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Blogland will be buzzing tomorrow as the new FTC Guides take effect, clarifying rules for disclosure of material relationships between bloggers and brands.  We talked to blogger members of our MomSquad to get their reaction to the guidelines – what the rules mean for their blogs and what advice bloggers have for brands.

“I couldn’t be happier about the new guidelines,” says Jill Notkin of Work at Home Mom.  “Over the last year, everybody with a computer has jumped on the ‘blogwagon’ and the saturation is making it difficult for serious bloggers to maintain a reputable face.  Maybe this will bring more respect back to blogging.”

“I am now including a disclosure statement at the end of each post – I either add my own verbiage or use verbiage the brand supplies,” explains Mom’s Favorite Stuff’s Jodi Grundig. “Brands should be up front with how they’d like bloggers to handle disclosure on products they supply.  If the brand and blogger isn’t in agreement with how disclosure should be handled, it’s probably not a good fit.  I do think some companies have been going a bit overboard with disclosure, however.  I’ve been asked to write, ‘this recipe was supplied to me for free from xx.’  I really don’t want to see blogs become all disclosure/no valuable content.”

“In order to give an honest review, you must try products and put them to the test.  It’s no secret companies offer products for this purpose and your audience will not think less of your opinions when this is disclosed,” comments Julie Gerber of The Gerber Babies Blog (not that ‘Gerber’).
“I think brands should look at the sites first and find the blogs that are a good fit for them,” advises Anisa Raoff of Kidoinfo. “Do they want to send their product out to whoever will review it or does it matter who the blogger is?  Do they want to align with certain blogs because of the content on their site?”  Great questions.

“Brands need to cover their own ‘behinds’ – there are plenty of review bloggers who take [the FTC Guides] seriously and work professionally and there are others who do not,” adds Posh Parent Clarissa Nassar, also a Glambassador for Glamour magazine.

“I just wish the rest of the media world was held to similar accountability, especially celebrities,” says Mommy Niri Nirasha Jaganath.

And on that note, the FTC guides do go beyond bloggers, extending the same rules of transparency and disclosure to third-party experts utilized as spokespersons and celebrity endorsements – and that’s a good thing.  We’ll have much more on this topic in the December issue of the 360PR MomSquad Trendletter. Meantime, some good resources are Blog with Integrity and the Council of PR Firms’ Code of Ethics. Love to hear your comments!

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Marketing to Moms, Social Media by LauraTomasetti - 4 Comments →

It’s been a fun - and intense - couple of weeks at the office, with Black Friday approaching and the holiday retail season “officially” getting underway.  In Europe, consumers start their holiday shopping in early November.  They don’t have Thanksgiving to contend with.  Here, consumers are starting their holiday shopping later each year - and this year looking for that magic phrase, “gifts under,” their queue to save.

Budget gifts, green gifts, online gifts  - we got ‘em, along with an array of creative pitches to light up holiday gift guides.  Here’s a 360 holiday “wish list” for you and yours as you hit the stores for Black Friday and beyond (all 360 clients, of course!):

For family fun under $40, try Winning Moves’ 2009 version of the classic board game PAY DAY - cha-chink!   Need to really stretch that holiday budget?  Bendaroos offer hours of creative play time that’ll challenge the kiddies and keep mom and dad smiling, costing less than $20.

Got a gadget-guru on your list?  Oregon Scientific’s ECO+ line of clocks and weather stations are sleek and solar-powered, for a true “green” Christmas.

Don’t want to venture out?  Online subscriptions are easy to give.  For your favorite home cook, an Allrecipes gift membership offers access to premium content and features on the #1 food site.  (Check out Allrecipes.tv live stream the day before Thanksgiving for turkey prep tips & more.)

And who can resist a cuddly Snuggie? Look for the new red microplush Snuggie in store, online and on-air this weekend. We’ve sent Snuggie blankets custom-stitched with network logos to morning show anchors and broadcast talent hosting the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and big games.

The point is, we want you to get out (or get online) and shop!  There are some great deals to be had and fun gifts to pick up, and this Friday should be Black, not red.

Filed under: Uncategorized by LauraTomasetti - 4 Comments →

I had the pleasure of moderating an informative panel of leading brands and bloggers in the parenting space at last month’s Marketing 2 Moms conference.  We’ve edited the two-hour session down to a 13-minute podcast, packed with tips and insights – worth a listen as you’re building your 2010 campaigns and considering how to initiate or extend your work with bloggers.

eMarketer reports that there are 34 million moms online and that may very well be a conservative estimate – we’ve seen numbers as high as 40+ million moms online.  And as parenting books such as Child, Wondertime and Cookie have ceased publication, hundreds more mom bloggers have begun posting.  There’s no denying it, blogs are a legitimate part of the mom media mix today – especially if you want to reach the connected, influencer-moms who have the power to word-of-mouth your brand.  But with more bloggers and brands jumping in, the environment is cluttered, and communications needs to be on point to break through and resonate with bloggers and their readers.

Moreover, with the FTC Guides taking effect 12/1, brands need to be diligent with their monitoring – making sure what is played back is accurate and any material relationships are clearly disclosed. We all have lots at stake – brands, bloggers and, most of all, readers.  Here’s what the experts at M2Moms had to say:

“Blogger relations should be about “quality over quantity…what [bloggers] say is more important than the numbers.” – Lesley Hettinger, General Motors Corp

“The intimate conversations are so much more valuable…it’s not about building an army, but an influential group of advisors and advocates…you really have to look at the long tail.” – Jeannine Harvey, PBS

“To me, it’s always about the added value…brands need to be able to provide added value” when working with bloggers and their audiences. – Kristin Brandt, Manic Mommies

“Blogs are such a personal experience for the reader…it’s really important that everything on that page be reflective of who we are.” – Liz Gumbinner, Cool Mom Picks & Blog with Integrity

“We want to get to know moms on a 1:1 basis.  We’re always reading blogs and looking at what bloggers are talking about on Twitter.”  - Marcia Hansen, Allstate Insurance Company

“I feel better about a brand if they have a presence on Twitter.  But the most important thing is to have someone monitoring…you have to have someone interacting with your customers.” – Beth Blecherman, Silicon Valley Moms Group

For more, listen to the M2Moms Brands & Blogs podcast below. A BIG thanks to Kristin Brandt for recording the session and to Susan Getgood for her masterful editing!

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Consumer Marketing, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Marketing to Moms, Parenting, Pitch tips by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →

In case you’re unaware, the 360PR Facebook Fan page launched yesterday! To celebrate, this week’s digital news stories all focus on, you guessed it, Facebook!

The 360 digital team invites you to become a fan of 360 Public Relations and poke around on our page.  You may be surprised to see dogs outfitted in Snuggies walking the runway and 360PR staffers dressed in furry hats and boas, but we promise, it’s all there.  You can also catch up on news related to 360PR, like our most recent edition of the MomSquad Trendletter.  You can even read our blog posts right on our page!

So log on, and then read on, for the latest Facebook buzz!

All Facebook “Want To Run a Promotion For Your Company? Facebook Must Approve It First” – Many brands offer promotions via their Facebook pages.  Previously, these promos were, for the most part, freely run and seemed to greatly benefit the company behind the contest by gaining fans and building buzz.  As of last Thursday, Facebook is cracking down on the rules and regulations behind company-run Facebook promotions. Not only is there a new set of strict guidelines outlining what companies can and cannot do, Facebook must approve all promos before they go live.

Mashable “Facebook Ads Now Let You Target Friends of Your Fans” – A new feature from Facebook Ads allows you to expand your audience beyond just your friends. Now, if you’re invited to an event, are part of a group, or use a Facebook application, your friends are able to see ads targeted at you.  Marketers rejoice!

All Facebook “5 Ways to Instantly Boost Your Facebook Page Traffic” – This is one article you can bet we’ve studied up on!  It’s all in the name – gain fans by implementing the strategies in this piece.

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - 2 Comments →

Following the landmark research reveal on 2008 social media adoption trends by Dr. Nora Barnes at last Friday’s Society for New Communications Research Symposium SNCR.com, I floated a question that richoted around the room like a bullet.

Very simply I asked, “Who was the first Fortune 500 company to blog?”

Dr. Barnes respectfully deferred the question to the many experts in the room, and it was an immediate jumpball. Shel Israel was the first to speak up, saying he was fairly certain that General Motor’s was the first official mover in 2005 with its fastlane blog.  John Cass took possession of the ball next saying he was fairly certain that either SUN or Microsoft, or maybe both, were ahead of GM. A brawl ensued.

To get some answers, I reached out to Steve Harris at General Motors and Molly O’Donnel at Microsoft.  John Cass was a huge help too - he has been following all these guys since 2004 - forever in internet years - and was able to dig up some old blog posts and research for me.

So, who was right?

[Read more →]

Filed under: Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Social Media by CindyGordon - 1 Comment →

Research doesn’t easily wow me, but this particular study did.

I’m referring to the research presented by Dr. Nora Barnes from The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at last Friday’s SNCR conference in Cambridge, MA.   Her study compared the adoption rates of social media from 2007 and 2008 between the 200 largest charities, the Fortune 500, the Inc 500, and the top US colleges and universities.

This study reveals that use of social networking, blogging and video blogging has increased dramatically. Video is up 38%, social networking 47% and blogging.

What’s really remarkable are the differences between sectors.

Charitable organizations are outpacing the business world and academia in their use of social media. In the study, a remarkable 89% percent of charities are using some form of social media including blogs, podcasts, message boards, social networking, video blogging and wikis.

 Also, charities are far and away “out-blogging” everyone. 57% of charities have blogs.  The Fortune 500 has the fewest number of blogs at 16%, followed by the Inc. 500 with 39%. Colleges and universities are blogging at 41%.

My initial reaction was to question how this could be happening when clearly top companies have many times the staff and money resources of non profits. Then I remembered that no matter the depth of your organization or the size of your budget, everyone can have an equal voice on the internet. What matters is the power of your brand.

[Read more →]

Filed under: Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Industry Organizations, Social Media by CindyGordon - 1 Comment →

Filed under: Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - 1 Comment →

Consumers want brands to help them stay informed. And with people often times defining themselves by the brands they buy, companies should be doing more than just providing a product or service. By educating consumers about topics surrounding a brand or an industry, they are likely to more deeply engage with that brand. 

eMarketer posted an article last week about Lightspeed Research’s “Global Web Index.” According to the research, “providing relevant news and analysis” was one of the top actions that US Internet users say brands can take (it came in 2nd to “offering discounts”). “Providing new ideas and thinking” came in at a close third place.

To illustrate your company’s thought leadership position and share its expertise with consumers, social media is the perfect platform. Some companies keep consumers informed through Twitter updates, Facebook applications, the production of online videos or podcasts, a blog, or via their own community driven company website.

HSBC and VISA are two great examples of companies that are providing small business owners with informative advice and tips. Both companies have “Business Networks” through which they share, for example, toolkits for Online Marketing and Cash Flow Management for small business owners. They also branch out from their network websites to other social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter. 

Home Depot is another great example. They not only have “Home Improver” and “Garden Club” group websites where consumers can ask experts questions, but they have Home Depot TV and a YouTube page, which hosts numerous do-it-yourself and how-to project videos. Home Depot also shares tips and tricks via its Twitter account andFacebook page.

What brands help you stay informed and about what?

Filed under: Digital PR, Internet, Social Media by EliciaBasoli - 1 Comment →

Everyone could use a little assistance when navigating through the social media jungle. There are countless social media services, platforms and applications, and it seems as if a new one pops up every day. That’s why, this week, we’re sharing some of the best tools for tweeting at your tweeps, tagging your friends and polling your pals.

Mashable “Social Monitoring Console: Advanced Moderation for Your Facebook Page” - If you work for a company with a number of brands and have a Facebook presence, you’re in luck. A neat new tool from social marketing company ContextOptional now allows you to utilize Facebook Connect to manage multiple pages through viewing your Facebook accounts on different tabs. Multi-taskers rejoice!

Adotas “Agencies Find Social Media Buddy” - Social media platform Buddy Media is appropriately named - it’s any web connoisseur’s new best friend. In mere minutes, you can now host a photo, YouTube link, Twitter stream, survey, and virtually anything else your heart desires, all on one page. It’s everything you need in one place - what could be better?

Mashable “HOW TO: Find and Add Facebook Apps” - Do you remember when Facebook allowed you to have only a single photo, any one of your “friends” could delete your entire wall, and there were no sheep to be thrown? Those days are a distant memory now, as surveys, games, and what seems like anything imaginable is available as a downloadable Facebook application. Feeling confused and overwhelmed when you log on and are told your friend’s cows got lose in FarmVille? You’re not alone. Let Facebook’s official App Directory be your guide.

Filed under: Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - 3 Comments →

Still aglow from pumpkin carving, indulging our inner monster and overindulging on mini-sized candy bars, the 360 Digital Team took a look at how brands competed for our affection by getting into the Halloween spirit. Just as costume couture has great range, so did these promotions: some were cute, some clever, some cool and hip, and of course some downright scary. In no particular, our four faves and the lessons we learned.

Taco Bell

Taco Bell is a brand that is not afraid to try new tricks. To scare up customer interest on Halloween (which nicely fell on the same day as the World Series), they treated fans across America to free Black Jack Tacos after 6 PM. To promote the giveaway, they ran 15-second spots on TV and promoted the giveaway on Facebook as “It’s not our trick. It’s our treat” (as an aside, they have 652,000 fans). Taco Bell fans got into the spirit of things, even posting photos of themselves dressed as hot sauce packets and tacos. The company hasn’t yet reported the sales that were driven by this brand stunt, but seeing how their Liberty Bell stunt (they announced that Taco Bell had purchased the Liberty Bell) lifted revenue by $600,000 in one day, I’m sure it was a good holiday for the chain. By the way, does anyone share my interest in knowing what ingredients make the taco shells this dark shade of black?

Category: Edgy
Lesson Learned: It pays to be generous and to not take yourself too seriously.
Link: http://www.facebook.com/tacobell?v=app_2344061033

Foo Fighters

The Foo Fighters jumped right into the Halloween Festivities and performed a free, live concert on Facebook on October 30 from their Studio 606 complex in California. They used the same Livestream technology that was used for CNN’s live stream of Barack Obama’s inauguration. Earlier this month, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and his group “Them Crooked Vultures” released their new single on Facebook.  The facebook concert was a great treat for fans and good trick by the Foo Fighters. What was especially neat was seeing fans of the band connecting from across the world. While performing, band members were paying attention to the stream of status updates, responding to comments, and even taking song requests from fans! I couldn’t help but notice that their fan base on facebook increased considerably over the last week. They also had 17,000 confirmed guests and 1,700 wall posts. Talk about engaging with your fans! Coincidence that they are releasing their greatest hits compilation later this month? I think not.

Category: Cool
Lesson: There is an undeniable trend of live events moving online. You can reach a significant online audience and the costs are low. There is something to be said for thinking big online.
Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=317195110480

Target

A brand with nearly 600,000 fans on Facebook and such panache for design found a clever way to use Halloween to create consumer engagement AND drive sales. They created a dedicated “Halloween” tab on their facebook page.  Click on it and you land on Target’s Halloween Horroscope page, featuring the cute skeleton animals from “skelanimals,” which just happens to be a cutting edge line of junior apparel sold only at Target under the tag line  ”Dead animals need love too.” Answer three quick questions and either the dead dog, cat, bat or spider spits out your horrorscope.  Seems my sign was “Scaries” and like “Dax” the dead dog, I am dying to keep the party alive. I was prompted to click on “my costume in the stars,” and up popped an awesome “Go Go Dress” costume, which I could instantly buy for $38.99 or I could browse the other 5000 costumes for purchase.

Category: Sassy
Lesson: Creativity works, and you CAN engage customers and drive brand sales in one fell swoop online.
Link: http://www.facebook.com/target#/target?v=app_149255152302

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal

If you really like to marinate in Halloween, then you probably know that rival theme parks Busch Gardens and Universal make recreation out of seeing who can send the biggest chill up the spines of their guests.  This year, in addition to the haunted houses, the entertainment team at Universal stole the honors with the idea of taking Horror previously only seen on the silver screen and bringing it to life - we’re talking really really scary flicks like Wolfman, Saw, Chucky and Fangoria. The event created major buzz with a super scary website (you hear the hum of a chainsaw in the background the whole time), and an app called “mobile terror” that gave fans updates (aka built buzz) prior to arrival, and offered trivia and wait times for haunted houses while at the event! (aka good customer service) If you couldn’t get to the event, you could enjoy one of the nine terrifying videos on the Hallowen Horror Nights facebook. For the first time ever, Universal also offered their Twitter followers “behind the scenes” access with their top Creative Director revealing exclusive information and tweeting a running creative chronicle of the celebrated event’s design, casting and production.

Category: Terrifyingly good
Lesson: Buzzworthy events with huge fan bases are an ideal fit for social media. And, if you’re going to look for inspiration for a marketing idea, why not borrow from popular culture.
Link: http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/

Filed under: Retail, Social Media by CindyGordon - 6 Comments →