iPad – What’s in a name?

Today’s launch of the iPad created some serious hype, the likes of which I haven’t seen since the initial launch of the iPhone. While there have been some mixed reviews about the device, the product’s name itself has drawn quite a few snickers and been the butt of a few jokes.  Even the Wall Street Journal reported on it.

This got me thinking about how (or if) I would respond to the silliness surrounding the product name if I were on Apple’s PR team. On one hand, having the WSJ write about the issue does raise some concerns; but on the other hand, the product name is not going to change and people will ultimately pay more attention to the news itself and product reviews. Without overthinking it, I would let the whole thing blow over.

I asked my Twitter followers what they would do, and it seems my thinking is spot on. Of course, I’m curious to see what approach Apple takes. 

One thing is for sure, while some folks take pot-shots at the iPad’s name, those of us in PR and marketing can use this as a reminder about the steps we can take to try and avoid similar situations. These are the two most basic approaches that come to mind:

• Use focus groups or surveys during the planning stage to get feedback about a product’s potential features, naming conventions, etc.
• Embrace social media monitoring tools like Radian6 or Sysomos leading up to a launch. Whether it’s a movie, a product or a service that you’re bringing to market, gaining insight into consumer sentiment before you launch can help guide your marketing plans; provide some direction on product features/functions to add/remove; help you tweak your messaging, etc.

What would you do? Would you also let the storm blow over?

~JE

“Passion + Purpose” or “Pay + Perks”?

In the movie Up in the Air, George Clooney’s company is hired to help organizations downsize. Clooney’s character [Ryan Bingham] travels across the country to fire people. He encourages those that question what to do next to follow their dreams and do something that they love. Of course, I couldn’t agree more with the idea, which inspired this post.

In 2001, when I was laid off from my corporate PR job (along with everyone else that felt the sting of the dot.com bust), I did exactly what Bingham suggests. PR had always been my passion (not just a career choice) and I realized that the key to my future was to embrace it with purpose. That’s when Echo Communications was born.

By making the decision to combine Passion + Purpose, I wake up each day really excited about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Unfortunately, too many people I know have taken on a job because of the Pay + Perks instead of doing something they love.  (Of course, there is something to be said about paid vacations, annual bonuses, etc., but quite honestly, it comes nowhere close to the perks you get when you follow your dreams).

I’m curious to know your thoughts. Which would (did) you choose: Passion + Purpose or Pay + Perks? Or were you fortunate enough to find that perfect career opportunity that combines both?

~JE

#journchat LIVE Toronto Roundup

#journchat LIVE took place this past Monday night. The event was hosted in seven North American cities: Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, and of course, Toronto.

The Toronto event took place at the office of Thornley Fallis and the great eats were supplied by Marketwire (thank you again to both organizations for your generosity!). Yours truly was both event champion and moderator.  (Photo’s from the event can be seen here).

We had a great group of people attend, including @davewire @thornley, @justmelinda, @davefleet, @vmiddleton @kjrose @karensnider @martinwaxman @jarodvhale @kaleneelizabeth, @mikesgene and of course, me (@jodiechakowitz).

Instead of getting into a full recap of what was discussed, I’ve decided to share some key takeaways from the event itself:

• We began networking (and eating!) at around 6:30pm ET, an hour ahead of the usual 7:30pm #journchat start.  After an hour, we were itching to get the conversation started, but #journchat only kicked off at 8:00pm ET.  Takeaway: Each location should allocate a set arrival time (an hour or so earlier) to keep the official start time as scheduled. For a small group like ours, the extended networking time was almost too much.
• The first question thrown out was centered on social media being banned from college stadiums. Few of us in the group were aware of the issue and it also didn’t seem to be relevant from a #journchat perspective (or at least our group didn’t think so). Fortunately, those that were in the know gave us the lowdown on the topic. Takeaway: When putting forward a question, don’t assume that everyone has seen or heard of the issue at hand. Provide links so that we have some context for the question.
• When participating in the Twitter only version of #journchat, many folks will multi-task, making a few comments here and there, checking periodically to see where the conversation is headed. Having the conversation live provided an opportunity to thoroughly discuss (and stray from) the topic at hand. Takeaway: The LIVE event opened up a lot of new avenues for continuous conversation, something that would never have happened on Twitter alone.
• Actively participating in the discussion, trying to moderate the flow of conversation and tweeting at the same time became challenging at times. Takeaway: Twitter is great for a virtual conversation, but it may not be the right tool for a LIVE event. @jarodvhale suggested that we may want to look at using Ustream for future LIVE events as an alternative to Twitter.
• In Toronto, we didn’t end up having journalist/media participation (although it looks like @mathewi and @thehartley may be on board for future events if the timing is right).  @mikesgene, who has a storied background in journalism with the CBC and is still a journalist at heart, did however add tremendous value to the conversation. Takeaway: Active media participation is the one thing lacking in this conversation – whether virtual or LIVE. Comments by folks like @antoniaz on the topic of media involvement are very telling.
• The group in Toronto seemed to be the smallest amongst those cities participating in #journchat LIVE. And I have to say that I think it worked out to our advantage. Attendance may have been much higher if #whuffaokeTO wasn’t at the same time, since a lot of PR folks chose to network with @missrogue instead. Takeaway: An intimate setting means that we got to meet and engage with other folks on a much deeper level than in a large audience setting.
• While we all agreed that the smaller setting worked well, our conversations in response to a particular question likely ended sooner than in other locations (even when we went off topic or discussed other responses we were seeing). Takeaway: The time lag between questions needs to be a bit shorter. I would recommend this for both LIVE and virtual #journchat conversations.
• We requested some clarification on Q3 (how do you define a media company?) so that we could respond accordingly, but unfortunately never got it. Takeaway: Ensure the question being asked is not ambiguous in any way so that it can be easily responded to within the right context.
• At the end of each #journchat, participants have an opportunity to get in ONE PITCH. People often provide links to their blogs, or make note of great initiatives they are working on. For the Toronto group, we chose to show our support for a local initiative, @Kilos4Kids. Takeaway: The idea of self-promotion is a great one, but why not use a forum like #journchat to spread the news about a great cause instead? On Monday night, @Kilos4Kids had less than 100 followers. Less than 24 hours later, there were more than 220. I have to think that we played a part in getting them to more than double their followers in a short space of time.

Overall, those of us in Toronto agreed that #journchat LIVE was a success, and are looking forward to the next one. Thanks and congrats to @PRSarahEvans for getting everyone on board for this initiative. All we need to do now is figure out when the next LIVE event is going to take place.

UPDATE: @PRSarahEvans also posted a #journchat LIVE recap. You can check it out here.

If you participated in #journchat LIVE from any of the seven locations, I would love your thoughts on what you thought did/didn’t work. Your input will be invaluable in ensuring successful events in the future!

~JE

#journchat LIVE Toronto

I recently provided some info on the concept of #journchat LIVE and am now very happy to share details about the Toronto event:

Date:  Monday, August 17, 2009

Networking:  6:30 – 7:30 p.m. ET

#journchat LIVE:  7:30 – 10:00 p.m. ET

Location:  Huge thanks to @thornley for providing boardroom space and Internet connectivity for #journchat LIVE Toronto. A total of 14 people can be accommodated in the Thornley Fallis boardroom.

Address:  Thornley Fallis, 21 St. Clair Ave. E, Suite 800, Toronto, ON, M4T 1L9

Refreshments: The generous folks at Marketwire will be sponsoring refreshments and snacks for #journchat LIVE Toronto.

Cost:  There is no charge for you to attend. The only commitment you need to make is to show up, share your thoughts on the topics being discussed, and enjoy connecting in person with your fellow PR peeps.

As space is limited, we encourage you to register ASAP if you plan to attend. 

You can register online at http://journchatlivetor.eventbrite.com.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

The art of self-promotion

A couple of days ago, Beth Harte (a smart marketer who writes a terrific blog and is also Community Manager for MarketingProfs) wrote a very interesting piece on the topic of self-promotion.  

For those of you who know me well, you’ll know that I’m not big on self promotion. While it’s a great concept that I agree others should embrace, it’s just not for me. Perhaps the closest I’ve come to self promotion in recent months, is using Twitter to tweet the occassional link to recent client coverage.

But on this very rare occassion, I’ve taken Beth’s post to heart, and am exploring the waters of self promotion. Provided below is a brief snapshot of recent coverage that some of our clients have gotten, thanks to the talented folks on the Echo Communications team.

 

 A. Farber & Partners Inc. is one of Canada’s leading independent licensed bankruptcy trustees, with 30 years of experience solving money problems for consumers. In response to the latest Canadian bankruptcy statistics, we proactively pitched the folks at Farber as experts on the topic. Here’s a snapshot of their coverage in response to our outreach:

Globe and Mail / BNN /  Toronto Star / Metro  

 

Wishabi is an online shopping engine designed to make shopping easy for Canadians. To address the needs of consumers who want to make even smarter buying decisions, Wishabi launched the e-Commerce industry’s first predictive intelligence technology, enabling both price and value comparisons of more than three million products. We got a great response to our inital outreach, and although only a few pieces of coverage have appeared to date, a number of top tier opportunities are currently in development.

Vancouver Sun and Gillian Shaw’s Blog / CTV

 

Descartes Systems Group enables global organizations with logistics-intensive businesses to save money by improving the productivity and performance of their operations. We secured coverage around their recent earnings, with a focus on their incredible turnaround story. I’ve also included links to some older feature coverage (since February, they have received over 250 pieces of coverage, including byline articles, features, mentions, etc.).

Globe and Mail / BNN / National Post / Fleet Owner

 

BlackBerry Partners Fund invests in companies that develop applications that make smartphones a compelling platform for media, commerce, enterprise, entertainment, and lifestyle applications. We recently secured some great coverage regarding their second annual BlackBerry Developers Challenge.

CrackBerry / ITWorld Canada / Fierce Developer / RIMarkable

We also worked directly with Nexage, one of BBPF’s most recent investments, to get the news out about their Series A round of funding. A snapshot of that coverage is listed here:

Mobile Marketer / Digital Media Wire / GigaOM / Wireless Week / Mass High Tech / Private Equity Hub

 

In early Spring, we began working closely with the smart and creative folks at Capital C on a project titled Hypercube. If you’re engaged in social media in one way or another, then you’ve likely heard about this Nissan Canada campaign to launch the all-new Nissan cube. Our role was to reach out to social media influencers and mainstream business and marketing press to secure coverage. And did we ever! This is a glimpse into coverage around this campaign.

Toronto Star / Wired / Calgary Herald / Marketing Magazine / Strategy Magazine / Metro / Social Media Explorer

 

Hopefully the approach that I’ve taken here is what Beth was referring to in her blog post. And if not, I’m not surprised. I still have a lot to learn about the art of self promotion.