Tough Love Can Backfire (and Other PR Blog Jots)
RIAA Needs to Consider its Image
Common Sense PR
While allowing that sometimes taking an unpopular stance is necessary to certain organizations (he uses labor unions as an apropos example), Eric Eggerston points out that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ought to consider how its public image will be tarnished by its continued legal action against music file sharing. He cites a case against a U.S. Army officer where the RIAA went too far, calling into evidence embarrassing files on the defendants computer that were unrelated to music. Eric warns the RIAA against continuing to pursue action against sympathetic defendants. “There is a time and a place to take a hard stance. To remain firm in the face of negative publicity. To stand by your values. But when your values pit massive corporations against high school kids, single moms and G.I.s, you have to wonder about the underlying strategy. Can they really be that stupid, for that long?”
How Blogging Leads to Business
Personal Branding Blog
Dan Schawbel posts the details of what he calls the “Blog Conversion Cycle,” which demonstrates how a blog can lead to new business for your company. He argues that writing a company blog gives potential customers a new avenue to discovering your company’s products, increasing the likelihood that they will become a paying customer. They may also refer others to your company, or at least to your blog—which may also result in new business. “Customers who refer others in their network to your blog are valuable assets to your company because they are your spokesman. Your customer can create new visitors to your blog, who will go through a similar cycle.”
Facebook News App Debuts
PR Squared
Todd Defren debuts Newshound, an application for Facebook that allows users to save and comment on pages from the web to their Facebook profiles, similar in a sense to del.icio.us and Google News Readers. Todd hopes the application will be picked up by some of the higher-profile Facebook users as a way to spread the word about a new way to share the latest interesting news and links. “By dropping the Newshound bookmarklet to your browser toolbar, you’re empowered to: Save any webpage and add your personal comments (just as you would with del.icio.us); publish up-to 3 of these news items or webpages to your own Facebook profile. (Similar to the “Cool Reading/Links of the Day” posts that many bloggers use when they’re too busy to craft a long post.) You can also publish the Saved News (and Commentary) of up-to 3 of your fellow Newshounders.”
The RIAA can be that stupid for...probably as long as they've BEEN that stupid!
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Posted by: John | July 31, 2007 at 11:17 AM
It does seem remarkably counterproductive to sue 16 year old kids for allegedly downloading music when they were 11 years old. Who on earth is counseling them? Does anyone over there understand the ways their public image is affected by these activities? It's interesting, to say the least.
Posted by: Sarah Wurrey | August 01, 2007 at 12:12 PM