What is An Accidental Audience? (and other PR Blog Jots)

4 Tenets of Social Media
PR Communications

John Cass links to a detailed explanation of the various elements of social media.  They are broken down into four categories: knowledge management, collaboration, relationship management, and entertainment. He notes that Second Life should probably not be listed under entertainment, as “[i]f SL fulfills its promise, it is more about collaboration and relationship management. Though entertainment is definitely important.”

How the "Accidental Audience" May Affect PR
Murphy’s Law

Tom Murphy examines online PR and the age of new media.  Specifically, he argues that while online strategy is essential to PR, traditional methods may still be best, as many blogs, while popular and/or influential, see a proportion of their audience through accidental searches or links.  Murphy questions how this “accidental audience” can be tracked, monitored and captured for PR purposes. “We could be moving to an online era where a small number of blogs will enjoy loyal readership but the majority will be visited accidentally through web searches, aggregation, RSS etc.  Of course there’s nothing to say that once found, your audience won’t stay.  But how would that model change how you think about online communication and engagement?”

Sony Caught Attempting to Use a "Flog" to Promote PSP
Media Culpa

In a story making the rounds on PR blogs, Sony has been caught red-handed attempting to use a phony blog (or “flog”) to promote their PSP gaming system.  The blog was written in the voice of a young, aspiring hip-hop artist, and was quickly discovered as a fake by Internet users. “The blog, alliwantforxmasisapsp.com, has already been taken down but a screen shot (along with the name of the domain registrant, the viral marketing agency Zipatoni) can be found here. Sigh. Didn't Wal-Mart teach you anything?”

"Brand Advocates" are Best Audience for PR and Marketing Campaigns
Shel Holtz

Based on new statistics released this week, Shel Holtz examines the PR value of what is known as the “brand advocate,” younger consumers who spend more amount of time online discussing products and companies than their older, less online-savvy counterparts.  According to the new study, the brand advocate should be the target audience of companies engaging in public relations and marketing campaigns. “And—the part we social media advocates should like—the numbers show that brand advocates are fully engaged with social media (ranging from instant messaging to podcasts) and using them in their product-related efforts. What’s more, brand advocates are far more likely to say something positive about a brand they like than they are to wax negative about brands they don’t.”