Happy Holidays!

Hoping your holidays don't need crisis management and that all the positive publicity you get is above the fold!

Continuous Panic Mode Won't Do Anyone Any Good

Some marketing people operate in continuous “panic mode.” They don't plan well, store data efficiently, know where to find what they need when it's needed, or prepare to meet a deadline unless it's right on top of them.

While they may like to operate that way, their approach can undermine the effectiveness and morale of those who work with them or for them.

There's a sign that proclaims “Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” But how do you meet the deadlines, save the business and maintain your sanity if your client or boss operates in panic mode?

You can try to retrain the offending party. Good luck.

You can fool the offending party by setting a pre-deadline deadline. But this only works if you are in charge of setting the deadlines.

You can try to get out in front of the offending party by anticipating needs (which is not always impossible).

Or you can simply refuse to take part in the madness. You'll probably lose the business if the offending party is a client. Or your job if the offending party is your boss.

If you are the offending party, try to get a grip.

Anyone can change, so work on it. And while you're trying, admit to those who work with you that you know you're stressing them out and are trying to change. Ask them to help you change.

If you're simply overwhelmed and pushed by other factors into continuous last-minute panics, you need to rethink why you're staying in a job that puts you there.

Effective PR pros think strategically, plan ahead and meet deadlines. Constant deadlines.

And the smart ones know how to manage that so that they don't make themselves and others crazy and resentful.

Life Gets In The Way

Sometimes life gets in the way of business. As PR pros, our brains are continuously engaged in strategizing and decision-making. We respond to many masters from clients to the media. Our world is fast-paced and demanding.

It's not often that we're forced to stop. But we stopped last week when a beloved member of our agency died unexpectedly.

Oh, the work didn't stop necessarily. But we all paused and reflected upon his life and ours. Our brains went on autopilot. We still achieved our goals and tracked editorial coverage we had worked hard to secure.

But while our brains were engaged, our hearts were not in it. The energy and laughter we bring to our work — the elements that make it fun to do our jobs — were suddenly subdued.

Sometimes life gets in the way of business.

Facebook Marketing Tips

Who couldn't use more tips on how to use Facebook better? Here are some old reminders, obvious suggestions and new tips from the Social Media Examiner: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-facebook-marketing-tips-from-pros/

The Details Count

Our increasingly fast-paced world is one where communications are exchanged at the speed of light. Sometimes it seems that we are in a race to announce our news. . . and completely oblivious to the need to be an active listener and an engaged communicator.

In today's PR world, churning seems to be the new norm. Speed is the new motivator. Information comes in, strategies are hatched, messages get packaged and out the door a release goes — faster than ever.

Frequently, that also means that there are communications casualties along the way.

And the biggest casualty of all is attention to detail.

Stop and think. . . Are you seeing more misspellings in the written communications that you get?

Ever received an events list that includes events that occurred days before the list was released/dated? Yes, that's before, meaning the event you're encouraged to attend is long over when you get the news it's going to be held. We actually saw that not once, but twice, last week.

How about missing words? Incomplete sentences? Let's not even talk about punctuation — it seems to be a lost art.

Excellence in PR is not just about the ability to get good publicity for your clients. It's also about looking professional and literate. That builds credibility with your readers.

The little details count in PR — no matter how fast-paced your world.

Living With Clients

Clients are the lifeblood of any business. But they can also be speed bumps along the road to publicity.

We recently came across this highly relatable post about how clients can drive PR firms crazy.

Sometimes the "crazy" happens because an agency is hungry for business, rushing into a relationship without getting to know each other. And, sometimes, the client just has an impossible dream.

Searching For A Way To Track What's Said On Social Media? Try This Free Tool.

If you're frustrated trying to track what's said about you or your clients on social networking sites, here's a tool you might want to try. Collecta.com is a relatively new search tool for cruising the social networking sites.

It will cough up results from blogs, articles, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and lots more. You can even filter your search for results by articles, photos, videos, and comments written about blog postings or articles.

Collecta, unlike other search engines, remembers your searches for future use. Searches yield results quickly and the results are updated in real time for as long as you keep the site open. Best of all, it has a leg up on a lot of search engines in that it remembers searches and that makes it easier the next time you use this tool.

Give it a try.

Facebook Should Be Inclusive, Not Exclusionary

When unwelcome postings begin to appear on your business' Facebook page, what's your first reaction? For many, it's to remove the unwanted postings.

But remember that Facebook is all about gathering fans, not alienating people.

Sure, there are clear instances where you should quickly remove postings. Pornography is one. Or when a person posts info and/or pictures that are clearly outside the intent of your FB page and/or offensive. Don't ever let your business be linked to a page that could be seen as offensive by the majority of people — and you'll know that sort of thing when you see it.

But think before you delete. Stop and consider a link that you might not be crazy about, that maybe brags on a competing business in a competing town, or offers a deal that you can't match for a product just like you are selling. Judge each of those types of postings on a case-by-case basis and use common sense. Could that link bring you more business or more fans?

What about criticism of your business? If it's legitimate, respond. If it isn't, say why. But don't hit the delete button. You never want fans to see your site as one that sanitizes. Or that only carries praise for you. That's not authentic, and soon your regular fans will realize that.

And they will go away.

Facebook is where like-minded people can gather. If managed well, it can have your customers doing the selling for you, heaping praise on your products, and supporting your sales goals.

If your FB page is exclusionary, word will get around. Like any “in-crowd” that becomes disillusioned, your fan base will start to head for more authentic pastures where social networking discussions feel more genuine.

Top Three Things To Remember When Answering An RFP

Request for Proposal. Anytime you're dealing with a government agency or big company, you're likely to compete for the business through an RFP process. In an RFP, the client describes what is needed, and details expectations like what specifically needs to be delivered, a prescribed budget and a timeframe.

It's human nature to zero in on the substantive points that are requested like your credentials, rationalizing why you're the best to take on the business, and trotting out those beautiful case studies and kudos from past clients. But while you're doing that, don't forget the top three things that anybody doing an RFP response should consider.

The basics really do count. But they're easy to mess up.

KEEP THE FOCUS ON WHAT THE RFP IS ASKING FOR. Follow the format laid out so that it's easy for the reader to see that you're addressing all the points in the RFP. Submit case studies that focus specifically on what the RFP needs. Don't describe a great grand opening when the RFP is focused on a seasonal campaign. Provide examples that illustrate the client's need. ONLY.

PROOF, PROOF, PROOF. It doesn't matter how beautiful the RFP looks or how smart your clients say you are if the document is peppered with typos or words are missing. Even a few typos serve as speed bumps for a reader, and send the subliminal message that the responder lacks attention to detail. And clients like to think that you touch all the bases and handle the details. After all, one of the reasons they farm out work is so they don't have to obsess about things like that.

TURN THE RFP RESPONSE IN A DAY BEFORE IT'S DUE. Don't work on your response until the eleventh hour. Rushing to finish is the number one reason that errors occur. Plan your own response timetable as well as you plan the content, format and design. And submit it a day early. Who knows what could happen on deadline day to make you miss the deadline all together.

Facebook Goes Down. Businesses Panic.

A Forbes Magazine blog reported that when Facebook went down this week, any number of businesses became invisible. No Web presence. No opportunity to showcase their wares and converse with their customers. Panic ensued.

While social media is an important part of an overall communications strategy, no company should rely solely on it to communicate. And to rely solely on Facebook is so short-sighted as to be crazy.

It's understandable for small companies looking to spend zero on marketing. There's always a tendency to gravitate toward free media like Facebook. Let's face it, the only investment with Facebook is time. No big ad bills. No creative to pay for. But a social-media-only approach is not a clever communication strategy. It's more of a desperation strategy.

Social media has undoubtably helped many small businesses to grow and become better known. It's helped several larger businesses bond better with their supportive customers and soothe the savage beast in the unruly ones. It's even boosted sales so that some companies have parleyed social media into big rewards.

But this week's Facebook outage should be eye opening. A wake up call. Not because it was Facebook, but because a strategy that relies on one communication channel rarely works in the long run. As the old saying goes, don't ever put all your eggs in one basket.

Reports: Are They Really Worth The Time?

Client reports. Those monthly catalogues of what we did and did not accomplish for clients.

Are they fun to do? No.

Do all clients read them? No.

Then why do we need to spend precious time doing them?

Many client interactions are via email, leaving an electronic trail (stream) that can chronicle activity and results.

Post-it notes serve as handy reminders.

What about the highlights of important conversations jotted down in a notebook?

With all that information floating around, is it really worth the time to do monthly reports?

Absolutely.

A monthly report consolidates all of the month's activities in one place that's easy to reference if the client has questions.

More importantly, it can be a quick source of answers to questions that come up months down the road (who wants to sort through 20 emails trying to reconstruct what happened six months ago?)

A report can provide you with much-needed historical reference when staff has departed.

As a concise summary, it serves as an overview of activities, client approvals and outcomes. Your back-up includes the emails, little post-it notes, and notebook jottings carrying the daily details.

So what should go into a monthly client report?

The time you've put in on the client project. The results of that project. The steps you took to get there and your next steps. The media you contacted and the outcome of those interactions. A summary of other relevant business.

While you may hate reporting, it's a tool that turns out to be important when you least expect it to be — like when a retainer client has questions about direction, performance or approval.

That's when those dreaded monthly reports may just save the account.

How To Get Editorial Coverage – NOT!

Some things are just too good not to share. We recently came across this column by HARO founder Peter Shankman.

Here's his tonuge-in-cheek advice on take on how to get some goooood editorial coverage.

Don't Let Last Minute Changes Set You Up For Mistakes

Preparing for a press conference takes planning. If you're scripting everything that will be said, it also takes cooperation.

PR pros know it's best to get the details first and then script remarks. But what if your client is unsure of the details of what he wants to say? What if he's nailing down his details as you move closer to your drop-dead deadline?

Write the remarks, press release and fact sheets with blanks. Ask the client to fill in the blanks as you get closer to the press event.

Constant changes set you up for mistakes, misspellings or worse. The more you look at documents, the less you see. So tap someone outside the loop of writing to proof all documents.

If you prepare and proof as much as you can on your end, you'll be a little ahead of the game. But what if you have to stay flexible until the very last minute?

Ever seen the sign that says,”failure to be organized on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part?”

Don't let a client throw you into emergency mode. When you're prepared with everything except the small details the client can't seem decide on, you can always insert those details at the very last minute. It then boils down to a few fill-in-the-blanks.

That's another reason it's a good idea to do your press conference materials as word documents. It's easier to facilitate those last minute changes.

If you intend to have your press materials printed, failure of your client to plan, can constitute an emergency on your end.

It's About Relationships

It's easy to get focused on strategies, social media postings, press releases, measurement and all the day-to-day stuff that goes into PR. But, more often than not, the key to getting good publicity is good, solid, old-fashioned relationships.

Engagement with the media is the key if you need to get your message out through traditional media channels.

Email exchanges don't cut it as relationship builders. And talking to key writers only when you're pitching them doesn't help either. So, pick up the phone and touch base with writers. Find out what they are working on, what they might need. With a better understanding of their work loads and agendas, you can better streamline your future pitches.

Everyone is busier than ever, so be organized for these relationship calls – and be a good listener. You'll be surprised how many opportunities emerge when you're having a conversation that isn't based on you getting something out of a writer.

The Wild, Wild West Needs Sheriffs

There's a lot of talk about the demise of the media. About newspapers dying. About magazines teetering on the edge. Many process that paper chase as the impending death of the media. But what the talk is really about is not the demise of the media.

What we're really discussing are delivery systems for information — and the validity of what is delivered though those systems.

The channels of communication have expanded and that's a good thing. Writers who lose jobs in the paper world can re-emerge online. There's now more demand for content, not less. The Web's content-hungry, so good writers will always be in demand.

Good journalists will be needed too – it just may take a little longer for people to come to their senses and realize that they need the ethics and guidelines that journalists are trained to apply to news reporting. That it's way better for a rumor to be treated as a lead rather than a headline.

Right now, the Web is like the Wild, Wild West. And it needs a few good sheriffs.

Anyone with a keyboard can put his or her thoughts out for all the world to see. They can damage reputations and are immune from the consequences. They can foster and spread rumors.

But sooner or later, as happened 100 years ago, people will tire of such “yellow journalism.” They'll want to know that what they read has been vetted in some logical, ethical way.

Until that day comes, PR pros will continue to share news and work with media online and off to get the facts out.

And when the rumor mill is grinding, we'll be there to do a little crisis management whenever bad publicity travels on the net.

Remain Aware That The World Is Watching You

It's just a harmless comment, and it's my Facebook or Twitter account, so why can't I express my private opinions about my company, my boss, my clients or competing businesses?

Because you're not talking to your friends when you're on social media, you're talking to the world.

Surprised? Well, you shouldn't be.

But, you say, I use my privacy settings. My friends share my views. It's no different than sitting at a dinner party and conversing with close friends.

Wrong.

Savvy business people know that posting on social media is akin to being at a big, big party.

You know your host and some of the people there well. But you certainly can't say that you're close to everyone in the room. Why, you might not even know some of the people or be aware that you are linked to them through mutual friends.

Ask yourself:

Would you view everyone at the party as a confidant?

Which of the many partygoers knows your clients or customers?

Do you know all of the partygoers' friends and associates? Are they all your confidants?

Who might pass along your comment to others in the room?

Who might recall your comment later and share it with others after the party is over?

It's not like you're whispering into your best friend's ear with a request to keep your comment confidential.

You're essentially using a loudspeaker when you post on social media.

An increasing number of companies monitor what's said about them on the Web.

What if your clients or customers just happen to come across something you've posted?

Unfortunately, social media is a tailor-made outlet for letting your guard down as you chat away. And it's a danger zone for a lot of people who just don't get that “just because you think it, doesn't mean it has to be said out loud.”

Think before you post. And proceed with caution. Your career or your business may depend on it.

Developing A Content Strategy — Good Content Is The Key

PR-Squared recently did a five part series on Social Media — “If You Only Do Five Things In Social Media.” We especially liked number 5.

Check it out.

Get On Board The Social Media Train

More and more people are into social media. And, for PR practitioners, that means you have to get on board.

If you're still a doubting Thomas (and hopefully there are only a very, very few of you left out there), check out Amy Porterfield's report at Social Media Examiner.

Her piece looks at a recent study by the Nielsen Company that claims that 75 percent of U. S. households use social networking and that internet users spend more than 6 hours a day on social networking sites. That's double what they spent in 2009.

It's no surprise that Facebook is the leader in social networking, but Nielsen has the stats to back it up. Porterfield includes other “factoids” about social media too in her summary of the report.

So, check it out. And get on board the social media train. Figure out how well-managed social media platforms can benefit your clients and build your business.

And, yeah, Amy spelled Nielsen as Nielson, but we can forgive her for that.

Facebook: When Inappropriate Negativity Comes To Visit

Facebook fan pages are all the rage for companies these days. If it's your job to manage such a page, you know the drill: Create a personality for your page, monitor the comments, be responsive, learn about your customers, mine the data.

But what to do if you get a fan who starts posting information or gripes that are totally unrelated to the spirit of the page? Sure, we all want to respond to our customers. Make things better. Turn them around. Show the other fans we're good guys.

That all works if you are dealing with a rational person whose complaint is about something your company did or how your product performs, and you can address the why's and how's -- or at least show him you will work on the problem.

But, what if you start seeing posts from someone who's just using your site to vent? Who's raging about something that you can do nothing about or isn't related to your product? Who is holding your fan site hostage and using it as a bully pulpit?

Here are some things to remember:

You don't have to respond at all. Comments drift down into the archives in a matter of hours. If the poster is a bore or clearly a raving lunatic, then he'll be ignored by your fans.

You can respond in a private message to the complainer, showing empathy and suggesting that he direct his complaint to the proper place so he can get some satisfaction. Kill him with kindness-- but not on your public platform.

If the person turns strident or abusive in his postings, simply block him from participating on the page. Private message him so he knows why his comments no longer appear on your page.

Ask yourself honestly if the person is complaining about something you can or should address. If the answer is no, you don't need to have your FB page held hostage to someone like that. Block and move on.

How To Tick Off A Journalist In Four Easy Steps

Sometimes we come across an article that gives some "Best Practice" advice, and we think "we just couldn't say it any better!"

So, when that happens, we just like to share:

How To Tick Off A Journalist In Four Easy Steps

Hope you have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Follow Up Is Key

Don't call me after you send me a press release. If I'm interested, I'll cover your news.

In PR, we hear this all the time. Many panelists at "Working With The Media" seminars will grumpily and firmly dispense that advice. No follow up. Period.

It's the wrong advice.

It may make life easier for the media, but it won't get you results.

The right advice would be "don't call me just to ask if I got your press release."

It's surprising how many PR people do just that.

Rookie mistake.

PR is about relationships. A relationship means regular contact between people. If you're doing your job right and you've sent out a press release, the next natural step is to touch base with your media friends and chat about what they're working on. You may find that they volunteer that they've received your press release and they even ask for more information.

If they don't volunteer that tidbit, think about how the focus of your release might serve that writer's current needs. If it doesn't, eventually move on to what you've been working on and ask if it is a fit for them currently.

The logical flow of the conversation should lead to asking if they "received the info I sent you on that a while back.” If they haven't seen it, offer to send it again.

This approach is organic. It feels natural. You're not checking up on the writer — you're touching base with them. And you're showing interest in what that writer is working on. You'll be more successful if you remember that it's not all about your press release. It's about two people helping each other to spread news.

Most press releases are sent via email today. Emails can get buried or diverted into spam folders. So, you can't assume that your press release has even been seen. But there's a way to approach the media about your news that's helpful to the writer — and can ultimately net you the coverage you want.

PR is all about relationships. Successful PR pros know that it's never about “hey, did you receive my press release?”

BP, What Are You Thinking?

BP has a PR disaster of mammoth proportions on its hands with the actual oil spill.

So why do they continue to soil their image even more with insensitive remarks from the highest level of the company? Maybe both the BP CEO and the Chairman need a little PR 101.

Both have made public statements that are clear PR blunders. This is like pouring salt into an open wound of a public disaster. And that sticks in the crawl of all the people who are suffering out there. Even worse, they've given the media some pretty pithy sound bites to play over and over.

Even a student in PR 101 should know not to say this:

I want my life back, whined a weary Tony Hayward, BP's CEO. Well, yeah Tony. And so do the millions of people whose lives are now on hold, not to mention the sea animals who have and will lose their lives thanks to the tragedy.

We care about the small people, said BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, by way of explaining that BP is not just a greedy company that doesn't care. Okay, to be fair, we all know what he really meant and there's that pesky language barrier that made him apologize later for speaking clumsily. But a company like BP should have access to some of the top media trainers in the business. Where are they and why are BP officials speaking publicly without them?

The PR gaffes are a little breeze in the midst of the oil-spill tempest and, if BP makes good on its promises to restore the health and well-being of that which it has damaged, all just could be forgotten. But then again, video shot today can have an extrordinarily long shelf life. Can you say YouTube?

Make Social Media Your Hub But Keep The Spokes

Online communication is the new darling of PR. Done well, social media programs are especially efficient and effective — and platforms like Facebook make it easy to do analysis of your efforts.

The best online communication programs are integrated with other PR tools. By using multiple channels – including social media – to communicate your message, you can stretch your PR dollar and your reach.

Think of social media and your Web presence as the hub of a wheel. Other PR tools lead into that hub and reach out from that hub. They include a solid press kit, newsworthy press releases targeted to the right media, features you write and provide to media, the leveraging of national trends, any events or awards you receive, relationships with media leading to emerging editorial opportunities and connections to key bloggers.

The hub is the key part of the wheel, but it needs the spokes to be fully functional. 

Integrate all these PR tools and you'll get the most bang for your PR buck.

We All Need This Simple 5-Step Plan

In PR you have to keep moving. There's definitely a time for strategic planning and thinking as you lay out your game plan. But most of your days will be spent making fast (and hopefully thorough) decisions about the moves you have to make to manage your media interactions and get the results you hope for.

Marketing guru Seth Godin recently wrote about a simple five-step plan for action. While it's meant as advice for any businessperson, it's an especially good fit for PR pros.

We couldn't have said it better, so we won't even try. Here's the link to Seth's words of wisdom.

Multi-Tasking: It's A Must For PR

It's graduation time and young grads are thinking about hooking that first professional job. If you studied communications or public relations in school, get ready for a shocker. The real world is almost nothing like what you've learned in the hallowed halls of academia.

Wise grads already have an internship or two under their belts. They have at least given themselves the opportunity to observe the real world of PR up close and personal. If you've done that, you're already at the head of the stampede for the few jobs out there.

But do some soul searching too. It's a well-known fact that only a small percentage of college grads actually go to work in the field they majored in. Most move into something else and begin to build a professional skill set there.

Ask yourself: am I a multi-tasker? Can I make fast, but strategically thought-out, decisions? Am I a good and fast writer? Am I comfortable with rejection (you'll really need this skill when pitching stories)?

Do I have the right attitude for PR? That means being flexible, able to review both sides of an issue objectively, and able to maintain a relatively positive workplace atmosphere. A positive, can-do, ready-to-pitch-in-anytime attitude will take you far.

Most importantly, how comfortable are you with juggling several issues simultaneously? If you don't know how to juggle several important issues at once, PR may not be the job for you.

How Do You Invite Media To An Event?

Sounds simple enough...

Obvious answer is a Media Alert.

But what if dignitaries and members of the community are also invited. Does that change the way you invite the media?

If you're thinking yes, then think again.

Let's begin by defining exactly what an invitation is. It's a request for someone to attend as a guest. Keyword here: guest.

A guest is someone invited to enjoy the event, maybe eat a little, drink a little and talk casually with other guests.

The media is not a guest. They are there to do their job. And their job is getting the story.

As a public relations specialist, it's your responsibility to your client to ensure that the media understands the news angle of the event and to get them on site to cover it.

So, what's the proper way to handle this?

Draft a Media Alert that is succinct and to the point. Send it out a day or two before the event and then vigorously follow-up the day before.

Make a list of which media has promised to attend and which will not. If someone has committed to attend but is a no show, don't be surprised to find you have to call them again minutes before the event.

What To Look For In A PR Internship

If you're a communications major, an internship (paid or unpaid) is the best thing you can do to boost your chances of finding a job after graduation.

But before you accept an internship, make sure that it's the right fit for you. While all interns do their fair share of standing at the copy machine, answering the phones, and running errands, a good internship also includes exposure to the workings of a PR team and opportunities to make meaningful contributions to that team's assignments.

Look for an internship that provides opportunities:

to attend strategic meetings that focus on the priorities of the PR team and how they plan to organize and execute their daily responsibilities;
for hands-on work with tools used regularly by PR professionals (for example, media contact lists, costing methodologies, and research sources);
to write press releases, fact sheets and/or features;
to generate editorial coverage results that you can include in your portfolio.

Most importantly, look for an intern coordinator who promises an open-door policy and a PR staff that is willing and able to answer your questions and help you grow.

Keep in touch with your intern coordinator after the internship is over. That person can serve as a reference from the real world and that may give you the ability to finally jump from school into a job as a paying PR professional.

Do You Take Deadlines Seriously?

It's surprising how many people in the business world don't. But in PR, the deadline is king.

It doesn't matter how great your news is or how well-written your press release is. When you are pursuing editorial coverage, you must respect the deadlines of the media.

Every once in while, if your relationships with the media are strong, and you can't move the material through internal hurdles fast enough to have it approved for release in time to meet a deadline, you can work your long-standing relationships and sometimes pull a rabbit out of the hat.

But each time you spend those kinds of chips, you are changing your relationship with the media ever so slightly.

In proactive PR, the media gives a lot of ink to those who can reliably provide the info they need by their deadline.
So take them seriously and respect deadlines that are set by the media. That will help you build relationships that imply we're all in this together and are doing our best to get this news out.

That builds the best kind of capital with the media – relationship capital.

And you can't do proactive PR without that.

Is It Possible To Over-Invest In Social Media?

That's the title of an insightful post that appeared today in the online publication iMedia Connection. Lots of good food for thought. So we thought we'd pass it along.

Click on this link to check it out.

PR Today: Dynamic And Evolving

The PR business is evolving. In the past, news has been pushed out to audiences via press releases and email alerts, Web site postings and the like.

Today, getting your client's message communicated well is a lot more complex.

We continue to tell our stories through the filter of the press. But just as readily, we are communicating our messages through bloggers, Facebookers and Tweeters.

Today, we have many more tools for listening. It's like the whole world is teaming with focus groups. Log onto your company's Facebook fan page and you'll learn quite a bit about how others see your carefully crafted positioning.

While PR has always been as much about listening to audience feedback as speaking out to influence audiences, today the dynamic is much more, well, dynamic.

Tiger, Earl & Nike: A Powerful Ad Or PR Liability?

The Tiger Woods Nike TV commercial that debuted during Masters week is powerful in its message of implied contrition and a father's questions to his son about his son's bad behavior. The fact that his father has passed makes it resonate even more for anyone who has lost a parent.

It could be seen as a powerful (and successful) first step in image rehabilitation for the tarnished star.

But is it really?

Some media have looked behind the carefully staged, starkly serious spot, and they have discovered something that has the potential to turn a powerful ad into an embarrassing story about advertising manipulation and insincerity.

According to several media reports, including those on ABC's Good Morning America and in The Toronto Star, the voiceover in the ad by Tiger's father, the late Earl Woods, was pulled from a 2004 DVD about the life of young Tiger.

But here's the rub: The comments pulled from that DVD and inserted into the Nike ad were not directed to Tiger or even referencing him.

Instead, Earl was describing his parenting style versus that of his estranged wife, Kultida.

Moreover, Nike took another bold step in their effort to manipulate the feelings of fans by inserting Earl's voice saying “Tiger” into the first line of the comments pulled from the 2004 DVD. The voiceover now resonates with the late father addressing his son and directing his comments to him.

It's nothing new for advertisers to design spots that try to influence opinion and evoke emotion by not exactly being truthful. But Nike went too far. Such crass manipulation is nothing more than an attempt to stir supportive feelings for Tiger's efforts to emerge from the darkness he plunged himself into.

From a PR perspective, knowing the full story makes the ad more of a liability than an asset to astute observers.

For those already suspicious that Tiger may be insincere in his efforts to change, the ad makes it tougher to believe in his image rehabilitation efforts. For fans who are eager to believe he is working hard to change, his willingness to go along with this charade raises a sliver of doubt.

While airing the spot may be construed as bold and powerful advertising, its true legacy may be negative PR.

How Some Clients Get More From Their PR Agency

It may sound obvious but the most important thing in a client and PR agency relationship is communication. Clients that communicate clearly and frequently with their agencies get the most (and best) results.

If you're a client, tell your agency everything you even suspect might be newsworthy. Get excited when your agency pitches you some ideas about how your news could be leveraged into publicity – and join in the brainstorming. On the other hand, have the confidence in the PR pros you've hired – and the humility-- to accept it when the agency tells you their guts say the media won't cover what you're thinking is big news.
You're paying them for expert advice, so take it.

Chances are you'll be surprised at how many ideas your agency gets just by you sharing your news, events, happenings and plans.

If you're an agency, listen closely to your client. At first blush, something may not seem all that newsworthy. But can you identify an angle that would generate some coverage? If your client is really passionate (or pressured by other circumstances), find a way. You're creative. That's why you're in PR. If the client's request will just have you spinning your wheels with the media and burning hourly rates, have the courage to haul out your expert opinion and give it.

A good client/agency relationship is all about communication. Remember, the best publicity results from the client and agency acting like the team they are supposed to be.

Tiger Makes The Right Choice

Looks like Tiger Woods is finally getting some sound PR counsel. His recent press conference, although somewhat transparent to PR pros, was the right first step toward controlling the PR mess he has himself in and trying to refocus media attention on his game.

No matter when Tiger returns to competition, the media will go into another frenzy and everything from the tabloids to top sports writers will ring in. But, in terms of crowd control — which could have gotten very ugly in his first tournament outing — he could not have picked a better venue than The Masters. The event is known for having the most polite (read: controlled) crowds in golf. Many of the normal crowd that follows Tiger are sports fans used to getting rowdy during the heat of competition. But, any fan who's rowdy at Augusta National is politely escorted from the grounds and asked never to return.

The Masters is a precise operation. To get onto the grounds, you pass through security gates and are scanned like at an airport. In fact, those lines move so smoothly that airports could learn a thing or two from Augusta. Food lines move briskly and the multiple souvenir shop lines (which are long and tightly controlled) move with military precision so that you get in, buy and get out within minutes.

The Masters gives Tiger the best chance of a heckle-free return to competition. And, if he wins the event, he will have made a strong first step toward moving much of the discussion away from his personal affairs and toward the return of a great player to the game.

For Tiger, The Masters is the right choice.

Impact Analysis More Important Than Ever

With social media and Web-based communications coming on so strong, some PR folks are debating whether the old method of providing return on investment stats is a thing of the past. For years (it feels like centuries, actually), PR folks have measured editorial coverage against the cost of comparably-sized advertising, figuring in what the client has spent on PR services to determine an ROI.

That approach speaks to clients who are always looking to see what they are getting for their investment in PR. Never mind that some of the most impactful publicity might appear in low-cost media, or that you can't put a dollar value on the third-party endorsement of media coverage.

With pay-per-click and Web analytics, clients are experiencing results in ways that they never could with traditional advertising. And so, they are looking for similar stats from PR.

And, just to be a little cynical, you have to wonder if some PR folks are eager to ditch ROI analysis because there aren't so many expensive magazines to measure against. Newspaper and Web-based ads cost way less than the glossy four-color print ads in magazines. ROI can shrink pretty drastically in the face of that. So, ROI is not as impressive.

So is ROI dead? No. But it can't be asked to stand alone in the face of scrutiny. That's where reach becomes increasingly important.

And impact analysis — determining if you actually reached the target markets the client wanted you to aim for — is critical.

It's a new day dawning. And half the excitement is figuring out how to communicate the value of PR in concrete ways that speak to the client.

Social Media: Friend Or Foe Of Productivity?

They are questions that are being asked in workplaces around the country (and probably the world): Should employees be entitled to access social media for personal reasons during a workday? Is access to social media helping or hurting our business? How does personal access impact productivity?

There are clear examples of social media in the workplace reaping benefits — and PR professionals are generally charged with pursuing them. Managing fan pages that build channels of communication and good will with your customers. Monitoring multiple social media channels to better understand how people view your products. Blogging on behalf of your business. Texting when customers or clients know that's the best way to reach you.

But many company leaders are finding that they're having to develop social media policies that discourage employees from using their personal social media accounts during business hours.

What's prompted this?

Unfortunately, social media can be addictive. Some people have a compulsive need to monitor their Facebook or Twitter accounts. They feel a need to be the first to hear breaking news on everything from Lindsey Lohan to President Obama. Some can't stand to be “out of the know.” Some enjoy the attention that comes with being able to break news to their friends and colleagues.

Apps like Tweetdeck aid the addiction by constantly interrupting to “flash” and/or beep postings from their personal networks.

These are early days for social media and most businesses are tolerant if addictive behavior doesn't affect an employee's productivity. We all have quiet times during a day when we can take care of one or two personal tasks.

But, if you are accessing your personal social media accounts when you have a work deadline looming or others are awaiting your input before they can meet their deadlines, consider the impact. How does if affect your colleagues and how does it look to them that you value social media interaction over meeting your obligations to your work team?

Social media is public, so everyone from the boss to the person in the office next to you has the opportunity to observe when you're online utilizing social media.

So, before your company feels forced to set up ground rules for social media, do a little soul searching. Are you using social media for personal expression when you should be focusing on your work? Have you dropped the ball on a project or missed a deadline yet found plenty of time to post on Facebook or tweet out during the work day?

Like any personal activity conducted during your workday, common sense and respect for your job and colleagues should be your guide.

Is social media your friend or your foe? A tool to help you do your job better? Or a thief that steals productive time from your day?

A Great Performance: Tiger Finally Speaks

Well, he finally did it. Tiger Woods came toward the light and confessed his sins in a dramatic and somber presentation today.

His handlers staged it well. They packed the room with close family and friends. Only a few, carefully selected press were invited. No questions were allowed. Like so much of Tiger's life, it was totally controlled. From this man who was both so in control in his career and so out of control in his private life, observers got a solid and touching performance.

Tiger expressed verbally a deep disappointment in himself as a man, a father, a sports hero. His physical bearing supported his words.

He perked up and raised his voice as he expressed outrage at the media stalking his family. He looked humble as he vowed to be a better man. When he said “I'm sorry,” he peered right into the camera in a plaintive effort to make eye contact with people around the world who were so let down by his actions.

When it was all over, he went to his mother for a hug and a photo opportunity that could only have been better if we could have seen her face. When she knew the camera was on her, she was serene. But her face was very tense and sour whenever the camera caught her off-guard as Tiger spoke. Maybe, like so many of his fans, she was really ticked off at his actions. Or, because she had to suffer the public pain of playing the key supporting role in this mea culpa press conference, maybe her best efforts to maintain her serenity failed.

From a PR/media training perspective, Tiger did everything right this morning. He looked the beaten man and played his part well. But how much more effective would it have been if he had held this press conference months ago? Mitigating circumstances made today the only choice, say his handlers. But we'll all be wondering about the timing for a while.

His performance certainly touched the hearts of The Golf Channel, some of whom were moved to tears. But, then, so much is riding for them on a Tiger redemption.

The network news teams reported as if they believed the words he spoke. No skepticism there.

How the media filters Tiger's message and reports it out to the world is as important as the words the man spoke himself. Many who did not see the event (and many who did) will reach their opinions about Tiger's sincerity after nearly endless hours of watching and reading both the traditional media and posts on the Web.

No matter what conclusion you reach about Tiger's sincerity, today's sad and somber PR event was a strong first step toward rehabilitating Tiger's image and, with it, his fortune.

'Newsonomics' Predicts The Future Of The Media

Anyone who works in journalism or with journalists should find this interview interesting as it explores lots of issues that the news media and pros in the PR business have been discussing for a couple of years.

As more and more reporters and editors are laid off or furloughed (USA Today announced another one-week furlough for 1500 employees today), everyone in the business is struggling to define a new business model that will keep their newspaper, magazine or TV station afloat. Invest 30 minutes to listen to this NPR interview and your next stop might be the book store to pick up a copy of the book to learn more.

Staging A Successful Press Conference

A press conference is all about presenting information that you want to relay in the way you want to communicate it. From the welcoming remarks to the Q&A period, the successful press conference takes preparation and a professional approach.

Whenever you can, script all remarks. Even if your speakers don't follow them word for word, the message and tone will come through if you prep your speakers well. In addition, insert the prepared remarks in the press kit and the media will most likely refer to what you've prepared, ensuring a pick up of key points.

Make sure your press release and the remarks are in sync. In fact, any quotes from your speakers in the press release should be picked up verbatim from the remarks.

Don't assume a media alert will bring the media in. Call each one and check that they have you on their “to do” list.

Don't be obsessed with starting the press conference on time-- it's more important to have your key target media in attendance than to start on time. On the other hand, if they are more than 10 or 15 minutes late, respect those already in attendance and start the show.

Find someone in your client's organization who can handle the logistics of set up, sound system etc. An efficient person on that end will save you both time and headaches in the long run. Communicate clearly with that person – treat him as part of your PR team.

After the press conference, be sure all the key media who were not in attendance receive the press kit shortly after the conference ends.

These are just a few of the things you need to do to ensure a successful press conference. There are many more things involved, but if you begin by following these simple guidelines, you'll at least have a good foundation for success.

Training & Resources: Invest Time To Find Free Help

Wish you could stay on top of changing tools and trends, but don't have thousands to spend to go to seminars? Invest a little time and you can find "free" help that could be just as good.

More and more free seminars are being provided by companies as "value added" to other services they provide to you. Check with your clipping service or mailing list management provider. "White papers" can be found from reputable sources who post them on the Web to attract potential customers. From social media marketing to general public relations tips and even ideas on how to "pitch" the media more effectively, chances are, it's out there.

Many times you can gather the staff around a speaker phone and computer and for an hour or two, you're at school. No travel, no hotel bills, no conference fee. Then, back to work without ever leaving your office. How efficient is that?

The knowledge is there for the taking, so become a learning sponge. It's good for you, your career development and your clients.

What's On Your Mind? Why Updating Your Business Facebook Page Is So Important

We all have that friend on Facebook that seems to spend every waking moment online updating their status. Every five seconds their profile picture pops up with some mundane information about their life. Or what about that person who asked you to be their “friend” and you haven't seen a post on their page in months? Personal Facebook pages are hit or miss, but when it comes to your company's page, there's a delicate balance. A balance you need to be very aware of.

If you can't remember the last time you updated your business page on Facebook, or even worse, have an outdated status online, you need to start paying more attention to the account, or risk losing customers and losing credibility in the world of social media.

It may seem like a simple plan: update your page regularly. But you'd be surprised how many businesses are still setting up Facebook pages without a strategic plan to follow up. If your business has a page and no plan, your reputation could be at stake.

If you're feeling a little lost, here are some tips:

Make your posts engaging. People want to interact. Give them the opportunity.

Answer questions. People are looking more and more to social media as “customer service.”

Don't let them down. Be responsive and be honest.

Posts should be unique. Make people take notice of what you have to offer.

And, most importantly, make your page fun to read.

Facebook is a great business tool if you use it correctly. While showing a return on your social media investment is still in its infancy, it's clear that the more you get your company's name out to the public, the better it is for your business.

Now that we've shared a little of our wisdom, it's time to tell everyone “What's On Our Mind.”

See you on Facebook.

The Key To Succeeding in the Communications Business Is..... Communication!

The key to succeeding in the communications business is communication. Your initial response to this is probably.. duh! But it's surprising just how many people who work in the communications field don't communicate with one another. It's a recipe for disaster and it happens all the time.

It's not enough for everyone on your PR or marketing team to know about the projects they are working on individually. Everyone should be briefed on all clients. It doesn't have to take hours. Emails can be shared and quick conversations can relay info. Try it until you become a well-oiled communicating machine.

Say for example a client calls looking for the “lead” person on their account. The lead person happens to be out sick and no one else on the team knows how to help the person on the phone. What happens now?

If you simply tell the client you can't help them, it leaves them feeling left out in the cold. And remember, your client is your customer. Your client just had a bad experience and that experience could leave a bad taste in their mouth — especially if it happens more than once to them. While it probably won't mean a loss of business in the immediate future, don't think for a second that when the next fiscal year or budget comes around that past experiences like the above example don't weigh in on their decisions.

Now take that same situation again. Only this time, everyone on your team has been briefed about the client's latest developments and any possible issues that may arise. The client calls, gets the needed answers and remains happy as a clam.

It doesn't seem like much, but just a few minutes each morning to brief everyone on what's happening is a huge step in making all your clients feel as if each is the most important client you have. Because, in reality, they all should be.