What a week!  Apple finally raised the curtain on its greatly anticipated new tablet, the iPad, sending the Internet aglow for 24 hours, only to have some public nonsense erupt about the use of the word “pad,” which could easily have been but a nonsensical blip, had it not made the front page of The New York Times on January 29; President Obama delivered a much anticipated State of the Union, which instantly flared national emotions, from pride to fury; an American icon turned up as Italian; a German car company unleashed a storm through its Green Police ad campaign; and finally, Toyota delivered an expensive “Mea Culpa.”

1 Blip: Could anyone ever have thought that the name of the new Apple tablet, iPad, would evoke awkward associations with feminine hygiene products? According to Michael Cronan, a naming consultant in Berkeley, Calif., whose company has helped come up with brand names like TiVo and Kindle, “many naming experiments show that women tend to reflexively relate words like “pad” and “flow” to bodily concerns.”

C’mon.  Apple’s marketing team must be incredulous.  Happily their response was no comment.

2 Blunders: McItaly and Green Police.  An American export icon turns Italian, and a German company brings up reminders of the Third Reich.  Unreal.  Along with apple pie, the golden arches of McDonalds are recognized internationally as very American indeed.  And, along comes McItaly, so named because it apparently will use only Italian ingredients.  When McDonalds showed up in Moscow in the early ’90, the company also used only Russian ingredients but it did not become McRussia.  Speaking of diluting what a brand stands for…. According to The Guardian‘s Word of Mouth foodblog, Matthew Fort, the burgers are a “monstrous act of national betrayal.” Couldn’t agree more.

Audi’s misstep in picking an environmentally friendly name for their Super Bowl social media campaign, as in “Green Police,” without first checking it out, was a huge marketing blunder. Readily available research would have revealed that the name was used in Nazi Germany to refer to the German Order Police.  Whether or not consumers will know their history enough to connect the dots, does not justify such oversight. An apology is in order.  And also maybe a new marketing team that gets that research can forestall damage to a company’s image.

1 Headache: the $550 million operating cost headache for Toyota, as it recalled 5.6 million vehicles in the United States alone, swallowed production shutdowns and searched for fixes to have the problem go away, sooner than later.  However, much like the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol recall of the ‘80s, which left the company unscathed because of its strong and open responses, Toyota is doing what is right in an effort to keep the public trust. Its president has issued a Mea Culpa apology and company communiqués continue to update the public.

And finally the one word that is rarely heard, if at all, in political speeches — Decency. President Obama used this word in his State of the Union address, citing the, “fundamental decency that has always been at the core of the American people, that lives on.”  A word to be remembered…

Thank God it’s almost — Monday.

We introduce our first guest blogger of our new monthly series on the 25th of every month, in celebration of our 25th anniversary.

David Houle, author of The Shift Age is one of the top futurists in the country and a much-sought after speaker.  Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment having worked at NBC, CBS and a member of the senior executive team that created and launched MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1 and CNN Headline News.

This new decade, 2010-2020, will be known as the Transformation Decade. The definitions of transformation are several: the act or process of transforming, the state of being transformed, change in form, appearance, nature, or character.

Don’t those definitions feel like what has been already going on in your life and the world? Many of us have already been living in this state. Many of us have only recently felt the impending alterations, disruptions and reorganizations that have begun. Everything seems to be in a transforming state of shift.

We are entering the first full decade of the Shift Age, even though it has already taken root in the last 4 years. This new age has launched incredible shift and upheaval already. This current Great Recession can only be fully understood when seen as the reorganizational recession between two ages, the Information Age and the Shift Age. It is not unlike the recessions of the 1970s, which was the decade of transition between the Industrial and Information Ages. Almost everything is in a state of shift, in a state of being transformed.

To those that may think we are still in the Information Age let me ask you a question I often ask audiences: raise your hand if you don’t have enough information in your life? Of course no one raises their hand. Value, to some degree, is base upon scarcity. If there is too much information, it no longer has value. What will have value in the Shift Age and this new Transformation Decade is attention. The information you put your attention on is what becomes valuable. The question PR professionals must dynamically answer is how can you create attention that therefore creates value?

Think about all that is going on in your life and in the world. The way we communicate has and will continue to change in form, appearance (our gadgets are vastly different that even five years ago) and character (how many of you text or tweet regularly versus even three years ago). The shape of our relationships is changing. The shape of how we work, how we live and how and in what we travel are all changing. The economy and the workplace are changing and being reshaped.

In the next ten years there will be a level of transformation probably unmatched in human history. Just take a look at some disruptions that will transform the PR business:

• Humanity’s relationship to communication technology is rapidly changing and will bring on-going transformation socially, culturally and economically.
• Media will be completely different than it is today. We are only at the initial creative destruction phase of it now
• The workplace will be transformed as the place part becomes less and less relevant. Human beings will only need to be in the same place to collaborate, as work is increasingly defined as collaborative.
• The Internet and our rapid fire use of mobile digital devices to access it has created a pulsing, synaptic place of unprecedented interactivity that on a global scale is starting to feel like a global brain. It is a live, morphing place called the Neurosphere that is not only transforming us now, but could well be the technological model for a new level of human consciousness in 10-20 years. That is an evolutionary level of transformation. An evolution shift of transformative effect.. It may be hard for you to envision, but we are rapidly moving in that direction.

The list could go on and on as to what will be transformed. Take a snapshot look at your life now with all your relationships, ways of thinking, ways of living and ways of looking at the world I promise you that when you take the same snapshot in ten years you will astounded as to the transformation that will have occurred. The speed of change is now both constantly accelerating and environmental. It may feel uncomfortable as familiar things and ways of living are disintegrating. Transformation, to varying degrees, is always uncomfortable. We are and will be transformed in the next ten years.

We have entered the Transformation Decade.

Agency Marks Milestone Year Of Servicing Local, National And International Clients

LOS ANGELES (January 21, 2010) – The Pollack PR Marketing Group (PPMG), an integrated PR and marketing agency announced today that it is kicking off its celebratory anniversary year as it turns 25 on the 25th of March. Founded in 1985 as Pollack & Setzer by senior strategists Noemi Pollack and Paul Setzer, the firm evolved into a multi-specialty agency that develops communication platforms and programs, manages corporate reputations, launches new products and services, and promotes consumer brand engagement for clients ranging from innovative start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, with a focus on consumer products, technologies and services.

“When we think of ourselves as a quarter of a century old, the longevity in that phrase really astonishes,” said Founder & Chief Executive Officer Noemi Pollack. “Just consider that the day the agency opened its doors, there were computers, but no internet, no email, no cell phones; it was the analog age and would move to the digital age only a decade later; it would be another decade before social media would enter our consciousness: and then, at a very quickened pace, the whole communication landscape changed with the advent of digital marketing and, of course, Twitter.”

Fourteen years after its founding, the agency became a partner in The WORLDCOM Public Relations Group, a consortium of 110 agencies in 94 world markets, which added the collective resources and talents of 2,200 professionals that creatively and collaboratively handle small to large scale local, national and international public relations and marketing campaigns, seamlessly.

Jerry Swerling, public relations management consultant, commented, “I’ve been in PR for almost 40 years, 20 of them here in LA. In that time an astonishing number of agencies have disappeared from the scene, because they either couldn’t figure out who they were and what they did, or lost the entrepreneurial spirit and sold to a conglomerate, or simply lacked talent. The fact that the Pollack PR Marketing Group has thrived for 25 years, as a staunchly independent firm in the highly competitive LA market, is an enormous testimonial to the firm’s leadership, sense of self, and commitment to long term client relationships.”

The year-long celebration will include: publishing the 25 most defining PR moments in the last 25 years that brought about the most seismic changes to the communications industry; developing and posting videos on the 25th of every month of forward-thinking communication concepts and ideas that incorporate evolving communication trends, as well as concepts that can support smoother adoption of ‘change’ by corporations – globally; and a community relations “roll-up-your-sleeves” plan, whereby each agency professional will get an opportunity to work an 8-hour day at a charity of their choice on the 25th of every month and, in return, the agency will offer a donation to each charity.

Additionally, guest bloggers who wish to offer their thoughts on whatever is on their minds will be invited to do so on the 25th of every month; and suggestions as to pivotal PR moments for inclusion in the list of 25, will also be requested.

The first guest blogger, futurist David Houle and author of the “Shift Age,” will kick off the guest series with an entry on the 25th of January.

ABOUT THE POLLACK PR MARKETING GROUP
The Pollack PR Marketing Group (PPMG) based in Century City, CA, is a 25-year old mid-sized, multi-specialty agency that develops communication platforms and programs, manages corporate reputations, launches new products and services and promotes consumer brand engagement for clients ranging from innovative start-ups, to Fortune 500 companies, with a focus on consumer products, technologies and services. PPMG is a partner in The WORLDCOM Public Relations Group, a consortium of over 100 partners with offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.ppmgcorp.com, or http://www.pollackblog.com, or follow us on Twitter @PollackPRMktg.

On March 25, 1985, the agency opened its doors.  That will make us 25 years old in three months or, as we prefer, a quarter of a century old.  There is certain longevity in that phrase that astonishes…

Just consider the ride we have taken in our business over our first 25 years: when we opened our doors we had computers, but no internet, no email, no cell phones; we were in the analog age and would move to the digital age only a decade later; it would be another decade before social media would enter our consciousness: and then, at a very quickened pace, the whole communication landscape changed with the advent of digital marketing and, of course, Twitter.

We have plans to celebrate the whole year through, not with a lot of hoopla, but with reflection on how the communications world looked 25 years ago, maybe 15, 10, or 5, and then marvel at what a different world it has become through our “electronic connectedness,” which has accelerated the speed of change.

Our plans are to celebrate not just with reflection, but also to consider some forward-thinking communication means that can lead the path to smoother adoption of change, by corporations – globally.

We also see this milestone anniversary as an opportunity to give back to the community in which we do business.  But really give back — in labor and love.  As such, each agency professional will get an opportunity to work an 8-hour day at the charity of their choice and, in return, the agency will offer a donation to each charity.

It is also a time to compile lists of 25 this or that, invite 12 guest bloggers to give us their thoughts on whatever is on their minds on the 25th of every month and post videos offering concepts and ideas that incorporate evolving communication trends or needs, also on the 25th of every month.

So to kick off our celebration look for our first guest blogger, futurist David Houle and author of the “Shift Age,” with an entry on the 25th of January.

Also join us in compiling a list of the 25 most defining moments in PR/media history since 1985. So to kick off the list, here are my first two choices:

September 11, 2001

Never before in the modern era has there been such a massive, immediate, public demand for ‘real time information’.  Broadcast media could not keep up with the outpouring of information emanating from the devastation that ensued and the “ticker” on the bottom of the screen became a permanent addition to most news channels.  The demand for real-time information no doubt raised the level of public demand and consumption and  undoubtedly opened yet another door for the arrival of social media.

The Cola Wars of the 1980s and 90’s

Pepsi and Coke went head to head in a fight for consumer brand loyalty.  They were successful in staking their ground and dividing the country into two groups of cola drinkers (Pepsi drinkers and Coke drinkers).  This was significant because it set the stage for other brands to really infuse themselves into the lifestyle of consumers in a way that had not been done so effectively until then.  The wars became less about the soda and more about the image with which consumers chose to align themselves.  Simply put, it brought branding to a new level of engagement.

Now I only need 22 more to complete the list, in time to publish it on the 25^th of March.  Can you help with your ideas of what would really fit?  Readers can submit ideas: via Twitter @PollackPRMktg with a #25PR hashtag, comment on the blog, or email to info@ppmgcorp.com.

I suspect it will be hard to pick which ones matter the most, for given the choice, the list would extend way past the number 25.

But that’s not the point.  It’s about being 25, on the 25^th, and compiling, lists of 25…

Stay tuned, more to come . . .

If you have ever sat through a tedious afternoon in a time-share sales presentation, just so that you could take advantage of the offer that came with it — a free weekend stay in Vegas or Reno, you will get the concept that is about to be launched by FreeAllMusic. This recycled version is about watching a 15-30 second video advertisement to get a free downloadable song of your choice.

That’s it! Spend 15 seconds to save 99¢ for a song download.  Doesn’t sound like much of a deal at first glance.

Still, when you consider that the company is testing offers of 15 to 20 free downloads per month, five per user session, it probably adds up to a compiled album of your choice — for free. Moreover, the site, which began as a test version a week ago and plans to open to the public within January, will allow the downloaded songs to be copied and shared, unencumbered by digital rights management restrictions.

Sounds great, that is, until Richard Nailling, chief executive of FreeAllMusic, got caught in print with negative messaging, saying that the service hopes to draw “casual pirates who, for whatever reason, are not paying for music,” and added, “we have made this process easier than stealing.”

Really? Look pirating, stealing or free sharing of songs, has been around for a long time and this site is not about to police that, curtail it or grab pirates’ attention.  The thrill of pirating has always been about bucking the law.

Here’s what I would recommend for the CEO to focus on, in his pre-launch quotes:

Speak about the win-win situation in which advertisers can’t get ‘TiVoed’ out; users get the songs they want; and record labels get paid for the free songs by advertisers.  Speak about the two major labels that have already signed up and the six advertisers who are on board for the site’s debut this month, including Coca-Cola, Warner Bros, Zappos.com, etc.

Comment on the empowerment of the user as an “influencer,” for the new site will encourage them to post the details on their Facebook profiles and Twitter streams. And articulate to advertisers how this will extend virally into social networks like Facebook, for friends who opt to download the same song, must first also watch the same ad.

And then consider the odd side effect.  Actually watching an ad, can open up a whole new vista for the TiVo generation, which has never known the entertainment value of some of the TV commercials that had a profound effect on our culture in the 40′s through the 70′s and beyond — ads that to this day remain icons.

The 15-second forced viewing, may force advertisers, to rekindle creativity, to tell a story that engages viewers and binds them with the brand.  Advertisers just got lucky — and all for the love of music.

No need to help pirates go straight.  Just a need to get good messaging out.