What makes one message resonate more than others? Who's buying whom in the United Airlines-Continental merger? Why does public relations continue to target impressions? How can social networks and advertising be influential but mistrusted? Why is the Mississippi more mighty than the Missouri?
If your communication firm doesn't understand the flow of communication and how framing makes a difference, they might scratch their heads over any one of those questions. It's all very simple, really. Sooner or later someone frames the conversation. And if it sticks, that's all there is in any story until someone comes along with a better method of measures and a better message that communicates it.
Best Fresh Content In Review, Week of May 3
• The PR Hype Cycle.
Valeria Maltoni suggests three areas of improvement for public relations, including database management, improvements to press releases, and how news and information spreads online. The suggestions touch on a bigger issue for public relations, shifting away from attempting to control the message by manipulating the media and toward the original intent of developing mutually beneficial relationships with publics, online or off. It makes more sense than trading media in for online influencers.
• From Chris Brogan to Andy Wibbels.
Ari Herzog considers the daily ranking of marketing listed on AdAge Power 150 and how many of the 1,097 blogs show virtually no movement, with Chris Brogan entrenched at number 1 or 2 and people like Andy Wibbles tucked in at 600. Herzog considers whether those at the top are any less insightful than the bottom, which is precisely why we started the fresh content project. Without question, AdAge is a great list with an increasingly erroneous algorithm of measurement.
• Puffery in Merger Communications.
Sean Williams captures a snapshot that few people notice. When two companies merge and claim it is mutual, it usually is not. In presenting facts from the United Airlines-Continental merger, it seems increasingly clear which company is acquiring which company, making all the talk of a mutual merger not much more than an exercise in puffery. It's not the first time nor will it be the last. People like to pick on AT&T because it has been around for so long. The irony is that AT&T was bought by SBC years ago.
• Social Networks Influential, Not Always Trusted.
Twenty-eight percent of Internet users ages 18-34 say they have purchased a product because of something they have seen on a social networking site, but they'll also say they don't trust anyone if you ask them. The same holds true for media. Ask a group of people how they were introduced to a product and they'll mention advertising. Ask them a few weeks later if they trust advertising and they'll say "not a shot." The same phenomenon exists right now with Facebook. Everybody is outraged over privacy issues, but few people are canceling their accounts.
• The Flow of the First Mover.
The Missouri River has 200 miles on the Mississippi River, but the mighty Mississippi gets all the credit. Ike Pigott gets part of the equation right. It all comes down to big mouths that define how we frame up the world. It works that way for business too. Any company that has an opportunity to define the playing field will always have the advantage. All in all, it's a great analogy that ultimately offers up an answer for every other post included today.
