Check Out Alana Stewart in O Magazine!

 

 

Celebrity Endorsements: How Adly Helps Even Small Businesses Build Brand Connection With Celebrity Power

By Jonathan Keane

It’s important for your customers to be able to connect with your service or product, almost on a personal level. We tend to look for something to relate to in everything, something that speaks to us. In the areas of marketing, this cannot be understated. You are looking for a connection and in the age of instant communications, where some are often ephemeral, crafting a connection that you can harvest and make last for years to come is vital to your business surviving in the high speed digital age. So where do celebrities come into this?

Celebrities, regardless of their background, whether it’s an actor, musician, athlete or someone who’s famous just for being famous, brings a certain eminence with them and most importantly, a fan base.

Charities, for example, have leveraged this for many, many years with countless organizations pairing with a celebrity, or a slew of celebrities, to be the face of their cause and spread the word. It’s a model that isn’t new by any means but in the age of social media, and specifically Twitter, companies, big and small, are finding new ways to engage with consumers and celebrity endorsements are just one way of doing that.

Adly is an online marketing start-up that was founded in 2009, but in May of 2012, they grabbed a few headlines when they announced that former News Corp. executive and Photobucket general manager Walter Delph had been named the new CEO of the company.

“With the advent of social media consumers are able to connect with celebrities that they would not have otherwise had access to,” Walter explains on the very basic idea that inspired the beginning of Adly four years ago.

The small company, with a team of four, is a marketing firm that aims to “spark authentic conversations between celebrities and their fans”, all on the topic of your brand. By analyzing the conversations, Adly optimizes the results for more efficient targeting of your product/service to the right people in the right places. These two services of celebrity contacts and analytics form the foundation for Adly and it has been built from there.

“The power of celebrity has long been acknowledged as one of the most powerful ways to influence and connect with consumers. A brand’s ability to influence consumers via celebrity is considered one of the most effective ways to raise affinity and ultimately to drive purchase. Now with the power of data we can provide ROI metrics to brands,” says Walter on the power Adly and the information they can provide.

“For brands, the potential for celebrity influence is greater than ever, given how far a message can go thanks to social media and its ability to reach wide audiences,” he explains. “It’s apparent that a vast majority of consumers are using social media platforms to engage with celebrities and key influencers and this creates a space where brands can join in and benefit from the influence of a celebrity. Celebrities have the same reach as most in social television shows. The difference is that there is a two-way interaction between the consumer and the influencer.”

Read the rest of the article in SmallBizTechnology

The Nature of Public Relations

I’m often asked whether public relations is a science or an art. That’s a valid question. In science, two plus two equals four. It will always equal four whether added by a Republican from Iowa, a shaman from New Guinea, or an alien from Planet X. However, in public relations, two plus two may equal four. It may equal five. It may equal zero today and fifty tomorrow.

Public relations is an art.

Like an art, there are rules of form, proven techniques, and standards of excellence. But, overall, it’s a mercurial enterprise, where instinct is as legitimate as convention.

Public relations was once defined as the ability to provide the answers before the public knows enough to ask the questions. Another P.R. pundit once stated, “We don’t persuade people. We simply offer them reasons to persuade themselves.” I define what I do as gift-wrapping. If you package a bracelet in a Tiffany box, it will have a higher perceived value than if presented in a K Mart box. Same bracelet, different perception.

—Excerpt from Chapter 1 (pg. 10) of the world’s most widely used and seminal introduction to public relations, “Guerrilla P.R. 2.0: Wage an Effective Publicity Campaign without Going Broke” by Michael Levine, America’s premier media expert and best-selling author.

Purchase your own copy of “Guerrilla P.R. 2.0” by clicking HERE.

LCO VP of Client Services Zuzana Korda Catches Up With David Spade

Yesterday, LCO VP Zuzana Korda and intern Yasmin Canino got the opportunity to catch up with actor/comedian David Spade in the company lobby.

Why LBN?

Why LBN?

The LBN Elert has a vital tool for dealing with the “data smog” in our own time.

Consider that some facts of life are just plain counterintuitive. It can be too cold to snow. Heavy things float. Martinis have calories.

Heres another one with significantly greater import: Electronic information is tangible. The apps we use, the games on our phones, the messages we incessantly tap – all of it may seem to fly through the air and live in some cloud, but in truth, most of it lands with a thump in the earthly domain.

LBN Dinner Club Event – January 25th

Join us on Wednesday January 25, 2011 for an exclusive LBN E-Lert Member’s Only Dinner @ Taste on Melrose.

Click the image below to sign up for the event.  Seating is limited and only available to LBN E-Lert Members.

Not a member?  Click here to subscribe to the LBN E-Lert Today!

Monetization: Showing the “Real” Value of Publicity

LCO recently conducted training to educate our staff about the value of monetization and why it’s a PR best practice.  The term is more commonly used with regard to internet marketing, but in short it means to turn something into money.   In PR that “something ” is the exposure you get for your clients in print, TV and internet media.  Translating your client’s 3 minute TV interview or their 10 page magazine spread into dollars makes a HUGE impact with your clients and shows them exactly what that PR is worth.

We sat down with New Business Intern Gabe Tang to discuss what he took away from the training.  Check out what he has to say about monetization in the video below.

Quote of the Day

It Has Arrived: The Verizon iPhone 4 is Here!

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan Dan Mead, left, CEO of Verizon Wireless, and Tim Cook, COO of Apple, unveil the Verizon iPhone 4 to be sold starting Feb. 2011

Do you hear that…soft cries of happiness  from AT&T customers (and from people who are glad to FINALLY put this rumor to bed).  The mythical Verizon iPhone is now a reality.  Announced this morning at Verizon’s much-anticipated press conference in New York City, VZ’s COO Lowell McAdam confirmed what many had wanted for so long.  Starting early next month, Verizon will be selling the iPhone.

Many of the predictions the tech community has made about the Verizon iPhone are true; there were no major modifications to the hardware with the exception of a redesigned antenna and lack of sim card slot.

And even though this is a major boon for Verizon and would be iPhone users everywhere there are a few details that should be considered before you run out and grab the gadget.

1. It’s not 4G.  The phone has been designed to run on Verizon’s older CDMA network.   More than likely Apple will introduce the newest generation (iPhone 5) of the super phone this summer with LTE (Long Term Evolution) capability.  Will Verizon customers be able to upgrade seamlessly to the new model?
2. CDMA = No ability to call and surf at the same time.  So you can’ talk and check your email.  Kind of a downside.  However, the CDMA Development Group has said this will change for all CDMA operators this spring (we’ll see).
3. If you’re a current VZ customer, you have a whole host of other things to think about besides the tech factor and they all come down to upgrade credits and cycles (see this blog from Engadget for more details)

With any smart phone purchase there are many reasons to consider before making the investment but the iPhone coming to Verizon is a pretty good thing and it opens up the possibility for the phone going to other CDMA carriers this year (Sprint, T-Mobile).

Will you be getting the Verizon iPhone 4? Let us know in our comments section!

LCO Congratulates our Latest Intern Graduate Morgan Z.

LCO would like to extend our deepest thanks and congratulations to Morgan Z. who recently graduated from our intern program.  A few weeks back, Morgan was a past Intern Idol of the Week and during her time here has made a huge contribution to our organization.  We are sad to see her go, but wish her the best in all of her future endeavors.

LCO’s internship program is one of the longest running in North America, with over 4,000 graduates. LCO interns have gone on to hold top jobs throughout the entertainment industry, and the program itself has been praised by such prominent names as Joseph Lieberman, Michael Bloomberg, David Geffen, George Bush, John McCain and Bill Clinton.

If you are looking to jumpstart your career in the Entertainment Industry, the LCO Internship Program is just the thing for you!

We are currently accepting applicants. Please send your resume and a brief letter of interest to: LCO.internships@gmail.com

To find out more about LCO, follow us on Twitter @lcoonline or please visit us on the web at: www.LCOonline.com