42 posts tagged “public relations”

Domino's latest direct marketing campaign in the Kensington area trashed San Diego streets, walks, driveways and lawns. At least the guys doing this for lawn maintenance understand you need to adequately weight the piece because of our prevalent winds. Here you go - Domino's folly that has pissed off the 'hood:

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There are many more examples and I did not go back far enough to get the ones that had blown entirely into the streets.

Way to go Domino's, way to go and win new customers by trashing their neighborhood.

A couple of weeks ago I ran into a PR "case" that concerned an Indian casino, a band and a radio station. The responses were relatively few. The blog appears to appeal to PR pros, students or interested lay people. Here's the rub, until I responded virtually all of the responses laid the onus of the situation and the correction of it on the Indian casino, yet they were a victim of the situation.

Here's what I am working on:

1. If pros blew the analysis of the situation, then what the hell are they doing in the field and their clients had best be looking for competent counsel.

2. If students blew it, they might deserve some slack, but why hasn't their instruction allowed them the ability to look below the surface (not that they had to look very deep at all).

3. If lay people blew it, what has happened with the Indian casino's image that the general public is so willing to ignore any facts and lay the blame on them? What PR problem are the casinos having with the general public?

Is it the money they make, the economic and political power the Indians have gained? What should the Indian tribes learn from this brief scenario and the response to it that they need to address in terms of their image?

I realize it is a SMALL case with limited response, but it you are into competitive intelligence, these minor glitches should be looked at to see if they are advance weak signals of a far more serious problem.

Following the lead written in More with Les about the PR lessons of VT, here is a capsule summary and some comment.

Be proficient in crisis communication planning and management.
Here Les talks about anticipating the main types of crisis events any individual business may face, having a crisis management team in place that is well trained and ready to meet the media, and supporting the spokesperson at all levels of the crisis. My note: it is not possible to anticipate every type of event that may occur. What is important is setting up to handle the most probable. That preparation should then be modifiable for a specific circumstance that has not been anticipated. It is about the underlaying system more than the specific details.

Handling communication effectively during and after the crisis.
Here Les talks about handling communications with all the key stakeholders both during and after the crisis and also about learning from events that take place elsewhere. He points out that a lack of proper and timely communication creates an informational vacuum during which only the worst is thought and rumors generated. My note: this communication delay also encourages media to climb into the fray and generate their own versions of the facts and create the news themselves - a particularly dangerous situation.

Media savvy.
Know your media and their needs including social media. My note: especially for the local media that will be first on the scene and who may be reporting on behalf of national entities.

Reputation management.
This is about doing your PR work well upfront of any crisis so you generate good will and reputation. Les points out that this will help you get through the current situation. No comment needed.

Coordinating with other agencies.
Knowing your place in the greater scheme of things and working with agencies that will take over the primary information flow once they are on scene.  My note: conflict in information released creates doubt about the truth of what is being disseminated and creates situations where numbers become unreliable because both the left and right hands are counting the same thing and not realizing it happened.

There is an interesting article with this title at Valley PR Blog. Danwool says these eight are what separate the elite practitioners from the rest of the herd (edited, my comments in parens):

(1) Knowledge of business operations - If you don’t know how a business works and especially, how it makes money, you cannot succeed in PR. (Good consultants of any kind need to know the client's business as well as do the businesses' execs).

(3) Knowledge of consumer behavior — No consumers, no business. Wrong consumers, no business. Who target consumers are, how they think and how to reach them — especially on the Internet — is the lynchpin (sic) of PR. (No wonder venture capitalists turn to a business plan's marketing section first).

(4) Strategy – “Every battle is won before it is fought” — Sun Tzu “The Art of War”. (Well, given the situation in the Middle East, this is debatable, you have to be willing to stay the course).

(5) A great attitude. A great attitude builds confidence and trust, even if the end result is a loss. You always get hired on attitude, not skill. (However, it does not offset continued losses).

(6) Journalism skills – PR pros are essentially corporate journalists with sales responsibilities. You have to think and write lik (sic) journalists in order to out-think them and write stories they want to write themselves. (I would say, write for the editors and do not worry about out-thinking journalists).

(7) Rhetoric and negotiation skills — You need to know how to argue well and properly break down an argument into premises and conclusions. You need to know how to negotiate (fight) beyond one round. (And know when to fold 'em).

(8) Focus — PR is a non-linear, fast paced business with an ever-changing environment. (Back to Schwartzkopf's, the one who can sort through the chaos fastest will win).

How do you manage crisis communications in a 24/7 media world? Online Public Relations posts that by the time you hear about the problem half-way around the world, it is probably international media that is telling you about it because they can cut to live coverage with the flick of a switch and there your client is and you've not had your first cup of coffee. "What this means is there is little one can do in the early hours of crisis management except to scramble for facts along with everyone else. Phone chains are insufficient and getting someone on-site is often too slow. As a result, it seems to me the PR business needs to re-examine crisis management and perhaps, start over, " says Jim Horton. My suggestions is, if you are not a firm with a 24/7 global presence, try forming some strategic alliances with smaller independent crisis communications firms spaced around the globe who can pick up the ball and get things rolling until your main office can come online.  

Lee Odden at the Online Marketing Blog notes that press releases have fully transcended their traditional role of just getting information out and into the media. Essentially, he says, they are now a full-on part of the promotion/marketing effort and "...press releases can be effectively used as a direct to consumer communication tool" because of their availability via Google News or Yahoo! News. Odden also points out, ". . .comScore has reported that half of all internet users visit an online news site in a given month." Here is a link to Odden's 10 tips for maximizing the visibility of press release content.  

Lee Hopkins of Better Communication Results asks and answers this question. Lee traces the history of business communications starting from the very true premise that communications is dialogue, not a monologue. Listening is also a very important part of communications. He further states, "So Internal Communication, in a business context, is the dialogic process between employees and employer, and employees and employees." Lee cautions companies not to forget that last part, " it should always be remembered that communication between employees is very often far more powerful than any communication from employer to employee." So, why is internal commuicatiosn so important, glad you asked. Lee reminds us that employees will always talk and that the smart money will be on the internal effort " ... so it is better to set the agenda and informal discussion points than have them dictated by an uninformed staff." Effective internal communications programs follow four rules:

1. Is focused on one (only) specific strategic business issue
2. Is written in language the receiver is able to comprehend
3. Has an outcome that is specific and measurable
4. Is delivered in a timely manner and in a medium that the receiver is willing and happy to receive it in

From Flackadelic, comes a variation on "how many people does it take to. . ."

How many PR people does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

PR Manager answer:
Two. One to screw in the lightbulb, one to write the press release.

Corporate Communications answer:
We are aware of the light bulb and should we choose to participate, look forward to its implementation.

PR Firm answer:
Hmmm…lightbulb. That depends. Is this a launch? Are we taking it on tour? Let us think about it and we’ll get back to you with a proposal.

Hollywood PR Firm answer:
Just one lightbulb? Goddamn it! When I set this shoot up I told you explicitly that we were to have no less than 20 lightbulbs, a technical advisor and catered lunch for the talent. You want screwed? Give me the name of your boss, asswipe! You’re through in this town!

Brand communications answer:
Let’s not focus on the people or bulbs. Let’s own “light”.

The IndiaPRBlog! conducted a survey and reports a list of things PR pros need to keep in mind when dealing with media. This is a helpful list for newcomers and students in the PR field. Seasoned pros probably (should?) know most of this. I did not find the number of participants.

1. Stick to the facts, understand what is news and what is not.
2. Journalists are rated on the basis of exclusive stories they generate everyday. If you can give a journalist several exclusives, you would be the star PR person.
3. When journalists doing negative stories want quotes from top client bosses, PR people should be able to help. If you can do this, you will have the journalist eating out of yours and your clients' hands.
4. Get to know the editor very well, then some amount of any 'not so important' news or story can get into the print.
5. Develop credibility amongst the media persons.
6. Media relations should be based on a strategy and not a knee jerk reaction.
7. Expect the unexpected from the media but still try and understand them more.
8. For an event, try to identify the right journalist and provide clear details in their required language. The PR professional should stop calling continuously if they know the event will not be covered by the media.
9. Know your client's business and the announcement that you are pitching, in detail, before contacting the media.
10. Never sell a story while journalists are approaching their deadlines. Chances are that they may not be interested in talking to you as they need to rush to file their stories.
    
11. Give the journalist your client list.
    
12. Take appointments before meeting journalists.
13. Just try to step into the shoes of the journalist before initiating anything.
14. Friendship and sharing good stories from time to time is the best combination.
15. Give space to journalists...feed them precise and newsworthy information. Be prepared with an option always.

The 2006 Report of the Commission on Public Relations Education