Amidst the latest news of impending tablet like devices, including Apple’s newest creation, lies a new and important path for communications campaigns and the practitioners that coordinate these efforts.

First, in terms of the technology, the day of the E-Reader is upon us. Both the Amazon Kindle & the Barnes and Noble Nook experienced extremely successful holiday sales to wrap up 2009. While 2010 is staring off with numerous competitors announcing their own E-Reader efforts at the annual Consumer Electronics show, and mounting speculation as to what Apple will unveil in this space later this week.

The growth of this “reader” type of device in an arena already crowded by Notebooks, Netbooks, iPhones, & Blackberries is interesting; and yet it is an evolution of those devices. The e-reader, despite its name, I believe will extend beyond just electronic forms of books. This type of device, when done correctly will allow for easy consumption and navigation of content on a sizeable screen, in a format that is easier on the eyes (no backlight or optional backlight) and unites a variety of content types including audio, video, & text.

Specifically, with the web’s maturation we are now observing two different types of internet audiences… the first being the desktop/laptop space in which you interact with the web, collaborate with colleagues and essentially get work done. For most of us, that categorizes the vast majority of our day…but the second audience is more concerned with consuming content that is available online from the comfort of their family room, or along their commute. We saw the early evidence of this type of behavior with the iPod and subsequent similar devices; but the shift that has been observed in the past several weeks suggests that we are about to head in a direction that revolutionizes this media consumption in an easier to use and more portable format that that of a 13” or 15” laptop. This new type of device will make it easier to spend that down time “away” from the computer consuming any type of content that you can imagine.

All of that said, this technological shift simply underlines the importance for communications campaigns to seek to disseminate and Touch customers in any number of ways. While the devices continue to evolve and offer each of us new ways to be entertained, with the old phrase in mind “content is king,” it is increasingly important for those of us in the communications business to be content-minded. In doing so, we will be able to use these new types of outreach tools to produce content that can accompany our PR & Marketing campaigns and capitalize on these technologies to reach broader audiences.

Over the past year, as a Nation we have witnessed a financial meltdown, which has been unlike any other series of events that many of us have lived through. Millions have lost jobs, and confidence in the market has eroded. Certainly, it is normal for the market to have fluctuations and for corrections to take place from time to time, but the last year was beyond what anyone including the “experts” had envisioned. The repercussions from these recent events run deep and have impacted millions; leaving many wondering what tomorrow will bring.

As organizations look to the future and to moving forward beyond the financial crisis, and as markets strengthen and projects move forward, perhaps the most important component to the recovery is Communications. I do not write that flippantly, nor because it is the arena in which you or I practice. Instead, in order to get our Nation back to work, and to ease everyone’s concerns we must leverage the opportunities before us in today’s new media landscape to openly and honestly communicate and share the direction that our organizations and clients envision. Whether that means sharing notes and information via today’s social media tools such as Twitter, or Facebook, or doing a periodic Podcast interview with members of the C-Suite, or doing a media tour to promote events and campaigns.

Utilizing these tools affords us the opportunity to share where our organizations (and our client’s) are heading with both internal and external audiences. Further, sharing our message will help to ease people’s fears, and instill confidence in the greater business environment and to our customers.

While the news these days is often about the high unemployment rate and the many negative aspects to today’s economy, despite those headlines, there are millions upon millions of hard working people heading to their jobs every day. They are our colleagues in research and development, customer service, shipping & management and collectively they are doing great things and helping their organizations move forward. As for us, as communicators, PR flacks, & marketers it is our role to shine the light on the positive stories and demonstrate to our communities both locally, domestically, and abroad that we are holding our heads up high and moving the economy forward.

In the past few years our communications paradigm has evolved almost overnight, giving communicators a new set of tools with which to tell their stories. On one hand, traditional media has evolved; in the post-digital TV switch broadcasters have multiple channels to fill with content, while newspapers and publishers are experiencing a decline in readership and many are looking for new ways to do business. While on the other hand, the online space is rapidly evolving as new social networks emerge, new media distribution options abound, and audiences are able to connect with the news and information in which they are most interested.

Through that evolution though the communicator’s job has also evolved from a practice of press releases, pitching, and media opportunities – into one that combines those tasks with the integration of new media opportunities and strategies. Today, in addition to traditional tactics communicators have to think in terms of blogs, local websites, Podcasts, Facebook, and now even Twitter.

So with all of these new tools, the question is which one’s are right for your organization (or client)? Well, since it’s sometimes difficult to stay on top of these new tools given the brisk pace of the proverbial communications treadmill, here are a few tips that can help guide your decisions on what direction to take for your particular initiative:

1) Timing is Everything: Some campaigns will naturally lend themselves to using these new outlets, while others will tend to be best suited with more traditional outreach methodologies. The fact is there is a time and place for using these tools, and by no means should communicators feel pressure to use them with every single client and initiative. Usage of these new tools is really client and campaign specific, and not every campaign will have a fitting use of these new tools.

2) Make Your Campaigns Dynamic: With the new media landscape, today’s audiences all consume their news and information differently. That means that some audiences will tune into their local news outlet, others will visit a newspaper’s website, some will take their media on the go with them on a portable device such as an iPhone, and yet others will simply exchange information with friends and family though the likes of Facebook and Twitter. That said, it is important that your campaigns be dynamic so that they share your news in various capacities to reach your audience no matter where they may interact with your message.

3) It’s About the Story: Regardless of the outlet at hand, whether your Twittering about your campaign, doing a TV interview, or producing a Podcast it is about the story you’re telling. At the core of all of these tools it comes down to how you’re telling your organization’s (or client’s) story, how you’re engaging the audience, and how you’re using these new tools to open up the dialogue with your target audiences.

New Media & Social Media tools are the latest options for PR & Marketing professionals, they provide new avenues to reach target audiences and enhance campaigns, however they are only part of the puzzle.  While I am entirely in favor of communicators adopting new tools as part of their campaigns, I think it is most important to do so with a managed and calculated methodology, which utilizes these tools as part of a cohesive overall strategy not just as a haphazard add-on for the sake of using technology.  While these new options can provide enhancements but it is paramount for practitioners to focus on telling their stories without getting caught up in the technology.

Yes, I do advocate as I did recently on this blog that you make your message Platform Agnostic, but I do not think that in doing so you should let the technology get in the way of your goal of telling your story.  Instead, I think you need to tell your story and use technology to accentuate your message and broaden its reach.  Of course, in some situations the technology can improve how you tell your story, enriching the experience for the audience and make the story come to life or bring a level of interactivity, but it shouldn’t entirely dictate or transform how you communicate.

So, the question is how do you communicate with Web 2.0 and Social Media Tools without loosing focus on the primary goal of telling your story.  Certainly, the answers are many and the approach could be quite complex, but on a high-level here are ideas that can lead to success:

1. Define Your Story - Sure, this is nothing new, but it is at he heart of effectively crafting a cohesive approach to new and traditional media tools.  What is it that you’re trying to convey?  Who are your spokespeople?  What is most engaging about your news?  How can you bring value to your audience with the story?  Further, as you figure out how to best position your story think about your audience; how will they relate to your story?  Have you given your story a voice, perhaps personalizing it in some way?
2. Integrate All of Your Strategies - Once you have your story well developed then it is time to think about the avenues through which to tell it and to tie together all of those tactics.  If you are taking a traditional approach of interviews with print, TV, or radio then these should be used as opportunities to communicate about and further deliver the story through the various online components.  Specifically, think about what tools online might enhance your campaign.  For example, online there may be opportunities to engage social media and invite comments and responses from communities such as Facebook, Linked-In, or other niche social networking sites.  Or possibly you can build on traditional methodologies by publishing a Podcast series, which can feature your experts to bring a face and a voice to your campaign.  You might also consider using Twitter to not only promote your story, but to open up a dialogue about those issues involved, and help the audience to become involved and take ownership in the topic.  Essentially, these types of strategies, while utilizing technology will also grow and strengthen the relationship with your target audience and if utilized correctly will keep your story as the focus of attention rather than the tools themselves.
3. Cross Promote Your Efforts - Regardless of the strategies you decide to facilitate - keep in mind the importance of integrating them - making it so that one leads to the other.  Successfully integrated solutions should not only build upon and promote one another, but should help to further educate the audience throughout the process while reading new audiences with each additional venue.  If somebody hears about your story through the print media, or via Twitter then they should be promoted to visit your website to download additional materials and learn more.  The cohesive approach will allow you to communicate in the various ways that today’s segmented audiences get their news and information and to maximize exposure for your particular campaign.

Regardless of the path taken, or the tool used, the bottom line is communications need to think strategically rather than getting caught up in using these new tools just for the sake of technology.  Certainly, thinking in terms of social media and tapping into these venues is an important part of today’s media landscape for business and consumer audiences, but at the end of the day it comes down to using these new tools to tell your story.

The end.

Do you read the paper, or surf to their website, subscribe to an RSS feed?  Do you listen to the radio, or download Podcasts, listen to Slacker, or Satellite?  Is prime-time TV your thing; do you watch on a television, via SlingBox, or do you Hulu?

The questions can go on and on, as today’s audiences are increasingly fragmented.  It’s a point I often make during presentations and conversations with clients – today’s audiences are increasingly sophisticated and get their news and information in varied ways.  The translation for communications professionals is that we have to think about communicating differently and in ways that go beyond the traditional methodologies.  That is not to say those aren’t important avenues, because they are clearly still powerful outlets, but today they are just one part of today’s communications landscape.  But increasingly, so are new technologies from audio and video on the web as Podcasts and Webcasts, to desktop widgets, and BlackBerry and iPhone applications; the translation communications and marketing are becoming platform agnostic practices.

There are two recent examples, which showcase how content providers are adopting new strategies that are increasingly platform agnostic.  First, Amazon on the heels of releasing the second edition of its Kindle e-book reader, released Kindle for iPhone.  Now, instead of only selling e-books to owners of Amazon’s own hardware they are able to tap into new audiences who own either the Apple iPhone, or the iPod Touch.  Further, this strategy will expand the availability of Amazon’s e-books; generating increased content sales and potential even furthering interest in the Kindle device.

Secondly, on the heels of the Sirius/XM merger, and under increased pressure to differentiate and compete in today’s media marketplace come rumors that Sirius XM is evolving and developing a new broader internet strategy.  It seems as though the firm is working to give subscribers easier access to the Sat Radio’s content from any number of devices including Windows Media Center, via Boxee, or even via the iPhone and iPod Touch.  These moves suggest that Sirius realizes the importance of reaching subscribers in any number of venues, in order to meet the increased demands of today’s consumer in an effort to keep them as subscribers.

With both examples, we see that these providers are leaving behind the idea of proprietary hardware to access their content – instead they will find greater success with a platform agnostic approach.  These instances can serve as examples of the new way in which communications professionals need to be thinking about delivering their own messaging.  With this approach in mind, the more avenues through which communications professionals can try and distribute their own messaging then the more success we’ll have at telling our stories.

In the past few years, there have been increasing signs that radio is on the verge of being dead.  Now, listen I love radio, I grew up listening to outlets in the Big Apple, and dialing in to win free tickets and to this day I still listen to and follow several radio stations.  However, with the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the ensuing conglomeration that took place, and now with the belt tightening brought on by the economic downturn, radio has taken its final steps toward its death.  Perhaps, in time we’ll look back and mark this as the end of the corporate era of radio, and the pendulum will swing back toward community owned and operated outlets, but for now radio is changing and it isn’t for the better.

The story isn’t necessarily unique or new, as a matter of fact on this very blog we discussed Satellite radio’s demise back in early 2007.  Now, we observe a similar demise for over-the-air radio, which has changed dramatically over the last decade and given audiences fewer and fewer options, and limited creativity for professionals. Today, we find ourselves with markets that are filled with competing music outlets that serve the same audiences, syndicated talk shows, and what seems a Top 40 has been boiled down to the Top 10, which has the Jonas Brothers and Beyonce on repeat on virtually every station.  The result is detrimental on a number of levels; it’s hard for new music artists to break through, listeners are challenged to find any differentiating factor between most radio outlets, and talk radio has become monotonous making it harder and harder to find local talk shows.

After radio went through its conglomeration phase in the late ’90s, much of the creativity in radio had evaporated.  At that time at least, it seemed like Satellite might be radio’s savior, as personality after personality signed with either XM or Sirius as the two organizations set out to earn subscribers.  Fast-forward to the last few years and the climate has again shifted, and terrestrial radio outlets have had to drop even more talent and Satellite is beginning to sound like one big Juke box.

So, while it is a sad state of affairs for radio; the silver lining is the opportunity that is provided by the web.  For talent who have been tossed off the air, the web, and specifically Podcasting offers endless opportunities.  Case in point, CBS Radio on Friday flipped its man-talk outlet, KLSX-FM in Los Angeles for - you guessed it another Top 40 outlet - and left radio vet Adam Carolla without a job.  Carolla, who loves long-form talk has decided to take matters into his own hand and has launched his own Podcast on the web at The Adam Carolla Podcast.  While Carolla and his team are figuring out the new arena (and probably will be for some time) what they’ll find is refreshing; a blank canvas that will allow for endless creativity, new opportunities to engage their audiences, and the ability to reach an even larger audience then terrestrial radio.  The move is reminiscent of what Bubba the Love Sponge did after his initial dismissal in Tampa years ago; which gave him a platform to showcase his talents and ultimately sign a deal with Sirius.

While a deal with Sirius may not loom in the future for everyone, as audiences become increasingly used to finding niche content that meets their needs we’ll see new business models develop.  Subsequently, artists like Carolla will be able to enjoy that newfound freedom, while developing something that is their own and affords them the opportunity to return to their creativity and entertain audiences.

Mashable asks and answers the question: The Death of Podcasting and the Rise of Videocasting? No, It’s About Options.

I posted a response in their comments section, also re-posted here for convenience:

“Ben –

I agree with you here completely. As a matter of fact, I think that what’s been proven in the last few years is that the traditional barriers for communicating and distributing these types of content have been altered, and new opportunities have emerged to leverage these types of rich content.

That said, I do not think that any of these tools replace one another, but rather they add to the variety of options today’s audience has to consume the programming that is of interest to them. As an earlier poster mentioned, new technologies have not replaced traditional options, but instead they have offered new avenues for distributing content. Some audience members may opt for audio that fits into their lifestyle, while others may download video to take on a daily commute.

Ultimately, regardless of the term we apply to these new pieces of online media, what has been proven in the past few years is that there is now an open platform for communicating whatever an organization or an individual’s message might be.

Best,

Jason Cohen
CityCast Media, LLC.
http://www.citycastmedia.com“

Today’s marketing and public relations professionals can actually learn a lot from the traditional media networks about how to reach today’s busy audiences.  Specifically, as an example let’s take a look at ESPN and how they use a variety of today’s technologies to reach their intended target audiences.

As a case study, we’ll use the popular Mike & Mike in the Morning radio program.  Now, typically for a radio show of this nature, the show would air from 6-10AM and listeners would be able to hear the show on their local affiliate, and then maybe they could hear a “Best of…” either over the weekend or perhaps when the show was on vacation.  Despite this conventional wisdom, ESPN realized that in then new media landscape this narrow window of distribution does not meet the needs of today’s dispersed audiences, and that there was an opportunity to grow the show’s audience.  With new distribution options, ESPN has been able to successfully leverage Mike and Mike, especially since content is king.  The network now simulcasts the show live on ESPN 2, produces a daily “Best of…” that airs during the afternoon on the network, provides show highlights on the front page of ESPN.com, and publishes a daily “Best of Mike and Mike” Podcast.

Now, clearly each of these tactics is not meant to reach the same audience members, but it is meant to give the show the greatest possible reach on any particular day.  I think that this strategy is reminiscent of when the CBS Television Network began simulcasting “60 Minutes” on the CBS Radio Network, which helped reach a broader audience, and in turn increase the television ratings.  This allowed those on the road to hear the show, get to their destinations and then continue watching the program on TV.  While the tools used by ESPN are different the concept is the same – leverage Mike & Mike to reach the broadest possible audience and meet the needs of today’s demanding consumer who may want to listen live, on-demand on the web, or via Podcast.

The lesson for today’s communicators is to consider how the landscape has changed as you develop your own outreach efforts.  With that in mind, and considering how diverse today’s audiences are, there are a variety of ways to tell our stories and meet the needs of how news and information is consumed differently.  In terms of strategy, for PR campaigns and Marketing plans it means that new media opportunities are equally important as traditional tactics.  As you develop future campaigns, it is important to include and leverage new tools such as web media, on-demand audio and video, and downloadable media such as Podcasts.  Certainly, traditional methods radio, TV, and print are still very important, but with how differently today’s audiences get their content we need to communicate using those same tools that are making it easier for audiences to consume media in whatever way best fits with their schedule.

It looks like the writer’s strike has ended (or is on the brink of ending) so in that vane I think its time that we return to actively updating The MediaBackPage.  Of course, our lack of updates have had nothing to do with the writer’s strike but more to do with a wedding, a honeymoon, and the day-to-day activities of running a two-year old business (CityCast Media turned two on January 9th!)

Now that we’re back, and given that we’re entering the heart of the Presidential race, let’s take a quick look at how Podcasting can help you keep up with the latest from the campaign trail.    While there seams to be an endless amount of coverage, you may often wish you could take some of the interviews and report with you on your media device, so luckily to help stay abreast of the developments and commentary each of the big three networks, are leveraging Podcasting.  This not only makes it easier to stay up to date on the developments from each of the Primaries and Caucuses across the country, but also affords each user the ability to select not only when to view these segments but also on what type of device and software.  So if you missed Hillary and Barack on 60 Minutes, no problem CBS has a variety of ways you can catch-up on the interviews.  Or if you want to download the evening newscasts each of the networks has made it increasingly easy for you to get your daily dose of Brian, Charlie, or Katie.

Here’s what each network is offering to enable consumers to watch/listen to their content whenever and wherever they may be:

	Link	Audio & Video Podcasts from across the NBC family of networks including Highlights from The Today Show, Meet the Press, Hardball, and NBC Nightly News.
	Link	Highlights from Good Morning America, This Week, 20/20, Nightline and World News Tonight.
	Link	Audio & Video Podcasts of programs such as the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and Face the Nation, as well as a variety of other reporter Notebook style Podcasts.

By using tool such as Podcasting to disseminate the news this election cycle there are benefits both for the end-user, as well as the media outlets. Of course, for the end-user the benefit is the ability to watch the program at any time, on any device (computer, portable media player, cell phone, etc.)  While the network is able to gain real-time feedback on programs including, the ability to quantify the number of downloads/viewers a specific program actively receives, track program popularity, and extend the reach of an advertiser’s message.

Take a moment to browse each of the network’s sites, I think that you’ll be rather pleased with how much content is now available as a Podcast, which should make keeping up with the race for the White House that much easier this busy election cycle.

As we continue to live and breathe media, the web, and technology we are glad to be back to the business of posting here.  Moving forward, we are looking to continuing to post new essays, as well as some various links to related news stories, useful websites.  If you have any questions, comments, contributions or otherwise please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail us tips AT mediabackpage DOT com.