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Digital Marketing Strategy, PR and Messaging

Soulati-'TUDE!

Social Media, PR and Greenpeace

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Credit: Greenpeace

Here’s a brand everyone loves to hate or loves to love. Regardless of your perspective, you’ve got to admire how is using social media and grassroots marketing for its cause.

Earlier this year, I wrote several times and about the palm oil debacle. The world watched as a video went viral (in this case I prefer to use “viral” versus “word-of-mouth”). It included the bloody end of an orangutan finger posing as a Nestle Kit Kat chocolate bar (bitten by an unsuspecting actor).

My posts captured the situation as it unfolded – the non-profit taking on the likes of global behemoths (along with Unilever, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, and the list goes on and on) about of the rain forest by palm-oil manufacturer Sinar Mas. I read coverage in the Wall Street Journal that announced a third-party audit by Sinar Mas to clear its name only to have a comment on my blog inform me the report was fraudulent.

For as long as I can remember, Greenpeace has capitalized on every marketing and public relations tactic available to push its message to the masses and take on corporate America. Last week in the Denver airport, I was greeted on the main concourse by two Greenpeace volunteers. These kids were early 20s, and the woman I spoke with was buoyant and engaging with piercings in various facial places and spiky black hair (just sayin’).

She and her buddy were doing grassroots marketing in a high-traffic location to engage folks in the their cause – to save the rain forest by “outing” corporate America’s massive use of palm oil. I informed her I had blogged twice when the group took on Nestle and Unilever; I also opined the Greenpeace  viral video was vile. (At that she looked a bit sheepish.)

She asked if I had visited its Web site to see what they were doing, and she asked me to join its cause.

I respectfully declined saying I intended to stay neutral until I was more informed, although I was likely the most-informed passerby that whole day. Had I made a donation to Greenpeace then or registered to join its cause, I knew I would need to also alter purchasing from the corporate giants Greenpeace disdains. I wasn’t ready to make that change nor did I want to be a hypocrite.

I am suitably impressed by the audacious, activist, committed, aggressive public relations by Greenpeace. I’ve watched it unfold since the beginning of my PR career more than two decades ago.  Look at the Greenpeace model:

  • It adopts a cause and uses every tier and tactic of marketing communications powered now by social media.
  • By adopting social media, Greenpeace has hit more than just pockets of activist- oriented and like-minded consumers; it has filtered its message through the masses on blogs, Facebook, Twitter and My Space.
  • It has not ignored tried-and-true grassroots marketing – the face-to-face interpersonal communication at airports in which its headquarters resides, for example. It collects names, commentary, memberships, registrations, subscriptions, and donations one by one, just like a political campaign.

For any company and not-for-profit seeking tips how to implement marketing tactics with the aplomb of Greenpeace, head to the Denver Airport for a reminder.

Follow-Up: SMB Chat Forum

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An intellectual team of tweeps I know have been helping formulate an idea rapid fire to launch a forum for SMBs that allows small and medium businesses to opine about topics relating to business operations, national issues affecting business owners, education about topics we specialize in, and so much more.

This week has been the jazziest for me. With incredible brainstorming done via Twitter and on this blog (you can see Wednesday’s post “Planning to SMB Facebook” with its amazing comments) and an even more solidifying conversation with Neicole Crepeau (with whom this nugget originated), this is a final follow-up to evolution of this idea.

The fast unfolding of this concept (resulting in a decision to make this blog home to #SMBChat) was stymied by discussion around the consequence of switching blog focus and key words that would inevitably harm search engine rankings. Befuddled in my PR mind, I could not understand what the big dang hooha is about rankings and search marketing for this blog.

Several expert comments by Neicole, Michelle Quillin and Gregg Morris suggested not to turn this blog into something that diminishes traffic and rankings for public relations and social media (themes I write about) or to write half about these themes and half about SMBs.

I remained baffled, and here’s why:

This blog ain’t got no traffic(!), and, if it does, it’s sure hidden from me. Soulati-TUDE! is 100 posts old; has perhaps four subscribers from maybe an all-time high of 12; targets SMB topics a goodly amount of time with an educational bent; is written by a PR agency practitioner of 26 years (that’s me) who pings on a plethora of topics to position and brand as a thought leader.

I understand why Gregg Morris who themes on storytelling could not diminish his rankings with something like this; he’s all over that key word and works hard to maintain his presence and position.

I understand why Neicole Crepeau at Coherent Interactive needs to keep her key words focused on Web sites, design, digital interaction, and social media. That’s where her niche is.

But, guys, I’m in PR!! Public relations is ubiquitous. My world spans every industry and business sector. I deliver strategy, critical thinking, problem solving and solutions. I ping across verticals like a ball on a rubber band attached to a paddle. I offer business counsel for SMBs, large corporations and non-profits. I develop content and allow the experts to optimize it. After 26 years in this field, I can take the risk of a few ranking points while creating a mash up of public relations, social media, SMBs, health care, education, immigration, financial reform and whatever the mood strikes.

Everyone I meet on Twitter is a SMB; we are not engaging and creating community with corporate biggies and Fortune companies, are we? Look at your stream; who among them are global corporate execs?

The goal for #SMBChat Forum is to create community of like-minded folks frustrated with issues that affect our businesses so we can share opinions, perspectives, solutions, and support.  Perhaps along the way we can tackle tough issues, stake a claim on our own plat of the Internet and foster harmony at the same time. With guest posts from a variety of folks with differing views and businesses from all corners of the globe, we can do just that.

Perhaps I can rename the blog with a tagline to be Soulati-TUDE! Home of #SMBChat Forum (or the Big Whopper).

If I find a consistent voice oriented to the issues that plague us, isn’t that the most critical component?

JetBlue Flight Attendant, Social Media and Jobs

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Slater quits JetBlue after luggage lands on head

Just read the current Bloomberg Businessweek to arrive in the mail (I do like magazines). Its first story about the “Mad As Hell” JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater caught my eye and that of the rest of America, too.

To bring you up to speed, he quit his job in a flamboyant way, over the plane’s PA system to “curse a rude customer whose bag landed on his head, politely thanking other passengers, grabbing two beers from the galley before sliding down the inflatable emergency chute and sprinting toward home.”

What did America do in response? APPLAUD! And, social media erupted.

Facebook pages attracting 18,000+ fans with 211,000 likes lauded his gutsy move to quit a 20-year career in the airline industry. Others lamented their lack of nerve to do the same.

While Slater ponders a possible seven years in prison for criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, companies should ponder the entire real-life situation. Social media is not attacking JetBlue in this case; luckily the employer had nothing to do with this incident – or did they?

 I think there may be some culpability on the company’s part; however, not in a financial or legal way…here’s how.

Everyone is aware of the state of the ever-worsening economy. Those with jobs are coping with workloads overflowing and work-life balance in disarray.  Companies with a majority of frontline sales and customer service reps need to examine how they keep employees’ tempers in check when hazards of the job cause stress eruptions.

It may be easier for teleservice representatives to maintain composure, but the airline industry, retail, health care and professional services, for example, should look at new programs to de-stress frontline employees.

When was the last time you interacted with a customer service rep face to face? Was the experience professional, calm, satisfactory? Hopefully, it was because employees are not trained in social work or psychology and really don’t know how to handle other peoples’ stress beyond their own (even that’s suspect).

  • Perhaps workers who engage the public as frontline ambassadors should experience a friendly course in anger management for non-offenders.
  • Maybe employers can pop for a hotel getaway on the company to help de-stress frontline workers.
  • What about engaging a company-wide spa day? That would jolt a niche of the economy, wouldn’t it?

What do you think about Steven Slater’s decision to toss a job down the chute and contemplate prison garb in the not-too-distant future?

This is fascinating, and he, too, has hired a publicist; just like the post I wrote about Mark Hurd of H-P who has a PR firm on board to manage their celebrity.

(photo credit courtesy of Facebook)

Former H-P CEO Hires PR Firm; Lesson for Tiger

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Mark Hurd in 2009 (Credit: Mark Peterson)

By now, you’ve read the unfolding story of former H-P CEO Mark Hurd asked to resign a week ago due to some “I-did-not-have- sex-with-that-woman” snafu. What you likely haven’t heard about Hurd is the truth. The H-P board of directors is already bored with the entire scandal, and instead of releasing the truth behind the untruth, everyone is left to guess why the lack of transparency.

In the wake of the crisis, Mark Hurd hired Sitrick Public Relations of Los Angeles to help influence his brand and maintain his positive image as we await the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 

Is Hurd’s hiring of the PR firm Paris Hilton uses a smart thing? Or, is it squarely an admission of guilt? If anyone needed to hire a PR firm, it’s former-presidential-hopeful -now-fallen-star John Edwards or Governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford.

That’s an interesting move by Hurd to hire my peers in Los Angeles. Stories in the Wall Street Journal suggest he did it to pave the way for future employment and to set the unbalanced record straight.

My first impression was that Hurd is hiding something and that his decision to hire PR is an admission of guilt beyond a faulty expense account and a “close personal relationship” with Jodie Fisher, actress turned hostess. Let’s use Tiger Woods as an example.

Tiger’s crisis unfolded via a front-man gatekeeper who was a criminal attorney. No PR team in place to help craft the message in the immediate aftermath of Tiger’s early morning crash turned sex scandal extraordinaire.  If Tiger had hired a public relations team to help with his horrendous image, perhaps he’d be farther along on the pathway to repair than where he’s floundering now.

Back to Mark Hurd. At the time of this writing, the man is apparently not that guilty; yet, he hires a public relations firm to be the frontline spokespeople on his behalf. EXTREMELY SMART.

I love that Hurd turned immediately to PR as his frontline support and crisis team. I expect Hurd’s lawyer is also on that team, but the Wall Street Journal prominently featured a Sitrick spokesperson in its story and not a lawyer.

The “Smart Money” column in the Wall Street Journal by James B. Stewart on August 11, 2010 is a can’t-miss read.  I appreciate Stewart’s candor and blunt talk about transparency at H-P, “Hewlett-Packard Still Can’t Handle the Truth” on August 11, 2010. Nothing for H-P to be happy about, Stewart suggests investors avoid H-P stock. The $35 million exit package paid to the fired Hurd, the lack of transparency by H-P, and ridiculous way this situation is being handled have all created a nose dive for H-P stock. This week, $8.7 billion was shaved off H-P’s market value. (Seriously?)

I hope H-P is taking lessons from its former CEO. It should have a full-court press in investor relations, public relations, crisis communications along with social media strategies front and center to reverse its embarrassing downward spiral.  

What’s your impression of yet another sex scandal plaguing corporate America and government?

How Does PR Happen?

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Excellence is defined by the ability to deliver one’s craft with leading-edge knowledge. It’s the ability to strategize a program quickly based on current events. Problem solving is part of the equation; as a strategist one needs to know the steps to make things right, improved, and fail-safe (in a perfect world). High-quality public relations is knowledge gleaned and tapped that adds to credibility and reliability as a counselor.

So, how does this happen…the attainment of public relations excellence?

The Public Relations Society of America has a rigorous certification course that puts a nice little acronym after your name – the APR designation (accredited in public relations). If I dug deeply, I’d be able to find the number of folks who’ve elected to join the group locally and nationally, apply for and be accepted into the course, pay, study and receive the deserved commendation.

As for me, PR happens because I have a thirst for knowledge about everything. The periodicals that arrive at my house are as varied as my college education (anthropology to zoology). I receive Scientific American, Legal Technology News, B to B, Advertising Age, Bloomberg Businessweek, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Vegetarian Times, Body & Soul, More, Health, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Fresh Home, and (no wonder I supply second-hand zines to every school, waiting room and salon in town!).

Beyond reading (including the blogosphere I attempt to get to 3x/week in my Google Reader and fail), I also self-educate. When I first began hearing “PR is dead” from bloggers, I knew I wasn’t. By then, I had already enrolled in several Dreamweaver (Web design) classes, a Photoshop course, and one on HTML.

More than a year ago, I began to tweet. Twitter was the best thing that ever happened to me. Beyond meeting some of the most fab people I now can ring at any time for counsel or to say hello, my learning rate increased five-fold. I am serious when I say this. There’s no way to immerse in social media faster than on Twitter.

You learn early on whose links to click, and when a learning pot of gold greets you at the other end, every minute of time is worth it.

I also buy access to communities like Marketing Sherpa, and I’ve joined Social Media Today on which my blog gets posted, too. I listen, I engage, I learn.

My favorite learning environment right now is Lynda.com. It is a wealth of tutorials on the illusive knowledge we in public relations do not have – it’s tech and software oriented to the Internet. If you never spend a dime on your education, I recommend you stop the bleeding and rush to Lynda.com.  I’m not even an affiliate! I just value what I’m learning off this site so much, everyone else in integrated marketing should know about it, too.

How does public relations happen for you? What rich resource am I missing to enhance my intelligence quotient?