The social media and PR agency perspective.

A while back this blog gave free PR advice to social network startup Diaspora.  The recommendation was to use strong privacy controls to distinguish itself from (and become an attractive alternative to) Facebook.  Similarly, this blog advised MySpace (which still exists!) to do the same, during a particularly bad social media privacy-related episode at Facebook.

The fundamental PR tactic here is to take advantage of your competition’s weakness, and it never goes out of style.  Indeed, even though it’s on the verge of a $100 billion IPO, Facebook’s filing papers contain numerous points to exploit by crafty entrepreneurs.  Such opportunities are uncommon, so “attack now or forever hold your peace” should be engrained in every ambitious startup’s mindset.

Don’t believe so?  Then take a look at Microsoft, which got a ton of positive press this past week by taking on Google’s recent privacy flap.  While Google was still reeling from a poorly announced revision in product privacy policies, Microsoft was able to promote its own products and skewer Google in the process.  In a full-page ad in major global newspapers, Microsoft blared “Google is in the process of making some unpopular changes in some of their most popular products …. Those changes, cloaked in language like ‘transparency,’ ‘simplicity,’ and ‘consistency’ are really about one thing: making it easier for Google to connect the dots between everything you search, send, say or stream while using some of their services.”

Not the kind of PR jab any company wants to take, particularly when Congress is breathing down its back on the same issue.  And how do we know Microsoft’s tactic startled Google?  “Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the ad campaign.”  Advantage: Microsoft.

This one will be short and (not so) sweet… you might have spent the past couple days reading about Google’s plans to unify privacy policies across all its products.  This will effectively tie in personal user data throughout all these platforms, causing serious cyber-heartburn on many tech blogs and sites because Google product users won’t be able to opt-out of such tracking.

Put aside the debate for a moment, and check out this snapshot of today’s most-read stories online at the Washington Post:

No amount of explaining the new system on Google’s official blog can counter this type of brief, but cringe-worthy, jolt.

For our friends in the PR industry… you know how December reliably yields “Top 10 PR Stories/Blunders/Hype of 20XX” features?  Let’s make a bold (haha) prediction: The first list item in 2012′s annual rounds-ups will be the greater online community’s stand against SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act.  In the face of a sustained global lobbying campaign to beat the bill back, one Congressional Staffer described SOPA as a “dirty word beyond anything you can imagine.”

There’s little point in discussing the back and forth between SOPA opponents and proponents.  It’s safe to say the prime forces in favor of SOPA, such as the Motion Picture Association of America, have lost this fight.  As much as this blog discusses the power of words in PR, don’t forget the power of (website) images as well.  The MPAA’s site has a small subpage devoted to discussing “rogue websites” which is the keyword the content industry is pushing to dominate the debate.

In turn, Wikipedia simply shut itself down today with the following landing page:

So to review: The MPAA gets caught up on explaining process, and Wikipedia goes blank.  Pure PR KO for SOPA opponents.

The controversy may be local to Washington, DC, but its PR lessons are certainly universal.  The University of Maryland recently announced construction of a new school president’s house, and adjoining event facility, as a 14,000 square foot addition at the tune of $7.2 million.

The construction strikes a wee negative chord, as students and other school stakeholders have criticized the project.  They argue it’s too expensive, sends a bad signal in otherwise difficult economic times, and really stings since the University just cut eight athletic teams over budget concerns (and this from a school that really, really loves its sports).  It’s such a negative narrative that even newspapers across the pond have picked up on it.

In response, the University’s foundation wrote a letter to the Washington Post editorial board, arguing that the project will be funded completely by private donors and boost fundraising capabilities, thus allowing the property effectively to pay for itself and ultimately benefit the student body.

Ok, but… even if all that’s true, here’s the problem.  Knowing the construction might likely become a lightning rod of criticism, the University made many basic, glaring PR errors in the process:

1) No statement on the University’s website that communicates the value of the project.

2) No statement on the University’s Facebook page that communicates the value of the project.

3) No statement from University President Loh that communicates the value of the project.

Perhaps we’re missing a direct statement that (ahem) communicates the value of the project?  (If so, let us know.)

Add it up, and you get an awful image of the school administration’s priorities, not to mention a serious PR black eye.

We didn’t expect to do a second post on the theme from the last one, but customer fees continue to grab negative headlines.  That means in the age of 1% vs. 99 %, companies must be painfully clear about how fees might distort typical transactions.

For Uber, the new startup app that lets you score rides on otherwise-unbooked sedan car services, this lesson in fees is all too real.  Uber dispatches sedans in a way similar to taxi service, and for a slight premium over standard taxi fares, you get a chauffer-driven ride in style.  Uber’s innovation (particularly in our city where the taxi industry is notoriously hostile to riders) has earned it a great amount of popularity, and in that sense, an excellent reservoir of brand equity and positive PR.

That is… until some riders from this past New Year’s Eve got stuck with paying hundreds of dollars for rides of less than a few miles.  Uber employs what it calls “surge pricing” – a system that ratchets up fares when the app experiences high demand.

The economic explanation on surge pricing might be correct, but here’s the problem: in justifying the, ahem, uber-premium, Uber makes the classic PR mistake of defending process instead of defending outcome.  As every smart politician knows, any time you’re explaining a bill or political proposal, you’re losing.  Uber’s multiple attempts at explaining surge pricing unfortunately come across a bit tone-deaf; telling your customers that “70 years of [taxi fare] conditioning” is the culprit doesn’t resolve the pain from paying exorbitant to Uber.  And, judging by some of the extreme negative reactions and customer experiences, Uber has definitely taken a sharp reputation hit.

Uber’s CEO explains that surge pricing will remain in place, and warns users to expect higher fares during holidays and other high-volume events.  An ok warning, but taken to its logical extreme, that means surge pricing might be a frequent negative footnote to an otherwise awesome service.  If Uber continues having unusual billing incidents occur at a regular pace, we might witness slow-motion crisis PR by a thousand (negative customer experience) cuts.

Here is free PR advice for every global corporation that markets a service.

Never, under any circumstances, call any of your fees “convenient.”

Verizon, as you might know, committed a stunning PR blunder to round out 2011 by announcing a $2 fee on various methods of wireless service bill payment.  (Good luck trying to figure out the myriad maybe/maybe not categories of payment method.)  After an immediate, strong customer backlash, along with a note from the FCC hinting at an investigation, Verizon quickly backtracked and ditched the fee.

No doubt, Verizon customers had many reasons to revolt.  Part of the new fee scheme required customers to use auto-billing, a process Verizon abused to overcharge 15 million customers in 2010.  Secondly, Verizon continues grappling with massive network outages, which is spectacularly ill timing for a new price increase.  And thirdly… no company can brand their fees “convenient” in a tight economy!

But there’s a larger issue at play here.  Recall just a couple months ago when Bank of America dropped its planned $5 fee for debit card activity.  Target took a ton of heat for requiring employees to work on Thanksgiving for Black Friday sales.  Lowes Hardware tripped over its own senseless corporate-speak and stepped right into a hate group’s trap, alienating thousands of consumers.

What does this tell us?  In 2012 (and probably the next few years), brands must anticipate every possible element of public backlash when making crisis management plans.  That means thinking carefully about how the public will react to major change.  Now it’s not a matter of if, but when, and brand equity has much less leverage when citizens can quickly unite around a central protest message.

That’s Praecere’s first take on the world of PR in 2012.  And it comes without a convenience charge!  Happy new year and hope you continue to follow the Blog Aesthetic.

Rounding out 2011!  We’re honored to be mentioned in a few places online, check it out:

• PR Daily syndicated our recent blog post on what retailer Target had to do in the PR fallout from mandating employee time on Thanksgiving.

• Our friends at Lendio collaborated with us not once, but twice!  Santa must really like the Praecere shop.  Listen to their regular podcast series, where we discussed the latest news and trends for entrepreneurs of all stripes.  We also provided a guest post on the Lendio blog on quick PR tips for restaurants.

• Business2Community recently shared tips from 46 experts on the future of marketing in 2012, and our wisdom slots in at #19.

• People must have really loved our blog post on 5 types of PR agencies to avoid, as PR Daily re-re-syndicated it again a few weeks ago!

• Last but not least, we were invited by ExecDigital to pen an article on the PR and marketing genius of Steve Jobs.  The day the piece was slated to run was the same day Jobs passed away, but we made an editorial decision to keep the content unchanged, as the original version celebrated his insights in a fitting and tribute-minded way.  RIP to the greatest industrialist of this generation!

Cheers, and happy reading, Team Praecere

Say you’re a business, brand, nonprofit, mom-and-pop, or other publicity-seeking entity. You’ve pounded the social media pavement, engaged bloggers across areas of interest, pitched reporters and editors across print and broadcast media, and more.  After all that hard work, with just scant results, you finally scored that precious big news mention you’ve sought for months.

You pop the champagne, give yourself a pat on the back, exchange a bunch of “man that’s a nice headline!” with family and friends.  Now what?

First, thank the reporter, blogger, or whoever took the time to cover your story.  They had the patience to learn about your efforts and report on things — so show some basic courtesy!

Second, keep pitching and promoting!  Don’t let that one headline lose its juice.  Make sure to tuck the URL into every single future pitch you make.  Share the link(s) on your own social media channels in the push to go viral.  High-level placements give you PR legitimacy, so take advantage of the momentum.

Third, use the news mention (along with others you have) to start building a nice media kit.  Host it on your site and include all the mentions in one organized, tidy place.

Fourth, remember there’s no reason you can’t go back to the same outlet with future news. Of course, make sure it’s not just a repeat of your sweet new coverage.

Write us if you want more basic PR tips, we’re at info@praecere.com.  Cheers!

So the story raging across Twitter, and then through MSM, is that actor Alec Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight today.  The reports indicate that Baldwin didn’t comply with standard commercial aircraft procedure to shut off electronic devices; his publicist said Baldwin was just too engrossed playing Words With Friends to power down whatever device he had.  (Funny how some stories just thread right into others… but this blog digresses…)

Right now, American Airlines’ public relations is badly misstepping on several fronts:

• Bad newsroom.  The story is surging across the news, yet amazingly, American Airlines has nothing posted on their official newsroom in response.  Even if American is still investigating exactly what happened before issuing comment, at a minimum the online newsroom should have a PR holding statement to this effect.

• Bad tweets.  By openly and harshly insulting American Airlines staff, Baldwin likely lost significant sympathy across Twitter.  Still, American’s own tweets appear to kowtow to Baldwin’s childish rant.  Instead of going to the substance of the matter, the airline should wait until it’s collected all the facts before addressing the incident publicly (see the above point).

• Bad precedent.  It’s not like similar incidents haven’t happened before.  Southwest Airlines certainly has seen its share, most notably with ejecting an actress for an aggressive public display of affection.  And today… Southwest is rolling (flying?) right along with their incidents squarely behind them.

Keep an eye on this one, as the story will definitely play out over the next few days.  If American Airlines wises up and follows Southwest’s playbook, though, the story shouldn’t go past a few more days, most likely ending in its favor.

We all know about body doubles running rampant in Hollywood.  We even know they are used by F-list celebrities who sponsor various products.  If we actually watched such sleight of hand take place behind the scenes, the effect on the brand – whether it’s a star/starlet, product, service, or other business interest – would be real, and certainly not favorable.

That’s because when people see a familiar brand, they have immediate expectations.  The wizards behind branding – whether it’s the C-suite, marketers, focus groups, whoever – must ensure those expectations are met.  If a can of Coca Cola varies in taste in two different parts of the world, then the brand and the expectations that go with it get (ahem) watered down.  Similarly, when we see a global brand get really skewered (“Sunbucks”… really?  That’s the best you counterfeiters can do?), we recoil since our expectations are incongruent with commonly accepted notions about the brand.

So what do we think when Fiat, the Italian carmaker, misfires in a rather embarrassing attempt at brand-boosting?  The company recently ran a cross-promotion with the American Music Awards where Jennifer Lopez danced on stage… with a Fiat!  Probably one of the few times a car gets seduced on live TV.  Anyway… the performance was derided in major entertainment press, but that was only the start of the brand damage.

The first follow-up dent was the revelation that a concurrent Fiat TV commercial that seemingly featured Lopez driving nostalgically through her childhood neighborhood actually used a body double, and not Lopez herself.  That’s pretty bad, considering the ad’s narrative is all about Jenny from the Block reliving the best memories of her life.  PR lesson: keep the narrative consistent with what’s really happening behind the scenes.

Second, a blogger caught the Fiat breaking down in the middle of filming.  Not exactly the image of reliability any carmaker wants to promote.  PR lesson: unless you’re 100% sure of a product’s reliability, film in a controlled location!

And third … a mural artist whose work appeared in the ad without permission threatened legal action against Fiat.  PR lesson: make sure PR and marketing work hand-in-hand with the legal department.

The sum total of these transgressions?  Quite a bit of online heat toward the Fiat brand, as summarized here.  Collectively, brand failure on this scale takes a lot of work to restore the desired brand image.