Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Augmented Reality and its Effectiveness.



By: Rae Hildreth
The measurement of effectiveness of augmented reality is evolving and is getting incorporated into many different industries. It is no longer just limited to print advertising.

Now it is being used in fashion. Models walking down the runway have “software” in their clothes which triggers the screen and different 3D animation goes along with the runway show. Also, buildings have embraced the new social media. The company Quoso in Tokyo has barcodes on the side of their building. If you put your iphone camera up to it which sends back up to date information on what is going on inside the building.

The best way to see if social media is being effective is with the participation. More and more companies are using it so it must be measuring up to objectives. It’s also new technology which is exciting and enticing. It has obviously established creditability; has shown the traffic and tracking of  how many hits the company gets by checking key words; if people use their iphones and apps this will show the time by seeing how long people stay. The perception of social media and the image that is being perceived is a positive one.

 My experience with augmented reality has been a positive experience so far. It’s always fun to see how it is constantly changing and different medias are adapting augmented reality.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Using Twitter to build a political campaign

By John Fisher

I have been work working with a candidate to get interest in his campaign for Congress. The main focus has been to get people following him on Twitter. I'm going to review here some of the things I have done, some of the roadblocks I've faced, and some suggestions for improvement.

Progress report

As of March 30th his Twitter had 132 followers, 405 friends, and had made 18 updates. The site ranked 342,434th on www.twitterholic.com! (by followers) and  1st in the candidate's location on twitterholic!

Roadblocks

Not everyone is suited to using Twitter and many of those that use Twitter find the number of messages overwhelming. Younger supporters will more likely follow and re-tweet Twitter messages.

I'm not able to meet in person on a weekly basis with the candidate and his campaign staff. Although I'm in frequent phone and email contact with the campaign and other campaign workers, face-to-face is still the most effective way to communicate.

I'm a volunteer and only spend a few hours a week on this project.

Some recommendations

Continue to encourage the candidate's supporters to follow him on Twitter. Have his campaign manager send an message to his email list to suggest they signup for Twitter, build followers from their email lists, and re-tweet any messages they get from his Twitter.

Write to the candidate's friends on his two Facebook pages, asking them to follow him on Twitter and re-tweet his messages.

Follow more closely the Internet conversations about politics in the Congressional district and among other candidates. Search for people of similar viewpoints on Twitter to invite them to follow the candidate's Twitter.

Find and invite Twitter users in his district to follow him.

Send out daily updates.

Here is a good site that tells how to get and use Twitter metrics

Building a political email list

Killer Campaigning http://www.killercampaigning.com/ tells how to
build a statewide and national email list.

First, they suggest getting form and auto responder software like the
ones offered by AWeber Communications. http://www.aweber.com/

Step One: Build & Publicize Your Sign Up Form

Step Two: Create Your New Subscriber Followup Email

Step Three: Create Automated Campaign Email Series

Step Four: Keep Growing Your Email List Over Time!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Augmented Reality

Throughout our short lives everyone experiences fads and trends. These affect our personal lives, but don’t think our careers are immune. The recent trends of Augmented reality  will be the focus point of this blog. It’s not only important to stay current as public relations professionals, it’s expected.  The first trend being examined will be the growing field of augmented reality and its effect on PR’s own reality.

Augmented reality is a term slowly popping up on radar screens of many industries, including public relations. PC Magazine defines augmented reality as, “A type of virtual reality that combines real and imagined images” (PC Mag, 2010). AR combines the web with reality, presenting a perfect marriage between audiences and the messages trying to reach them.  AR can be used only in a limited fashion currently, through phones and webcams. This technology will incorporate operating platforms, but will also create new ones (Sullivan, 2010). 

The idea of augmented reality has been around as early as the 1970s according to Andy Cameron, executive director of Fabrica, an interactive design studio. “AR has been around for ages, maybe going back as far as the 1970s and art installations that overlaid real spaces with something virtual.”  AR took a major attempt to implement some of its ideas in 2002, but the internet being in one with reality hadn’t taken place yet, resulting in failure (Arthur, 2010).

With faster internet speeds, and smart phones this has provided the mobile, responsive platforms AR requires. This has catapulted an idea from just being a conception to implementation in the public sector.  There are several applications out there today that imbed data  into reality, by marking tweets, the location of mass transits entrances, and prices of houses, all by through the lens of a smart phone (Chen,2009).  The next reason and more importantly why it’s an emerging trend in public relations can be described by one word, interactive.

Public relations professionals are always trying to reach their audience in any way possible, and augmented reality promises them just that.  Imagine you’re career focuses you on tourism, and your job is to inform visitors of the great attractions of the city. The traditional method provides pamphlets, commercials and brochures to reach your audience. Augmented reality however would allow the visitor to hold up his phone and have information be provided on all he sees. You would not only be able to improve the quality of the visit, you’d also be able to maintain up-to-date information, and steer the conversation. (Chen, 2010)

PR has realized the potential of this and has applied it in a few ways already. The fashion magazine Esquire implemented AR when you can see Robert Downey Jr. coming to life on its cover, when put in front of a webcam. Books are already being planned with AR elements bringing them to life. The PR professionals will be able to incorporate AR into traditional mediums of communication to help promote their client. The interactive element of AR to attract and inform passing individuals is an element that if harnessed correctly will catapult the importance of good public relations (Arthur, 2010).   

Augmented reality will continue to not only advance communication between human to human, but also human-machine. Imagine that if you purchase an item that requires setup, and instead of lengthy book of complicated terms. PR professionals can use this to explain new products to an interested customer base. They can explain the benefits of the product, and make sure it’s portrayed correctly and messages can be tailored to different audiences.

Integration, it’s something that is becoming important as the world’s economies become ever more dependent on each other. Augmented reality not only embraces this new idea, but takes it to new limits. Imagine visiting a foreign country, where everything is in a language unknown to you, but it doesn’t matter because you have AR by your side. It will no doubt be able to present information to the traveler, breaking one of the hardest barriers, the communication barrier. The idea of being able to go somewhere and to get the insight that the locals have to the attractions located there, will create a positive synergy throughout the planet. The simple fact is that everyone will be held more accountable for providing the services at the top notch they say they offer. (Sullivan, 2010)

With any new technology there is always a downslide and augment reality is no exception. The simple and obvious problem is that for this technology to be successful it is going to require lots of money for the technology to be implemented in new platforms. There are luckily current platforms like cell phones and computers that can handle AR to a degree, however to be successful lots more money is needed to be invested. (Educase, 2005) 

  The future possibilities this technology presents the public relations professional are endless.  Which is why highlighting it is an emerging trend and one that can’t be ignored. The idea of social media will no longer be just in the net, but interacting with us in reality. 

By Andrew Maddux

 

 

Bibliography

Arthur, C. (2010, March 21). Augmented reality: it's like real life, but better. In The Observer . 
     Retrieved March 22, 2010, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/21/ 
     augmented-reality-iphone-advertising 
 
Educause. (2005, September 21). 7 things you should know about Augmented Reality . In Educause . 
     Retrieved March 22, 2010, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7007.pdf 

 

Layar. (2010). Augmented Reality Browser: Layar. In Layar. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from 
     http://layar.com

 

PC Magazine. (2010). Encyclopedia: Mixed Reality. In PC Magazine. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from 
     http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=augmented+reality&i=47102,00.asp 

 

Sullivan, M. (2010, March 14). SXSW: Augmented Reality and the Outer Web. In PC World. Retrieved

     March 22, 2010, from http://www.pcworld.com/article/191505/

     sxsw_augmented_reality_and_the_outer_web.html

 

 

 

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Measuring the Effectiveness of Cisco Eos

        Cisco Eos is a social media platform that music labels buy to set up websites for their artists. Warner Music Group has several artists such as Colbie Caillait, Trey Songz, and Paramore. Paramore is under the Fueled by Ramen record label. I have been following Paramore since I have joined their website. Paramore.net is a social media site where Paramore fans can engage in conversations with each other as well as members of the band. The website also provides links to merchandise and news about the bands.

I think that this website measures its effectiveness by keeping track of the number of new members. On the homepage, they have a box showing all of the new members. Paramore.net also keeps track of how many people buy music legally from the website as well as how many fans purchase merchandise. The effectiveness of the website is also measured by the number of posts, conversations, photos and videos posted, and other things that can spark up conversations among Paramore fans. The website tracks all interactions occurring on the  band’s website.

I  believe that Cisco Eos allows for Warner Music Group to build larger fan bases for their bands. By having fans join social media sites that revolve around their favorite artists, people have a chance to find common ground with others, and, therefore, building relationships and spreading the word out about a particular band.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Use Facebook to aggregate your social media

Brian Solis (Putting the Public Back in PR, p. 174) recommends using Facebook as a way of bringing together all your social media.  You can embed in Facebook tools like: a social calendar, Flickr photos, upcoming events, short cuts to your closet associates and a comprehensive social network panel.  I'm not convinced that Facebook is the right tool to aggregate all my social media.  Facebook has too many things happening and the more that happens the more complex it gets.

Augmented Reality

This is the print media's effort to get in touch with social media.

Management denies problems with acquarium; witnesses claim otherwise

By Gina Butler
The Dubai Mall was partly closed on Thursday after an aquarium containing thousands of fish and other sea animals started leaking, police and witnesses said.
Police claim that the tank cracked causing a water leak. However, the mall management denied the claim.
Emaar's chairman Mohammed Alabbar denied there was a leak in the aquarium, saying there was a "technical fault in the operating device."
Go here to read more.