Three Clichés (and Other PR Blog Jots)
Actions Speak Louder than Words
The Flack
Peter Himler links to a recent column from New York Times author Thomas Friedman, who discusses the impact of citizen journalism on reputation management in a time when “everyone is a publisher.” Peter notes the difficulty of keeping up decent public appearances when anyone now has the ability to take a public figure or corporate interest down a notch or two. He uses JetBlue CEO David Neeleman, who did his best to communicate in every way possible following the airline’s disastrous Valentine’s Day—but ultimately did not take enough action. “So what does this mean for those of us charged with (and who charge for) managing reputations? Plenty. Command of the language is fine, but actions are redeeming. Leveraging the mainstream media filter can work, but the newly empowered ‘media mass’ dictates our fates. And, ultimately the ‘crowd’ will determine the net effect of even the most well-intentioned actions.”
Strategic Public Relations
Kevin Dugan notes that both USA Today and the Wall Street Journal are opting to include magazine-style sections with glossy paper in their daily issues, in an effort to promote higher sales and bigger advertising clients. Kevin dismisses the idea, noting the current bleakness of the print media business and questioning whether prettier paper is really enough to save it. ‘More paper? Glossy paper stock may make advertisers happy -- initially. But will it reverse the hemorrhage of readers moving to an online only news diet? That better be some pretty amazing paper.”
The Road to You-Know-Where is Paved with Good Intentions
Simonsays
Discussing the recent kerfuffle over a Federated Media campaign which paid A-list bloggers to write on behalf of a client, Simon Collister attempts to define transparency; he notes that simply admitting your tricks isn’t enough to qualify. While honesty is always best in dealing with social media, we can’t expect protection when the nature of the activities we own up to still doesn’t jive with the conversational nature of the medium. “The important point here is: FM thought that by admitting what they were doing, they were being transparent. They weren't. They were being open about their activities, but ultimately masking their intentions. It's where transparency as a genuine value meets transparency as a corporate platitude. The former is vital for holding real conversations and building real relationships. The latter is the cross-over point where conversations meet marketing.”
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