Feel The Love of PR 2.0 and Embrace It

Today it’s impossible not to be in the know… Information is all around us, and we are diverged in it whether we say we are or not, whether we like it or not. Simply walking down the street there are advertisements and billboards everywhere: in the subways, on buses, on streetcars, on the sides of buildings, in stores, in newspapers, magazines, everywhere!

One might say these are the classic, traditional and old school ways of communicating brand messages to consumers. This is not to say it isn’t an effective means of communication, but there’s a new kid on the block… say hello to PR 2.0.

(Insert superhero theme song of your choice here and continue to play throughout the duration of blog entry)

Deirdre Breakenridge states PR 2.0 puts the “public” back in public relations. What does that mean?

PR 2.0 should be public relations best friend. It’s about PR embracing and making use of social media. It’s all about connecting with the consumer, creating a two-way channel, making communication and feedback possible. It’s also about getting a loyal following. Brands should take advantage of these new, non-traditional means of communication. This is important nowadays for a successful brand. Take note, the more traditional means of connecting to the consumer mentioned above is very much one-way.

How are many brands closely connecting with the consumer nowadays? Through the use of the WORLD WIDE WEB, aka the INTERNET or Web 2.0. Everyone uses it and everything is on it, meaning that people are constantly connecting and talking, sharing, reading and learning about things. One can access information on pretty much every topic imaginable. This is where it gets prickly. This is both positive and negative for the PR world.

POSITIVE: after buying the latest product, whether it’s a new flavour of a soda, the latest rad running shoes, or the latest technological breakthough, brands aren’t waiting for consumer comments and thoughts. Consumers are quick to critique online, via blogs, personal websites, facebook, vimeo, twitter etc. Think of it as insta-critique. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone is entitled to it, the Internet is the new place for it.

NEGATIVE: let’s say the latest product doesn’t go over well with the intsa-critique consumer, well, these negative opinions well ultimately be spread on the Internet via various social media platforms, and that is tough news for the brand. One plus is that brands can now create means to communicate directly with the consumer and thus get feedback and figure out a means to adjust the new product so it will go over better with the consumer next time.

The Internet is a brilliant way for brands to find out what the public and consumer want, researching their needs. It connects brands to consumers, and reduces the middle man, but ultimately it allows the public to get their opinion out there to the brand, the public is able to participate in swaying brand decisions, which is mutually beneficial. Brands look at online activity, which is all about the public, it’s a public domain.

Yogurt Drama

Don’t get me wrong, I love yogurt! But when grocery shopping the other day, it took me forever to decide what kind to buy. Not only are there tons of flavours to choose from, there are too many brands.

Since when are there a million different types of yogurt? When did the yogurt ‘industry’ become so big? Why do the brands need to attract and represent certain lifestyles?

Once upon a time…
Yogurt used to be a simple, healthy, quick and easy food to digest.
Brilliant for breakfast, it gave an excellent amount of calcium and vitamin D.
As far as dairies went, quicker for the body to break down than milk!
There was the option of having fruit with it! Yum

Yogurt is increasingly modified and altered to the point of not being as good for you. This article sums it up nicely. Even less modified brands like Astro still have a high level or unnecessary sugars. Yoplait is an example that has a large variety targeting certain groups or lifestyles. Each one satisfies in a different way!

The issue is that when something says fat-free and/or sugar-free, ingredients like aspartame, Splenda and suralose are present. These ingredients are in no way good for your body. So why are they needed? Yogurt has natural fat that is good for the body. There is good natural fat found in yogurt and bad fat that is found in potato chips.

Yogurt, even with fruit, is a healthy option. Modifications, supplements and additives are not needed. As soon as you alter something, in no way, shape or form is it as good or better for you then what it was to begin with.

I love yogurt but my issue is that it is increasingly hard to find a basic flavoured yogurt. The food market is so heavily targeted to dieting needs now that yogurt has been thrown into the mix!

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Google Maps... and BEYOND!

Gone are the days of the big fold-up roadmaps found at gas stations. The inconvenient size and shape made it hard to unfold in the car, leaning it up against the steering wheel or laying it out on the hood of the car trying to keep the wind from blowing it away.

Thanks to Google, and the creation of Google Maps, it’s less of a challenge to plan a route and familiarize yourself with unknown territory. There’s the odd time when it suggests an unnecessarily long route, but other then that it’s truly a genius web application! Just plug in a destination/place/street name and you’re golden!

Google Maps in the years to come… Staying Power.

Google Maps has been around for some time now, first taking off in 2004. It’s owned by Google and was developed by Lars and Jen Rasmussen. The company is based in the U.S. and all over and continues to have an extremely large user base all over the world. It began as a relatively basic technology as far as the idea of online maps goes, but has transformed into something out of this world, literally. Applications such as Google Moon, Google Mars and Google Sky allow one to explore these particular areas. Without a doubt technology pertaining to online map applications will continue to evolve and so will Google Maps. The only major competitors are YahooMaps and MapQuest, but each one is slightly different and has its own benefits and qualities.

The great thing about this application is that it’s a free database for non-commercial use. You don’t have to sign-up or anything. A membership is available in order to make reviews of restaurants, venues, etc. plotted on the map but to use it you aren’t required to give personal information.

The Google Maps Community… the more the merrier!

The great thing about Google Maps is it’s relatively easy to navigate and anyone needing directions can use it. It is simply a great navigating tool and has forever changed the navigation industry. People with internet access can use and it can be accessed through your Blackberry, iphone, cell phone, which makes it even more handy for those people constantly on the go. People can make reviews on places, business, restaurants, etc. that others have visited and marked on the map. This can be useful for people travelling around and not familiar the area in which they're visiting.

Google Maps and PR?

Since Google Maps is a web application and not a social application, the relationship with PR is a tough one to make. What I can gather is that it's possible to place your business on the map itself, so that it will pop up when one is searching around. That can be somewhat useful for getting your name/business out there for those who use this application frequently.

Check out Laura Phillips blog on Google Maps and usability, utility and Canadian content.

How to Get More Followers on Twitter

No this is not a popularity contest. Twitter has become a great place to find out not only what people are up to and talking about, but what is going on in the world. Being in the 'know' and being a part of the 'buzz' is great for networking and gaining social capital!

One might be wondering how to get yourself known on Twitter... it is rather simple, get more followers.

You must still be asking yourself, HOW! There are certain steps and tricks to follow if one is interested in doing this properly. The most useful and thorough link can be found on wikihow, just click here and it provides an in depth description of not only how to get more followers but also the benefits of it.

There are three main steps to follow:

1. Follow Everyone Who Follows You

- This is important because people who haven't noticed you following them might unfollow you. You want to gain exposure so make sure you are following everyone on your list. By doing this you'll gain some publicity, which their followers might take note of. Hopefully their follows will start following you.

2. Follow More People Yourself

- This is pretty self-explanatory. Start following people and they will most likely follow you back. Write about interesting things that will catch someone's attention!

Two helpful sites for this step: TweetAdder and SocialOopmh

3. Regularly Unfollow People Who Haven't Followed You Back

- This is a very important step because the first follow limit you'll hit is 2,000. You can't exceed 2,000 until you have 2,000 followers. So take some time and 'clean-up' your list.

Two helpful sites for this step: friendorfollow and TweetAdder

Wikihow goes into depth on how to make those high numbers of followers into both quantity and quality! In other words, create another account in case your main account gets suspended, follow those followers who follow spammers, and create an interesting profile, talk about interesting and juicy topics, get yourself heard... and you'll most likely notice an increase in followers. It may be a lot of clicking, but it is not hard!

Make sure to check out my group members thoughts as well: Amanda, Jeff and Robyn and the master list that will answer all your "how to" questions!