PR Challenge: Consumers Use Different Media for Different News

According to a yearlong Pew Excellence in Journalism study, consumers are showing different preferences for where they get different kinds of news. The study also found that for news consumers, the news has become a social medium, with nearly half saying they receive recommendations and referrals from friends, co-workers and relatives.
For instance, the breakdown of the percentage of the news hole dedicated by traditional press follows: politics/government, 15 percent; foreign events, 9 percent; economy, 10 percent; technology, 1 percent, and health and medicine, 11 percent.
Blogs and traditional media share a similar focus on politics/government (17 percent) and foreign events (12 percent). Twitter only devotes 6 percent of its news hole to politics/government, but YouTube is the highest, at 21 percent with 26 percent dedicated to foreign events. One might not ordinarily think of YouTube as a news resource, but we have seen its rise in importance over the past year, with amateur video becoming the only medium for receiving news of the Iran riots.
YouTube only dedicates 1 percent of its capacity to technology, probably because tech does not lend itself to viral video. Twitter, on the other hand, devoted 43 percent of its news hole to tech news — much of it about Twitter itself.
So what does this mean for your public relations strategy?
It means the traditional means of distributing news to consumers is obsolete. Besides the fact that the number of journalists has shrunk dramatically in the past several years, social media enables P.R. practitioners to bypass that intermediate layer and go directly to consumers with their news.
The PEJ study provides a more detailed set of guidelines about where we can direct the different kinds of news to the appropriate medium for dissemination.

Luxury's New Niche: Guitar Aficionado

Guitar Aficionado’s publisher says the magazine's readership consists "of the very upper echelon of guitar buyers; those who spend upwards of five figures for instrument, and consider it a work of art." Though from reviewer Karl Greenberg’s perspective a five-figure instrument had better be a player, and the magazine features rock stars and their lairs, anyone who can drop that kind of money on a work of art is unlikely to be a serious musician. That takes too much time.


The American guitar-collector phenom tracks the baby boom, the instrument's electrification and consequent graduation from rhythm instrument in big bands to (with Charlie Christian's help among others) solo instrument, blues, rock n' roll, etc. and its explosive proliferation in style and variety. But the first instrument of today's law firm partners, plastic surgeons, bankers, and account executives  was very likely an air guitar. That's Guitar Aficionado's reader base. 

The publication, however, which claims a circulation of 100,000, with median household income of $218,400 and net worth of $1.3 million, is a bit disingenuous. It's not only not really about players (the instruments, not the people), it's really not about guitars that much, either. But that's OK, because its readers likely regard collectible guitars either as investments like that self-winding watch carved from a scimitar blade that happens to tell time on the moon. Or, like "Rosebud" from Citizen Kane, guitars are seen as whimsical talismans for a lawyer or oral surgeon to rub now and then so they can recapture that boyhood dream of playing "More Than a Feeling" in front of 10,000 screaming women.

The tag line for the book is "Luxury's New Niche." But as is the case with Cigar Aficionado (published by a different company), the mag uses the eponymous product to talk up the collector lifestyle: private islands, bungalows, collector cars, movie stars, rock stars, the wealthy, the successful, the Concours d'Elegance crowd. There's a story about Paul Stanley's house, with a shot of him in front of his collection of remarkably unattractive guitars. There's a piece on diving watches, another on rum, and one on rock fossil David Crosby's California wine country hangout. There's a story about Maui. There's something about a $1 million gold-topped guitar.  The spring issue had Jeff Bridges on the cover with the title, "The Dude Collects" and a story about his guitars and his sprawling house. Lenny Kravitz graced the cover of the summer ish, and the story about him details his recording studio in an Airstream trailer parked on a beach in the Carib. These could all be in Travel & Leisure, or AARP for that matter. As expected, the photos are gorgeous and the writing's solid.

The occasional guitar story notwithstanding, the magazine could quite easily be called Whisky Aficionado, Lobster Aficionado, or Gnarly Watch Aficionado. No one would be the wiser. It falls into the "I'm targeting your urologist" shelter-book boilerplate of beautiful-house-owned-by-gracious-celebrity photo essays and lifestyle journalism.

As for the upper echelon of guitar PLAYERS, there's an entirely different story. Steve Khan played a couple of workman-like thin hollow bodies, Gibsons, with his name on them; Peter Bernstein, some sort of hand-made jobbie, same with Jim Hall. Alex De Grassi played a gig in Tallahassee a long time ago, but not many remember what he played, or paid for that matter. But, really, it doesn't matter too terribly much. He could make a cigar box sound good. 


Seems this magazine is much more than a source of information for the average guitar player -it's a lifestyle. However, one wonders if it will survive in the electronic age when the target audience might not be too technology-inclined.

One Great Profile Picture Is Worth a Bunch of Business

Be aware that your profile picture on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn affects your brand, says Neil McKenzie, commercial photographer specializing in business and personal brand photography. As a photographer who helps people with their brand images, he recommends that everyone who is concerned about their personal brand have a really good profile image - one that supports your brand and portrays you in an authentic manner.

Here is a look at some of the ideas:

Have a professional or a dedicated amateur take your picture.

You should have a great photograph -one that is well thought out, one that supports your brand, and one that is taken with skill. Amateur images don't add to your brand unless your brand is amateur or the amateur is a good photographer.

Use a white background, or at least a neutral one. No trees! No snowstorms!

The background is not important in a profile picture - you are! While you may want to portray your brand in context with your surroundings, a small profile image is not the place to do it. Save these images for your website or galleries where you post other images.

If you are wearing a hat, you better have both a good reason and a good hat

If you are a cowboy, a hat probably makes sense for your brand. If you are a photographer with little hair and you are shooting outdoors in the Colorado sun then a hat also makes sense. Just make sure that the bill of the hat is turned backwards so as not to interfere with your lens and there is a catchy logo/type that reinforces your brand such as "Graphics Factory".

Conceptual photos (your foot, a monkey wearing glasses) may give us insight into the real you, but perhaps you could save that insight for the second impression

Crazy images and the like are a becoming a real turn off in the world of social networking. Why would I want to become friends with or follow a "foot"?

The idea of having your significant other in the picture is a good one, at least in terms of maintaining peace in the presence of a jealous or nervous spouse. But the thing is, I'm not friending your girlfriend, I'm friending you. Unless there is a compelling reason to include others in your profile picture, don't. There are exceptions if your social networking brand is a couple or partners. A profile image for the Pep Boys wouldn't cut it if only one of the brothers was shown.

Cropping is so important... a well cropped photo sends a huge, subliminal message to other people

A well cropped image starts out as a well composed image in the camera and highlights your most important features - usually your eyes. Most profile images are constrained to a small space so you need to use this space wisely. To quote an old marketing adage - "You can't put 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag"

Once you have chosen an image for your profile picture show it to your friends and associates to get their reaction. If they say "Great!" or better yet "Wow!" then you know you have a good profile picture. Be sure to ask them if the image supports your brand. When you post your profile picture, plan on using it for some time. Like any advertising, you need to keep some level of consistency and allow time for people to get to recognize you. As your followers or friends get to recognize your face they are more likely to take a moment to stop and read your posts.

Don't underestimate the power of your profile picture. It is the first thing people notice about you in the social media landscape. I never cease to be amazed when I meet people in person from my online social networks and they make a comment like, "Where is your camera? or where is your hat?"