A few thoughts from the grab bag.
The Blending of Earned and Owned Media … Literally
The Super Bowl preview in USA Today got my attention in a way that had nothing to do with football.
Look at how the advertisement from CBS juts vertically into the actual USA Today article with wrap-around type playing off the announcers in the ad.
When I posted on the concept of pearned media, I didn’t anticipate this permutation.
Twitter as a Photo Bureau for Journalists
It was enterprising on the part of CBS News Online to pull a photo off of Weibo for a story on Apple’s CEO Tim Cook visiting China.
Still, it was surprising to see The New York Times snag a photo from Kobe Bryant’s Twitter account.
For power brands, whether people or companies, it’s yet another way to leverage owned media to shape the narrative.
In Kobe’s case, I suppose the idea is to show he’s just one of the guys – a jokester, if you will (righhhht).
Killer Boilerplate in a News Release
The typical company boilerplate in a news release makes a CSPAN transcript read like high theatre.
This Apple boilerplate, crafted right before Steve Jobs returned to the company, proves an exception to the rule (H/T to Gregg Morris).
“Apple Computer, Inc. ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II, and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is now recommitted to its original mission – to bring the best personal computing products and support to students, educators, designers, scientists, engineers, businesspersons and consumers in over 140 countries around the world.”
The phrase “now recommitted to its original mission” carries Jobs-like force by acknowledging it had lost its way.