Truth in Advertising

I had "one of those moments" this weekend. 

My wife and I were talking about the challenge her employer is having attracting people to take advantage of the various services they provide.  My 11 year-old son pipes up and says, "Why don't you do what the commercial people do?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Him: "Well, they should tell the people about all the good things that could happen if they go talk to Mommy."

Silence.

Him: "You know, not all of it has to be true."

I was reminded at once of the 1990 movie, "Crazy People."  I wonder, though, was my son commenting on what he observes on television every day, or was he simply letting us know that lying is perfectly acceptable, a normal thing to do?

I'd like to think it's the former.

Lying - even stretching the truth - usually ends up coming back to bite us.  The most recent example I can think of is that of CT Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is running for senator in Connecticut.  It's easy to understand why he was less-than-truthful.  It's amazing to think he thought he wouldn't get caught.

These days, anyone who speaks publicly anywhere and at any time, simply has to know there is never, ever such a thing as "off the record."

Killer Success

Any PR pro will tell you that lack of a credible story will kill even the best PR program.  However, I maintain that most don't think about how success can kill a communications effort.

Oftentimes, clients - and even PR folk - can neglect to take into consideration what would happen if a company/product/offering and, by extension, the communications program, is wildly successful.  What happens if - for positive reasons - virtually no proactive, outbound effort is needed?

I've been lucky enough to be in that position a few times in my career with young client companies, and here's what I learned:

• Most clients are not equipped to handle the flood of inbound inquires.  Appoint someone (internal PR person, agency, consultant) to manage all inbound traffic.  Keep lists with detailed notes.  Make sure everyone gets a timely response.
• A bird in hand is not always worth two in the bush.  Granted, a great "opportunity" may present itself, but failing to keep in mind who the true target audience is and which outlets are best for reaching them, can cause a communications strategy to veer off-course.
• Take the time to research the people who are calling.  If someone calls from Good Morning America, verify their contact info.  If they give you a cell number, ask for a direct dial.  Be cautious when it comes to private email addresses, if the contact is unknown.  You'd be surprised...
• Be polite and courteous.  The media may love you now, but that will change.

This is not an exhaustive list.  It's just four observations based on personal experience.  In many ways, this approach resembles what to do when a crisis hits.  In many ways, unforeseen success can quickly turn from nirvana to disaster.

The Importance of Doing SOMETHING

I was a Xerox salesman for six miserable months.  I sold five low-volume copiers in that time and, while there is much I'd like to forget about that period of my professional development, I learned one useful lesson: when in doubt of what to do next, do SOMETHING.  At Xerox, that meant "make calls."

We were given a list of "prospects" (in quotes because the list was more of a phone book that a collection of qualified leads) and told to reach out to a certain number every week.  Anyone who has ever done this sort of thing knows what I'm talking about.  For whatever reason, I was a loser at that particular numbers game, but the lesson shared by my manager has since served me well.

Put another way, a supervisor of mine at Edelman (the same one who taught me that "PR is about what you do and NOT what you say") confided in me that "It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to ask permission."  Clients, media, supervisors - whomever - will likely be much quicker to forgive what you've done than to grant permission in the first place. 

What does this mean in a communications mindset?  Very often, it's tempting to wait until all storytelling elements are lined up and in tip-top shape.  Media kits, backgrounders, bios, press releases, photos, b-roll, research - you name it - can all stand in the way of getting the job done.

Hogwash, I say.  At some point, you just have to dive in.

The ONLY exception is that of message development.  Everything else can fall into line later.  But right now, the single most important piece of preparation is figuring out what you're going to say and how.  Once you do that, everything else will flow into place.

I guarantee it.

Preparing for the Unpreparable

I'm no follower of Polish politics.  Before a few hours ago, I would have been hard-pressed to tell you that Lech Kaczynski was the country's president.  In fact, there is no way on Earth I would have guessed.


As I read a few postings on the Polish President's plane crash and the death of everyone on board, I was struck by the magnitude of the crisis now taking place in Poland.  Is this a scenario they could have planned for?  Sure, we all know there is a line of succession in the United States and anyone who's watched The West Wing can tell you why a member of the Cabinet stays behind at the White House during the State of the Union address.  But I mean, really, do these kinds of situations really happen?

Well, yeah.

Business owners have a responsibility to consider what will happen to their businesses in the event of a crisis.  Issues of safety, succession and business continuity must all be addressed.  Depending on the size of the company and the product or service offered, crisis communications planning must be part of the consideration.  Smart managers will take the time now - while they have it - to think about a variety of scenarios that could come up and how they ought to go about managing the communication around these scenarios.

PR & Social Media

Nice post from Ashley Wirthlin at PublicRelationsBlogger.com on the importance of making sure social media fit (not "fits") into your public relations strategy before jumping in nilly willy.


Pay attention to points #3 and #4.   Number three speaks to a recent post of mine - consistency and follow-through; number four is meant to force the question of why social media?


Good work, Ashley.

Small Biz PR Tips

It's refreshing to come across articles like this one by Amy-Mae Elliott, who offers five PR tips that actually make sense!

Whichever tip(s) you decide to follow, don't forget to cover the basics of messaging, solid writing and sound strategy.

I am SO guilty.

When Braverman Communications was incorporated way back in 2003, a very smart man shared the following thought: When you work for yourself you're always doing three things.  (1) Collecting for yesterday's work, (2) Doing today's work; and (3) Pitching tomorrow's work.

He forgot to tell me there are really four things you need to do, the fourth being: "Don't forget to post to your blog."

Which brings me to a thought I've found myself sharing with clients on a rather frequent basis: remember what business you're in.  In all likelihood, you're not in the publishing business.  Put another way (also not my original thought): anyone can publish a newsletter.  The trick is publishing your 12th newsletter.

There are so many great tools available for broadcasting your message.  Not too long ago, the fax machine revolutionized media relations and, today, the plethora of social media is (not "are") doing it again.  The key to success will be to know when to join the fray and when to hold back.  If you think I'm nuts, think back to the late 1990s/early 2000s when every established company under the sun was considering appending ".com" to its name, either as a DBA or legally. New companies with names that didn't start with "i" or "e" weren't taken seriously.

Why?  Because it was the "New Economy" where everything had changed and nothing would ever be the same.  But, guess what?  In the end, investor's still wanted to see profits; and real customers trumped "strategic alliances."

Before you jump headfirst into blogging, newsletter writing, Twitter, Facebook, or anything that resembles publishing, consider what it is you want to get out of the effort.  Are you creating a blog or Twitter account because it's the thing to do?  Why would anyone want to be your "friend?"  Through it all, remember that all the bells and whistles will never replace mastery of the fundamentals.