Inside PR 3.15: Gamification with Shel Holtz

November 9, 2012 • admin • PR

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Martin Waxman and Joe Thornley talk with Gini Dietrich about the elections and the United States does, indeed, have a newly re-elected President.

We also talk about the interesting phenomenon of the differences between the west and east coasts during Hurricane Sandy, which Joe likens to being at a funeral and half the attendees are cracking jokes. And we discussed citizen journalism and the strange trend journalists are faced with fact-finding and creating authenticity of a story based on a single tweet or Facebook update.

But we quickly got into the meat of the podcast, which is an interview with Shel Holtz about his session at the PRSA International Conference: Gamification.

Shel talks about how PR professionals need to think beyond our normal tactics and find a way to connect our brands or client’s brands to gaming. But, to include gamification in our programs, we need to have an understanding of human behavior, sociology, anthropology, and psychology.

Doing so can great an immersive experience for your customers, which creates kinship and loyalty.

To Martin’s point, though, you can’t stick badges on your site and call that gamification.

Listen to what Shel has to say about gamification as a game changer and see the slides he presented at IABC earlier this year.

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Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.14: Content Marketing Secrets from Lee Odden

November 5, 2012 • admin • PR

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Following up on our last episode, Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joseph Thornley, talk about another great interview they recorded at the PRSA International Conference in San Francisco.

This week, we feature Joe’s discussion with Lee Odden about his successful approach to content marketing.

Odden is the author of Optimize – ‘How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing’. He is also the CEO of @TopRank Online Marketing, a Minneapolis based digital marketing agency specializing in strategic internet marketing consulting, training and implementation services including: content, search, email and social media marketing.

Joe and Odden talk about the book, the ‘people’ behind the SEO, and how to strategically integrate other distribution channels beyond social media and email marketing to promote your content.

Lee Odden is one of the featured speakers at the 2012 meshmarketing conference in Toronto on Nov. 7.

Inside PR will also be there to talk to more thought-leaders and digital innovators and keep you up-to-date with digital trends in our industry.

Watch the video interview on the Inside PR YouTube channel:

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Inside PR 3.13: The importance of participating in real life

October 26, 2012 • admin • PR

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It’s fall and, like many of you, we’re on the learning circuit. Now, I’m not talking about formal post-secondary education (of course, that’s valuable too). I mean attending conferences and events, gaining insights from speakers and meeting new people. We were recently at the PRSA International Conference in San Francisco and will be featuring audio and video interviews we did over the next few weeks.

And, on November 7 we’ll be at meshmarketing in Toronto to talk to more thought-leaders and digital innovators.

On this week’s show, we discuss some of our PRSA highlights and feature an interview with Kristina Halvorson, CEO of Brain Traffic, and one of the keynote speakers at meshmarketing.

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This year’s conference was filled with standout content and lots of lively interaction between sessions. Highlights include a keynote by Twitter founder Biz Stone, who said ‘creativity is a renewable resource’, sessions on story marketing, a panel let by the CEOs of several major PR agencies looking at where the business is heading and presentations by Lee Odden, Shonali Burke, Shel Holtz.

One takeaway Joe observed is that we’re living in a post-social-media world and looking at a PR industry that’s positioning itself to compete with advertising and digital. We’re interested to hear your thoughts on how the profession is evolving.

Kristina Halvorson: content as a complicated beast

According to Kristina, the web is content. That’s one of the primary reasons we go online, whether to consume or create content. Businesses are waking up to the fact that we need to be focusing our time and energy on it – and it’s not easy; content is a complicated beast.

That’s because many organizations aren’t properly structured to identify the kind of content that’s needs to be created, how it’s all going to work together, who’s going to develop it, where it’s going to be published and who’s going to maintain it over time.

She believes companies need to start by having a group therapy session; a series of candid conversations where they can share their challenges and work toward a shared solution to create a more effective content strategy with clear goals.

You’ll be able to hear more from Kristina – and Lee Odden – at meshmarketing.

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Inside PR 3.11: We’re baaaack…

October 13, 2012 • admin • PR

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Well, it’s fall 2012, our extended summer vacation is over and we’re excited to be starting a new season of Inside PR.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our collection of interviews and want to thank our listeners for being patient and to welcome all of you back.

This week, we catch up by mentioning a few of the changes that have happened since our last recording including the fact that Google has eclipsed Microsoft as the second largest technology company by market cap. Byng is getting closer to Facebook and that’s making it a more relevant search engine. And Twitter’s closing the gates to their API and leaving some of the developers who’ve helped build the service behind.

As many of you know, Gini has just finished 25 weeks on the road, launching her new book, Marketing in the Round and she talks about some of the things she’s learned.

She said she was most surprised by the length of the process – a full year to sign a contract, write, edit, publish a book and then another few months for people to start reading and talking about it and for the authors to know if they’re making an impact. That’s very different from the instant gratification we get from blog posts and online social interactions.

She also found traditional sales measurement lacking. It takes a couple of weeks to receive reports and they only track hardcover sales and not special sales or ebooks. She says she’s used to working in a fast-paced world and publishing is more traditional and slower.

So what’s on the horizon for Inside PR? We’re happy to be partnering with PRSA again. Joe and Martin will be at the International Conference recording video and audio interviews with some of the speakers and thought leaders. Martin’s also presenting a session called Social Media Barometer. So if you’re there, please say hi.

We’re also excited to be sponsoring MeshMarketing 2012 in Toronto. We’ll be talking to some of the presenters including Kristina Halvorson and the organizing team and will be roving reporters at the event – which always features innovative thinkers in the social and digital space.

And we’re interested to hear from you and any ideas you have about what you’d like us to discuss.

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Inside PR 3.10: Check-in with the Founder of Foursquare and the Role of Agency and Client

September 27, 2012 • admin • PR

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Well ladies and gentlemen, this is our last episode of the summer series of interviews. Next week, you get to hear all three voices of the Inside PR team: Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joseph Thornley.

This week, Martin catches up with Dennis Crowley, co-founder and CEO of Foursquare , at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Martin and Crowley talk about how far Foursquare has come, what they plan on doing next year and the amazing stuff they are doing with big data.

Martin also catches up with Doug Haslam, Client Services Supervisor at Voce Communication Architecture, at the PRSA Digital Impact Conference. Martin and Doug talk about the relationship between agency and client and the roles each should fulfil.

They also talk about data and trends. Doug says “data lies, trends don’t.” It is important to look at data over a period of time watching where the spikes and lows are to determine what works and what doesn’t.

Doug also shares his views on infographics. He has two Pinterest boards, one called Infographics I like and the other Infographics Crimes Against Humanity. Just remember, Doug says “if you make me scroll I will troll.”

Until next week!

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Inside PR 3.09: Martin Waxman at the Social Capital Conference

September 21, 2012 • admin • PR

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We’re almost finished our summer series of interviews (and will be back recording new shows next week!). And we’ve been fortunate to talk with some very intelligent and interesting people in our industry.

This week, we air Martin Waxman‘s interviews with three presenters at the Social Capital Conference in Ottawa this June.

The conference blended formal presentations with community/un-conference style sessions on topics ranging from Twitter to LinkedIn, the technical details of self-hosting a blog to the how-tos of personal branding, and online community building to social media in the workplace.

Martin was thrilled to be the keynote speaker. The crowd sure loved him, because he started trending in Ottawa on Twitter. Go Martin!

Martin caught up with Tanya Snook, a web and social media strategist for the Government of Canada, also known as @spydergrrl on Twitter. They talk about Tanya’s presentation which concentrated on five ways not-for-profits can successfully engage in social media.

Martin also spoke with Kat Inokai, whose Trying Times blog is featured on YummyMummyClub. They talk about Kat’s experience about blogging on subjects that are very private in her life. Some believe she is too open. Kat and Martin explore her story and discuss privacy for bloggers.

And finally, Martin interviewed the closing keynote speaker at the Conference, Heather Greenwood Davis, a writer with more than 15 years of journalism experience in traditional media. Recently, she just got back from a year travelling around the world with her husband and two young boys. Martin and Heather discuss how she used social media to keep in touch with family and enhance her experience abroad. You can read about her travels on her blog.

Thanks to all three ladies for their time and wisdom. And thanks to all the organizers of Social Capital!

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Inside PR 3.08: Rob Flaherty and the PRSA 2012 International Conference

September 17, 2012 • admin • PR

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This week, we air a special episode of Inside PR. Martin Waxman catches up with Rob Flaherty, the co-chair of the PRSA International Conference and CEO of Ketchum.

The 2012 International Conference takes place in San Francisco between October 13 and 16 and focuses on the intersection of technology and media. Here’s where to go to register online.

Flaherty talks about his role, and how he, along with his co-chairs Jack Martin, Global Chairman & CEO, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Janet Tyler, Co-CEO & Founder, Airfoil Public Relations, worked on planning the conference. He says it took a lot of bright and intelligent people to bring together such a strong line-up for 2012.

Flaherty also talks about an exciting panel on The Agency of the Future, hosted by himself, Jack Martin, Tyler and Fred Cook, CEO of Golin Harris.

If you are attending PRSA, you may catch Martin at this panel. You can also catch Martin at his own session, Social Media Barometer, on Sunday.

This year’s conference theme is ‘The Future is Now’, which represents how we are entering a new era of public relations and communications. Everything from radical transparency to globalization of PR.

To support the theme there will be keynotes by some of North America’s leading entrepreneurs, thinkers and innovators:

Biz Stone, Co-Founder, Twitter
Tim Westergren, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Pandora
June Cotte, Ph.D., Consumer Behavioral Expert
Michael Steele, Political Analyst, MSNBC

But, PRSA is not all about the keynotes, there are a variety of networking opportunities to meet other greats minds in our industry.

If you have the opportunity we encourage you to check out the conference in San Franciso between October 13 and 16. Make sure to look out for Inside PR we hope to see you there!

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Silver Anvil Awards: interviews with finalists [videos]

August 31, 2012 • admin • PR

Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joseph Thornley got busy this year at the PRSA Silver Anvil Awards. They, well, Gini, caught up with award winners and finalists to find out what made their campaigns and initiatives successful.

Here are some of those interviews, enjoy!

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Home is Where the GIFT Is

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Centennial Celebration of Service

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: The Power of the Purple Purse: Talking About Domestic Violence

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Oink Outings: Bringing Moms to the Farm

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Helping Pets Win a Losing Battle

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Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.06: Two Silver Anvil awards about giving back to the community

August 30, 2012 • admin • PR

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As we continue our special summer series of interviews, this week we feature two interviews from the Silver Anvil Awards, or as Gini likes to call them, the Oscars for the PR industry.

First we talk with Jay Winuk from the non-profit organization MyGoodDeed. Jay shares his story of the birth of 911 day, a national day of service to commemorate and remember those who perished on September 11, 2001.

9/11 Day is the international non-profit movement to observe September 11 every year as a day of charitable service and doing good deeds. It was created soon after 9/11 to provide a positive way to forever remember and pay tribute to the 9/11 victims, honor those that rose in service in response to the attacks, and remind people of the importance of working more closely together in peace to improve our world. Today millions participate annually by taking time out on 9/11 to help others in need, in their own way.

Then, we talk with Taryn Sullivan from Edelman in Atlanta and The Gateway Center about their award winning submission called Home is Where the GIFT is. Atlanta’s nonprofit Gateway Center, which battles chronic homelessness by providing services and self-sufficiency skills, asked Edelman to secure media coverage of a $32,000 gift from the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District publicprivate partnership. The agency did much more than that by executing a program that drove $70,000 in donations, contributed to securing 54,200 homes for the homeless, and established sustainable relationships to continue generating support.

That is all for now, until next week!

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Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.05: June Cotte, PRSA International Conference keynoter, on ethical consumption

August 27, 2012 • admin • PR

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This week, Martin talks with PRSA International Conference keynote speaker, June Cotte, associate professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario and the school’s George and Mary Turnbull Fellow.

Professor Cotte studies consumer behavioural and purchase issues, also the subject of her presentation, ‘When Will Consumers Pay to Be Good’.

Cotte and her colleagues conduct research on socially conscious consumption including recent experiments where consumers are exposed to certain purchase conditions and then asked to respond in order to determine how and why people behave the way they do and when they’ll pay more for ethically produced products.

In addition to paying a premium for ethically produced products, she found consumers will penalize brands by paying a lower price for goods when a company’s corporate behaviour is in question. Consumer attitudes are cyclical and Cotte observed that ethical consumption was important in the ‘70s though less so in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The current prevailing sentiment toward socially responsible behavior began to emerge again in the 2000s. She contends a cultural zeitgeist drives the change and that is where PR can come in, to explain the story and the benefits of an organization’s positive behaviour to consumers. This is especially important in an economic downturn where price becomes more of a consideration.

And because firms can get into trouble when they oversell a claim, communicators can help organizations strike a balance between explaining what they’re doing and the effect it has and help them deliver the story in the right tone.

It’s a fascinating study and you can hear more at the PRSA International Conference, October 13 to 16, 2012 in San Francisco.

Gini, Joe and Martin will also be at the conference and we look forward to meeting you there.

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Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.