The fact of the matter is, the top browsers are all pretty damn good and choosing your web browser really depends on your browsing purpose. Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Rockmelt are all the fastest, sexiest and bestest. As for IE and Safari, well, I advise to use them for one activity only: downloading one of the browsers below.

Chrome.

Google Chrome is a must for web-aholics. Like all of Google’s other products and services, Chrome sticks to its open-source guns and is very simple yet highly customizable, not to mention, it’s disgustingly fast. Chrome and Firefox have many great features; I’ll highlight those unique to each in order to avoid redundancy. My favorite Chrome features include:

• Built in Sandboxing – Top-notch security that keeps any data to individual tabs including your Flash and PDF plug-in. This might be very technical, so if it doesn’t make sense to you, just know that it’s a very good thing for your computer’s security.
• Incognito Browsing – Your computer won’t log any history in this mode, great for when guest uses your computer and wants to log you out of all your auto-signed in accounts. Note: the websites you visit can still track cookies and all the other crumbs you leave.
• Google Integration – Data is fully synchronized with your Google Account.

Firefox.

Evenly matched with Chrome is Mozilla’s Firefox. It used to be that Internet Explorer was the backup browser when something on Firefox wouldn’t run. But now, Firefox is compatible with almost all websites – I even use it as a backup for pages Chrome can’t run. Favorite Firefox features:

• Do Not Track Mode – Complete privacy where your browser nor visited websites can track your data
• Extensive Add-ons – Customize Firefox to your browsing style.
• Widely Compatible – I have already mentioned this, but really it’s a big deal. Firefox does beat out Chrome in support with a number of websites.

Opera

Opera is THE choice for mobile browsing. iOS or Android, do yourself a favor and download Opera and forget about your stock browser. Opera Mini Browser is optimized for iOS while the full-blown Opera Browser is available to Androids with powerful hardware.  Both Opera and Opera Mini are extremely powerful, extremely well built out and will noticeably speed up your mobile browsing and efficiency.

Rockmelt.

Here’s a wildcard browser many of you might not even know about. Rockmelt is a browser for social media lovers. This browser fully integrates with your Facebook, including chat, posting, newsfeed etc. Additionally, you can add practically any social network as well as other website apps such as Tumblr, CNN, etc. for live news updates. Imagine Facebook and a browser like Chrome or Firefox getting together and having a baby – you’d get Rockmelt (see below).

The initial pains of building another network, from scratch, AND having to engage were definitely enough to keep me at bay- at least for a few hours.  I finally gave in and started the initial set up, which took about 15 minutes. As the weekend went by, I couldn’t help but check in on my growing circles, attempt to invite more of my friends (which I haven’t been successful with since that first hour) and after many tries, got my Instagram feed to publish. What’s the most interesting thing about Google + for me? Simply all the buzz around this shiny, new toy. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

The world is definitely buzzing with Google+. Chris Brogan’s recent article provides an in depth look at how powerful, or weak this new toy really is, or has the potential to be.  What are your musings so far? We’d love to hear from you!

All jokes aside, smart phones have drastically changed anything and everything digital. They have made us more accessible, efficient and ultimately, more mobile in almost every social and personal endeavor. Here is my list of must have mobile apps:

1. Yelp – Yelp is my food and entertainment bible. If I’m ever in a new town or just can’t decide where to eat or what to do, Yelp is my best friend. Yelp’s and its users’ ratings have yet to do me wrong.
2. GasBuddy – Gas. Prices. Won’t. Stop. Climbing. Use this application to find the cheapest gas near you – where ever you are!
3. USA Today – All news outlets now have their own mobile app. I particularly like USA Today’s because of its easy-to-read-on-your-tiny-phone-screen format and sharing capabilities straight from the app itself.
4. Google Voice – You don’t need a smart phone for this app, but the Google Voice App makes managing voicemails a thousand times easier. My favorite feature – it transcribes your voicemails into text messages so you don’t have that annoying cassette symbol in the corner of your phone.
5. Foursquare/Facebook Places – Initially, I was annoyed when people would check in where ever they went. But I admit it, I’ve become one of those people. Restaurants and shops offer some pretty nifty giveaways and deals for people who check in – try it out. It’s also kind of satisfying to oust someone as Mayor..
6. Shazam – Don’t you hate it when you hear a song on the radio that you like and you want to know what song it is, but the radio hosts never says the name? Download Shazam, turn it on, hold it up to the speakers and Shazam will tell you the song name and artist in less than a minute.
7. Pandora – If you haven’t heard of Pandora yet, you’re missing out. They created the “Music Genome Project” that creates playlists for you based on a song or artist. Create as many playlists as you like and take this limitless music player on the go!
8. Drop Box – Drop Box is great not only on your computer, but now you can access your account mobile! I’ve ran into many instances where I needed to access personal as well as business files on the road. Drop box is THE cloud solution for file sharing and their mobile app is excellent for on the go business.
9. Evernote – Evernote enables you to “Remember Everything.” It allows you to take notes and jot down ideas, experiences, store pictures, anything. It connects your account through all the mobile devices in your life so you’ll never forget a thing – theoretically.

Read the full blog post here courtesy of our friends at Bop Design.

We welcome your ideas and feedback on who’s got your attention.  Here are a few that we think hit it spot on.

Tall Dark, Handsome and Smells Good Too!

The Old Spice Man is considered by many to be one of the best campaigns of 2010.  In only 6 months the combined PR, social media and advertising campaign with the handsome “Old Spice Man” himself delivered over 1.4 billion impressions, doubled sales, and took the brand to number 1 in the men’s body wash category, not to mention getting a resounding “Yes” for a real live wedding proposal. It was all in a days work for the Old Spice Man, who showed how an unknown spokesperson can be branded and used to add personality to a consumer product in virtually any industry.

Creating Holiday Fun and Traditions

Office Max with its partnership with Jib Jab has made “Elfing” our family a holiday tradition, as it has for millions.  The office supply company has made itself and its holiday gift offerings just a little more fun, and entertained millions in the process, with its ElfYourself campaign that combines social media, viral e-mail and a brilliant dash of PR.  With people, and newsrooms, everywhere sharing their ElfYourself vids, Office Max brings its stores and offerings to mind during the most lucrative retail season, and a time when many are typically not otherwise thinking “office supplies” for gifting.  Office Max capitalizes on the captive audience by sending coupons and other goodies to people that participate.

A Side of Branding With Your Potassium

At Zenzi we can’t help but toot our own horn, especially when even Fast Company recognized Chiquita’s “Eat A Chiquita” campaign with Zenzi best branding campaign, and said, “it has a good shot at keeping Chiquita from becoming second banana to any other brand for years to come”.  Chiquita asked folks to redesign the iconic stickers on its bananas, then produced the 18 designs that got the most votes. Zenzi promoted the contest, which got 100,000 votes for the 50 design finalists; more than 25,000 drag-and-drop mixes in less than five months on EatAChiquita.com and a total of 1,355 sticker submissions.

Real Beautiful

In 2004 Dove launched its Campaign for Real Beauty, utilizing social media and its viral “Evolution” video, viewed by an unprecedented 300 million people globally. Dove and Ogilvy boosted sales and won numerous awards and created big buzz about the topic. Perhaps most importantly they spoke directly to women and helped to change perceptions about what constitutes real beauty. The campaign is based on an initial study from the brand that confirmed that the definition of beauty had become impossible to achieve. Dove found that only 2 % of women described themselves as beautiful and it was not just those in the U.S. that were dissatisfied with themselves; women throughout the world were not happy with their body image or weight.  Dove shows women in all shapes and sizes and ages in its Real Beauty Campaign, revealing that true beauty comes in many packages.

So there you have it; our first four! More to come in a few days.  Be sure to let us know what stands out as your favorite all time campaign in the meantime.

Ready for a pop quiz?

As PR professionals, measurement is a huge part of the job.  Creating a plan and even implementing that plan isn’t enough to have repeated success. It’s crucial to measure traditional media and social media success of your program from start to finish.

Put your skills to the test and take this quick PR News quiz to see how much you know about PR measurement.

Take quiz!