360PR Blog

Monitoring and measuring PR is a constantly evolving part of our day-to-day life here at 360 and one that depends heavily on a number of variables including the client and the project itself. Another key variable is the tools – websites and services – that make monitoring and providing metrics possible. There are a number of advanced monitoring and measurement services available, like Cymfony , Nielsen or Visible Technologies . We rely on resources such as social media monitoring service Cision , Radian6 , and CustomScoop , and also tap into a variety of free tools, such as TweetBeep , Google News/Blog Search, Google Trends , Compete.com , Quantcast.com , and Alexa.com , among a number of others.I was delighted to hear about the launch of a shiny new tool, Dataopedia.com , which just launched this month and aggregates many of the free measurement (not monitoring) services we use into one site, streamlining the process of gathering web metrics and other info about a particular site or blog. Instead of going to each of these sites individually, you can, for the most part, visit just one! Dataopedia pulls info from Alexa, Compete, Quantcast to show site traffic as well as provides Google Page Rank and info from social media sites like YouTube, Twitter, Google News, and Technorati to illustrate popularity, among other sources. For some reason the "Tour" video for the site wasn’t working for me, but if you want to learn more about the specifics, click here or visit www.dataopedia.com ….

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Filed under: Internet, Measurement, PR Industry, Social Media by EliciaBasoli - 7 Comments →

We just fed the latest issue of our MomSquad Trendletter.  The lead feature looks at moms’ take on product awards.  So many of our clients participate in awards programs, and there’s been a proliferation of such programs in the past couple of years.  Media companies and others have figured out that not only do awards benefit the recipient, they can attract attention for the publication, web site or other entity making the award.

Awards do help products break through in a cluttered marketplace – at least catching moms’ (and presumably other consumers’) eyes initially.  Some awards aren’t worth the time – it seems everyone wins, watering down the value of their seal.  Consumers catch on quickly.  And not every company can afford to enter every award.  But organizations like Parents’ Choice and Family Fun run heavily research-based award programs with strict criteria, and we’ve seen them make a difference – especially for new and unproven products and emerging categories of products and media.

Read more about moms’ view of award seals, as well as “Sitter Socials” and what’s on mom’s New Year’s resolutions list in our December Trendletter, and let us know what you think!

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Consumer Marketing, Media and Press, PR Industry, Parenting by LauraTomasetti - 2 Comments →

“This could possibly be the Christmas that the Grinch stole,” said Talbot’s President & CEO Trudy Sullivan at the Boston Chamber’s Women’s Network Breakfast December 10.  The Grinch is also apparently stealing our time too – I’ve been trying to get this post up since the morning I heard Ms. Sullivan speak.

Ms. Sullivan, a fashion industry vet (she headed Liz Claiborne and J. Crew before recently taking the top post at Talbot’s), likened today’s economic conditions to the Blizzard of ’78, which for New Englanders immediately conjures an image of seemingly impassable four-foot drifts of snow.  “You know you’re going to have to dig out when the storm is over, you’re not looking forward to it, but you’ll do it, one snow shovelful at a time,” she said.

Amid forecasts of a double-digit downturn in specialty retail, Ms. Sullivan and her team are investing in marketing, not cutting back. “The highest priority spending for us is anything that touches the consumer – marketing, how our stores look, merchandising.”  Talbot’s smartly recognizes that no matter how dark the economy appears, it has to take steps to keep existing customers and attract new ones.

One of the things sure to emerge from this economic snow storm is a savvier consumer.  That creates an opportunity for brands to step up and assume a leadership role in helping consumers make more educated purchasing decisions.  Marketing can help, by telling a fuller brand story and going beyond the tagline to offer tangible tools and tips on brand web sites, via direct mail, through editorial and spokespersons, and more. [Read more →]

Filed under: Events and Conferences, Industry Organizations, PR Industry, Uncategorized by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →

In November, 10,000 educators converged in Dallas for the annual NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) conference. Dedicated to learning the latest techniques and tools of their profession, the four-day event was quite a showing of the commitment teachers make. The jam-packed schedule of sessions and workshops included topics from “brain smart” music to a topic close to us at 360 – utilizing technology in positive ways to impact learning.

Experts like Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D., editor of Children’s Technology Review, were on hand to share their perspective on education and technology. New services like PBS’ www.readytolearnreading.org, a literacy site for children 2-5, are demonstrating that technology can have a positive impact on children’s learning.

One of the most interesting sessions was called “Reexamining NAEYC’s Position Statement on Technology and Young Children”. NAEYC’s last official statement on Technology and Children was issued in 1996, but it was clear from the vocal session participants that technology is a heated topic with a vast array of opinions about its place in the classroom.

There were certainly a few steadfast teachers against technology in the classroom – one commented that she wondered why you would use the Internet to teach about volcanoes when you could use a hands-on lesson plan to create one for them. Still, most others in the room were already using technology, noting that this generation is one of digital natives and the classroom needs to be place where a positive use of technology encourages learning.

Interestingly, the session was held just days after CNN had “beamed” a hologram of correspondent Jessica Yellin from Chicago to the CNN press center in New York City, where Wolf Blitzer and the rest of the team were covering election returns. One teacher commented that in the future, this could be a type of technology we’ll see in virtual classrooms – where experts and guest speakers from around the globe could “beam in” to inspire students. Don’t laugh….it may not be too far off!

In its original position statement on Children and Technology, NAEYC says “Early childhood educators should use technology as a tool for communication and collaboration among professionals as well as a tool for teaching children. Technology is an area of the curriculum, as well as a tool for learning, in which teachers must demonstrate their own capacity for learning.”

1996 may seem like the dark ages of technology – no iPhones, CNN holograms, (what did we do without them?!) – but that statement still seems like a pretty wise one to me. So as it updates this position statement, I certainly look forward to hearing what NAEYC will communicate as its Position on Technology and Young Children for the future.

What do you think they should include?

Filed under: Events and Conferences by Admin - No Comments →

The Council of PR Firms is hosting a series of workshops to help non-profits leverage digital media.  Perhaps more than any sector, non-profits have been hit hardest by the economy.  Donations to candidates’ campaigns in this year’s Presidential election also have taken away precious dollars from non-profit organizations.

At the same time, non-profits operating in the social services sector, such as The Women’s Lunch Place here in Boston, have had to balance inceased needs and the higher cost of providing services (for example, food and health care costs have skyrocketed) with tighter support.

Digital and social media could be a big boon to non-profits looking to extend their donor base, especially those trying to tap into younger philanthropists and volunteers whose first interaction with a non-profit may be online.  In addition, social media provides a more interactive environment to engage existing supporters, and can also save thousands of dollars in printed materials.

The Council’s digital workshops for non-profits will be held beginning this month and into early next year in Los Angeles (Dec. 11), Boston (Jan. 14), San Francisco (Jan. 27), Raleigh (Feb. 19), Dallas (date TBD) and Washington, DC (date TBD).

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Boston, Cause-Related, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Industry Organizations, Internet by LauraTomasetti - 2 Comments →

On Tuesday the MIT Enterprise Forum Interactive Entertainment Special Interest Group hosted a panel and networking event in Cambridge bringing together local game industry executives to discuss video game marketing and PR. Rodney Brown of Mass High Tech moderated the panel and 360′s own Stacey Clement, as well as Sarah McIlroy of Fashion Playtes, Alex Rodberg of Turbine, and Joe McDonagh of 2K Boston, participated as panelists.Mass High Tech wrote a great article yesterday summarizing the event (check it out here), but I also wanted to share a few additional valuable points that Stacey and the other panelists touched upon:

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Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Boston, Video Games by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

The economy is wreaking havoc in the publishing world.  In case you’ve lost count (it’s been hard to keep track), Advertising Age rounded up a list of magazine closings this year.

There are some good ones that we’ll miss (O at Home, Home, Play), and others not so much.   Was Playgirl really still in print?  Do we need an entire magazine dedicated to finding a spa?

The latest closing is a surprising one.  National Geographic announced this month it will cease publication of its Green Guide, which launched on newsstands earlier this year.  Though I guess a hard copy magazine is not really a “green” guide.  The Internet wins again.

Filed under: Media and Press by LauraTomasetti - 5 Comments →

Everyone wants to be green.  Recent trends clearly indicate this.  But environmentally friendly practices merely scratch the surface when it comes to measuring degrees of the social responsibility taken by companies and corporations that are competing in the modern marketplace.  Corporate social responsibility extends into society as a whole, including communities, employees, customers, and practically any stakeholder that is impacted by a particular company.

What does this mean for brands?  According to Professor Gustavo A Yepes Lopez of the Universidad Externado de Columbia, who has conducted thorough research on the topic of corporate social responsibility in Latin America, it means everything.  I listened to Professor Lopez give a presentation on the subject last evening at a Publicity Club of New England event which was moderated by Dr. Robert Brown, whom I have had the privilege to study under.  He made the argument that since it is in the hands of the consumer whether a company succeeds or fails, it is a direct result of consumer opinions and actions if a company changes its social mission.  In this reactive sense, it is obvious why companies might be so eager to do all that they can to be viewed as socially responsible.  If your image is bad, it is likely business will be bad.  But what about the potential for taking a proactive approach to the ways that a brand impacts each of its stakeholders?  [Read more →]

Filed under: Cause-Related, Events and Conferences by Admin - No Comments →