Mike’s Points

Whenever you “try to pull a fast one” over someone, you run a huge risk of ruining that relationship. That is, if you get caught. And, sooner or later, you’ll get caught. You’ll pay a huge price by losing that person’s trust. Word of your deceitful deed will also likely spread so that you lose the trust of the previous fools you’ve fooled and have no credibility going forward.

Monday morning, MediaPost had research from a great study that showed which products benefit the most from product placement, and which demographics are most influenced.

It’s a short article, with informative charts and such focused on product placement. But, the kicker that we all should pay attention to came at the end:

Gary Drenik, President & CEO of BIGresearch, said “Advertisers… are attempting to get their brand message out in non-traditional ways. However, today’s consumer knows when they are being manipulated and product placements must be carefully planned… or… risk being ignored…”

So, here’s a friendly warning:

For those bloggers who are paid for product posts and don’t disclose;

For those anonymous commenters who are really promoting a product, company or cause;

For those marketers who treat bloggers, social community members, etc., like traditional media;

For those companies that set up fake blogs (without disclosing);

And a host of other social media sins and scam . . .

You’re not fooling anyone.

– Mike

(UPDATED: approx. 12:30 p.m. 4/17/07 with clarification on my point — at the end.) 

I’ve done it. I’m sure we all have. Focus on one line or point — forget the rest — and the launch your critique. And, with Twitter, you can do it easier because the thoughts often are broken up into smaller pieces.

Courtesy of Tom Brio, I was made aware of a guest piece by PC Magazine Editor in Chief Jim Louderback at BC/AC’s blog called strumpette.

Louderback’s piece dealt with a seemingly off-the-cuff comment Twittered by Steve Rubel of Edelman/Micropersuasion:

“PC Mag is another. I have a free sub but it goes in the trash”

If you look at the stream of Rubel’s twitters, you’ll see he was not necessarily pointing out PC Magazine. He was talking about where he looked for his product reviews — going to blogs rather than print and other established media:

“Does anyone read CNET anymore? Webware rocks, but that’s the only site of theirs I visit.” 05:43 AM April 13, 2007

“PC Mag is another. I have a free sub but it goes in the trash” 05:44 AM April 13, 2007

“I search blogs for tech reviews when researching a product.” 05:45 AM April 13, 2007

Yes, Rubel was trying to strut his stuff, with a poor judgment of a comment. There are enough times when Rubel comes off as arrogant. And, this was one. So, if you’re going to be critical, be critical within the context of a piece; don’t single out one bit for the sake of a post.

My big point is that Steve Rubel’s initial comment was not so much about PC Magazine, but it was about established media in general (at least when it comes to tech product reviews). It is in that view that he is wrong. 

Point to ponder: Don’t get bogged done by minutia. Look at the big picture — whether planning for a client/your employer, or ripping a blogger’s post or twitters.

Also, Rubel has a post, explaining his side.

– Mike

UPDATED: Approx. 11 p.m., July 29, 2008: Looks like the Adrian Insider blog pulled the posts about James Koren (some time ago), and the issue was resolved with Koren’s apology (in case you weren’t following it). Koren recently asked me to remove the link, like the Adrian Insider did. Though I don’t have a policy about it, I see no reason to remove posts, but will provide this update. I also changed the headline and post slug. And, in no way did I mean to imply that Koren is stupid. Just what he did was stupid — and he’s a big enough man to apologize for his judgement in error, as noted in the original post below. We’ve all made mistakes. Heck, even I make mistakes (gotta stop linking to that post!).

Courtesy of ToledoTalk and The Adrian (MI) Insider, there’s another example of someone — James Rufus Koren — making comments about work — this time a co-worker — and thinking only his friends would read it.

“This morning, I found out that people outside of my close circle of friends have been reading this blog.

Of course, it was never intended for readers outside of that group, and so there have been some posts - most notable “Delayed Talker” - that I never should have posted.”

Koren is a reporter for the Adrian Daily Telegram (which serves the city of my alma mater).

Of course, Koren has apologized, but will it be enough to save his job?

Guess J. Rufus will have to figure it out!

– Mike