Lower cost alternatives like…public relations!
“Madison Avenue is fastening its seat belt as the cascading effects of the financial crisis begin to hit the advertising economy,” wrote Stuart Elliott in the New York Times this week (it was also reprinted in the National Post). “As consumers suddenly cut back spending on everything from cars to clothing to cold cuts, companies are reducing their ad budgets or shifting to lower-cost alternatives like e-mail marketing and public relations.”
Maybe that’s the only good news we will receive this week. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ad agency layoffs, Downturn, PR, recession, Writing

Item in the Toronto Globe and Mail, August 22, 2008:
“Microsoft Corp. will try to transform its dry and humorless public image by employing the popularity and charisma of Jerry Seinfeld. The world’s biggest software company has signed the comedian to spearhead a major $300-million (U.S.) branding campaign that will be launched next month.”

As any Mac fan knows, Jerry’s desk on Seinfeld desk was a virtual gallery of Macs in the 90s. The show started with an original all-in-one Mac SE, and then featured numerous others as the show gained steam. I can’t believe I was the only one who noticed. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Jerry Seinfeld, Mac vs. PC, PR

Democratic Convention Opens Tonight!
Win or lose come November, Sen. Barack Obama has forever changed America’s political landscape Campaigning will never be the same as the rules are being rewritten daily. Courting notoriously apathetic youth voters is no easy task but the Democratic nominee strategically employed social networking (Facebook, Twitter, MyBo), online videos (YouTube), email campaigns and text messaging (GOBAMA!!! LOL) to create hype and perpetuate “cool.” These tactics now being ramped up even more to best the surprisingly potent Sen. John McCain.

New-age tools have also been the backbone to his immensely successful grassroots fundraising drive. Altering a page from Karl Rove’s playbook, Obama’s team has assembled two disparate masses: the party faithful and the black vote. One hundred dollars at a time, his new communications tactics appear to be weaving a less corporate, more cohesive political web. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Blogs, Obama, PR, Web 2.0