Agent for the Arts

Practice

Too many people are afraid of public speaking, probably because they're worried something bad might happen in front of a crowd. Hint: they're probably right. But with enough practice, the presentation will be strong enough to override any gaffes or blunders.

This guy stays cool when, in the middle of a sales pitch on live TV, he destroys part of the set with the product he's selling. His reaction is like a mini public relations case study... stay cool, don't ignore the problem, use it as a learning experience, and move on.

First snowfall

We got a couple inches of snow last night in upstate New York... in October... but why shouldn't we? Last week, I had to walk past several winter holiday displays to use the bathroom at Sears. A couple of relatives are already interested in what's on my Christmas list so they can "get their shopping done earlier this year."

As consumers, we've started to lump Halloween into the "holiday season" with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, New Year's Day, and Festivus. We're quick to criticize the big box stores for whetting our appetites, but eager to get the celebrations under way. It's the age-old debate about whether marketers are shaping consumer needs or consumers are demanding changes in market trends.

In my opinion, there's a little of both. Sears puts a holiday display in the back of the store in October, baiting the hook. If the consumers don't bite early, it stays in back a little longer. But at some point, there's enough demand to move the fake snow to the main window display.

There's no risk involved in this process. Stores don't guess when the consumers might be ready to see holiday decorations. They don't wait for the first snowfall (thankfully, or we'd see animal-tronic reindeer on Columbus Day). The big box model shows the marketers and consumers are in charge simultaneously.

But what if your small business decided to have a Christmas party in September? Or you sent out holiday greetings 3 months earlier than everyone else? You can make light of our spending habits and show that you're on the same page with your consumers. Ultimately, people do business with other people. Show them you're a real person before the big boxes swallow them up!

Own your name

On the internet, it's easy to find a few people with the same name as you, especially if you have a more common last name. But just like optimizing your business brand, it's important to be aware of how your name might show up when others are looking for more information.

Try Googling yourself, just to see what comes up. You might be a little surprised, but mostly you'll see links to your Facebook or LinkedIn profile, any blogs that you publish, and maybe some quotes you've provided in the past. It's important to see this for yourself to gauge the kind of impression you might leave on others who are looking for you... especially potential clients or interviewers.

If you don't have much of a presence online, try putting your name out there a bit. Creating a LinkedIn profile is the best way to present yourself professionally and securely. If you want to add some more personality, use Facebook. Dig deeper into sites like Pandora or YouTube and provide enough information for people to get a sense of who you are. Of course, it would be much easier if they'd just give you a call, but you can't control how others are finding out about you.

If you're worried about your name popping up in places you don't want it to, sign up for Google Alerts. This free tool will send an email whenever another website or blog uses your name. It's always helpful to know when other people are talking about you...

Message comes first

You may be tuned in already to Seth Godin, but if you like his updates, you'll love what Michelle Greer has to say. I referenced her blog last month with a link to her post on Marketing Campaigns that Spread Themselves. Today, I was thumbing through some old posts that I bookmarked and wanted to re-reference this one.

Michelle said it very simply: "The cornerstone of every good social media campaign is a message." Easy enough, and it applies to ANY good media campaign - television, radio, newspaper, etc. Great messages get shared.

It's ok to use Facebook as an events calendar or photo gallery, but if you have a strong (and creative) message, you can turn your social media presence into a full-fledged marketing campaign.

Social Media in real life

A real life example of social media - business offering to help its community without necessarily expecting anything in return. Great PR, although they might not be making too many friends with the police force.

Not another broadcast medium

So yesterday, I went on a little rant about marketers coming to me rather than assuming I was going to go to them. Here's what I really meant to say:

Social media sites are not broadcast sites. If you are using Facebook and Twitter to send links to your own ads and "get your name out there," you're missing the point. These media are replacing old forms of communication because consumers have re-written the rules. With products like TiVo, XM, and Kindle, it's easy to avoid advertisements in television, radio, and newspapers. Marketers who follow email spam laws are required to have an "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of their e-newsletters. And just like it's easy to follow a company on Facebook and Twitter, it's just as easy to stop following them.

Social media is about having a conversation. It's about engaging your audience, answering their questions, offering a business card if they ask for it. At a business dinner, no one gets up on the table to shout out their advertising pitch. Instead, relationships are made through hand-shakes and authentic conversations.

The same rules apply online. Don't use Facebook and Twitter to shout out whatever you want - because just as I would call security during a business dinner to have you removed, your messages can be ignored at the click of a button. If you want to shake hands and have a real conversation, I'm in!

Look me up

Ladies and gentlemen of the marketing world, stop sending messages that tell me I should care. Instead, send something worth my time, something that can affect me, something awesome, and I will care. And in order to do that, spend a little time finding out about me instead of assuming I want to find out more about you.

I have plenty of information out there - I have a website, Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn profile, blog, Pandora station, and YouTube channel. Program your messages to fit my interests and I'll pay attention. Send an ad out there and hope that I'm interested, and I'll probably ignore you.

Oh, and if I do ignore you, it's not that I didn't see you the first time. So don't make your ads bigger, louder, and "in-the-way-er." Don't assume that I didn't click to your campaign because I wasn't paying attention, work harder to advertise toward people who care.

Glad I got that out of my system.....

Are you ready for some football?

The beginning of football season feels more like a holiday than some of the dates marked on our post office calendars. There are a lot of reasons for that, but regardless, it reminds me of an interesting marketing tactic that I've recently discussed with some area entrepreneurs.

"Own your own holiday" was the theme of the discussion, which branched from talking about the competition for big holidays like Thanksgiving and New Years. Around the traditional holiday seasons, we get cards from businesses and see special deals at our favorite retailers, but your business can stand out by inventing (or owning) its own holiday.

For example, what if your IT business had "Free Computer Update Day" every year? You could send out cards ahead of time and refer to the "holiday" throughout the year in your other marketing channels. Or what about reinventing "Friday the 13th?" This date occurs at least once every year, usually twice - encourage your customers not to be scared, but to get excited about the deals you'll offer them on these dates.

PS - GO BILLS!

Public Relations and Social Media - Part 3

In 1985, The Coca-Cola Company introduced a new formula for their classic beverage. The decision was backed by market research and analysis, interviews, focus groups, and taste-tests... and initially looked like a good idea. However, there was a huge backlash when consumers realized the new formula was completely replacing the old, and that they'd no longer have access to the drink they initially fell in love with. After protests started to break out, the company decided to bring the old formula back to the market as "Classic Coke," and they all lived happily ever after.

It's not such a terrible story, and Coke handled it the right way considering all the information available to them. They were trying to be transparent, letting their customers provide feedback and access to "New Coke" before it was available on the shelves. All the analyses suggested the formula would do better, but they forgot one important bit of transparency: they didn't tell people they were taking away the old stuff.

In retrospect, Coca-Cola handled the situation well (though at first, they tried too hard to defend their decision instead of continuing to listen to their consumers). They were transparent about the product change, in the same way they could have been transparent through today's social media outlets.

However, this is a prime example of the power of a company's brand. Throughout the process, Coke never gave its consumers a chance to comment on the brand. People didn't need something entirely new, they just needed something a bit sweeter to add to the existing product.

Social media has the potential to take transparency one step further - to expose a company's brand to comment and criticism. Had Facebook and Twitter been around in 1985, the company would have realized that people draw emotional connections to an historical brand name like Coke. You can't fault them for a lack of transparency... hindsight is 20-20. But thankfully, today there are new tools that provide companies access to consumer opinions of their brand identity.

To wrap up this three-part series on public relations and social media, I just want to drive home the power and importance of social media outlets, negative and positive. Companies who embrace transparency and work with the bloggers and Facebook users who have emotionally-vested interests in the brand have much more potential for success in today's marketing world.

Please feel free to add your own comments, thoughts, and case studies that involve social media. I'd love to hear them!

Public Relations and Social Media - Part 2

Ok, so I lied about spending my Labor Day weekend writing blog posts about PR case studies... it seemed like I'd have a lot more time to do so, but the beautiful September weather in upstate New York was so overwhelmingly rare that I had to take full advantage.

But we're back, and as I promised, it's time to dissect Sigg's recent announcement about BPA in their "eco-friendly" water bottles. I came across the news last week on the Yahoo! home page, and only time will tell how the PR team at Sigg handles the bad publicity, but so far, it doesn't seem like they're doing a great job.

Sigg has a semi-strong presence on social media, and it's tough to tell where the "official" accounts are, but the fact is their brand is losing its reputation faster than Milli Vanilli after a skipped record (maybe not that fast...). Read some of the excerpts below from different social media outlets:

"...what really shocks me is that I did not receive an e-mail or mailed notification from this company as I have ordered from them on-line before."
Patrick Smith, SIGG Facebook Page

"My SIGG water bottles, bought to replace BPA plastic, contain BPA, a fact SIGG glossed over: FAIL"
@snolen, Twitter

"The business impact of their decision remains to be seen. It is clear, though, that they will lose the faith of a lot of their customers. Personally, will I buy bottles from SIGG in the future? No."
Alex Lewin, Feed Me Like You Mean It Blog

SIGG's official response came just 2 days ago. Apparently, they had more Labor Day plans than anticipated, as well. Moving forward, SIGG CEO Steve Wasik promises to keep consumers informed about new SIGG water bottles, make it easy for them to exchange their old bottles, and...

"Unveil an independently managed grant program to help fund BPA and chemical research that will help eliminate confusion and concern about this issue. While we have moved away from BPA in SIGG products, it continues to be used in countless products that we all use each day. If it poses a real threat, we want to help curb its use."

The company, and particularly the CEO, cites "naivety" about the responsibilities of being a green industry as part of their mistake. The apology letter, referenced above, contains hints of superiority and sarcasm toward seemingly uninformed consumers. There is still no link to social media pages from the official SIGG website. They're still missing a huge opportunity to win back their once-loyal base - the people who have now turned on them through their own connections.

SIGG, you're becoming a case study for ignorance towards social media marketing. Will you be the first big company to implode because "media relations" has a whole new meaning? As I mentioned earlier... time will tell.

Part 3 tomorrow: Today's version of the classic "Coke Classic" study