Word-of-Mouth Without Words?

New agencies are finding out that more and more, it doesn't take blogging and tagging and favoriting, but now the electronic book devices, known as Kindle is being used for exposure and spreading the "word."

Everyone knows the power of word of mouth PR can be great- but what if you can syndicate your blog and press release and news articles and anything, really with Kindle, instead of relying on disseminating information with broad internet outlets?

I've seen people reading Kindles... sometimes. It doesn't seem to be an extremely wide-sweeping phenomenon, though. I mean, I don't think that I personally am ready to give up the feeling of a book in my hands- and reading on a computer screen for too long gives me a headache, anyways. I digress... My point is, where's the bad in putting your words out in the kindle world? It shouldn't turn into a sudden advertising and PR frenzy, to the point where you can't read anything without being bombarded with ads, but if there's genuine interest in articles, or columns that can be attained through Kindle just like any other book- then I think being able to look it up on Kindlefeeder is a great thing for public relations.

here's what Jennifer Modarelli said about her company's use of Kindle:

"We saw the Kindle as part of the broader shift toward a more intimate level of one-to-one marketing for our agency. Our prospect gets to experience the Kindle and learn about White Horse. It's a word-of-mouth strategy without the words or the mouth." -Ad age

I think it might work... with reservations. It would be hard to make money off of, and the company would probably spend more time cultivating their client's relationship with the new gadget than creating buzz- but it certainly would be an interesting project.

http://adage.com/smallagency/post?article_id=141050

Pressures on Bloggers by Publicists

http://www.prblognews.com/2009/11/04/corrupt-bloggers-kvetch/

There's a wave of frustration going through the blogging world about PR practitioners and their expectations of blogging sources, almost as if some publicists are acting as a regulatory force, asking questions such as:

• “How many unique users?”
• “How many page views?”
• “How fast can you get our review on your site?”
• “Have you won any awards in the past?”
• “Send us links to past reviews you’ve written.”
• “What angle will you take with this feature? -- prblognews.com

Why shouldn't bloggers who claim to be media credible be held to the same standards of legitimate media? And at the same time, why are those who are product reviewers, etc. being pressured by publicists?

My stance on this issue goes along with the idea that some blogs are indeed corrupt and are not operating for solely professional purposes, but the internet is so vast now that there really are lines drawn all over the topic of what is acceptable media, such as the blog in question.

And then there's the tangled web of non-bloggers and free publicity that some bloggers have to face, as their popularity grows and according to a post by Krizia, the author of the link below,

"My theory is simple: Publicists and companies now know that bloggers have a lot of weight on the Web and with the recession hitting advertising budgets really hard, publicists are turning to bloggers to get the word out about their products and also as quick way to getting into social media networks without having to spend any money." -A guest post by Krizia from Eat Smart Age Smart

The original topic:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/11/02/pr-people-getting-pushier-with-bloggers-since-the-recession/

Libel

Libel: "A false communication that wrongfully injures the reputation of others."

Five proven things are needed: Defamation, publication, identification, damage, and fault. (The burden of proof)

Actual malice, or a higher burden of proof, where the source of untrue statements is proven to have known the falsity of their publishing. So where does privacy come in to all this?

Privacy has more to do with invasions in PR, and the growth of the internet is really something that is making the lines of privacy more and more blurred.

There are gray areas between political and commercial speech which PR practitioners must find understanding in. So the need to understand libel, privacy, and especially copyright laws is important.

In recent news, Tiger Wood's mistress threatens a libel suit:

http://blog.zap2it.com/thedishrag/2009/11/tiger-woods-rumored-lover-rachel-uchitel-threatens-libel-suit.html

here's an example of a libel press release:

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19228515.html

Cross Cultural Communication

Since a culture and a public are very different, and there are many obstacles to successful cross-cultural public relations, one has to think about the relationships between two or more very different business styles, and ethnic groups, etc.

As discussed in class, cross cultural communication really includes many aspects.

Awareness, commitment, research and partnerships, as well as testing and evaluations.

So since many cultures have different attitudes about time, for example, it has to be taken into account that the formalities of one business meeting aren't exactly the formalities of another. Formality, rank, religion, colors and symbols: Research needs to be done diligently to understand these aspects of a company one is working with.

An example of this is formality: Do you shake hands? Bow?

Cross cultural communication, according to the text, "works best when an entire organization commits to it. Commitment requires a persistent focus."

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/cross-cultural-pr.html