Friday, December 30, 2005

Top TV Ads of the Year

Joseph Jaffe, blogger and author of Life After the 30-Second Spot, posted his best and worst TV spots of the year from an interview he did with NPR. Several of those made the rounds in our office and will look familiar to many of you.

It may reveal my own bias as a soccer fanatic, but I would add FC USA from Nike to the list of best spots. On the other hand, it might not just be me. It was also judged to be a Best Spot by ADWEEK.

What are your best or worst TV ads of the year?

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Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Can a crisis boost your reputation?

At Recycled Glue we've been blogging about reputation and crisis communications a lot lately. Could the two be releated? Sure, the proper handling of a crisis can save a company from disaster, but can it actually improve their reputation?

  Apparently, it can. An article in the December 5 issue of PRWEEK about Delahaye's Media Index of Corporate Reputation reveleadlogoDelahaye that Wal-Mart moved into the top spot due to the positive coverage they received from their response to Hurricane Katrina. According to the release from Delahaye, Wal-Mart’s efficient response to hurricane Katrina generated large volumes of positive media coverage as the company delivered emergency relief to affected employees and citizens.

For those with experience in crisis communications, this does not come as a surprise. The PR Crisis Bible references a study from the Henley Centre, which found that when the consumer receives good service from a company and is happy with the goods provided, loyalty stands typically at 60 percent. If, however, something goes badly wrong and the company deals courteously and effectively with the problem, loyalty can rise to as high as 90 percent. Wal-Mart is merely the latest example.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Southwest stays aloft

Last Thursday, Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 skidded off the runway at Chicago Midway Airport and onto Central and 55th Avenue, killing a 6-year-old boy. The death is a real tragedy and represents a crisis for the airline, one that could significantly damage their reputation if not handled correctly.

 Southwest I was aware of the accident that night, but didn't spend much time reading about it until Sunday, when I opened the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Page 3 of the Business Section had two articles about the crash, which wasn't surprising, but what was especially interesting was their content. The headline of the first story read "Fatal crash a Southwest First" and the subhead was "For past 35 years, airline has been one of the safest." The first two paragraphs of the story were about the accident, but it wasn't discussed again until after seven full paragraphs about their exemplary safety record.

The second article was titled "CEO leads quick response to accident." The opening paragraph read: Even though Thursday's incident at Midway Airport marked Southwest Airlines' first fatal accident in its 35-year history, the company offered a coordinated, polished response.

It was that response that led to the two stories in my newspaper, which, even though they were about a tragedy that involved the company, were largely positive in their tone. They clearly benefited from their reputation prior to the accident, but they were also helped by a response that did all the right things:

  • The first confirmation was quick
  • They promised cooperation with the NTSB and the FAA
  • They set up a toll-free number for family and friends of the passengers
  • The CEO expressed condolences for the accident
  • They promised to release further information as it became available

They also didn't ignore the Internet. In a Google search for Southwest Airlines, the company comes up #1 with this link: Information about Southwest Airlines Flight 1248. A link from the home page takes visitors to a list of the company's press releases on the incident, the first of which was released on PR Newswire less than four hours after it happened.

Indeed, the company is receiving praise for their response from crisis communications managers. All this came despite not having a single death in their previous 35 year history. Sometime over that 35 years, Southwest was faced with a choice: do we want to prepare for the worst-case scenario before it happens or react once it does? They chose the former and the benefit to their reputation will be immeasurable.

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Thursday, December 1, 2005

Be Careful How You Sell Out

A few days ago, my colleague posted an obituary for Paul McCartney's reputation, which sprung U2from  McCartney's decision to shill for Lexus. Sure there was some financial gain for the ex-Beatle, but at what cost to his personal brand?

If only Paul had talked to U2 before his decision to partner with a car company, for the Irish rockers have shown the way to become ubiquitous without "selling out." A recent article in the New York Times makes the case that U2 has stood the test of time partly because of their music, but mostly because the are one of the smartest multimillion-dollar, multinational media companies around.

Indeed, they are. The article, entitled Media Age Business Tips From U2, has one tip that would have been useful to McCartney before the deal was inked with Lexus: "Be Careful How You Sell Out." Under that headline, David Carr writes:

U2 has been offered as much as $25 million to allow a song to be used in a car commercial. No dice. They traded brands, not money, with Apple. Bob Dylan may wander around in a Victoria's Secret ad and The Who will rent "My Generation" to anybody with the wherewithal, but the only thing U2's music sells is U2. Just because it will fold and go in someone's pocket - The New Yorker publishing ads illustrated by its cartoonists comes to mind - does not mean it will be beneficial over the long haul.

The article is full of useful advice for everyone, not just musicians. I especially enjoyed their advice on embracing technology. But the bottom line is this: it's not enough to simply make a good product (in U2's case, their music). You have to pay attention to every part of your brand. If you do, the payoff can be enormous. At the end of the article Carr states, "Bono can command his audience to do anything." Can McCartney say the same? Can he even get them to buy a Lexus?

Monday, November 28, 2005

Email: blessing or curse?

An ever-expanding world of media gives companies an ever-expanding number of ways to touch their constituents. And that's not always a good thing. Companies that value their brand understand that brands are not built on advertising alone, but by the consistent application of their culture across all touch-points. Just because a company has a blog (even a good one) doesn't mean they can ignore their annual report or how they answer the phone...or their email.

Email seems so old and is such a part of our lives that we almost forget about it. But it sill offers opportunities to strengthen (or diminish) your relationship with those on the other end. Some recent emails got me thinking about this.

The first was an email from TypePad (the platform that we use for this blog) apologizing to its users for some performance problems. The email clearly stated the shortcoming, described their fix and offered "compensation for less than stellar performance." Because TypePad didn't know which of their customers had been inconvenienced and which hadn't, they left it up to the customer to choose a remedy from these options:

· While the performance issues caused me some inconvenience I mainly found the service acceptable last month. Give me 15 free days of TypePad.

· The performance issues made it very difficult for me to use the service on multiple occasions during the month. Give me 30 free days of TypePad.

· The performance issues affected me greatly, making my experience unacceptable for most of the month. Give me 45 free days of TypePad.

· I really wasn't affected and feel I got the great service I paid for last month. Thank you for the offer, but please don't credit my account.

The choice was left to the customer, but the default option if they did nothing was a credit for 15 free days of service. How's that for building trust with the customer?

The second example was an email from Northwest Airlines the day before I left for a trade show in Las Vegas. The email thanked me for flying Northwest, provided all my flight information and confirmation numbers and invited me to check in online where I changed from a middle to an aisle seat on one flight. It even had the weather forecast and travel tips for Las Vegas.

Contrast those two with another from an email list I subscribed to. It was an opt-in list from a professional pub and the emails just kept coming...and coming...and coming. The last straw was a REGISTER NOW message for a three-day conference in New York...that started in TWO DAYS. And it was about the tenth email I received about the conference. If I hadn't responded to the first nine, did they really think one sent two days before the event was going to get me on a plane to New York?

The thinking behind that last email is not hard to fathom. Conference planners were probably a few days out from the event and had fewer registrants than hoped for. A brainstorming session no doubt led to the last-ditch email. After all, what did they have to lose from one email? Well, they lost my subscription to their list. When it comes time to renew my subscription to their pub, I'm not promising anything. But that's the price for not taking care of one of the many touch-points of their brand.

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Monday, October 31, 2005

Crisis in Cancun

In a recent post, I discussed how Wal-Mart's positive response to hurricane Katrina improved their public image. The response of the largest company in the world to the most high-profile natural disaster in the history of the U.S. is bound to generate lots of headlines. But beyond the Fortune 500 there are thousands of companies with limited resources who must also respond well to a crisis.

Cancun_2 One of those companies is the Royal Sands, the newest property of Royal Resorts in the hurricane-ravaged city of Cancun, Mexico. This came to my attention because my wife and I have a vacation planned at this resort in the near future. After seeing and reading news coverage of the devastation wrought by hurricane Wilma in Cancun, I naturally became nervous about my planned trip.

With the revenue for Royal Sands depending on me and thousands of other nervous vacationers, the resort is facing a real crisis and effective communication could limit their loss of revenue. In that light, it is interesting to note that Royal Resorts has set up a blog of sorts to issue daily progress reports on the hurricane recovery. Their first post on October 28 tells of their decision to close the resort until November 25 for clean up and details the (comparatively) minimal damage to the resort.

Today's post gives a progress report on clean up at the resort and informs readers that life is returning to normal in Downtown Cancun. It also reports the return of inbound flights to Cancun International Airport.

The updates are exactly what's needed, but the execution could have been better. First, the information is only accessible from the front page of the Royal Resorts web site. There are no links on any of the other Royal Resorts pages and no link anywhere on the Royal Sands web site. Second, the hurricane update page has no contact information for guests to get more information. In a crisis such as this, when a company's revenue is in jeopardy, every effort must be made to communicate to potential customers.

The hurricane also provides an example of why it is so important for companies to communicate during a crisis. If consumers aren't getting information from the company, they will seek it out in other places; especially on the Internet. Sure enough, although it took Royal Resorts one week to post their first information on the web site, TripAdvisor had their first review up in five days...and it isn't good news for the resort. A site member from Washington, DC lambasted the resort for failing to communicate with guests prior to the storm. Here's an excerpt:

The resort staff and management had not sent, or posted any notice of impending danger about the hurricane as late as Wednesday (9am), Oct. 19th when we left the resort for the airport. At this point it was pretty clear that it was coming right at Cancun. If we had not have looked at the weather channel for an hour so late Tuesday night, we would not have know this record hurricane was coming toward us.

Later on in his post, "DC" puts it all in painful perspective:

What makes me so angry about it is that I had a 30 minute discussion with a concierge and a salesperson Tuesday at 6pm and they just said it was going to be rainy. They did not say, "you might want to think about the fact that a powerful hurricane is coming this way," or "we just want you to know what's going on." I understand that them telling everyone to leave or that a big hurricane is coming there way would mean the loss of money, but not telling their members to a loss of trust. Which one is worth more do you think?

That, in effect, is the question every consumer is asking during a crisis: 'Do you care more about me or my money?' If they perceive that a company is more concerned about them, consumers will give that company both their trust and their money. A company they perceive to be more concerned about their money, won't get either.

Friday, October 7, 2005

Good enough...or remarkable?

Where were you when good enough stopped being good enough? Maybe you weren’t even aware that it had. Maybe you’re still stuck in an (insert organization type here) that’s good enough…and dying.

Enough already! If your customers don’t leave an interaction with your company/product/service and rave to others about it, you won’t last. If your customers aren’t talking about you, no one else will. To get them to talk about you, you have to wow them…you have to be remarkable.

“But,” you say, “we make bicycle seats or hair brushes. We’re not remarkable.” You’re right. Ninety-five percent of what you do is NOT remarkable and you know what? All of that can be done from India for one third of your cost. I came across a listing on Adrants with the subject line: partnership with your ad agency for creative design from India. The body of the listing read:

Our ad firm can dish out good creatives for any kind of advertising. Very innovative when there is a specific need. We cover Print campaigns, posters, any other kind of POS merchandise, hoarding designs, invites, magazine page layouts for articles, backdrop designs, You should find us cost effective with jumpstart of half a day after your brief due to the time zone. So if you want some peace now drop us a line… (Emphasis mine).

Cost effective. No kidding. And you thought only customer service and manufacturing jobs were moving overseas.

Because 95 percent of what you do is no different from the designer in India is precisely why the last five percent is so crucial…because that’s where you can become remarkable.

Moocoverlittle_1_1 THE BIG MOO is Seth Godin’s clarion call for businesses to start being remarkable or start dying. It’s not a handbook or a textbook and it doesn’t have a 12-step process to becoming remarkable. If you think that exists, then you also probably still think you need an MBA to succeed in business.

The book is a collection of 33 individual essays on becoming remarkable. Each essay will inspire you and show you how easy it is to become remarkable.

Yes there are extraordinary features: none of the essays are credited, proceeds go to charity, blah, blah, blah. (I cover some of the features in an earlier post that explains how I came across a copy of the book). All of that is secondary to this: THE BIG MOO will force you to think about how you can become remarkable. I had to reread most of the essays, because halfway through each one I found myself thinking about similar things I could do and wondering why I hadn’t done them already.

This book will engage you. Stop being good enough and start being remarkable. Start with THE BIG MOO.

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Friday, September 30, 2005

Communicating during a Crisis

How important is a crisis plan for your business? Just ask Wal-Mart. Pre-Katrina, news about the retail giant was limited to gender discrimination lawsuits, union protests and communities everywhere trying to bar Wal-Mart supercenters from their town. Post-Katrina, everyone wants the government to be more like Wal-Mart.

How did we get to the point where even Wal-Mart's many enemies are singing their praises? Clearly, the largest factor in the enhancement of their image is simply their performance under fire. Countless column inches have been devoted to their sophisticated disaster preparation, rapid response in the aftermath of the hurricane and their philanthropy. The cover of the latest issue of Fortune Magazine is emblazoned with:

GOVERNMENT BROKE DOWN. BUSINESS STEPPED UP. How Wal-Mart, FedEx, and Home Depot got the job done after Katrina.

But their performance is not the only factor in the improvement of Wal-Mart's image. In recent months, they have been stepping up their communications efforts to enhance their corporate image. They've started Wal-Mart Facts, a web site designed to communicate the good things about the company. The site includes details of their hurricane relief efforts as well as a blog. They have also brought a public realtions team from Edelman in-house to assist in their communications efforts. Even CEO Lee Scott is taking a more active role in defending his company's reputation.

Walmart All of this increased importance that Wal-Mart has placed on communications in the recent months has left it in a position to communicate its good deeds. They not only had a crisis plan, but also a crisis communications plan. Thanks to that planning, they're enjoying what's probably the best weeks of publicity they've had since Sam Walton was alive. Does your company have a crisis communications plan?

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Moo...Bzz...Moo...Bzz

Good enough isn't good enough any more. There's too much competition and customer expectations are too high. But, what's the answer? Perfection? No, according to Seth Godin. The answer is to be remarkable. Godin has been preaching this message for a while, most notably up to now with Purple Cow.

Moocoverlittle_1 He continues the theme with the forthcoming book (his last) THE BIG MOO and I was able to score an advance copy (I'll get into how in a minute). For the book, which Godin is editing, he approached 32 co-authors with recognizable names like Malcolm Gladwell and Tom Peters and got them to write individual pieces on how to become remarkable. Every contribution is uncredited and 100% of the royalties go to one of three charities.

The book is inspirational. "Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable" is emblazoned across the top and each essay contains an example of how someone did just that. My favorite is about a bike mechanic named Reggie and the little things he does to become remarkable. What the book, and especially that story, does is show how easy it is for any business to become remarkable. If you're still trying to be perfect or just getting by, you owe it to yourself to buy this book.

Practicing what he preaches, Godin is promoting his book with innovative tactics. His primary marketing strategy is to get it in the hands of influencers. I was able to get a copy by participating in the BzzAgent campaign for the book. BzzAgent is an online word-of-mouth marketing company that gives products to BzzAgents (like me) that will Buzz about the product. So, consider yourself Bzzed!

UPDATE: The book is Sold Out! But Seth promises more.

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Sunday, September 11, 2005

Citizen Journalism (without the blog)

Apparently, you don't need a blog to be a citizen journalist. I recently learned about a new (to me) kind of citizen journalism when I received an email from Jerry Weissman, author of In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions...When It Counts. Here's the opening sentence of the email:

Several of your Amazon reviewer colleagues have given highly favorable reviews to my forthcoming book, In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions… When it Counts.  I would be honored if you would consider adding your review to that list.

The email included how I could secure a copy of the book and accompanying DVD if I promised a review. I replied that I would be happy to review both and sure enough, they arrived at my doorstep within a week.

My first thought is that this is an extremely effective promotional technique. Although nothing in either the email or the package sought to influence my review, the fact that he's mailing these for free to Amazon reviewers can't hurt the reviewer's perception of the author. If you send it to enough, odds are such that more of your reviews will be positive than negative. In fact, most of Weissman's reviews at Amazon are five out of five stars, so it appears to be working.

WeissmanBut, just how valuable is a positive review on Amazon? The best example Chris Anderson gave of his concept of The Long Tail was another book, Touching the Void, that was resurrected by Amazon. Even though it was by associating it with another popular book rather than reviews, the same web site was at the root.

In addition, although a review in the New York Times may be read by millions, it won't be staring in the face of someone contemplating an online purchase. Be honest. Have you ever purchased a book on Amazon without reading at least one review?

As for Weissman's book, an initial scan captured my interest, but I've been too busy to write my review. I'll let you know once I've finished it. As for citizen journalism, I guess you don't need a blog. Who knew?

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Wednesday, August 24, 2005

LifeLight Music Festival

Lifelight_logo August 24, 2005. As you may have noticed, I have been light on the blogging in recent weeks. The reason for that is the amount of time I've been spending with LifeLight Communications, spearheading the media relations effort for their annual music festival. It's the largest free, outdoor Christian music festival in the nation.

Media attention has been at a peak this year for two reasons. First, the 240,000 people that attended last year's festival was more than double the previous year and caught some people by surprise. Second, the festival this year is moving from the Fairgrounds to a new location on the outskirts of town and there was a permitting process that drummed up a little controversy. But now the festival is a week away and preparations are under way for 250,000 festivalgoers.

If you want to follow the news coverage, we make it easy for you. Some of the early news coverage can be found on the festival web site and I've also started a lifelight Technorati Tag for all of you bloggers out there who are talking about the festival.

If you don't have plans for Labor Day weekend this year...come on out!

Monday, August 15, 2005

Everyone loves a contest

Entering contests can be a great way to promote your company and your clients. The entities that run them don't do too badly either. They hold a contest and watch the people flock to their website.

Locally, the Sioux Falls Business Journal is holding a Best of Sioux Falls Reader's Choice. Simply go to their website, click on the banner and nominate the best of 99 categories.

Those of us in public relations can't afford to ignore contests as a means to generate some positive publicity for our clients. Because, as the headline suggests, everyone loves a contest...but they love a winner even more.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Now I'm Current

Remember when MTV was the channel for those with ADD? At least on MTV their programs typically lasted 30 minutes or more.

This last weekend, I spent some time watching the newly launched TV network, Current, and I have been tuning in off and on this week as well. Most of their programs (they call them pods) last less than ten minutes. Some as few as two.

For the uninitiated (including the 80 percent of cable households who don't have Current), let me fill in a few details. Current launched a little more than a week ago and aims to be a station of, by and for 18- to 34-year-olds. They seek the participation of that audience by enticing them to create their own pods (they even tell you what they're looking for and give you tips on how to do it) and  "greenlighting" (or not) the submissions of others. The pods are diverse and the ones I saw on TV ranged from interesting to boring to bizarre. Syndication? No need. The pods were often repeated two hours later and when I turned Current on this week, I saw mostly pods I had watched during the weekend. (Maybe we need to greenlight a few more).

All new networks have challenges and Current has plenty, not the least of which is that they are trying to get people to watch TV in a different way. First of all, I don't watch networks, I watch programs. I like The Simpsons, but I don't stick with Fox after it's over to watch Family Guy. I like Best Week Ever, but I find the remainder of VH1's programming nearly unwatchable. With Current, you have no idea what's coming next unless you go to their web site. They're asking you to watch the network...not a particular show.

What's more, because of their mission (see above) they have NO CELEBRITIES, which in TV-land is almost unforgivable. Even much of the dreaded "reality" TV drivel keeps those people on long enough to develop some celebrity. Current may find themselves needing to do this with some of their pod creators if they want to develop a following. In fact, the launch of Current should be exhibit A in building a case against the celebrity-driven nature of our society. I couldn't find a single story on the launch that didn't prominently mention Al Gore, despite the fact that his name was never spoken and his image was never shown during the hours I spent watching Current.

There's also still a few bugs to work out. Apparently, the station went black on it's first day and when I registered at their web site, here's part of the text on the welcome page: You're in! You're now a member of the Current Studio.

CurrentBut all-in-all it's an interesting concept. They seem to have bet the farm on the idea that citizen-generated media that has swept the Internet can be transfered to cable television. I'm at least curious enough to keep watching and have added "getting a pod played on Current" to my list of life goals. Some skeptics think the network might not make it, but I say if the Hallmark Channel can make it, why not Current?

Sunday, August 7, 2005

Fortune on Advertising

I just got around to reading the current issue of Fortune Magazine with the cover story Yahoo! and the Future of Advertising along with four more stories on how online advertising is reshaping the ad industry. There is considerable hand-wringing from the mainstream media, advertising agencies, etc. AP CEO Tom Curley was reported to have said "If there were an enemies list, [Yahoo!] would be front and center." Another article, available only online, is titled Nightmare on Madison Avenue.

If I had to distill the articles to a sentence, it would be this: fragmentation and proliferation are radically altering the media landscape and the advertising agencies that don't adapt won't survive. One article read: The old forms of media on which they relied for years are rapidly losing their grip on consumers and a quote referred to TV commercials as "that 30-second, half-a-million-dollar thing."

Here, we sometimes refer to ourselves as "media agnostic," meaning we're not committed to any media when it comes to delivering our clients' messages to their targeted audiences. We choose whichever media we believe will be most effective in reaching those audiences. As Fortune pointed out, more and more of that media is moving online...and so are we. If this is the future of advertising, I say: "Bring it on[line]!"

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Monday, August 1, 2005

Never Blog Alone

9242835As readers of this blog are aware, I have posted on networking before and referenced the book Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. Well, I recently stumbled upon his blog and thought I'd pass on the link. I particularly enjoyed this post on how he likes to be contacted for networking opportunities.

I added Keith's blog to my list of RSS feeds and signed up for his "Tip of the Week" email. Networking is too important to ignore and you can't learn it any better than from Keith Ferrazzi.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Is this advertising guaranteed?

If you're in advertising, have you ever had a client ask you to guarantee that a particular ad or campaign will work? If you've hired an advertising agency, have you ever asked your agency to guarantee that their advertising will achieve the desired result?

Let me first say that I believe measurement is important and can be done in many different forms. Did the advertising campaign increase awareness of a product or service? Did sales leads increase? Did it drive more traffic to the web site? There are lots of ways to measure the effectiveness of advertising and it's important to define the desired result up front and measure against that.

But a guarantee from an advertising agency is a little trickier because there are many factors involved that are outside the control of the agency, some of which are in the control of the client. I was thinking about this recently while trying to get something fixed. To find the appropriate technician, I turned to my local Yellow Pages. My eyes were immediately drawn to the only advertisement in the category, which was from a business that specialized in what I needed. I ignored the listings and placed a call.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

There was no answer and no answering machine. I called again to make sure I dialed the correct number and got the same outcome. Then, I looked at the listings and called the first one on the list. They picked up after the first ring and said if I dropped it off during my lunch break they'd have it done for me first thing in the morning.

There are two points from this little story.

  1. In this case the advertising did its job but the desired result was not achieved. I was drawn to the ad in the Yellow Pages and made the call. I was ready to purchase their product, but when no one answered I moved on to their competition and they lost a sale.
  2. Every contact point with your customers presents an opportunity to win or lose them. This is something we preach endlessly. The first company didn't answer their phone and didn't have an answering machine. The second company picked up right away and told me they could help me immediately. Is it any wonder I went with the second?

Finally, for the final word on guarantees, just listen to Tommy Boy. I guarantee you'll like it.

South Dakota Cage Fighting

Michael Wilson of the New York Times filed Alive and Thriving in the Midwest: Brawling in Cages today. The article is about cage fighting in Sioux Falls and the comeback the sport is making in the Midwest.

Fresh Glue recently featured some attention on a national stage for South Dakota and it's certified beef program. Governor Mike Rounds is fond of mentioning that news coverage (as he did at the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce breakfast yesterday) but I doubt he'll talk about the clip from the New York Times as often.

Thanks to Bernie at South Dakota Magazine for pointing out this article. The online presence of South Dakota Magazine, long a favorite read of mine, is actually a blog with accompanying RSS feeds. Contrary to the New York Times article, this publication IS good for image of the state.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Building the Starbucks brand one sale at a time

Starbucks_1 There's just something about Starbucks that keeps me coming back for more..and I'm not the only one. Seth Godin talks about the customer experience at Starbucks thusly:

Inside the Starbucks, the first thing I noticed, tucked deep in the corner, not for customer inspection, apparently, was a bulletin board. The bulletin board was jammed with pictures of the staff. The staff on a picnic. The staff at an amusement park. The staff kidding around.

That very same staff was working behind the counter. If it's possible to make an herbal tea with enthusiasm, they were doing it. If it's possible to make a $4 transaction feel joyful, they accomplished it.

Okay, the obvious thing here is that this is the Starbucks marketing effort, almost in its entirety. They don't advertise, they don't launch new products every day, but they are selling the way it makes you feel to purchase something there. And I have to tell you, it made me feel great.

When I explain "living your brand" I almost always reference Starbucks for the same reasons that Seth lists above. My store is Sioux Falls-41st & Louise and the picture on the cash register is of Jenna taking a nap on one of the tables. They always know what I want: a triple-shot venti latte. I feel as home there as I do in my office. In fact, posting this just inspired me to go so I emailed a friend and I'm off. If you ever want to go, just email me.

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Thursday, July 7, 2005

P.J. on PR

The Journalist Q&A from the June 27 issue of PR Week is with P.J. O'Rourke, who is one of the most talented and humorous writers I've ever read. It's almost impossible to pick a favorite from among his books, but if pushed I'd have to say Holidays in Hell.

Anyway, back to the interview with PR Week. O'Rourke's take on PR is, as usual, hilarious AND insightful. Here's the exchange:

PRWeek: Have you, over the course of your career, formed an impression of the PR industry?
O'Rourke:
Yes, and a glowing one. My wife was a PR executive. So I have nothing but the highest esteem for them.

PRWeek: Is that the main reason you have high esteem for them?
O'Rourke:
No, they're also instrumental in promoting my books. I got a product to sell here, you know. The thing is, being in PR is like being a lawyer, except you don't have any of the tricks and legal stratagems or force of the law. It's like having all the duties and responsibilities of a lawyer without any of the power, without being an officer of the court.

Well said. If you've ever tried to acquit someone in the court of public opinion, you know that of which he speaks. The rest of the online interview (which is longer than the dead-tree edition) is well-worth reading.

Wednesday, July 6, 2005

This blog is del.icio.us!

I spent a good portion of the Fourth of July weekend familiarizing myself with the many aspects of consumer generated media and Participatory Journalism. Sure, I've been blogging for a long time (before this blog, even), but as Walt Mossberg said today, text blogs are yesterday's news.

Newdel First, I went to the social bookmark manager del.icio.us and set up my own personal collection of links. I set up categories that relate to my job: PR and advertising. I set up categories that reflect my interests: venture capital and economic development (both primarily in my home-state of South Dakota). In the spirit of the medium, I also set up categories for blogging, podcasting and RSS. I've even started setting up tags for articles about clients. The service even establishes an RSS feed which I added to my list of feeds. (One question: if I post something on my blog, tag it with del.icio.us and then put the list on my blog, how will readers know where to stop?)

Itunes Next, all the recent news about podcasting influenced me to download the latest version of iTunes and subscribe to some podcasts. I started with the first installment of the Micro Persuasion Podcast. Steve had some very interesting things to say about the impact of RSS on marketing and defended himself against some recent criticism from the blogosphere. I then went to the excellent For Immediate Release, listened to a little bit of their latest podcast and subscribed. I'm looking forward to getting into the podcast game myself sometime in the near future.

After that I downloaded Skype (note to self: buy headset for PC) and today I even found time to blog about the entire weekend. The point of all this is that as marketers we need to be aware of all the different ways to communicate with our constituencies. There are conversations taking place online in so many different mediums and its incumbent upon us spend the time to keep up. Somtimes it even takes a three-day weekend.

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Sunday, June 26, 2005

Winning through communicating

I recently read Winning, the latest book from  former GE CEO, Jack Welch. While Welch has numerous insights into the world of business management, I was particularly interested in how often he talked about communications. In fact, much of the book can be read as a testament to the vital role that communications plays in running a winning business.

In his chapter on leadership, Welch lists eight rules for leadership. Every one of the eight rules deals primarily with communication or has a communications aspect. His tips include: no vision is worth the paper it's printed on unless it is communicated constantly... And Trust happens when leaders are transparent, candid and keep their word.

On change, which he calls a critical part of business, his first piece of advice is for leaders to communicate a sounds rationale for every change. When a business is facing a crisis, he recommends complete and continuous transparency. His method for managing people requires a transparent framework that everyone in the company understands.

You often hear corporate heads of marketing and communications talk about the importance of gaining access to the "C-Suite." I think Jack Welch would agree.

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Monday, June 20, 2005

Is your agency blogging?

In an excellent post, Steve Rubel explains why we launched a blog. Many of the important conversations for our clients are happening online and we can't afford to ignore them. I'd like to think that public relations professionals are ready to take the lead on the blogosphere, but I'm not sure our profession is there yet...

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Friday, June 17, 2005

Are you networked?

Every since reading the post Networking 101 from Seth Levine a few weeks ago, I've been thinking a lot about the power of networking. I've never landed a job by answering an advertisement or by competing against a bunch of other applicants. Every job I've ever had has come from networking.

I got my first real job, waiting tables at an upscale local restaurant, because I met the manager at a political party gathering. I received my first job out of college because somebody-I-knew-knew-somebody-who-was-looking-for-somebody-like-me...and she made the introduction. I even got a job from an acquaintance I bumped into at a Christmas party. With my current job in public relations, I'm now the guy who's expected to know people (in fact, I just had someone I knew from a previous job call me earlier this week asking for help with a job search).

So, let's say you believe in the power of networking but you don't know where to start. Well, the aforementioned post is a good place to start. One of the best practitioners of the art of networking is Keith Ferrazzi, who's book Never Eat Alone shares his tips. If you're curious, but you don't want to fork over the the $16.47 that Amazon is asking, you're in luck. As is the case with many books, this one started with an article. Ferrazzi's co-author interviewed him for Inc. Magazine and so you can read The 10 Secrets of a Master Networker for free.

The article on networking that had the most influence on me came from the May, 2000 issue of Details Magazine. Titled "Aren't You Famous Yet?" the nine-page article was penned by Dan Zevin. Here's the Cliffs Notes version:

Step 1: Schmooze or Lose. In order to get ahead, you have to cultivate your contacts and you do that by doing favors for them, not asking them to do favors for you. Here's one relevant excerpt: "Let's say you're a fitness trainer," says David Posternack of Rubenstein Public Relations. "You have a client who mentions he's looking for office space. A few days later, you're introduced to a realtor. Not only should you get thes two in contact, you should suggest that all three of you go out for drinks. And you should probably pick up the tab." What's in it for you? Maybe nothing. But if they end up doing business maybe the realtor thanks you by cutting you a commission. Maybe your client is so grateful that he recommends you to five friends. "All of a sudden, you're not only a fitness trainer," Posternack says. "You're the man. Everyone's talking about what a smart guy you are."

Step 2: Build your Buzz. You generate buzz by inventing demand. Restaurant publicists get it not by swinging the doors open to everyone but by hyping the "fact" that it's impossible to get a reservation. Zevin gives the award for the year's best buzz-building performance to The Blair Witch Project for the 21,222,589 hits their website received.

Step 3: Meet the Press. The news media can extend your 15 minutes of fame, but you have to know what you're doing.

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Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Becoming a thought leader

Public relations professionals are constantly trying so position their clients as "thought leaders." But what does that really mean and how do we do it? I recently read a good post on how to become a thought leader and use that status as a lead generation tool. Brian Carroll says "Content is King" and thought leaders write, speak, do research, analyze trends and openly share insightful ideas with people. All things that public relations professionals help our clients do every day.

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Monday, June 13, 2005

Public Relations in an online world

While there is no doubt that the Internet is changing the way coroporations communicate with the customers, it is of far more interest to me how public relations professionals should react. With that in mind, be sure to read the 10 Commandments for The Era of Participatory Public Relations posted by Steve Rubel.

What strikes me as particularly interesting about his set of commandments is that all should be applied whether online or off. What the Internet has done (especially the blogosphere) is make it more urgent for corporations to adopt standards of communication that they should have done years ago. Ten years ago if a corporation violated one of Rubel's 10 Commandments, the worst that could happen is a letter from a disgruntled customer who might also tell four or five of their friends. Today, that customer can reach thousands of people with a blog post that required less of their time and money (postage).

The connectivity of the Internet reduces the margin for error. My advice? Read Rubel's Rules and follow them. Today.

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Everything has a brand

Everything has a brand, even churches. About three months ago, First Southern Baptist Church of Sioux Falls, S.D. changed their name to Cross Pointe Baptist Church. Why? Because you can't get much further north than South Dakota.

In a recent article in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader pastor Rob Grimm said they made the change to attract more people. Grimm said the old name suggested it was a church for Southerners. "It's a new identity, a new image in the community," he said.

I'm not sure what impact the name change had on the congregation, but the Argus Leader wrote the article due to a new addition on their church needed because they are starting to burst at the seams.

How's your brand?

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Thursday, June 9, 2005

Why do companies blog?

Backbone Media has published some preliminary results from their Corporate Blogging Survey and the responses paint a picture of why corporations start blogs. The top three reasons were:

  1. Another way to publish content and ideas
  2. Build a community
  3. Thought leadership

Interestingly, "Boost search engine positions" was the eighth most popular of the 16 responses. Recently, Steve Rubel suggested that corporate blogging believers should Sell on Search. The preliminary results of this survey would seem to disagree, but I think that search should be ranked higher. What difference does it make if you have a venue to publish content and ideas if no one can find you?

Thanks to PR Opinions for bringing this survey to my attention.

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Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Big blogs discuss small

A big discussion has erupted in the blogosphere on a topic that is central to the theme of this blog. Seth Godin got it started with the post Small is the new big. The entire post is well worth the read, but here's the money quote for us:

A small law firm or accounting firm or ad agency is succeeding because they’re good, not because they’re big. So smart small companies are happy to hire them.

Seth followed it up with more on small, but it was his initial post that touched off a giant discussion on the blogosphere with everyone we read weighing in. Jeff Jarvis picked it up, saying:

Small won't replace big, of course, but small will add up to considerable new competition. And that is because small can now succeed. The economies of scale must compete with the economies of small.

As examples, Jarvis references two articles about virtual companies that I recently commented on here. At Micro Persuasion, Steve Rubel said it was one of the best blog posts I've ever read.

I think this is especially true of the world of advertising/marketing/public relations. Ultimately, when a company is looking for an ad agency, they're looking for fresh ideas. If an agency's ideas are bad, bigness can't make up the difference. If they're good, smallness is not an obstacle. But, as Seth closes his post: Small is the new big only when the person running the small thinks big. Are you thinking big and staying small?

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Saturday, June 4, 2005

Who needs a building when you have a blog?

Two recent articles in major business publications have chronicled the rise of "virtual companies." The Amazing Rise of the Do-It-Yourself Economy from Fortune and The New Instant Companies from Business 2.0 both look at companies that outsource almost everything but the original idea (hat tip to PR Machine on the latter article).

Many of the companies mentioned in the articles benefited greatly from blogs and the exposure their products gained in the blogosphere. Business 2.0 called it "Leveraging the Hype Machine" and listed new companies who saw significant interest and sales following mentions on blogs Gizmodo, MoCo Loco, DailyCandy, Treehugger and Luxist.

The goal of public relations is get our clients in front of audiences who are interested in their products. If those audiences are moving online, then we must follow them and engage in the online conversation.

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Wednesday, June 1, 2005

Indy Racing League

Thanks to a profile in the Argus Leader, I found out that the public relations director of the Indy Racing League is an old acquaintance of mine and a Sioux Falls native. Tom Savage has held the job since December, 2002, and got his start in the world of sports PR with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. One of the great things about public relations is working with the media to tell great stories that people want to read. This one let me connect with an old friend. You can't beat that.

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

You gotta love the niche you're in

One of the more frequent questions I get when I'm talking to a client who is considering media relations as part of their marketing mix is something like: "My target is so narrow, is there any way that public relations can help me?" Many of them are not selling directly to consumers and wonder if there are opportunities in public relations.

I was reading the latest edition of The Publicity Handbook this weekend and came across an answer to that question: "…media outlets with large and broad audiences are the most difficult publicity targets. Specialized media, on the other hand, often don't get enough material that fits their narrow focuses, so they may be eager to use yours."

From my own personal experience, that couldn't be truer. One of the companies I work with is Jerry’s Electric, a small company that remanufactures transformers, which is not likely to land them an interview on Good Morning America. In fact, my RSS feed on transformers is dominated by transformer fires. In other words, the major media generally cover them only when something goes wrong.

But, like all industries, they have a thriving specialty media that covers transformers and electric utilities. After a little research and a pitch, one of those publications sent a writer from Chicago for a full-day interview and photo shoot. The result was a front-page article in the May issue of Electrical Apparatus Magazine with a six-page spread and nine photos. Jerry’s Electric is a thriving company with a great story to tell and there was a publication in their industry waiting to tell it.

This is just one of many examples I could give, but the point of the story is that there are media opportunities for everyone. The important thing is to embrace and target the niche market you’re in. The Wall Street Journal profile might be out of reach, but Electrical Apparatus is waiting for your call.

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Friday, May 27, 2005

Wanted: Rapid City Public Relations Effort

For those of you who do not follow the news, South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base ended up on the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list. The loss to the state is significant, in that Ellsworth is the state's second-largest employer, and the impact on neighboring Rapid City could be significant.

Naturally, this has become the biggest story in the state and has been widely followed across the country. A Google News search for "Ellsworth base" generated more than 2,200 hits, even showing up in places like the New York Times.

Short of getting Ellsworth off of the closure list, which is unlikely at best, what can Rapid City do to replace the jobs that will be lost when the base closes?

Well, they've just been handed an opportunity from Forbes Magazine who listed Rapid City as the sixth best small city in the U.S. to start a business or a career. They can't control the news cycle, but they can become a part of it by playing up the local business climate as a way to lure new businesses to the area. What they need is an aggressive public relations effort. Can they do it?

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Are we ready for the blogosphere?

Is the blogosphere ready for us?

Okay, we’re not totally new here. Each of us has a list of our favorite blogs that we visit on a regular basis and some of us were even bloggers before we started this one.

But today we dive in head-first. After all, we’ve got a few ideas about marketing and communications that turbo-charge business. Some are even worth sharing. Besides, we’re constantly scouring the world of business and advertising to tune in on how others are exploring ideas, media and how they combine to connect customers and businesses. This is where we serve it up to you.

Here's the deal: at least since the Cluetrain Manifesto, we’ve come to embrace the idea that marketing is conversation. In our industry (as well as the industries of many of our clients) more of those conversations are occurring online and we want to be a part of them.

Thus we present this blog. So named because we think advertising is not a cosmetic; it’s an adhesive. The work we and our industry peers deliver is nothing if it doesn’t bring you and your customers closer. Like, really close. Of course that can mean a lot of things. And we’ll get into that right here.

So what do we plan to do with this blog? Part of it is just channeling some electricity out of our shop. We’re a 15-person agency in the Midwest. We work with everyone from pressure washer manufacturers to venture capitalists. Our clients make anything from nutraceuticals to fire trucks. We have to think a lot about how the genius of new media/marketing meet the pressures of the market. And we’re particularly interested in how in the 21st Century economy, small agencies like ours can deliver big-time thinking and major league work for clients of any size, need, or GPS coordinates.

We love this stuff. And it’s fun to share.

Ultimately, we’re just starting a conversation. When you stroll into a cocktail party or chat up an interesting friend, you may know where the conversation will start, but you rarely know where it will go and never know where it ends. That’s simply to say that the content of this blog depends on what we’re doing and what our readers are interested in.

But enough about all that…let’s blog already.

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