That’s the question that The Holmes Report set out to answer.

To put science behind the quest, Holmes engaged Sociagility which measured each global agency’s social media footprint. 

Sociagility uses what it calls the PRINT social media performance measurement methodology. 

The PRINT Index measures five attributes of social media performance - popularity, receptiveness, interaction, network reach and trust - across various social channels. 

Here’s how the data played out.  

“We’re No. 9″ has a nice ring to it, particularly taking into account we’re above mega-shops like Weber Shandwick and Burson. Big - Weber Shandwick’s revenue comes in at $525M and Burson registers at $435M - doesn’t necessarily mean better. 

It also turns out we ranked highest in the popularity score. I hope to find out more about how we took the popularity gold when I talk with Sociagility on January 30 (not that I’m complaining). 

As pleased as I am with the data, I would be remiss if I didn’t repeat our internal mantra - 

Social media is not the prize. 

It’s one of many tools to help clients fortify their online presence.

The holiday celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. prompted me to dust off the “I Have Dream” speech. 

It’s a revealing exercise to read the text of the speech rather than watch and listen to the speech. 

King was such a gifted orator, you get the feeling he could recite the owner’s manual for a Prius and the audience would be out of their seats with emotion. 

Yet, when you strip the speech down to just the words, the storytelling still offers unmatched verve. 

While the section framed by repeating the words “I Have a Dream” forms the guts of the speech, my favorite passage is the following metaphor: 

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check - a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

Powerful stuff. 

Words do make a difference.

When it comes to reviewing egg roll cookies, Janice Leung at the South China Morning Post plays rough.

Here’s a breakdown of her narrative on the Wing Wah product:

Don’t get too excited about the retro red and violet tin.

Always good to set expectations from the outset.

Known for its classic Chinese pastries such as mooncakes and the flaky wife’s cake, Wing Wah egg rolls are a disappointment.

I don’t know. Your son or daughter getting a C in math a disappointment. A cookie, not so much.

With a colour reminiscent of cardboard, the layers are hard and rolled much too tightly.

Nothing worse than an uptight cookie.

Each bite requires effort, which is not repaid by the taste.

Like the way Ms. Leung brings a sensory dimension to the review.

The sweetness is overwhelming and there is no aroma to speak of.

Lo be it for me to defend Wing Wah, but I’m not looking for smell in my cookies.

It’s also the most expensive of the five. Avoid.

And that’s an order.

Weddings take place in Vegas every day.

Yet, I think I can safely say the Sony wedding at CES between the TV and Internet was a first.

I promised last week to investigate the wedding and report back to you. Conversations with sources led me to Ray Hartjen, senior PR manager at Sony Electronics who teamed with Rob Manfredo to create the wedding.

Ray was gracious enough to share what took place behind the curtain.

Lou: Tell us how the idea behind the wedding came about? Were you trying to come up with an idea that supported Sony’s strength in television and the Internet? Or was it more about bringing fun to the Sony brand?

Ray: Traditionally at CES, we might have the “press dinner,” which is where we take out a group of key media and eat over-priced steaks washed down with over-priced wine, with the objective to further foster relationships. The trouble is, all companies do that.

Lou: Didn’t want to do the same boring stuff.

Ray: Exactly. We wanted to cut through the CES noise. We thought with a bit more budget, we could accomplish the same objectives, but with a bigger group of media, having much more fun, and actually drive a bit of short-term coverage in the process. Plus, we had a story to tell. Sony was the first to bring connected TVs to market. We were the first to bring Google TV to market. After a long courtship with starts and stops, the union between home entertainment and the Internet was ready to settle down. And we wanted to have fun. It’s important to do that every once in a while, right?

Lou: I’m not going to disagree with that last point and become known as the “funless communicator.”

Ray: Good move.

Lou: Obviously, there’s always risk with such a big idea. Was it a challenge to sell your management on the wedding? 

Ray: We heard a bit of skepticism at the beginning. But, at the end of the day, it was about doing something different in an effort to get a different result. We could have done the same ol’ same ol’, but that would have done nothing but got us what it got us last year, and the year before that, and the year … Let’s take a bit of a risk, have a little fun, and do something different. Worst case scenario is we learn what NOT to do next year. 

Lou: I love the narrative that you put together for the wedding. Do you think business communicators need to find more ways to explore storytelling in building their respective company brands?

Ray: Storytelling in always important. There is so much “noise” out there, it’s easy to skip onto the next piece of content. We wanted to stretch ourselves and challenge ourselves to capture the attention and imagination of both the media and their end-user audiences, whether it be readers or viewers. If we can tell better stories, we can capture more attention and actual engagement, thereby significantly raising the odds of conveying our messages in a way that make an impact, with awareness and recall.

Lou: Can you share a vignette from the wedding narrative that was just “too much” and ended up on the cutting-room floor (didn’t make the final version)?

Ray: We thought about having an actual ceremony, with the personifications of home entertainment and the Internet exchanging vows, perhaps under the watchful eyes of an Elvis impersonator. 

Lou: There is something about an Elvis impersonator that says “Vegas.”

Ray: True.

Lou: We both know what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas. Once the bride and groom said “I do,” how did the story play out?

Ray: After a few remarks from executives representing TV, HAV and Sony Entertainment Network, the rest of the night was the reception – lots of fun and games, dancing and product/service demonstrations. We’re hoping not everything stays in Vegas. Being in PR, I’m more than happy to seed stories and drive traffic to our wedding photo album.

Lou: One final question - How did you measure the success of the wedding? I can see almost 7,000 people signed the wedding album. What other metrics did you use?

Ray: Good question. When we first sent out the wedding invitation, we immediately got four well-placed articles in Engadget, Slash Gear, TechnoBuffalo and CE Pro. Some old-school PR pros might say the art of PR is generating news when there isn’t any news. They would call that a success, just by sending out the invitation. Certainly, we’ll measure the social media traffic, not just to the site, but various online mentions and the traffic on Twitter at #sonywedding. Then, subjectively, we look at the relationships we were able to continue to foster with the media, not just with us PR representatives, but with our Sony executives and product team members who were in attendance as well. Those one-to-one conversations build relationships long-term that are beneficial for our business. 

Lou: Good stuff. Thanks for sharing the story behind the story.

Ray: No problem.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing what was done before.

I particularly liked the way Ray and Rob packaged the worse-case scenario for the wedding, “we learn what NOT to do next year.”

For those visual learners, the wedding album is on Flickr.

We’ve included a few of the photos below.