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The Business of WordPress

Last week I attended a conference at the Georgia Tech Research Institute regarding the business of WordPress. Now I, along with many interested in the blogging arena, am familiar with WordPress. It immediately pops into our heads as an option for a free blog platform, comparable to Google’s Blogger. Well, I left the conference a changed person, shame on me for thinking all WordPress offered was a basic starter template.  

Recently WordPress released version 3.0 and has transformed into, as some would say, a defacto-standard platform for business, government, education and nonprofit websites throughout the world. To throw out a few numbers, did you know that WordPress has 45 million installs, 70 million plug-in downloads and 35 billion page views? In addition WordPress hosts a number of big name sites including, CNN’s Political Ticker; Dow Jones’ AllThingsD; NFL; Time Inc’s The Page; People Magazine’s Style Watch; famous bloggers like Mark Cuban, John Scalzi, and Joy Behar; corporate blogs for Flickr and KROQ; and many more. The open source CMS is unlike any other platforms and combines ease-of-use for end users, ease-of-styling for designers and ease-of-extension for developers. No longer are we looking at a simple blog platform - WordPress is now aiming to meet a number of business web presence needs.

Ok, enough with my commercial, please know I simply find it interesting and wanted to share. While I encourage you to check out 3.0, I would also like to encourage you to keep an eye on the events and conferences coming out of the technology community throughout Atlanta. I learned about this conference through Trevelino/Keller’s involvement with Start-Up Council as well as through my membership to the Startup Atlanta MeetUp group. Our local technology and start-up community offers an endless amount of opportunities for entrepreneurs, students and business professionals to learn more about programs, strategies, trends and tools to help them further their success from what’s going on in Atlanta’s backyard to interacting and collaborating with international companies.

A few groups to keep an eye on include:

·            Advanced Technology Development Center

·            Startup Atlanta

·            Start-Up Council

·            Atlanta Tech Angels

·            StartupLounge

By Carrie Crabill

Happy 10th Anniversary, GPS!

I was recently flipping through the latest issue of Fast Company when I noticed the short write-up from Erica Westly (find her on Twitter, @westlyer) about the 10^th anniversary of GPS’s nonmilitary expansion. It’s hard to believe that May 2 marked a decade since the military-designed satellite network was massively opened up, allowing civilians to use GPS technologies and companies like TomTom and Garmin to turn into billion-dollar empires.

And while the time may go by fast, I’m fascinated with how quickly our society can adapt and harness the power of new technologies. Just think in the past 10 years not only have we utilized GPS technology to get us from one place to the next but now we are using it to find restaurants, the cheapest gas stations, map trails, connect in social media via millions of mobile and desktop applications, the article even states that you can use GPS technology to track lost pets, and have you seen that Verizon Wireless commercial about the mom mapping where her daughter is in the mall? Not only do I now have the capability to know where I am, I also have the power to find out where my friends, family members and pet cat, fluffy are! Is it sad that I can’t remember the last time I looked at a traditional paper map?

Tying GPS technologies into social media, this week there was an article in the New York Times about Foursquare, a location-based social network, and how brands are using this tool to further connect with customers to provide them with information and deals they want. As the article states, through smartphones that signal someone’s location, stores and brands are getting live information about when and where people are shopping.  Allowing companies to turn  Foursquare into a virtual loyalty marketing program or create a location based application that offers customers discounts or other rewards for shopping.

It is amazing how a technology like GPS can be taken a step further and allow businesses to directly connect with and open communication with customers, no matter where they are located.

If you’re interested in reading either of these articles, find Erica’s Fast Company write-up here, http://bit.ly/aCmS2T and the New York Times article here, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/business/media/29adco.html?ref=media.

Have you used Foursquare or any other location based social media applications? What are your thoughts?

By Carrie Crabill

2010 PR Predictions

In a recent submission to Media Bistro, Trevelino/Keller responded with its agency and industry predictions for 2010.

1) In 2010, I expect my business to be up/down/flat, and here's why.

We expect our business to be up considerably in 2010 ... along with many agencies who experienced a decline in 2009.  With that said, we believe those firms with the strongest reputations as specialists, be it skill (vs generalist firms) or industry, will see the biggest rebounds.

For Trevelino/Keller, we are receiving a great response for our ability to integrate social media and public relations strategies into a cohesive brand and sales-driven platform.  Practice specialists in those industries that saw declines in 2009 -- food/beverage/restaurants in particular -- will see stronger lifts.  We are already anticipating a strong January start with new food/beverage clients.  Pure green business or green-related business will be strong in 2010 in part as a result of stimulus dollars and incentives.  And technology, particularly early stage companies, will deliver increased revenue opportunities.  We hit the ground running in January with two new tech clients.

2) In 2010, I expect there to be more/less acquisitions in the PR industry, and here's why.

We expect to see more acquisitions.  The country is scattered with once strong small firms who have been weakened by the economic fallout.  Many will remain weak and vulnerable into 2010 and rather than go under or become freelancers again, we see an increased openness to selling.
Larger agencies will see it as an opportunity to increase their numbers, geographies, skill sets and talent.

3) The biggest PR story of 2010 will be...

I'm afraid the biggest "PR" story as it relates to media coverage will be the return of Tiger Woods ... the good, bad and ugly of it.  Who ever steps into the role of PR consultant or agency to manage that story will at least fall into the top 10 of most covered stories.

More important, the biggest business story in the industry isn't a new story but continues to be the integration of social media and public relations into the business mainstream.  There remains a debate as to who owns social media.  We believe PR owns it and that will become increasingly clearer in 2010.

By Dean Trevelino

Spending Habits in 2010

As the New Year inches closer and we happily wave goodbye to 2009 one item that is weighing heavy on the shoulders of executives is budgets -- where will we allocate dollars? More specifically what will IT budgets look like? Questions range from what new investments will be made to whether security will be increased. However, glimpses of hope for a number of businesses have made headlines in the news recently. According to a recent survey by CIO Magazine, 43 percent of small companies with revenues less than $100 million anticipate spending increases in 2010 and 35 percent of mid-market companies with revenues between $100 million and $1 billion anticipate an increase. The survey also shows that IT capital spending is on the rise for 41 percent of the IT executives surveyed.

Results from another survey, conducted by Micro Focus (LSE.MCRO.L), a provider of enterprise application management, testing and modernization solutions, indicates a willingness from financial professionals to invest in existing IT systems, showing that investments are still willing to be made while organizations determine their financial stability.  The survey also shows that financial professionals view gains in efficiency and cost savings as the two most important measures of ROI for IT projects – areas that can be addressed by application modernization. According to the survey, 45 percent of respondents view IT as a “critical driver of value” or a function that “actively contributes value.”

In the PR industry we see companies every day struggle with the direction, priorities and budget limitations. However at the same time, we see new hires taking place. We see technology investments being made to better the company’s growth and security. We believe companies are on the road to recovery. But we also believe that it starts with thought-leaders identifying the problems at hand and brainstorming the most effective and efficient solutions and strategies to ensure a company’s future growth.

After a stressful 2009, companies need to determine what they are capable of in 2010 and should not lose sight of what keeps their business in working function. Much of this lies within the IT department. Don’t place security on the backburner. Don’t lose valuable team members who provide priceless knowledge base. Most important don’t let the fear of allocating dollars today limit your opportunity to get out in front of the competition so that when the recessionary dust does settle, you find yourself ahead of the pack vs running alongside it. 

By Carrie Crabill

A first-hand account of Hispanic motivators at work

On a particularly gorgeous Saturday afternoon, I found myself working indoors, sucking down ice water to keep at bay the stifling heat from the broken A.C. and the powerful set lights. And as I waited for answers from a set producer of the Spanish-language TV show being taped in the middle of the mall, I entertained myself by checking out the passersby and the mix of retail shops. Despite continued retail doldrums, the small center bustled with sounds, accents and movement as moms hurried by pulling kids by the hand completely unaffected by the heat, focused only on getting to their store of choice. Then I noticed the store bags they carried were in Spanish. In fact, everything was in Spanish -- the language spoken, storefront signage, hand-written wall posters; even the food at the food court was strictly Hispanic-centric…and making me really hungry.

So as part of the same ethnic pool, the cultural ‘nuances’ that lead the majority of Hispanics to choose such niche shopping options or specific brands to others are instinctive to me, but I also can understand why the concept can be confusing to the general market and the reasons it continues to be dissected at length by marketers, products and communicators trying to capture the attention and dollars of Hispanic consumers. If this is something you’ve ever thought about then listen up! The overall mystery can be simplified by understanding a few core concepts and ideas:

1) The elusive Hispanic market.
There is no such thing as one homogenous U.S. Hispanic market. There are many. Yes, it is true that native Spanish-speakers circle the same little bubble when identifying their ethnicity, but Hispanics are a richly diverse group(s) comprised of 17 Latin American countries, the U.S. commonweath of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. All with cultural traits, traditions and experiences that vary widely, and each with a unique set of values that influence their behavior.  

A bit of research to identify your audience is perhaps the most important step any organization wishing to reach Hispanic consumers can make.

2) Spanish + Spanish does NOT = Spanish
A Spanish-speaker can usually converse with another from a different region without much difficulty. But inconsistencies in vocabulary (across nationalities) can sometimes lead to unintentional misunderstandings or insults that can do your business more harm than good with poorly executed Spanish-language communications.

An experience that comes to mind is one of the first exchanges I had with my stepfather immediately after my Mother and I moved into his home. I was 10. It was trash day, and my stepdad stood at the foot of the stairs hollering at me to bring down the second-story bathroom waste basket to him. He asked me for “la caneca” and had to repeat himself several times as I was pretty confused. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why he’d want me to bring him a hip flask at 10 a.m. on a weekend, and why he’d store it in my bathroom. I didn’t know how to react so just stood staring down, wide-eyed and unblinking until he walked up and retrieved the trash himself, obviously thinking there was something wrong with me for not complying. It was later explained that my stepdad was not in need of a 12-step program and that “caneca” was simply another word for trash can. We had many such lessons throughout the years, but that first one still makes me/us giggle.

3) Family dynamics and Loyalty
The term family is not one Hispanics throw around lightly. Traditionally, the Hispanic ‘familia’ tends to be close-knit, large, extends well past the nuclear family, and it is the most important social unit in one’s life. Family members are tasked with the moral responsibility to look after and care for other members in trouble – think West Side Story without the choreography and switchblades.  Earlier this year, a research study by French global market-research firm Ispos reported that more than four in five (84%) of U.S. Hispanics said that family comes before friends.

Also, family ties and influence are very strong, as is the respect for your elders; and these go hand in hand. It is not at all uncommon for family members to push their “advice” on each other as a way of “helping.” This makes Hispanics natural word of mouth marketers or walking bill boards for brands and services they love and accept. And these dynamics within families reinforce loyalty to brands that show they understand the needs of this audience.

Case in point: my 80-year old grandmother. Her floors are only cleaned with Fabuloso; her dishes washed in only Palmolive; Colgate is her toothpaste of choice; and Clorox is the only bleach allowed in her home (i.e. good enough for her family). So watch out if you use a product that she believes is subpar, as was the case three years back when my sister and I were helping get our mother’s house ready for Thanksgiving Dinner. Believe me; we’re still smarting from the tongue lashing we received for buying a store brand floor cleaner.

So why, then, do Hispanics choose one particular brand over another, and how can companies harness this buying power? The answer: put in the effort to communicate with these groups, understand their needs, and imbue the values essential to them. Hispanic consumers, in turn, see the effort, time and money spent in catering to their specific needs as an invitation to the [insert brand here] family. And as we’ve all heard, “the family that ________s together….,” well, you know the rest.

By Brenda Becker

Let the Awards Season Begin

It’s official – the 2009 Hollywood awards season has begun!  As evidenced by the glitz and glamour of Sunday night’s Golden Globes, films like “Slumdog Millionaire” and actors like Kate Winslet started raking in the awards.  As we anticipate the upcoming Oscar nominations, to be announced on January 22^nd, we have decided to take a look back at the past year in the world of PR and marketing.  Drumroll please as we announce some of the best – and worst – of what 2008 had to offer!

Most Effective at Turning Olympic Gold into Money Green

And the award goes to … Michael Phelps.  After wowing the world by winning an historic eight gold medals during August’s Beijing games, Phelps turned his gold into green with multiple endorsement deals and a slew of adulatory media coverage, including the cover of Sports Illustrated and interviews with premiere outlets such as CBS’ “60 Minutes.”  Already raking in $3-5 million a year before the 2008 Olympics, Phelps’ agent told the Wall Street Journal that he thinks his eight medals, won during American TV prime time, are worth some “$100 million over the course of his lifetime” in marketing deals. Deals with Visa, PowerBar, Omega, AT&T Wireless, and, of course, Speedo, which made the high-tech LZR suit Phelps took the home the gold in, have already started lining his pockets, and his awe-inspiring success even helped his mom score an endorsement deal with Chico’s!

Best Collaboration Between the Old and the New

And the award goes to …. Facebook and Visa.  Credit card stalwart Visa jumped into the world of social media with a $2 million Facebook initiative to help them tap into the biggest online community of small businesses, with 80,000 members on board. Visa’s Facebook application helps users connect with other small businesses. Among the many perks of the application the company also threw in a bonus: the first 20,000 business owners to sign up received $100 in Facebook advertising credits.  Facebook wins as well – if small business’ like the result they achieve with the advertising credits, it could lead to more advertising on Facebook – a relatively small investment for companies with smaller profit margins and ad capital.

It Can’t Get Much Worse Than This

And the un-award goes to …  Petrol station chain Esso and coffee company Tchibo.  This one comes from across the pond, as the companies recently stopped an advertising campaign after finding out the slogan also hung above the entrance to a Nazi concentration camp - Jedem das Seine, a version of “to each his own,” appeared at camp Buchenwald near the city of Weimar.  Tchibo and Esso aren’t the first companies to make the blunder, however. Telephone company Nokia, grocery chain Rewe, Burger King and Merkur Bank have all fought PR disasters after using the phrase – which was originally coined by Roman philosopher Cato 2,000 years ago – in ad campaigns.

The Recurring Theme Un-Award

And the un-award goes to … Print media.  Barely a day goes by without multiple announcements of print outlets shutting down or undertaking massive layoffs and other cutbacks.  The Publishers Information Bureau announced this week that consumer magazine advertising pages dropped 11.7 percent in 2008 when compared to 2007, and the drop in advertising accelerated in the fourth quarter, as pages slid more than 17 percent.  For regular – though quite depressing – updates on the state of media, check out   "The Media is Dying," a Twitter account that keeps you updated as to who is losing their jobs and what publications are shutting down, all in an easy to read, 140 words-or-less format (http://twitter.com/themediaisdying).  The account has nearly 9,000 followers to date and is adding more every day.

A Little Bit of Good, a Little Bit of Bad

And the award goes to … companies like Shane’s Rib Shack, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Chick-fil-a.  In conjunction with the 2008 elections, companies such as these launched promotions offering free items to customers who voted.  Local push back on the stunt as a felony at the Federal level motivated Shane’s to re-launch the campaign one week prior to the historical elections.  Shane’s then generated 30 million media impressions and outranked Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Chick-fil-a and CNN Elections on Google Rankings.  The other three nationally recognized brands failed to acknowledge the warnings from state jurisdictions regarding their food for voting giveaways and ended up receiving negative attention in more than 340 articles.  Shane’s was included in only one of those articles and in hundreds of positive articles.  Shane’s sales for the day hit record highs, largely with new customers. 

The Jury’s Still Out

And the award goes to … Gatorade.  Gatorade’s mysterious “G” campaign, which debuted during the Rose Bowl on January 1^st, features black and white ads with a scrolling screen shot of high profile athletes and includes a voiceover by Lil’ Wayne.  Gatorade is never mentioned – there is only the stark letter G in the closing shot.  The ads have done what they set out to do – spark conversation – but they have also created confusion and some backlash.  Commenters at the YouTube site created by Gatorade argued that the commercial could be for Guess, the clothing brand, or a "Saturday Night Live" skit. Consumers also wondered whether the commercial was meant to promote Nike, God, a new African-American television channel, Georgetown University or G-Unit, the hip-hop group and clothing brand. It remains to be seen wheather the campaign will be effective - or end up more dud than stud. 

What are your thoughts about the year in PR and marketing?  Share your thoughts with us on the best and the worst.

By Kate Jay and Christy Olliff

HO HO HOliday Gift Guides

Beginning in November and running through the holidays, every publication imaginable runs a holiday gift guide. Even with a down economy, it is the time of year when consumers are actually ready to buy and they look to their favorite publications for recommendations.  These guides can act as a beneficial publicity strategy for new and old products alike.  From consumer electronics in Wired, teen gifts in Seventeen, unique gifts for women in Marie Claire, the green gift guide in USA Today and even the ultimate gift for your pooch in Modern Dog Magazine, there is a place for almost every product on the market. 

Here are a few of our tips to consider when pitching holiday gift guides. 

Traditional Media. Local media coverage is just as significant as national coverage in this case.  Know your top markets and find ways to tie your product to that market.  When going to the national media have a unique angle for your product.  What makes the product stand out amongst its competitors?

Social Media. According to the Blog World Expo, more than 57 million Americans read blogs and with that kind of statistic your online presence is just as important as traditional media placement.  In most cases, targeting an online community or blog is much easier than in the traditional sense with audience targeted blogs.  There is something out there for everyone whether it is the Mom on momslikeme.com, the electronics junkie on Gizmodo.com or green lover on treehugger.com.  With more and more people turning to social media for their news, this form of media is one that can’t be overlooked. 

Timing is key.  Lead time is an important aspect to keep in mind when pitching holiday gift guides.  Long lead publications like Good Housekeeping, Real Simple and Men’s Health magazines need to be pitched six months in advance, typically the beginning of the summer.  Bi-weekly and weekly publications like People and Newsweek prefer two to three months of lead time with holiday gift guides.  Daily publications and blogs should be pitched starting in November but you’ll find a handful still accepting submissions throughout December.  Using websites such as Twitter and helpareporterout.com are also great ways to follow the needs of your targeted publications.

Know your product’s placement.  Make sure that you know the publication's target audience and that your product is a good fit.  Also, ask if the publication will have a theme to the guide i.e. gifts under $50, outdoor gifts, toys and so on.

Seeing is believing.  You could have the perfect pitch, ideal publication and theme, but if you don’t have an eye catching image or actual products to send, you can pretty much kiss the opportunity goodbye! Your product image is the most important thing. It must be visually appealing to the reader, something that will stand out from the rest. 

By Christy Olliff and Layne Mabry

Mad Men ... Unfashionably Off Strategy

There are few television shows I watch these days, fewer that I enjoy.  Those that I do watch are quite a few clicks away from the major networks.  Occasionally, my eye turns toward the preview of a new show or more often, struggles to hide from its incessant barrage of pre-launch promotions sometimes six months in advance of the debut.  I remember when the AMC-produced "Mad Men" started running ads on stations like FX, my fav station.  It only took one spot to win me over.  One, it was retro, set in the 60s ... easily the coolest era in American culture.  Two, it was about an industry, the advertising world, that defined New York and America … Madison Avenue.  Born in the 60s, albeit a youngster, I have some fond memories of classic advertising from my father who worked in Philadelphia’s smaller version of Madison Avenue – Society Hill … designing, concepting and selling brands.  I thought it was cool.

 

So as I read the story by Lynn Elber with Associated Press on, “’Mad Men’ pulls on pop culture,” having not only exposed people to the decadent lifestyle of the fictitious Sterling Cooper agency, but how fashionable almost all of it was – from the dress to the creative to womanizing.  Ms. Elber notes a number of reputable personalities who feel like I do about the show.  Robert Thompson, director the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse “calls the show, ‘brilliant’ and a gift to television.”  Ms. Elber writes, “Al Jean, executive producer of Fox’s ‘The Simpsons,’ pronounces himself a ‘Mad Men’ devotee.”  So I’m in good company for agreeing … not on the behavior, but on the ability to deliver a slice of a past era. 

 

How does any of that play today?  Well, it doesn’t.  In my firm, the males are the minority for one.  Decadence, ego and entitlement are gone.  We work in a “Mad Men-Free Zone.”  As if that wouldn’t inspire Mr. Draper to leap from a tall building, traditional big TV and print advertising is no longer the end-all medium.  And in the current environment, companies need to start taking those ad dollars and dropping them into grassroots public relations and social media if they want to connect with their customer, regardless if that customer is a consumer or a business.  Decadent ad spending is, well, out of fashion.  The scotch glass is gone from the boardroom, replaced by a silver tray of bottled water.  I know it’s maddening to some, but it’s the future.  Cheers.

By Dean Trevelino