Here is what caught my eye reading this week in media:

Social media replaces the Super Bowl?

Forrester reports that Pepsi will not advertise at the next Super Bowl and is instead spending $20m on Pepsi Refresh. This matters because it comes at a time when online and social media advertising is at a critical juncture. Rupert Murdoch hasn’t been able to secure enough money from advertising on his newspaper websites and is erecting a pay wall around them. Not everyone agrees this to be a wise move, including Jeff Jarvis who dubbed it “pathetic.” Now PepsiCo have moved their money in the opposite direction, from the mainstream to the social. Who is right? Only time will tell.  

What does Lebedev mean for The Independent? 

London Evening Standard owner Alexander Lebedev last week acquired the ailing Independent for the same price that Rupert Murdoch is charging consumers to access Timesonline each day: £1. Having made continuous losses for a number of years it is clear that Lebedev has a number of serious challenges to turn around the fortunes of the UK’s lowest circulation national newspaper. The Guardian consulted three experts to canvass opinion and the consensus was that the title should not go free but that the Sunday edition should be scrapped.

Rod Liddle becomes the first blogger to be censured by the Press Complaints Commission

Groundbreaking news in the UK blogosphere this week after The Spectator’s Rod Liddle became the first blogger to be censured by the UK's Press Complaints Commission for making claims about the perpetrators of gun and knife crime in London. Liddle might be the first blogger to be rapped in this way, though it is important to note that he is predominantly a mainstream journalist and was writing a blog for a mainstream title.

Facebook versus Google

Mashable has carried a thought provoking post about the battle between Facebook and Google to become the world’s number one social profile hub. The key battleground is to establish a ‘home’ for social interaction throughout the web, with both Facebook – through Facebook Connect (allowing users to use Facebook Connect to comment on blogs and elsewhere) and Google pushing Google Buzz. Whoever wins the battle for the ‘default’ platform stands to make billions, suggests Mashable, through the creation of markets for virtual goods.

Google Map gang mashup 

Every day there is a raft of new Google Maps ‘mashups’. I keep track of these at Googlemapsmania. The latest to catch my eye is a breakdown of gang territory in London which shows these on a map and includes links to the rather unpleasant news stories and crimes for each. This is perhaps the most frightening addition yet, though hopefully not as useful as Transport for London’s interactive bus maps.

In Chicago and San Francisco, The Printed Blog was launched; it is the world's first daily newspaper comprised entirely of blogs and other user-generated content.  The content can be localised to a neighborhood level, a key point raised in a Richard Bagnall blog post.  For advertisers, this 'hyperlocal' marketing provides more relevant propositions and cost savings than city-wide and regional newspapers.  According to founder Joshua Karp, Chicago could support up to 100 local editions, which benefits the advertisers as well as the readers. He notes in an interview:

"Instead of having one paper where the ads cost $20,000 or more, [we'll have] hundreds of local editions where the ads cost $18... why should you spend thousands of dollars and advertise for an entire city when you can spend tens of dollars and target the specific people who are most likely to buy your product," he said. 

Will this web-to-print approach prove itself?  Will social media migrate further into newspapers?  How might this shift PR planning?  Will a web-to-print blog work?

All of us at Metrica welcome your thoughts.

What a statement in a recent Forrester Research report: "People don't trust company blogs.  What you should do about it”.  The post goes on to state that “Consumers trust company blogs less than any other channel” and that blogs come in below newspapers, portals, wikis and even direct mail in the trust department. 

Really? 

Let’s put the research in context.  To begin, these findings were collected in Q2 2008, and much has happened since then.  Influential corporate bloggers such as the BBC’s Robert Peston (“Peston’s Picks”) have surged in readership (and influence) since the economic meltdown.

Second, this societal distrust existed long before Forrester was founded and mirrors the larger citizen deficit and critical eye to media which we now encounter – consumers are critical and apply certain criteria to their increasingly conscious choices about how and where we spend our money, leisure and life choices from coffee to cars. This is the reality of anyone choosing to engage with consumers through various communications vehicles, from direct mail to radio.

Within the Forrester study results are some very positive findings on many of the targeted consumers for our clients.  Those who do trust blogs are 24% more likely to trust consumer product ratings/reviews (84% v. 60%).  Additionally, those who trust company blogs are 32% more likely to trust online content sites such as CNET and nytimes.com (71% v 39%); the same spread exists for print magazines.  A whopping 45% are more likely to trust personal blogs (63% v 18%) and 40% are more likely to trust SNS profiles from a company or brand (58% v 18%) than the US adult online population.

Thus, Forrester's headline creates its own haze of distrust of corporate blogging, and focuses on those who may be resistant and distrustful to more than just media.  If you keep reading, Forrester offers viable solutions to hurdle the “low-trust barrier”. They include:

• Get your employees in the act.  Their insight and impact beyond their desks can elevate trust and attract new follows and fans.  HP and Sun are great examples of having used employees other than corporate comms to drive blog content.  In my opinion, this keeps your content from becoming too narrow by diversifying your base of contributors (and potential readers).
  

• Blog to establish a voice outside that of your press releases.  As Bernhoff notes, blogging solely for the sake of PR does nothing to increase the level of consumer trust and is not easily measured for its bottom line contributions.  A great example of a company that has punched above its weight is New Seasons Market, a family-owned grocer recently subpoenaed by Whole Foods Market (the world’s largest organic grocer) for its email files in a federal lawsuit.  New Seasons Market is using Twitter and other tools to ensure that its voice is heard on a global scale.

So, be critical of snappy headlines such as those chosen by Forrester's Bernoff.  As New Seasons Market is proving to many, corporate blogging does work.  You can be nimble, agile and relevant to your consumers (and critics) in ways not possible last holiday season.    

Source: North American Technographics Media and Marketing Online Survey, Q2 2008

Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2008 report comments on the latest trends in blogging. The report highlights several trends in the "normalisation" of blogging in the media. Key findings this year are:

• Those who post most often generate the greatest buzz online
• Blogging is becoming increasingly profitable
• Bloggers profiles are rising

Those writing most often generate the greatest buzz online. No surprises there. Successful blogs are those with regular new content. Content is king after all.

Everyone’s going online, newspaper circulation figures and ad-rates are declining and many people are predicting the realisation of Ghostbuster Egon Spengler’s famous quote, “Print is dead!”

And yet something doesn’t seem right.  I remember many years ago buying a PDA that could download my favourite sections of the BBC news site.  “Wow, this is the future!” I thought to myself, “No more newpapers, I can get everything I need from this”.  But, today am I reading news on my iPhone – no I am not.  A quick look around on my commuter train this morning showed the majority of people reading a newspaper with the rest reading books or staring out of the window.  A couple of people were using PDAs but only to check e-mail (and yes I did get a few funny looks for peering over their shoulders!).  So it would seem that print is very much alive on my train at least.  One explanation is the success of free newspapers – by far the majority of papers being read this morning were the London Metro.

Local versions of the Metro are available in urban centres in 23 countries with a total readership of about 23 million.  In London, Metro is joined by other free papers such as London Lite, TheLondonPaper and City AM.  The circulation of these papers has been increasing with many experiencing record levels this summer.  Some people have argued that this is compensated by a corresponding decline in paid-for newpapers.  Indeed as we can see below, the Evening Standard has suffered a fall in circulation while the London free press has grown.  However the combined readership of these titles is more than four times the initial circulation of the Evening Standard which implies that more people are reading print media in London.

Free press is popular because it doesn’t cost anything either in money or in time since the paper is there at the station for you to pick up or as with London Lite or LondonPaper it is literally thrust into your hand.  As MIT professor Dan Ariely explains, we instinctively irrationally overreact to free offers even if it means that quality will be compromised. 

A release by Pollara on some research in north America makes some interesting points.

“Self-described social media users put far more trust in friends and family online than in popular bloggers, or strangers with 10,000 MySpace "friends."  Of more than 1,100 adults polled in December, nearly 80% said they were very or somewhat more likely to consider buying products recommended by real-world friends and family, while only 23% reported being very or somewhat likely to consider a product pushed by "well-known bloggers."  

Although the research indicates that popularity may not lead to credibility, it does indicate that some bloggers are indeed ‘influential’. The statement that over 20% of those asked would consider buying products recommended by well known bloggers, shows the importance of blog evaluation when researching brand perception / reputation

Just as many corporations begin to get their arms around this aspect of social media, the release suggests that: “59% of respondents considered social media very or somewhat important in learning about products, services, organizations, and brands.” 

It’s obvious that social media doesn’t stand still; it’s the runaway train of the media world. While it’s great to be an early adopter at the cutting edge of the forms that influence your brand It’s also good to stand back, take a considered approach and find out if the latest thing really does have an impact.  

A good starting point is to join the conversation, get involved and then ask your self…who do I trust?

Interested in trust...check out the Edelman 2008 Trust Barometer.