Filed under: Online Branding, Online Marketing, Online Participation, Relationship, Relationship Marketing, Yahoo!

I accidentally clicked on an expandable banner while I was reading my email on Yahoo! and went to DoMoreForPets.com.  It’s got two overall versions.  One for dogs and one for cats.

I love cats, but I’m a devoted dog over.  So I figured I’d check it out.  It’s sponsored by Purina ProPlan

Overall, I like the way it’s done.  The masthead ad is a bit too big, and you can’t register for it because you’re already signed in via email.  So you can’t “join” it.  Ergo, Purina is missing out an opportunity to develop a direct relationship with those that get involved with it.

The sections are “Photos”, which seemed to be pulled from Flickr, Q & A, which can lead to direct answers to people’s questions: “Forums”,  which leads people to Yahoo! groups; “Blogs”, which have evidently been selected by people from Yahoo! or Purina; “Posts from our favorite blogs”, which seems redundant but is based on specific posts, “How Do You Do More”, which seems to be a storytelling feature on helping pets; and “Pet Rescue”, a database of activities geared toward that topic.

Some of the stuff is repetitive and it will fail to develop a sense of community, but pet owners are passionate enough to get involved in various ways.

A decent effort that misses on some points.

No Comments » Posted on August 9th, 2008 by Jonathan Trenn

Filed under: Abraham Harrison, Blog Counter-Messaging, Blog Messaging, Blog Policies, Blog Search, Blog Training, Blog of Personality, Blogger Activation, Blogger Code of Conduct, Blogger Effect, Blogger Engagement, Blogger Ethics, Blogger Gifts, Blogger Influence, Blogger Outreach, Blogger Relations, Blogger Response, Blogger Support, Blogging, Blogging Policies, Blogging Primer, Blogosphere, Blogvertising, Blowback, Brand Advocacy, Brand Promotion, Brand Protection, Brand Reputation, CEO Blogs, Chris Abraham, Citizen Generated Media, Citizen Media, Client Service, Controversial Marketing, Conversation, Conversation Marketing, Customer Reviews, Customer Service, Disruption, Edelman, Facebook, Flogging, Flogs, Honesty, How to Blog, Influence, Influencer Identification, Influencers, Influencial Bloggers, Influentials, Inside PR, Integrity, Mainstream Media, Managing Conversation, Marketing, Marketing Blogs, Marketing Conversation, Marketing Ethics, Marketing Hubris, Marketing Industry, Marketing Language, Marketing Psychology, Marketing Strategy, Markets are Conversations, Media Consultancy, Media Virus, Messaging Online, Microblog, Microblogging, Naked Conversations, New Marketing, New Media, New Media Marketing, New Media PR, New Media Strategy, New PR, New Public Relations, New Technology, News Aggregation Strategy, Old Media, Old PR, Online Brand Promotion, Online Branding, Online Collaboration, Online Communications, Online Communities, Online Community Managers, Online Community Outreach, Online Conversation, Online Engagement, Online Evangelism, Online Facilitation, Online Field Marketing, Online Influence, Online Intelligence, Online Marketing, Online Media, Online Messaging, Online Monitoring, Online Outreach, Online PR, Online Participation, Online Pitch, Online Public Relations, Online Strategy, PR Hubris, PR Industry, PR Tactics, Public Relations, Public Relations Industry, Relationship Marketing, Social Graphs, Social Meda, Social Media Index, Social Media Marketing, Social Media PR, Social Network Services, Social Networking, Social Networks, Social Utilities, Tagging, Tags, Traditional Marketing, Traditional Media, Traditional PR, Transparency, Twitter, Twittergram, Viral Marketing, Viral Media, Viral PR, Viral Propagation, Web 2.0, Web 3.0, Web Applications, YouTube, YouTube Marketing, Youth Market, del.icio.us, marketing tactics

With all the discussion on what social media is, what it’s future will be like, who will control it, I often feel we fail to see the forest for the trees.

I see it as too diverse of a phenomenon to pin down with one easy definition. Its applications go far beyond the neat capsules that can be used to pick a particular department or function that should “own” it. Social media is creating, empowering, and accompanying a paradigm shift in the way we use all media.

Are we fully there yet? Of course not. These are only the early stages, part of an evolutionary process that often comes step by step. But those steps are happening and happening and soon we’ll look back and be amazed how far we’ve traveled. Then before we know it again, we’ll be stepping again and look back again and we’ll be amazed how much we’ve come from that first time we looked back.

Yes, organizations are going to have to harness social media in ways that they can benefit from, to reach ROI. This means trying to create some sort of structure for it without “siloizing” it. Very difficult indeed.

I’ve tried to lay out what I see social media as. Not from a specific definitional standpoint, but from a several miles up point of view.

Interested in your feedback… Read more…

No Comments » Posted on July 30th, 2008 by Jonathan Trenn

Filed under: Abraham Harrison LLC, Conversation, Conversation Marketing, Corporate Blog, Corporate Blogging, Corporate Partnering, Corporate Responsibility, Hearts and Minds, Online Brand Promotion, Online Brand Protection, Online Brand Reputation, Online Branding, Online Collaboration, Online Communications, Online Communities, Online Community Outreach, Online Conversation, Online Engagement, Online Evangelism, Online Facilitation, Online Messaging, Online Monitoring, Online Participation, Online Portal, Online Public Relations, Online Reputation, Online Reputation Management, Online Strategy, Online Virtual Communities

Deloitte, along with Beeline Labs and the Society of New Communications Research, has come out with a study showing the current challenges and rewards of today’s online corporate created “communities”. It’s created a decent amount of chatter, which is not surprising considering that this industry is in its nascent stages and everyone is trying to figure it out.

The survey, entitled “2008 Tribalization Survey” gathered information from more than 140 responding organizations in the business to business, business to consumer, and non-profit sectors. Some of the corporate communities have more than 10,000 members; others have less than 100. Those numbers weren’t put into context from what I can see.

I’ve looked around at the commentary on this and have been able to glean a decent amount of info. Much of what I’ve found confirms conventional thought (or at least my thoughts) with the smattering of a few surprises. Read more…

No Comments » Posted on July 22nd, 2008 by Jonathan Trenn

Filed under: Environmentalism, Facebook, Hearts and Minds, Industry Reputation, Influence, Microblogging, MySpace, National Security, New Media Strategy, New PR, Online Communities, Online Community Outreach, Online Evangelism, Online Outreach, Online Participation, PR Tactics, Popular Culture, Propaganda, Propaganda Warfare, Public Affairs, Public Affairs Blogging, Public Relations, Public Space, Social Meda, Social Media Marketing, Social Media News Release, Stealth Marketing, Twitter, Viral Marketing, Viral PR, YouTube, YouTube Marketing, presidential election

T. Boone Picken’s, Texas oil man, 1980’s corporate raider and current manager of BP Capital Management has something new up his sleave. And it features an internet strategy.

In 1997, he shifted his focus to natural gas. and 10 years later, in 2007, on wind energy. He formed Mesa Power LP in west central Texas and is constructing what will likely be the world’s largest wind farm. The project will feature thousands of wind turbines and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. This follows his belief that natural gas remains the best alternative to oil for motor vehicle fuel. That’s why he formed Pickens Fuel Corp eleven years ago.

Now, with $4 a gallon gas prices, he’s funding a public affairs effort to help us cut out oil as a our primary fuel for transportation, substitute it with natural gas, and then substitute the use of gas for other types of energy needs with, you guessed it, wind energy.

Today, he’s launched an online public affairs effort to convince Americans to look to natural gas and wind as proper alternatives. He points out that we currently import 70% of our oil - up from 24% in 1970. What’s new about his effort, is that much of it is bein launched online.

He’s got a YouTube channel.
They’ve got a page on Twitter.
A fan page on Facebook.
And a page on Mypace.

They even have an online community that they’re building.

Pretty neat concept. I’ll be following this campaign to see how effectively they use social media.

No Comments » Posted on July 8th, 2008 by Jonathan Trenn

Filed under: Blogger Outreach, Blogger Relations, Blogger Response, Online Marketing, Online Media, Online PR, Online Participation, Online Public Relations, PR Tactics, internet marketing, marketing tactics

I just discovered another very interesting article written by Jennifer Mattern over at RedFly Marketing, Online PR vs. Internet Marketing — here’s an excerpt:

Internet Marketing Tactics:

  • Paid advertising (banner ads, text link ads, etc.)
  • Link exchanges, free Web directory submissions, blog comments (link-building activities)
  • Affiliates
  • Sales letters (and other sales copy)
  • Article marketing (to drive affiliate sales, traffic, or backlinks)
  • Search engine marketing (paid search placements)
  • Blogs
  • Social bookmarking sites
  • Social networks
  • Podcasts / Internet radio shows
  • Sales, coupons, or other discounts
  • E-books
  • Reports / white papers
  • Direct mail campaigns via email (for promotional purposes)

Online PR Tactics:

  • Press releases / news releases
  • Op-eds / letters to the editor (for online publications)
  • Online newsrooms and media kits
  • SEO (to build awareness through organic search engine placements)
  • Interviews
  • Blogs
  • Articles (used to build exposure and expert status more than directly pushing sales or traffic)
  • Podcasts / Internet radio shows (if not purely or mostly promotional)
  • Reports / white papers
  • Email newsletters
  • Social networks

Via Chris Abraham.

2 Comments » Posted on July 6th, 2008 by Chris Abraham

Next Page »

  • blog advertising is good for you