Consumer brands, consumer branded pr and technology are merging like never before. The days of getting something for nothing are over. Brands (including musicians) are demanding greater control over their destinies, and they are harnessing the power of technology to achieve it.

In the latest branding development, musicians have begun customizing social networking sites dedicated to their brand. Why? For a larger influence, a tailored message and a way to control the information their fans give them. And the added advertising revenue doesn’t hurt.

More and more acts, from Kylie Minogue to Ludacris to the Pussycat Dolls, are launching their own social networks, which are becoming a sort of next-generation version of artist Web sites.

“(Artists) think about MySpace and Facebook as funnels for their own social networks,” says Gina Bianchini, CEO of Ning, a company that provides social networking tools for Thisis50, Sara Bareilles and others. “They take and use services where they don’t know the users, don’t have access and don’t have full control, and funnel those fans to something they do control.”

- Billboard: Musicians Take Social Networking into Their Own Hands http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080329/en_nm/social_dc

The above article is a necessary read and one of many continued brand invigorations in today’s changing environment.

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

I spent nearly all day today with my 5WPR staff discussing various issues, and one thing that’s always requested is my must-read list. I’ve yet to meet any PR pros that don’t obsessively read, so here’s the hot list:

Every a.m. at my door: The New York Post, Daily News, Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

The first is always the Post. It’s a quick read, five minutes out of the day. Sometimes more if I have time to get back to it. Then, generally, the Marketplace section of WSJ, followed by the Times – a more detailed read for 15-20 minutes in the cab or subway, depending on what time I leave my house on the Upper West.

On Tuesdays, I obsessively read The Observer (just a great read) at my house.

When I get to work, I generally jump on a number of different blogs and rarely have the time to read long articles. Instead, I print and read them at home on the weekend.

A day doesn’t pass that I don’t take a few magazines home. And, frankly, by Friday night they are all sitting in my living room. I take the weekend to at least scan them, or I’ll try and spend an hour reading in the steam room. Like what? Religiously: Ad Age, PR Week, O’Dwyers (PR trade), AdWeek, Rolling Stone, BusinessWeek, Fortune Small Business, Complex Magazine, The Jerusalem Report, The Jewish Week, INC, ESPN, Sports Business Journal, King and XXL (which now features my client Snoop Dogg on the cover)… I read these all very regularly, although not cover to cover, as well as countless articles which I print and read daily.

I also genuinely try to read two books at a time: one business and one fiction.

“When do we find the time to read?” is often a question I get asked by staff and industry folks.

Answer:
1: Read while you travel (something I unfortunately do too much)
2: Cut out the TV (I rarely watch television)
3: Sleep when you are dead

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

In reading PR Week this week, I came across the following article:

http://www.prweekus.com/State-of-the-news-media-gloomy/article/108192/

which essentially states that the media “business” is in bad shape.

The number of resumes from media folks seeking to transition to public relations in recent months has been nothing short of shocking to me. Simply a tremendous amount of resumes floating around this way (particularly among TV folks).

As Web 2.0 and so called “new media” continues to flourish, expect this trend to continue to grow. Media needs to continue to adjust and grow, and for some that will mean changing fields.

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

I had two meetings back to back this morning with a friend and a client at The Regency Hotel (a 5WPR client and unbelievable power breakfast location), and our conversations sparked some random observations on this soon-to-be-spring day in NYC:

1: Advertising Age has become a great magazine to find the pulse of marketing and advertising. By changing a lot of the content, it’s transformed into the rare “can’t miss” trade. This week’s articles on digital content, and a variety of other dead-on articles week after week after week, are absolutely impressive. While other industry trades focus on account wins and the like, Advertising Age has become so much more, and I look forward to receiving it every week.

2: While I was sitting today with my close friend, who is involved in a wide variety of businesses, he observed that the magnitude of America’s power will never again be the same. Traveling regularly and simply observing the changing of the guard throughout the world, I’ve seen that the power paradigm has forever shifted, and I believe it will continue to shift. Will America continue to be the center of the financial world?

While everyone realizes how much the prices of gas and wheat (price of bagels) have risen, it’s far rarer that people regularly look at how much the dollar has fallen. So how much have prices really risen? In a global economy, the real culprit isn’t more expensive commodities; it’s weaker U.S. currency. This is something we need to continue to recognize as we build businesses. (I have another colleague who has cut back his business 60-70% in the U.S. and now spends that time in Dubai.)

3: Earlier this week, I attended a Torah class with a Rabbi who wisely observed that just 20 years ago, business people used to plan months in advance (travel, supplies, etc.), and now people rarely plan a week in advance. Many are on a plane more than 25 times a year, which would have been unheard of years ago.

For those of us in the marketing business, we need to realize that travel will only increase and that this concept of a global business will only continue.

5W PR

Why does bad service seem to appear synonymous with “uber-cool”, particularly when it comes to hotels? What is the correlation?

I have just returned from Los Angeles, where both of the regular hotels I love were booked; and so I was forced to stay at a new hotel. At a friend’s recommendation (Knowing I love Bond Street sushi), I stayed at the new Thompson hotel.

Upon arrival, I had to wait 20 minutes to check-in. Over the course of a few days, I had to switch rooms 2x because the air conditioning didn’t work in two different rooms, they couldn’t give me reservations at the restaurant because they were booked (The concept of actually being able to eat at the hotel you stay at must have seemed foreign to them), and all around I felt the staff was “too cool” to be bothered helping guests.

This is why I like to stay away from the uber-cool in business for 5WPR as well – They seem to be too cool to actually want to work.

Ronn Torossian
5WPR