Airfoil Public Relations

Six Technology Developments We Really Need

The story of technology frequently has been the development of things we never knew we wanted. No one really needed in iPad or a Nook tablet until technology told us we did. We were getting along just fine with films before digital movie projectors came along. For that matter, we all may have been a lot less tense when we had an office phone, a home phone, and nothing else tethering us in between. 

Now, undeniably, technology has worked in ways to make our lives so much easier, businesses so much more profitable, and news and entertainment so much more accessible. But technology companies constantly seem to be putting the exclamation point before the verb—stirring immense excitement over the pending release of some device, service or software before consumers have stated a need, desire, awareness or acknowledgement that such an offering would be a welcome change. We didn’t need it—until we did. This phenomenon may be recapped as, “Invention is the mother of necessity.”

I guess that’s how markets are made, but I think it’s time that business professionals and consumers alike started enumerating the technology they actually do want and need in their lives and then demand that innovators create it. It’s time to Occupy the Cloud! It’s past time for us to engage in forward thinking instead of window shopping for the latest tech.

I have six “Items that I Really Need” on my checklist and herewith issue my challenge across the Valley to bring these capabilities to my home and office:

1. The self-cleaning house. We have self-cleaning ovens; can’t we extend that technology to the entire house—without burning it down or becoming uncomfortably toasty? Think of the productive time that husbands, wives and dorm-room tenants would save and the environmental enhancements such a device would bring.
2. Biofeedback-adjusted eyeballs. I’m constantly hunting for my glasses and succeed on my quest about 75% of the time. Can’t technology put some kind of capsule in my wristwatch (Yes, I wear a wristwatch—deal with it) that allows me to use biofeedback techniques to lengthen or compress the lenses in my eyes or reshape my eyeballs to focus on the task at hand? I’d save all that searching time and do a better job of reading, driving and finding my mouth with my fork.
3. Self-editing editorial copy. Of course, we have spell-and-grammar check, but everyone knows that this still rudimentary technology often misses errors, suggests corrections where none are needed, and may produce an unjustifiable sense of confidence in the author. The self-editing document would likely antiquate half the work I do every day—but it would give me time to pursue the other, more creative half.
4. The social-media engagement button. Public relations practitioners constantly are urging clients, not just to participate in, amplify and measure their participation in social media networks, but also to “engage” with the denizens of those sites. As Far Field Productions asks at the end of the credits for Bones, “What’s that mean?”  Set up a group? Answer tweeters’ questions? Compliment them on their fonts? Hey, technology, you gave us social media; now figure out this engagement thing and . . . just . . . build it in, so we can click “Like,” “Share,” or “Engage.” How much time we would save right there!
5. The self-mowing lawn. The benefits of the self-mowing lawn are self-evident. Certainly technology could invent a grass that grows two inches high and then continuously sheds its top, dropping its own nutritious clippings on which it will feed and shed for future generations. Such techno-grass would enable us to enjoy our Saturdays; reduce smog; and cut the demand for gasoline, oil and bandages simultaneously.
6. The meeting-bot. Some of us spend half or more of our day in meetings—listening, collecting information, commenting, offering recommendations, giving instruction.  Computers, clouds and websites already can do all those things. Life would be so much more productive if our personal meeting robot could roll into the conference room with all the other bots from the office, exchange information and make decisions in milliseconds, and roll back to us with a PowerPoint presentation detailing our next required actions. We could actually get some work done this way—and maybe the bot could be programmed to say “Atta boy” and pat us on the back.

What do you want technology to tackle to make your life better? We’ll probably never see the self-balancing budget or the 30-second standing rib roast, but please comment (er. . . engage) on  the devices you’d really like to hang on your belt.

 

 

 

 

--Steve Friedman is the director of marketing communications at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley. Follow Steve on Twitter @prwritingpro

 

10 Tips for More Effective Email Communications

Emails expose the real “you.” In an organizational setting, the communications you send to prospects,
clients and partners usually pass through some kind of quality check—an editor, an administrative assistant or the guy in the next cube. But for the most part, we’re on our own with emails. We exchange email messages with all our brilliant insights and all our flaws right there on the screen with no one else checking our grammar.

Therefore, emails frequently provide the most honest assessment of the sender’s knowledge, capabilities and care. We should be taking as much care with the emails we send as we do with our annual reports, because our personal brand is on the line. In preparing your email messages, you may benefit by keeping in mind these 10 tips:

1. Use your best grammar, spelling and punctuation. Emails are presentations to important people and part of your “permanent record” in their minds.
2. Realize that even deleted emails may be retrievable forever. Many companies receiving your email (as well as your own firm) may need to retain them for legal e-discovery, so never send emails that could result in lawsuits over abusive language, threats, libel, racism, obscenity or other issues.
3. Never expect your email to be private. Recipients may forward, copy or publicly post them; so for private messages, meet by phone or in person.
4. Don’t use capital letters for emphasis. “All caps” indicates screaming. Instead, italicize, underline or bold the words you want to stress.
5. In business e-mails, avoid texting-style abbreviations. It’s very likely that your recipient may not understand the meaning if IMHO (in my humble opinion) or BTW (by the way). One woman purportedly confided in a Facebook post that her mother, in concluding condolences and other serious messages, has been signing off with LOL, which she believed meant “Lots of Love.” LOL!
6. Always proofread before hitting the send button. Just as news editors know that their biggest errors are most likely to occur in the boldest headlines, your biggest embarrassment may occur in the shortest message. Just ask apologetic business associates who follow up a mistake with a one-word email reading, “Opps!”
7. To avoid an accidental “Send,” complete the “To” line after drafting the message. If you’re replying, cut the “To” line names and paste them back in after completing the draft.
8. Use caution in choosing “Reply” or “Reply All.” Sometimes the initial recipients may not be appropriate for the reply, as many a former employee has discovered in responding to a company email message.
9. Create separate personal and business email accounts. In that way, you can avoid accidental auto-complete of the “To” line with a business contact name, rather than that of a friend. Also, an embarrassing personal message meant for a friend is less likely to end up in a business colleague’s inbox.
10. Be considerate of the recipient’s bandwidth. Never send very heavy presentations or video as email attachments. They may tie up the recipient’s inbox, blocking other emails while they download. Instead, store the document on your intranet or extranet or in your public cloud space and send the recipient a link.

If you feel these tips are helpful, you might email them to a colleague. But proofread them first, just in case.

 

 

 

--Steve Friedman is the director of marketing communications at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley

Have You Unlocked the Potential of Your Brand?

The playing field for brands has been leveled. Consumers use web, mobile and social to define brands on their own terms, ultimately transforming themselves into becoming the brand. Winning brands of today and tomorrow have only one choice – embrace and be empowered by consumer action and engagement. How can you get there? We’re sharing Six Rules for Progressive Brands. Check out Rules #1 Control Freaks Need Not Apply and #2 Check Your Ego at the Door.

This week we’ve released Rule #3 – Don’t Be a Clown at the High School Prom. In this day and age, you can’t force the customers to come to you - instead you must interact with your customers in the right places, on the right platforms, at the right time. Why be a clown at a high school prom when you can be lighting up young faces at an 8-year-old’s birthday party!

Hear some ‘Foilers explain why it’s critical to be where your customers are:

 

Need a recap on our previous two rules?

#1 Wanted: Creative Directors for Progressive Brands - Control Freaks Need Not Apply 

Accept that you can’t ignore and control online conversations, but you know that you can help direct the show with our tangible tactics.

#2 Check Your Ego at the Door 

What can progressive brands learn from Mr. Splashy Pants? Let go and embrace the power of your online community, but don’t do it blindly. Planning, strategic messaging and careful monitoring are critical, as is transparency, ongoing, regular engagement and activation of your brand advocates.

Let us know what you think and stay tuned for next week’s rule!

--Eric Dornbrook is an account coordinator at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley. Follow Eric on twitter @ericdornbrook

 

Back off my social media

New research shows Americans hate social media promotions

Social media is hot and companies are all trying to find ways to leverage this captive audience, but according to new research from ExactTarget, social media promotion is doomed from the start because Americans hate it.

In a recent blog post on Convince & Convert from social media guru Jay Baer, he highlights a great point, “Your company needs to be human because your competing with humans.”

As brands are fighting to find the brass ring method of using social media, it could be just this simple: humanize your brand.

I think about it in terms of sales people. People don’t like “sales” people, but the most successful sales people are people that we like. We want to buy things from people that we like, not people that are pushy and trying to get us to buy something. This directly correlates into how brands are behaving on social media. Beware, consumers are pushing back and basically telling brands to back off their social media.

In ExactTarget’s 2012 Channel Preference Study (download it here for free), 1,500 Americans ages 15 and older were asked about their usage of email, social media and text messaging. Key lesson found in the report, “…just because consumers embrace a channel for personal communications doesn’t mean that they want to receive direct marketing messages from your brand via that channel.”

According to the study, 1 percent of respondents selected Twitter and only 4 percent selected Facebook as the preferred channel for permission-based promotional messages overall. The numbers rise slightly when you look at the younger generations, but not nearly as much as one might expect. Respondents were even more critical of promotions on the business social media network, LinkedIn, with zero percent selecting the platform as its preferred communications method.  Even text messaging beat out social media with 5 percent of respondents selecting this method of communication. 

So I am sure you are now wondering how Pinterest falls into all of this. As the fastest growing, independent social network with more than 17 million registered accounts as of March 2012 according to ComScore, every communicator is trying to figure out how it plays a role in our efforts. The report sums this up perfectly: “The lesson of Pinterest for marketers is right there in its name – interest.” In other words, stay away from using this platform for promotions too. Instead, use this platform (only when it makes sense to) for sharing and inspiring others to share great content. 

The good news is, while consumers are not responding to promotions via social media, they are not opposed to receiving it directly through email. In fact, the results show that the majority of Americans prefer to receive promotional materials from companies via email (77 percent). Email was reported to be used most often with 91 percent of respondents reporting daily use.  These promotions are also the most likely to result in a purchase, with 66 percent overall reporting that an email promotion resulted in a purchase.

In conclusion, businesses should leverage the power of social media as a way to humanize their brands and connect one-on-one with consumers. It should not be used as another sales channel. Give the people their social media back, your sales tactics are not welcome. 

 

-- Deana Goodrich is a senior account executive at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley.

When Wallets Talk...

In our era, where a touch screen and white earbuds are as ubiquitous as hats at the Kentucky Derby, every industry in the world is trying to capitalize on the exponential growth of the smartphone.

Just a few years ago, Internet use was reserved for those tethered to a desk with a modem and a desktop computer. Now a growing number of consumers have the ability to log-on, search items or stream content wherever they are – 44 percent of mobile phones in the U.S. are smartphones according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve – giving them anytime, anywhere access.

One sector that sees a massive opportunity for the inevitable surgical attachment of smartphones to all of our hands is that of finance and payments. As consumers become more comfortable shopping via their mobile device, they want an extra layer of ease in the form of mobile payments. A number of companies are working to offer this, via a simple user experience that will flow seamlessly between shopping, purchasing and payment.

eBay is one company that understands the power of this consumer need – the company is integrating its core shopping experience with other pieces of its platform, such as PayPal. According to Mark Lavelle, VP at PayPal, mobile payments are spearheading the next era of consumerism, similar to the way the widespread use of credit cards revolutionized consumer spending in the late 1950s.

So what does this mean for consumers? It means there is a fundamental shift in the way we’re all perceiving money and payment. Technology has altered our mindset about waiting times – we want the best experience possible, wherever and whenever we happen to be. It means we want to be unencumbered by an excessive number of devices and identifications. It means we want to call our mom, research a restaurant and buy a car, all from the same place.

While this world is fast approaching, there are a few things holding consumers back, first and foremost being security. Concerns about the security of the technology have been the primary reason for not using mobile payments – 42 percent according to the Federal Reserve. What’s a risk-averse technophile to do?

There isn’t a true roadmap to follow in this transformational decade, where there have been, and will continue to be, rapid evolutions of technology, standards, security and privacy issues. The only thing consumers can do is get smart about their devices. Make sure you’re up to date on security offerings, and you’re not downloading any shady apps. Then, start shopping and paying, all with the touch of a screen.

 

-- Caitlin Cassady is a senior account executive at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley.

The Internet of Things

Once upon a time people in offices across the world used technology to make themselves more productive. Then, at the end of each day, they went home and left their computers (what we now call devices) behind to rest up for tomorrow’s work.

It sounds archaic – right? Seriously, how did we ever get work done back then? While we didn’t believe our parents’ stories of walking five miles uphill in the snow to get to school, our kids won’t believe that we were once forced to look up information in these massive books called encyclopedias.

We live in the “Internet of things” age in which almost any object can be connected to the Web via Wi-Fi to transmit and/or receive data — from our cars, phones, tablets and houses to consumer-centric objects like scales, cameras, power meters and televisions. We even monitor the health of our kids on apps! 

So pretty much everywhere we go, we are connected – a situation that exists without requiring any specific action on our part. We’ve gone from a 9-5 society to something that starts with a quick pre-cursor between 7-8am, followed by a 9-5 workday, some family time at home, a little evening bonus time in front of the television, and then perhaps back online at around 10pm to ‘check-in’ on work and get ahead of the next day.

Sometimes as a business owner, the constant state of connectivity brought on by the consumer technology evolution can feel overwhelming. I realize all of these devices should allow me to get more work/play/shopping done faster and that it’s my own choice on how much effort I put into these daily activities. There is a certain discipline required to ‘shut down’ the email, stop the Angry Birds, Pinterest or QVC.com, though, and just be in the moment with my family and friends. Sure it’s not easy, but with the proper balance, the “Internet of things” will bring us more joy when online and more time with our families and co-workers – balancing offline interactions and conversations with those we have online.

Try taking part in the National Day of Unplugging for a digital detox from sunset March 23 to sunset March 24, 2012. Learn more here:  http://www.causes.com/causes/648905-national-day-of-unplugging/actions/1533560

At least until the next Pinterest comes out!

 

-- Janet Tyler is a co-CEO at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Silicon Valley and Detroit.

The Digital Revolution

Pinterest anyone? It’s the newest golden child of social media and it’s changing the way we operate both as PR practitioners as well as consumers.

Social media is just part of how digital is growing. With the rapid growth of mobile, tablets and connected TVs, companies need to think outside the box when it comes to influencing consumers. No longer are we in the world of the second, third or even fourth screen. We have reached 24 hours of screens according to a recent Mashable article.

Growth of digital

Comscore’s recent social media study shows that social media activity accounted for 16.6 percent of time spent on the Internet in 2011 and is expected to surpass portals as the most engaging online activity.  Video activity has also experienced a dramatic increase, with the U.S. online video audience surpassing 100 million in December, a 43-percent increase from a year ago.

Measurement is king

One of the most important things to consider when launching new digital campaigns is defining how you will measure the success of the program. Paid (advertising and sponsorships) and owned (content created by brands) media are traditionally easier to measure. Earned media is much more valuable and credible, however it has been harder to measure since it is changing every day. Lucky for us PR pros, measurement tools are becoming better, helping us measure the value of earned media, and therefore define success. Right now there is no magic all-encompassing tool to measure earned media, but you can leverage several social media tools such as CrowdBooster, Hootsuite and even Facebook Insights.  Whenever possible, it is a good idea to also utilize website analytics to measure the traffic being driven to the company’s website as a result of digital efforts. 

-- Deana Goodrich is a senior account executive at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley.

Regardless of platform, customers are hungry for content

A recent study on the use of social media tools with Inc. 500 corporations supports the idea that blogging is officially a trend on the decline.

However, from my perspective, the real revelation from this study is more about how radically fast the communications playing field is changing than the decreasing metrics of any one channel. 

It’s insane how quickly things change. Five years ago, the idea of having a corporate blog was viewed in many circles as a fairly revolutionary way for businesses to foster a meaningful dialogue with their target audiences.

Now, a blog is just a one of many “check the box” avenues on the conversation superhighway that extends from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to emerging platforms such as Pinterest. As each space continues to grow, putting yourself where your audience is becomes even more important. Just having a Facebook and Twitter presence isn’t enough - what matters is what that channel is producing to create engagement and show thought leadership.

The one constant – i.e., the thing that often gets lost – is the need to produce good, smart and relevant content. Regardless of your company’s social tools of choice, if you create a steady flow of quality content, your audience will engage.

Without content, what conversations will you drive? What message are you sending your followers? What change will you inspire?

At the end of the day, isn’t that the only social media/business metric that truly matters? 

 

-- Janet Tyler is a co-CEO at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Silicon Valley and Detroit.

Pining for Pinterest

As marketers across the globe are busy developing decks to show their clients why they should be on the hot new social network Pinterest, Pinterest users are largely blissfully unaware of the land grab that’s in the early stages.

Instead, these users are quickly becoming addicted to and enthralled with pins and boards, creating ideal house projects, recipes and fashion must-haves for themselves and their friends.

Should you, as a brand, join Pinterest? Well that depends. Here are some pros and cons to joining the social network at this stage:

Pros:

• As an early adopter, you’ll be among the first to experiment with the site and its new audience.
• Media are adopting Pinterest profiles, so it provides an additional venue to connect.
• “Pinners” are hungry for visual content and putting ideas together for them can create brand loyalty and affinity.
• Adding monetary symbols ($xx.xx) creates price tags for items, and users can click through to your ecommerce site if you include a hyperlink.

Cons:

• Because it’s not designed for brands, there are no design features or functionality to help you connect differently than an individual.
• Metrics are not available.
• Because it’s growing so quickly, Pinterest is working at full steam to help its community by meeting its demands. At the same time, the company has taken some flack surrounding affiliate links.

Lands’ End and Barney’s have developed brand promotions and contests via Pinterest, and several other brands will be following suit shortly.

And the site is not just for recipes and fashion. Media such as The Wall Street Journal to the Detroit Free Press are there, as well as the hardware company AMD, Major League Baseball and universities such as Miami of Ohio.

As one of the fastest-growing websites in history, Pinterest is sure to stay on the radar for many brands in the coming months. With more than 12,000 unique users per month, it would be hard to ignore such a large audience.

For more on how to use Pinterest for brands, see our presentation. Happy pinning!

Pinterest for Brands

View more PowerPoint from Airfoil Public Relations

-- Tonja Deegan is the social media director at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley.

 

Technology Coming to a Museum Near You

I recently visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. and was slightly disturbed that I can now see things from my childhood featured in a museum. Seriously, I am not that old! Big cell phones, tapes and the first DVD players were all featured in a wonderful display case showing the dead technologies of our past. Looking at these gadgets made think of the things that will be featured in this display 10 years from now. Here are three things I expect to see in the museum in the future.

1. The laptop: The laptop has been around since 1969 and while it has advanced tremendously over the years, I believe it is only a matter of time before the laptop finds its place in the museum.  Even technologies like the Ultrabook, which is expected to be everywhere at CES 2012, isn’t a mind blowing innovation. According to a Fast Company article titled “Is the laptop dead? Yup.,” the Ultrabook is “proof that the laptop is now an evolutionary dead end in computer history.” With the advancements being made in cloud computing and tablets, laptops may very soon be replaced by these devices.
2. “Big” smartphones: My first cell phone was on the larger side and I soon transitioned to the Motorola Razr. As I moved into the world of smartphones, I purchased the smaller BlackBerry Pearl and as touch screen technology became more prevalent I upgraded to the larger, bulky BlackBerry Storm. A few smartphones later including Androids and the iPhone, one thing stays consistent: they are just BIG. While today we enjoy the large screens and capabilities, I predict that much like the traditional cell phone went from big and bulky to a small razor thin phone, the smartphone will also become small and sleek with all the functionality we enjoy today and more. I personally am looking forward to the credit card sized gadget featured in the “Productivity Future Vision” video from Microsoft.
3. Portable GPS and navigation devices: With the technology available on every smartphone and smartphones becoming more and more prevalent in the market, the future for aftermarket GPS and navigation devices doesn’t seem very bright. Even those that don’t have smartphones will likely have this technology available directly in their vehicles through technology integrated by the OEMs like Ford Sync.

While it may take some time for these technologies to die out, I do envision seeing these innovations in a future visit to the museum. What technologies do you think will die?  

-- Deana Goodrich is a senior account executive at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley.