Today’s Web 2.0 social media environment offers a tremendous opportunities for companies to closely engage with customers, prospects and market segments in a positive, mutually beneficial manner.  The problem arises when marketing and communications people view these new 1:1 outlets as a great marketing/sales and PR pitching opportunities.  They forget that the individuals if not treated properly and with professional respect can turn and instead of being the ones who are being hunted can become the hunters.  People - regular folks - can be mean and brutal if they are abused.  Marketeers need to know the pros/cons, challenges/opportunities.  Consumers need to know that they have a powerful platform to strike back and cause real damage. It requires a mutual understanding on both sides and a meaningful two way relationship otherwise…duck.

“Nothing in those files makes their sacrifice worthwhile. You have to let go. We’re professionals, when an operation goes bad, we tie it off. ” – Ward Abbott (Brian Cox) – The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

The world of new media – widgets and social applications – looks like a beautiful marketing hunting grounds.

It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

Imagine people flock to Web 2.0 locations where they blog.

They upload/download audios/videos of specific interest to them.

They congregate at business/special interest web sites to gain information and be entertained.

They twitter.

They gather daily/nightly in online communities to exchange information, news and just hang out.

Read More

“Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” - Thomas Paine

In theory corporate policy is to encourage creative thinking, initiative and growth. 

Their communications policy is to quickly and accurately support all of the audiences. 

Firms constantly seek new ways to efficiently and effectively accomplish that goal…as long as it follows corporate policy and conventional wisdom.

Conventional wisdom says:

1. Public relations should be the sole spokesperson for the company

The more mature the company, the more mature the PR policy.  Unlike business processes and procedures as well as product lines that are constantly evaluated regarding their value to the company and the consumer, PR policy is seldom scrutinized.  Few organizations seriously look closely to see if old efforts, measures and controls make sense in today’s environment.  Hence releases and clippings are the key measurement.

Many monolithic firms have a clear policy that conceals marketing, product and engineering management from the press.  Policy dictates that all queries must be centrally managed, filtered and controlled.  

In an era of global communications, some still focus on attempting to manage, even manipulate news coverage.

In this scenario the probing press-type explains the problem, question, issue to the PR person.  He or she will interpret it to one or more of the internal contacts.  They will then filter the query to someone else who will provide an answer (or partial answer).  This will be passed to the PR person who will then provide the information to the member of the media. 

If only part of the answer is provided, if it stimulates an added question or if clarification is needed; the cycle begins again. 

Read More

Recently we were told in no uncertain terms by a client’s prospective customer that she had seriously considered our product but after reading customer reviews on one of the many public consumer review sites.

She addressed her issues to us directly because ours was the only personal contact on the web site.  The others were sales@, customer support@, etc. 

She wasn’t the first prospective customer or actual user to contact us.

She won’t be the last.

The Internet and Web technologies have changed the way public relations professionals interact with others and in fact have changed the definition of publics.

Today your publics are online.  Having a visitor friendly web site is simply part of the cost of doing business.  PR should be part of the team that has inputs to and develops/maintains the site but only part of the enterprise-wide team.

However, most site visitors view the company web site as the starting point of their search…not the end.

There is literally a world of opportunities to find out about you, your products and yes your customer support.
 

Being Involved

Public relations people have to be more than just aware of the information options, they have to be involved with them…all of them.

Teens, tweens and millennials can hardly recall the pre-digital days.  Gen Xers and boomers have found the benefits of being online.  They don’t simply use the Internet as a means of doing business or staying in touch. 

The IP (Internet protocol) address is their doorway to the world of news, information and entertainment.

It means that PR pros have to open up to think beyond the 1 : many activities to efforts that help the company interact with prospects and customers. 

Read More

Over the years hundreds of highly respected professionals, analysts and educators have developed comprehensive and sometimes complicated descriptions of public relations and corporate communications.  There have been heated discussions regarding the separation of public relations from advertising, public relations from marketing and the role public relations should play of the organization.

What is most counter-productive has been public relations desire to distance itself from the distasteful task of actually “selling” the company, its propositions, its products, its technologies and its services.  If it doesn’t help perpetuate the company what value does it serve…regardless of the definition?

We recently read one of the clearest, most concise and easiest to understand descriptions of public relations.  It stripped away all of the rhetoric and all of the lofty philosophy…”effective public relations is simply applied common sense.”

Common sense says that a company must achieve sales and must produce profit if it is to survive.  If it doesn’t survive then it stands for nothing and is worth nothing.  Done properly public relations adds value by employing people, by providing a return to shareholders, by supporting our governmental institutions and by delivering product/service value to customers.

Common sense says that for programs to be successful they must be founded on business objectives, not “PR” objectives.  They must focus on the company’s brand equity, not on individual products.  This branding activity must extend beyond media relations, charitable giving, legislative relations and other niches. 

Read More

When your goal is to grow your business, one of the most important things you can do is spend time learning how to generate publicity for your organization.  The key to getting publicity for your company is to develop and implement a sound public relations plan that focuses on activities designed to attract positive media attention to the activities of your business.  

Three of the best techniques for generating publicity include:

1.  Special Events Hosting a special event is a great way to generate publicity for your company.  There are many ways to generate free publicity for events that are open to the public.  Many websites and newspapers have special sections dedicated to community events, and you can submit information about any events that you have scheduled for publication consideration.

For example, if you are opening a new location, you might want to consider holding a ribbon cutting ceremony.  Even if you aren’t moving, you can schedule an open house event.  While the news media aren’t likely to attend the actual event, any pre-event publicity that you generate can boost your business, and you will enjoy the added benefit of giving customers and prospective customers a good excuse to visit your business.

2.  Public Speaking Engagements Most civic and professional organizations schedule speakers for their weekly or monthly meetings.  Come up with an idea for an interesting topic that is related to your business offer to speak to local organizations such as Kiwanis, Rotary, the American Business Women’s Association, and others.  

Read More

Did Harley Davidson create the desire for rebellion and the feeling of freedom that comes from conquering the open road?  Did Starbucks create the desire for a sense of sophistication or for people to feel like they are part of a community?

Of course not!  Harley Davidson and Starbucks simply found wonderfully resonant ways to tap into these deep emotional currents that course through people’s veins.  However, it is important to remember that everyone does not have the same emotional imperatives.  That is why some people buy a Suzuki bike and many people prefer to buy their coffee at Dunkin Donuts.  That is how great branding works - companies find ways to connect with the emotional drivers that move their specific target audience.

When you’re walking down the grocery store aisle, have you ever listened to the tiny voices in the back of your head that are asking questions like, what does this product say about me as a mother?  What does this product say about my status?  Do I prefer to be irreverent or traditional?  Am I frugal or do I prefer to be decadent?

These are all brand questions your semi-conscious or unconscious mind is asking at warp speed.  In fact, according to experts as much as 90% of brand decisions are made at an unconscious emotional level.

So what does this all mean for us as PR professionals?   It means that purchasing decisions are made based on the strength of the brands you represent.  And brands are not built solely on our industry’s traditional view of PR.  They are the sum of the stories and experiences that your core target audience has had with a brand.

This means our profession must become expert at how great brands are created and nurtured.  And we better start helping our clients build resonant brands from the ground up.  If we don’t, others will, and we will move even further from holding that coveted seat at the table.

Read More

Business awards, as entering and winning (or even reaching finalist position) one of these is a great method of ensuring PR and many awarding bodies, such as the big banks out there, also do a great job of publicising their winners. The big thing that puts people off entering these awards is the work that goes into it, but it’s important to remember that once you’ve done the work once, a lot of it can be tweaked and tailored to individual awards. One might focus on creativity, another on staff training, but much of the content will be the same. So, here are my top ten suggestions to give you the best chance of getting noticed by the judges.

1. Make the decision to do it.
If you are bringing entering awards into your PR programme then really do go for it. Just half-heartedly entering one award is a waste of your time. Do a little bit of research and see how many you are actually applicable for. Here are just a few I found in a 30 second web search - many of the banks annually run their own awards, as well as women’s magazines and the women’s website Handbag.

http://www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk/nbaenterawards/
http://www.businessawardseurope.com/html/enter-awards.html
http://www.nationaltrainingawards.com/entering/index.htm
http://www.enterprisenation.com/detail/Entries_now_open_for_2008_Home_Business_Awards/2001/1.aspx

Likewise, give yourself the resources you need to do the job. Get outside help if you need it, as this is a big investment in your future.

2.

Read More

Many mistakenly view PR as an emergency measure, a tool to be utilized during a crisis, or as a temporary supplement to a marketing campaign. In reality public relations is the most effective strategic business tool at your disposal.

Read More