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Archives for April 2010

Word-of-Mouth, Toyota and Me

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I did a bit of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing yesterday asking my tweet stream for opinions in re my Toyota dilemma — buy my Toyota Highlander off lease, turn it in, buy another Toyota, or purchase a new brand altogether?

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal pushed me one step closer to the latter. I’m a fiercely brand loyal consumer; yet, all the news of voluntary recalls across the spectrum of Toyota vehicles has me increasingly nervous. In Toyota’s defense, my 2007 vehicle escaped floor mat and brake pedal recall, although the engine did rev while in park in the driveway.

A Twitter pal suggested I look at the Ford Freestyle and Volvo 90. So, I did and was impressed with both from the looks of Web marketing collateral. A family member has suggested the Chevy Traverse.

Then, I read McKinsey Quarterly: The Online Journal April 2010 article, “A New Way to Measure Word-of-Mouth Marketing,” and it got me thinking. Several statements are worth noting:

  • “WOM is the primary factor behind 20 to 25 percent of all purchasing decisions. Its influence is greatest when consumers are buying a product for the first time or when products are relatively expensive.”
  • “Consumers are overloaded and skeptical about traditional company-driven marketing and advertising and increasingly prefer to make purchasing decisions largely independent of what companies tell them.”

For anyone engaged in WOM marketing, Toyota owners (me included) are a classic audience for this channel of communication. I’ve already engaged with reliable sources within social media, and as a blogger, I’m asking for other opinions from readers which I’ll weigh and consider heavily. My trust in Toyota is waning, sadly, which means I’m seeking new information during a lengthy research phase that will influence my purchase.

Was Toyota transparent? No. Did it used to be trustworthy? Yes. Is it now? No. Does it deserve another chance? Not sure, and that’s where WOM comes in to play.

How has WOM affected your purchasing decisions of late? Is this truly a form of viable marketing, or is it just another label for something we consumers have been doing for years? Please, join the conversation!

Happy Anniversary, Terracom!

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In the ’90s, I was president of the Publicity Club of Chicago. I served on its board of directors six years, served on and chaired nearly every committee, won distinguished service awards and a Silver Trumpet, and met some amazing colleagues who are now friends.

One of these dear women is Christine Esposito, founder of Terracom Public Relations in Chicago.

Because I can, right here in my treasured space, I am blowing a Golden Trumpet in honor of Terracom’s 20th year in environmental public relations. As Earth Day hits 40 this month, Christine hits 20 green years. Happy Anniversary, Lady!

Christine is one of the most vibrant women and consummate professionals within our trade. Why she impresses me has much to do with her moxie in self-promotion. As a SMB, marketing is a challenging task we all love to hate; Christine makes it go as smooth as silk.

  • She’s been pitching stories about herself to Chicago media; I even flagged her mention in U.S. News & World Report as a spokesperson on green, recently.
  • She launched a Facebook fan page I encourage you to join.
  • She became a Twitter pal, and we are frequently connected.
  • She just launched her latest installment in celebratory marketing with a video (accessible on Facebook with link above) — putting herself in front of a camera to wax poetic about the founding and growth of her business over 20 years.

Today, I gift unto you deserved recognition, Ms. Esposito, for your two decades as a successfully green and sustainable womenpreneur, colleague and friend. Congrats!

Terracom Public Relations advances the goals of nonprofit organizations, government agencies and small to mid-sized companies through strategic public relations and marketing communications. Christine Esposito, President

Irony of Dirt, Circles and Perhaps Social Media

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Sweeping the garage and emptying the dryer lint trap got me thinking again about the irony of dirt (work with me here) because blogging makes me listen and think differently.

Dirt and circles are constants in our lives (can I draw a correlation to social media?). Let me share how:

  • What you sweep outside rolls back in to be re-swept.
  • The lint you empty flies through air to land again inside.
  • “Everything comes full circle.”
  • “Spheres of influence,” and “What goes around, comes around.”
  • “Let’s circle back and re-visit that one again.”
  • “What’s old is new again.”

Here’s the jump…

The center of the circle in which we in marketing public relations and integrated online and social media are functioning includes daily scurry to learn the latest trend, use it and differentiate. It includes our need to learn and be leaders for those audiences expecting that expertise.

On the outskirts of the circle, however, are clients, colleagues, peers, and end users who are not on board, are confused, and cannot make the jump to the center to ride the wave with us.

Circle back, people. Re-introduce what’s old and make it new again. Dust off campaigns of yore that are familiar and add a social media inside to sweeten the deal. Ensure that basics are included in client deliverables so that all tactics blend.

Not all dirt is dirty. Dig deep into your sphere of influence and make what’s old new again.

Who Owns Blogs?

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Thought I could avoid this controversial topic of ownership, but why not further stick out the neck after blogging here that “Public Relations Drives Marketing?”

The hackles most raised by that post were those of Mr. Mark W. Schaefer, blogger extraordinaire at {grow}. Yesterday, Mark returned the favor while leading a Webinar on B2B blogging I attended.

To the question posed by the audience “Who owns blogs, public relations or marketing?” Mark prefaced his answer with “My PR friends are going to kill me…marketing owns blogs!” He suggested public relations can draft content all it wants, but marketing owns the strategy.

Because I tweeted the Webinar (can’t sit idle during those things) at #b2bblog, others weighed in. @NEMultimedia said “I see PR and Marketing as two sides of the same brain.” @X_youarehere said,” No 1 owns communications, but there are many…change own to coordinate.”

I concur with that statement Mr./Ms. X with a change from “coordinate” to “lead or direct.” We’re at a crossroads, and this ownership question continues to rear its ugly head. I report to a client’s brand marketing team, and I direct strategy and content for landing pages, blogs, social media, and more.  While I don’t own it, I certainly collaborate with marketing.

I vow, as of today, never to claim ownership of blogs, social media or other; rather, I’ll claim partnership. In Mr. Schaefer’s defense, he did respond to my tweet questioning his marketing-owns-blogs statement saying “we can agree to disagree only if he’s right.” (No way, dude, we both are! There, how’s that for starters?)

What’s your contribution to this discussion?  Let’s establish future guidelines for all of us.

Defining Public Relations

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On so many blogs I see the definition of public relations is confusing to folks, especially since the advent of social media. I’m not surprised; I’ve spent the last 26 years educating people about what I do and expect to spend the next 26 years doing the same.

What I can share is my passion:

  • I’m the most fortunate woman to have landed in a profession (quite by chance rather than choosing) that is always evolving and allows me to learn so little about so much.
  • I dabble in all industries and all shapes and structures of companies and organizations.
  • The explosion of new channels to communicate allows public relations to assess metrics, monitor the conversation, measure, and adjust strategy to engage tiered audiences.
  • Limitless opportunities exist to influence business goals with strategic and creative marketing public relations strategy.
  • My passion for public relations is palpable; every day, week, month, year are different and energy-filled – no sameness, no boredom, just a never-ending quest for higher learning.

That’s my somewhat description; let me share an author’s opinions who wrote a book on public relations in 2000. is author of “.”  In his book, he references Thomas L. Harris, author of , who brought us the term “marketing public relations,” which I love and am now using to show the blending of marketing with public relations.

  • Chapter one, line one in Mr. Saffir’s book states “In the corporation of the 21st century, public relations will rank higher than advertising.”  Line two states “CEOs of major companies will come out of the public relations field.”  (I love these powerful book-opening statements!)
  • I wrote in a recent blog post “.” If that’s so, which I firmly believe, then what drives public relations? Mr. Saffir says “Creativity and ingenuity drive public relations.”
  • More insights from Mr. Saffir include:
    • “Public relations has grown into a full-fledged discipline with the power and reliability to influence perception.”
    • The primary goal of public relations may be to “shape the broader context within which publics in general or specific target publics form opinions and make decisions.”
    • “While marketing identifies customer needs and satisfies them at a profit, public relations produces goodwill among various publics whose goodwill is important to the organization.”
    • Here’s a comment that might raise a few hairs – “Public relations is a discipline and marketing is a task to be accomplished by various disciplines in the corporation – sales, sales promotion, merchandising, marketing research, advertising and public relations.” (Interesting! Do you agree?)

What’s your definition of public relations? On the flip, perhaps it’s not necessary to clarify; mysticism is good!