Category: General

Just after I finished my last rant on control, I see that Mike Manual points to a story on a similar theme.  Internetnews, in a story on how blogs and RSS can help business, includes a quote from consultant Lisa Poulson:

“PR firms love to control the message, control who says the message, control who has access to who says the message and the timing of the message,” she said. “Blogs upset the applecart in all four ways. But building that credibility and trust are still the basis for that individual relationship.”

Agreed.

The latest issue of the Financial Times’ weekly Creative Business supplement leads with a story on how supermodels such as Claudia Schiffer are attempting to beat the traditional limitations of their profession, i.e. ageism by building their personal brand.

“In reality, however, this shorthand (‘celebrity sells’) is a scribbled montage of press coverage, brand tie-ins and carefully controlled PR. (For this interview, Schiffer’s London PR agency originally asked for – and was immediately refused – copy and headline approval.)”

At least the journalist, Katja Hofmann, included the agency’s clumsy and ridiculous attempt to “manage” the story.  All too often journalists don’t point out this practice. I can’t find the firm in question, so it would be great if she had published their name 🙂

Girls and boys, you don’t build relationships by trying to manipulate, strong arm or bluff people.  Your days are coming to an end, how will you ever adapt to a world where you will have to communicate with people outside the media-sphere on a one-to-one basis?

The illusion of control is eroding. Understand how to communicate with people. That’s communicate not obfuscate.

I had a great meeting today with Bernie Goldbach.  Our discussion covered a whole range of topics from the success of Global PR Blog Week to how the availability of information is changing how we work.

Google of course is central to that discussion.  The fact that you can find out an alarming amount of information about anyone from one website has exciting and worrying implications.

The usability and power of Google has successfully lifted the company alongside global corporate heavyweights and the media have been busy dusting off the 1998 hyperbole – it seems they can do no wrong.

Just look at the coverage Gmail continues to get in the mainstream media. Of course the “viral” marketing around Gmail isn’t a new idea.  There are many examples from the past.  Microsoft successfully used a similar tactic, albeit in the physical world, to build buzz around Windows 95.  Their prolonged “beta” program drove huge demand for technical and business people who wanted a preview of the “new” release of Windows.

Google took the same idea, applied it to a different product and enjoyed the benefits of the Internet medium to reach out to millions of people. Of course the Internet does provide a medium which makes this person-to-person transmission faster, easier and cheaper – we just have to learn how to use it effectively.

Sometimes it can prove very beneficial to examine tactics that have worked in the past and investigate how they might still be applicable today.

“PR people, our profession has changed. Our day-to-day jobs are no longer just “how do we get the media to write about our widget.” PR has now evolved to “how do we engage our customers in meaningful conversations so they do our PR for us and get the media writing about our widget!” The word “public relations” is finally no longer a misnomer. It means relating with publics in a two-way dialogue, not so much relating with media � though the two go hand in hand.” Steve Rubel

Footnote:

Thanks to Trevor Cook and Steve Rubel for the link to the Gmail story

Thanks for Richard Bailey for blowing my cover again 🙂 As many of you already know although this blog focuses mostly on US PR issues, I am based in Dublin, Ireland. Thanks to Stuart Bruce also!

PS.. I hope Google’s PR people are prepared for any crisis. When the media builds a corporation up so high, the fall can be even faster….

Trevor Cook’s posting today struck a chord with me.  He questions the value of “new wave” marketing:

“Godin also wrote a book called permission marketing – as if anyone would give permission to be marketed to. When it comes to marketing we’re all pretty much in the ‘don’t call me I’ll call you’ category. Marketing is about grabbing the attention of people who are otherwise disinclined to listen.”

Now don’t get me wrong, Seth Godin does make a lot of sense, in fact a lot of his writing is just that – common sense. 

But I have to admit that in Gartner parlance, I am in the trough of disillusionment (PDF) when it comes to these marketing thinkers.  Maybe it’s because I’ve read too many of the books.

I bought Purple Cow which was a huge bestseller, as most of Seth’s books are, however I really didn’t enjoy it or get a lot of value from it.

I yearn for more marketing reality. How do we sell more products to more customers, what tools are we using, why are they working? Why are they not working?

Being remarkable can certainly help a company, but it’s not that simple. If it was there would be no need for marketing. The fact is everyone is under pressure for time, budget and results.

That’s the reality….

 

Good Morning Silicon Valley is one of the things I read every day.  It provides a useful and entertaining take on all things technology.

It also provides some fantastic off-topic links.  Today’s link is a keeper: Conversation Cheap Shots.

How many of these have you been subjected to, used or heard?

“I would like to answer your question directly, but considering your past reactions / ability to cope with the truth / emotional instability, I feel that to do so would be a disservice to you at this time.”

[Other person gets (justifiably) upset.]

“See, what did I tell you. You are flying off the handle already!”

Two words… justifiable homicide… 🙂

In the past few days I’ve come across news of three PR-related research studies in the UK, but I’ve had mixed results trying to find the actual results.

 Chime Communications has surveyed 100 senior communications and marketing professions on the challenges they face from the “information age”. They found 75% of respondents believe CEO’s are becoming more like politicians and 84% believe that successful organizations are those that strive for transparency and openness. In the spirit of openness, I can reveal I’ve been unsuccessful actually finding the survey or its results on the Chime website.  Let me know if you’ve any better luck.

Update: Constantin Basturea did have better luck and sent me on the link to the survey – it’s a PDF. (Thanks Constantin!)

 Forbidden Technologies has conducted a survey of the heads of internal communications at 100 of the UK’s top companies.  60% believe that their firms fail to communicate effectively with staff and 40% say their employees are not aware of the company’s vision or future direction. I would estimate that 100% of visitors to their website won’t be able to find the actual survey…

 Finally, Rainier PR has put together what I would call an anecdotal survey on the relationship between the media and PR in UK, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, US, Holland, Italy and France – using its partners in those countries. The top five recommendations from the study are:

1. Target publications specifically
2. Don’t badger journalists over the phone
3. Be clear
4. Don’t forget the freelancers
5. Don’t put junior staff into difficult situations
6. Give journalists proper access to clients

 

Normal postings will resume tommorrow 🙂

Rarely can two weekly magazine covers have such stark contrasts. 

The ebullient Steve Jobs staring from the cover of Newsweek.  The man who has successfully brought Apple back from the abyss, through the iMac and the iPod, to become a company that is once again riding high on strong growth, profitability and happy customers. A company that many wrote off as dying and irrelevant throughout the 1990’s is back and growing.

Newsweek’s cover and lead story on the iPod and Apple’s continued road to recovery is an amazing PR coup – similar to the famous issue of Time magazine with a cover story on the success of the iMac – with gushing customer testimonials from both journalists and consumers.

Kudos to Apple’s PR and marketing folks, not just for the coverage but for a good all-round marketing job.

“In just three years, Apple�s adorable mini music player has gone from gizmo to life-changing cultural icon.”

Now contrast that success with poor Sun Microsystems.  Sun is also on the cover of a national magazine this week, but the story is somewhat different.

Sun’s CEO Scott McNealy is under siege. Sun has mounting losses and Scott has to deal with anonymous sniping from former employees and executives.  Sun has a range of major challenges, though with cash in the bank, a “friendship” with Microsoft and growth in the server business once again, things may not be quite as terminal the BusinessWeek cover story implies.

One thing is for certain however, Sun face one hell of a PR challenge to get the company back on track.

If one company could empathise with Sun’s predicament it would have to be Apple.  Sun’s woes are comparable to Apple’s plight in the 1990’s. In fact, given that Apple was prenounced dead, dying or irrelevant throughout the media at one stage or another, you could argue that Sun is in a better position.

“Alas, it was not to be. He badly underestimated the severity of the downturn and dismissed customers’ desire for low-end servers. As time wore on, the losses piled up, and McNealy’s high-minded resolve began to look to others like simple-minded obstinacy. One by one, his team lost faith and departed. All told, almost a dozen of McNealy’s most trusted lieutenants have left over the past three years, including Zander, Joy, and John Shoemaker, chief of the server business. Like many others, Masood Jabbar, Sun’s longtime sales chief who retired in 2002, says he admires McNealy’s courage. But the standoff became counterproductive. “The fight just didn’t seem worth it anymore,” says Jabbar. “It was an untenable situation.””

One things seems certain, the technology business is on it’s way back….

Martha Stewart’s continuing travails provide an intriguing look at how PR can help and hinder individuals and organizations at a time of crisis.

Kevin Dugan has been closely following developments since the end of last year and has been keeping a mini-blog on developments.

“Stewart�s first public appearance during the scandal was the most damaging of all. We could note this snafu proves out the importance of media training, but lets consider the bigger issue of brand strategy. Crisis communications� and media training’s role in a brand strategy is to preserve and reinforce the brand�when used proactively. Far too often, they’re used reactively with mixed results.”

From Martha’s website, Martha Talks:

“Many people have asked me what they can do to help at this juncture. If I can ask just one thing of the public that has benefited for many years from my work and the creative output of my company, it would be to continue to support Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, regardless of what happens to me. Remember, please, that this was a personal matter that, because of the power of the press and the persistence of the government, spilled over onto an uninvolved company, harming all the people who labor so very hard, doing such admirable work. Please keep the company alive and our employees doing the jobs they love.”

Some better news for Public Relations.

The Scotsman newspaper has a story on how Public Relations practitioners (or in their terms “spin doctors” urrgggh) are moving up the organization chart.  The piece is built around an interview with Anne Gregory, President of the UK’s Institute of Public Relations.

“The nature of communications has changed and so has our role,” she said. “What is now required is somebody to understand the business, somebody who will bring in outside intelligence and has a more profound understanding of what is happening. Gone are the days when putting out the company line is enough, or just keeping the press at bay.” 

And so say all of us…