Disruptive

Communicating through chaos: What could a pandemic flu teach us

/ Angelo Fernando / 3 Comments

Very happy to be able to break the story about a pandemic flu exercise we conducted here at the Decision Theater at ASU.

It was an exercise that worked on several levels:

  • Strategic Planning
  • Testing Scenarios
  • Communicating with multiple groups
  • Testing a plan through systems dynamic model

I am in the Communications business, so I was keenly observing how different players interacted, assumed leadership positions, and communicated from within the ‘crisis.’

I was lucky to be the fly on the wall (the camera-toting fly, that is) so it got me thinking of the parallels there were for businesses. How do organizations communicate and act in a crisis? As in any marketing campaign or business crisis, the war room is staffed by team members who are are suddenly confronted with the need to operate without the usual props. They may have Blackberries, but the information is coming at them fast and furious through other channels. They may have strong opinions, but so too do the people across the table.

Then there was the interesting irony of some having too much information (mock TV news updates, threat levels, a web cam feed, fact sheets etc) on one side of the room, and others deprived of the usual sources of information (CNN, RSS feeds, radio etc) –all this according to plan. We hosted this event in two areas. Emergency Ops was situated in the ‘drum’ -the high-tech room with a 260-degree panoramic screen, laptops etc. Incident Command and the Executive Policy Group were situated in an adjacent conference room, tethered to the drum via a live camera feed and a land line. No cell phone communication was allowed between the rooms.

Communicators often face situations like this, albeit not in the same life-threatening context. How does a team of those representing PR, Marketing, Advertising, Web Design, HR, IT and Legal Affairs work in crisis mode, in a compressed time frame, when they barely talk to each other in normal life? We seldom act out scenarios, assuming bad things won’t happen to us. History tells us otherwise.

Unless we plan for these hypothetical ‘pandemic’ events we won’t really know. That’s the deeper meaning of strategic planning, isn’t it?

Fifteen candles for the Web. Or what did Tim Berners-Lee unleash?

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April 30th was a big day, in case it did not pop up in your Gmail calendar, Plaxo reminder or ToDoPub, the online to-do list.

I first heard it was the official birthday of the Web from a colleague, when he complained that someone had hacked into his web site. I suppose it was a *wicked* way of highlighting the awesome power now in our hands.

Fifteen years ago, Tim Berners-Lee unleashed this power when he applied hypertext (standing on the shoulder of Ted Nelson who conceived of the idea) and came up with the HTTP part of the web that’s almost invisible now, but knits the world together.

For some like the Magazine and Newspaper industry, ‘unleashed’ really became ‘unraveled.’ For others like Netflix, there would have been no business without this invention.

Fifteen candles later, this simple, almost invisible connective tissue of the web has reconfigured the way we communicate, market, educate and inspire each other. Oh yes, also how we find, rant, share and take notes among other things. I’ve written a lot about Wikinomics, and its malcontents and sometimes wonder if the information overload is slowing us down, rather than speeding us up. Birthdays are good times to look forward, back and sideways, aren’t they?

Recently I found an old printout of the famous “Rudman and Hart Report, (published eight months before 9/11) which had forecast in grim detail some of America’s vulnerabilities. It made a point of warning us that “new technologies will divide the world as well as draw it together.”

That irony strikes me as exactly what the web is good at –simultaneously connecting and dividing. It has made the world smaller and unified at one level, while fragmenting it into millions of niches. Or, as Thomas Friedman observed in The World is Flat, the ‘steroids’ (applications like wireless and file sharing) and the other flatteners like off-shoring, in-sourcing and open-sourcing are pulling the world in all directions. There are walled gardens like Facebook and there are open source textboooks.

And none of this could have happened without what Mr. Berners-Lee invented. Standing on the shoulder of this giant, companies such as iTunes took online music out of the the piracy world and into a business model that defies a label. Is it an application, a library, or a sharing platform? Basecamp takes files sharing into the realm of project management. There are hundreds of other examples. Without the web 1.0, there would have been no web 2.0.

As we head down the road to web 3.0, let’s tip our hats to Tim Berners-Lee.

New marketing in a rip, mix, burn culture

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I read a quote somewhere that “mashups are an inalienable right.” To which we could add: Personalization, instant gratification, live streaming, and on-demand are inalienable rights, too.

So we have to expect more of the rip, mix burn possibilities (rip, remix, burn?) as in this latest attempt by Oxford rock band, Radiohead to let its fans remix their own versions of a song, giving them the five elements of the track.

In December last year, Thom Yorke of Radiohead told WIRED, that their “pay what you can” experiment for the album In Rainbows was not a business model but “a response to a situation. We’re out of contract. We have our own studio. We have this new server. What the hell else would we do?” No one quite believed them, as it seemed more like a pilot study for some savvy marketing.

This latest tactic is definitely more than a “response” –a strategy to build a fan base among users who have been weaned on the above-mentioned inalienable rights.

Rapp Collins’ web site intrigues, disrupts

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Just like Rapp Collins’ (greatfnplace.com) scrambled ad I wrote about, their web site is meant to disturb. In a good way, perhaps.

Take a look. You can’t scroll via conventional scroll bars. Graphics are almost wacky: cables, birds, mobile phones, Bluetoooth devices, ink blots and web cams beg you to click and interact. But in the end, you feel deprived of content. Deliberately? Who knows. Is this the secret of direct marketing -information underloading for a change?

Apart from the business it is after, it makes you rethink what an online experience could be instead of the boring ‘about’ pages and ‘vision statements’ that are cues for making a hasty retreat.

The only thing that bothers me about the design elements are the wires. As`in cables. Intertwined, and enhanced by Flash, they cleverly mimic DNA strands (thus eliminating the need for pathetic copy that “digital is our DNA…” etc). But in a rapidly unwired Comsumerscape, these USB and Cat-5 cables will soon be as quaint as, floppy drives.

Easy fix, that. Disrupt once more.

Five questions for Rohit Bhargava about “Personality Not Included”

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pni_interviewseries.jpgTo coincide with book launch of Personality Not Included that I mentioned last week, author Rohit Bhargava invited bloggers to submit five questions about the book. This blog was one of the 52 he has featured.

Bhargava, senior VP of Ogilvy PR, and prolific writer, has a great conversational style and is fully aware that he is competing in a dense field of marketing literature. But if I were to go by how blog is one of my favorites, and the intro chapter, he’s knows how to distill complexity into a few words. It also helps that he’s not averse to killing a few sacred cows along the way.
In the true spirit of participatory media, there will be a vote on Monday for the best interview questions. Here are my five questions about what sparked off this book, and why it is important.

 

1. Advertising and marketing people are swamped with books on branding. How will Personality Not Included be different?

Thanks for asking this – because it gets right to the heart of what I think most people want to know. Why another marketing book? Well, the first thing I should tell you is that I am completely swamped with marketing and business books perhaps more than most others. The first thing I did when I got my book deal was to go out and buy nearly 100 marketing and business books from the last 5 years so I had a good sample of what I was up against (so to speak). As a result, I think I managed to write a book that stands out from any others for two big reasons:

 

  1. It is full of stories. Not boring case studies, but real stories of more than 100 brands or individuals with lessons from each example packed throughout.
  2. It takes a unique approach, skipping the usual theoretical model for books where there is one big idea and then you are left on your own to implement it. Instead, I have split the book into two main areas. The first is all about personality, why you need one, how to define one for your brand and when to use it. The second section is all about using it and is a collection of action guides and techniques to help you do that.

 

2. Could the book’s core premise be valid for someone not involved in new media?

Absolutely … in fact, one of the things that you will probably hear me over and over again in interviews is that this is “not a blogging book.” I don’t think there is a need for another one of those. Even more broadly looking at new media or social media is a more narrow topic. I wanted to focus on what I thought was a major trend in business that encompasses social media, authenticity and word of mouth marketing. The nice thing about the topic I chose is that there is not too much discussion of it in a business context already, so it offers me an ownable idea.

3. You open with a quote from David Ogilvy. Was it because (a) You work for Ogilvy (b) You think generations of advertising people haven’t quite deciphered the Ogilvy code about brands and people (c) You think brand theory has been missing a key ingredient (d) Other

I wondered whether this would be a question people would ask! I didn’t choose him because I work for Ogilvy, but if you happen to be in a situation where you are seeking marketing quotes, I dare you to avoid spending more than half an hour searching without coming up with at least 4 or 5 brilliant quotes from David Ogilvy. He was simply one of the most prolific creators of sayings and quotes that you can find. And I happen to think he was a brilliant marketer in his time … but honestly, the fact that I work at Ogilvy was secondary.

4. You are tapping into social media in a big way for the launch of this book. What appears to be the most successful element of this social media marketing mix so far?

I think this interview series has been far more successful that I could have imagined when I first launched it on Tuesday. I have had an extensive social media marketing plan for the book for a few months now, including Facebook pages, twittering, tagging content and just about everything else. The launch questions concept was something I came up with last weekend, and has turned into a great success in terms of the people that participated as well as the great buzz it is creating for the book and me, as well as (hopefully) for all the bloggers that participated. It’s ironic that a last minute idea is the one that takes off, but it also says something about the power of social media and the value of taking a risk. I could have ended up with 0 questions and looked pretty stupid … but the risk paid off and now I get the chance to share so many thoughts about the book and connect with lots of bloggers like you!

5. How did you balance a full time job, travel, a new kid, and writing the book?

I was surprised that you’re only the second person out of 52 to ask this question! The short answer is that I have a really supportive wife and family … and the other part of this is that I really don’t sleep much (which I know isn’t healthy). I think I’m used to about 4 hours a night and 5 hours is a good night. That and I’ve learned how to type pretty fast and distill my thoughts into words very quickly. It takes me time to edit what I write to make it more succinct … which is probably why I’m rambling with these answers a bit!

Spreading a little darkness in Phoenix

/ Angelo Fernando / 1 Comment

Tonight here in Phoenix, at 8 pm Mountain Standard Time, we were one of the four cities in the US that went dark for one hour to commemorate Earth Hour. Dubai, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Tel Aviv joined in too. Candle light dinners and waiters wearing glo-sticks were expected to compensate for the darkness. As Erin Zlomek of The Arizona Republic observed of the Chase ballpark, “Tonight, the well-known circular landmark melted into a sky of black.”

Another “landmark,” the white Google.com home page, turned black for that hour. Online, one Wikipedia editor whined that doing this for one hour was of no value. “Think of Earth every minute not just once a year for an hour! Take your bike, turn off lights whenever possible… There’s so much you can do every day!” Said the Googleplex: “we strongly support the Earth Hour campaign, and have darkened our homepage today to help spread awareness of what we hope will be a highly successful global event.”

Nice job, Phoenix.

Quotes for the week ending March 29, 2008

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“In our rush to create social networks in cyberspace, we often forget that we already have a start (at least) of our social network in our physical spaces that just need some cultivation.”

Chief Experience Officer, David Polinchock, quoted in Ad Age, about an audience game using a motion sensor and the movements of the wisdom of the crowd.

“Let’s take a look at social media. It doesn’t have hard edges.”

Steve Rubel, on why three internet careers (“Social Media Consultant,” “Internet Advertising Sales,” “Digital Talent Agent”) that will soon disappear.

“Writing a business plan: that can be taught… but a really good idea, you can’t teach that.”

Rhett Wilson, community and entrepreneurial liaison at Arizona State University, in The State Press, on the $25,000 grant for a faculty of staff member with a winning business idea.

“What is the purview of a county sheriff, at least our county sheriff, is publicity.”

E. J. Montini on Arizona Sheriff, Joe Arpaio’s losing a Supreme Court case, but winning free PR.

“I say a lot of things — millions of words a day — so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement.”

Hillary Clinton about her “just words” moment, when she recounted visiting Bosnia under sniper fire 12 years ago.

“Guess what I think the fifth ‘P’ (in marketing) should be ?”

Rohit Bhargava, in a new book Personality Not Included, called released this week.

Digital and Analog: Two ways to be heard.

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Care2 is a petition site that allows people to stand up for what they believe in and get others to support their cause.

Whether it is a petition about water, animal welfare, breast cancer, or war there are groups ‘signing’ petitions online. Which is fine, because we can now pool our energies and brains from every continent to raise our collective voices. Facebook too has a lot of activism.

But I have to say that in spite of so many inspiring platforms for digital activism, the online noble causes such as free rice, and FB groups protesting on behalf of Myanmar, nothing stirred me more than when I joined a group one Sunday to picket outside a strip mall where one of the tenants was an abortion clinic. People driving by would honk and wave in approval. Others gave us the finger.

All because a group of about 30 people were carrying (analog) signs.

More un-meetings please!

/ Angelo Fernando / 1 Comment

There are conferences rooms, and there are six comfortable faux-leather lounge chairs in the coffee shop at Borders book store on Mill Avenue. We meet there often to plan projects, or just brainstorm on an upcoming event. Sometimes it’s a visitor, sometimes it’s with a media person. My two highly creative designers seem to thrive in un-meetings –the agenda or core idea staring at us on the back of a napkin.

If you’re in marketing, PR or strat planning, you know there is value in structured meetings and white boards, but too often the format substitutes for the outcome.

Un-meetings, on the other hand, are less intimidating. People check their ‘strategic’ meeting vocabulary at the door and yammer on like real people –like customers. Maybe it’s the coffee shop atmosphere that reminds us that we are customers first and worker-bees second. In coffee shops you hear words like “I swear I got goosebumps when I read that report.” In a conference room, with a supervisor staring down at you, that same thought would go like “I tend to agree on the substance of his argument…” or some nonsense like that.

So here are the five reasons why un-meetings in public places work:

  1. They permit attendees to let their personality, their biases and their passions show through
  2. They let people interact with each other in a non-threatening way
  3. They force people to think like customers –being surrounded by them
  4. They seldom run over the time limit –folks feel they have to get back to “work”
  5. No need for Outlook meeting requests

McCainSpace needs a redesign, rethink

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John McCain’s blog roll doesn’t include a link to his daughter’s blog, McCainBlogette. Though it does have Conservative blogger Michele Malkin (HotAir) and LaShawn Barber. Oversight? I don’t think so.

Meghan McCain maintains her distance for a good reason — if you read her blog closely. She does write about her Mom, fund raisers, the White House etc but does her own thing. The McCAin site, however is a tightly managed brand. It features issues, insights, trove of a photography, multimedia, and a networking tool called McCainSpace.

I experimented with it, and was confirmed within a few hours. But it is not what I expected. Since it riffs on MySpace, it suggests a networking space not a fund-raising funnel. It urges you to “build your own network of grassroots activists, take action and have fun.” On the site I created, categories include Modify your goals and Review Your Donors. The only way to build an address book is name by name –no uploading a database.

Huh?

Call me naive, but networking and activism isn’t only about getting people to drop money into a fishbowl. “Taking action” and “having fun” won’t go anywhere fast if those on the network are called ‘donors.’ I think they launched McCainspace too fast. Perhaps they have some functionality in the works, but the clock is ticking.