May 14, 2012 in Brand Strategy, Media, Media Orchard, PR and Pop Culture by Clay Zeigler
RANT: Shock Value and Why Time Magazine Got it Wrong

Last week we got two reminders about going too far: the one you heard about and one you probably didn’t. But they prove the same point: If you’re going to go too far to call attention to something, you had better have a good reason and you had better deliver.

By now more than enough people have weighed in on the Time magazine cover that shows a Los Angeles woman breastfeeding her nearly 4-year-old son. The reaction was predictably mixed, but let’s focus instead on motivations. The stated reason for the photo was to illustrate a story on attachment parenting, which advocates extended breast-feeding, sleeping in the same bed with children, and carrying them in slings. Another reason for the photo could have been the slow decline of American news magazines. But is either an adequate reason to go too far?

Courage and ‘Emblematic Images’

The other reminder about going too far came with the death on Thursday of Horst Faas, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his photographs of wars in Vietnam and Bangladesh. Let’s let his New York Times obituary take it from there:

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March 2, 2012 in Media, Media Orchard by Clay Zeigler
IDEA GROVE VIDEO: We Help Clients Who Help People

Several of Idea Grove’s clients are in the business of helping people — healthcare companies that benefit dialysis patients, outplacement firms for transitioning workers, even an app for shoppers looking for the best price.

 
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March 1, 2012 in Media Orchard, Picks by Scott Baradell
HEADS UP: Pick of the Orchard

If you’re wondering what is — and isn’t — the next big thing, look no further than our other favorite posts of the week.

 
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February 23, 2012 in B2B PR, Media Orchard, Picks by Scott Baradell
HEADS UP: Pick of the Orchard Is Back

Ah, spring is in the air — at least here in Dallas, where it almost hit 80 yesterday.  So what better time to bring one of our most-beloved old features, Pick of the Orchard, out of hibernation?  Here are some of our favorite posts of the week.

 
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January 24, 2012 in Content Marketing, Marketing, Media, Media Orchard, SEO by Clay Zeigler
HEADS UP: A Content Marketing History Lesson from Joe Pulizzi

Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute just came to town to remind us that content marketing is not only here to stay, it’s been here for a long time.

As members of the Social Media Club of Dallas tweeted busily, Pulizzi introduced them to The Furrow, the quarterly journal of agriculture published in 12 languages and distributed in 40 countries by Deere & Company. It debuted in 1895.

“Brands have been publishers for a long, long time,” he said, before introducing a free 1905 recipe book featuring recipes for Jell-O. “We can do a lot of what media companies can do, and sometimes we can do it better.”

The key difference between the media and the marketers, he said, has been their monetizing method. While media companies look for advertising, marketers seek new customers. “Everything else is the same,” he said. Continue Reading

 
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