Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Wal-Mart PR
Fast Company magazine printed a short interview with the head of PR for Wal-Mart. It's worth reading but it could have been three or four pages longer than it is.
Wal-Mart's PR executive, Mona Williams, has a tough job. She represents the largest retailer in the US and a major factor in the US economy. Wal-Mart's size makes it a target for every activist group that can find a thread of a reason for a demonstration. Wal-Mart's slip-ups in personnel matters have placed the company on the defensive and given unions a chance to organize. Wal-Mart's dedication to low prices has put it into a curious position of being a place where millions shop and complain about it at the same time because so much of Wal-Mart's goods come from China.
I'm not sure I would like to be in Ms Williams shoes. With as many stores as Wal-Mart has, someone is getting hurt every day. Something happens somewhere that causes embarrassment. Some store manager or store employee acts in an undesirable manner and turns off employees in spite of Wal-Mart's attention to customer service.
But that's the way it is with retailing. With Wal-Mart, the challenge is gigantic. I wish the article had said something about how the company structures itself for PR. I suspect the company has divisional and regional PR departments to handle local crises and the tough ones, the local PR units hand upstream to corporate.
If that is the case, Ms Williams never has a dull day.
Wal-Mart's PR executive, Mona Williams, has a tough job. She represents the largest retailer in the US and a major factor in the US economy. Wal-Mart's size makes it a target for every activist group that can find a thread of a reason for a demonstration. Wal-Mart's slip-ups in personnel matters have placed the company on the defensive and given unions a chance to organize. Wal-Mart's dedication to low prices has put it into a curious position of being a place where millions shop and complain about it at the same time because so much of Wal-Mart's goods come from China.
I'm not sure I would like to be in Ms Williams shoes. With as many stores as Wal-Mart has, someone is getting hurt every day. Something happens somewhere that causes embarrassment. Some store manager or store employee acts in an undesirable manner and turns off employees in spite of Wal-Mart's attention to customer service.
But that's the way it is with retailing. With Wal-Mart, the challenge is gigantic. I wish the article had said something about how the company structures itself for PR. I suspect the company has divisional and regional PR departments to handle local crises and the tough ones, the local PR units hand upstream to corporate.
If that is the case, Ms Williams never has a dull day.
Monday, August 16, 2004
Where Blogging Works
I don't usually write much about blogging. There is too much speculation already about the medium. However, I recall that some months ago I said blogs could serve for community news that is otherwise not covered. I have said web pages also would serve that purpose and would be of use to PR practitioners who otherwise have few ways to get news out.
This story verifies that others have seen the same opportunity and are exploiting it. The news article calls them "metro blogs," but they don't have to be just that. They can be local blogs for any locale where someone has an interest to record community activities. While the story talks about advertising potential of "metro blogs," it seems to me community blogs have the same potential, although in limited fashion. Why couldn't one strike an ad deal with the local pharmacy, barber and book store?
There is even a more useful approach from a PR perspective, it seems to me. Why not have a large, local business blogging community news for the benefit of the community? Community relations is an important part of plant PR. With a blog, a factory can be a good neighbor by recording what is happening just outside the gates. The company can get its community messages across at the same time.
I'm sure someone must be doing this. If you know of anyone who is, let me know. I would like to contact that person to see how it is working.
This story verifies that others have seen the same opportunity and are exploiting it. The news article calls them "metro blogs," but they don't have to be just that. They can be local blogs for any locale where someone has an interest to record community activities. While the story talks about advertising potential of "metro blogs," it seems to me community blogs have the same potential, although in limited fashion. Why couldn't one strike an ad deal with the local pharmacy, barber and book store?
There is even a more useful approach from a PR perspective, it seems to me. Why not have a large, local business blogging community news for the benefit of the community? Community relations is an important part of plant PR. With a blog, a factory can be a good neighbor by recording what is happening just outside the gates. The company can get its community messages across at the same time.
I'm sure someone must be doing this. If you know of anyone who is, let me know. I would like to contact that person to see how it is working.
Sunday, August 15, 2004
PR's Role
PR's role in unseating New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey became clear yesterday. The individual with whom McGreevey was having (or trying to have) an affair was an Israeli PR person, Golan Cipel. Secondly, when it became evident that Cipel was an embarrassment for the McGreevey administration, PR man Howard Rubenstein, told McGreevey that Cipel would have to go. McGreevey followed Rubenstein's advice, and Cipel left to work at the largest PR agency in New Jersey, MWW Group, where he lasted but a month. He then moved to a Trenton lobbying firm, State Street Partners, where he didn't last long either. According to evidence the Newark Star-Ledger revealed on Sunday, Cipel was not showing up for work, nor was he doing much work when he did show up.
After leaving the lobbying firm, he went to an import-expert company, also connected to Governor McGreevey, and he didn't last there either. He then disappeared until his attorney called the governor's office and notified the governor that Cipel was intending to file a sexual harassment suit.
You can evaluate this information as you will, but it is fair to say that political ties are important to New Jersey PR. It seems the PR agencies involved acquitted themselves. Rubenstein told Cipel to get out of New Jersey government. MWW let him go when he apparently was not producing.
It could have been worse.
After leaving the lobbying firm, he went to an import-expert company, also connected to Governor McGreevey, and he didn't last there either. He then disappeared until his attorney called the governor's office and notified the governor that Cipel was intending to file a sexual harassment suit.
You can evaluate this information as you will, but it is fair to say that political ties are important to New Jersey PR. It seems the PR agencies involved acquitted themselves. Rubenstein told Cipel to get out of New Jersey government. MWW let him go when he apparently was not producing.
It could have been worse.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Suicide by Statement
By now, you must have read that the Governor of the State of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey, has resigned because he conducted a homosexual affair in office behind the back of his wife and children. This AP story tells the sordid details, but look at the video that accompanies it as well.
The video speaks what text cannot. The governor stood before the public and destroyed his career manfully and with dignity. That is one of the hardest communications one can ever make. That McGreevey did it well raises my estimate of him higher than it was when he was in office and surrounded by individuals who were being indicted for fraudulent fundraising.
It is gallows humor that New Jersey politicians know corruption better than most. There have been several senators and congressmen indicted and jailed in the state, not to mention mayors and assorted pols. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has had a field day here.
The ugliness of the governor's resignation is the perception that it leaves about the state and its people. Who are they that tolerate such sleaziness? The resignation confirms a prejudice that many have about New Jersey that it is nothing but a sinkhole filled with chemical plants and oil refineries. Those of us who live here know better than to pay attention to such criticism, but we are aware that it takes a lot to live down an incident like this. Perception counts.
I'm not sure what one would do to conduct a public relations program to wipe away "Jersey Jokes" and other slams leveled at the state.
It would be nice if New Jersey started by cleaning up its politicians.
The video speaks what text cannot. The governor stood before the public and destroyed his career manfully and with dignity. That is one of the hardest communications one can ever make. That McGreevey did it well raises my estimate of him higher than it was when he was in office and surrounded by individuals who were being indicted for fraudulent fundraising.
It is gallows humor that New Jersey politicians know corruption better than most. There have been several senators and congressmen indicted and jailed in the state, not to mention mayors and assorted pols. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has had a field day here.
The ugliness of the governor's resignation is the perception that it leaves about the state and its people. Who are they that tolerate such sleaziness? The resignation confirms a prejudice that many have about New Jersey that it is nothing but a sinkhole filled with chemical plants and oil refineries. Those of us who live here know better than to pay attention to such criticism, but we are aware that it takes a lot to live down an incident like this. Perception counts.
I'm not sure what one would do to conduct a public relations program to wipe away "Jersey Jokes" and other slams leveled at the state.
It would be nice if New Jersey started by cleaning up its politicians.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
About Time
Fast Company, the new-age business magazine, has a cute but well-targeted story on CEOs' television appearances. In the US, there is a parade of CEOs on business news programs of CNBC, CNNfn, CNN and Fox.
The writer ranked each CEO by appearance and presentation and then appended the rise in the stock price surrounding the appearance. This is unfair, of course, because an appearance is unlikely to be the only factor in boosting stock price. But, the comments about how CEOs handled themselves were interesting and to a degree, painful. They were not always up to the stories they were presenting.
Where are the media trainers? I'll answer that question. Media trainers would love to work with CEOs, but most CEOs don't have time or interest. They make a calculation about where their time is the most valuable, and they place little worth on presentation skills. This problem starts at the beginning of a manager's business education. Business schools spend little or no time on communications. For every hour spent running spreadsheets, there is less than a minute on coaching students how to write and speak well. The feeling is that such things are "soft" stuff and not quantitative "hard" stuff like finance. Finance professors drive the curricula, and schools gain reputations on the number of calculus-laden articles printed in journals no businessperson would read.
Yet, when you interview CEOs who are successful, they will tell you that communications are one of the most important things they do. They cannot place enough emphasis on the need to let everyone know what is going on and what expectations are.
Does that strike you as contradictory? Communications are important but we don't have to know much about communicating? It is and slowly, too slowly, some CEOs and business schools are asking if that position makes sense.
I hope they find an answer before too long.
The writer ranked each CEO by appearance and presentation and then appended the rise in the stock price surrounding the appearance. This is unfair, of course, because an appearance is unlikely to be the only factor in boosting stock price. But, the comments about how CEOs handled themselves were interesting and to a degree, painful. They were not always up to the stories they were presenting.
Where are the media trainers? I'll answer that question. Media trainers would love to work with CEOs, but most CEOs don't have time or interest. They make a calculation about where their time is the most valuable, and they place little worth on presentation skills. This problem starts at the beginning of a manager's business education. Business schools spend little or no time on communications. For every hour spent running spreadsheets, there is less than a minute on coaching students how to write and speak well. The feeling is that such things are "soft" stuff and not quantitative "hard" stuff like finance. Finance professors drive the curricula, and schools gain reputations on the number of calculus-laden articles printed in journals no businessperson would read.
Yet, when you interview CEOs who are successful, they will tell you that communications are one of the most important things they do. They cannot place enough emphasis on the need to let everyone know what is going on and what expectations are.
Does that strike you as contradictory? Communications are important but we don't have to know much about communicating? It is and slowly, too slowly, some CEOs and business schools are asking if that position makes sense.
I hope they find an answer before too long.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Old Story
Sometimes the media are slow in picking up on things. This is the case with the following story on blog monitoring. The Guardian has discovered the obvious, I'm afraid.
Our agency has been monitoring Web sites and bulletin boards for more than four years now and we certainly weren't the first to be doing it. Blogs are simply an extension of monitoring that PR departments should have been doing since the Internet took off in 1990s. It was a scandal that PR got started so late, but it is odd that a major newspaper is only tipping to the fact at this late date.
If by any chance, your organization is not monitoring the Web, bulletin boards and blogs, shame on you. It is no longer an option, except for the smallest or most specialized of businesses or organizations. Monitoring is so easy to do that one cannot blame the technology for failing to get the job done. There are many sites that monitor blogs, for example, and you can find some of them right here.
You know this, but I am writing it again anyway. Many trends, ideas and insights show in blogs and bulletin boards first, then make their way to mainstream media. This has been true for years. To stay ahead of mainstream media, you have to read what the mainstream media read and they are scanning bulletin boards and blogs.
Our agency has been monitoring Web sites and bulletin boards for more than four years now and we certainly weren't the first to be doing it. Blogs are simply an extension of monitoring that PR departments should have been doing since the Internet took off in 1990s. It was a scandal that PR got started so late, but it is odd that a major newspaper is only tipping to the fact at this late date.
If by any chance, your organization is not monitoring the Web, bulletin boards and blogs, shame on you. It is no longer an option, except for the smallest or most specialized of businesses or organizations. Monitoring is so easy to do that one cannot blame the technology for failing to get the job done. There are many sites that monitor blogs, for example, and you can find some of them right here.
You know this, but I am writing it again anyway. Many trends, ideas and insights show in blogs and bulletin boards first, then make their way to mainstream media. This has been true for years. To stay ahead of mainstream media, you have to read what the mainstream media read and they are scanning bulletin boards and blogs.
Monday, August 09, 2004
What Now, Communicator?
There are some events that are so large one has to stand back and think about them as communications challenges of a lifetime. This story examines the ongoing drought in the Western region of the United States. It is five years now, and there is no sign of a return to the rainfall amounts that had been prevalent since the 1920s.
Climatologists who compare tree rings to measure the weather of hundreds of years ago say the weather pattern of the last five years is closer to a long-term trend for the region and that the climate of the last 100 years was an aberration. If this is true, a dry region is going to to get drier and "water wars" that already plague the states of Arizona and California will become even more pitched.
Who will give way? The farmers? The suburbanites with swimming pools and nice green lawns? How can one communicate the need for long-term water conservation, or does one let the price of water rise to meet the market demand? And, will this kill the economy? How does one persuade people to stay when they are tired of water rationing? The issues go on and on and they are a lifetime of challenges for communicators in government and industry who will deal with them.
It is a challenge I would like to work on, and I hope before I retire years hence I will get the chance.
Climatologists who compare tree rings to measure the weather of hundreds of years ago say the weather pattern of the last five years is closer to a long-term trend for the region and that the climate of the last 100 years was an aberration. If this is true, a dry region is going to to get drier and "water wars" that already plague the states of Arizona and California will become even more pitched.
Who will give way? The farmers? The suburbanites with swimming pools and nice green lawns? How can one communicate the need for long-term water conservation, or does one let the price of water rise to meet the market demand? And, will this kill the economy? How does one persuade people to stay when they are tired of water rationing? The issues go on and on and they are a lifetime of challenges for communicators in government and industry who will deal with them.
It is a challenge I would like to work on, and I hope before I retire years hence I will get the chance.
Sunday, August 08, 2004
Alternate Reality PR
I have written before that online games are good PR tools, and I wonder why more PR departments have not used them. Hollywood has adapted to gaming brilliantly and constructs complex, multi-web-site games that hype a movie, for example. Game companies have shown similar skill as this story relates.
Perhaps the lack of PR involvement lies with a simple fact that there are few PR practitioners with any experience in this area. If so, that is a disappointment. We could at least come up with creative ideas and then contract with programmers to make them real. But, we don't appear to do much of that. It is an area that still seems beyond the capabilities of the PR business.
What could games be used for? For any kind of promotion and certainly for serious purposes, such as health education. I could see a game, for example, that teaches the importance of frequent blood-sugar monitoring for diabetics. The game would not focus on the testing, but it might give the hero diabetes and have him black out at the wrong moments if he or she has failed to test for blood sugar levels. It would add a touch of real life to a game.
Advertisers are getting involved in games and getting their messages or products into them. Why not PR?
Perhaps the lack of PR involvement lies with a simple fact that there are few PR practitioners with any experience in this area. If so, that is a disappointment. We could at least come up with creative ideas and then contract with programmers to make them real. But, we don't appear to do much of that. It is an area that still seems beyond the capabilities of the PR business.
What could games be used for? For any kind of promotion and certainly for serious purposes, such as health education. I could see a game, for example, that teaches the importance of frequent blood-sugar monitoring for diabetics. The game would not focus on the testing, but it might give the hero diabetes and have him black out at the wrong moments if he or she has failed to test for blood sugar levels. It would add a touch of real life to a game.
Advertisers are getting involved in games and getting their messages or products into them. Why not PR?
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Dubious
Here is an interesting story. The owner of a PR firm in Minneapolis is also an anchorwoman on a local TV news program (KSTP-TV, channel 5). Doesn't that strike you as a dubious crossing of the line between PR and journalism? The anchorwoman says she is no longer active in the PR business, but she is apparently still the owner. How do you say "conflict?"
This is the first time of which I am aware where journalism and PR have mixed so closely. To be fair to the anchorwoman, she had begun as an anchor at the station, left to be a press secretary to a former governor, started her own firm and finally, returned to anchoring. Still, how does one handle stories about clients, or does she pretend that she doesn't know who her clients are?
The situation is dubious at best, and I wouldn't be surprised if local journalists are suspicious. They should be. There is a manifest conflict of interest that cannot be explained away except by leaving the anchor position or the PR business. It strikes at the one quality that both journalists and PR practitioners need -- credibility.
I believe PR practitioners should be close to the media. But, not that close.
This is the first time of which I am aware where journalism and PR have mixed so closely. To be fair to the anchorwoman, she had begun as an anchor at the station, left to be a press secretary to a former governor, started her own firm and finally, returned to anchoring. Still, how does one handle stories about clients, or does she pretend that she doesn't know who her clients are?
The situation is dubious at best, and I wouldn't be surprised if local journalists are suspicious. They should be. There is a manifest conflict of interest that cannot be explained away except by leaving the anchor position or the PR business. It strikes at the one quality that both journalists and PR practitioners need -- credibility.
I believe PR practitioners should be close to the media. But, not that close.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Where the Boys Are
Here is an interesting fact. Men are the largest body of readers of online news -- about 60 to 70 percent of online news consumers. Why? No one seems to know, but the male population is watching less TV and reading more online news -- so much so, that advertisers reaching for males are shifting ad budgets from TV to online news sites.
As an online PR practitioner, I find this baffling. Women caught up with men in Internet usage years ago, but they are not using the Internet for news -- at least not mainstream news. Maybe they are getting news from their own sites, or maybe they don't consider news important by comparison with other online information sources. This mystery needs investigation, especially by PR practitioners who want to reach women through online news sites.
Another mystery has to do with viral marketing. It might be me, but I swear much of viral marketing is targeted to males and saturated with sexual themes. When I look at sites that track viral work, it seems as if more than half is spicy. Why? I thought at first that young, horny, creative males are doing it, so they make something for other young, horny males. But, that isn't, or shouldn't be, the answer to viral marketing. Viral marketing is a fertile field for PR messages, and they shouldn't have to be folded into X-rated presentations to get passed around.
Both issues need research, and we need answers to better shape online PR campaigns.
As an online PR practitioner, I find this baffling. Women caught up with men in Internet usage years ago, but they are not using the Internet for news -- at least not mainstream news. Maybe they are getting news from their own sites, or maybe they don't consider news important by comparison with other online information sources. This mystery needs investigation, especially by PR practitioners who want to reach women through online news sites.
Another mystery has to do with viral marketing. It might be me, but I swear much of viral marketing is targeted to males and saturated with sexual themes. When I look at sites that track viral work, it seems as if more than half is spicy. Why? I thought at first that young, horny, creative males are doing it, so they make something for other young, horny males. But, that isn't, or shouldn't be, the answer to viral marketing. Viral marketing is a fertile field for PR messages, and they shouldn't have to be folded into X-rated presentations to get passed around.
Both issues need research, and we need answers to better shape online PR campaigns.
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Spin In Extremis
This story explains in its horrible way why "spin" is so bad for PR. The article focuses on Campaign 2004 and how with half-truths and "bright, shining lies," each side is trying to keep the other off-balance. The author notes that "spin" and "counter-spin" are so fast and furious that reporters have no time to find the facts or to call either side on inaccuracies. Of course, this is what the candidates' flacks want. The author notes that newsrooms also are not set up to stop "spin" at this pace. Further, because reporters want to be fair, they do not attempt to point out when either side is stretching the case or lying. The net result is that voters are not served with information they can use, and the media become more cynical. This is no good for anyone.
It would be nice if the PR industry would stand and condemn "spin" then call for accuracy from both sides. But the PR industry won't do it. It's spineless, and worse, the people who do such "spin" are the ones paid the big bucks to become the lobbyists when the campaign is over. In other words, cynicism is institutionalized.
In fairness, "spin" and lying have been part of American campaigns since the beginning. The vitriol between the Hamiltonians and Jeffersonians makes today's campaigning seem a cakewalk. But, it was damaging to the country then -- and now. George Washington was trapped between opposing forces and trying to keep peace. He failed. On the other hand, the country didn't collapse from such lying, so there is little reason to believe that it will fail now. Eventually facts emerge, if not the truth.
Still, I cannot bring myself to act like political carnivores. I like self-respect.
It would be nice if the PR industry would stand and condemn "spin" then call for accuracy from both sides. But the PR industry won't do it. It's spineless, and worse, the people who do such "spin" are the ones paid the big bucks to become the lobbyists when the campaign is over. In other words, cynicism is institutionalized.
In fairness, "spin" and lying have been part of American campaigns since the beginning. The vitriol between the Hamiltonians and Jeffersonians makes today's campaigning seem a cakewalk. But, it was damaging to the country then -- and now. George Washington was trapped between opposing forces and trying to keep peace. He failed. On the other hand, the country didn't collapse from such lying, so there is little reason to believe that it will fail now. Eventually facts emerge, if not the truth.
Still, I cannot bring myself to act like political carnivores. I like self-respect.
Cynical Society
The essay on cynicism is posted in the white paper/essay section of online-pr.com. Sorry it took so long. I got busy and left it on the table.
Cynicism is a constant factor in PR and a challenge to communications. Many of us are cynical about what we do, but we rarely reflect on it. The question is whether cynicism distorts communications, and the answer is that it can because it closes options. Let me know what you think.
Cynicism is a constant factor in PR and a challenge to communications. Many of us are cynical about what we do, but we rarely reflect on it. The question is whether cynicism distorts communications, and the answer is that it can because it closes options. Let me know what you think.
Monday, August 02, 2004
Say It Ain't So
I missed this story last week, but if it is even remotely as the writer relates it, PR practitioners ought to be ashamed for the business. Techdirt is an insider's blog for high-tech. The author of the blog has made it clear how he wants PR people to submit releases to him.
The practitioner whom he leaves nameless to protect the guilty not only violated his request, but he began to deluge the author with press releases all marked "URGENT." Even worse, the fellow hides his e-mail address, which is against everything we are supposed to do as PR practitioners.
It's people like this who give PR a bad name and unfortunately, we have no way to get rid of them. We are in a First Amendment business: anyone can claim to do what we do for a living.
But it makes me angry to think such bozos are wandering around the business.
If there were only a way to police PR...
I'll count to 10, but for every idiot that pulls a stunt like this, it throws the business back a few steps.
And we wonder why no one likes us...
The practitioner whom he leaves nameless to protect the guilty not only violated his request, but he began to deluge the author with press releases all marked "URGENT." Even worse, the fellow hides his e-mail address, which is against everything we are supposed to do as PR practitioners.
It's people like this who give PR a bad name and unfortunately, we have no way to get rid of them. We are in a First Amendment business: anyone can claim to do what we do for a living.
But it makes me angry to think such bozos are wandering around the business.
If there were only a way to police PR...
I'll count to 10, but for every idiot that pulls a stunt like this, it throws the business back a few steps.
And we wonder why no one likes us...
Symbolic Target
Terrorists know a thing or two about communication. Their destruction of the World Trade Towers was a statement that was understood by everyone. Their current threat against financial institutions based in New York City and Newark, NJ is another statement in the same vein. Like it or not, they are effective publicists for their point of view.
It is important to remember that anyone, good or bad, can use publicity techniques well. Hitler and Stalin were both effective communicators. Hitler mastered the art of public speaking through unrelenting work on his delivery. Both excelled in the art of the pageant to project power. Terrorists aren't nearly as elegant, but they are just as loud.
It is important to remember that anyone, good or bad, can use publicity techniques well. Hitler and Stalin were both effective communicators. Hitler mastered the art of public speaking through unrelenting work on his delivery. Both excelled in the art of the pageant to project power. Terrorists aren't nearly as elegant, but they are just as loud.
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Scary
There is nothing more frightening to a company than to have a leader go down with illness when that leader stands for the firm. That is what has happened to Apple Computer. Steve Jobs has been the image and innovation of Apple since the beginning. He has no obvious successor. Although he states the type of cancer he has is completely curable, the survival rate of typical pancreatic cancer victims is low.
The communications task in a case like this is delicate. First of all, it is a material disclosure item. One has to inform shareholders the CEO is ill. The question is how and when. Second, the way one informs shareholders is ticklish. It is easy for shareholders to panic and dump the stock. (Don't be surprised if Apple's stock dives for a few days until Jobs' health is reappraised.) Third, employees can be spooked. One has to be careful how one tells them the news. Fourth, the Jobs' family cannot be ignored. An alarming turn of health is something a family has to adjust to but in this case it is being done in public under the gaze of millions.
Although I have only read the Reuters story, it appears Jobs was careful to give the news as completely as possible to forestall second-guessing and rumor. That was a smart for him to do, and he was lucky to be able to do it. There have been CEOs diagnosed with fatal conditions like brain cancer. It was a matter of time for them, and handling news like that is worse. One has to tell the fact but out of concern for the business, family, employees and customers, one doesn't want to tell the whole story -- i.e., it is only a matter of time. There is much tea leaf reading and head nodding in cases like this. The insiders know: The rest speculate.
Stay in PR long enough, and you will deal with a case of fatal or near-fatal illness in the senior executive ranks. It is no fun, but it is part of the job.
The communications task in a case like this is delicate. First of all, it is a material disclosure item. One has to inform shareholders the CEO is ill. The question is how and when. Second, the way one informs shareholders is ticklish. It is easy for shareholders to panic and dump the stock. (Don't be surprised if Apple's stock dives for a few days until Jobs' health is reappraised.) Third, employees can be spooked. One has to be careful how one tells them the news. Fourth, the Jobs' family cannot be ignored. An alarming turn of health is something a family has to adjust to but in this case it is being done in public under the gaze of millions.
Although I have only read the Reuters story, it appears Jobs was careful to give the news as completely as possible to forestall second-guessing and rumor. That was a smart for him to do, and he was lucky to be able to do it. There have been CEOs diagnosed with fatal conditions like brain cancer. It was a matter of time for them, and handling news like that is worse. One has to tell the fact but out of concern for the business, family, employees and customers, one doesn't want to tell the whole story -- i.e., it is only a matter of time. There is much tea leaf reading and head nodding in cases like this. The insiders know: The rest speculate.
Stay in PR long enough, and you will deal with a case of fatal or near-fatal illness in the senior executive ranks. It is no fun, but it is part of the job.
Friday, July 30, 2004
Sorry About That
It has been a day and a half of glitches with the web page (online-pr.com) and the blog. For some reason, beginning yesterday morning, I couldn't update the Web page. The message was "server error." So, I call Verio, the ISP that has been handling online-pr.com since the beginning in 1997 and got the usual "voice mail hell." The technician was nice enough, but then he put me on hold for 10 minutes, leading me to believe I was shunted. But no, he returned and said the extensions to the Web site had been corrupted. He didn't why or how but he had fixed them, and we were live again.
Last night, I went to make an entry into this blog and couldn't reach it. I got a "page unavailable" notice that continued through the evening into early this morning when it finally popped through about five minutes ago.
The dirty secret of the technological age is that Internet media are great, except when they don't work. Reliability is an issue, and dependence on others for keeping a system up will always be a concern. Yet, the networks are too complex for PR practitioners, including myself, to be our own Internet Service Providers, Webmasters, etc.
That has always been the case. We have relied on designers, printers and mailers in PR since the beginning and the frustrations they create. Even when we had these services in-house, they were frustrating. In fact, they were more so in-house because service was indifferent.
PR is a team effort and always will be. (Now I hope I can get this posted.)
Last night, I went to make an entry into this blog and couldn't reach it. I got a "page unavailable" notice that continued through the evening into early this morning when it finally popped through about five minutes ago.
The dirty secret of the technological age is that Internet media are great, except when they don't work. Reliability is an issue, and dependence on others for keeping a system up will always be a concern. Yet, the networks are too complex for PR practitioners, including myself, to be our own Internet Service Providers, Webmasters, etc.
That has always been the case. We have relied on designers, printers and mailers in PR since the beginning and the frustrations they create. Even when we had these services in-house, they were frustrating. In fact, they were more so in-house because service was indifferent.
PR is a team effort and always will be. (Now I hope I can get this posted.)
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Thinking It Through
We've been handed two challenges that we have never done before. These are fun problems because one has to learn a new field.
The first challenge is with a specialized kind of services firm and the second has to do with a major problem on the Internet. The question that both prospects asked is whether anything could be done. The answer, of course, was yes -- yes, but. We will have to dive deeply into the topics and work our way out to find keys for approaching them. By diving deeply, I mean we will do as much secondary research as we can and then, interview clients at length and in detail to see if we can find common threads to merchandise to the media. Sometimes themes stand out: Sometimes they are buried deeply and are so uninteresting one has to invent another way to tackle the topic.
In spite of what teachers may have told you, there are boring issues that few if any media cover. Surprisingly, one that major business media avoid is accounting. There are few good business journalists who understand and take pleasure in reporting accounting issues. O, they like scandal, but they don't like the technical considerations that the Financial Accounting Standards Board tackles and that decide earnings of thousands of public companies. This is why when I represented accounting firms (twice), I found difficult to get anyone to pay attention.
I hope neither of these two prospects prove to be deadly. We'll see.
The first challenge is with a specialized kind of services firm and the second has to do with a major problem on the Internet. The question that both prospects asked is whether anything could be done. The answer, of course, was yes -- yes, but. We will have to dive deeply into the topics and work our way out to find keys for approaching them. By diving deeply, I mean we will do as much secondary research as we can and then, interview clients at length and in detail to see if we can find common threads to merchandise to the media. Sometimes themes stand out: Sometimes they are buried deeply and are so uninteresting one has to invent another way to tackle the topic.
In spite of what teachers may have told you, there are boring issues that few if any media cover. Surprisingly, one that major business media avoid is accounting. There are few good business journalists who understand and take pleasure in reporting accounting issues. O, they like scandal, but they don't like the technical considerations that the Financial Accounting Standards Board tackles and that decide earnings of thousands of public companies. This is why when I represented accounting firms (twice), I found difficult to get anyone to pay attention.
I hope neither of these two prospects prove to be deadly. We'll see.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Why Bother?
Why bother with political conventions? They are exercises in spin and have no value to citizens watching the process. Everyone knows who the candidate for president and vice president are. Everyone knows the convention will paint the candidate as the salvation of the republic, and everyone knows the party will savage the opposition. Everyone knows, so no one bothers to watch. The ratings for the first night of the Democratic convention were awful -- below summer reruns.
So why spend millions of dollars to throw one of these throwbacks of communication? Worse, why do TV networks and hundreds of reporters and bloggers bother to attend and cover the convention? There isn't any news.
Don't get me wrong. There is need for a party meeting on a regular basis where delegates can talk to each other, imbibe a common spirit and go home motivated to work for their candidate. But that doesn't mean a party meeting should be inflicted on citizens who don't care for parties. (The largest voting block in the US are independents who don't claim a party.)
So what should be done for the majority who avoid the sniping of politics and grenade-throwing that passes for debate? What kind of public relations would work best for us? I think Howard Dean found an answer before he self-destructed. He used "meet-ups" successfully -- small gatherings where people could get together and talk.
We need to go back to relationships, to building face-to-face connections between me and you and common wishes and ideals. The Democrats are trying that in key states like Ohio, and Republicans are not far behind. It's nothing other than old-fashioned politics that ward-heelers used to practice in machine-controlled cities like Boston and Chicago. I recall the only time anyone ever visited me and asked how I was doing was in Chicago where the Democratic machine sent someone around to every house in the neighborhood to check our feelings and our votes. That was decades ago.
It's time to go back to the future.
So why spend millions of dollars to throw one of these throwbacks of communication? Worse, why do TV networks and hundreds of reporters and bloggers bother to attend and cover the convention? There isn't any news.
Don't get me wrong. There is need for a party meeting on a regular basis where delegates can talk to each other, imbibe a common spirit and go home motivated to work for their candidate. But that doesn't mean a party meeting should be inflicted on citizens who don't care for parties. (The largest voting block in the US are independents who don't claim a party.)
So what should be done for the majority who avoid the sniping of politics and grenade-throwing that passes for debate? What kind of public relations would work best for us? I think Howard Dean found an answer before he self-destructed. He used "meet-ups" successfully -- small gatherings where people could get together and talk.
We need to go back to relationships, to building face-to-face connections between me and you and common wishes and ideals. The Democrats are trying that in key states like Ohio, and Republicans are not far behind. It's nothing other than old-fashioned politics that ward-heelers used to practice in machine-controlled cities like Boston and Chicago. I recall the only time anyone ever visited me and asked how I was doing was in Chicago where the Democratic machine sent someone around to every house in the neighborhood to check our feelings and our votes. That was decades ago.
It's time to go back to the future.
Monday, July 26, 2004
How Come?
The Democratic convention started tonight in Boston, and I've had but a glimpse of it. However, that fleeting view raised a question for which there is no answer.
How come politicians, for whom public speaking is a necessity, still cannot speak well?
I saw a speaker, who shall remain nameless, step on applause lines, get lost in text and otherwise betray an unfamiliarity with a speech that this person must have practiced several times. Puh-lease. I might forgive a CEO for not speaking well, but a politician gets to office on an ability to connect with audiences.
Where are speech trainers when you need them?
Public speaking is something every senior executive should be able to do, and it is sad how few can. Of US CEOs I have heard recently, only one was compelling. That was Jeff Immelt of General Electric. He said he knew one speech, but it's good, and he kept his audience.
Other CEOs I have heard are earnest but unconvincing. It might be something in the timbre of their voices, their speed, the topics they discuss or phrases they use, but they don't come off.
Speaking shouldn't be that hard, but for many executives, it is. I suspect few US executives were ever formally trained in speaking -- and it shows.
How come politicians, for whom public speaking is a necessity, still cannot speak well?
I saw a speaker, who shall remain nameless, step on applause lines, get lost in text and otherwise betray an unfamiliarity with a speech that this person must have practiced several times. Puh-lease. I might forgive a CEO for not speaking well, but a politician gets to office on an ability to connect with audiences.
Where are speech trainers when you need them?
Public speaking is something every senior executive should be able to do, and it is sad how few can. Of US CEOs I have heard recently, only one was compelling. That was Jeff Immelt of General Electric. He said he knew one speech, but it's good, and he kept his audience.
Other CEOs I have heard are earnest but unconvincing. It might be something in the timbre of their voices, their speed, the topics they discuss or phrases they use, but they don't come off.
Speaking shouldn't be that hard, but for many executives, it is. I suspect few US executives were ever formally trained in speaking -- and it shows.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Wrong
I saw a show repeated last night on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" that dealt with guerrilla marketing. You know what this is. You hire cool 20-somethings and send them into bars or onto the streets to promote drinks or cigarettes or something else without ever telling anyone they are in the employ of a company.
The purveyors of such marketing say young people don't want to know they are being sold, but they appreciate the sales pitch. Huh, what? You can sell me as long as you don't tell me you are selling me? I suppose that could be true, but I don't believe it. Eventually, someone wises up and then, he or she is irritated and/or suspicious of anyone who tells them anything. "You're selling me, right?"
That is why in PR we call for transparency in who we are and what we do. We believe credibility depends on truthfulness from the outset. From a purely selfish point of view, maintaining credibility with a customer is an essential element in keeping a long-term relationship with that customer.
There have been and continue to be PR practitioners who masquerade, and they should be condemned. I dislike especially those who enter chat rooms and talk up movies and other products without revealing who they are.
It seems to me, however, that one can do this ethically without crossing a line. For example, one can ask if anyone has seen the movie. That, it seems to me, is not promotion. It is trolling, which some find objectionable. (For those who do not know trolling, it is a technique of asking questions or making statements to elicit comments.) To me trolling done rightly is OK because one doesn't betray feelings or promote. One simply raises a question and listens to comments. One should be prepared to hear cutting remarks about a topic in which he or she is invested. That's a chance one takes. And, if one is asked whether he or she is in the employ of a company, the troller should answer truthfully.
But trolling is a niche of guerrilla marketing that for the most part is unethical. My guess is that if guerrilla marketing grows to any size at all, there will be a legislative move to force marketers to divulge who they are and what they selling in all instances. Of course, that would end guerrilla marketing as we know it. As a PR practitioner, I would applaud that.
The purveyors of such marketing say young people don't want to know they are being sold, but they appreciate the sales pitch. Huh, what? You can sell me as long as you don't tell me you are selling me? I suppose that could be true, but I don't believe it. Eventually, someone wises up and then, he or she is irritated and/or suspicious of anyone who tells them anything. "You're selling me, right?"
That is why in PR we call for transparency in who we are and what we do. We believe credibility depends on truthfulness from the outset. From a purely selfish point of view, maintaining credibility with a customer is an essential element in keeping a long-term relationship with that customer.
There have been and continue to be PR practitioners who masquerade, and they should be condemned. I dislike especially those who enter chat rooms and talk up movies and other products without revealing who they are.
It seems to me, however, that one can do this ethically without crossing a line. For example, one can ask if anyone has seen the movie. That, it seems to me, is not promotion. It is trolling, which some find objectionable. (For those who do not know trolling, it is a technique of asking questions or making statements to elicit comments.) To me trolling done rightly is OK because one doesn't betray feelings or promote. One simply raises a question and listens to comments. One should be prepared to hear cutting remarks about a topic in which he or she is invested. That's a chance one takes. And, if one is asked whether he or she is in the employ of a company, the troller should answer truthfully.
But trolling is a niche of guerrilla marketing that for the most part is unethical. My guess is that if guerrilla marketing grows to any size at all, there will be a legislative move to force marketers to divulge who they are and what they selling in all instances. Of course, that would end guerrilla marketing as we know it. As a PR practitioner, I would applaud that.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Say It Loud, Say It Often
One of my favorite blogs is Rhetorica. This site features commentary on "rhetoric, propaganda, and spin of journalism and politics, including analysis of presidential speeches and election campaigns" to quote the author, Andrew R. Cline, Ph.D. Dr. Cline asks the kinds of questions that PR practitioners should be addressing to clients.
An entry from July 21 struck me as illuminating at least one PR technique. Dr. Cline was commenting on an entry at www.campaigndesk.org, another great site, about the "millionaire"tag that keeps being hung on John Kerry and John Edwards. The point made was that Republicans are careful to keep that theme in front of the media, and the media are reporting it. Dr. Cline's comment was "Take a memo...In other words, political reporters are a bunch of mindless stenographers."
Well, sometimes they are. But, it is a key point for PR practitioners to remember. If you hammer a theme long enough and the theme is tied to facts, the media will pick it up. There is a value in persistence in selling a message, and the temptation to get bored is one to avoid. Staying on message is not easy. It becomes automatic and passionless. One delivers messages by rote and not by mind. But, like actors and actresses in a long-running play, one has to find ways to make the same words sound interesting and fresh to a new audience every night.
There is nothing wrong with saying it loud and saying it often, if what you are saying is based on facts.
An entry from July 21 struck me as illuminating at least one PR technique. Dr. Cline was commenting on an entry at www.campaigndesk.org, another great site, about the "millionaire"tag that keeps being hung on John Kerry and John Edwards. The point made was that Republicans are careful to keep that theme in front of the media, and the media are reporting it. Dr. Cline's comment was "Take a memo...In other words, political reporters are a bunch of mindless stenographers."
Well, sometimes they are. But, it is a key point for PR practitioners to remember. If you hammer a theme long enough and the theme is tied to facts, the media will pick it up. There is a value in persistence in selling a message, and the temptation to get bored is one to avoid. Staying on message is not easy. It becomes automatic and passionless. One delivers messages by rote and not by mind. But, like actors and actresses in a long-running play, one has to find ways to make the same words sound interesting and fresh to a new audience every night.
There is nothing wrong with saying it loud and saying it often, if what you are saying is based on facts.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Creative Spin
I never thought the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was creative except in legal argumentation, but this little slide show demonstrates a side of the organization I didn't know.
It is an example of what might happen if one orders a pizza in an era when companies have collected data on individuals. The dialogue is long but funny, and the arrow moving about the mock computer screen provides an air of verisimilitude. Look too at some of the purchases the poor sap who is ordering pizza has made in the past. Those are just as funny and embarrassing.
While the ACLU has made its point, it is also an example of spin and not good PR. The data collection issue is far more complicated than the slide show would make it out to be. I've had some experience with large databases, and they are hellish to assemble and to maintain. The problem with the scenario as the ACLU shows it is that data is coming from multiple databases and multiple vendors. That is never easy to do, and one won't have to worry for some time that it could happen. The ACLU should have made a note of that.
On the other hand, complexity would have spoiled the point and the fun, so I understand why the ACLU made it look more frightening than it is or would be.
Still, it is an interesting job of spin, and one PR practitioners could take a tip or two from.
It is an example of what might happen if one orders a pizza in an era when companies have collected data on individuals. The dialogue is long but funny, and the arrow moving about the mock computer screen provides an air of verisimilitude. Look too at some of the purchases the poor sap who is ordering pizza has made in the past. Those are just as funny and embarrassing.
While the ACLU has made its point, it is also an example of spin and not good PR. The data collection issue is far more complicated than the slide show would make it out to be. I've had some experience with large databases, and they are hellish to assemble and to maintain. The problem with the scenario as the ACLU shows it is that data is coming from multiple databases and multiple vendors. That is never easy to do, and one won't have to worry for some time that it could happen. The ACLU should have made a note of that.
On the other hand, complexity would have spoiled the point and the fun, so I understand why the ACLU made it look more frightening than it is or would be.
Still, it is an interesting job of spin, and one PR practitioners could take a tip or two from.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
NIMBY Redux
It wasn't long ago that California suffered a major electricity crisis. The state ran short of power because it could not import any from areas that needed it for themselves. The state vowed it would build more power plants and power lines to make sure the shortage would never happen again.
Oh?
I picked up a story a day or two ago that shows "NOT-IN-MY-BACKYARD" is alive and well in California. In spite of all the public relations, government regulation and persuasion, homeowners still don't want power lines near them.
The complaint is bogus as far as science is concerned. It is a claim that one can get sick from living in magnetic fields near power lines. Homeowners are protesting a 230,000-volt line to be built near San Francisco. But that is not all. Homeowners on all routes for new power lines in Northern and Southern California are protesting angrily. "Put them anywhere, but not near me." The problem is that there aren't many other places to put them economically.
There is no public relations solution for this kind of fear and parochialism. Appealing to greater good is lost completely on someone who has a power line soaring feet from his or her property. The state has to do what it did. It approved the lines over protest.
There are limits to all communications. Sometimes you have to act.
Oh?
I picked up a story a day or two ago that shows "NOT-IN-MY-BACKYARD" is alive and well in California. In spite of all the public relations, government regulation and persuasion, homeowners still don't want power lines near them.
The complaint is bogus as far as science is concerned. It is a claim that one can get sick from living in magnetic fields near power lines. Homeowners are protesting a 230,000-volt line to be built near San Francisco. But that is not all. Homeowners on all routes for new power lines in Northern and Southern California are protesting angrily. "Put them anywhere, but not near me." The problem is that there aren't many other places to put them economically.
There is no public relations solution for this kind of fear and parochialism. Appealing to greater good is lost completely on someone who has a power line soaring feet from his or her property. The state has to do what it did. It approved the lines over protest.
There are limits to all communications. Sometimes you have to act.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Up for an Ignoble
Each year before the Nobel prizes are awarded, there is a mock ceremony bestowing Ignoble prizes for dubious research. I have a candidate for this year. It comes from a New Scientist story, and it falls under the "Duh" category.
Any PR practitioner could have told the scientist the answer he laboriously reached.
Are you ready? Here is the conclusion of recent research:
Computer glitches would be a lot less annoying if the machines were programmed to acknowledge errors gracefully when something goes wrong, instead of merely flashing up a brusque "you goofed" message. The trick, according to a researcher who has analyzed users' responses to their computers, is to make operating systems and software more "civilised"by saying sorry more often. That way people won't feel they are stupid or at fault, so they become less apprehensive about using computers, and perhaps more productive and creative.
Wow! A Taiwanese scientist conducted a large user study to come to this conclusion. What will scientists discover next -- if you maintain relationships with key publics you are likely to have a better organization overall?
Any PR practitioner could have told the scientist the answer he laboriously reached.
Are you ready? Here is the conclusion of recent research:
Computer glitches would be a lot less annoying if the machines were programmed to acknowledge errors gracefully when something goes wrong, instead of merely flashing up a brusque "you goofed" message. The trick, according to a researcher who has analyzed users' responses to their computers, is to make operating systems and software more "civilised"by saying sorry more often. That way people won't feel they are stupid or at fault, so they become less apprehensive about using computers, and perhaps more productive and creative.
Wow! A Taiwanese scientist conducted a large user study to come to this conclusion. What will scientists discover next -- if you maintain relationships with key publics you are likely to have a better organization overall?
Sunday, July 18, 2004
A Couple of Things
I've just posted a new paper for your consideration in the white papers section of online-pr.com. It is here. The topic is uncontrollable crisis. There are crises that one has everyday, and then, there are crises that are so sudden and severe a CEO has to worry about the future of the company. In uncontrollable crisis, there is little or nothing one can do in communications. It is a case of hanging on, doing the best one can and repairing damage when it is over -- if the organization survives.
I got to thinking about this topic because a client recently suffered through such a disaster. The client has come out OK, but no one would want to go through the experience again. Take a look at the paper: Let me know what you think.
Along this line, I have been thinking about cynicism. We are in a period culturally when altruism is held in suspicion, especially in the political world. I am working on a paper focusing on sour attitude and what PR practitioners can do about it, if anything. It may be that cynicism is healthy. That is an open question. I'll publish that paper soon, and you can have a crack at it too.
I don't expect everyone, or even anyone, to agree with articles in the "white papers" section of online-pr.com. It would be nice if the papers could spark arguments. Along that line, Global PR Blog Week 1.0 was tremendously successful. A hearty thank you to all who put it together. It would be nice to have more get-togethers like it.
I got to thinking about this topic because a client recently suffered through such a disaster. The client has come out OK, but no one would want to go through the experience again. Take a look at the paper: Let me know what you think.
Along this line, I have been thinking about cynicism. We are in a period culturally when altruism is held in suspicion, especially in the political world. I am working on a paper focusing on sour attitude and what PR practitioners can do about it, if anything. It may be that cynicism is healthy. That is an open question. I'll publish that paper soon, and you can have a crack at it too.
I don't expect everyone, or even anyone, to agree with articles in the "white papers" section of online-pr.com. It would be nice if the papers could spark arguments. Along that line, Global PR Blog Week 1.0 was tremendously successful. A hearty thank you to all who put it together. It would be nice to have more get-togethers like it.
