Atomic PR Blog

Chad Giron Joins Atomic PR New York As Account Director

2010-07-23T23:00:01Z

Atomic New York's newest account director, Chad Giron, likes games. As a native Pittsburgher, he can't help but build his autumn Sundays around Steelers games...and then there are the Penguins, too. (He doesn't like to talk about the Pirates - we can't blame him.) Chad has brought his considerable consumer tech, digital entertainment and public affairs game to Atomic New York - adding even more depth to Atomic's already deep bench of tech PR pros.

Chad comes to Atomic with more than a decade of diverse communications experience. He started off at Edelman in Washington, DC (and was a White House intern before that) then moved on to the firm's LA office. At Edelman Chad worked on a selection of blue chip clients including Toshiba, Warner Home Video and the Motion Picture Association of America. He then moved in-house as Director, Global Media for publicly-traded Syntax-Brillian corporation - better known for making Olevia-brand HDTVs and Vivitar digital cameras - and a marketing sponsorship with ESPN that Chad helped to manage.

Chad has a BA in History from Penn State and also studied in a Masters of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California. He also claims to play a mean game of Trivial Pursuit. With his diversity of experience with major clients and across sectors - and his new media and digital content development skills - Chad's a great addition to the growing team at Atomic New York.

Update: AtomicPR's work for The Trust For Public Land to save Cahuenga Peak - the home of the iconic Hollywood Sign

2010-07-19T23:58:06Z

Sean Mulholland originally posted about this project in February when AtomicPR's L.A. office had just unveiled the first phase of a stunt to cover up the Hollywood Sign, which generated major international media and blogosphere buzz - Atomic's "Hollywood sign" stunt for the Trust for Public Land. We don't always get multiple news helicopters to turn out for all our programs, but it's pretty cool when they do. :-)

By covering up the Sign, the Save Cahuenga Peak project went on to capture the imagination of a wide variety of organizations and people, from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, to Dame Elizabeth Taylor and Ellen DeGeneres, to Governor Schwarzenegger and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Even the Vatican got in touch- and Hugh Hefner jumped in as the surprise punctuation mark at the end.

The AtomicPR - designed Save the Peak campaign mixed insightful research and strategy with a high-level celebrity and politician evangelist program, strong media relations, a micro-site, active social media interaction, a donation widget, video and real world events. The Save the Peak campaign successfully raised the $12.5 million needed to set aside Cahuenga Peak as an extension of Los Angeles' Griffith Park, and will be enjoyed for generations to come. A detailed description of the campaign and results is here: The Trust for Public Land: From Hollywood to Save The Peak, and Atomic's teams in L.A. and San Francisco had a blast working on it.

AtomicPR Perspective: The SEO impact of Google's new Caffeine index on public relations

2010-07-15T04:41:48Z

Google recently announced a major overhaul of its search index which they've dubbed Caffeine. The new indexing system marks a major shift in Google's ability to index content in near real time - so fast in fact, that some sites report new content being available in Google's search index within minutes.

In the past Google (and all search engines for that matter) indexed content over time, processed it, and used that data to make periodical updates to their indexes. A few years ago one could expect minor updates monthly, with the occasional major shift a few times a year.

Over the past decade the search engines have gone more and more real-time, prioritizing some content over others. Sites such as news sites and higher profile blogs would be crawled and processed more quickly (usually multiple times a day) whereas other websites might only be crawled weekly or monthly. With the advent of truly real-time services like Twitter, Facebook, and others, even this crawling frequency was often inadequate.

Caffeine is a fundamental shift in the way Google indexes the web. Rather than have a layered index with different priority levels, the index is now designed to be instantly updatable.

Previously each layer of the index would have to be crawled in its entirety and then updated. With Caffeine Google now processes all content in smaller chunks and continually updates its index with the new content. In other words, when Google sees your content it goes live.

This has obvious PR implications. Now blog posts can ping Google and be live right away, providing for much richer near real-time content possibilities. Beyond blogging, all new content - be it on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, or anywhere else - can instantly surface on Google.

The implications of real-time search are like hashtags on steroids. Having an understanding of search and the factors influence rank now take on a much broader role, as all content can be instantly evaluated against Google's search algorithms.

AtomicPR has been weaving search principles into its practice for nearly a decade, with several of us having specific backgrounds in search, SEO, PPC, and content optimization. We view search as an intrinsic part of any PR / marketing campaign, not something to be bolted on after the fact. Read more about our approach to search here.

Media and blogger event showcasing the Art of Managing Digital Media for new Atomic client: NETGEAR

2010-07-10T16:18:56Z

Recently, Atomic PR won the NETGEAR account - stand by for a formal announcement. In our first major launch and kick-off event this past Thursday, we took to our favorite San Francisco art gallery and nightclub 111 Minna to showcase NETGEAR's first-of-its-kind ReadyNAS Ultra, which along with partners Intel, TiVo, Orb and Skifta, brings a bit of art to the management of digital media.

The innovative network storage product does away forever with those ever-accumulating and capacity-escalating USB storage devices in favor of a central unit from which users simply stream and media-shift content from one device to another, anywhere in the house. Even better, it's the first solution to provide nearly limitless capacity to all TiVo's, putting an end to domestic warfare over what to delete next.

After a short intro from Chairman and CEO Patrick Lo, a couple dozen local media, bloggers and analysts had the opportunity to speak with NETGEAR executives, see the products in action, and hear from partner executives who also had demos running at the event. All with a DJ groove in the background to keep things lively throughout the night.

The following morning, more than 40 stories appeared in media and blogs, with headlines like "NETGEAR aims to make home storage hip" (CNET), "How NETGEAR's ReadyNAS Ultra Redefines the Role of Network Storage" (PC World) and "NETGEAR tries to kill off local storage with its networked media servers" (VentureBeat). And the press release hadn't even hit yet. Here's some of the coverage on Google News: http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=ReadyNAS+Ultra

Great product, fun night - keep your eye out for more.

Atomic PR wins Pioneer Electronics account, and gets blown away at 2010 Pioneer Sound Build-off

2010-07-04T16:15:09Z

In April 2010, Atomic PR was selected as agency of record for Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., following a competitive review involving some of the top public relations agencies in Los Angeles and the US. Our first assignment was to attend the electronic leader's fourth annual Pioneer Sound Build-off event in La Quinta, California.

http://soundbuildoff.pioneerelectronics.com/home

View the Vehicle Gallery View the Event Gallery

We came, we saw, and were blown away by the sound and the enthusiasm as twelve of Pioneer's top audio specialist retailers displayed fully outfitted vehicles with Pioneer's Stage 4 reference quality products. These speakers, subwoofers, amplifiers and in-dash head units are devoted purely to sound quality and reproducing the artist's original intention. Many of us at Atomic had never heard a sound system that wasn't factory installed, and just sitting in these specially designed cars was like hearing a CD or watching high definition TV for the very first time. You don't realize what you're missing until you experience it.

To this crowd, having an ear for the intricacies of balanced, high-fidelity sound is like having the palette to discern the terroir of a fine wine. We spoke with reporters who've owned Pioneer products for decades, refusing to get rid of them. Not many industries, or brands, have a following so devoted, and while we're still in the process of hammering out our plans for helping shape Pioneer's image, media coverage and online conversations into the future, we're looking forward to leveraging the incredible loyalty of the brand's enthusiasts.

What a great assignment.

Are PR people becoming the new spammers?

2010-06-04T20:33:46Z

Jason Mendelson, a venture capitalist who blogs on venture capital topics and other things, posted a pretty negative piece about Atomic this morning, Why AtomicPR Sucks Ass and How They are Breaking the Law, Too. He also recently posted a piece titled Are PR People Becoming the New Spammers?. I've reached out personally to Jason to talk it over.

He's certainly entitled to his opinion and to air it openly. But Atomic doesn't practice or condone "carpet bombing", and we've had very few complaints or "stop" requests over the 10 years we've worked with high profile start ups and their VC firms.

Obviously he's pretty frustrated. It's unfortunate that our agency gets to serve as the current example in his coverage on the topic; in practice, we try pretty hard to target specific kinds of content only to individuals who are interested, and invest in rather expensive journalist and blogger databases like that from Cision, as many other top firms do.

Our good intentions aside, after looking into Jason's complaint, I found that he has indeed told a few of our people over recent years to stop contacting him. Though each has attempted to comply, his name has popped back up again on other teams' lists of relevant contacts. This is partly due to a process/technology disconnect and clearly, we need a solution at agency level to make certain that no one here, on any team, ever emails him again. Or others as cases may arise. Our tech team is working on a solution as I post this.

Jason's current listing in the Cision journalist & blogger database

Aside from our need to avoid contact with Jason, part of the reason that he (and others) may be receiving contact from PR firms is that he's listed as a blogger who covers venture capital related topics in the Cision database; an industry standard that communications professionals use in an attempt to target content and individual interactions with journalists and bloggers that are interested in receiving information on specific topics. Here's Jason's current Cision profile and contact info:

We contacted Cision today, and a rep told us that their team actively contacts journalists and bloggers to confirm that they want to be listed in the database, and that many of those listed fill out questionnaires detailing their areas of interest as well as their contact preferences.

According to the Cision rep, bloggers or journalists can opt out of their service by emailing their request to Changes.us@cision.com and Cision will delete them from their database with no questions asked within 48 hours.

Please get in touch with questions or comments to this post or email me: andy@atomicpr.com.

Atomic PR has managed the PR and social media work in advance of more than 20 acquisitions of start-up companies in the past few years

2010-04-20T09:45:08Z

We were talking the other day, and it occurred to us that over the past few years, Atomic has helped with the positioning and messaging, the research and planning, media training, media and blogger relations, tours, events, social media initiatives, video campaigns and other communications activities in the period leading up to the acquisition of scores of start-up clients. And Atomic has continued to grow. We didn't do an exhaustive search of our records, but here's what we can recall off the top of our heads.

Atomic PR Named 2009 Tech PR Agency of the Year

2010-04-06T17:38:15Z

Holmes Report Recognizes Atomic PR's Innovative Use of Communications Analytics, Full Spectrum Communications Mixing Traditional and Social Media, Video and Search, and High Profile Breakthrough Campaigns

Each year, The Holmes Report, an influential independent publication covering the international public relations industry, evaluates the performance of public relations agencies based on specific criteria and a survey of leading corporations and clients to select the top agencies. We're exceedingly happy that Atomic has been named Tech PR Agency of the Year 2009.

We're grateful to the Holmes report for the honor, especially considering the high caliber of the other public relations and social media agencies in the technology community. And as we enter our 10th year, we're fortunate that a growing number of tech brands are coming to understand and value the differences in our viewpoint, technology and methods vs. the more prevalent opinion-based approaches still favored by most top PR agencies.

In selecting Atomic as Tech Agency of the Year, the Holmes Report states: "During a year in which clients were monitoring return-on-investment even more closely than usual, it should come as no surprise that Atomic's distinctive analytical approach to communications - its ComContext™ process, developed before the firm took on any clients, is designed to provide agency teams with critical insights that fuel strategy, elevate creative thinking, and provide granular metrics on program performance - helped Atomic hold its own during a turbulent time in the tech sector. Founder Andy Getsey believes the firm's analytics-enhanced strategy and creative thinking, its ability to mix traditional and digital and social media, video and search engine optimization, deliver superior results; he says clients often see a 100 percent increase on many measurement metrics after switching to Atomic. And clients from deep tech to consumer tech, from Internet commerce to digital entertainment - Verizon and Smule in mobile consumer technology, Bebo and Linkedin in social networking, Hotwire and RealtyTrac in web commerce - back that up."

Atomic's approach mixes classical PR and media relations with social media, video and search engine optimization, enhanced with the sophisticated use of ComContext communications analytics platform and processes for strategy building, creative planning and detailed program measurement. Atomic has powered numerous breakthrough campaigns for progressive technology, Web 2.0, consumer and entertainment brands from high profile startups like Mint.com, Bebo, and Smule, to growing mid-stage companies such as Ingres, LinkedIn and Polaroid, as well as publicly traded companies including Hotwire (an Expedia company), ArcSight, IMAX and Verizon. Many Atomic clients achieve 100% or greater improvements across numerous measures of PR program performance compared to pre-Atomic baselines (www.atomicpr.com/results).

Atomic has offices in London, Munich, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Atomic's relaunch of Polaroid at CES 2010

2010-03-25T04:07:23Z

Atomic signed on with Polaroid in Q4 of 2009 to relaunch the brand at CES in January, 2010. While the assignment was not without its challenges - a recent Polaroid bankruptcy, a scandal involving Polaroid's former ownership, and a perception that the brand was behind the times on the photo scene, the multi-disciplinary Atomic team assembled for the campaign from our offices in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco were all wildly enthusiastic to make a contribution to the iconic brand's future.

The agency team crafted a solid media re-education program to clarify Polaroid's fundamental brand positioning, and correct standing misconceptions about the scandal and bankruptcy before the re-launch at CES in an effort to increase the accuracy of the Polaroid story and hopefully focus more attention on the brand's future in coverage that would eventually come out of CES. The CES portion of the campaign focused on Polaroid's future as a brand bringing the best parts of "instant" into the digital era - introducing new ownership, a new business model, a new set of partners and a new product roadmap.

Atomic also worked with William Morris Endeavor Entertainment to conceive a celebrity tie-in for Polaroid, and to publicize the brand's exciting new relationship with pop star Lady Gaga, whose Haus of Gaga design team is working with Polaroid on a special line of multimedia products to be released later in the year.

The press conferences, media outreach, social media engagement and on the ground presence Atomic managed at CES produced one of the Top 10 stories coming out of the event, generating more than 850 million impressions - triple that of prior years. Atomic was confirmed as Polaroid's AOR after CES and we're off and running on the next round of exciting programs; beginning with Polaroid's presence at the Tribeca Film Festival. Read the full Polaroid CES 2010 case study here.

Homegrown European Brands Fight Facebook

2010-03-15T18:20:26Z

Over the years, established European brands have fallen by the wayside as dominant US brands have swept the continent. Irrespective of the industry, whether it is Starbucks gobbling up traditional coffee shops or the once mighty European PC maker Olivetti being made extinct by the likes of HP and Dell, the latest battleground is the being fought By Europe's social media sites who are readying themselves for a major scuffle with Facebook.

According to the Financial Times, despite showing signs of profitability albeit on a small scale, all the homegrown sites which includes Skyrock (France), StudiVIZ (Germany), Hyves (The Netherlands) and Tuenti (Spain) are all feeling the 'ill-wind' of Facebook translating into local languages. It is estimated that 30% of users have migrated to the US company over recent months.

Naturally, the Europeans are not lying down but fighting with innovative local services and tie-ups. Hyves is currently working with a major Dutch Bank to develop an in-site payment system; sponsors the National Football team and incorporates a host of media events, TV shows and surveys on its platform. Tuenti in Spain has an invitation only approach to growth and cannot be indexed by search engines, making the experience private and secure. Google is not number one everywhere, so perhaps the same could be true for European social media networks? Let the battle begin.