Recycled Glue

Flavors of Me

2010-11-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

I really like the personal web page I created with Flavors.me. I decided to make it the web link in my Twitter profile. I can't include an unlimited number of links like in my Google Profile (unless you pay a small fee of $20 per year), but it makes up for that limitation with great design options (mine is obviously still a work in progress).

What do you think? Do you like Flavors.me or Google Profile better? Are there any others you like better?

Nike launches soccer ad on Facebook, doubles fans

2010-05-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

I was watching the (boring) Champion's league final during which Nike debuted for TV their ambitious, three minute (yes, 3, that's not a typo) soccer advertisement, Write the Future. But I had already seen it on Facebook.

Apparently, a lot of other people had, too. By debuting the ad on their Facebook page, they doubled their number of fans (likers?) to 1.1 million according to Inside Facebook. Here's the ad:

OTASessions takeaways

2010-03-29T15:04:00.001-07:00

Last week, I attended the first annual OTASessions in Sioux Falls, S.D. The event was dreamed up by local dreamer (and I mean that in a good way) Hugh Weber. There were lots of people who answered the call, but Hugh deserves the credit for putting the event together.

Anyway, Hugh put out the call for reactions to OTASessions so I thought I'd blog my two cents worth. My primary takeaways (besides the pile of books pictured here)...

...were two:

Companies that show their bumps and bruises will get credit for it (Spike Jones). I find that so many companies think that every communication has to be spit-polished, vetted by everyone, thoroughly sanitized and (of course) can only be good news. The problem with that is that business is not simply a steady progression of positive news. So people will go elsewhere to get the negative news and because you weren't willing to provide it to them, they are more likely to ignore your positive news as well.
Partially-finished art is more powerful because it invites the viewer to interact with it and add their own context (paraphrasing Jonathan Harris). Jonathan made many profound, inspirational points, but of all of them, this one stuck out the most. He said it in reference to a torn photo he found on the ground with a partial inscription on the back, but it is applicable to a lot of what we as bloggers (should) do. As writers, we often fail to remember that whatever we write is only half of the context of that work. The other half is the audience reaction. Many times I think my blog posts have to be the complete record. Sometimes it causes me to not post anything because I can't get it all done. I've had far more success when I throw out a partial thought and ask others to react to it.

Anyway, those are the two primary thoughts kicking around in my head following the event. Perhaps that will change as I start reading other reactions and the books I took home. In case you're interested, here are some other thoughts I tweeted throughout the day:

congrats! well-deserved! RT @electricpulp: We just won the "Work. Play. Do Good. Award" from #otasessions. And @guykawasaki did intro vid!6:52 PM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
RT @brupert: Johnathon Harris is seriously blowing minds at#otasessions 4:46 PM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
RT @brupert: Congrats to @electricpulp on the Work. Play. Do good award. #otasessions 4:12 PM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
RT @joleneloetscher: Keep doo-ing good @hughweber.#otasessions 4:11 PM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
RT @AstronautStudio: "Experiment all the time" @timbrunelle #otasessions 3:15 PM Mar 26th via PockeTwit

@spikejones how do you convince companies to show their bumps & bruises? #otasessions 2:32 PM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
http://twitpic.com/1b2y0a - Good advice from @spikejones (but pre-empted by @chrisbrogan) #otasessions 2:28 PM Mar 26th via TwitPic
show people your bumps and bruises & they will appreciate you for it @spikejones. #otasessions 2:18 PM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
RT @kmjensen: Spike Jones: 90% of word of mouth marketing happens offline. #otasessions 1:54 PM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
I got a book! Thanks Gary V. RT @ThePostSD: Gary Vaynerchuck#otasessions http://post.ly/VhBT 1:52 PM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
http://twitpic.com/1b2ckt - #otasessions panel w/ @chrisbrogan @julien and @mitchjoel 12:47 PM Mar 26th via TwitPic
RT @GBVeerman: @chrisbrogan Everyday: 30 minutes listening, 60 minutes connecting, 30 minutes posting. #otasessions 11:23 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
@chrisbrogan: promote other people's stuff 12 times as often as your own #otasessions 11:21 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
@chrisbrogan: we can listen to people at the point of need - coolest thing about social media11:09 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
me please! RT @otasessions: Dear #OTAsessions guests: We have 2 BlackBerry/1 Droid chargers at the registration table if your phone is dying10:20 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
you r missing out! See @otasessions RT @Trey_Lane: "Am I missing something? What is #otasessions?10:16 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
RT @ThePhoenixSun #FF @ejgertz @gharman @egies@Kenwardjr @drgrist @nathanschock @kate_sheppard@KateGalbraith @NRDC @trailgirl @sarapresler 10:12 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
#OTASessions RT @chrisbrogan: I never know the content of my speeches until I know the passions of my audience10:10 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
RT @chrisbrogan: Oh, and for #ff? Go find the new talent. Forget me.10:08 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
@mitchjoel was very good RT @jeremyorion: Hoping that the trite quotes from #otasessions aren't indicative of the quality of the speakers10:03 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
RT @sjhalestorm: Build communities while it is not obvious - before you *need* it - @julien. #otasessions 9:57 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
RT @addiegraham: Nope. We are embracing the change! RT Wonder if mainstream media at #otasessions are uncomfortable listening to @mitchjoel 9:55 AM Mar 26th via PockeTwit
@argusleader: I am a little uncomfortable listening to @mitchjoelb/c there is a lot more I could be doing #OTASessions 9:40 AM Mar 26th via mobile web
Now listening to @julien at #OTASessions 9:36 AM Mar 26th via mobile web
Wonder if the people from mainstream media at #OTASessions are uncomfortable listening to @mitchjoel 9:17 AM Mar 26th via mobile web
http://twitpic.com/1b0zqb - @mitchjoel: real marketing is about real interactions b/w real people #OTASessions 9:06 AM Mar 26th via TwitPic
@mitchjoel: my marketing is focused on reaching an audience of 6: 6 CMOs #OTASessions 9:05 AM Mar 26th via mobile web
@mitchjoel: you create your own media experience #OTASessions 8:53 AM Mar 26th via mobile web
@mitchjoel: more grandparents than HS students on Facebook#OTASessions 8:51 AM Mar 26th via mobile web
http://twitpic.com/1b0vbp - @mitchjoel: Hernan Cortez burned the ships, we need to reboot8:44 AM Mar 26th via TwitPic
@mitchjoel: people don't click on banner ads #OTASessions 8:44 AM Mar 26th via mobile web
At #OTASessions and listening to @mitchjoel from SPOS8:38 AM Mar 26th via mobile web
Enjoyed the #OTASessions Pre-Party tonight and looking forward to tomorrow

The ebay listing that got away

2009-08-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

This morning, I read an interesting post on the New York Times Soccer Blog, Goal. The title of the post is what originally caught my eye: English Club for Sale, on eBay. Apparently, a company that was enlisted to find a buyer for the Tranmere Rovers, put the team up for sale on ebay for the sum of $10 million.

However, the auction ended early, apparently because the club was not happy with being listed on the popular online auction site. Here's the listing: Own an English Football Club - Tranmere Rovers FC. I particularly like that the item included "Free shipping" and "No Returns Accepted."

Why discuss on a PR blog? Well, I believe ebay's brand has been a bit tarnished by the statement from Tranmere Rovers Chairman Peter Johnson, saying he was very disappointed to discover that Dornoch Capital had chosen ebay.com as a route to find a potential buyer and would not have given permission for them to do so had he been asked. The perception is that ebay is good enough to list your old football shoes, but not a football club. Ebay would do well to enter the discussion of this before this view becomes solidified.

For my part, I just wish I'd have had the chance to put in a bid before the auction ended.

Glue should be recycled

2007-08-04T21:09:00.001-07:00

At a recent job, I started a corporate blog and contributed many posts to it over my time there. After my employment with the company ended, they left up my posts but removed my name from all of them. This blog is intended to keep the posts I wrote so that they won't be lost if the blog is ever taken down.

No Comment = I'm Guilty

2006-10-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

During a recent media training session I wanted to make it clear what message saying "No Comment" sent to the public, so I wrote the following on a white board:

No Comment = I'm Guilty

When a charge is leveled against you and your answer is no comment, everyone who reads/sees/hears that automatically assumes that you are hiding something and are therefore guilty as charged. I don't know which lawyer came up with that phrase, but it's time to rid it from the American lexicon.

Guess what? The media agrees with me. Check out a recent blog post from Lou Raguse on KELO-TV's Inside the Newsroom blog. In that post, he discusses a story he aired on a city counselor who settled a sexual harassment suit but maintains his innocence. Had that counselor declined to comment, everyone would have known about the settlement and naturally assumed that he did it. But since he went on camera to explain his side, the viewing public is forced to consider the possibility that he did settle only to avoid an expensive court fight.

Here's Lou's synopsis: There are two sides to every story. Too often only one side is willing to explain their position. Fortunately, that wasn't the case this time. Unfortunately, Lou also said that he usually gets a refusal to comment from those the "negative" side of an issue.

The next time you're confronted with bad news, try telling your side of the story. You never know. The public just might believe you. Alternatively, you could just let them know you're guilty and say "No Comment."

Sometimes it takes a story

2006-10-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, especially when something is new, it takes a story to really explain it and get a consumer to take action. Let me explain.

Over the past several months, I have been seeing more and more compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFL). The little bit I recalled included some benefits that motivated me just enough to decide to replace all of my regular lightbulbs...right after they burned out.

But then something came along that sped up my timetable. That something was an excellent story by Charles Fishman in Fast Company Magazine: How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World? One. And You're Looking At It.

The story clearly spelled out the benefits of the CFL for the consumer: the bulbs use 75-80 percent less electricity and last 6-8 times as long as incandescent bulbs. That means that the more expensive CFL bulb pays for itself in five months, while lasting five years.

So I'm saving money, which is nice, but the story goes on to tell me how I'm not only saving money but also doing my part to save the planet. Here's the motivator:

...if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.

In other words, the CFL gives me a painless way to save the environment. Where do I sign up?

But it took Fishman's story to bring home a point that advertising for the product could not. If you look at the package from GE, you only get one side of the story: the savings to the consumer. Eyeballing the package tells me that the bulbs last five years, use less electricity and all eight will save me a total of $300. Is that enough for the consumer to shell out the premium price? It wasn't for me.

But the story was. The following weekend I drove to Sam's Club and purchased enough CFL packages to replace every lightbulb in the house. My wife thought I was crazy...until she read the story and found out that I was saving money and the environment. If GE can get their advertising to tell the story as well as Fishman did, maybe more people will replace their bulbs.

Wikipedia and reputation management

2006-08-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

It all started when someone decided to have fun with a Wikipedia entry. Nothing new, right? It happens all the time. But this entry happened to be about Stephanie Herseth, the lone member of the US House of Representatives from South Dakota.

The wiki-hacker claimed Herseth was pro-life (she's not), pregnant (she's not) and engaged to her campaign manager (she's not). The false information was taken down quickly, but not before it got a little more interesting.

Herseth is in a (very non-competitive) race for re-election this fall and her opponent's campaign manager couldn't leave the Wikipedia reference alone. He emailed it to several political bloggers...one of which happened to be the blog of the Rapid City Journal...who posted the full text of the email on the blog...and then defended their decision to do so.

As local political blogger Pat Powers noted, whoever put the false information on Wikipedia didn't do Republicans any favors. Neither did her opponent's campaign manager because now the discussion is about his email, rather than what they want to discuss. Not surprisingly the Herseth campaign has sensed the momentum in their favor on this issue and is calling for the campaign manager to be fired.

There are three important new media lessons here for anyone who cares to learn them. First, the Wisdom of Crowds is real and represents a new kind of information and fact exploration process. In the old days (only a few years ago) someone would research a story for days, weeks, months, even years before publishing the definitive account in a newspaper, magazine or book. If you wanted to respond to that account, you had to do the same thing yourself and it was very difficult to correct a story once it was published.

Today, the quest for the facts starts out in the open with a blog post or a Wikipedia entry. Everyone can read that information and respond to it. Eventually, the truth is discovered, as it was in this case, through the participation of a large group of people, like a virtual party. That's why Wikipedia is always among the most-searched topics on the net. That's also what makes blogging so difficult for most people to understand. Any one post may not be completely accurate, but is rather part of the process of getting at the accurate account. Sure, there will always be those who abuse the system, as there were in this case, but those people are typically found out and appropriately flogged.

Second, the Internet is not nearly as anonymous as you think. If I were you, I would avoid emailing anything you don't want the entire world to see. Bad email pitches can find themselves on the Bad Pitch Blog or posted on another blog that (at last count) had 80 comments. And by the way, your computer has a little thing called an "IP address" that leaves a convenient trail for people to follow. As we learned from the Cluetrain Manifesto and Adam Curry, there are no secrets, only information you don't yet have.

Third, you have to participate in the online conversation. If you don't, the party will start without you and how many of the millions of people online do you think care about your reputation? That's what I thought.

Did I send a New Media Release?

2006-07-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

As mentioned previously on this blog, I am a faithful listener to For Immediate Release, which most people (including me) consider to be the best Public Relations podcast. I mention the podcast because they have led coverage of how the press release is being adaped for new media. Specifically, FIR has added a separate podcast called the NMRCast, with NMR standing for New Media Release.

A release from Shift Communications jumpstarted an effort to develop a template of the Social Media Press Release and now there is a Wiki and a del.icio.us tag. Much of what they're discussing is giving the press release more multi-media that is usable by bloggers and online journalists and making it more discoverable through the use of social tagging, RSS etc.

But I sent a release on PRWeb this week that I think accomplishes most, if not all, of what they're talking about with the new media release. In addition to all of the event information, my release included numerous social tagging features, an RSS feed, trackbacks, a PDF version of the release, links to a previous press release from the client of mine, a photo, a downloadable logo and even a podcast interview with me that can be retrieved from iTunes. It also gives me statistics so I can see the number of page views, which was substantial. It was perfect for my client which has online and social media as a significant portion of their overall marketing plan.

Does PRWeb cover everything that's being discussed about the new media release? According to a release from the company, they clearly think it does. What do you think? If you're a blogger or online journalist of any kind, is there anything else that you'd like to see from a press release?

Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded

2006-07-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

That famous quote from Yogi Berra certainly applies to a favorite restaurant of ours: Sushi Masa. Despite very little advertising (I think the Yellow Pages might be it), they're always full.

In fact, the best advertising for this sushi hotspot is the queue of people that forms every day (see photo) just before it opens for lunch at 11:30. Their 15-20 tables are usually gone before the line is...and if you don't get there by 11:30 (sometimes 11:20), you won't get in. But the sushi is worth it, so the locals continue to wait in line for a chance at one of the tables.

The response of the average restaurateur to turning people away might be to expand...our open a second location...or a third. Not here. Their positioning seems to be a dose of exclusivity with a bit of the "best kept secret" thrown in for good measure. A large part of that aura is the daily queue. Do they make their patrons wait outside so passing drivers in downtown Sioux Falls will see the line and perceive the restaurant to be the popular stop? I doubt it, but if so, it seems to be working. It may seem weird for an advertising blog to ask this question, but: is your brand too accessible? Could it use a dose of exclusivity?

PC strikes back at Mac attack!

2006-07-09T22:34:00.000-07:00

Fresh Glue is evenly divided among Mac (Greg Veerman) and PC (me) users. It is for that reason that we had much different reponses to the most recent Mac ads, which were designed to "take the mickey" out of PC users. Well, the PC has issued its response...but it didn't come from Microsoft (although it should have) or any other PC company. It came from my favorite video podcast, Best Week Ever.

This strikes me as the perfect response to the Mac ads and it took someone other than a PC company to come up with it. Take that Greg Veerman and other Mac users! We're not going to just sit back and take your abuse any longer!

2006 Innovative Marketing Conference

2006-06-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

The Columbia Business School hosted the 2006 Innovative Marketing Conference last week. I didn't attend and it turns out I didn't have to. The entire conference was blogged about on FC NOW and several of the speakers were interviewed by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson of For Immediate Release. Other bloggers, such as Lois Kelly of Foghound, filled in thoughts of their own. The list of speakers was impressive and included names like David Weinberger of Cluetrain Manifesto fame, Larry Weber of Weber Shandwick, Joseph Jaffe and Burger King CMO Russ Klein.

I have spent much of my weekend reading about the conference and listening to the interviews. If you're in marketing, advertising or public relations--and want to be in five years--you would be wise to do the same.

Perhaps due to my background in public relations, I found Weber's contributions particularly interesting, especially his interview with Holtz and Hobson. FC NOW had several posts on Weber, attributing the following comments to him:

Marketing's role is to create content that contributes to the conversation.

His favorite marketing word is engagement; his least is advertising.

Creativity will raise its head 'big time' in the next three years. 'Campaigns, content and delivery' are the next wave of getting one's marketing message out. Creativity's going to be about creating webisodes and podcasts that are funny, amusing and can be shared.

"Brand is the dialogue you have with your constituents."

There's a rough transcription of his speech and the web site for his new company can be found here.

I also enjoyed the interview with Johnnie Moore and John Winsor. Johnnie blogged a little on the conference here. In their interview, one of the Johns said something like: "a couple of years ago, companies were concerned about losing control of their brand, now they're saying 'I'm losing control, what the hell do I do?'" A major theme of the conference appeared to be getting on board with the emerging social media before you get left behind.

Next year, I think I might have to attend this event. On second thought, I got most of the content through the blogs and podcasts I listed above. Also, by staying home, I didn't have to miss any of the World Cup. Go USA!

World Cup Ad Watch

2006-06-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Don't bother calling me today because the chances are good that I won't answer my phone. I'll be at the local pub watching the biggest sporting event in the world: the 2006 World Cup. I've only been getting excited about this for the last six months and now it's finally here.

Partially responsible for my excitement are the excellent ads that ESPN has been running for the World Cup. If you haven't seen them yet, be sure to go over to the site they've put up: One Game Changes Everything. It's hard for me to be objective, because I love the game so much, but if the ad about the Ivory Coast doesn't give you goosebumps, you need to check for a pulse. Here it is:

Doesn't that make you want to watch? You can follow the action on the blogosphere at the excellent Deadspin or at my favorite soccer blog: Caught Offside. If you're looking for the view from the ground, try WorldCupBlog. I'm keeping up with the latest news about the event at ESPN's Soccernet. Their Gamecast is essential in case I'm forced to return to my desk before the game ends.

We'll be tracking some of the other ads we like (unless we're too busy watching the matches) so leave your suggestions (and your predictions) in the comments below. Game on!

Consumer Generated Single

2006-06-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

What are you doing to engage the consumers that find their way to your web site? What are you giving them that makes them want to return? tell their friends? post something on Myspace?

Jars of Clay clearly spent some time thinking about engaging viewers of their band web site. In addition to great design, their site has a lot of the things you'd expect to find on the web site of popular musicians: multimedia, band bios and journals, an email list to sign up for, a fan site, a Myspace page and even a charity.

But Jars of Clay have taken engagement one step further. Fans who come to jarsofclay.com get to decide which song from the latest album will be released as the next single. You can vote here. But what if you haven't heard all of the songs from their latest album? They've got it covered. They're all there for you to listen to. That's right...all thirteen songs from the album Redemption Songs can be listened to in their entirety online.

But, you might ask, how will they get fans to buy what they can hear for free online? Well, I just purchased my copy. Why? Because I want to get it in my mp3 player.

What do your site visitors get to vote on? Are the polls meaningless, or do they get to decide what the next production extension will be? Do they get to pick a new color? retail location?

Incidentally, I voted for "I'll Fly Away." Leave your vote and thoughts in the comments section below.

Content is King (and Queen and Jack and Duke and…)

2006-06-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was conducting a media training session for a local CEO. As I was preparing for the training, I was going over notes from past session and reflecting on one change that has occurred in the curriculum since I started teaching people how to handle media interviews.

In sessions from years ago, I spend a significant amount of time coaching trainees on the differences between the different kinds of media: broadcast and print. The reason for spending time on that material was the fairly common belief that different mediums needed to be approached in different ways.

In the recent session, the amount of time spent on this topic was reduced to a handout containing tips for how to dress for a television interview. The reason for this is an observation that the digitization of content has blurred the differences between the different types of media.

Let me give you a couple of recent examples. Our local newspaper, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, has started posting video interviews alongside their print stories that are reproduced online. Years ago, the newspaper was solely a print medium, but today their stories are posted online along with additional background, relevant links, additional photos and broadcast elements like audio and video interviews…even podcasts and RSS feeds.

In a similar fashion, television news is no longer just a broadcast medium. For years, TV news crews have been posting print versions of their stories on the web. Our local CBS affiliate, KELO, refers to their web site as their seventh broadcast of the day. Although their web sites typically aren’t as robust as TV, almost all radio stations have some kind of news presence on their web site.

In addition to the seismic shifts in mainstream media outlets, new media bring a number of other new considerations to your interview. A DVR can be used to capture your TV interview and post it online for everyone to see. Blogs can interact with the online version of your print interview and provide additional commentary that you hadn’t considered. And, of course, search engines create a permanent record of everything you’ve ever said that can and will be checked to see if it contradicts with your current comments.

Instead of focusing on the blurring distinctions between different types of media, I impress upon my trainees the importance of their content. Because you don’t know exactly how or where your comments are going to appear, focus almost exclusively on the content of your message. If your content is good, the context will matter less, whether that be a newspaper, TV news, a podcast or an online message board.

This coincides with the latest reading I’ve discussed in a recent post. In the third to last paragraph of “Life After the 30 Second Spot,” Joseph Jaffe writes: “Above all, content will remain king—now more than ever.” I couldn’t agree more.

Does your marketing plan include free ice water?

2006-05-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned, I took a vacation on the other side of the state last weekend. A stop we made both directions will be familiar to all South Dakotans and road warriors everywhere. Wall Drug has been an institution in this state since it was founded by the Hustead family in 1931. Pictured to the right is the third generation, Ted Hustead and yours truly (on the left).

To say that theirs has been a non-traditional marketing success story, would be like saying that the Pope is Catholic. Their first breakthrough came in 1936, when the struggling drug store came up with idea of luring travelers by providing free ice water and letting them know about it with road-side signs. It transformed them overnight to a South Dakota success story.

Today, although they have a web site, their marketing plan still primarily consists of free ice water and signs all over South Dakota and all over the world. My personal favorite is the sign at the South Pole (pictured to the left). The other thing Wall Drug has benefited from is about "a million dollars in free publicity." The publicity machine cranked out another success story over the weekend, when Wall Drug was featured in the USATODAY Road Trips. In Gene Sloan's article for the largest newspaper in the country, Hustead is quoted as saying: "Sometimes it's hard for us to understand what it is that our customers really love about this place." It's not hard for me to understand. I came for the pancakes (which are the best in the world) and the donuts (of which they serve more than 4,000 per day).

Actually, people love Wall Drug because it provides a completely authentic customer experience that makes people (like me) want to tell others (like you) about it. Throw in some free product, a heavy dose of guerrilla marketing and more road-side signs than BP and what you have is a genuine purple cow. Some 20,000 people come through their doors every day and Ted tells me that business is booming. I'm not surprised.

Attention = the new commodity

2006-05-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh…vacation. I took two days off before Memorial Day Weekend to give myself (and my family) a five-day weekend. We spent the time in the Black Hills of South Dakota, which is one of my favorite places in the world (pictured to the right). We spent time fishing, hiking and soaking up the sun well off the beaten path.

In addition to the rest and relaxation, I caught up on some reading—two books that are relevant to this blog: All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin and Life After the 30-Second Spot by Joseph Jaffe (many thanks to Joseph for supplying us with a copy). I’d been meaning to get to these books for a long time and this vacation supplied me the time to get to both.

With the proliferation of blogs, I’ve noticed myself spending less time with books. It just seems that by the time a book comes to print, everything included therein has probably been covered by the blogosphere. However, this particular vacation I was without an Internet connection and my Treo was out of range, so I was forced to read the old way…and was rewarded for doing so.

One thing that jumped off the pages of these two marketing texts was the importance of gaining the attention of the consumer. The cluttered media landscape (which is rendering the 30-second spot irrelevant) has led to the “attention economy” with time “the new currency” states Jaffe. Rather than ROI, we need to focus on the “consumer’s ROA: return on attention."

Godin calls attention “the unstated precious commodity” and tells marketers that they “can no longer force people to pay attention.” Both authors reference the effectiveness of “permission marketing,” the title of a previous Godin book, and Jaffe calls for the introduction of “permission advertising.” The permission is necessary because marketers waste the time of today’s time-pressed consumers at their own peril.

Both authors see attention gained in similar fashions. For Godin, attention is earned from the consumer by telling a compelling story that does not conflict with their worldview. Jaffe urges advertisers to get attention by crafting advertising that is real, relevant and beneficial to the consumer (hint: it’s tough to do that with a 30-second TV ad).

This is consistent with what our agency regularly discusses with our clients. In our view, the first job of good advertising is to stop the consumer and get them to pay attention. The consumer is not looking for your ad; in most cases they’re actively trying to avoid it. That’s why they signed up for the “Do Not Call List,” bought a DVR and installed Google pop-up blocker. An ad can’t convince its target to do anything if it doesn’t first get someone to pay attention and today that’s harder than ever to accomplish.

I’ll be blogging more about these two texts in the coming days (perhaps even review them), but I first wanted to highlight a theme or two that was present in both. Following all the vacation reading, I have a lot of thoughts to share with Fresh Glue readers.

Incidentally, public relations pros have joined advertisers in discussing the importance of consumer attention. In a presentation titled “Communicating on the Read-Write Web” by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson, of For Immediate Release fame, attention is called “the scarcest resource.” The presentation is well worth the read.

Podding along

2006-05-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

I have always been a massive consumer of media. It's probably what got me into public relations. When my friends were listening to AC-DC, I was listening to talk radio. When I had a job that required a lot of windshield time, I became a regular listener of audiobooks. I always had a shower radio so I could catch the local news every morning before I got out and started watching CNBC.

But, my busy schedule frequently does not mesh with the media schedule so that I can watch what I want, when I want to. Many others are in the same boat and that's why the DVR has proliferated so quickly: it puts the consumer in charge of the schedule. That's also why I like podcasts so much. I subscribe to my favorite podcasts on iTunes, which downloads the latest episodes to my computer. I then copy them to my mp3 player and listen to them whenever and wherever I desire. I listen while I'm driving, cleaning the house, mowing the lawn and biking or running.

Podcasts also remove the geographic restrictions that limit content that can be played on local radio. My two favorite podcasts are Across the Sound and For Immediate Release. They are about new media marketing and public relations and technology, respectively. Not exactly topics that would draw radio advertisers in Sioux Falls, but both have carved out large audiences in the podosphere. By the way, the two of them did a Mashup (joint podcast) a few weeks ago that you can listen to here. I'm hoping that its the first of many. To find your favorite podcast, try iTunes or podcast.net.

Now, you can reach that nationwide network of distributors with broadcast information that they can consume on their own terms. Your niche radio show might find an even bigger audience as a podcast. You're only limited by your imagination...so start imagining.

Man Bites Dog

2006-05-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

When you start out in public relations and seasoned professionals (as well as reporters) are explaining to you that real news is the extraordinary, they usually grab for one particular metaphor: 'man bites dog.' Dogs bite men every day, the story goes, so that's really not news. But when a man bites a dog, stop the presses!

That old metaphor was the first thing that came to mind when I heard that the New York Times was searching for a p.r. expert. It seems that amid readership losses and a declining stock price, the Grey Lady wants an expert in crisis communications to help them right the ship. Man bites dog, or newspaper hires publicist. Either way, it reads the same to me.

(Hat tip to PR Machine for the link).

Many Shining Moments

2006-04-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

Advertising doesn't always have to come in pretty little 30 second spots, full-page ads or tri-fold brochures. In fact, some of the most effective advertising breaks with convention to forge a lasting, memorable connection between your brand and your audience.

In light of that, it's hard to think of a more effective piece of advertising/branding/marketing than One Shining Moment, the anthem of College Basketball. For the story on the song, click here.

After the (rather boring) game on Monday night, I taped it as I do every year. As a fan of college hoops, it's hard for me to watch or hear the song without getting a few chills. Some people even get choked up. As always, it leaves me in anticipation of next year's shining moments.

My favorite day of the year

2006-03-16T18:04:00.000-08:00

I enjoy a lot of sports, but there are none that I enjoy more than men's college basketball. So today, the opening day of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, is my favorite day of the year.

Why then am I sitting at my desk instead of out watching the games? Because I'm doing both with March Madness on Demand, an advertiser-supported live video feed of the tournament. At the sports bar (or on my local TV) I'm captive to whatever game they decide to show me. Online, I can move back and forth between all the games that are currently being played (with the exception of the local game that is blacked out).

Just some of the major advertisers I saw included AIG, Coke, Dell, Lexus, Microsoft, Nike, Old Spice, Playstation and long-time NCAA advertiser Pontiac. Hat tip to Illini Wonk for the link.

Free coffee anyone?

2006-03-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

Starbucks has always been a textbook example of how to build a brand through public relations. Today, they have once again shown why. From 10-noon, Starbucks will host its first-ever "Starbucks Coffee Break" where every one of their 7,500 stores will be giving a free tall coffee to every customer.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Starbucks employees will take coffee to customers who can't make it to the restaurants using mobile-sampling "Venti Vans" and insulated coffee backpacks.

Rather than spend millions of dollars on advertising, Starbucks is spreading their coffee gospel through one of the oldest plays in the public relations handbook: giving away free product. The payoff is in the happy customers and the accompanying media stories, which currently number in the hundreds. What are you doing at your computer? Go get some free coffee!

Hat tip to Starbucks Gossip.

Pitcher's Beware!

2006-03-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

Hardly a day passes without PR pros noting the increased transparency that blogging has brought to corporations and industries. They warn companies to tread lightly in a world where press releases are dissected and corporate spin is unraveled online.

But that increase in transparency applies to the practice of public relations as well. Once upon a time, the worst possible result from faxing a poorly-crafted pitch was a quick trip to the editor's trash can. But email can be cut and pasted into a blog and a pitcher can bring embarrassment to themselves and their clients. For instance, I'm guessing this post didn't end up in the clipbook prepared for Motorola by their agency. (Whenever I hear examples of bad PR, I think of Stu from the movie Phone Booth shown in the photo here).

Now, there's a blog with the express purpose of outing bad pitches entitled, appropriately enough, The Bad Pitch Blog. Operated by two people in PR (Richard Laermer and Kevin Dugan), the blog outs bad pitches like this one from Stephanie. Unfortunately for her, this example also includes a lesson in SEO. Due to the power of blogs in generating search results, this post is now the top result in a Google search for her name. Good luck applying for that next public relations job, Stephanie.

So, pitchers beware! Your next bad pitch could end up being immortalized on the Internet.

This water brought to you by...

2006-02-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

Part of life today is being bombarded by marketing messages from the moment we get out of bed until we come crashing back at night. But there's always been one sacred place where we are insulated from advertising...the water cooler...right?

Not anymore. A company named AquaCell Media has implemented "Coolertising," where they use advertising on water coolers that are distributed for free to retail outlets, such as CVS and Kmart. Advertisers include Dove and CBS, who was apparently concerned that Survivor's share of water cooler talk was slipping against that of American Idol. (Hat tip to the trend spotters at Springwise for bringing Coolertising to my attention). Dove has apparently seen a 34 percent increase in sales of Dove Cool Moisture as a result of Coolertising. That sounds like ROI, meaning your next drink of water might be brought to you by...advertising.

We can just hear it now: Dasani complaining that AquaCell is destroying their business because Kmart shoppers can get the free water instead of buying theirs. The Water Industry Association of America will take AquaCell to court for water piracy. And consumers, well, maybe they'll appreciate the free water. And there will never again be that awkward silence as two gulping gossips converge on their beverage station of choice. The topic of their conversation will be pre-selected by CBS.

Technorati Tags: advertising

Who do we trust? Turns out it's ourselves

2006-02-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

Are you in the midst of a search for that celebrity spokesperson for a big ad campaign? Perhaps you're facing a crisis at your company and getting ready to trot out the CEO to address the issue? Before you do either of those, you may want to read the 2006 Edelman Trust Barometer.

According to Edelman's seventh annual survey, “a person like me” passed doctors and academics for the first time as the most credible source of information about a company. The rise has been amazing in the U.S., where trust in “a person like me” increased from 20% in 2003 to 68% today. By 42% to 28%, rank-and-file employees are considered more credible spokespersons than corporate CEOs. (Be sure to listen to the accompanying podcast from Richard Edelman on the Trust Barometer).

The average Joe is also trusted more than marketing. A study by Forrester and Intelliseek found that consumers are 50 percent more likely to be influenced by word-of-mouth recommendations from their peers than by radio/TV ads.

So, where do marketers turn in a low-trust marketing world? An article on AdAge.com today says that marketers need to ask “How do we get people talking about our product, learn from what they say and tap their conversation to inform other communications efforts?” As a first step they recommend companies following Amazon and add consumer reviews, ratings and recommendations to their, or their retailers’, Web sites. If your web site has a CEO biography, but no place for customers to comment on/rave about/interact with your company, you've missed the mark.

A recent white paper from Edelman and Technorati credits this lack of trust in institutions as a factor driving the blogging phenomenon. Page 9 of that white paper gives an "Emerging Model" for communicating with your constituents. Among the better suggestions are being more concerned with conversation than control, engaging in external relationships at multiple levels, empowering employees and consumers to co-create and embracing the wisdom of the crowds. All of those tactics are made easier through blogging. If yo'ure not yet in the blogosphere, it may be time to jump in.

But the first thing marketers (and companies and CEO's) need to do is acknowledge the truths in this survey. Why put out people and messages that aren't trusted in mediums that are suspected when it's so much easier to do the opposite? That way, maybe consumers will trust you and people like themselves.

Technorati Tags: crisis communications,public relations,Technorati,Edelman,trust

Mea culpas all around

2006-01-05T20:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I posted on the crisis communications blunder of International Coal Group. One of the worst things for a company about making a mistake in an instance like this is that it extends the life of the story and keeps your bad news in front of the public even longer. It gives you a new set of things to apologize for and new story lines to cover.

Because this news broke so late in the day, it sent newspapers all over the country scrambling to keep up with the changing story. One of those was our local Sioux Falls Argus Leader which put a lengthy explanation of their process on the front page of today's paper. It's an interesting read for those who want a peak behind the curtain of a newsroom. It also keeps the story on the front page for another day.

Technorati Tags: crisis communications

Coal company bungles crisis

2006-01-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

When it comes to mistakes in crisis communications, International Coal Group, who had 13 employees trapped in a mine explosion, may have just set the new standard. Shortly after midnight last night, someone communicated that the remaining 12 miners had been found alive, but three hours later the company announced that in fact all but one had died.

CEO Ben Hatfield confirmed that "the initial communication [came] from the command center. But it was wrong." According to MSNBC News, the call came from the company or the governor's office. The New York Times said word of a rescue spread through a cell phone call from someone at the command center to relatives waiting at a nearby church...not through official channels. The mistake was compounded when the company waited more than three hours to issue a correction, despite knowing that not everyone was alive 20 minutes after the error.

Over those three hours the families of victims went from joy to anguish to anger. They have taken to calling the company "liars" and "evil." International Coal Group is going to find out the hard way that anger turns victims into powerful enemies. Lawsuits, which were likely before, are now certain and will be just as much about hurting the company as helping the victims. After making the correction, Hatfield said "Welcome to the worst day of my life." Indeed.

What went wrong? If initial reports are correct, the company is guilty of two major crisis communications sins. First, they failed to maintain control of the situation. Whether the erroneous communication came from them or not is almost irrelevant. They should have controlled all communications from the command center, something the CEO confirmed did not happen. Second, they failed to designate an official spokesperson. If all communications had come through one person (and audiences had expected that), they probably could have avoided the error or lessened its impact.

These errors are just symptoms of the underlying problem: not having an adequate crisis communications plan. What makes that even more amazing is the highly dangerous work performed by the company and their history of problems. Another sure sign of communications failure is a visit to their corporate web site. As of this post (three days after the incident occurred) there is nothing to be found acknowledging the accident or providing any information to the public. A Google search revealed no corporate response of any kind. This has all the tell-tail signs of a company that was unprepared for a crisis.

What can they do now? It's difficult to say if anything can save their reputation, but there are things they can do to mitigate the damage. First, they need to cooperate fully with all investigations and be completely transparent with the public. This includes the communication error. They must let the public know exactly how the break-down happened. Second, they must show genuine empathy to the families of the victims. They should start with paying for all funeral costs, travel costs for families, etc. It's the least they can do. Third, they must take visible, concrete steps to insure that this never happens to their company again.

Technorati Tags: crisis Communications

Are you a Spokesweasel?

2006-01-02T20:29:00.000-08:00

It's difficult to pick up a public relations trade journal without encountering some hand-wringing over how the negatively the public perceives people in our profession. If you were operating under the belief that those journals were overreacting, pop culture just delivered a slap upside your head.

The editors of the Historical Dictionary of American Slang just released their Slang of the Year for 2005 with "Jump the Couch" earning top honors and "spokesweasel" one of four runners up. I would assert that the two terms are not unrelated. The first refers, of course, to the antics of Tom Cruise professing his love for Katie Holmes on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Spokesweasel is slang for a public relations spokesperson.

The relationship between the two is traced to the origins of the first. Most people believe that Cruise's appearance on Oprah was more a publicity stunt than a true profession of love...a stunt dreamed up by a public relations person...a spokesweasel. As long as PR pros orchestrate cynical publicity stunts or dissemble the truth, our profession will continue to be viewed as weasels.

Technorati Tags: public relations

Top TV Ads of the Year

2005-12-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

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?

Technorati Tags: television,advertising,Nike

Can a crisis boost your reputation?

2005-12-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

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 revelead 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.

Technorati Tags: Crisis Communications,PRWeek,reputation

Southwest stays aloft

2005-12-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

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.

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.

Technorati Tags: Crisis Communications

Be Careful How You Sell Out

2005-12-01T20:14:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, my colleague posted an obituary for Paul McCartney's reputation, which sprung from 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?

Technorati Tags: U2,advertising,reputation,brand,business,politics

Email: blessing or curse?

2005-11-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

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.

Technorati Tags: Business,e-mail

Crisis in Cancun

2005-10-31T20:05:00.000-08:00

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.

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.

Technorati Tags: Crisis Communications,public relations

Good enough...or remarkable?

2005-10-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

Technorati Tags: Godin

Communicating during a Crisis

2005-09-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

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.

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?

Technorati Tags: Crisis Communications,Wal-Mart,reputation,Hurricane Katrina

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

2005-09-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

Technorati Tags: BzzAgent,Godin,WOMM

Citizen Journalism (without the blog)

2005-09-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

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.

But, 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?

Technorati Tags: Amazon,blog,citizen journalism

LifeLight Music Festival

2005-08-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

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!

Technorati Tags: Public relations,Technorati,LifeLight,Christian,music,festival,blog,South Dakota

Everyone loves a contest

2005-08-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: South Dakota,public relations,web

Now I'm Current

2005-08-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

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.

But 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?

Technorati Tags: Advertising,media,public relations,television,current

Fortune on Advertising

2005-08-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

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]!"

Technorati Tags: Advertising,media,digital

Never Blog Alone

2005-08-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

As 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.

Is this advertising guaranteed?

2005-07-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

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.

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.
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

2005-07-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: Public relations,South Dakota

Building the Starbucks brand one sale at a time

2005-07-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: Starbucks

P.J. on PR

2005-07-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: P.J. O'Rourke,PRWeek,public relations

This blog is del.icio.us!

2005-07-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

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.

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?)

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.

Technorati Tags: podcasting, delicious, Skype, iTunes, blog

Winning through communicating

2005-06-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: books, business, Public Relations

Is your agency blogging?

2005-06-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

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...

Technorati Tags: blog

Are you networked?

2005-06-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: networking

Becoming a thought leader

2005-06-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: Public Relations

Public Relations in an online world

2005-06-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: Public Relations, media, blog

Everything has a brand

2005-06-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

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?

Technorati Tags: brand, South Dakota, church

Why do companies blog?

2005-06-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

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:

Another way to publish content and ideas
Build a community
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.

Technorati Tags: blog

Big blogs discuss small

2005-06-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

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?

Technorati Tags: blog

Who needs a building when you have a blog?

2005-06-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: Public Relations, blog

Indy Racing League

2005-06-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: IRL, South Dakota, Sioux Falls Skyforce, Public Relations

You gotta love the niche you're in

2005-05-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

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.

Technorati Tags: Public Relations, niche

Wanted: Rapid City Public Relations Effort

2005-05-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

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?

Technorati Tags: Public Relations, Ellsworth, Rapid City

Are we ready for the blogosphere?

2005-05-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

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 21^st 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.

Technorati Tags: Cluetrain, blog