Five leading magazine publishers launched a new campaign this week touting “the power of print.” At a time when most discussion remains focused on the hit-and-miss efforts of print media to adjust itself to the digital age, it feels refreshing to see publishers embrace the innate qualities of their medium.

Yes, the print industry needs to make adjustments to remain viable, however radio didn’t kill newspapers, TV didn’t kill radio, and to date, the Internet has a clean record.

The publishers’ ads reference data from Mediamark Research & Intelligence that show magazine readership has risen 4.3% over the past five years. And I trust this data because I’m living proof.

I’m pretty darn comfortable with technology. I’m of a generation that would rather send a text than make a phone call, and it’s eerie how much I learn via Facebook.

But I LOVE my magazines! I don’t have a stack of books beside my bed; I have old issues of The New Yorker interspersed with ReadyMade and DIY (and a 2008 GQ with my boy Michael Phelps on the cover).

Print has a tangible, tactile and lasting quality that digital media simply does not. And that’s OK, for both mediums.

I like to think this campaign, and other similar efforts from the Newspaper Association of America and a trade group of the local-TV industry, are signaling a shift away from decrying the slow demise of traditional media, and moving forward to embrace their place within a broader media landscape.

We all recognize the greater competition for our attention, but while various media types settle into altered roles, we, as consumers, continue to enjoy the unique benefits of each.

What are your thoughts? Do you believe new media is the death knell of the ‘old?’ Or do you envision a world in which numerous media types will thrive?

So how can you harness this power of personal advocacy?  Encourage your network of donors, employees, and supporters to create their own fundraising page.  Two great platforms I’ve seen for this are  FirstGiving (link to www.firstgiving.com) and Celebration Donation (www.celebrationdonation.org). 

FirstGiving allows users to pick their cause out of a database of thousands of US-based nonprofits.  They guide you through the setup of your page, and allow you to write a customized appeal.  While FirstGiving suggests different milestones to fundraise against (a birthday, run/walk), you don’t have to have a specific event in mind to create a page.  All you need is an end-date and a goal, and First Giving gives you a nifty little thermometer that tracks your progress.  Of course, as a for-profit company, FirstGiving does charge a fee:  7.5% of each donation, which covers vetting nonprofits, hosting the site, processing donations securely, and transferring the funds to the nonprofit.  But fee aside, the site is user-friendly, quick to set up, and provides real, live people to help troubleshoot.  

Another great platform that just launched is Celebration Donation (www.celebrationdonation.org).  Celebration Donation is a nonprofit organization that focuses on specific celebratory moments in a user’s life.  Anniversary?  Birthday?  Baby Shower?  Unidentified special occasion?  Celebration donation helps you set up an invitation (somewhat like Evite (link to www.evite.com)), pick your nonprofit of choice, and you’re on your way.  Celebration Donation also charges a fee (5% of the donation + 30 cents).  Unlike FirstGiving, Celebration Donation’s fee is charged on top of the actual donation; the administrative fee goes to Celebration Donation, so that they can keep offering this service and ensure that 100% of your contribution goes to the nonprofit.  The only downside I could find to Celebration Donation was that they don’t have a fully vetted list of national nonprofits yet – but don’t let that deter you – they are adding more every day.

So if you’re inundated with volunteers who want to help – or want to encourage your donors to put their advocacy to work for you – suggest FirstGiving or Celebration Donation, and harness the power of the personal ask!

Many of us in the PR/communications industry believe we need a top celebrity or someone in the public eye to gain the most attention for our messages. We often overlook the power of an unknown spokesperson to break through the clutter.

During the launch of our Fight Arthritis Pain campaign last week, I was captivated by an unassuming ambassador—a soft-spoken woman from Wakefield, Rhode Island named Robin. 

Robin had some difficulty getting to the podium. She started her remarks by bravely describing how she was a born athlete, an avid runner since childhood. After sustaining a number of knee injuries in her teens, Robin was diagnosed at age 30 with osteoarthritis and poignantly talked about how that impacted every aspect of her life – from her job to her ability to perform day to day tasks that we often take for granted. Now in her 50s, Robin has become a walker and is limited to exercise in a warm water pool and bicycling. However, she works as an aquatic physical therapist and exercises five days a week, which helps increase her mobility and reduce the pain and disability of her arthritis.

Robin’s story was incredibly moving and inspiring. It was obvious that the audience instantly connected to her and it was the most compelling part of the program. Robin is not famous or well-known – she’s just someone who is living with a disease that affects one in five Americans. Yet, she was the ideal spokesperson for our campaign message, which communicates that “moving is the best medicine” for osteoarthritis.

For sure, celebrities can also be very effective spokespeople for social messages. A celebrity can significantly increase visibility for your cause and help boost fundraising efforts. Look at what Katie Couric did for colorectal cancer. The number of colonoscopies increased by 20% in the year after her an on-air screening. Katie lost her husband, Jay Monahan, to the disease and has been committed to the cause ever since. And Lance Armstrong, who survived testicular cancer, raised more than $325 million through his foundation, as well as extraordinary awareness for cancer prevention. In fact, some experts believe that people like Katie and Lance may have done more for public awareness for cancer than most scientists.

Fran Drescher serves as a spokesperson for the Ad Council's Patient Involvement campaign.

And with the evolution of social media, and the public’s desire to follow celebrities’ every move, a celebrity’s involvement can help you reach millions of people instantly with your messages. Remember Ashton Kutcher’s challenge with CNN on Twitter, which ultimately benefited World Malaria Day.

However, there are some pitfalls to consider with celebrities. Depending on the issue, Americans may feel they can’t relate to a celebrity’s story since he or she may have access to greater resources, and you risk the chance that the celebrity will overshadow your issue. Also, you may have to pay for their involvement (although some may waive their fee.) It can also be challenging to recruit a celebrity for your program.

But, when there is a personal connection to a cause and the spokesperson is credible, it can have a great impact, regardless of whether or not the spokesperson is well-known.

I did some searching online to find good resources with tips on how to choose the best spokesperson. I found that it’s not a topic that is covered often. Hope this helps. Here are a few key things to keep in mind:

• Make sure he or she has a Good Connection to Your Cause: Does your spokesperson have a strong personal story that will resonate?
• Think about Your Target Audience(s): Is your spokesperson relevant to your target audience or demographic?
• Credibility: Is your spokesperson credible? What is his/her motivation for getting involved? Is it for pay or to promote a book? Or to get some good PR? Do a good background check.
• Make sure Your Spokesperson is a Good Communicator who is Committed to Your Cause: Is your spokesperson media savvy? Will he or she stay on message or do they have their own agenda? Be careful about not positioning your spokesperson as a medical expert if he or she is not.
• If You’re Paying Your Spokesperson, make sure the ROI is worth it: Sometimes celebrities, top athletes or political figures require payment for doing interviews/events and other activities. Make sure it’s worth the investment before you commit.

As a start, be clear about the objectives of your communications program and what you’re hoping to accomplish before you make your choice. In the end, an unknown spokesperson such as Robin may have the greatest impact.

Excluding the occasional cougar, college kids and adults 50 plus don’t generally go to the same bars.  And in most establishments there are separate restrooms for men and women.  Yes, I am talking about segmenting by age group and gender.  You could put an Old Spice cologne ad in one men’s room and an Axe body spray ad in another and thereby reach completely different demographic segments.  Just such a tactic was used by Degree deodorant, which ran a sampling campaign in New York City fitness club locker rooms.  Knowing that men between the ages of 21 and 54 frequent such establishments and presumably work up a healthy sweat it was a perfect opportunity to hand out free mini-deodorants. The indoor billboard poster had a dispenser right beneath a picture of some intense dude repelling from a helicopter who looked to be deep behind enemy lines with the Degree deodorant tag line featured prominently within.

If it works to get people to try out new products couldn’t it also work to remind people to wash their hands to protect them from getting the H1N1 Flu? How about a memorable Drunk Driving message located in a lively bar restroom?  You can literally bring the message to people right when they are going to make a decision that can affect their health and safety. Maybe there is something to this place based advertising idea.

What if we think outside the frame and actually use the entire space of the restroom to convey a message?  Imagine for a moment the fluorescent lit, all white, industrial motif standard restroom we all know and despise. Try to imagine that same bathroom cleaned till it sparkled, the cabinet replaced with a smooth black oak counter, a new white Italian marble vessel sink perched on top with high end  Kohler fixtures and you will even notice that they have installed a Swedish self cleaning toilet.  For a moment look down and see that the beat up linoleum tiles are gone and in their place are new black slate floors which continue all the way up the walls. The glaring bare fluorescent light has given way to a simple but elegant chandelier complete with energy efficient soft light bulbs by Sylvania.  Imagine that there was one sign and it read “Remodeling provided by Home Depot.” 

Wouldn’t that get your attention?  Don’t you think everyone that enters that restroom is going to have a positive reaction and walk away impressed and changed?  Weren’t they expecting the same old dirty, boring, utilitarian after thought? If Home Depot can make this place look good imagine what they can do for your home.  Not only would Home Depot benefit from this transformation, but so would the establishment where the restroom is located and the long list of companies whose products have a chance to be experienced.

That is what I love about advertising, finding ways to connect brands with their target audience in a unique and overt way.  It’s not the car ads convincing people they need to have their foot on an accelerator that goes from zero to 200 miles per hour in 3 seconds. It is not the played out beer ads continually connecting drinking their combination of water, barley, malt and yeast with airbrushed beautiful women.  It is finding ways to surprise people by connecting on a deeper level and use the strengths of each media type whether it is bathrooms, network TV or tried and true home town newspapers.  That is why after more than ten years I am still in the business and still so excited about the possibilities that lie ahead and have always been here.

Let me know great advertising ideas that you come up with, saw somewhere or heard about and I will chronicle my favorites and least favorites in exchange.

I am hopeful though.  Not just for the many nonprofits out there who struggle so earnestly but for those important issues that are needing a voice.  I think what it’s going to take is a little bit of creativity and stepping outside the box to get us through these difficult times. Not every nonprofit needs or has to go down that traditional route of creating a PSA campaign to address their issue. Yes, I can speak with confidence that PSAs have proven time and again to be extremely effective in reaching the right audience and encouraging them to take the appropriate action. But I also think that for nonprofits who need to be tighter on the wallet, which right now seems to be the majority, there are other less expensive options out there.

A little over a year ago, the Ad Council hosted a briefing on how organizations can cost-effectively promote themselves and their issues with marketing and communications.  In my opinion, a presentation from McArthur at the design firm, Free Range Studios, focusing on storytelling, grabbed the most attention for its innovativeness and really, really thinking outside the box. I actually shouldn’t even call it a presentation since it was a five-minute video titled Grocery Store Wars.

A spoof on Star Wars, Grocery Store Wars was created for Free Range’s client, the Organic Trade Association.  With characters such as Cuke Skywalker, Obi One Cannoli, Princess Lettuce, Ham Solo, Darth Tater, and Chew Broccoli, the message of the video, according to Yogurt (aka Yoda),  is to highlight the importance of knowing where your food comes from and to choose organic. With over 2 million views on YouTube, Grocery Store Wars certainly helps Free Range Studios live up to “being the most successful cause-based viral movie makers ever.”

I’d be remiss if I also didn’t highlight another of Free Range Studios hits, The Meatrix, a humorous slant on The Matrix, but more importantly looking at the issue of factory farming.  The Meatrix has been seen by more than 15 million people, a pretty impressive number in my book for getting a message heard.

This is just one of many examples of nontraditional options out there. Nontraditional options that really can make a difference and give your issue a voice. And better yet, they are hard to forget which I think is the ultimate goal.

Do you have your own Grocery Store Wars that you’d like to share?

The key to better website copy is to understand how people read on the web.

• I’ll keep this brief. On an average visit, users have time to read about 20% of the words on a page.
• You, like most users, will probably only scan this page, so I’ll bold keywords and phrases,
• And use a bulleted list.

These tactics are the conclusions of web usability guru Jakob Nielsen, and supported by his firm’s studies using eyetracking technology. Other recommendations of his – the inverted pyramid and one idea per paragraph – borrow from news writing basics.

Start balancing these recommendations with everything from the wonky intricacies of SEO, to finding the proper voice and tone for your organization, to recognizing stakeholder concerns, and you can appreciate the challenges of writing for the web.

There is no magical formula. The tactics listed here are common fundamentals to effective web copy, but striking the right balance is unique to the context.

Use the links below to learn more. And as a fun exercise, leave comments on ways that I could have composed this post more effectively (I’m sure there are at least a few ).

If you remember one thing: keep it brief.