Koroberi announces the recent promotion of Natalie Fioto to integrated marketing account executive.

Fioto is responsible for implementing next generation marketing campaigns, maintaining client contact and managing the agency’s junior staff. As a member of Koroberi’s management team, she is also accountable for quality assurance and business development.

Fioto joined Koroberi in 2010. After graduating from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, she was appointed to the full-time position of account coordinator. Her promotions are a direct result of her ability to bring measurable results to both Koroberi and its clients.

“Natalie is a valued member of our integrated marketing team. Her ability to connect with clients and strategize marketing campaigns in both North and South America merited a promotion,” said Koroberi President, Kathryn Olive. “As a results-driven agency, we recognize and reward talent that contributes to our agency’s success.”

“I’m excited to transition into a more dynamic role,” said Fioto. “The move offers me an opportunity to work more in-depth with our marketing campaigns and clients. I look forward to the increased responsibility and to playing a more vital role in the success of our B2B clients.”

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About Koroberi, Inc.
Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com) is a full-service marketing firm serving the strategic, creative and tactical marketing needs of a diverse list of business-to-business clients. Ranked consistently among the top 100 business-to-business agencies in the country by B2B Magazine, Koroberi also provides research and technical communications services to a range of global business-to-business industrial firms. The agency is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, adjacent to the state’s Research Triangle Park area, with a strong partnership with web development firm, Ashe Avenue, located in Brooklyn, New York.

Koroberi’s sister company, Ashe Avenue (www.asheavenue.com), is pleased to announce the recent promotion of Matt Murphy to director of client services.

Murphy oversees client relationships, account executive services and project management at both Ashe Avenue and its affiliated marketing agency, Koroberi. As Director of Client Services, he is also responsible for quality assurance, client retention and business development.

Murphy joined Ashe Avenue five years ago, after graduating with a degree in advertising from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to his recent promotion, Murphy was appointed to the position of account planner. His promotions are a direct result of his ability to bring measurable results to both Koroberi and Ashe Avenue Development.

“I feel very fortunate to have worked with and learned from some great people, and I’m excited and honored to have the opportunity to help shape the future at Ashe Avenue,” said Murphy. “I’m looking forward to pushing Ashe Avenue to provide the best possible work and services for all of the current and future clients. Good work makes for happy clients, and when clients are happy, we’re happy.”

For media information, please contact Natalie Fioto, public relations, Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com), by email at natalie@koroberi.com or by phone at 919.945.0566.

About Ashe Avenue
Ashe Avenue (www.asheavenue.com) is a performance-driven web development and design group headquartered in Brooklyn, N.Y. with offices in Chapel Hill, N.C. We partner with media companies, advertising agencies, event driven organizations and global brands to transform creative concepts into powerful web-based experiences.

About Koroberi, Inc.
Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com) is a full-service marketing firm serving the strategic, creative and tactical marketing needs of a diverse list of business-to-business clients. Ranked consistently among the top 100 business-to-business agencies in the country by B2B Magazine, Koroberi also provides research and technical communications services to a range of global business-to-business industrial firms. The agency is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, adjacent to the state’s Research Triangle Park area, with a strong partnership with web development firm, Ashe Avenue, located in Brooklyn, New York.

Every year, Eccolo Media conducts a survey to discover emerging trends in the developing, and always changing, marketing and communications industries. The most recent survey results suggest that the greater variety of marketing collateral options has led to a significant change in influence trends.

The 501 respondents who participated in Eccolo Media’s 2011 survey have worked or currently work for a U.S. – based company where they are responsible for making technology purchases or influencing purchasing decisions. Respondents range from C-level executives and vice presidents to managers and technicians. Here is a brief summary of the survey’s findings:

Primary Information Sources

In the past, white papers, case studies, product brochures and data sheets have been the primary information sources for the “decision makers” and “influencers” of the business world. Although this still holds true, Eccolo’s survey results show that company websites, e-books, social media, blogs and presentations have emerged as popular forms of consumption as well. While it is true that the consumption of traditional marketing collateral has decreased due to the wider array of information sources, the influence of these assets has actually increased. In fact, the survey suggests that people are more influenced by white papers, case studies, product brochures and data sheets than they are by new media outlets.

Social Media

Though new media outlets were found less influential, the survey suggests that the opportunity for social media sharing can have a positive impact on collateral significance. Respondents claimed that if given the option to share collateral via Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, the collateral itself would be more influential. The survey also showed that consuming content via mobile devices and smart phones is on the rise, although desktop computers maintain the leading device to consume marketing materials.

PDFs

In addition, embedded audio and video files have started gaining traction. Over 80% of respondents reported that including embeds in written collateral highly increases the documents’ influence.

Websites

Despite the emergence of these new collateral types and channels, a company’s website and/or contact person remain the dominant sources for collateral access by prospective customers and consumers.

Conclusion

So what can be taken away from the survey’s results? Here are some key points:

1. Continue to invest in traditional collateral sources
2. Add a social media “share” button to your collateral
3. Optimize your assets for mobile devices
4. Embed audio and video files into your PDFs
5. Maintain your corporate website

Content marketing has become the main method of communication for technology industry businesses. It is important for businesses to recognize these shifts in media consumption practices and evolve their asset portfolio accordingly. But no matter what type of product a company develops or dissemination channel a company engages, respondents will always be influenced most by strong and valuable content.

Ashe Avenue (www.asheavenue.com), with offices in Chapel Hill, N.C. and Brooklyn, N.Y., is the high-performance web development team behind Occupy.com (www.occupy.com), a new media channel for millions of users to engage with the Occupy movement. Occupy.com offers a full range of content, including news, video, music and photography. The site was launched just in time for May 1, when the movement will call for a General Strike and a series of events dubbed “The American Spring.”

“There are millions of people who want to engage with Occupy and they don’t know where to go,” said New York filmmaker David Sauvage, the co-founder of Occupy.com. “Occupy.com brings the movement to the people.”

Occupy.com founders used word-of-mouth to find Ashe Avenue. “A friend of mine pointed me in Ashe Avenue’s direction. They know how to do clear, simple and powerful presentation of media on a similar scale to what we’re envisioning,” said Sauvage. “They were patient, collaborative, smart, flexible. It’s a work in progress. It’s a partnership. And we look forward to seeing where it can go. Like the movement itself, it’s about process, creativity, spontaneity. These are rare qualities. Ashe Avenue had them.”

“Our team wanted to contribute to the Occupy movement. We built a high-performance site that offers an artistic format, and supports a wide range of content,” said John McKinney, principal and co-founder, Ashe Avenue. “Occupy.com is designed to handle the rapidly evolving needs of the movement. Our platform provides the scalability and robustness to handle rapid increases in traffic to the site.”

BtoB Magazine recognizes Koroberi in 2012 Top Agencies report.

Koroberi (www.koroberi.com), a full-service integrated B2B marketing agency, is pleased to announce that it has ranked in BtoB Magazine’s Top National Agencies report for the sixth consecutive year.

BtoB Magazine, the leading business marketing publication in the U.S., annually publishes its Top Agencies listing, which recognizes the best national agencies in four categories: small, midsize, large, and interactive. Candidates for the competition are judged on creativity, marketing effectiveness and demonstrated business growth.

“2011 was a year of the brand makeover and company expansion, with some clients reinventing themselves in preparation for post-recession marketing and other clients experiencing growth during an economic recession,” said Kathryn Olive, president, Koroberi. “Because of this, Koroberi has seen significant growth in B2B web and PR programming as clients work to revamp their image, with advertising dollars increasing for 2012 media plans.”

Throughout 2010, the agency added several new accounts to its roster, including Stella Nova Technologies, RMT Robotics and Intelligrated. These clients offer highly-automated services, including industrial robots, supply chain software services and mobile and digital marketing applications.

The complete list of the top B2B agencies can be found on BtoB’s website at www.btobonline.com.

For media information on Koroberi, Inc., please contact Natalie Fioto by telephone at 919.945.0566 or by e-mail at natalie@koroberi.com.

About Koroberi, Inc.
Koroberi, Inc. is a full-service marketing firm serving the strategic, creative and tactical marketing needs of a diverse list of business-to-business clients. Ranked consistently among the top 100 business-to-business agencies in the country by B2B Magazine, Koroberi also provides research and technical communications services to a range of global business-to-business industrial firms. The agency is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, adjacent to the state’s Research Triangle Park area, with a strong partnership with web development firm, Ashe Avenue, located in Brooklyn, New York.

As a leader in public relations, Koroberi houses employees who are both invested and passionate about complying with journalistic ethics and standards. That said, I’m finding it impossibly hard to ignore this week’s news frenzy over Mr. Daisey’s The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. As I flip through the emerging articles filled with accusations, I find myself wondering, “Who is really to blame?” There are three key players in this controversy and each one is being blamed by someone who values journalistic standards.

The player with the fewest fingers wagging shame in its direction is the New York Public Theater. Prior to the controversy, the Public Theater’s performance program deemed Mr. Daisey’s monologue “nonfiction.” The entire controversy could have been avoided by simply inserting the classic Hollywood “based on true events” line and leaving the word “nonfiction” out of the program – and something tells me that the word “nonfiction” won’t be appearing in Public Theater programs anytime in the near future.

Also under scrutiny are Ira Glass and the production staff of his radio program, This American Life. After attending the “nonfiction” one-man-show at the New York Public Theater, Ira invited Mr. Daisey to perform on his radio program. The episode, Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory, quickly became the show’s most popular episode, with 888,000 downloads and 206,000 streams since its January debut. Unfortunately for Ira, he opened the episode by stressing the story’s credibility, “…we’ve actually spent a few weeks checking everything that he says in his show.” Ira continued to emphasize the story’s credibility by stating, “As for Mike’s findings, we have gone through his script and fact checked everything that was checkable.” The Brown University alum should have known better than to say that they fact-checked the script when they did not.

Of course, of all of the parties involved in this controversy, the most obvious person to blame is Mr. Daisy himself. However, at first I didn’t want to point my finger at Mr. Daisey. I wanted to defend the statement he made Friday, “What I do is not journalism. The tools of the theater are not the same as the tools of journalism.” Should we hold Mike Daisey to the same journalistic standards we hold ourselves? In my opinion, the answer is no. Sure, he probably should have spoken up when the programs were printed at the Public Theater, but Mr. Daisey’s real mistake was agreeing to step off of the stage and into This American Life, MSNBC and Real Time with Bill Mahr.

Once he was in the newsroom, Mr. Daisey should have stated that his story was a composition of both his personal experience in China and his research, rather than letting the story go on air as a journalistic report. Additionally, Ira and his staff at This American Life should have realized that Mr. Daisey’s story was not a work of journalism before they let it air. I think Elisa, a blogger for French Exit, explains it best, “’Nonfiction’ isn’t journalism…If you want to do a political expose, don’t go to Broadway for material.”

Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC technology correspondent, also relates the controversy to the overall state of journalism, “The bigger question is what we’ve learned about journalism in the age of what the writer Andrew Keen has called the ‘cult of the amateur’. I believe the whole affair has reinforced the value of journalism as a profession.”

With so many human-rights activists under scrutiny, including Jason Russell of KONY 2012 and Greg Mortenson of Three Cups of Tea, the need for transparency is becoming increasingly vital for those with a cause. By going on the news with an embellished story about a situation that didn’t need exaggerating, Mr. Daisey hurt the missions of many human-rights activists by creating skeptics.

If you haven’t heard of Pinterest, you may as well have been living under a rock the past few months. It is the most popular topic in social media today; showing up in blogs, articles, tweets, Facebook posts and more. But what is it exactly?

Pinterest is an image driven virtual pinboard. It allows you to “pin” your choice of images and videos on self-created boards of different topics. As a user, you also have the choice of becoming a follower. You can follow people, friends, companies, general interests, etc. As a follower, you are able to re-pin posted images and content from your connections.

It seems simple considering it really only consists of images and short captions, but it’s addictive and growing fast! For a company with only 16 employees, Pinterest has experienced rapid growth. It recently hit 10 million US monthly unique visitors and did so faster than any other independent site in history. The social media site has more than 10.4 million registered users and is producing more referral traffic than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined. It has exploded with popularity as daily user numbers have increased more than 145% since the beginning of the new year. So how can businesses and professionals leverage Pinterest?

Every business or organization will have to do some personalizing in order to establish its Pinterest page, but here are a few general tips for making it work.

• Pin content that will interest your target audience as well as things that relate to your company’s make-up, standards and beliefs. It can also be beneficial to pin things that are directly related to your company like achievements or big news, but this should be done in small doses and not that often.
• In order to get people to follow your boards, do a search for people or companies that fall under your personal audience and start repining and commenting on their boards. This will help bring attention to your Pinterest page and encourage others to repin and comment in return.
• Spend time exploring and observing your target audiences’ boards to get an idea of the content that interests them, that way you can take that intelligence and use it for your own benefit.
• As a business or organization, your main purpose should be to share your content in a visual manner that people can relate to.

People spend nearly 100 minutes on Pinterest a month, compared to the 19 minutes people spend on LinkedIn, it’s worth it to give the site a shot. With the ability to link Facebook and Twitter accounts to Pinterest, it couldn’t be easier to integrate the site into your social media mix. So even with all of this great information about Pinterest, how do we know it’s actually effective?

Companies ranging from @Mashable to @GeneralElectric have been recognized by social media and other bloggers for their successful Pinterest pages. Mashable, a social media website, has decorated its Pinterest boards with infographics and images of gadgets and visual data. Opposite to Mashable, General Electric has boards pinned with photos of the machines they work with, photos of the company’s products over their existence, campaign photos, etc. Both of these very different organizations have found what interests their target market and pinned images that draw people to their page. On a more individual scale, many professionals have crafted image-based resumes to pin, turning a Pinterest page into a professional portfolio.

While many write Pinterest off as the mecca for DIY-ers and women, with its astronomical growth and expansion, Pinterest presents an exciting new opportunity for businesses too.

Check out our Koroberi pinterest page and follow our pin boards!

Whether or not you actually have roots in the Emerald Isle, everyone seems to have a wee bit of Irish in them on St. Patrick’s Day. It is a national holiday in Ireland, but thanks to the Irish diaspora, St. Patrick’s Day is a beloved holiday all over the world.

To assist in the St. Paddy’s day fun, a host of social media campaigns and apps have emerged to get revelers in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit! Here are a few that will stir up excitement and come in handy!

1. Irish Dancing Flashmob

I never got into the flash-mob-the-library-during-finals-week craze, nor was I a big fan of the AT&T flash mob commercial. This, however, is different: A fresh take on a tired concept that adapts Irish culture to a contemporary fad. Well done Tourism Ireland!

2. Guinness Pub Finder App

In a strange city? Already lost all sense of direction? Well never fear, the Guinness Pub finder is here! The app’s “Locate a Pint” feature aggregates data from more than 20,000 bars across the United States and uses GPS to bring you to the liquid pleasure you crave. The app also includes a step-by-step tutorial on creating the perfect pint and a “DrinkiQ” resource that provides facts about alcohol to aid in responsible decision-making. Bravo!

3. @boston police twitter

Boston is a city that takes St. Patrick’s Day very seriously, with all sorts of public extras ranging from parades to curfews. The Boston Police Department live-tweets street closings, traffic updates and subway diversions to help revelers keep clear of delays and inconveniences.

4. Foursquare

Don’t waste time at the wrong place! Check what bars are trending on Foursquare and make sure you don’t waste time in the wrong spot.

5. Easy Excuses App

St. Paddy’s day took its toll? Don’t feel like going to work? No problem! Just fire up the Simple Excuses app! Select from a list of options including “have a hangover” and “late for work” and the app will churn out the perfect explanation in no time.

Business Leader magazine recognizes Koroberi President Kathryn Olive as one of the Triangle’s top entrepreneurial business leaders.

Koroberi, Inc., a full-service integrated B2B marketing agency, announces that Kathryn Olive, president and partner of Koroberi, has been recognized as one of the Triangle’s “Top 50 Entrepreneurs” by Business Leader magazine. The annual award identifies entrepreneurial business leaders who have made a significant impact on the Triangle business community.

Olive was awarded for her leadership position at Koroberi, a full-service B2B marketing agency ranked as a No. 2 “Top Small B2B Agency in America.” Olive has been a partner at Koroberi since its inception in 1999 and in 2010 she co-founded Koroberi’s spin off company, Ashe Avenue Development. The startup web development company partners with media groups, ad agencies and creative shops, to transform ideas into multimedia web experiences for consumer campaigns.

“Building a business is like building a tribe,” said Olive. “We have been able to grow our profitability by building a strong allegiance to our shared goals and utilizing one another’s strengths.”

In 2012, Olive plans to lead a Koroberi initiative that will support a Spanish language B2B marketing service for companies targeting the U.S. and Latin America marketplace.

Olive has expanded her impact on the Triangle beyond the business community by supporting the Orange County Rape Crisis Center and the Women’s Center of Chapel Hill. She is also a committee member of the Strings Attached Concert series and has been a leader for the Episcopal Visual Arts Association and the North Carolina Long Leaf Opera Company.

Business Leader honored Olive at the Triangle’s Top 50 Entrepreneurs award ceremony Feb. 22 at Brier Creek Country Club in Raleigh. The magazine will also feature Olive in the March issue of Business Leader.

Thanks to the success of the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, presidential candidates can no longer afford to ignore social media. By enlisting the power of new media, the 2008 Obama campaign mobilized support and raised money at record levels. Today, the 2012 Republican primary demonstrates how the relationship between politics and social media continues to evolve. Let’s take a look at how the Ron Paul (@RonPaul) and Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) campaigns implement social media in different ways in order to yield different results.

A central component of Ron Paul’s candidacy is his identity as a libertarian, which makes many constituents view him as an outsider to the mainstream Republican Party. This has won him an abundance of support at the grassroots level, but not the favor of national media. The Paul campaign has complained of being shut out during debates and of unequal access to the mouthpiece of naional media. This lack of attention from traditional outlets has resulted in a heavier reliance on social media by Paul. The beauty of new media for candidates like Paul is that traditional media can no longer act as a gatekeeper for coverage. It also grants candidates the ability to communicate directly with their constituents. The Paul campaign’s use of social media has proven effective through strong showings in primaries, and his triumph in new media consultancy Sociagility’s “social primary.”

If Paul is the maverick outsider looking to crash the mainstream, Mitt Romney represents the other end of the spectrum. Romney’s early primary victories and immense cash flow have satisfied the media’s criteria to name him one of the Republican Primary frontrunners. Romney’s generous financial backing, with a net worth of $202 million according to CNN Money, and position as a frontrunner has yielded him plenty of attention from traditional media. With this amount of media attention, the Romney campaign is less reliant on social media than its grassroots counterpart. While reaching out and rallying support through social media is one of Ron Paul’s signature moves, Romney has the advantage of delivering key messages through large media outlets- this leads to a substantive difference in the content of candidates’ social media interaction.

CBS News said that Romney “looks like the frontrunner” early in the primary. Since then, one of his campaign’s main challenges has been to maintain a leading status. Sampling the @MittRomney twitter feed provides evidence of this effort to stay the course. Recent tweets include:

“Congratulations to my fellow Republicans tonight. We’ll continue to take our message

of liberty & prosperity to every corner of the country,”

and

“@BarackObama wants to raise taxes & grow government. I’ll cut taxes and make government smaller, simpler, & smarter.”

Now consider Ron Paul’s approach. A recent facebook post reads:

“The national political establishment and their pals in the national media will do ANYTHING to silence our message of liberty. It’s up to you and me to stop them. So if you haven’t yet done so, please pledge to give as much as you can to Ron Paul’s February 14 Money Bomb.”

You don’t have to be a political correspondent to note the difference in tone and content of each candidate’s message.

Ron Paul wants to rock the boat and raise money. An inflammatory post with a call to action can do that. Mitt Romney wants to stay the course as frontrunner and unite the party against Obama for the general election.

A key principle guiding candidates’ social media activity is that it reinforces the overall message of the campaign. A zealous adherence to this has led to some controversy for the Romney campaign, with its controversial request that a satirical Pinterest account called “MittRomneyGOP” be changed to “FakeMittRomney,” on grounds that it was misleading.

The young social media site obliged and changed the name of the account.

Since Pinterest is so new, there was no process in place for “verified accounts,” a procedure common to more mature social media sites which makes the purpose of specific accounts (such as satire) obvious to users. The Romney campaign contacted Pinterest within 24 hours of the fake account’s creation. Such a rapid response show’s the campaign’s emphasis on monitoring new media at large in addition to managing its own accounts.

Comparing each candidate’s use of social media provides an interesting snapshot of each campaign. It also shows the continuous integration of social media in the political sphere. Social media’s versatility makes it an essential tool in any campaign. A Google campaign stated that “the web is what you make of it,” and this certainly holds true for social media. Whether campaigns use it to trigger shockwaves or unite a divided electorate, social media is only beginning to reach its potential in the political arena.