Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
As social mediums such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace continue to gain popularity, there’s one thing that’s very important to keep in mind – the line between personal and professional communication is disappearing. A recent incident involving a Ketchum employee exemplifies the importance of self-censorship when it comes to social media.
According to PRWeek, a Ketchum staff member posted a controversial Tweet on Twitter about his client’s hometown. He commented, “I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say ëI would die if I had to live here!'” The Tweet caused offense and “prompted an angry memo that reached executives on both sides and the blogosphere.”
Although this issue has been resolved, it had an impact and undoubtedly scarred a few reputations. This example illustrates the importance of evaluating content before posting it online and reminds PR professionals and business leaders alike to ask ourselves, “Is this content appropriate to share publicly?”
Here are a few tips to on how you can avoid situations such as this.
Educate your employees. Everyone across the organization should receive education in social media etiquette. They should understand the implications and be advised on what is appropriate to post on company blogs or their own personal blogs. (Some companies are providing their employees with guidelines about posting corporate information in their corporate handbooks.) For example, Communiqué PR’s blogging guidelines state:
- Bloggers should state that the opinions expressed in any blog about work-related matters are their own and have not been reviewed or approved by the employers. Bloggers should also state that they assume full responsibility and liability for any work-related content contained in the blog.
- Bloggers are required to comply with the Company’s policies protecting its trade secrets and other confidential information, including information about customers.
- Bloggers should not disclose any customer “insider information” and should not address any customer-related activity during certain black out periods required by securities laws and regulations.
If you don’t want your manager or clients to see something, DON’T POST IT. Even with privacy settings on social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, it’s important to remember content on the Internet can be forwarded to other friends, colleagues and even strangers. Someone that you don’t want to see inappropriate pictures or read personal comments may be exposed to them through network connections. According to Barri Rafferty with PRWeek, “Everything should be treated like it’s in the public domain, because it is.”
Remember “digital dialogue” travels at a rapid speed. As exemplified by the Ketchum situation, one post has the possibility to affect thousands of people within minutes or even seconds. It can drive social reaction and also create positive or negative conversations throughout the blogosphere and social networking space.
The more informed and experienced you and your colleagues are with social mediums, the less likely it will be that you will make mistakes that can have an affect on your career, your relationships and your personal and professional reputation.. Social media is a great tool and when used properly, can help you and your company or clients immensely.
As PR professionals with clients in the high-tech industry, we see first-hand, how technology impacts everyday lives. The evolution of mobile phones, Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile WiMAX has shifted our lifestyle to an “always-connected” culture. Given this, we are especially excited about helping Alaska Airlines launch the customer trial of its new satellite-based wireless Internet service.
The service is called Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi and can be used by passengers to browse the Web; access online music, games, podcasts and webcasts; send and receive e-mail and connect to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
There are many times I have boarded a plane and wished I had bought one more magazine to read or remembered an e-mail I wanted to send. With this service, I am looking forward to staying connected – whether for business or entertainment. I can only imagine the fun I could have getting caught up with friends on Facebook at 30,000 feet.
I am not the only one excited about Alaska Airlines’ announcement. We did an informal poll to determine what others think about this service and here are a few of the comments we heard:
“This is one more thing that makes Alaska Airlines the very best,” wrote Debra Yergen. “I’ve been an MVP flyer with them some years, and just a regular flyer other years (when I’ve just missed the levels), and I always feel like I get the very best service. From their inflight digEplayers to inflight Wi-Fi, Alaska Airlines is continually fantastic. It’s great to be able to send e-mails and keep current with events – especially on long flights from Seattle to Maui (which I just took in November/December 2008).
According to Spencer Harrison, “Inflight Wi-Fi is amazing. I was literally checking e-mail and chatting with friends via Instant Messenger at 37,000 feet. It made the flight go by so much faster.”
Ed Kohler, a frequent traveler out of Minneapolis, and a customer of Alaska Airlines for flights to Vancouver and Seattle wrote us to say, “I’m much more likely to consider Alaska Airlines over other options including Minneapolis-Saint Paul’s incumbent airline Northwest Airlines (soon to be Delta) based on having Wi-Fi as an option.”
Kohler went on to explain. “My hope is that they’ll also include power outlets onboard. If not, this may prompt me to go out to buy an iPod Touch for use when my laptop’s battery eventually dies. Using e-mail will be my biggest benefit from this. While surfing the web, online games are great, e-mail is the killer app for communication while traveling for business. It’s the first thing I check when I hit the ground.”
Ruth Carter shared, “I think it’s awesome that Alaska Airlines is adding Wi-Fi service to its airlines. I’m a law student and a research assistant. Even though I’m only in my first year, I already have the mindset that ëtime is money.’ I support anything that lets me use my time more efficiently. For some of us, being out of touch, even if only for a few hours, can be a huge hassle. I don’t think that cell phone use should ever be allowed on airplanes because it would be so annoying and distracting to other passengers. However, I completely support the idea that travelers will be able to conduct research on the Internet and communicate with others through their laptops while they are in-flight.”
To date, there have been more than 45 print and broadcast mentions about Alaska Airlines’ Wi-Fi service trial including USA Today, Wireless Week, CNET TV, Anchorage Daily News, Seattle Times, KOMO 4 News, KING 5 News and KIRO 7 News.
We hope this is helpful as you consider how you might take advantage of this new service. For more information on Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi please e-mail us at [email protected].
In January, Communiqué began working with the Washington Poison Center (WAPC) to help the organization raise awareness of the budget cuts proposed by Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire.
Specifically, our goal was to inform key audiences – state residents, members of the legislature and the media – about the potential impact these budget cuts would have on the WAPC and state residents.
To educate citizens and legislature representatives on the WAPC’s funding situation and encourage the community to speak out on behalf of the WAPC, we recommended the following grassroots strategies:
Launch Letter Writing Campaign – The purpose of the lettering writing campaign for the WAPC was to motivate its network of partners and constituents to write letters or place calls to local lawmakers asking the state to re-instate funding for the WAPC. The letter provided supporters with data points they could communicate with lawmakers from both the WAPC and the Washington State Department of Health about the organization’s invaluable services and how the budget cut would impact state residents.
As a result of our efforts, we helped the WAPC develop valuable letter writing campaign materials that were used to garner support from the WAPC’s network.
Meet with Editorial Boards – We reached out to more than six editorial boards on behalf of WAPC. These groups typically carry tremendous power to advance issues and motivate the community to take action on an issue. The outreach we conducted led to several op-ed opportunities.
Develop and Place an Op-Ed – We partnered with the WAPC to write an op-ed piece for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to drive awareness of the WAPC’s funding situation and convince key audiences to take action with the state’s legislature. Working closely with the WAPC, the team placed the following two op-ed pieces.
– Seattle Times | Save Mr. Yuk from Washington’s budget cuts
– Seattle Post-Intelligencer | State Budget Cuts
It has been a pleasure to support the WAPC. If you are interested in learning more about how you can support the WAPC as it works to re-instate funding, please contact us at (206) 282-4923 or visit: http://www.wapc.org/ActNow.htm
Peter Shankman, host of the popular HARO service, recently hosted a call with a panel of journalists to share advice on how to pitch reporters effectively. On the call were journalists from NPR, Reuters, Crain’s New York, the Indianapolis Business Journal and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The journalists unanimously confirmed that pitches remain a crucial source for story ideas and sources. Here are a few valuable insights I gained from the call:
Journalists are doing more with less. Newspapers and media outlets are feeling the economic pinch, and this means reporters have more work and less time. One reporter described his typical day as “frantically busy,” a sentiment echoed by fellow panelists.
Make your pitch succinct. Journalists joked that with the advent of Twitter all pitches should be limited to 140 characters or less; but the truth is that with limited time, journalists are more receptive to pitches that get straight to the point.
The journalists shared their idea of a perfect pitch. All of these objectives should be met within one paragraph.
1. Grab their attention in the first three lines
2. Summarize the topic in a sentence
3. Explain why it’s relevant
4. Provide a question that needs to be answered or tension that makes the story compelling
The pitch should be clear, simple, summarized and easy to digest. You should also indicate that you know who the reporter is and what they cover.
Imagine the headline. One reporter suggested that if you can’t imagine the headline for the story you’re pitching, chances are you shouldn’t be pitching it.
Tie it to a broad trend. If your client launches a new product, it might not be a newsworthy story. But if your client launches a product that can be tied to a prominent trend, it might be worthy of inclusion in an article.
Avoid adjectives. Explaining why your story is newsworthy with a string of adjectives and sound bites is much less effective than providing a few key data points that illustrate your point. The panel of reporters all agreed that they view adjectives like “exciting,” “revolutionary” or “amazing” as extra noise that detract from your pitch.
Manage Expectations. When offering an executive for an interview, be clear about the chances that she will be available to speak with a journalist the same day. If you think the chances are slim, let the reporter know.
When issuing a press release however, always make sure the executive quoted is available to speak with reporters that day. Several reporters complained that all too often they call to speak with the executive quoted in a press release the day it is issued, only to discover that they are unavailable.
Consider the follow-up story. Several journalists mentioned that they often receive pitches from PR people who, after reading a story about a topic relevant to their client, write the author to suggest a follow-up story. But why, the journalists asked, would they publish another story about a topic they just covered? You’re more likely to be successful if you suggest an alternate angle for a follow-up article.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can deliver compelling pitches that interest reporters and garner coverage for your client.
The Obama Administration has done an amazing job of harnessing the power of the Internet to reach the public, communicate the president’s position on important initiatives and gather personal stories of the American people. Through social media tools, e-mails and blogs, President Obama is encouraging open communication and asking his most important audience – you – to share your stories.
To continue the grassroots activism built during his campaign, the president announced in January 2009 the formation of “Organizing for America,” a new group that some are calling the flagship of Obama 2.0.
Organizing for America has collected thousands of stories from people across the nation to learn how they are coping with the economic crisis. For example, on Feb. 17, an e-mail from the president was sent to his list of more than 13 million names asking people to help him measure the recovery plan through the personal stories of people who are struggling to make ends meet.
Collected stories have been published online and can be read here.
According to the Obama Administration, these stories show why a recovery plan is needed. The administration is not only fulfilling its goal to collect stories and build support, but is also garnering the attention of national press such as The New York Times and Reuters.
With an overwhelming number of responses from thousands of Americans, it’s clear that many people favor a quick implementation of the recovery plan – further supporting President Obama’s efforts to push the stimulus bill. This is an excellent example of harnessing social media to build support for a cause.
From a PR perspective, organizations can take a similar approach and leverage the power of their customers to support a new product or initiative. Danskin is one company that successfully employs this approach by sending e-mails to triathlon participants to find out, “Why I Tri,” thereby gathering personal stories to use in outreach efforts.
Organizations can reach out to customers to not only gather valuable insight, but also share their stories with media. Sharing personal stories can help an organization accomplish the following:
Offer media real stories that capture the emotional and functional benefits of a campaign from the consumer perspectives.
Build loyalty with existing customers. Requesting personal stories fosters a connection and tells customers, “You care about me.”
Attract new customers by word-of-mouth marketing. Existing customers can make the best spokespeople for because they are often viewed as trustworthy, since they are not directly affiliated with the organization.
Personal stories also provide organizations with valuable insights. By requesting these stories, organizations find out what resonates most with customers. Stories can also highlight areas where a product or service may be lacking. Ultimately, this can help an organization build stronger products or services that better meet customer demands.
For more information on how to leverage personal stories for your organization, please contact us at [email protected].
How to Handle Crisis Communication the Right Way
New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been under a lot of scrutiny lately as news that he took performance-enhancing substances was leaked to the public. In an interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons, Rodriguez admitted to taking “banned substances” and expressed his regret and apologies for lying to his fans. However, the damage has been done and as local and national media and bloggers continue to speculate about his drug use, his team of PR experts and agents are working to resolve this crisis.
According to a recent PRWeek article, Rodriguez is currently working with several PR and communications specialists to manage this situation. Outside Eyes, a Newport Beach, CA-based agency has been brought onboard to handle the crisis communications.
So what can we all learn from A-Rod’s mistake? Whether you’re a celebrity, athlete, Fortune 1,000 company or startup, crisis communications plans are crucial. The Institute for Crisis Management (ICM), a crisis management consultancy, groups crises that businesses encounter into four broad categories.
1. Acts of God (storms, earthquakes, volcanic action, etc.)
2. Mechanical problems (ruptured pipes, metal fatigue, etc.)
3. Human errors (the wrong valve was opened, miscommunication about what to do, etc.)
4. Management decision or indecisions (the problem is not serious, nobody will find out)
The key to successfully handling a crisis is to prepare for it before it happens. If handled correctly damage to the company or person can be minimized. However, if handled improperly a minor crisis can quickly turn into a devastating event and ruin your company’s reputation.
In order to develop a comprehensive and successful crisis communication plan, consider the following:
Organize a crisis communication team. The team should include key stakeholders such as the company CEO, public relations representatives, vice presidents and team managers. The team will need to identify what steps to take when a crisis occurs and how to alert key audiences such as board members, stockholders, employees, news media, etc.
Be as transparent as possible. Don’t lie about the situation – that’ll only make it worse. Be upfront and reinforce your commitment to solving the issue at hand.
Don’t ignore the situation. Ignoring the situation won’t make it go away. In fact, it may cause a snowball effect and issues that could have been resolved before they happened may threaten the integrity of the company and hinder efforts to solve the crisis.
Learn from the crisis. We’re all human and mistakes are going to happen. But if you or your company makes the same mistake more than once, the public and key stakeholders may not be as willing to forgive you the second time around. Learn from the crisis and put measures into place to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
If you’d like to learn more about how to develop a crisis communications plan, contact us at [email protected]