Archive for April, 2009

Air Force One and NYC – Risk Analysis Up Front Can Prevent PR Gaffes and Blunders

Thursday, April 30th, 2009
Air Force One Photo Opp Goes Awry

Photo Opp Goes Awry

Posted by Tom Gable

The Wall Street Journal reported that The White House canceled a planned second photo shoot of a jumbo jet used as Air Force One in Washington, D.C. next month with the nation’s capital as a backdrop after negative public reaction to Monday’s flight in New York with the Statue of Liberty as the icon, which made headlines in the WSJ, The New York Times and other media. The scramble by White House officials to retrace the steps that led to the gaffe generated other stories and blog coverage.

With foresight and basic risk analysis, the first flight might not have happened, saving the White House the need to jump into the post-event crisis PR and apology mode.

PR firms and internal staffs typically go through a somewhat simple but strategic process of analysis to determine the value and benefit of any special event, promotion, photo opportunity, stunt or other activity.

Here is the Gable PR check list, to which many other ideas could be added:

• Useful purpose of the proposed activity (write a vision statement or project goal)
• Logistics, staging (feasibility, issues, costs, timing, etc.)
• Participants
• Context (where does it fit in society, the public, mores)
• Desired outcome
• Cost/benefit
• The flip side – risk analysis

The risk analysis portion is most critical. What could go wrong? Is the proposed activity moral, ethical, sensitive to all outside interests and publics, drain on resources, a public safety issue or fraught with even the tiniest hint of potential disruption of the daily lives of those who would be involved, either directly or indirectly? Risk analysis can lead to a quick decision on go, no go, or modify.

When things go wrong, management needs to determine the cause. Was it an issue with authority, responsibility, controls, processes or even culture? Common sense also plays a huge role. If this incident were taken apart by Saturday Night Live on Weekend Update the bit might be: “What were they thinking?” And Seth Myers would say: “Let’s spend $300,000 of taxpayers’ money to fly a 747 and fighter jet at low level over Manhattan and scare the hell out of several million people so we can have a neat photo for our Web site.”

Photo by Jim Brown

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Using PR to Tell Advertising’s Story and Build Advance Buzz

Monday, April 27th, 2009
Have You Any Wool (and a lifetime power train guarantee?)

Breaking out of the herd

Posted by Erin Koch

How often have you read about an advertising campaign before you’ve seen even one of the ads? Or have you ever wondered if an ad campaign is making a difference?The front page of the April 22 Union-Tribune provides a great example of PR being used to “position” an ad campaign. The San Diego Convention & Visitors’ Bureau launched a PR program to raise attention for its $8.7 million ‘Happy Happens’ ad campaign in an attempt to boost tourism and hotel occupancy.

Another example comes from Southern California’s omnipresent Lexus vs. Audi battle. Apparently, Audi’s “black sheep” campaign – where they position their Q5 luxury-compact SUV as standing apart from the herd of Lexus RXs (the segment’s most popular) – is proving to be quite effective.

PR can (and should) be an integral part of any major advertising campaign. Why? Because the story behind the ads often has a greater impact than the ads themselves. Effective PR results in news stories about the ad campaign itself. As Al Ries noted in his classic book The Fall of Advertising (and the Rise of PR), PR lights the fires and advertising fans the flames. Telling the target audience that Lexus owners are now purchasing Audis because of the ad campaign has a much stronger impact on the car buyer than simply seeing an ad on TV. And a front page story on low hotel occupancy rates in the local paper reminds San Diegans of the need to support the local economy – and might just result in a significant increase in locals booking in-town weekend getaways.

Happy Happens – because PR helps!

Photo Credit: MJK23

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Chumby: Cuddly or Awkward? A Targeting Success Story

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
A Pride of Chumbies

A Pride of Chumbies

Posted by Erin Koch

Xconomy, one of our favorite online news sources, has a story this week on the Chumby – a cuddly/awkward touch-screen digital device that can be customized to do what the user wants.What caught our eye was Chumby co-founder Duane Maxwell’s comments about the Chumby marketing campaign (from the Xconomy article) – specifically the fact that the company intentionally made the device controversial:
Sure enough, the Internet is full of passionate debate over the Chumby-between ardent fans and strident critics.

But the controversy over the Chumby is exactly what its developers wanted. Maxwell says they never spent a dime on marketing. “This is another net phenomenon. We didn’t have the budget for Apple-style mass marketing, but it turns out that word of mouth-particularly among hackers and technically sophisticated people-carries a lot more weight than advertising. So we made an effort to target them.”

Word-of-mouth marketing – particularly when it is fueled by effective messages targeted at the right audience – has always been one of the most effective catalysts to action (in Chumby’s case, the target audience was the technically sophisticated and the desired action was both debate about and purchase of the product). And they did a great job as covered by the Washington Post, The Street, New York Times, among others.

But how do you get from a clear goal to a desired result? At Gable PR, we always recommend audience research as a first step to any PR effort. Who are your target audiences? Which messages will move them to act? And what are the best channels and methods for getting those compelling messages into the hearts and, minds and frontal lobes of your targets?

For those who want instant results, headlines, and customers/investors/partners, we remind them that even if you know where you want to go, it could be a longer and more complex trip than initially imagined. And you’re more likely to get there if you have a well-planned roadmap before you back the car out of the driveway.

Photo by Andrea Kizsa

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Is Twitter the new Facebook?

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Posted by Liz Dill

With the phenomenal growth, continued media hype and celebrity backing of Twitter, is the microblogging site becoming more popular than Facebook?

According to a posting on Socialtimes.com, a blog that analyzes social media, Twitter has surpassed 14 million users, up over 76.8 percent since last month when we wrote that they had surpassed 8 million users. This tally was before the Oprah effect that jumped traffic 40 percent in one day. Although Facebook has over 90 million users, the rapid growth of Twitter puts their projected year end user number at 50 million.

In my opinion, both have pros and cons. Twitter is incredibly interactive and you can reach far beyond your circle of friends, but the functionality of the site is limited (find other users, send messages, replies) and updates are restricted to only 140 characters. Facebook on the other hand has a multitude of functionality (find people, make connections, instant messaging, video sharing, etc.) but on the downside is more difficult to navigate and update. In terms of creating a sense of community, Facebook wins the battle hands down.

Both networks should definitely be included in every savvy PR practitioners toolkit to use when it makes sense for their client. Depending on the goals and targets of your PR campaign, one of the outlets might be a bit more effective over the other. Here’s a few tips:

1. Twitter can often breaks news faster than other sources
2. If increasing traffic to your site is your goal, Facebook seems to be the outlet to use due to the sheer number of users.
3. Twitter can work as a quick, easy and inexpensive opinion poll on your company/product.
4. Since friends and “opt in” to see your messages, your messages will be targeted to people who are interested in your product/service.
5. By using “Twitter Search” you can see if someone’s talking about your company and you can participate where it makes sense. This is a great way to monitor and participate in what is said about your company online.

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Crisis PR: Speed Now a Deciding Factor in Success

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Posted by Tom Gable

The debate about how well Domino’s and Amazon handled their recent crises raised a new priority for crisis management PR: speed to respond. He who hesitates in lost, particularly when faced with millions of observers and critics circulating instant updates via Twitter and FaceBook, then posting evidence of any transgressions via blogs and on YouTube and Flickr, to be followed by mainstream media coverage, such as in the L.A. Times.

This increased need for speed led us to review crisis management programs conducted over the years for common threads. The most successful programs included:

1. Developing a crisis PR plan well in advance
2. Rehearsing the plan regularly (including surprise mock disasters)
3. Setting up news tracking, media and social media and other research tools for 24/7 monitoring
4. Launching your plan and responding immediately to even the slightest hint of pending crisis, even if only to let all targets know you don’t have all the answers but will get back to them as soon as you do
5. Following up consistently and in a human voice
6. Being aggressive at countering rumors and inaccurate information
7. Analyzing the trends in coverage, buzz
8. Adjusting the program as needed to meet new issues, attacks

That’s the short course. To help determine how fast to move and the steps to take in an emerging crisis, we created a five-page outline that helps quickly walk through the details of dealing with a crisis. The outline can be adapted to individual company or organizational needs. The concept is to be as professional, pro-active and quick as possible in responding to the crisis, to the ultimate benefit of long-term reputation and, often, company survival. If you’re interested in taking a look at the outline, please click here: Gable PR Crisis Outline.

Reputations can be made, severely damaged or even destroyed in a crisis, particularly in the new age of omnipresent reporting/scrutiny/criticism. Responding immediately, strategically and with integrity and confidence, can make a difference.

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PR Jargon Train Keeps Rolling and Gaining Speed

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Posted by Tom Gable

David Meerman Scott analyzed 711,123 press releases distributed during 2008 by North American companies through Business Wire, Marketwire, GlobeNewswire, and PR Newswire. He filtered for 325 gobbledygook phrases and issued a report. The top 10: innovate, pleased to, unique, focused on, leading provider, commitment, partnership, new and improved, leverage, and 120 percent.

He did the same survey in 2006 and the top 10: next generation, flexible, robust, world class, scalable, easy to use, cutting edge, well positioned, mission critical, and market leading.

Amazingly, stamping out jargon and gobbledygook in news releases is kind of like going after hardier strains of cockroaches. In a post on April 14, we cited the bad buzz words identified by Inc. magazine and listed the words our research among major media had turned up as most offensive some five years ago. They were: solutions, leading, leading provider, leading edge, cutting edge, seamless, state-of-the-art, best-of-breed, robust, end-to-end, first mover, customer-centric, mission critical, turnkey.

I pulled out earlier research from 2001 when we had a web site called jargonfreeweb.com and a “Jargonator” program for analyzing the jargon content of news releases and ranking the news value on a 1 to 5 scale (from bottom of the bird cage to NYT and WSJ quality). At that time, the words most despised by the media were very close to the 2004 research but in a different order: solutions, first-mover, customer-centric, leading, leading provider, seamless, leading edge, cutting edge, end-to-end, mission critical, best-of-breed, robust, world class and scalable.

Scott’s list also included phrases that should be exorcised from news releases forever — “pleased to” and “proud to” – because they always introduce a self-serving quote written in corporate speak (labeled by some media as LAQs, or lame-ass quotes): To his list we would add “I’m excited to.”

Here is a sample LAQ from an actual news release:

“I am extremely excited to have XYZ join ABC’s technology team. His extensive experience in wireless communications and his deep passion for technology will enable ABC to reach new heights as the company continues to develop future generations of the world’s only complete end-to-end solution for wireless LAN monitoring and intrusion detection and prevention,” according to DEF, president and CEO. (Not only does no human being speak that way but you could have fun thinking about the between-the-line implications: “XYZ’s predecessor had terminal ennui and distaste for technology that kept us stuck at the same level for years.”). For more on LAQs, link here to “Looking Foolish With Lame Ass Quotes.”

The jargon train keeps rolling. New generations of PR people and companies enter the fray, all fresh-cheeked, eager and lacking in sophistication or imagination. They pick up where the previous generations left off and start touting leading edge, best-of-breed seamless solutions. Perhaps with more coverage by Inc. and additional national media, research by David Meerman Scott and involvement of other proselytes, the PR profession can derail the jargon train and soar into the future on the wings of well-crafted communications and authentic counsel.

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Posted in Brilliant Counsel, Client Service Results, Crisis PR, Horizon Management, Hype Free PR, jargon, LAQs, Team Play | 1 Comment »

Fed Chairman Bernanke Turns to PR to Boost Image, Understanding

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Posted by Tom Gable

The Wall Street Journal ran a lengthy feature on the strategy by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, to be more open about his thinking and “wage a public relations offensive that puts him in the starring role.” This is notable because the previous two chairmen, Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan, were known for lack of clarity and openness.  Greenspan never took questions and “delighted in his ability to obfuscate.”

The change in PR strategy is essential because of the economic turmoil buffeting world markets and the general lack of economic insights and intelligence among the American public.  The issues are complex. Lack of understanding can create angst, uncertainty and declining public confidence in any institution, company,  government agency,  policy or anything else impacting our pocketbooks. According to the WSJ, Bernanke has long argued that markets operate more smoothly if participants understand central bankers’ rules and processes.  He started his campaign in February with a talk and Q&A at the National Press Club in Washington. His interview on 60 Minutes in March drew praise for its plain talk and candor. He recently spoke at Morehouse College on “Four Questions About the Financial Crisis,” which critics said was an excellent “Economics 101″ lecture.

The Fed is considering holding regular press conferences and other outreach efforts. Beyond that, adopting a pro-active, fact-based, strategic campaign to reach all target audiences with consistency through every tool of the trade will surely help overcome widespread confusion about what the Fed is doing and perhaps start moving consumer confidence in a more positive direction, to the ultimate benefit of the economic recovery as it beings evolving. Let the communication begin.

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New Wisconsin Slogan? Deja Vu All Over Again

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

bacardislogan1

Rebranding Wisconsin 

Creativity can be the shining light that helps clients get noticed and stand out from the crowd. But lack of creativity can garner attention as well, though not the type of attention you might want. As widely reported recently, the State of Wisconsin unveiled its new slogan, aimed at attracting tourists to the region: Live Like You Mean It. Only problem is, the slogan has already been used. By authors, motivational speakers, and even Bacardi!

More importantly, the slogan doesn’t seem connected with the “Wisconsin” brand. Authentic PR means going beyond fluff and spin to develop key messages, including marketing slogans, with the facts and figures to back them up.

Admittedly a slogan does not a marketing campaign make. But a clichéd slogan with little connection to the core brand (the characteristics and principles that make up a company — or a state) can unmake a marketing campaign before it even gets started. What does Wisconsin stand for? Maybe we will learn the next time around.

(Popular bumper sticker, perhaps originally proposed by David Letterman: Eat Cheese or Die.)

Posted by Erin Koch

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Inc. Swats at Bad Buzz Words, Touts 15 Worth Using

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

 In a post called The Good, The Bad, and the Buzzy, Inc. takes a concise and sometimes humorous look at buzz words and jargon it would prefer never to see again. 

(From Inc.)

15 Business Buzzwords We Don’t Want to Hear

Actionable: A high-energy noun gone passive and flabby. Authenticity: Has become its own antonym through overuse. Best of breed: Try not thinking of springer spaniels. Brain dump: Why treat creativity like construction waste? Co-opetition: Business doesn’t need a version of frenemy. Disintermediate: Has the same number of syllables as “cut out the middleman” with none of the clarity. Incentivize: First, it’s not a word. Second, what’s wrong with motivate? Mindshare: Our psyches are not Florida condos. Offline: Annoying in meetings (“Let’s take this offline”). We’re already offline! We’re surrounded by human beings! Outside the box: A cliché about not thinking in clichés. Proactive: Ugly corporate-ese, but without a decent synonym. Anyone? Repurpose: You are recycling. Just say so. Solution: A shame, what has happened to this word. Synergy: This bastard child of synthesis and energy is godfather to every enigmatically named tech company. Value-add: Devalues the concept of value. Talk shouldn’t be quite this cheap.

Having been pitching for a world of jargon-free PR for a decade or more, I applaud Inc. for this fine piece. When we surveyed major media on words they hated most more than five years ago, they named: solutions, leading, leading provider, leading edge, cutting edge, seamless, state-of-the-art, best-of-breed, robust, end-to-end, first mover, customer-centric, mission critical, turnkey.

 

 

 

 

 

Quite a collection. As for best words? The media we talked to didn’t specify any favorite words, just a concept: provide newsworthy items, facts and good ideas, please.

 (From Inc.)

15 Business Buzzwords We Like

Angel: What better metaphor for the answer to an entrepreneur’s prayers? Bandwidth: The rare tech term that translates to human beings. Big Hairy Audacious Goal: Humor makes the phrase memorable; hyperbole makes it motivational. Core competency: Ruthlessly focuses the leader’s mind. Cube farm: Truthful but whimsical. Elevator pitch: A business drama in miniature. Empower: A little treacly, but also clear and authoritative. Frictionless: Great image for how processes should work. Just in time: Suggests not just efficiency but salvation. Killer app: Succinct, clear, intimidating. Knowledge worker: Judges employees not by the color of their collars but by the content of their brains. Learning organization: Celebrates both continuous improvement and humility. Management by walking around: Humble yet vivid. Push the envelope: A cliché we like. Must be the Right Stuff association. Stickiness: Perfectly describes content that compels users to return.

Inc. has always been one of our top targets. To get on their radar, I think we’ll give them an elevator pitch about our client who has angel financing, a BHAG and has empowered staff and provided the bandwidth to push the envelope in search of a new killer app with ultimate stickiness. This learning organization has knowledge workers who work frictionless and with great core competencies in their cube farm, where the CEO manages by walking around. Think they’ll buy?

 Posted by Tom Gable

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Posted in Client Service Results, Clutter Busting, Hype Free PR, jargon | 2 Comments »

The AIG Hearing and News Coverage: Lessons in Crisis PR

Monday, April 13th, 2009
Two weeks ago, we asked PR professionals to weigh in on how well Edward Liddy, the CEO of AIG, did in his testimony before Congress on the controversy involving bonus payments to employees of AIG, which had suffered billions of dollars in losses and received bailout money from the U.S. Government. The survey also asked how respondents felt the media covered the CEO and his testimony and how they would rate media coverage of business in the United States in general.A link to the survey was sent to 287 individuals and 12 responded, or 4.2 %. Several of those responding sent personal emails that added more detail to their rankings. It was good to see pros with 15 to more than 30 years of experience taking the time to reply. They noted that breaking even or coming in just slightly tarnished versus trashed would be a great outcome in this type of media circus. These were good insights and reasonable expectations.

Bottom line: the CEO did a good job acknowledging the issues, but went downhill from there in terms of providing solutions, overcoming negative images of AIG and changing perceptions. Was it an impossible challenge? Imagine climbing out of a hole bigger than the Grand Canyon with extra baggage, into a storm and with hostile observers on the rim rolling rocks down the trails to knock you off your chosen path. Tough to train for, no matter how good your Crisis PR team.

Liddy did fare better than the automotive executives who were pilloried from all fronts for flying to the hearings in private jets and mostly looking and sounding alike. This was hardly central to the issue of saving the automotive industry but it provided great openings for critical sound bites from the media and also politicians hungry for media attention.

On AIG, respondents were very aware (91.7 %) and somewhat aware (8.3 %) of the issue. In rating the image of AIG before the testimony, 66.7 % rated it Very Negative, followed by Somewhat Negative (8.3 %) and Neutral (25 %). None rated it as Somewhat Positive or Positive.

On Liddy and his performance before Congress, the survey asked for ratings in eight categories:

  • Acknowledging issues: the rating average on a 1-to-5 scale was 4.0, his highest. Average, 16.7%; Above Average, 66.7%; Excellent, 16.7%
  • Identifying Problems: rating 3.25. Below Average, 25.0%; Average, 33.3%; Above Average, 33.3% Excellent, 8.3%.
  • Accepting Responsibility: 3.0. Poor, 8.3%; Below Average, 16.7%; Average, 50.0%; Above Average, 16.7%; Excellent, 8.3%.
  • Appearing Sincere: 3.5. Below Average, 8.3%; Average, 33.3%; Above Average, 58.3%.
  • Providing Reasonable Solutions: 2.83. Poor, 25.0%; Below Average, 8.3%; Average, 33.3%; Above Average, 25.0%; Excellent, 8.3%.
  • Answering Questions Under Fire: 3.67. Average, 50.0%; Above Average, 33.3%; Excellent, 16.7% (second highest).
  • Overcoming Negative Images of AIG: 2.5 (tied for lowest). Below Average, 58.3%; Average, 33.3%; Above Average, 8.3%.
  • Changing Perceptions: 2.5 (tied for lowest). Poor, 16.7%; Below Average, 41.7%; Average, 16.7%; Above Average, 25.0%.
  • After the Session and in Seeing News Coverage, How Did Your Opinion Change: 0.0, Much Better; 16.7%, Slightly Better; 66.7%, No Change; 8.3%, Slightly Worse; 8.3%, Much Worse.
  • In Reviewing Follow-Up Coverage, How Did You Feel the Media Treated the AIG CEO and His Testimony: 8.3%, No Opinion; 25%, Unfairly; 16.7%, Somewhat Unfairly; 25%, Balanced; 16.7%, Somewhat Fairly; 8.3%, Fairly.

The opinions on fairness of the coverage skewed slightly to the negative side. The final question was a follow up:

In General, How Would You Rate Media Coverage of Business in the United States: Anti-Business, 33.3%; Somewhat Anti-Business, 41.7%; Balanced, 0.0%; Somewhat Pro-Business, 16.7%; Pro-Business, 8.3%.

How to operate in an environment where the media doesn’t like business and business thinks the media is biased? Results from this quick litmus test of perceptions are mirrored in many surveys with high confidence levels, including one from the Edelman Trust Barometer and another from the Media Research Center.

All of the above raises some thoughts for issues management in what could be no-win situations: analyze the situation from the media and other outside perspectives (political, regulatory, shareholder, consumer, environmental, etc.); prepare for the worst possible questions; run your answers by outside experts, colleagues and consultants (politicians float trial balloons before going public with their ideas); rehearse, rehearse. rehearse; acknowledge whatever problems that exist at the beginning; provide reasonable and logical solutions; speak in a human voice (no spin or corporate speak); counter hostile personal attacks with historical precedents, facts and data, delivered confidently and non-emotionally; when faced with outrageous statements and material taken out of context, use a little ju-jitsu to ask for the source of the data and information; do a short closing statement with a thank you and visionary statement for moving forward; do a post-event media briefing; provide your facts and materials immediately through every means possible (email, newswires, Web site, blogs, social media); follow up directly with all media, particularly the most critical; analyze the results; and get ready for the next round.

Posted by Tom Gable

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