Social Media

Counterpunching as a PR strategy

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Ned Barnett, APR, has an interesting piece in this month’s CW magazine. If you’re not an IABC member you won’t be able to get to the content so here’s a summary.

“If there is an element of truth in the attacks on an organization, going head-to-head with your opponents could provoke an ongoing dispute that will bring out all the gory details.”

However,

“Counterpunching begins to make sense when your attackers
have a vested interest in not coming to terms.”

He lists many dos and don’ts:

Use verifiable, unequivocal facts.
Use credible and disinterested experts as sources and spokespeople.
Use supportive employees to tell your story. Screen them carefully,
then trust them (don’t script them).
Use legitimate market research studies from credible well-known
researchers.
Monitor the media for attacks so you can respond in the same
news cycle.

There are many more. Worth reading the entire article.

The Wisdom of the Wikipedians

/ Angelo Fernando / 1 Comment

Corporate communication and brand management in a Web 2.0 world is not a skill set that has been taught in schools.

The audience for your well thought out brand communication will form their own takeaways, no matter how stringently you manage your communication guide.

I am not trying to be provocative. It’s a reality I run into regularly when I conduct surveys for customer loyalty projects, or do brand audits before a campaign.

So, to address this topic (shameless self promo warning here) I wrote an article on this in my tech/marketing column for the latest issue of CW Magazine. It’s titled “The wisdom of the Wikipedians.” But it’s not just about Wikipedia.

If you’re not an IABC member, you won’t be able to read the article online, so here’s a PDF.

PodCamp Arizona – as good as any paid event

/ Angelo Fernando / 1 Comment

brent_2.jpgKick yourself if you didn’t attend Podcamp Ariona.

As Podamps go, it was an experiment in self organization -taken to an amazing level. The venue –at the University of Advancing Technology— couldn’t have been better picked with classrooms bristling with technology, rather than a sterile hotel ambiance.

The presenters were people many paid events would kill to have on their roster. There was free music, food, and best of all a sense of energy that firmly planted Arizona on the Podcast map. There have been 23 Podcamps across the country before this. One attendee commented that he had attended a few more Podcamps and this by far was the best organized. Kudos to Brent and Michelle Spore for pulling this off.

Many takeaways from this one for me.

1. First, that knowledge is not always to be found in formal education packaging. Nor need it be “monetized” the traditional way. This was an event that was managed by a wiki, if that tells you something about bottom-up organizational power.

3. Third, those who have the best stories have the worst collateral. I say this in a good way, since I’ve seen to many slick PPT presentations, too many brochures in my marketing life that scream marketing, not substance. I attended a session by Marc and Nicole Spagnuolo on “starting from scratch.” Their logo looks like it was designed by a high school student with a Sharpie in the back seat of a car. Really, from scratch! Nicole was happy to admit that they use free survey software, low-cost service providers, print black&white stickers rather than expensive business cards, and barely know how to write a press release. But they are hugely successful!

4. Fourth, podcasters are not afraid to make mistakes, to start over, to admit they got it wrong. Zero egos.

And that’s apart from the lessons of podcasting, and connecting to audiences via a blog, a microphone, a camera…

Taser “victim” accepts blame

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

An unexpected ending to the “Don’t Tase me bro” story that appeared to spin off in several directions.

The student who got more than his 15 minutes of fame thanks the incident featured on YouTube and the rapid spread of news/speculation about the incident, has apologized for precipitating the incident. On the Facebook group that formed around the event, no one has posted anything since early October. Case closed, I guess.

Will PR and the media call a truce?

/ Angelo Fernando / 1 Comment

The dust won’t settle for awhile since WIRED Editor Chris Anderson announced last week he was “banning” lazy PR people who pitched him with irrelevant stories. First strike and they’re history.

The discussion has got interesting. Here’s one, where Brian Solis asks if PR and media could sign a peace accord of sorts. He says:

I promise to fix this problem among those with whom I work with and can reach. I will also work with others whose voices are trusted among PR practitioners and their peers within the communities in which they seek guidance.

All he asks is that Anderson remove the list of names from his blog so as not to give the offenders a public shaming.

Anderson, however, is unapologetic:

Many people wrote to apologize, promising to reform their ways, and asked to be taken off the list. I’ve written to all of them to thank them for their commitment to change, but I’m not going to undo history.

Solis then brings up another uncomfortable topic –unethical cut-and-paste reporters. But outing them is not necessary, he says.

Terrific post, Brian.

In People vs Victoria’s Secret, small group wins

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This piece of news epitomizes everything we know about the shift taking place. Of people taking charge of their social environments –online and offline.

To summarize, in Gilbert, Arizona, a “small yet vocal group” told the mall management that it did not want to see barely-clad women in larger-than-life size posters facing outside on the mall.

Others have slammed this as a prudish attitude. “Victoria Secret Sells Underwear people! What are they going to advertise, hand bags?” commented one. But the fact is, the hoi polloi can –and will– make demands. You may recall Abercrombie & Fitch discontinued a catalog when accused of treading into soft porn territory, and had also backed down and pulled offensive T-shirts before that.

On the other side of the world, in Australia, a coalition of consumer organizations has launched a “dump soda” campaign. This includes asking that the Coca-Colas and Pepsis “Stop selling sweetened beverages” around schools, and a broader call to cease marketing to those under 16 in print, broadcast, via product placement, on mobile phones, at athletic event, via packaging etc.

Victoria’s Secret may not want to get into a ‘values’ face off. Parent company, Limited Brands, emphasizes social responsibility in terms of values such as: “doing what’s right,” “Being inclusive – in our thoughts and behaviors” and “Working for the greater good” –for the enterprise and the community.

Are communicators behind the curve?

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Shel Holtz had an interesting analysis on why professional communicators are lagging.

Communicators, as a profession, are woefully behind the curve when it comes to participatory communication, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there is one overarching reason for this: Communicators don’t like or understand channels over which they cannot exercise complete control.

Holtz’ long post (about the role of professional associations) makes a solid point that too many folks wearing a ‘communicator’ hat “are woefully behind the curve” with regard to new media channels, a.k.a. participatory media, a.k.a. social media.

I have no problem with people being behind the curve –who isn’t, considering how fast the curve is rising? — but it gets scary when people seem disinterested in where the curve is taking us and our organizations. I often hear the “we’re getting there slowly” response. Which is code for “We aren’t really sure if this will be relevant.” Not the same as diving in, and taking baby steps, which I often advocate.

To put things in perspective, Commmunicators aren’t the only ones behind the curve.

The trick is to not be so deliriously happy staying in the laggard position, and do nothing about it.

San Diego station leverages social media in crisis

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Image from KPBS Flickr siteSan Diego broadcaster KPBS, an NPR affiliate and service of the San Diego State University covered the fires in a way that most local stations would –with updates, lists of evacuation sites, safety tips etc.

But it has also embraced social media in a big way. Its stories have links to Delicious and Digg, a Flickr account inviting residents to upload images, and has a Google map embedded with icons to tell residents the status of the fire, and where to locate an evacuation center or animal shelter. For those inclined, there’s also a Twitter feed providing regular updates.

If you’ve ever been temporarily displaced, you’ll know that a phone line becomes a lifeline. Hence the value of Twitter, proving to be an incredible on-demand, up to the minute channel for situations such as this. On Saturday for instance, at 10.01 am, a “tweet” went out to announce that:

” The community of Deerhorn Valley has been reopened to residents only. Residents must enter from the west side of Hwy.”

The station also began using a free wiki from PBWiki that is a quick and easy way to assemble timely information, and allow the community to contribute or update. PBWiki responded by throwing in two free weeks of its Platinum service to KPBS.

Using social media to market Scottsdale Visitors’ Bureau

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Here’s one way to use a blog to support a marketing push. The Scottsdale Visitor’s Bureau is running a seasonal promo, inviting people write a post about a funny Christmas-related story/incident on its blog, and enter to win prizes.

The winning blogger gets three nights stay at the Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa plus round trip airfare. Also thrown in is a dinner, golfing, a local tour and car rental.

Check JingleBlogScottsdale!

SCVB has got into social media in more ways than one. It has podcasts, cell phone alerts and a travel blog.