Marketing Edge » public relations

Twitter Traps and The Social PR Paradigm

Albert Maruggi — Sat, 28 May 2011 14:38:52 +0000

Time 26:14

Patrick Strother, A long time, thoughtful practitioner of strategic communications and public relations is the guest on this episode of the Marketing Edge Podcast. He is the Chief Creative Officer and founder of Strother Communications Group and a visiting faculty professor of PR and strategic communications planning at the University of Minnesota.

The inspiration for this conversation was an article written by New York Times executive editor Bill Keller, The Twitter Trap. In this article, Keller (@nytkeller) laments giving his 13 year old daughter permission to be on Facebook, and I as a father of three teens, can empathize with Keller.

The journalist also highlights his concerns about how Twitter, et al. social is impacting out ability to give serious thought to issues, demand our attention, and perhaps even erode a bit of our humanity by undermining “complexity, acuity, patience, wisdom, and intimacy.”

Strother (on twitter @patrickstrother )and I talk about Twitter’s impact on parenting and the decisions that social media participation forces on adolescents. I thought this particularly appropriate given that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to explore the possibility of children younger than 13 joining social networks safely. This agenda advanced at a summit of internet and public policy leaders called the eG8 last week.

Strother and I take the conversation to uses of Twitter in building relationships with journalists. In his eyes, Twitter is not a pitching tool, but an effective research and relationship tool. Agreed. I also enjoy using Muck Rack to discover the journalists using Twitter. I read Poynter.org to stay close to the heart and soul of being a journalist in changing times. It pursues the agenda of independent journalism’s importance to democracy.

We discuss some of the skills necessary for companies to effectively participate on the social web, a place shared by journalists and company thought leaders. A place that can reward discourse.

The Social PR Paradigm in corporate communications operation should include:

1) Editorial planning as if you were a news organization for social spaces that feature your company’s expertise. I’ve talked about this for a while as the idea of an embeded corporate journalist
2) Read, engage, and comment on journalists blogs and twitter profiles that cover your industry
3) Gain a greater understanding of writing with a news , as contrasted with say marketing collateral.

On this last point, Strother makes a strong case in the podcast and is working to incorporate this concept for his students.

HootSuite Explains – Blah Blah Blah – Makes It Right, But No Sorry

Albert Maruggi — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:01:18 +0000

I’m a fan of Hootsuite, I enjoy the paid service and admire Hootsuite folks like Dave Olson, with whom I’ve interacted. Dave, you’re great! That’s why I was a bit taken aback by the email that was almost, but not quite an apology and explanation. (The Hootsuite Making it Right post was also an email to paid users.) Before reading on, if you are into PR and writing you should read the HootSuite blog Making It Right to which this post is based.

I appreciate the enormity of the outage experienced by Amazon’s Web Services hosting which caused Hootsuite to be down for “approximately 15 hours”. HootSuite’s email which originated as a blog post, buries the lead which is “We are Making it Right” and eliminates an apology, what no we’re sorry, really? That’s what would have been my lead.

Hootsuite is a social media company, you know the whole “speaking with a human voice” stuff and drop the corporate speak and have a relationship with the customer. If that’s the case, the lead graph would have been along the lines of the following:

We apologize for April 21 being such a bad day for our customers. It was a bad day for us as well. We realize that being down 15 hours and loosing data is unacceptable regardless of the cause. We are offering our Pro and Enterprise customers $50 worth of coupons for our social analytics reports. One of the reasons for this form of apology and offer is even though the terms of service agreement provides a refund for a 24 hour outage, we simply didn’t foresee the Amazon Web Services EC2, upon which Hootsuite relies, being down for 15 hours.

From this humble lead, then by all means proceed to explain how “stellar performance with minimal outages” Hootsuite has, or how Hootsuite serves over 3 million social networks sending over a million updates per day with almost zero downtime.

Instead here is my brainwave emotional meter thinking out loud transcript as I’m reading this Hootsuite email — yawn yawn, lawyer inserted phrase, whatever, oh, 15 hours is “significantly” less than the 24 hours in the contract so I should be damn grateful to get this $50 coupon, so long as I use it in the next three weeks, Wow, is it possible they didn’t say sorry? Wait let me reread this, it says “we know how important up-time is for you and truly appreciate the kind words from our users who missed using HootSuite.” hmmm no sorry there, but in the midst of a 15 hour outage you still managed to get a testimonial in your own “having a bad day” blog post.

I suspect that “acknowledging the inconvenience” is as close as one can get in corporate speak to what I would have preferred. That would have been a more owly like “really sorry that me getting sucked into the Amazon cloud wind sheer caused a bad day for both of us.”

Sorry to be so harsh on the post gents, but I still dig the owl. Now, perhaps because this was the words of CEO Ryan Holmes, such candor is inappropriate from a PR and legal perspective. Afterall, Mr. Holmes signs contracts and is held accountable, a cute little owl isn’t. And this may reflect the nature of how corporate culture and institutions are less aligned with the culture of social media than I would like to believe.

Twitter CRM Embraced by MyTweeple.com

Albert Maruggi — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:32:30 +0000

Time 26:41

Twitter is, if not the default database for many marketers PR, and communications professionals, a very important repository of individuals and relationships. The ability to focus on certain individuals among those you are following and who are following you is critical to deliver content that is of value to that segment of your relationships.

Granted, there are many ways to export your followers, one of the first among them was MyTweeple developed by Shannon Whitley. He also developed one of the more popular Twitter, WordPress plug-ins called Chat Catcher. That tool allowed tweets and links about your blog post to populate the comment section of that specific post. In this podcast we talk about why that service is no longer available.

Back to MyTweeple. Over time a relationship is about getting to know individuals, treating each person and their uniqueness separately instead of looking at Twitter followers as a list. Yes, I am speaking directly to social media and PR consultants who think that a Twitter list is for blasting irrelevant blather. I do not subscribe nor recommend this tactic. More importantly to buyers of PR services, please don’t get the impression that Twitter is cheaper or makes it easier to find free advertising for your mediocre product or service. I am sure there are firms that will take your money for such a purpose, ours isn’t one of them.

Whitley is a thoughtful, passionate developer who sought to address the issue of how to better understand the relationships he was creating on Twitter. This was his inspiration for developing www.mytweeple.com Here’s what I like about it.

Format is clean yet packed with information about each individual
Includes Klout information
Add notes about each individual
Add private and public tags for each individual
Export data in CSV format for importing into other databases

The new site we discussed in this edition of the Marketing Edge podcast is now live at www.mytweeple.com give it a try and share your thoughts with Shannon.

Book Drawing

Get your name in the drawing for #Twitterworks by Joe Sorge, Phil Gerbyshak, and Scott Baitinger by emailing me at MarketingEdge AT providentpartners DOT net or just Tweet @albertmaruggi with the words @ajbombers book drawing and we’ll get your name in the hat. We interviewed Joe Sorge on a previous Marketing Edge podcast about social media in the restaurant industry.

If keywords were a stock price Public Relations would be hurting

Albert Maruggi — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:12:11 +0000

Back in 2005 it really hit me that public relations was impacted by social media. Between a client (Technomic Asia) getting called directly from a National Public Radio reporter after the reporter listened to his podcast, and another client’s feature piece on the front page of the Wall Street Journal getting but an ounce of subsequent attention, I realized the world of communications was changing.

So I did a little keyword number crunching and dug up this chart from Google Insights for Search. The Red trend line for good ol’ PR is not exactly stellar performance. If the PR trend line were a company’s stock performance heads would roll. Now I completely understand that these search terms are relative and in some cases public relations has more absolute searches, relative to social media, however public relations keyword searches were on a long slide to parity if not lower than the term social media.

I suspect social media consultants and PR firm executives will battle royal over which is which, and who was a leader and who was a follower. The inconvenient truth for corporate communicators, marketers, and public relations professionals is the two must coexist. In my digital dog walk audio piece for Tuesday, August 4 I reminisce about the public relations & social media tipping point, and reflect that it is not an us vs them world.
Here’s what i have found to be helpful for client PR as these two functions have converged:

Four Ways to Capture Reporter’s Attention

Identify key people inside a company that can relate to a social audience
Find ways for the client to tap the social web either by their own actions or mentions by others on the social web
Tell the client’s story on social channels
Create a multimedia newsroom
Reference articles and blog posts in your client’s digital footprint

PR Pros Does Speaking On Background Work?

Albert Maruggi — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 12:54:49 +0000

I was worried that all this social media transparency would bring down helpful PR tactics in media relations. Among those tactics, speaking on deep background so as not to be quoted or even described in some way by general title. Imagine my fear after 10 years as a political PR adviser what this would do to adding value in several types of situations such as damage control, personality profiles, and adding texture to the details of making a tough decision. Not to mention the occasional attempts to poison the well, take down an opponent on character assault or the ever popular distraction tactic.

Hey i’m not knocking the tactic, it is however, used for good and evil. So you may have an open blogging policy, but only a select few can officially be quoted by the media. That’s a tricky one. Again just observing how organizations are grappling with an open information landscape.

I found it interesting in reading a piece in the New York Times on Conan O’brien’s strategy for his websie that employees were not comfortable going on record about a squatter using ConanOBrien.com. Instead, Conan is using www.TeamCoco.com to highlight his Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour. Below is how the New York Times article referenced the issue from an April 6 article titled Web Luddite No More: O’Brien Hits Internet, by Brian Stelter

“Because ConanOBrien.com is owned by an online squatter, Mr. O’Brien’s representatives decided to adopt Team Coco, one of his fans’ chosen names, as the host’s own. They even licensed a fan’s artwork for the tour poster. TeamCoco.com is a single Web page now, but as the tour gets under way, the site is to expand.

“We didn’t start the fire; we just add a log now and then,” said an employee of Mr. O’Brien’s, who, like three others interviewed for this article, requested anonymity because he did not have permission to speak publicly about Web strategy.”

This is a classic case where companies, organizations big and small are moving fast, involved in potential legal issues, are trying to keep everything in check, so there may be strict rules on who speaks to the media. Some might bristle at the phrase “no have permission…” but taking a step back you can see where having roles in a organization will help it stay focused. I also believe it gives some leeway to both reporter and the individual being interviewed to have a constructive conversation without feeling scripted. Others contend deep background can lead to a pretty leaky organization which has it’s own set of problems. I will say, before anyone jumps my case, that sometimes an organization where people have access to media, but are not comfortable being quoted may indicate a very risk averse and stifling place to work.

Shades of speaking on background paint the reality of a situation and I believe play into the desire for candor that social media, and society crave.

Where do you fall on this one, can everyone speak to the media? What if everyone can blog, can they speak to the media?

The Embedded Corporate Journalist – The New PR

Albert Maruggi — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:47:07 +0000

This is a follow up to the last podcast Five Ways Social Media Will Generate More Leads I read David Murray’s piece from Ragan Communications Protecting Your Sources Leads to Incomplete, Empty Stories

In this piece Murray makes the point that sometimes as a journalist he was concerned his sources would not like the piece when published. He refers to some writers, whether they be journalists or paid writers on internal corporate publications, who attempt to sanitize the piece, not including candid statements or personality traits, that may well be of interest to readers, but perhaps would be viewed as embarrassing for the source.

In a section Murray writes “People, I have found somewhat to my surprise, want less to be praised and more to simply be seen—for who they think they are—and heard, for what they have to say.” And this is my contention for the concept of the embedded corporate journalist. Corporations will gain more among their employees and their intended audiences by living a bit more actively and willing to talk about the elements of decisions as they are unfolding instead of waiting for everything to be perfect and scripted.

The embedded corporate journalist must align what is news worthy, what contributes to the topic, with the expertise and perspective his company or client. This is not about “Spin Doctoring” which is the art of twisting the topic to the point of confusion. This is about “Topic Engineering” which is contributing to the discussion in such a meaningful way that greater clarity is achieved.

More on the embedded corporate journalist

Is your company a candidate for having a embedded corporate journalist? Why or why not?

You Need to Answer, Who Are YOU in 2010

Albert Maruggi — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:00:11 +0000

In 2010 Marketers and PR professionals must resolve their personality crisis. It is an issue that Age Ad editor Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom highlighted at the ANA Conference this week in this 3 minute Ad Age video The issue is whether marketers are media organizations. Bloom highlights how companies including Red Bull have created so much content that they license it to others, they have also become the destination for that content like what can best be described as Red Bull TV

No they are not jibber jabbing about Red Bull this or that, they are covering the things their Fans, Friends, Followers, oh yeah, customers are into. It’s about your universe.

The same is true for public relations. Look, half of us in PR either were or wanted to be journalists. We either didn’t want to travel every two years, (that was my reason), or the pay stunk, or the hours stunk and the list goes on. But the idea of covering issues that impact people, industries, governments, are still all there.

Companies will struggle on how to deal with declining traditional media and still worse, changing viewing habits of those traditional media customers. Nielsen is in the middle of a heated debate over how they are counting viewers for local stations that don’t watch the real-time content.

I contend that 1) social community participants reward candor, 2) the web rewards fresh content that others find relevant as measured in one regard by links, with better search results and 3) we live in an on demand, go direct environment.

It is a huge mistake to interpret this as a green light to pummel the public with heretofore defined advertising dribble wrapped inside user generated content, however, it is an opportunity to reconsider what advertising and PR look like in your company. The world is dying for you to engage them, support them, be associated with something that enriches them; Help them do something that makes them better, makes their lives easier.

The interuption ad is moving from a blur you tuned out to an annoyance consumers will hate. Really, have you ever seen one of those pop-up ads that is over part of a website you want to click on? Not cool. From an advertising perspective, participate in what the audience is participating in, support its delivery not as a trojan horse where ads pop out, but as a guest coming to dinner bringing something they enjoy so much they wanted to share it with others they enjoy being with.

On the PR side consider this different perspective on PR, It would give you greater freedom to engage you audiences, more opportunities to be heard, and perhaps the greatest benefit of all, new digital information assets that are relevant for sales.

How Smart is Your Phone and Your Favorite Podcast?

Albert Maruggi — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:30:09 +0000

Time 21:22

Here is some simple math

It is estimated that nearly 22 million Internet users will listen to podcasts this year according to eMarketer.

Another survey by PriceGrabber.com made the correlation of more than 50% of consumers that purchase from their site listened to podcasts. OK, that one to me might be a stretch, but hey it’s a statistic, a snapshot right.

This next set of numbers is considerably more solid.

Gartner released a report that showed Smartphone sales 27% higher in the second quarter of 2009 than the comparable quarter last year. Notably, regular mobile phone sales were off 6% and one can say with credibility the typical mobile phone sales trend line will likely never point to the top of your computer screen ever again.

iTunes alone offers more than 100,000 different podcasts. However podcast listening has yet to reach the potential many early adopters believed the medium holds. Yes including me.

The main gripe of podcasts by a significant portion of potential users was the downloading process. To me, that was no different than downloading music, but this one instance perhaps where I’m not average.

It’s Radio Not Downloading

Enter Stitcher Radio – a smartphone application that eliminates the task of downloading and moving podcasts to your mobile device. It is essentially just as easy as listening to radio. You download the app to your phone, pick a category of shows, then select the shows you want to listen and they play on your phone. There is also a Stitcher Radio web site to listen from your computer.

All types of programming are available on Stitcher Radio from mainstream CNN to social media’s staple TechCrunch to our very own Marketing Edge podcast. The medium of audio is uniquely suited for this time in history. Society is increasingly mobile, multitasking, and multiformat. The on-demand information is also about on-demand format. Companies, especially content providers look at the marginal costs to produce podcasts given that the content has already been produced. For example, CNN’s Paging Dr. Gupta is produced for TV, it’s nothing to use that audio on Stitcher Radio.

In this episode, the Marketing Edge podcast features Colin Billings, Director of User Experience at Stitcher Radio. We talk about the future of mobile audio programming and what this means for all kinds of potential business and consumer programming.

Live by the Format, Die by the Format

Content that is produced as audio in its original form is cost effective and can be posted in plenty of places on the social web. I’ve been a fan of the medium of audio for a long time. The Marketing Edge first posted in February 2005. – I’ve recommended that audio be used in a variety of ways, from general shows that enhance brand building on the web to targeted, niche information that is part of a focused lead generation cycle.

Reading what you wrote 4 years ago can be a bit odd, but this article in Brandweek in the spring of 2005 had me on the record for advocating podcasting for business.

The article caught the attention and criticism of Steve Rubel, author of the Micropersuasion blog. He took exception to my suggestion that marketer’s use 5% of their marketing budget for podcasting. I saw podcasting as an easy entry point into social media with a tie back to specific business objectives like lead generation, increased web traffic, and as a thought leadership venue.

Ok, I’ll concede to Rubel, my respected colleague from New York, that he was right, 5% was a lot of money to pursue, as he called it, “podvertising”. For me it wasn’t about advertising on a podcast or producing marketing pabulum in audio form, but instead podcasting is contributing to a conversation with an actual discussion about issues. More on the extension of this concept as it evolved into what I call the embedded corporate journalist, a new public relations strategy.

Nonetheless, Rubel, I suspect, and I both enjoy a good podcast and see merit in the medium, especially when smart people are talking.

Do you think more people will listen to podcasts if it is as simple as Stitcher Radio has made it?

Using Experts to Get Better Media Coverage

Albert Maruggi — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:39:45 +0000

Time 15:00

Bruce Zanca, SVP and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of Bankrate INC, has spent his career reconciling the agendas of journalist with clients, (e.g. employer). In his current position, he has connected the dots between PR and revenue. Bankrate is a media content platform that raises revenue through advertising. The number of eyeballs on the site are increased the more valuable information about personal finance is on the site other when other media carry information originated by Bankrate Inc which further drives Bankrate.com traffic.

Brankrate.com is in the top ten personal finance websites with information from mortgage rates and car loans to Certificates of Deposit and credit card rates. It is also a resource for other financial and consumer media and bloggers.

In this “Soundbites From the Road” podcast, Zanca and I discuss the highlights of using experts to provide greater depth of information and analysis. This is a good follow-up to the Marketing Edge podcasts with author Paul Schempp of the book, 5 Steps to Expert. We did a two part series with Dr. Schempp, part 1, 5 Steps to Expert podcast posted on May 16 and part 2 featuring how experts continue to learn was posted on May 26 about developing experts within an organization for PR objectives.

Zanca combined the use of a unique checking study Bankrate conducted, a financial industry analyst to provide commentary and depth of the study, and advanced top tier media interest (USA Today) that helped drive significant coverage of the topic. We put the pieces together in this Marketing Edge podcast. Last week, Bankrate won a Bulldog Reporter Gold Award for this program.

Bulldog Reporter Media Relations Summit 2009
Best Website – Business/Consumer
Gold Winner
Bruce Zanca, Kayleen Keneally, Chris Spagnuolo
Bankrate, Inc for
Bankrate, Inc “Bankrate.com’s 2008 Checking Study”

The current PR dynamic is comprised of the following characteristics:
1) less reporters (layoffs and all) to do more work, and
2) the potential for greater exposure of company produced information via search engine rankings, whether it’s a news release, blog post or podcast.

This environment necessitates having a bull pen of experts to produce content in order to have a successful sustained PR program.

5 Steps to Expert with Paul Schempp Part 1

Albert Maruggi — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:40:23 +0000

Time 21;27

As more of the practice of PR becomes exposed to all of the public, and not just the segmented silos of the past, it is important for corporate PR and marketing practitioners to change their perspective as well. A company that views how it makes news, not just by what it does, but by the contributions it can make to their industry and community, will have ample opportunities to get attention. In this perspective, the main challenge is to identify the experts in their company matching the right expertise, personality, and talent with the medium and venue.

This perspective led me to writing about the concept of the embedded corporate journalist where the company considers public commentary it can make about external events. Not just the standard new product or customer release, but commentary about issues affecting the larger world in which that company lives.

While developing this concept I came across the book 5 Steps to Expert by Paul Schempp. In it, he outlines ways to become an expert and the qualities you will find in people who are at the top of their field. I turned his concept clockwise about 90 degrees and applied it to corporate PR as a helpful aide in finding experts in their companies. Using the characteristics in Schempp’s book, it may stimulate thinking in finding venues to showcase experts to contribute to issues in the news. It is also quite valuable in developing a dynamic to personal and professional growth.

I found it to be an exceptional read with plenty of interactive worksheets that make the book a one-on-one experience.

Schempp is an interesting expert himself. He coaches golfers on the PGA and European tours, is a scientific consultant to Golf Digest, a professor at the University of Georgia, and president of Performance Matters, Inc. He speaks and counsels companies frequently which made him a wonderful guest for the Marketing Edge podcast. This is the first of two parts, the second part will run next week

The Marketing Edge comment line is 206-600-6887 and Provident Partners will donate a food item for every comment we get on the blog below or to the comment line.

A New Form of Corporate PR, The Embedded Journalist

Albert Maruggi — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:40:51 +0000

Time 23:45

Golf is like social media, when you play with good players your game gets better. In reading and conversing with colleagues like David Meerman Scott, (World Wide Rave) Geoff Livingston, (Now is Gone) and Brian Solis (Putting the Public Back in Public Relations) you are bound to come up with a few good ideas. Brian Solis and I discuss a few of them in this podcast about the changes in PR and revising your organization to address those changes.

I come to this idea of an embedded corporate journalist as the result of accepting two premises 1) The public appreciates candid companies, and 2) companies can afford and have access to all communications formats (video, audio, and print) at essentially zero cost for information distribution.

In this environment companies can be successful at public relations if they engage in public relations. That is if they view their company as part of a universe, not the center of the universe. I refer to universe here as being the larger category of which that company is a part, it could be industry, job discipline, scientific community, that kind of universe.

With this company newsroom perspective on the universe, there are considerably more opportunities to comment on news going on in the universe. Things like government regulations and economic or trade reports are fair game for you to make a newsworthy contribution. Scientific advancements, industry trends, and other events in the news are all likely examples of places to make a thoughtful contribution. This brings me to the embedded journalist.

A journalist mentality looks at the big picture and focuses in on detailed elements of the picture. It is a mentality of describing how things relate to each other, not just how things relate to buying my widget. To have this perspective inside a company in today’s environment is an asset. Over the years I have believed one of my biggest faults as a PR person was that I was a former journalist. Today I’ve reversed that belief and embrace my journalistic roots.

This perspective inside a company combined with a senior management team who embraces the two premises above, will achieve the following:

Greater candor and with it credibility
More opportunities to be heard
Greater exposure to audiences that are involved in your universe

A company can deploy an embed journalist in many ways, someone on staff or on contract, that’s a budget issue. The more important point here is not the journalist person per se, but the way the company looks at information in its universe. For example, during a typical staff meeting are people looking outward for opportunities to participate, not just whether you have software version 7.1 coming out or whether XYZ company just became a new client. See what is going on in the universe and match it to expertise, information, thoughtful opinions among those in the company to make a contribution. Those contributions can take many forms, blogs, comments on blogs, presentations, news releases, videos, podcasts, and many others.

And to answer the question up front, Does this mean we report negative news? Yes, objectively, fairly and without the sensational headlines to boot. See there is an upside to an embedded journalist reporting negative news, you don’t need “sky is falling” headlines to sell papers, to fight the paparazzi, or compete with alien abductions at the checkout line. Another bonus, you can tell the whole story, you just need to tell it straight.

An interesting way to do this is with Pitch Engine. It is a platform to build social media news releases and get you thinking differently about news and the other audiences that will consume that information. This is not a replacement for wire service distribution, it’s a way to build in a process to form your message in a socially-friendly way.

Sometimes I think consultants (guilty) make a big deal about little things. I appreciate the social media news release for what it is, a neat package of information that advances a point with plenty of footnotes (links, videos, images, etc) to deeper associated content that is handy if you want more information, and a way to share this information with others (social distribution e.g. Stumble Upon, Facebook, Twitter etc). It’s kind of like your thesis paper in college with footnotes, references and a bibliography. You get that paper back and you got an A. Then you share that paper with others who borrow ideas, (what! Tell me you didn’t do that in college.) add their own perspective, and now we are back to the beginning of our story – being social will improve your game.

See you at NewComm Forum

Here is a $100 discount code for Marketing Edge readers and listeners, SNCRFRIEND if you only want to attend the New CommForum (see agenda) or if you want to attend the New CommForum and the InBound Marketing Summit use this code NCFFOS to get $200 off the listed price. The conference is being held April 27-29 in San Francisco.

Business Smart Tools

This half day session is in Stamford, CT, I have two tickets to give away to Marketing Edge readers, be the first to email me and we’ll get you there. Send the email to MarketingEdge AT ProvidentPartners DOT net with Business Smart Tools in the subject line. This event is being held May 5.

PR Dilemma Should Smarties Respond? – I Say Yes

Albert Maruggi — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:06:05 +0000

This is a tough position. An innocent product, Smarties candies, gets used by some in a non-innocent way. Kids are crunching up the little sugary disks, sucking them in their mouths which turns into smoke Yeah a little confectionery Puff the Magic Dragon action going on for fifth graders.

The wacky experiment/stunt has other connotations that swirl around in parents’ heads, like; “today you’re puffing Smarties, tomorrow it’s a Michael Phelps bong and before you know you’ll be like Crackhead Bob.” Yes it’s not a logical progression I admit, but sometimes parents (including me) get illogical when they see kids huddled around the computer watching YouTube videos suggested to them by someone on Penguin Club about smoking Smarties. And the way some of those videos are portrayed it’s not as if the connection to smoking other items is so far fetched. Reminder: I didn’t say this was logical, I do say it’s a PR reality which is difficult to deny.

So what should the company that produces Smarties do? This issue has gone beyond “YouTube” and into mainstream media with all the hysteria that brings. In this Fox News piece, Smarties has a response statement, but on the Smarties website NOTHING. The days of the one channel, one media outlet statement are over in PR. You can’t make a story go away by believing that only the viewers of that particular program have seen the piece. It takes a lot longer and lot more luck to “Duck” a news cycle if the issue is on social media.

My recommendation is address this issue on their home page at the very least. If they want to be bolder and use the same channels being used to promote the smoking of Smarties that would be even better. The tone of their message need not rise to the level of severity as the Fox News piece. They could approach it with some humor so kids will pay attention, and a serious side so that parents will appreciate that the company is aware of situation.

Come on Smarties, get on YouTube with something creative not just some suit, talking head reading a statement written by legal.

The other tactic is do nothing, hey this has been around for a while, the more popular Smoking Smarties YouTube video was posted in December 2007. It will go away from mainstream media for sure, but you can bet the long tail of the web will have next year’s crop of fifth graders jonesin for their hit of Smarties.

Measuring Messages As You Build Relationships

Albert Maruggi — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:47:48 +0000

Time 25:48

When people ask me what is the ROI on a social media relationship I often think of my wife. Let’s see we are married 22 years, have 5 kids that have yet to complete college, braces, went through 2 Suburbans vehicles for the last 10 years, I mean there are not many cars that can hold a family of 7. I figure financially this relationship might not be the jackpot most CFOs would appreciate.

I raise this point first because as the web becomes more social, the quantification that corporate America has come to rely on for every action seems a bit callous when it comes to time spent online. Long before the social web, plenty of sales managers said this to a less than stellar sales rep, “you seem to be playing a lot of golf with John, when is he going to sign a contract?” Perhaps the same phrase can apply when it comes to the time spent on twitter or in social communities, blogger sites, and Twitter, however, I suggest online relationships have a more complex nature than golfing with a “targeted prospect.”

In this episode of the Marketing Edge podcast, we discuss what to measure in a PR relationship with KD Paine, author of Measuring Public Relationships: The Data-Driven Communicator’s Guide to Success It is not just about the number of press clips. Today’s measurement equation, if you have the patience for it, goes deeper in both the measured topic, and with whom to cultivate relationships around your business objectives.

Some of the tools KD uses are:

`A Twitter Tip`

Twitter is most noted for being a great tool to promote your cause and otherwise build relationships that are primarily focused on externalizing a message. There are other ways Twitter can be used to learn more about the market and competitive information. One of them is creating key words in www.search.twitter.com or using hashtags to attempt to collect the tweets around a topic, conference or other category you select.

Let me share a non-business example. When you are driving, do you ever go just a little bit faster when a certain song comes on? Yeah you know what I mean, so for the fun of it while on Twitter one night, I created a # (hashtag) called #Gofast which started a running dialogue about songs that make people Go Fast. I suspect a couple of insurance companies are monitoring this string right now and will update their applications to include this very question.

In this podcast, I highlight another Twitter tactic that flies under the radar which may give greater insight into what competitors are doing.

`More Shout Outs`

I get just a tad over the top in responding to listener comments. Apologies in advance to any friends with Boston accents, but you gotta admit, the running battle between who speaks better Bostonians or New Yorkers is pretty funny. Thanks to Kevin Newnan for the sound files used in the podcast of Boston phrases, his website The Wicked Pissah is hilarious. It hasn’t been updated in 10 years, but it still ranks high in searches for Boston Accent sound files.

Also a hat tip to the Guy’s Guide to Marketing to Women by Stephanie Holland a.k.a. Sheconomy on Twitter – I suspect this has both business and personal application (Mother’s Day is coming up and all).

`Hope to See You at the NewComm Forum and InBound Marketing Summit`

A terrific conference is scheduled for April 27-29 in San Francisco. It is a combination of the Society for New Communications Research of which I’m a senior fellow and the marketing conference produced by Chris Brogan, Paul Gillin and David Meerman Scott. Here is a $100 discount code for Marketing Edge readers and listeners, SNCRFRIEND if you only want to attend the New CommForum (see agenda) or if you want to attend the New CommForum and the InBound Marketing Summit use this code NCFCOMBO2 to get $200 off the listed price.

Get a Reporter’s Mentality in Your Marketing Department, Social Media Will Reward You

Albert Maruggi — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:55:18 +0000

Let’s connect some dots.
DOT 1 – Social media recognizes, even rewards candor and honesty.
DOT 2 – Traditional media is declining and those journalists that remain must do more in the same amount of time – God Bless You.
DOT 3 – Recession is causing executives to search for something less costly, more effective in marketing.
DOT 4 – Companies realize they are not the center of the universe, just part of it.

A recent article I wrote for Upsize Magazine, a business publication in Minnesota, received some traction yesterday on Twitter thanks to a few re-tweets, thank you for that Twitter readers. It was called “For better PR create a newsroom culture in your company.” So I thought I’d highlight it in a blog post.

The executive summary of the article is this, with the dots I mentioned above, there is an opportunity for corporate PR to have more of a news mentality than a promotional one which will be more beneficial to the company’s communications goals. Dots 1 and 4 mean if you are less of a corporate shill and contribute to an objective conversation of issues impacting your universe, others in the online world, journalists, bloggers, customers et. al. will respond favorably.

Instead of only looking inward to pick off the low hanging PR fruit such as new product release, new hire (or recent round of layoffs), earnings (or lack thereof) report, and new client win (Oh please God), instead of that, let’s dig deeper and examine how the company appeals to a segment of the market, how it is participating in new technology standards, what is its reaction to the Obama stimulus package, or where it envisions job skills changing in their industry.

Have a heart and make it easy on everyone, build a story for multiple platforms, Dot 2. Journalists are writing blogs, hosting podcasts, and in general breaking their butts to accommodate new media. Package your content in those formats, meaning, produce a series of soundbites that can be used in a podcast, create a video (preferably not talking heads) that enhances the storyline, post a powerpoint on Slideshare with pretty charts and graphs, better yet, also have those single images available on a newspage or blog post for easy linking. Yes, this is more work, but it costs much less to do today than just a couple of years ago.

Which brings me to Dot 3, all formats are affordable, video, audio, even news distribution services (depending on which one you choose). I said affordable, not free. Sure, tools like Help a Reporter Out and Pitch Engine , and on Twitter MicroPR among others can be used at no cost, but someone needs to put this stuff together. Time is money and people still need to eat. However, shooting quality video and multi-purposing that content is a fraction of what it was. I bet for around $5000 (either time or cash) you can get a comprehensive story told in video, audio, images, and text that can be used across many platforms such as YouTube, Blip.tv (an example of a B2B video channel for enterprise software), iTunes, Flickr (just see how many people take pictures of coca cola),Utterli (a great platform for producing audio and other content) blogs, and other appropriate platforms.

Throughout the year pick off several issues and you’ll look back to see the following:

Better position in the market as a thought leader/player
More news media mentions and coverage in social media
More conversations about your company
More and better information that sales teams can use
Higher quality employment candidates

Put the dots together and you’ve got your self a fully functional, multimedia newsroom, ready to capitalize on issues in your universe, whether they are generated internally or externally, framed in a style that is more valuable to your audience and distributed in a channel that is likely to share your story with others. What’s your take?

Two for the Price of One Conference

An invite to attend the NewComm Forum and InBound Marketing Summit in San Francisco April 27-29. It’s a combined conference with strategic and tactical workshops on using online marketing, PR and social media. There is a line up of terrific speakers and ample opportunities to focus in on your specific questions. The NewComm Forum, sponsored by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) is colocating the forum with the sponsors of the InBound Marketing Summit making for a comprehensive event.

Marketing Edge listeners and readers, email me for a discount code at marketingedge AT providentpartners DOT net with NewComm in the subject line.

How to Help a Reporter Out? Read, Connect, Follow

Albert Maruggi — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:38:18 +0000

Time 16:48

Public relations is changing before your eyes, don’t believe me, visit Help a Reporter Out a website where reporters post their inquiries for experts, guests, and story angles. Then, the site’s founder Peter Shankman emails those inquiries out morning, noon, and night. No, I’m not kidding, three times a day. In fact, I use his emails as a reminder to feed my dog. She gets a cup of food at each email and is pretty happy about it (see smiling photo). Shankman is also a pet lover who, on the HARO website, supports several animal non-profits including Best Friends Animal Society and the Search Dog Foundation, helping train dogs to locate disaster victims.

Back to public relations, you may think HARO this is similar to ProfNet or other services, and you are right, but the world of social media is changing business models and Shankman is adding value at less cost.

The way PR is changing requires change on the part of companies buying PR services and delivering those services. Practicing PR for 25 years, I’ve found the equation of PR firm and client interesting. A firm is paid by a client to advise and implement services the success of which is on a third party, reporter or blogger. In that equation I’ve always considered the journalist very similar to a client in their own unique way. They, at times had a specific need for information or at other times just a general curiosity of information I might have. Finding the match of client information and journalist need is the Golden Ticket.

Here are some points for both buyer and provider of public relations services during these changing times.

For buyers of PR services

Think about PR before you have a problem
Be a resource before you want to pitch
Technology speeds distribution not necessarily learning about reporters
Don’t just measure clips, measure the real-time way people respond to company

For PR professionals

No substitute for learning about reporters by studying their work (this includes bloggers!)
Don’t rely on any one list, (purchased or otherwise), search for journalists using social media
Your value is not just in pitching, nor some ancient relationship, it’s the knowledge of what will interest said reporter/blogger.
Don’t be afraid to advise your client to expose their talents/expertise directly to reporters via social media.

Thanks to Peter Shankman for your time, Provident Partners just donated to Best Friends – see social media does work.

HR

The Marketing Edge book contest for February is The Perfection of Marketing by James Connor, to enter the contest email me at marketingedge AT provident partners dot net and in the subject line put the word perfection.

You can get on the podcast with your questions or comments by calling 206-600-6887, we’d like to hear from you. That will make us smile.

The Single Best PR Advice for 2009 – Think Like a News Organization

Albert Maruggi — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:07:45 +0000

Time 27:53

The problem with many companies trying to get PR and media coverage is they think like a company. They need to think like a news organization about themselves, their industry, and the communities in which they play. In the first Marketing Edge episode for 2009 we talk with Kevin Dugan, co-author of the Bad Pitch Blog. The Bad Pitch Blog is a must read for any PR or corporate communications professional, and more importantly, clients of PR organizations. Why clients? Because you don’t want to put your organization or your firm in a situation where the pitch becomes the news. We get into how not to craft a bad pitch and approaching PR with a different perspective in part because social media has changed the landscape of public relations

Meanwhile here’s an old PR versus new PR list for 2009, Kind of like a PR fashionista list.

Old PR Thinking

News is only when the company has a new product, version or customer.

News is something you distribute to the news media

Avoid discussion of controversial subjects that impact the company

No discussion of company strategy or internal debate

Limit most of communication to print or text

New PR Thinking

Evaluate potential news items as if you were an editorial board of a multimedia publishing company monthly if not more frequently.

Consider information as it is perceived by a variety of communities impacted by your company, that’s who really determines news.

News can be targeted by community participation, posted to a blog, included in a podcast and a variety of other means, you don’t need to blanket the world

Use the right medium, audio, video, print, mash-up, others to convey the story

Get involved in issues that matter to your industry, whether you take a position or participate in the debate, don’t sit on the sidelines.

You are your own media outlet, create a channel like blip.tv, blog, podcast, slide share, and make it easy for users to share with others.

Video is not limited to TV, fully integrated multimedia news organizations may well be the right target for a pitch that was previously considered the realm of television.

That’s just a few, we can always talk more, start with a comment either below or at 206-600-6887. Provident Partners donates a food item to a St. Paul, MN food shelter for every comment we receive. Happy New Year!

Best PR and SEO Tactics

Albert Maruggi — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:17:50 +0000

Time 28:49

What’s in a word? Plenty. Not just a word, but the right word at the right time in the right places can catapult your company to the top of the Google heap. As a former journalist, I’m always thinking about the news angle, whether it’s for clients, this podcast, or the pure enjoyment of staying on top of the issue.

The beauty of this is, search engines think like news people as well. The major search engines pick up trends across the net, reward in-bound links to your page, and give recognition to first movers.

Having a focus and priorities for your marketing and SEO objectives can level the playing field against larger competitors. For example a small, and excellent company VigiLanz, develops infection control software that helps clinical pharmacies comply with a specific Federal mandate called National Patient Safety Goal 3E. With the goal of being focused on this very important aspect of their product, the objective was to produce a high Goggle ranking. The strategy of copy changes to their website and clear editorial intent in news release topics garnered a top rank in Goggle on the search of NSPG 3e software This success, however, can be short lived if there is not a dedicated effort to continue producing content that supports and I contend advances the conversation of your focused topic. (VigiLanz is a client)

Another tactic is to piggyback on the news cycles of topics in your objective. For example, say your area is financial risk management in commodities, when the government announces a new policy, the markets move a certain way, or the monthly trade report references movement in commodity, there should be blog posts, news releases, and copy changes on specific areas of your website to capitalize on the coverage of the topic. To the extent you can get a jump on the topic momentum by using social media trending tools like Radian 6 or Trackur to mention two options at either end of the sophistication spectrum.

In this podcast, I chat with Lee Odden, a nationally recognized SEO consultant. Lee and I share ideas on SEO, PR, and affiliate marketing tactics. Odden also writes the Top Rank Blog, one of the better blogs on the web. Odden will be speaking on a panel at the Affiliate Summit Jan 11-13 along with Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim.

YOU COMMENT WE GIVE FOOD

For every comment we get at 206-600-6887 or on this blog, Provident Partners will buy a food item for a local food shelter. So give someone a hot meal by giving us your opinion. Happy New Year.

American journalism at a crossroads

Albert Maruggi — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:44:55 +0000

The future of news is both a fiscal and emotional issue. Newsrooms across the country are struggling with the economic realities across the spectrum from energy costs to the impact of the internet. On the emotional side, the press, vilified as it is by those whose agenda it suits, still remains a cornerstone of a free, democratic society.

Somewhere in the 1980s, the discussion of fairness of news organizations became a central part of the political and general discourse in American society. This debate chipped away at the credibility and integrity of journalism as an institution. The bickering, some real, some imagined combined with the explosion of blogs and citizen journalism created threads of 19th century yellow journalism which was woven into the once trusted resource of Cronkite and Murrow. The result is a crossroads for American journalism.

Despite the gloom of many newsrooms, it is an exciting time for American journalism. When accomplished reporters for the New York Times (and many other newspapers) are not constrained by one format and can tell their story with video on their newspapers website, that is exciting. It is exciting, when a television reporter can extend their piece, which before the web was a one time only production, to include conversations from viewers via a blog. It is an exciting time when the insights of citizens can be tapped to cover a topic that may only affect a small neighborhood, but nonetheless, makes that community grow closer.

The issue is in large part about the money and who will pay for this information. Economies of scale of the mass produce and consume 1900s no longer apply. Financial sustainability of the news media as we know it now requires innovation on the part of the news organization to develop new products, creativity on the part of business/advertisers to financially support communities and causes in which they believe, (without getting in the way of truthful reporting where appropriate), and citizens to become more involved with the news.

I see it this way. Before 2000, the news was a cookie sheet. A metal surface used to produce the same product on a regular basis. Today news is the cookie dough. Consumers of the news want to shape the information as they need it. They want to add to it from other sources, they want to share it with anyone and everyone, and they want to consume it wherever, whenever, and however it best suits them. Journalism will thrive when it figures out how to generate revenue with this new dough.

People like Chris O’Brien and the Next Generation Newsroom project are in the middle of these exciting times. The Project for Excellence in Journalism and Rick Edmonds of the Poynter Institute has done an wonderful evaluating the trends in news organizations and the way Americans are consuming information.

Today, Thursday, June 12 I’m participating in a panel on the changing face of the news media put on by the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce. Add your comments below, email them to me at amaruggi AT providentpartners DOT net or tweet them at www.twitter.com/AlbertMaruggi

Panel Discussion – Changing Face of Media/Alternative Media Sources/Credibility vs. Sensationalism.
Purpose: We are interested in exploring whether or not, how and why traditional media such as newspapers and television are being supplanted by internet resources and user generated media such as Youtube and Facebook. How are younger generations (Gen Y) using the new media and how they will gather news and information in the future.
Moderator:
Liz Bogut – Communications Director, Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce
Panelists:
Joel Kramer, Editor and CEO of MinnPost.com
Kristin Henning, Publisher, The Rake
Barbara Laskin, Media Relations Manager – Macalester College
Thom Fladung – Editor – Pioneer Press
Albert Maruggi – Founder and president of Provident Partners

The Conversation Agent gets Maruggi to converse about new journalism

Albert Maruggi — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:16:14 +0000

Thank you to Valeria Maltoni, the Conversation Agent, for interviewing me on social media and journalism last week for her blog. The profession of journalism has changed considerably since my days in front of the camera and the mic. (early & mid 80s if you must know) Now, the web makes every medium – multimedia. One of the most compelling and brilliant video news packages was produced by the New York Times, with writer Manny Fernandez and videographer Brent McDonald . The piece was called Johnny’s Cave.

Even in these changing times, the venerable newspaper of the country’s largest city still carries these words on its masthead “All the news that’s fit to print.” The fact is, as the multimedia desk as grown from a small pilot to a full fledged news desk under the direction of Martin Nisenholtz, the Sr. V.P. of Digital Operations, the more appropriate maxim is all the stories that can be told.

The New York Times with its multimedia capability and blogs, are becoming the real-time diary of a city and a nation. They are giving life to video stories that are suffocated by the time constraints of television. Take a moment here to realize that a newspaper may now be in a better position to tell video stories, than standard television. On the other side of this medium divide, television stations are asserting their multimedia assets and driving traffic to their websites.

The financial prize is tapping into dollars non-existent prior to video the web, the Star-Tribune newspaper is taking ad dollars from television stations for video ads. More on this from radio and broadcast consultant Mel Taylor.

The application for companies in these changing times is to evaluate your stories for their strongest appeal. If you have a visual story, you can tell it to a monthly magazine and give them access to the visual elements. You can enhance a printed news release with audio or video components tied back to a website or if you are that daring, consider a full fledged social media release, but that is a topic for another post

Tomorrow I’ll address the issue of social media as more a movement and less a market, which was another theme the Conversation Agent got me going on and was commented on the Jump in the Pool

Southwest Airlines is upfront with passengers – nice work on FAA issue so far

Albert Maruggi — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:55:49 +0000

The airline America loves to love, Southwest, is in a bit of a safety issue with the FAA and Congress. It is reported that some safety inspections were not conducted or planes not grounded. This post is to highlight Southwest’s PR handling of the situation.

As is the tradition of Southwest, they are upfront. Right on the home page of their website is a link to their statement on the story. Excellent. Some would counsel to put it in the news section, let the issue go through a 24-hour cycle and be done.

Compliments to Southwest and their entire team for their candor on the matter. In what appears to be an issue more about paperwork, bureaucracy and miscommunication instead of dangerous conditions. The language being used by media and Congress is predictably emotional: “unsafe,” “threatening safety,” and from Congressman James Oberstar, “one of the worst safety violations.”

The investigation also involves the Whistle Blower Program, which in itself creates an “us versus them” situation and not at a “Let’s see what happened here” investigation.

In addition to the Southwest statement being in position A on the website, the CEO, Gary Kelly, was on CNN this morning and made the expected rounds of media coverage. While this issue must go through its cycle, the initial round, which included Southwest airlines voluntarily disclosing missed inspections last spring, shows Southwest performing in accordance with its image of being upfront with its passengers.

P.S.: And as you’d expect, it’s on the Southwest Airlines Blog as well. Keep us posted, Southwest, and while it’s good to know your passengers are still using you to get away, your PR team is staying put to work professionally through an interesting situation.

My side comment: Blog leader Paula Berg is a class act in any situation. Great work, Paula.

All politics is social

Albert Maruggi — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:24:08 +0000

I am paraphrasing a quote attributed to former House Speaker Tip O’Neill who said “All politics is local.” Given how technology has collapsed time and space, it is accurate to say then that all politics is social, as in the social communities that have common interests shared on the web in many forms. With a couple of keystrokes these interests can be inspired, appeased, and heard. Their message can spread around the world in the format that most powerfully communicates their message. So it is with this foundation and a decade in politics and more than a decade in the private sector world of communications I’ve come to the following key elements of social media.

Social media is like grassroots organizations
Little issues can spread like wildfire if ignored
Political skills are required to understand the implications of social media on a corporation and its interested communities
Corporations should develop their own communities of interest that are active in social media beyond that of their own corporate site
Understanding social media requires openness within a corporate culture
Corporate functions such as customer relations, call centers, sales and service departments, research, and product development can potentially benefit from and contribute to social media, so coordination is critical.

These characteristics and situations are part of what goes on in political and public policy campaigns. This is why I believe experience in those areas is especially helpful to corporations seeking to understand and participate in social media.

This also gets into the issue a bit of who owns social media and a thread of that conversation is at Mitch Joel’s blog Twist Image.

Paul Dunay of Buzz Marketing for Technology has a post on the political war room angle of social media.

Dunkin’ Donuts social media response – and your grade is?

Albert Maruggi — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:35:27 +0000

The social media idea path is like watching cells grow and multiply. Here is the exciting path of this idea related to Dunkin’ Donuts and the Super Bowl. Sunday, January 20, I’m on Twitter the night of the Green Bay/New York Giants NFC Championship game. People tweeted about the final moments of the game and upon its conclusion, I started tweeting with my Boston friends who like Dunkin’ Donuts, how that popular east coast franchise can capitalize on the Super Bowl with two teams competing from their two largest markets, Boston and New York City. Those friends included Doug Haslam, Chip Griffin, Geoff Livingston (DC guy but also responded to tweet string), Scott Monty, Sarah Wurrey, and Mike Volpe.

A quick review of the Dunkin’ Donuts website reveals that Dunkin’ has extensive experience working with NFL promotions and even has run contests with both the New York Giants and New England Patriots. Excellent. Dunkin’ Donuts slogan is America Runs on Dunkin’ – Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?

On Monday, January 21, I thought of an idea and blogged about it on our marketing blog about a Super Bowl contest that ties into the slogan, Dunkin’ Donuts Has a Super Opportunity , the team with the most rushing yards would earn for that market a free something, maybe a Dunkin loyalty card with a free cup of coffee loaded on it or a free coffee during the two hours after the game (you get the picture). I also sent in a link to the idea on the Dunkin’ Donuts website, through customer relations.

on Wednesday, January 23, I received the resonse below. I’ve given the response grades, and invite yours as well. A couple of more data points here. 1) I did not submit to a PR or media inquiry because I did not find an email for one on the site at the time and 2) Dunkin’ Donuts is currently running (pardon the pun) a user generated campaign on You Tube called How Do You Keep America Running.

Here is Dunkin’s reply to our Rushing Yardage contest idea:

Dear Albert,

Thank you for thinking of Dunkin’ Brands, Inc.

We’re always developing new ways to keep our faithful customers coming back to our stores for more. In fact we have entire departments whose job it is to come up with fresh and exciting concepts for products, flavors, programs, advertising, etc.

We also receive many unsolicited suggestions from our friends outside the company, driven by a love and passion for our brands. Most of the time, the suggestions are things our teams have already thought of and may already be working on.

Therefore, to prevent any possible misunderstandings, we cannot accept or review unsolicited ideas such as: patented or un-patented, trademarked or un-trademarked ideas, copyright protected materials, advertising slogans, marketing programs, promotional programs, patent applications, trademark applications, copyright applications, product suggestions, prototypes or models.

Again, thank you for thinking of Dunkin’ Brands, Inc.

Thank you and have a great day.

Michelle

Customer Relations Associate

Ref # 4488839
Here are my grades for their response:

1) Timeliness they at least replied within a couple of days. – A Excellent,

2) Sincerity, it looks like a boilerplate response – C to me some of the copy is a bit condescending , however, I can understand this given that someone might claim rights to an idea, which leads to my next grading topic,

3) Legal cover, nice job lawyers – A

4) Brand loyalty impact, has the response improved your feeling of the brand – B While the response did not uniquely notice the submission, it did attempt to respond in a timely and polite manner and for that Dunkin’ Donuts deserves some credit.

Overall It’s a B, time for another coffee.

New journalism meets social media

Albert Maruggi — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:58:22 +0000

Time 18:45

The old maxim “you don’t argue with the guy who buys ink by the barrel” isn’t as accurate as it once was. The combination of blogs, new online publishers like TechCrunch and the Huffington Post, and social media sites are creating new opportunities for professional and unpaid journalism.

The key to social media’s success is voices. The dilemma for social media is finding and determining the valuable content of those voices for you. Helium.com is a Web site designed for long-form written content and has an interesting way of sorting out what’s valuable. The site attracts those who have a desire to write, and its 90,000 members rate the articles on the site, giving all readers some guidance on the quality of the content.

This community grading apparatus rewards objective, accurate articles and banishes self-promoters to the valley of propaganda. (There really is no such place on Helium.com. That was my editorial license to say that garbage articles are ranked at the bottom.)

It’s a combination social media community, wiki (kind of ), blog and content provider. There is also a way for other publishers of Web sites and print publications to post requests for articles. Writers then submit articles for that particular topic for the publisher to potentially purchase. It is like a job board that matches buyers of articles to providers of content. Hey, it might not be enough money to quit your day job, but it is a way to fulfill a passion, share knowledge, and build your expertise and writing portfolio.

Helium.com also allows for contributions to non-profit groups, including Teachers Without Borders and Collegiate Society of America, as articles are purchased. It’s the concept of giving back to the community for writers as well as tapping into those non-profits as sources of quality articles.

Communicators should review this site as another step in determining the social media strategy. These are the interesting attributes of Helium.com:

Source for industry trends across tens of thousands of topics
Venue for your ideas and passion
Potential revenue if articles are purchased
Establish greater credibility as a writer
Give exposure to issues that are not being covered in the mainstream media
Plant the seeds of debate that others nurture -– that, after all, is the essence of social media

Marketing Edge Holiday Giveaways: Yippeee!

1. Society of New Communications Research Symposium VIP (very impressive pricing) in Boston December 5 and 6: Give a look at the agenda at www.sncr.org/symposium and if you want to go, e-mail me at marketingedge@providentpartners.net and I’ll send you codes for a little dough off the top.

2. Join the Conversation book giveaway contest: Joseph Jaffe’s latest book is the talk of the Amazon charts, and we will give a copy away on Dec. 19, with an added bonus. In the spirit of joining the conversation, I have included written commentary in many of the chapters. It’s the ultimate form of keeping the conversation going. Send me an e-mail with “Conversation” in the subject line and you’ll be included in the random drawing.

3. Movie trivia in this podcast episode: Listen toward the end of the podcast for a sound clip from a movie. Tell me what movie you think it came from and we’ll give one person who provides the correct answer a $10 Subway gift card. Hint: It’s a classic! Either send me an e-mail or submit your answer in the comment section.

NOTE: Provident Partners donates a food item for every comment (on the blog or by e-mail) we get. Our monthly budget for this community program is $100/month.

Observations on the Chris Anderson vs. PR blogathon

Albert Maruggi — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:35:54 +0000

After a few days to let things settle and let me think (and as the story now bubbles up to the New York Times), here are a few observations about Chris Anderson’s post about blocking a group of PR people from e-mailing him and the subsequent comments:

PR lessons

1. College communications and PR professors should make this post mandatory reading. Don’t send e-mail to a reporter if you haven’t read some of his work. Repeat this mantra throughout your school years and into the workforce, if in fact there is such a thing as “pitching reporters” five or so years from now.

2. CEOs of PR firms need to evaluate the structure of the process that allows such e-mail tactics. By that I mean revenue model, client demands, training, mid-level oversight, database compilation — everything in your firm. There are dozens of reasons for sloppy pitches. Uncover them.

3. Use Anderson’s comments to your advantage. Show your clients (particularly the most demanding ones) that if they can’t generate real news and you can’t package what they have in a way that is interesting to the audience of your specific outlets, that’s not something a longer or more “big-name filled” media list can fix. Period. It’s a product issue, not a PR issue.

We’ve been in situations where the client says, “Call Walt Mossberg and get in there.” The correct response is to point out what Walt Mossberg requires to even be considered, then work to make those qualities a reality for your client. Not until your client walks the walk can you expect someone like Mossberg and Anderson to talk your talk.

4. Media databases are fine as a starting point, but just like any list, they’re not perfect. Having said that, Chris Anderson’s pitching tips as listed in Cision’s MediaSource as of Nov. 5, 2007, clearly state that his preferred method of contact is snail mail, that he should not be sent pitches when there’s an appropriate editor on staff, and that news releases should be sent to the magazine’s general e-mail address.

Now, the main email address is listed as editpress@wiredmag.com. I trust that the main e-mail as listed in Bacon’s — Cision; hate the new name — is not going to Chris’ inbox. If it is, then that’s a problem, eh?

And it says mail, as in snail mail. That’s great. The guy says he doesn’t even want an e-mail. Why? I bet it’s because it’s too simple to send him crapola when using e-mail. Here’s an idea: Actually hand-write him a note. A technology editor pitched with a hand-written note — that’s rich. But the point is, he’s eventually going to “black-list” folks that way, too, by never opening his paper mail again. It’s the message that matters, not the medium.

5. The media are changing. PR folks, maybe you don’t need these publishers anyway. If you have a good story, tell it yourself. Tell it by being a part of the discussion on the Web, and if the publishers want to write about that content, then they will find you. I’ve seen this work first-hand: no pitches, no calls, no lists. Just follow up between reporter and client directly as a result of blogs or podcasts. Let whoever wants it come and get it. PR is dead. Long live PR.

6. There are great PR firms on this list: Weber Shandwick, Fleishman-Hillard, Edelman, Tunheim. I’m sure they have opportunities to break stories. Is Wired the only outlet? Of course not. Perhaps Fast Company will get the first call the next time one of these firms has an interesting story. In the old days, it was said that you shouldn’t argue with the guy who buys ink by the barrel.

Well, Times — I mean, times — have changed, and now lots of people buy bandwidth by the megabit. If you’re really upset about this public chastisement, there are plenty of ways to re-evalaute the media landscape. While I don’t necessarily recommend this option, it sure might give some people satisfaction.

7. A warning to those PR pros pounding their chests about not being on the list and condemning those that were: If it’s open season on any person and any e-mail, it can be you next week in some other blog. Yes, there is a lesson here and it may be this: Who needs PR firms if they are going to make a mistake that some intern inside a company trying to get free press would make?

8. On the other side of number 7 is this: Only use PR firms who have relationships. Really? You mean that even if your client has a garbage story, your buddy Chris is going to write about it? I mean, you have a relationship, don’t you?

Crazy, isn’t it? If it were only about relationships, then, as a result of Anderson’s post, PR rates should double for those firms who claim to have them.

On that issue, I found a disclosure on Chris Anderson’s blog that is noteworthy:

The list of my potential and real conflicts is impossibly long and I find it arbitrary to only list the conflicts that involve money (such as a paid speaking gig), since the friendships are much more likely to influence me. So for those of you who care about such things, be forewarned: I don’t follow (or believe in) j-school standards of impartiality. The only thing I will promise is that I have no financial stake in the future prospects of companies I write about, which means no investments of any kind in them. If I praise them it will be because I’m honestly impressed, not because I hope to share in their financial success.

Chris doesn’t follow (or believe in) j-school standards of impartiality and his friendships are much more likely to influence him. Hmmm — good to know.

One last note here: Chris Perkett, president of Perkett PR, outlines how one of her firm’s people ended up on the list in this comment on Chris’ original post. If the story is true, then including this person on the black-list is just not right. While being frustrated is understandable, including someone that has had an e-mail exchange with him in the past is wrong.

To Chris Perkett: Well said, though I don’t think it will do much good.

Provident Partners increases its workforce by 50 percent

Albert Maruggi — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:47:22 +0000

We have a new account executive on staff to lend us a hand — two, actually.

We at Provident Partners have increased our workforce by 50 percent with the recent hire of Kirsten Johnson as an account executive.

Kirsten is a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She previously worked in public relations for the Nebraska Soybean Board. Her addition to the Provident Partners staff means big things for this growing agency, which is at the forefront of integrating traditional, multimedia and social media PR tactics for clients.

Our boss (founder and president), Albert Maruggi, had this to say:

“I’ve been in this business for 25 years –- in front of the camera and in the inner circle of communication strategy sessions. Today we’re witnessing a sea-change in the way our society, its members and its institutions communicate, learn and interact.

“I call this the ‘trans-’ era: trans-media, trans-generation, trans-location. This era calls for the right combination of traditional marketing communications, true public relations and new-media strategies. Kirsten’s strong writing, new media savvy, and unique perspective of potential solutions for clients is a perfect fit for the Provident Partners culture.”

Kirsten, a native of Roseville, Minn., has also worked for Swanson Russell Associates, a 75-person public relations agency in Lincoln, Neb. Her recent work with colleagues in a senior campaign class, for which Johnson served as PR director, was honored with a “Marketing Maverick” award from the Lincoln chapter of the American Marketing Association.

“With this 50 percent increase in our workforce, we expect our productivity to increase by about 100 percent,” Maruggi said. “In all seriousness, with everything that’s happening on the Web and with these new media tools, communication and marketing are changed for good. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we do take our work seriously. And to that end, we’re delighted to have Kirsten aboard.”

Audio and video: Positioning for the future

Albert Maruggi — Fri, 18 May 2007 21:24:16 +0000

I spent most of the week in the New York metro area, first speaking on a panel on the issue of podcasting and blogging at the Business Smart Tools conference in Stamford, Conn., then reporting from the Streaming Media East conference in Manhattan.

Loathe the name podcasting, even though it is accepted as new word in the dictionary. Judging by some of the questions that are prevalent at these conferences, marketers may do well to not use words like “podcasting” when trying to present the idea to management.

The concept may better be positioned using terms like audio, radio, video, or something a bit more retro. I highlight some other ways to describe this wonderfully mislabeled medium in this podcast, er…Marketing Edge show.

I also spent some time at the Streaming Media East show, which was excellent. One of our clients unveiled a fun new presentation tool called Proclaim, which is one of the reasons that brought me to the show.

While there I listened to a great keynote from Martin Nisenholtz, senior VP of digital operations at the New York Times Company. He discussed how bloggers complement journalists, not replace them. Bloggers will continue to act as self-appointed watchdogs of the media, and as traditional journalists increasingly join the blogosphere, it becomes easier for the average Jane or Joe to become part of the news conversation.

Publications will continue to add more multimedia content to their Web sites. “All the news that’s fit to print” at the New York Times takes on a new meaning with the limitless space of Web site, and it also has a way to capture your heart. Check out the Manny Fernandez piece called “Johnny’s Cave.”

This piece shows how powerfully video can tell a story, and with a writer like Fernandez weaving the thread, it simply leaves you numb. This is journalism at its finest.

Sharing is good: It’s the only way to do it in this era of social media. Go ahead. Be social.

Here are links to the video services I mentioned in the podcast:
Brightcove
Feedroom
YouTube

We invite your comments. For each comment we get, we’ll donate a food item to a local food shelter.

Social Media 2007: Conference Preview

Albert Maruggi — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 19:31:57 +0000

The Social Media 2007 conference, sponsored by Business Capital Edge, is being held April 5 and 6 in Chicago. It will cover essential issues about corporate blogging and podcasting and will include presentations from Southwest Airlines, attorney David Ritter, and examples in my presentation of how companies are using podcasting in B2B and B2C environments.

Provident Partners and the Business Capital Edge are promoting this great event by giving away two registrations to the conference. Complete the seven-question form to enter the drawing. If you’re curious about whether your company can benefit from integrating blogs or podcasts into your marketing mix, this is an excellent conference to attend. It will save hours of research and put you in touch with those who have first-hand experience with these new social media.

More on corporate blogging from the Social Media 2007 blog and our earlier podcast, the “Great Blog Debate.”

This year the talk is about how marketers can either leverage or participate in social media. I use the two words to indicate a school of thought. The “leverage” school I’ll define as more aggressive, more sales oriented. The “participate” school I define as one in which the marketer is on equal footing with others in the social group. This second school requires a different perspective for marketers and management within corporate America.

For example, blatant sales blogs that don’t disclose their corporate sponsors or connections to a PR firm are often exposed for attempting to deceive the reader. Corporate blogs don’t succeed at trying to be passed off as objective, consumer-generated conversations. Instead they cast doubt on blogs in general.

Those companies seeking to participate in social media do so first by changing their perspective of “typical” marketing. This change requires a dialogue, not one-way communication, and a commitment to realize that companies don’t control the message and certainly don’t control the market’s perception of them. Instead, marketing is conduit for dialogue of mutual reward. The company gets first-hand opinions from their audiences, and the audience gets a candid discourse with the company.

Each party has a responsibility to be civil, and the result of this environment greater trust, better product information, and stronger relationships to the brand. This type of relationship is not for every company, and that’s what most marketers are trying to figure out: Is it right for my company?

JetBlue: Customer Bill of Rights

Albert Maruggi — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 04:16:30 +0000

In today’s Marketing Edge, I comment on JetBlue’s “customer bill of rights” and how it used public relations strategies to address its situation.

JetBlue’s “customer bill of rights” sounds like it was written by lawyers for lawyers and not the customer.
In the letter and the YouTube video, there was no mention of what the passengers who were so inconvenienced were to receive.
On the JetBlue Web site, it is not clear whether the customer bill of rights was the result of these long delays and cancellations or if it was launched prior to this terrible situation.
I think they should replace the current video with an updated version, showing the new operations area, where and how changes were made, and even interview customers.

If JetBlue has a loyal customer base (even Business Week had them pegged as a top performer), let them lead the charge with this customer bill of rights. There is a lot for all of us to learn with this situation, we will stay tuned with JetBlue and how it address this situation.

Is this customer-friendly language? From the JetBlue customer bill of rights: “Customers whose flight is delayed prior to scheduled departure for 1-2 hours due to a Controllable Irregularity are entitled to a $25 Voucher good for future travel on JetBlue.”

“Controllable Irregularity”? Come on. Is that really about the customer, or it is written for your legal team?

Second, the YouTube video featuring JetBlue’s CEO was a good use of that venue, but I think it could have been done better. For instance, the CEO should have described the situation. JetBlue let the news accounts set the tone. You’re the company in question, and surely you have a perspective on why and how this happened. Let’s hear it. Don’t let the viewer have to go to other sources to get the story.

The CEO, David Neeleman, seemed to be in a bit of a panic. Hey, there are worse things that can happen on an airplane besides sitting on a tarmac, so let’s keep everything in perspective. I think it makes them look like they don’t know how to run an airline. I mean, does it take this enormous circumstance to produce an effective solution in just two days? So the real question is, “Would you get on a plane if that guy in the video was the pilot?”

I realize it was a chaotic situation, and in the heat of the moment, it must have seemed like all hell was breaking loose. Cool heads need to put a crisis into perspective by considering the long-term impact of what is immediately disclosed. Quick reactions to these issues are important, but a measured reaction may be the best approach. My initial take on the company’s reaction to this situation is overkill, rather than the more appropriate laser-like focus. That said, the stock seemed to have regained its losses, so maybe all of this is for nothing.

In the letter and the video, there was no mention of what the passengers who were so inconvenienced were to receive. Check out Seth Godin’s blog for some perspective in which he doesn’t mince words. Give those most affected passengers a pile of free tickets and just make them happy, Godin suggests. Don’t worry about the millions that are just observing the story.

Now on to the NewComm Forum and our drawing to send one lucky person to the forum in Las Vegas. This included airfare, hotel and registration for one lucky winner. I interviewed our winner, Laurie Mainquist, who works for WindLogics. This will be Lori’s first time to Las Vegas, and she is looking forward to the NewComm Forum. Her company is a world leader in atmospheric modeling and analysis, and it has developed innovative methodologies for assessing long-term financial risk associated with wind energy.

Join me on March 8 at the NewComm Forum, I will be doing a presentation, in which I’ll cover “Interaction and engagement: New media as the key to buyers’ hearts.” Find out what the latest tools and technologies are — and how to use them — at the third annual New Communications Forum, March 7-9 in Las Vegas, sponsored by the Society for New Communications Research and Lawrence Ragan Communications. The NewComm Forum will build on the foundation of social media with examples of format styles, business cases, and how to integrate other social media, including blogs, wikis, videos, and yes, even college class projects, designed to put your product in front of that demographic.

Want to help out a food shelter? Contribute! Give us some feedback by leaving a comment on the blog, e-mail us at marketingedge@providentpartners.net or call us at 651-695-0174. We will donate a food item for each comment we get. Thanks for listening.

Old PR tactic becomes new again

Albert Maruggi — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:43:42 +0000

Today we’re going to talk about an old public relations dog that’s doing new-media tricks. The radio actuality has been reborn. We use recorded commentaries — quick sound bites — that accompany news releases and pitches we send to reporters, editors and producers. In the early days of the actuality, these bites were dropped into radio news updates. As such, they were recorded to be quick, newsy and to the point.

Today, these sound bites are being used by magazines and newspapers on their Web sites. The audio is used directly on their page, or reporters use the bites as quotable material for their stories.

Take the person you’ve quoted in your news release — your CEO, your chief analyst, your engineer, your technology expert — and record him or her giving more context, digging deeper into an issue and providing quick, useful bites of information. These recorded bites could be as short as 30-45 seconds or they could be up to 60-90 second or so — it depends on the story.

Post that audio file on your Web site. Put a link in your news release or e-mailed pitch. Do your best to make it easy for a reporter to listen to, download and use your sound bite.

Examples:

Mark Schultz sound bite example (MP3)

Link we provided for reporters

These examples worked well for us recently. A big trade magazine put the entire sound bite on its Web site as the lead news story the day after the president’s State of the Union address, and Dow Jones Newswire, a large market-driven news service, wrote an article from the content in the sound bites. That Dow Jones piece was then carried on the Web site for the biggest farming magazine in the country.