Boomerang

I’m presently in a window seat some 37,000 feet above Denver. I love to fly so I actually enjoy business travel. However, I don’t think I’d enjoy having a seat on this airplane.  There’s a time and place for everything, and the time and place for doffing one’s clothes is not at cruising altitude. Traveling naked, which includes bending over to pick up luggage, strapping a seatbelt across a bare lap, and sitting on seats of unknown cleanliness is unsettling. It’s also too much information at the least appropriate time. I would disembark that aircraft with three letters in my head: TMI. 

Thinking about that flight and those three meaningful letters – TMI – reminded me that even the most seasoned PR person or company executive can occasionally forget one of the most basic tenets of great communications: know when to stop talking.   

Brevity is beautiful. It also helps to assure positive results.   

The only way a person can say something they’d later regret later is to talk. While it’s true that silence sends a signal, few people have ever had to retract silence.  Conversely, we’ve all heard this during a press briefing: “Oh, I really didn’t want to reveal that just yet, can we keep that off the record?” Safety lies in the assumption that a spokesperson is never completely off the record. Consider that Samantha Power’s offhand remarks in the Scotsman newspaper cost her her job, and cost her boss some embarrassment. People in Ms. Power’s position are under a unique microscope, but every spokesperson needs to be aware that anything they say can appear just about anywhere.   

Another valuable benefit to practicing brevity is that when someone has the opportunity to do live radio or TV, they will be more than ready to really shine. The spokesperson who is cognizant of the time they take expounding upon a subject is also honing their interview skills. Being brief is broadcast-friendly. Don’t let fantastic sound bytes become watered down (or irrevocably lost) in the clutter of a rambling answer. 

Admittedly, some complex topics require a lengthy explanation, but most things don’t merit a monologue. It’s often best to stop, breathe, and let the reporters absorb what’s been said.   

Most spokespeople are effusive and enthusiastic about their company, their accomplishments, and their vision. But at times we must diplomatically rein them in. This is one of the more sensitive responsibilities that we, as PR practitioners, must face, but it’s immensely valuable counsel. 

I’m signing off now; because I may have said too much.  

Reading Simona Covel’s article “Is This Article Worth $6,000?” in The Wall Street Journal on the ethical and monetary value of pay-for play PR placement is, for me, a fascinating test of patience and diplomacy. It is a follow-up to a previous piece Ms. Covel wrote called “Paying for PR – But Only When it Works” and wonders if by pointing out the public relations cost of writing about a product or company, a journalist has done her readers a proper service. The article has created an active dialog among entrepreneurs, communications professionals and obdurate neophytes, all of whom have opinions about the efficacy of PR.

By paying only for placement of an article, a small (or large) business misses out on one of the key learnings that PR provides: finding out that your product or service is not newsworthy. You see, part of what a good PR person does is to craft a story that has relevance to the current market, is targeted to its audience, and will benefit the client. What some may call “busy work” could be, in part, a PR person pitching a story to a reporter, receiving feedback on why the pitch doesn’t resonate, adjusting it to make it even better, and pitching it again. That busy work could also include analyzing competitive positioning in order to best it, or perhaps even brainstorming new ideas.

Also, while I admire Guy Kawasaki, and agree with his notion that entrepreneurial spirit can provide valuable momentum to a marketing campaign, I disagree with point number 4 in the comment written by reader Raza Imam: “Publicists are afraid of controversy and drama; it’s too risky to your image. But that’s what readers are really interested in.” To the contrary – I would say that, after 15 years in journalism and PR, the fear is with the clients. While many imagine themselves as willing to take a risk, it is the rare bold CEO who can follow through with a PR campaign that may raise some eyebrows or even hackles.

There are many, many more points to be made, but I will choose just one final one. Securing coverage in The Wall Street Journal is, for most PR people, a significant accomplishment because the reporters are smart, savvy and not easily wooed by anything other than a highly intelligent story. That said, just getting the hit isn’t enough; it’s about the length, the tone, the tenor, the location within the paragraphs, the inclusion (or lack thereof) of competitors, how lovingly the reporter crafted the article… Okay, you get it.

Any PR person – pay for play or not – who thinks just getting the coverage is enough is in the wrong business.

It’s almost Groundhog Day, and by Groundhog Day, I mean the entire winter holiday season.  We’re well on our way into the middle of the long, dreary months in which the nightly news and the morning paper are woefully full of stories that seem somehow familiar.  The last Saturday before Christmas, for example, will almost certainly bring a story about how retailers are grading the holiday shopping season.  Every such Saturday in my media memory has this story, so what should make this year any different?   

Wait.  Let me back up, because the season of Report, Rinse, Repeat Journalism began several weeks ago with the annual weeklong media fascination with Thanksgiving travel.  Never mind that it’s as predictable as the rising sun, and never mind that it’s not news – every year, the same stories.  This year the frenzy began on Friday the 16^th with ominous predictions of interminable airport delays and roads as clogged as Larry King’s arteries.   

Had Thanksgiving fallen on December 13^th, it would have been a whole different ball of wax, but fortunately for everyone concerned, the dreaded Nor’easter took Thanksgiving off (instead, we’re dealing with that mess right now).  Travelers enjoyed minimal flight disruption and reasonably clear highways at Thanksgiving because back on November 21^st the weather was practically perfect.  There were some nifty fixes put in place that helped the ease the expected rise in Thanksgiving air travel, but mostly it was the weather.   

Then we got sucked into the vortex of “Black Friday” stories, despite the fact that it’s the same b-roll of turkey-stuffed, bleary-eyed shoppers waiting in pre-dawn lines for commerce to commence.  So begins the annual blizzard of seasonal coverage that always culminates in the inevitable “After Christmas Sales/Returns” story that seem to now begin well in advance of December 26^th.   You know why?  Because there’s a critical distinction between what is termed “news” and what is termed a “story.”  A story without news is called evergreen.  News without a story is called the police blotter.   

In the calculus of PR, a great story + a unique personality + tangible news impact + the omnipresent “X-factor” somehow adds up to coverage.  But when it comes to annual events such as those mentioned above, the “pitch” is already half written, and the equation looks a little more like creativity + timing + “X-factor” = coverage.  Okay, that math is probably a little fuzzy (I’m a words guy, not a mathematician), but you get the idea. 

The key is to find a bit of personality and a new take on the story, even in the most predictable of events.  The sun will rise tomorrow.  It’s the mandate of PR teams everywhere to find a way to make that sunrise fresh and new, illuminating something we’ve never seen before.  As we wind down 2007, it’s a valuable exercise to crack open the 2008 calendar and let loose your creative juices in a mix of the inspired and the absurd.

Although it’s at its absolute zenith around now, the season of Report, Rinse, Repeat Journalism actually lasts a full 12 months.  The happy coincidence is that the season of Report, Rinse, Repeat PR occurs during the very same 12 months (ah, bliss!).  What gets us through the year is being supremely creative even within the confined space of canned, dried or otherwise prepackaged press opportunities.

Move over Facebook, enterprise software is about to steal your headlines. At least that was one prediction that came out of last week’s PRSA dinner at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The theme of the evening, “What’s Hot and What’s Not in 2008” was a popular topic with PR pros and top technology reporters at the sold-out event. I couldn’t help but think that my colleagues in the room will be among the folks that will help establish these hot trends, companies, and technologies. And, who better to forecast emerging trends in the technology sector than the reporters whose job it is to separate hype from reality.

A panel of luminaries offered their perspectives on everything from Facebook overload to Google’s numerous product initiatives. The panel included the astute Victoria Murphy Barret of Forbes, the very musical Don Clark of the Wall Street Journal (his band “Off the Record” rocked the house), the very funny Jim Goldman of CNBC, the insightful Rob Hof of BusinessWeek, the omnipresent Robert Scoble of Podtech, and the rapid-firing Kara Swisher of All Things Digital.

For the most part, there seemed to be consensus that the looming US recession will have an adverse impact on technology. A few of the panelists commented that with the recession, the ever-popular advertising model that most Web 2.0 companies hang their hat on will no longer be enough to sustain them next year. Also predicted was the return to the limelight of heavyweights such as Microsoft, HP, Oracle and IBM, as consumer tech hype subsides a bit, more than likely a direct result of the recession. And when it was declared that “enterprise software will make a comeback in 2008” – the audience came alive and broke into fervent applause.

Sam Whitmore, everyone’s favorite confidant, was the dapper emcee of the evening while Ann Winblad was the composed and gracious panel moderator. A few more worthwhile panelist predictions for 2008:

Victoria: Consolidations will occur driven mostly by a dip in the stock market as companies ride it out. She also believes widgets will take off and be more ubiquitous.

Don Clark: Second Life will crumble and go away. Clean energy will be a big story next year.

Robert Scoble: He sees “live video” being a huge headliner next year and hopes that unified ID will finally take hold. He also commented that print media will get a huge boost from political advertising in 2008 but will suffer tremendously after the presidential election is over.

Jim Goldman: Yahoo will get acquired or at the very least be seen as an attractive purchase.

Rob Hof: The current technology environment will push more companies into the deadpool.

Kara: Hollywood will finally get digital and become more of a collaborator with technology companies and make entertainment more consumer friendly. She also sees online privacy and presence becoming more of a hot topic in the coming year.

Tom Foremski, an attendee at the dinner but who should have been part of the panel, offers his take on the event at SiliconValleyWatcher as does Brian Solis at Bub.blicio.us. For those of you interested in watching a video of it, our friends over at Podtech.net have captured the lively conversation.

Photo courtesy of Brian Solis - More photos from the event can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/sets/72157603331062749/.

After a band puts the finishing touches on a newly completed album, the music gets “shelved” for a few months while the PR machine works its magic. The subsequent three or four months are spent generating buzz and building anticipation. That may have been the case for quite some time, but not anymore. Radiohead is set to release its new album next week – without the help of a label – via digital download at http://www.inrainbows.com/

In a move that illustrates the band’s defiance of convention, and signals a departure from the major-label model, Radiohead plans to “sell” the download for as much (or as little) as fans are willing to pay. That’s right – Radiohead is allowing fans to pay whatever they see fit. That means fans can purchase the music for as little as a penny. It makes sense. CD sales have been going down steadily with the popularity of online file-sharing and the like. Why not give fans what they want, build interest in the new music and get on with the live tour?

Most of the buzz about Radiohead’s strategy revolves around the idea that the band is moving away from traditional methods – from pricing strategies to distribution. What I’m curious about, though, is how these changes will affect communication channels.

With the ability for bands to sell their goods as they create them, I wonder how we’ll keep on top of all the music news out there. Will we need to check the websites of every band we like for new music? Will those websites send us updates about what our favorite bands are working on? How will they do that? Through a blog? Through email? For groundbreaking bands like Radiohead with a strong, loyal fan base, word of mouth marketing and viral communications may just be enough.

Word has it that Jamiroquai and Oasis will follow Radiohead’s lead. As more musicians take control into their own hands, we’ll see how marketing and PR practices change along with it. We’ll see these shifts soon enough, but for now, let’s just enjoy Radiohead’s new album. As far as the music goes, it’s Radiohead as usual – simply fantastic.

I just received an email titled, “Magazine Editor Shares Six Common PR Pet Peeves to Avoid” so I decided to test myself. After 15 years as a PR person (and 4 years as a journalist), could I guess what those pet peeves might be?

Alas, I could. One, be familiar with the publication and the reporter before making the pitch. Two, don’t follow up with “did you get my email?” and preferably don’t follow up at all – the reporter will call you if he/she is interested. Three, call with something of value like news, controversy, sources, research. Four, avoid overused jargon…

This is not headline-worthy information. It’s old news and does little to foster symbiotic relationships between PR pros and media. More than that, I suspect that PR people don’t like generic advice about how to do business any more than a good journalist likes a generic pitch on some “paradigm shift” in technology.

Like most businesses, both PR people and media – for some reason, pitted against each other – benefit from personal relationships based on history and success. Let’s stop making lists for each other and just start talking.

With among the lowest approval ratings of any President in U.S history, Bush’s political problems aren’t going away any time soon. His most recent communications push to convince the American public that nuclear energy is the solution for our global warming is what, for me, makes him such an impossible and frustrating leader. I can only image what it does to his numerous communication aides who rally daily trying to control, and having to defend, the Bush brand.

As many bloggers and journalists have pointed out recently, the first problem is that suddenly Bush, a.k.a. Mr. There’s No Such Thing as Global Warming, has stated: “There can be no solution [to global warming] without nuclear power.” Um… okay, so there is such a thing as global warming? For real?

My issue is not about content – many experts have agreed that nuclear is a direction worth exploring – but cadence. Hearing Bush promote his nuclear energy strategy on NPR, I was struck, as I have been so many times before, at the staccato ineffectiveness of his speech patterns. These are subtleties and will be hard to “hear” in a blog, but next time you listen to Bush speak, take notice and you’ll know what I mean.

His main message is “nuclear power is safe.” Given that, for a variety of obvious and historical reasons, many people hear the word “nuclear” and think “death, destruction, war,” you’d think Bush would want to come off as reassuring, confident and ready to educate. But instead, by talking in his distinct whine, speaking too quickly and emphasizing the wrong words, Bush manages to make nuclear sound even scarier that many already believe it to be.

It’s not easy to change adult speech patterns, granted, but this is so fundamental: Speak slowly. Speak clearly. Emphasize, in this case, the words “is” and “safe.” Have some empathy for your audience; learn to listen even when nobody else is talking, to compromise, to persuade and to convince. Most of all, please learn that you can’t change a person’s mind simply by hammering them on the head with a message over and over – that only dulls the noise.

When I was young, I dreamed of hitchhiking to Hollywood and working my way up from the mailroom to the executive office. The mix of drama, good screenwriting, camerawork and surround sound was like a siren call, but one that I ultimately ignored for the glamorous life of public relations. Who knew that my dream of working in the film industry would be possible as a communications pro?

The most powerful PR programs are ones that reflect popular culture, speak to human needs and emotions, and harness new technologies in creative ways. As people increasingly turn to the Web for entertainment, news, information and social networking, it’s a brave new PR 2.0 world. Like the media outlets that we pitch story angles to every day, the landscape is quickly morphing around us. Video is emerging at the forefront of it all: to engage, provoke, demonstrate and influence.

We’re proud to represent some of the most interesting Web-meets-video pioneers. For instance, U.K.-based Friction.tv has quickly become a hotbed for public debate on important issues. The video-sharing site is a Web TV platform promoting freedom of speech, no matter how controversial. As an early innovator that’s focused on social media for social change, it’s achieved a lot of traction in a short time, according to The London Times.

Another client, MixerCast, lets people blend their own user-generated content (UGC) with legal studio content from partners like ABC News, Getty Images and popular record labels to create their own custom Web TV channels. Better yet, MixerCast lets users embed branding and engaging advertising spots, hypersyndicate them on the Web, and track traffic to the money-making mashups. Robert Scoble recently interviewed MixerCast CEO Jen Cooper, formerly with Yahoo!, and the resulting video was posted to PodTech.net as an Editor’s Choice pick of the week.

Beyond new platforms that merge video impact with social media, many larger, global brands that we represent, like Panasonic Toughbooks, are using entertaining viral videos to effectively communicate core messages with key audiences through social networks and popular sites like YouTube. In fact, fans of the popular rugged notebooks have frequently posted many buzz-building videos about Toughbooks on their own.

As PR pros, we’re being called on more and more for our broadcast production talents like scripting, shooting, interviewing and editing. And I’m happy to say: “There’s no business like show business, it’s like no business I know.” A career in PR is becoming a lot like a career in broadcasting and film these days.

I was a skeptic about the value of Twitter, but that was before I really started using it and thinking how it can be applied as an effective social media tool. Twitter allows you to send short messages, up to 140 characters in length, to your friends and colleagues in answer to a simple question, “What are you doing?” Messages can be delivered via SMS (aka text), IM or the Web. Ross Mayfield refers to Twitter as continuous partial presence management. Now that’s a nice fancy term, but why would your client, or anyone for that matter, want to use this? Do we really care what everyone else is doing minute to minute?

To answer that, let’s take a look at how Twitter is actually being used versus how it was originally intended to be used. As I see it, Twitter users fall more or less into three camps: (1) those using it to carry on a dialogue in public (though you can send direct messages to individuals); (2) those using it to let their friends know about neat stuff they encounter (a quote, a URL, an event, etc.) without expecting a response; and (3) those letting their friends know what they are doing.

As a professional communications tool, Twitter’s primary value falls into the first two camps, assuming the messages have something to do with a client’s product or service.

But like most successful social media applications, Twitter’s value is not that it quickly and easily broadcasts a message, but that it creates conversations. And consumers are tuning in to those conversations.

Here’s an example of how it could work in today’s PR world: Let’s say your client is launching a new product at a trade show. You could use Twitter on Facebook to let your client’s community know about the product and events happening at your booth throughout the day. That can help drive traffic to your booth and get people talking about your product or service. You could even post a thought related to your client’s customer’s pain point. (For a file-sharing software company, that might be: “Darn, I hate when I can’t access my files from one, easy place! But I tried ‘X’ service, and it works!”)

Or let’s say you’re trying to increase the readership of your new blog. It only takes a few seconds to tell people, “I just did a post about ‘X’ topic.”

Anyway, as with any social media tool, reading about it is only the first step. Try it out and drop me a tweet on Twitter with your thoughts.

What goes around comes around. This time it’s coming to you via podcast featuring EVP/managing director Annie Longsworth, and Jessica Jones, research associate, in a lively and impassioned discussion around Cohn & Wolfe’s San Francisco office and the agency’s new green practice. Annie and Jessica touch on the dangers of “green washing” and the overall challenges faced by companies that are trying to “go green.” If you’re interested in how to build a green communications strategy, and like to be entertained along the way, this podcast is for you.

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