level that it was for the original iPad, the availability of the iPad 2 in stores today generated a notable news cycle.

What’s also notable is the complete dearth of anything remotely credible as a competitive tablet, as the AP’s coverage emphasized, noting:

Competitors such as Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. can’t seem to match the iPad’s starting price of $499. Tablets that are comparable to the iPad in features cost hundreds of dollars more, while cheaper tablets are inferior to the iPad in quality.

I’m beyond baffled by this given that the PC and mobile phone boys have had plenty of time to simply follow Apple’s example of what a tablet should look like.  Microsoft says it won’t ship a tablet until 2012 which, given MSFT’s track record of late, will be more like 2014.

In the meantime, the iPad is plenty good, with Gartner expecting 65 million tablets (mostly iPads obviously) to be sold worldwide this year.  They’ve even gone so far as to predict a decline of PC sales in the face of the table onslaught.

As tablets reach critical mass, how will they impact the way we in PR and communications do our jobs?

Unlike laptops that are too clunky and smartphones that are too small, iPads let people consume digital media in all forms – eMagazines, news, radio, social media, video, music – anytime and anyplace. Worries about battery life or connectivity are fading fast.

And while the emphasis is on digital media, many argue that there will be room for more in-depth content such as books and thoughtful articles.  As the success of the Kindle demonstrates, people are comfortable reading thousands of words on their tablets.  What’s more , the tablet can help bring in-depth content to life with videos or slide shows and interactive demos.

For those of use fretting over the demise of daily newspaper and perceive collapse of journalism, the rise of the tablet is a godsend.  Most likely it will lead a population of consumers and customers that is better read and more informed than those of us addicted to newsprint.  (I admit, I still get a paper delivered to my door; can’t get over that just yet.)

Overtime, the rise of tablets will lead to a much more successful and healthy news media as business models and licensing issues get sorted out.  This in turn helps those of us in the PR, and will force us to become adept at the art of cranking out digital media content quickly and cost effectively. I can see the day when almost every press release includes a video element, not just the photos we provide today.

Thanks to Steve Jobs, a much improved way to consume digital media is here to stay. To Microsoft, Google, Motorola, et al, come on, get your act together!

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холови гарнитуриWith any sort of brand building effort — be it social media, PR advertising or trade shows — managing all the details from start to finish can daunting and time consuming. Many times, the slightest error can undermine a good campaign, as seen in this rather embarrassing billboard:

While it seems that such errors are, at times, unavoidable, in the social media world at least a large assortment of tools have emerged to help campaigns go smoothly.  One of the most important benefits of social media  is the panoply of tools that have emerged to help you create, execute and track your brand-building efforts.  When it comes to selecting social media tools it’s a good strategy to embrace tools that span a number of different social media channels so you can smoothly roll out integrated, consistent campaigns.

Over at TopRank, an online marketing blog, Lee Odden offers up a list of 22 tools for social media marketing management. Some are completely free while others offer a limited set of services on a trial basis with pay models as you tap more of the tool’s capabilities. I’ve used a few of the services on the list and found them to be beneficial.  HootSuite, for example, integrates social media activity like Twitter and Facebook posts and feeds into a common dashboard with an assortment of charts and graphs.  Many of the tools go much deeper and will you help set up and manage full-blown campaigns.

Tools alone can’t save you from embarrassing or costly mistakes, however.  I’m sure we’ve all had our share. In my case, I’ve learned the hard way (although not as bad as that billboard) to never underestimate the power of typos. Good  editors in particular are worth every dime!

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As we all know, the only constant in the world is change.  During periods of change we all go through natural cycles of resistance, denial and ultimately everyone moves on and accepts the new reality.

Maybe it has something to do with the speed that news travels via the Web and social media, but class in the face of pressure and change seems to be something that has gone missing in action of late.

The latest example is the scathing letter from Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert about LeBron James’ decision to join the Miami Heat.  In a display of absolutely zero class, Gilbert called LeBron’s decision “a shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own.”

What Gilbert fails to mention is that LeBron’s presence in Cleveland for the last several years has increased the value of his franchise by over $100 million and led to a sold out arena night in and night out. Gilbert should have been thanking LeBron for the contribution to his personal net worth and wished him the best in his new endeavor.

That would be the classy thing to do.  Sure Gilbert is in denial, but perhaps he should he should have just kept it to himself.

A similar example of classless behavior is the cast of Kin characters busily bashing Microsoft over the decision to pull the plug on the much-hyped, but weak-selling social media phones.  No doubt this was mismanaged from the get go. Still, the problem was more that the gap Microsoft was targeting between smart phones and regular phones ended up getting squeezed by low-cost smartphones and high-priced data plans.  The Kin was a non-starter from the get go.

But instead of moving on, disgruntled employees are publicly airing their beefs for the world to read.  What’s the point of this?  No one really cares about your complaints – which only tell one side of the story – and make us think less of you.  Certainly, I would not want someone who’s willing to bash their employer on the Web as a part of my team.

I remember back when email first became accepted in business. We learned quickly never to send emails that you write when you’re angry.  Similarly, it’s time for a bit more restraint before angry letters and blog posts go live. Nothing good ever comes from removing all doubt that you’re a putz.

To quote Ron Burgundy, “You stay classy San Diego.”

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I had the opportunity recently to be a co-presenter in a media training session. One of the tips we always give prospective spokespeople is to avoid the use of jargon and meaningless tech words.

We have a pretty good list:

• Leading
• Enhanced
• Unique
• Significant
• Solution
• Integrated
• Innovative
• Advanced
• Sophisticated
• E-anything
• Best-in-Class

And, last but not least, the word I’ve found most bothersome of late: Leverage.

Most of the time PR, marketing and sales folks are leveraging leverage to such a degree that it’s meaningless. Whether as a verb, noun, adjective, it’s been misused, overused and tweaked to the point where all relevance and impact is gone. There probably hasn’t been an enterprise hardware or software press release issued in the last 20 years without some leverage, somewhere.

It’s especially popular in headlines:

“Oracle Service Architecture Leveraging Tuxedo”

“IBM reveals Long Term File System (LTFS) to leverage LTO-5”

“Webinar: Leverage Microsoft SharePoint in you Online Marketing”

“Leverage Your Existing EMC Centera Investment with OnBase”

“RIM’s New MVS 5 Leverages Cisco Unified Communications Manager”

Maybe somebody knows what it means to leverage LTO-5 with a long-term file system, but you’ve got me with that one. The point of putting out a press release, for instance, is to communicate information so that it can be understood, not to leave people scratching their heads in confusion. Most of time when I see the word leverage, it’s pretty unclear what going on. Maybe the author didn’t know either.

If you’re a TV watcher, you know that leverage even has it owns series on TNT starring Timothy Hutton. The series is solid, and the use of the word leverage here almost forgivable. Leverage is so vague that you’re not entirely sure what the show is about. As names for undercover spy-like thrillers with a twist go, it’s tough to top Mission Impossible. But I guess Leverage isn’t all that bad.

If you’re producing a hit TV series, I’ll let you off the hook. For everyone else, take a minute and look at your copy or slide deck. How many times are you leveraging something? Three? Five? Ten? Do yourself and your readers a favor and cut that number in half. Or, if you’re truly committed to reform, delete them all. You just don’t need any more leverage.

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Committing to buying a spot in the Super Bowl is always a big risk due to the vast sums of money at stake. For those with the wherewithal to pull it off, a big splash around the Super Bowl may generate more buzz than a year’s worth of mediocrity.

The year’s game, featuring one of football’s biggest stars in Peyton Manning and the feel good story of the past year in the New Orleans Saints, was the most watched TV show in the United States ever with 106.5 million viewers. With all the entertainment options people have now compared to when the previous record was set by the MASH finale in 1983, this is an amazing accomplishment.

Even more astonishing, people don’t DVR the Super Bowl and zip past the ads; instead they sit in groups and watch the ads intently hoping for a big laugh. In my case, I printed out a list of the expected ads from adbowl.com and had the people at the party help me decide on the rankings. (Next year, I’ll be doing this in realtime with the aid of my iPad).

More than just the massive, rapt audience, marketers also get the benefit of all the hype and exposure surrounding the Super Bowl.

And, now, it has caught on with social media.

BtoB magazine reports that of the 38 brands that ran TV spots during the Super Bowl, 75% saw the number of blog posts about their brands double, compared with the average number of blog posts on Sunday evenings over the past six months. Overall, blog posts about the Super Bowl increased to 25,725 this year, up from 15,702 last year. Of these, more than 3,600 posts were specifically related to advertising. Twitter also saw increased Super Bowl-related activity, with more than 720,000 tweets about the game.

Seriously, if you’re a marketer and you’re considering this brand-building extravaganza, do it. But do it right.

Here are a few basic observations on what “right” looks like. It still boggles the mind that companies can get this wrong. I’m not going to bash anyone, but there were some real stinkers in the mix, as there have been in the past.

1. Be clever and funny. David Letterman nailed this with his 10 second spot with Oprah and Leno. Did it help Leno? Who cares, it was funny and led to gobs of media coverage. Learn from this folks. We’re watching the Super Bowl at a party and we want to be amused.
2. Don’t get old and worn out. Hey is anyone home at eTrade and GoDaddy? The baby thing isn’t funny anymore (loved it first time out) and GoDaddy, it’s time to move on. Come up with something new.
3. Big names doing funny things work. The consensus #1 ad this year was Snicker’s with Betty White and Abe Vigoda. Hyunda’s ancient Brett Farve and VW’s Punch Dub with Stevie Wonder and Tracy Morgan also were hits with the audience.
4. If you can’t be funny, sentimental works too. Google’s surprise ad – which had been on YouTube for a few months – about using search for Paris love was fantastic. Our crowd thought that it was the winner.
5. Keep coming back – but with new stuff. Audi’s brand is quickly moving to the top of the charts. The German automaker has been on the Super Bowl roster for a couple of years and had a clever entry this year.
6. Maximize your PR and social media outreach. Be sure to wrap lots of marketing, PR and social media activities around your investment in the Super Bowl.
7. Give stuff away. As was humorously portrayed by terrified chickens, Denny’s used the Super Bowl to promote free Grand Slams on Tuesday. Well it worked. At least one of my neighbors braved the crowds to get her eggs and hash browns.

If you missed out on the Super Bowl, you still have some big sporting events on tap. In particular you might want to think about real football, as in Futbol or Fußball, like what’s played everywhere else on the planet. If the US team makes the World Cup quarterfinals or semifinals it will be huge. Or not. Like it or not, the Super Bowl is the biggest and best brand building machine in the US today.икони

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Tablets like what Steve Jobs and Apple just introduced have long been forecast in science fiction, so you just knew that sooner or later devices like this would become reality. 

Steve Jobs with his new pad.

For example, in Arthur C. Clarke’s 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clarke describes something called a “Newspad” that Heywood Floyd, “plugs into the ship’s information circuit and scans the latest reports from Earth. One by one he would conjure up the world’s major electronic papers; he knew the codes of the more important ones by heart, and had no need to consult the list on the back of his pad. Switching to the display unit’s short-term memory, he would hold the front page while he quickly searched the headlines and noted the items that interested him.”

While there will be little need to know codes by heart, Clarke’s vision of getting electronic papers on a pad-like device is finally here.  To be sure the iPad is likely far from perfect, I fully expect that it will inevitably become more refined and in the process move us much further to full electronic delivery of premier content – much of which is currently paper-based. 

Sure you can get content on either a smartphone or a laptop, but neither is ideal. The smartphone is just too small and the laptop is too clumsy. I just don’t find myself sitting at breakfast surfing news on my laptop, or trying to peer into a tiny screen on the BlackBerry. 

Instead I get volumes of newspaper – big piles of it that inevitably end up being recycled.  Speaking of which, the environmental impact of all that paper is not good. Paper consumes large amounts of water and energy, levels forests, and requires many gallons of fuel to get it to my doorstep. Electronic delivery has almost zero impact in comparison.

I can, however, imagine using the iPad as my daily news feed. What’s more there’s economic justification simply on the basis of replacing paid-for printed content I currently consume.  While I expect to still pay for the electronic content, the price will go down significantly.  Note that some of the publications have yet to adopt eReader technology like what the NY Times currently offers, but publishers that expect to survive will offer similar technology. Based on my calculations, I figure I could save $652 per year, easily justifying a $499 iPad.

Beyond lowering costs, the iPad will deliver a much improved experience.  Publishers will be able to blend video and printed words. Instead of a few photos, I will be able to see the entire sequence if I so desire. I’ll also be able to look up related information, or make comments. Basically it’s everything we love about the Web, but in a nice magazine-like format.  When I’m travelling, all I’ll need to pack is my iPad and a cell phone. No longer will I need a few magazines, a couple of books, media player, GPS, or even a laptop. And, of course, there will be countless numbers of cool apps.

Sounds like science fiction? Not anymore.

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I’ve heard some crazy arguments defending gun control over the years, but this one takes the cake. The typical angle is guns don’t kill people, people do, or something similar. Fact is that guns make it heck of a lot easier than alternatives.

Now a Utah Republican state Rep. Curt Oda has new spin: swords might actually be more dangerous than guns. As quoted by the Associated Press, Oda says:

“A person that’s got skill with a sword in a very big crowd could put a lot more people down with a sword than a gun,” he said. “They’re silent. You’ll have people screaming, but nobody knows what’s going on.”

I honestly don’t know where to begin. Obviously Oda didn’t discuss this with his PR team before suggesting that swords are somehow more dangerous than guns. The truly scary part is that somewhere a guy with enough weapons to outfit a SWAT unit is thinking, you go Curt. Tell ‘em like it is.

Personally, I don’t own a gun and don’t see a need to ever get one. I would feel a lot better knowing that guns are very hard to acquire and under tight control. If someone, say a farmer or a hunter, has legitmate need, they should have access to firearms. But right now, it’s completely out of control. Oh wait, I forgot, if people can’t use guns, they will pick up the swords and slice us all to ribbons. Thanks for clearing that up Curt.

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One of the things I think a lot about is product or company messaging. I try to look at all the facets of a product or service, analyze the intended audience and then figure out the most effective messages. If I do this job well, the message will strike a chord and the product or company will be on its way. If we’re off, then it’s back to the drawing board until we get it right.  Sometimes it involves product design changes, or adding features based on feedback.

I was recently reminded of how important it is to understand what the customer cares about when I went scooter shopping with my oldest daughter Jessica. She’s been home this week for spring break.  After spending the last couple months without a wheeled form of transport, she decided that a scooter would be the ideal way to circumnavigate the University of Oregon campus and surrounding areas. 

As life-long fan of anything with two wheels, I was all for it. Scooters are inexpensive, reliable, fun and environmentally friendly.  What’s not to love.  First stop was a Vespa store in Portland where Jessica spied a pink Buddy Scooter made by Genuine Scooter. While this little made-in-Taiwan 125 cc model was good enough, I figured I could do better.

The next stop was the local Yamaha/Honda dealer to look at what the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers had to offer in the way of scooters. There we found a blue Yamaha Vino for about the same money as the Buddy. Then we saw that the Schwinn bicycle company had gotten in the scooter business, and we could buy a handsome grey Schwinn for less money. Moreover, the Schwinn had a 150cc motor which would make the scooter more practical for occasional freeway trips.  To me, this was a no-brainer.

Turns out it was also a no-brainer for Jessica. If there was a pink scooter available, then it was going to be a pink scooter going back to Eugene. Period. End of discussion.  And indeed, the pink Buddy is now cheerfully lodged in our garage. While my priorities centered on performance and price, Jessica’s centered on style.

 The moral of this tale to all you marketers and communicators out there: make sure you know what your intended buyers want and give it to them. Genuine Scooter company figured it out and secured our business over what could have been, in a number of ways, a superior offering.  Do you really know your customers, or just think you do? It makes all the difference.

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