Issue Date: Daily 'Dog - June 26, 2008
Do You Have Imagination for Innovation? PR Practitioners Must Now Conduct R&D
By Roger Rosenbaum, President, Rosenbaum Media Group
Savvy PR professionals are finding themselves at a crossroads. For half a century, the news release has been the mainstay of our business to reach the public through members of the media. A whole new world of Web 2.0 digital tools strategies and distribution channels to reach target audiences are emerging.
The growing options pose an interesting proposition for sole practitioners, as well as small and large PR firms. For many firms, traditional pitch and follow–up for press play is a tried and true method of getting media coverage for clients. Some clients are happy with this approach, cost and the potential results.
While Web 2.0 and world of social media is absolutely wonderful, clients who foot the bill must be on board with the costs and benefits. We must be able to understand, use and sell new PR options.
So what are you doing in your business to bring digital PR to your clients? Who in your firm is scouting new technology that can benefit new and future clients? Put simply: Developing an "imagination for innovation" leading to new products and services is essential in a competitive field where there is growing competition as well as easy access to Web–based automation of news release distribution.
Research and development is often associated with manufacturing—and not with service businesses. But firms of all shapes and sizes cannot afford to ignore changes in technology. Digital PR allows for greater control of the content and in some cases less control of where the content goes. However, a key component of digital PR is that the flow of information can be tracked and provide a more interactive way for clients to develop relationships with target audiences.
The options are vast and growing. Case in point: The Hudson Valley Center for Innovation (HVCFI) is the type of client who is willing to embrace technology in reaching out to communicate with entrepreneurs, mentors, board members and members of the media.
In April, HVCFI's Entrepreneur's Breakfast Seminar was offered as secure, live webcasts to these audiences. These seminars are a mixture of educational and news opportunities that allow a potential worldwide audience. By collaborating with technology provider CallEveryOne.com, my company was able to set up the live webcast and allow reporters to attend virtually. The we cast led to solid coverage by a regional news columnist. It was an important vote of confidence for the presenter and the client.
The HVCFI webcast also included a remote guest speaker who was linked in via a Verizon wireless data card. The whole process gave me flashbacks to my days in the control room producing live TV and in the field when the station satellite truck rolled up to a crime scene to beam the scene back to the newsroom.
There is no question that there were bumps in the road with the HVCFI webcast production and it was not network quality, but the reality is that it does not need to be. Costs in equipment were just a small fraction of what a satellite truck costs.
This is not to say that I have turned my back on the benefits of mainstream media or the impact that an independent evaluation can have for a client. I shot footage that aired on The Weather Channel, which is seen in 80 million homes. http://www.rosenbaummedia.com/pr4resorts7/pr4resorts.html
For another client, it took me a year of pitching to get Connecticut's number one news station to cover a client story. Here is the story: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qts2L0Qx–4.
Following the airing of the story, I took the YouTube link and sent it to all NBC affiliates in the tri–state area. I got a call from WNBC with interest in the story. They have yet to drive up to Litchfield County to cover the story, but showing editors that a story exists can be stronger than a paper news release. The YouTube link resulted in coverage by Home Living Connecticut magazine.
As PR professionals, we must embrace an imagination for innovation. We must be willing to invest in new ways to cut through the junk mail, voice mails and indoor/outdoor advertising.
To grasp the value of a service, most clients want to see how it works. New does not always mean expensive. For one client, my company purchased a newspaper Web banner ad at a cost of $300 a month. This ad linked to a countywide client's Web video content. The ad helped my client reach 50,000 Web video hits during a one–month period using user–generated website Magnify.net.
Even with the latest and greatest technologies to help deliver our message, the message itself must either be compelling, entertaining or educational. Storytelling remains a key skill for all of us. We must stretch and expand the impulse to cut and paste brochure copy and present it as a news release. It must look and feel like a story to journalists without being overly promotional.
While research and development may not pay immediate dividends, it must be done in order to stay competitive in a rapidly changing world. To ignore the need to innovate may be as detrimental to your company as it is to your clients.
Traditional PR and digital PR can work independently or in the same universe. The one thing you can count on is some interesting partnerships between firms operating in traditional and digital worlds. To spread the word about innovative partnerships, I would recommend the best of both worlds—a traditional news release as well as a live webcast.
Roger Rosenbaum is president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a New York state–based digital marketing communications consulting company. RMG specializes in raising the visibility and profitability of clients through digital PR and Web 2.0 services, and operates www.realestatepublicity.com. Roger can be reached at: info@rosenbaummedia.com.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
NATIONAL TRAVEL EXPERT TELLS TOURISM CONVENTION: "BURN BROCHURES AND GET VIDEO."
By Roger Rosenbaum
info(at sign)rosenbaummedia.com
"Burn your brochures!" declared network television travel editor and New York Times best-selling author Peter Greenberg at the 2008 New York Governor's Tourism Conference held recently at the Sagamore Hotel near Lake George.
Peter Greenberg offered a strong dose of tough love for those gathering to build statewide enthusiasm for the re-launching of the I Love NY brand.
At a general conference session Greenberg explained: "It is not about burning brochures in the literal sense. It's about burning the ‘brochure mentality.’ Being overly promotional is not going to win you any points with travelers."
Nor is he himself willing to route those materials to print, TV, radio or Internet outlets. Greenberg who provides content and news for MSNBC, CNBC, AOL and AARP magazine explained that slickly produced pieces in print, online or in video that he receives will only take an express route to the trashcan.
"Travel journalism is not an infomercial. People want independent evaluation," said Greenberg.
His reviews and coverage of properties, destinations and events can catapult little known travel ideas into national spotlight. "If a hotel says we have the best pool in the Western Hemisphere I show up saying, “Oh yeah, show me that pool.” But if they say we have a pretty interesting pool and we hope you look at it I say, “That's fair. Let me take a look at it."
Greenberg who was the senior travel correspondent for six years at the Travel Channel said that marketing professionals must learn to separate overtly promotional material from actual news. "You have to get rid of the hyperbole and you have to get rid of the absolutes terms, because the audience is so far ahead of you."
Greenberg is also author of The New York Times best-selling series, The Travel Detective, which uncovers secrets the airline, hotel, cruise and rental car industries don’t want consumers to know.
Rather than focusing on what is in the best interest of a resort or destination the focus should be on how the information is newsworthy and impacts travelers.
Greenberg bluntly told the audience that regions, tourism offices and resorts seeking coverage really must have their own high quality video footage. Without this professionally shot footage these locations are “dead in the water.”
He said that footage known in the industry as "b-roll" is absolutely essential to have ready to ship to media outlets. He explained that most of his appearances on NBC rely on what is known as "cover footage." Greenberg said that the network is not going to send out a crew to tape the top five roller coasters in the country. They will rely on high-quality footage provided by the theme park. The same rules about overly produced marketing material apply to this type of footage.
Greenberg has received many awards for his work including a national Emmy. He explained that a videographer with news experience really should shoot the footage.
Providing cover footage to a TV station or network allows producers to have eyes and ears at a location or region. "No video means no TV coverage. This is the reality of our medium," said Greenberg.
Greenberg said sales and marketing videos need to be produced and shot differently from b-roll footage. "We will not put on a video brochure. A sales and marketing tape has no presence on or place on any news show. Every network, thankfully, is looking at travel as news,"he said.
News outlets don't need super models in the shots or a stylist to arrange the flowers, according to Greenberg. He said that there are a lot of great videographers, but few with the experience to know what a network show is looking for. "You would be shocked to know how many tapes I see that have a 'star' filter on throughout most of the shots. This is a production effect that has no place on a newscast," he said.
####
Roger Rosenbaum has shot and edited footage airing on ABC News, CNN, CBS News, CBS Sports, The Weather Channel, USA Network and Telemundo. He has produced b-roll footage that has aired in New York, Albany, Chicago, Portland, Memphis and Houston.
Roger Rosenbaum is president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a New York state-based digital communications company, specializing in tourism and real estate public relations, marketing and digital video production. He just launched a company called PR4RESORTS.COM.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
My Day With Rachel Ray...
OVERNIGHT SUCCESS DOES NOT OFTEN HAPPEN OVERNIGHT
By Roger Rosenbaum
Marketing is the process of presenting a product or service to appeal to potential customers. Some product developers seek mass appeal, while others are happy with reaching a niche audience.
More than appeal, there must be real value in what you bring to the table. Value comes in many forms—cost savings, entertainment, information and making life faster, easier and better for those you hope to serve.
Building a long-term connection with customers is not a flash-in-the-pan proposition. Getting customers to know, like and trust your product or service often does not happen overnight.
Going from bright idea to blockbuster product or service takes talent and persistence mixed with plenty of patience. One perfect example can be seen all around us. No matter how hard you try, it is next to impossible to spend a day without seeing or hearing celebrity chef Rachel Ray.
The spunky chef has her own magazine, national TV show and a one-hour celebrity-flavored profile on E! True Hollywood Story. Not to mention her photo, which is plastered all over grocery stores and advertising for Dunkin’ Donuts.
As with most success stories, there are lean times. Perhaps this is when she did research on how to eat on $40 a day. The E! True Hollywood Story reveals that she was making $50 a segment cooking on local TV. Much of that money, according to E!, went to buying food to prepare on the air.
Vision, determination and seemingly boundless energy brought Ray from serving customers at a diner in Lake George, New York to entertaining millions of fans who tune into her show, read her magazine and by a multitude of products with her image on them. Ray’s rise to national stardom did not happen overnight.
This much I can confirm: After a long night of shooting a news story in Lake George, I pulled into a Warren County diner on a Labor Day weekend in the mid-1980’s. The diner staff must have seen the TV station logos on my car as I remember hearing a little buzz between the waitresses as to who was going to serve me.
I had not eaten in 12 hours when a waitress approached my table. My mind was set on ordering a ham and cheese omelet, but the waitress would not stop peppering me with questions about the television station and how to get on TV.
My immediate goal was getting food in my belly. Rachel’s goal was getting the scoop on how to break into television. She told me her plan of hosting a cooking show and wanted to know what steps she should take. It seemed like a far-fetched idea. At the time, I was scraping together a living shooting hard news stories. Most were of the spicy variety (fires and scandals) which are a staple of the local television news coverage. The idea that the station would pay for cooking segments seemed at the time to be half-baked. Ironically, the station where I worked had launched the career of another chef…Mr. Food.
Ray seemed unfazed by the reality of local broadcasting or its focus on the disaster de jour. Undaunted, the questions continued every time she approached my table. I gave her the names of key television station staff members on the chance she might turn unbridled ambition into something audiences cannot get enough of. She did tell me that she had a friend who knew someone in management at the station. She networked and made the right connections.
From the overnight shift at an upstate diner to national daytime television Ray continues to bring a lot to the table. Companies seek her out to promote their brands, products and television viewers want her recipes.
Sometimes products do not live up to their promise or to expectations. Rachel Ray is a rare example of what happens when dreams, tenacity and smart marketing are allowed to develop over time.
Roger Rosenbaum is the president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a digital marketing communications company located in the Hudson Valley. RMG specializes in public relations, digital marketing and development of Web 2.0 content. He can be reached at: 845-943-5366 or info@rosenbaummedia.com.
By Roger Rosenbaum
Marketing is the process of presenting a product or service to appeal to potential customers. Some product developers seek mass appeal, while others are happy with reaching a niche audience.
More than appeal, there must be real value in what you bring to the table. Value comes in many forms—cost savings, entertainment, information and making life faster, easier and better for those you hope to serve.
Building a long-term connection with customers is not a flash-in-the-pan proposition. Getting customers to know, like and trust your product or service often does not happen overnight.
Going from bright idea to blockbuster product or service takes talent and persistence mixed with plenty of patience. One perfect example can be seen all around us. No matter how hard you try, it is next to impossible to spend a day without seeing or hearing celebrity chef Rachel Ray.
The spunky chef has her own magazine, national TV show and a one-hour celebrity-flavored profile on E! True Hollywood Story. Not to mention her photo, which is plastered all over grocery stores and advertising for Dunkin’ Donuts.
As with most success stories, there are lean times. Perhaps this is when she did research on how to eat on $40 a day. The E! True Hollywood Story reveals that she was making $50 a segment cooking on local TV. Much of that money, according to E!, went to buying food to prepare on the air.
Vision, determination and seemingly boundless energy brought Ray from serving customers at a diner in Lake George, New York to entertaining millions of fans who tune into her show, read her magazine and by a multitude of products with her image on them. Ray’s rise to national stardom did not happen overnight.
This much I can confirm: After a long night of shooting a news story in Lake George, I pulled into a Warren County diner on a Labor Day weekend in the mid-1980’s. The diner staff must have seen the TV station logos on my car as I remember hearing a little buzz between the waitresses as to who was going to serve me.
I had not eaten in 12 hours when a waitress approached my table. My mind was set on ordering a ham and cheese omelet, but the waitress would not stop peppering me with questions about the television station and how to get on TV.
My immediate goal was getting food in my belly. Rachel’s goal was getting the scoop on how to break into television. She told me her plan of hosting a cooking show and wanted to know what steps she should take. It seemed like a far-fetched idea. At the time, I was scraping together a living shooting hard news stories. Most were of the spicy variety (fires and scandals) which are a staple of the local television news coverage. The idea that the station would pay for cooking segments seemed at the time to be half-baked. Ironically, the station where I worked had launched the career of another chef…Mr. Food.
Ray seemed unfazed by the reality of local broadcasting or its focus on the disaster de jour. Undaunted, the questions continued every time she approached my table. I gave her the names of key television station staff members on the chance she might turn unbridled ambition into something audiences cannot get enough of. She did tell me that she had a friend who knew someone in management at the station. She networked and made the right connections.
From the overnight shift at an upstate diner to national daytime television Ray continues to bring a lot to the table. Companies seek her out to promote their brands, products and television viewers want her recipes.
Sometimes products do not live up to their promise or to expectations. Rachel Ray is a rare example of what happens when dreams, tenacity and smart marketing are allowed to develop over time.
Roger Rosenbaum is the president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a digital marketing communications company located in the Hudson Valley. RMG specializes in public relations, digital marketing and development of Web 2.0 content. He can be reached at: 845-943-5366 or info@rosenbaummedia.com.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
BRANDED WEB VIDEO CONTENT BIG IN 2008
Web video has become desktop television. Sales and marketing teams can become today’s TV network programming executives, replacing traditional corporate “suits” responsible for shows like "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"
The web-based clip culture inspired by YouTube and Google Video has really paved the way for businesses to create their own high-quality content to help build the loyalty of current customers and educate new customers about the benefits of their products and services.
Digital web video can help sell, tell, educate, motivate, train and entertain. Think of it as your company’s own TV network available in offices and homes around the corner and the globe. Web video can be delivered in crystal-clear DVD quality with almost instant playback for offices and homes simply equipped with a high-speed Internet connection.
Effective web video can range from a single clip to a series to educational material presented in a documentary style. The options are endless.
FOCUS ON THE PURPOSE:
Web video must serve a real purpose with a result in mind. Do you want a viewer to place an order, forward the clip to a colleague, join a discussion or RSVP to a seminar or trade show? The ultimate goal for any website is to make the content and information so compelling that visitors feel they need to check in on a regular basis. Creating a community of people to participate on a regular basis can create a competitive advantage that is hard to beat.
High-quality production can be expensive. However, the good news in the Digital Age with nonlinear editing is that footage can easily be exported for use in many formats, including PowerPoint presentations or for convenient exhibition at trade shows. You can put the video on a SmartPhone, iPod or portable DVD player to show on sales calls.
BACK TO BASICS:
Developing a web video strategy requires teamwork. The information technology (IT) department staff can embed the content and marketing department or agency can develop a creative way to position the company.
It is wise to re-evaluate key questions: Who are we, what do we do, who do we do it for and why do we do it? And developing a new presentation is a good time to examine branding and marketing materials to see if they are up-to-date or if the desired response is achieved from them. Take it a few steps further: What are our distribution channels and what do our customers say about us? Think SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) marketing analysis.
MAKE A CONNECTION:
Digital web video is the most dynamic marketing tool created to date and there is certainly means and space out there for image-building campaigns, but many skeptical companies will be looking to justify the cost of production.
In some cases, it can be very effective to put clips of a telegenic and charismatic CEO on a website to showcase the company mission and goals (a la Steve Jobs), this should not be the only marketing effort.
The goal is to bring the company’s products, services, team and industry to life with compelling content. Customer testimonials can be powerful selling tools to help inspire confidence in your company.
There are fewer boundaries than in the traditional world of advertising when you paid for a thirty or sixty-second spot, though there are some limitations on the technology as well as conventional wisdom about the shrinking attention span of web surfers.
Web video presents a single very appealing aspect among the others discussed: accountability. You can track how many people viewed the video, how much time they spent on the site and what zip code they came from. You can allow viewers to rate or comment on the video.
Rosenbaum Media Group produced content for an Ulster County, New York client that lead to 50,000 views during a 30-day period, a very high number for a focused, regional campaign. It is very important to note that factors beyond web video (like a powerful website) also have a great impact on results of a campaign. The value you provide to your customers must be clear and presented in a way that is appealing and effective.
If you have produced a great web video that accurately and creatively positions your products and services, steps must be taken to properly package and promote the presentation. Special tags can be embedded so that the video comes up on web search pages (and there are methods available to optimize placement high up in search results). Another option is to embed the video clips in electronic newsletters to customers or news releases to members of the media.
Building buzz around your content is one sure-fire way to get it noticed. Writing a news release about the new content or create place the information in an RSS feed. The use of video is a clear signal that one-dimensional, billboard-like websites are a thing of the past. Welcome to the world of Web 2.0.
There is no question that you are smarter than a 5th grader. Now, let the world see it.
Roger Rosenbaum is the president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a digital communications company located in Ulster County. Rosenbaum Media Group consults with clients to create premium digital public relations, marketing and Web 2.0 projects. He can be reached at: www.rosenbaummedia.com or 845-943-5366.
The web-based clip culture inspired by YouTube and Google Video has really paved the way for businesses to create their own high-quality content to help build the loyalty of current customers and educate new customers about the benefits of their products and services.
Digital web video can help sell, tell, educate, motivate, train and entertain. Think of it as your company’s own TV network available in offices and homes around the corner and the globe. Web video can be delivered in crystal-clear DVD quality with almost instant playback for offices and homes simply equipped with a high-speed Internet connection.
Effective web video can range from a single clip to a series to educational material presented in a documentary style. The options are endless.
FOCUS ON THE PURPOSE:
Web video must serve a real purpose with a result in mind. Do you want a viewer to place an order, forward the clip to a colleague, join a discussion or RSVP to a seminar or trade show? The ultimate goal for any website is to make the content and information so compelling that visitors feel they need to check in on a regular basis. Creating a community of people to participate on a regular basis can create a competitive advantage that is hard to beat.
High-quality production can be expensive. However, the good news in the Digital Age with nonlinear editing is that footage can easily be exported for use in many formats, including PowerPoint presentations or for convenient exhibition at trade shows. You can put the video on a SmartPhone, iPod or portable DVD player to show on sales calls.
BACK TO BASICS:
Developing a web video strategy requires teamwork. The information technology (IT) department staff can embed the content and marketing department or agency can develop a creative way to position the company.
It is wise to re-evaluate key questions: Who are we, what do we do, who do we do it for and why do we do it? And developing a new presentation is a good time to examine branding and marketing materials to see if they are up-to-date or if the desired response is achieved from them. Take it a few steps further: What are our distribution channels and what do our customers say about us? Think SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) marketing analysis.
MAKE A CONNECTION:
Digital web video is the most dynamic marketing tool created to date and there is certainly means and space out there for image-building campaigns, but many skeptical companies will be looking to justify the cost of production.
In some cases, it can be very effective to put clips of a telegenic and charismatic CEO on a website to showcase the company mission and goals (a la Steve Jobs), this should not be the only marketing effort.
The goal is to bring the company’s products, services, team and industry to life with compelling content. Customer testimonials can be powerful selling tools to help inspire confidence in your company.
There are fewer boundaries than in the traditional world of advertising when you paid for a thirty or sixty-second spot, though there are some limitations on the technology as well as conventional wisdom about the shrinking attention span of web surfers.
Web video presents a single very appealing aspect among the others discussed: accountability. You can track how many people viewed the video, how much time they spent on the site and what zip code they came from. You can allow viewers to rate or comment on the video.
Rosenbaum Media Group produced content for an Ulster County, New York client that lead to 50,000 views during a 30-day period, a very high number for a focused, regional campaign. It is very important to note that factors beyond web video (like a powerful website) also have a great impact on results of a campaign. The value you provide to your customers must be clear and presented in a way that is appealing and effective.
If you have produced a great web video that accurately and creatively positions your products and services, steps must be taken to properly package and promote the presentation. Special tags can be embedded so that the video comes up on web search pages (and there are methods available to optimize placement high up in search results). Another option is to embed the video clips in electronic newsletters to customers or news releases to members of the media.
Building buzz around your content is one sure-fire way to get it noticed. Writing a news release about the new content or create place the information in an RSS feed. The use of video is a clear signal that one-dimensional, billboard-like websites are a thing of the past. Welcome to the world of Web 2.0.
There is no question that you are smarter than a 5th grader. Now, let the world see it.
Roger Rosenbaum is the president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a digital communications company located in Ulster County. Rosenbaum Media Group consults with clients to create premium digital public relations, marketing and Web 2.0 projects. He can be reached at: www.rosenbaummedia.com or 845-943-5366.
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