Wednesday, February 27, 2008

HOW TO RAISE YOUR PR IMAGE SUCCEEDING YOUR BOSS?

I have read an article depicting the future Russian president Dmitry Medvedev's speech patterns.
He appears to continue Putin's patterns. For example:
* A style of articulation that intentionally mimics that of the tough-talking Putin.
* Sharply stressing the first syllable of each word and pausing for effect.
* Specialists have worked with Medvedev to make his voice sound "tougher" in response to focus-group data showing that voters want "someone like Putin,"
* Medvedev is even imitating Putin's gait.

By having him talk like Putin, Medvedev is emphasizing that he is the president's heir.
Former President Boris Yeltsin was not so popular in the country, so Putin had to do his best to distance himself from him. Now the situation is different. Any resemblance to Putin is only positive.
By parroting Putin's speech, Medvedev is also reassuring voters that the relative stability under Putin will continue after he leaves office.
Medvedev has only recently begun studying up to become president, and the first step of any apprenticeship involves imitation, like babies do with adults.
When he becomes president he will develop his own way of walking and talking, and then we may have Putin parroting him.

So, to raise your image you should learn the image of your predecessor / boss. If his image is not popular in the country, then you should distance yourself from him. But if his image is popular, then any resemblance to him is only positive.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

WHAT ARE THE MAIN FEATURES OF VIRAL MARKETING?

Today I have read the article Marketing More Powerful Than SEO. It brings some successful viral marketing examples from the near past: Xbox, Gmail, Viral Videos.
These are the article headings:
* Anatomy of Viral Marketing
* Buzz-worthy Sites Stroke People's Egos
* Buzz-worthy Sites Promise to Amaze
* Buzz-worthy Sites are Original
* Considering Buzz for Your Business

There are useful ideas and good viral marketing examples.

Friday, February 22, 2008

HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE REAL MOTIVATION BEHIND THE HUMAN BEHAVIOR?

What is celibacy?
Celibacy refers either to being unmarried or to sexual abstinence.
The Roman Catholic Church maintains laws mandating Clerical celibacy as a requirement for priests. The monastic orders of Hindu and Buddhist traditions mandate Clerical celibacy as well.
What is the reason for that? We as PR gurus need to distinguish between the proclaimed reason and the real reason. The proclaimed reason for celibacy is something like 'spiritual life', maintaining high 'spiritual demands' etc.
And really? Historically, churches, abbeys, monasteries did not want the priests and the monks to have heirs of their own. All the priest's property must return to the church, not to his family.

So, to understand the real motivation behind the human behavior, we need to analyze the economic motivation.

Friday, February 15, 2008

WHAT IS 'HISTORICAL PSYCHOLOGY' AND HOW TO USE IT IN PR?

Today in the morning I wished to coin a new term: 'Historical Psychology'. Then I went to the Google and found a similar term present already: there is a journal of ‘Cultural-Historical Psychology’. And there is a book named The Theory and Practice of Cultural-Historical Psychology.
Afterwards I found even a longer term "Socio-cultural historical psychology". OK, it's correct. Still I prefer to talk on 'Historical Psychology' just because it sounds shorter.
Now what is my specific instance? The instance is Baptism and mikvah.
In Christianity, baptism is the sacramental act of cleansing in water that admits one as a full member of the Church.
In Judaism, Mikvah is a specific bath for the purpose of ritual immersion.
I know there is a difference. The mikvah is a rite that is meant to be carried out repeatedly, and is thus essentially different from baptism, which has an unrepeatable character.
Still I see much in common. All the issue of ritual immersion in water. This is a question to the Historical Psychology: how come various religions got the similar ritual?
I know what they may say: Christianity was born out of Judaism. Still I believe there are deeper reasons. Because you see some deep psychological idea in using water. There is a case for Historical psychology studies.

However, what all this has to do with the issue of PR? Knowing / seeing / understanding the roots of the human rituals. If you see common roots, then you can appeal to these roots (= appeal to the factor uniting different cultures), instead of appealing to the factor separating the cultures.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

WHAT IS VIRAL MARKETING? JUST ONE INSTANCE


What is viral marketing? It encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others. It facilitates people to pass along a message voluntarily!
Off the Internet, there have been expressions as "word-of-mouth," "creating a buzz," "leveraging the media," "network marketing." But on the Internet it's called "viral marketing."
A few days ago I received an email from 'Bad Language' about illusionist Derren Brown’s televised 'Russian Roulette'. I became interested and went to Derren Brown’s site. Then I started searching in Youtube for his clips, and found a lot of his stunts and tricks on NLP, Subliminal Advertising etc.

So, that's how the viral marketing worked in this case: email --> Derren Brown's site on Russian roulette --> youtube --> other Derren Brown's clips.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

WHAT IS THE BEST PR MOVE?

Do you know the structure in the video? It is an aqueduct. Aqueduct is a channel to transport water. It is a conduit that resembles a bridge but carries water.
Where is it? It is near the city of Caesarea, Israel.
When was it built? Two thousand years ago.
Who built it? The ancient Romans built it.
Now you see: each time we talk about this aqueduct, we remember the Romans.
Isn't this a great public relations move: to build a structure lasting for two thousand years? To erect an artifact existing for a long time?

Sunday, February 3, 2008

HOW TO USE PITHY SAYING TO BELITTLE YOUR RIVAL?



Do you know the popular expression "a quiche-eater"? It means a person far removed from practice and concerned only with academic matters, unwilling to "get their hands dirty"; a man who is effeminate or who lacks some putative masculine virtue. The source of the term quiche-eater was a bestselling humorous book "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche", by Bruce Feirstein, published in 1982. And why? Because a quiche is considered to be a "womanly" dish like other Carbohydrate dishes (сasserole, pasta etc.).

More example for the use of catch-words.
Arthur J. Finkelstein (a United States Republican Party PR professional) is credited with helping to make "liberal" a dirty word in the late 1980s and 1990s by using messages like this, intended to damage Jack Reed's image:
"That's liberal. That's Jack Reed. That's wrong. Call liberal Jack Reed and tell him his record on welfare is just too liberal for you."

Using negative buzzwords is an effective PR move to humiliate your rival.