Tool Time

Posted by Tom Gable

The blogosphere, Twittersphere and mainstream media are waking up to the fact that the hot new item they fell in love with not too long ago is starting to remind them of infatuations of old. The packaging might be brighter, more exotic and stimulating to the senses. But this hot new item could be a time sink; with hours and days disappearing with little of value to show. Yes, the titillation has been stimulating. But could this hot item simply be distracting us all from more serious, important and strategic activities?

Sound familiar? Remember the first encounter with The World Wide Web and Mosaic (pre-Netscape)? Then came Netscape, email, Yahoo, Google and a million new websites that bragged about capturing eyeballs (but no income), ad infinitum. Many firms, Gable PR included, succumbed to the siren songs of the web. So many pretty new faces are now tired or gone. Is the hot new item – social media – heading for the same fate?

Experts seem to agree that we are seeing the evolution of the social media phenomenon into the development of a commoditized set of tools to add to the PR arsenal for strategic use as needed.

Peter Shankman, of HARO fame, wrote that he would never hire a social media expert, and neither should you.

“Social Media is just another facet of marketing and customer service. Say it with me. Repeat it until you know it by heart. Bind it as a sign upon your hands and upon thy gates. Social Media, by itself, will not help you. We’re making the same mistakes that we made during the dotcom era, where everyone thought that just adding the term .com to your corporate logo made you instantly credible. It didn’t. If that’s all you did, you emphasized even more strongly how pathetic your company was.”

The Sysomos blog offered this guidance:

“In simple terms, social media as a standalone activity is coming to an end. If you are a social media consultant, you need to be really, really good at providing strategic counsel, as well as have in-depth knowledge of the tools and services need to execute tactically. For everyone else, they will need to offer than just social media strategic and tactical services. Instead, they have to offer services that embrace communications, marketing and sales strategies and goals.”

Even Steve Rubel, who grew up being a social media consultant and blogger ubber alles, noted that:

“It was fun while it lasted. But I totally agree that the future is all about integration. We need more systems thinkers who can see the big picture.”

I led a workshop at the recent PRSA Counselors Academy annual spring conference where we discussed PR as the ultimate platform for building image and reputation and social media as part of the tool kit.

The metaphor was PR as the Internet of communications. PR starts with a solid, authentic foundation using traditional methods (e.g. Media relations) and then layers on new applications (websites, email), leverages off other platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and connects with people from all angles to move perception and behavior in the desired direction.

The senior PR counselors attending the workshop agreed that the “start” button for authentic PR was strategic planning brilliantly synchronized to support client business and marketing goals. The strategies, tools and tactics can be far-ranging to support building reputation and driving results with multiple target audiences. The obvious basic list included internal relations, pro-active media relations, social media integration, special events, breakthrough promotions, cause marketing, community relations, trade relations, investor relations, speaking engagements, conferences, trade shows, crisis PR and issues management.

In delving deeper into the hottest topic – the social media component – the Counselors discussed media disintermediation and the rise of what was characterized as the PR Publishing House – a powerful emerging force in marketing communications and public relations. Think of PR as content developer for many communications products, all integrated within unified themes. PR pros serve as creative directors. They develop their own editorial calendars and control multiple channels that bypass traditional media filters. When done strategically, the work of the PR publishing house advances education and knowledge, building trust and credibility through authentic conversations in a human voice that build long-term relationships.

What’s next? The gurus noted the end of the social media gurus, which does have a touch of irony to it. The workshop talked about communications at the speed of light and the two-second news cycle. There will surely be new layers of digital tools that drive faster actions and forms of communications we haven’t yet imagined. And it will be up to the PR pros to manage those new tools within a brilliant strategic context.

Posted by Tom Gable

The SmartBlog on Workforce wrote that some of the most interesting conversations between business leaders tend to start with the question “what are you reading?” It created a forum that asked everyone to contribute ideas on “books that keep your forward-thinking wheels turning.”

It asked: What have you read that has made you a better leader?

The responses included classics from the field of management, war, leadership and even a few pieces of fiction. For PR, I went back through books we’ve found most helpful over the past 35 years in managing our own business and also better understanding the thinking and needs of the entrepreneurs we work with in different industries (biotech, high-tech, medical technology, renewable energy, wireless, etc.). Despite the wide variety of educational disciplines required to succeed in these different industries, several common traits emerged:

• The creative mind is always exploring beyond the boundaries of his or her areas of expertise and comfort
• There are no new ideas, just combinations of other ideas that can magically transform something as yet undefined and vague into a brilliant concept for the future
• Be prepared to fail (Thomas Edison said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”)
• The best companies – from start ups to Fortune 100 – have both cultures that encourage creativity and established systems to keep all the elements moving forward toward measurable, desirable results
• Good systems and leadership can turn C players into B players and B players into A players

As Michael Gerber wrote in E-Myth Revisited, the systems run the business and the people run the systems. The way we implement using the systems provides a clear means of differentiating. Gerber notes that your business model can provide consistent value to your clients, employees, the community and all others you touch — beyond what they expect. So create the system where average people can achieve extraordinary results.

From that preamble, here is a shopping list of books to get your creative mind exploring new and possibly unfamiliar territories or revisiting classic concepts. The combination should stir brilliant new thoughts and perhaps a bigger vision for 2011, with new tools to make the vision a reality.

• The E-Myth Revisited, Michael E. Gerber (organization and systems for the entrepreneur, creativity and vision)
• Borrowing Brilliance, the Six Steps to Business Innovation by Building on the Ideas of Others, David Kord Murray
• The 500 Year Delta, Jim Taylor and Watts Wacker
• Innovation – The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want – Curtis R. Carlson and William W. Wilmot
• The Diffusion of Innovations, Everett Rogers
• The Innovators Solution, Clayton Christensen
• Jamming – The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity, John Kao
• High Output Management, Andrew S. Grove, 1983 classic on the team ethic and the theory of assumed responsibility
• Organizing Genius, Warren Bennis
• Built to Last, James Collins and Jerry Porras
• Reputation, Charles Fombrun
• Flawless Consulting, Peter Block
• Keys to Success, Napoleon Hill

Happy reading!

Non-Digital Branding

Posted by Tom Gable

You and your internal teams and outside consultants have worked for months to develop a plan to incorporate image as a part of corporate strategy for the long-term benefit of reputation and organizational success (something BP is probably working on as we speak so they are ready to launch the “new BP” once the old BP solves the oil crisis).

As covered before, you start with basic questions as the creative foundation for building your PR and reputation management plan:

• How do you want to be known in two to three years?
• What do you stand for – the core values?
• Does the organization have a culture, a personality?
• Can you establish a solid foundation from your values and then demonstrate proof of principle over time (walk the talk)?
• Can you be disciplined enough to carry out a strategic program of reputation management for reaching multiple constituencies?
• Is your strategic plan, financing, mindset, commitment and other resources up to the task?
• Can you clearly differentiate against the competition for the company, the people, the technology, the culture and the vision for the future?

Once you’ve brainstormed, strategized, debated, drafted and then fine-tuned the plan, you are ready to start the evolution of the image to rise above the competition, to the benefit of faster growth, better margins, improved morale, overall community reputation and goodwill on the downside should something negative occur (we also kid during seminars and talks that this also leads to whiter teeth, better posture and improved digestion).

The digestive processes, however, can suffer if the organization doesn’t deal well with nine gnawing issues that can derail the best plan. These elements of failure are compiled from case histories we’ve experienced at Gable PR, research into bad branding experiences by others and references from the classic literature in the field: Reputation and Fame and Fortune by Charles Fombrun; Competitive Advantage and other books by Michael Porter; CEO Capital, by Leslie Gaines-Ross; Good to Great, by Jim Collins; and Leading Change, by John Kotter; among others. The list can undoubtedly be expanded, but these transgressions can serve as a good starting point:

1. Lack of total CEO commitment, vision
2. Lack of an organization-wide commitment; turf wars; individual agendas
3. Ambiguous or unclear core values and theories
4. Weak positioning, lack of differentiation
5. Insufficient or contradictory proof of principle over time; unsubstantiated hype
6. Talking to yourself instead of the market (jargon, argot; your features inside of benefits to the outside audiences)
7. Making reactionary changes to short-term market or other conditions and sending confusing signals
8. Being research averse; failure to measure progress or lack of same against your goals, make course corrections, adjust tactics and strategies
9. In total, not delivering on the promise of the brand, positioning

Each of the branding questions up front and the nine ways to fail are big ideas and what we call thought-starters – leaping off points for spirited debate, more research, creativity, strategic adjustments and challenges to ever idea, assumption and result. Can you overcome hurdles, change the flow of the game and move toward brand-building victory?

The ongoing process can not only be intellectually stimulating to all involved but cause for future and continuing celebration in a team sport where everyone wins.

Your Move!

Posted by Tom Gable

In researching new approaches to reputation management and brand building for the upcoming fifth edition of The PR Client Service Manual, it has become more clear that PR is taking on an increasingly important leadership role in strategic planning and intelligent execution of the most complex communications programs. We are evolving to what I’ll call the three-dimensional chess model, or image-building in 3D.

The PR profession continues to master new tactics and tools that go beyond the flat two-dimensional approaches used in most programs. The concept is to go high, wide and deep in creating images with the substance to break out of the competitive clutter for maximum impact.

Only PR has the capability to strategically and intelligently integrate the many disparate channels of communication and move image in the right direction over the long term. The 3D approach can create extraordinary image momentum and ROI as the game pieces move in an intricate orchestration toward ultimate victory: building reputation as desired.

The importance of adopting a 3D approach has been reinforced by experts at many recent conferences, including the recent Counselors Academy spring meeting. A key message: don’t fall in love with your tools; figure out how to work them strategically for maximum impact.

Envision all your target audiences and their sources of information. What channels do you need to use to ensure they get the right information in timely, strategic fashion to support your program goals? Where do you build your positions of strength and support? As the plans unfold, can you envision five moves ahead, ten and twenty or more?

Analyze the key milestones in your program – the known deliverables, activities, encounters, events, presentations, financial news releases, analyst meetings, government conferences, etc. What exists? Then, look for the holes, the gaps. What exists? More importantly, what doesn’t?

The approach is essential in building new brands, launching new products or technology or positioning and repositioning organizations.

Why does PR lead and not other marketing, management or communications disciplines? Given a fact-based, no-hype approach, it’s where strategy, core values and communications intersect to build a depth of awareness and credibility that paid media can’t deliver.

For a brief case history, Gable PR used the old 2D model several years ago to introduce disruptive technology into a crowded field where all competitors sounded alike: issuing a launch release and holding a press conference at the major trade show of the year. The results weren’t spectacular.

Using the 3D model for a more recent similar challenge, Gable PR established an 18-month plan to manage the flow of information, build relationships and connect to multiple audiences and through different channels. The client had a brilliant scientific advisory board. To begin laying the foundation and also getting critical feedback, SAB members began vetting the technology with some of their respected peers in business, technology and academia.

With the initial relationships built understanding in place, the agency began educating the media – without asking for coverage – six months before launch, preparing for when the client would blast out of the stealth mode with power and momentum for long-term branding. Select media were pointed to academics for background. Analysts were pointed to academics and media for validation. The agency pitched exclusives to media in different categories (dailies, financial media, trades, blogs, etc.). The bottom line: the client exploded onto the scene with major coverage online and in dailies, trades and financial media the first day of the biggest industry conference of the year. The instant buzz at multiple levels and through highly credible channels drove interest from potential investors and strategic partners.

The momentum built from there with a series of academic papers, presentations, speeches and presentations at financial conferences. The client was acquired within two years – ahead of its exit strategy.

NEXT – Nine ways to botch positioning and branding with PR

]]> http://www.gablepr.com/clientserviceresults/the-new-pr-building-images-and-reputations-in-3d/feed/ 0 http://www.gablepr.com/clientserviceresults/new-research/ http://www.gablepr.com/clientserviceresults/new-research/#comments Mon, 10 May 2010 17:41:06 +0000 admin http://www.gablepr.webenetest.com/?p=1958

Head of the Class

Posted by Tom Gable

The Reputation Institute just released its annual Reputation Pulse, which measures the corporate reputations of the largest U.S. companies based on consumers’ trust, esteem, admiration, and good feeling about a company while also gauging perceptions across seven rational dimensions of reputation.

The survey named Johnson & Johnson as the most reputable U.S. company first for the second consecutive year, followed by Kraft Foods, Kellogg, The Walt Disney Company, PepsiCo, Sara Lee, Google, Microsoft, UPS and Dean Foods. AIG finished 150th out of the 150 companies included in the survey.

I’ve blogged and written regularly about the importance of investing in image as a part of corporate and organizational strategy. Beyond just making a list, companies enjoy significant benefits from having a positive reputation, according to the Reputation Institute; a company’s reputation score has a positive and direct link to consumer attitudes and behaviors. It reported that having a strong reputation in 2010 yields “more recommendation, more benefit of the doubt and more purchase behavior than ever before.”

In comparing the Top 10 to the Bottom 10 measured companies, the institute noted that the general public is:

300% more likely to verbally support or give the benefit of the doubt;

200% more likely to consider products; and

350% more likely to purchase products of highly regarded companies.

“In today’s tough economic climate, corporate reputation is critical to sustaining and growing business,” said Anthony Johndrow, Partner & Managing Director, Reputation Institute North America. “This year’s results illustrate a direct correlation between how well a company manages its reputation and how likely consumers are to recommend or reject the company. A good reputation is not just a nice-to-have; it’s a bottom-line business imperative.”

It Pays to Communicate

Respondents who indicate they have bought a company’s products or utilized a customer support service tend to rate those companies higher, indicating that direct experience has the greatest impact on corporate reputation. Third party messages, from the media, online or other people, tend to have a negative effect. Reputation Institute’s findings show that respondents who were reached by companies’ corporate actions and/or communications initiatives scored them 3 points above the U.S. mean.

In fact, a consumer who has encountered a company’s marketing, branding, public relations or social responsibility efforts on average rates the company higher regardless of their reputation ranking—even companies with weak reputations can gain from telling their side of the story.

Johndrow sums up the key insight from this reputation driver analysis: “We all know that people care and talk more than ever about the companies behind the products and services they use and they are talking about them. Join this conversation and tell your corporate story to create the support needed in tough times. Corporations can create deeper connections than products can alone, essentially deploying who they are as a company to drive business results.”

The Importance of Reputation and Authentic PR

The survey and news release make good points. But the concept of putting value on a reputation requires more historical perspective. The Reputation Institute was founded by Charles Fombrun, Ph.D., who serves as its chairman. He was one of the first to measure the impact of reputation on company fortunes. He published the results in 1996 in his classic book, Reputation – Realizing Value from the Corporate Image. He followed later with Fame and Fortune. Excerpts from his first book are worth noting because the findings hold true some 15 years later. Here are a few highlights:

A reputation develops from a company’s uniqueness and from identity-shaping practices – maintained over time – that lead constituents to perceive the company as credible, reliable, trustworthy, and responsible. In turn, a company’s established reputation helps to protect it from rivals trying hard to imitate its practices. Reputation builds strategic value for a company by granting it a competitive advantage that rivals have trouble overcoming. To achieve that advantage, however, a company must develop appropriate practices, or character traits, as it were, that rivals find difficult to imitate.

What Capitalizing on Reputation Gets the Firm

If being perceived by constituents as credible, reliable, trustworthy, and responsible is the hallmark of good reputation, it pays off because well-regarded companies generally:

• Command premium prices for their products
• Pay lower prices for purchases
• Entice top recruits to apply for positions
• Experience greater loyalty from consumers and employees
• Have more stable revenues
• Face fewer risks of crisis
• Are given greater latitude to act by their constituents

Corporate reputations are perceptions held by people inside and outside a company. To acquire a reputation that is positive, enduring, and resilient requires managers to invest heavily in building and maintaining good relationships with their company’s constituents. It calls for practices that measure and monitor how the company is doing with its four top constituencies: employees, investors, customers and communities. Doing so pays off in the long run because favorable reputations produce tangible benefits: premium prices for products, lower costs of capital and labor, improved loyalty from employees, greater latitude in decision making, and a cushion of goodwill when crises hit. (57)

A good reputation generates consistent, shared, and favorable impressions among observers about what a company is, what a company does, what a company stands for. In this way, a company’s reputation is itself identity defining. It helps us assess our understanding of the companies with which we do business.

Marketers, advertisers and public relations specialists help to create attractive images of a company. Indeed, many companies rely quite heavily on PR professionals to shape the perceptions of those looking in from the outside – principally the customers. But unless those images are anchored in core characteristics of the company and its products or services, they will decay. In general, what companies want and need are reputations that are both enduring and resilient: able to withstand scandal and attack, to overcome crisis and assault.

Can your organization invest in reputation as part of long-term strategy? What does it stand for? Then, can it commit to providing ongoing proof of principle and walk the talk over time? That’s the essence of authentic, fact-based PR.

Make it quick!

Posted by Tom Gable

Elevator pitches are finely crafted and rehearsed monologues that in 30 to 60 seconds create a positive picture of you, your organization and vision for the future, with a goal of capturing the interest of your audience and leading to positive next steps. The concept had its roots among entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley who struggled to set meetings with venture capital and angel investors who were besieged with proposals. Since time was at a premium and real meetings hard to secure, how to connect during brief encounters in public spaces?

Rumor had it that some oft-rejected entrepreneurs spent most of their days riding elevators in the office buildings where the VCs nested along Sand Hill Road. They also hung out at favorite local breakfast and watering holes in hopes of making the quick pitch. Even the most hard-hearted and rude VCs might pay attention for 60 seconds.

The goal is to engage, entice and quickly get to the next level, whatever that may be (meet, interview, call, present, date). The challenges: keep it short, focused, passionate, incisive and compelling. The biggest mistakes include taking a great concept and making in boring, not doing homework on the audience and using jargon it doesn’t understand, dropping below 30,000 feet to delve into the details of your offer rather than the big vision of future value and not asking for the order. So in crafting your pitch, assume short buildings.

Elevator pitches also can be a handy tool for making a short introduction to a speech or program, preparing for a job interview, making a public relations pitch for media coverage or other situations where you need to communicate big ideas quickly (e.g. speed dating, fast-pitch contests at venture and angel group meetings, cocktail party chatter, etc.).

The following outline can serve as a starting point and creative trigger for crafting your own elevator pitch. It evolved from working with different startups, venture capitalists, analysts and the media over the year to hone down to these essential elements:

TAG LINE/SOUND BITE – The opener – an instant picture or quick summation of your positioning. What you do, what you stand for, to what effect and why it’s important. One sentence is best. Practice with people who don’t know what you do and keep honing this one sentence (two at the most) until it rings like Shakespeare.

PROBLEM, SITUATION ANALYSIS – What exists – the pain or problem you solve?

DYNAMICS AND OPPORTUNITY – Quick historical overview of how it got to this point, how the challenge has been addressed, what is the sweet spot for your company or organization (keep it to three important points, no more!).

WHAT (solving the problem) – Your company (or organization) has been working X years to plan for and develop D, E and F to solve the problem, take advantage of the market opportunity and grow and succeed over the next Y years.

OVERVIEW FROM 30,000 FEET – The macro view, the big picture of how your great concept (science, disruptive technology, new category, etc.) comes together and will grow market share, sales, traffic, profits, benefits to the community, whatever – the BIG PICTURE vision of future success rather than technical details and features.

SO WHAT (Benefits) – You will succeed because of the creative planning, results and ultimate value you deliver. Create a mental picture of the benefits to science, patients, customers, the world. If there is a good case history, even early stage clinical trials or beta testing results, cite the proof of principle in a sentence or two.

THE TEAM – The team includes executives with national credentials in A, B and C. It has a combined ZZ years in the industry, has built MM, helped YY other companies or institutions grow and knows the market and how to provide an expanding array of products and services to help it succeed (make it relevant to the big picture). Investors in particular need to have faith in the team.

THE CLOSE (call to action on the elevator) – “We have the people, the plan and the commitment to succeed. I can provide incredible detail that I believe will convince you to invest, interview, buy, etc. How about a follow up meeting? This week or next (try to nail something specific)? Where would you like to meet? What else can I provide?” Ask direct questions that take it to the next step.

And even if the answers are “no” or “no way,” you’ve taken a step in the right direction – eliminating one option and perhaps getting valuable input for the next iteration of your elevator pitch and so you are better prepared for the next encounter on your road to glory.

Road to Recall

Posted by Tom Gable

The Toyota crisis PR case is not just about the recent recalls, global media scrutiny and potential Congressional action in the U.S. It has metastasized from neglected issues within the body corporate to impact vital functions in every fiber of the Toyota being.

Possible deeper issues were discovered by Ken Bensinger of the LA Times and others in major media. He started following the case after an off-duty CHP patrolman and three family members died when the accelerator stuck on their Toyota and they crashed in rural San Diego County in August 2009. Toyota’s president, Akio Toyoda, apologized. Soon, Toyota recalled 4.3-million-vehicles, its largest recall ever.

As outlined in an interview with the NPR affiliate KPBS in San Diego, Bensinger and his LA Times colleagues started probing. They found issues going back to 2001, 2007 and 2009. Toyota talked about floor mats as one cause, then the next day said there were issues with a sticking accelerator pedal. Analysts thought the answers didn’t add up and began asking about design flaws in the electronic throttle system. Were there deeper problems that Toyota wasn’t addressing?

Bensinger said Toyota talked about quality and safety but seemed to be ignoring problems. He said they practiced global “obfuscation” and he then walked the KPBS listeners through a litany of Toyota transgressions over the past decade.

The problem from a PR standpoint wasn’t just obfuscation and a pattern of not dealing with the issues in a forthright manner. As I noted in the same interview, the issues go into the heart and soul of the corporation. What does Toyota stand for? What are its values? Those are the first questions corporations need to ask themselves if they are going to position themselves above the competition. Then, can they deliver on the promise?

If Toyota stresses quality and safety, can it relaunch and walk the talk over time? Can it invest in image as a part of corporate strategy, not in stonewalling, silence and slow responses?

The Wall Street Journal in an essay on Feb. 6 identified deep cultural factors to be overcome:

In Japan there is a proverb, “If it stinks, put a lid on it.” Alas, this seems to have been Toyota’s approach to its burgeoning safety crisis, initially denying, minimizing and mitigating the problems involving brakes that don’t brake and accelerators that have a mind of their own. President Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder, was MIA for two weeks and the company has appeared less than forthcoming about critical safety issues, risking the trust of its customers world-wide.

This has been a public-relations nightmare for Toyota, as its brand name has been synonymous with quality and reliability. Crisis management does not get any more woeful than this and the cost of this bungling so far—the initial $2 billion recall and the loss of 17% of share value since Jan. 21, when the gas-pedal recall was announced—is only a down payment on the final tally. The recall will surely expand, including cars produced in Japan. Lawsuits are being filed and an expensive settlement looms. And then there are the idle factories and empty showrooms to account for.

It is not surprising that Toyota’s response has been dilatory and inept, because crisis management in Japan is grossly undeveloped. Over the past two decades, I cannot think of one instance where a Japanese company has done a good job managing a crisis. The pattern is all too familiar, typically involving slow initial response, minimizing the problem, foot dragging on the product recall, poor communication with the public about the problem and too little compassion and concern for consumers adversely affected by the product.

The New York Times also documented a pattern of slow response on safety issues and detailed engineering issues going back to 1996 and covering almost every model.

Can Toyota change its DNA? At a press conference in Nagoya on Feb. 5, Toyota President Akio Toyoda expressed his deep regret for the inconvenience and concern caused to Toyota customers. He said he would take the lead toward improving quality around the world by establishing a global quality task force and implement a six-point action plan to improve quality in every region.

Turning the Exxon Valdez wasn’t easy. Check back in two years, which is probably the minimum time it will take to make a course correction, set new plans in place, start building a new culture and generating consistent, positive results over time versus navigating through the rubble from a permanently damaged reputation.

The Moving PR Horizon

Posted by Tom Gable

As reported here previously, a PRSA Counselors Academy survey identified the key issues facing the PR agencies and internal staffs in the ongoing transition of the PR professional from vendor to trusted counselor. The top line action items: demonstrating return on investment (ROI), providing authentic counsel, embracing social media, improving technology and finding new ways of measurement.

My segment during a panel discussion of the findings at the PRSA International provided ideas on enhancing client service. As covered earlier, Gable PR and many others recommend getting off to a fast start by using internal and external audits. They are a cost-effective and quick means of gathering the intelligence required to create strategic long-term programs.

With research in place, agencies and internal PR staffs can start planning to build future image from a strong foundation and based on a bright, strategic vision. As an analogy, think about creating a beautiful new high-rise office building, cathedral, synagogue, museum, football stadium or other major architectural undertaking. What do you want the finished product to look like – the final rendering? Then, what are the essential elements needed to bring the vision to life?

Steel-Solid Facts, No Hype

In PR, branding and positioning, the foundation must be legitimate, ethical, credible, authentic and steel-solid with facts. From there, image builds on three to four core values. Then, every piece of communications provides additional support for each core value, building a row at a time to create a future award-wining edifice. Add a row or two of hype? And the walls will come crumbling down.

How to organize the PR efforts necessary to create new images and reputations? We call it Horizon Management, a concept that assumes you can plan for and achieve the desired results. Then, once the desired position is reached, positive communications must continue to perpetuity. Markets change. Competitors come and go. New communications tools are created and channels opened. So aim for the horizon – and keep moving the horizon!

The pro-active PR professional routinely looks a year or more ahead for new opportunities and provides the leadership that keeps relationships and results growing over time. Go beyond the ordinary and expected. Fresh ideas keep clients and bosses engaged and enthusiastic. The approach also builds trust and respect. Even if there is disagreement, clients know the professional is focused on their future success, not personal agendas. As a result, the PR professional is transformed from vendor or staff person to trusted counselor and strategic partner, building relationships that endure and prosper.

Horizon Management

Here are a couple of quick tips for launching horizon management.

Conduct an Environmental and Situation Analysis

• Annual plans, milestones, events, conferences, quarterly reports, audit info, other “knowns”

Get Creative with the “Flip Side”

• What exists? What doesn’t?
• Where are the holes?
• What new ideas can we bring to the table?

Take Your Plan Over the Horizon

• Propose bigger ideas, new programs, and added value
• Have short-term action items for daily engagement
• Set a vision for the future (changing image, behavior)
• Brainstorm regularly, provide continuous creativity
• Update monthly and keep moving the horizon
• Manage for results, not time
• Understand client rhythms, synchronize
• Set new standards for responsiveness

Monthly Litmus Test on Program Success

Examine recent client experiences, relationships, evolution, momentum, stagnation and any confusion or misdirection:

• What worked?
• What didn’t?
• What (or who) changed?
• What was missing?
• What steps do we need to take to generate clearly superior results?

Detailed Check List for Client Success

• Understand the client business, plans, and goals
• Match expertise to client needs
• Do your homework
• Set realistic expectations
• Build a team – internally and with the client
• Develop long-range plans, critical steps
• Establish procedures, protocols for planning, ongoing creative, approvals, measurement
• Be strategic and authentic
• Use appropriate tools and tactics
• Communicate consistently and creatively!
• Keep moving the horizon
• And celebrate as you build relationships that endure to perpetuity

Obviously, these are bullet points that require a lot more thought for each and could be turned into a chapter in a book (They are! The Fifth Edition of the PR Client Service Manual is advancing toward release in Spring 2010). For a free PDF of the Fourth Edition, circa 2001, email me at tom@gablepr.com.

The public relations profession faces many challenges in these hardscrabble times. Clients are holding tight, cutting their public relations budgets or simply saying goodbye. Competitors swoop in, looking for hints of weakness in a client-agency relationship. Business consulting, advertising and marketing firms aren’t far behind, promoting their tool kits as a means of not only surviving but growing in touch economic times. What steps can agencies take to ensure that their clients are incredibly pleased with the work being done, the results generated on their behalf and the agency relationship?

Based on lessons learned from working through three previous recessions (some better than others!), I’ve come to realize that success in client service and retention requires a manic sense of urgency to deliver short-term results combined with a disciplined approach to creativity and long-range planning. Smart agencies provide clients with ideas and strategic plans that will be generating results six, nine and twelve months into the future. The best way to get the agency or in-house team pointed in the right direction and taking action: create a system and process to drive results.

Developing Your System

At Gable PR, we experimented with different approaches in the 1992 recession. The goal was to have clients envision gaining market share and mind share from their competitors by committing to pro-active public relations. Statistics from several sources provided validation; the companies that continued marketing in troubled times grew faster than those who didn’t. We began calling our system “horizon management” and worked to get the client on board for sailing together toward new and beneficial destinations.

As recently presented during a recent PRSA Webinar and based on longer lessons found in The PR Client Service Manual, pro-active systems work best with an interactive team process; the more brainpower the better. One approach is to hold regular meetings every Monday to update on all client activities. For long-term impact, use the meeting to brainstorm new ideas for each client on a rotating basis. Chose one client or two as the subjects for the next meeting. Have the team leader or account manager review background information in advance of the session, including client calendars, milestones, known events and activities, conference schedules, editorial calendars and focus editions.

The Planning Spreadsheet

Then, to make it easy for everyone to visualize the flow of activities and critical deadlines, plot your plan on a project management program or Excel spreadsheet. List activities in the first column, months in the subsequent columns over the next year or two and put in check marks to note when activities or events are expected to take place.  A rough sample can be found here on the Gable PR Web site.

Then, during the creative session, analyze each opportunity and see what result might be generated to advance the client’s business, marketing or capital plans, or all of the above. Envision media relations, community relations, investor relations, social media activities, trade relations and public affairs opportunities unfolding across time.

Agency teams can brainstorm on the tactical approaches within each area, set priorities and also get creative in looking at what we call “the flip side” — what’s there and, more importantly, what’s not there? The initial road map gives the agency a simple planning document to track, and makes it easy to take detours and add new side trips while still keeping the original destinations in mind as the program unfolds.

From Brainstorm to Masterful, Strategic PR Plan

With team brainpower, the agency has now created a master plan for the year, with a series of new ideas it can present to the client, implement and keep updating with creative sessions that are adjusted to point to new horizons. Clients get excited. They see the agency as creative, intuitive, pro-active and worth keeping! New ideas can also drive new budgets.

The flip side is sitting back and bemoaning the lower budget and managing for time, not results. This inevitably ends up with the client calling to ask one of the worst questions on earth for an agency: “What have you done for me lately?”

Every agency’s mission, as well of those on internal PR staffs on the client side, should be ensure you do great work both lately and for the long-term. Techies call this parallel processing. Handle the daily tasks with alacrity and skill while working on your horizon program that generates results that go beyond the ordinary and expected for every client. The approach creates value and ROI for the client and relationships that endure to perpetuity (well, maybe not quite that long, but potentially for years and even decades).

“If you thought Facebook was banal, try Twitter. It makes people who write their thoughts on Facebook sound like Shakespeare. Of course, it’s also possible I’m too old and out of it. According to new-media experts, the medium is greater than the messages. Twitter and Facebook are creating a new world of digital intimacy.”

She dismisses the ability to follow friends because “…Except that even over time, my friends’ and family members’ lives just aren’t that interesting. The lives of people I scarcely know are even less interesting. Spending time with them on Facebook is like having to sit through a detailed recital of someone’s winter vacation. I have tried and tried to get the hang of it, but I have failed miserably. I don’t care about any of these so-called friends. If I did, I’d actually spend time with them.”

Mark Evans posted a good piece on Twitterati in response:

“For me, Twitter is a professional resource. It’s a way to find newspaper articles (such as Ms. Wente’s), Web sites, and new services, thoughts about technology trends, and answers to questions that I would have otherwise never have seen or received. I don’t use Twitter to read updates on someone thinking of having coffee at Starbucks, and I don’t do updates about personal details that aren’t worth sharing. As a journalist trained to find and shape information, Ms. Wente should spend more time on Twitter to explore if there are ways she call pull value out of it. I’m sure, for example, that if Wente did keyword searches on Twitter to research future columns, she would find some valuable nuggets and new sources.”

I wholeheartedly agree and commented further on how to Twitter can be a powerful tool for PR:

“Twitter is a great research resource for my public relations firm. I set up search services for alerts on key words (clean tech, biotech, crisis PR, parody, wine, etc.). It’s a quick way to find out who is active in a given industry, niche, organization, cause or whatever interests you. From there, you can check the person’s profile and get a feel for their depth of knowledge and range of connections. The latter can provide leads for other good resources. I try to follow the experts who provide links to breaking news and trends in an area of interest. They often find great data in obscure places that I would never have found otherwise. I share the information within my agency and also with our clients. We combine it with information we get from RSS feeds and various news trackers. Knowledge is power and Twitter is adding to it.”

Posted by Tom Gable