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Nothing new here. It's SOP for about all PR firms. Social media was the best thing that could happen to PR firms: they can broadcast their message(or framing) w

by olihb 17y ago

Nothing new here. It's SOP for about all PR firms. Social media was the best thing that could happen to PR firms: they can broadcast their message(or framing) without interference by the press. But with all the layoffs in the old press, journalists are overworked so it's not unusual to have PR releases slightly reworded parading as real articles in major newspapers and even more so in local ones.

Alex3917 17y ago
"It's SOP for about all PR firms." Not really. Generally a company hires a PR firm on retainer to make introductions between the entrepreneur and people the entrepreneur would benefit from knowing... Journalists, bloggers, business partners, etc. The PR firms then sell you an off-the-shelf media relations plan that includes services like writing and distributing press releases, doing media buys at discounted prices, booking trade show booths, etc. They also can help you develop and execute something bespoke if you're willing to pay for it. No big PR firm would ever astroturf because their brand is worth more than the services they provide. And no real firm of any size would ever put it in their media relations plan for obvious reasons. You can clearly hire black hat people to do this for you, but it's not like it's a legitimate PR service.
- olihb 17y ago
  "In all PR firms" was a little too much inclusive... :-) My comment was based on my experience when I was working for PR firms. Old school partners struggled to understand social media and asked to interns and employees to astroturf. Theses experiences made me more cynical of PR firms. It doesn't help that many businesses in Montréal got caught doing exactly that. For example, BIXI (self-serve bicycle renting service) created a supposedly fan made blog and the two authors (which were supposed to be real fans) didn't even exist. The press had a field day with this.
antonovka 17y ago
Even if it's "standard operating practice", it's unethical and stupid and deserves to be ridiculed loudly and publicly. This comment provides common sense PR firm position: I have had clients ask me to write reviews for them, and have refused (and explained the rationale). Why? Because refusing protects them from articles like this. Something that hasn’t been a focus here is that numerous companies have engaged an agency to perform this task for them. As a PR professional, I consider exposing a client to the risk of being featured in an article like this to be completely unprofessional. I haven’t had a single person push back after explaining this. http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/08/22/cheating-the-app-store-pr-firm-has-interns-post-positive-reviews-for-clients/#comment-448646 http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/08/22/cheating-the-app-stor...

by olihb 17y ago

Alex3917 17y ago

"It's SOP for about all PR firms." Not really. Generally a company hires a PR firm on retainer to make introductions between the entrepreneur and people the entrepreneur would benefit from knowing... Journalists, bloggers, business partners, etc. The PR firms then sell you an off-the-shelf media relations plan that includes services like writing and distributing press releases, doing media buys at discounted prices, booking trade show booths, etc. They also can help you develop and execute something bespoke if you're willing to pay for it. No big PR firm would ever astroturf because their brand is worth more than the services they provide. And no real firm of any size would ever put it in their media relations plan for obvious reasons. You can clearly hire black hat people to do this for you, but it's not like it's a legitimate PR service.

olihb 17y ago
"In all PR firms" was a little too much inclusive... :-) My comment was based on my experience when I was working for PR firms. Old school partners struggled to understand social media and asked to interns and employees to astroturf. Theses experiences made me more cynical of PR firms. It doesn't help that many businesses in Montréal got caught doing exactly that. For example, BIXI (self-serve bicycle renting service) created a supposedly fan made blog and the two authors (which were supposed to be real fans) didn't even exist. The press had a field day with this.

antonovka 17y ago

Even if it's "standard operating practice", it's unethical and stupid and deserves to be ridiculed loudly and publicly. This comment provides common sense PR firm position: I have had clients ask me to write reviews for them, and have refused (and explained the rationale). Why? Because refusing protects them from articles like this. Something that hasn’t been a focus here is that numerous companies have engaged an agency to perform this task for them. As a PR professional, I consider exposing a client to the risk of being featured in an article like this to be completely unprofessional. I haven’t had a single person push back after explaining this. http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/08/22/cheating-the-app-store-pr-firm-has-interns-post-positive-reviews-for-clients/#comment-448646 http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/08/22/cheating-the-app-stor...