Most anyone who really knows me knows that I am (moderately) obsessed with getting an iPhone. While trying to wait patiently for my current cell phone contract to expire, I have researched AT&T, previous iPhone models and now the new iPhone 4.

Now with just under a month left in my contract, I am seriously considering taking the leap and signing on the dotted line for the new iPhone 4. As a consumer, I am moving closer to purchasing it. However, with all of the news and talk about the issues it’s having, I continue to weigh my options and consider what the best choice is for me. I also find it interesting what has happened and what is happening in terms of marketing to persuade me in this decision.

Beginning with the product itself, there are many, many reasons why I’d love to have an iPhone. After receiving an iPod Touch last year, I have become very attached to how easy to use and convenient it is. The personal experience I have had with a product very similar to the iPhone is so powerful in getting me to adopt and become familiar with the iPhone itself. It would be so much easier to use an iPhone than a new and different smartphone. Plus, the apps have helped me organize my life, save money and keep up with what’s going on in the news and in social media. I could easily move them onto an iPhone and only have one device instead of both a phone and an iPod Touch.

In terms of word of mouth and consumer recommendations, almost everyone I know who has an iPhone couldn’t live without it. They, too, find it extremely helpful in their daily lives beyond the basics of it just being another smartphone.

The advertising for the iPhone 4 has been overwhelming. Apple’s branding has always resonated with me. The very first FaceTime app commercial was very heartwarming. I’ve seen positive comments about it across Facebook and Twitter.

Of course the iPhone 4 has been plagued with issues in the news. “Antennagate” has seen some iPhone 4 owners struggle with poor reception and dropped calls. Apple’s decision to provide free cases seems to be only a temporary solution. With Consumer Reports not recommending it and competitors joining in the disapproval, the public relations firestorm surrounding iPhone 4’s problems has only increased. And on top of that, the iPhone is still only available through AT&T, which continues to receive complaints about its poor coverage.

In regards to statistics, a recent survey by the International Data Corporation shows 66 percent of current iPhone owners are delaying purchase of the new iPhone 4 due to its antenna problems. However, the issue has not stopped the 74 percent of non-iPhone owners who are moving ahead with purchasing it.

Overall, the experience I’ve had with the iPod Touch, the friends that I know who love their iPhones and the research that I’ve done push me closer to getting one sooner rather than later. I’d love to wait for Verizon to finally provide it through their network, but that has been an unrealized possibility for awhile now. I have to weigh out all of the messages—the great brand and product advertising, the social media talk, the press it has received and the way Apple is handling their public relations issues―with my own perceptions, needs and desires as a consumer. Maybe it’s time for me to take the risk and finally see for myself what all the (good and bad) fuss is all about.

A recent survey conducted by the Associated Press and Petside.com suggests that cause marketing promotions of shelter pet adoption are far from being yesterday’s news. When asked, “Where will you get your next pet?” more than half of the respondents said a shelter, almost seven times more than those who said they would buy their pet at a store.

Interestingly, the trend doesn’t appear to be driven by benevolence toward shelters or the millions of adoptable pets who make them their hopefully temporary home. But more people are finding it easy to pass by puppies and kittens for sale in pet stores.

Almost 50% of those participating in the survey expressed concern that pets in pet stores could likely have health or behavioral problems. Those factors figured more significantly for pets in pet stores than for pets available at shelters or from breeders.

Only eight percent said they’d consider buying their next pet at a pet store. 23% said they’d consider a breeder. A whopping 54% said they’d likely get their next pet from a shelter; 30% said their present pets came from a shelter.

Several respondents said their decision was because there were “plenty of animals (in shelters) that need good homes” suggesting that promotion of shelter adoption can still benefit a brand. A Pedigree program that kicked off in 2007 was designed to raise money for dog shelters nationwide and increase awareness of dog adoptions through shelters. A percentage of the sales of each bag of Pedigree sold benefited shelters, engaging retailers and consumers in the initiative. Supported by advertising, PR and promotion, the program raised $750,000, generated 51 million media impressions, engaged more than 80% of Pedigree’s key retailers and helped the brand top $1 billion in sales for the first time.

For decades, print publicity has been a mainstay in consumer public relations. Getting your story before the millions of eyes reading print media was just about the most important measure of success. Indeed, many of us–before public relations courses and majors appeared on college campuses–were educated as journalists and aspired to be publicists. With good reason; newspapers and news magazines were the gold standard in news gathering and reporting, and the most respected source of information.  

It’s a bit sad to see how print news outlets are suffering. Since the first of the year some of the most well-known and respected newspaper mastheads have either ended print editions (Rocky Mountain News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer) or have filed for bankrupcy like the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Others, like the Boston Globe and Miami Herald, are bleeding money. Even the venerable San Francisco Chronicle is in serious trouble.

In many instances all that remains or may remain is the online version of print newspapers. We’re not only becoming consumers of online news–watch out CNN, you may be next!–but also ”unmassed”  news consumers. Mobile devices and platforms instantaneously push just the news we want. And mass media’s coveted role as unbiased third-party endorser is being taken over by social media: online communities are respected and trusted not because they’re right, but simply because they represent shared interests and values.

What does this hold for the future of publicity as an important PR tool? It’s doubtful that all newspapers and print publications will go away, nor will they be removed from the marketing communication mix. The situation has created an opportunity for traditional print reporters to broaden their practice of journalism; many now tap into the online space as bloggers. PR professionals are no longer just pitching content and racking up media impressions, we’re building relationships and engagement with targeted influential online journalists and bloggers. We’re facilitating and when appropriate, transparently participating in social media conversations. We’re being forced to re-think media relations, and that’s good, powerful and more effective for the brands we represent.

As a long-time practitioner of PR, I often fondly recall the days when a well-crafted message was enough to get attention. Nowadays, the plethora of communication channels–not to mention a growing social media presence–makes the job much more difficult. So, how do we break through the clutter, filter out the noise, deliver the message and drive behavior?

At its heart, PR has always been about exchanging information, a sort of conversation, that builds links to an organization’s stakeholders. I believe, too, that PR is the most effective communication discipline for managing how a brand is received and perceived. PR plays in a brand’s “environmental” space; at best, evoking emotion that builds trust and drives behavior.

Instead of longing for the good old days when a mass message delivered via a few channels did the trick, we need to meet stakeholders where they live with messages crafted for their particular interest. And in the case of social media, simply standing up and waving the brand flag doesn’t get the job done. Yes, we must still deliver information. But now as never before we have communication channels that allow engagement, real conversation, influence. Once upon a time, PR hung its hat on the credibility of news media as a disinterested third-party influencer. Scary to hand over a brand to consumers, but few opinions are more credible than those from whom we consider peers and influencers among our peer group.

Unmassed media–especially social media–present an opportunity for the closest thing to face-to-face communication and conversation with all those who hold a brand’s life in their hands. Does that make our job easier? Definitely not. Does it require more thought, strategy and management? Certainly. Does it require more of an investment than a simple news release, a compelling press kit, hours of pitch calls or an attention-getting event? Most definitely. But the potential return on that investment far outstrips any from papering the universe with nothing but mass messages and hoping that some stick.

Summer Interns at Trone

This is a crazy, unpredictable world we live in. And working to help brands adapt and change in this world is not something you pick up in BUSI 064 (where I learned about the 4 P’s and the 4 C’s at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business). That’s why “real world” experience is so important for anyone interested in pursing a career in marketing communications  -  and an internship is the best way to get it.

One of the cornerstones of Trone’s culture is continuing education – if it weren’t, we wouldn’t be able to “unmass the message” to ever-changing targets in ever-changing environments. An internship at Trone is an extension of our love of learning: it’s set up to be hands’ on, down-and-dirty, where you get to see the good, bad and the ugly. TV and movies make advertising and public relations look so glamorous – anyone who’s been in the field for a few years knows that truly delivering value for a client and their brand is often less than sexy.

We want our interns to learn in reality. They work alongside real accounts, are expected to keep up with e-mail and check their voicemail. What comes from that is an understanding of a client’s business, their marketing challenges and how Trone corrals their deep pool of internal talent to deliver the insights that lead to market-changing action for those clients.

But it’s not just the interns that are learning. Involving an intern on a project causes three things to happen:

1) Slow down and verbally process a task.
We all learn best when we understand the big picture, and how our specific piece fits into the broader puzzle. As a manager, if I can’t explain a task and how it will work to move a client’s brand forward to a 20-something college student (who, let’s face it, is probably smarter than me anyway), the questions of “why do I really need this?” and “do I really understand my client’s situation?” challenge me to do my job better.

2) See things through different eyes.
Working with college students who are managing not only the pressures of their classes and internship, but family, extra curricular activities, boyfriend/girlfriend and even the job hunt gives you different insight into how people manage their time and organize information. This always keeps me on my toes – challenging me not to get stuck in a rut with how I manage my to-do list and work on items in the “important, but not urgent” category.

3) Reinvigorate your passion for the industry.
Working with students who have an overwhelming desire to learn, whose minds are veritable sponges, can be very energizing. I’ve worked on numerous ad campaigns, and while I wouldn’t call myself jaded, to have an intern who helped work on a campaign last summer shoot me an e-mail to say “I saw the billboard on I-40 and am SO EXCITED I got a chance to help” really helps me to remember that I don’t do this work for kicks and giggles – it’s real work, that if done right, helps move a client’s business forward.

If you’re currently enrolled in a post-secondary technical institution, college or university and are interested in learning more about the marketing communications field, apply for an internship at Trone. We promise we won’t make you pick up our coffee or dry cleaning, and we promise you’ll walk away having grown your knowledge of the field and how an agency works.

Apply here: http://www.trone.com/index.php/our-culture/employment/internship-program.

And if where you work doesn’t offer an internship program, consider starting one. Even in these challenging economic times, having a program can be worth it because of how the staff is challenged to be even more amazing at what they already do.

The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing colors and you find yourself daydreaming about all of the fun festive fall activities. And then your thoughts are rudely interrupted by someone who sits in the office across from you. Are they asking you a question about your latest timeline? No. They are coughing. And not just any cough. They are violently hacking every two seconds, quickly followed by a outcry of, “I’m fine. Really. I feel great!”

Regardless of how one feels, ’tis the season for that pesky flu to interrupt your daily routine and disturb your wonderful co-workers. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention…….Really? Does anyone really listen to the Center for Disease Control? Ok, let’s be honest, after the Swine Flu outbreak maybe some of us do. But what’s catching on faster than any bulletin issued from the CDC is a press conference video that made one journalist, Chuck Todd instantly famous, and probably blush. 

During a weekly press conference (watch it here: Spreading The News), Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services Secretary, was visibly upset when a Todd accidentally sneezed during a briefing. Now, I wasn’t there, but apparently, Chuck Todd didn’t cover his mouth/nose with the proper elbow technique during this sudden on slot of cold symptoms. Sebelius was quick to make some funny faces and lectured Todd on how to control the spread of his germs.

This was the sneeze heard around the world. And now,the majority of the viewing public will now know how to control their sneeze, cough, sniffles correctly. Bravo, viral videos for allowing us non-CDC bulletin readers to fully understand the importance of cold prevention. As this is one way, I don’t mind others spreading the news.

Sadie lounges on the dog's bed. Not because she may, but because she can.

According to a recent study by the National Academy of Sciences, that would appear to be truth.

As any cat owner will attest, felines stoutly and proudly refuse to comply with household rules laid down for dogs: no sleeping on the sofa, no paws on the table, no chewing on the plants. We tolerate our cats’ bad behavior in ways we’d never accept from dogs or other humans. Cats own us, play us and mold us to do their bidding. We are putty in their paws.

The study suggests that generations ago, cats cunningly and deliberately domesticated themselves so we’d provide them with three squares and a roof over their heads. There’s considerable evidence for mankind’s reasons to domesticate wild dogs–hunting partner, protector, companion, extra blanket on those cold, cold nights. But what reasonably sane individual would have invited a wild cat to share the cave? And for what purpose?

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior says cats win paws down over dogs when it comes to learning how to get exactly what they want from their owners, but we cat owners have known this since the first day. It’s an age-old conflict–squaring our need to care for a small, dependant animal with the challenge of feline independence.

So, who’s really been domesticated?

If you’ve just heard of this interwebs thing, you should know that every company with any PR capability is trying to control their online reputation. There are, of course, a few different ways to do this.

The JK Wedding video has, as of this post, 15M+ views on YouTube — 10M are from the first week alone. This is the infectious video your coworkers sent around of a wedding party dancing down the aisle. The song “Forever,” which was used without anyone’s authorization or consent, is performed by Chris Brown and distributed by Jive. The record company had every legal right to pull the video from the site with a simple cease-and-desist letter.

This wedding party obviously doesn't do anything halfway.

But YouTube prides itself on having a suite of monetization tools for copyright holders. Instead of trying to sue someone, Jive decided to use these tools to allow people to purchase the song. It’s a resounding success so far, since the video has twice the click through rate (CTR) of the average video on the site. The song hit #3 on the iTunes singles chart and #4 on Amazon’s best-selling MP3 list. YouTube has finally proved that monetization of free copyrighted material is possible, profitable and, quite frankly, desirable.

Compare this to the misguided folks over at Lifestyle Lift. Since 2007, the company has been posting fabricated reviews of their service on various websites as well as threatening trademark lawsuits against anyone posting their name in unfavorable reviews. (It should be noted that Google’s autocomplete function lists complaint and problem as the third and fourth most popular search terms that go along with the name.) If you haven’t heard, the practice of creating this kind of bogus grassroots campaign is called astroturfing. It’s wildly unethical and also quite illegal, and as such the state of New York fined Lifestyle Lift $300K in July for deceptive advertising. The backlash from internet users (and, really, who isn’t an internet user these days?) and watchdog groups is going to take a long time to sort out, if the company will be able to survive at all.

This works so well it's like you're a completely different model afterwards.

Consumers certainly don’t like having their online behavior modified or manipulated. Jive did very little to initiate a conversation about their song (“Hey, you like this? You can buy it over here.”) and will be held up as a case study in the future the same way Radiohead’s distribution of In Rainbows will be. Lifestyle Lift took the other approach and tried to take over the digital conversation. Guess which company just made a bunch of money.

I still remember where I was when I heard about Elvis Presley’s death – in the car with my cousins.  The DJ came on the air and reported, “Elvis Presley is dead,” and then proceeded to play a song.  By the time I heard the “news” he had likely been gone for several hours.  Likewise, when Dale Earnhardt crashed and died I heard the news from a neighbor involved in the racing industry about 2 hours after his crash.  When Michael Jackson died the world knew literally within minutes.  The tweets were flying before his body had left the home.

National Tire Safety Week is coming to a close, and having done PR for a tire company for 8 years, I am closer to the topic than most.  Most people do not think about their tires until it’s time to purchase (or well past time to purchase).  The tire shopping experience is not something most women get excited about. However, there are some companies (including the one I work with) paying closer attention to this influential demographic.  Research has proven more than 65 percent of vehicle purchases in the United States and Canada are made by women.  Women also influence 85 percent of service, vehicle and tire buying decisions.  So, it makes complete sense for tire dealers to start paying closer attention to these women who will ultimately affect their bottom line.

AskPatty.com and Tire Review have teamed up to help tire dealers build stronger relationships with women.  AskPatty.com is an automotive advice website for women and Tire Review is the leading B-to-B magazine for the North American tire industry.  Together, they have rolled out a program to help retailers with their sales and marketing skills to become “Certified Female Friendly.”  The complete package for tire retailers is extensive.  Here are a few of the perks:

• Ongoing training and certification
• Private labeled co-branded AskPatty website
• Premier listing in AskPatty.com Certified Tire Dealer search engine

To view more information on the complete package you can visit AMN.  The multi-step program will be administered through webinars and interactive online programs.  This will allow the tire dealer to have as many employees attend as possible.

I’m thrilled to hear the industry is making strides to improve relationships with women.  It’s no longer enough to have clean floors and a nice showroom. Women need to feel confident and comfortable by feeling well informed.

And, to throw in a PSA—be a responsible driver!  Your tires are the only thing between you and the road. Check your tire pressure and tire tread.  Underinflated tires are an enormous hazzard and can cost you big at the pump!