Some thoughts and opinions on the Public Relations profession and industry

 

E-mail and PR

Using e-mail is simple, using e-mail effectively is far more difficult.  With the increasing
volume of e-mail (and by extension the explosion in junk mail) how you get your audience to open your e-mail is getting harder and harder.

A new study from Quris which incorporated input from over 1,200 e-mail users.  The most disturbing finding for those of you not undertaking permission marketing is that 52% of those surveyed said they delete e-mail from unknown senders. The implications are clear. Know your audience, capture them and treat them well!  Spam is a dying disease. 

There is a great case study from Marketing Sherpa on how Hewlett Packard use websites and e-mail to deliver real business results.

And here is some research in from BizReport on the e-mail formats people prefer.

###

One to One Communication is among us

Reading Deborah Branscum's Buzz weblog, I came across a very interesting story from the Wall Street Journal on how manufacturers of handheld PCs such as Sharp, Handspring, Palm and Microsoft are specifically targeting key website and weblogs owners whom they deem to be influential to buyers of mobile devices.  Furthermore, these tactic, which include advance versions of new products and trips to their respective HQ's or user conferences, are working. 

It illustrates how some PR pro's really do understand the new media, though I think it's still a minority of the profession.

###

When 'Media Relations' doesn't quite explain it

An intriguing PR-related story in the UK Guardian today about Max Clifford, the UK's notorious sleaze-PR handler. Max is the main man for selling exposés (or stopping them) for huge amounts of money to the UK tabloid press. The story quotes Clifford saying he has ended his relationship with the editor of one of the UK's best-selling Sunday tabloids because they ran a story that Clifford had tried to prevent by paying the subject (a lapdancer) £15,000 to keep quiet about her tryst with Bryan McFadden of the Irish pop band Westlife (*Flash warning).

Its a world of media relations I have no knowledge of. For those of you interested in the more salacious details here's the story (not for those of a weak disposition!)
posted by Tom Murphy at 4/29/2002 06:16:00 AM