An oldie, but goodie. Here’s a snapshot of what some of America’s best and brightest PR professionals had to say back in 2008 when interviewed in this video for PR Week Magazine‘s ‘Next’ Conference:

“What we do for a living is we tell stories that move people,” – Christopher Graves, Ogilvy PR.

“We’re going to be what I call direct content creators and have an opportunity to actually tell the story very directly to audiences,” – Paul Bergevin, Intel.

“Communications advisors have got to know research, some experience in crisis, how to understand a rapidly changing communications environment,” – Mark Penn, Burson-Marsteller.

“I think a really high level of aptitude around all of the new applications that are emerging…understand how you can fit those in with your PR programs,” – Andy Lark, Dell.

“You actually have to apply the internet and web 2.0 and social media to your life to be able to really understand how it can apply to your clients’ life” – John Bell, Ogilvy PR.

“The PR professional of the future needs to transform PR from public relations to personal relations,” – Ted Smyth, H.J. Heinz.

Music mogul Jay-Z, a part-owner of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, recently announced that the team will officially become the Brooklyn Nets when it moves to that borough of New York for the 2012-13 season.

In order to appeal to Brooklyn’s largest demographic — its thriving hipster community — the team will need to develop a marketing campaign targeted to the borough’s too-cool-for-everything citizens.

Kurt Snibbe offers up a few suggestions…

Let’s face it – golf is boring. The excitement Tiger Woods brought to the game in 1997 has dissipated. It’s time we open the sport up to fans and usher in a new and diverse audience. The NASCAR model doesn’t work for all sports. It works for golf. In a sport driven by individuals, it’s critical for the governing bodies within the sport to recognize this and highlight the personalities and characters within the game. We all know plenty about Tiger and Phil, however there’s a plethora of other incredibly talented, engaging and endearing athletes out there that no one knows about.

Golfers are independent contractors. We don’t have teams or owners or upper management to answer to and appease. It’s the fans we need to worry about. Therefore, we should be embracing the viral web and using it to grow the sport. With the emergence of interactive new media channels like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and UStream, we have the ability to showcase the sport like never before. Now fans can reach out and practically touch their favorite players and players can control their own brand and message while giving fans an inside look at their lives. But, that’s old news. How can these platforms be used to elevate the sport to new levels of excitement? How can the PGA and LPGA Tours capture an X-Games level of excitement? How can the PGA of America and the R&A (Royal and Ancient) take a cue from NASCAR and create *real* fan loyalty? I’ve outlined a few key ways:

Photo by Jessica Hill/AP

Photo by Caryn Levy/PGA TOUR

This is a guest post written by Amber Osborne aka “Miss Destructo”.

If you don’t know her already, Amber Osborne is a walking lesson in branding. She is easily one of the most recognizable people on Twitter because of her signature blue hair, but there is much more behind her crafty online persona. No doubt, she is artsy, eclectic and funky, but she is also incredibly accessible, helpful and fearless. All of these attributes make up Amber’s superhero alter ego, Miss Destructo. A self-proclaimed “destroyer of social media boredom”, Miss Destructo is a talented blogger who helped put Foursquare Day on the map. I asked her to share a little about her keys to branding and developing a workable persona.

So, without further ado, here are Miss Destructo’s Weapons Of Brand Construction:

 
Be Yourself – Have a unique writing style or public image. Even without hearing someone you can already get a sense of their true voice. Be different. I have my six feet of blue hair and biting sense of humor to back me up along with authority in my field of social media. Find something that is unique about you or what you do and make it the first thing people see or know about you. If you have trouble creating a persona, ask your friends what is most unique and engaging about you — whatever it is about you that makes them want to be your friend as well. Use those qualities to make your audience feel comfortable. Be real, be honest and always remember that you are human. You can’t always be superman but you can damn near fly as high as he can.

Network – How do I know SO many people? Years and years of keeping contacts, traveling and meeting people in every single corner of industries from entertainment, marketing and even that kid in high school that turned out to have the million dollar startup. Keep in touch with people that cross your path and above all turn off the computer and get out of the house. I’ve had a blast at conventions, local events and even speed networking. Find groups on Meetup.com that are having events in your area in whatever you are interested in excelling at. Also, helping out with organizing local events can introduce you to key players in your community or in your field. Volunteer at events as much as possible! Again, be yourself and don’t be a pitch. Be a person, learn about people, make a common connection and help each other. Always try to find how your brand can help their brand.

Be Patient – It takes time to build your network, make connections, and figure out what the hell you are doing in general. Especially when you are creating your persona and brand from nothing and without a fancy PR team. I’ve gone through many changes to my brand in the last two years, many huge life changes and even changes to my appearance. Yet, that still doesn’t change who I am. It keeps things fresh for my audience and I am learning continuously day by day from others. We’ve all got to start somewhere. Keep growing, keep learning and keep motivated.

Find Mentors – I wish that there was a tell-all book, step-by-step, crafted around my own personal brand to tell me what move to make next or how to deal with some of the downtime in creating my brand. It doesn’t exist. I have been lucky enough to have influential and caring people that have taught me the ways of the industry. Every single day I am still learning… go to conferences, speed network, ask questions, find emails of those people you admire… ASK QUESTIONS!

Help Others – To create a well known brand, you have to be a person first. Have heart and take those under your wing that may need help or advice. You can’t help or get involved in every project, but by helping one person you are also helping build a positive image of your brand. You never know who you may inspire to do good as well. Keep paying it forward.

Have Fun – Don’t get too paranoid about creating a perfect image. Be a little punk rock… push buttons, raise a little hell and never take “no” as an answer. Anyone that I know in business or in my personal life that swears they never do anything adventurous? I would never want to have them as a part of what I am doing. You have to have fun to create new ideas, inspire and learn about others. I can’t remember how many amazing partnerships have grown from a conversation over beers or karaoke. Always have respect for others and yourself. If you don’t want it on facebook or youtube… you shouldn’t be doing it.

Haters Gonna Hate – Haters; those people that no matter what you do… they want to “poop on it”. As musician and spoken word poet Henry Rollins calls it, “The Bullshit Artist”. They specialize in only one thing… bullshit. This person is so unhappy with their bullshit that they feel the need to paint the world with it… usually picking out one target as their canvas. The bigger you become, the more people like you, there is always going to be a one or two of these in the mix. Don’t let the bastards get you down. It’s tough. It hurts sometimes, but damn it kid… be proud you’ve made someone take notice. Bad or good. Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) has a great chapter in his new book, UnMarketing (amazon link), about haters. As he always says, “Don’t feed the haters” when it’s blatant troll-like behavior… ignore it. If it’s helpful criticism, then jump in, but for the most part I find that haters only make your brand stronger. As Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) told me, “If people are talking about you with that much passion, you must be doing something right.” That really helped me deal with the ugly side of having a public image. Most of the time, I really just want to take these people out for drinks and maybe supply a hug or two. You know what you’ve worked hard for, don’t let ANYONE take that away with a few words.

Rock It – Get all Herbie Hancock on life — it’s weird, funky and sometimes you have no idea what it’s all about, but just follow the beat and let it guide you. Branding yourself isn’t that hard, you just have to jump into the crowd and surf across those who admire you. Become one with your audience and you will become one with your brand.

[Photo courtesy of @thatgirlallie]

So, on the eve of the first round of The Masters, Nike rolls out this commercial. Tiger stares blankly at the camera as sound bites from the late Earl Woods are spliced together. It almost comes across as if little Tigger is getting scolded by his “pop” for his recent transgressions.

My question is, since when is Earl the voice of reason?!

Casual fans seem to think Earl is some upstanding citizen. Yeah, he was a hard-worker and taught the ways of the warrior. But, where do you think Tiger learned his womanizing ways? Long before Jordan and Barkley, there was Earl – instilling in him the belief that he was better than everyone else; on and off the golf course. Dina Parr, his highschool girlfriend, revealed how Tiger could never get over his father cheating on his mother. He actually felt like he was doing it to him. It broke him and shaped him at a young age.

What do you think of this new Nike campaign? It gives me chills in a really bad way. Eerie.

Where’s the audio of Earl claiming Tiger was “The Chosen One” and would “do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity.”?! That’s pretty heady stuff, putting Tiger on par with Jesus, Mohammed, MLK and Gandhi, among others. This entitlement attitude started a long, long time ago. This campaign really disgusts me. And I’m sure it irritates Tiger, knowing what he knows.

After a year of tweeting “the retweet is the new chest bump”, I have decided the time has come. Every good saying needs a t-shirt, right? Otherwise it’s not official… duh.

The shirts will be available here around the end of June September. Drop me a comment and let me know what you think of the design and shirt colors. Is there a color you’d like to see added to the mix? I appreciate your feedback. *chest bump*