Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Belkin Network USB Hub… Why these aren’t built into wireless routers is beyond me…

Echoing Rod’s calls for better bandwidth in NZ, David Cunliffe just issued a report pointing to NZ’s woeful broadband performance.

The Ministry of Economic Development report comparing New Zealand’s telecommunications performance with other OECD countries uses figures from the organisation that show uptake of broadband in June last year was an unchanged 22nd place out of 30 countries.

"While New Zealand’s performance – especially with broadband internet uptake – has improved in absolute terms, we are in a competitive international race and our relative performance has not improved," Cunliffe said.

I don’t believe the issue is in the fat pipes coming in and out of NZ. There is no question that part of the issue rests in the last mile and provisioning of services. Beyond that, there are a ton of issues.

As a visitor to New Zealand I’m constantly amazed at the appaling public and hotel-based Internet services. I just spent a few days at the high-end Sky Tower in Auckland. Great room. Great food. Crap Internet service. Unlimited high-speed Internet at a good price is more important to me than Hotel food.

If I’d been paying I would have checked-out and gone to another hotel. Anyone charging a day-rate and MPS is nuts.

I then got to the airport early figuring I’d get some work done. Still no Internet service out there.

Congratulations to Golin Harris and Nintendo for winning PRWeek’s Technology campaign of the year. And to Fleishman-Hillard for their Honorable Mention for the Zillow.com campaign. Both were exemplary programs with results that hit the bottom line. I loved Colin’s for its creativity. And, Zillow’s for the results and courage in banking on PR as the primary launch vehicle.

Congrats also to Manning Selvage & Lee and Philips Norelco: Creating Buzzzz for Philips Norelco Bodygroom – Product and Web – They picked-up the “Best Use Of Internet” category.

It was a privilege to be a judge in the awards. Couple of quick observations:

• It was amazing how strong the consumer entrants were in both categories, and how absent the Enterprise players were. Get your entries in next year gang!
• Measurement phrases like “impressions”, “OTS” and the like are bandied about like old hats. Keep using them – a couple of years ago we bemoaned the fact that most didn’t have good measures. What makes for a winner though is a direct correlation to bottom-line, business performance.
• Participatory media (blogs, wikis and the like) still seemed to be, for the most part, an adjunct to the core PR program. The judges next year should see some of the first pure-play entrants where participatory platforms are the lead vehicle for engaging people.

And the biggest observation: this is one highly creative, dynamic industry to be associated with. Frankly, all of the finalists were brilliant.

It’s been widely reported but it’s still worth noting as one of the first significant crisit born of mobile video meeting mass distribution channels. As AdAge says, “Your brand disasters will now be broadcast. Widely and instantly.”

And there is nothing worse than a image-based crisis. Words are soft and squishy things that sow seeds ouf doubt. Images reaffirm doubt absolutely. “The video of a dozen rats scampering around a New York KFC/Taco Bell restaurant was clearly bad news for the reputation of the Yum Brands businesses, which were already reeling from an E. coli episode last year that some believe has contributed to a Taco Bell sales slump.”

AdAge goes on to say: “No crisis is just a local crisis. The rats running amok at the Greenwich Village eatery were first reported on early-morning TV news by a New York station, WNBC-TV, following a consumer call to its tip line. But by the time Yum Brands put out a statement addressing the issue on its home page and media wires — 2:06 p.m. EST — the stomach-churning video had already raced over the internet and made it to numerous other TV stations.”

But the web isn’t just the perfect distribution medium – it’s also the perfect archive. This will live on forever, creating a permanent link between the brand and hygine. If your crisis plan doesn’t now include search-engine optimization, it should. At the time of crisis you would expect to proactively buy search terms to push positive messages on how you are fixing the problem. As AdAge rightly points out “So at some points on Feb. 23, a Google search for “rats” and “KFC” resulted in sponsored links for KFC, followed by a host of exterminator links. “There was no evidence of any advertising against negative search terms on Google,” said Mr. Blackshaw. “This is a missed opportunity because the organic search results generally reinforced negative perceptions about food hygiene.” This is a classic miss.

50 Funniest Homer Simpson quotes…. My faves…

• Lisa, Vampires are make-believe, like elves, gremlins, and eskimos.
• I want to share something with you: The three little sentences that will get you through life. Number 1: Cover for me. Number 2: Oh, good idea, Boss! Number 3: It was like that when I got here.
• Just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I don’t understand.
• I’m normally not a praying man, but if you’re up there, please save me Superman.
• Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They’re about to announce the lottery numbers.