SIPA Members Appear in Popular Media Outlets
It’s not often that you see Justin Bieber and Charlie Sheen headlines above SIPA member articles. But that’s apparently what can happen when you post an article on the Huffington Post. Sean Smith, director of marketing for InfoDesk, published a direct/viral marketing article on huffingtonpost.com this past weekend, and when I just brought it up, Smith’s small headshot falls right under Justin kissing Selena Gomez and Charlie sort of apologizing. (Oops, now it’s Lindsay Lohan.)
Cleverly, Smith began his marketing article with a reference to the Oscars and specifically “The Social Network.” “This film actually shows how Facebook went from being just an idea to a viral marketing phenomenon that convinced 500 million people to change their online behavior. Forever,” he wrote. “…They didn’t bother trying to get every email address at Harvard; they knew they didn’t need to. Somehow they understood that it was better to reach the trendsetters or influencers. The rest would follow.”
His conclusion also landed on point. “What’s thrilling to watch is how this brilliant strategy plays out throughout the rest of the film. By concentrating all of their limited resources on first securing the beachhead (Harvard) and then slowly expanding to other Ivy League schools, Zuckerberg and Saverin were able to quickly capture practically all of the university market, almost effortlessly. What is even more amazing is that within one year of the launch, they had already passed the million-user mark. And it all started with one email.”
Stephanie Eidelman, publisher for Kaulkin Media, made the homepage of a prominent media website with an interesting post. Her article, headlined “Elizabeth Warren’s New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Opens for Business,” appeared Feb. 21 on the Forbes site. If you bring it up now, there’s no kissing but you do get headlines on Wednesday’s coming iPad 2 unveiling and the ongoing Wisconsin governor battle. Eidelman complimented the CFPB, writing that she likes their “early attempts at communicating with the public. Take a look at the site, www.consumerfinance.gov. It’s not your father’s government website.”
She points out four positive elements that could apply to many blogs:
“One – It looks like a blog. It’s simple and straightforward, with nice big type. Maybe this is a function of the fact that they simply don’t have much to say yet. My advice would be to keep this in mind, even when they have a lot more to communicate.”
“Two – The whole point of the site is to ask for input, and they make it pretty easy to do so, in modern ways.”
“Three – They film video responses to some of the feedback/questions they have received…You can begin to make a personal connection, which makes you more apt to feel like there are human beings involved. This is something we don’t often get with either government or big business. I hope they keep this up and that they add new videos frequently.”
“Four – In the CFPB blog they describe how it is to work for a ‘start-up.’ As a former early employee of an Internet start-up company in the mid-’90s, it sounds very familiar to me. Find office space, buy computers, set up a network, write job descriptions, hire people quickly while trying not to make mistakes, figure out processes for everything, and start getting customers – all at the same time. I think a lot of people in business can relate to this scene. I’m not sure what that does for us as taxpayers and consumers, but it feels good for the moment.”
And in another national media appearance, SIPA’s president, Guy Cecala, CEO of Inside Mortgage Finance Publications, appeared on The Diane Rehm Show, the well-respected, nationally syndicated radio program, on Feb. 10. The show centered on the government’s role in the housing market. No Bieber or even iPad 2 references here though. Other representatives were from Moody’s Analytics, the Center for American Progress and The Washington Post.
********************************************
Join Cecala, Eidelman and other publishers—and yes,
probably a couple more media “personalities”—at the
SIPA’s Winter Publishers Roundtable Conference
Monday, March 14 (evening reception)
to Tuesday, March 15, 2011
McGraw-Hill Conference Center
1221 6th Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York
There are just a couple spots left at the table.
It should be an incredibly beneficial couple days.
So register now!
[text_ad]
