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Archives for April 2010

Public Relations Good, Not Bad

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In public relations, like many other disciplines, there are leaders and followers. There are generalists and specialists; strategists and tacticians. There are those who engage in social media and want to be on the leading edge and offer it to clients nascent in their understanding. There are practitioners seasoned and mid-level hanging on for dear life to the apron strings of traditional public relations, hoping to stave off the inevitable.  

We’re in the early stages of a public relations boom.

“Employment of public relations specialists is expected to grow 24 percent from 2008 to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations. The need for good public relations in an increasingly competitive and global business environment should spur demand…,” says the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics .

At any given moment, among the some 1 million people working in public relations today (a Google 2003 stat had our profession at 600,000 to 800,000), there are extremes of experience, expertise and capabilities. No surprise.

Throughout my career, folks have appreciated putting public relations under the spotlight – pointing fingers at the ineptitude that inevitably embarrasses us all. Some of my favorites – we “can’t write,” we blast journalists with the same pitch then call to ask “did you get my press release?”

You can read the impressively credentialed brand strategist  negative opinions on about the . The post comments bring to life the two extremes – marketers who judge generally the caliber, expertise and ROI of PR and agencies defending our position.

Unfortunately, as a strategist, leader and 100 percent adopter of social media to enhance my public relations offering, my exasperation about these blanket generalizations is par for the course. (I’m sure there’s a Pareto Principle stat that applies here somehow.)

Nothing has changed for 26 years in this regard except my passion for public relations is solidified daily; we are a stronger discipline; we are invited to the table earlier; we are fueling and leading campaign strategy with marketing in step; and, the incredible opportunity social media brings to program development makes our field one of the most exciting in which to work.

So why the doubt? Good public relations. I know from experience public relations, when done well and supported by sound strategy, contributes to attainment of business goals with measurable ROI. We need more good PR to squash the conversation about those among us doing it poorly.

I’m all in; anyone else along for the ride?

Thinking Social Media

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Danny Brown’s blog post April 27 “Are you a shadow or beacon?” was my first ponder of the day yesterday. His reflective content and imagery was about choosing a social media path of leader rather than follower.

Through the day, I RT’ed  a Danny tweet, and then clicked on a link he thought important enough to RT. I was directed to Social Media Today; lo, a Danny Brown comment just ahead of mine.

It sure felt like I was Danny’s shadow yesterday, and I don’t always mind. There are leaders in social media I appreciate rubbing shoulders with as I’ve a long way to go to reach that echelon; or do I?

Mack Collier posted at Social Media Today “Want to be a social media expert? Break stuff.” With his 2500+ views and 76 tweets (at the time of this writing), he encourages social media is still new, the “rules” are meant to be broken to see what works and what doesn’t. Mastery, says Mack, is inconceivable (paraphrasing here); “when you think you’ve got it mastered, mix things up.”

According to Mack, I might be an expert already. In the name of social media:

  • I’ve broken the Headway WordPress theme (my blogging nightmare).
  • I lost a domain name once and had to pay exorbitantly to buy it back.
  • I uploaded some php files onto my shared server only to forget which are active and which ought to be deleted.

My actions yesterday bumping in to Danny Brown position me as somewhat of a follower, but not by design; Mack Collier’s post suggests I’m a jack of all trades and master of none. (That’s why I’m in public relations — blending social media with traditional public relations and marketing to positively influence business strategy — so I get to know a little about a lot.)

My attempt here is to bridge two musings, both apropos, that offer thoughts on social media engagement, leadership and mastery. Is it necessary to affix a label and define oneself? I believe human nature drives us there; case in point — the objective statement on your very own resume.

Maybe you can provide a deeper dive from your own experiences and help me spring this conversation loose?  There’s a germ of something here, I tell you.

Pepsi & Whose Accountability?

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I wrote recently about Pepsi and Waste Management’s big thrust into kiosk recycling with points awarded to those who deposit their trash. My post was on the strength of the media relations results I saw supporting the launch strategy; impressive. This week’s newly designed and jam-packed Bloomberg BusinessWeek also boasted a story hit for the partnership’s new recycling program – another huge win for public relations.

On the flip side, my blog post sparked a comment that Pepsi was contributing to obesity in the U.S.; the writer was none too happy with my “good job, Pepsi marketing public relations kudos.”

He got me thinking.

Via Fast Company, April; "Made to Stick" Courtesy of New York City Health Department

When I saw the April Fast Company “Made to Stick” column written by Dan Heath and Chip Heath, it was time to put these brain spurts into a semblance of something. The Heaths suggested soda pop may be the next venue for health wars. Gotta love Fast Company headlines that tell the whole story, “After seeing a strikingly effective ad campaign, (the Heaths) wonder whether sodas will be the next cigarettes.”

Back in my Chicago agency days, I represented the National Association of Concessionaires when the Center for Science in the Public Interest attacked the food chain one fat gram after another. The NAC was targeted for theater popcorn – the highly salted, loaded-with-butter, heart-attack-waiting-to-happen snack. Chinese food was next in line.

Where’s  corporate responsibility in this world? Is it a company’s mission to ensure the products it manufactures are healthy, low-fat, low-sugar and contribute to the overall wellness of the nation? Or, isn’t it?

How about the other factor in this equation = you + me. What we place in our mouth has a lot to do with choice. Whether we elect to live life on the couch is all about self-accountability. Is it a corporation’s business to ensure my healthy future or should I be accountable, too?

(P.S. In my late-night reading, I tore from the May Scientific American a Perspectives column, “Underage, Overweight; The federal government needs to halt the marketing of unhealthy foods to kids.”

It’s a can of worms, Folks; you be the judge.

(Thanks to Michelle Hellyar for her low- calorie, low- sugar, low-fat  brain power on this.)

Storytelling and Dolls

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Photo by Jamie Chung, Fast Company

A story in the April Fast Company has me thinking three ways:

When Mattel’s Barbie celebrated her 40th birthday, and my colleague and I represented the American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons as its public relations firm for three years, the opportunity was too good to pass up.

My idea was to issue a press release on PR Newswire blasting Barbie for still wearing high heels every day through her fourth decade. The podiatric surgeons were none too pleased the media preferred to invite comments about Barbie’s footgear over their technologically advanced titanium implants.

Because my daughter was an early adopter of all things Bratz (those too sexy dolls that rivaled Barbie), and I followed progress of the legal battle between the two companies for intellectual property rights (Mattel won), I was eager to learn more about the new Liv dolls by Spin Master Toys.

I tore the Fast Company story for future reference. Upon a second glance at the headline, I was struck — “Watch Your Back, Barbie!!! How Spin Master Toys created the hit Liv dolls, a thoroughly modern marriage of tech, storytelling and 21st-century marketing that has industry giant Mattel looking over its shoulder.” (And, that’s just the headline.)

Storytelling! Forget about Barbie’s high heels and Bratz. Storytelling!

Spin Master Toys offers a perfect example of the role storytelling plays in brand development prior to product launch.

The new team hired by Spin Master developed a narrative for the four dolls in the collection BEFORE the dolls had a name. The team created an imaginary high school, and characteristics for each girl doll were inspired from teen behavior observed at surf shops, malls and frozen yogurt stands. Diversity was added to the story (rather than just in the skin tone and facial features of the dolls themselves) which directly aligned with toy industry trends about how little girls play. The back story for each Liv doll was a critical component of the go-to-market strategy.

Enter media relations.

With storytelling on the marketing and brand side of things aimed at the end user, public relations can pick up and add that rich flavor to content we develop to tell a story to a middle gatekeeper of news (in essence, we’re selling the story with a pitch).

Seeing this reference to storytelling prominently in the headline of a major business publication is a thoughtful exercise in looking at products differently. While public relations may not engage in consumer storytelling when pitching the media, you can bet we will engage in consumer storytelling within the realm of social media.

What examples might you have about how storytelling impacted a product launch, media relations situation, or social media opportunity? While you’re thinking, I’m going to take another look at Liv dolls at Target today.

PepsiCo And Its Earth Day Trifecta

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Had another post all ready to go, and then I opened today’s Wall Street Journal which changed everything.

PepsiCo (and Waste Management) announced yesterday a recycling program called Dream Machine with kiosks that reward users. I didn’t know this until just now. Back track to earlier this morning when I was scanning the morning paper:

Full-Page Advertisement

PepsiCo announced a new recycling program today that I first learned about in a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal in section one.

  • The ad appealed to me because our family voraciously recycles down to a worry about #4 plastics and how we can properly dispose of them.
  • I wondered how I could participate, get a dream machine for me, and whether I had to drink Pepsi to be on board (no pop consumed in my home).
  • The ad piqued my interest on the first viewing; great stats for ROI.

Social Media

The link in the ad referred me to the Dream Machine Facebook page. I tore the page to reference the url later. (I just visited the page and became a fan; 355 members to date — not too many, but enough, considering the program launched April 21. The page is incredibly well done with multi-media.)

Media Relations

Jump to Wall Street Journal in  “Corporate News.” Here’s the light bulb…PepsiCo in Recycling Push, a corner, above the fold story about the Fortune 50 company (along with NYSE: WM), announcing its new Dream Machine program.

  • “Up to 3,000 kiosks are to be put in high-traffic places this year, with incentives for consumers,” says the story call out.
  • “Every time you recycle with a PepsiCo dream machine, we’ll make a donation to help disabled veterans start their own businesses,” says the full-page advertisement.

Why is this significant? Take a look at timing with Earth Day. Look at the integrated marketing strategy with the blending of advertising, public relations, media relations, social media and thought leadership, among many others I’ve not discovered.

I applaud the marketing, advertising, public relations teams (corporate and agency) for their integrated and highly strategic work to launch what impresses me as a campaign exactly right for the time. Review its audiences (disabled vets, eco-conscious consumers, future consumers, Facebookers, corporate partners, stakeholders, and so many more). There’s something in this campaign that resonates with a plethora of audiences.

Nicely done, PepsiCo; nicely done.