D. Williams PR Group

N'Digo Foundation Hosts 16th Annual Gala

2011-07-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

On June 19th the N'Digo foundation hosted their annual Gala titled "A Tribute To Men". This year five well known community leaders were honored along with ten N'Digo scholarship winners. The Gala was held in Chicago at The Symphony Center and featured Grammy award winner Kenneth "Baby Face" Edmunds and his brother Kevon.

Jokes and Notes Comedy Club 5th Anniversary Celebration

2011-05-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

On April 28th, Chicago's best urban comedians came out in full effect to celebrate the 5th year anniversary of Jokes and Notes Comedy Club. Comedians George Willborn, Damon Williams, Tony Scufield and Leon Rogers performed to a sold out crowd of comedic enthusiasts. Other comedians included Lil' Rel, Jay Deep, Baldhead Phillips and Marlon Mitchell.

Jokes and Notes Comedy Club Celebrates 5th Anniversary

2011-04-20T09:05:00.001-07:00

JOKES AND NOTES COMEDY CLUB CELEBRATES 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Chicago’s Favorite Comedians Give Hilarious Special Performance Jokes & Notes Comedy Club located at 4641 S. Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago is celebrating 5 years of success and will celebrate with a weekend of special events Thursday, April 28, 2011. Jokes and Notes has had tremendous success since opening January 2006. Owner and visionary Mary Lindsey designed Jokes & Notes to become an outlet for comedians to showcase their talents and a place where people can come and laugh to local and top name national acts. Located in the heart of the Bronzeville District steps away from the monumental site of the Harold Washington Cultural Center. On Thursday, April 28th with two special performances at 8:30pm and 10:30pm, Jokes and Notes will host Chicago’s best urban comedians in a hilarious one-time showcase. Audiences will laugh to the jokes of national radio host and comedian George Wiillborn, national comic and host Damon Williams, WGCI’s radio hosts Tony Sculfield and Leon Rogers, other comedians include Lil’ Rel, Jay Deep, Baldhead Phillips and Marlon Mitchell. The special event is free admission first come first serve until all seats are filled. Jokes & Notes, the premier club is one of 3 African American clubs in the country and minority owned by a woman, has had continued success despite downward fall of many businesses on the block that the club is located. Jokes and Notes has had a steady flow of local and national acts that have graced the stage and captivated the ever growing audience each weekend. Comedians such as Mo'Nique, Adele Givens, Michael Colyar & Bill Bellamy just to name a few. Proprietor and Chicago native Mary Lindsey reflects on her decision to bring Jokes & Notes to the Bronzeville District. 5 years ago "I have always been thrilled to provide the southside community with a premiere entertainment venue". Jokes & Notes has proven to provide their audience with a quality place to unwind, relax and have a good time with laughter and good company. Mary Lindsey, was co-owner of the famed All Jokes Aside Comedy Club that was open in the 90’s and launched the careers of Steve Harvey, Bernie Mac, Cedric “the entertainer”, Chris Rock, D.L. Hughley and many others. For more information regarding the special anniversary celebration visit our website at http://www.jokesandnotes.com/ or call 773-373-3390. For media inquiries contact D. Williams PR Group 312.225.8705 ##

Emerge! was a tremendous success during NY Fashion Week

2011-03-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

D. Williams PR Group hosted their First Annual Emerge! Fashion Runway Show during fashion week on February 11, 2011. The first- annual red carpet, step and repeat event took place at the Sun West Studios in New York City combined art on the runway, which was one of the hottest new platforms for emerging designers during NY Fashion Week. The by-invite-only attendees included the elite of the fashion industry such as Audrey Smaltz, fashion editors, buyers from major fashion retailers, and well known celebrity names such as Dwight Eubanks, Real Housewives of Atlanta, Suede from Project Runway and more.

“The lines that debuted at EMERGE! were simply breathtaking”, states Dionne CEO of D. Williams Public Relations. “Fashion week can launch careers, so our event is rightfully named.” The designers whose pieces were beautifully featured on the runway included Terri Stevens, who designs for Michael Joseph and Funkinbeautiful Designs. A Chicago native featured on Project Runway, where her funky and chic styles amazed the judges each week.

Sheila Rashid, a fashion designer and Dawn Joi, the creator and designer of JoiTees. The talented designer (tee shirts) has dedicated herself to spreading "joi" and love in a chic, yet eco-friendly way offering versatile fashions with a conscience and a touch of humor. New Yorker Dominique Auxilly has dressed the likes of Nicki Minaj to Miss Universe Caressa Cameron, and has partnered with Isobel Arnbeg vintage to open a boutique in SoHo.

Included in the event was a special award presentation for two groundbreaking honorees. Fashion powerhouse Audrey Smaltz, owner of Ground Crew, providing indispensable backstage management. Among her 70 regular bookers are Oscar De La Renta, Vera Wang, Donna Karan, and Michael Kors.

Emerge! also paid tribute to not-for-profit organization ART START, an award-winning, nationally recognized model for using the arts to save lives and transform communities and connecting with displaced kids ages 5-21.

Emerge! was styled by Live Fashion under the direction of Rowshana Jackson, a freelance fashion editor and stylist. Public relations were provided by Beautiful Planning Marketing & PR.“ This may be a first-annual event but we have launched EMERGE! with a resounding fashion boom,” states Dionne Williams. “We had a number of up and comers that simply could not be ignored, and our message is simple. It's possible to Emerge within the coveted fashion industry with talent and hard work.”

Dionne Williams is the Principal of D. Williams Public Relations Group specializing in public relations, marketing and event management. DWPRG produces high-end galas, celebrity concerts, conferences, and special events. Clients included: Oscar Award Winning Actress Jennifer Hudson, R&B Legend Chaka Khan, and Pursuit of Happiness author Christopher Gardner. D. Williams also host events around with its “D. Williams PR presents” event series, which includes events surrounding Mercedes Benz New York City Fashion Week, Grammy Awards, The Kentucky Derby and Mercedes Benz Polo Challenge in the Hamptons, NY.

Designers who would like to showcase during September Fashion event please contact 312.225.8705

Partying at the Derby

2010-04-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

You are invited to A Royal Affair Kentucky Derby Celebration that I am hosting in Louisville, KY on Derby Day - Saturday, May 1st from 7:30p - 11:00pm at the beautiful E& S Gallery - downtown Louisville.

Please call 312-225-8705 for tickets- Enjoy an evening of Celebrities, athletes, food, complimentary drinks, goodie and gifts, DJ, beautiful artwork and more!!

For tickets www.dwilliamspr.com

Howard Stern blasts Gabby Sidibe - What do you think?

2010-03-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

She received accolades for her breakout role in "Precious," and has been well-received by Hollywood. Well, not all of Hollywood. Radio talk show host Howard Stern used some harsh language about actress Gabourey Sidibe on his Sirius radio talk show March 8, 2010. "There's the most enormous, fat black chick I've ever seen. She is enormous. Everyone's pretending she's a part of show business and she's never going to be in another movie," he said. "She should have gotten the Best Actress award because she's never going to have another shot. What movie is she gonna be in?" Sidibe has not responded.

What do you think of Howard Stern's ridiculous comments? Is society to shallow and judges only on looks?

2010-03-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

If you are in Chicago here is an event that will be every interesting and enlightening - On Friday evening, March 19, The Resolution Project and SmileyBooks are proudly sponsoring a panel discussion entitled ARE YOU BRAINWASHED? The Marketing of Black Inferiority 21st Century Style moderated by award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley at The DuSable Museum of African American History.

Tom Burrell, whose new book, BRAINWASHED: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority, has planted the seeds for this evening’s conversation, will be joined by playwright Ifa Bayeza and Dr. Cornel West.

BRAINWASHED examines how the very fabric of black American life has been torn apart by the marketing of the Black Inferiority Complex. The panel’s aim is to open the dialogue and candidly discuss both the media brainwashing issues Mr. Burrell outlines, as well as paths toward solutions. The evening’s conversation, free and open to the public, is an opportunity to spark a movement and for the audience to gain a greater understanding of Burrell’s vital message. This event is free and open to the public.
WHO:
· Tavis Smiley, award-winning journalist
· Tom Burrell, advertising legend, founder and chairman emeritus, Burrell Communications
· Dr. Cornel West, Princeton University professor and noted activist, author and scholar
· Ifa Bayeza, award-winning playwright, producer and conceptual theatre artist

WHEN: Friday, March 19, 2010 - 6:00 – 8:30

WHERE: DuSable Museum
740 East 56th Street
Chicago, IL, 60637

GENERATIONAL MARKETING

2010-02-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

I love studying about Generation Marketing.. I the principles and concepts when marketing or speaking to specific target group. You have to know their generation to find out what moves them.

The method of marketing to a specific generation is affecting the way that we promote and sell products and services. We are all a product of our generation. Each generation have their own characterestics, because of this as a marketing target we can usually categorize by generations by the way that we act and speak as well as our belief systems.
There are four popular generational categories that most marketers tend to focus on.

They include:
Millenials or Generation 2001ers, born after 1980
Generation Xers born between 1965 and 1980
Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964
Mature Citizens born between 1909 and 1945

In order to market effectively to a generation you must find a way to grab their attention, by using a message that resonates with them. Generational determined lifestyles and social values exercise as much influence on buying and purchasing as more commonly understood demographic factors like income, education, and gender do--perhaps even more.

To succeed in generation marketing you must understand how the motivation of your consumers correlate with the underlying values of their generation. When you know this you are able to customize your message to cater to the generation when it comes to your products and services. You can then present the message with your products, services, and communication to their needs and desires.

Of course, every generation ultimately will pass through the same life stages, from youth to old age. As the younger generations find their place in society as consumers, employees and parents, it becomes more and more important for businesses to acknowledge this soon-to-be-powerful demographic. Build brand loyalty with them now, and you may reap the results for the rest of their lives.

If you have not already explored generation marketing, perhaps it's time to visit this method of marketing as part of your own marketing and advertising mix.

Kentucky Derby

2010-02-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

D. Williams PR Group will host a concert and party during the Kentucky Derby week in April 2010. Please send your email address to dionne@dwilliamspr.com for more information.

Will feature top recording artist, hottest DJ and Celebrity sight seeing!!!

How to Reach Affluent African Americans

2010-02-21T15:03:00.000-08:00

GREAT ARTICLE ON HOW TO REACH AFFLUENT AA - MUST READ

How to Reach Affluent African Americans

Magic to Buy Johnson Publishing?

2010-02-12T17:23:00.000-08:00

By Brett Pulley

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the Hall of Fame basketball player, is in talks to purchase Johnson Publishing Co., the publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines.

“There have been discussions,” Eric Holoman, president of Los Angeles-based Magic Johnson Enterprises, said in an interview. “There’s no definitive agreement.” He declined to comment further.

The 58-year-old publishing company’s Chicago headquarters would be included in the sale, a person with knowledge of the situation said. A purchase may require satisfying liens that have been placed on the building by one of the company’s creditors, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are private.

Linda Johnson Rice, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing, declined a request for an interview, said Wendy Parks, a spokeswoman for Johnson Publishing. Johnson Rice “has never talked to ‘Magic’ Johnson with respect to his interest in buying” the company, Parks said.

The former Los Angeles Lakers star would make the company a part of his Magic Johnson Enterprises, which includes partnerships with Starbucks Corp., 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. and T.G.I. Friday’s Inc., the person said. Advertising revenue at Ebony magazine declined 38 percent to $35.5 million last year on a 39 percent drop in ad pages, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

Johnson Publications, founded in 1942 by Linda Johnson Rice’s father, John H. Johnson, targets African-American readers and owns archives of photos documenting more than a half century of black life and culture.

Magic Johnson Enterprises was founded by the former National Basketball Association player in 1987.

PR students working for a PR agency?

2010-02-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

I'm Jasmine and I'm a new student intern for D.Williams PR & Event Management Group. I'll be posting info once a month for students who are interested in the field of public relations. twitter.com/suziesandals

Should PR students work for a PR agency?
If you're a PR student, how are you supposed to know you're a "natural" for a PR agency, and is there a flashing red light that will warn you away if you're not suited?
If you're a student in a PR program, or you're already working and considering your options, I hope you find this advice helpful.

1.Agencies are less glamorous than you've heard.

Don't go into PR if you think you're going to meet "famous and important people".

Bad idea. In one branch of PR - entertainment PR - you may someday meet Somebody Famous (or at least pass them backstage). Most of the time you will meet many people you never heard of. In public relations you will probably meet other people who are interesting, boring, smart, dumb, and beautiful well known in their fields, or obscure. You will not meet Al Pacino, Bill Clinton or the Jonas Brothers.

if you go into that field your job, for a number of years at least, will be making sure that the microphones work and that the hot dogs arrive on time. Somebody once said that the Mafia was like Hollywood: thousands of obscure little guys starving to death and waiting for their big chance, and a few big people making a mint.

2.Agencies are businesses. They need people who think like business people.

you'll be expected to know how to write a good news release. The agency will expect you to write it faster and get it right faster, because it's selling your time against a fixed budget and if it takes you too long, the agency loses money.

Not that agency people are starved or never enjoy any benefits…but the majority of PR agencies are small to medium-sized companies at best. There's no corporate sugar daddy or taxpayer to supply them.

If you think PR is where people will leave you alone while you spend months designing a logo or creating a cool website, you don't want a job at an agency. The pace is faster and there's far more need for every action to make business sense.

3.In public relations there are three skill sets. Only at an agency will you need all of them.

The first is what I'll call "good PR tools". The ability to write clearly and compellingly. (Good spelling, good English, powerful composition). A burning desire to understand the bewilderingly complex world of politics, business and the media. A good grounding in history and the social sciences. A second language would be nice.

Second, "people skills."

Third, "business skills."

4.So who should try for a job at a PR agency, anyway?

You should consider a PR agency (and any good agency hiring person will consider you) if you can answer "yes" to at least six of the following eight questions:

Do you not get bored easily?
Do you have the kind of sense of humor that will help you out of bitter situations?
Can you always see at least two sides to every question - and could you convincingly argue either one of them if you had to?
Do you want to work (at least some of the time) on the most truly fascinating events and situations that confront organizations - restructurings, corporate makeovers, new products and services, maddeningly complex and controversial issues, corporate crises?
Are you a creative, problem-solving kind of person?
Are you good at sizing up people and situations quickly?
Are you self-confident, unafraid of authority, willing and able to speak and write convincingly?
Do you have a passionate need to know why?

John J. Barr

Sheila Johnson appointed on President's Committee on The Arts and The Humanities

2010-02-09T22:59:00.001-08:00

President Obama announced his intention on February 5th to appoint Sheila Johnson (top photo) & Super Socialite Pamela Joyner to the President's Committee on The Arts and The Humanities.

Ms. Johnson is the only Black woman to own three professional sports teams and is the co-founder of BET. She is also the founder and CEO of Salamander Hospitality.

Ms. Joyner is Trustee Emeritus of The San Francisco Ballet and a Trustee of The School of American Ballet. She is also a Trustee of Dartmouth College.

JET MAGAZINE NEW LOGO

2010-02-09T22:55:00.000-08:00

JET magazine, the only national weekly African-American news magazine, announces today the most sweeping evolution in its history. The new brand strategy, said Johnson Publishing Co. officials, will make extensive use of JET's connection with the Black community through timely information with a trusted point-of-view.

Starting with the Feb. 15th issue, JET magazine will unveil many changes, including a new logo, new design and layout, new sections and features to readers looking for that unique black take on the latest in news and entertainment.

"As a world-class media company, we will solidify JET's position as an innovator and leader in the African-American marketplace by offering expanded content that will entertain, inform and extend our readership footprint of the brand in a smart way," said Linda Johnson Rice, chairman and CEO. "We will continue to build our communication platforms to engage our audiences and address evolving consumer needs."

The brand will showcase various points-of-view from recognizable contributors such as Dr. Ian Smith, Warren Ballentine and Fonzworth Bentley on topics directly impacting Black America. Additionally, JET will maintain its readers' favorites such as JET Beauty and JET Love (formally known as Love and Happiness), while dialing up newsworthy content in sports, finance, beauty and style, all with a unique Black angle.

"After listening to our consumers, we have strengthened our content strategy to include coverage of broader topics that are relevant to Black America. Our overarching brand strategy will continue to rollout over the next several months and introduce new signature features such as JET Perspective, JET Buzz and JET Style," said Anne Sempowski Ward, president and COO. "We have always been known for and will continue to provide credible and timely information that connects our community."

The inaugural issue features R&B star Trey Songz, who has been reading JET since he was a child. He was a perfect fit for the launch because he's smart, entertaining and both men and women find his music irrestible. Whether it's a duet with Steve Wonder or his solo performances, he represents the multi-generational JET audience. View exclusive behind-the-scenes video of the JET cover shoot with Trey Songz at http://www.ebonyjet.com/jet

The National Black Public Relations Society to host webinar

2010-01-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

Join the National Black Public Relations Society for the WEB CAFÉ ~ A series of free, mid-day webinars

Experts Share Insights for Success in PR – professionals at all levels
Every Second Thursday of the Month.

Organizing For Your 2010 P.R. Plan: (Managing Priorities & Results)

Speaker: Ruby Sullivan
Professional Organizer & Project Management Consultant

Thursday, January 14, 2010 (12:30-1:30 pm Eastern)
Register at www.NBPRS.org beginning January 7th
No Registration Fee

Did you get those White House security clearance documents completed?

Is everything set for the Will Smith shoot tomorrow?

Where are the clips from our last promo with NBC?

Can you take the call on line one?

Keeping focus on ever changing priorities and providing results is essential in today’s 911-emergency room PR environment.

Better managing your space, time and activities is a critical first step to establish a strong foundation for 2010.

This webinar will provide an arsenal of strategies, insights and specific techniques for your survival work kit.

At the end of this 60-minute session, you will know how to:

•Better Manage Your TIME What’s In Your Closet?
Arrange your time and workload to meet your goals

•Better Monitor Your ACTIVITIES Make Time For What Matters - ROI Monitor your activities to maximize your efforts

•Better Organize Your SPACE Make Room For Success
Arrange your space for maximum productivity

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ruby Sullivan is a professional organizer and project management consultant.

She has spent 24+ years partnering with individuals and companies to exceed their goals. She has held leadership positions at Xerox and Motorola, Inc.

Ruby is a sought-after consultant who helps organizations optimize productivity byutilizing innovative problem-solving, time management, organizational development and process improvement solutions. Based in Illinois, Ruby is the founder of In Divine Order, Inc. More information on IDO is available at www.indivineorder.com.

A DECADE TO REMEMBER- Our President is Black and Michael Jackson dies

2010-01-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

source: the root

CHECK OUT MY NEW BLOG ON CHICAGO TRIBUNE'S CHICAGONOW.COM

2009-12-19T08:57:00.001-08:00

I am now a blogger with the new website www.chicagonow.com - Chicago Now is owned by Chicago Tribune and has picked experts in their field to talk about all things Chicago.

I will cover events/society in Chicago. I will take readers to hottest concerts, parties, must attend events, galas and more!

Please visit and search my blog CHI-SOCIETY.

Check every week for updates!

What bases do I need to cover when I've been laid off?

2009-12-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

There are several important things you need to do after being laid off. First, figure out how much money you will need to meet your monthly obligations. Evaluate your severance package if you have been given one. Some may involve a lump sum payment or salary continuation. You will also need to look over your benefits package and see if you are eligible to continue them through COBRA. Find out about your monthly costs. Then you should analyze your 401K plan.

Do you have a loan associated with the 401K that you will need to pay off immediately? Should you leave the 401K with your employer's administrator while you decide where to transfer the funds or do you need to transfer the money right away?

Next, learn the rules of unemployment insurance. See if and when you are eligible for benefits and what the requirements are to receive them. Then set your professional and personal priorities. What types of jobs will you be pursuing and where?

The next step is to start updating your resume and networking with all of your connections. Attend industry events, job fairs, and contact everyone you know in your area of expertise. Colleagues and former supervisors can often be the source of good job leads so arrange to have coffee or lunch with them.

It is also a good idea to network with your contacts through various social networking sites. Also, check with your former employer to see whom you can use as a reference and make a list of people whose names you can give to potential new employers.

It is also important to get ready for your interviews. Practice your story about being laid off and what you will tell those who interview you. Your job now is to promote yourself to potential employers so you can land a new position and get back into the workforce.

Jane Waldman is director of recruitment at Kaplow

How can I approach an agency if I want to do freelance work?

2009-12-13T11:12:00.000-08:00

Following a year in which many PR agencies reduced their headcount, there are likely more freelance opportunities available as agencies hesitate to add permanent staff in a still unstable economic climate. However, with so many more capable professionals on the market, the competition for freelance assignments is fierce. To stand out you have to be aggressive and disciplined in your pursuit of freelance work.

Market yourself. Tailor your resume for freelance work by highlighting your strongest expertise and sector-specific knowledge; when an agency is looking for a freelancer, it is probably for a very specific assignment. Demonstrating experience which closely mirrors the specs will help you land the assignment. The next step is to educate yourself about your target market. After you have identified your most marketable skills and industry experience, it's time to find the agencies whose practice areas match your profile. If you are a food and beverage expert, locate the agencies with the largest food and beverage divisions. If you have extensive experience pitching financial media, look for agencies with strong financial/IR or corporate practices.

Few freelance positions are advertised on job boards, so you must reach out to agencies directly and inquire about work. Reach out to the HR director, as well as senior executives in your target practice areas requesting informational interviews. I regularly conduct informational interviews with interesting applicants in order to keep my network – as well as my freelance and permanent staff pipeline – active. In the meeting, emphasize those skills which distinguish you from the competition, and also try to learn more about the company. After the meeting, don't send your interviewers a LinkedIn request; keep in touch by periodically sharing articles which you know would be pertinent to their work. This is less intrusive than an unsolicited “friend request,” and more importantly, a relevant Wall Street Journal or PRWeek article demonstrates your knowledge of their company and their clients' businesses. It's a great way to remind them that you are not the average candidate, and you're just one mouseclick away from a freelance position.

Steve Seeman is a VP at Makovsky + Company

STAR JONES SAYS BARBARA WALTERS CAN RELATE TO TIGER

2009-12-09T13:50:00.000-08:00

Unless you've been under a rock or in a coma, you know that Tiger Woods is embroiled in one of the messiest personal scandals in a long time. Over the last several weeks, multiple mistresses have disclosed the intimate details of their affairs with the acclaimed golfer.

Now, former 'View' co-host Star Jones is making headlines of her own for suggesting that her former boss, media maven Barbara Walters, land Woods' first interview.

Jones was serving as a guest host on Friday's episode of 'The Insider' when she was asked whether Woods should give his first interview to Walters or his pal Oprah Winfrey.

"My former boss might be a good choice," Jones recommended. "She wrote an entire book where she detailed her own affair and got paid a lot of money. She would be a very good choice. That would be like the pot calling the kettle black. I'm not sure she would be sympathetic, but she can't be as judgmental."

The former 'Court TV' host was referencing Walters' affair with married Sen. Edward Brooke, which the 80-year-old journalist detailed in her best-selling memoir 'Audition.'

Jones, a former prosecutor, has been a regular guest host on 'The Insider' since October. When she appeared on the celebrity gossip show's Oct. 12 episode, her comments about filmmaker Roman Polanski made headlines as well.

"Spike Lee wouldn't have been allowed to chill in France for 30 years if he had raped a child," Jones said.

Posted by Jawn Murray

STEPHANOPOULOS ANCHORS GMA

2009-12-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

Politico's Mike Allen reports what industry-watchers have been expecting for the last week: George Stephanopoulos will be joining "Good Morning America" as anchor. ABC is expected to make an announcement Thursday.

Allen adds that Stephanopoulos may begin anchoring the morning show — along with co-anchor Robin Roberts, and recently appointed newsreader JuJu Chang — as soon as Monday.

Diane Sawyer's final "GMA" broadcast is Friday; she takes the reins at "World News" on December 21.

Current "GMA" newsreader Chris Cuomo has reportedly been offered a job co-anchoring "20/20" with Elizabeth Vargas.

Stephanopoulos may remain as host of his Sunday program, "This Week," for a transition period but will eventually give it up to focus exclusively on "GMA."

He and his wife, actress Ali Wentworth, were seen apartment-hunting in New York over Thanksgiving weekend, and have reportedly been scouting schools for their two daughters, Elliott and Harper, to attend in New York.

Tiger Woods' Image Likely Unharmed

2009-12-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Smashed up, semi-conscious and bleeding may be how Tiger Woods was discovered three days ago. However, his reputation as a top brand endorser should remain relatively unscathed, according to sports marketing experts. Woods is currently the face of some of the world's biggest companies. Accenture, American Express, AT&T, EA Sports, Gatorade, Gillette and Nike are among the brands to which he has ties.

All told, he pulls in about $100 million annually in endorsement deals, per Forbes. Allegations of infidelity and other stories that are currently swirling will not greatly affect his abilities as an endorser, said David Schwab, vp, Octagon Sports Marketing's First Call and managing director of athletes and personalities. "If it's only a spat and the story is what we've seen, then it doesn't affect him," Schwab said. "He is unique in terms of his global appeal, size and long-term ability. He's not like a prime-time actor competing with 30 other competitors. He doesn't compete with anyone." Woods' target demographic, namely middle- to upper-class males, "tend to be a lot more forgiving," said Larry McCartney, associate professor of sports marketing at Seton Hall University's Center for Sport Management.

"There are obviously rumors flying around all over the place at the moment, but he's pretty much bulletproof." Nike has already issued a statement of support, and Leverage Agency CEO Ben Sturner expects that other brands will follow suit. "All of his sponsors are going to support him," he said.A Gillette rep said, "He remains a part of our current marketing efforts. We have not announced any changes to our plans.

"The only danger for Woods involves any offers that are currently on the table. "Right now if I'm a brand manager negotiating to do a global campaign, do I pull out because maybe it could get worse?" said Sturner. Still, "long term will it hurt? No. Look at Kobe Bryant right now. Look at the other stars that have had worse incidents that have dampened their reputations [and rebounded]. It's about what happens on the golf course. That will make or break his marketing appeal."

by Kenneth Hein

Gibson Signing Off From 'ABC World News' Dec. 18

2009-12-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

Charles Gibson will sign off from World News Dec. 18.

Diane Sawyer will officially move into the anchor chair in January, though ABC News has not made an announcement about her start date. But according to sources at ABC News, Sawyer plans to give herself a soft launch at World News by anchoring the broadcast on Dec. 21 and 22 before leaving for the holidays.

An announcement about who will succeed Sawyer at Good Morning America is expected in the coming weeks.

Gibson has anchored World News since May 2006. Prior to that, he co-anchored GMA with Sawyer.

Gibson came to ABC News in 1975 from Television News Inc. (TVN), a syndicated news service. From 1970 to 1973 he was an anchor and reporter for WJLA-TV (then WMAL-TV), the ABC affiliate in Washington, DC. Prior to joining WJLA-TV, he had been news director for WLVA-TV and Radio in Lynchburg, Virginia. His first job in broadcasting was Washington producer for RKO Network in 1966.

In a post on the World Newser blog, Jon Banner, the executive producer of World News, wrote that Gibson's last week would include a walk down memory lane.

"We're going to spend a good deal of time during his final week on the air looking back at the stories Charlie covered, hearing again from some of the remarkable people he interviewed, and paying tribute to our friend and colleague, and the enormous contribution he has made to ABC News over the last three decades," wrote Banner.

NABJ / BPRS HOLIDAY PARTY - CHICAGO

2009-12-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

If you are in Chicago and in the Public Relations and Journalism field make sure you attend the NABJ-Chicago (Nat'l Assoc. of Black Journalist Chicago) AND BPRS (Black Public Relations Society)

It is taking place on December 16th from 5:00pm - 10:00pm at the Joynt ( 650 North Dearborn * Chicago)

It is a great place for networking and have fun!

OPRAH GETS STEAMY ON HBO

2009-11-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

Harpo Films sets sensual pilot at network
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Oprah Winfrey has a surprising project in the works. Her Harpo Films has made a deal with HBO to team on a sexually charged hourlong series pilot about a woman who leaves her seemingly perfect marriage and children in Santa Monica for the underbelly of L.A., where she indulges her secret fantasies and desires.
Pilot is being written by Erin Cressida Wilson, best known for writing 2002 indie pic "Secretary," which starred James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal film in the story of a boss-secretary relationship that veers into S&M.
Winfrey and Harpo Films president Kate Forte will be executive producers along with Wilson.
The pilot is a high priority at the pay web. The idea was hatched by Forte, who pitched it to HBO prexy Sue Naegle right after Harpo made a deal to generate series and miniseries.
"It is unsentimental and pretty shocking, and there is something complicated and destructive driving her," Forte said. "It is literally a day at the pool, where she gets up, in sarong and flip-flops, and walks out of her life, leaving everyone behind so abruptly that her husband and kids initially think she's been kidnapped or murdered."
Harpo Films previously set at HBO "Ida Tarbell," a miniseries about the true-life muckraking journalist who helped expose the unfair practices of John D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil monopoly.
On the film side, Harpo Films is producing for Focus Features a Sam Mendes-directed adaptation of the Joseph O'Neill novel "Netherland" and is partnered with Playtone for an adaptation of the David Wroblewski novel "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" at Universal.

source: Variety

TiVo Teams with Major Advertiser To Show Commercials When Viewers Fast Forward Through Content

2009-11-22T10:47:00.000-08:00

In a pioneering deal, TiVo has partnered with a major advertiser to show messages from the advertiser even when viewers fast forward, rewind, pause, or delete certain content, Advertising Age reports.
When viewers perform these functions with NFL games, message for Coors Light will appear on the screen.
According to the report, " 'It's true that sports are much less time-shifted than anything other than news,' said Todd Juenger, TiVo's VP-general manager for audience, research and measurement. 'But it's 20%, and that's not zero.' "
The report also notes, "The deal covers every NFL game through the Super Bowl, which means consumers could theoretically find themselves looking at Coors Light branding while rewinding for another look at an Anheuser-Busch spot. (A-B is the only brewer with commercial time during the Super Bowl broadcast, although Coors Light is the big game's official beer.)"

OBAMA MEETS HALF BROTHER WHILE IN CHINA

2009-11-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

Mark Ndesandjo, President Barack Obama's half-brother, gestures as he speaks during an interview in China.

BEIJING (AP) — President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he met briefly with a half brother who lives in China and who recently wrote a semi-autobiographical novel about the abusive Kenyan father they share.
Obama, who spent three days in China during his first official tour of Asia, acknowledged the meeting in an interview with CNN. He offered no details. An aide said later that the meeting took place Monday night after Obama arrived in Beijing, the Chinese capital.
The White House had declined to say whether the president and Mark Ndesandjo would meet. And no White House official mentioned the visit until Obama did when asked about it.
"I don't know him well. I met him for the first time a couple of years ago," Obama told CNN. "He stopped by with his wife for about five minutes during the trip."

Describing the meeting as "overwhelming" and "intense," Ndesandjo told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that he had long anticipated the chance to welcome his famous brother to China.

"I think he came directly off the plane, changed some clothes and then came down and saw us," Ndesandjo said. "And he just gave me a big hug. And it was so intense. I'm still over the moon on it. I am over the moon. And my wife. She is his biggest fan and I think she is still recovering."
In the CNN interview, Obama said he hadn't read his brother's book, "Nairobi to Shenzhen," which features a protagonist who is the son of a Jewish mother and an abusive father from Kenya.
Ndesandjo has revealed in previous interviews that his father, Barack Obama Sr., beat him and his mother. The president also wrote about his father, who abandoned him as a child, in his best-selling memoir.
"It's no secret that my father was a troubled person," Obama said. "Anybody who has read my first book, 'Dreams from My Father,' knows that, you know, he had an alcoholism problem, that he didn't treat his families very well. Obviously it's a sad part of my history and my background, but it's not something I spend a lot of time brooding over."
Ndesandjo said he bought tickets months ago to fly from the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, where he has lived since 2002, to Beijing, in hopes of reconnecting with his brother. The two last met in January when Ndesandjo attended Obama's inauguration as a family guest.
The three chatted on Monday, with Obama being introduced to Ndesandjo's wife, a native of Henan, China, whom he married a year ago, he said. He gave few details of what they discussed.
"All I can say is, we talked about family, and it was very powerful because when he came in through that door, and I saw him and I hugged him, and he hugged me and hugged my wife. It was like we were continuing a conversation that had started many years ago," he said.
The two men did not grow up together. Ndesandjo's mother, Ruth Nidesand, was Barack Obama Sr.'s third wife. Before arriving in Beijing on Monday, Obama had been in a townhall-style meeting with students in Shanghai, and joked that a family gathering at his house "looks like the United Nations."

The senior Obama married Ndesandjo's mother after divorcing the president's mother. They returned to Kenya to live, where Mark and his brother, David, were born and raised.
Obama Sr. died in an automobile accident in 1982 at age 46.
Ndesandjo lives near Hong Kong and earns a living as a marketing consultant. For most of that time, he has maintained a low profile, with few people knowing of his connection to the U.S. president.
© 2009 The Associated Press.

SEAN COMBS TURNS 40

2009-11-22T09:37:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite music executives Sean "Diddy" Combs celebrated his 40th Birthday Party on November 20th at the Plaza Hotel in New York with hundreds of his friends. Everyone was in the house from Martha Stewart, Bono, Lorne Michaels to Nelly, Slick Rick and Al Green. Sean knows who to party!!

JORDAN TAPS WADE TO WEAR 25TH ANNIVERSARY SHOE

2009-11-15T17:39:00.000-08:00

MIAMI (AP) — Dwyane Wade (FSY) pleaded for years to join the Jordan Brand family, wanting to wear the shoe his idol made famous.

His persistence is being rewarded.

When Jordan Brand makes its long-awaited release of the Air Jordan 2010 in February to commemorate the popular line's 25th anniversary, Wade will debut the shoe. Hand-picked for the role by Michael Jordan himself, the Miami Heat guard called it "a huge honor."

"I was in awe, because I know what it means to not only be a part of Jordan Brand but really represent Michael on the court in the shoe he would wear," Wade told The Associated Press. "Very excited, to say the least."

The shoe will be launched nationwide Feb. 13 and will carry a retail price of $170. That coincides with All-Star weekend near Dallas and is four days before Jordan's 47th birthday. It's unknown if Wade will wear the shoe beforehand, say in Miami's marquee Christmas Day game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.

"Sometimes you have to pass the torch. ... He epitomizes what the brand represents," Jordan said Wednesday night, when the arrangement was formally announced. "Being a player from our home community of Chicago, he has won championships already, his work ethic ... those is are all things that I feel like represent the brand. I think we can build a great relationship."

Wade's game has often been compared to Jordan's, even though the Heat guard is two inches shorter than the six-time champion — something Jordan pointed out Wednesday, when he stood back-to-back with Wade.

"He thinks he can beat me; I know I can beat him," Jordan said, smiling. "The only way to find out is to put these shoes on and go out and play. He's wearing my shoe. I'm not wearing Dwyane Wade's shoe."

Jordan said that consumers have pushed him "to take the next Air Jordan beyond their wildest imagination."

This was beyond Wade's imagination, anyway.

He spent six years wearing Converse apparel, then made the switch to Jordan Brand in July. (Both are owned by Nike.) Details of his contract with Jordan Brand were not disclosed, although it was certain to at least match the remaining three years at $6 million annually left on his Converse deal.

Jordan Brand spokeswoman Terri Hines said Wade is the first pitchman for the Air Jordan other than Jordan himself.

It's the latest notch in Wade's business world: He also has strong deals with T-Mobile and Gatorade.

"One thing I understood coming over to the brand, it's a team," Wade said. "I'm fortunate enough to be able to be in a spot with guys like Chris Paul (FSY), Carmelo Anthony (FSY), Derek Jeter, all those guys. We all have a role to play. And I'm going to play the role that they signed me up for and hopefully I do the best I can."

The shoes displayed Wednesday night were are black and white with red trim and circular windows on both sides, with Jordan calling them "trendy," "stylish" and "high-performance."

This arrangement had been kept under wraps for months. Wade told only few people, including teammate Quentin Richardson (FSY), who like Wade is a Chicago native who grew up idolizing Jordan's play with the Bulls.

Richardson has worn the Jumpman line throughout his NBA career.

"I think it meant the world to him, truthfully," Richardson said. "Us being from Chicago, I don't think people understand. ... We adored M.J. We watched every move he made. I think for us guys, it made a big difference. And even before he came over to Jordan, Dwyane would wear it. He'd come over to my house and get stuff all the time."

Aligning himself even closer to Jordan is as big a perk as being able to wear the Air Jordans, Wade said.

"Before this, our relationship was kind of on the basis of seeing him and still being in awe of the person I grew up watching," Wade said. "Now I can e-mail, call him, all these lines of communication. So I think it's kind of cool. He responds back to me a lot quicker now than he used to."

Associated Press

BLACK PROGRAMMING THRIVING ONLINE

2009-11-15T16:23:00.000-08:00

Later this month, BET.com will launch its first scripted web show, "Buppies" starring Tatyana Ali, following the socialite daughter of a celebrity as she and her friends "navigate LA's young black power elite." The buzz surrounding the show solidifies the claim, reported by the Washington Post, that Black programming is thriving online.

Online shows, usually in the form of short webisodes, are created and executed by Black talent shut out by network TV these days.

Last year, NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous released a statement on the issue: "At a time when the country is excited about the election of the first African-American president in US history, it is unthinkable that minorities would be so grossly underrepresented on broadcast television."

The statement followed a NAACP study which found that since 2002, when minorities were cast in a record number of roles on TV (24% of total), there had been a steady decline in available opportunities. The Hollywood bureau of NAACP called this a "virtual whiteout."

Websites dedicated to Black programming, such as RowdyOrbit.com and Better Black Television, have popped up at a rapid rate over the past year. With brands like BET noting the trend and creating original programming to ride the wave, this DIY work ethic seems to be attracting attention.

"Why online as opposed to with the network?" says Denmark West, president of digital media at BET.com, "it's an opportunity to provide original content for the Web . . . and to see what kind of online audience we can attract."

"You can look at this as revolutionary," says Jonathan Moore, founder and CEO of Rowdy Orbit, which was launched in February. "It is giving people a voice and a platform to express themselves without judgment or red tape holding you down. Now they can go from idea to production to distribution."

2009-11-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration is once again using iVillage to spread its message about healthcare reform.

Today, the women-aimed service and community site will hear directly from Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius via a White House produced video. Sebelius, a former Kansas governor, will answer questions submitted by users. Last week Michelle Obama released a similar healthcare-focused video on iVillage.

According to iVillage officials, Sebelius will focus on the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, the insurance industry and various women’s health issues. Some of the questions specifically reference the healthcare reform legislation currently being debated in Washington.

Among the questions being addressed are: "Are there going to be measures built into the bill that prevents skyrocketing premiums for pre-existing conditions?" and "One of my concerns is how do you keep quality doctors if they are not paid well for their efforts?"

Nielsen Business Media

Adidas drops sponsorship over Jordan's son

2009-11-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

Marcus Jordan, son of basketball legend Michael Jordan, is causing some sponsorship drama at his school, the University of Central Florida. While Adidas is the main sponsor of his basketball team, and requires all coaches and players to wear their products, Jordan only wears Nike Air Jordan shoes, because "they hold special meaning to his family," ESPN reported.

Adidas reportedly dropped its sponsorship deal after Jordan wore the Nike shoes during a game on Wednesday.

WILL OPRAH MOVE HER SHOW TO HER CABLE NETWORK?

2009-11-05T13:29:00.000-08:00

EXCLUSIVE: One of the biggest questions in the TV biz has been when, and even if, Oprah Winfrey would give up her daytime syndicated talk show to focus on OWN, her long delayed Oprah Winfrey Network in 70 million homes that was supposed to launch in place of the Discovery Health Channel as a joint venture between Winfrey and Discovery Communications. The industry has been betting that the daytime diva would extend The Oprah Winfrey Show for at least another year or two because of the huge cash license fees which stations have long paid her. But people around Oprah are telling me that won't happen. They say that Discovery Communications chief David Zaslav has demanded that Oprah "move it or lose it" -- move her talk show to OWN, or risk losing the Oprah Winfrey Network altogether. I've learned that in coming days Winfrey and Discovery will issue a press release announcing OWN's on-air launch for the start of 2011. And, in several weeks, Oprah will tell the public that she's ending her syndicated Chicago-based daytime talk show when her current deal runs out and moving it to OWN headquarters in Los Angeles probably as soon as mid-2011.

Hardest hit by the news will be CBS Television Distribution which syndicates the show, Also hit will be ABC's owned-and-operated stations which make up Oprah's core station group, and also Sony TV execs who'd been hoping Oprah would deliver any extension of her daytime talker into their hands based on the success they've had this season syndicating Dr Oz, Harpo's latest daytime talk show star). "Les Moonves, Bob Iger, and Sony will flip out," one of my insiders says about Oprah's news. "The only winner is David Zaslav."

*UPDATE: My news this morning caught CBS by surprise. The Eye was counting on a 1- or 2-year renewal of The Oprah Winfrey Show. "In all honesty, we have not heard she's made a decision yet whether to continue," an insider tells me. "We think we're still in the talking stages. To our minds, it's a non-decision." CBS had scheduled a face-to-face meeting a month ago with Oprah and her personal and professional posse at her Santa Barbara compound to discuss her plans. But one of the people in the close group of people around her passed away. So it was canceled, I've learned. CBS is quick to point out that, a few years back, Winfrey re-negotiated her distribution deal with CBS TV Distribution so it "gets a lesser fee now". The result is that, when Oprah stops her syndicated talk show and moves it to OWN, "It will be a hit for us, but not until 2012. And with the lower syndication fee, it's not as big a hit as it would have been," a CBS insider tells me. Besides, CBS has seen Oprah claim time and time again over the years that she's "retiring" from the syndicated show. But to take Oprah to a nosebleed cable channel even if it reaches into 70 million homes? "She has always respected the fact that the pulpit she has now gives her such a huge amount of influence." And CBS also plans to remind her that, thanks to the syndicated show, "she by far makes more money on TV than anybody else." Now let's see how persuasive Les Moonves and his people can be.*

I'm told that right now Oprah and her advisers are trying to figure out what to do with her mini-city in Chicago, and which personnel she can and will move out to LA in the next six months. Also Discovery will have to renegotiate her own deal. Even though it has yet to go on the air, OWN has experienced tremendous turmoil since it was announced, including the entrances and exits of many top female TV executives -- three in just the last 7 months. Combined with the unprecedented delays, that has come at a cost for Discovery. "It's so upside down because Discovery has lost millions of dollars since it was announced," a source tells me. "It was rumored 50/50 that Zaslav would throw in the towel and her network wouldn't launch. But Zaslav sees it as a loss leader."

Last week, Oprah called a confab in Los Angeles and met with everyone associated with OWN. She also personally heard programming pitches. Only very recently has she put in place her two current top lieutenants to run OWN (but for how long?): Christina Norman, who at the start of the year was named CEO after spending 17 years with Viacom Inc's MTV cable empire before stepping down as MTV president. And Lisa Erspamer who this week was named OWN's Chief Creative Officer and is a 15-year veteran of Harpo Productions where she served as co-executive producer of Oprah since 2006. But I hear that recently appointed OWN head of programming Jamila Hunter, NBC’s former SVP of alternative entertainment, is out looking for a job after just 3 months.

Leaving the extraordinary visibility she enjoyed through syndication for a nosebleed cable channel is a huge gamble for Oprah as a TV brand. There's the possibility that OWN could distribute her new talk show for syndication. But I hear no one is talking about that now. In the U.S., Oprah is viewed by an estimated 7 million people a day (though that audience has fallen by half over the past 10 years) and in 140 countries. It has been estimated that she currently earns about $275 million a year in showbiz income. Long the No. 1 rated daytime talk show, Oprah also made Winfrey into the richest African American woman worth $2.3B at last count, a worldwide media personality with a powerful media empire around her, a celebrated actress who doubled as a film and television producer, a force in both book and magazine publishing.
But there's also no question that Oprah is a much more controversial figure now than she's ever been before because of her wealth and fame and politics. "She's lost her authenticity. Like when she said, 'It's good to have your own private jet.' Or when she shut down the City of Chicago with this season's 'flash mob' for the opening show. Where's the relatability?" The word internally at ABC is that TV stations have been cringing at Oprah's past and present and continuing support for Barack Obama, from her appearance at his inauguration (see photo) to her visits to the White House, because it antagonizes half the viewing public who don't share her politics. Now Oprah will no longer be in their faces: instead she'll be isolated on cable. The biggest question now in the TV industry is whether it's "Good Luck!" or "Good Riddance!"

By Nikki Finke

Comcast Finalizing Deal for NBCU Stake

2009-11-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

Comcast, which reports its third-quarter earnings Wednesday, is in the homestretch in its negotiations for a deal with General Electric for a controlling 51 percent stake in NBC Universal.

If the process doesn't falter, an announcement is expected soon, but it's not likely this week as the two sides continue to iron out the complex agreement after due-diligence meetings and presentations by NBCU execs last week in New York.

One key hurdle is for GE and Vivendi to agree on a price for the latter's 20 percent stake in NBCU. The French firm hasn't shown its hand ahead of an annual window that starts Nov. 15 and allows it to decide to sell its stake, a prerequisite to a Comcast deal.

But those two have been in continuing talks, and an agreement could be reached even before the window opens. Vivendi is in no rush, though; its annual sales option runs through Dec. 10.

Analysts have pushed Vivendi to strike a deal.

"We would see a sale of NBCU as a positive move in crystallizing value ($4.4-5.9 billion) and helping to reduce Vivendi's conglomerate structure," UBS analyst Polo Tang said Monday. "Importantly, in our opinion, it would also help ease balance-sheet concerns given Vivendi's M&A ambitions" in telecom firms in emerging markets.

The NBCU deal remains Comcast's to lose despite recurring chatter about possible counterbids. The Wall Street Journal, for example, reported that GE also has begun preliminary talks about a potential alternative deal with Journal owner News Corp., but experts see this as a negotiating ploy.

"We think it's an attractive set of assets, and we're taking a look at it," a News Corp. spokeswoman said Monday.

Comcast COO Steve Burke, chairman and CEO Brian Roberts' right-hand man, is expected to be a driving force behind the firm's content ambitions. Jeff Shell, who runs the company's programming businesses, also is seen as playing a key role.

Sources have said that NBCU president and CEO Jeff Zucker would remain in his post, but Comcast hasn't made anything official.

source: ad age

What Twitter Lists Mean for PR

2009-11-03T06:55:00.000-08:00

Twitter's new Lists functionality rolled out last week to a certain amount of fanfare in the blogosphere, and in media circles. It's designed to help users track groups of people, topics or trends without further clogging up one's main feed. Some might see this as a virtual school lunchroom, where the cool kids get even better tables and nerds become literally listless. Social media consultant and immensely popular blogger Chris Brogan is concerned about the exclusionary aspects of stuffing people into little boxes. He has a point that drier things like travel, airline and workaday newsfeeds work well in Lists when you need a quick look at a niche universe.

Adding to Brogan's take, Twitter in my opinion was a messy but fun replacement for RSS for some users. Now Twitter Lists can replace them altogether if one chooses. For example, with a few clicks you can create a List of news sources covering China, or a List to track the best deals on electronics with nary a complaint from the personally branded.

Poynter believes Lists could change the way Twitter is used altogether, by adding new elements of customization, discovery and curation (the buzzword for the fall), making Lists "something for every journalist, editor and news organization to keep a keen eye on."

What about for the public relations business?

Our quick take is that Lists will create a new layer of lobbying for clients and PR people themselves as they ask to be included on the more prominent ones. Clever PR people will also use the function to track their clients and competitors, and to keep an eye on issues bubbling up that may require a response. More paranoid users and aspiring astroturfers now only need one account as you also have the option to create closed lists.

Initially I felt that excessive segmenting and microtargeting would take all the fun and thrill of discovery out of Twitter. It is key to remember however, you can follow feeds on your Lists without following their feeds directly. A person with a head for curation can actually get a lot more out of Twitter by cleaning up the static.

There is already a guide to finding interesting lists http://listorious.com/

By Jason Chupick

Hasbro travels a popular road to mark Candy Land's 60th birthday

2009-11-03T06:38:00.000-08:00

Client: Hasbro (Pawtucket, RI)
PR agency: Coyne PR (Parsippany, NJ)
Campaign: 60th Anniversary of Candy Land
Budget: Approximately $220,000

To celebrate Candy Land's 60th anniversary, Hasbro turned San Francisco's famed Lombard Street into a huge version of the board game. The effort featured Candy Land characters and players, as well as visitors from local UCSF Children's Hospital.

Strategy
Working with Coyne PR,* Hasbro's research found that the rainbow-colored path was the best-known piece of the game.
"We wanted to bring the brand personality alive for multiple audiences and generations," says Pat Riso, VP of global communications.

The union with the hospital comes from Candy Land's heritage, she adds, as it was created by Eleanor Abbott, who suffered from polio, to give others suffering a way to escape.

Tactics
Hasbro and Coyne reached out to Bay Area print, radio, online, and broadcast outlets. At the event, the firm "identified the key moments that would make good visuals for the media," says Brian Murphy, Coyne associate VP and lead on the campaign. "We had some traditional plays first, which helped feed the fire from a social media standpoint."
Photos and news of the event spread online through Twitter, Facebook, and Digg.

Results
Media coverage included local, regional, and national outlets. In addition, Riso adds, "Yahoo not only marked it as one of the most popular stories, it was also the most e-mailed photograph of the week."

Future
Riso says this event brings up possibilities for its other games, including Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit. "As the Candy Land brand expands globally," she adds, "this idea doesn't just have to take place in the US."

ESSENCE NAMED TOP 10 MAGS OF 2009

2009-10-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

(October 26, 2009) ESSENCE magazine received special industry recognition recently as a magazine that reaches beyond the printed page to build a future as a finely-honed media brand. The publication was ranked No.6 on the 2009 Advertising Age Magazine A-List! This honor underscores the influence of ESSENCE's audience and indicates the brand's authority as the place 'Where Black Women Come First.'

In acknowledgement of this honor, ESSENCE President Michelle Ebanks presented a commentary on targeted media entitled, "In the ABC's of Targeted Media, ESSENCE scores an 'A'-List" --pegged to the brand's inclusion on the list:

"In the world of publishing, targeted media serves specific segments of the population who share a similar passion and/or mindset. There are countless niche magazines that are popular and relevant -- but are facing a myriad of challenges only exacerbated by the current advertising downtown.

"Many marketers cite a lack of a dedicated budget when deciding not to support targeted media with ad dollars and argue that they are already reaching a targeted audience --such as Black women -- by advertising in mainstream publications. With a limited understanding of an audience that's nuanced, marketers should accept the indispensability of brands like ESSENCE. As stated in Advertising Age with respect to ESSENCE, "With the 'pulse of a community' firmly in grasp, marketers benefit."

"By investing in research that enlightens our advertisers and expanding our offerings beyond traditional print to reach Black women everywhere in a way that's authentic -- ESSENCE is an example of targeted media that works. We celebrate her essence and empower her life's passions every minute of every day and we know more about this group of women than anyone else."

CAN VAMPIRES SELL CARS?

2009-10-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

Can vampires sell cars? Volvo certainly thinks so. The Swedish carmaker has launched Whatdrivesedward.com. On the site, consumers can win the chance to attend the premiere of The Twilight Saga: New Moon on Nov. 16, meet members of the cast and receive their own Volvo XC60.

The contest plays off of Volvo’s product placement deal with Summit Entertainment, under which Edward Cullen drives the new crossover vehicle. “Volvo is central to Edward’s character in the Twilight saga,” said Doug Speck, president and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America, in a statement.

The chance to win the car begins Nov. 1. Fans are challenged to answer a series of questions. Participants are encouraged to exchange hints through Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. The first one to solve the puzzle wins. The site also features a trailers, a variety of photo downloads and wallpapers.

Volvo spent $50 million on media last year, per Nielsen. It spent $18 million for the first eight months of the year. Havas' Euro RSCG 4D is the agency driving the effort. Sibling Arnold is handling TV, print and in-dealership support.

“Presumably with Twilight being a tween girl franchise, they are hoping that the message might be picked up by moms to use the Volvo to take their adolescent little vampires to soccer practice,” said Lucian James of the brand strategy consultancy Agenda.

That being said, Twilight has plenty of activity around the tween crowd, including a partnership with Burger King and the virtual world Habbo. Summit Entertainment’s president of worldwide marketing, Nancy Kirkpatrick, was named one of Brandweek’s Marketers of the Year last month.

Agency sets Guinness World Record with social media campaign

2009-10-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

ATLANTA: In less than one week, Atlanta-based social media marketing agency Everywhere conceived and executed a one-day pro-bono campaign that raised more than $70,000 for four nonprofit cancer organizations. The effort also set a Guinness World Record for the most widespread social network message in a 24-hour period with 209,771 mentions on Twitter, Facebook, and blogs.

The campaign ran from October 16 at 9am PST to October 17 at 9am PST during the BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas (October 15 -17). Guinness World Record spokesperson, Stuart Claxton said in a statement that this effort “will set a benchmark for social media monitoring moving forward.”

Everywhere cofounder Danica Kombol, said agency managing partner Tamara Knechtel, who is a cancer survivor, came up with the idea to illustrate social media's power in driving social causes and raising money.

“We're acutely aware of the power of social media to drive brands' messages,” Kombol explained. “Clients often complain that they don't understand how social media is relevant to their messages. We were going to be at this congregation of top bloggers and Twitters at BlogWorld, and we wanted prove that social media can be used to do social good and deliver powerful messages.”

BlogWorld attendees were asked to post tweets and Facebook updates promoting the effort and using the phrase #BeatCancer. MillerCoors Brewing Company, eBay/PayPal, and nutritional supplement company, Genesis Today agreed to donate one penny for every #BeatCancer mention on social media platforms, but all ended up donating more than one penny per mention.

“It went way beyond BlogWorld in one hour,” Kombol said. “We started at 9am and by 11am we were a trending topic on Twitter. It shows the power of the influencers in social media space.”

Tweets and Facebook updates were posted by numerous celebrities, including P. Diddy and Jermaine Dupri. Media coverage of the campaign included a CNN segment about the power of social media to raise money for social causes. Sfgate.com and Mashable are among other outlets covering the story, and Kombol said a New York Times story is slated.

Kombol said the agency recruited MillerCoors because it had a relationship with the company, and BlogWorld sponsor eBay/PayPal jumped at the opportunity. Genesis Today committed sponsorship upon learning about it about the campaign at the expo. Design and development agency Slash7 donated and built a Web site for the campaign. The benefiting nonprofits—Stand Up to Cancer, Bright Pink, Spirit Jump, and Alex's Lemonade Stand—were chosen because they were BlogWorld attendees.

Robert Chatwani, director of global citizenship at eBay, said the campaign was a great fit for the company.

“We liked that it relied on a community of individuals with a clear and simple call to action and that the impact would be measured," he explained. "Those three things got us very excited about being the lead sponsor. We were very pleasantly surprised at the coverage. It underscored and demonstrated the power of social media. We broke the record in 24 hours, but over the course of the week it hit close to two million social media messages shared.”

CNN LAST PLACE IN PRIMETIME

2009-10-27T10:33:00.001-07:00

The October 2009 cable news ratings are in with a major milestone: CNN has fallen to last place in the primetime demographic, the category advertisers covet most and in which three of its four primetime shows finished last for the first time ever.

CNN fell to fourth with an average of 190,000 A25-54 viewers in primetime in October, just behind sister network HLN, which averaged 191,000 A25-54 viewers in primetime. Fox News won the prime demo with 583,000 A25-54 viewers, and MSNBC came in second with 239,000.

In total viewers, Fox News won primetime with an average of 2,234,000. MSNBC averaged 730,000 total viewers, CNN averaged 679,000 total viewers, and HLN averaged 530,000 total viewers.

In the total day ratings, Fox News won among A25-54 viewers with an average of 344,000, while CNN (142,00) and HLN (146,000) beat last-place MSNBC (131,000).

Among total viewers in total day ratings, Fox News averaged 1,255,000 for first place. CNN placed second with 486,000, MSNBC placed third with 359,000, and HLN placed last with 307,000.

In all categories, CNN and MSNBC fell to their respective 2009 lows, and the networks have taken to squabbling with each other over whose October was better.

"We're thrilled to be beating CNN in primetime, where the money is made," a MSNBC spokesperson told the Huffington Post.

"We couldn't be more pleased that both our networks (CNN and HLN) are now topping MSNBC in total day and that CNN.com leads all TV news competitors on the web," a CNN spokesperson said. "As we have said for years, we measure our audience across all CNN Worldwide platforms and throughout the day, not just primetime. CNN provides quality journalism and our ratings reflect the news environment more than opinion programming does - especially in primetime."

source Huffington Post

STATE FARM BOOKS STEVE HARVEY

2009-10-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK -- State Farm has tapped Steve Harvey for a series of digital comedy shorts on a range of topics of interest to car and home insurance consumers.

The first short premiered at Harveyknowsbest.com to coincide with National Teen Driver Safety Week, which runs this week. It features an animated version of Harvey going through a stand-up bit about his son’s request for a brand new Escalade. There are 48 digital shorts planned, which will roll out over the next year.

The campaign’s basic idea was to extend the Steve Harvey and State Farm brands in an unexpected yet wanted manner,” said Bob Wingo, CEO of Sanders/Wingo, the African-American advertising agency of record, which created and produced the campaign. “Everyone wants to be in social media and utilizing digital content, but to be successful as we believe this will be, it needs to be relevant.”

Sanders/Wingo and State Farm provided Harvey with broad topics, which he riffed off of for the clips. State Farm spent $387 million on media in 2008 and $230 million for the first eight months of 2009, per Nielsen.

Visitors to the site get a personal touch by entering their name, which then appears in animated marquee lights. They can also enter their ZIP code and find a State Farm agent in the area.

State Farm first began its association with the comedian and author when it made a media buy on the Steve Harvey Morning Show to support the 50 Million Pound Challenge, a weight-loss campaign sponsored by the insurance company. Harvey’s on-air discussions of his own weight-loss challenges helped engage consumers enough that State Farm partnered with him again to bring his perspective to the current campaign.

“These bits are strictly entertaining,” said Pam El, State Farm marketing vp, in a statement. “Though they address insurance and financial-services-related topics, to broaden State Farm’s brand voice in an unexpected way, they are delivered with Steve’s unique perspective and humor.”

Nielsen Business Media

FIRST FAMILY PORTRAIT

2009-10-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning, the White House released their first family portrait. Taken on September 1st, well-known photographer Annie Leibovitz shot the lovely photo.The First Family, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha, are seated in the Green Room of the White House for this portrait.

I am always taken aback by how sincerely happy President Obama looks with his family. The First Lady looks radiant in her black dress, and let's not get started about those lovely children. It is heartwarming to see how they grasp their mother's hands, a clutch of unadulterated love. What a beautiful family to represent the United States. Just their presence alone strengthens the values of family and love everywhere.

Enjoy!

BLACK POPE?

2009-10-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

VATICAN CITY — A prominent African cardinal says there's no reason why the next pope can't be black.
Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana is playing an important part in a three-week meeting at the Vatican on the role of the Catholic Church in Africa.

At a news conference Monday, Turkson was asked whether he thought the time was right for a black pope, particularly following the election of President Barack Obama.

Turkson replied: "Why not?" He argued that every man who agrees to be ordained a priest has to be willing to be a pope.

He noted that, with Obama and the previous U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, there have been several blacks in positions of global leadership.

He said "If God would wish to see a black man also as pope, thanks be to God."

Online Advertising Spending Expected to Be Down for 2009

2009-10-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- 2009 was a bad year for online advertising, too. This year figures to be the first down year for online ads since 2002, the hangover from the internet-bubble years.

Spending on online advertising is expected to come in at $22.8 billion in 2009 in the U.S., down 2.9% from a year ago, due to steep declines in sponsorships, classifieds and e-mail advertising, according to a projection from eMarketer issued today. Banner ads were virtually flat with 2008.

The lone bright spot: search, which will grow 4% overall, proving itself the most resilient and counter-cyclical form of online marketing. Video also grew, but it's still too small a category to make a difference in the overall numbers.

EMarketer's latest figures come two weeks after the Internet Advertising Bureau said online ads declined 5% in the first six months of 2009. EMarketer benchmarks its figures on the IAB and uses it as a base for its projections for the second half of the year.

Analyst David Hallerman said he believed he knew enough to project the end of 2009 after seeing Google report strong earnings last week, but before seeing anything from Yahoo or Microsoft, which report their third-quarter earnings this week.

Increasingly, search drives the online ad market, and in the U.S., it is more than double the size of online display.

About a quarter of all online advertising in the U.S. flows through Google, and its strong showing was enough to fuel a slight recovery in the second half of 2009. "The trend here is clearly up and that alone will support a mild rebound in the second half," Mr. Hallernan said.

Search is both a real-time indicator of marketer sentiment and the sentiment of consumers, who are doing more commercial-related searches. Mr. Hallerman, like a lot of analysts and marketers, believes the economy hit bottom earlier this year.

Broadly speaking, the display-ad market is challenged by the economic cycle, but also because the largest Ad Age 100 advertisers are still allocating small percentages to online marketing. Online gets less than 10% of ad spending in the U.S. "The dollars still aren't following the eyeballs online," Mr. Hallerman said.

DOUG BANKS SHOW CANCELLED?

2009-10-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Citadel Media has informed affiliates of "Afternoons with Doug and DeDe" the show will end on December 31, 2009.

Doug Banks, has been both a morning and afternoon syndicated host with the radio network (first ABC Radio and now Citadel), since the mid-90's. DeDe McGuire has been part of the show since the late ‘90s.

Doug Banks has had a long history as a Chicago radio personality and the current show formerly known as "The Ride" airs on V103 (WVAZ). Co-host DeDe McGuire also does double duty as morning show host on KKDA-FM “K104” in Dallas.

This may be the first of Citadel's plan to shut down some other syndicated programs across the board. Currently Citadel syndicates Michael Baisden, Brian McKnight, Big Boy Neighborhood urban radio shows and "The Touch" Urban AC format along with many other mainstream radio shows.

As far as Doug Banks is concerned, he will probably be picked up by Chicago's V103 in 2010. Doug is also a contributor on the public affairs program "190 North" on Chicago's Channel 7 WLS-TV.

source: www.urbanradionation.com

Why Does America Leave It to NFL Owners to Tell Rush Limbaugh Where to Go?

2009-10-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

Why was it left to the National Freakin' Football League -- hardly a bastion of liberal thought -- to call out bombastic shock jock Rush Limbaugh for his puerile racism and incessant bigotry? And why do NFL owners hold themselves to a higher standard thanthe rest of us?

Limbaugh made headlines again this week - an annoyingly regular occurrence -- when it was reported that he was part of a group attempting to buy a piece of his hometown football team, the St. Louis Rams. As is usual with All Things Rush, controversy erupted immediately.

This should have come as a surprise to no one, since the Rams play in a league where two-thirds of the players are black. Current and retired players, several owners, the head of the players union and of course professional gadflies like the omnipresent Reverend Sharpton all made it immediately and abundantly clear that Limbaugh's bid would be met with fierce opposition.

Soon National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell publicly called out Limbaugh for making -- here's another surprise! -- "divisive comments," and it became obvious that El Rushbo was a dead man talking -at least as far as the NFL bid was concerned.

As Goodell told the New York Times, NFL owners are "held to a high standard," and "I would not want to see those comments coming from people who are in a responsible position in the N.F.L. -- absolutely not."

Although he may actually have taken a principled stand, it's more likely that Goodell was simply recognizing reality. A successful ownership bid by Limbaugh & Co. was never really in the cards. For one thing, despite Rush's recent $400 million dollar contract extension, there might not have been enough money on the table to ensure a successful bid. But the real reason is that NFL owners were rightly worried that letting Limbaugh join their exclusive club would be akin to asking for a stink bomb to explode in their clubhouse.

After all, The Grand Poobah's previous NFL foray was a public relations fiasco. While he was employed by ESPN as a commentator, Limbaugh announced on air that Eagles star Donovan McNabb was consistently overrated by a news media anxious to see a black quarterback succeed. "They are polarizing comments that we don't think reflect accurately on the N.F.L. or our players," Goodell said. "I obviously do not believe that those comments are positive and they are divisive. That's a negative thing for us."

Given the overwhelming likelihood that Limbaugh would fail to pass muster as an NFL owner - something he surely anticipated -- the uninitiated might well wonder why he even entered into the futile exercise in the first place Well, wonder no more It's long been apparent that Limbaugh likes nothing more than to drive the mainstream media agenda -- something he is quite adept at. As he told NBC's Jamie Gangel on the Today show, "I know how to yank their chain. I know how to send them into insanity. I know how to make them spend the next two days talking about me."

Limbaugh said he anticipated the media frenzy over his bid to buy the Rams. "They're just gonna go nuts," he said. "This is the kind of stuff they've been trying to make sure doesn't happen with me. All this stuff is the mainstreaming of Rush Limbaugh from off this far-right fringe they've tried to put me. I just keep tiptoeing into the mainstream. And it just irritates them."

Most of my critics don't even listen to me; they are clueless," Limbaugh continued. "They just go to Web sites that report what I say out of context. I'm amazed at the Democrats and the media who do not know what's going on in my world. I know what's going on in theirs. I study 'em. I watch 'em every day."

Despite Limbaugh's belief that -- as he whined to NBC's Gangel -- "There's a cliche about conservatives: racist, sexist, bigot, homophobic. Now, you announce you're a conservative, you're automatically all those things to the critics," it's clear that you can still be a conservative -- and even an NFL owner -- without being labeled "racist, sexist, bigot, homophobic." It's simple, really; just don't act like one. And as Zirin also pointed out, "This has nothing to do with Limbaugh's conservative politics. Most NFL owners are to the right of Dick Cheney. Over twenty years, officials on twenty-three of the thirty-two NFL clubs have donated more money to Republicans than Democrats."

It was never about right and left -- and maybe was about right and wrong. Congratulations are due to the Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL for doing the right thing -- even if it may have been for the wrong reasons. The only remaining mystery is what David Checketts -- the former Madison Square Garden executive who is leading the group hoping to purchase the Rams -- was smoking when he asked Limbaugh to join him in the first place.

By Rory O'Connor

MEDIA COVERAGE ON THE BALLOON BOY

2009-10-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

Tragic story or hoax? TV media and the press for hours covered the saga of a 6-year-old boy who allegedly climbed into a homemade balloon aircraft in Colorado and floated away. Live TV showed the balloon coming down miles away and rescuers rushing there, expecting the worst. Instead, no boy was found inside.

Some of us weren't surprised--I'd been tweeting that likely outcome for almost an hour, noting the lack of sourcing and the floating of the craft which suggested no payload.

Did the boy--improbably named Falcon--fall out en route? Or was it all a hoax perpetrated by his father, who is "storm chaser" and appeared on the reality TV show "Wife Swap"?

Now the boy has been found--in the attic of his home.

Just before that, CNN was focusing on a deputy sheriff's claim to have seen an "object" fall from the craft at one point early on. They even posted a photo that some said may have shown that.

In any case, the press and news agencies reported for over an hour that a boy was in the balloon, without any qualifiers, even though the only witness was a sibling who saw him climb inside.

The AP stories and updates opened with: "A 6-year-old boy climbed into a homemade balloon aircraft in Colorado and floated away Thursday, forcing officials to scramble to figure out how to rescue the boy as the balloon hurtled through the air."

Even when the craft came down, and some doubts about boy's presence had begun to be aired, AP sent a bulletin: "Balloon carrying 6-year-old boy slowly descends into Colorado field; child's fate unclear."

Reuters had reported: "A 6-year-old boy who climbed into a small homemade helium balloon at his family's home was flying out of control above Colorado Thursday as authorities scrambled to try to rescue him."

At least the BBC had added, "reportedly."

Only after the crash did TV hosts stress that reports of a boy in it were "unverified" and raised the possibility of a hoax. Few had raised the issue of whether such a balloon could even lift off with a 50-pound kid inside, and then float the way it did. Some did later. CNN had an expert do the calculations. But, of course, the experts could be wrong.

Shep Smith on Fox repeated referred to the craft as like a "Jiffy Pop" container.

But it was the media's credibility that popped.

UPDATE: Tonight on CNN, Wolf Blitzer asked the boy why he didn't come out of hiding when he heard his name being shouted. He replied that he had been told "it was for a show." His father then appeared extremely uneasy. Meaning unclear.

Greg Mitchell is editor of Editor & Publisher. His latest book is "Why Obama Won."

CRISIS PR

2009-10-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

It's safe to assume that a couple of weeks ago was not one of David Letterman's top 10 weeks. Still, he's done a pretty respectable job of following many core tenets of good crisis communications. The fallout is far from over, but on the eve of the first week of his coming clean, let's take a look at how the late-night funnyman fared.

Rule No. 1 in crisis communications is frame the news before someone else does. Letterman did that. Like any CEO should, he took responsibility for what he did wrong and did so in front of a national TV audience. In a very transparent way, he controlled the message, and released the information on his own terms and on his own turf—behind the desk. And he portrayed himself as a victim in the extortion attempt.

He said “I'm sorry,” and he seemed to mean it, especially when apologizing to his wife. There are countless examples of athletes and executives who have faked their way through apologies in front of a bank of cameras. Dave was contrite and credible.

You get tried in the court of public opinion before a court of law. So far, the court of public opinion has ruled in Dave's favor. There are still lines around the corner of the Ed Sullivan Theater waiting to get into the show. The night he confessed, his show had the highest ratings of the late night lineup.

In general, he's done a good job of walking a fine line between humor and humility. The one exception: he made jokes about having sex. There's nothing funny about sexual misconduct in the workplace, and he needs to steer clear of any attempts at making light of what he did. For years he made jokes about the sexual exploits of others, including former president Bill Clinton, New York's Eliot Spitzer, and Gov. Mark Sanford to name just a few. Now he's part of the club. He should forgo the sex jokes and leave them to other comedians.

So he got through the first week. Excerpts from diaries are surfacing now as other former staffers allege they had flings with Dave. Inevitably, if there is more dirt, it will surface. One other important principle in crisis communications is to get it all out early on to avoid death by a thousand cuts. That will be Letterman's test in the weeks to come.

OPRAH AND TYLER TALK ABOUT NEW FILM 'PRECIOUS'

2009-10-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

TORONTO (AP) -- Oprah Winfrey was so taken by Sapphire's novel "Push" that she read it more than once.

Yet even though the talk-show host has made best-sellers of unknown books, Winfrey didn't think even her staggering influence could make "Push" - the story of an obese, illiterate black teen who suffers unspeakable abuse - something that millions would want to read.

"I would never even think of presenting that book as a book club selection because people would think I had lost my mind," Winfrey said in a recent interview.

So when Winfrey heard producer and director Lee Daniels had adapted Sapphire's book into the acclaimed movie "Precious," with an all-star cast including Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz and others, she was so impressed that she decided to lend her coveted endorsement to the film by signing on as its executive producer, along with hit filmmaker Tyler Perry.
That is why we are both here, to applaud the brilliance of Lee because I can't imagine what kind of brain thinks that they can bring that to life," she said. "Who thinks you can take that book and turn it into a movie?"

"Precious" stars unknown actress Gabourey Sidibe as Precious, who endures an abusive mother, an incestuous father and extreme poverty in a journey of redemption. Though Winfrey and Perry acknowledge the subject matter may be too grim for some, they hope their backing will get more people to see the film when it is released nationwide on Nov. 6.

In a joint interview, the two spoke about why "Precious" moved them, what message it sends and why more stars should pay it forward.

AP: In an age when the world now sees images of African-American young women such as Sasha and Malia Obama, why is it still important to tell the story of girls like Precious?

Winfrey: For as many stories as there are hues and colors and variations of colors in the African-American race, this is just one. I feel about this story the same way I felt about "The Color Purple." It is now 24 years ago that we did that movie. This feels like a modern-day "Color Purple." Precious feels like a Celie who lives in Harlem. The story of abuse in our community and in many communities is still a taboo subject. The story and the arc of hope and possibility and empowerment is an evergreen, timeless story that I think this generation, the generation before us and many generations to come will also be entertained and inspired by. This story has no limitations.

Perry: This story has not been told yet and it is still going on. It is still present in our society and I think that somebody had to do it. I am so glad that Lee Daniels did it and I just wanted to support. He had already told this story so we are just here for support.

AP: Oprah, wouldn't you have wanted to play the role of Mary (the abusive mother, played by Mo'Nique)?

Winfrey: I don't know an actress who wouldn't have wanted an opportunity to play that role. I think that is a wonderful character to play. I also don't know an actress in existence who could have done a better job (than Mo'Nique).

Perry: I agree but I think you would have knocked it out of the park.

Winfrey: That is irrelevant because she already did. ... She knocked it out of the park and then built a new playground. She was amazing.

AP: You're both successful. That being said, what makes you want to continue to give back to others when you could easily just focus on your own projects?

Winfrey: One of the reasons why I am still doing what I am doing and we remain the No. 1 talk show for the past 24 years is because I stay connected to the essence of who I am. I make a living out of being myself. You can't turn your back on who you are nor where you came from. I have great respect for that. I have not only a respect, but a sense of reverence for that.

AP: Oprah, you said this movie split you open. What about it resonated with you?

Winfrey: What struck me is that you can live in those circumstances and still find hope. You can't do that on your own. Somebody has to show it to you. For every one of us who have made it, someone has to show it to you. For me it was teachers. That is why I love the character Ms. Rain (played by actress Paula Patton) because Ms. Rain allowed her to see that in herself. Nobody can make you see it, but you have other people to help bring that to you.

Perry: That woman (Mary) is my father, so I know it well. They can exist and they are real. What it did for me as I was watching the film and I got to the end of it, I felt such relief, such a weight off of me because I made it, and that is what I think people who have been through it. When they see it, they are going to be like, wow. I made it through. That is what is so powerful about it.

AP: I cannot end this interview without asking the two of you about your close friendship.

Perry: It is surreal. I pinch myself every day I wake up in the morning. This is such a cool life. I look back on all of the things it took to get to this place. I wouldn't trade any bit of it. I am grateful. I am completely grateful to God. At this point, to have friends like Oprah who can help me navigate through the craziness of what this business can be, it is another blessing.

Winfrey: It can get crazy when the whole world is telling you one thing. You are bombarded by all of the stuff coming at you. You have more money than you ever dreamed in your life. You know how to spend $29.95 but you don't even know what $29 million is. What does that mean because you can't see it. You need someone to help you figure out how to handle that stuff and who to go to. Just how to stay centered.

---

On the Net: http://www.weareallprecious.com

Jackson Single 'This Is It' Released Online

2009-10-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

By Chris Richards
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Since Michael Jackson's passing on June 25, grief has dovetailed seamlessly into commerce, and album sales have skyrocketed accordingly. But now fans have the opportunity to hear an unheard Jackson tune for the first time since his death -- and for free.

In Washington, the new song arrives as a city continues to mourn the King of Pop. An empty Adams Morgan bar pumps the classic "I Want You Back" from its open doors in hope of snaring a weeknight patron. Memorial issues of Time and Entertainment Weekly refuse to cede their positions on drugstore magazine racks. At Ninth and U streets NW, promotional posters for the forthcoming Jackson documentary film "This Is It" cover an abandoned liquor store -- advertisement masquerading as memorial.

The documentary's title track premiered at midnight Monday on michaeljackson.com, where it continues to stream in anticipation of the film's Oct. 28 release. It's a dawdling love song that dissolves into a sweet, middling mush -- halfway between the up-tempo sunbeams we hoped for and the dishwater balladry we expected.

Jackson counts the tune off in the diminutive speaking voice that belied his supernatural vocal agility. "This is it, here I stand/I'm the light of the world, I feel grand," he coos in the song's opening verse, as if basking in the affection of a lover (or perhaps an audience of millions). Fans may have wanted This Is It! But the result is more This Is It?

Jackson's brothers provide the backing vocals, evoking the Freon-cool harmonies that populated some of the singer's finest work. Imagine the carefree melodies of "The Girl Is Mine," unfurling at a much breezier tempo. Pianos chime, guitars strut, violins surge -- all to the beat of Jackson's snapping fingers.

There's more where this came from -- a whole lot more, according to the managers, family members and label honchos wrestling over Jackson's unreleased material. In August, Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo told Rolling Stone that the singer's family had obtained a trove of more than 100 songs, including demos, outtakes and recent collaborations with with Will.I.Am, Akon and Ne-Yo.

"This Is It" marks the first drops in what could be a flood of unheard material. Let's hope future trickles aren't so treacly.

American Airlines to launch African-American social network

2009-10-12T06:44:00.001-07:00

DALLAS: This week, American Airlines (AA) announced plans to launch BlackAtlas.com, a social network targeting African-Americans travelers, as part of a larger effort to increase brand loyalty within multicultural segments. The company hired Burrell Communications 18 months ago to help develop a strategy for the African American segment.

Stacey Frantz, strategy lead for African-American communications, explained that focus groups independent of customers and employees influenced the idea for a largely unbranded network.

"The AA research showed us that [heavy branding] would overshadow the social media outlet,” said Frantz. “They're influenced by word-of-mouth from peers more than any other channel.”

The site will feature content related to black culture through discussion boards, blogs, videos, images, travel stories, tips, and contributions from author and filmmaker Nelson George. Some of the content will link to related fare information from AA.

George was expected to speak about the initiative at a Blogalicious event in Atlanta, October 9-11. AA is also planning an official launch event in New York on October 14.

In addition to Burrell, AA is working with Lagrant Communications, and its AOR Weber Shandwick, on media relations targeting travel and multicultural blogs and general interest publications. Promotional platforms also include Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

AA will also promote the site through a traditional ad campaign

MAXWELL IN CHICAGO

2009-10-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

I was invited to attend the Maxwell concert at the United Center this week. I was not a major fan of Maxwell but did enjoy his music in the 90's.

After knocking out his third straight million-selling album in 2001, Maxwell took most of the decade off – the equivalent of a lifetime in the fickle world of pop culture.

But the years have done nothing to diminish his appeal. If anything, he’s bigger than ever. At the height of his success in the ‘90s, he was touring mid-size auditoriums, but on Thursday he headlined in front of a near-capacity crowd at the United Center.

By the end of this concert I was a big Maxwell fan! He was great singing his new songs and old songs - especially my song "Til the Cops come running' - Maxwell had the women screaming - if any man who was there did not get lucky that night - there was something wrong with him :) Maxwell heated it up!

WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE MOVIE GOOD HAIR?

2009-10-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

There’s no question that in Good Hair, Chris Rock brings the funny. (Trolling the streets of Los Angeles, peddling “black hair” that no one wants.) There’s no question that he brings the outrage. (Showing a preschooler submitting to the “creamy crack”—a chemical relaxer.) There’s no question that he brings the dirt, getting celebrities to tell it. (Nia Long on her fake hair: “Weave sex is a little awkward.”)

But while Rock’s foray into the tangled web of black women and their hair, is indeed very, very funny, very, very outrageous, and at times very, very revealing, there are two things that he does not bring to the conversation: Context and compassion.

Which is too bad, considering that Rock’s stated purpose for doing his documentary was his shock at his young daughter’s plaintive question, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” Good Hair as in, “blow hair,” “silky,” “nice,” “wavy,” “relaxed and nice hair,” the type of locks not typically found on the heads of folks descended from south of the Sub-Sahara. The hair thing is a question that’s long bedeviled black folks living in a post-colonial world, the subject of doctoral dissertations, books and yes, documentaries. (And if you think that only African-American women struggle with the good hair meme, then you’ve never set foot inside a Dominican beauty parlor.)

In his quest to get to the—ahem—roots of the good-hair obsession, Rock travels the world, from the Harlem beauty parlors to the Olympics of hair shows to Hindu Temples in India where devotees shave their heads in a ritual of purification. And along the way, he unearths some startling revelations: Human hair is India’s No. 1 export; thieves cut off the hair of unsuspecting women and sell it on the black market.

Black hair is a $9 billion business, but only a handful of the companies that cater to that market are black-owned. Salt-n-Pepa’s asymmetrical ‘dos from the “Push It’’ era happened when Pepa came out on the losing end of chemical straightener. And back in the day, Ice-T willingly underwent the “torture” of the creamy crack because he thought he needed good hair to dominate his women. Apparently, it’s hard out there for a pimp.

Except for a few passing remarks from actress Salli Richardson and Long, on how the pursuit of good hair is about being “the lighter the brighter the better,” Rock doesn’t delve into the historical context of good hair. He doesn’t bother to tell us that the straight hair fixation has everything to do centuries of slavery, forced miscegenation and the resulting intra-racial caste system within the black community. Not every black woman has a weave or a relaxer; and not every weave or perm is evidence of self-hate. (Actress Tracie Thoms of Cold Case is the only one holding it down for the natural sisters in Good Hair.)

There is an undercurrent of misogyny at work here: Black women come off as desperately vain, using layaway to pay for weaves and hitting up their men to finance their wallet-busting habit. It’s interesting to note that while Rock’s adorable daughters make silent cameos, his wife does not appear in Good Hair.

I would have liked to have heard from her about Rock’s Good Hair obsession; that would have added some context, maybe even some compassion.

Teresa Wiltz is The Root’s senior culture writer

Consumers' move to online news

2009-10-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

Newspaper use is down, online use is up: The data from our new survey isn't a surprise, but it does reinforce what the media and PR industries have known for a long time. And, most important, it provides an opportunity for marketers who are prepared to take advantage of it.

The second year of the media use and credibility survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation and sponsored by ARAnet found that daily newspaper usage dropped 4.1 percent from last year's study, while online usage increased 1.9 percent.

Not exactly a shocker, but it does put a finer point on the notion that Americans are continuing to change the way we consume media. Traditional media isn't going away anytime soon, and we need to continue to reach our audiences through these powerful and broad avenues. But we also need to appreciate that we're in the middle of a media evolution as more and more consumers are going online for information, and it's becoming more important to make the case for online strategies and tactics, and to allocate our – and our clients' – resources accordingly.

It gets even more intriguing when you drill down to specific, in-demand demographics. The affluent – people who make more than $100,000 a year – college graduates, people 18-to-34 and Hispanics all reported that they rely on and trust online sources considerably more than the general population.

So what does that mean to PR professionals? Opportunity. With their focus on telling brand stories and reputation-building, PR pros are uniquely equipped to embrace this increasingly valuable digital opportunity to reach consumers directly through online articles, blog posts, social networking outreach and video and audio. Many of these digital tools also do double-duty by lending a hand in SEO, helping your key audience find you online.

It's increasingly critical for PR pros to not only provide credible digital content, but to hone their online media relations skills, as well, especially as more and more traditional media outlets move online. It's no secret that effective marketers use social networking – blogs, Facebook, Twitter – to engage and connect with the media, as well as bloggers.

If this trend toward online news and information holds up, and we have every reason to believe it will, next year's survey will likely identify a continued shift in consumer preference. For those of us in marketing communications and reputation management, we increasingly need to meet the consumer where they're living – online.

Scott Severson is president of ARAnet, a media company that provides digital consumer communications solutions and content-based advertising.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?? Sexist!? Misogynistic!? Chauvinistic!?

2009-10-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

Jozen Cummings is a former editor at VIBE - asks is it Sexist to have Serena Williams naked on the cover of ESPN? WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I am a man of tradition. I like women. I like sports. So when I saw that my favorite tennis player (admittedly, I only have one), Serena Williams, was one of six athletes photographed naked for ESPN the Magazine’s “Body issue,” and she was clad in nothing more than lipstick, I applauded their brain trust. As a fan of beautiful black women, second as a sports fan, and third as a former editor at the now-defunct King magazine—I’m well aware of both Serena Williams’ appeal and the controversy her cover may cause.

When I was at King, plenty of black women (and men, for that matter) would douse me, and the publication for which I worked, with criticism. Sexist! Misogynistic! Chauvinistic! I heard it all—usually in much harsher and less than polite tones. I heard similar remarks last year when, during my time as an editor at Vibe, we released a controversial cover of R&B singer Ciara wearing no clothes. But what a lot of critics failed to understand is how little the black woman’s body is celebrated in the mainstream. Prior to the success of men’s magazines like King, Black Men and Smooth, the only publication where I could get my beautiful-black-woman fix was reading, or rather looking at, Jet’s Beauty of the Week.

But none of these titles have ever had the mainstream cachet of, say, Sports Illustrated, which didn’t feature a black woman (Tyra Banks) on the cover of their annual swimsuit edition until 1997—30 years after they premiered their first swimsuit edition. Playboy would also wait close to two decades before finally putting black model, Darine Stern on their cover in 1971. Let’s face it, when it comes to the relationship between beautiful women of color and mainstream publications, beautiful women of color get no love—which is why Williams’ ESPN pictorial is a game changer.

ESPN editors are going to hear their fair share of criticism—the roars of those who say the last thing we need is yet another magazine exploiting the black woman and her body are going to be loud, but Saartjie Bartman this is not. Unfortunately, with black publications folding left and right (there is no more King, Jet (and its sister publication, Ebony) looks to be on its last leg, Vibe just received a second wind), the onus is on mainstream publications to celebrate this fact.

I hope other magazines with a largely white, male demographic will follow the lead of ESPN the Magazine and feature more beautiful women of color photographed in ways a man like me can appreciate. For sex to sell in 2009 and beyond (and make no mistake about it, that’s one of the principles the ESPN brass is abiding by with “The Body Issue”), it has to come in more colors than just white.

Jozen Cummings is a former editor at VIBE and lives in Harlem. His new blog is Untiligetmarried.

OPRAH AND JAY-Z

2009-10-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

I live in Chicago and was able to attend the taping of Jay-Z on Oprah and thought it was a great show. I was glad Oprah was excited about Jay-Z and his rise to fame. I did become a big fan of Jay-Z the nite before the show as I attended his concert at the House of Blues.

This blog post I added - found it very interesting - enjoy - - Dionne

If I write a book on hip-hop history, Jay-Z’s appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show will be in a timeline of the culture’s high points. I enjoyed it. It made me remember a lot of other hip-hop/Oprah moments. Oprah and hip-hop haven’t been the best of friends.

I remember when Ice Cube took the talk-show mogul to task for having never invited him on the show. "I've been involved in three projects pitched to her, but I've never been asked to participate," Cube told FHM magazine. “And if I'm not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?" Cube had a point.

I remember when Chris "Ludacris" Bridges appeared on Oprah alongside his fellow cast members from the Oscar-winning film Crash—he was reprimanded by Winfrey for his music’s lyrical content. Ludacris later accused the show’s producers of editing out a lot of his comments. I believed him.

And of course, I remember Oprah’s infamous, two-episode Hip-Hop Town Hall of 2007, a smear campaign waged against the music that Don Imus blamed for his “nappy-headed hoes” remark about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. Seeing Oprah Winfrey and other critics accost geniuses like Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons and the rapper/actor Common for the music’s misogynistic and crime-ridden lyrics was, in my opinion, a definite low point for the culture.

Two years later, though, Oprah is singing a very different tune. Having Jay-Z on her show wasn’t just cool, it was awe-inspiring.

Cool was when I found out Jay-Z was appearing on her show in the first place; awe-inspiring was finding out she invited him to appear on the same day as Barbra Streisand—who is to Middle America what Jay-Z is to my bicoastal America. Cool was when Jay-Z—decked in a cardigan, crisp white T-shirt and dark blue jeans—sat center stage in Oprah’s Chicago studios; awe-inspiring was when the cameras followed Oprah to meet Jay-Z at his old stomping grounds, Brooklyn’s Marcy Housing Projects. There the two of them were, sitting on the stoop of his grandmother’s house, which was also where they did their one-on-one interview that appears in the current issue of Oprah’s O magazine. Cool was Oprah welcoming Jay-Z with open arms on her show and respecting all he'd accomplished. Awe-inspiring was Jay-Z recognizing the gravitas of the moment: He greeted Oprah in front of his old housing project with “I’m going to faint right now.”

For all the Jay-Z fans who tuned in, Jay-Z's answers to Oprah’s questions about his father, or about what he said to Rihanna after the Chris Brown incident—those remarks were old hat. I was tuning in for moments like at the end of the interview where Oprah asks Jay-Z to teach her how to freestyle and over a basic beat he rhymes, “Little boy from Brooklyn, made it from the ‘Stuy/girl from out the South made it to the ‘Chi/Only goes to show that the limit is the sky/if life give you lemons then you make lemon pie.”

I never thought that hip-hop would take it this far. And you know who I'm quoting.

Jozen Cummings is a former editor at VIBE and lives in Harlem. His new blog is Untiligetmarried.

HOW DO YOU MEASURE YOUR PR RESULTS?

2009-10-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Measurement has long been a thorn in the side of the PR industry, which has still yet to settle on an industrywide standard, although the Public Relations Society of America announced it will issue a set of recommended metrics and approaches this fall but is first seeking industry input. And since marketers are much more likely to cut an agency's budget than they are to increase it, the ability to prove their worth has become all the more important.

"The notion of marketing accountability and how it relates to spending, effectiveness and efficiency has been taken to another plateau over the last 12 months as the economy has turned," said Joseph Russo, head of global research and measurement at Omnicom Group's Porter Novelli.

Integrated results
He said one of the biggest shifts he's seeing is clients calling for more-integrated measurement solutions. "It's not acceptable to say here is what was generated on the print side, and here's what we got on the digital side," Mr. Russo said. "We can't treat them separately, so measurement offerings tend to feature more integration of the results irrespective of the source."

MS&L's Ms. Hugley agrees and said the idea behind integration is explaining how the results from the various channels -- traditional and new media -- drive one another by demonstrating the impact each one has on the overall success of a campaign. She said while analyzing traditional, digital and social-media measurement data from a consumer client's campaign, the agency determined the majority of site traffic was driven by entertainment, paid and earned social-media activities, while only a small percentage was coming from search.

"So based on the outcomes and learnings from last year's measurement activity, we are not only incorporating more social media activity into the campaign," Ms. Hugley said, "but we are modifying the search terms this year to boost traffic."

Along with the notion of integration, Tim Marklein, exec VP- measurement and strategy at Interpublic Group of Cos.' Weber Shandwick, has seen two other adjustments occur in the measurement space -- the "cycle times of measurement" and a transition from impressions to engagement.

"It's moved from rearview measurement to decision-time measurement," Mr. Marklein said, noting that there were two advantages to this for the agency. "You're getting data in a timely enough way to make decisions and impact the program. And tracking data in the same time frame that businesses track sales and web traffic data allows you to better correlate PR's impact."

Engagement
He said getting clients to understand the benefits of engagement over impressions is the biggest challenge agencies have. "The beauty of engagement is that it's a deeper level of involvement with a brand than you had in the eyeball or impressions world," he said. "People were comfortable knowing the value The Wall Street Journal had for whatever vertical they are in. But with the number of blogs out there and traditional media putting more emphasis on web properties, marketers are unsettled on the traditional things they believed in but now know they need new approaches to figure this out."

Mr. Marklein said the need to shift from a pure impressions mind-set to an engagement mindset was highlighted while recently working with one of Weber-Shandwick's biggest consumer clients. While evaluating which type of media coverage -- traditional or online -- drove web traffic and converted visitors into customers more successfully, the agency determined that more topical, social-driven and service-oriented outlets drove higher engagement and conversion rates. The measurement analysis caused the brand to alter its media strategy, refocusing its investment on the higher-impact outlets that drive higher conversion rates, Mr. Marklein said.

MS&L's Ms. Hugley said clients aren't alone and that the rise of digital and social media has caused everyone to rethink their approach to measurement.

"We had to fine-tune our approach to measurement not as something that happens at the end of the discussion but from the beginning and throughout the process," she said. "And we have to make sure we are clear on how clients define success within their organization and that we are tailoring our measurement approaches appropriately."

Three keys for effective PR measurement:
Measurement is still very client- and industry-specific. But PR professionals say more and more they are finding commonalities across verticals that allow them to standardize a majority of their measurement programs. Here are three components an agency and client need to have in place in for effective PR measurement.

Client and agency must hammer out a clear understanding of the campaign's objective and what it is intended to affect (sales, reputation/brand equity, employees or public policy) to establish exactly what needs to be measured -- media impressions or engagement.

Find a "fit-for-purpose solution," as Joseph Russo, head of global research and measurement at Porter Novelli calls it, or an approach to measurement that takes into account the size of the PR program so that the measurement approach can be sized accordingly. The goal is to avoid spending more on measurement than the overall cost of the PR program.

Establish a clear communication of impact and results with the target in mind.

IF YOU ARE IN CHICAGO - THIS EVENT IS FOR YOU

2009-10-06T06:23:00.001-07:00

All BPRS members: BPRS-Chicago and Burson-Marstellar PR Are Proud To Present:

PR Job Preparedness in a Down Economy: How to Be Ready for the Coming Upswing - A Panel Discussion and Networking Reception

Thursday, October 8th, Beginning Promptly At 6:00 p.m.

Confirmed Panel Members:

Dena Linker Gellmann – US Recruitment Manager, Burson Marstellar
Alexandra Daleo – HR Assistant
Erin Hendricks – Manager, Technology Practice
Karen Mellen – Director, Media Practice

Where: Burson-Marsteller
233 N. Michigan Avenue, 17th Floor

When: Start time 6:00 (reception, refreshments)

Panel Discussion – 6:30

· PR and the Economy
· How to best be prepared when the market turns around
o If you got laid off – what have you been doing since?
o How have you maintained your skill set?
o If you are currently working – how to compete in a saturated market

· Tips on how to go about job search
o Use business networks
o Be focused and specific about what you are looking for

· What hiring professionals look for in the resume
o Strong client management skills
o Media relations
o Writing
o Networking via outside organizations and activities

· What recruiters look for during the interview process
o Personality
o Ability to back up what you say with specific examples
o Ability to go above and beyond and think outside of the box

· Facebook and MySpace Pages...Be Careful!?

7:15 - Open discussion with the panel
7:30 - 7:45 – Open Networking
8:00 – End Time

Note: All attendance MUST be R.S.V.P.'d to gain admittance. E-mail Ronald E. Childs of Flowers Communications Group, at: rchilds@flowerscomm.com to confirm your attendance.

Thank you!

Today's PR student must learn a completely new vocabulary - PRWeek US

2009-10-05T18:30:00.001-07:00

Today's PR student must learn a completely new vocabulary - PRWeek US

Shared via AddThis

Unfortunately, the old adage of "I'm a good people person" remains a reason for students' interest in PR. What does that really mean these days, though?

With 24/7 news cycles, an ever-more connected world, and increasingly divergent public opinions, PR as an education major has undergone a metamorphosis.

Basics like writing and media relations skills remain vital. However, that's simply a fraction of what PR students are taught today. Professors are preparing tomorrow's business executives to have a strong grasp of global and cultural nuances, while delivering superior skills in writing, technology, and social media.

Yes, we're developing cultural anthropologists who understand P&L statements, don't mind mixing their business and social worlds on Twitter, and know exactly how to communicate with key audiences by writing well and succinctly. Not exactly your basic definition of a regular "people person."

Many professors are teaching "online" at some level because social media has changed how and what we're teaching, and specific instruction on professionalism and ethics given this context has become incredibly important. But audience segmentation and cultural preferences are also adding to the challenge. There is no longer a "general public" in America. In fact, when someone refers to the "mainstream," I often wonder what that really means.

Publics of different ethnic and religious backgrounds are finding common interests or lifestyles as the drivers behind their socialization. Geography no longer limits our communications efforts.

Behavioristics and psychographics are almost more important than demographics, making communications more personalized. The "mass" in communication has become nearly condemned by sophisticated audiences; therefore, new PR pros must understand what makes people behave and believe exactly how they do.

Today a student must leave a PR program with the basics, but also with a clear understanding of social, economic, and lifestyle preferences and how these affect communication, consumer behavior, culture, and technology usage.

It's not just about 140-character messages. It's having the right words at the right time, said to the right people through the right medium, in the right tone and sentiment - all the while keeping in mind the importance of the public interest.

Rosanna Fiske is associate professor of PR and advertising at Florida International University.

From the October 01, 2009 Issue of PRWeek

EBONY/JET FOR SALE

2009-10-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

As black culture moved closer and closer to becoming the mainstream of American culture, as issues pertaining to black people began getting more and more attention from all sectors of the mainstream press, Ebony and Jet stood in place. Soon these two publications started to look old, stiff and severely out of touch. I remember Ebony running ads for skin-bleaching cream throughout the 1980s. To say that Ebony and Jet came to be stuck in a time warp is a massive understatement.

Ebony and Jet are most certainly cultural symbols of historical importance. The magazines represented the pioneering vision of John H. Johnson, who built a publishing empire out of thin air and who, along with Berry Gordy, came to embody the image of the black media mogul at a time when most black people couldn’t even get a drink of water in a public place. Johnson’s magazines served a mighty purpose, documenting the lives of people for whom invisibility had become the norm. The magazines often cast black life in a uniquely glamorous light that was very much ahead of its time, and they also featured news about everyday black people who would have never made anyone else’s pages. Where else could you read about black people who had won the local lottery and got buried in a coffin made to look like a Cadillac? Yet, as with many black institutions from that era, when the walls of segregation began crumbling and then falling, Ebony and Jet struggled to keep up with the new pace.

Like historically black colleges and universities that once had a lock on enrolling most of the best black athletes, desegregation meant that these perpetually underfunded institutions suddenly had to struggle to compete for talent that had been theirs by default. Many would complain about how desegregation robbed these schools of their own resources. But such whining undermined the massive gains that access to mainstream educational institutions afforded future generations.

While the old heads were still crying over what they lost because of desegregation, black culture was slowly seeping into previously hostile sectors of American culture. From the 1980s forward, black culture imposed itself on the mainstream in such a way that would make publications like Ebony and Jet obsolete.

The potential sale of Ebony and Jet is really not that big a deal. Though many may bemoan the sale, it’s time to come into the present. In the era of the first black American president, such heirlooms need to be put to rest or at least viewed in a way that is consistent with the times in which we live. In that sense, the potential sale of Ebony and Jet signifies not so much a loss as an opportunity.

source: Theroot.com

How to Mobilize Your Social Media

2009-10-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

Recently, Advertising Age reported on the 400% surge in mobile video uploads to YouTube, attributed to the new iPhone 3GS. Beyond the implications of what that may mean for the value of ad inventory on YouTube, one thing is clear: There is an inseparable link between social media and mobile devices.

As the capabilities of these devices expand, we can expect that updating social-network sites via mobile will continue to increase and may eventually even surpass the wired web. Social networks like Twitter and Facebook are remarkably dependent on mobile access for the value they provide to their users. I would also argue that mobile status updates are, by their very nature, timelier, more relevant and potentially more interesting to their readers.

Today, every major social network offers its users a range of mobile services, from mobile web access to downloadable mobile applications. Although consumers with high-end devices may be the primary users of these mobile services, some social networks also offer a number of SMS-driven features that allow consumers to stay engaged by text, even on low-end mobile phones. This represents a big opportunity for brands to maximize their efforts and move consumers easily between their mobile and social media experiences.

While social media campaigns are becoming more common, we often see that when agencies and brands begin their engagement with social networks, they act as if their entire audience is on a computer -- the mobile aspects of social media are frequently neglected. And the reverse can also be said about many brands' initial mobile marketing efforts: They often neglect to effectively integrate the power of mobile social-media elements (even when these elements already exist) to further engage consumers and fans of the brand.

Twitter
Twitter is a great example of the power of mobile and social media working together. According to Nielsen, more than 3 million Twitter users in the U.S. alone regularly access the service via the mobile web. Additionally, many consumers are frequently using Twitter through SMS and a range of downloadable mobile applications for iPhone, BlackBerry and other mobile devices. This makes Twitter an easy and seamless way to drive consumers to mobile content.

If you're already actively using Twitter for a brand, consider how mobile-friendly your tweets are. If you're including links to content on YouTube, Flickr and many other social-networking sites that automatically redirect users to their mobile versions of pages, you're doing great. But if you are sending Twitter users to a page on your all-Flash website or content that could potentially crash a phone's browser, you should consider posting both mobile-friendly and non-mobile links to important content that you want to share.
Also, if your brand has a mobile site and a Twitter account, then why not invite your mobile users to click over and follow your tweets right then and there? I've only seen a handful of brands take advantage of this easy integration point.

Facebook
According to Nielsen, Facebook is the No. 7 mobile website in terms of reach. About 15% of Facebook users (11 million) in the U.S. regularly access the social network's mobile web version (not to mention various downloadable versions and the roughly three million users who use SMS). Users visit the mobile web version an average of over 18 times per month and each visit lasts about 10 minutes.

At the time of this writing, Facebook fan pages are just beginning to be supported on the mobile web, and hopefully soon on mobile applications as well. Once they are fully supported, that will open up mobile social-media integration opportunities. Already, the Facebook Connect service is allowing brands to link their iPhone apps to users' profiles, and Facebook Connect has potential for mobile websites as well.

Facebook recently launched a new feature for fan pages that allows users to subscribe via SMS. This is a free service that essentially gives any brand with a Fan Page the ability to send targeted SMS updates to their fan's mobile phones if they have opted into the service. However, only a few brands have effectively used this new feature, and more work needs to be done to actively engage fans with it by including content that is relevant to mobile users.

YouTube
YouTube is a powerful social network and content site, and by far the most ubiquitous in terms of the number of platforms and devices that it can be accessed from. Even on mobile, there are a number of distinct ways that users can access the full range of mobile content. The native versions of YouTube that come pre-installed on iPhones, Android phones like the G1, and the Palm Pre offer the best mobile user experience. However, the mobile web version is also outstanding, and has well over 4.6 million users that log in many times a month.

Any brands that are on YouTube and are also doing mobile, but are not integrating the two, are missing an important opportunity. Your mobile site is just a click away from lots of video, and you can add links to video descriptions that can be used to drive users back to your brand's mobile site for more. Also, consider the power of video to influence consumers at the point of sale. Virtually everyone who walks down a store aisle these days has a device in their pocket that gives them the ability to get to your brand's video content. You just need to take a few simple steps to connect the dots.

Quality vs. Quantity
Both mobile and social media are more about reaching niche audiences and getting them actively engaged than they are about massive reach. They are about getting personal with the consumer, which makes both social media and mobile impressions more valuable. These consumers are fully engaged. They have raised their hands and want to know more. And once they've told you they're interested in more, they will be disappointed if they don't get it.

Some who look at social media and mobile through marketing goggles question reach and how these channels can be used to sell consumers more stuff. But in the era of Web 2.0, part of the selling process is increasingly becoming about the art of being there for the consumer in the always-on environment of mobility- charged social media. It's about offering something of value, creating movements that build over time, engaging with passionate fans and giving them the tools to influence others.

By using a multichannel approach to social media that fully leverages mobile communications, you will have a much greater likelihood of gaining critical mass for your social media initiatives. You'll gain even more valuable social media impressions, and most importantly a growing list of brand fans that you can continue to communicate with. It will allow consumers to digitally participate in this brand movement anywhere -- and anytime.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Webster Lewin is senior VP-director of digital innovation and strategy at MS&L.

@ Journalist Did you get my press release?

2009-10-04T17:14:00.001-07:00

@Journalist Did you get my press release?
{ Tags: journalists, online pr, pr, twitter \ Jan7 }
The last few weeks I’ve started noticing some PR people I follow on Twitter give a heads up to twittering journalists about a press release they’ve sent them. It usually goes something like “@journalist Just sent you a release. Let me know what you think.”

Now, not going to name names because that’s not the point of this post, and besides no one’s saying this is bad etiquette. However, it does smack a little of old school PR tactics.

From this small sample journalists are relatively for the approach. That said, just like in social media, you’re dealing with different views and preferences and no one-size-fits-all approach will work. This doesn’t mean that all journalists on Twitter want to be @followedupped. You still run a risk of being blocked. Also, as @charlesarthur and @jimboeth say, an @followup should be instead of a follow-up call and not as well as.

The responses from PR people are on the whole against such such tactics. If this is a true representation of PR people on Twitter then it’s certainly a good thing as it shows that we’re being more cautious when networking online. Maybe too cautious judging by the journalist’s responses?

Considerations when @followupping journalists about news releases:

Make sure they’ve clearly stated that they don’t mind @followups
Make the choice: @followup? Or follow-up call? (personally @followups seem better)
Understand that you could be blocked from said journalists and ridiculed online for all to see
PR’s competitive – understand that your competitors can see what you’re up to (if they’re Twitter savvy that is)
Stephen is managing director of 3W PR, a UK based online PR consultancy. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email Stephen

Group Mentality: Twitter to Debut Lists

2009-10-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Group Mentality: Twitter to Debut Lists

2009-02-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

D. Williams PR has been contracted out by American Family Insurance to promote the American Legacy Magazine Black History Challenge. The Challenge invites all high school students from Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Atlanta to register to win Cash for College Scholarships by participating in a fun quiz show game focusing on African American History.

Here's the full schedule:

Chicago

Pre-test: Chicago Hyatt Regency – February 20, 2009, 1:00 - 5:00 pm
Reception: Chicago Hyatt Regency – February 21, 2009, 12:30 - 2:30 pm

The American Legacy Challenge: DuSable Museum – April 4, 2009, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm

Milwaukee

Pre-test: Milwaukee Public Museum – February 27, 2009, 1:00 - 5:00 pm
Reception: Milwaukee Public Museum – February 28, 2009, 12:30 - 2:30 pm

The American Legacy Challenge: Milwaukee Public Museum – April 18, 2009, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm

St. Louis

Pre-test: Missouri History Museum - March 6, 2009 – 1:00-5:00 pm
Reception: Missouri History Museum – March 7, 2009 – 12:30 - 2:30 pm

The American Legacy Challenge: Harris Stowe University – April 25, 2009, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm

Atlanta

Pre-test: Atlanta History Museum – March 13, 2009 – 1:00-5:00 pm
Reception: Atlanta History Museum – March 14, 2009 – 12:30 – 2:30 pm

The American Legacy Challenge: Atlanta History Museum - May 2, 2009, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm

2009-01-21T18:04:00.001-08:00

The BET Honors Inauguration Awards was full of celebrities and a great event to attend for people watching. The awards show honored Mary J. Blige, Tyler Perry, dancer Judith Jameson and many more. Many celebs performed including rapper Common and singer Akon. Great Great Event

2009-01-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

BET Honors Inaugural Awards Show and party

2009-01-21T17:58:00.000-08:00

Legends of Hip-Hop Inaugural Concert

2009-01-21T17:13:00.000-08:00

The Richmond Group hosted a LIVE Inaugural party and concert featuring Legends of Hip Hop. Biz Markie was on the turn table and turned it out with old hip hop jams. Doug E. Fresh took the stage and got the crowd more hyped by rapping old favorites. Doug E. Fresh brought up legend Kurtis Blow and Slick rick who went on and on with classic hip hop. D. Williams staffers were overwhelmed and tired after this party, because of the amount of fun we had that nite.

US Chamber of Commerce Inaugural reception

2009-01-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

The US Chamber of Commerce hosted an Inaugural Reception on Sunday night, which featured Stevie Wonder. D. Williams PR staffers cased the place and peeked many celebs who were in the house including gospel duo Mary Mary, NFL Player Clinton Portis, NBA star Alonzo Mourning and radio host Ed Lover.

Washington, DC sights before Inauguration

2009-01-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

2009-01-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

2009-01-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

D. Williams Public Relations Group managed the Illinois Delegation Pre-Inaugural celebration at the Marriott Wardman in Washington, DC. Over 1,300 of Chicago's top executives, political leaders were in the house jamming until 1am to the sounds of R& B Legend Chaka Khan who riipped the stage with her vocals. After her performance DJ Phantom of WGCI took to the stage for dancing past midnite (you can all the photos to this event on www.dejaviewsusa.com - click on inaugural events - and then click on senators gala )

2009-01-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

2009-01-19T11:39:00.000-08:00

The Illinois Delegation Pre-Inaugural party

2009-01-19T11:35:00.001-08:00

British Embassy Inaugural Celebration

2009-01-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

The British Embassy hosted a party at the Embassy

Celebrating with Barack!

2009-01-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

D. Williams PR Group will manage the Illinois Delegation Pre-Inaugural Celebration taking place in Washington, DC in honor of President-elect Barack Obama. Over 1,000 guests will enjoy a grand buffet, open bar, and a LIVE performance by R&B Legend Chaka Khan! After Chaka's performance guests will dance until midnight with special guest DJ Phantom.

During the Inauguration process - D. Williams PR will be blogging and sending live updates and pictures from all of the Inauguration activities - the swearing in, parade and host of parties that we will attend when we are in DC. So start logging in January 16th to get up to date happenings!

Inauguration Celebration

2009-01-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

Birthday Celebration

2008-12-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who came out to my recent Birthday Celebration

BARACK CELEBRATIONS

2008-11-05T09:18:00.001-08:00

2008-11-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

BARACK!!

2008-11-05T08:57:00.000-08:00

Election Day was one of America's best days. In Chicago the excitement and anticipation was in the air all day. Most of us were keeping busy just waiting for the results of the polls. As evening arrived we had many election night parties to attend - so we started off in Ill. State Senator Mattie Hunter's private suite party at the Palmer House Hilton. She had many state officials in the place and dinner and drink to feed an army.

We all watched the election polls come in and was just excited about the moment. We left to go to the Hilton and Grant Park where Barack's celebration was taking place. The streets were crowded with people and excitement. People were shouting out poll numbers from the street and every few feet there was a street vendor selling Barack Obama items.

I started at Cong. Jesse Jackson, Jr. event which was also hosted by TV1. Thousands of people poured in the Hilton's grand ballroom - as we watched the big screens on polls. When Barack was annouced the winner the room went into complete hysteria, people were shouting, screaming, jumping, crying - it was powerful and emotional. WOW!

I left the ballroom for a minute and went over to Senator Emil Jones suite, which was an entire floor and had a great view to Grant Park. There we watched Barack make a wonderful speech that left everyone in the room crying.

Upon leaving went to Grant Park to feel the excitement and energy of the crowd. Celebs out everywhere. Back to the suite at the Palmer House for a night cap and finished by 2:30am

Allied Athlete Group launch reception - Chicago

2008-10-16T19:53:00.001-07:00

D. Williams PR Group managed The Allied Athlete Group launch party in Chicago at the Louis Vuitton Michigan Avenue store. Guests were greeted by beautiful models, red carpet and food catered by Clark Catering.

The event was attended by Chicago's notables, athletes and celebs. Owner athletes Michael Stone and Reggie Howard greeted guests and stated the mission and vision of the Allied Athlete Group, which is a sports management company. AAG also presented a check to Marshall high school for their sports department.

Drinks were provided by Hennessy and Moet Champagne. DJ Phantom kept the groove going all evening.

For more information www.alliedathletegroup.com

2008-10-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

2008-10-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

2008-10-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

2008-10-16T18:26:00.000-07:00

D. Williams signs Alllied Athlete Group as new client

2008-09-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

Allied Athlete Group located in Atlanta, GA will host a series of parties in several cities to launch the newly formed group which represents athletes across the nation. For more information www.alliedathletegroup.com. D. Williams PR will manage their private VIP launch party which will take place at the Louis Vuitton Michigan Avenue store in Chicago. Pictures to come soon!

Final night after parties

2008-09-14T06:57:00.001-07:00

Kimora Lee Simmons had her after party at the Plaza - Lots of fun and celebs - great food and drinks.

We also went to the project runway wrap party - it was crowded and everyone from this season and past seasons were there - lot of drinks - partying. Few celebrities other than Project Runway folks were there - We did hang out with former talk show host Ricki Lake.

Exhausting nite

Kimora Lee Simmons Party

2008-09-14T06:42:00.000-07:00

Project Runway runway show pics

2008-09-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

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2008-09-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Project Runway Show

2008-09-12T11:32:00.000-07:00

I am excited about the big Project Runway show - even though I am very upset that Terri is not showing her designs in this show, and she is the best of all of them especially Jerrell, Suede and Joe. We cannot believe she is not show =- but we arrive at the tent which is a mad place with hundreds of people - guests, fans and media outside waiting to get in.

We all show our entrance badges and go into the tent which is beautiful with a lobby that has great show pieces - while we wait to get in.

Terri is mobbed by media and fans. (she loves it!) Heidi Klum opens the show and the six designers come out one by one to show their collection - first it is Jerrell (hate it!) then Suede (the collection looks like it came from my grand mother's closet) then comes the collection of joe (his collection was surpisingly good) Kenley ( aahright) Korto (great music - nice collection - she needs to push it to the edge a bit more - Leanne (she did a fabulous Job) Leanne will probably when Project Runway

After the show we head backstage to say good job to Korto, leanne, Suede and Joe - Once Terri leaves the tent the media went crazy once again

Great show!

BET PARTY PICS

2008-09-12T11:29:00.001-07:00

2008-09-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

We went out to a club to a party that BET was hosting. It was packed with many people, some celebs and plenty of 1980's style with high top fades, 80's fashion, etc.

We met up with Publicist Jada Russell who is from Chicago - great seeing her!!

Very exhausted have to get up for the big Project Runway show tomorrow at 9am prompt

2008-09-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Later that afternoon Terri and i went to the Calvin Klein special event as well as the victoria secrets private suite event. We ran into members from this season of Making the Band - from Day 26 & Danity kane (i hope i have that right)

Victoria Secrets gave out some great bags with goodies and gift cards.

2008-09-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

September 11th

2008-09-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

today I went down to Ground Zero to remember those who were killed in the tragic terrorist attack. There was a ceremony. I was able to catch the bag pipe players from the police department as well as memorials placed on the fence where the Twin Towers used to be.

Many people were coming to the site to pay respect. There were a lot of tears. I saw many people who were family members of those who were killed. They were tshirts or had banners. A sad day for all.

2008-09-11T09:55:00.000-07:00