By Hazel Butters

March 27th, 2012

Read all about it: why tech PRs must be avid readers

Read all about it: why tech PRs must be avid readers

I have a pet peeve (well, more than one actually, but there’ll be other days and other posts.)

As a communications, content and PR consultancy, we spend our time advising clients on how they need to target certain audiences, understand their challenges, opportunities and pressures, discover how they think, work, live and process buying decisions, and finally how they act on those decisions. What we, our clients and their customers read, clearly plays an important part in making sense of all of that.

So I am amazed when anyone who works in any role that is vaguely related to tech PR doesn’t have a desk swarming with newspapers, magazines and trade journals. Yes, there are online news channels, digital publications, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google alerts, blogs and the whole social media alphabet from Badoo to Yammer. But surely if you’re targeting storage managers, data centre specialists, IT directors, venture capitalists, business owners and other senior decision makers, then you really need to have a desk that is covered with relevant content – much of which is still in print.

This is where I come to my pet peeve: magazines that aren’t taken out of their wrappers and just sit in piles. If you’re not interested in the publications that your target audiences are reading then you’re simply not interested in the press or the audiences that read them, and you can’t provide knowledgeable advice to clients if you’re blind to the content swaying the buying decisions of their target audiences. Not interested in Datacentre Solutions? Completely unmoved by Computing’s analysis? Really don’t care what the charming Jason Stamper has to say in the latest Computer Business Review? Well then, go and work in an industry you are interested in.

If you work in tech marketing or PR it’s not good enough simply to subscribe to the relevant press and following them on all possible social media outlets. You need to rip open that cellophane wrapper and get reading. Your job – and your reputation across the tech PR industry – may just depend on it.

By PromptBoston

March 21st, 2012

Zoom, just one look and then my heart went boom

Zoom, just one look and then my heart went boom

Every now and then, despite its constant evolution and relentless rate of innovation, the online world still manages to throw up a very special creation, so hugely impressive that it deserves its own moment in the internet spotlight. When I began exploring ChronoZoom this week, it reminded me of the very first time I found my dad on the Mosaic browser, tracked down my home on Google Earth or waved Starmap iOS at a passing asteroid. If the first thing technology does is make you grin like an idiot, it’s already a winner.

ChronoZoom is a visual timeline of life, the universe and everything, that sits in a browser and lets you flit in and out of thousands of billions of years of history. You can stop off to witness the birth of the Milky Way, the forming of glaciers, the repercussions of the industrial revolution, or an application launched last week. It’s simply stunning – your mouse wheel or pinch fingers will never have worked so hard.

The idea originated with University of California Berkeley student Roland Saekow. Its development was driven by his mentor Berkeley geologist Walter Alvarez. The zoom technology comes from Microsoft Research Connections.

When Saekow delivered his paper ‘ChronoZoom’ in Alvarez’ cutting-edge ‘Big History’ class back in 2009, students stood and applauded. Alvarez then built a software prototype of the model and demonstrated it at Microsoft Live Labs in 2010. Live Labs researchers were sufficiently intrigued by the concept to help to develop it further using some zoom-able timeline technology they were working on called Deep Zoom. This version convinced Microsoft research to commit 25 researchers to the project, resulting in the first versions of the ChronoZoom 2.0 beta we can play with today.

ChronoZoom is an unfinished project. The chances are that it will always remain an unfinished project – how could it not? But there is enough to see right now to realise the potential it offers – from insightful papers to embedded high definition multimedia presentations, scattered across time. Following in the footsteps of those early classes in ‘Big History’, today’s students will now find it far easier to grasp the concepts of vast timescales, using intuitively manipulated visualisations capable of bringing life, to life. The ChronoZoom Project will help historians, geologists, mathematicians, astronomers, palaeontologist, volcanologists, archaeologists and any profession with the imagination to exploit this fascinating resource.

But perhaps most importantly, it will help people like you and I to visualise and grasp the sheer extent of our universe’s timeline, from the domination of energy to that little idea we scribbled down over lunch. The rest, as they say, is quite literally history.

By Media Team

March 16th, 2012

The new iPad: upgrade, or keep your iPad2?

The new iPad: upgrade, or keep your iPad2?

Yes, I am daring to doubt the luminosity of the new release of Apple’s boy genius iPad. But actually it seems like Apple has indeed done it again, releasing a newer and much more shiny (and heavy, from what I’m hearing in the wind) version of its famed iPad. And by golly does it mean business!

This new release is actually meant to be more of an upgrade for Apple techies looking for something more from their iPad 2s. This model has an improved screen, better gaming performance, a higher quality camera, and it runs on 4G data (a must-have for those who need ‘more’). It’s also worth pointing out that this new version does have a longer operating battery life, which owners of all Apple devices would benefit from. Basically, everything that your iPad2 did that was considered spectacular in its heyday, the ‘new iPad’ simply does better.

Everything? Unfortunately, this newer version apparently doesn’t support FaceTime chat over 4G data space. Sorry to sound slightly miffed, but wasn’t one of the aims of the latest iOS update to be able to conduct FaceTime on all of Apple’s devices, whether they run on Wi-Fi or a cell network? I would be devastated if I didn’t already have an iPhone 4 that I’m completely satisfied with (no Siri necessary).

Overall, I see this latest iPad a loyal ‘techie treat’ meant for the massive family of Apple addicts. Those are the folks that live among us and who have the funds to consistently upgrade their Apple product every year whenever a new release is handed down to the masses. Yes, the new Retina display is impressive, the 5 megapixel camera will take snaps that look great on that screen, and the ultra-fast wireless option will benefit some, but there really isn’t anything all that flashy to convince me to stand in a crowded line for ‘forever’ to spend $500 on what is essentially a shinier version of Apple’s last tablet. Of course I am forgetting the all-important bragging rights I would gain in the kingdom of the tech nerd (of which, by the way, I am a seasoned member).

Before the year end, there will be a guaranteed update of this ‘new iPad’ with the entire first round of bugs removed. If you are a confirmed addict to tech and an Apple loyalist, this new iPad release is undeniable a great gadget, and will be just the thing for you. But the rest of us should probably just keep the iPads and iPhones that we have for now, or dare I say it, even go over to the dark side of Android?

By Hazel Butters

March 15th, 2012

Tech PR Viewpoint: Starting with a niche is more logical than original

Tech PR Viewpoint: Starting with a niche is more logical than original

Somebody has to say it. Facebook was not the first, or only, company to begin life in a niche. Yes, it did benefit from incubation at the founders’ college (Harvard), but a few times over the past month I’ve heard people highlight the fact that Facebook started in a niche as if it was the only company ever to have done so. Facebook started where its founders happened to be – Harvard – which was a very logical place. It then broadened out to Columbia, Stanford, and Yale (again, logical), then to other Ivy League colleges (still making a lot of sense to me), and on to Boston University, MIT and New York University (ditto), before fast-forwarding to global domination and 845 million users.

I have to admit I am getting a little worked up here. I know it’s really no big deal, but there are a few serious points I’d like to put out there:

1 – If you’re a start-up, you must logically start wherever it is easiest for you to reach your shiny new customers. If you start selling a service and have a crowd of, oh, let’s say Harvard students, all around you, then it makes more than perfect sense to start selling your idea to those students. Finding other relevant audiences that are going to leap at your idea and adopt it is just the next logical step. As my grandmother would have said: “That’s just ruddy common sense.”

2 – Hearing people say that “Facebook started in a niche” as if such a thing had never been thought of before just makes me feel old. When I first worked in tech communications the shining example of a company that exploited a niche was PeopleSoft (waaay before it was purchased by Oracle in 2005). PeopleSoft already had the whole client/server thing going on when so when it released PeopleSoft HMRS then ‘client/server + HR software = a niche’

3 – It’s just good practice to have well-defined distinct audiences. Unless you happen to have a whoppingly huge marketing budget that allows you to communicate your company’s products, services and mission in life to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the English-speaking world (or whichever region you want to conquer), then you must have a considered and methodical approach to audiences you want to target with messages that are relevant to their lives – personal or professional

4 – The use of the word niche can mean so many different things to different people. To me niche doesn’t indicate a narrow market, it means a well-defined audience. And I think any company selling anything should have a well-defined audience for each of its products or services, whether it’s a start-up selling just one thing to a set audience, or an established company with several different business lines targeting distinct audiences with different demographics, reasons to buy and price points. Call them niches if you enjoy saying the word. (I don’t like saying it, mainly due to the very different pronunciation between UK and American English. ‘Audience’ however, sounds the same on each side of the Atlantic).

Of course the flip-side of targeting a well-defined audience can be equally as frustrating as reinventing the niche. When asked about their target audiences, clients will sometimes say: “We’re going to target all verticals” or “We don’t have a specific job title or role to target with this product because it’s relevant to everyone” or “There’s no specific demographic that we’re targeting with this service.” As frustrated marketers are known to say (while banging their heads repeatedly into their keyboards), targeting everyone is as good as targeting no-one. You need to start somewhere.

So pick an audience. Target them. Be relevant to them. Understand their needs, challenges, opportunities, price points and the things that keep them awake at 2am. Clearly define a distinct audience. Just like PeopleSoft did with client-based HR software…

By PromptBoston

March 9th, 2012

Must watch video of the week: Dollar Shave Club

Must watch video of the week: Dollar Shave Club

Here at Prompt, we watch a lot of promotional videos. While most of them hold some sort of merit, there are only a few that are truly worth sharing – so when we stumbled upon the promo video for DollarShaveClub.com, we knew we had found something special. This is the type of promo video you watch more than once (or twice, or five times). And if this doesn’t kick off your weekend the right way, we don’t know what will. Happy Friday!

By Hazel Butters

March 8th, 2012

Deviating from the script: The Walking Dead

Deviating from the script: The Walking Dead

At Prompt we usually write about technology, green tech and the media, but don’t really cover zombies (no *client / journalist / consultant jokes, please) But you (well, I) could easily argue that comic book culture and technology geekiness are somewhat intertwined. So as someone who spends her days talking and writing about data storage, business process modelling and analysis, real-time processing, databases and operating systems, it’s probably to be expected that I am somewhat familiar with The Walking Dead comics.

Before I talk about the TV programme I have to admit that I can’t even glance at Andrew Lincoln without seeing him crack a cheeky grin as ‘Egg’ from the brilliant Brit TV series ‘This Life’, or frantically pedalling to school in his role as Simon in the much-loved ‘Teachers’. But in The Walking Dead he pulls off a soft Southern drawl so successfully that there are moments when I completely forget his former Brit TV life (think Hugh Laurie shouting “Tally Ho!” or “What-ho!” on Brit TV and then transforming into House, M.D.)

This post was spurred by the most recent episode, in which Andrew Lincoln’s transatlantic transformation was the last thing on my mind. Because at the end of the episode Shane was still alive. But poor Dale, distracted by a dying cow, had found himself floored by a ‘walker’, overpowered, his stomach scraped out, and then shot in the head (the latter was a gesture of compassion by the humans).

The series doesn’t follow the comics exactly but I was expecting Shane to die, so for me this was a big deviation from the comic series, although you could argue that in the comics, all the philosophical frictions were between Dale and Rick (aka Andrew Lincoln, keep up). So it’s kind of on track in a way, just with a different character. The change in storyline means that viewers can’t read ahead. As Dale lay on his back fighting for his life. I was, literally, at the edge of my seat because I really hadn’t seen it coming.

So where’s the PR moral in all this, I hear you cry? (As I feel I really ought to make this post relevant to what I do for a living in some vague way!)

Well, I could say that it’s about the element of surprise – being bold and daring and ensuring your audience never thinks that you are predictable, that they could ‘read ahead’.

Or it could just be a warning that if there’s ever a dying cow in front of you, remember never to lower your rifle, or your guard. I’ll let you decide.

*Delete as applicable

By Hazel Butters

March 5th, 2012

Why being a consultant is a privilege

Why being a consultant is a privilege

On Friday afternoon I had a really fun, interesting and engaging meeting. The meeting – details of whom it was with will hopefully be shared when a deal is struck – was a chance for me to share and discuss my view of consultancy.

As a company, Prompt gets to advise and work with some of the most exciting and innovative companies, and to work alongside communications professionals, marketers and entrepreneurs that really drive, inspire and lead their market sectors.

We get to hear about product launches when they are still at the ideas stage, brainstorm new marketing initiatives, create content that explains complex value propositions, and introduce companies, ideas and innovations to relevant press and analysts – all while sharing our own enthusiasm, personal flair, and expertise.

That’s why being a communications consultant is a constructive, thought-provoking, and action-driven role that is unlike any other. It’s something I would do for free if life allowed me to [side note: it doesn’t], but more than anything the sense of teamwork, the sharing of trust, and having the ears of our clients, makes it a tremendous privilege.