I read a great article in AdWeek recently titled, “Earned Media Isn’t Paid Media and Five Other Principles to Keep in Mind.”

Let’s go back to the basics…

• Earned media isn’t paid media. Any place that’ll take cash for editorial credit isn’t worth your time and isn’t credible. (The fashion mags are a possible exception to this rule, unfortunately.) What’s more, your pay-for-play approach may end up hitting the headlines for trying to deceive the public.
• Earned media requires being interesting and open. You have to have a story to tell — a real, meaningful story that a journalist, blogger or tech-empowered consumer will think is worth listening to and sharing.
• Listen to the people you paid to help you. Don’t hire a PR person or agency and then ignore them when they tell you that the story you’re presenting is either too boring, a lie or, even worse, a lie that’ll get found out. I’ve heard 100 PR people say “yes, I know it’s bullshit, but it’s what they wanted to say.” Not only is going against their advice a waste of your money, but it’s also going to undermine your PR people’s credibility and therefore your ability to earn media when you do have something to say.
• You can’t control the message. Despite the popular tabloid moniker, your PR person isn’t a doctor and shouldn’t be spinning. PR helps you communicate something demonstrably true. If you need to know how the message will look when it is shared with the public, stick to ads. When it doesn’t come out quite like you’d imagined, don’t scream at the PR person or the journalist or blogger in question. You’ll just make influential enemies. If your message comes out exactly as you’d hoped, make a note that the journalist in question has no integrity and will soon have no readers, or thank your stars that you got lucky. (Note, however, lucky ain’t scalable.)
• PR isn’t cheaper than advertising, or more expensive, just different. PR agencies have done little to dispel this common misconception, for obvious reasons. But it’s like saying that throwing a party is cheaper than renting a fleet of trucks.
• PR doesn’t replace advertising. Sometimes you need one, sometimes the other. Ideally, you probably want both operating in harmony, orchestrated by the same conductor. Also note: Without advertising, there’d be no “editorial publicity” or, indeed, editorial. Unless, that is, you’re assuming that Mark Zuckerberg is going to find another way to fund Facebook, while the state-funded BBC and nonprofit NPR carve up the rest of the media world between them.

I haven’t really taken advantage of Meetups or Tweetups but it seems like a trend to watch according to an Ad Week article.

The NHL has used Twitter to hold parties in 23 U.S. and Canadian cities, ranging from 10-350 attendees. These Tweetups were originally only going to take place in New York, but fans were eager to participate and soon began taking on responsibility and organizing these events themselves.

Other brands holding Tweetups include Ford, Pepsi, Panasonic and Cisco, and other social networking sites have also been successful at organizing brand parties.

Other brand meetups:

• Ziploc hosted nearly 1,000 “home organization” parties and more than 14,000 people attended
• Sony BMG recently promoted the release of the new Bruce Springsteen CD by sponsoring a wide variety of groups dedicated to subjects like 1980s rock, football and even President Obama. It gave the groups copies of the CD to give away at their meetings.
• Cisco threw a Tweetup at the Consumer Electronics Show in January to compensate for its decision to forgo a trade show booth.
• The NHL used a free Twitter RSVP tool built by an independent developer, and McDonald’s and Bud Light supplied the refreshments in New York
• Ford held a Tweetup two weeks ago to coincide with the New York Auto Show as part of its grassroots marketing experiment for the Ford Fiesta.

“Measuring the success of the get-togethers can be a challenge. Meetup relies on a post-gathering survey to gauge brand metrics. While it’s less focused on tracking directly to leads, but (companies that arrange meetups like) House Party attempt to close the loop on this through the use of tracking coupons and other means.” The most intuative measure of success seems to be the viral buzz-was there any increase in Tweets? Was there an increase in Facebook fans? Are there more blog posts?

Remember the term “payola” from a few years ago referring to the pay-for-play at certain conglomerate radio stations? Here’s a new term discussed in a Business Week article-blogola: paying for blog posts. At a time when advertising, marketing and PR budgets are being slashed, blogola is a fairly inexpensive avenue to get your publicity for a product.

The Federal Trade Commission is soon to release a new set of guidelines “designed to clarify how companies can court bloggers to write about their products. This summer, the government agency is expected to issue new advertising guidelines that will require bloggers to disclose when they’re writing about a sponsor’s product and voicing opinions that aren’t their own. The new FTC guidelines say that blog authors should disclose when they’re being compensated by an advertiser to discuss a product.”

The FTC’s guidelines for editorials and testimonials in ads haven’t changed since 1980. Many people are basing their purchasing decisions on blog content so this is the motivation for this change. Figuring out who works for who and who qualifies as “vendor” and “consumers” has proven tough in the blogosphere, but the FTC is focusing on blog posts written by journalists at news organizations (versus independent bloggers). To add to the confusion, “The coming FTC guidelines don’t define what’s meant by a “payment” and don’t specify what incentives—other than cash—must be disclosed to readers by blog authors.”

Google has even begun demoting paid blog entries in search results in 2007 but this process to determine which posts are paid seems unclear.

The reasoning for these guideline changes seems to be the need to protect the naive consumer. I understand that some people believe anything posted on the internet, but I think there has been a definite push to help the public be more skeptical of their sources of information. What do you think?

The Spa at Charleston Place and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have partnered again to help local residents avoid the very real threat of melanoma. I Will Reflect (IWR) raises awareness and funds for melanoma prevention. Special materials and unique bracelets that change color in sunlight help locals ‘reflect’ on the need to protect their skin.

Why? Because of the coastal location of the Charleston area, many residents are exposed to the sun on a daily basis and many people are not properly protecting their skin. The incidence of melanoma continues to rise significantly, at a rate faster than that of any of the seven most common cancers (source: melanoma.com). The survival rate for patients, whose melanoma is detected early, before the tumor has penetrated the epidermis, is about 99%. The survival rate falls to 15% for those with advanced disease (source: melanoma.com)

There are several ways to “reflect:”

• Wear an “I Will Reflect” bracelet, which glows purple when the wearer’s skin is exposed to dangerous sun rays. Bracelets will be sold at The Spa at Charleston Place and MUSC for $3, and serve as a reminder to reflect on the need to protect skin on a daily basis. All proceeds will be donated to the MUSC Foundation’s Department of Dermatology
• Pamper yourself with two luxury “I Will Reflect” treatments and The Spa at Charleston Place will donate 10% of the cost to MUSC. These treatments combine an indulgent facial or massage with sun safety tips, skin checks and sunscreen gifts.
• Enjoy a 25% discount on a specialty suncare treatment when wearing an “I Will Reflect” bracelet.
• Share the message of skin protection with family and friends by wearing an “I Will Reflect” bracelet.
• Wear sunscreen year round using a minimum of SPF 15.
• Seek shade between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
• Schedule an annual full-body skin check with a dermatologist.

Live close to South Carolina and need help planning your summer vacation? Check out the SCore Your Best Summer Ever program, which highlights the SC you haven’t seen! We have created a “SCorecard,” which contains hyperlinks and can be printed to help plan your vacation with picks from all of the 11 tourism regions in SC.

In the SCorecard, you’ll find: restaurants (most serving local products), golf courses, parks, aquariums, battlefields, museums, amusement parks, outdoor recreation, festivals, historic sites and MORE. We know money is tight this year, so we have 25+ FREE things to do and many inexpensive activities.

Join the Facebook group “SCore Your Best Summer Ever in SC” to get the latest news, photos and videos.

Touchpoint Communications is proud to announce several wins at the 2008 PRSA Mercury Awards…

• Mercury Award for Brand/Reputation Management-Lowcountry AIDS Services campaign (www.aids-services.com)
• Silver Wing Award for Media Relations for Consumer Product-Folbot folding kayaks (www.folbot.com)
• Best in Show for Lowcountry AIDS Services

We were proud today to assist the Verizon Wireless PR, HR and management teams with an event focused on eliminating Domestic Violence. Remarks by state Attorney General Henry McMaster focused on “South Carolina’s number one crime problem.” Verizon Wireless’ effort is to get other business leaders to see the horrible impact in the workplace - and to learn how they can help end the epidemic. See the release here:

May 4, 2009

Len Abbazia

973-656-7020

Colleen Troy

843-296-2033

vERIZON wIRELESS joins SC Attorney General, elected officials and local business leaders to Hold domestic violence awareness event to honor slain employee

Company to Donate $10,000 to SCCADVASA in name of Verizon Wireless Employee

Katrina Johnson and Present $10,000 Scholarship Gift for her Orphaned Children

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC — More than 36,000 victims annually report domestic violence (DV) incidents to law enforcement agencies around South Carolina. To raise awareness of this growing problem in South Carolina and honor the memory of Katrina Johnson, a Verizon Wireless Charleston Call Center employee and local resident who recently lost her life to domestic violence, the company is joining forces with South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, business leaders, elected officials and domestic violence experts to host an awareness event today in the company’s North Charleston Call Center.

One out of three American women report being abused at some point in their lifetime, and 21 percent of full-time, employed adults report they have been a victim. Keynote speaker Olga Mendez, a Verizon Wireless employee and domestic violence survivor, noted that the epidemic affects not only victims and their families but also adversely affects the workplace. Ms. Mendez provided some startling workplace statistics on the impact of domestic violence for both the employee and employer:

· U.S. businesses lose $6 billion a year in healthcare expenses and lost productivity to DV.

· DV costs the workplace 8 million paid work days every year.

· 64% of DV victims say their ability to work is affected by violence.

· 74% of employed, battered women say they have been harassed by their partner at work.

· 84% of Fortune 1500 employees believe corporations should be part of a solution to address domestic violence.

To honor Ms. Johnson, Verizon Wireless presented her family with a $10,000 donation into the Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan for her two orphaned children. The Verizon Foundation also donated $10,000 in Ms. Johnson’s name to the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SCCADVASA), a statewide membership coalition consisting of all the domestic violence programs and rape crisis centers in South Carolina to represent the critical needs of victims/survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Verizon Foundation funds programs that address the heart of social issues such as literacy, K-12 education and domestic violence prevention.

“Domestic violence is South Carolina’s number one crime problem,” said Mr. McMaster. “Domestic violence victims bring their worries and fears to work every day, and it is up to each of us to recognize the signs and act.”

“For the past 14 years, domestic prevention and awareness has been the major community relations focus at Verizon Wireless,” said Linda Broderick, director of Customer Service, Verizon Wireless Charleston Contact Center. “The loss of our Katrina Johnson was devastating. It reminds us we must all work together at the grassroots level by rallying Charleston business and community leaders to educate their employees to detect the signs of physical abuse and follow through with the resources for victims to get help.”

Since 1995, Verizon Wireless has worked to help prevent domestic violence and increase community awareness via its HopeLine national community relations program. HopeLine collects no-longer used wireless phones, batteries and accessories and puts the nation’s most reliable wireless network to work in communities by turning them into support for DV victims. To date, the company has distributed more than 76,000 phones with over 228 million minutes of free wireless service used by victims to help them rebuild their lives.

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About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and data network, serving more than 86.6 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 86,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.