CustomScoop's PR Blog Jots

The Death Pool (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Rumors of PR's Death Greatly Exaggerated

PR 2.0

In response to a recent post from Guy Kawasaki listing the “Top 10 Reasons Why PR Doesn’t Work,” Brian Solis argues that Guy seems to boil bad PR down to personality conflicts rather than more concrete flaws. Brian thinks rather than the countless posts listing out all the current problems with the communications industry, PR bloggers should be writing about the ways those problems can be corrected. He offers his own list detailing his solutions to certain PR issues. “Rather than highlight what's wrong with PR or why it doesn't work, let's talk about how to fix it. (If you're in tech...please read this article first as it serves as the primer for PR in the face of new media. Web 2.0 marketing has generated many new lessons, strategies, and tools that benefit almost every industry.) No matter what business you're in, there are a few things that can help you succeed in, manage, or measure PR. This list is a game changer and can serve as the foundation for improving PR and elevating its value among those who have been burned by previous experiences.”

 

Newspapers, on the Other Hand...

Paul Gillin

While PR may still be relevant, newspapers continue their decline at an disturbing pace, according to Paul Gillin. He links to a post from Alan Mutter, who notes that print advertising has reached its lowest levels since the period after 9/11, expecting to dip by up to $2 billion this year. Paul calls the dreary stats reported by Mutter “unprecedented and alarming,” and notes that while the dive in recent years may not constitute a pattern yet, there is definitely panic in the air. “Desperate acts like the San Francisco Chronicle's recent decision to eviscerate its newroom staff indicate that the industry is in panic mode. The Chron is basically committing hara-kiri rather than continuing the fight. I suspect it's only the first of many to do so.”

"Its" Having No "Affect"

PR Studies

Richard Bailey serves up the important reminder that grammar and punctuation are essential to effective communication. Linking to a BBC News article with several typos, including the dreaded “effect vs. affect” syndrome, Richard argues that by now the common errors should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Sadly, these types of errors wouldn’t be so common if writers and editors took the time to stop and think about them. “Effect or affect; its or it's; compliment or complement. There are some spelling and grammar problems that are so common that they shouldn't catch anyone out anymore (accommodation anyone?). There are so many harder ones to adjudicate between: adviser or advisor; judgment or judgement, focuses or focusses etc.”

PR in Need of a Backbone? (and Other PR Blog Jots)

PR Pros too Timid on Social Media?

Bitemarks

David Hargreaves notes the seeming crisis of confidence among PR practitioners when it comes to dealing with social media. While most seem to agree social media is important, he senses that many (especially traditional) PR firms are unsure of themselves on how to incorporate it into their business model. David warns against complacency, noting that while many online conversations will happen with or without the urging of a PR pro, there are still many ways the industry will remain relevant. “To think that our only role is to somehow shape this natural process is surely missing the point. Our role is not simply to replicate what we do with traditional media – we have to be a lot smarter than that or else we will be struggling to justify our existence.”

Aggressive Preparation Key to Crisis Comms

Strumpette

In his weekly “gospel” for Strumpette, PR veteran Phil Hall underscores the need for active preparation for PR crises. Most corporate communications strategies, he argues, are set up to merely respond to a crisis once it erupts, rather than participate in active reputation management that may prevent it in the first place. He compliments NYC-based agency Peppercom for their extensive preparedness training applied by their crisis communications team, but notes that cooperation from the client for preparation of that magnitude is no easy feat. “As you may gather, that level of in-depth crisis training requires time, energy and the full cooperation of senior management. For the PR professionals who can obtain all of that, the end result could be invaluable. For those who cannot, however…well, let’s just say it might be helpful to have a clean rag ready in the event the fan gets hit with you-know-what.”

Spamalot

Common Sense PR

Pointing out that up to 80 percent of releases and other PR efforts sent into the ether are more spam than actual media relations, Eric Eggerston lists the factors contributing to the problem the most. He argues that the ease of access to long lists of journalists and emails, along with the feeling that many companies look to PR firms to merely blast out releases rather than achieve calculated results, may be causing an increase in spam PR. “It’s too easy to say yes when a district manager demands a news release for a non-story. It’s too easy to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. There are times when a wide-spectrum news release is the perfect tool for the job. Just don’t act like it’s the only tool in your kit.”

Tech-new-rati (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Technorati Revamp

Communications Overtones

Kami Huyse details the changes to the popular blog search and ranking site Technorati, announced in Dave Sifry’s blog earlier this week. In what Kami feels may be troubling to PR practitioners using the site to track trends and blogs on behalf of clients, Technorati will no longer be issuing a ranking to blogs and appears to have dropped certain elements of its RSS functions. “In other Technorati news that could explain the rework of the site, Om Malik passes on fact that Technorati is looking for a new chief executive (Dave Sifry will stay on in a product development role). With so much change going on at Technorati, it behooves those of us that depend heavily on the service it delivers to do our jobs to keep up with the news.”

Crystal Clear

Mike’s Points

Mike Driehorst underlines the continued importance of transparency in social media marketing. Letting the social media audience in on your agenda is key, he argues, to opening up the lines of conversation and allowing the blogosphere (or web community, or bulletin-board readers, etc.) to reach its own conclusions with all the information. Traditional PR approaches that one may take with a journalist, a natural skeptic according to Mike, aren’t going to work when the audience is just a group of average Joes. He takes a page from Dale Carnegie’s famous sales manual, How to Win Friends and Influence People, to advise marketers on approaching the social media world. “Become genuinely interested in other people: People are most interested in themselves. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests: Find the interests of others and talk about those things. Make the other person feel important: People yearn to feel important and appreciated. The words of Carneige’s book will work in a one-on-one, social gathering — and in a one-on-one, social medium.”

Blogola Essential to Web Marketing?

Strumpette

Amanda Chapel points out that blogola, the practice of handing out “freebies” to bloggers in exchange for coverage of a product or service, is actually an essential element of web marketing—or rather, she seems to claim it is a necessary evil of the industry. Without the ability to hand out freebies and “incentify” blogger coverage, marketers have very little power to influence the blogosphere. That being said, she also calls out top marketing guru Joe Jaffe, quoting from a recent podcast in which he defends the Nikon D-80 program but admits that there is definitely “reciprocity” implied; the bloggers receiving the cameras are more likely to give a positive review. “Fact is most reporters, e.g. NYT, WSJ, BusinessWeek, Forbes, etc. , can't even accept a free lunch anymore because of new ethics guidelines. The era of wining, dining and bribing reporters is long over. So the PR industry has now leveled its sites on the horde of unprofessional bloggers.”

Who are We? Why are We Here? (and Other PR Blog Jots)

What is it All About?

PR 2.0

In a long and engaging must-read post, Brian Solis definitively explains the factors contributing to PR 2.0, and how it has changed the industry. He argues that new PR cannot be simply defined as “blogger relations,” or any of the other tools that social media has brought to light.  The key is the use of these tools, and how the PR practitioner engages with a community rather than simply throwing messaging at it. “New PR is a milestone that documents the shift of PR from a broadcast machine to community participation. It is a chance to not only work with traditional journalists, but also engage directly with a new set of accidental influencers. It is also our ability (and opportunity) to talk with customers directly so they can, in turn, spark additional conversations. This is the new live Web (as coined by Doc Searls).”

All News is "Local"

Below the Fold

While outsourcing has been affecting American jobs in numerous industries, one might think that local journalism wouldn’t necessarily be something a reporter in India could accomplish.  Until now. Edelman’s Gary Goldhammer laments that a Pasadena news website has outsourced coverage of the local government to reporters in Indiaeasily enough, as city council sessions are broadcast on the Internet. He sarcastically points out that news has become just another product that can be cheaply manufactured elsewhere, so why bother with actual journalism? “Let’s face it: Real reporting is a hard, thankless, drab existence. It requires ‘people’ skills, the ability to discern nuance and distill facts from those for whom truth is often a matter of opinion. It takes intuition and intellect. And most of all, it demands a connection to community and love for storytelling that takes a whole lot of time and emotional energy.”

Measuring Up

Communications Overtones

After serving on a PRSA panel with Katie Paine of KD Paine and Partners, Kami Huyse posts Katie’s “Super Six Steps to Effective PR Measurement,” and they are a bit different than one might expect. For example, the first three steps revolve entirely around laying out goals rather than diving right into facts and figures. Kami agrees that more emphasis on this type of measurement is sorely needed in an industry obsessed mainly with number of clips as a metric. “Too often the public relations campaign goal is media clips rather than business goals, like building relationships with key stakeholders, or driving sales. The question should be, “what keeps your big boss up at night?” And helping to drive that objective, whatever it is in your industry or organization, should be the focus.”

More Advice on Pitching Bloggers (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Know Your Audience

The Bad Pitch Blog

Kevin Dugan issues a well-deserved reminder to a large agency (which sent him a pitch implying he may not be aware of—of all things—Facebook): do your homework! It’s actually preferable that you strike up a report with the blogger before even approaching with a pitch, but at the very least, do a scan of their subject matter before embarrassing yourself. Kevin actually liked the site the pitch promoted, which means their pitch may have been spared landing on The Bad Pitch Blog if the PR rep had done a little research and tweaked accordingly. “Had they started the second graph with “While you are well aware of Facebook, clearly not everyone is.” By linking to one of my posts discussing social networks, they show they've done their homework. And I’d be posting about them on my other blog instead.”

Old School

The Flack

The latest issue of the Harvard Management Update features an article discussing the power of public relations, but fails to mention any of the 2.0 aspects of the practice. Peter Himler questions this approach, pointing out that while mainstream media hits are absolutely still valuable to clients, to not even mention RSS, user-generated content, or any of the myriad changes that have accompanied the social media revolution was a massive oversight. “Yet, the fact that the sea change in our industry didn't surface in this discussion of PR, except perhaps for the manner in which it played out on my desktop, makes me believe that a digital divide does exist in our profession. I'm just not sure whether it's geographical, by industry, or simply a matter of the curious versus incurious.”

Public Going Soft on Microsoft?

Crisisblogger

Gerald Baron, citing recent surveys showing Microsoft to be one of the country’s most respected brands, wonders how this turnabout took place and examines some possible explanations. He notes Bill Gates’ generally positive public image (no doubt due to his massive philanthropic efforts), and the seemingly endless lawsuits against the company that may have painted them as an underdog. But the best explanation, according to Gerald, is that increased competition has made the company vulnerable (or at least seemingly vulnerable)—and the public prefers it that way. “The simple principle is that we all hate a monopoly and we deeply distrust anyone with unchecked power. Power corrupts… Google demonstrated that there was someone to check the power of Microsoft, someone to challenge their market position and even someone who could make them look vulnerable. We love vulnerable.”

A User-Generated Campaign? (And Other PR Blog Jots)

Social Media and Running for President

The Buzz Bin

Geoff Livingston rates the social media efforts of the Democrat and Republican frontrunners for the 2008 presidential nomination. He ranks Barack Obama as having the best social media effort, which allows for community blogging and has a snazzy design. He also compliments Hillary Clinton’s efforts with YouTube and John McCain’s social network, “McCain Space.” He seems to think, however, that nearly all of the campaigns could use fresher graphic design, and wants to see user-generated content in the mix. “I wonder when one of these campaigns will get really smart and start letting campaign supporters throughout the United States in on the content generation. Can you imagine the power of such a peering network, especially if it was open to the public? That would be truly leveraging the power of social networking technologies.”

Turning Freelancers into hits

The Publicity Hound

Joan Stewart recommends not forgetting freelance journalists when sending media pitches, as forming good relationships with writers can lead to big hits down the road. She cites an example of a book receiving increased publicity after landing in the pages of Go, Airtran’s in-flight magazine, due to her publicist’s good relationship with a freelancer. Many freelancers have relationships with a wide variety of publications, it is important to remember the role they play when forming a media strategy. “Many of them write articles for a variety of publications, which increases your chances for publicity. If they interview you for one article, they might rely on your expertise for another article for a different publication.”

Enforcable Ethics in the Blogosphere?

PR Squared

Discussing the practice known as “blogola,” or luring positive reviews from high-profile bloggers with gifts or other offerings, Todd Deferen wonders if the blogosphere is capable of enforcing ethics guidelines, given its free-wheeling nature. The Wall Street Journal pointed out last week that bloggers are quickly becoming major influencers, but hardly any are bound to the same journalistic standards as mainstream journalists. Todd argues that it all hinges on transparency. Blogola is fine, so long as the blogger is up front about any gifts they’ve received. “If the product in question sucks, no number of happy-face blog postings will convince anyone otherwise. If the bloggers’ audience reacts disdainfully to their happy-face posts; call the blogger a “sell-out;” delete the RSS feed – then the respectable blogger will soon form their own ethics policy.”

The Blogosphere vs. Fact-Checking

Neville Hobson

Reporting on last week’s faulty posting in Engadget that Apple was delaying the release of some key products (including the heavily anticipated iPhone), Neville Hobson relates the incident to the “blogs vs. journalism” debate. Engadget jumped to post the incorrect information without checking facts, one of the weaknesses of the blogosphere, according to many. Neville points out that mainstream journalists can stumble over facts just as easily as professional bloggers, and no one should be too quick to assign blame wholly on the vehicle of the information. “This opens the door to the long-running blogosphere debate about blogging vs journalism. It includes beliefs that bloggers don’t question things before they post, whereas journalists always verify a story before they publish. It’s never as black and white as that.”

I Don’t Really Care ‘bout my Bad Reputation (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Dell's Swell?

Crisisblogger

In examining just how a corporate reputation can be tarnished—and ultimately repaired (in particular in the case of Bausch and Lomb’s recent sale following product concerns), Gerald Baron can’t help but notice that the rhyme “Dell Hell” remains in full effect.  He ponders what exactly a company can do when their name has been so synonymous with disaster, and in an age when journalists—mainstream and citizen alike—are so ready and willing to propagate the negativity. “How do you get rid of that? Start a campaign that says “Dell is Well”? “Dell Haters go to Hell”? How about the Dell Smell? Or Dell Farewell? The simple answer for companies like Dell or BP who have their reputations tarnished, fairly or unfairly, is to go about your business, do the best job you can, get better at operations than ever before and time heals all wounds.”

Igniting Word of Mouth

Strategic Public Relations

Kevin Dugan relates a successful word of mouth campaign run by Tremor, in promotion of city holiday events in Cincinnati. Kevin offers several tips for getting a word of mouth campaign off the ground, and ensuring its success. Among many other factors, he underlines proper preparation for the campaign: research, “hook” development, networking. Many PR pros want there to be a simple trick to conjure up good word of mouth, when really it boils down to lots of hard work. “The numbers don’t lie. The main reason I’m serving this story up is that, far too often, marketers seem to want a silver bullet that will incite word of mouth. As Tremor shows, it usually takes a lot of the usual preparations for a good marketing campaign…a deep understanding of the target market that drive the right mix of tactics to reach the program’s goals.”

Social Media Rx

Pop! PR Jots

Asking PR practitioners (particularly ones inclined to send generic pitches to bloggers) to envision the blogosphere as a closely knit town hall meeting, where you need to be known to be heard, Jeremy Pepper tackles the issue of social media in healthcare. If the blogosphere in general is like a small town meeting, he argues, then the healthcare blogosphere is like a hospital room—ie, you can’t just walk into someone’s hospital room an drop off a press release in the name of outreach. “Put yourself in his shoes - or any other healthcare blogger that is a patient. You have to be smart in reaching out to any blogger, but hypersensitive in reaching out to healthcare bloggers. Pitch things that are relevant - new medicines (yes, that can work), new procedures or needles, new fundraising efforts - but don't pitch vertical products that can be view as just, well, insulting.”

Calling All Skeptics (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Sprint Thank-You Cards: Cute or Calculated?

The Buzz Bin

Or perhaps that headline ought to read, “PR Bloggers: Trusting or Cynical?”  Andrea Morris praises Sprint’s new effort to build customer loyalty, but joins me in wondering about the company’s true intentions. Andrea received a cutesy thank-you card that appeared to be hand-addressed, thanking her for her patronage.  The idea is terrific, and will no-doubt help with brand-loyalty, but was it a response to a negative article about Sprint CEO Gary Forsee’s compensation in the Washington Post last month? “With this gentle reminder, Sprint effectively made me just a little more brand loyal - which adds to my lifetime value…Still, being the skeptic I am, part of me wonders if this is authentic. Could this be in response to the Washington Post article Geoff commented on last month?”

New Meaning to Text "Messaging"

On Message

John Wagner reports on the newly widespread use of text messaging as part of PR and marketing campaigns. The idea is to incorporate user SMS responses into campaigns, such as offering a free trial of a product by encouraging a consumer to text in a code, or offering downloads or surveys to users via text. Wagner’s client, qtags, offers various text services with marketing elements. “By far, however, qtags' biggest success stories involve "opt-in" campaigns where consumers text a keyword to sign up for news and information on a regular basis about a product, service or brand. These community-building programs enable marketers to build direct relationships with people who desire to have more interaction ... a win-win.”

Hide and Seek

BL Ochman

In a follow-up to a previous post accusing corporate blogs of “hiding in plain sight” by not linking from the company’s homepage, BL Ochman responds to the companies’ protestations of visibility (left in her comments).  She lists the main reasons companies remain reluctant to link to their blogs, which boil down to a basic attachment to the 1.0 world, worry over loss of message control and damage to their brand from the unruly Internet mob. “Having a company blog, or several, allows the company to say "we're hip, we're cool", and, most importantly "We're listening". Not having a link to the blog from the home page allows companies not to take what they still see as the ultimate risk of letting everyone in on the conversation.”

15 Minutes of (YouTube) Fame (and Other PR Blog Jots)

YouTube and the Online Star

Bitemarks

Many bloggers are chattering today about a Wall Street Journal piece from Michael Totty focusing on YouTube's "online stars." The article offered practical advice for achieving “fame” on the popular video-sharing site, including encouraging consistency and noting that the more attractive you are physically, the better you’re likely to do. In a post in praise of the article, Kristin Maverick wonders why more stars aren’t discovered online.  She muses that cattle call auditions for anything from music acts to major motion pictures could be moved entirely onto a site like YouTube. “While yes it caused a big stir, they could have canceled all of the time and money used to create one of those casting calls and just take videos submitted online. The "online celebrity" world is still at the beginning with its early stars of Lonelygirl15 and Ask a Ninja being used as great landmarks for online hopefuls, but I see great possibility for the future.”

Where's the Blog?

BL Ochman

While praising the advances Dell has made in recent years to its customer outreach, BL Ochman notes that the official Dell blog is actually hard to find from the company’s main site.  She finds that Dell isn’t alone on this front, as the blogs from other major companies (Hewlett Packard, General Motors, and IBM among them). So what gives? BL thinks it may be a sign that even the most progressive companies on the social media front are still somewhat wary of the medium. “I think a lot of companies are still not sure they trust this "new" medium not to inflict a stock-crashing blog storm on them. So their toes are in the water, but they're still behaving like those old folks at the beach who don't want to get their suits wet.”

PR Store May Not Be So Bad

Strategic Public Relations

While most posts from PR bloggers recently have bemoaned the existence of the PR Store (an “Office Max”-like store where companies lacking the budget for PR and marketing departments and retainers can purchase standardized release and media kit templates, marketing and sales materials, promotional items, and various other trappings of the PR trade), Kevin Dugan wonders if they should all be looking at it from another angle. He points out that the existence and success of the PR store should only urge PR firms to strive harder to differentiate their work from one-stop-shopping, and that it proves that even the smallest of companies see value in public relations. “If you take issue with PRstore, your best work is the best response. The client wins, you win, and the delta between you and PR on a Stick become wide enough that you can gaze at it comfortably—through a telescope.”

Change is Good (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Evolution of the SMR

The Buzz Bin

In an excellent post, Geoff Livingston delves into the history of the social media press release (SMR), citing the history of the traditional press release, its diminished value in recent years, and the numerous effects of social media on the landscape of public relations. He provides links to SMR resources, thoughts from other prominent PR bloggers, and examples of corporate social media campaigns (including the recent launch of Coca-Cola’s Second Life.  “The combination of outbound promotion and social network attraction creates a new dynamic marketing mechanism. This next generation press release is much more valuable to its audiences, is community centric, and enables widespread dissemination. It creates multiple methods of pulling in community members who may be interested in your service, product or ideas.”

Blogger Pitching Advice

Bitemarks

Guest blogger Amy Tenderich, who writes a popular health blog, offers blogging advice to those new to social media and tips on how best to reach out to bloggers with pitches. She encourages new bloggers to not only be unique and interesting (as in, don’t start a blog just to post information readers could find anywhere), but to engage in “raw honesty.” She gives standard (albeit valuable) advice on pitching bloggers, urging personalized outreach and warning that not all bloggers will be complimentary should they choose to write something. “And we bloggers aren’t looking to replace the NY Times, either. Our gig is to personalize and editorialize, so watch out what you wish for when pitching us. Personally, I’ve taken many a nugget from a medical press release and turned it upside-down.”

Smart Branding--Or Crossing the Line?

Brand Flakes for Breakfast

As Anheuser Busch prepares to launch a new line of sweet alcoholic beverages (sometimes referred to as “alco-pops”), they are taking criticism and accusations of marketing to teenagers with their colorful and tasty new drinks. Darryl Ohrt wonders if the marketing is less about pitching to minors and more about knowing your brand’s audience. He claims adults in their 20s and 30s are holding onto their youth later into life. If 40 is the new 30, he points out, perhaps Anheuser is just using smart marketing. “I believe they're reacting to what their audiences are telling them. We don't want to get old. We like new products. We use the internet. We enjoy the energy of our youth.”

Bloggers = Buzz

The Publicity Hound

Joan Stewart notes the cleverness of David Meerman Scott’s decision to publicly thank (and link) on his blog all 163 bloggers that he feels contributed in some way to his new book on marketing and PR.  By linking to the bloggers and acknowledging their contributions to his research, he is generating buzz that will spread rapidly through the blogosphere, as the linked bloggers will probably mention the book, and other PR bloggers (present company included) may make note of the move on their blogs. “Thanking bloggers puts the buzz on steroids. The free book offer makes bloggers feel like they’re part of his inner circle. I’m betting that 9 out of 10 of the bloggers David listed will write at least one post about the book when it arrives on their doorstep. I know I will. Collectively, the 163 bloggers who David thanked publicly have milliions of readers, and many of those also blog. And on and on and on it goes…”