Over the years, private equity has been very, well, private. Many firms avoided media calls. Some did not even have Web sites.

Well, as private equity deals get much bigger - such as with the HCA and Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:HET) transactions - it is impossible to keep things private. Now, the industry is front-page news. PRWeek covered the topic just recently.

The truth is, image-building can help with a variety of things like raising capital, finding new deals, and even crisis management (what if there are huge layoffs?). Something else: it could help to find talented employees.

I had a chance to interview Mark Stevens, who runs MSCO and is the author of the book, Your Marketing Sucks. According to him "for most of their history, private equity firms believed that branding was for corporate losers. But with more and more private equity firms competing for funds, capital flows first to those with the big brands. They are perceived as the stars that can provide the best assurance of high returns. May not be true but therein lies the power of brand equity."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Private Equity's extreme makeover originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday, Bloggingstock's Brian White wrote about the impact Robert Scoble has had on corporate America. Once considered something of a fringe activity, blogging is increasingly becoming mainstream as major media organizations jump on board, as well as major corporations.

Although, Scoble's move from Microsoft to PodTech.net has another message: the importance of video blogging (or vlogging).   You see, Scoble will help develop video content - mostly interviews. 

As seen with the YouTube.com phenomenon, there is an incredible demand for video content.  What's more, it is very easy to create and distribute this type of content. 

I interviewed Mark Stevens, who is the author of the book Your Marketing Sucks.  He has this to say about the future of video:  "Not only is the future video, it is the now. The less people have to read, the more they will absorb. If I can quickly show you a picture, a schematic, a powerful visual of any kind, I have a greater opportunity to command your attention. The key is the word powerful. Whether a blog is in text or video, unless it strikes the heart or the brain with a dagger, it is quickly old fish." 

Blogs Don't Suck originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Jun 2006 01:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.