The factory collapse that killed more than 1,100 people in Bangladesh this April is by no means the first tragedy to strike the garment industry in recent years—but it does look like the culmination of an ongoing PR challenge that could reshape the way major clothing brands market their products. The earliest evidence of this change comes on social media, where companies that had operations in the factory have already begun responding to the demands of consumers and labor activists.

The New York Times reports that many businesses and industry groups now plan to follow the food industry’s example by offering the public more detailed information about how and where their clothes are made. H&M and Zara have agreed to sign a new “factory safety accord,” and major names like Disney, Nike, and Walmart may follow with campaigns designed to appropriate the “green,” “organic,” and “fair trade” themes favored by food and household goods marketers in recent years. The purpose of this material, of course, will be to highlight the brands’ corporate social responsibility efforts and distance them from horrific accidents like the one in Bangladesh.

It’s nothing new for fashion: upstarts like American Apparel began using their own “fair trade” practices as key selling points some time ago. Yet, despite AA’s success, retailers like Maggie’s Organics and Everlane (tagline “Luxury Basics. Radical Transparency.”) remain few and far between.

Not for long.

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How did an 18-year-old college student in Maryland gain the trust of and get access to TV executives and anchors in New York? “By posting 10 or 15 posts a day meant that the industry knew it was a reliable consistent source,” says Brian Stelter, creator of our sister site TVNewser and now a media reporter for the New York Times and author of the just released book “Top of the Morning.”

As he neared graduation, Stelter had to make a choice: work in TV news, or cover it.

• Part I: Stelter on Being Matt Lauer’s “nemesis”

If you ever find yourself responsible for promoting a client whose hook is just too dumb to pitch, we’d like you to know that it can’t true. Don’t believe us? Consider the recent media coverage of SexCereal and Bacon Condoms, two products clearly designed to inspire headlines (and little else).

Neither of these products were April Fools’ jokes, but they both managed to win mentions in mainstream media outlets like The New York Times, Slate, Fox News, Good Morning America, LIVE with Kelly and Michael and even WebMD. How? They had hooks so dumb that folks just had to click. And we all know that producers are just dying to fill airtime with news about stunt products like a condom that helps “make your meat look like meat” and provides “the utmost safety for when you’re makin’ Bacon” or the “world’s first and only gender-based whole food cereal”, which promises to promote “good nerve function, healthy hormone levels, and an unobstructed blood flow to the pelvic area.”

PR wins all around. And yes, there’s a stupid video after the jump: Read more

We know it’s something of a stereotype that traditional and especially print media tend to take their time in arriving at/commenting on a hot story. Such is the case with The New York Times, which made waves this weekend by reporting on a phenomenon that PR and marketing folk already know quite well: paid or sponsored content.

We’re not saying that the many talented reporters at the Times have ignored the trend until now; this Media Decoder post regarding The Atlantic‘s Scientology advertorial scandal mentions the fact that BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post and other top web publishers already maintain sponsored content sections. But the weekend’s article does seem to be the first time the Times has deemed such content worthy of comment in print.

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A while ago we posted on how Facebook‘s newfangled “graph search” setup could help PR pros and marketers more effectively push their clients’ content to the general public and conduct market research. But here’s something we never thought about: what if graph search could double as a media contact database?

We recently spoke to Peter Axtman of Sunshine Sachs to learn how he used graph search to score a big PR win for a client with a very specific target audience.

Axtman was working to promote a client called Playground Sessions, an instructional app-maker that is “like Rosetta Stone for piano”. Axtman told us that, though the client had received some “mainstream tech coverage“, he “wanted to talk to niche piano publications” that might appeal more explicitly to the client’s target audience — people interested in learning to play piano or improve their form without in-person training.

So he turned to graph search with surprising (and encouraging) results.

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Obvious statement of the day: the debate over who “owns” content marketing, native/paid media and social will only heat up in the months and years to come as agencies fight (politely) for clients’ money. But the latest chapter in this timeless face-off appears to be unfolding in record time.

First comes news that big-name ad agency McCann Erickson will significantly expand upon a unit it founded last year to exclusively tackle social media projects. The unit, now called “McCann Always On” (get it?), will “[build] social media-centric marketing plans” rather than just managing clients’ pages and feeds in an attempt to back up the agency’s “sure, we can do that!” claims.

This announcement follows a telling New York Times article by advertising specialist Stuart Elliot, who reported that a growing number of ad/marketing copywriters have mastered the subtle art of “LOLspeak” as their agencies integrate more social content into client campaigns.

On the PR side, Weber Shandwick just announced its plans to expand upon the traditional definition of a PR firm by launching a new content-focused unit called MediaCo.

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You may have heard today that Yahoo, which is in the midst of trying to “sex up” its brand image, just bought Summly, a “news summary” app created by a 17-year-old British kid named Nick D’Aloisio, for a whopping $30 million. But was Yahoo really expanding its product portfolio, or was the company just buying a bunch of good publicity? We’re firmly in the latter camp — and we’ll explain why.

The real value of this app has to be less than the selling price, especially when it faces competitors like Pulse, Flipboard and Pocket. But the move scored the company a first-page New York Times story with the headline “He Has Millions and a New Job at Yahoo. Soon, He’ll Be 18.” Compelling, no? He’s bold, he’s young and he’s a millionaire with his own Wikipedia page. He certainly doesn’t sound like the typical Yahoo user — and that’s the whole point. New York Magazine’s Kevin Roose notes that the last acquisition to get this much media hype was Facebook buying Instagram for a whole lot more money.

So it’s all part of Marissa Mayer‘s carefully planned image makeover.

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This helpful social media hint may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s worth repeating: good news is the stickiest news. We all know that we can’t create truly viral content, no matter how hard we try–but human psychology provides us with some useful hints when it comes to pushing stuff that fans will share with others. And that’s our ultimate goal for our client brands, right?

It’s kind of a counter-intuitive conclusion: viewers love drama and tragedy when it comes to consuming news, but on the social front they’re far, far more likely to share positive, inspiring content. For example, while local and national news is heavy on car crashes, celebrity scandals and armed conflict, many of the most shared New York Times stories don’t concern financial misdeeds or dirty politics–they’re inspiring/fascinating science and health stories like this one about the famous Mediterranean diet or this one about how owls are totally awesome.

Social psychologist and author Jonah Berger explains: “…when you share a story with your friends and peers, you care a lot more how they react. You don’t want them to think of you as a Debbie Downer”. It’s a very relevant quote to every social media manager–even if we knew it already.

We’ve all heard a whole lot about sponsored content/native advertising lately, but the movement is only gaining steam. Now major TV networks and niche channels are joining blogs and traditional print newspapers and magazines in moving toward the “sponsored content” model. Since many argue that content marketing and PR are one and the same, this shift could create even more opportunities for ambitious multimedia firms.

Here’s how it will work: in order to get viewers to actually, you know, watch ads instead of going to the kitchen for some dip or fast-forwarding their TiVos, The Food Network, The Travel Channel and others will partner with brands (and agencies) to create commercial spots and campaigns tied to popular programs and personalities. For example, Stuart Elliot of The New York Times notes that Don Wildman, host of shows like Off Limits and Mysteries at the Museum, created a series of promos for the Land Rover that fit quite nicely with the programs themselves. Here’s one:

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Last year we wrote about the Chinese government’s “censor and deny” approach to damage control after a New York Times story about the considerable wealth of prime minister and supposed “man of the people” Wen Jibao threatened to damage his political fortunes. Here’s an even more interesting story on the role of PR in Chinese politics–and this is legitimate public relations, not the underground blackmail and bribery industry.

As expected, former VP Xi Jinping officially assumed the presidency after receiving a ridiculous 99.8% of the vote in The People’s Congress. Xi posed as a reformer, and his primary goal is to convince the growing number of Chinese citizens who aren’t happy with their government that his administration is more concerned with improving quality of life than lining its own pockets.

In order to do this, he’s taking some steps right out of the political PR playbook that will look familiar to anyone who has suffered through an American presidential campaign.

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