Social Media Now: Big Media’s War on YouTube, Chapter 639
March 1, 2007
Ok, we expect the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences not to understand social media, but Mark Cuban?
On Tuesday the Academy asked YouTube to remove all its Oscars videos (the Will Farrell musical number had been viewed a quarter of a million times before its removal). Yesterday YouTube complied.
The YouTube clips didn’t compete with video at Oscars.com, where a single, 5-minute recap clip is posted. Nor did it undermine any commercial plans for the video (because the Academy has none). Instead Ric Robertson, executive administrator for the Academy, yesterday told Variety that the move was designed to help manage the value of our telecast and our brand.
Kudos to Variety’s Scott Kirsner for his skeptical questioning which got Robertson to say that the move is “not really about business opportunity” and that even the video at Oscars.com will eventually come down to “whet people’s appetite for next year’s show.”
Robertson offered no explanation for how a 5 minute recap vidclip with a short shelf life on the Oscars site would better whet appetites for next years show than a popular gag from the show distributed on the biggest online video channel seen by a million people over the course of a year. I guess the “Dick in a Box” video really damaged the SNL brand and undermined viewer interest in the next episode of the show.
Yesterday Mark Cuban–a long-time YouTube skeptic–chimed in on his blog with a suggestion for how the Academy should have handled YouTube.
Cuban’s idea is typically creative and smart: the Academy should have flooded YouTube with teaser clips followed by ads for Oscars.com and links back:
For this Will Ferrell clip, I would have created a video that showed the first 10 secs of the clip, then had 4 minutes of a billboard that said ” Great videos from the Oscars telecast and exclusive behind the scenes videos are all available at Oscars.com”
Great idea, but Cuban is still locked into old-fashioned thinking about brand marketing:
Youtube proponents want everyone to believe that every impression is a new found impression that can only benefit the brand. Others, myself included believe the opposite. That the last thing you ever want is for another entity, that is completely out of your control, becoming the de facto manager of your brand.
Of course millions of people watching the Will Farrell clip benefits the Oscars brand. Enormously. (Contributory media is part of the Web 2.0 watercooler conversation.) Furthermore it probably helps the Oscars brand reach an audience that is not reached by the TV broadcast. Most importantly the act of posting the clip, tagging the clip, emailing a link to friends, posting the clip to a blog–in short, the stuff of social media–marks an engagement with the Oscars brand that the Academy couldn’t generate if it tried. And, it didn’t even have to try. And it didn’t cost the Academy a dime!
If Cuban is worried about millions of people outside of a company’s control become de facto managers of every company’s brand, he better get out of the Internet business now. Welcome to the new world order.
NMRcast #14
January 28, 2007
Following the 3rd Thursday event held on the 18th, the last week has seen a flurry of activity in the blogosphere addressing the value (or lack of value) for a social media news release. Chris Heuer, Tom Foremski, and Shel Holtz review the various points different posts have made and how it can affect the develoment of the social media release. Shel put together a list of the posts they reviewed which can be found on his site (and we encourage you to sift through them all).
NMRcast #14 (29-minutes) can be downloaded (MP3, 13.3 MB), or you can sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
A big ‘thank you’ to Shel for hosting and managing the NMRcast for us! If you would like to listen to previous NMRcasts, please check out the For Immediate Release website.
Social Media Club Dallas Launches
January 23, 2007
First off, thanks to Yahoo! for understanding the importance of Social Media and for stepping up to be the location sponsor for the launch of the Dallas Social Media Club. I was pretty concerned about space at the Yahoo! offices as we were limited to 25 registrants. We filled up the seats exactly for the launch and I couldn’t be happier.
As for the event itself, after introductions and a brief history of the Social Media Club, we dove right into a discussion about the Social Media Press Release. The discussion was lively, constructive, revealing, and educational. As the moderator, I chose to let the discussion continue for the duration rather than cut it short because the group was getting a lot out of the back and forth. I will need to have a discussion via wiki or Google groups about the direction of the local chapter or we will need to discuss that topic first next month.
With the attendance and reaction (all positive) I will need to find a new location for the next meeting as it is clear that Yahoo! will not be able to accomodate the size of the second meeting. Fortunately, Big In Japan has already stepped up and offered a bigger space for the next meeting. Thank you Jake!
We will be releasing the audio recording of the event soon in multiple parts. I’ll post a link to the podcast here once it is published.
Special thanks to those who came including folks from 12comm, @visible, American Airlines, anthonyBarnum, Big In Japan, BrainBand, jambo, JH+P, Kinetic Results, Mdirect, PRWeb.com, Rapp-Collins, Samsung, sbig, TagMyCity.com, and Trabian among others.
The Social Media Release Under Attack
January 20, 2007
Earlier this week at Third Thursday, we talked about the Social Media Release and thankfully recorded the next NMRCast, so the full conversation will soon be online. Stowe Boyd was in attendance and had some very pointed questions, which we felt we answered to a degree, but did not dive into more deeply so as to hear other voices in attendance. His blog post entitled “Enough Already: Getting Social Media all wrong” was a one-sided commentary that failed to even link to this site or Social Media Release Blog and has now been picked up by Robert Scoble and others. Our response was posted over here, so please join in on the conversation and let us know your thoughts… BTW, if you really want to know about this subject, please read the draft of the requirements we wrote.
Interviews with Chris Heuer, Co-Founder of Social Media Club
January 4, 2007
A couple of fine fellas have done podcasts with Chris recently, and I would love to share them with you all.
(1) Shel Holtz and Chris discuss the social media press release; the evolution of the effort, the components of the social media release, the progress made by the working group, composition of the working group, the desirability of standards, the issues the social media release is designed to address, and Chris’s expectations for a release of the initial social media press release standard. Phew! All this in 31 minutes. The podcast can be heard on the For Immediate Release website.
(2) Chris sat down ‘virtually’ with Brian Oberkirch and chatted about Social Media Club, disclosure/blogger ethics and the Social Media Press Release. It is a long one, but a good one which can be heard here.
NMRcast #12
December 13, 2006
In this episode, Chris Heuer, Shel Holtz, Brian Solis and Tom Foremski discuss the entries of Fleishman Hillard and Edelman to the social media news release party; Chris provides an update on the integration of microformats into the social media press releases standard; Tom responds to a colleague’s question about whether journalists want a new type of press release; Chris covers progress toward planning a social media new release summit.You can download the file here (MP3, 12.9 MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
Related items:
- Weblo’s social media release, produced by iStudio and High Road Communications, affiliated with Fleishman Hillard
- iStudio’s blog post about the Weblo release
- Fleishman Hillard’s Ed Lee blogs about Canada’s first social media news release
- Edelman’s announcement of the debut of StoryCrafter
- Edelman’s Phil Gomes offers blog posts—part one and part two—discussing Edelman’s StoryCrafter
- The microformats website
- Tom Foremski’s post, Do journalists want a social media news release? from Silicon Valley Watcher
- Social Media Release Wiki (contribute your case studies)
- The new Social Media Release site, home of the social media release requirements
- Google Groups mailing list for New Media Release discussion (please join!)
A big ‘thank you’ to Shel for hosting and managing the NMRcast for us!
To listen to previous NMRcasts, please check out the For Immediate Release website.
Social Media Club Portland
November 20, 2006
On Tuesday, December 5th Chris Heuer and Alex Williams will lead a round table discussion on blogs, podcasts and other items of note. They are also accepting suggestions for additional topics, so if there is a subject burning a hole in your noggin – please send it to kristie [at] brainjams [dot] org and we will try to get it on the ‘agenda’.
This roundtable will be held from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and is open to everyone interested in Social Media. It is also free to attend. All we ask is that you pre-register at Eventbrite so we may prepare for your arrival. There will be food and beverages available for purchase and I hear the eats are very tasty at the Hof.
UPDATED 11/29/06: We have secured a venue. The meeting will take place at Fehrenbacher Hof, located at 1125 SW 19th Ave in Portland, Oregon 97205.
Social Media Club – Phoenix
November 5, 2006
Social Media Club is officially launching in the lovely state of Arizona this month.
Francine Hardaway has offered to lead the group and will be digging into topics covering disclosure/ethics, the new media press release and what is needed to grow the local community. NOTE: If there is a specific topic you would like to put on the table, please let a comment here and we will make sure Francine is aware of it.
Details are as follows:
Where: La Madeleine – in the wine room, 3102 East Camelback Road (Camelback & 32nd), Phoenix
When: Thursday, November 16th from 5:30pm – 8:00pm
Cost: FREE to attend (all we ask is that you pre-register so we may know you are coming)
Social Media Release Blog & Requirements ‘Released’
November 1, 2006
Just a quick note here that we have started a new Blog to address the progress of the Social Media Release and help practicioners to better understand best practices – ultimately making the most of the emerging standard for the PR industry. Check out the Social Media Release dot org Blog if you are interested and subscribe to that feed to follow updates. While we will still be talking about it here from time to time as a project of Social Media Club, the meat of the conversation will be happening over there and on the related Wiki.
[updated title - 3am typo]
NMRcast #8 – Social Media Release powering forward
October 10, 2006
Chris Heuer, Brian Solis, and Shel Holtz discuss the Media Release working group’s progress, cover the role of tags in the Social Media release, and discuss Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz’s letter to the SEC seeking approval for blogs to serve as a channel for material disclosure.
Shel Holtz provides a list of links supporting this podcast on his website, For Immediate Release.
You can download the file here (MP3, 12.7MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
XPRL Meeting in London
September 15, 2006
When I first saw the note from David Phillips about this meeting, I was intrigued, but after discussing the XPRL standard with more seasoned PR folks did not have high hopes honestly. People I spoke with said it was a dead but valiant effort to bring standards into the professional Public Relations world. They said the principal reason for failure was the lack of adoption in the many years since it was conceived. As is often the case with technology projects, it seemed that there was not enough early buy in from the people who were affected by it.
I was happy to see this was not lost on the members of the group and was indeed one of the key points of emphasis pursued during the course of the meeting.
In attendance were: [Read more]
Social Media Club London
September 8, 2006
Chris Heuer will be in London for the XPRL meeting (related to the new Media Release format for revitalizing the traditional Press Release) and will be participating in the first meeting of the London Social Media Club that takes place on Friday, September 15th at the Fleishman Hillard offices at 40 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9LG. We will start around 5:30pm.
If you are in the area, please plan on joining us for a robust discussion on the future of the Press Release and to establish plans for the club in London!
Social Media Club NYC
September 2, 2006
Monday, September 18th is the first meeting of the Social Media Club in NY. Welcome! Thanks to the FINE folks at Business Wire for hosting us at their offices at 40 East 52nd Street, at 6pm. You must register below so building security can have a list of names. Register here.2 main discussions.
First a discussion on what Social Media Club is and what we are doing. We hope to get your input on what we can do to serve the needs of potential members. Second, a discussion about moving forward with the hRelease format to redesign the Press Release with modern capabilities.
Chris Heuer, founder of SMC, and Howard Greenstein, NY Organizer, will run the event.
Questions – howard [a t ] socialmediaclub -dot – com
New Media Release #4
August 16, 2006
Chris Heuer and Brian Solis are live at SES and discuss search-engine optimization of press releases and the role of XML schemas in press releases.
The podcast can be found at the For Immediate Release site.
It’s a thriller folks.
Show notes for August 15, 2006
Welcome to NMRCast episode #4, a 23-minute podcast recorded live from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Download the file here (MP3, 15.7MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
Sorry; the ability to hear a stream from this page is not available for episode #4
In This Edition:
- New Media Release wiki
- Search Engine Strategies conference
- XPRL, the eXtensible Public Relations Language
- Google Groups mailing list for New Media Release discussion (please join!)
NMR Cast #3 – Wire Services
August 1, 2006
The New Media Release Podcast, episode #3 can be downloaded here, heard directly from this page, or subscribed to via the NMRCast feed. Also, the Apple iTunes subscription is now available here or by searching for NMRCast at the Apple iTunes store under “podcasts.” If you subscribe to the FIR “everything” feed, however, this podcast will not be included.
Content summary:Tom Foremski and Brian Solis join Chris Heuer and Shel Holtz for a discussion what to call this thing, how to get the profession to work together on a single product, and the role the wire services will play.
Show notes for July 31, 2006
Welcome to NMRCast episode #3, a 32-minute podcast recorded live from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Download the file here (MP3, 12.9MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
In This Edition:
- New Media Release wiki
- Chris Heuer’s post on the name of this initiative
- Google Groups mailing list for New Media Release discussion (please join!)
Listen to this podcast now:
