Pitch Engine & My Media Info

According to my colleagues, today’ top two PR 2.0 tools are PitchEngine, which is a social networking site that connects PR professionals, bloggers and journalists and MyMediaInfo.com, a comprehensive new media database with hundreds of thousands of media contacts/new influencers as well as additional PR tools including editorial calendars and outlet profiles.

Some of them said:
“It is a well known fact that more and more people are heading to the Internet for news, current events and other types of information. PitchEngine is one of the companies in the marketplace today that is contributing to the next stage of the PR 2.0 evolution. Incorporating features and capabilities that enhance traditional PR methods and building relationships with other news sites such as Google News, PitchEngine is revolutionizing the news release.”

“PitchEngine provides PR and media pros with the ability to upload images, videos, and audio directly into a news release in addition to sharing and bookmarking features, providing the end user with an interactive news experience, increasing retention and conversions. We are living in an era where customers want to feel engaged and PitchEngine provides that tenfold.”

“My team recently participated in a demo with media database provider, MyMediaInfo. After the demo, they walked into my office smiling and proceeded to talk about all the great things MyMediaInfo offers. Primarily, they couldn’t believe how easy and quick it was to a build a targeted media list where you didn’t have to go through different pages for each step in the list-building process. And it’s NOT case sensitive like the media database provider that we’ve been using for more than 10 years. That in itself shaves time off searching for media outlets. It’s exciting to learn how these cutting-edge technologies consistently evolve to give us faster ways to access the info we need on a daily basis.”

I think these PR service providers deserve two thumbs up from the reviewers! For my company, Mensa Group, I think it deseves to be tried!

The Definition of PR 2.0

PR 2.0 uses a combination of social media tools that are available to communcations professionals to reach and better communicate with influencers and consumer audiences directly. Social media is a direct-to-consumer approach that allows audiences to drive the communication in their communities. PR professionals are beginning to incorporate PR 2.0 into their strategy and planning as an effective way to communicate directly to Web 2.0 audiences, to raise awareness and increase overall brand exposure.

Brian Solis started promoting the PR 2.0 concept in the 90s and it was specific to how PR, multimedia, and the web would intersect and create new breed of PR/Web marketers. He’s been talking PR 2.0 for almost 10 years. As a matter of fact, PR 2.0 actually started long before the birth of the Social Media Release (SMR). The SMR has been supported and pushed by many influencers, including Tom Foremski’s public outcry for the death of the traditional press releases.

Tom Foremski, a former Financial Times writer, wrote an article in the Silicon Valley Watcher titled, “Die! Press Release! Die! Die! Die!” Foremski’s dramatic call to action demanded changes to the traditional news release. It was this call to action that started a revolutionary transformation.

It was Todd Defren who offered the first template and still remains an authoritative champion; Chris Heuer helped lead an effort to propose a standard for their construction and distribution; Stowe Boyd reminds disingenuous, lazy or opportunistic PR people that they’re not invited to participate in Social Media (and rightfully so); Shel Holtz hosted the original NMRcast, and continues to demonstrate the value of new releases; and Shannon Whitley’swork helps PR “get it;” along with many others who continue to carry the flag forward.

Solis joined Heuer from the onset of the “Working Group” and has since spent most of his free time defending the reasons for the existence of SMRs in blog posts and at conferences, while also carefully practicing what he preaches.

Today, social media tools are accessible to brands large and small to reach audiences who want to control their own communication. In a Web 2.0 world, where thousands of communities are built, the traditional methods of web communication are not suitable. Web 2.0 technology combined with an audience’s desire to build and share content has transformed our industry. As a result, PR professionals are incorporating Web 2.0 resources into their brand’s PR strategy and planning for more targeted and impactful Web communication.

The PR 2.0 Change

I encourage you, the follower PR proffesional of PR 2.0, to read this article

Nice to share ...

The PR 2.0 Change

Posted on Thursday 5 February 2009

I’m basing my blog post on the reaction to my last post on “PR of the Past vs. PR 2.0 Today.“ I wrote that post to pinpoint the amazing technological differences between today and year’s past and how a PR person’s role has altered (for the better). But, the real discussion (the comments on my blog) focused on how PR people need to evolve as a result of social media communications and how there’s still resistance. As a matter of fact one comment stated, “A lot of PR people don’t even know that PR has evolve[d]…or they don’t want that!”

I realize that every professional advances at his or her own pace. And, with respect to technology and social media communication, there are PR people who dip their feet slowly and then there are others who jump in head first (which isn’t the recommended approach). To move forward, it doesn’t matter the pace of engagement but rather the fact that you must engage.
At this point, a transition to new media communication is inevitable because, and I quote the words of Steve Rubel’s Micro Persuasion blog, “All Media is Social” and “All Social is Media”. According to Rubel, you can no longer separate traditional media from social media. He says that we do our planning, executing and measurement we must look at the entire landscape.
If PR people want to grow in their industry, if they want to keep close relationships with influencers and other important stakeholders (media outlets, bloggers, customers, employees, etc.) and if they want to communicate effectively, then it’s time to evolve. The world is changing quickly and we see evidence of this every day, beginning with the media landscape.

Here are just a few examples:
1. There are about 30 top news sites on Twitter
2. Media outlets from BusinessWeek to The New York Times publish articles online with viral sharing tools and the ability to comment to engage readers in dialogue
3. Media outlets have started their own communities with blogs and social networking platforms, even traditional newspapers, on the local level.
4. CNN has iReport, which allows consumers to become video journalists and share the raw video news footage.
5. eMarketer stats discussing the demographics is narrowing gap
6. The Twitterbowl rated advertising spots on TV will millions contributing to the conversation and providing valuable feedback to brands.
7. Social networks are recognized sources for news and information, including breaking news stories.
8. PR service providers have included PR 2.0 capabilities and viral sharing tools in their news distribution services.

by Deirdre Breakenridge

PR 2.0, The New Challenge

Have you heard about PR 2.0 before ? Well, if you have, welcome to the club!

Actually, I'm very interested with this new stuff when first I found it, indeed in my college (currently,I get my communication master in Universitas Indonesia Jakarta) I never find about this before. poor right ?

Different with previous edition PR, let's called PR 1.0, this new PR 2.0 is more complicated. PR 2.0 facing more challenging target in helping the PR professionals make their branding successful. The hot target is social networks media, which completed all through internet. PR 2.0 doesn't too concern about media relations because media as middleman through customer was not too powerful anymore.

As Corporate Communication Head in Mensa Group, a holding respectable health care business company in Indonesia, I change my PR Strategic Planning for this year by start focusing to maintain works scope in PR 2.0 way. Off course, it takes more time to plan what exactly will my team build to make the vision accomplished. But, giant step will never happen without small steps right? So, I make some movements, such as :

1. helping people with sending attractive news archives which already designed and added by our brand
2. entering social networks communities such as facebook, friendster, blogger, etc also often visiting media online
3. creating the blog competition next

Actually, there are so many more examples of how the strategic PR has changed and thus, so should our approach and method of communications. Any recommendations, what are your best examples to my team who is reluctant to change?

big pictures

Some of my colleagues, said, being one that most strategic person in change management of the organization must get used to have big picture in every daily activities every terms. Nice input .. Well, this blog, I will tell all the stories about what I do, think, my strategies, achievements in my road to implement all my capabilities in communication strategic which all are already in one package of my big picture of thougt and mission for corporate function/organization. I do welcome for any input and suggestion