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posted by Doyle

Most of you have seen it by now: Facebook hired one of the world’s largest PR firms (Burston-Marsteller) to execute a whisper campaign against Google over privacy issues. Irony of Facebook (pot) calling Google (kettle) out on privacy concerns aside, this entire episode was simply sad and continues to be handled badly by all concerned. This isn’t grey. It’s black and white, right and wrong:

• If Facebook, or any client, comes to a firm — especially a large, well-established firm like B-M — and asks that firm to do something like this, the firm should decline the assignment or the business, possibly both.
• Facebook, or any client with a department staffed by (alleged) PR professionals, should know better than to ask in the first place.
• If B-M, or any agency, takes such an assignment and gets caught, they can’t just throw the client under the bus and cash the check. Agencies are hired to advise as well as do the work. (Yes, sometimes individual employees make bad decisions. The company must then step up and make it right.)

The saddest byproduct of this entire mess is the shrugs and comments like “yeah, but this happens all the time. These guys just got caught.”

Sorry, but that’s nonsense. If Facebook has a problem with Google’s Social Circle, just come out and say so. Does anyone (B-M?) believe Facebook couldn’t get coverage by taking a stand? Of course not. They just wanted to play the “See? Everyone thinks Social Circle is bad!” card. If they would have been transparent, the message would have gotten out, the tech/social media community could have evaluated Facebook’s concerns and the discussion would have ensued. Instead, whether or not there is a privacy issue with Social Circle has been lost in the slime.

Sack up, Facebook. And same to you, B-M. I’m not so naive as to think this is an isolated incident, but that does not make it right. It hurt Facebook, it certainly hurt B-M and it was yet another black eye for the PR industry. I’m sorry to see this nonsense continue to happen, and I’d like to see some serious adult supervision to minimize the continued proliferation of stupid.

In the end, it’s easier than ever to do things like this. But the good news for all of us, is that’s it’s easier than ever to get caught. If doing the right thing isn’t enough to keep companies on the high road, maybe the fear of retribution will.

That’s an end that will justify the means.

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There are a few phrases I hear as a customer that really get me. They include:

• “We’ll do this as a one-time courtesy.” (You’re only courteous to me, your customer, one time? Really?)
• “That’s not our policy” or the variation “That’s just our policy.” (Well, my policy is not to do business with people that can’t help me with a reasonable request because of some policy.)
• “Can I get your account number?” (With the exception of my bank, I have no desire to even know I have an account number, let alone try to locate and read some 16-digit number to you. Twice.)
• “Our computers just do that.” (SkyNet was in the Terminator movies. It’s not real. We’re still in charge.)

The last one is perhaps the most frustrating to me. I heard it recently from a company trying to charge me $40 (on a $55/month recurring charge) when my credit card was rejected because I didn’t update their system when I got a new plate. So, they showed my card as expired.

When I called, I asked how they could possible condone — even if my card had been expired or otherwise rejected — applying a penalty equal to more than 70 percent of the charge itself.

“Our computers just do that,” was the answer.

“You can tell them to stop,” I said, thinking I was helping. It didn’t work.

“We’ll take it off as a one-time courtesy,” was the answer.

Strike two.

I asked if I forgot to update my plate in a couple of years when it expired again if I would have already burned my “one-time courtesy” and would have to pay $40.

“Our computers just do that,” was the answer.

I asked if their computers could take the order to cancel my membership. Turns out, they could. I did.

Getting new customers is hard and it can be expensive. Did someone in your organization tell your computers that “just do that” in a way that it’s costing you the very customers you worked so hard to get?

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I hear of lots of businesses that want to build “an app.” They don’t really have an idea for what the app will accomplish for their business, they just think they want “an app” because it seems like a neat thing to do.

Let me be direct: having an app just for the sake of having an app isn’t going to move your needle.

Enter Chipotle.

I’ve always enjoyed Chipotle, but I’ve never seen one without a long line at lunchtime. That’s still true, but now I have the “license to cut in” app from Chipotle. Of course, that’s not what they call it, but that’s how it works out!

Why does the app make so much sense — and why has it increased my spend at Chipotle by at least three or four times?

• It’s easy. I eat the same two or three menue items, and I can pre-load them. I click about three times total in the whole process, and my order is waiting.
• It’s convenient. My debit card is pre-loaded, so I don’t even have to pay when I get there.
• It’s fast. I walk in, walk right by the line (which is usually to the door when I get there) and stroll up to the cash register. “Online order for Doyle,” I say and they hand me my bag. I’m usually in and out in less than one minute. I often get dirty looks. I don’t care.

Because it’s easy, convenient and fast, I now go to Chipotle a couple of times a week rather than a couple of times a month, and I tell others. An added benefit: I didn’t talk about Chipotle much before, if at all!

There are many outstanding apps that help me do business with a company. A few that come to mind include TripIt (the app is so helpful I buy the premium membership every year), Zinio (magazines on the iPhone or iPad at a reasonable price) and even the New York Times (yeah, I’m happy to pay for that level of reporting).

While some apps are just for fun and get your business in front potentially millions of users, too many make me scratch my head and wonder why.

When your client or your boss says, “we need an app!” think of Chipotle. Will it delight your customers, or is it an exercise in ego so you can say “we have an app?”

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posted by Doyle

I have subscribed to some magazines using the Zinio app for my iPad since, gosh, the iPad 1! Today, they sent me an email informing me they’d been having problems and it may have affected one of my downloads. Honestly, if it did, I hadn’t even noticed.

Nevertheless, they owned the problem before I even knew about it and are sending me a certificate for some free magazines.

That’s how it’s done. Hat tip, Zinio!

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Many social media agencies are using unethical practices to gain followers and show inflated metrics. As social media evolves and becomes an integral form of marketing and a vital ROI component for companies, agencies participating in these dubious and underhanded tactics are suppressing the social media industry all together.

If you are a company hiring an external agency for social media, I recommend that you quickly become aware of some of the shady tricks that might be used to show misrepresented statistics:

1. Avatar accounts: Some agencies will create fake accounts on Twitter and Facebook to show an immediate spike in fans and followers, demonstrate increased engagement and display an overall growth of the networks.

Why this is bad: The avatar accounts are not using your company’s service, buying your product and (obviously) not interested in what you have to say, so this is a false way of exhibiting that they have the ability to expand a large network quickly. The problem is that they are really not nurturing a network at all, because the avatar accounts are just increasing the spam following to your site.

2. Playing the numbers game: Social media is about numbers, but not the numbers you may think. Many social media agencies gage their performance on fans, followers and impressions online. While these may look good on paper, it all comes down to one number: is this program increasing your bottom line? Are they contributing the ultimate goals of the company?

Why this is bad: It is hard for me to believe that a certain company’s bottom line goal is to reach 5,000 Likes on Facebook or get 10,000 followers on Twitter. They want to see monetary results in their business, queries about their product/services, quality website visits and conversion (from awareness to action).

Also, many social media agencies misleadingly calculate impressions. FOR EXAMPLE: “So, if we have 1,586 followers and XXX who re-Tweeted us has 25,837 followers then the Tweet made a solid impression on 40,977,482 people right?” Uh, wrong. Calculating impressions has always been fraught with misleading information, but Twitter brings a whole new element to the math due to the sheer number of people.

3. Slandering the name of competitors or former clients: How your company deals with negative comments online will significantly influence your followers.

Why this is bad: Honestly, this should be an obvious “no, no,” but you would be surprised on how often this happens. This is actually proven to increase followers of the company you are slandering, make your company look like an asshole and decrease your followers. The hashtag #unfollowing is often used to promote this act. Make sure it is not being used on your company’s page. Ever.

4. Being someone you’re not: While everyone in the social media world inevitably plays multiple roles (See Amy’s post from October “Multiple Personalities: Order and Disorder in the Agency Environment”), it is important as communication professionals doing work on behalf of our clients to be transparent about who we are and who we are not.

Why this is Bad: I cannot pretend to be a doctor, a software engineer or an expert waxer because I can’t give advice as a doctor, an engineer or a waxer. I am a communicator and representative of different companies. If they ask, I am an online voice for the company.

The best way to approach social media is through a transparent and honest program that focuses on the goals of the company. When choosing a social media company, it is important to look for the red flags above.

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Also keeping with American tradition, we pay platitudes to a beautiful emotion that was at one time important to the holiday but somehow got lost in materialism and excess. For Thanksgiving, that emotion is gratitude.

Gratitude can be a complex emotion requiring reflection, the ability to admit your dependence on others and humility to realize your own limitations. Nevertheless, a growing body of scientific research suggests that adults who frequently feel grateful are generally happier and healthier than those that don’t. They also earn more money and have more social connections.

If you apply this to business, and you can see your referrals increase, your employees become happier and they’ll be more productive. People like to feel appreciated and appreciated customers will come back to you.

Most marketing and sales promotions from now through the end of the year will focus on bringing new customers through the doors. While there is nothing wrong with a holiday promotion, many of these are only focused on new sales, not growing existing sales. A classic example of this is the free January gym membership for new customers, while completely ignoring the long-time gym members that have kept the business afloat during one of the worst economic depressions this country has ever seen. Rather than offer a promotion for new customers, why not send out an email to the ones you already have, saying “Thanks for sticking with us” and offering them – and only them – 20% off on merchandise in your gym’s retail store. They’ll be more likely to recommend their friends if they feel appreciated, and their friends will be more likely to join because a friend they trust recommended the gym to them.

You don’t have to own a gym to understand this concept. We all know that bringing in new business costs 10 times more than to keep an old customer, yet we’re still focused on bringing in new business.

If your business thrives on long-term dependable relationships, all the more reason to stop focusing on cost-per-acquisition and start focusing on retention programs. You can do this by asking your customers how they feel about the job you’re doing, encourage open dialogue through your social media channels like your blog or Twitter, and continually strive to say thank you for specific feedback your customers give. Not just a “thank you for your valuable feedback,” but “thank you for your suggestions on how we can improve our product delivery capabilities. We’ve taken them into consideration, and will implement the following…”

It might surprise you the amount of gratitude you’ll see in return.

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Recently, as I strolled through Boulder’s outdoor 29th Street mall looking for a birthday gift, I passed a window display at Sunglass Hut announcing a contest to hire the company’s full time national blogger.

According to their website promotion, the contest winner will receive a $100,000 salary plus $1000 per month “styling allowance,” as well as a “fully furnished” Manhattan apartment and VIP passes to NYC, Milan and London fashion shows.

Sign me up! I thought as I debated about walking into the store.

The contest kicked-off on October 1, 2010 and ends October 27th. By December the top ten finalists compete in a “blog-off” that runs through December 31st and on January 1, 2011 the lucky winner is announced.

I love my job with Metzger Associates, but I can only imagine how cool it would be to live in Manhattan and blog all day long about fashion and attend the world’s best annual fashion shows. The only thing better would be if the contest also provided a car and driver (it is Manhattan, after all).

Sunglass Hut has just launched one of the most creative national PR campaigns I have seen in a long time (save the Old Spice dude). What’s more, this campaign is an inspired way to hire a pro blogger and score the best of the best. However, if they give the position to that 14 year old fashion-blogging wiz, I will be writing another post on the resulting ridiculousness of their decision. She’s cute and all, but c’mon, she’s no Anna Wintour.

Through their contest entries and PR & marketing campaign, Sunglass Hut will likely get a lot of attention among the nation’s fashion bloggers and wannabes. There’s nothing better than free promotion – especially when multiple bloggers – who have hundreds of thousands of regular readers each – are enthusiastically writing good things about your company. Throwing up a few posters in store windows and generating web landing pages are inexpensive marketing gambles, given the national attention this campaign could (and should) generate. It’s an enterprising use of the exponential value the fashion blogging community offers – especially among women bloggers, who naturally like to share every unique idea in our heads with our readers.

Besides using the otherwise mundane task of hiring as a marketing and PR campaign, Sunglass Hut also signals how hip the company is by directing this campaign at the socially tuned-in blogging community. They aren’t announcing the hire of a corporate copywriter or executive assistant. They are looking for a fashion and social media-savvy expert communicator. It’s brilliant!

Note: Dear Sunglasses Hut, Will it help my entry if I mention that I just purchased a great pair of Dolce & Gabbana shades from your Boulder store?

Kat May
PR & Marketing Specialist
Fashionista & Blogger

shortlink: http://wp.me/pqTP9-j9

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Once you’ve nailed your key messages, can repeat them in your sleep, and have mastered behavior and style points while under the hot lights of media scrutiny, you’re left with the biggest challenge of spokesmanship: fielding the tough questions – and anticipating those questions before they’re asked.

The wrong answer to a hostile, negative or misinformed question can wreck organizations and ruin careers. We spend a lot of time practicing these scenarios in media training, and take pains to avoid overlooking the toughest of the tough questions. The unexpected question can be devastating, so determining the most likely curve balls is one of the most important aspects of media preparation.

Watching how a story evolves can shed light on this potential escalation. As an example, the initial fear, shock, and subsequent outpouring of relief, gratitude and charity surrounding the recent Fourmile Fire have developed into unexpected forms of controversy. Every day, new wrinkles appear in how the media and the public perceive and understand this story, and new questions – some we didn’t anticipate even a few days ago – are on the rise:

• How are the small mountain fire districts going to maintain themselves when nearly half their tax base has just been wiped out?
• With all the requests for financial aid, where is it going?
• Individuals who lost their homes are mostly insured and affluent. Why should anyone help them?
• If some people chose not to carry insurance, isn’t that their problem?
• There is much collective appreciation being expressed – but what do those who lost their homes have to be thankful for?
• Why were some homes saved, and others lost?
• Who will stay, who will rebuild, and why?
• Isn’t it safe to assume that people will be less safe with diminished fire-fighting resources to protect them?
• Won’t insurance in these communities now cost more and cover less?
• What about the underinsured, or the retired people whose insurance claims aren’t enough to replace their homes, and now can’t get loans since they’re not working?
• Why rebuild a million-dollar home in a forest of black match sticks?
• How will people handle the loss of equity in this burned out neighborhood, in a down real-estate market?
• Who is going to clean this up? How long will restoration take?
• What about the environmental damage from ash and erosion?
• Can we trust the fire districts to do a better job next time?
• Wouldn’t these little, autonomous fire departments be better off it they consolidated?
• Can these rural fire departments remain solvent with all the debt they have on vehicles and stations?
• What is the government going to do to mitigate the future risk across all the rest of Colorado’s wildland/urban interface?
• Is this a sign that, as a society, we should choose against living in the high-risk wildland/urban interface?
• Should people be allowed to expose themselves and others to the fire dangers, the environmental risks, the threats to wildlife and the increased energy demands of this lifestyle choice?
• Is Boulder’s precious backdrop threatened by the very existence of these mountain dwellers?

It’s getting deeper, and these are tough, emotional and often very personal questions. Some make sense and are reasonable, but many are misguided and unfair – but will be asked anyway. The many communities, companies, individuals and agencies involved in this controversy (it’s not just a “story” anymore) are going to be struggling with the answers for many years to come – along with many more questions yet to be asked…

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I often remark how social media is not a new set of behaviors, but just a new set of tools. We’ve always just wanted to talk to each other, and social media makes that easier than ever. As a professional communicator, social media has provided me with a myriad of new outlets—and challenges—but I believe the basics remain. In order to be an effective member of any social media community, your communications must be clear, honest and transparent.

There is no one that fits that description of communication better than my good friend and mentor Joe Fuentes. I learned today that Joe is fighting for his life against cancer, and it caused me to pause and reflect on the many lessons I learned from Joe while working for him at what was then Adolph Coors Company. The things Joe taught me honed not only traditional communication skills, but his constant example as a warm, caring and open person set the stage for understanding how to use social media 20+ years before any of us had so much as a Facebook page.

It was Joe that told me—again and again, until I got it through my head—that a great editor makes the writing better, not different. An ego is an editor’s worst enemy, he would say. You don’t change it because you can, you change it because your change makes it better.

I remember the first news release I wrote for Joe. I was in my early 20s and, of course, I knew everything. Back in those days, we typed our drafts and handed them off for editing. Joe walked the draft back to my office, literally covered in red ink. No sentence seemed beyond the reach of Joe’s pen. I must have had quite the look on my face, but Joe just smiled and said “oh, don’t mind that… this was pretty good, actually! Let me show you what I did.” And he sat and shared freely more than 20 years of experience as a writer and and editor at the Rocky Mountain News along with another 10 years or so of public relations experience with Public Service Company of Colorado. And consistent with his own advice, there was not a single mark on that page that didn’t make the piece better.

Working for Joe was an ongoing lesson. Long before Google wanted headlines to be less than 22 words, Joe asked what every word was doing there, what role it played, and challenged you to make sure it was the best possible word for the job. If there was to be a drop head, it had to play a part in telling the story. And leads (or ledes, as Joe, ever the newspaperman, would write) had better be strong and to the point. Show up in Joe’s office with a normal PR lead/lede filled with buzzwords and braggadocio regarding your company’s leadership in some area and you were sent back to start again. It was Joe that demonstrated that PR was better for everyone—from company to client to reporter to reader—when the tenets of journalism were followed. “Don’t write puff,” he’ll say, “it won’t get past anyone worth getting past.”

While Strunk and White might have written it first, it was Joe that drove it home for me: “Omit needless words,” he would say, often followed by “I’m pretty sure we don’t get paid by the word around here!”

I’ve had the opportunity to introduce several of my employees to Joe from time to time at different events, and they’d often say, “Oh, you’re the AP Style guy.” And Joe will always smile. “If you want to communicate with someone, you’ve got to speak their language, and AP Style is the journalists’ language,” he’d remind us. Even today, when news releases are more often than not read directly by the general public, it’s maybe more important than ever to have your writing look and sound as professional as any news outlet. It helps give the story credibility. I learned that from Joe.

I remember working on a news release one day, typing feverishly (yes, typing on a typewriter!) when Joe asked me what I was doing.

“Working on a news release,” I answered, a bit incredulously.

“I’m just impressed that you memorized the entire AP Stylebook, since I don’t see it on your desk while you’re writing,” he said. “Make sure it’s all correct when you send it to me.” Joe knows the Stylebook better than anyone I’ve ever known, but his was always within easy reach. Now, I never really put mine away. Like Joe’s, my AP Stylebook is within arm’s length at all times.

But even more important than the writing, Joe is always the professional’s professional. His standards are high and he expects your best work, but rather than yelling or chastising, Joe simply makes you want to do your best because you never want to disappoint him. I’d do anything to meet a deadline for Joe, not from fear, but from respect. Joe and I worked together in a large department that could be difficult at times with office politics and turf battles. Somehow, Joe stayed above the fray, did excellent work and set an example for his staff. Without exception.

I remember one day, Joe got very, very angry with another manager on the staff.

“Darn that guy, he really makes me mad sometimes,” he said in a pretty even voice—and that was pretty much the end of it. I honestly don’t know how Joe put up with my high-strung mannerisms all those years, but he did, and if it drove him half as nuts as I now fear it might have, he never let on. He just continued to show me through example that there was another way to get things done.

In many ways, Joe is a true old-time newspaperman, but at the same time, he has always been years ahead of his time. You see, Joe understands the importance of clear, honest and transparent communication as being the foundation upon which everything else is built. It doesn’t matter if you’re chatting with a friend, writing a news release, completing a column for a major daily or a launching your very first blog, it all begins with clear, honest and transparent communication.

Despite what you probably thought all too often, Joe, I was listening to every word. My very best to you today and every day, my friend.

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