Social Growth Requires Quality Assurance

Ad Week mentioned a report from eMarketer that puts the number of social media users in the U.S. at 127 million by year's end - a whopping 16% jump versus 2009. Equally impressive is the firm's prediction that nearly two-thirds of U.S. Internet users will regularly visit social networks come 2014.  The age of the integrated multi-channel media campaign has arrived, but brand marketers must proceed with integrity because audiences are still wary of social media.

NBC's 'heroic' use of transmedia is a model to follow

Hollywood’s grasp of transmedia marketing is evident in FastCompany.com's interview with Tim Kring, creator and writer of the NBC series, Heroes. The show’s ambitious use of transmedia makes it a model worth studying. 

Kring himself is someone to watch. He says all of his upcoming television projects will utilize transmedia, and so will his own upcoming novel.

Entertainment will hook the public on transmedia; shows, films and certain books will seem incomplete without a multi-media experience.  This bodes well for writers, editors and web producers who will find steady work creating transmedia content. Who will absorb the cost? 
Producers and studios, using ad revenue generated from across the transmedia mix.

Social Media and PR's New Age

Mashable ran a very good round-up about social media's impact on public relations. It's no surprise that PR folk have embraced social media; after all, their field has deep roots in strategic storytelling and community-building. Now, social platforms and tools take this work to a profoundly new level.