The Buzz at Lyman PR
Lyman PR’s Father’s Day Gift Guide
To solve the age-old question of what to get for Father’s Day, LPR has a number of clients with ideas to satisfy the hip, sophisticated or adventurous dad:
The new sleek, black Sonos S5
A trip to Westin Napa for a wine country weekend
Can’t make it to Napa Valley? With a TastingRoom.com you can bring a wine tasting experience to Dad’s living room
An adventurous Southern California weekend on Catalina Island, with a new hotel, restaurant, beach club and Zip Line adventure
Wrapsol to protect his new shiny iPhone or iPad
Is dad a ski or snowboard fanatic? Jet up to Mammoth Mountain on Horizon Air for a weekend on the slopes. Give him an extra treat with a stay at Westin Mammoth
Life’s not always like a box of chocolates – add a little more fun this year and treat dad to an extra special Father’s Day.
ADiFY Reports 5 of 11 Vertical Ad Categories Significantly Up in Q1
ADiFY has reported that 5 of 11 online vertical ad categories saw significant pricing gains in Q1 2010 versus 2009, with Healthy Living and Lifestyle, Food, and Sports segments leading the way.
New AP Stylebook Hip to Social Media
The Associated Press has released an updated Stylebook, further refining the news industry’s guidelines for grammar, punctuation and reporting practices.
In a sign of the times, this newest edition addresses social media with 42 entries about terms such as app, blog, avatar and RSS. There’s also a segment dedicated to Facebook and related actions, including fan, friend and unfriend.
And ever the hipsters, IM, Googled and Mashup – terms already widely used — are now ‘officially’ recognized by the AP.
But no longer just for the media industry, parents can now turn to the Stylebook to decode the befuddling language so popular with their children. Sadly, many of these have become regular staples in our adult dialogue as well:
BFF – Best Friend Forever
C – See You Later
LOL – Laugh Out Loud
ROFL – Rolling On Floor Laughing
And a few more worth adding to the lexicon:
BRB – Be Right Back
G2G – Got To Go
IDK – I Don’t Know
NSFW – Not Safe For Work
Find the new AP Stylebook online here.
The Wrath of Lance, Brought to you by Twitter
Lance Armstrong is the rare professional athlete who has transcended sport to become a household name. Apparently when you’re given a 40% chance of surviving cancer, beat it, and then ascend to the upper echelon your profession, celebrity follows. And thanks to social media so does an influence that makes <most> everyone sit up and take notice.
Last year Armstrong returned to professional cycling and embarked on a brilliant social media campaign from the back of the team’s tour bus. During the Giro d’ Italia – Italy’s version of the Tour de France – Lance and teammate Levi Leipheimer recounted what happened during that day’s stage with a short video interview that was posted to the team’s website as well as Lance’s Twitter and Facebook accounts: no reporter, no scripted footage, just a raw and unedited recount of the good, bad and ugly.
The result? Fans watched, talked back and joined in. Today Armstrong’s Twitter account has amassed nearly 2.5 million followers, which is about 28,000 less than USA Today’s daily circulation and a half million more than the Wall Street Journal. Lance has nearly complete control of his ‘brand’ and the ability to speak directly to an engaged audience. And when Lance talks, people listen.
Earlier this year when ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser suggested on air that motorists run down cyclists he signed up to be a recipient of Lance’s Twitter Wrath:
Rarely if ever one to eat crow, Tony issued an apology and continued to backpedal through a live on-air interview with Lance later that week.
Fast forward to yesterday and Versus TV, which is broadcasting the Tour of California. With the most action-filled stage just two minutes from concluding the network decided to switch to pre-game hockey. Lance, who had lobbied the race organizers to move it to May, was not a happy biker.
Perhaps I’m wrong but my guess is that Versus anticipated Lance and his legion of followers would lift the network as opposed to throwing rocks at it. Cutting from the end of a sporting event to watch the warm-ups for another? Bad move. And in the highly regarded corporate communication strategy of “sticking your head in the sand until this blows over” Versus neglected to issue an apology or even “my bad” statement. Worse move.
Perhaps companies will soon realize that social media also brings positive and/or negative consequences in the form of social media wrath. But in the meantime, luckily cycling fans have Lance watching their back.
Keeping up with Ongoing Changes to the Travel Media Landscape
LPR had an opportunity to hear trends and preferences from some top travel media last week, including Peter Greenberg, USA Today’s Veronica Stoddart, Catherine Hamm of the Los Angeles Times, and Norie Quintos of National Geographic Traveler.
Key takeaways from this opportunity include the USA Today Travel Deputy Managing Editor’s top ten travel trends of 2010:
1. Bargain Travel – travel deals are still expected
2. Health & Wellness Vacations
3. Culinary Travel
4. Adventure Travel – softer adventure key for families and Boomers (52% of Adventure Travelers are women)
5. Eco-Travel
6. Group Travel
7. Women-Only Travel
8. Cruising
9. Religious Travel & Pilgrimages
10. Volunteer Travel
Our job as PR practitioners is to make the media’s jobs easier, as newsrooms are constantly being re-purposed, often seeing a downsize in staff yet an upswing in outlets they must maintain. This results in less time spent on story exploration and more time spent on all the different platforms. Therefore, think like a journalist, know your outlets and create pitches that are newsworthy and current.
How is this accomplished? According to the panel, be consumer-oriented, think better, smarter, cheaper. Speak to interesting touch points such as a Kid’s Club, or freebies offered to guests, and not just the destination as a whole. Ask yourself before pitching, “Who Cares?” and “Why Now?” Talk to different departments within an outlet to find the best fit for your story, but always be transparent on who else you’re approaching when doing so. Be clear and concise, use hyperlinks in email pitches, and make sure the subject line is clear over clever, plus states the location of what you’re pitching, since geography plays a big part in piquing interest.
The panel also encouraged PR practitioners to forget the hard sell and instead demonstrate expertise, even if it means seeking out other possible competitors that are doing something similar. Think in longer trends, and make sure to do your math correctly when pitching, it’s the writers and editors that receive the backlash when you don’t.
Ms. Quintos relayed that editors are now seeing a “Return to Travel” this year, a welcome trend for all of us in the tourism industry.
Quick List: 10 Dos and Don’ts for Brands on Twitter, from Mashable
Here’s a quick snapshot of a Mashable article on 10 Dos and Don’ts for Brands on Twitter. Check out the original blog post for additional details.
1. Don’t be a Showoff
2. Don’t Use Poor Grammar or Spelling
3. Don’t Get Too Personal
4. Don’t Auto-Tweet
5. Don’t Leave Air in the Conversation
6. Don’t Overtweet
7. Do Shout Out to Users Who Mention You
8. Do Monitor Keywords and Competitors
9. Do Make and Informative Profile
10. Do Fish Where the Fish Are
Favorite Corporate Press Rooms
In our last post we described press room items beneficial to media. In this blog we look at our favorite press rooms along with a video tour of a few of them.
Nokia http://www.nokia.com/press. What we like: “For Broadcasters” section – “Easy access to Nokia video & audio material, soundbites, broadcast quality clips and more.”
Seagate http://media.seagate.com/. What we like: Seagate Social (bottom right) – handy links to all social mediums that Seagate is on. Also like the links to the two blogs – for consumer and enterprise.
Google http://www.google.com/press/. What we like: the layout – there’s a clean left column for easy clicking to the resource or materials a journo is looking for. Also like the reviewers guides link for suggestions on how to assess products.
Red Lobster http://www.redlobster.com/press/. What we like: Story ideas! E.g.) Red Lobster’s Tips for pairing Wine with Seafood. Imagine the possibilities here.
Sony http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room. What we like: This is a big company with lots of products. Where to start? They overcome this by vertically organizing their press room. Also, they have a link to executive speeches. You can imagine easy access to public presentations, as well. Also like the “Add Sony as a Friend” with click ways to become a part of social channels.
Nike http://www.nikebiz.com/media/. What we like: very clean tabs for clicking through to what you need. Email or print option for releases. (Download in Word would be another to consider.)
How to build a press room that serves the needs of today’s media
In the age of digital, the Press Room or Media Center has evolved from a dry list of press releases, to an interactive information hub, as visually appealing and entertaining as the consumer or client portion of the company website. Though most companies today are fulfilling the insatiable need for information by including product specifications, images, video tutorials, creative ads and much more for their press audiences, few are able to aggregate the information in a form that appeals to the research minded journalist and the attention deficit blogger alike.
We scoured the net for best case practices and have identified some basic guidelines:
>Organization is Key
>Make it visually stunning
->Interaction is a must
We also compiled a list of items that are worth considering adding to your press room:
>Aggregate all product information in/from microsites
>Awards/ Recognitions
>Calendar of Events (Industry/ Company/ Product Specific)
>Case Studies
>Company Information (general)
>Company Timeline
>Customer Success Stories
>Customizable Downloads – releases, photos, videos, product trials (if software)
>Developer Tools and info on APIs
>Executive speeches and presentations (that are public, of course)
>Fact Sheets
>Guidelines/considerations on how to review a product
>Image Gallery or a link to Flickr
>Links to Related Blogs and Communities (Industry/ Company/ Product Specific)
>Links to Company/ Employee Blogs
>Links to Investor Relations page and Contact Us (easy jumps for consumers, IR)
>Media Contacts (by country/region)
>Press Releases
>Product Information and Sell Sheets
>Recent coverage/publicity
>Search Boxes (for your site, press room or in general)
>Social Media Feeds (Twitter/ Facebook/ Digg Updates)
>Story Ideas
>Video Gallery
>YouTube Channel
In our next blog post we’ll list our picks for favorite company press rooms and take a video tour of a few.
Trefethen Family Vineyards’ video review of ‘Fallow’ wine: a light, airy and distinctive approach
Trefethen Family Vineyards’ recently released a video introduction of their new ‘Fallow’ wine, which we found to be light, airy and distinctive. Enjoy the video here.
Fallow from Trefethen Family Vineyards on Vimeo.
Prominent Napa and Sonoma Wineries Innovating With TastingRoom Inc’s Wine Product Sampling Kits
Trefethen Family Vineyards, Grgich Hills Estate, Patz & Hall, Chateau Montelena Winery and DeLoach Vineyards All Innovating With TastingRoom Inc.’s Wine Product Sampling Kits
Prominent Napa and Sonoma Wineries are Bringing Their Premium Wine Tasting Experience in Small Bottles Directly to Trade and Consumers
SANTA ROSA, California (April 1, 2010) – TastingRoom™ Inc., creators of innovative sample-sized (50ml) wines packaged in mini bottles and tasting kits, today announced additional premium wineries incorporating TastingRoom Inc.’s wine sampling kits into their trade and consumer marketing plans this Spring. Top branded, award-winning Napa and Sonoma wineries including Trefethen Family Vineyards, Grgich Hills Estate, Patz & Hall, Chateau Montelena Winery and DeLoach Vineyards announced plans to use TastingRoom Inc.’s distinctive product sampling solution to market and sell their premium wines.
TastingRoom, Inc.’s kits are an easy, low cost way to expose customers and channels to new wine vintages and varietals before they purchase bottles or cases. The winery sampling kits boast brand labeling, high-quality display packaging and wine tasting menus written by the wineries and winemakers.
TastingRoom, Inc.’s patent-pending decanting process creates a perfect pour of wine in a mini glass wine bottle, replicating both the taste and look of the larger format bottle that the wine was originally transferred from.
Designed from the ground up to be a high-volume, commercial solution for premium wines, the company creates the wine tasting samples via its inventive T.A.S.T.E. Technology™ (Total Anaerobic Sample Transfer Environment). The “clean room”-styled decanting process is unprecedented and distinguishable from any other wine sampling offering on the market today. Using this method, wineries have the ability to recreate replicas of their wine in smaller sizes, packaging them into kits for both trade and consumers, and ultimately providing a range of uses to expand reach and sales potential.
“TastingRoom Inc.’s sample size formats provide an opportunity to introduce our wines to the trade and customers in locales that have been unattainable thus far,” said Janet Trefethen, CEO of Trefethen Family Vineyards. “Now we can bring a wine tasting experience to their front door, broadening exposure to our wines and opening us to new markets. It’s a win-win.”
“We’re excited to introduce our wines to new customers using this amazing new technology,” said Violet Grgich, Proprietor, Vice President, Grgich Hills Estate. “It can accurately bring to your home the taste and aroma of a 750ml bottle of wine in 50ml sample sizes, at a fraction of the cost. We’re also using individual bottles so our sales staff can taste more accounts on more of our wines—including our expensive Special Selections wines—at their convenience. They don’t have to open a 750ml bottle for just one or two accounts.”
Wineries have the flexibility to choose the wines they put into the sampler kits allowing each to creatively market and showcase their wines in whatever manner they choose. These premium Napa and Sonoma wineries are creating a wide variety of kits for use, including tasting flights of new releases, exclusive side-by-side tastings of single vineyard varietals, library wine samplers, tastes of the top sellers and more.
“We are honored to have these top wineries use our T.A.S.T.E. wine tasting kits to expand their businesses,” says Tim Bucher, CEO of TastingRoom, Inc. “We continue to be manically focused on helping premium wineries bring their tasting room experiences and cost efficient sample-to-purchase business formula out to the trade and consumers.”
Leading-edge Napa and Sonoma wineries like Trefethen Family Vineyards, Grgich Hills Estate, Patz & Hall, Chateau Montelena Winery and DeLoach Vineyards join Domaine Carneros, Seghesio Family Vineyards and others in using TastingRoom Inc.’s wine tasting samplers and kits for marketing to trade contacts, as well as to consumers through their wine clubs, in tasting rooms and at events.
About TastingRoom Inc.
TastingRoom Inc. provides wineries and consumers with innovative sample-sized wine tasting packages and new direct channels for product sampling, marketing and selling wines. TastingRoom Inc. uses its unique T.A.S.T.E. Technology to transfer wine directly from larger wine bottles (750ml and up) into smaller 50ml formats in a sealed, zero-oxygen chamber. A focus on wine quality drives every step of the transfer and testing process, so that wineries can be assured that the samples are a true representation of their wine.
TastingRoom Inc. is based in Sonoma County, with offices in Silicon Valley, Napa Valley and Paso Robles. For more information on Tasting Room Inc. or T.A.S.T.E. Technology, email TRInfo@TastingRoom.com or visit TastingRoom.com. Find us here on Facebook.
Contact: Carm Lyman, Lyman Public Relations
Phone: 707-256-3834
Email: carm@lymanpr.com
