Brand Management Archive

I Work in PR, and This Is What I Do

September 2nd, 2010

Once upon a time, a recruitment poster for an aid agency showed an American staffer and his Cambodian counterpart on motorcycles in the native jungles.  The basic message was, “this is my job, it could be yours too.”  Now – to someone who loved Motorcycle Diaries and dreamed of motorcycling through Cambodia (or any developing country), this was a very effective ad.  In fact, it helped spur The Blog Aesthetic’s love for international development and the NGO world.

As noted in a recent PRWeek bulletin, Praecere is the agency-of-record for the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP).  This amazing group parachutes the world’s best photographers into endangered and stunning sites to document what could be lost if a major development project in that area goes forward.  Ideally, these images spur public outrage and action against the project.  Praecere is guiding the iLCP’s current Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE) in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia.  At stake?  The rights of the First Nations people, one of the most pristine marine environments in the world, and the home of the mystical white “spirit bears” revered by the First Nations.  We are helping implement a social media strategy with dozens of partners, securing major Canadian and US television coverage, and planning a large press conference in Vancouver to release the images to the world.

As we sit here in Prince Rupert, Canada awaiting a floatplane to the Great Bear Rainforest, we can’t help but think we’re now the guy on the recruitment poster: “I work in PR, and this is what I get to do.”

PR often gets knocked for being too consumed with products, widgets, and sloganeering.  But the other side of the coin is that PR can be used to protect the environment, help defend the rights of indigenous cultures, and brand and grow an organization in the process.  This is the side of PR often not covered or even discussed.  If successful, we will stop a major pipeline project by a company with a horrendous track record of safety (or lack thereof) from destroying a place people rely on for their livelihoods.

Praecere took this account to publicize one of the most unique conservation groups operating today, and show everyone that PR is not an ugly term only used for shilling corporate goodies.  To follow this RAVE expedition and to stay abreast of the characters and storylines, please visit iLCP’s blog “Expose”, the iLCP’s Facebook page, and keep visiting The Blog Aesthetic.

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Posted in Brand Management, DC PR firms, Issues & Advocacy, Media Aesthetic

Brand Sleight of Hand, Brought to You by Toyota

August 26th, 2010

Another day, another Toyota recall.  In theory, any other brand that might have shouldered the weight of so much negative press would have collapsed.

When your brand faces a torrent of constant criticism like Toyota, the go-to PR tactic is to respond with positive messaging, namely in the form of ads – that’s the platform that gives you supreme control over the message and narrative.

But please – when considering such an approach, you must avoid over-the-top, absurd spin.

You may have seen Toyota’s recent commercials about how they’re spending $1 million an hour on improving their fleet’s safety.  As the New York Times points out, that adds up to nearly $9 billion a year.

Now that seems like quite a bit of loose change to spend exclusively on safety improvements, but as the Times explains, the devil’s in the video details.  The actual script of the ad says that “at Toyota, we care about your safety. That’s why we’re investing one million dollars every hour to improve our technology and your safety.”

That last sentence, if diced carefully, says that the money is being spent on technology improvement alone.  Yet during that specific narration, the words “INVESTING IN YOUR SAFETY” float on the screen (yes, the words are in all-caps in the commercial).

Nice subliminal trick Toyota, but when mainstream outlets devote their time to parsing the meaning behind your ads – and potential duplicity – all your company does is fuel the lingering mistrust on your brand’s safety record.  Not the wisest PR tactic we’ve seen.

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Management, Media Training, Public Relations Strategy, Reputation Management

Demand Media’s Troubles Show Why Content Will Always Be King

August 16th, 2010

As journalism stalwarts continue to reel, Demand Media has been hailed as the possible heir to creating key media content.  With cheaply bought articles that populate numerous “how to” sites, the company certainly has tapped into a money stream and thrown the media industry a serious curveball… or has it?

Let’s look at the bumpy ride Demand Media is on currently – and what this means to the world of public relations.

First, Demand Media’s vaunted claim of 80 million visitors a month (wow!) has got some serious holes in it.  As the company is on the heels of an impending IPO, the perception – and reality – of its actual traffic is certainly questionable.  And if there’s an innocent explanation about this matter, the company’s silence on the issue certainly doesn’t help things.

Second, the common understanding is that Demand Media is successful because its business model is crushing the competition.  As with site traffic, the numbers on that are somewhat misleading.

Third, and most importantly, the question remains: is Demand Media’s content worth its weight?  Is the information the company generates that good in the first place?  Some of the content that hits sites like ehow (“How to eat a hot dog” – really?) is very suspect in value.  If Demand Media is effectively a race to the bottom, can we ever expect it to be a thriving media enterprise?

We believe the lesson here is that no matter the new media platform, site, social media tool, widget, whatever – smart content will always, always be king.

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Management, Media Aesthetic, News & Events

Hey JetBlue, What’s the ETA on Smart Social Media Strategy?

August 10th, 2010

Ah, JetBlue… Love your TVs and blue chips, but your social media strategy needs a serious overhaul.

As the new meme-to-be, the entire Steven Slater ordeal has had many twists and turns in its initial 24 hours, with only more anticipated to come.  So let’s examine the basics of the media narrative, as it currently stands: verbally abusive JetBlue passenger, disgruntled employee, terrible economy, people stickin’ it to the man, beer, jumping out of planes, and jail.

JetBlue, this is quite a news mess on your hands.  So… why is your social media strategy on the skids?  It’s quite telling that this is the most recent post on the JetBlue Facebook page:

Screen shot 2010 08 10 at 6.28.08 PM Hey JetBlue, What’s the ETA on Smart Social Media Strategy?

Here’s a better social media strategy (one that some firms would gladly charge you tens of thousands of dollars for): ditch the typical lame Facebook content, and use social media to control the media narrative.

People are speaking about your company, so instead of talking about hot dogs in Chicago, address the Steven Slater issue head on and make it positive.  How about asking your 300,000+ FB fans what are their tips for unwinding and reducing stress during the hectic travel season?  Pick one tip to showcase each week, and award that person with a free round trip ticket.  Everyone loves contests!  Plus this re-engages the online community and helps it grow like never before.

The social media lesson here: The best PR agencies are vigilant – they always look for opportunities to grow and expand your brand, even when everyone thinks it’s a disaster.

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips, Reputation Management

PR Basics for E-Commerce Sites

August 3rd, 2010

From time to time, the Blog Aesthetic spotlights different industries and offers discussion and insight on relevant public relations trends and strategies.  In this posting, we examine the next phase of e-commerce, an industry that faces exciting possibilities as the U.S. economy continues its positive (if slow) rate of recovery.

To that end, what PR factors should e-commerce sites pay attention to?  Here are a few:

• Leaks, leaks, leaks.  Data breach continues to be the most high-profile media narrative associated with e-commerce sites.  As much as news outlets may report on the success of an ecommerce platform, a significant data breach will always be a media lightning rod.  Has your site prepared a thorough crisis management plan that addresses all stakeholders?  If not, your new road to riches will surely hit a dead-end.

• Distinction.  Quick – in 30 seconds, explain the difference between Authorize.Net, PayPal, and Fiserv… Once you’ve hit the wall, you will probably see the problem.  All provide consumer payment processing for individual and business transactions, but what benefit does each offer that’s different than the other?  In other words, where’s the brand distinction?  Your e-commerce PR efforts must always work to show why your site or platform is the better alternative.

• Streamline customer interaction.  With social networking significantly reducing the cost of customer interaction, an e-commerce site should leverage different social media sites for particular avenues of customer engagement.  For example, a few tweets can offer quick bites of news updates, but a Facebook page may be better for carefully addressing consumer or merchant complaints.

• The next big thing.  E-commerce sites will, undoubtedly, significantly evolve as new technologies and online platforms emerge.  Change always catches people off-guard, so e-commerce sites must make sure stakeholders are fully engaged and informed before incorporating the “next big thing” into their business practices.  Smart PR can help an e-commerce site develop a thought leadership campaign on relevant industry issues, position the site favorably with business and consumers, and then capture market share as the standard business model evolves.

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips, Small Business Marketing, Thought Leadership

UAE Blackberry Ban Will Hurt Its Business and Travel PR and Promotional Efforts

August 1st, 2010

(Disclaimer: Praecere principals have represented The Executive Office of Dubai in prior positions.)

The media universe is abuzz today with the UAE’s intention to block BlackBerry digital communications in October.  The emirates’ telecommunications authority says that BlackBerry has the potential to allow “users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns” — though the “legal accountability” standard is likely to be UAE’s insistence on allowing government surveillance of all communications.

This move stands to be a public relations disaster for the UAE, particularly in light of the emirates’ continued push to be a business-friendly oasis in an otherwise politically and economically volatile region.  The ban will also create negative perceptions for travelers and tourists, which Dubai has worked very hard to attract over the years.  Indeed, how can travel and tourism writers even produce content for their stories if their phones are blacklisted?

Should the ban take place as scheduled, the UAE is in a very weak position to promote itself as a growing hub of transparency and capital markets in the Middle East, something that part of the world desperately needs.

At the same time, BlackBerry has been handed a golden-PR opportunity to develop a thought leadership campaign on privacy and global regulatory issues, one where other technology companies have repeatedly failed to take the lead.  With its market share dwindling, BlackBerry can’t afford to pass on openings like this to press its brand as the gold standard in free communication.

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Issues & Advocacy, Media Aesthetic, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy, Reputation Management, Thought Leadership

From the UN to Junior League: Good Membership Communications Are Vital

July 26th, 2010

Few things cause more damage to a carefully built brand than a disgruntled employee with an axe to grind.  A stream of allegations emanating from an insider – true or not – will be given credence because they come from close to the source.  This is the case whether the insider leaves on their own will, or is unfairly pushed out after being deceived with false promises as to the organization’s intentions.

This phenomenon was on full display last week when Inga-Britt Ahlenius, a retiring United Nations undersecretary, decided to inflict as much pain as possible on her boss, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.  Even worse for the UN, Ahlenius was in charge of combating corruption at the UN.  So it was catastrophic when she wrote the following in a 50-page memo to Moon, leaked to the international media:

“Your actions are not only deplorable but seriously reprehensible …. Rather than supporting the internal oversight, which is the sign of strong leadership and good governance, you have strived to control it, which is to undermine its position.”

Ahlenius goes on to accuse Ban of setting up sham investigations instead of seeking serious findings.  She sums up the entire UN under Ban’s leadership as “in the process of decay and … drifting into irrelevance.”

“Irrelevant” is the worst thing you can be considered as a professional association or membership organization, and that includes the UN.  An institution that depends on membership to survive must make communicating to its members the top priority.  Strategic communications can help associations and groups demonstrate their value to members – even if those members are nations.  A public relations agency can help messages reach your internal audiences and members to reinforce your worth as an institution.  So even if you have a UN-style incident, the goodwill and support you have cultivated in your members will overcome it.  Of course, you will also need a crisis communications/management plan to mitigate the damage and chart the way forward.

In addition, basic internal communication and management dictates you set up a grievance mechanism for employees, one that respects their concerns.  Even anonymous whistleblower functions allow employees to feel they have somewhere to go (Note: The UN has a confidential hotline but, at the undersecretary level, Ahlenius likely felt it beneath her).

Now of course, at 72 years old, the UN was likely Ahlenius’s last career stop – emboldening her to “tell all” since she isn’t worried about another job.  The UN spends a tremendous amount on communications and marketing worldwide, only to have it all drowned out by one employee.  The UN could react smartly and name a well-respected person to fill Ahlenius’s position and blunt the basis of her accusations.  Instead, it appears the UN has settled on an “as-yet unnamed Canadian woman” for the role.

The lesson here is that smart membership communications are vital, if only to avert your need for crisis management in the long run.

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Posted in Brand Management, Crisis Management, Media Aesthetic, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy, Reputation Management

An Open Letter to Diaspora, the Potential Facebook Killer

July 21st, 2010

Dear Diaspora,

Congratulations on your nascent social network’s progress so far!  Building a new media brand is extremely difficult, but with a catchy name, clean aesthetic, and riding the privacy bandwagon, you’re off to a good start.

Disclaimer: At the Blog Aesthetic, we are agnostic with regard to the marketplace.  In other words, we simply call out good PR strategy when we see it.  Nothing wrong with being (legally) ruthless in your business approach, and that includes your public relations.

With that said, here are PR considerations of value:

• Know your competition.  The big ones are still Facebook and MySpace, but apparently size doesn’t correlate to smart PR.  For some reason MySpace doesn’t believe in leveraging golden PR opportunities when they present themselves.  That’s a shame, particularly given the news that Facebook’s customer satisfaction index score puts it in the bottom 5% of private sector companies.  Then again, MySpace’s reluctance to engage in counter-Facebook PR probably explains why MySpace performed worse than Facebook in the same customer satisfaction survey!  Diaspora, the chance to get a huge jump start over the competition rarely appears, so start planning your PR steps now.

• You’re gonna get attacked.  The screenshots of Diaspora’s user interface look a lot like Facebook profile pages.  Some will give your site the benefit of the doubt and wait until its official launch before passing judgment.  Others won’t.  We anticipate Facebook won’t pull any punches and will blast your site for stealing their idea(s).  The irony of such charges, of course, is that the new Facebook tell-all film “The Social Network” portrays the origins of Facebook as rooted in theft.  Still, it’s worth preparing for crisis management on this, data leaks, critical reception, and anything and everything else that can — and will — go wrong when you launch.

• Thought leadership for the social masses.  Privacy, privacy, privacy.  Facebook can never seem to get it right and strike the right balance for its users.  This dilemma offers Diaspora both a chance to distinguish its product from Facebook, and also to spearhead thought leadership on social network privacy issues.  If you guys can get this one right at the start, then you’re guaranteed to get a chunk of the half a billion Facebook users out there.

After Diaspora launches, we’ll revisit this blog post and see if our ideas and recommendations held true.  We love competition!

Best,

Praecere

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Management, Media Aesthetic, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips, Reputation Management, Thought Leadership

If the iPhone 4 Drops a Call in the Forest, Will Anyone Notice?

July 12th, 2010

In the wake of Consumer Report’s recommendation to not buy the iPhone 4, Apple is in a rare predicament – backed into a corner by a trusted product-review entity.  Instead of repeated cycles of fawning tech-relevant press, Apple has played defense to the massive chorus of complaints about the iPhone 4’s antenna woes.

Who knows what miracle Apple will attempt to pull when it releases the much-anticipated iPhone 4 software update.  No doubt Apple’s stakeholders desperately want the update to fix the reception problem – or, at a minimum, stems the tidal wave of bad PR.

With the strongest rumors yet of the iPhone leaving its GSM cage, other wireless providers are understandably loathe to disturb the beast, given that they may have the chance to carry Apple’s products in the future.

That being said… to Apple’s hardware competitors, we’re wondering – where the hell are you?

Why aren’t Motorola, Google, and RIM, which all manufacture alternative smartphones, running 24/7 PR and media operations to reinforce the bad reaction to the iPhone 4’s (current) fatal flaw?  Can you imagine the viral buzz that would generate from an aggressive campaign with a smart and witty ad at its core, one that pokes fun at the iPhone 4’s problematic reception?  Maybe a twist on the “I’m a Mac” ads, where the iPhone 4 keeps dropping calls while the rival Droid/Nexus One/Blackberry works just fine?

Simply put, a reliable tech behemoth like Apple is rarely going to have a product fail on this scale.  When it does, the competition must jump fast and go for the kill.  And, that’s effectively what a PR strategy is all about.

If you think that doesn’t matter, consider the recent obituary of the Microsoft Kin.  Had Apple stumbled closer to the death knell of the Kin, who knows what, ahem, reception that phone would be getting now?

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Public Relations Strategy, Reputation Management

Dan Gilbert Steals the Show from LeBron “The Decision” James — Lessons in a $100 Million PR Disaster

July 9th, 2010

The Blog Aesthetic won’t comment on the surreal, bizarre, hype-induced PR spectacle that generated from LeBron “The Decision” James, er, decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers pro basketball franchise to join the rival Miami Heat.  To sum up, LeBron James, the best player in the NBA today, took advantage of his free agency status to switch teams.  In turn, several franchises fell over each other to leverage their home towns to woo James (and other stars), often rather pathetically but nevertheless in the spirit of full-bore business competition.

James’s decision to announce his decision on his own puff-piece TV special titled “The Decision” was derided as classless, arrogant, and self-serving to the core.  And when you’ve made $90 million even before scoring your first pro points, avarice gets thrown in the mix. With an economy still in the tank and staggering job losses nationally, greed is an impossible image to reconcile with the cry for fairness and sportsmanship.

That being said, the public relations perspective is to consider the impact on all stakeholders.  Surely that includes rightly disappointed Cleveland fans, even if they did show their anger in appalling ways.

But within the city is another key stakeholder – the Cavaliers franchise, and namely the team owner, Dan Gilbert.  If you’re on the line for hundred million dollar decisions that make/break city economies and reputations, how should you react when you don’t get your way?

Gilbert apparently thinks that being negative, cruel, and petulant – truly living up to the name “Cavalier” – is the best way to go.  And that is how a PR disaster is born.

Gilbert should have used his position to express strong disappointment with the decision, but also to take the high road and wish James well.  By throwing other similar themes into a statement, he would have validated the stern disapproval that many sports commentators gave James for his decision.  Such a message would have been capped very nicely with a call to the city and the team to look forward, play hard, and know that no single person is bigger than any sports franchise.  That is what a “team” is about, right?

Instead, Gilbert issued a harsh and incendiary open-letter to Cleveland, where he called James “cowardly …. shameful …. disloyal …. heartless …. callous” and explained how “bad karma” will follow him to Miami.  Beyond acting like an immature baby over the episode, Gilbert gets himself into a total contradiction – in blasting James with short-sighted taunts, Gilbert says that James “sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn.”

With this ill-advised rant, Gilbert has managed the impossible – shifting the media narrative away from James and instead to a tone-deaf wealthy team owner who cries foul when people don’t do his every bidding.

Gilbert can start getting on the right PR track by (1) issuing an apology for his remarks, and (2) focusing on the positive, not the negative.  Until he take those basic two steps, his team remains indefinitely cursed.

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Management, Media Aesthetic, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy, Reputation Management

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