The era of Big Data has arrived, and social media big data will be a huge trend this year. This means public relations professionals have to step it up to keep up.
The monitoring tools we currently use are crude at best and provide only a glimpse into the mirror. There are mountains of data and we don’t really have the skills to see what they all mean and really connect the dots.
Up until now, we have used free tools such as Google alerts to monitor mentions or paid tools such as Radian6, Lithium, Custom Scoop, Cision and many others that give us ideas about what is being said and by whom.
If we are really sophisticated, we will use sentiment scoring, influence measurement tools, or text analytics which allow us to mine more information.
5 Essential Skills to Master Big Data
There is a whole new skill set we have to master to understand and be ready for the insights and opportunities Big Data brings to public relations.
Following are five essential skills to master Big Data you can undertake right away.
- Become an analyst. Don’t be intimidated by data and analytics. Use your brain and look for the ways in which different insights might help you to make better business decisions.
- Learn Excel. One of the best gifts you can give yourself is to take an advanced Excel course to learn how to manipulate data in spreadsheets. We need to move beyond the basics. Take a course locally, or the one linked to above. It is the still that will pay back in spades.
- Collect Data. Consider collecting your own data to supplement what you get from any tools you use. With services such as 80legs and Gnip, you can also gather your own data and analyze it. You can even pull an RSS feed or feeds into a Google Doc and go from there. The key is, don’t be intimidated.
When Should We Measure Communications?
Annual in depth surveys. Engagement and satisfaction surveys are typically carried out annually and can carry additional questions to provide some insights into the effectiveness of communications.
Prior to a specific communications campaign. In order to best understand the impact of communications, it is necessary to measure (awareness, attitudes, knowledge etc) before a campaign.
After a significant communication or campaign. It is important to measure the effectiveness and impact of significant communications programs and initiatives. This allows you to tailor internal communications to make sure they are effective and delivering quantifiable business value.
At intervals to track attitudes. Regular measurement helps communicators to gauge the ever shifting feelings and attitudes within an organization and to tailor messages to make sure they are appropriate to their audiences.
Pulse checks and temperature checks during and after specific events provide an insight into the issues and challenges an organization faces and to gather feedback on specific issues.
At intervals to benchmark and track against KPI’s. Measuring regularly against benchmarks and tracking trends over time provide an early warning of issues that may go undetected until they have escalated further.
What to Measure?
Determining which aspects of communication to measure will depend on the organization’s specific business and communication objectives. A few examples of useful communications measurements include:
Over the years, I’ve developed a strategy tool that I call measurement-based planning. It may sound counterintuitive to start your plan at the end, but starting with defining what you ultimately want to measure—and how you will measure it—creates a more focused and concrete communication plan, with more quantifiable results.This is a twist on the traditional planning process that focuses on goals and objectives. Yes, the things you ultimately want to measure are the objectives. However, analyzing those objectives through a measurement lens from the outset forces you to think much more concretely.
For instance, one of the responsibilities in your job description may be to manage employee communication and to educate and motivate the company’s workforce. Instead of plunking down “educate and motivate employees” as an objective, start by asking yourself, “How would I know if employees were educated and motivated? How would I measure that?”
Consider three types of outcome measures, which social media measurement expert Kami Huyse has summed up neatly as the three As: awareness, attitude and action. In other words, what will your audience know, what will they believe, and what will they do?
For more wisdom on measurement, see
Common Sense Communication Measurement .Purchase
Led by Kami Watson Huyse, APR, and Alice Brink, ABC, APR.
We still need those web metrics mentioned and others to continue optimizing our websites, call-to-action processes and to monitor conversion rates etc. But more useful is to identify and define your main focus social media metrics. Then define related Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor your progress over time, AND then do mashup of both web analytical data and social media data. Combining data results from search referrals, website and social media all together gives you REAL insights.
Why is it so hard to identify and define metrics for social media marketing? I think it is because many organizations do not have a written social media strategy, and lack defining their social media goals and objectives. Goals and objectives always come first, and then you define your social media KPIs to monitor status and progress for your objectives. You should both identify and define quantitative metrics, and maybe more important; qualitative metrics. Choice of these “social” metrics depends of your social media objectives.
The easy metrics to identify are quantitative ones:
If employees are so connected, why is it so hard to communicate with them?
Tourism Ireland is currently ranked the third largest national tourist board on Facebook, with approximately 700,000 fans across 20 markets in eight languages. In the absence of an accepted industry standard to assess the value of this beyond simply counting fan numbers, we developed the concept of Social Equivalent Advertising Value (SEAV).
Just as the PR sector has traditionally measured its impact by the cost of buying advertising to cover the equivalent column inches, so a similar approach can be applied to social media. The more a brand message is shared, the more “column inches” are gained and the value of this can be compared to the cost of equivalent online advertising.
We identified four levels of consumer engagement with brands in social media:
- Post Impressions: viewing a brand post.
- Page Impressions: viewing a brand owner’s social platform.
- Personal Actions: consuming brand content such as photos, videos or links.
- Public Actions: sharing brand content with their network.
We then categorized the actions that consumers can take across the major social platforms into each of these groupings, and attributed a financial value to the cost of delivering a comparable consumer engagement online. This allowed us to quantify the value of our social engagement in Facebook at the end of last year at an annualized level of €1.7 million.
In the October 5 edition of the New York Times, Julie Bosman wrote that the “curiously strong” Altoid mints were facing possible branding issues in the company’s move to “shutter the factory in Bridgend, Wales and transfer production to its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.”
One might say that was a curiously strong move on the part of owners Wm. Wrigley and Co., since the candy had been marketed with its old world British origins since being introduced to the U.S. in 1918. The antique looking metal tins include the words “Made in Great Britain.” Even the online encyclopedia Wikipedia is out-of-step, noting: “Altoids are produced in Britain by Callard & Bowser-Suchard.” Wikipedia shows that “The history of Altoids actually dates back to the reign of King George III. The brand was created by a London-based Smith & Company in the 1780s but eventually became part of the Callard & Bowser company in the 1800s.”
Some brand and identity folks say that this is a shift in how Altoids defines itself, with them going after a reputation as being a very different breath changer, rather than an old candy dating back to King George. For those of you who don’t know, Altoid ads began as early as 1920, touting the confection as “an antidote to poisons in the stomach. One or two taken after meals will stop poisonous fementation.” http://www.altoids.com/index.aspx?area=about
Others think the shift in Altoids production won’t matter. Still others say, it’s only the mint flavors that have stayed in the UK and all other flavors are exported to the U.S. and other places, anyway.
If one peruses the Altoids web site, it’s all about fun and prominently displays a contest regarding the “Tin Million Uses/One Metal Box” for the Altoids’ tin. And the last line on the home page reads that they are still made in Great Britain. Hmmmmm…
For the person studying related image risks of products moving to the U.S. from the far corners of the world, Bosman’s article is worth looking up. She analyzes similar moves by Lowenbrau toMiller Brewing Co. to Labatt, Jaguar to Ford Motor Co., Saturn to GM, Foster’s to Molson and more. These cases might be fun for you public relations professors such as myself out there.
Bosman also notes at least two successes, however — BMW’s connection to German engineering, and Armani’s connection to Italian fashion. Does it really matter when you really love a brand? After all, what do you really know, or care about, the origins of Kikkoman soy sauce or Haagen-Dazs ice cream?
The February 7, 2005 issue of PR Week included an article on Peppercom’s $27 million campaign to promote SUV safety. To kick off their efforts, they introduced a mascot who they called ESUVEE. The firm claims to want to “draw the attention of 18- to 34-year-old men” by using the hairy beast that looks something like a buffalo. He isn’t a cutesy cartoon type by any stretch of the imagination. He’s a foot scraping, macho Beauty and the Beast-type character and he growls too! He’s 16 feet long, 11 feet wide and 10 feet tall. This campaign, which includes many traditional campaign elements, hopes to draw visitors to esuvee.com and teach them something about SUV safety that they didn’t already know.
If you head to the site, you can play an interactive challenge course game. The theme of the site is all about riding an SUV correctly and safely. They use the ESUVEE animal in sort of a bucking bronco, rodeo type setting, while a “cowhand” gives the safety pitch. The beast really gets around. Esuvee visited the Boats, Books, and Brushes festival in New London, CT, in September, accompanied by the Connecticut Attorney General. And the Attorney General GOT some attention. The kickoff news release posted on the Esuvee web site includes this language: “The Campaign highlights critical tips for driving SUVs that can mean the difference between life and death: check your tire pressure monthly, don’t overload your SUV, always wear your seatbelt, try to avoid abrupt maneuvers, and don’t speed. ‘Driving SUVs like ordinary cars invites disaster. Awareness of SUV safety – especially stopping rollovers – can mean survival to countless Americans,’ said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. ‘Smart drivers can save lives with some simple steps: avoid speeding, sudden maneuvers, and overloading. Our education campaign targets young men, who may be most vulnerable and most difficult to reach. If you think this message is hype, look at the numbers – thousands of young Americans killed in rollover crashes every year.’” Not everyone is happy with the campaign. The SUV Owners of America advocacy group thinks the “safety campaign paints an unfair picture of the vehicles.” The huge beast is their nemesis. Micha Lindemans writes that in Greek mythology, “Nemesis is the goddess of divine justice and vengeance. Her anger is directed toward human transgression of the natural, right order of things and of the arrogance causing it. Nemesis pursues the insolent and the wicked with inflexible vengeance…” Nemesis. Encyclopedia Mythica. Retrieved November 09, 2005, from Encyclopedia Mythica Online. But opposition or not, the campaign is making the noise it intended. Run a quick search for ESUVEE in Google or Yahoo and many blogs pop up using words such as “brilliant” and “fantastic.” The word “Esuvee” even made Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. The PR Week article notes that the “integrated effort is funded by settlement money from Ford, which was sued by state two years ago for using dangerous Firestone tires.” It’s a project of the States Attorneys General. Who would have thought an elected job could be so much fun?! |
The release reads in part, “The growth in home high-speed internet adoption, after growing quickly in the past several years, has slowed down and is poised to slow even further, according to a new report released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.”
The May 2005 survey “is built around several national random digit dial telephone surveys of Americans (age 18 and older) conducted by Pew Internet and American Life Project.”
Here are a few of the facts and comments from the report: “53% of home internet users have high-speed connections at home, up from 50% in 2004 – a small and not statistically significant increase. This compares unfavorably with growth rates over a comparable time frame a year earlier. In May 2004, 42% of home internet users had high speed connections, 20% over the 35% home high speed penetration figure for November, 2003…
“By 2005…Years of online experience no longer has any significant impact on the intensity of internet use, while having a home broadband connection is a much stronger predictor of the number of online activities that a user does on a typical day…
“The Project’s May 2005 data show there is a smaller pool of dial-up users now compared to 2002 and today’s dial-up users are less likely to be heavy users of the internet. Pew data has shown consistently a pattern whereby people start out their online lives as dial-up users, do more on the internet as they gain more experience, and eventually switch to broadband as they become more dependent on the internet for information, entertainment, and communication.”
For those of us in PR who are trying to capture information and attention from certain target audiences at home using the internet, this is one important swath of the user landscape to consider. While it would be a guess on my part and generalization at minimum, I would suspect that the audiences you are trying to engage will likely have high speed connections. In this report, that person would be described as a “heavy user.” In PR, we’re looking for “heavy users.”
We’ve all experienced the frustration of trying to participate in a survey or buy a product or browse information in dial-up mode. Hands are thrown up in frustration and the users simply disconnect. The experienced PR professional using the web, wants the users to remain engaged, visit for long periods, and enjoy the experience. I, for one, am keeping an eye on these trends regarding usage. How about you?
For the full report, please see: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/164/report_display.asp
You can sign up to receive free Pew research alerts at: http://www.pewinternet.org/signup.asp
Pew Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202.419.4500
Fax: 202.419.4505
Did you happen to catch the Mary Thompson piece on CNBC business news on December 23 talking about the Starbucks campaign where they were using “unconventional and surprising ways to connect with consumers…” ???? Maybe it is guerrilla marketing at its best but she reported about Starbucks giving out 100 $5 gift certificates to people they saw being good Samaritans on the street. The people would tell the driver of a vehicle that he had left his coffee on the roof. “Happy Holiday’s from Starbucks!” the good Samaritans were told, before they realized the cup had been permanently affixed.
Staged, yes. But it got attention on the street, started a flurry of talk, was furiously blogged about, and was caught over and again by the mainstream media.
And they apparently always have folks smelling their coffee, because “positive, memorable aromas make people smile,” she reported. She ended by saying, “Tongues are wagging inside and outside this coffee klatch.”
So, do you think these tactics help or hurt a business image?
I discovered a free white paper called “The Future of PR,” published in July 2005. The report focus is “How to garner more coverage and stay way ahead of the competition.”
How do you use technology in your media relations? Most of us have used email and various web services. But Vocus writes that this just isn’t enough.
“A key component of PR in the new age of digital communications is a centralized system for managing all your media contacts, correspondence, activities, news distribution, news monitoring and measurement.” Their white paper lists several key capabilities critical to the future of PR. I teach public relations on the graduate and undergraduate levels at UMUC and students are always asking me what’s coming next!
Much of what’s in this free Vocus white paper isn’t found in most textbooks (Shel Holtz has a few good ones) for our future practitioners. One that especially appeals to me is what Vocus calls “customer relationship management (CRM) for PR.”
The Vocus paper reads: “In recent years, CRM has become a hot business buzzword. Countless CRM applications now exist to help companies manage their sales and customer contacts. In PR, effective relationship management is just as essential, but many professionals still use basic email applications or EXCEL files to manager their many contacts and activities.
Without a history of all activities, interaction and communication with journalists in one location –- accessible by both you and your colleagues — your productivity and professionalism can suffer.” See http://www.vocus.com.
Since last year’s students liked the exercise, students in the Spring 2006 Journalism 331 class, Public Relations Techniques, at the University of Maryland University College were asked what PR programs deserved top honors in their eyes. Here are some interesting case overviews from that class.
Student Nghi Nguyen touted the social responsibility and community relations efforts by McDonald’s and particularly “its involvement with the World Children’s Day event every year. McDonald would join force with musicians to raise money for children around the world.” Nghi made the point that while the company — with others — is being constantly being tied to child and adult obesity in the world, they really do a great deal to help poverty in the world and its effect on children. The discussion that ensued with classmates generated nothing but positive comments about Ronald McDonald Charities and Ronald McDonald House.
Fast forward to sports. Student Nikki Taber hails from Detroit and pointed out to her classmates that the City’s reputation has been less than stellar, thanks to portrayals such as Eminem’s movie “Eight Mile.” However, things all changed when Detroit hosted this year’s Super Bowl. Beyond the success of the event itself, it was an opportunity to “report great things about Detroit.” Nikki described the efforts this way: “The Detroit Regional Chamber hosted a media party before the Super Bowl in an effort to introduce journalists, and media professionals from the sports, entertainment and business industries to Detroit. The event took place at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, and Detroit Regional Chamber President and CEO, Richard E. Blouse Jr. touted what was great about the city.” One attendee said, “The image painted of Detroit was one of rebirth, rebuilding, and that Detroit was the place to be.” Among other events, Detroit held a snow festival downtown the week leading up to the Super. Nikki said, “We had NO snow, they had to make it and truck it in. Then we got crazy heavy snow, and everyone was scared things would get bad, but it turned to be great. Detroit has never been better looking, at least not in my lifetime!” One of Nikki’s classmates, Jason Mcdonald offered the Detroit Super Bowl website http://www.sbxl.org. There, he said, a reader could find an article from the Detroit Free Press. “The article is about Roger Penske and his desire to continue the improvements made for the Super Bowl. He feels that getting ready for the Super Bowl was a milestone to make the city better and that everyone needs to keep moving ahead with improvement initiatives. It appears that this PR campaign is not over.
Student Tanya Ramey had kudos for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health for launching The Heart Truth, a national awareness campaign for women about heart disease. The Heart Truth is behind the National Wear Red Day (this year observed on February 3rd.) Tanya wrote: “National Wear Red Day is held on the first Friday in February and was first observed in 2004. On this day, women and men across the country are encouraged to wear red to alert women about their risk of heart disease. The NHLBI makes it easy for anyone to participate by providing suggestions and materials such as brochures, banners, fact sheets, and radio/print public service announcements that will aid in promoting awareness. They are available for downloading at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/. Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women. While the campaign’s (Ogilvy PR) aim is primarily targeted at women ages 40 to 60, heart disease can start at any age. The sooner a female is aware of that fact, the sooner she can take action to improve her health and quality of life. I don’t believe it is a coincidence that I received an e-mail today that read: Following a low-fat diet late in life fails to lower the risk of cancer and heart disease in older women, a large government study finds.”
Student Melissa Austria, feels that organizations that use fundraising to help promote their businesses but also help the community deserve an award for best practice!
This sort of persuasive public relations can help create a bond or relationship with the public or community. She used the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as an example. She wrote: “During my internship at Fox News, we had a chef come in from a restaurant from Tysons II. He cooked an appetizer as well as a main meal but he also told us that the restaurant would be donating money to Katrina victims that weekend. The money would help victims by providing them with clothes and their children would be given school supplies. In Virginia Beach, my friend told my that he would be working at a nightclub and they would also be raising money for the Katrina victims. This helped attract more people to the club and brought the public together.” Marketing for a cause. Now, not all of her classmates agreed. Some felt this was an example of charity and not persuasive PR and opted instead to laud the efforts of organizations that brought true relief to the region. I say, there’s room for both. The fundraising of smaller organizations such as these, perhaps frustrated as to how they might help, was often funneled through the larger organizations delivering direct relief, such as the Red Cross.
Student Jason Mcdonald went straight to his textbook,“Effective Public Communications, Ninth Edition” by Cutlip, Center and Broom to find his nominee for Best Practice. “In the text (pp. 88-90), the authors write about the beginnings of America and some of the successful and persuasive public relations campaigns conducted by our founders,” Jason wrote. “The authors detail six techniques (now common in public relations strategies) that John Adams and his fellow revolutionaries used to convince their compatriots that revolution and separation from England were necessary:
1. They developed organizations to conduct effective public relations campaigns (Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence).
2. They used symbols to represent ideals designed to trigger patriotic and revolutionary emotions (the Liberty Tree).
3. They used slogans (“Taxation without representation is tyranny”).
4. They staged events to gain attention for their causes (the Boston Tea Party).
5. They ensured that their side of a story was in the public before the other side to gain acceptance (the Boston Massacre).
6. They saturated the community through their communication channels to instill new ideas in those who received their messages.”
Jason continued: “All of these were pivotal in turning the hearts and minds of other Americans against the British Crown to gain liberty. Imagine that anyone who agreed with the revolutionary propagandists was a traitor to the crown and risked their honor, fortune, security and life for subscribing to the traitorous ideals proposed by our founders. Yet, our founders were persuasive enough with their techniques that many joined the revolutionary cause.”
Student Luann Stubbs nominatedPopulation Connection and, specifically, their award-winning “dot” video. She wrote: “This group has been in existence for about 40 years, initially as ZPG, (Zero Population Growth), and aims to educate and influence people on the connection between our many social, economic, and environmental problems and overpopulation. The group changed their name in May 2002…They concentrate their efforts on education, information dissemination, and lobbying. The group seems to be highly ethical (you can view their complete financial statement and even their tax return from their web site http://www.populationconnection.org), with an all-volunteer board of directors. They have resources for teachers, advocates, campus activists, and journalists, including an email address and phone number. Educational, promotional, and training materials are available. The web site also offers fact sheets and current world and U.S. population figures. A legislative guide and action network is another important part of the website, as part of their attempt to educate and persuade politicians and the general public to limit population growth. But I believe by far their most persuasive material is their ‘dot’ video, that illustrates the growth of world population using a world map and dots of population added over a time progression.”
Student Amy Henry nominated the Declare Yourself campaign, meant to persuade young people to vote in the 2004 elections. This campaign won a PRSA Silver Anvil Award from in 2005. Amy wrote: “I am nominating this campaign because it brilliantly utilized all forms of media to try to empower, educate, and motivate their target public. The project was a partnership between entertainment, media, technology, and education to stress the importance of voting and civic involvement. Some of their efforts included a Declaration of Independence Road Trip (a 50-city tour that included a multi-media exhibit explaining the document’s significance); a live spoken word tour of multi-ethnic artists; a TV special and concert tour with popular musicians; slick PSA’s featuring well known actors, fashion icons, intellectuals, and musicians; a web site that provided voter registration forms, absentee ballots, a polling place locator and political news; a 20-minute film starring comedy actors to be shown to high school seniors during school-complete with a discussion guide for teachers; voter education booklets; and newspaper inserts for high schools.
Student Kristin Wasilewski also picked a campaign related to getting out the vote. She wrote that the Foundation of Women Executives in Public Relations presents The Crystal Obelisk Awards for Social Responsibility annually. In 2005, the award for profit campaign under $100,000 was Ben & Jerry’s partnered campaign with Rock the Vote. This campaign was used to persuade young Americans to register to vote in the 2004 Presidential election. Included in the campaign was a chance to name the new Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor. After young Americans registered to vote, they would also be registered to vote for the name of the new flavor. The voters registered at the New Hampshire primary and also at Ben & Jerry’s annual Free Cone Day. The results of this campaign included over 365,000 people voting on the final flavor name, and Primary Berry Graham getting the nod. http://www.wepr.org/awards_winners.asp
Student Allison Martyn selected two local campaigns. The first was a small local contracting company called Wichita Roofing and Remodeling. It’s a 13-year old company and pretty well established in the Wichita area. However, it was nothing unusual or special until October 2005, when they were chosen to be the contractor for a local project on ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.’ Wow, what amazing publicity they received! Of course the project was huge news here and filled the local newspaper and TV news, as expected What I’ve been impressed with is what they’ve done since then. They sponsored a watch party at a local theater the night the episode aired, they invested in some commercials highlighting their involvement in the show, and
they are planning a huge presentation at the Wichita Home & Garden show next weekend. They took the media attention they got from the show and have really kept it going. Now everyone knows who they are.
“The second is another local company, a car dealership called Davis Moore. They have several locations and sell both new and used vehicles of many different makes. What is unusual about them is they don’t spend their budget on advertising. Instead, they run a public safety campaign. They run a lot of commercials, but they are all about vehicle safety — buckling up, proper
installation of child seats, the importance of following the speed limits. A local child was killed when he leaned on a rocker-style window switch in a parked car and the window closed on his neck. They started a fund for the family and petition to automakers to eliminate the rocker-style switches that can be dangerous to children. As a result they have painted themselves as a community-oriented friendly car dealer that you should trust. Their name is synonymous with safety in most people’s minds, a key factor when purchasing your next family car!”
Cornelia Carter-Sykes, Manager, Pew Internet, Pew Research Center (202-419-4513), sent a message to colleagues that The Pew Internet & American Life Project has recently released two new Reports. The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a non-profit initiative of the Pew Research Center, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts to explore the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, health care, schools, the work place, and civic/political life. The Project is non-partisan and does not advocate for any policy outcomes.
From a public relations perspective, I believe these PEW findings are very enlightening for the professional continuing to or intending to use the internet as a PR tool.
The first report is: “The Internet’s Growing Role in Life’s Major Moments – April 19, 2006.” Cornelia’s note reads: “Our surveys show that 45 percent of internet users, or about 60 million Americans, say that the internet helped them make big decisions or negotiate their way through major episodes in their lives in the previous two years.”
Read the full report.
Data Memo: Internet Penetration and Impact – April 26, 2006
Cornelia added: “Over time, internet users have become more likely to note big improvements in their ability to shop and the way they pursue their hobbies and interests. A majority of internet users also consistently report that the internet helps them to do their job and improves the way the get information about health care.”
She continued: “While the share of internet users who report positive impacts has grown, the sheer size of the internet population also continues to increase. Surveys fielded in 2006 show that internet penetration among adults in the U.S. has hit an all-time high. While the percentage of Americans who say they use the internet has continued to fluctuate slightly, our latest survey, fielded February 15 – April 6, 2006 shows that fully 73% of respondents (about 147 million adults) are internet users, up from 66% (about 133 million adults) in our January 2005 survey. And the share of Americans who have broadband connections at home has now reached 42% (about 84 million), up from 29% (about 59 million) in January 2005.”
Read the full memo.
My buddy, my pal, communicator guru Shel Holtz, was a guest in my grad school PR classroom last week. He empathyzed with one practitioner/student who just can’t seem to relate to her organization’s IT folks.
Shel likened this to when we all worked with printers (what’s a printer, you say?). Shel said it was “common for communicators to know what it meant when a printer said, ‘going four-up, two-over-four, with touch plates and perfect binding.’ We should be equally adept and understanding what IT — the printers of the digital age — are saying.” Awwwww…and you thought you could hire out for those skills.
Do you agree with Shel? Advice for those pulling kicking and screaming into the IT world???
Barbara Puffer, Puffer Public Relations Strategies
Comments
RE: Knowing Our IT Collaborators |
Painful as it has been at times, I can’t imagine working on the Web in any fashion without knowing something about the technology. By that I don’t mean just learning the latest geek-speak… terms like 100%zero (the chance of your project succeeding) and IMpause (the annoying silence on the other end of the phone as the person you’re talking to pauses to answer an Instant Message). I have learned over time that IT folks are to be coddled and carefully courted so they will do the really hard technical stuff you invariably encounter. But if your every move on the Web means asking, begging, cajoling and then waiting for some poor IT person to execute your grand text change, you’re in for a very frustrating life. I chose to buy and learn Dreamweaver and I use it every day (in fact I’m tying into it now). I see text in one panel, and html code in the panel above. It’s truly html for dummies. Dreamweaver and some small Christmas gifts to my favorite IT folks gets me by. Now, could you pass me the Java? |
Gerstner’s comments are deere I think John means that perhaps I need Dreamworks for a Christmas gift. Alas, I was learning some elementary HTML over the last few years in my teaching life, and now they added some great new technology where the HTML is all embedded in their screens…I’ll be lazy again. I totally agree…one had better know the basics…throwing you a life raft when you’re drowning is really no good if you can’t haul yourself up onto the raft…at some point you’ll just get too tired treading water and holding onto the side. I hope some others dive into this topic.
BarbaraP
Bausch and Lomb has some savvy PR folks cranking out the message these days. As a contact lens wearer myself, I was very surprised to find this:
Important message about ReNu(R)
in my email inbox.
May 15, 2006 |
|
CEO: Safety is Our No. 1 Priority | |
Chairman & CEO Ron Zarrella announces Bausch & Lomb is permanently taking MoistureLoc contact lens solution off the global market immediately. Runs: 2:10 |
How’d they know where to find me? Oh, I remember. I ordered that new lens solution over the web — the one that is being tied to eye fungus and is all over the news. Well, here’s what the B & L Chairman and CEO Ron Zarella told me personally in my email.
Dear loyal ReNu consumer,
As indicated in our previous email, we stopped selling our MoistureLoc® formulation more than a month ago. Despite exhaustive testing, we are unable to eliminate the possibility of a link to an apparent increase of a rare eye infection. Therefore, we will not reintroduce the MoistureLoc® formula. Follow this link to view a video message from Bausch & Lomb CEO, Ron Zarrella. Our goal is to provide you with the most reliable information so that you have a clear understanding of how this situation affects you and the Bausch & Lomb ReNu solutions you use. |
|||||||||||
We want to make following your eye care professional’s recommendations easier. That’s why we created the Bausch & Lomb Wear&Care™ Program. This program provides you with the information and products you need for healthy contact lens wear, and best of all it’s FREE — so get started today.
If you have not yet requested your coupon for a FREE 12-oz. bottle of ReNu MultiPlus solution, please follow this link. So, this is terrific… a streaming video message straight from the CEO and they created this Wear and Care “club” (healthy contact lens care program) just for consumers such as ME! Wow! They’ve got my attention. They are giving me lots of free eye stuff. Thank you for your understanding and continued support. Then, I’m watching television the same night and there is Mr. Zarella giving the same video message I’d just heard on my computer that afternoon. My first reaction was, “Hey, I know that guy!” You can read this message by visiting a pdf document on their website at http://www.bausch.com/5_15_message.pdf A quick Google news search on May 18, shows all of this reaction to the B & L issue. It will be interesting to follow this case and see what editorials pop up later on. It’s a classic PR case in the making, for sure. Tricia Bishop is covering this for the Baltimore Sun. A sampling of other coverage is linked below.
MORE NEWS ON THIS CASE POSTED AUGUST 7, 2006 One Wall Street Journal article by Sylvia Pagan Westphal, boasting line graph entitled “Eye Sore,” reveals that studies showed as long as nine years ago that there might be problems related to serious fungal eye infections in the U.S. and Asia because of multi-purpose solutions. The author claims that then the manufacturers downplayed concerns, blaming problems not on the product, but on how it was being used. So, do you think the company has an obligation to push proper lens care more fervently than it already did back then? Where does personal responsibility come into play? Okay, so what else is new with this case? The August 1 issue of the Wall Street Journal includes a compelling story by Zacahry M.Seward, headlined “Contact Lens Wearers Seek Solutions.” Great pun in the headline, there. The subhead reads: “As infection worries widen, dorctors offer some safey tips; a hydrogen-peroxide solution.” So, as the science confuses more than resolves the infection issues, doctors are recommending a return to the old days. Much is made about personal efforts and hygiene to keep these lenses CLEAN. Isn’t that common sense? The American Optometric Association weighs in: “We’re seeing much more vigilance, and patients are asking what they can do to prevent these infections.” While the Bausch & Lomb incident created some alarm, most wearers simply switched brands without waiting to understand that it’s not Bausch & Lomb that’s at issue — it’s multi-purpose solutions and cleaning habits. The case continues to unfold. |
I may be sticking my neck out here, but this is an interesting organization from a PR perspective.
According to their website, adorned with the photo shown here, “Turtle Transit is creating and introducing new dimensions of extreme outdoor advertising through a seamless blending of leading edge technologies. This includes interactive opportunities and 3D graphics that revolutionize out-of-home communications.”
Okay, so this is advertising, maybe marketing, you say. Sure, I agree. But the company is making loud PR noise. I believe there is a thin line between PR and advertising when you 1) have a creative organization to sell, and, 2) use the advertising to grab audience attention first, and then build awareness. The tentacles reach far into the image management of the organization.
Have you seen these Turtle Transit vehicles? An article written in 2002, included the fact that the company was inspired by the Oscar Mayer Weiner-mobile.
In Fortune Small Business magazine in April, they noted that owner James Riseborough brought in “$2 million last year by transforming ordinary cars and trucks into promotion vehicles. Monster.com was the company’s first customer.” You couldn’t ask for a better or more colorful one-page magazine feature subtitled “Start Up.”
Find Turtle Transit in:
http://www.fleet-central.com/bf/t_inside.cfm?action=news_pick&storyID=23315
Company Turns Fleets into 3D Promotions
April 26, 2006
“Marketing company Turtle Transit http://www.turtletransit.com turns ordinary cars and trucks into giant noses, coffee cups, turtles and monsters. The Lancaster, Mass.-based company made $2 million last year, according to a report in Fortune Small Business. Company founder James Riseborough wanted to take vinyl vehicle wraps into the next dimension. So his staff of 11 creates sculpted 3-D advertising using foam, fiberglass, auto paint and engineering plastics…”
OR HOW ABOUT THIS MAGAZINE PIECE?
http://www.creativemag.com/onlweekly112805.html
“The NASCAR Street Tour provides a new avenue to build awareness of our sport, drive television tune-in and ultimately help attract new fans,” said Roger VanDerSnick, V.P. of Marketing for NASCAR… The NASCAR Street Tour vehicles were designed by Turtle Transit…”
AND, THIS…
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/News2005/jul05/jul11/1_mon/news5monday.html — July, 2005,
“Your client scooting about the town — On a Segway and drawing attention from the crowds,” by Kathy Prentice.
YES, TURTLE TRANSIT DECKS OUT SEGWAYS, TOO!
Stick Your Neck Out: Turtle Transit takes its marketing to the streets to show off.
Entrepreneur magazine – January 2002, by April Pennington
OR THIS ONE:
“Extreme ad agency startup Turtle Transit sought to raise eyebrows in its native Boston this …”
promomagazine.com/news/marketing_june_2/index.html
In any case, this company’s media stories must be fun to pitch.
As news has become entertainment and news rooms profit centers, there is less emphasis on what is newsworthy and more on what will sell advertising.
I feel great empathy for the true journalist who strives to research and write a story on a topic that is timely, will appeal to a great number in the audience, but is a dull story without blood, glory or glitz.
We feed stories to these journalists on a regular basis. But, can we help them influence the assignment editors and the “team leaders” (no one seems to want to be called “editor” anymore)?
The recent ethical scandals concerning VNRs and print stories placed by agents of special interests without disclosure says perhaps we are part of the problem. How do we turn that around? I don’t have an answer, but would like to engage in some dialogue about what impact the changing focus and philosophy about what is news has on our profession.
Barbara Puffer, Puffer Public Relations Strategies
Comments |
RE: Where have all the journalists gone? (2) |
RE: Where have all the journalists gone? In my classes at University of Maryland University College, sessions on public relations are listed/called “journalism.” I’d always seen a distinct difference in my career. Overlap, yes, but distinct difference, also. In fact, our textbook and classroom lectures take the time to describe differences between the two, as well as other related disciplines. If we are training our up and coming PR folks to think THEY are journalists and/or they are confused that the two professions are one, it’s no wonder they believe everything they do IS news. I think we have to teach the ethics as an integral part of all of our college curricula in this field, and I think we must continue to impress on our peers about ethics in the profession. Sure, you’ll say, we’ve been doing this all along. Well, we cannot stop because the professional workforce is always churning as the younger professionals enter and older professionals retire out. That’s my two cents… |
As I thumbed through my April 24 Time magazine (with “The Opus Dei Code” on the front), I stumbled upon a unique two-page Celebrex advertisement, which turned out to be a three-page Pfizer Public Relations plan. I say unique because Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., who happens to own Celebrex, took advantage of the large ad space and the celebrated praise of Celebrex to encourage people with little or no medical insurance to learn about the assistance programs offered by the company for medicines.
The ad features a 1 1/4-page photo of an African-American man holding the hand of probably a grandson as they climb the stairs at a sporting arena probably in search of a bathroom or popcorn. Both are looking back to watch the game as they ascend the stairs away from it. The other 3/4 of the second page is in white with several words about Celebrex. The third page is all text with a headline that reads: “Medication Guide for Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)” Interestingly, under the feet of the stair-climbers on the first page is a clever Pfizer ad called, “Pfizer Helpful Answers.” The ad reads, “Uninsured? Need help paying for medicine? Pfizer has programs that can help, no matter your age or income. You may even qualify for free Pfizer medicines …”
When I traveled to the suggested online website at http://www.pfizerhelpfulanswers.com, I discovered what I believe to be a very subtly powerful PR outreach plan targeting minorities with the message of how “helpful” Pfizer can be in providing them with its medicines.
The target audience in their photos appears to be mostly minority groups, although they do reach out to all Americans.
I consider this a very successful PR campaign because Pfizer is showing its stakeholders it truly cares for more than just its financial bottom line. Part of what makes this campaign so clever is that Pfizer is only offering these programs to pay for medicines provided by Pfizer. Logic would dictate that if the company ultimately cared unconditionally about the health of its potential customer base, it would offer programs that pay for any and all medicines, regardless of which company produced it. However, that is what makes Pfizer successful in its campaign; it minimizes that fact and at the same time demonstrates it cares about the health of ALL Americans, regardless of “your age or income.”
Besides the advertising campaign, the website also features several other ways Pfizer’s PR plan is reaching out to its stakeholders — through Research and Development, Corporate Citizenship, Health Resources and promotion of Animal Care. Bottom line; they are actively reaching out with all oars in the water to show they are much more than some giant conglomerate; though that is what they truly are. Instead, they demonstrate their care both for the environment and the humans who live in it; something very hard to do these days.
Eric B. Pilgrim, Student
University of Maryland University College
Public Relations Theory Class of Professor Barbara Puffer, ABC
Today I listened to part of a Minnesota Public Radio talk show as I was returning from a meeting and it me disturbed for two reasons:
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The person being interviewed and responding to callers is a local attorney with a blog.
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The topic was the controversy surrounding The New York Times story about SWIFT, the financial tracking being done in the name of “fighting terrorism.”
First, the blogger — even though I am now engaged in a blog, I am bothered by the mantle of authority some bloggers assume. This individual actually told one caller his question was stupid and told another he wouldn’t respond to the question because it wasn’t worth answering. The host was remarkable in his ability to manage such a caustic guest.
Second, the discussion as it was directed by the attorney was very much focused on faulting the media. He would not acknowledge that the person leaking information has some serious ethical issues.
My challenge to our readers — what do you see as the ethical issues on both sides? How do we manage those who get joy in leaking information? How should the media respond when they are clearly being used to push someone else’s agenda?
How does ROI know that we need to engage senior communicators? The research is voluminous. Here’s a snapshot of just some of the research ROI has referenced in this presentation.
- 2003/2004 Towers Perrin Talent Surveys showed: “Senior leadership is a top ten driver of employee engagement in countries across the world and the number one driver of engagement in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany.
- International Survey Research, 2001, showed: “Regression analysis on survey data from over 350,000 employees worldwide, showed that quality of leadership in a company had the highest correlation to engagement levels.”
- Hewitt Associates research, 1999-2003, showed: “Measuring over a four-year period, companies with high engagement levels had an average Total Shareholder Return (TSR) of 20.2%, companies with moderate engagement had a TSR of 5.6%, and companies with low engagemetn had a negative TSR of – 9.6%.”
Their presentation makes the case that the senior leadership MUST be involved in communication matters. They review the characteristics of organizations that communicate change effectively and go so far as to say, “Working with senior leaders takes courage and patience.”
The presentation lists the greatest challenges to effective leadership communication, common business barriers to engaging senior leaders, they explore a team leadership exercise, and more.
To obtain your copy of this free PowerPoint presentation, contact Bobbi Padilla, bobbi@roico.com
BP – beyond petroleum — advertises in full-page spreads that “Actions matter, not words.” What caught my eye was the word “believe” in huge black type with yellow background.
Could all of our organizations benefit by ascribing to this pledge in our image advertising?! But excuse me. I digress.
Now, I first saw this BP advertisement a few weeks ago. Today, their actions are front page news.
The ad goes on to say, “That’s why BP has accelerated its actions to improve the operational integrity, safety, environmental performance and monitoring of its U.S. operations. BP will spend about $7 billion over the next four years to upgrade all aspects of safety at its U.S. refineries and repair and replace pipelines in Alaska. BP’s commitment goes further. Over the next five years, BP expects to invest around $30 billion in the U.S., allowing its more than 35,000 U.S. employees to help provide safe, reliable energy for the U.S., while increasing alternative energy options for the future. If you would like to know more about the actions we are taking to live up to BP values, please visit us at bp.com/valuesandactions.”
Good step. But 6 months after they were blamed for a huge oil spill? Today, all of this is hot news again and if you ask me, BP isn’t looking like the good guy.
http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2006/08/07/450327.html&cvqh=itn_bp
Their website explains:
“BP Exploration Alaska acts in response to small spill, unexpectedly severe corrosion from a Prudhoe Bay oil transit line.