Social Media has experienced many changes in just a few short years of its existence.  Social Media Week has entertained many individuals from startups, bloggers and social media gurus to enterprise companies.

Here are some key takeaways from Social Media Week 2012:

• You can’t produce enough content in today’s Social/Digital Age.  Content is King!

• Knowing your audience well and being able to speak to the different groups through social media gives you a different angle to sell so you are not asking the same people to buy/do the same thing.
  • Here is an example of the clothing giant H&M asking its audience to shop for spring, but in using different language and digital assets (top post leads to a video and bottom post leads to a photo album) it is attracting two different audiences of fans on Facebook.

• When an artist or public figure tweet, retweet or responds to a fan’s comment it is considered the new autograph.  There is a lot of value and long term benefits of responding to fans and followers individually.

• Social Media was also noted as being the NEW ‘Reality TV’ since platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow fan’s to see personal pictures, stories and conversations with other public figures they may have never had access to before.

Ronn Torossian on NBA Star Lin

• The IRS is looking to hire a Public Relations agency – Wow could one imagine a more different engagement? http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/02/17/irs-seeks-some-pr-help/
• In the latest case of the PR industry being a convenient whipping boy, the Mayor of Vancouver a city with a yearly operating expenditures of about $1 billion for spending $85,934 for PR consultants in 2011. A tremendously small amount to communicate and for “social media strategy and production, strategic political advice, and public relations.” What’s the cost of communicating poorly one wonders? An absurd criticism. http://www.vancourier.com/technology/Mayor+spent+consultants/6168176/story.html
• Ronn Torossian, Founder of 5WPR was quoted extensively by media on Jeremy Lin – Some highlights:
• CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/15/us/new-york-jeremy-lin/index.html

“Jeremy Lin is a marketing dream come true,” said Ronn Torossian, chief executive of New York-based 5W Public Relations. “If somebody had a checklist of what a brand should be, Jeremy Lin hits every one.”

• Bloomberg – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW_rETYj_es
• ABC Eyewitness News: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9GYIVpfQTQ
• 2 NBC News Appearances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycaWovqbYI0
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF8F21N05NI
• Reuters.com: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/15/csports-us-nba-knicks-lin-idCATRE81E03W20120215

“He is Tiger Woods before the scandal, I think he has everything going for him,” Ronn Torossian, chief executive of 5W Public Relations, told Reuters. “If he can continue to deliver on the court his possibilities off the court are limitless.

• Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/12/jeremy-lin-knicks-endorsement-deals_n_1271536.html

“We’ve had clients where you just let them be them,” said Ronn Torossian, whose 5WPR agency has represented ex-Knicks Allan Houston and Jalen Rose, and former boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. “I don’t think you need to do a ton with Lin. He’s authentic. He’s clearly hard working.”

• CNBC.com: http://www.cnbc.com/id/46414990

“For me, Jeremy Lin is the American dream, a marketer’s dream,” said Ronn Torossian, a sports marketing expert and president and CEO of 5W Public Relations.

Owning a Public Relations firm, 5WPR, stress is always a factor. Public Relations is a 24/7 business and 1 never knows what comes next.

Some tips which allow me to cope:

• Take pre-planned vacations (preferably in another time zone so you get free time before office hours start – as even a vacation for an executive cant mean completely tuning out)
• Exercise – Sweat always helps…
• As I said in a recent Men’s Health article:  Have music available where you can listen to music for a few minutes to rebalance – http://news.menshealth.com/cope-with-stress/2012/01/19/

Different executives have different ways to defrag – Real Estate mogul Elie Hirschfeld has his triathlons and the gym he loves – Sports Club/LA (East Side) – Doesn’t hurt that he owns the building. Read more about Elie Hirschfeld favorite places at:  http://mia.hauteliving.com/haute-secrets/?cat=All&market=New%20York&guideid=270

As Mark Birnbaum and Eugene Remm who run a nightclub and hospitality empire recently explained in GQ they box multiple times a week. Read more at:  http://www.gq.com/style/ten-essentials/201112/emm-group#ixzz1lSAIGMBt

Of course, those who don’t live in NYC have many different options – Michael Malik, a gaming mogul has boats which allow him to defrag – and of course we can all dream of having our own island ala Richard Branson.

Ronn Torossian is the CEO of 5WPR, and author of the recently released PR book “For Immediate Release”

Wanted to share my 2 most recent reads:

Edit

• “Running the Gauntlet” by  Jeffrey Hayzlett – I enjoyed it a lot as it shared read details about how to build business, grow business and the need to adapt. I know Jeffrey (and he quoted me a few times in the book), and he’s a seasoned executive who has succeeded in sharing some of the things he has accomplished in corporate America.

• Re-read the legendary book “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell – I find great books are worth re-reading every year or 2 – and I always gain something extra when I re-read a great book.

And if you haven’t yet bought the book I wrote, “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations”, here’s a link you can buy it at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-immediate-release-ronn-torossian/1102047620?r=1&ean=9781936661169&cm_mmc=Google+Product+Search-_-Q000000630-_-For+Immediate+Release-_-9781936661169

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Everyone talks about a defining moment in their lives – I vividly remember in my 9^th grade Junior High school public school class in the Bronx a teacher calmly, and clearly explaining to me – in front of the whole class how I’d never be anything in life and should recognize it now.  When I cursed her repeatedly with 4 letter words, I was sent to the Principal’s office.  When the school called my mom to tell her I’d been kicked out of class, she asked me why, and when I explained, she let the school know I was right.  And I was.

Words matter – and last night when I spoke at New York University in front of a Masters class, where “For Immediate Release” by Ronn Torossian is required reading, I thought of that teacher.

If you can’t fly then run.

If you can’t run then walk.

If you can’t walk then crawl.

But whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.

Onwards and upwards – To see some of the video footage of Ronn Torossian speaking at NYU please go to the 5WPR Youtube Channel.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR