Media Bullseye

CustomScoop will be attending the upcoming Roundtable on Social Media measurement in Toronto, spearheaded by Joe Thornley of Thornley Fallis Communications. Up for discussion: the Holy Grail (or is it the Nessie?) of social media--measurement.

Public relations belongs to the "girls" in 2008. Some 70% of PR practitioners and 80% of PR students today are women. At Kent State it's closer to 90%. In the communication biz, PR has become the new nursing. I know what you're thinking: So what? Women do well in PR, don't they? They do, indeed. But if you embrace diversity as I do, you have to worry about the trend line.

One of my areas of passion (and simultaneous astonishment) is the degree to which companies, associations and other organizations that depend upon the general public for their societal license to operate pay so little attention to what is said about them in the online environment. The seeds of discontent - for brands or issues - are sown online - and harvested in the online environment. Ask Proctor and Gamble.

Tomorrow's presidents and congressional leaders are today's governors and state legislators. What is going on at the state level towards embracing new media venues, increasing governmental transparency and encouraging constituent advocacy?

It's an interesting coincidence that two high-end luggage and handbag makers, Louis Vuitton and Coach, would be caught up in similar stories in the same week, both involving their efforts to protect their brand identity from misuse. While the incidents themselves are quite different, the fundamentals of each case are the same: great causes, bad tactics.

While Second Life itself may have hit the "trough of disillusionment" on its hype cycle, it's on the way to the enlightenment phase; and virtual worlds beyond Second Life are still something to which you ought to be paying attention, because they're on the cusp of a major expansion.

The sub headline in Frank Washkush's PR Week's Media Survey 2008 is pretty darned appropriate: "A State of Transition." He described how "old media" is attempting to adapt to "new media" and where the two meet - and sometimes clash. Old school vs. new school. NYTimes.com vs. "The Gray Lady." NPR vs. podcasts. Yep. The transition is already here.

The first ever print edition of Media Bullseye is back from the printers and headed to the mailbox!

Online shoe retailer Zappos and CEO Tony Hsieh have developed a dedicated following online, particularly on popular microblogging platform Twitter. Soren Jacobsen delves into the company's culture, ideas on transparency, and customer service to discover how they became an online force to be reckoned with.

On the first day of the 2008 NewComm Forum, which took place last week in Santa Rosa, Calif., two back-to-back sessions provided some new insight into the goals communicators have for their news releases, what metrics and results they value, and some Web-minded ways in which they are trying to breathe new life into this 100-year-old tool. Mike Keliher has the details.