March 2010

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Facebok Ad Nirvana (almost) from Wrigley’s 5REACT Gum

March 26, 2010 | 3 comments

So I was on Facebook and I noticed an ad for 5®REACT Gum—Will you be chosen?  I was intrigued enough to kick through and was led through some simple prompts, fanned the page (my kids, after all, do LOVE this gum) and landed at a Facebook video page that offered me the option to click on a 5REACT.com button. (I always feel a little like Alice in Wonderland with these things—Do I click through or not?)

I clicked and I was NOT disappointed!

What I got was a video using a Matrix-like theme that starred ME!  The 5REACT Facebook application captures my FB photos to create a totally personalized video experience.  I was totally shocked!  I’ll admit, I watched it five times—the program used different photos each time, even—and I can laugh at myself for that!

While I think the video does not represent the great qualities of the gum, it certainly did deliver a memorable message and aligned the brand with the “coolness factor,” something I’m sure is important it’s core demographic audience.

Congrats Wrigley!

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Thinking About Communication Basics

March 23, 2010 | 5 comments

Must be my mood—or maybe that today’s action item list focuses almost exclusively on refining clients’ core messaging and core media documents and evaluating design/brand representation.  This morning’s news and blog scan ID’d three great posts that focus on communications basics.  Ya think? 

Important reads for both clients and PR practitioners alike.  Enjoy!

1. David Meerman Scott’s blog post on his book, “The Gobbledygook Manifesto.”  The art of toning it down lest you look, well, stupid!

2. Jeremy Porter’s post on an important foundational communication tool, what I call the standard ‘graph—”How to Make Your Boilerplate Sizzle”

3. Chad Engle’s design fundamentals captured in “The Lost Principles of Design.”

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5 Basic Rules for Social Media

March 22, 2010 | 7 comments

This blog post is brought to you by—OK, promted by—the folks at Nestle.

Social media, particularly the Facebook business and/or fan page has become an incredibly powerful tool in the world of marketing, brand building and crisis management.  It can work—and work well or it can fail—and fail big.

Remember that media becomes social media when the communication becomes an interactive dialogue. It’s like talking to a friend face-to-face over coffee—it requires participation from both parties.  It also requires some level of purposeful consideration.  For example, you stifle the urge to verbally wrist-slap a friend when they disagree with you, right?  Preserving the relationship means you politely disagree. Ditto with the keyboard for Twitter and Facebook. 

Read the rest of this entry »

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When communicating, ‘Start with Why’

March 11, 2010 | 2 comments

At Christmas my brother gave me the book, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek.  While not a public relations book, I began thinking about its concepts from a public relations perspective.  Clients all have information and stories they want to share, “let’s distribute a press release,” they say.  And often clients want those press releases to start with what is important to them and not their audience. 

Think of how much more effective communicating would be if the lead answered two simple questions: 

  1. Why does it matter?
  2. Why would/should anyone care?

When communicating on behalf of my clients—whether via media relations, social media or other channels—I start by answering ‘why’.

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Recon Duty…It’s For Everyone

March 9, 2010 | 4 comments

For two days I’ve been doing some digital reconnaissance work: online research of clients, competitors and verifiable stats that support my clients’ work. Now as PR practitioner, this a service that provide for my clients. But, anyone can—and should—do it.

How and where should one look? Well, of course you should set up Google alerts to follow your competition and keep your finger on the pulse of your industry’s key marketing words.

But your FIRST stop—and really, I mean this!—should be your own website.

Today, while on doing some digital recon, I found websites plagued with bad links, missing pages, absent graphics, etc. The pièce de résistance was the book author whose HOME PAGE was an error message! Yes, the home page!

What does this tell me, or worse, his customers?
He is not active.
He is not attentive.
He is not relevant.
He is NOT (likely) worthy of my time.

So, repeat after me: “My organization’s web presence WILL BE my first and PRIMARY stop on my daily digital recon mission! My organization’s web presence WILL BE my first stop…”

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PR Clients: What You SHOULD Be Able to Expect

March 4, 2010 | 12 comments

Occasionally I’ve come across stories about client/firm relationships gone awry. Two examples from last year stand out in my mind: The mass email debacle and the client that publicly fired the PR firm for making the client look silly.   

Over the past few months, I’ve encountered organizations recovering from bad service provider relationships.  While I’ll never know all sides of these stories, I can say that clients pay good money and, in return, should receive great service!  As part of this, clients should be able to expect to:

  1. 1.  Be part of the creative process, including developing media angles, shaping how you will be represented to media/influencers and identifying appropriate media groups.  In the second example, the client should not have been surprised at how he was being positioned with media.  And, while his PR team can control what is provided to media, they cannot control what media write, say or do with that information.  

NOTE: Sometimes PR professionals provide wise counsel to clients who choose to ignore it—I’ve seen it happen!

2.  Approve EVERYTHING that goes out.  After all, your PR professional is representing you, your brand/product/service.  Read and evaluate carefully before “approving.”  Unfortunately, some clients are not truly engaged in the process or are afraid to push back.  This can be catastrophic for both parties. 

3.  See and work from a formalized plan or timeline that facilitates accomplishing goals, not just busy work.

4.  Receive PR activity reports from their PR team on a regular basis (or as the activity level demands).  Reports should includes accomplishments/deliverables, priorities and action items with due dates. 

5.  Pay attention, communicate often and respond promptly to questions and recommendations offered by the PR team.  A client that is non-responsive to important counsel, requests and mission-critical due dates is a serious concern. Experienced PR practitioners will walk away from these clients with good reason…there’s a storm-a-brewin’.

Oh there’s more, but that’s an entirely different post!

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