» 2008 » October - The Cycle

…And barely a word about Bush

Posted October 31, 2008

Results from a recent media analysis conducted by Dow Jones Insight-2008 Presidential Election Media Pulse shows that, for the week of October 19 through the 25, Sen. Barack Obama increased his lead in total number of headlines over Sen. John McCain in Nevada, North Carolina, Florida, and Missouri. But Sen. Obama lost ground in Colorado, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. All are battleground states for the presidency.

An analysis of 20,000 mainstream media and 2 million social media sources between September 26 and October 26 showed that, of course, the economy was a big topic, with 46% of the total discussion involving the various issues related to the economic crisis.

Missing from the media coverage was President Bush. When Dow Jones Insight analyzed 20,000 mainstream news publications and Web sites from September 27 to October 26, Sen. Obama had 49% share of voice, Sen. McCain, 40%, and President Bush, 11%.

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Filed under: Measurement/Monitoring, Media, Public Affairs

Tags:Dow Jones Insight, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain

Financial news spikes 472% according to latest Cision index

Posted October 31, 2008

Unsurprisingly, the tumult in the financial markets caused a dramatic spike - 472% year-over-year - in financial industry news, according to Cision’s Q3 Corporate Media Reputation Index. The Index does a quarterly assessment of how news coverage reflects the corporate reputation of the 100 largest US companies. The release for the Q3 index says “financial company news comprised 46% of the Index, up 32 percentage points from the same quarter last year. No industry has ever dominated the Cision Index to this extent.”

Nevertheless, tech took the top spots, with Microsoft and Apple coming in at numbers one and two respectively. The top five are: Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Bank of America, and Walmart. BofA climbed a whopping 72 spots to take number four. Other financial companies making a leap include Goldman Sachs (up 30 spots to 17) and Wells Fargo (climbing 51 spots to number 26).

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Filed under: Consumer, Corporate Reputation, Financial/IR, Measurement/Monitoring, Media

Tags:Apple, Bank of America, Cision, Cision Index, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Walmart, Wells Fargo

Study: Blogs influential during customer purchasing decisions

Posted October 31, 2008

Half of respondents to a survey conducted by BuzzLogic and JupiterResarch said that they find blogs useful for product or service pre-purchase information.

Of those respondents, 56% said that they consider blogs with a niche focus and topical expertise key pre-purchase sources, according to the “Harnessing the Power of Blogs” study, released October 28. Of responding blog readers, more respondents (14%) said that they trust reader comments posted on blogs than blogs covering specific products or services (11%), professional topical bloggers (10%), social networking Web sites (7%), or blogs at a familiar media brand (7%).

“Blogs are moving mainstream, and they are maturing as a marketing vehicle, and that’s a really good thing,” Valerie Combs, VP of corporate communications at BuzzLogic, told PRWeek. “[The study] is really enforcing that blogs are influencing purchasing decisions, and PR folks are going to be held more and more accountable to make sure they are driving results…and fine tuning the messages to reach [blog readers].”

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Filed under: Blogs, Consumer, Media, New Media, Social Media, Technology, Web sites

Tags:BuzzLogic, JupiterResearch, Valerie Combs

Election predictions wanted

Posted October 31, 2008

After nearly two years of nonstop campaigning, the public will decide on Tuesday whether to elect John McCain or Barack Obama. PRWeek will be running a number of predictions from public affairs and PR professionals as to who will win, why, and how their communications strategy has helped propel the new president to victory. The piece will run Monday at 3pm EST. Submissions must be in by 12pm EST on Monday. Here is a similar piece was ran in 2004. Send to

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Filed under: Public Affairs, Public Relations

Save SaveBudweiser.com

Posted October 30, 2008

SaveBudweiser.com, one of the Web sitesthat popped up when InBev made its originalbid for Anheuser-Busch, is now up for sale itself. The domain name, which expires May 25, 2009, will be auctioned off on eBay, with the proceeds going to military charities Children of the Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund, USA Cares, and Heroes at Home.

Owned by Daniel and Wren Fowler, SaveBudweiser.com collected signatures against the InBev sale, which is expected to close by the end of the year, and protested the possible loss of American jobs. The site is currently going for $0.99 and has three more days left of the auction.

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Filed under: Food and Beverage, Media, Technology, Web sites

Tags:Anheuser-Busch, Ebay, InBev, SaveBudweiser.com

Joe the Plumber gets a PR firm… and a record deal?

Posted October 30, 2008

The most popular man this election season, Joe the Plumber, signed with Nashville, TN-based PR firm The Press Office, Politico reported. Joe, real name Samuel Wurzelbacher, lives in Holland, OH, and has supposedly asked the firm to help with a possible record deal with a major label, personal appearances, and corporate sponsorships. He also signed with booking-management firm Bobby Roberts. Wurzelbacher is currently campaigning in Ohio for Sen. John McCain, USA Today reports.

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Filed under: Arts & Entertainment, Media, Music, Politics

Tags:Bobby Roberts, election, Joe the Plumber, Nashville, The Press Office

Salzman to moderate Future of Content panel

Posted October 30, 2008

The Future of Content panel is moderated by Porter Novelli’s Marian Salzman, during PRWeek’s The Next Conference, November 19th in New York.

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Filed under: 1

Tags:Porter Novelli

The Lookbook, finally

Posted October 29, 2008

Fashionweekdaily.com reports that The Lookbook, a online directory of fashion publicists and stylists, launched yesterday. It’s free, for the time-being, includes agency and in-house contact info, and actually works! AMAZING!

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Filed under: Web sites

Tags:Fashionweekdaily.com

Mercy Corps and Wal-Mart to talk Guatemala

Posted October 29, 2008

Mercy Corps and Wal-Mart talk about their partnership in Guatemala at PRWeek’s event on November 19th in New York.

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Filed under: 1

Tags:Mercy Corps, Next Conference, Wal-Mart

Clearasil plans first major PR push

Posted October 29, 2008

Last week, I attended an event introducing two new products from - the Ultra Pimple Blocker Pen and Rapid Action Treatment Cream - to the beauty media. At the event, an exec from Reckitt Benckiser, manufacturer of Clearasil, said the company is planning a marketing budget increase of more than 50% for the brand, including TV, print, and online advertising, as well as PR. The full campaign, including PR, will roll out near the beginning of ‘09. The initiative marks the first major PR push for the brand, which hired Lippe Taylor as its AOR in July.

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Filed under: Branding, Consumer, Healthcare

Tags:beauty, Clearasil, Lippe Taylor

…And barely a word about Bush

Financial news spikes 472% according to latest Cision index

Study: Blogs influential during customer purchasing decisions

Election predictions wanted

Save SaveBudweiser.com

Joe the Plumber gets a PR firm… and a record deal?

Salzman to moderate Future of Content panel

The Lookbook, finally

Mercy Corps and Wal-Mart to talk Guatemala

Clearasil plans first major PR push

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