February 10, 2005 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Public relations firm, CooperKatz & Company, today launched a new service to help corporations monitor, analyze, plan for and respond to issues that might bubble up from blogs and other emerging online channels as well as proactively use these channels to engage web users. This might be used to identify negative rumors or reactions to a company’s products or services or on the flip side to expose a positive feeling among web users as free press.
"Thanks to weblogs and other inexpensive online publishing tools, individual voices are more influential than ever in the marketplace," said Andy Cooper, an agency principal. "Corporations need to pay attention to this online commentary as well as engage in a one-to-one dialogue with its 'authors.' We see an opportunity to create a new kind of service that helps companies listen, prepare and manage issues -- as well as their overall reputation -- in this emerging era of citizen's media. When you couple our experience with online privacy, product recalls, litigation, strikes, mergers and acquisitions and controversial marketing categories with our knowledge of blogs and consumer-generated media, we feel we have a unique expertise that will be quite compelling."
"This initial service is about helping companies maximize the opportunity to listen and speak in a human voice in an increasingly transparent environment," said Rubel. "We will serve as a company's eyes and ears to its various constituents online so that it can communicate in ways that are most meaningful and relevant. Our approach gives new meaning to the words 'public relations.'"
Rubel, a PR strategist with nearly 15 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience, widely evangelizes the use of weblogs, podcasting and RSS in traditional corporate public relations campaigns. He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog (http://www.micropersuasion.com) and is frequently sought as an expert on these subjects. Since joining CooperKatz in 2001, he has introduced many of the firm's clients to the power of blogging.
