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Companies target news releases directly to
consumers
The once-lowly news release has gone multimedia.
The page and a half that public relations practitioners used
to mail or fax to reporters to announce their news suddenly
has become an interactive tool for all kinds of businesses to
reach consumers directly, bypassing the sometimes subjective
reporter.
PR Newswire, Business Wire, US Newswire and other wire
services that distribute corporate and organizational releases
to journalists are making those releases available on the Web.
The releases are optimized for search engines so that
consumers entering key words on a topic of interest receive a
link to the original news release itself, along with the media
reports based on the release. Today, companies are finding
their releases turning up in Yahoo, Google, MSN and AOL search
results, not just in the morning paper or on conventional news
Web sites.
"Now clients are cognizant of the whole world being able to
see a release and that there is a whole new audience out
there," US Newswire Vice President of Marketing Communications
Brian Taylor recently told PR News reporter Lisa
LaMotta. "You can almost call it direct-to-consumer."
Of course, now that consumers can view releases directly
online, PR firms and internal PR departments have the
opportunity to add an immeasurable amount of content,
entertainment and interactivity to their releases. In PR
News, Market Wire Vice President of Marketing and Media
Relations Paolina Milana observes, "Press releases now are
links with visuals, audios, Web sites woven in; it's much more
interactive for the consumer who is doing searches and looking
for things that are much more engaging."
A news release about an executive's speech, for example,
might include links to video clips from the speech itself,
suggests Airfoil Vice President Tracey Parry; or a new-product
release can link consumers directly to photos, video
demonstrations or tours, audio testimonials from beta-testers
and industry experts, and even a special Web site.
"Properly developing the content, structure and style of a
news release for maximum impact now requires far more
experience and Internet savvy than in the bygone journalistic
era," Parry says. "A group of well-informed bloggers or
consumer activists sometimes will have a much greater impact
on the success of a product than will an individual newspaper
columnist. While journalists will always be key influencers
for consumers, companies have a better chance than ever before
to present their products, services and positions directly to
their marketplace through interactive releases."
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The world's most valuable brands
How do you measure the true value of a brand? Interbrand, a
major brand consultancy, has joined with BusinessWeek
to develop an annual ranking of the best global brands by
brand value, using objective measurements. The report on the
rankings, now in their sixth year, notes that it's not a study
of the world's most popular brands, "but, rather, of those
brands that have generated the greatest economic return for
their owners," based on revenues from the brand, the brand's
influence on customer demand, and customer retention.
Coca-Cola came out on top in the rankings, followed by
Microsoft, IBM, GE, and Intel. Interestingly, four of the top
five are, at least in part, technology companies, as were
numbers six (Nokia), 13 (Hewlett-Packard), 18 (Cisco), 20
(Samsung), 24 (Google) and 25 (Dell). The results show how far
technology companies have progressed in building brand value
from the days of "vaporware."
Equally interesting are the top gainers in the study.
Google leads the pack with a 46-percent gain in brand value.
Second is Starbucks, which increased 20 percent in value and
ranked 91 on the list. The third-biggest gainer is number 47,
eBay, with an 18-percent hike in brand value.
Number-two-ranking Microsoft and big gainers Starbucks and
eBay all are Airfoil clients and are among the brands that
have proved that public relations can successfully and
robustly lead the effort to build strong global brands.
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InStyle
What's the look, what's the trend, what's the buzz-and
where can you find them? That's the star-bespangled substance
of InStyle, one of the most influential fashion, beauty
and celebrity-style publications on the news stand. Its online
edition, www.instyle.com, is
populated by even more features for the active and the
interactive.
In its Celebrities section, online visitors can submit
questions to a featured Hollywood star, view video of stars
enjoying the beach or throwing a dinner party, select the Look
of the Day among fashionable female event-goers, and link to
all of the magazine's gossip on the star of choice on its
Celebrities A-Z page.
The Trends section looks at ways to carry out hair
makeovers, new makeup and skin care products and even a
"trends directory."
Other sections link readers to the latest beauty and style
products and to fashionable shops in America's most
fashionable cities, from Austin to Boston and Miami to
Vegas.
"InStyle doesn't just report consumer trends; it
sets them," notes Airfoil CEO Lisa Vallee-Smith, "not only
from a fashion standpoint but also in terms of interior
design, cosmetics and consumer packaged goods. Reporting on
gossip, pop culture, fashion, information, news and opinion,
InStyle is one of the few magazines that do many things
very well."
With its huge print circulation (nearly 1.8 million in
2005), InStyle far outranks Vogue, Vanity Fair,
Allure and Elle, showing a remarkable strength
given the declining trend of traditional print media. Both
offline and online, its standing provides a distinctive market
position for advertisers and public relations professionals.
Its editorial standards are high, making it all the more
valuable for marketers.
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Microsoft
and Airfoil honored for national mobile marketing
program
The
Microsoft Across America program, launched by Microsoft's
Small and Mid-market Solutions and Partners team, has earned
the Silver Mobile Marketing Award from Corporate Event
magazine. Airfoil contributed to development of the program,
which involved a small fleet of 42-foot trucks that contained
hands-on displays of the latest Microsoft solutions for small
businesses. The seven trucks traveled across the nation to
bring demonstrations of the newest technology to the doorsteps
of small and midsize business owners to give them an
opportunity to learn more about what technology solutions are
right for their business. CavComm Corporation assisted with
tour management. Airfoil arranged media coverage in each of
the local communities visited by the trucks. During fiscal
2006, Airfoil helped generate more than eight million media
impressions for the program over the course of 85 events.
Working closely with Waggener Edstrom-another key Microsoft
agency-Airfoil presented Microsoft Across America to
Corporate Event Magazine, and the program was judged
one of the top five out of 70 submissions in the
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Global developer of medical devices selects
Airfoil
Airfoil's client roster continues to expand with the recent
addition of Syneron. With its global headquarters in Israel
and its North American headquarters in Toronto, Syneron
develops and markets non-surgical medical aesthetic devices
using proprietary technology that combines radio frequency and
light waves for skin treatment, hair removal, cellulite
reduction and other applications. Airfoil is developing and
executing both business-to-business and business-to-consumer
public relations programs for Syneron, incorporating media and
consumer events and new-product launches. Syneron selected
Airfoil largely because of the agency's experience in
direct-to-consumer PR, a new arena for the client.
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Executives join business-to-business
practice
Brian Barthelmes recently
joined Airfoil as an account executive in the
business-to-business group. He coordinates media and public
relations campaigns and activities for Microsoft, CareTech
Solutions and other clients. Brian previously was an account
executive with Kolt Communications in Okemos, Mich., where he
supported clients in local government, associations and
education. Brian graduated with honors from Michigan State
University, earning a bachelor's degree in advertising and
public relations.
David Steiner has been named a senior account
executive in Airfoil's business-to-business group. His
responsibilities include developing strategies and
implementing programs for the Microsoft Small and Midsize
Solutions & Partners unit, as well as managing Airfoil's
own marketing programs. David joined Airfoil from Direct Media
Services in New York City, where he was an account executive
and project manager overseeing media relations and results for
video and audio news releases, satellite and radio media
tours, electronic press kits and public service announcements.
He earned a bachelor of applied arts degree in broadcasting
and cinematic arts from Central Michigan
University.
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