What’s News in the World?

A quick headline scan yields interesting public relations news.

THE New Product Introduction—2: Can we expect the new $50 bill introduction to top the uber-successful $20 bill introduction? MSNBC provides some insight into whether or not Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant are the only presidents getting an extreme makeover:

”The bureau also plans to add color to the $100 bill, the most knocked-off note outside the United States. It has not been determined when the new $100 will be unveiled. Officials are still considering whether to redesign $5s and $10s. But $1s and $2s will stay the same because they aren't of much interest to counterfeiters.“

Industry Research Shows Slumps & Surges: In one corner, AdWeek points to a pr industry slump. In the other corner, Media Post reports a hiring surge in the advertising industry.

Remember that different research means different samples. AdWeek reports on research limited to Fortune 500 companies' pr budgets and their pr hiring.

"This suggests that money continues to be spent on marketing-related activities like advertising and marketing-oriented PR, and the cuts came were in other areas, such as community relations and internal communications."

The need for public relations success metrics was also reinforced. "There is still a tremendous amount of effort needed on the part of senior PR leadership to more intimately connect itself to business development and revenue generation."

Will PR Week also weigh in on this report?

Goofus: Reluctantly, I want to give out a Goofus to the Christian leaders banding together to rebut “The Da Vinci Code.” Need I remind anyone that the book is for sale in the fiction aisle?

By conducting an organized campaign, it gives credibility to the book’s assertions. A simple Google search will point you to articles disproving many of the points made in the book. In the meantime, author Dan Brown will be able to buy and sell a small country based on the sales spike this effort will create.

But since I have no Gallant to balance this Goofus designation, and I have 16 years of Catholic school under my belt, I’ll pass.

May is for Martha: Stewart gets sentenced in June, but there is still plenty of relevant news in the meantime. You are probably unaware of this news since none of it is controversial. Or perhaps you simply do not care. :-)

Step Away From the Blog: Earlier this week, I discussed business technology with the APR review class for the Cincinnati Chapter of PRSA. It was interesting how much I had to update my six-month old presentation.

The biggest update was the section on blogs. Six months ago, I dumped the original presentation into a blog to make my point. As a result, the presentation was skewed towards this technology—not to mention it was tougher to follow.

This time I went old school with a simple PowerPoint. I’m hoping it was more effective as a result.

But Wait, There’s More: The above is just the news not already covered by the PR blogosphere. Per usual, Tom Murphy encapsulates some highlights and you can get a good dose of the blogosphere through Constatin Basturea’s PR Blog Rollup Site. Enjoy.

Comments

[A.R. Yngve]

You're right about the futility of critizing Dan Brown's bestseller from a rational point-of-view. Humor is the best angle.

For example, there is a hilarious quote from THE DA VINCI CODE, where someone speaks "chillingly close" to a character... then it's revealed that "chillingly" close is "only fifteen feet away".

Only FIFTEEN FEET! Shock! Horror! No, please don't laugh at the distinguished Mr. Brown's proximity phobia.... I regularly stay at least 30 feet away from people I talk to, so they won't sneak up fifteen feet closer.

My God... fifteen feet! The horror!
;-P

Jokes aside... I detect a "Zeitgeist" thingy here. When a bad book becomes a smash hit (soon to be a movie, I'm sure), it's because it reflects something in the cultural climate... namely, the wish to blame all problems on a convenient scapegoat.

How much easier life is, when we can blame the economy, Iraq, terrorism, and all things depressing on an Evil Papist Plot.

Here's my capsule review of THE DA VINCI CODE:
"Jesus wept."

-A.R. Yngve
http://yngve.bravehost.com