FWD Thinking: Archive

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MicroPR Seeks To Connect Media and PR on Twitter →

A new free service called MicroPR has been created by Brian Solis to allow journalists to post their story ideas and PR people to respond through Twitter. The concept is drawing skeptics who believe that journalists will not want to share their upcoming story ideas on Twitter for the competition to see. -Maria

Nov 30th

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Improv Everywhere’s latest stunt involved welcoming random strangers home when they arrived at the airport. I think the most interesting part is that this video was actually commissioned by Absolut Vodka and features some Absolut branding at the end. I was wondering how long it would take for companies to start collaborating with Improv Everywhere for promotional purposes, since their stunts...

Nov 28th

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Holiday icon fights slowdown by 'tweeting,'... →

To solicit generosity from younger generations, the Salvation Army is moving its fundraising efforts into the digital world (but still takin’ it to the streets, don’t worry)! In addition to a Facebook widget, e-mail and text message donation capabilities, the Salvation Army has also started a Twitter feed to supplement its Red Kettle Campaign. -Maria

Nov 27th

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Nov 27th

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“Twenty years ago, the thought of encouraging advertising with music would be...”

– Peter Gabriel (yes, that Peter Gabriel), on his ad-supported free music service We7

Nov 26th

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Amazon.com Tries User-Generated Public Relations →

Amazon.com has created a “Holiday Customer Review Team,” a group of six Amazon customers who love to write product reviews, and is offering the team to reporters as sources for holiday gift stories. Although Amazon says the team members are “real people giving unbiased advice to fellow consumers” and “not employed by Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates,” they...

Nov 26th

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rodrakic: Executive Video Interview: Why Dell continues to use Social Media Bob Pearson (Twitter at bobpdell) Vice President, Communities & Conversations at Dell invited Jeremiah Owyang out to Microsoft’s Architect Forum to co-lead a session on social computing. Jeremiah brought in questions from Twitter. Cool! -Maria

Nov 26th

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Lunascape - The All in One Browser →

Lunascape, a Japanese company, launched a new browser that allows users to toggle between browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome). -Tom

Nov 25th

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Survey of Journalists Reveals Generational Gap in... →

A new study being conducted by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) reveals that “while journalists across all age groups and beat assignments are rapidly adopting social media tools into their everyday work, the greatest usage is shown by young ‘Millennial Generation’ journalists.” What is striking about this survey is that it is very clear that the...

Nov 25th

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Nov 25th

“When it comes to social media, if it doesn’t spread, it’s dead.”

– Henry Jenkins, Head of MIT’s Comparative Media Studies

Nov 25th

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Nov 25th

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Nov 25th

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Nov 25th

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Britney Spears Launches New Album on imeem →

Pop sensation and international talent Britney Spears aims to reinvigorate her stagnating career with a new album that is available exclusively on imeem before it hits the shelves on December 2nd. That Spears’ album is available for free online proves that a lot has changed since the days of “Lucky” and “Oops!…I Did It Again,” when fans like me had to wait in...

Nov 24th

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Crashing Motrin-Gate: A Social-Media Case Study →

AdAge believes that Johnson & Johnson’s decision to take down the infamous Motrin ad was a bad idea for the brand, inhibiting them from reaching out to a larger targeted audience and giving in to the flash mob of only 1.1 million viewers (much fewer than the ad would have generated if aired on a cable channel). -Maria

Nov 24th

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Be-A-Magpie Is PayPerPost For Twitter →

You can finally make money off of Twitter and all you have to do is annoy your followers with targeted ad messages. Introducing Be-a-Magpie, a new service that pays you to insert advertising into your Twitter stream. So far, Twitter does not post any rules against the pay-per-post service in its terms and conditions. However, the Twitter community is already criticizing the tool for...

Nov 24th

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The “P” in PR Should Stand for “People” →

PR pros often forget who they are really trying to reach with their message. Perhaps today’s bottom-line approach has created a PR industry too focused on media that they have “elevated placements above the people we’re actually trying to reach.” Over at PR blog Communications Catalyst, social media junkie David Mullen talks about how integrating social media into...

Nov 21st

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Nov 21st

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Mufin Opens Automated Music Recommendation Engine... →

Are you on the lookout to broaden your musical horizons, but unsure about what to listen to? Check out Mufin, a new music recommendation engine in the spirit of Pandora. Mufin uses an algorithm of 20 different characteristics to choose artists that sound similar to your favorite artist. In addition, Mufin just introduced a Facebook widget that allows users to get song recommendations from...

Nov 20th

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In this video, iContact communications director Chuck Hester explains how PR professionals can use LinkedIn for business purposes. Ragan also includes some helpful dos and don’ts for LinkedIn use: 1. Search LinkedIn for the top people in your industry area or region; that is, the people with the most connections. Find the connections that you have in common, even if they’re via “2nd level”...

Nov 20th

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Nov 20th

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Gwyneth Paltrow Increases Her Annoying Factor 75% →

Gwyneth Paltrow, full-time mom and the star of the cinema breakthrough Shallow Hal, is making a name for herself via the Web! La Paltrow recently launched GOOP, a lifestyle website where she encourages regular folk, just like her, to “nourish the inner aspect.” I’m not sure what that means, but I’m fairly certain it involves eating a macrobiotic diet. She writes: ...

Nov 20th

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Nov 20th

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Nov 20th

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Teenagers’ Internet Socializing Not a Bad Thing →

It turns out the Internet isn’t such a bad place for teenagers to be wasting their time, according to a study by the MacArthur Foundation. The New York Times today published an article about the positive influence of new media upon teens. Lead researcher of the study Mizuko Ito said: “Their [teens’] participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed...

Nov 20th

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Dr. Pepper is Str8 Rippin' →

A few things you probably don’t know: 1. There is something out there called Major League Gaming (MLG) — which is basically a professional online gaming league. 2. Some of the professionals that make up said league make up to $250,000 for playing things like World of Warcraft (that’s a thing, right?) 3. These players also have delightfully inscrutable names like...

Nov 19th

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Social Media And The Motrin Controversy: Or, Will... →

Is social media killing advertising creativity? That’s the question asked by Mediapost’s Social Insider. As a result of the Motrin Moms controversy, brands (like those also owned by Johnson and Johnson) are much more likely to take the safe road with their future advertising campaigns, resulting in much less exciting advertising. I suppose that the social media world will then...

Nov 19th

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Nov 19th

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Tech Brands Leveraging Social Media More

Reuters reports that tech and healthcare companies such as Dell and Johnson & Johnson are turning to social media vs. advertising. Brands are realizing that print and broadcast ads aren’t necessarily the best way to reach the younger consumer, especially with the current economy causing budget cuts. - Megan

Nov 19th

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Nov 19th

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If you love hair gel... →

Men.Style.com, the online home of GQ and Details magazines, just posted this video, instructing its readers on how to be more awesome. I think it is a good example of a luxury brand reaching a younger demographic in a way that is both effective and brand-appropriate. Esquire could probably learn a thing or two. — Andrew

Nov 18th

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Mercedes Readies Second Exclusive Online Community →

In an effort to retrace the success of its first social network, which was geared toward Millennials, Mercedes-Benz will soon be launching a second online social community targeted to baby boomers. - Maria

Nov 18th

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Nike Sets Benchmark for Social Media Success →

MediaCaffeine discusses the success that Nike enjoys as a result of the social community that they built up around their Nike+ product. — Andrew (via @mattrichardson)

Nov 18th

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Yang Steps Down As Yahoo CEO, Search For Successor... →

Jerry Yang, interim CEO of Yahoo!, has stepped down after taking the post in June of 2007. Yahoo is currently looking for someone to fill Yang’s shoes and take over the company which has recently lost tens of billions of dollars and laid off thousands of people. Who wouldn’t want that kind of responsibility?! -Maria

Nov 18th

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Having Trouble Picking a Social Network?

Are you having trouble picking the social network that is right for you? Does it keep you up at night deciding which platform will best fit your goals, needs or personality? Well the people of CW6 in San Diego (I have to put a photo of Ron Burgundy…news, San Diego, had to be done) have done the grunt work for you in laying out the intricacies and specific appliations of MySpace, Facebook...

Nov 18th

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"Gotta love them 'Smores'” →

Want to be that much closer to Barack Obama or Kevin Rose status on Twitter? Read supercool entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki’s blog post on how to get more people to follow your tweets on Twitter. Topping his tip list is the idea of following “smores”: Tip 1: Follow the “smores.” They are the folks with large number of followers and seem to be the opinion leaders (and perhaps even...

Nov 18th

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Bachelorette DeAnna’s New Job: Wedding Show Host... →

DeAnna from The Bachelorette, who just broke up with Jesse, is now going to be co-hosting the new season of Get Married on Lifetime, and she will be blogging weekly about wedding tips and trends on BloggerBrides.com. Go figure. -Rebecca

Nov 18th

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Tips & Tricks: Quibblo, Freedback

I love finding new online tools that make our jobs and lives a little bit easier. Two of my new favorite finds are Quibblo and Freedback, both of which we used for our Kijiji National Declutter Day site. We used Quibblo to create a free, online personality quiz (“What Kind of Packrat Are You?”), which also offers a widget that is embeddable on other Web sites, so you can see it...

Nov 17th

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Nov 17th

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89% of Kids Are Computer-Savvy →

If you think Millennials have a leg up on technology and social media, just wait for the next generation (do they even have a name yet?). According to new research, 89% of all American kids between the ages of six and 11 spend at least some time online. Digital natives, indeed. —Alyssa

Nov 17th

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Nov 17th

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PR Week reflects after 10 years →

PRWeek published its 10th anniversary issue this week and reflects on various segments of the industry. Perhaps the digital arena has grown more than any other. Ten years ago, only a few people - let alone agencies - had a grasp on how much the digital environment would grow. Now, “even the most traditional firm is touting its digital guru, in-house departments are racing to understand...

Nov 17th

Mercedes Dangles 'Generation-Benz' In Front Of Gen... →

It should be interesting to see how this campaign plays out, since most 20-somethings obviously cannot afford a Mercedes Benz. —Alyssa

Nov 16th

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New Insights On Time Of Day For Email →

Publicists are always looking for the best answer to the eternal question, “What’s the best time of day to send an e-mail?” According to new research from the Center for Media Design, people pay the most attention to their e-mails in the morning. Some other findings: Email engagement peaks in the morning. Many users, myself included, start their day by rifling through their...

Nov 14th

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