Koroberi Blog

Expectations are already high for the coming year in the realm of social media. Mashable is predicting the rise of augmented reality in social applications while Social Media Today is calling for increased social advertising. While excitement mounts about what is to come in 2012, here at Koroberi we’re taking a look at the note-worthy social media trends and events that happened in 2011:

1. Spotify comes to the United States: The UK-based app Spotify opened its digital music streaming services to American users in July. Originally available via invitation, the site has three different subscription models and allows users access to a library of more than 15 million songs. Hitting 2.5 million subscribers in December, mere months after opening in the US, Spotify was a big hit in 2011.
2. Facebook gets a makeover: Every time Facebook tweaks one of its features, Zuckerburg is faced with controversy and several million angry users. That didn’t stop the social media giant from launching the new Facebook “Timeline” layout, available to developers in September and fully launched in late Fall. The completely renovated Facebook profile now serves as “the story of your life,” making it one of the most noteworthy social media advances for 2011.
3. Twitter Scandals: From Anthony Weiner’s lewd photo tweet to Newt Gingrich’s fake followers, 2011 was a year of political Twitter scandals. Though “Weinergate” eventually blew over and Gingrich was vindicated by Twitter analysis, here’s hoping that politicians become more adept on the Twitter scene in 2012.
4. Planking goes viral: Planking isn’t a new trend for 2011, but the meme went viral this year as celebrities (and non-celebs too) posted photos and videos of awkward planking photos everywhere from Twitter to YouTube.
5. The first Twitter Presidential Debate: Republicans took advantage of Twitter this summer in the inaugural presidential Twitter debate. With only 140 characters to tackle often controversial policy issues, this new medium for debate was a huge shift from the prime-time television debates that dominate election season. The results? According to an analysis of Twitter posts, Herman Cain received the most Retweets while @teambachmann received the most @mentions.
6. Google + the new Facebook?: In late June, Google launched Google+, its answer to Facebook. While Google + isn’t short of users (62 million members and counting), many Google + profiles have been created and left inactive as users struggle to find its relevance among its already established competitors, Facebook and Twitter. But one thing is certain, Google + has definitely kept the Facebook beast on its toes as Zuckerburg introduced increased privacy settings and the social grouping feature to combat two of the site’s most innovative attributes.
7. The Angry Birds phenomenon: The most popular app of 2011, Angry Birds has become a sensation taking over tablets and smartphones across the world. The wildly addictive game has become a global brand with t-shirts, stuffed animals and other merchandise flying off of store shelves faster than you can launch an angry bird at an evil pig with a slingshot. Angry Birds was the top paid app in Apple’s app store, but Words with Friends came in a close second in a recent poll.

It’s trade show season in the world of material handling and logistics. With PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2011 behind us and MODEX 2012 coming up in February, it’s time to take a look at one of the major trends we’ve noticed stealing the stage (or should we say signage?) at this year’s trade shows: QR codes.

From giant codes on floor length banners to miniature codes in the corner of booth graphics, exhibitors at PACK EXPO incorporated QR codes into their graphics and marketing materials in innovative ways. Several lucky scanners left Las Vegas with new iPads compliments of QR technology and thousands left with resources such as videos, brochures and company websites directly on their smart phones. In the age of the user-generated experience, what could be better than using QR codes to engage with prospective clients even after they’ve left your trade show booth?

Though QR codes dominated the show floor at PACK EXPO 2011, QR technology is still relatively new in the business-to-business industry. Codes at the show were accompanied by explicit directions for attendees such as “Scan me with your smart phone for more information” or “Scan the QR code to win.” With the endless opportunities and creative ways to incorporate QR codes into a trade show exhibit, we can’t wait to see what role QR codes play in MODEX 2012!

Intelligrated incorporated QR codes into their booth graphics, allowing users to instantly download a brochure supplementing the information presented at the booth.

QR codes that entered users into contests for great prizes were popular at PACK EXPO (after all, you do come to Vegas to win!).

This larger-than-life QR code was hard to miss, even on the busy PACK EXPO show floor.

At first glance you may have missed DuPont's use of a QR code, as it blends in perfectly with their square-patterned signage.

Amanda Knox is on a plane headed home to the U.S. after four long years in a central Italian prison. This morning, on the news, Knox’s mother said her daughter was looking forward to coming home quietly, and would be overwhelmed by any media frenzy upon her arrival. But at the end of the day, it was the media that probably saved her from a life behind bars.

As anyone who reads or watches the news is aware, the Seattle student and her former Italian boyfriend were just acquitted in the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in 2007. Their arrest launched an OJ-Simpson-style trial by public opinion, unprecedented in Italy, and fueled primarily by media manipulation and leverage.

The case was irresistible to the media. A young, attractive and affluent American girl studies abroad. She discovers the bar and drug scene there, gets a cute boyfriend. Her roommate is suddenly and violently killed in what appeared to be an erotic game turned violent. Whatever the facts were, and we may never really know, the intersection of the good girl/bad girl story, sex, and murder sells papers, translates into ratings, and breeds online buzz. No one but the defendants and the victim’s family had any stake in the outcome, but from Florentine cafes to Starbucks in Seattle, everyone seemed to have an opinion, and it was usually about Amanda Knox’s character.

From the beginning, both sides knew that the nature of this story demanded strategic public and media relations. Unlike most high-profile cases that draw this level of attention, the players were not celebrities, politicians, or executives. However, they had to fight with high-caliber weapons in order to leverage coverage and opinion in their favor. Early in the case, the prosecution and police leaked information to the media to paint a titillating and very unfavorable picture of Knox and her personal behavior. This would help them build a public case against a very charismatic foreign woman who could slip through the cracks and walk free. On the other side, the Knox family, fighting a foreign justice system and media, used their resources to retain a well-known Seattle PR agency, Gogerty-Marriott. The tactics worked. In fact, the Italian media became so polarized that that reporters covering the case were dubbed the “innocentisti” or “colpevolisti” based on whether they believed Knox was innocent or guilty.

After they brought the PR agency on board, the Knox family and their prominent supporters became highly visible on morning talk shows and news programs, regaling the media with tales of the gentle, innocent Amanda they know, a frightened girl fighting a hostile legal system. Websites like Friends of Amanda and Amanda Knox Defense were also created and publicized to support Knox. Just before the verdict was issued, Knox’s father told reporters that the jury should ignore the media and focus on the facts, but also argued prosecutors had used the media to their advantage early in the trial. Meanwhile, the victim’s brother said the family had not wanted to speak publicly, but felt compelled to do so because of Knox’s “PR machine.” The Kercher’s lawyer also proclaimed, “They have done a huge public relations campaign to free her that has created a fog around the trial.”

The four year trial process and PR war between the Italian prosecution and the “friends of Amanda,” culminated on Monday in a courtroom scene where lawyers accused Knox of being a “she-devil” served by a $1  million dollar publicity campaign, jurors openly wept, and protestors hissed outside among throngs of international reporters. Bolstered by a capable defense team and perhaps an even stronger army of publicists, Knox walked free. The verdict will be challenged and the coming week will bring even more media analysis. How well did this PR strategy work in a legal battle? Watch the news, the tabloids, entertainment news, exclusive interviews, and read Amanda’s multimillion-dollar memoir to find out.

From Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential announcement on Livestream to Obama’s Twitter Town Hall, social media is taking center stage in the campaigns of 2012 presidential hopefuls.

Twitter is one social media tool that presidential hopefuls are deploying in new ways. The inaugural Republican presidential debate on Twitter will take place on Wednesday, July 20, 2011.With Twitter’s 140-character limit and the absence of a video camera, debaters will be completely reliant on their ability to concisely express views to appeal to voters (We wonder how the Kennedy-Nixon debates would have played out on Twitter!). Though the brevity of arguments is one of the main benefits, all tweets will be tracked through the account @140TownHall, allowing anyone to follow the evolution of the debate either in real time or after the debate has concluded. The website 140townhall.com will feature three columns, one displaying stats like followers, retweets and mentions; a second column with the debate as it happens; and a third column with a tweet box for comments from the public.

One of the more curious aspects of this debate is its scheduled time. Contrary to broadcast debates, which typically occur in primetime slots around 9 p.m. EST to reach the broadest possible audience, this Twitter debate is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. At this point in the afternoon, most Americans are in the full throes of the workday, many too busy to actively follow a Twitter feed. Thus begging the questions, which demographic are they targeting and how valid is this assessment of voter engagement?

While measuring the actual outcome of the debate and impact of the Twitter medium may be difficult, success (or the perception thereof) will be judged by the amount of public engagement it generates. After all, the real benefit of social media is the ability to make your message go viral with the help of an active audience.

While the virtual ink is drying on some tough media negotiations at Koroberi we are looking for metrics to help measure the effectiveness of both our 2011 B2B advertising and public relations campaigns. Soft and hard metrics have never been clear-cut in PR, so we at Koroberi appreciate the effort that has been taken in the past year by the international PR community to develop quantifiable industry standards against which to measure our work.

More than 200 professionals from all over the world met in Barcelona, Spain, in 2010 to address the need for consistent standards to measure public relations campaign results.  Representatives at the Second European Summit on Measurement agreed on a set of seven measurement principles, called “The Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles”.

Point five of the declaration states that advertising value equivalents (AVEs), which measure the dimensions of occupied coverage space to calculate the cost of purchasing equivalent space, do not represent the value of PR.  The declaration recommends that metrics replace AVEs that reflect the quality of coverage, physical space of coverage and negotiated advertising rates relevant to a client.   Rather than relying on AVEs to evaluate public relations results, a portfolio of metrics would better measure the success of meeting specific program objectives.

In an agency like Koroberi, where we integrate advertising, design, public relations and interactive marketing strategies in our campaigns, we are increasingly experiencing a push by B2B publishers to bill for media coverage in line with advertising book rates.  This is particularly evident in our programs that target Latin and South America, China, and Europe, unlike in the US and Canada where titles still run promotional PR at no charge.  Right now this trend relates to positive PR and product and service promotions rather than breaking news items.  Therefore, we find value in using AVEs to measure our PR campaign results because we see a greater and more direct commercial connection between advertising and public relations in B2B marketing.

Even if we still value AVEs in measuring our public relations work, we are pleased that the public relations community is striving to improve the credibility and quality of work in the profession.

To learn more about the “The Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles” and how the principles will potentially change the public relations industry, visit http://ketchumperspectives.com/.

Thanks to Ketchum and Jack Mello for the lead-in on the blog post.

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Can you judge a tradeshow based on candy-to-booth ratio?

I was one of the thousands that flooded McCormick Place in Chicago to attend PACK EXPO International 2010 over the past few days. The tradeshow, which bills itself as the most “complete packaging and processing show in the world’s largest market,” plays host to over 1,600 companies from around the globe to showcase their solutions.

The show was bustling, and spirits were high (and it wasn’t just because of the Reese’s we had up for grabs). I don’t want to say that anything is “over,” but it was clear that budgets were opening back up, if not on paper at least in the mind of attendees. Automation was on everyone’s radar, and the robotic arms at my client’s booth were a big draw (“robots are in this year” was an oft heard statement).

This was my second PACK EXPO; my first was in 2008, right after “the crash.” I remember a floor where most exhibitors seemed to be on the show floor purely out of contractual agreement. Most attendees meandered through the booths (on travel budgets that were approved in early 2008) with no real goals or projects in their back pockets. I saw a great deal of students and a lot of booth staff just waiting.

Not 2010. 2010 was a completely different story. It probably wasn’t the largest attendance PMMI has ever seen at the show, but those who were there meant business. I could see real projects being estimated in the conference rooms and “ASAP” entered along with the attendee’s request for information. At the airport, I met a gentleman who said this had been his company’s best year yet, and I heard the same from a major robotic manufacturer and similar thoughts from my client.

Want to know how I really knew things were looking up this year? Free candy. Good free candy. In 2008, budgets were so tight with exhibitors there wasn’t a jelly bean in sight. Booths were overflowing with good candy and really good giveaway prizes.

If the show at 2010 is any indication, then budgets are beginning to feel a bit looser – unlike the pants of the attendees that couldn’t help but have a few bites.

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Buying something without a review feels a bit like buying blind.

Decision time: there’s a sale on a GPS at what seems like a decent price. There are bold, red letters letting me know that this item runs a “high sellout risk.” Do I pull the trigger? Not quite yet.

I need to hear the experience of others. I want to know first-hand if someone is pleased (or displeased) with their item. First I check the reviews on the site. Then I try the reviews on Amazon, followed by a quick Google search for other opinions. Finally, I check the warranty and return policy and, if comforted by my findings, make the purchase. If a $200 GPS warrants this amount of research, I can’t imagine the effort put into making purchases in the thousands or higher.

I’m not the only one that likes to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. I was recently speaking to a client who commented that customers are always asking for first-hand examples of the company’s capabilities in specific target markets. This particular client’s sales staff, however, was hesitant to ask their customers for a short testimonial or participation in a case study.

This unwillingness to share customer information is understandable, though it can’t be the end of the discussion. The biggest hurdle is the ladder of buy-in. It’s our job as PR and marketing professionals to support the internal marketing team in communicating the importance of the satisfied customer voice. We need to get the sales staff and their supervisors on board and ensure that they understand the powerful influence that a testimonial can have. We’ve seen success through internal communications and reward programs that incentivize staff to push just a little harder to get customers to participate.

Case studies and testimonials are marketing gold. They allow a company to showcase a success story while controlling the content. A case study, unlike unmoderated, user-driven content, ensures a positive message that is peer-driven and promotes sales.

Not only is a case study handy in the sales room – it’s also a key part of a PR professional’s toolkit. It’s like an Ace up my sleeve – if an editor is hungry for content, a case study is almost always a welcome addition to any publication or web site. If customers are looking for case studies in the dealership, they’re most certainly looking for them in magazines or online. We can always squeeze a few more placements out of a case study, use the selected images or pull quotes for an upcoming editorial piece.

When looking to create a piece of collateral, it’s advantageous to produce something that has almost infinite uses. The case study, applicable in the salesroom, the boardroom and the newsroom, is that piece of the puzzle that reinforces the high level of quality, service and support that are the foundation of a brand.

Yesterday, when Reed Elsevier announced the intention to sell off the majority of its RBI publications, while retaining those that “fit well with [their] plans”* we were taken aback. Sure, it’s “happening everywhere” in the print magazine industry, and this is not the first we’ve heard of RBI’s sale but it’s difficult to accept that a major player in the business can just throw up their hands and walk away.

It seems that North American trade press has been hit even harder than mainstream news. What’s the future of B2B communications while print flounders?

For many, the answer is a move to digital media – whether by offering an optional digital format of the magazine or a full-service Web site that includes articles, blogs, comments and news feeds. Content that is consistantly updated in real-time is the lifeblood of these sites and has become integral to the SEO strategies of companies fighting to maintain relevancy in a saturated online market.

The move to all-digital formats makes sense for many of these publications. After all, many of their readers are stationed at a computer or near their Blackberry/Palm/iPhone most of the day, so a digital media form makes sense.**

In order for these endeavors to succeed, these publications will have to become integrated; that is to say, it will likely have to go above an offering of a .pdf version of a magazine.  These sites should become the “hub” for their readers; a place where content is shared, readers become part of the conversation and remain engaged and informed. for digital magazines and Web sites for many of these trade publications.

Among all trade publishers, Reed publications have generated arguably the largest online media presence. Many have adopted not only a digital format (which I’m thankful for, on behalf of trees and my recycling bin), but also blogs, vlogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts. They saw the writing on the wall, got creative and adapted at a breakneck speed, exceeding the expectations of many. These sites do not behave like stereotypical, flat B2B trade pub Web sites – they are dynamic, interesting and content-rich. What more could you ask for?

I have faith that these publications, bolstered by their web-savvy editors, will emerge from the chopping block even stronger than before. I hope that investors can see the value in these publications, the bargain price they’re going for and, moreover, the influence and respect they have in their respective markets. To all of the editors that we have worked with here at Koroberi, we will see you on the flip side – and be sure to comment on your blog.

*(including the construction units Reed Construction Data US & Canada and RS Means, entertainment units Variety, Marketcast, LA411 and Buyerzone)

**I did see a few copies of a familiar B2B software magazine at the gym a few weeks ago, where admittedly reading from a screen is a bit difficult.

On February 9, Dow Chemical registered the website URL www.BanAminopyralid.com. This is a bit questionable since the company actually produces a product called aminopyralid. The domain sits dormant without content and is merely a placeholder – for now.  For UK gardeners last year, and for US gardeners this year, aminopyralid – a hormonal herbicide used to kill weeds in hay and straw fields – has become a nightmare.

Here’s the deal: in the tightly-knit coven of commercial-chemical and -seed producers (often one and the same), agricultural extension services, and growers/producers, the work of the farm gets done via something called a “producer program.”  A “program” consists of soil amendments, herbicides, pesticides and seed stock genetically modified to flourish in this chemical bath. You plant the right seed, you spray the right chemicals and everything comes up roses.

But unintended consequences have a strange way of showing up where you least expect them. In the case with aminopyralid, when hay and straw produced using the chemical was sold to local horse and cattle farms, the chemical was passed along in the produce. Horses and cows eat the hay and sleep on the straw, creating a manure-and-straw-bedding mixture that is then composted, left to cook for a year or so and then sold to compost packagers and vegetable gardeners.

Then something strange happens. The local extension service (find yours here) begins to get calls about twisted tomato vines with curly leaves, wilting eggplant and droopy potato plants. Strawberry producers loose a season’s crop. Suburban gardeners report wilting zinnias. And then you suddenly realize – the herbicide that was in the manure has now contaminated the soil, and may continue to contaminate the soil for years to come, which is just one of many worries, as no one completely understands the full effects of the pesticide.

Recently banned in the UK for its devastating impact on vegetable and flower gardeners (Dow UK has its own reactionary website, this one called www.ManureMatters.co.uk), the true impact of aminopyralid is only just now being felt in the US. While there were some reports of impact last year, they are becoming more frequent this year, in reaction to the application of aged compost by farmers. We appear to be running a year behind the UK in our cycle, but the spring of 2009 will be remembered by many local farmers and market gardeners as the “Spring of Aminopyralid” as they witness the unintended consequences that follow its use.

So when Dow registered www.BanAminopyralid.com, they were undoubtedly anticipating competition for the domain. Or perhaps they were simply being good corporate citizens, preempting the public outcry. What next? As this is America, the likelihood of a class action lawsuit is probably greater than the likelihood of a ban on the chemical. In the meantime, beware of putting any compost on your garden, whether from a plastic bag or from a local farmer in the back of a truck. Buy local, but buyer beware, Dow Chemical’s slogan, “bringing good things to life,” is not necessarily referring to the life of your produce.

Advertising and PR firms are often the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to economic indicators. Because we work on the cutting edge of production and consumption, we often see, and are affected by, economic downturns and upturns earlier than more general service industries. So for all the folks who thought we were crazy talking about a downturn back in late 2007, oh well….

But now that we are all here, let’s talk about survival.

Surviving in a downturn means taking the same medicine as our clients – controlling costs, being fiscally responsible, and providing value for money.

The first responsibility is to stay solvent. If this means cutting agency travel, perks and even staff, then you just have to bite the bullet. Observing the impact of some recent agency bankruptcies provides well-managed companies a chance to capitalize on Koroberi’s history of fiscal responsibility, good credit and strong cash position – credentials and references that are of equal importance to good work. Nobody wants their trusted business partner to go under, and even less so to go under owing money already paid by the client in good faith.

But in addition to sound financial management, you’ve got to proactively provide clients with more for less. Don’t wait for the budget cuts, they are going to come. Instead, look at ways you can help your client succeed in spite of the budget pressures they face.

If you are able, offer to assist with client cash flow management through delayed or accrued billing.

Keep negotiating with publishers and other vendors for better deals and discounts, and pass these on to the client. Of course, you need to have great credit and a good paying history to get these discounts, which reinforces the need for sound fiscal management mentioned earlier.

Develop program and package bundles that allow you to pass on savings in return for longer term client commitments. We are all in the same boat, so be open about what you are doing and why. Publishers, media companies and printers intent on survival would all rather have some business at some price than no business at too high a price.

And finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help. There is nothing like sharing the bad times to build relationships.

With a little help from our friends, we can all survive to thrive another day.