Archive for July, 2009

Using Twitter for PR Research, Guerrilla Marketing, Crisis PR

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Posted by Tom Gable

While many people view Twitter as a frivolous tool for inane rambling about one’s largely uninteresting personal experiences to unknown followers who don’t really care, it can be a powerful and valuable research tool for PR. With a little work, Twitter can become a news junkie’s delivery and intelligence-gathering service to:

  • Keep on top of breaking news in various industries and topics of interest
  • Identify gurus in the space; sources of good information
  • Track a client’s competitors
  • Keep up on activities in your town
  • Watch trends build before your very eyes
  • Find fun resources

We were searching for new experts and sources in different fields of interest for Gable PR and its clients, including clean tech, renewable energy, certain areas of biotech and the life sciences and crisis PR, among others. We had set up Google, Yahoo, The New York Times, Washington Post and other news trackers and blog alerts. We also use Lexis/Nexis on focused searches. To ramp up the flow a notch and try to track the immediate flow of information available on Twitter, we checked posts by various social media gurus (@briansolis, @chrisbrogan, @problogger, @tdefren, etc.) on search applications and began testing Tweetbeep.com to search for Tweets on any given topic.

As seen in the screen shot below, I receive regular email alerts to Tweets on the topics of my choice, in this case algae. I can scan quickly for items of interest. If I find a gem, I click through to the original Tweet to check the person’s previous Tweets and credentials. This has helped our firm find experts in many fields – the pro-active Tweeters spreading knowledge and helping others learn. Most include links to other sources. Those on top of their game are inevitably fast at pointing to breaking news and important trend stories, academic papers, government studies and company releases.

Tweetbeep Alert

TweetBeep Alert Via Email

For PR, we use the Twitter research capability to track trends in any given industry and find articles of interest to Gable PR clients and some of the non-profit organizations we support that are trying to grow new industries in our region. You can see buzz building on hot topics in real time. Those at the top of the Twitter totem pole in any industry are inevitably the first to Tweet on breaking news. Then, re-tweets soar, soon to be followed by blog posts and links from technical, academic and organizational Web sites to the original sources. We have been alerted to stories on new technologies from Australia, New Zealand, England and India, among others. The Twitterverse almost bursts with excitement in any given field as news spreads and more people respond.

Beyond the News

Beyond news, Twitter tracking can provide alerts to changing laws and new opportunities. We are working with some startup companies in algae biofuels, renewable energy and trash-to-energy. Keen observers we follow from Washington found new guidelines from the Department of Energy and other government agencies on how to apply for grants related to the stimulus packages. We quickly forwarded the information to our clients, who in turn filed for grants to advance their technology.

The Twitter tracking does create volume control problems. At the bottom of the Twitter food chain: the hangers-on who spend their lives just retweeting and never offer anything of original value. They can be days and even weeks behind the flow, which makes it easier to determine the riffraff not to follow.

For managing the flow in following different industries or categories of interest, use another application such as Tweetdeck (screen shot below) or Seesmic. With Tweetdeck, you can set up Groups and arrange your followers accordingly. I have different industry niches, plus Wine, San Diego, News, PR, Directs, Replies and Favorites. As shown in the screen shot below, Tweetdeck pulls the incoming Tweets into the designated columns for easy scanning.

Speed in Crisis PR

Twitter can be helpful in crisis PR — the canary in the mine shaft. Agencies and clients can track emerging stories, analyze the flow of comments and join the conversation in real time while advancing the other components of a crisis plan. We also like it for competitive research, which can sometimes trigger guerrilla marketing. We once found news from a client’s competitor that made certain claims about technical superiority of its product, which seemed vastly over-stated. We alerted our client, who concurred. So we called key media to suggest they might consider checking with different companies in the industry to get a true picture of the technology. Long story short: our client and other companies were included favorably in most coverage and fared far better than the Hypemeister, who lost media credibility.

Helping the Community

That’s on the incoming side of the news deluge equation. On the flip side, think about how to return the favor and become a positive force in the Twitter community. Share information you’ve found through your own news tracking, Blog readers, news aggregators and other services. Become a smart editor and provide your followers with information and ideas they will value, plus a surprise or two (links to parodies in the Onion, bizarre lists, evocative quotes and funny videos, such as “United Broke by Guitar”).

While others are Tweeting about their lunch or observations about the weather or their state of mind, you will be helping make the world a more connected and better communicated place.

Tweetdeck Columns

Tweetdeck Columns

One more screen shot try

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Posted in Authentic PR, Brilliant Counsel, Client Service Results, Clutter Busting, Crisis PR, Hype Free PR, Leverage, Social Media | Comments Off

The New Lance Armstrong: Third in Tour, Tops in PR

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Lance climbing back

Lance climbing back

Posted by Liz Dill

In this year’s Tour de France, Lance Armstrong fought battles both on the course and in the public eye. After coming out of a three and a half year retirement to compete in the 2,174 mile long race, he faced criticism and questions about the motives for his return from the media and cycling fans. Doping allegations resurfaced. But a “new” Lance Armstrong emerged – a friendlier underdog who didn’t win the Tour but whose participation and third place finish stirred renewed global interest in the sport and praise for him individually.

Armstrong worked hard during the race and, more importantly, when off his bike in taking his rebranding and positive PR efforts to the streets. The New York Times coverage nailed it:

Armstrong, the brash Texan, appeared to win the hearts of the people of France, the country that once loved to hate him. No longer invincible, he is an underdog now. He also is oldest rider to finish in the Tour’s top three since the 40-year-old Frenchman Raymond Poulidor did so in 1976.

The picture of him chatting with other riders during the final stage — nearly every other rider, in fact — was far different from the ultra-focused and cold rider the French once knew.

NPR had praise as well:

You know, I was out there on the Tour and they’re saying, you know, the old Lance Armstrong who was arrogant and unapproachable, he’s gone. And the new Lance Armstrong, he talks to people. He signs autographs. He doesn’t walk around with a bunch of bodyguards. And even the announcers who are commenting the race, for the last three weeks, I think they’ve just been stunned by his performance.

How did he get there? He had a plan. From the beginning of his commitment to the race, Armstrong set clear expectations about his potential performance. In a New York Times article in September 2008, he said that his goal was to spread global awareness of cancer and to refute claims that he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs rather than to claim his 8th victory in the race. Throughout the Tour, Armstrong has been pro-active about getting his message out to the public. His foundation LIVESTRONG has been issuing regular press releases and Armstrong has effectively used various social media outlets to communicate with fans by providing live updates and real time chats. Armstrong used Twitter to provide regular updates, post pictures and video during the 21-stage races. He said Twitter was the most accurate way for fans to gain a good perspective about the demands of the race. Armstrong is a great example of an athlete who has embraced social media, technology and the media to win over the public and thus increase his brand value.

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United Broke My Guitar — Video Goes Viral, Drives PR Response (and Album Sales?)

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
YouTube Screen Shot

YouTube Screen Shot

 Posted by Krista Rogers

 “Viral marketing” is often mislabeled as a strategy or a technique, with the assumption that you can force something to become popular. When something goes viral, it is organic and gains popularity through word of mouth, the click of the forward button or a simple retweet.

A perfect example of is the recent YouTube video of a budding country star scorned by an airline. David Carroll, lead singer with Canadian band Sons of Maxwell, has called out United Airlines with a music video, “United Broke My Guitar.”

On March 31, 2008 at Chicago O’Hare airport, Maxwell watched helplessly from inside the plane as his $3,500 Taylor guitar was thrown around by United Airlines baggage handlers. His attempts to be compensated by United were met with a lack of concern, denial of responsibility and resistance. After a few months and countless attempts to negotiate a fair compensation, Carroll decided to take matter into his own hands. He wrote a song about the disaster and collaborated with Curve Productions to launch the first of three music videos designed to hit United hard for both its baggage handling and failure to provide reparation.

His first video – a lively country song called “United Breaks Guitars” – was produced for $150, posted to YouTube on July 6 and went viral with incredible velocity. When I first viewed it on Wednesday, July 8, it had received 300,000 views in two days. By Friday, the number soared to over 1.5 million views. As of July 15, it has had over 3 million views. The video featured Carroll singing a catchy country tune about the disaster while faux baggage handlers threw guitar cases and baggage in the background. A series of United customer service people then popped into the video to reject his claim. The video was soon covered by CNN, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune and many more.

The coverage finally drove a favorable response from United Airlines, which couldn’t ignore people all over the world humming “United Breaks Guitars,” laughing at the airline and recalling their own horror stories online.

“This has struck a chord with us, and we’ve contacted him directly to make it right,” said Robin Urbanski, a spokeswoman for United, trying a musical one-liner to possibly lighten the response. She said that she “loved the video.” The airline also called Carroll to apologize and ask if the carrier could use the video internally as a training tool and to help change its culture.

The exposure also helped generate attention for Taylor Guitars, which was sending Carroll free replacements. David Hosler, Taylor Guitar’s vice president of customer service and repair, told the media that they had done national marketing campaigns before, but the viral video exposure “is way over the top. It’s unique.” Bob Taylor, guitar company president, is building on the buzz. He posted his own video on YouTube with tips on how musicians can keep guitars safe while traveling. As of this morning the video has already received 35,713 views.

Carroll’s story shows that with creativity, compelling content and a sense of humor, an individual can use the growing power of on-line video and the immediacy of the Internet to right a wrong, with perhaps an even more important outcome for Carroll: generating interest in his music and Sons of Maxwell band.

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Posted in Client Service Results, Crisis PR, jargon, Leverage, Social Media, The Light Side | 3 Comments »

Crisis PR Tweetsunami Washes Over Murphy-Goode Winery Job Hunt Promotion

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Posted by Tom Gable

In March, we covered an emerging PR position: the ghost tweeter, a modern day Hollywood publicist or corporate communications guru who would assume his or her client’s voice through blogging, tweeting, posting to YouTube and other online activities. The abilities of social media to reach target audiences directly and change perceptions in even arcane situations were widely reported.

More than building buzz, people were driven to action. In June, we reported on Murphy-Goode Winery, Sonoma County, offering $10,000 a month to a person to generate buzz for the winery and its products through social media for six months. The winery got the idea from Queensland, Australia, which invited people to submit videos for “The Best Job in the World” — spending six months as caretaker of a palm-fringed island in the Great Barrier Reef area, surrounded by azure sea, and using online media to promote tourism. The result: more than 34,000 applications for the roughly $120,000 job.

The concept seemed clear: getting creative in the use of social media and video for something as mundane as advertising for new hires could have significant impact. But fundamental values still needed to prevail. To have long-term value to a reputation and brand, creativity must be founded on the principles of authentic PR and tie back strategically to an organization’s core values and standards. If not, the shortcomings will become evident in warp speed to the friends and followers you’ve secured in the social media. The backlash will blossom like algae in a steamy summer pond, with stink everywhere, as experienced by Murphy-Goode and its parent, the Jackson Family Enterprises (Kendall-Jackson is their best known brand).

The San Francisco Chronicle and DailyFinance, among others, reported on the wine promotion gone sour. It noted that the chance to live “the Goode life” generated widespread print and broadcast coverage, resulting in some 2,000 applications and 900 videos posted online. Applicants used viral marketing to generate votes. Great, right?

Unfortunately, the promotion was launched without clearly noting an important detail: votes didn’t count. The omission came to light when the winery unveiled its top 50 finalists in late June and the most popular vote-getter was among the missing. The rejected applicant, Martin Sargent, told his Twitter followers and the backlash began. The news made Digg.com. Kevin Rose, Digg founder, sent news to his 900,000 followers.

The result: a winery spokeswoman admitted they had screwed up while noting that the promotion was never intended to be a popularity contest. The winery had its own selection criteria, which it outlined only after the tweetsunami wiped out their image.

As for the “Goode Job,” Murphy-Goode might be advised to expand its criteria to include “seasoned crisis PR counselor.” When the final selection is announced on July 21, the winner and the winery will face the immediate and daunting challenge of rebuilding a brand image and reputation. Can they regain authenticity? Or will it be like throwing oak chips into stainless steel tanks of bulk white wine and trying to sell the result as high-end Chardonnay?

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Posted in Authentic PR, Client Service Results, Crisis PR, Hypemeister Honor Roll, Social Media | Comments Off

China Takes Crisis PR to Extreme Levels During Riots

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Prepared for the worst

Prepared for the worst

Posted by Tom Gable

Forbes.com reported that the Communist Party in China moved “at broadband speed” to try and take control of the breaking news and “avert a public relations catastrophe months before celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic.”

The current approach is in stark contrast to the earlier handling of riots in Tibet that cast Party leaders and China as authoritarian villains and thugs. The difference? Forbes said: “The government was ready to handle a PR crisis with a sophisticated authoritarian strategy, and clearly has been crafting this strategy since the disastrous handling of the Tibet unrest last year.”

Preparedness and speed are essential to success in crisis PR, as covered here earlier this year. A review of the detailed Gable PR Crisis check list and crisis management programs conducted over the years for many clients had 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

China appears to be following most of these, excepting No. 5, which doesn’t appear to be in their game plan historically or currently.

Photo credit: Amy Gwen

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Companies and PR Firms: Thrilled, Excited With Just About Everything

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Posted by Tom Gable

As covered here recently, we are fortunate to live in a country filled with leading providers of just about anything. We should never have to settle for anything from the trailing provider category (Although we know of some CEOs who could actually agree to be positioned as a leading provider in the bottom 10 percent of the market).

Adding to the folly: many were “very excited” or “thrilled” to be making their announcements of anything from hiring a new sales manager for the adult diaper category, to bulking up a law firm’s litigation practice to reaching the half-way mark in recruiting candidates for a clinical trial (“We are thrilled to have reached the halfway point for enrollment in our XYZ trial…”). Imagine how thrilled they will be when they complete enrollment, conduct the trials and report results.

One dictionary defined thrilled as: feeling intense pleasurable excitement. And excited: being in a state of excitement; emotionally aroused; stirred. We are thrilled to report that use of these phrases fits into a category defined by the media as LAQs (or Lame Ass Quotes), which are usually found in the second or third paragraph of LARs (Lame Ass Releases), a growing category.

Gable PR research into news releases issued through PR Newswire and Business Wire in the past quarter turned up from 200 to 300 thrilled or excited companies a month from each service. The most common crime against clear communications: announcing a new hire. The CEO is always ecstatic because he or she has found someone that actually fit the job description (“So I am excited that Trisha (name changed) is joining our team and will lead Customer Operations. She brings a tremendous amount of telecommunications experience, a proven history of success and her energy and leadership will be invaluable.”).

A bank in California was very excited to be reporting its first profitable month after 26 months of operation. Imagine the thrills if they have a profitable quarter or, shudder, a full year in the black. Neighbors will probably call in the riot police and vice squad to quell the celebration.

CEOs, senior managers and deal makers with lazy PR people as unindicted coconspirators must lead largely dull lives when they become excited and thrilled about:

  • Adding a new vice president of sales in bathroom products.
  • Forging a strategic alliance in selling annuities.
  • Introducing a new software package that provides endless seamless solutions (this is another category to be covered later).
  • A new research collaboration to reduce toxicity in new drug compounds (picture the PhDs and M.D.s in their lab coats giving each other chest bumps and high-fives to celebrate the agreement).
  • Finishing shooting a TV commercial on psoriasis relief (…”we captured excellent footage and are very excited to move forward into post production.”). Look for a rash of press conferences to celebrate actual airing of the commercial.
  • Hiring a new vice president whose appointment “will enable us to build on our current successes and advance our position as a leading edge provider of solutions to the DEF market.”
  • Joining a company to do the job outlined by the recruiter (“I am very excited to be joining the team at MNO to help develop our new service offering that will enable companies and organizations with large market distribution networks to provide their customers with our PQR services.”
  • Launching a new Web site for an Indian casino, designed with “guests in mind” (one would hope). “We are very excited about our new eye-catching website… designed to provide an exciting, up-to-date gallery of all of our entertainment options and is dedicated to keeping our guests informed of every aspect of our fun-filled products” (Can we assume that previously the guests were largely uninformed?).
  • Rebranding a company (“We are very excited to give the company a new name. NAME is a culmination of the deep enthusiasm, energy and experience that we have for our industry, our clients and our community”).

The list could go on ad infinitum (or ad nauseum as the case may be). In future editions, we plan on arousing some senses by including the company and agency names of the leading providers of PR thrills and excitement. Stay tuned.

 

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Posted in Authentic PR, Brilliant Counsel, Client Service Results, Clutter Busting, Hype Free PR, jargon, LAQs | 4 Comments »

Denny’s Grand-Slam Campaign: PR and On-Line Promotion Drive Buzz

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

dennysPosted by Liz Dill

Facing increased late-night competition from McDonald’s, Taco Bell and other fast-food restaurants, plus declining sales during the period of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., Denny’s is trying appeal to college-aged night owls by generating buzz around its “Allnighter” program. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the restaurant chain initiated a targeted campaign which includes hosting post-show parties for rock bands and introducing menu items created by bands such as Good Charlotte and Rascal Flatts which are included on a “rockstar” menu for night patrons.

Denny’s also adopts up-and-coming musician and provides them with $1,000 in gift cards so they can eat while on tour. Katy Perry was a Denny’s adoptee before her song “I Kissed a Girl” hit the air waves.

So far the late-night traffic has increased 5% as a result of the relatively new campaign.The campaign is intriguing from a PR perspective as it gives the family dinning chain a certain “cool factor” by creating a synergy between rock stars, night-owls and late-night food – a time when families are sleeping soundly. The chain has been effectively reaching its target 20-something crowd mainly through social media outlets such as Twitter, MySpace and YouTube instead of advertising. Denny’s is also cleverly holding RSVP after party events for the Warped Tour. Having to RSVP to eat at Denny’s is certain to create additional buzz and drive future PR when rockers are spotted detuning at Denny’s after a big night on stage!

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