Photo Courtesy of FTC

In the midst of new media and the evolving digital marketplace, the Federal Trade Commission has been forced to take a fresh look at some of its laws regarding advertisers and endorsements. In December 2009, the FTC ruled that bloggers who review products must disclose any connection with companies and advertisers, including the receipt of free products. The law applies whether the advertiser’s gift actually influences the content of the product review or not.

An example of an incident that violated the FTC rule was in January 2010, when Ann Taylor LOFT was sending gift cards to bloggers in exchange for posts. Luckily for LOFT, the FTC decided not to take action against the company; however, the FTC made it clear that they will be closely monitoring bloggers, and LOFT has since created a blogger interaction policy in accordance with the FTC rule.

In a New York Times article about the regulation, Richard Cleland, assistant director of the division of advertising practices at the FTC was quoted, “We were looking and seeing the significance of social media marketing in the 21st century and we thought it was time to explain the principles of transparency and truth in advertising and apply them to social media marketing.”

The ruling is especially relevant to lifestyle businesses like restaurants, wineries and hotels. Lifestyle businesses have products they want to share, and exposing a product to a blogger can be great PR. However, businesses must be sure that the blogger they target is transparent and abides by the FTC rules.

If a business or blogger explains that a gift was given, it may actually improve consumer relations. For example, if a winery invites bloggers for a free tasting event at their tasting room, why not write about it on their own website or tell the blogger to? The disclosure will assure customers that they can trust the business; this trust will improve customer relations and solidify the authenticity of the company in the consumer’s mind.

Interestingly, although the law affects every blogger out there, it seems as though many bloggers still do not know about the FTC ruling. Also, many bloggers that do know about it believe that it is not enforced.

What do you think about the FTC ruling? Do you trust product endorsements you read about on blogs?

Consumers access Facebook fan pages to seek information about a business, discover promotions or connect with management and staff. Additionally, fan pages are an easy and convenient way for publics to promote a business. Simply “liking” a business page instantly increases its exposure through the customers’ networks. Fans provide free advertising for the company through a virtual word of mouth.

Photo Courtesy of Facebook

The key to a successful campaign is in customizing the page so that users have a unique and informative experience time after time. In his post “10 Ways to Make the Most of a Facebook Fan Page for your Business,” Kevin Hendricks offers a great summary for people just getting started with fan pages.

Apps and welcomes pages are a wonderful addition to any page. For example, you can add relevant applications on your side bar that offer unique content like a Twitter feed, contests, polls and even a virtual marketplace. Another app that is recommended by most professionals is Static FBML, which lets you add basic HTML to your fan page. With Static FBML, you can essentially house a customized website within Facebook.

Another great addition to a fan page is deals, deals and more deals. Facebook fan pages have the opportunity to differentiate from traditional websites by offering special offers and promotions that reward involvement. Offering incentives for participation encourages users to keep visiting the site, which in turn drives traffic to the social media campaign and brand.

A third key aspect of a successful page is communication with your user. No matter how big or small your company is, you absolutely must communicate with those visiting your page. This includes responding to comments, posting relevant blog entries, providing status updates and more. Without communication your Facebook fan page will simply be a website, which defeats the whole purpose of social media.

Need a little inspiration to get your Facebook fan page started? Facebook Studio is a good place to start. The site showcases social media campaigns of various companies and offers tips on resources you’ll need to create your own campaign.

Do you have a favorite Facebook fan page? If so, why?

As mobile shopping becomes more popular, mobile marketing has become a focus of many PR firms. Aside from building a mobile-optimized site, marketers have discovered a new way to reach mobile users: QR codes.

What is a QR code? Basically, a QR (quick response) code is an image that can be scanned by a mobile device that has a web address embedded in it. After scanning a QR code, the mobile user is taken to a website to get more information. Companies like Best Buy have already employed a QR system, using QR codes in stores, print advertising, swag and more.

The question is, will this new strategy gain traction? And if so, how can businesses implement QR technology successfully? According to the stats, the QR trend has a viable chance of becoming a permanent fixture in our digital world. However, the key is ensuring that customers have a positive experience after scanning the code. Once linked to the mobile site, companies must provide compelling material, like a promotion, giveaway or video content, that differs from information on the company’s regular site. Angie Schottmuller, founder of Interactive Artisan, offers some great tips for businesses to get started with QR codes in her article Top 14 Things Marketers Need to Know About QR Codes.

Image courtesy of Livingstonbuzz.com

Lifestyle companies can use QR codes effectively by enhancing their customer’s experience with a brand. By displaying QR codes on advertisements, promotional material and products, businesses can use the prolonged touch point of the QR to engage customers. The above advertisement from a winery is a great example: through use of a QR code, the winery provides party advice to customers and subtly encourages the purchase of their wines.

If you are not a company or marketer, there are also ways that you can implement QR codes. For example, try creating your own QR code with a code generator and embedding it into your resume. If this video doesn’t entice you to edit your CV, I don’t know what will.

What do you think about QR codes? Will you use them?

Photo Courtesy of NPR

NPR recently launched a month-long special series about public relations, “The Message Makers: Inside PR.” The series, which began on April 21, will take a look at public relations and focus on who does it, how it works and the extent of public relations’ influence.

When I first heard about the series, I was extremely excited. I love NPR, and I love public relations — what’s not to love about the special series? Sadly, at this point I am underwhelmed. I thought “Inside PR” would be an educational program about the PR industry, but it appears to be more of a collection of stories that simply relate to PR and do not provide any original insight.

So far, three stories have been published as part of the special series. The first, “BP: A Textbook Example Of How Not To Handle PR” is the most interesting, in my opinion. It discusses the disaster that was the BP oil crisis and the mistakes the company made in its PR efforts. The story quotes Glenn DaGian, public relations retiree who was called in to help BP as a consultant a week into the oil crisis. DaGian slams BP for its actions, and he comments on what could have been done differently, blaming CEO Tony Hayward for the majority of the PR missteps. The story also discusses PR tactics that did work later into the crisis, like a massive social media campaign. This story is impressive to me because it reviews an industry case and highlights lessons to be learned from BP’s mistakes.

The second story published is titled, “PR’s ‘Gay Guru’ Helps Celebrities Come Out.” Its main subject is Howard Bragman, a publicist who has made a name for himself in Hollywood by helping homosexual celebrities come out of the closet. It cites Meredith Baxter as one of his clients. To me, this story was disappointing and left me wishing there was more informative, original content. In addition, it put PR in a bad light as some of Bragman’s professional choices were seen as controversial, including his choice to take on anti-gay clients.

Most recently, the NPR series published its third story, “Corporate America Takes On Multilingual Public Relations.” It discusses a rising challenge for PR practioners: the growing Asian population and the many varied languages they speak. Recently, certain marketing and public relations groups have focused solely on Asian markets due to demand, and their PR processes and tactics vary greatly from traditional PR in the United States. This story was interesting, but it could have delved deeper and impressed listeners with more insight and detail.

Although NPR has attempted to expose listeners to the public relations industry, the result so far has been an inconsistent lineup of stories about PR-related topics rather than the industry as a whole. As a PR student, I wish the series would investigate more public relations tactics, trends, and practices, as seen in industry today. With that said, I will most likely continue to follow the series, so it has done its job of “capturing” me — for now.

Take a look for yourself. What do you think about NPR’s examination of public relations through its special series?