Twitter Ads, Now In Your Face

Twitter came up with a better way to promote companies that pay for Twitter ads, by placing them at or near the top of your timeline. As you already know, Twitter is shy to call sponsored tweets ads, paid, or anything that may imply a form of cash. Instead, they name them Timely Tweets, or Promoted Tweets and now, these are “easier to see” by consumers, to the delight of those who buy them:

“These Promoted Tweets will scroll through the timeline like any other Tweet, and like regular Tweets, they will appear in your timeline just once. Promoted Tweets can also be easily dismissed from your timeline with a single click,” – Twitter informed with an official blog entry.

In the upcoming weeks, depending on who you follow, you’ll probably notice Timely Tweets from any of the following Twitter promoted Tweets partners: Best Western, Dell, Gatorade, Groupon, HBO, JetBlue, LivingSocial, Microsoft Xbox, Red Bull, Sephora, Starbucks, Summit Entertainment’s “50/50”, TNT and Virgin America, and so on. According to Twitter, you may also see Promoted Tweets from non-profit organizations you follow.

Fortunately, if you find the Timely Tweets too annoying, or irrelevant, you can remove them from your timeline, as you remove any other undesired tweet.

Despite all its efforts of pushing Promoted Tweets as a form of advertising, Twitter still has a long way to go to get international interest. So far, most of the deals come from US based companies. If the Timely Tweets prove more effective, there will probably be more advertisers willing to test the waters. Until then, Twitter keeps on testing.

Ronn Torossian on Brand Angelina Jolie

With Angelina Jolie being lauded as a hero worldwide for her valiant effort to have a preventative double mastectomy, there’s also the BRAND and PR story of Angelina Jolie. Even previous to this, Jolie’s brand has shined – Best-selling PR Book “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations” by CEO of 5WPR Ronn Torossian had a section on Jolie.

Small Company Perspective on the FleishmanHillard / Edelman Debate and the Future Direction of Public Relations

Marketing, editors and public relations professionals all have the same goal, but how they develop the messaging is completely different.

Our World in Pictures This Week: May 12, 2013

From Hot Rod icon Dean Jeffries’ passing, to UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, this week had its share of ups and downs. In keeping with our weekly series of photo reviews, here’s the week of May 12th in review.

Dean Jeffries - Courtesy George Barris and Kustomrama

People Switch to Traditional Gifts for Mother’s Day, Moms Prefer Daily Help

As Mother’s Day is getting closer, the rush to purchase a gift already started. But many find that they already bought their moms a smartphone, a tablet and other fancy gadgets their mothers may or may not really find useful. So what’s next?

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Russia the Ally, All Old Soldiers Salute You Today

Today is just another day for most people in the world. But 68 years ago events spiraled ever chaotically and frenzied, into a future our forefather’s could not imagine. As an American, and as a citizen of the world, Russia’s celebration of victory in World War Two today should, I am sure, be all of ours – the people of the world. The so-called Great Patriotic War the Soviet Union and Russia won, was a victory for all of us.