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Using a Holistic Approach in Public Relations

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The May 3, 2010 BtoB story on Microsoft’s marketing reorganization earlier this year struck me a bit odd. Microsoft is executing a new, more holistic approach with its agencies by working horizontally across all campaigns to be more collaborative. The old Microsoft way was to brief agencies and then wait until they returned with impressive creative.

Collaboration breeds success, and this is why I was taken aback with the Microsoft story. No agency functions well without full disclosure (or close to it) and understanding of a client’s business, services, products, people, stories, and goals. While the Microsoft story in BtoB magazine was about marketing and advertising agencies, a collaborative approach applies across disciplines.

When in a client/agency relationship, public relations succeeds when there’s give and take. I’ve been in a one-way client/agency relationship (as the agency), and it went poorly; nobody wins.

Perhaps there needs to be more understanding how to work a new relationship at the onset. Here are some basic suggestions to put a win-win approach in place when hiring a public relations team:

  1. Clients should appoint a day-to-day point of contact for the agency. This person should be a middle-manager or director level with some decision-making power.
  2. The public relations team should be introduced to internal client teams and be allowed some maneuverability within the company.  
  3. Keep public relations teams informed at all times about what’s happening internally. Add outside public relations teams to distribution lists and forward background frequently. 
  4. Feed and fuel the relationship with discussions about current events and how global and national news impact the company.
  5. Invite the public relations team to internal meetings with marketing and sales.
  6. Understand that public relations continually develops strategy based on new information. Information sharing keeps high-level strategy and program execution at a fast and results-driven pace.

What other tips can you add to help a client/agency relationship succeed?

Vehicle Buying Habits

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I’m impressed with my impression of how much a story (good old traditional media relations) in Fast Company has me eager to explore a Ford as my next vehicle. Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to say that; my grampa drove Ford (enough said!).

Back step a minute…

The quest is on for a 7-passenger SUV (not a soccer mom mini-van, please, although I do coach my daughter’s team) that may or not remain a Toyota. The more news I consume, the more confused I am about which direction to head. Factors strongly in the nay column are companies that accepted government bailout monies we taxpayers funded, as well as the overall  health of the corporation (GM? Nope).

I certainly won’t end up “like” Simon…

Simon Dumenco is (sdumenco@adage.com) The Media Guy for Advertising Age. In his opinion column April 12 he writes “What a pathetic, passive, compliant consumer I’ve become! Like, over there, in the kitchen: my incredibly easy-to-use Senseo coffeemaker, which I thought I loved. But it only accepts certain kinds of coffee pods. How devious! And my sleek Braun toaster: Sure, it can accommodate sliced bread and bagels, but could I cook a pot roast with it? No! Does it have a camera? No!”

I’m fiercely loyal to Toyota and have always loved my three-row Highlander from the get go. According to Advertising Age, Toyota sold more cars in March than it did in January and February combined. The “impressive bump” is a credit to the brand’s “almost fanatical consumer base and bargain hunters.”

Case Study with Self

I decided to use my own situation as a case study in consumer-buying habits. As I move through the steps toward this large purchase decision, I’ll share the various communications channels I’m using to get there.  To date:

  • Word-of-mouth marketing — Twitter helped direct me to Ford and Volvo 90. After taking a look, I was impressed by both and swayed by the Volvo brand.
  • A comment on this blog directed me away from Volvo because it’s being sold (don’t want to be stuck like Saturn owners).
  • Upon reading the April Fast Company story, “Ford’s Big Reveal, The next generation of Ford’s Sync technology will turn its cars into rolling, talking, socially networked, cloud-connected supermachines. Introducing America’s most surprising consumer-electronics company.” (And that’s merely the headline!)
  • In a nutshell, Ford’s alliance with Microsoft is bringing leading-edge connectivity to its now pared down and more manageable line of vehicles.  Voice- enabled and hands-free phone dialing and answering, music selection, navigation, climate control, and so much more are putting Ford vehicles ahead of the curve.  
  • Worth looking at, don’t you think? Then again, perhaps the thought of owning a talking car like David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider is what’s compelling.
  • Two soccer moms sat in their Toyota Sequoia monstrosities (I think they were matching). Upon walking up to them (windows were down) I queried them about Toyota. Immediately, they both said, “I’d buy another Toyota in a heartbeat, the problem has been fixed already!”

Indeed.

Blogger’s Reflection

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Today’s post is much about balance and harmony – finding that Holy Grail of work/life balance that feels so unattainable. The news does nothing for that – Greece, oil and environment, terrorism plots foiled and more coming, financial reform, Congressional fighting, product safety, health fears and obesity, greed and need of money, taxes and audits.

And, then, there’s the blogosphere. I’m new; this is my 45th post. I’m a mere babe still trying to find a voice and perfect a direction and target audience.

Blogging is thrilling, pressurized, heady, demoralizing, and a confidence boost or confidence bother. It’s exactly what you make it, how you regard it, and how you address the emotions that come with it and people who insert their opinions.

Those whom you’ll meet on the path may love what you say, disagree wholeheartedly, perplex you with a comment, suggest foolishness to content or writing style, and pressure you to think outside the box.  It’s what makes blogging real, and pushes you to improve with every post. 

Reading others’ blogs religiously may be a blogger’s biggest idea killer. Keeping up with the Jones’s and developing a topic that resonates with everyone is impossible. Writing style either nods heads or provokes consternation. Content ticks someone off, or pushes someone to tell a story of their own in agreement.

Here are more of my Blogging 101 tips to add to those I developed early on:

  • Select a topic that jazzes you, not one that everyone else is writing about that day or week.
  • Regard comments as enrichments to the conversation; consider these perspectives as fodder for thought, further content, an opportunity to stick to your guns or alter your own opinion.
  • Be of healthy mind when opening yourself to the world.  Comments can get under your skin and raise doubt or make you soar with the excitement of the post (I loved the Nestle and Greenpeace posts).
  • Be wary of those who seek to dismantle your inner serenity and sense of self but be open to the perspectives that push thinking to a higher plateau.
  • Take a day off; no one is asking for 7-days a week of posts. Find your own healthy rhythm, and when it feels like a chore, take a closer look at from where those emotions are coming.

Attaining 100 percent compatibility with the world is unattainable; if that’s anyone’s blogging goal then find another way to express yourself.

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.