Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York & Los Angeles

As a Blogger, I see Microsoft’s gifting of their Acer Ferrari laptop complete with Windows Vista to select Bloggers just another day in the world of “Review me” and word of mouth advertising in the blogosphere. Many don’t feel the same way, stating that it is outright bribery. The laptops received came during the height of the Holiday season and many Bloggers feel that these “gifts” are unethical. As I’m sure you know from my previous posts on this topic, I completely disagree.

As, LongZheng, one of the Blogger’s on the receiving end noted, “Windows Vista is launching in 30 days.” My question is, why wouldn’t Microsoft want to create a buzz about a brand new product and operating system soon to launch among tech Bloggers? I understand why Microsoft did it, as I received Max Factor’s Volume Couture Mascara a few weeks ago. It is a product that is only available come January. My job was to test it out and write a review. Obviously the company that sent it was hoping for a good review and to help generate the buzz about it prior to launch. The difference in the price tag of a bottle of mascara and a laptop is quite large, but it still doesn’t take away from the fact that companies want to find new ways of creating product buzz prior to and after a product is out on the market. By sending the laptop to only a select few Bloggers, generates even more buzz and you get the various views on how the system works from real people, not advertisers, using the product. Is it because this product to review had a high-end price tag? If Microsoft sent a $20 product, would those tech Bloggers still feel it was a case of bribery?

Challenge: Gas prices are super high, how do you build brand loyalty when oil prices are ridiculous?

Advice:Take advantage of the high gas prices, bring more value to the customer then your competitor with cravable experiences.

Heightened customer experience is where it at. By now oil hungry customers know the service station is not making a huge profit off the gas. But the consumer still feels the hit to the wallet. A smart business owner will try to offset that "emotional hit" by providing more perceived value. Lowering the price temporarily doesn't build loyalty or lasting value to a car owner it just causes him to bounce all over the place looking for cheap gas. You need to create "Cravable experiences," cravable experiences and convenience will create lasting emotional traction that will help win consumer loyalty.

• Get better premium coffee beans and take beverage service seriously
• Buy nicer, thicker, insulated coffee cups with better more secure lids
• Order Krispy Kreme donuts and but a display up near the cash register.
• Offer organic "fast food" options
• Boast about having the best restrooms in town with the softest tolet paper
• Start a policy that if they have to wait in line for gas more then 3 min, a free beverage is on the house.
• Provide "old-fashioned" white glove (celebrity) service. Checking under the hood, looking at the oil level and tier pressure can all be done in 2-3 min, the time taken to fill a tank of gas. Customers are more likely to re visit your station and trust you if your looking over the car frequently.

If you can apply this concept of cravable experiences to a filling station and see dramatic results, you can most certainly can apply it to your next business promotion and see success. Good luck!

When you first start falling in love it's the most amazing, crazy, exciting, scary, time in your new relationship. I realize some people panic and hide these feelings, but for the majority of those with cupids arrow still dangling, you're willing to do almost anything to show that love to your partner. Time passes, the intoxicating effects of first love wear off and you can be productive in life again. For those who are "lucky," the other burst of expression of ones love comes at engagement. Some men do it through simple gestures; others are a little more grandiose. This guys declaration is worth about 2.5 million dollars.

His idea, a 30 second ad spot during the Super Bowl of 2007. For obvious reasons, he is trying to remain anonymous so that it isn’t leaked and his girlfriend finds out, which makes the story all the more harder to prove. However, if it is a legitimate person truly trying to raise $2.5 million to get a current advertiser to give up one 30 second ad spot so he can propose to his girlfriend for the entire world to see, I say that is truly amazing. Faring that it is true, the fact that he is out there trying and pushing shows his dedication to overcome such a huge and practically impossible feat. He not only has to convince everyone that this is not a scam, but raise a large amount of money in a short period of time to convince an advertiser that he deserves their 30 second ad spot and has the money to pay for it, all the while keeping his identity under wraps.

If he accomplishes his goal, I sure hope the girlfriend says yes.

How far would you go for the person you love? To the corner bakery to pick up their favorite treat….or to pay $2.5 million dollars to declare your love on national television?

We're reviewing a few of the new game councils out on the market. We love our computer-platform lifestyle games, (Desperate Housewives, the game) but knew we were missing out on HD (1080i), surround sound, game-matching, leader-board enhanced experiences that the new counsels offer. So we've decided to fully immerse ourselves in the gaming lifestyle and it's become very serious (fun) research. I happen to have received one of the Xbox360 platforms so your probably going to hear more about it in the future then the Sony PlayStation 3 as I blog more then the other participating game platform "researchers." Look for some posts on our discoveries in the near future.

Above you can see my gamertag. Please comment here if you have an Xbox360 gamertag. I wanted to offer an invitation to add me as a friend or email me your gamertag if you don't want your tag to be posted publicly. Steve Rubel, I know you have one...how about a little friendly competition?

I’ve honestly never paid much attention to products that were celebrity endorsed, in high school, maybe a little, however there have been plenty of my friends who live by what products “Celebrity A List” says are the best. There was a time, back when I was very young, that I did follow what my favorite celebrities endorsed. One such product was Pepsi, simply because I was a very big Michael Jackson fan. Luckily, I wised up.

So when I saw one of my favorite fashion designers, Isaac Mizrahi, pitching StriVectin-SD in a commercial the other day I felt such utter disappointment. Strivectin-SD, which claims to be an anti-stretchmark cream turned anti-wrinkle cream, is trying to pitch their product to men through Mizrahi's popularity. Isaac is a talk show host and thus a "lifestyle advocate" however, as a person who admires Mr. Mizrahi for his outstanding fashion, I wonder why he had to go this route. Seeing him in a commercial promoting an anti-wrinkle cream made me lose a little bit of respect for him and I didn't want too. I'm sure I am not alone.

I believe there was a time when celebrity endorsements held clout, but the times have been changing, most especially as blogs have become more and more popular. There are so many blogs out there that review products and I am more apt to listen to the average Joe tell me their likes and dislikes over a product than to run out to buy a product because Mischa Barton has been using it. According to a survey done by Allure and Essence, the same holds true for many of their readers.

As a Blogger, I see Microsoft’s gifting (via Edelman PR) of their Acer Ferrari laptop complete with Windows Vista to select Bloggers just another day in the world of “Review me” and word of mouth advertising in the blogosphere. Many don’t feel the same way, stating that it is outright bribery. The laptops received came during the height of the Holiday season and many Bloggers feel that these “gifts” are unethical. As I’m sure you know from my previous posts on this topic, I completely disagree. I'm so tired of self serving "reactive for ratings" Bloggers who don’t understand how product reviews work or think they have a right to scold companies or publicists for reaching out to hard working & respected Bloggers for reviews.

As, LongZheng, one of the Blogger’s on the receiving end noted, “Windows Vista is launching in 30 days.” My question is, why wouldn’t Microsoft want to create a buzz about a brand new product and operating system soon to launch among tech Bloggers? I understand why Microsoft did it, as I received Max Factor’s Volume Couture Mascara in the beginning of December. It is a product that would only become available this month. My job was to test it out and write a review. Obviously the company that sent it was hoping for a good review and to help generate the buzz about it prior to launch. The difference in the price tag of a bottle of mascara and a laptop is quite large, but it still doesn’t take away from the fact that companies want to find new ways of creating product buzz prior to and after a product is out on the market. By sending the laptop to only a select few Bloggers, generates even more buzz and you get the various views on how the system works from real people, not advertisers, using the product. Is it because this product to review had a high-end price tag? If Microsoft sent a $20 product, would those tech Bloggers still feel it was a case of bribery?

The Blogger’s were also told they could disclose that they were given the laptop, but they were not required to. They were told they didn’t have to blog about their experience using the laptop, but that the firm hoped they would. If I received the laptop, I would still feel the pressure to review it regardless if the firm sending it said it wasn’t necessary. Common sense says that they are sending it because they want it reviewed, not simply because they are being kind. However, it still wouldn’t impede on my honest review of the product. I understand the "pressure" or the feeling that you owe them something good (review). Drop the pressure and remember what journalists are supposed to do... report the truth as they experience it. You really just owe your readers the truth.

Bloggers: Be professional and human, don’t crucify a company for deeming you worthy of free products to review and own! You might want to mention professional reviews of technology are "loaned" products like MP3 players, TV's and electronics. They don’t get to keep them... they essentially are "on a tour" following the tech press circuit, like a rock-star. Honestly, if you’re a Blogger and you get to keep a product like that, the human thing to do is say thank you.

Companies: See my post on pimping products to Bloggers, as sometimes a company needs to learn how to approach a Blogger for the best results.

What do you think? If you receive free products from a company, do you feel the pressure to write a good review? Does it matter the price tag associated with the free product? Lend your thoughts in the comments.

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UPDATE: Journalist writer and blogger Ed Bott thinks the whole moral debate is unnecessary. “Everyone in the community wins when that person gets the chance to play with new technology.” He got a Ferrari 5000, and might auction it off for charity.

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UPDATE: Slashdot has labelled this a “bribe.” However unlike what they have claimed, these were not gifts. As it may happen to coincide with Christmas, it is important to note Windows Vista is launching in 30 days. It is nothing more than just good timing and coincidence.

I, however, wrote these as “Christmas presents,” only because it happens to coincide with Christmas. Officially, these were review PCs with the the options at upon completion of review to either send back to Microsoft, give away or keep indefinitely. This choice is solely at the discretion of bloggers.

The marketing behind Burger King these days has impressed me. In the age of Tivo, Burger King has managed to find alternative marketing strategies to continually bring their name to the forefront, even when you skip through the commercials.

"The King" ad campaigns brought about attention when a strange oversized plastic King could be found in bed next to an unsuspecting person or just outside of their window to the catchphrase of, "Wake up with the King." The commercials were a bit odd, but definitely catchy. The commercials moved on with dry wit humor and occasionally I would find myself laughing at some of them. Burger King’s actual products remained in the commercials, but weren’t necessarily the main piece to the ad.

In November Burger King began offering Burger King Xbox and Xbox 360 games with their value meals in three different genres; action, fighting and racing. I thought it was in good fun and admired the cross promotion involved with a fast food chain. When I saw it was available on Xbox Live and that the game involved other Burger King mascots, I realized that Burger King was onto something.

Tarte Cosmetics, known for their fabulous Cheek Stains and double-ended lipgloss and BORBA, known for their all natural products and drinkable skin care, have come together for what is likely to become a trend among cosmetics companies this year. tarte Cosmetics has teamed up with BORBA to create their newest lip gloss set to launch in February called Inside Out. Inside Out is a vitamin-infused lipgloss that tarte calls a “double-duty” beauty product. It’s one that not only works on the outside of the body, but on the inside as well. The gloss works to soothe and hydrate your lips, while the nutraceutical blend delivers powerful skin care ingredients.

Scott Vincent Borba exclusively created the blend of vitamins for tarte’s Inside Out lipgloss. It is a combination of all natural ingredients from BORBA’s Clarifying, Age Defying and Replenishing lines. They include Acai & green tea extract which help strengthen capillary walls, reduce epidermal irritation and enhance skin’s clarity and radiance; Grape seed extract & Vitamin C which help accelerate production of natural elastin, protecting skin against free-radical damage & restore skin’s clarity, Vitamins A, E & K which act as antioxidants to give you that healthy glow, and Lychee extract promotes long-term skin hydration and chamomile extract soothes skin and helps to counteract redness. Inside Out comes in 3 colors; shimmery pale pink, hot pink and nude. Each gloss is 5.7oz. and is scented with pomegranate, the same scent as BORBA’s Clarifying Cotton Fibers.

In the age of Tivo, marketers have had to think long and hard about unique ways to deliver their brand’s message to consumers. Although Tivo did come up with a way to annoy its users by adding fast forward banner ads when they try to skip commercials, they can still be skipped nonetheless and the marketer's message lost. However, PumpMedia, an outdoor media company, has found a way to reach a captive audience: at the gas pump.

This idea of marketing at the gas pump has been creeping in slowly, as it is something I have seen here at my local Sheetz. While I pump my gas, a no-sound commercial plays showing me all of the sandwich and coffee selections in their mini-mart, there is even a screen where a customer can order one of those sandwiches right at the pump and have it ready and waiting for them when they go inside to the counter.

In a time when most gas stations have taken the “hold pump” mechanism off its pump handles, forcing you to remain at your vehicle while pumping gas, there is nothing much to do besides watching how much the pump will drain you for this time. PumpMedia found this a prime opportunity to reach consumers at a time when they are bored doing the mundane. PumpMedia says it will offer entertaining and informative content while refueling and also offer a new advertising medium for the auto industry. While it is unclear just which types of brands will take advantage of this new way to market to consumers, I’m sure it can be safely assumed it will involve auto makers.

What do you think of this new way to market to consumers?

A few months back I wrote about the mystery man trying to raise $2 million dollars for a 30-second ad spot during the Super Bowl so that he could propose to his girlfriend of five years. There were many skeptics out there, especially because he had to remain anonymous and no one knew if it was a hoax or the real deal, but then interviews on different television networks began showing up bringing legitimacy to the idea.

Once it seemed confirmed that it was a legitimate attempt at something extraordinary, there were many of us glued to the Super Bowl commercials just waiting to see the ad. MSNBC had even confirmed that the ad was going to take place and I refused to let my husband change the channel during the big game. When the ad never emerged, I felt duped, as did much of the blogosphere and the people who pledged up to $75,000 and another donating $10,000 in cash to try to help the mystery man known then as “JP,” achieve his super proposal dream. For days, MySuperProposal.com was offline and I scoured the internet looking for any word as to what the truth was.

What most people don't realize about big glossy magazines is that advertisers in the magazine also get favored additional product placement in the form of mentions in product line ups and other "advertorial" mentions. Nothing wrong with that, it's just how it's always been. A good publicist can help non-advertising brands get more exposure in the same magazine, however those that can afford integrated advertising and publicity often get the best exposure in print and television, of course all this comes at a cost.

Some beauty brands or fashion brands may not have the funding or budget for a large media buy. This post is to address those brands. While selling ad space is not a new idea, finding the appropriate space that is the most effective is critical. If you can't afford the premium ad space in beauty magazines and the top fashion books perhaps you should investigate non-traditional advertising in addition to your PR plan.

Today you can buy ad space on everything from urinal pucks, coffee cups, pizza boxes, shopping bags and now a new and innovative way to reach more people, especially business professionals. Do it through dry cleaning, most specifically, the hangers that go home with each suit and dress and tend to stay in your target customer’s closet for future use.

With 3.5 billion wire hangers ending up in landfills each year, The Hanger Network has designed coat hangers made completely out of paper. The paper is thick and laminated and perfectly acceptable to toss into your recycle bin. It’s strong enough to hold your clothes without falling apart while remaining flexible at the same time. The Hanger Network is hoping that dry cleaners will begin using their EcoHanger because it is free. That saves dry cleaning businesses approximately 8 cents a hanger, meanwhile helping to lessen the burden on the environment.

The Hanger Network is able to give their hangers for free to dry cleaners because it is the advertisers who pay the Hanger Network to place a color advertisement for their product/service on each hanger. These advertisements target both men and women such as ads from Van Heusen and L’Oreal. It’s amazing to me that no one has thought of this idea before. While I would have never dreamed of a sturdy paper hanger, my dry cleaned clothes always come back with white paper wrapping the wire hanger, most times simply stating the name of the place I was just serviced at. Since hangers are reused time and again, this is the perfect opportunity to have your product seen virtually every time a person opens their closet doors. It is unobtrusive, yet subliminal, and done in a way that is functional and serves a purpose.

Presently the EcoHangers are being distributed by Cleaners Supply, the largest distributor of dry cleaning products in the U.S. Currently you can find these hangers at dry cleaners throughout New York City, but with 8 million dollars in venture capital obtained, the Hanger Network will soon be expanding into other cities across the country.

With so many social networking sites beginning to dominate the internet, it’s about time there was one that had one main focus to bring people with the same interest together to connect and network. IQONS is to fashion what MySpace is to music. Created by Rafael Jimenez and Suran Goonatilake with co-mentor Diane Pernet, they bring experience to the table that will see this new social networking site blossom.

IQONS is the global social network where designers, fashion labels, magazine editors, models, stylists, fashion PR professionals, fashion enthusiasts and the like can connect and network with each other. IQONS only launched last month, but it is already building a presence online with 820 designers with an online profile. Through their profile you can get a more in depth look into who they are and browse through their “showcase.” A showcase is where you can upload your work for the rest of the network to see.

IQONS has a few ways that members can connect and promote their work through the site. Influential and highly respected fashion industry professionals, referred to as Iqons, review and comment on work showcased by members on the site; IQONS features one Iqon each month; they also give members 15 minutes of fame by spotlighting a member profile every hour on the hour. IQONS also creates projects with influential fashion industry professionals for members to take part in. The first one is with online fashion retailer Yoox.com for a design competition.

I think this a great way to network with others in the industry and I’ve already started to create a profile, or “Portrait” as they call it, there myself. If you are already on IQONS, tell us what you think of the site.

We are all familiar with all the various bidding sites that are out there that bring consumer and seller together such as the highly popular website Priceline.com and of course its now defunct name your price grocery website WebHouse (which I sadly miss). Of course there are other variations of sites that look to capture an audience by allowing various businesses to compete for your business such as with Lending Tree and RentalCars.com (owned by Priceline). As more and more consumers are always looking for the best deals, a new trend has been emerging that Doc Searls dubbed last year as the Intention Economy.

The Intention Economy grows around buyers, not sellers. It leverages the simple fact that buyers are the first source of money, and that they come ready-made. You don't need advertising to make them. The Intention Economy is about markets, not marketing. You don't need marketing to make Intention Markets.---Doc Searls”

With this idea in mind, it opens another market and another way for brands to think outside of the box when it comes to getting exposure for their product. This is a market that is virtually untapped and one that many are beginning to see as a golden opportunity to connect in another way with their target market. One such example is in a specific part of the travel industry: cruises. Cruise Compete is a website that is similar in notion to Lending Tree in that Travel Cruise Agents compete to offer you the best deal on a cruise package. Although sites like Lending Tree, Priceline and Cruise Compete work with a limited amount of businesses to offer you the best deal, these sites still remain popular in this niche of price competition and continue to have a small amount of rival sites.

Most industry professionals know that ad placement for publication in September beauty magazines, is the most crucial time for your brand to be seen. As online media continues to strengthen, now is a good time to come to understand how you can maximize your brand’s exposure through Blogging, viral marketing and digital magazines dually with ad campaigns in the leading print magazines. Print magazines and online media sell a relationship with its readers, as well as, an opportunity to reach them in a time of intense focus and receptivity.

Here are some Beauty PR tips that may help your brand stand out:

Understand your competition:
How you can understand your competition begins in their ad campaigns. What you can learn:

+ What magazines/blogs they are pitching their products to.
+ Which demographic they are going after and if it changes depending on the magazine/blog they advertise in.
+ Are they focusing on color, scent, packaging or trendiness?
+ What is their approach? Which key words are they using to get the readers attention?

Learning these key points helps you to decide how to better your current/future campaign with a product that may be along the same lines as your competitor or how to present the same type of product effectively in a different way.

Know The Trends:
Follow the editorial calendars of the books that you want your product or service to appear. The editorial calendars are often featured on magazine Web sites. These give advertisers, readers and writers a heads up regarding planned issue themes.

Even if your product wasn’t originally intended for a particular season or holiday, figure out how you can spin it to make it fit. Study your chosen publications, and determine the types of stories each of them seems to favor—then use them as starting points for your own ideas. Look for patterns, trends, and points of discussion. Pinpoint the best editor for your idea. If need be, call the magazine and ask which editor is best to contact, and how he or she prefers submissions (via e-mail or conventional mail).

Creating a relationship with beauty editors is also key and helps in knowing what beauty editors are looking for months ahead of time. It helps you to prepare your story line and potentially get your product before the eyes of your target audience.

Green Is Good:
One way a non-green brand can become part of the green trend is to donate to a green charity. Brands can do this by becoming a sponsor for a green event, such as Earth Day, or hold a promotion with a percentage of the proceeds going to a particular green charity. Don’t count yourself out simply because you are not organic.

Some campaigns to learn from:
+ Lancome & Carbonfund.org
+ Diesel & StopGlobalWarming.org
+ Bank of America & it's green initiative

Pro-age vs. Antiwrinkle:
If you have anti-wrinkle products, give them a makeover with new wording or new packaging. Breathe new life into them so that they lose the negative connotation that “anti” brings about. Use creativity in the words used on the products and in ad campaigns to promote a more positive feeling about aging when using your product.

Embrace The Concept of Blogging:
Stand out and begin a blog surrounding your brand. When Blogging remember to:

+ Come across as a source of information.
+ Be a problem solver.
+ Remember that Blogging is more about your customers needs than your own.
+ Build relationships with your readers.
+ Allow for interaction between your readers and your brand—keep your comments section open, but moderated to weed through the spam.
+ Be patient. Building readership and trust takes time. The average time for a blog to build a consistent loyal readership is 6 months.
+ Show your brand’s personality. No one wants to read a cold lifeless blog. They want warmth and a personal connection to the brand.

Mother’s Day is only a few short weeks away and happens to be, in my opinion, a day that all mothers look forward to for the pampering, the gifts and demonstrations of love by her family. With consumer spending for Mother’s Day gifts expected to be $15.73 billion, these last few weeks before the big day are a fantastic opportunity to get your brand noticed, especially online.

According to the National Retail Federation’s 2007 Mother’s Day Consumer Actions and Intentions survey, 20% of consumers are expected to do their Mother’s Day gift shopping online, which is a 3.1% increase from last year. Although the other 80% do their gift buying offline, many still use the internet to research and look for gift ideas. While Mother’s Day shopping and gift research typically begins at the beginning of April, far more consumers make their purchase much closer to the holiday, which occurs on May 13th this year.

By utilizing the internet to spread the word about your product(s) as great gift ideas for mom, your advertising costs will be much less versus commercial and print ads and more likely to spread the word faster due to viral marketing. A few ways to utilize the web to get your products before Mother’s Day gift searchers are:

Press Releases
Advertisements on targeted websites
Advertisements on targeted blogs
Promoting them to blog owners

Online press releases are great for search engine optimization and will quickly get you picked up by the likes of Google and Yahoo when consumers do an online search. Using keywords in the title of your press release is a key factor. Key phrases to use are “Mother’s Day gifts” and “Mother’s Day gift ideas.” Some online press release services are PR NewsWire, Send2Press and PRWeb Direct. You can also use these same press releases to email to blog owners, but make sure to include links to your products (if you have an online site) and pictures as well.

For this week's Five Things Friday I wanted to focus on blogging. I knew that the best person to turn to for advice was Brian Clark, the Blogger behind the very popular copywriting and online marketing blog: CopyBlogger. With 15,744 subscribers to his blog, and plenty more regular readers to his credit, when Brian talks--people listen. If you haven't heard of Brian Clark, I will have to wonder if you live under a rock (and then ask you to please come out from under it). Please be sure to check out CopyBlogger, where I am sure you will gain a wealth of information from all Brian has to offer.

With Brian's permission I am reposting his post: The 5 Immutable Laws of Persuasive Blogging.

Blogging is a great way to grow a business, promote a cause, or spread new ideas, because when you take an educational approach to marketing, you gain the attention and trust of people who might otherwise simply ignore old-fashioned advertising. Not only can those people become your customers or converts, they can also become your advocates.

While there’s as many ways to approach blogging as there are blogs, some things remain steadfast when it comes to gaining influence and prompting action. Here are the 5 bedrock elements that you might keep in mind when blogging to persuade:

1. The Law of Value

Your blog must provide value to the reader by addressing a problem, concern, desire, or need that the reader already has. Fresh, original content is critical.

2. The Law of Headlines and Hooks

Your post titles must stand out in a crowded, noisy blogosphere, and you must quickly communicate the value of reading further with your opening.

3. The Law of “How To”

People don’t want to know “what” you can do, they want to know “how” it’s done. If you think you’re giving away too much information, you’re on the right track.

4. The Law of the List

Love them or hate them, informational posts presented in list format are easily digestable, and allow for an efficient transfer of your value proposition to the reader.

5. The Law of the Story

Stories are the most persuasive blogging element of all, as they allow you to present a problem, the solution, and the results, all while the connotation of the story allows readers to sell themselves on what you have to offer.

When it comes to your brand, are you soley focused on the bottom line and how to bring in the customers and drive your sales? Or are you willing to set aside a portion of your profits and time to focus on the one thing that makes your company a success: your customers and what they need. Tom’s of Maine recognized a consumer issue related to their niche and have created a program to serve a public health need. Not only is this a great way to generate positive feelings about the Tom’s of Maine brand, but also a great PR generator, as well.

Tom’s of Maine has a dental program they established in 2004 called Dental Health For All. It’s a program aimed at helping those who are without dental insurance and seek dental care through clinics. Since 2004 they have granted clinics throughout the US more than $670,000, which has helped more than 15,000 children and adults gain access to dental care. With more than 120,000 people in the US without dental insurance, Tom’s of Maine stepped up and decided to contribute to a cause that is beneficial to both the brand and potential consumers. Since they are one of the top leading brands in natural personal care products, it only made sense for Tom’s of Maine to extend their relationship beyond just their customers, but onto others where dental care due to lack of insurance is an everyday struggle.

Due to Tom’s of Maine’s ability to look beyond sales figures and profits, they have been able to establish themselves as a leader in their industry. Being a leader doesn’t mean your company has the highest profits or best sales tactics, being a leader means being the one to think beyond yourself, step out of the box and contribute to the community not only in a way to help your niche, but to help those customers in an unselfish way. By providing grants each year to various dental clinics around the US, Tom’s of Maine establishes a relationship with dental professionals and the clients who utilize their services and isn’t that what public relations is all about; creating a relationship and positive image of your brand that has the potential to do more than marketing alone?

Tom’s of Maine has done it right, what are you doing to establish a positive relationship with your target market to create brand awareness and create that personal connection with consumers?

You've already created a Facebook sponsored group for your brand and your MySpace friend list reads like the white pages, so here's one new thing to add to your social media PR must-do list: Create a brand-specific social network on Ning.

Ning is a site where instead of just creating a page, you create a community with features like discussions, forums, and messaging. Instead of joining a myspace, you’re a creating a YOU-space, your own personal social network where brand-fans can upload their own content, blogs, videos, and pictures.

“We wanted to enable people to create their own worlds, not just join someone else's,” explains Ning founder and internet pioneer Marc Andreessen (he invented the first web browser) on his blog, blog.pmarca.com. “The more people learn what social networking makes possible, the more interested they will be in creating their own worlds, their own social networks, around every conceivable need and niche: their families, friends, cities, companies, start-ups, classes, hobbies, interests, political candidates, nonprofit activities, and so on.”

Another plus in Ning's favor is the ability for you to add RSS feeds so that you can update members of your network on any new content. Signing up is free and takes little time depending on whether you choose to use Ning’s templates or create your own fancier html code. You can also choose whether to make your network public or private.

According to Andreessen, 71,531 social networks have already been created with networks created by professionals and educators to MTV celebrity Kristin Cavallari, and the numbers keep on growing.

When it comes to creating truly customized social marketing, Ning's the thing.

Photo Credit: learnscience.net

Whether you are a makeup artist, photographer, painter or designer, an online portfolio community has just launched to give you a space on the web to not only set up a clean, professional and rich online portfolio of your images, but to also give your work more exposure and a great way to network with like-minded industry talent. Dripbook.com came out of private beta yesterday to showcase all it has to offer to the world of visual arts.

Dripbook is equally appropriate to the fashion scene as the fine art scene to the underground youth art scene. Painters, photographers, stylists and illustrators are equally represented. Dripbook also serves as a survey of the visual arts world, allowing users and viewers to find great artwork around the world.

Alex Wright, a New York based music photographer, is the creative mind behind Dripbook. In designing Dripbook, he took on the challenge of creating a place where artists can upload and organize their art into books, no matter the genre (even if they cover various genres) without the hassle of understanding code and plugins that go along with designing a website for yourself. The interface is easy for both the user and viewer, in that the entire site is HTML and doesn’t require anything extra for the portfolio to be seen. All users have a splash page, a profile, their book page and a place where other artists can comment on their work. The site is very clean, well laid out and easy to navigate.

I believe we’ll start seeing more niche social networks such as Dripbook, IQONS and PRVoices, as more industry professionals look for a way to see and be seen by other professionals in their industry, while avoiding the clutter of networks such as MySpace and Facebook.

See all that Dripbook has to offer at: www.dripbook.com

* Photo Credit: Alex Wright Photography via Dripbook

Over $120 billion dollars are spent by soon-to-be newlyweds on items needed leading up to and after a wedding. It is an incredible industry to become a part of and one that welcomes tradition and trend. Not sure where to start or are looking for a new way to get coverage for your product? I put together five tips to sort through the clutter on how to get your brand better exposure in the vastness of the bridal industry.

Something Old, Something New. If you don’t have the budget for advertising your product in long lead bridal publications such as Brides and Modern Bride, seek out their editorial calendar to find an upcoming theme they are working on that you may fit into. Whether your brand is targeted for traditional wedding fare or along the modern & trendy aspect, offer an idea surrounding your product that tells a story that will resonate with the reader. Wedding planning advice, ideas on DIY, how to find the perfect gown/florist/honeymoon destination and so on are always a hit with brides to be. Just be sure to follow the rule of thumb of sending press 3-4 months in advance. Hot Bridal Magazines: Brides, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, The Knot, InStyle Weddings.

Something Borrowed. Renting a tux is no longer the only thing that is being borrowed for the big day; brides are also taking part in this wedding tradition, but in a whole new way. Just as celebrities don borrowed jewelry and other items for their walk down the red carpet, brides are seeking out retailers who also have a rental option available for their accessory needs. Bag Borrow or Steal is one such retailer that allows jewelry rental from such names as Vera Wang, Miriam Haskell and Chanel to handbags from Rafe New York and Badgley Mischka for as little as $10 a week. Developing a rental option for your products and starting the buzz in-store and through your local media will quickly have brides generating word of mouth press for your brand that can be as simple as friend to friend or through posting on wedding forums spreading the word to other brides.

I do—green. Offering DIY advice on how couples can maximize their budget using environmentally friendly ways of giving new life to an old product is one such way to get your brand noticed in the green aspect of the bridal industry. The interest in green weddings has exploded in the last year and Portovert Magazine answered the call to assist brides and grooms with creative ideas to evoke a sense of elegance at the wedding with very little environmental impact.

When Portovert launched in January 2007, we became the voice of glamour in the green movement, showing brides and grooms that green doesn’t have to mean giving up on the idea of a spectacular wedding,” said Megan Yudes, Editorial Director of Portovert, “All brides are looking for ways to stretch their budgets. We’ve been able to do this by showing them how to be creative fixing and recycling items found throughout their surroundings and incorporating these elements into their nuptials in a way that will garner positive attention and make them feel good about using these cost saving measures for the good of the environment.”

The race for the White House is being done in a way that has changed the face of Presidential campaigns from here on out. Sure, we still see the typical television ads, town hall meetings, debates and so forth, but the candidates seem to have come to the understanding that social media has huge reach--a different reach than traditional methods of spreading the word regarding their campaigns. Going viral seems to be the way candidates are progressing vs. typical PR. It has left me wondering, will we see a change come November in who is coming out to vote? Has it changed the demographics of who is coming out to vote in the primary and possibly behind "the movement" that has been attributed to Presidential hopeful, Barack Obama?

Just looking at the Democratic bid for nominee, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have MySpace pages. Both are on Twitter, which is interesting to note--Hillary Clinton has 1643 followers, has had 59 updates--but is following no one. Barack Obama has 13,712 followers, has had 75 updates and is following 13,048 (is he really though?) That's a pretty substantial difference and again makes me wonder if this places into Obama's "movement." (Has social media helped his campaign or is this organic?)

As always celebrities want to have their say on who they support and they are no longer just making a comment here and there hoping it will get picked up on the newswires, they are creating You Tube videos to reach a broader audience. For example, Jack Nicholson's video endorsing Hillary Clinton and will.i.am's music video regarding Barack Obama.

So what do you think? Are the candidates reach through social media bringing on and educating a younger audience of voters? Does it change each way the other campaigns and will campaign going forth once we have established Republican and Democratic nominees? Speak up in the comments!

Pierce Mattie PR's Executive Vice President, Sonya Hartland, gave a great interview yesterday on the PR podcast Publicity Show. Be ready with your pen and paper because you'll definitely want to take notes! Sonya gives some amazing insight as to why regional strategies are a great asset to strengthening your brand's image.

To listen, simply click: Publicity Show

The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News each ran ads for a fake airline, Derrie-Air, this past Friday. They did so knowingly, as it was a way to test their ad reach both in print and online. According to Editor & Publisher, the click through rate was 1.25% compared to their norm of .05%. However, there are many in the media and journalists who are wagging their finger at this Top 50 U.S. newspaper, saying that they crossed an ethical line and border on mistrust from its readership. I'm not sure I agree and here's why:

It's no secret that the newsrooms are dwindling. It's happening to the news media both in print and in broadcast. Try contacting journalists at the top dailies--it's next to impossible. Newspapers are making less money as readers want news on demand and turn to multiple sources for their information, mainly online. There are job cuts everywhere and the journalists who remain are beginning to wear many hats. As The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News contemplate how a major paper moves forward profitably, it only makes sense to test their strength and reach among their readers. The fake ads for Derrie-Air, in my opinion, are similar to a blind study. Blinding is a basic tool to prevent conscious as well as subconscious bias in research. If you want to understand your advertising reach, how can that be done if you disclose that the ad you are testing is fake? This would bring confounding variables into play. If you disclosed about the fake ads and saw a higher than normal click through--was it because you disclosed and people were curious or because despite the disclosure, a reader was interested in the ad?

Pierce Mattie recently hosted Joico's Fall Fabulous event to promote the launch of 3 new products in the Joico Design collection that will be launching later this year. Editors from various publications came in for a wash and style with the new products. George Papanikolas, of the Chris McMillan Salon in Beverly Hills, was the main stylist.

The Media Oasis was transformed into a Joico inspired/branded salon complete with fall flowers, soft lighting and fall trend posters. It looked absolutely amazing in here and everyone had a great time.

Now we can't tell you the 3 products just yet, but we can tell you that they'll be launching in a salon near you around October of this year. Stay up to date on all Joico products through their website and MySpace page.

Being the social media junkie that I am, I couldn't help but want to add my 2 cents to a recent inquiry from Ragan Communications writer Chris Kent regarding Twitter and whether it was a mindless time waster or an effective tool. I think we all know what my answer to that is (see my interview with Zappos' CEO if you doubt me) and from the many journalists, editors, PR people and bloggers that I interact with daily on Twitter, I can safely say I am not alone.

While Twitter is still experiencing a lot of growing pains, it is the epitome of what the best of PR and social media looks like together: self branding, relationship building, in depth communication and interaction.

So check out what what others had to say in the Ragan article, I think you'll find it a great read.