Recently I have been fortunate enough to be assigned to work on the Microsoft Office Live FY09 social media campaign. It's been an interesting experience to say the least in this somewhat unchartered territory, but I am loving it.
There are a few things I wanted to share from my new world:
Date: 4/1/2009
Location: New York
DDB has learned that it will take home eleven Effie awards this year, a whopping five more trophies than any other agency network. Impressively, every one of DDB’s five U.S. offices are award winners – the first time for DDB that an all-location sweep has occurred.
The Seattle Post Intelligencer, at 146 our community's oldest continually operating business, is ceasing publication of its daily newspaper today. This is a loss to Seattle in so many ways. For us in the public relations profession, it is a loss of credibility and a loss of testimony that is at the heart of the work we do. This profession was built on the relationship we have with journalists who could tell the stories about our bosses and clients to the community with an unbiased voice. It’s a third-party testimonial that states the facts and gives credibility to the content. It’s not just us telling everyone that the company is good at what it does. It’s a reputable journalist validating what we say.
Today is a sad today, but tomorrow will be even more so. The final print issue of the 146-year-old Seattle Post-Intelligencer rolled off the presses and into the hands of area residents this morning, marking the end of an era and the passing of another Seattle icon. At least today, I got a chance to get my hands dirty with newsprint one last time. Tomorrow is another story.
While I hope the new online community that resides at SeattlePI.com will be as informative and entertaining as the newspaper has been for all these years, I can't help but shed a tear for the loss of the printed word.
Awards in the business of marketing communications mean a lot to some and not so much to others. DDB has built its reputation on awards for creativity in solving client problems and what a reputation it is!
Let's face it, Seattle has been sucking as a sports town lately. The Seahawks didn't do anything, the Mariners finished last, the Huskies went 0-12 and the Sonics, well, R.I.P. So, when I read in the P-I today that Ken Griffey, Jr. was coming back to Seattle, I got excited. Really excited.
Strangely, though, I've heard a lot of people say they don't care, it's not good for the team, it's just a publicity stunt and the like. To them, I say "Bah, humbug!"
My answer to that question is "I certainly hope not."
I've always been a P-I Guy. My parents were P-I folks and I've been a subscriber ever since I was in college (I even got my fraternity to subscribe to it so I wouldn't have to pay for it for four years). Simply put, I think the paper has the best coverage and style in the city.
But news this week that The Hearst Corp has put the Seattle Post-Intelligencer up for sale is both sad and disappointing. What's more disappointing, however, is that if no one buys the newspaper in the next 60 days, then Hearst will stop print operations and may even shut down the 146-year-old newspaper completely, online edition and all.
The holidays are upon us again, which means many traditions come back into our lives for a short time: baking cookies, decking the halls, exchanging gifts, and of course-- the tradition of redefining the insurmountable chasm that lies between Men and Women in the form of terrible holiday ads.
Barack Obama, since winning the Presidential election, has indicated that social media will be a part of his presidency, just as it was a part of his presidential campaign.
In the 18 days since he was elected, he has launched Change.gov, the Web site of "the Office of the President-Elect" and has done two weekly addresses via YouTube on the ChangeDotGov channel.
So, how is he doing?
Barack Obama is being called our "first social media President" due to his use of online word of mouth marketing to be elected President of the United States. Those of us who have been proselytizing about social media to our clients and colleagues simultaneously feel an inevitable sense of validation.
But now what? Should Barack Obama continue to engage with social media once he is in the White House?
So I just got back from maternity leave yesterday and am adjusting to life in the real world again. Showering....putting on make-up and wearing clothes that aren't held up with drawstrings....you get the picture. Anyway, I thought I'd share a little something with those of you without newborns who don't watch TV at 2 in the afternoon or 2 in the morning.
I have to admit that mega-corporations' ownership the once free-standing (and once independent) networks has always been slightly disconcerting. Some feared this would reduce consumer choice, so initial mergers were looked into by anti-trust watchdogs. It was found that consumer choice would not suffer, and most networks were purchased.
(The very definition of conglomerate is a giant company with seemingly unrelated business offerings.) Size is not what worried me. It was content.
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