From Google Earth and Gmail to GOOG-411 and Nexus One it is clear that its wide range of products and service offerings have molded Google into one of the most dominant companies on the Web.  As if Google wasn’t already a huge threat, it developed Google Buzz.  As you’ve probably heard, or experienced, Google’s new development aims to combine the best features of different social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa and YouTube, sending many of those sites scrambling to re-examine their features to make sure Google Buzz does not become a monopoly in the social media space next.

So, what supposedly makes Google Buzz more appealing than Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites? Well, according to an article in Channelweb, the top reasons are that Google Buzz:

1. Integrates with Gmail
2. Drowns out the noise
3. Cuts out the hunting and pecking
4. Works well with cell phones

Ok, so do you want to know what this really means?  To start, Gmail users will now have access to all of their status updates, photos, new comments and other content mixed in with their email.  Cool?  Not so much.  Do we social networking fanatics really want ALL of our updates mixed in with email?  I think this will make emailing and social networking more of a hassle.

Google claims Buzz will “drown out the noise,” by using algorithms and history to sift through unwanted status updates or photo uploads based on a user’s previous activity.  Yes, I do not want to know what Friend A is doing every second of the day, but that doesn’t mean that I never want to know what he’s up to.  Google Buzz also has an “auto-follow” feature where all of your previous Gmail contacts can automatically connect with you.  Imagine all of the people that you email:  your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, coworkers and children.  Is this option really preferable?  Well, if you are a fan of Google Buzz so far, AND if you are an Apple or Android user—don’t worry.  Google has developed mobile applications for the iPhone and Google Android.  Google is also developing an enterprise plan for Buzz.

Yes, Google Buzz compiles email and social networking content all into one program, but should this really make Facebook and Twitter that worried?  I would rather keep social networking separate from emailing.  It is quite clear that Google can do it all, but is Buzz really going to attract current Facebook and Twitter users?

Jenaleigh Landers is an intern with Griffin York & Krause.  She is currently a full-time Business Major at Saint Anselm College.

It’s no secret that the newspaper industry has been suffering. Now that everyone has access to the Web where they can get the latest news with a click of a computer mouse or a fingertip touch on a smartphone, long ago are the days of waiting for your paper to find out what’s going on in the world.

But the newspapers are smartening up. Or are they?

Just as you have to pay your 50 cents per copy or a fixed rate for a subscription to your physical paper, some popular newspapers are charging, or will soon start charging, readers to pay to read the news… off their Web site. The latest medium to do this is the New York Times. Although the Times Co. has released few details of how they plan to charge readers, we do know that starting in 2011, the newspaper will offer a “metered plan” where viewers can look at a certain number of articles free before having to pay to continue to read more. The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times already have this practice in place.

It’s easy to draw the conclusion that media companies are doing this because advertising spending is not where it used to be. With production costs on the rise, and in order to keep some of these outlets afloat, now the cost burden needs to be shifted to the consumer. But will readership suffer as a result? Or will readers go to one of the thousands of competitors that is not charging a fee to view content? Then would the pay-to-read plan ultimately backfire?

Are you willing to pay for YOUR news?

Posted by David, Griffin York & Krause Public Relations

This is an interesting example of the use of Twitter by a company for communication but also in my opinion an example of how if a company is going to use social networking, it can’t and shouldn’t hide from the bad news.  I also want to note that PSNH is a subsidiary of a publicly traded company, which are often the most careful about how and what they communicate because of fears that bad news might affect the all-important stock value.

PSNH put a link to this seacoastonline.com editorial in its Twitter feed that includes updates about the outages from the recent ice storms.  The editorial calls out another utility more than it does PSNH, for some perceived communication shortfalls and it also makes some good suggestions.  For example,  the writer suggests that the utilities should send representatives into the hardest hit communities to give in-person updates to residents.

Not a bad suggestion in my opinion and a flip-side example of how even though social media tools like Twitter are a great way to engage and inform people, we shouldn’t forget about “old school” tactics like face-to-face contact, particularly when those who are likely most affected by the ice storm outages may be elderly.  However, I’m sure the utilities have very few extra people available to go door-to-door and in the no good deed goes unpunished column, I can foresee another editorial or customer complaints saying “the utilities should have more people fixing downed lines and less people knocking on doors.”

  PSNH on Twitter is…PSNH.

(Editorial from Seacoastonline.com as linked to by PSNH.)

Posted by Travis, President of Griffin York & Krause

At GY&K we’re lucky to work with a number of health care clients and one of the many benefits of this work is that you in some way feel like you’re helping those who in a very real way are helping others.  Recently we began working with the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC).  DVBIC’s mission is to serve active duty military, their dependents and veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI).  The organization was mandated by Congress in 1991 and is funded through the Department of Defense.

I have to say that although we are only in the beginning stages of our work to redesign their Web site and help them better communicate about the highly important work they do, everyone on our team has been genuinely and deeply impacted in the brief period we’ve worked with them.

DVBIC is headquartered in Washington, DC at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where we had our kick-off meeting last week.

As he walked us into the building, the historical significance of the facility and importance of what goes on there became quite apparent.  Unites States flags and photographs of military leaders over the last century lined the entry way.  Service members in uniform (Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines) and their families were bustling around getting treatment and/or working at the facility.

Many of the wounded soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan get sent back to the United States through Germany and then to Walter Reed.

As we walked through the halls, we were taken to the Military Advanced Training Center serving “Warriors in Transition.”  This was a 31,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility filled with dozens of service members all actively working out, showing signs of hope and optimism and, surprising to me, determined to get back to the Middle East and finish what they had set out to do.  The fact that the patients in Walter Reed are there because they were injured fighting for our freedom added an element of emotion to this particular tour.

The morale in the facility gave me a different perspective and sense of pride that people in the United States are willing to fight for us.

It will not be hard for our team to be passionate about the redesign and development of the DVBIC Web site. We will take a lot of pride in the work, which has significance on an international level for service members and veterans with TBI, their family members and caregivers, and their healthcare professionals.

The reality is that a growing number of soldiers are returning with some level of brain injury, the most serious of which can have long-term if not lifelong effects on memory and daily activities that many of us take for granted.  To learn more about DVBIC’s work and TBI go to http://www.dvbic.org.

A former colleague of mine used to joke about marketers and say “we’re not saving lives here.” 

True, but the people we work for are.

Posted by Kevin, Griffin York & Krause Public Relations

Kevin (rt) on Fox 25 Morning Show

Though my day job is in public relations at GY&K, my nights are spent freelance writing.  Sometimes these two worlds come together, as was the case when I was asked to appear on the Fox 25 Morning Show to discuss my new book, Wicked Intentions.  In prepping for this interview, I took my own advice that I give clients in order to make the most of the exposure.

Anticipate what the main questions will be.  My book, a nonfiction account of a grizzly set of murders, has a strong main character in killer Sheila LaBarre.  Interviewers want to kick it off with a “who is she” kind of question, then ask for facts from her life.  (This guy actually jumps too far in to start, assuming every viewer knows the case.  I took the opportunity to go back and set up the story so viewers could follow along.)  Because I had the only media interview with her behind bars, everyone wants to know what that experience was like.  And they want my opinion on the results of the trial.  These are all questions for which I have practiced standard answers.  These tend to be the easiest part of the interview for me, as I can simply roll out these well-crafted sound bites.

Hit your talking points.  The goals are to raise exposure and, ultimately, to sell books.  I had an opportunity to talk about the quality of the book.  I made it a point to say that people who don’t normally follow the true crime genre would also like the story, hopefully expanding the number of potential buyers.  Finally, when pressed at the end about “who’s the number one killer,” I stood by my girl.  I might not win that argument with every fan, but I will not diminish my brand.

Go with the flow.  Some interviews are serious.  Some are hard-hitting.  Some are fun or silly.  I was prepared for any kind of discussion.  This interviewer is known to be a free-wheeler, so I was ready to match his style.  He jabbed me for patting myself on the back, but you just laugh about that during a fun interview.   Had he changed his tone half-way through, (“How dare you, sir…!”) I would have dialed it back to where he was to answer his questions and move on. 

Do your part.  Just because a media outlet agrees to interview you, that doesn’t mean you have all the leverage.  I had to be willing to do what it took to make the experience happen.  That included sending them product information and samples, getting up at 4:00 am to insure I was at their studio in Dedham – then agreeing to switch the location to Beacon Hill.   My cooperation was appreciated by the staff and I already have an invitation to return for my next book – in 2010.

posted by Holly, Griffin York & Krause Public Relations

I’ve been hearing alot lately the phrase “there goes that liberal media again” and it makes me chuckle a bit. Here’s why: I used to work for a television station that was often accused of being anything but – Mostly we were accused of being “too conservative” as opposed to liberal. This was, of course, during the time we had a Democratic governor in office and, if a story ran that could at ALL be looked upon as negative towards that governor, then the phone calls would start. Of course, there’s going to be bias in the media no matter how you slice it; however, I believe a true, good journalist will hide that bias, letting the viewer, reader, or listener make his or her own decision.

Is the general public truly swayed by the slant of the media? If I was an undecided voter in this election, and I was watching, oh, Fox News for example (who many would say lean towards the right), would I completely turn to the Republican camp? And the same would go for watching Saturday Night Live. Tina Fey truly captures the Sarah Palin persona. But does it, of course, with sarcasm and humor, which can make Governor Palin look not-so-smart in some sketches. But would a person watching SNL immediately think, “Wow, that Governor Palin must not be very intelligent. I must vote for the Obama-Biden ticket!”…?

I don’t think the American people are given enough credit. I think we’re smart enough to make up our own minds – and no liberal OR conservative bias will easily sway us.

posted by Mike, Griffin York & Krause Account Services

Building a brand at 30,000 feet can’t be easy, but JetBlue seems to be onto something with their complimentary in-flight TV service. Sure, as a marketer I might be biased, but you can’t tell me that if there’s something on a television screen less than a foot away from you, that you wouldn’t watch it, at least briefly.

Not only does this service hit a home-run (yes, I have play-off baseball on the brain) with passengers, it also does something that virtually all brands are struggling to do these days; capture the undivided attention of their consumers. So let’s break this down:

Once you board the plane, scope it out, make your way past that guy who is taking WAY too long to clear the aisle, find your seat, stow your carry on, turn your cell phone OFF (or to airplane mode if you’re that technically inclined), you can’t use any “approved electronic devices” yet, and so all you’re left to think about is if the plane will depart from the gate on time. So what better way to pass a few minutes than look at the 6” TV screen on the headrest in front of you. Just so happens that it’s looping a corporate branding video that’s telling you what “Jetting” is. If you’re already familiar with this term, well, consider it brand reinforcement.

So you’ve watched the loop once and you’re bored. Now what? Naturally you look out the window only to see other JetBlue aircrafts docked at their terminals. If you’re at all like me and appreciate clever or witty humor, then you’ll probably notice the one liner on the bottom of the fuselage, “Blue is so you,” and “Betty Blue” are two that stuck for me (don’t ask why). Coincidence, I doubt it. Congratulations JetBlue, you just held

JetBlue branding is everywhere you look

my attention for 30 continuous seconds, something even the best brands are having a hard time with.

So am I an official “Jetter” now? Well, according to the interactive quiz on JetBlue’s micro-site, happyjetting.com, I am. I had a leather seat, plenty of legroom and a whole can of soda…just like “Jetting” said I would, so I can’t complain. Although, every time I heard the infamous “Ding” I couldn’t help but to think of how somebody just booked a new low-fare through Southwest (sorry JetBlue).