2007 EDA Marketing Forum (formerly Hacks & Flacks)
Editorial Coverage: The Times They Are A-changing

Publications that the EDA community reads are undergoing radical changes. We've gone from "print only" to "print and Web" and now to many instances of "Web only." Many publications have reduced EDA editorial staff or combined EDA coverage with semiconductor coverage. New Web vehicles and tools are creating new ways of pulling news content, new ways of pushing news content, and thinner print publications. Digital news is now portable via pagers, cell phones and PDAs. The role of the press release has changed with the use of SEO (search engine optimization), podcasting, and RSS (Really Simple Syndication).

How are PR professionals and editors impacted by these changes? Have new technologies changed the way publications are directing editorial content and behavior? What is the best way for companies to respond to blogs or articles that can receive online feedback? Should PR professionals be changing the way that they relate to editors? Are larger or smaller companies more likely to try out new concepts?

Moderator:

Scott Sandler, President and CEO, Novas

Panel:

Brian Fuller, Editor-in-Chief, EE Times
John Furrier, CEO & Founder, PodTech Network
David Heller, President & CEO, IBSystems
Michael Markowitz, Dir. WW Technical Media Relations STMicroelectronics
Michael Santarini, Sr. Editor, Electronics Design, Strategy News (EDN)

Q & A Transcript:

[Q&A below are from both panelists and audience.]

What should we, as marketing professionals, do to interface with media today?

When you do audio podcasts on a blog, even homegrown, you get good instant messaging hits within three months
The history of print media is not good. InfoWorld and others are shutting down their print editions because there is not as much subscription to print and the audience is moving on-line for more immediate answers to questions.
Readers seem to prefer on-lines to print, even for established "brands." Readers to where the information is.
Newsgroups and print are poised to become complementary to on-line trade publications – they provide news, information and editorial. There will be growing impact on these media from Google et al.
Some traditionally print media are now broadcasting reporting, so the news that print traditionally covered is now more immediate and on the web. The format allows users to talk back, which makes the feedback immediate, allows sharing of information and opinion, develops relationships. Moving into the arena of social marketing.
Communities are being established where information dissemination and response can take place.
Tradeshows will evolve to on-line.
Print and websites both provide access to information. Now, with print, websites, and social media (blogs, podcasts, video webcasts) -- access will deliver both information and relationships.
Users want more information and credible information. Access to trusted media/ relationships will grow in importance.
EDA is on the trailing edge of media adoption. Over the years, there has been little uptake on RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts.
Sales departments at traditional media panicked at the advent of new media, and hurt their traditional market. As publications embraced the new media – which are doing well, publishing, search engines, webcasts, adding more experts to the fray – we are getting more information from experts with their own viewpoints
Some on-line-only media are developing very targeted audiences in highly technical areas; others are specifically targeting groups within targeted countries. But the hardest audience to get into interactive discussions with is engineers, especially engineers in EDA.
We don't care so much about the media, branding – just want to get the message out. Especially with markets fragmenting, we are still working on which avenues to use to get the message out.

What is the role of print today? How can we leverage it?

"Rumors of my demise were premature..." The print audience isn't going anywhere. Engineers like print. But in the long run, print needs to change – needs more frequency, specialization.
Managers at vendor companies do not press to have information on-line; managers read print, not on-line.
The problem with print has to do with content and timeliness. Week-old news is old. You don't have to "wait for Monday" anymore.
Timeliness isn't important for everyone. "New to me" is often good enough. Some information is relevant no matter how old it is.
Old analog and mixed-signal articles get hits, but news gets more hits than archived information.
Print is declining and advertising in print is declining.
Early adopters vary. Longer videos and information with good technical content is different from short news items. Different demographic.
Marketers are able to measure their uptake on the net, which you cannot do in print. You can see how many users go directly to content.
Deep technical information is valuable both in print and on-line.
The problem with blogs is that they can propagate rumors. With a journalist covering information, s/he acts as a curator, can verify and trim information to make it into something that is truly news.

Is there a way that marketers can use blogs effectively? What's the best thing for a company to do if something inaccurate or misleading shows up on a blog?

News as a commodity is problematic [viz un-curated news]. Too much incorrect or un-useful news imperils an on-line community. On-line media want to build relationships with people, and need professional news organizations that are paid to check facts and NOT make mistakes.
Expert content is trusted.
Journalists can give opinions, but news is fact, not opinion. But you can do a blog or an editorial with opinion. Traditional journalistic responsibility/ accountability is missing from a lot of new media.
New media is really very self-policing. If you BS or mislead in a community, you will be blacklisted. Even if you are an "expert."
Challenge is that you used to be able to correct stuff by a letter to the editor. Now, if an on-line opinion maker writes something incorrect, or a company puts out something that is misleading, how do you respond?
Media is not an intermediary anymore. It seems to be evolving into specialized vendor communities.
Marketing departments now need to be in the media business. Everyone needs influence on-line.
The way of the future for third-party endorsements is advertising. Validation is key, and that need will not go away.
Learning how to maximize the benefit of media is key, in this order – print, on-lines, user sites. Need specialists in all these areas.
When searching for product information, podcasts, Google searches, pass-along information are all important. Audiences move among information sources very quickly.
[from a former editor-in-chief in the audience] Editors are leaving publications and moving to work with vendors. This can be incendiary and rapidly spread disinformation. The social networking thesis just doesn't hold up well in our space because design engineers DO NOT WANT TO HELP ONE ANOTHER most of the time. Competitive issues require that some information be held closely.
Blogs make money by creating traffic. They do this with a combination of facts, humor, anonymous postings, opinion, whatever it takes. Traditional media companies will have to level the playing field and get those dealing in disinformation out of the business. A norm is forming.
Match the content to the media and the media to the audience. Same as always.
For on-line publications, you can measure this, but who is doing the hitting?
There is no way that engineers are going to share information because they are all competitive.
Our customers don't have time to catch up with the latest news.
Time IS key. On-line access behavior is often analogous to drive-bys.

What should we do to make the best use of media today?

There is no vibrant on-line community in EDA. Participate, advertise, exchange information. Create a community.
Support the publications that are reaching your audience. Qualify who your readers are.
Know who is talking to whom.
Track where your audience is going.
On-line communities ARE going to form. Look at the mix, and put shareable content on your site. Blog/ podcast/ content creates lead generation.
Perhaps new media don't fit the EDA community.
People go to websites, Provide more information there, with keywords. Trends and opinions in the media; information on vendor websites.
For publications, you cannot get opinion into a product sotry. Don't push product stories; push opinion and trends.
Provide news stories, not just product information. Provide access to the company and to customers. Place more paid pieces for product information.
Users are getting more information from technology announcements, technical articles.
Given that the number of editors is shrinking, know what your editors DO and what they are interested in.

2007 EDA Marketing Forum (formerly Hacks & Flacks) Editorial Coverage: The Times They Are A-changing