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Social media is a universe than seems to be swallowing everything in its path. If you’re like most marketers, you’ve heard enough about it to give you heartburn:

“The consumer controls your brand message now”

“The traditional way of marketing is dead”

“You need to listen to consumers and engage in a dialogue with them”

“The rules are different”

“You have to adapt or you’ll lose”

Every few years, our world is turned upside down by some big wave of change and the pundits sound the death knell for the industry. The truth is smart marketers already know that the basics haven’t changed and traditional marketing channels aren’t going away. Social media is helping to expand our craft by giving us more tools for the proverbial marketing toolkit. And more ways to practice what we already know: finding and targeting the right people, listening to them and responding to their needs, building compelling creative solutions, delivering relevant communications and cultivating long-term relationships.

Yes, we have to adapt but the fundamentals and the end game are the same.

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Nothing grabs the media’s attention like a good rivalry, just look at how the Clinton-Obama contest has helped the Democrats’ press coverage skyrocket past the GOP’s over the past few months. Over the past week, Romney has moved from third place to within one percentage point of John McCain in Florida media impressions. Strong poll numbers and a recent attack from John McCain have set a new rivalry in place and both candidates are benefiting.

Florida Media Impressions For GOP Candidates
Past 14 Days of Media Coverage

The perception of a tight race in Florida between McCain and Romney should help engage GOP primary voters. McCain’s strong national lead in traditional and social media impressions, on the other hand, indicates the strength McCain has heading into Super Tuesday on February 5th. If Romney wins in Florida, it could help to curb McCain’s media lead, while a McCain win could further increase the lead he already has.

Traditional and Social Media Impressions For GOP Candidates
Past 7 Days of Media Coverage

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to run a competitive race with 39 percent and 38 percent of all presidential election media impressions in Florida, respectively. While there are no delegates being awarded to the winner of the Democrat primary in Florida, Clinton has said she will campaign for a symbolic victory.

In a race where perception and reputation are everything, a symbolic win for Clinton could strengthen her position going into Super Tuesday.

Political candidates, companies and organizations all need to manage their reputations in the media. Perception can change quickly and without warning. Using traditional and social media analysis to understand your competitive position across regions and over time can give you the insight you need to know where and when your resources will have the greatest impact.

For more information on this topic, please see our related press release.

We’ve all heard arguments about whether or not there’s a liberal bias in the U.S. media. Politics aside, I think the one truth most of us could agree on is that there’s a media bias toward stories that generate readers (and stories that are easy to file, which is where good PR comes in). At Biz360, we wanted to know how European media coverage of U.S. presidential candidates compares to U.S. coverage and discovered that not only do Democrats get more coverage at home, but the top Democrats appear in 10 percent more of total candidate coverage in Europe.

The following charts show European and U.S. media coverage, respectively, for U.S. presidential candidates and hopefuls over the past 30 days.

Our Secret Ingredient

I was working on another business when I received a call from Brad Brodigan, CEO of Biz360. I worked with Brad in the past and have a great deal of respect for him professionally and personally. So when he shared the story of Biz360 with me and the ambitious vision for the company, I listened intently. He described the company’s growing market opportunity, innovative technology, blue chip client list, talented team of employees, solid financial support and commitment to expansion. These details certainly made me pause. Biz360, he explained, is a company with a strong foundation and tremendous growth potential.

Having worked together before, Brad was familiar with my background. He knew that this is exactly the kind of business I would be charged up about. With over 25 years of marketing and management experience, I’ve directed marketing initiatives for a range of respected and innovative companies. This experience includes the successful launch of two start-up companies and the IPO’s of three “the types of business challenges that excite and motivate me like no other.

Several conversations and meetings later, I agreed to join the Biz360 team. I am focusing on both growing our core business and the aggressive expansion of new products. Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing more details about the company’s product development initiatives of which many of you are already involved.

After my first week as CMO, I am thrilled to be here and eager to help grow Biz360 into one of the world’s great and enduring companies. I am certain we will get there. Building for the future takes real effort and focus. We have superior technology and a great business model. And I am already impressed by the people here — your level of talent, energy, team spirit, commitment and enthusiasm. I know that people make the difference between achieving greatness and mediocrity. With you, I believe we have what it takes. You are our secret ingredient.

We are focused, nimble and entrepreneurial. In my mind, it is the perfect start to building the great and enduring company we envision. Thanks for welcoming me to Biz360. I look forward to working with all of you.