Wag The Dog

Inside a PR crisis—through the eyes of a corporate attorney

2011-07-20T10:42:00.003-04:00

Outstanding article on the differences between a legal crisis and a public relations crisis situation authored by James F. Haggerty in Corporate Counsel. Some takeaways below but we encourage you to read the whole article for context. Haggerty points out the following in "What Sensational Media Cases Can Teach Us About Proper PR Response":

1. "If your litigation-communications response is tailored only to respond to the first-day crisis, rather than the rhythms of the litigation itself, it will likely fail.”

2. “You can lose the initial battles, but still win the war.”

3. “Globalization brings a global media audience.”

4. “Eventually, another story will bump you from the headlines.”

Read the full article at Law.com.

Special thanks to Henry Fawell, former Womble Carlyle crisis communications guru and current President of Campfire Communications, LLC for alerting us to this article and the summary in the Ragan PR Daily.

LA Dodgers’ Opening-Day Unforced PR Error

2011-04-26T10:51:00.002-04:00

Opening Day of the baseball season is supposed to be a time of celebration, a rite of spring celebrating the good times of summer to follow.

But the home opener for the Los Angeles Dodgers got off to a tragic start, as a fan of the rival San Francisco Giants was attacked and severely injured in a Dodgers Stadium parking lot. The fan, Bryan Stow, is in a medically induced coma and may have suffered permanent brain damage.

Immediately, many fans complained to radio talk shows, Internet message boards, newspaper columnists and the like that the heinous assault was not an isolated incident, and that over time, Dodgers Stadium has become an increasingly unsafe place. Whether or not such concerns were accurate is irrelevant – what mattered was that the paying customers were up in arms and demanded satisfaction.

So what did Dodgers owner Frank McCourt do? Well, nothing much…at least at first. McCourt first made a tone-deaf statement saying he was “satisfied” with the team’s level of security. Beyond that, McCourt and the team said nothing of note.

Later, the Dodgers did make significant moves to improve stadium safety. They hired former L.A.P.D. Chief William Bratton to oversee security, brought in dozens of uniformed police officers to patrol the stadium grounds and cancelled upcoming half-price alcoholic beverage promotions.

But these steps, commendable as they may be, came a week or more after the initial incident. And they came only after an avalanche of negative feedback from fans, who said the team wasn’t serious enough about safety. To date, Dodgers home attendance is down more than 13 percent compared to the same point in 2010.

McCourt has plenty of other problems on his plate. Financial woes and an ugly, public divorce have led to Major League Baseball assuming control of the team.

However, the team’s sluggish response to the initial outrage points out a truism of crisis communications: Responding promptly is often more important than getting the message exactly spot-on.

- Bruce Buchanan

Where's the Beef? Taco Bell Takes Aggressive Approach to Crisis PR

2011-02-28T13:49:00.002-05:00

Gene Grabowski blogs about Taco Bell's aggressive PR response to recent litigation. The lawsuit against the company made headlines, particularly the claim that Taco Bell's meat is only 35% beef (which the company says is way off base).

In response, Taco Bell has launched a fact-based response, combining You Tube videos with old school print ads. The campaign lays out the facts about Taco Bell's products - namely, that its tacos and other foods include 88 percent USDA-inspected beef. The campaign's title, "Thank You For Suing Us," shows the company's aggressive approach to fending off this challenge.

Of course, as Grabowski correctly points out, it helps that the facts are on the company's side! But in today's social media-driven world, "no comment" is increasingly an unacceptable answer.

- Bruce Buchanan

Monday's quick reads: Toyota, Tiger, and evolution of corporate citizenship

2010-02-15T09:29:00.005-05:00

1.) Toyota and Tiger Woods: Kindred spirits? (Fortune Magazine) -- The question is being raised more and more: Can Toyota recover its reputation? There is no simple answer. The writer explores Toyota's chances by comparing the automaker's plight with that of Tiger Woods.

2.) How Whole Foods reaches millions with Twitter (Social Media Examiner) -- Have you ever wondered how a business handles more than a million Twitter fans? Want the inside scoop from the largest retailer on Twitter? Whole Foods Market is a leading example of Twitter’s power to build millions of relationships a single customer at a time. Here are key excerpts from the writer's interview with the Whole Foods team.

3.) Survey: Most marketers shifting portion of their budget to social media (Social Media Business Council) -- Alterian’s 2009 Annual Survey Results shows 84% of marketers plan to shift at least a portion of their traditional marketing budgets to digital/interactive/social media channels in 2010. The survey involved more than 1,000 marketers from around the world and was conducted between October 1st through December 3rd of 2009.

4.) Corporate citizenship for the 21st century (Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship) -- Do you know what it takes to lead in the ever-changing field of corporate citizenship? The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship has just released two reports that help answer that question and that create unique competency models for today practitioners and tomorrow’s aspiring leaders.

Toyota’s crisis response is a two part story

2010-02-12T11:09:00.006-05:00

(Image credit: Junko Kimura/Getty Images)
Like most riveting stories, the current recall crisis that has beset Toyota can be divided into multiple parts.

In Part One, which is still unfolding, the company is responding aggressively to a crisis. In Part Two, which will unfold in the coming months, Toyota will have to respond to the inevitable question from policy makers: “What did you know and when did you know it?”

Let’s look at Part One.

In the last few months, Toyota has recalled a staggering 8 million vehicles and halted production on 11 different models due to a plague of sudden accelerations in its cars. The crisis has rocked an auto company that for a half century had been synonymous with safety and reliability.

After a slow start, Toyota is responding the way any company should that is serious about rebuilding its reputation. Here are five key components to Toyota’s crisis communications strategy.

Be honest about your situation. Toyota recognized it was in a hole and stopped digging. It halted production on nearly a dozen different models, pledging to fix cars currently on the road before pushing new ones off the manufacturing line. The move is bold and not without serious financial repercussions, but it sends an unmistakable message that the company will bear any burden to keep its customers safe.

Say “I’m Sorry.” Toyota President Akio Toyoda (pictured) apologized to customers and took personal responsibility for the recall, as did the chief of Toyota’s U.S. operations. Sound easy? Ask ACORN and Tiger Woods what happens when you respond to a public crisis with defiance or indifference.

Fix the problem. Toyota quickly found a structural fix to the sticky accelerator pedals plaguing its vehicles. This may seem obvious, but too many companies believe that crisis response begins and ends with a good public message. They ignore the underlying problem that led to the crisis, whether it’s a sticky brake pedal or, as we recently saw in the financial industry, a huge appetite for bad debt. Toyota found a solution and dispatched thousands of employees to work 24/7 to repair vehicles currently on the road.

Start talking. Toyota’s public outreach has been relentless. Here’s a quick count of media channels they’ve used to touch consumers, opinion leaders, and policy makers nationwide: press conferences with executives; live television and radio interviews; huge TV ad buys; full page ads in newspapers; op-eds by Toyota executives in The Washington Post and elsewhere; video streaming on Youtube; a regularly updated website; a toll-free hotline; paid search ads on Google, and; regular recall updates for the company’s 100,000 fans on Twitter and Facebook. In sum, they’ve used every means of communication short of the carrier pigeon.

Enlist your friends. Toyota wisely called on a few friends to speak on the company’s behalf. NASCAR star Michael Waltrip posted a message on Youtube stating his belief that “Toyota won’t settle until they get it right, and I know they will make it right.” The company is publicizing testimonials from satisfied Toyota customers, and is working closely with members of Congress who represent states with tens of thousands of Toyota employees.

Okay, so Toyota gets crisis communication. That is rare, given that a lot of successful companies believe you don’t make money by showing contrition.

That brings us to Part Two.

The recall exposed Toyota’s larger problem: their inability to resolve a brewing crisis that reportedly first surfaced in 2002 when complaints of sticky accelerators spiked. In 2005, Toyota recalled more vehicles than it sold. Two years later, Consumer Reports stopped automatically endorsing Toyota vehicles due to what it considered declining quality. Even worse, recent news reports suggest that Toyota failed or refused to disclose vehicle problems to federal regulators over a period of years.

In the coming weeks, Part One of this story will come to a close. Shortly thereafter, Part Two will begin with congressional hearings, investigative journalism, and consumer lawsuits likely to take center stage.

Toyota’s crisis communications strategy will have to adapt to this new phase. They would be wise to be as aggressive and creative as they’ve been in recent weeks because, like many compelling stories, the second act may prove to be the most dramatic.

This article was first published in today's Daily Record.

Quick reads: Toyota, the Washington Capitals, and resignation by tweet

2010-02-09T08:01:00.002-05:00

1.) The Capitals are reaching out (The Washington Post) -- The Washington Capitals in recent years have moved more aggressively than any other NHL team toward embracing social media Web sites such as Twitter and Facebook, targeting supporters who get their information from non-traditional outlets.

2.) Sun's chief executive tweets his resignation (New York Times) -- Jonathan Schwartz, the last chief executive of Sun Microsystems, has become the first Fortune 200 boss to tweet his resignation. Late Wednesday night, Mr. Schwartz used Twitter to publish a haiku about his exit from Oracle, which just completed its purchase of Sun last week.

3.) ConAgra Foods embraces a social media culture (Social Media Business Council) -- ConAgra’s Director of Public Relations, Stephanie Moritz, explains how ConAgra is approaching social media as a strategic opportunity. Stephanie’s case study explained how they’re integrating social media across many aspects of their business, how they educated senior management through “digital immersion,” and how ConAgra uses five core items to determine their social approach.

4.) Can Toyota be successful in brand damage litigation? (The Drum) -- One analyst believes that Toyota’s crisis management challenges say less about the quality of its crisis communication response, and more about the organisation’s culture and ability to identify and manage incidents before they become crises. Nevertheless, it is clear that this particular incident has the power to do enormous damage, not just to the Toyota brand, but also to its business.

Survey: Tech is trusted, banks are not

2010-02-04T15:48:00.005-05:00

Edelman Worldwide last week released its latest survey of the public's trust (or lack thereof) in the business community. Not surprisingly, banks have their work cut out for them in regaining the public's trust, while technology companies enjoy high marks.

To read the full report, click here. Below are a few highlights:

*The banking and insurance industries rank as the least trusted in the U.S., with banks recording the only slide in faith in the past year.

*According to those surveyed, "quality of communications" and "customer service" as important as "price" and "performance" in influencing trust.

*In the U.S., trust in banks fell to 33 percent from 36 percent, while trust in insurers was the lowest in 2010 at 32 percent, although that level improved from 29 percent in the previous survey. Only media companies matched the 32 percent low.

*Technology ranked highest with a trust level of 81 percent.

Most interesting to me is that the public ranks how a company communicates alongside how a company prices its product and how well that product performs. That's another incentive for companies to meet the needs of their customers in new and creative ways.

Monday's quick reads: Toyota recall and random rules for building awareness

2010-02-01T10:03:00.004-05:00

1.) Toyota recall: Five critical lessons (Business Ethics Magazine) -- Toyota’s announcement of a technical fix for its sticky gas pedals – which can lead to sudden acceleration problems - is not likely to bring a quick end to the company’s current recall nightmare. The Toyota brand, once almost synonymous with top quality, has taken a heavy hit.

2.) Survey finds majority of journalists depend on social media (George Washington University) -- A national survey found that an overwhelming majority of reporters and editors now depend on social media sources when researching their stories. Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter. The survey also found that 61% use Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia.

3.) Random rules for ideas worth spreading (Seth Godin) -- If you've got an idea worth spreading, author Seth Godin hopes you'll consider this random assortment of rules. Like all rules, some are made to be broken, but still...

4.) A public company defends staying silent on legal snarl (New York Times) -- For years, Fidelity National Financial, the nation’s largest title insurance company, did not tell investors about dozens of lawsuits accusing two units and several employees of playing a role in an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme in San Diego. Fidelity National did not mention this litigation to its shareholders until October 2009 — a silence that speaks volumes about how tricky “full disclosure” can be in a world that increasingly demands it but rarely defines it.

Word cloud analysis of President Obama's State of the Union address

2010-01-28T12:40:00.008-05:00

Word clouds are a creative way to gauge whether your message stands out in a speech. Pictured here is a word cloud of President Obama's State of the Union address Wednesday night.

Ask yourself whether the right themes break through, then give your own company's message a test drive for free at http://www.wordle.net/. You could insert your CEO's upcoming speech, the executive summary of your last annual report, or even a press release or a blog post. You may be surprised at what themes pop out most.

To be sure, a word cloud is not the final arbiter of whether your message passes the clarity test. It cannot account for tone, body language, compelling stories, or the speaker's ability to personally connect with his or her audience, but it's a fun tool that may add some fresh perspective to your company's messaging goals.

Monday's quick reads: The Pope, the FCC, and medical correspondents in Haiti

2010-01-25T11:09:00.004-05:00

1.) FCC is on the hunt for ways to improve news media (The Wall Street Journal) -- Just a month after the Federal Trade Commission held hearings on the beleaguered news industry and what the government might do about it, the Federal Communications Commission is getting into the act, too. The agency has launched an investigation into the “Future of Media,” and released an 11-page request for information about the state of the news business. It plans to examine the current state of the news industry, industry trends and what the agency could do to change its current rules.

2.) Pope to priests: Go forth and blog (Associated Press) -- Pope Benedict XVI has a new commandment for priests struggling to get their message across: Go forth and blog. The pope, whose own presence on the Web has heavily grown in recent years, urged priests on Saturday to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures.

3.) Medical correspondents face delicate balance in Haiti (Los Angeles Times) -- Confronted with the overwhelming need in Haiti, medical doctors who serve as network correspondents have been toggling between roles: that of physician and reporter. On Sunday, ABC’s Dr. Richard Besser assisted a pregnant woman in labor and NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman operated on the wounded in a makeshift clinic. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta performed surgery Monday on a girl with a skull fracture who had been airlifted to the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson.

4.) Got a gripe? Send a Tweet (San Francisco Chronicle) -- When his new dryer didn't work, Brian Williams vented his frustration on Twitter: "Sears and Samsung, you fail. Ordered the major washer dryer. Installer says dryer arrived broken. Fail fail fail." To his surprise, a Sears customer service agent replied by tweet within a few hours. Two days later, Williams had a working dryer delivered to his Nanuet, N.Y., home and the negative experience turned into praise for Sears.

AT&T and the new reputation management mindset

2010-01-20T10:07:00.006-05:00

Over at the blog Church of the Customer, Jackie Huba relays a personal experience she had working with AT&T's new "Customer Advocacy Center" on Twitter. Read about her experience here. It's as refreshing as it is rare.

The point is social media doesn't fit neatly into our old definition of public relations, in which we cast out press releases and troll for interested reporters. It is much more than that. AT&T, Wells Fargo, Comcast and others have made these tools part of a broader reputation management mindset, where existing customers are as much a priority as journalists, bloggers, and customers-to-be. My hope is such a strategy becomes the rule, not the exception, in the years ahead.

Tuesday's quick reads: Martin Luther King, Judiciary 2.0, and the relevence of "old media"

2010-01-19T13:11:00.003-05:00

1.) How to respond to criticism - Lessons from Martin Luther King (Tim Ferriss) -- The author of the best-selling The Four Hour Workweek examines how Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is a classic case study in the art of dismantling your critics' arguments.

2.) Just two in five Americans read a newspaper every day (Harris Interactive) -- According to Harris Interactive, newspapers around the country are struggling. Last year saw several newspapers change their business model to an online focus or shut down completely. This year will most likely see the same struggle and, perhaps, new business models emerge for these media entities. One thing is clear, the era of Americans reading a daily newspaper each and every day is coming to an end.

3.) Most original news reporting comes from traditional sources, study finds (Los Angeles Times) -- As the number of sources for news proliferates on digital platforms, most original reporting still comes from newspapers, television and radio. A study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism that surveyed news gathering in Baltimore as an example of nationwide trends found that 95% of stories with fresh information came from "old media," and the vast majority of that from newspapers.

4.) Judiciary 2.0: Youtube, Proposition 8, and the Supreme Court (Huffington Post) -- Does YouTube belong in the Supreme Court? More to the point: If the White House's own YouTube channel contains some 480 videos, if Congress members consider their presence on the mainstream video sharing site as a given, then what's taking the judicial branch so long?

Clean energy's grassroots challenge

2010-01-13T14:10:00.006-05:00

(Image credit: Triple Pundit)
We've blogged before about the grassroots opposition clean energy firms often face when developing new wind projects, solar fields, and biofuels manufacturing plants. Press reports in recent weeks show that problem isn't going away. Take a look:

Massachusetts-based Cape Wind faces yet another challenge to its plan to develop a wind farm off Nantucket Sound.

Minnesota residents are opposing clean energy projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of kilowatts of energy.

A California-based solar firm is facing stiff opposition to its proposed solar field in the Panoche Valley, despite its potential to power 300,000 homes.

Even environmentalists are struggling with internal strife over the perceived risks and rewards of clean energy, according to this great New York Times debate.

Having advised wind and biofuels companies in recent years, my experience is residents don't easily see the tangible local value in having a large scale project in their backyard. If the juice generated by your company's solar project goes straight to the power grid, what's in it for the neighbors?

Clean energy companies that have a good answer to that question - and communicate that answer early and often -- put themselves a step ahead in the race for public opinion. Wondering how to translate your project into tangible benefits for skeptical neighbors? Consider philanthropic endeavors, partnerships with local schools, and jobs fairs, to name a few concepts. We've got more ideas. Just drop us a line.

Monday's quick reads: Timberland, bank bonuses, and Dubai's new media team

2010-01-11T14:41:00.004-05:00

1.) Bank bonuses, bigger than ever, are in the spotlight (The New York Times) -- Everyone on Wall Street is fixated on The Number. The bank bonus season looks as if it will be one of the largest and most controversial blowouts the industry has ever seen, The New York Times’s Louise Story and Eric Dash report.

2.) Insurers tee up reputation risk plan (Financial Times) -- Insurers are planning to introduce a product to limit companies' financial fall-out when their brands or high-profile spokesmen such as Tiger Woods suffer reputational damage. DeWitt Stern, a 110-year-old US insurance broker, has already received interest from London underwriters in backing a reputational risk product it aims to launch early in 2010.

3.) Dubai forms new media office to deal with tarnished image (The Wall Street Journal) -- Amid intense scrutiny of its economic problems Dubai has established a new media office to help promote the emirate in a better light and monitor the press. The department, known as the Media Office for Dubai Government, will seek to portray an "accurate picture" of the emirate, a statement from the ruler's office said.

4.) Getting Started in CSR Social Media: Examples from Intel and Timberland (Triple Pundit) -- If one of your resolutions for the new year is to better utilize social media to tell your company’s sustainability stories, take a look at how Intel and Timberland are tapping the potential of the Web 2.0.

Tuesday's quick reads: Tiger Woods, reputation management, and 2010's breakthrough ideas

2010-01-05T11:48:00.007-05:00

1.) Chief Reputation Officer: Whose job is it anyway? (Forbes) -- In the 20th century, PR and marketing were separate but unequal career paths, and CMO was the highest-ranking and most-respected title to which one in those jobs could aspire. The standard career paths in these areas were relatively linear: As a lead communicator, you went to j-school, did a turn in journalism or an agency and then apprenticed under a "gray hair" boss until he retired. This is compared with the typical path of a chief marketing officer, who got his or her M.B.A. in marketing, hired agencies that made him or her look good, learned how to manage big budgets and award-winning creative and then got in the running for the corner office.

2.) Onetime foes, companies and activists find ways to cooperate (Christian Science Monitor) -- For many companies and activists, the old days of confrontation over picket lines and boycotts have given way to a new era of cooperation, particularly on environmental issues (labor initiatives remain less frequent). Some of these alliances are stronger than others. Still, activists and corporations are beginning to realize the benefits of turning foes into friends.

3.) Sponsors continue stepping away from Woods (PRSA) -- AT&T terminated its contract with Tiger Woods on December 31, making it three sponsors who have dropped the embattled golf pro, the Associated Press reported. After news of extramarital transgressions become public following a car accident near his home, Accenture ended its relationship with Woods and Gillette is phasing out Woods from its advertisements.

4.) Breakthrough ideas for 2010 (Harvard Business Review) -- When the business community supports an idea, change can happen fast. HBR’s annual ideas collection, compiled in cooperation with the World Economic Forum, offers 10 fresh solutions we believe would make the world better. Ranging from productivity boosting to nation building, from health care to hacking, any of the ideas presented in the following pages could go far with broad-based buy-in. Which ones will you get behind?

Ethisphere names its most influential people in business ethics

2009-12-30T11:43:00.006-05:00

(Image Credit: Brad Swonetz)
Ethisphere has published its list of the 100 most influential people in business ethics in 2009. Take a look by clicking here.

Note that the list does not stop with ethical corporate managers, but also includes transparency and anti-corruption advocates.

Not surprisingly, public consensus continues to hold that the corporate world works best when watchdogs, journalists, and whistleblowers play an important role. No doubt that sentiment has been reinforced by the questionable ethical conduct we saw in recent years from many corporate leaders heading into the economic downturn.

Also note that the corporate leaders on this list made it because they are proactively addressing challenges their brands will face in the future rather than waiting passively for those challenges to consume their brands. The list includes:

Peter Solmssen – General Counsel, Siemens: Solmssen was called in to clean up Siemens and revamp its culture. Many eyes around the world (regulators, companies considering disclosing FCPA violations, shareholders, and many more) will be watching Solmssen’s actions as a live case study as to how a company as large as Siemens can recover from such a large legal issue. One example is Siemen’s new $100 million anti-corruption initiative that will fund global anti-corruption programs.

Sharon Allen (pictured)– Chairman, Deloitte: Allen leads the environment at Deloitte, an environment that is increasingly known for using business ethics as a competitive advantage to secure clients and retain top employees. Allen travelled quite a bit during 2009, often to speak on the advantages of using business ethics to further a company’s operational goals.

Timothy J. Carey – Director of Sustainability, PepsiCo: Carey earns a spot on this list for Pepsi’s new “Eco-Fina” bottle. The new bottle, less harmful to the environment than traditional plastic bottles, received glowing reviews from some of the most ardent anti-plastic bottle groups out there.

Jon Iwata – Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, IBM: Iwata and his team are responsible for instilling IBM Values into the company’s practices and operations, and for coordinating IBM’s corporate affairs initiatives. This year Iwata led efforts to advocate IBMers responsible engagement of business and social issues via online communications tools fostering relationships, learning and collaboration.

Michael Passoff – Associate Director, Corporate Social Responsibility Program, As You Sow: Activist shareholder resolutions are a dime a dozen, particularly in regard to environmental initiatives. This year marked a milestone — the first of those resolutions to ever pass. Passoff, Associate Director of As You Sow, helped to organize the resolution and the investor vote, which requires Idaho utility company IdaCorp to set greenhouse gas reduction goals.

David Michaels – Assistant Secretary of Labor, OSHA: Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, must seem a bit more intimidating to Board Rooms than his predecessors as it was recently ruled that private companies that perform work for public companies will be liable under Sarbanes-Oxley regulations. This expands the authority of SOX which also expands the powers of OSHA, the regulatory body that oversees SOX.

Tuesday's quick reads: Main Street, the C-Suite, and Toyota's reputation

2009-12-29T11:23:00.004-05:00

1.) Where Main Street meets the C-Suite (Directorship/Delloite) -- Delloite's "What Society Thinks" survey reveals some eye-opening trends about how the public perceives our CEOs and corporate boards in the wake of near-economic collapse.

2.) How a 40,000+ employee company trains its workforce on social media (Mashable) -- If you need further evidence that social media is here to stay in the corporate world, look no further than Telstra, the Australian telecom giant. The 40,000+ person company makes social media training mandatory for its employees and formalized a policy of “3Rs” – responsibility, respect and representation.

3.) After safety recalls, Toyota's reputation needs some TLC (USA Today) -- As carefully crafted brand images go, it's hard to beat Toyota's. But Detroit's nemesis lately has suffered through its own run of bad press, much of it involving a consumer hot-button: vehicle safety. The company that once could do no wrong has stumbled badly though a series of embarrassments of disclosures, allegations and recalls. Experts now are debating how deeply these will eat into the consumer trust that is Toyota's most potent asset — and what it must do to recover.

4.) Stay cool in a communications crisis (Associations Now) -- Two associations that faced PR crises in 2009 - American Mensa and the Marble Institute of America - share their experiences and what they learned under pressure.

Monday's quick reads: Accenture, newspapers, and 2009's top PR blunders

2009-12-21T09:58:00.002-05:00

1.) PR blunders of 2009 (PRSA) -- For the fifteenth year in a row, Fineman PR in San Francisco has released its Top 10 PR Blunders List.

2.) Most Americans still read a newspaper (Marketingcharts.com) -- Despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing today’s newspapers, nearly three-fourths of American adults still admit to reading either a print or online edition, according to the latest study from Scarborough Research.

3.) Building your brand - inside and out (HR Executives Online) -- Accenture's Roxanne Taylor says it's a long journey from approving a new brand identity to having it successfully represent your company with both internal and external audiences -- and there are often stumbling blocks along the way.

4.) Dell's social media past, present, and future (Social Media Business Council) -- In a blog post on Direct2Dell, Dell’s Chief Blogger, Lionel Menchaca, shared how Dell has evolved from their initial “connecting and responding” social media strategy to their current key goals of streamlining, aggregation, syndication, and scalability.

Tuesday's quick reads: Apple, Staples, and the 70 most important words for 2010

2009-12-15T12:18:00.004-05:00

1.) Is Apple in control of its PR? (A View From Silicon Valley) -- Blogger Tim Dyson explores why almost all the news we read about Apple comes from rumor sites rather than Apple itself.

2.) Staples using social media to leak holiday price cuts (Social Media Business Council) -- Staples became one of the first retailers this holiday season to use Facebook to leak “Black Friday” deals. The office supply company posted several deals on products, varying from flash drives to GPS units to laptops, and price cuts are as high as 50%.

3.) Banks narrowing their social media focus (American Banker) -- Though Twitter's service is designed to communicate with a vast, online audience, some financial companies are now using it to reach specific groups or even individuals, a sharp contrast to some early efforts that were more akin to e-mail spam.

4.) Seventy words of unconventional wisdom for 2010 (Harvard Business Review) -- What better way for business thinkers to celebrate the holiday season than with the gift of great ideas? As the year 2009 draws to a close, Seth Godin, the innovator, writer, and blogger extraordinaire, has persuaded 70 other innovators, writers, and bloggers to participate in a project he calls What Matters Now.

Doonsbury on Twitter

2009-12-14T11:11:00.004-05:00

(Image credit: Doonsbury)
This morning's Doonsbury is a funny lense through which to view Twitter's impact on crisis communications and public opinion. Twitter is "the first rough draft of gossip," says Roland Hedley. Hard to disagree.

Tiger's crisis is a teachable moment

2009-12-14T10:05:00.008-05:00

This column was first published Friday in The Maryland Daily Record.

The line of consultants giving Tiger Woods public relations advice these days is a long one. Just Google "Tiger Woods" and "crisis communications" and get comfortable. You could be reading all day.

Rather than add to the chorus of armchair quarterbacks, I want to touch on a few lessons that the business community can learn from Woods' saga about communicating in a crisis.If you think these rules apply only to celebrity athletes, think again. Businesses broadly, and executives specifically, are not immune to the public's insatiable curiosity in a crisis. If your company has yet to experience a serious public relations storm, then save this advice for a rainy day.

Information vacuums fill quickly. Information vacuums are the breeding ground of speculation in a crisis. If you don't fill them with facts, somebody else will fill them with rumors. Assuming that journalists and talk show hosts won't speculate -- oftentimes wildly -- without possessing the facts is also foolish. Ratings and 24-hour news cycles mean that speed often trumps accuracy in reporting big news.

Privacy is a right, except when it's not. There is often a disconnect between a company's view of what should remain private in a crisis and what the press believes should remain private. That's the price companies -- and professional golfers -- pay for playing in and profiting from the public arena. The question to ask in a crisis is not simply what legal rights to privacy you have, but rather how likely it is the press will obtain sensitive information through an unauthorized leak, an old IRS form, or a Public Information Act request. If the likelihood is high, consider disclosing it quickly on your own terms. It could mean the difference between two days of bad press and two weeks of bad press.

Accountability matters. Posting vague statements on a Web site that might as well have been written by a publicist rarely satisfy the press in a crisis. They lack sincerity and accountability. Ask Serena Williams. The tennis star apologized not once, not twice, but three times after verbally threatening a line judge at the U.S. Open in August. She posted the first two apologies on her Web site. They didn't work. Only when she personally stepped before a microphone and apologized for her conduct did media scrutiny subside. You can bet Tiger will have to do the same before his next golf tournament.

Legal advice and PR advice often collide. A common theme in the Tiger Woods analysis is that Tiger got terrible PR advice. That's not necessarily true. Tiger may have gotten sound advice -- go public early and on your own terms -- but opted instead to remain silent to reduce liability in the event of criminal charges, divorce filings, or breach of the "moral clause" in his contracts with corporate sponsors. This would not be the first time legal and public relations advisers were at odds. Executives have to judge whether that legal course is worth the damage their company's brand will suffer in the court of public opinion.

Don't preach to the extremes. Being successful inevitably means having critics. Yes, Tiger earned this round of scrutiny through his personal conduct, but successful companies and people -- from Goldman Sachs to Steve Jobs -- inevitably give rise to communities of critics and gadflies even before a crisis hits. Your goal in a crisis shouldn't be to convert those who are unwilling to listen, but rather to speak with candor and clarity to the open-minded.

Delay benefits the critics. Ironically, the people and organizations Tiger most dislikes -- tabloids, talk show hosts, and gossip hounds -- were the primary beneficiaries of his decision to remain silent. The longer he thumbed his nose at the press and the public, the more tabloid Web sites like TMZ and the Enquirer hauled in new readers online. The more he dismissed the public's curiosity, the higher the ratings were for cable news and talk radio. (OK, I couldn't resist a little bit of armchair quarterbacking in this column.)

If your company has been through a public relations crisis, chances are good these rules applied. They clearly transcend business, politics, sports and entertainment. What is less clear is whether the broader business community (hint: that means you) will view Tiger's situation as a teachable moment and plan accordingly for the next crisis.

Henry Fawell is a communications consultant for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in Baltimore and was press secretary for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. His column appears monthly, and his e-mail address is henry.fawell@wcsr.com

Monday's quick reads: Dubai's debt, media training, and tabloid journalism

2009-12-07T11:17:00.004-05:00

1.) Will big businesses save the earth? (The New York Times) -- Author Jared Diamond says there is a widespread view, particularly among environmentalists and liberals, that big businesses are environmentally destructive, greedy, evil and driven by short-term profits. He knows — because he used to share that view. But today he says that he has more nuanced feelings due to his recent work alongside many business executives.

2.) How to prepare spokespeople for interviews (PRSA) -- While media training is a great way to prepare spokespeople for the spotlight, you know that the pressure of being interviewed on camera in front of your peers can be overwhelming — so overwhelming that you may forget some of the key messages.

3.) Dubai's ruler turns on media, says press exaggerated debt crisis (Wall Street Journal) -- Dubai's ruler turned on the media Tuesday blaming the press for international concerns over his sheikdom's ability to deal with its debts after stock markets in the Gulf plummeted for a second day. "The exaggeration of the media won't affect our perseverance," said Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in an emailed statement, adding that "media did not seek the truth and confused matters without knowledge."

4.) Are there lessons for journalism in the tabloids? (Poynter) -- One writer says that while it's easy to dismiss the tabloid brand of journalism as a lot of headlines and no important news, the Enquirer has left an indelible mark on American mass media culture.

Tiger Woods and crisis communications

2009-12-01T11:24:00.010-05:00

(Image Credit: Robert Beck/SI)
The Tiger Woods incident has been analyzed beyond recognition in the past week. If you're interested in lengthy analysis - both useful and not so useful - click here.

I have no intention of adding to the mountain of unsolicited advice being thrown Tiger's way. Nonetheless, the Woods situation has dusted off a few inevitable rules that hold firm when the press and the public set their crosshairs on you. If your company has never been through a public relations crisis, bookmark this page for a rainy day.

1. Information vacuums are the breeding ground of speculation. If you don't fill it with facts, somebody else will fill it with rumors.

2. To paraphrase best-selling author Tim Ferriss, being successful inevitably means ticking people off.

3. There is a universal disconnect between a company/celebrity's view of the right to privacy and the press/public's view of the right to privacy.

4. Assuming that journalists and talk show hosts won't speculate - often times wildly - in the absence of facts is foolish. Ratings and 24-hour news cycles require otherwise.

5. Posting vague statements on a website that may as well have been written by a publicist rarely satisfy the press or the public. They lack sincerity and accountability. Ask Serena Williams and ACORN.

If your company has been through a public relations crisis, chances are good these rules applied. They clearly transcend business, politics, sports, and entertainment. What's less clear is whether the broader business community will view Tiger's situation as a teachable moment and plan accordingly for the next crisis.

Monday's quick reads: Tiger Woods, baby cribs, and DuPont

2009-11-30T11:31:00.004-05:00

1.) DuPont brings new life to video (Social Media Business Council) -- Rather than looking externally to find new ideas for viral content, DuPont turned to their own archives. Their new series, called simply “DuPont Science Videos,” features five short clips of behind-the-scenes educational footage of DuPont product tests.

2.) Tiger's PR troubles are growing because of Tiger (NBC New York) -- One analyst says that just about any rumor about Tiger Woods could gain traction these days if the golf icon continues to hide in the sand trap.

3.) Ad budget tight? Call the PR machine (The New York Times) -- Hobbled by a depressed DVD market and drooping sales of movies to foreign television networks, Hollywood is leaning more heavily on armies of publicists generating what they call “earned media,” free coverage in magazines, newspapers, TV outlets and blogs.

4.) Crib recalls provide a glimpse of what's to come (Bulletproof Blog) -- As news broke last week that Stork Craft Manufacturing is recalling 2.1 million cribs due to a suffocation risk that has claimed four lives and injured scores of children, consumer product companies got a good look at what’s to come as regulatory scrutiny of product safety continues to escalate.

Banks find the link between communication and trust

2009-11-25T13:50:00.004-05:00

(Photo credit: Phill Carrick)
Monday's edition of The Wall Street Journal included highlights from the Journal's annual "CEO Council," a high-profile gathering in Washington where corporate and government leaders converge to discuss solutions to the global challenges ahead.

To read the entire section, click here. You'll find plenty of good insights on the economy, education, energy, and the environment. Specific to this blog's interests, the quote below from Gail Kelly (pictured), CEO of Australian financial giant Westpac, caught our attention.

Kelly emphasized that large banks must work hard to regain the public's trust.

Doing so requires, "bankers and financiers, and others no doubt, to be talking a very clear, clear language that people understand. We tend to, as bankers, talk in quite arcane language about being intermediaries and transmission of credit and all these sorts of things that no one actually understands. And I think it's important for us to describe what our role is and how we, in fact, facilitate growth within the economy, and then stand behind our actions and through our conduct, and actually rebuild trust in the communities that we serve."

Amen. Kelly's statement is reminiscent of surveys we've written about previously that show that financial institutions enjoy better reputations when they are perceived to be communicating with clarity and consistency.

Kudos to Ms. Kelly for making a sorely-need point. Let's hope her colleagues were listening.

Goldman Sachs issues $500 million and an apology

2009-11-24T13:05:00.003-05:00

It's lonely at the top.

That's what Goldman Sachs must be thinking after the visceral public reaction to last week's announcement that it would donate $500 million to small business education, training, and investment programs.

Few companies could incite global hostility by giving away $500 million in a recession, but that's exactly what happened to Goldman. And companies that are serious about reputation management will pay attention.

Here's a sampling of the sentiment that greeted Goldman's announcement last week:

"Goldman and its peers need to practice humility and contrition for an extended period, rather than seeking image-buffing headlines with token gestures," wrote Bloomberg's Mark Gilbert after Goldman's announcement.

The New York Times editorial board dismissed the initiative as "crumbs from [Goldman's] table...motivated by its public relations problems."

In the most vivid description of Goldman to date, Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi compared the investment firm in July to "a giant vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity."

How did we get here?

Goldman has endured years of withering criticism that large financial institutions sparked the economic downturn, profited from billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts, and compounded the struggles of ordinary Americans by restricting small business' access to capital. That Goldman issued $15 billion in employee bonuses this year months after taking $10 billion in public funding hasn't help change that narrative.

Will Goldman ever be perceived as a corporate angel? Not likely. Earning $3.4 billion every three months doesn't get you much sympathy no matter how sincere your philanthropic efforts may be, and last week's announcement appeared to be an acknowledgment that the criticism was taking its toll.

Thus, few companies need a reputation recovery strategy more than Goldman, and there are lessons to be gleaned from the manner in which the announcement was made.

First, the company announced that it would be partnering with Warren Buffett and Columbia Business School Dean R. Glenn Hubbard in the small business initiative. The inclusion of respected economic minds outside Goldman lends independent credibility to a program that critics want to pigeon-hole as a shallow PR stunt manufactured by Goldman.

Second, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein last week did what few leaders do when their company has earned the public's hostility: he apologized. On the day of the announcement, Blankfein told an audience of corporate directors that Goldman, “participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret. We apologize.”

We blogged a long time ago that telling the truth and getting reputable friends to vouch for you can go a long way in a public relations crisis. Goldman seems to get it.

Third, Goldman is running a reputation marathon, not a sprint. Trying to win the public's affection overnight after the economic trauma of 2008 is unrealistic. The visceral reaction by Goldman's critics last week had little to do with helping small businesses (hardly an objectionable idea) and everything to do with Goldman's past.

Consultant Peter Firestein put it best:

"That Goldman has allowed its reputation to sink so low as to make half a billion seem like a token causes damage far beyond the bank itself. It may undermine public sentiment toward truly needed financial entities for a long time to come."

Goldman's reputation recovery strategy cannot be measured in terms of weeks or months, but rather in years. Nor should it be measured by when (if ever) accolades are thrown in Goldman's direction, but rather by how quickly Goldman's critics fade into the background.

Fourth, the only strategy that would be more harmful to Goldman's reputation would be to do nothing - to assume that the public's short term anger make any mea culpa or long term gesture futile.

Goldman would be wise to look past last week's headlines. The opening salvo of cynicism was inevitable. Now they must focus on the other 25 miles in this marathon. That means demonstrating over a sustained period of time a credible strategy to minimize the negative consequences of its business practices and maximizing the many positive benefits.

The measure of last week's announcement will come into focus in the years ahead as small businesses reap the benefits of targeted financing, better higher education curricula, improved management training, and leadership networking that Goldman has now made possible. As the bottom lines of those small businesses recover, perhaps some of the glow - even a little bit - will rub off on Goldman's reputation as well.

Monday's quick reads: Polar bears, Denny's, and missing gold

2009-11-23T10:25:00.004-05:00

1.) Royal Canadian Mint went into damage control over missing gold (National Post) -- Faced with what may prove to be a huge gold heist right out from underneath its nose, the Royal Canadian Mint ordered polls and consulted with a high-powered Ottawa public relations firm as it worked on damage control, access to information documents show.

2.) American Express gets social to help small businesses (Social Media Business Council) -- Inspired by research indicating many small business owners had a “high relationship IQ” but a “low social media IQ,” American Express created an online forum dedicated to helping small business owners better understand social media strategies.

3.) Do it for the polar bears! (The Washington Post) -- For marketers, climate guilt isn't the easiest thing to sell. Part of the audience doesn't have it and doesn't want it; another segment of the audience already has too much of it. So can you change all these minds with a single ad?

4.) Why public relations is the main course at Denny's (PRSA) -- As the CEO of one of the largest full-service restaurant chains in the United States, Nelson Marchioli credits public relations for Denny’s success. Marchioli speaks with PRSA about reaching customers via social media, the company’s continued diversity efforts and leading during a recession.

5.) How to lose an argument online (Seth Godin) -- Once you start an argument, not a discussion, you've already lost. Think about it: have you ever changed your mind because someone online started yelling at you?

Monday's quick reads: Dan Snyder, PhRMA, and CEO reputations

2009-11-16T10:44:00.006-05:00

1.) Banks put focus on conversation, not sale, in social media campaigns (Memphis Business Journal) -- Checking out Facebook friends or tweeting about a cool party you’re heading to is fun stuff, but can it get a bank more loans, increased deposits or improved return-on-capital? That question has yet to be answered definitively, but a growing handful of pioneering banks and credit unions, including several in Memphis, are having fun trying.

2.) PhRMA proposes FDA-approved logo for social media (AdAge) -- PhRMA is advocating for a universal safety symbol -- either the FDA logo itself or an FDA-approved symbol -- to indicate that a Twitter or Facebook mention links to a page that contains the pharmaceutical company's FDA-mandated risk information.

3.) Redskins: Snyder's PR "henchman" is both his guard and his safety (The Washington Post) -- As Dan Snyder's self-described public-relations "henchman," Karl Swanson, 59, has been tending to Snyder's image for at least a dozen years. When controversy calls -- as it repeatedly has since Snyder became one of the Washington area's most prominent citizens -- Swanson is close behind, ready to tell the boss's side of the story.

4.) Resetting CEO reputation (The Huffington Post) -- Since everyone -- President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Kurt Anderson and Jeff Immelt, among others -- is using the word "reset," I thought I would join the club by declaring that it is high time to begin resetting CEO reputations. If you did not know already, reset is the next fashionable business term that is rapidly gaining ground. Use of this trendy term has risen 67% from 2006 to date in the global business media, and BusinessWeek now offers a regular upfront feature on the Reset Economy.

FDA keeping an eye on social media

2009-11-13T09:57:00.003-05:00

“Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” – Ronald Reagan

When it comes to the advent of social media, Ronald Reagan looks to be getting one-third of the equation right.

No, government has not yet adopted a Facebook tax. Nor has it enacted a subsidy for Twitter users (though we don’t know exactly what was in this year’s stimulus bill, do we?)

Two powerful government agencies are, however, sharpening their regulatory pencil as social media sites emerge as a preferred method of communication for consumers and large swaths of corporate America. If your company is thinking of getting active on social media, get to know these developments.

The Food & Drug Administration holds a hearing this morning on how health care companies market FDA-regulated products on the internet and social media sites. The agency’s crosshairs are focused most sharply on prescription drugs for humans and animals, prescription biologics, and medical devices.

Folks in my line of work usually bristle at the mere mention of regulating such activity, but there are two reasons that the FDA’s involvement may actually be a good thing.

First, surveys show that two-thirds of adults who research medical information online acknowledge that the information they find influences their medical decision-making.

Second, drug and medical device makers are skittish of using social media because there are no clear guidelines for what’s appropriate communication. Will they run afoul of the “direct to consumer” advertising rules that govern television and print advertising? How can they give “fair balance” to their drugs within 140 characters on Twitter? Nobody wants to be the guinea pig.

In other words, health care companies are avoiding 21st century technology because they are governed by 20th century FDA regulations.

The biggest loser in this equation is the consumer. There’s plenty of demand for health care information online, but without clear regulations there’s not a lot of supply.

The FDA needs to modernize how it regulates such communications in a way that benefits patients and companies alike. Failure to do so will mean that many drug companies remain on the sidelines, while consumers surf less reliable chat rooms and blogs for important medical information.

Here’s hoping the FDA governs with a light touch and develops a framework that encourages communication rather than stifling it.

The FDA isn’t the only agency setting its sights on social media. The Federal Trade Commission issued guidelines last month requiring that relationships between a company and bloggers who review that company’s products be made transparent to the public. The FTC also took steps to ensure that product reviews on blogs are more accurate for consumers. Violating the rules could mean stiff fines for the company and the blogger alike.

The new rules deserve your attention. Ford, Audi, General Mills, and Rubbermaid are just a few of the companies that work with bloggers to promote their product. Surveys show that consumers overwhelmingly trust product reviews they get from familiar personalities, whether it be a respected blogger or the next door neighbor. The FTC’s rules won’t change that.

Take Rubbermaid for example. To reach out to young moms, the Tupperware maker offered to remake the kitchen of widely-read “mommy blogger” and to make coupons available to her readers on her blog. Rubbermaid disclosed publicly that it was a paid sponsorship campaign, and still watched as more than 1,000 readers of the blog downloaded the company’s coupon.

The lesson? Blogger outreach can be good for your company, the blogger, and your customers, even in a newly-regulated environment.

So what to make of all this government scrutiny? In my mind, it is reason to your sharpen your social media strategy, not abandon it. As the old saying goes, corporate communicators need to “fish where the fish are” in a way that respects the consumer and the regulatory frameworks being built in Washington.

The consumer is rapidly migrating to social networking platforms for information they trust. The question is whether your business will meet them there with credible, trustworthy product information.

(This column was first published in The Maryland Daily Record on Friday, November 13, 2009.)

Monday's quick reads: Andre Agassi and reputation capital

2009-11-09T15:09:00.003-05:00

1.) Agassi taps in to his reputation capital (ESPN) -- When times get tough, it's always good to have a little bit of something stored away to help pull you through. It's true when it comes to finances, and it's also true when it comes to your character and reputation. And Sunday night, on "60 Minutes," Andre Agassi demonstrated that he has a lot of reputation capital.

2.) Drug companies and social media (Medical Marketing & Media) -- The FDA will hold a public hearing on marketing drugs and devices using social media November 12-13. The agency conceded that although it “believes that many issues can be addressed through existing FDA regulations, special characteristics of Web 2.0 and other emerging technologies may require the agency to provide additional guidance to the industry on how regulations should be applied.”

3.) Downturn spurs businesses to shed light on the positive (PR Week) -- Given the damage that corporate reputations have suffered over the course of the past year, many companies have recognized the need to engage with consumers, establish competitive dominance, or simply shed some positive light on their organizations.

4.) Face to face still tops for bank communications (Marketing Charts) -- Despite the growing availability of online and mobile banking customer service features and many banks’ intense pushes to get consumers to use such cost-saving tools, the majority of Americans would still rather contact their bank at a branch than online or through email, according to a survey from Mintel Comperemedia.

How to create interest in your company's Facebook page

2009-11-04T15:27:00.010-05:00

(Photo credit: Explora)
Wondering how to create interest in your company's Facebook page? Consider giving some of your product away.

That's what adventure travel company Explora is doing. They're giving away a free trip to Chile. All you have to do is join the company's Facebook and Twitter pages to be eligible.

It's an effective strategy for building a community of advocates online, or just to introduce your brand to those who have never heard of you. As your employees and advocates push your campaign out to their communities, your brand takes on a viral element that has worked so well for other companies in the past.

The strategy is not unique to Explora. Chick-fil-A, Nature Valley, and Red Bull are just a few of the brands to do the same.

The next challenge is to keep your community interested once the free product is gone. For starters, be consistent, personable, and valuable to your audience. If your messaging meets those three objectives, you're off to a good start. You can read more on this topic by clicking this link, and we'll explore it more in future posts. In the interim, give us a call or shoot us an email with questions.

Monday's quick reads: Microsoft, reputation management, and social media

2009-11-02T10:06:00.004-05:00

1.) Where does blogging end and plugging begin? (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) -- Consumers researching a product online can find a trove of insightful reviews and revealing complaints. Or, they can get mired in a snake pit of fake blogs, paid testimonials and word-of-mouth campaigns engineered by marketers posing as consumers. At the center of it all are bloggers, who find themselves being tugged in opposite directions by big business and federal regulators — with each side claiming the other threatens the vitality and independence of the medium.

2.) Attraction to "do good" brands is escalating (Marketing Daily) -- Whether despite or because of the recession, consumers are more inclined than ever to spend their money with companies and brands that have dedicated themselves to a social purpose, according to new findings from Edelman Worldwide's "goodpurpose Consumer Study."

3.) Employees: It's easy to damage a company's reputation on social media (Social Media Business Council) -- Deloitte’s 2009 Ethics and Workplace Survey revealed that nearly three quarters of working Americans believe it is easy to damage a brand’s reputation via social media. The survey also showed that while 58% of executives agree that reputational risk and social networking should be a board room issue, only 15% say it actually is.

4.) Windows 7: Can Microsoft reboot its reputation? (Los Angeles Times) -- With more than 8 million "beta testers" using Windows 7 since January and dozens of reviews already published, virtually every aspect of Microsoft's new operating system is already public knowledge prior to this morning's "launch" -- except one. Can Windows 7 repair Microsoft's reputation and trigger enough sales to pull the technology sector out of the economic funk?

Monday's quick reads: hospitals, bloggers, and how to deliver bad news to a group

2009-10-26T09:26:00.004-04:00

1.) Why some hospitals keep missing the web bandwagon (Suburban Journals) -- Of all the factions that have embraced Twitter and other social media tools, one is largely absent from the mix, even though it relies heavily on making sure resources are available for customers: the hospital.

2.) Technorati releases 2009 State of the Blogosphere Report (PRSA) -- According to the first installment of Technorati’s 2009 State of the Blogosphere report, bloggers are generally an affluent and educated group. The report focuses on professional blogging activities, brands in the blogosphere, monetization, micro-blogging and bloggers’ impact on U.S. and international events.

3.) How to deliver bad news to a group (Harvard Business Review) -- Managers get lots of training on how to fire an individual employee but usually are left on their own when they have to deliver bad news to a group. No matter how skillfully you announce bad news, it's likely to cause anxiety, result in at least a temporary drop in productivity, and prompt some of your valued employees to look for work elsewhere.

4.) 5 small businesses using social media effectively (Mashable) -- The five companies profiled in this post show that making a splash using social media isn’t about the size of your budget and that the only limit is your creativity.

Top ten brands for corporate social responsibility

2009-10-23T15:03:00.007-04:00

Many factors make up a corporate reputation - customer service, shareholder value, and employee morale to name a few. A new study from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship aims to rank those companies that have earned the strongest reputations in the area of ethics, citizenship and workplace practices. Here are your top ten:

1. Walt Disney Company
2. Microsoft
3. Google
4. Honda
5. Johnson & Johnson
6. PepsiCo.
7. General Mills
8. Kraft Foods
9. Campbell Soup Company
10. FedEx

Notably absent from the list are any financial institutions, as they seek to rebuild trust with the public in the wake of the financial crisis. To view the complete list and get background on the center's methodology, click here.

The Center also notes some important trends:

Despite upheaval in the economy, a majority of U.S. companies are not making major changes in their corporate citizenship practices. Of those who made changes 38% reduced philanthropy/giving, 27% increased layoffs, and 19% reduced R&D for sustainable products.
Most U.S. senior executives believe business should be more involved than it is today in addressing major public issues including health care, product safety, education, and climate change. Surveyed in June, just as the national debate on health care began to intensify, some 65 percent said business should increase its involvement in this issue.
Reputation was cited by 70% as a driver for corporate citizenship, tied for the top spot with “it fits our company traditions and values.”

The fact that executives increasingly want to help shape public policy underscores the importance of building coalitions of like-minded organizations. Without them, it's very difficult to exert influence on customers, voters, and government decision-makers.

Monday's quick reads: Goldman, grassroots, and blogging

2009-10-19T11:37:00.003-04:00

1.) A grassroots cautionary tale (National Journal) -- The investigation into a prominent lobbying firm's fake letters to Congress points up the dangers to K Street in so-called grassroots and grass-tops lobbying, both of which are increasingly popular -- and controversial. It also underscores the absence of disclosure, let alone regulation, in a booming segment of Washington's influence industry.

2.) Bonuses put Goldman in public relations bind (The New York Times) -- Goldman and its employees are enjoying one of the richest periods in the bank’s 140-year history, and is on pace to pay annual bonuses that will rival the record payouts that it made in 2007, at the height of the bubble.

3.) L.A. County restricts reporters' access during meetings (Los Angeles Times) -- Only a few still cover the Board of Supervisors, but reportedly are causing 'traffic jams.' No similar edict is issued to lobbyists, union officials and others also found in corridors.

4.) Non-profits outblog private sector (Marketing Charts) -- The largest charitable organizations in the US far outpace the business world and academia in both their use of and familiarity with social media , according to a study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research, which found that 89% of non-profits used some form of social media in 2008.

How to give customers and shareholders a voice

2009-10-15T13:21:00.015-04:00

During my first job search out of college, a mentor told me: "Don't be afraid to ask people for help. If they help you, they become vested in your success. They view your success as a reflection on their efforts."

The same could be said for how companies engage their stakeholders, whether they be customers or investors. It may seem odd to ask customers or shareholders for help, but it can go a long way toward influencing public opinion in your favor.

Here are three examples of organizations asking their stakeholders for help or advice in a very public way and, in my view, strengthening their reputations in the process:

1. Microsoft: The tech giant is one of the first Fortune 500's to allow shareholders to vote on executive compensation. The "say on pay" proposal is non-binding, but it nonetheless positions Microsoft in the court of public opinion as inclusive of its stakeholders, receptive to a broader dialogue, and a leader in corporate compensation reform. One could argue that legislation pending in Congress could make shareholder votes a requirement anyway, but Microsoft deserves credit for getting ahead of Congress and engaging its stakeholders at a time of its own choosing.

2. Hallmark: The card maker has challenged its customers to design the best holiday cards and submit them on the company's website. The best designs will be sold online. The best of the best will be sold in stores, as well. What better way to guarantee someone buys your product than to let them design the product?

3. State of Wisconsin: The state's natural resources department is letting citizens vote online for a new license plate design, the proceeds of which will benefit endangered species. By opening up the process, the department did a far better job promoting the license plate than if it had made the decision behind closed doors. By giving citizens a say in the process, they are more likely to buy the license plate and help a worthy cause in the process.

When was the last time your organization gave its stakeholders a say in anything? If it's been a while and you're looking for ideas, give us a call or send us an email.

Monday's quick reads: FTC's blogger rules, executive compensation, and swine flu

2009-10-12T09:47:00.004-04:00

1.) FTC to fine bloggers $11,000 for not disclosing payments (Mashable) -- Bloggers now have up to 11,000 reasons to disclose when they are being paid to review products.

2.) Keeping pay police at bay (The Wall Street Journal) -- Having Uncle Sam set executive compensation is unnecessary and unworkable. David Yermack on how companies could strengthen their own checks and balances.

3.) Swine flu shot faces big PR fight (Charlotte Observer) -- Bert Curcio is more afraid of the flu shot than the swine flu itself. He won't be showing up when health departments, doctors' offices and other clinics begin offering the first vaccinations against the new H1N1 influenza in coming days.

4.) Where the news comes from - and why it matters (Pew Research Center) -- There are a lot of misconceptions about where we get our news. Only about 54% of Americans say they regularly read print newspapers. But that number, drawn from surveys, does not tell us much about where news comes from.

PR lessons from Letterman and ACORN

2009-10-09T10:23:00.010-04:00

This column was first published in today's edition of The Maryland Daily Record.

It’s not often I advise Baltimore’s business community to study a late night comedy show for tips on crisis communications. In fact, I never have … until now. But the crisis besetting CBS’ David Letterman is worth your attention. Here’s why:

Funnyman Letterman made a very unfunny announcement last week when he acknowledged having inappropriate relationships with multiple women who worked on his show at CBS. He also alleged that a CBS employee who had knowledge of the relationships attempted to blackmail him.

Letterman disclosed the transgressions to a stunned television audience last week. Not surprisingly, the news catapulted to the top of the national conversation the night it broke and has yet to subside.

Let’s be clear: Letterman’s conduct was inexcusable and the criticism he has received over the past week is justified. But the manner in which the late night host made the announcement can serve as a guidepost for businesses and individuals confronted with equally serious public relations crises.

The strategy is simple and generally effective: Tell it early, tell it all, tell it yourself.

Minimize the damage

Letterman could have hidden under the proverbial desk, hoping the news of his misbehavior wouldn’t break — a tactic that many businesses embrace before a crisis hits. Instead, he chose to go public in a lengthy and apparently sincere monologue. In doing so, he dictated how the news of the relationships would break, when it would break, and what the initial media coverage would look like.

Had Letterman remained silent, the explosive news would have inevitably leaked from any number of sources — his employer, his co-workers, the two employees involved, the prosecutors investigating the allegations of extortion — at a time of their choosing instead of his.

Letterman has received national condemnation since the announcement, and rightfully so. But responding forcefully to a PR crisis does not mean miraculously emerging from the scandal blameless. It means taking the lumps you deserve and, if you communicate sincerely and effectively, minimizing the damage to your brand. If you’re really effective, you may even win a little gratitude for respecting public sentiment.

Contrast Letterman’s response to that of ACORN, the community organizing group. Last month, several videos emerged of the nonprofit’s employees giving detailed advice on how to conduct illegal activities without drawing the attention of authorities.

Fill the information vacuum

When the controversial videos first surfaced, ACORN chose to ignore them. Days later — with the videos dominating national headlines — ACORN posted a statement on its Web site acknowledging no wrongdoing while blaming the videos on politicians and certain segments of the media.

It took four days for ACORN’s CEO to publicly condemn the conduct of the employees, 10 days for her to conduct an interview with a news outlet of national reach, and 12 days for the organization to announce that an independent panel would review the nonprofit’s operations. As each media cycle passed without a serious response from ACORN, the organization’s reputation suffered more damage than the videos alone could inflict.

To be fair, ACORN was blindsided by the videos while Letterman had time to consider his strategy before going public. But 10 days without a response befitting a national controversy is an eternity in a public relations crisis.

The volume of communications outlets today — in print, online, over the airwaves, by word of mouth — creates an information vacuum. The question is not whether that vacuum will be filled in a crisis; the question is who will fill it first.ACORN’s leaders didn’t tell it early, didn’t tell it all, and didn’t tell it themselves. They let their critics do the talking for 10 long days.

The public relations nightmares outlined above are not reserved for celebrities and controversial nonprofits. Sadly, ordinary places of work are regularly beset by executive misconduct and illegal activity by employees. If the public’s ire turns on your company for similar reasons, do your employees and your company’s brand a big favor: tell it early, tell it all, tell it yourself.

Henry Fawell is a communications consultant for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in Baltimore and was press secretary for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. His column appears monthly. His e-mail address is henry.fawell@wcsr.com

Monday's quick reads: FDA, Hyatt, and media measurement

2009-10-05T16:33:00.007-04:00

After a two-week wedding & honeymoon hiatus, Wag the Dog is back with Monday's quick reads:

1.) FDA releases plan for risk communication (PR Week) -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a strategic plan for risk communication, one step in a process to better communicate with healthcare professionals, patients, and consumers about potentially dangerous foods and drugs.

2.) Marketing on Facebook requires a delicate balance (Wall Street Journal) -- Despite growing concerns about online privacy on social networks such as Facebook, marketers at the Social Data Summit in New York professed enthusiasm for social media marketing.

3.) Firing housekeepers creates PR mess for the Hyatt (Boston Globe) -- The firing of 98 housekeepers from Boston-area Hyatt hotels has created a big public relations mess for the hotel chain, one that experts say could take a long time to clean up. Criticism of the company has swept across chat boards and blogs like The Consumerist, Executive Nomad, and the Harvard Business Review since the story broke on Sept. 17.

4.) How financial services companies use media measurement (Institute for Public Relations) -- Learn how a financial services company used media measurement and content analysis to gauge the impact of financial turmoil on its brand and reputation.

Monday's quick reads: Wal Mart, Obama, and bad PR pitches

2009-09-14T09:55:00.004-04:00

1.) "People of Walmart" blog can't, and shouldn't, be stopped by Walmart (Ad Age) -- People of Walmart is a new blog that lets people upload, rate and comment on photos of oddly dressed people seen shopping at Walmart. And it would seem there's not a thing Walmart can -- or should -- do about it.

2.) Media pitching cardinal sins to avoid (The Bulldog) -- "Great PR people turn themselves into sources, rather than gatekeepers," says Josef Adalian, television editor for TheWrap.com, a news site focused on the business of entertainment and media. "If a PR person is a possible source for a scoop, rather than someone who is there to confirm or deny information, then that PR person is suddenly a lot more important in our world."

3.) What Obama is learning from Facebook, Google, and Ideo (Wired) -- When Barack Obama hired John Berry to head his Office of Personnel Management earlier this year, the president did not mince words. “John, we’ve got to make it cool again,” Obama said to his new hire. Many of the nation’s brightest graduates are snapped up by tech startups claiming to offer not only high compensation but the feeling of being part of something exciting — not to mention such perks as meals by gourmet chefs, exercise and laundry facilities, haircuts, massages and other amenities designed to smooth the transition from college to adulthood while instilling a sense of loyalty.

4.) PR firm hired to amplify anger over rate hikes (The Columbus Dispatch) -- Officials from seven Franklin County townships are so burned by a private water company's plan to hike rates by 55 percent that they've hired a public-relations firm to shame the company. It worked in Tennessee. "If this increase goes through, it will devastate these communities," Prairie Township Trustee Steve Kennedy said. "Our best bet is to bring in professional help."

How the Redskins failed the headline test

2009-09-11T12:40:00.008-04:00

(Image credit: The Washington Post)
This column was first published in The Maryland Daily Record on Friday, September 11, 2009.

By Henry Fawell

Special to The Daily Record

Sports teams spend plenty of time in the headlines, but usually not for the reasons that landed the Washington Redskins in the press last week.

The Redskins’ decision to sue their fans – and the resulting media and public firestorm – should serve as a cautionary tale for the business community about the importance of public relations.

The lesson? Just because your company has license to do something, doesn’t mean it should. The Redskins learned this lesson the hard way. Here’s how:

Forty miles south of Baltimore, the world’s third-wealthiest sports franchise sued Pat Hill (pictured), a 72-year-old grandmother, for breach of contract last year because she couldn’t pay for her multi-year season ticket agreement.

The Redskins won easily in the court. Ms. Hill was required to pay the team $66,000 to cover the ticket prices, interest, and the team’s legal costs. The judgment pushed Ms. Hill to the brink of bankruptcy.

They won … or did they?

Despite winning in the court of law, the Redskins would pay dearly in the court of public opinion.

The Washington Post ran a front-page, top-fold exposé on the lawsuit last week, complete with a photo of a teary-eyed Ms. Hill in her home surrounded by memorabilia of her beloved team.

The article infuriated fans and opinion leaders alike. One sports columnist wrote that the team’s actions “[spoke] to a basic lack of civility that’s shocking, even now when shock value is difficult to achieve.”

Within 24 hours, the Redskins capitulated. Ms. Hill would no longer owe them $66,000. She would be relieved of her contractual obligations.

Here’s the PR lesson: Was Ms. Hill in violation of her contract? Yes. Did the Redskins have a legal case against her? Absolutely. Does that make for smart public relations? Of course not.

Front-page news can hurt

The Redskins failed what PR professionals call the Headline Test.

The test requires that you consider not just whether a particular company practice is legal or routine, but rather how your stakeholders would react if that policy were splashed across the front page of the newspaper.

Unfortunately, too many companies fail to consider public opinion when adopting polices that, in management’s view, seem just fine.

Sports teams aren’t the only ones failing the Headline Test. Longtime Baltimoreans will remember when Sony, the multibillion-dollar electronics corporation, slapped Sony Florendo, the owner of a modest Filipino restaurant, with a $3 million infringement lawsuit because she named her restaurant after herself.

Strong legal argument? Perhaps. Bad public relations? You bet.

Let’s also not forget U.S. automakers, who incited the wrath of Congress last year by flying corporate jets to Washington to beg for money. The plush jets were standard company practice until they were subjected to the Headline Test.

Consider Time-Warner. The media company was forced to shelve plans to charge customers tier-pricing for Internet service in North Carolina after a public uproar and congressional inquiry. Perfectly legal policy, but terrible public relations.

And of course, AIG sparked outrage for handing out $450 million in bonuses after taxpayers had forked over billions of dollars to keep the company afloat.

The common thread

What’s the common thread? Each company was following a routine business practice. They just didn’t account for how those practices would be received when subjected to the Headline Test.

So what’s the solution? Give your public relations team greater input on how company policies would be perceived by customers, investors, board members and reporters.

If you’re hiring a PR adviser simply to crank out press releases, you’re not really getting your money’s worth. Trust them to be forward-thinking and to steer your company clear of potentially disastrous public relations crises.

To paraphrase Ben Franklin, an ounce of PR prevention is worth a pound of cure.

If your company took the Headline Test today, would it pass or would it fail? What “routine” company policy would spark uproar among your stakeholders if it became public?

Now is the time for executives to sit down with their public relations team, think hard about their company’s version of lawsuits against Granny and corporate jets, and take the Headline Test. You may be surprised at what you find.

Henry Fawell is a communications consultant for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in Baltimore and was press secretary for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. His column appears monthly, and his e-mail address is henry.fawell@wcsr.com

Tuesday's quick reads: Harvard, UBS, and Climate Change

2009-09-08T15:08:00.004-04:00

1.) Harvard backs off media policy (The New York Times) -- Harvard Medical School is backing off a new student policy that would have restricted interaction with the news media after students complained it would chill their ability to talk about current issues in medicine, school officials said Tuesday.

2.) The close relationship between bloggers and marketers (Emarketer) -- Blogging has become a major social media marketing phenomenon over the years—so much so that even the US Federal Trade Commission is considering rules for bloggers to follow when working with marketers. Worldwide research from Text 100 shows just how close that relationship has become.

3.) UBS CEO to employees: Regaining trust will take time (The Wall Street Journal) -- UBS AG's organizational and operational restructuring is on track, but the Swiss bank's efforts to renew client trust will require long and hard work, Chief Executive Oswald Grübel warned. In a memo sent Tuesday to the bank's more than 70,000 staff, Mr. Grübel said that "returning the group to profitability will only be the beginning." He warned that "the recovery of our reputation will require hard work and relentless effort."

4.) Energy bill proponents prepare counter attack (Business Week) -- Even as the health-care fight dominates the headlines, another Washington battle is heating up over climate and energy. Opponents of cap and trade legislation like the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have mounted an expensive campaign of ads and rallies to try to win over key Senators.

Pictures speak a thousand words

2009-09-04T15:40:00.005-04:00

(Credit: Associated Press)
Legislators in Connecticut were reminded this week of an important lesson in communications: it's not just what you say, it's what people see and hear.

The Associated Press snapped this embarrassing photo of two legislators playing solitaire and another scanning the sports page online during high-stakes budget debates. The photo has sparked days of controversy in Connecticut and garnered national cable TV attention.

Fueling the taxpayers ire was the fact that legislators were debating substantial tax increases and budget cuts to key services at the time. Naturally, the perception that elected leaders are tuned out during such a debate is not a good one. The fact all three legislators are declining comment days later doesn't help either.

It's not the first time someone has let their guard down at the wrong time. Recall our previous post about Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. The lesson? Effective communication does not end with your prepared remarks. Smart communicators are always aware of their environment, particularly in an age where we are never quite alone in public. One inappropriate comment or action can be caught on a cell phone camera or "reported" on Twitter by a bystander. Like them or not, those are the new rules. If we want to avoid our own "solitaire" moment, we are best served to follow them.

Thursday's quick reads: Swine flu, clorox, and Intel

2009-09-03T15:23:00.003-04:00

1.) Businesses that blog see 55% more visitors (Social Media Business Council) -- A recent study by HubSpot using data from their 1,531 customers (comprised of both small and medium-sized businesses) found that companies that blogged had far better marketing results.

2.) Clorox, Lysol marketing messages compounded by swine flu fears (Ad Age) -- A second wave of media coverage around outbreaks of the H1N1 virus is driving new opportunities for back-to-school marketing by brands not typically associated with the season.

3.) Recession prompts MARTA to spend on image (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) -- In the midst of long-running financial problems, fare hikes, service cuts and the worst economic downturn in a generation, MARTA is doing some high-level hiring to beef up its image. Money-starved MARTA may spend up to $592,000 on outside help in lobbying and public relations, according to agency documents and officials. The money would come from MARTA’s operating budget, which is particularly pinched.

4.) How Intel is making its press releases more social (Social Media Business Council) -- Intel’s “Press Room” has taken the traditional press page found on most corporate sites and overhauled it with lots of social media elements, including real-time Twitter feeds, external links to Facebook, and links to audio, video, and Intel’s blogs.

Tuesday's quick reads: Boeing, Best Buy, and Martin Luther King

2009-08-25T13:16:00.004-04:00

1.) Boeing launches PR campaign to protect C-17 cargo plane (Los Angeles Times) -- Boeing Co. and supporters of the C-17 cargo plane launched a multi-front public relations offensive last week, hoping to extend the life of one of Southern California's last major military aircraft factories.

2.) Best Buy's Twelpforce: An army of volunteers (Social Media Business Council) -- Best Buy has joined a growing number of companies using social media for customer service with their Twelpforce — but with a different twist: Employees from all across the company can volunteer to help folks on Twitter with questions, and it’s all aggregated under the single account, @Twelpforce.

3.) Why leaders need stories: A lesson from Don Hewitt (Harvard Business Review) -- Don Hewitt, who died this month and was executive producer of CBS' "60 Minutes", was fond of saying that every child realizes the importance of "tell me a story" — but when we reach adulthood, we forget. Yet Hewitt's absolute commitment to story is something leaders, particularly those with big initiatives to push, should remember.

4.) How to respond to criticism: Learning from Dr. King (Tim Ferriss Blog) -- The of "The Four Hour Work Week" argues that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham City Jail is one of the best case studies in how to deal with criticism he's ever come across.

Monday's quick reads: Michael Vick, reputation management, and errant press releases

2009-08-17T14:44:00.004-04:00

1.) Errant press release sparks nightmare for bank (The Wall Street Journal) -- It wasn't the same as shouting "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater, but an apparent text-editing foul-up by banking regulators was about the last thing a small Pittsburgh thrift needed prior to its seizure Friday.

2.) PR advice for Vick: Don't pass on charity (The Philadelphia Inquirer) -- The PR machine is in full tilt for Michael Vick. But the Eagles' newest player needs to do a lot more than appear on television, be photographed with poodles, or express remorse for the dogfighting scandal that sent him to jail, local marketing and public relations professionals say.

3.) Turning bad news into good vibes (PR Newswire) -- During times of economic crisis, organizations struggle to communicate unfavorable news, from lower earnings and shrinking market share, to cuts in service and increases in prices.

4.) Hard-hit schools try public relations push (The Wall Street Journal) -- Public schools in the U.S. have added professional marketing to their back-to-school shopping lists. Financially struggling urban districts are trying to win back students fleeing to charter schools, private schools and suburban districts that offer open enrollment. Administrators say they are working hard to improve academics -- but it can't hurt to burnish their image as well.

Five takeaways from the Vick press conference

2009-08-14T12:15:00.009-04:00

NFL scouts are known to scrutinize a player's performance in the 40-yard dash, but Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles just started a reputation management marathon. By signing the controversial quarterback Friday, the Eagles invited a public relations challenge that will require patience, endurance, and a strategy to guide them for more than a year.

Business leaders, take note: Vick's return to the NFL is not just about sports or animal cruelty (though they are rightly preeminent in the debate).

There are also lessons to be learned about communicating controversial news. I listened to the tape of Vick's Friday morning press conference with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and heard 5 hallmarks of effective communications in a controversy. Regardless of one's views of Vick, his crimes, or the Eagles, anyone who toils in the court of public opinion should observe how a high-profile organization handles the enormous public debate that Vick's signing has ignited.

Here are 5 observations from Friday's press conference:

1. Contrition: No surprise here. Without contrition, any appearance by Vick would have been a failure. The same rule often applies to business executives in a crisis. In my mind, the goal is to find balance between self-defeating indifference and self-defeating blather.

2. Executive accountability: Lurie spoke at length about how he arrived at the decision to sign Vick. Lurie's decision to speak at the press conference (not a given among professional sports team owners) reinforces that the signing is about much more than football. As Lurie stated, Vick "is not being measured by yardage." Executives would be wise to remember that a mid-level spokesman can only carry an organization so far in a crisis. The earlier the executive addresses the matter, the better.

3. Third-person validation: Vick was joined at the press conference by former NFL coach Tony Dungy. Dungy, who is serving as an advisor to Vick during his transition back into society, carries great credibility due to his years working with prison ministries to help ex-offenders become productive citizens upon their release. Businesses are no different. Having credible third-parties or coalitions to advocate on your behalf is always a plus.

4. Perspective: Vick and Lurie acknowledged that the signing will anger large segments of the Philadelphia community. They didn't dismiss their critics concerns; they embraced them. When an organization damages its reputation among important stakeholders, the process of repairing it is not easy. It often begins with an honest assessment of why the crisis occurred.

5. Action: In a crisis, words mean little without a plan to prevent the crisis from happening again. Vick made clear his intentions to help stamp out dog-fighting. Lurie emphasized the Eagles commitment to partnering with the Humane Society. One could argue that becoming an advocate of animal rights now -- when the Eagles showed little interest in such causes in the past -- constitutes pandering. Perhaps, but the alternative - ignoring the root of Vick's failings and the public's anger at his crimes -- would have been far worse.

Friday's press conference was just the first act, but an instructive lesson in how businesses can communicate controversial news. Up next: Vick will appear on CBS's "60 Minutes" Sunday. I'll be watching.

Help your employees with social media guidelines

2009-08-14T09:42:00.003-04:00

*Today's post was first published in The Daily Record.

HENRY FAWELL
Special to The Daily Record
August 14, 2009

Ever raised an eyebrow at an employee’s off-color remark at the water cooler? Imagine if that employee walked out in to the street and shouted that same comment through a bullhorn.

Believe it or not, that happens every day on social media networks, where an employee’s musings can be read by thousands of people, often times with great consequences for an employer.

Case in point: In January, an executive from Ketchum Public Relations posted insulting comments about the city of Memphis on Twitter. The problem? He was in Memphis at the time and was hours away from pitching FedEx for new business.

FedEx caught wind of the comments and publicly denounced the executive, putting one of the world’s largest PR firms in the unenviable position of apologizing for its own PR gaffe.

Yet for every gaffe, there are countless examples of companies and employees using social media to improve their brands and best practices. So how do you, a manager, weigh the promise of social media with the perils it presents as a soapbox for anyone with Internet access?

Guidelines are key

The answer may lie in drafting guidelines for your employees. It’s no different than your company standards of conduct, and leading companies are now channeling their employees’ use of social media through clearly stated policies. Here are some tips to get you started:

Educate: Many of your employees have never used social media. So give them a primer. Host a presentation to educate them on common social media tools — Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook — and how they are changing the workplace and our lives.

When your employees understand the challenges and opportunities presented by social media, they’re more likely to see the value in a company policy.

Build guardrails: To help guide your team, define acceptable conduct in social media communities. For example, it’s appropriate to use social media to inform the public about your product or to correct inaccurate information about your company. It’s not appropriate to argue with customers on blogs or post content that reflects poorly on the employee or the company.

Call it the newspaper test: Your employees shouldn’t write anything online they wouldn’t want to read in tomorrow’s newspaper.

Be supportive: Encourage your team to explore social media. They’ll open new doors to professional development and strengthen your company’s marketing and reputation management efforts. They’ll put a human face on your company in an era when too many companies are perceived as cold and indifferent.

Designate a group of social media-savvy employees, starting with your communications and legal teams, to mentor your work force along the way.

Trust and Responsibility: The best corporate social media policies are built on trust and responsibility. Cisco, IBM, Yahoo!, and Intel have adopted policies that trust their employees to use social media in a productive manner while emphasizing that employees are personally responsible for what they publish.

Show them the way

Be transparent: Employees should be honest about their identity when participating in online conversations. To do otherwise is to invite needless risk.

Ask John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods. He sparked controversy in 2007 by criticizing a rival, Wild Oats Markets, under a fake name on online message boards. Even worse, he denied his true identity when confronted by online communities.

The misstep generated weeks of embarrassing headlines for Whole Foods and even caught the eye of the Federal Trade Commission.

Address “off the clock” activities: Employees don’t want their bosses dictating what they can and can’t publish online from the privacy of their own home. But addressing online activities outside the workplace is not without precedent if a company’s business interests are at risk.

Why? Because customers, investors and reporters can view most online commentary and photos. If a reporter sees a controversial comment from your employee on Twitter, the fact that it was published from a home computer doesn’t undo the damage to your company. Once again, the newspaper test applies.

Be realistic: You’ll never control everything your employees do online, nor should you want to. Remember, the goal is not to shut down an employee’s access to the information superhighway. It is to build guardrails that keep your team and your company from skidding off the freeway.

I am a firm believer in social media’s capacity to empower companies and their employees, and it’s only a matter of time before most of the work force has joined the online conversation. Whether they use it the right way or the wrong way is in no small part up to the executives who lead them.

Show them the way, and chances are good they’ll reward you.

Henry Fawell is a communications consultant for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in Baltimore and was press secretary for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. His column appears monthly, and his e-mail address is henry.fawell@wcsr.com

Survey: Companies fear social media liability

2009-08-13T10:55:00.004-04:00

A well-timed survey from Russell Herder underscores that many businesses have failed to adopt social media policies in the workplace. According to the survey, more than 1 in 3 executives have no policy for employee use of sites like Twitter or blogs, yet nearly half of those executives fear social media use could damage the company's reputation. To view the full results, click here.

The survey is well-timed because Womble Carlyle is publishing a column on this subject tomorrow in The Daily Record. We'll outline a few steps executives can take if they are interested in channeling their workforce's use of social media through a clearly-stated policy. Stay tuned. We'll post the column on this blog tomorrow.

Tuesday's quick reads: car dealers & soda companies talk PR; word of mouth marketing takes off

2009-08-04T11:11:00.006-04:00

1.) For Twitter, a tweet in time can avert a PR mess (The Wall Street Journal) -- A growing number of businesses are tracking social-media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to gauge consumer sentiment and avert potential public-relations problems. Ford, PepsiCo, and Southwest Airlines, among others, are deploying software and assigning employees to monitor Internet postings and blogs. They're also assigning senior leaders to craft corporate strategies for social media.

2.) Car dealerships say PR push helped save them (The Chicago Tribune) -- Thomas McCaslin might never know for sure why General Motors called two weeks ago to say his 80-year-old dealership in the heart of Nebraska cattle country wouldn't close after all. He has a feeling that a hamburger cookout and an old-fashioned brand of political lobbying had something to do with it.

3.) Word of mouth marketing hits $1.5 billion (AdWeek) -- Now that's a lot of chatter. Spending behind word-of-mouth marketing hit $1.54 billion last year, according to PQ Media.

4.) How to pitch USA Today's bloggers (Ragan) -- USA Today’s blogs serve a triple purpose, says Chet Czarniak, the paper’s online managing editor. “They’re for surveillance—connecting the readers to the story,” and ensuring online readers can dig deeper into news, Czarniak explains. Second, blogs are for “getting ahead of a story,” or breaking news in a way that’s not practical or fast enough for print or elsewhere online.

Monday's quick reads: Bernanke, blog leaks, and social media engagement

2009-07-27T12:41:00.008-04:00

1.) Bernanke goes barnstorming (The New York Times) -- Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, is on a publicity campaign with a message: the central bank is here to help, and it is not as mysterious or menacing as people might think.

2.) Leaks grow in the world of blogs (The Wall Street Journal) -- The recession, combined with new technology, is sparking new skirmishes between employers and employees over leaks of sensitive or confidential information.

3.) Branding strategies may need updating (San Jose Business Journal) -- An expert says that working with legal counsel means that a brand will fare better down the road. If you choose strong and distinctive marks, you can often put more “distance” between your brand and others that come along later, stopping others from imitating you more closely than they otherwise might.

4.) Study: Financial success tied to good use of social media (ReadWriteWeb) -- A new study released by Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group shows that the brands most engaged in social media are also experiencing higher financial success rates than those of their non-engaged peers.

How Fortune Brands got ahead of bad news

2009-07-21T14:29:00.009-04:00

(Credit: Fortune Brands)

We've blogged before about the value of getting ahead of bad news in order to put your company in a position of relative strength.

Fortune Brands, the producers of Knob Creek bourbon whiskey, has done just that. Fortune launched an aggressive ad campaign this week announcing that - believe it or not - they've run out of bourbon.

You may be wondering how that's good news, when their inaccurate forecasting could pinch wholesalers, retailers, and customers in a tough economy. Yet Fortune turned a potential mea culpa into an opportunity. Fortune ran ads in The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere announcing double digit growth in demand for Knob Creek, thanked customers for the explosion in popularity, and promised that the next batch would be on shelves in November. The bourbon maker even mailed "Drought of 2009" tee shirts and empty bottles to loyal fans.

Fortune took what some would consider an embarrassment and positioned it as a milestone achievement. The strategy is not without risk, and I wouldn't advise every industry to execute the same way (memo to power companies: don't celebrate power outages), but it should remind us that opportunities sometimes await those who get ahead of bad news.

Tuesday's quick reads: public trust in corporations, ghostwriting, and the personal touch

2009-07-21T11:32:00.003-04:00

1.) Amassing a massive audience is rarely the right strategy. (Advertising Age) -- In the world of social media, scale is everything. Media darlings Twitter and Facebook boast, what, 30 sextillion members? It's enough to cause marketers to practically foam at the mouth. But is scale really everything?

2.) Survey: Trust in corporations increasing modestly. (Politico/Public Strategies) -- A new polls shows that trust in government has decreased since March, while trust in businesses has generally improved. Voters are also more inclined to believe business (68%) will play a larger role than government (32%) in the nation’s economic recovery.

3.) Lest we forget, a personal touch still matters. (Advertising Age) -- Marketing blogs are often trumpeting "digital-this" and "social networking-that." The Twitterverse is constantly buzzing, and Facebook updates come faster than e-mails. A writer asks: what happened to the personal touch?

4.) Senator probes medical journals for ghostwriting (Medical Media & Marketing) -- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) asked eight journals to provide information about their medical ghostwriting practices and policies, in an effort to “shed light on the role companies may play in the dissemination of information about their products through medical literature.”

Monday's quick reads: Stanford endowment, United Airlines,

2009-07-13T15:14:00.004-04:00

1.) A PR problem for Stanford endowment (San Francisco Chronicle) -- According to Forbes magazine, Stanford's $17.5 billion fund is the biggest investor in a "tough talking" Texas firm, NC Ventures, which specializes in buying bad bank loans at pennies on the dollar, "then going after the borrowers." That means, increasingly, those defaulting on their home loans. Which, in turn, can create a PR problem for a certain type of investor.

2.) Smashed guitar, Youtube song - United is listening now (Los Angeles Times) -- An unhappy passenger's catchy Youtube video has caused PR headaches for United Airlines.

3.) Why strategic planning and corporate communications should work in harmony (Council on Public Relations) -- Chief executive officers, senior strategists and communications professionals share many similar views when it comes to corporate strategy, but they must collaborate more effectively to achieve optimal results, according to a new study.

4.) Reactor LLC to test social media's effectiveness (Kansas City Business Journal) -- A Kansas City design and branding agency is trying to answer the elusive marketing question: What is the return on investment for social media?

Monday's quick reads: Twitter imposters & Washington Post controversy

2009-07-06T11:20:00.005-04:00

1.) Washington Post caught in controversy (The Wall Street Journal) -- The Washington Post was caught up in a controversy Thursday when a political-news outlet revealed that the newspaper promoted private sessions where lobbyists could meet with Obama administration officials and reporters and editors from the Post in exchange for payments of $25,000 to $250,000.

2.) Washington Post apologizes (The Washington Post) -- Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said that a hasty time frame, haphazard planning and miscommunication led to the release of a promotional flier that inaccurately described the newspaper's plans for a series of sponsored "salons" with influential insiders.

3.) Companies must cope with Twitter imposters (The Wall Street Journal) -- Twitter users have caused an uproar by impersonating celebrities on the popular micro-blogging service. Businesses, too, are targets of fake Twitter profiles -- sometimes from competitors.

4.) Nonprofits outpace corporations on social media adoption (New Communications Review) The nation’s largest nonprofit organizations have outpaced corporations and academic institutions in their adoption of social media, for the second year in a row, according to a new research study, “Still Setting the Pace in Social Media: The First Longitudinal Study of Usage by the Largest US Charities.”

Monday's quick reads: Wells Fargo on social media, Wall Street's reputation management

2009-06-29T11:07:00.000-04:00

1.) CEO's urged to do more online (The Washington Times) -- A new study says top CEOs should do a better job managing their presence on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Wikipedia.

2.) Selling health care? Watch what you say (The Washington Post) -- A psychologist reminds Washington that buzzwords send messages, but they may not always be the messages we intend.

3.) Wells Fargo on social media engagement during financial crisis (The Blog Council) -- Wells Fargo's VP for Social Media Engagement discusses the bank's decision to embrace new communications tools during the financial crisis.

4.) Wall Street responds to "populist outrage" (Bloomberg) -- Wall Street’s largest trade group has started a campaign to counter the “populist” backlash against bankers, enlisting two former aides to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to spearhead the effort.

Monday's quick reads: reputation management, brand fraud, and word of mouth marketing

2009-06-22T11:44:00.003-04:00

1.) How can companies win back trust? (Business Week) -- The recession and financial crisis have shaken shareholders' faith in corporate boards and management. How can confidence be restored?

2.) Trust word of mouth (Emarketer) -- In a poll of chief marketing officers from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association (AMA), the top overall customer priority named was service excellence, followed by building a trusting relationship.

3.) KPMG: Investment management firms must improve communications to rebuild trust (KPMG) -- A new study from KPMG says improved lines of communication should flow not only from investment managers to their clients, but also, crucially, from investment managers to intermediaries and to regulators.

4.) Brands face fraud risk online (Brandweek) -- As commerce and marketing efforts continue to shift online, brands' exposure to risks are increasing.

Interview: Anne Arundel Medical Center enters the social media space

2009-06-17T11:35:00.008-04:00

We're doing things a bit differently today.

A few readers have suggested we start posting Q & A's with communications professionals who will take us "under the hood" at their organizations and show us what they are doing to influence public opinion in positive ways. We've been wanting to do it for some time as well, so let's get started.

Today's Q & A is with Justin Paquette, media coordinator for Anne Arundel Medical Center. AAMC is a private, non-profit health center in Annapolis, Maryland with nearly 3,000 employees. By way of background, AAMC staff performs more than 22,000 surgical procedures and handles more than 72,000 emergency service visits per year, as of 2007. (AAMC is not a client of Womble Carlyle's.)

Justin was kind enough to give us some perspective on how AAMC has embraced social media in recent months to reach its stakeholders in new and creative ways. Here's our Q & A:

1. Describe the new communications tools AAMC is using to communicate with its audience.

Justin Paquette: AAMC is in a position many hospitals find themselves in – where we must balance new media with traditional media in our overall marketing mix. A recent survey conducted by the organization Ad-ology found that 53 percent of patients between the ages of 25 and 34 had their health care decisions influenced by social media. Yet, many patients are still influenced by traditional media and advertising.

So we’re trying to find that balance where we’re effectively communicating AAMC’s message in a number of different ways – reaching each “audience niche.”

Some of the new tools we’ve implemented are podcasts featuring the AAMC clinicians our region has come to trust. We call it the AAMC Health Connection Podcast, and it’s updated regularly, and archived on our Web site. We’re the second hospital in Maryland to feature original podcast programming.

We’ve also launched AAMC’s Twitter account, @AAMCNews, a running stream of AAMC News, as well as health care articles from news sites across the country.

I’m currently conducting some research into the feasibility/ROI of a running blog from our administration over the next fiscal year, updating our audience on AAMC news, events, and updates.

2. What value do Facebook, Twitter, and podcasts offer AAMC that you didn’t have before? How does it benefit your patients and other AAMC stakeholders?

JP: New media and the power of the internet have allowed any brand to become, in a sense, its own media franchise. New media also allows an unprecedented level of message preservation; direct from the source.

You can compare this to going and picking your own fruit, straight from the field. New media allows AAMC to push our clinicians, news, and updates directly to our audience.

I said this in a recent interview, there is a lot of anonymity that comes with using the internet for information. And in health care, that anonymity can be scary. But AAMC is a brand our audience has come to trust, so we’re able to break through that anonymity, and supply health care information that our audience can know is reliable, because it carries the AAMC brand.

3. If AAMC has something to say, couldn’t you just send out a press release?

JP: Well we can, and do, use press releases to push out AAMC news. Right now, AAMC’s new media efforts are just an addition to the overall hospital marketing mix.

But newsroom cuts, shrinking news holes, and increased syndication have really limited the role newspapers are able to play in pushing out news. Many of the journalists and editors that AAMC has worked with are unfortunately, no longer in those roles. We still enjoy great relationships with the local/regional/state media, but they can only dedicate so much room to any given organization or business. So by making our Web site, http://www.aahs.org/ a “news hub” of its own, and by using all these new tools, we can get our own message out.

I’ll give you a quick example – just the other day I called a Maryland paper to pitch a story to their health reporter – and she was getting married the next week. She was the sole reporter who could handle this story, and was going to be out for two weeks. The story couldn’t be done by them, even though it fell right in the strike zone of their audience.

4. How did you sell the broader AAMC leadership – administrators, doctors, etc. – on the value of these new communications tools? Have they embraced this new strategy?

JP: AAMC has an administration that is consistently on the forefront of strategic decisions that will benefit those that the hospital serves. While we are still in the early stages of adopting new technology and new methods of reaching our audience, our administration has, thus far, been open to new ideas.

The hardest part for any organization, including ours, is measuring any value of these new services. Traditionally, we’ve been able to point to an article in the Baltimore Sun, for example, and know that we’ve succeeded with a given pitch. But with new media, that ROI is harder to measure. We need new metrics, new measurement.

In addition, for a hospital (and any brand) limits have to be implemented with any social media service. For example, on our Twitter account, I have expressly noted on our profile that a “follow” is not an endorsement. I set this protection because while we want AAMC to be in the health care conversation, we need to be sure our audience knows that we cannot advocate for what others are posting on their accounts. Just like in any other conversation, we can only be responsible for what we say.

But one example, I recently used Twitter to push out a link to the article from the Annapolis Capital discussing our podcast launch. That “tweet” was “re-tweeted” by six others in the first hour after my initial post. Suddenly, hundreds of eyes that we would never have reached were viewing this article, and pushing it on. That viral component is where the power of new media lies.

5. What has been the response – from patients, the press, and the broader public – to this new communications strategy?

JP: Answering for our patients at this point is hard – but I can tell you that the web hits on our podcast landing pages are climbing, so we know people are listening. That has been encouraging.

As for the press, I’ve actually been interacting with a number of reporters via Twitter and have been really excited about the back-and-forth that has generated as a result. Reporters and editors are using Twitter for story ideas, and it’s such a unique way to get in touch with them.

Our physicians have been excited about the podcasts, as well – I’m already getting calls from clinicians on our medical staff saying, “I saw the new podcasts, and would love to talk about such-and-such, a question I hear in my office all the time.” And that is exactly the response we were hoping to get.

6. Does adopting social media and podcasts mean you no longer need to focus on “traditional” public relations, i.e. journalists, advertising, and community relations?

JP: I don’t believe so. I think new media at this point is merely an addendum to utilization of traditional media. Members of the audience any brand is trying to reach lie in a number of different places. It’s our job to use as many different methods as we can to reach those people, and communicate with them.

In his book What Would Google Do, Jeff Jarvis cites a conversation he heard at a forum where someone asked the founder of Facebook a question like: “How do I get my audience to communicate with me?” And the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg answered back something to the effect of: “They’re already talking about you; you just need to go to where they are.” Not the conversation verbatim, but it was a great response from a leader in new media to someone trying to figure it all out.

7. Some say that sites like Twitter and Facebook let organizations “take the pulse” of the public on specific issues. Can you give a specific example of what AAMC has learned by “taking the pulse” of the online public?

JP: Via Twitter, I learned from the general public that nobody knows what HCAHPS is. HCAHPS is an incredibly valuable patient satisfaction tool. This confirmed to me that, as a PR professional, my job is to help the public understand the utility of this tool, what it means and how it’s measured. And most importantly, how it impacts them.

8. What advice would you give an organization – particularly another medical center – that is unsure whether to make social media a part of its communications strategy?

JP: It may seem simple, but I would say: Embrace new media carefully and always put the brand before anything else. Do your research, learn the tools, and learn how to use them in a way that will benefit you.

How to close a deal by texting

2009-06-15T15:32:00.002-04:00

Well, Womble Carlyle may not actually help sell your factory via text, but we are definitely innovative in the use of new communications tools.

Our web marketing team is up to its old tricks again with this clever new video showing how to close a business deal via text message (compliments of Robby Merritt at Merritt Videoworks.) To view the 2 minute video, click here. The star at the end? Womble Carlyle's seasoned attorney and former North Carolina Chief Justice Burly Mitchell.

Bonus question: Can anyone guess the tune playing in the background?

Monday's quick reads: Home Depot, Youtube, human resources & social media

2009-06-15T12:20:00.005-04:00

1.) Image as part of corporate strategy (PRSA) -- National media regularly ranks the most admired corporations in America, listing the core values that helped them gain fame. Is this effort just the business equivalent of selecting the most popular students in the high school yearbook? Or should companies and organizations concern themselves with image and reputation?

2.) Home Depot uses Youtube as a PR tool (Atlanta Journal Constitution) -- Home Depot's encounter with an environmental group shows that social media can work for corporations as well as activists.

3.) The good news about bad news: openness works (PR Daily) -- Employees want open communication from their bosses, particularly in bad times. Surprise, surprise. Well, don’t just slough that off: Being kept in the loop translates into increased commitment and good will among the staff.

4.) Human resources & crisis communications - (HR Executive) Although HR leaders may have been using -- or at least begun thinking of using -- social media for recruiting, project management and knowledge transfer, they may not yet have considered the benefits of using such tools in the case of emergencies. The sooner, the better, experts say.

How to sell your values - not just your products

2009-06-12T11:02:00.004-04:00

This column was published this morning in The Daily Record.

By Henry Fawell
Special to The Daily Record
Friday, June 12, 2009

The ocean liner that is corporate America has taken on plenty of water in the past two years. Yet this month, with business leaders arduously bailing water from below deck, two shots were delivered across the corporate bow that deal directly with the state of corporate reputations.

The warnings come from the latest editions of the Harvard Business Review and McKinsey Quarterly, and they should prompt business leaders in Baltimore and beyond to recognize that in today’s economy it’s not enough to sell our products and services (though that’s awfully important). Now more than ever, we must sell our values.

In an HBR article entitled “Regaining Trust,” authors James O’Toole and Warren Bennis diagnose the tattered reputations of today’s corporate community and what it will take to rebuild them. “We won’t be able to rebuild trust in institutions,” they argue, “until leaders learn how to communicate honestly — and create organizations where that’s the norm.”

The solution? It’s more than simply delivering profits, they write. It’s also whether executives choose to lead organizations that are “are economically, ethically, and socially sustainable.”

The second shot across the bow comes from a new McKinsey Quarterly survey, which shows that 85 percent of senior executives around the globe say that public trust in business has deteriorated.

So, what’s a company to do? How can Baltimore’s corporate community strengthen its reputation with a weary public hungry for change? Here’s how three U.S. companies in controversial industries – insurance, financial services, and energy - are attempting to write a new values-oriented narrative to improve their reputations with stakeholders.

The task is not easy. The skeptics have plenty of ammunition. Yet these companies are setting a standard for values-oriented corporate communications that we’d all be wise to consider.

Liberty Mutual: The Boston-based insurance giant launched what it calls the Responsibility Project at a time when one could safely conclude corporate and personal financial responsibility were lacking. Liberty’s campaign highlights individuals and organizations that “do the right thing,” whether practicing financial discipline or helping a lost stranger with driving directions. What started as a popular television ad years ago has evolved into multifaceted communications effort, complete with website and blog, stressing personal and corporate responsibility. The Responsibility Project encourages individuals to post their own stories about doing the right thing and the “responsibility dilemmas” they face in everyday life.

JP Morgan: The 200 year-old financial services firm has launched the Way Forward campaign, which stresses the company’s commitment to - you guessed it – “doing the right thing.” The campaign seeks to drive public dialogue past the financial industry’s recent history and toward JP Morgan’s plan to help grow business. JP Morgan has peppered newspapers and magazines with advertisements outlining the firm’s investments in Main Street businesses, clean energy projects, and credit counseling programs. The firm launched a Way Forward website complete with testimonials from entrepreneurs and homeowners lauding the firm’s commitment to responsible lending.

Chevron: Like most oil and gas giants, Chevron has earned its share of scrutiny over carbon emissions and its environmental footprint. But Chevron turned this threat to its reputation into an opportunity. It created an energy efficiency campaign centered on the question, “will you join us?” The campaign – built around the site http://www.willyoujoinus.com/ – encourages personal energy conservation and outlines Chevron’s commitment to reducing oil and gas use while alternative energies grow to scale. Like Liberty Mutual, Chevron’s strategy encourages public participation in the campaign, not just in energy conservation practices but also with a lively conversation on the company’s blog.

Yes, the skeptics could ask plenty of loaded questions. Why should consumers take advice on responsibility from anyone in the insurance industry? Do we really want Wall Street charting “the way forward” in America? Since when did oil companies earn the right to lecture us on energy conservation? This skepticism confirms the tenuous state of corporate reputations and validates the argument that if you’re not changing how you communicate, you’re losing.

Forward-thinking companies would be wise to start dialogues with the public about what it takes to be both profitable and values-oriented. In my view, the sooner we embrace this new reality, the better off corporate reputations will be.

Philadelphia Eagles give bloggers respect...and a trailer

2009-06-08T14:28:00.008-04:00

(Photo Credit: New York Times)
Sports Illustrated's Peter King reports this week that the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles will provide local bloggers and blogging reporters with their own trailer at this year's mini-camp to help them meet the public's expectation for real-time updates. Here's a quote from King's "Monday Morning Quarterback" column:

"Reporting on the NFL has become such a 'now' business,'' Eagles PR czar Derek Boyko said. "I saw this [trailer] as being in the 'need' category, because so many bloggers are doing immediate stories, and now the beat reporters are doing the blogging, too.''

Is your industry any different? Granted, few organizations command the attention and scrutiny of an NFL franchise, but reporting and commentary is a "now" business in just about every industry. I won't suggest that you lobby your CFO for a blogger trailer just yet, but the Eagles' creative strategy ought to prompt a few questions:

1. What opinion, if any, does your company's leadership have of bloggers generally? Does that opinion accurately reflect the commentary and readership of bloggers who cover your industry, product, or company?

2. When was the last time you monitored the blogosphere or Twitter for references to your company, product, or industry? What did you find? Was it accurate? How did you respond?

3. What has your organization done to introduce itself to industry bloggers?

4. What has your organization done to make information as accessible as possible for industry bloggers who cover your company, product, or industry?

We have written in the past about the dangers of dismissing bloggers as a fringe community. Highly successful companies like Dell have learned that determined bloggers with an interesting story line can influence public opinion on a significant scale.

You may not be rooting for Eagles on Sundays this Fall, but we'd all be wise to learn from their forward-thinking approach to blogger relationships.

Monday's quick reads: hospitals, utilities, and internal communications

2009-06-08T10:13:00.004-04:00

1.) Chicago utility strives for positive news coverage (PR Daily) -- The Northern Illinois and Chicago electric company ComEd usually gets calls from customers and the media only when the power’s out. To counter that problem, the utility's PR team developed a four-prong approach to pitching stories that will create an enduring positive profile.

2.) An aggressive PR strategy helps save a hospital (Albany Business Review) -- Bellevue Woman's Hospital's story contains lessons for business leaders caught up in a capricious economic environment. The former CEO's primary advice, when faced with bad news, is to react quickly and truthfully, and to be both consistent and persistent in telling your story.

3.) How CEOs can rally the troops in bad times (PR Daily) -- When times are tough, it’s natural for leaders to want to rally the troops with some hopeful and reassuring words. However, ignoring the grim reality doesn’t win over the listeners—it makes them wonder what planet the executive is living on.

4.) Got a political career? Don't tweet it away. (The Washington Post) -- Recent political controversies demonstrate that any medium that encourages instant reactions dashed off on a BlackBerry or iPhone and condensed into 140 characters is a recipe for disaster in the political arena.

McKinsey study highlights erosion of corporate reputations

2009-06-03T14:30:00.012-04:00

A new report in McKinsey Quarterly (subscription required) should prompt a fundamental reconsideration of communications strategies in many corporate headquarters.

According to the study, eighty-five percent of senior executives said that public trust in businesses had deteriorated in 2009. To read the full report, click here. Here's a sobering excerpt:

"The breadth and depth of today’s reputational challenge is a consequence not just of the speed, severity, and unexpectedness of recent economic events but also of underlying shifts in the reputation environment that have been under way for some time. Those changes include the growing importance of Web-based participatory media, the increasing significance of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other third parties, and declining trust in advertising. Together, these forces are promoting wider, faster scrutiny of companies and rendering traditional public-relations tools less effective in addressing reputational challenges...Many companies, though, rely primarily on small, central corporate-affairs departments that can’t monitor or examine diverse reputational threats with sufficient sophistication. "
How should companies respond to these challenges? Here are some thoughts:

1. Words must be backed by deeds. No amount of communicating can rebuild a reputation if a company's deeds don't match it words. Communities are increasingly interested in what a company stands for - not just what it produces. Liberty Mutual, for instance, is creatively engaging the public in dialogue while projecting one of its core values - doing the right thing - with its Responsibility Project.

2. Advocates matter. With trust in businesses so low, companies cannot expect to influence public opinion on their own. They must increasingly cultivate credible third parties - yes, even bloggers - who are willing to advocate on their behalf.

3. Listen. Whether communities gather online, at shareholder meetings, or at the local townhall, they expect a two-way dialogue. The companies that offer one, like Chevron, have a stronger chance of understanding public sentiment and building trust on specific issues, if not the entire brand.

The tectonic shifts underway in the economy, public sentiment, and how the world communicates are crowding out the old rules of reputation management. What has your company done to adjust?

Monday's quick reads: Obama, energy, reputation management

2009-06-01T10:21:00.005-04:00

1.) Web 2.0: Managing corporate reputations (Business Week) -- For many employers, social networking sites are a love-hate relationship. So leading companies are drafting guidelines to govern employee use of social networking sites at work and to protect the company's brand online.

2.) Why local news is no longer proprietary (PRSA) -- To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of the death of journalism have been greatly exaggerated.

3.) Master the art of the story teller (PRSA) -- If you want to win the hearts and minds of your audience members, you must be a master storyteller.

4.) How Obama made energy platform "pop" (The Washington Post) -- How President Obama is packaging the energy debate to influence public opinion.

Steve Case makes his case on the Time Warner/AOL split

2009-05-28T14:45:00.011-04:00

(Photo credit: Business Week)
Time Warner announced this morning that it would part ways with AOL, officially ending a marriage that was hailed in 2000 as a merger for the ages between giants of "old" and "new" media.

Of note is how Steve Case, former AOL chairman and architect of the merger, chose to make his views known about the break-up. Case didn't call a friendly reporter (as far as I can tell) or pen an op-ed. Instead, he used Twitter to articulate why he believes the merger failed.

The fact that Case chose a micro-blogging site signals the continuing migration of business leaders to sites that allow them to communicate directly with the public, free of interference or potential misinterpretation from reporters.

Here are some highlights from Case, who wrote in 8 short bursts between 8:28 a.m. and 9:28 a.m:

"My perspective on AOL & Time Warner: has been a long, tortuous journey - and after a difficult decade, its time to open new chapter."

"Merger could've been transformative: driven convergence of TV/Internet/phone, ushered in digital music & video, etc.
"But synergy didn't happen. Didn't integrate businesses to drive innovation. Lots of missed opportunities."

"AOL not what it was a decade ago, to be sure. Uphill battle to return to greatness. But doable. Wish the team at AOL the very best!"

"Thomas Edison: 'Vision without execution is hallucination' - pretty much sums up AOL/TW - failure of leadership (myself included)."

Case did more than simply reach the 12,500 people who follow him on Twitter. He reached millions more when his Twitter followers posted his comments for their own networks to read and when the Associated Press included his tweets in a wire story, meaning that Case's comments are bound for publication in newspapers across the country.

Twitter also allowed him to articulate a message exactly as he wanted without the possibility of slipping up or being misquoted.

Case isn't the only business leader or personality to use Twitter to influence public opinion. Venture capitalists, airlines, computer companies, and financial advisers are just a few of the other industries integrating online communities in to their broader communications strategy. Readers of this blog would be wise to consider whether their company should do the same.

Monday's quick reads: Dell, reputation management, and Twitter

2009-05-26T16:49:00.003-04:00

1.) Banks continue to suffer image problems (PR Week) -- The JD Power & Associates 2009 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study finds that the brand image of the nation’s retail banks continues to decline. According to the survey, only 35% of customers are highly committed to their bank, down from 37% last year, and 41% in 2007.

2.) IPREX and corporations talk reputation management (PR Week) -- Executives from major companies discussed how corporate reputations have been affected by the financial crisis, including relationships with CEOs, social media, and consumers’ trust in brands.

3.) Dell confirms product launch rumors on blog (The Blog Council) -- When Dell’s Lionel Menchaca discovered that there was speculation on the popular tech blog Engadget about a new computer that Dell was getting ready to release, he clarified the rumors and made the announcement official on the Dell blog.

4.) To tweet, or not to tweet? For execs, that is the question (Boston Business Journal) -- Edward Boches, chief creative officer at the ad agency Mullen, recently wrote a blog post titled “10 Reasons why every CEO has to get on Twitter now.”

Britain's expense scandal highlights the need for "Daily Mail Tests"

2009-05-19T13:49:00.008-04:00

(Photo Credit: Telegraph.co.uk)
When was the last time you applied the "Daily Mail Test" to your company?

The scandal currently rocking British politics suggests you may want to give the Daily Mail Test fresh consideration, because failing it could cause a public relations nightmare with career-ending consequences.

What is the Daily Mail Test? The test requires that you consider not just whether a particular company practice is legal or permissible under company rules, but rather how that policy would be received if it were splashed across the front page of newspapers in mailboxes across the country. The term is attributed to David Cameron (pictured), leader of Great Britain's conservative party and a former public relations executive.

British members of Parliament are learning the hard way what happens when you fail the Daily Mail Test. British press has disclosed in recent weeks that MPs have been claiming public reimbursements for questionable personal expenses, ranging from the cost of manure to manicure an MP's garden to reimbursements for repairs to a tennis court. The scandal hits just after Prime Minister Gordon Brown raised taxes on upper-income taxpayers to help close a record budget shortfall.

To say that the revelations caused an uproar would be an understatement. The scandal has already forced the Speaker of the House of Commons to resign, the first time a British speaker has done so in more than 300 years, and has consumed political commentary across the country. Another MP apologized and stepped down for expensing the costs of clearing his private moat.

The scandal brings to mind recent examples of U.S. companies failing the Daily Mail Test over policies that were legal or seemed routine in the eyes of management. One example is AIG's distribution of employee bonuses after receiving $170 billion in taxpayer funds; Another is U.S. automaker executives flying corporate jets to Washington to ask for taxpayer funds.

So, if your company took the Daily Mail Test today, would you pass or would you fail? What "routine" company policies would spark uproar among your customers, investors, or board members if they became public? Now is the time for communications pros and their bosses to sit down, think hard about their organization's version of questionable expense accounts and corporate jets, and figure out how to pass the Daily Mail Test.

Monday's quick reads: Chevron, 60 Minutes, and Twitter

2009-05-18T10:18:00.005-04:00

1.) When Chevron hires ex-reporter to investigate pollution, Chevron looks good (New York Times) -- What did Chevron do when it learned that “60 Minutes” was preparing a potentially damaging report about oil company contamination of the Amazon in Ecuador? It hired a former journalist to produce a mirror image of the report, from the corporation’s point of view.

2.) What's the right corporate policy for Twitter, Facebook, and blogs? (Business Week) -- Check out how Business Week journalists approach engaging their readers online.

3.) Gifts for reporters? Don't bother. (Ragan) -- If you think chocolate and flowers are the way to a reporter's heart, think again.

4.) CEOs who use Twitter (Business Week) -- In August 2008 Business Week reported on 18 chief executives who use the microblogging application Twitter to clue customers in on new services, help them with questions about their products, and generally get a little bit personal with customers, business associates, and the public.Not even a year later, Business Week bring you nearly 50 CEOs who find tweeting a personal and professional delight.

Swine flu highlights perils and promise of social media

2009-05-12T13:36:00.003-04:00

This column was originally published in The Daily Record on Friday, May 8, 2009

(The CDC's Youtube Channel)

The H1N1 virus – also known as “swine flu” – isn’t going away just yet, but there a few early lessons we can glean from this case about how to communicate effectively in a public crisis.

For me, the H1N1 outbreak illuminates both the perils and promise of social media and how it can shape public perception.

First, the perils. As the H1N1 flu picked up momentum in late April, popular social media sites lit up with commentary from the public. Many users of the social media site Twitter warned the broader public to avoid eating pork products so as not become “infected” with the flu.

There is one problem with this advice: it’s wrong. The H1N1 flu is not transmitted via food, but the presence of such inaccurate information in the public dialogue posed a threat to the bottom line of pork producers across the world.

Yet U.S. pork producers had just 300 followers on Twitter – a miniscule audience considering the global scrutiny and volume of chatter about their product. As a result, a critical opportunity to contain damaging speculation was missed.

Twitter is no echo chamber. The micro-blogging site has 5 million members globally, each of whom is capable of delivering information to wide audiences. With some Twitter members boasting networks of one million followers, misinformation about pork products can spread like, well, a virus.

Sure enough, prices of hog futures contracts dropped sharply as the flu’s reach spread. I won’t attribute the price drop solely to the misinformation on sites like Twitter, but it is hard to ignore the impact on the pork industry’s product as false information spread to wider audiences.

The lesson is that organizations cannot ignore social media communities in a crisis. Any citizen with a Twitter account or a video camera can spread any content about your industry or product that he or she desires, whether it’s pork or Pepsi. And whether your organization considers that citizen credible is irrelevant; what matters is whether that citizen’s network of followers considers them to be credible. To put it in public health terms, organizations fighting through a crisis must quarantine bad information and kill it. Then, replace it with the facts.

So, what is the upside of social media in a crisis? The Centers for Disease Control has demonstrated during H1N1 outbreak that organizations under the gun can use social media to their advantage. The CDC added roughly 10,000 new followers on Twitter every day during the crisis, bringing its total followers to more than 105,000 at the time of this writing. It has distributed hundreds of messages online about the flu, its origins, and what precautions the public should take. Cable news outlets such as CNN monitored the CDC’s online efforts and repeated the agency’s message to their massive viewing audience. The CDC also posted informational videos on Youtube, some of which garnered more than 140,000 views per week.

Beyond social media, the CDC’s strategy shows three hallmarks of a good crisis communications strategy.

Over-communication. One would have to be living under a rock to have not seen or heard from the CDC over the past two weeks. The agency utilized virtually every communications tool at its disposal – both old and new - to inform the public. The CDC hasn’t fallen prey to the dangerous assumption that your audience “gets it” in a crisis after you’ve issued a couple press releases and updated your website. To the contrary, they spare no opportunity to reassure the public, often on a minute-to-minute basis.

Message discipline. Acting CDC Director Richard Besser has positioned himself as a calm and articulate spokesman for the government. More importantly, he has repeated his message of prudence and informed decision-making relentlessly.

Crisis planning. The CDC has prepared for years to communicate effectively in the event of an outbreak. Granted, it’s the CDC’s job to do so, but too few companies today can say they have developed a plan to communicate with their stakeholders in the event of a crisis.

The closing chapters of the H1N1 crisis have yet to be written, but one lesson for Maryland organizations is clear: public conversations are migrating to online communities that hold great promise and great peril. The real question is whether your organization will follow.

Monday's quick reads

2009-05-11T09:07:00.002-04:00

1.) A battle with a New Jersey newspaper backfires (New York Times) -- When fighting with a media mogul, institutions would be well-advised to avoid using that mogul’s newspaper as a battleground, a hospital in New Jersey learned last week.

2.) American Express' risk-cutting poses its own risks (L.A. Times) -- AmEx, which pocketed $3.4 billion in bailout cash from taxpayers, seems to have been especially successful at making customers feel unwelcome.

3.) Auto dealers launch PR campaign (Detroit Free Press) -- The National Automobile Dealers Association, fearing the elimination of more than 3,000 Chrysler and General Motors dealerships employing at least 150,000 people, launched a public relations offensive Thursday, arguing that such draconian cuts are excessive.

4.) The death of print media? (The Washington Post) -- Is this it? Is the product you are accustomed to holding in your hands a relic, soon to go the way of silent movies and manual typewriters?

Bad news from good messengers

2009-05-07T11:16:00.004-04:00

Henry Fawell, a member of Womble Carlyle's strategic communications group, gave a presentation on crisis communications this week in Boston at the Spring 2009 conference for TechAssure, an insurance and risk management trade association whose members represent technology, life sciences, digital media, and venture capital firms.

Henry's presentation, entitled "Bad News from Good Messengers," offered communications guidelines for companies that fall victim to insurance-related crises such as data theft. Foremost among Henry's recommendations was that firms undertake crisis planning exercises. These exercises enable a firm to identify potential crises ahead of time and to develop a plan to communicate effectively with its stakeholders in the event of a crisis. Henry was invited to address the group after TechAssure's leadership read his commentary on crisis communications at "Wag the Dog," the strategic communications group's blog.

Womble Carlyle's strategic communications group advises clients on crisis communications, message development, social media strategies, and media relations. Our team has advised clients from an array of industries, including energy, real estate, telecommunications, construction, and government contracting. For more information, contact Henry at henry.fawell@wcsr.com.

Swine flu info for businesses

2009-05-07T11:11:00.002-04:00

Womble Carlyle's John Pueschel has compiled useful information on how businesses can respond internally to the threats posed by swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus. Readers would be well served to take time to get the most current information available, and to evaluate how this outbreak might impact their business. To read more, click here.

Tuesday's quick reads

2009-05-05T13:42:00.002-04:00

1.) What Obama's first 100 days can teach communicators (PR Daily) -- Barack Obama’s inauguration signified more than just a dramatic change in politics: It also launched an equally significant shift in how White House communication is handled.

2.) Mayo turns to social media to reach potential patients (Star Tribune) -- A few years ago, Lee Aase was just another flack for the Mayo Clinic, issuing press releases on cue and calling news conferences for doctors to present carefully scripted messages. These days, Aase is a walking, talking, blogging, Twittering, Facebooking, YouTubing force who's blasting Mayo into the social networking world faster than you can say "Mayo Brothers."

3.) Fortune 500 companies are embracing corporate blogs (New Communications Review) -- The Fortune 500 are farther along in their adoption of public-facing corporate blogs than previous data has suggested.

4.) A record number of Americans say corporate reputations are "not good" or "terrible" (Harris Interactive) -- Johnson & Johnson reclaims top spot from Google in the 10th Annual Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient Study of the 60 Most Visible Companies, recording the highest individual company score since 2001.

Swine flu and crisis communications

2009-04-29T14:03:00.010-04:00

(Photo credit: AP)

There are myriad ways to explore how public anxiety over swine flu will impact businesses, from airlines and drug makers to agriculture. For now, I am watching how pork producers respond to the uneasy public sentiment that is lighting up social media sites across the web. Here's an example:

The social media phenomenon known as Twitter has been abuzz this week with discussion over the swine flu and how people can protect themselves. Several users (none of whom appear to have any medical background) are telling their friends and family that the risk of swine flu is, as one person put it, "another reason to avoid eating pork."

That's not true, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC flatly states that swine flu is not transmitted via food. Yet the misinformation on Twitter - which has roughly 5 million members and growing, including members of the press -- can spread like wildfire, and rarely is information edited for accuracy. This can cause significant confusion and ultimately threaten a pork producer's bottom line. Take a look at what's happened to hog prices by clicking here.

The onus is on those producers to "go where the people are" and combat misinformation head on. To its credit, the National Pork Producers Council does have a presence on Twitter, but its list of followers at the time of this writing is slim considering the volume of chatter about its industry.

We'll be watching with interest.

Monday's quick reads

2009-04-27T13:01:00.002-04:00

1.) Corporate Blogs and 'Tweets' Must Keep SEC in Mind (Wall Street Journal) -- An eBay Inc. effort to broaden communication through the popular Twitter Web-messaging service highlights the hurdles facing corporate users of online social media.

2.) Local businesses venture onto the online social networking scene (South Florida Business Journal) -- When the telegraph came along, some naysayers probably dismissed the new invention, noting the Pony Express was quick enough for communicating. They were wrong. And this lesson is not lost on those who are today increasingly turning to online social networking Web.

3.) Public Perception, Reality Bedevil General Motors (Washington Post) -- The perception gap has been a killer for General Motors. It's the gap between what the public thinks is real and what actually is real. It is a chasm that varies in width and depth, depending on the issue. But it's one into which GM has fallen repeatedly, damaging itself unnecessarily.

4.) Why Haagin Dazs likes grassroots marketing (Brandweek) -- Unlike past campaigns, Häagen-Dazs is promoting a new product via grass roots, particularly a SheSpeaks word-of-mouth sampling party.

Monday's quick reads

2009-04-20T09:31:00.004-04:00

1.) Ignore Twitter? Major bands learn they better respond...and quick (Los Angeles Times) -- Separate incidents involving CNN, Amazon and Domino's Pizza reveal that fluency in the evolving language of digital public relations comes easier to some companies than others.

2.) Tweeting becomes a job opportunity (New York Times) -- Pizza Hut is looking for Summer Twinterns — i.e. a summer intern who uses Twitter — to aid the company in social media outreach.

3.) Americans blame ad agencies, media for economic crisis (Harris Interactive) -- Two-thirds of Americans believe ad agencies have at least some responsibility for the current economic crisis because they caused people to buy things they couldn’t afford, according to a new poll.

4.) How to handle a public relations crisis (Mass High Tech) -- Apple's cease and desist order against a start up highlights how companies can use blogs and social media to influence public opinion.

Renewable energy's grassroots problem

2009-04-16T10:17:00.009-04:00

(Photo credit: The Washington Post)
We have blogged before about the paradox facing renewable energy companies, and it doesn't appear to be going away. At the national level, these companies are hailed as a critical component to reducing America's carbon footprint and its dependence on foreign sources of oil.

The view at the local level, however, is quite different. As The Washington Post points out today, renewable energy companies often face stiff resistance from local activists who view their projects as threats to parks, vistas, and property values. The resistance doesn't only come from organized environmental groups; often it's a small group of concerned neighbors determined to make a difference.

The lesson is that energy companies can no longer rely on the environmental virtues of their product to garner public support. These virtues rarely have immediate, tangible benefits for the communities that are impacted by the construction of large wind farms, solar farms, or biofuel manufacturing plants. My experience is those neighbors are more concerned about the project's impact on their home's value, the view out their window, or noise pollution in the neighborhood.

Establishing an aggressive grassroots communications plan is a good place to start for companies with projects in the pipeline, including community advisory panels, outreach to local press, local philanthropy, and websites designed to educate the community. It's never too early to start planning.

Bernanke's public relations offensive

2009-04-15T11:58:00.008-04:00

Today's Wall Street Journal explores Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's rare public relations offensive in the wake of global financial uncertainty. You can view a quick video below or read the complete article by clicking here.

Here's a quick excerpt from the article:

"Fed officials have been struck by the public response to Mr. Bernanke's "60 Minutes" appearance, which took him to his hometown of Dillon, S.C., to reminisce about his modest upbringing and to visit his childhood home, which a subsequent owner recently lost to foreclosure.

"Strangers have been coming up to him in airports and supermarkets to compliment him. One Fed employee approached him in the Fed's top-floor cafeteria after the television interview. She told him she was touched to learn his mother was reluctant to send him off to Harvard as a teen because he didn't have the proper clothes."

The strategy reinforces two lessons:

1.) The economy is changing rapidly and public opinion is changing with it. Leaders in business and government are wise to respond with unconventional communications. The Fed has a long history of avoiding overt publicity campaigns, and Mr. Bernanke strikes few observers as an attention hound. Yet the chairman and his team deserve kudos for applying a precedent-breaking communications strategy to an unprecedented economic climate.

2.) Few things are as effective as a compelling personal story. The "60 Minutes" excerpt about Bernanke's upbringing helps to elevate the chairman above an unpopular backdrop: the marble halls of Washington, the impeccable pin-stripe suits, and the corridors of Wall Street. Elevating Bernanke above that backdrop allows a big slice of his audience, the American taxpayer, to view him and his decisions in a new light. His audience may not agree with his actions, but his outreach makes them more familiar with the humble life experiences that help guide his decisions. The implicit message: Every decision Bernanke makes, he makes in the best interests of towns like Dillon, S.C.

"60 Minutes" is only one interview, but it's a start. Let's hear from you. Is Bernanke's communications strategy smart, or is he needlessly inviting backlash from the market if he flubs an interview?

Monday's quick reads

2009-04-13T10:04:00.004-04:00

1.) Great crisis leaders: 10 key characteristics (Ragan) -- Most leaders who are successful managing through deep crises will posses a majority of these qualities.

2.) Top gobbledygook phrases used in press releases (PRSA) -- An author analyzed 711,123 press releases from 2008 to determine the most commonly used gobbledygook words and phrases.

3.) Agencies Need to Think More Facebook, Twitter, Less TV (Advertising Age) -- A venture capitalist says the future is in "earned" - not paid - media.

4.) U.S. military to get new view on social media (PR Week) -- A new report from the National Defense University offers some social media tips for government folks.

Employee communication can bolster morale and profit

2009-04-10T10:47:00.003-04:00

In this month's column for The Daily Record, we look at how communicating effectively with employees can help a company's bottom line. The link between internal communications and the cash register is pretty strong. You can read it below or check it out at The Daily Record's website by clicking here.

Employee communication bolsters morale and profit
HENRY FAWELL
Special to The Daily Record
April 10, 2009

In this economy, the chance to ring the cash register more often should motivate any company. As managers look for every opportunity to improve their bottom line, they might want to consider a fairly unconventional tool: employee communications.

Believe it or not, shareholder returns for organizations with the most effective employee communications were 29 percent higher from 2002-2006 than firms with less effective communications, according to a recent Watson Wyatt study.

And in today’s economy, the prospects of layoffs, benefit cuts and uncertainty over an organization’s future only accentuate the need for constructive communications between management and employees.

Unfortunately, not every employer appreciates the connection between work force morale and the organization’s bottom line. Seven out of 10 Americans believe their employers don’t communicate with them enough about the current economy and its impact on their business.

Some managers simply fail to engage their work force about the organization’s mission, values and productivity. Others communicate with reporters, shareholders and customers while leaving their own employees in the dark.

So here are a few tips for companies looking to focus their communications inward and their revenue upward.

Be clear: An internal communications plan without a clear message is like a Rolls-Royce with a flat tire: It may look good, but it’s not going anywhere. Before engaging employees, managers must ask themselves tough questions about where the company is headed and how employees will help the company get there. This can help a manager communicate with clarity, resonate with employees and motivate them toward a specific goal.

Be honest: Henry Ford wisely stated that managers must treat employees like members of the extended family. Doing so begins with honest dialogue. In this economy, the prospects of layoffs weigh on the minds of countless employees at Baltimore companies. With Maryland’s unemployment rate at a 25-year high, their concerns are justified.

If asked by an employee, managers who are considering layoffs would be wise to simply state, “I can’t answer that right now” rather than lie and jeopardize the company’s credibility with its work force.

If layoffs are announced, consider team meetings with remaining employees to discuss how the company is repositioning itself to succeed in the future and offer an open-door policy to support and motivate employees.

Be open-minded: Too many organizations view internal communications as a one-way street. Management makes a decision and feeds it to the work force via memo — end of communication. But employees today expect more. The rise of social media sites such as Facebook has created demand for a two-way dialogue between employees and managers, and innovative employers are adapting accordingly.

Toyota has created an online forum for employees to ask questions about the company and its role in an ever-changing economy. Doing so gives Toyota a read of its work force’s pulse and positions management to address concerns head-on. You’re likely to pick up a few good ideas from bright employees along the way.

Be holistic: Your communications should not focus simply on the outside world. Smart managers view their employees as an army of surrogates, many of whom are willing to take the extra step to support the larger organization.

If your company finds itself under scrutiny from the press or the public, be sure to communicate clearly with employees about how management is responding. The last thing you want is a work force operating in an information vacuum with no choice but to believe what it reads in the press. Proactively engaging employees eliminates confusion and arms your work force with the facts it needs to represent your company at home and in the community.

Be profitable: If nothing else motivates you, perhaps profits will. Take it from Southwest Airlines’ Herb Kelleher, who once said employees who feel valued provide better customer service, and customers who feel appreciated by a company become repeat customers.

Plenty of factors contribute to a company’s bottom line — sales, marketing and productivity to name a few. But the link between internal communications and the cash register is real. In this economy, that should motivate every company to rethink how it communicates with its work force.

Henry Fawell is a communications consultant for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in Baltimore and was press secretary for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. His column appears monthly, and his e-mail address is henry.fawell@wcsr.com

The changing face of journalism

2009-04-07T10:21:00.005-04:00

A new survey shows just how rapidly traditional journalism is changing, particularly at our nation's newspapers. The old rules of communicating are increasingly irrelevant as both journalism and public viewing habits change. Corporate managers would be wise to use the results to ask tough questions within their organization about how their company is adapting to the changes.

The survey by PRWeek/PR Newswire can be read by clicking here. Some highlights are below:

1. 62% of newspaper journalists anticipating "declines in print circulation and increased focus on the web" over the next three years.

2. 50% of media professionals are now considering a career outside of journalism.

3. 28% of media respondents are blogging for their traditional publication, a 6% increase from 2008.

4. Reporters' use of social media sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, increased significantly from 2008. 58% are on Facebook and 51% have a LinkedIn profile, compared with 29% and 32% last year. Twenty-two percent are on Twitter. The number of journalists not participating in social media is now a clear minority, with 23% saying they do not have a social network profile. In 2008, the number was 46%.

5. The majority of journalists responding prefer PR professionals to pitch them by e-mail with 80% listing it as their favored method.

Monday's quick reads

2009-04-06T16:29:00.003-04:00

1. PR outranks advertising in improving consumer confidence in banks. (Media Post)

2. Coca-Cola launches office of digital and social media. (PR Week)

3. Why PR matters in a down economy. (PR Week)

4. How crisis shapes the corporate model. (The New York Times)

Innovis Health turns to social media in a crisis

2009-03-31T12:29:00.004-04:00

All eyes this week have been on North Dakota and Minnesota, where residents have battled flood waters as high as 42 feet along the Red River. Innovis Health, a community health center serving both states, embraced some creative tools during the crisis to communicate with those in need. Innovis created a blog and utilized popular social networking tools like Twitter to keep the public up to date on its services, staff levels, and other critical information. Read about it here.

Innovis Health's efforts reinforce two important lessons :

1. Every organization should develop a crisis communications plan before the crisis occurs. Deliberating over how best to communicate after a crisis emerges is no recipe for success.

2. Social networking is an important tool for communicating with the public instantaneously. In the midst of a crisis like the one facing North Dakota and Minnesota residents, every second counts. Some may argue that direct communication with members of the press is most important in a crisis. Perhaps, but most traditional news outlets not only follow organizations on Twitter and corporate blogs these days - they also use them. The Innovis Health case study should prompt every leader to ask tough questions about how their organization will communicate with its stakeholders in a crisis.

Tuesday's quick reads

2009-03-24T09:10:00.004-04:00

1. Repairing an agency's credibility (Wall Street Journal) -- An insurance veteran shows how to rebuild an organization's reputation through transparency and improved communications.

2. Veterans group takes to Twitter for campaign (PRWeek) -- A veterans advocacy group is harnessing social media to raise awareness about service members suffering from physical and psychological wounds.

3. AccuQuote CEO sees virtue in blog, Youtube communications (Blog Council) -- AccuQuote founder and CEO Byron Udell is using YouTube and AccuQuote’s blog to answer insurance and annuity questions submitted by readers.

4. Sides in "card check" debate intensify PR efforts (PRWeek) -- Business and labor organizations on both sides of the Employee Free Choice Act have turned their communications battle into an online and grassroots effort.

Monday's quick reads

2009-03-16T08:49:00.004-04:00

1. Using social media to build excitement for a product launch (The Blog Council) -- Check out how Cisco embraced social media and creativity to generate buzz about a new product.

2. Fidelity wants to hold your hand (The Boston Globe) -- Fidelity Investments seizes on uncertain times to communicate more effectively and build trust with customers.

3. Social networking overtakes email (MediaWeek) -- A new survey shows that social media may be the most effective means for communicating with your target audience.

4. Local newspapers won't be missed by 42% in U.S. (Marketing Charts) -- A new report from the Pew Research Center holds more bad news about newspapers and their difficulty attracting young readers.

5. Recession brings lessons in crisis communications (Charlotte Business Journal) -- How a company responds in a crisis can make all the difference, experts say.

Generating goodwill on the cheap

2009-03-13T09:03:00.004-04:00

Our monthly column in today's Daily Record explores how companies can use social media to generate goodwill in times of tight budgets and low public trust.

We hear so much about the latest "trends" in social media and so little about how it can actually be used by a company to generate buzz. Hopefully this column helps with the latter dilemma. You can read it in its entirety below, or check it out at The Daily Record's website.

Generating goodwill for your company on the cheap

HENRY FAWELL
Special to The Daily Record
March 13, 2009

Let’s face it. It’s hard to justify an ambitious advertising campaign in this economy. Your company watches every penny like a hawk.

The news outlets with which you previously advertised are losing staff and audience share, declaring bankruptcy or shuttering their doors. Plus, it’s hard to convince Baltimore’s understaffed newsrooms to cover your company when their own resources are dwindling.

Budgets are tight yet our pursuit of the public’s goodwill is endless. To make matters worse, seven in 10 Americans think U.S. businesses are on the wrong track, meaning we need all the goodwill we can find. So how can your company generate buzz and goodwill without breaking the bank?

It can be done. Technology and public conversations are converging in a way that allows you to achieve this goal. The convergence is known as social media.

It enables companies and the public to engage in two-way dialogues at little to no cost, and it’s happening every day here in Baltimore and around the world. The question is whether your company will join the discussion.

I have one rule for companies intimidated by social media: have no fear. Any organization with creativity and a plan can use it to reach the public. If you don’t know where to begin, this column outlines four starting points on the Web with real examples of companies generating buzz on the cheap.

Blogs: More than 112 million of these Web-based publications are on the Internet, with the most popular ones garnering more than a million visits monthly.

You can make blogs work for you in two ways. First, introduce yourself to blog authors who write about your hometown, industry, company or product. The makers of Audi did just that by offering a test drive of their latest model to Guy Kawasaki, a venture capitalist whose blog attracts 2.5 million page views annually. Audi got a great review on the blog, hit a key demographic and connected with a huge audience for little or no cost.

The second way is to author your own blog. Baltimore’s LifeBridge Health used its blog to spotlight its domestic violence services after the well-publicized arrest of a celebrity on assault charges. Marriott International’s Bill Marriott used his blog to tout the good deeds of a Baltimore employee and to announce his own voluntary pay cut. If the CEO of Marriott can find time to blog, why can’t you?

Facebook: With 175 million users, Facebook is not just for teenagers. It allows companies to build an online community of customers and stakeholders where it can post everything from company messages to photos.

H&R Block created its own Facebook page to offer free tax advice to more than 1,600 members. Unlike a static advertisement, the Facebook page allows H&R Block to deliver the exact service that each customer needs — a great way to generate goodwill.

Twitter: This free Web site enables companies to chat or “tweet” real-time via cell phone or computer with the public. Each “tweet” is less than 140 characters. With more than 6 million users,

Twitter has attracted several companies seeking to connect in real time with the public.
Comcast uses Twitter to sniff out customers with cable outages to get them the help they need quickly. Home Depot uses it to remind customers what supplies they need to protect their homes during hurricane season. As a result, both companies are considered by many to be on the vanguard of corporate communications.

YouTube: Anyone with a video camera and Web access can use YouTube, whether a Fortune 100 company or your next-door neighbor. With 79 million subscribed viewers, it is the dominant place for companies to upload and share video clips with the world.

Maryland’s comptroller, Peter Franchot, used YouTube to promote the state’s electronic tax filing system. His irreverent video garnered nearly 23,000 viewers in its first month at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising.

Embracing social media means changing how you connect with the public. But with public trust of U.S. businesses so low, change can be a virtue.

So take the first step. Explore these sites to see how they can connect you with the public. You may be surprised at how much goodwill you generate and how much money you save along the way.

Henry Fawell is a communications consultant for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in Baltimore and was press secretary for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. His column appears monthly and his e-mail address is henry.fawell@wcsr.com.

Citizen journalism on the rise

2009-03-11T15:26:00.008-04:00

The Travel Channel is descending on cities across the country to teach individuals how to produce travel videos with their own hand held cameras. Some may see this as nothing more than license to film the kids at the beach. I see it as a reason companies must make citizen journalism part of their communications strategy.

Citizen journalists are no fad. They are here to stay. MSNBC relies on them. The Oakland Press depends on them. The first wave of photos and information about the Mumbai terror attacks and the Hudson River plane landing came from citizen journalists. The breadth of their work and the scope of their impact cannot be ignored.

So what does this have to do with your company? An effective citizen journalist can present a challenge or an opportunity. A citizen could catch a controversial remark by a CEO or elected official on camera and post it on Youtube within an hour. Barack Obama learned this lesson the hard way during the 2008 campaign. On the other hand, a citizen journalist with a wide following could poke holes in a newspaper's inaccurate coverage of your company. In Seattle, citizen journalists are the new watchdogs of city council hearings.

The democratization of such technology is a good thing, and companies would be wise to consider its potential. Just remember that when you see somebody filming their family vacation this summer, his or her influence could extend far beyond the beach.

The Obama loan modification program

2009-03-11T10:00:00.002-04:00

We all know that the federal government is taking steps to assist homeowners at imminent risk of default -- what is less clear is how the program actually works and how it affects banks and mortgage lenders. Womble Carlyle's Capital Markets group has penned a very helpful primer on the government's plan and what it means to banks and lenders. Take a look by clicking here.

Monday's quick reads

2009-03-09T18:31:00.004-04:00

1. Firms add Twitter to their business model -- Everyone from Skittles to county governments is using Twitter to influence public opinion.

2. Survey: Blogs, social media more popular than email -- If you think blogs and Facebook have are irrelevant to your company's communications strategy, think again.

3. How Garmin used social media to highlight its athletes -- In a down economy, Garmin looks to inexpensive social media to reach its audience.

How Warren Buffett delivers bad news

2009-03-05T17:52:00.008-05:00

(Image credit: Time.com)
Few mortals escaped the stock market's swoon in 2008, not even the revered Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate suffered its worst year ever with an $11.5 billion loss.

Last week, the investing world pored over Buffett's new letter to shareholders to glean insights into what 2009 holds for the economy.

I read it for a different reason: to learn how he delivers bad news to the public. Below are five lessons I pulled from the letter, many of which we've discussed here before. To read the entire letter, click here.

1. Executive accountability. Buffett assumes responsibility for many of Berkshire Hathaway's mistakes in 2008. "I made some errors of omission, sucking my thumb when new facts came in that should have caused me to re-examine my thinking and promptly take action...The tennis crowd would call my mistakes 'unforced errors.'"

2. Candor. See above, and Buffett's predictions for 2009. It is not encouraging, but his candor is a sign of his respect for his audience and customers. "Most of the Berkshire businesses whose results are significantly affected by the economy earned below their potential last year, and that will be true in 2009 as well."

3. The facts, plain and simple. Buffett backs up his assertions with facts, adding to the credibility and trustworthiness of his message. Even the bad news - Berkshire Hathaway's disappointing performance in 2008 - is verified for the reader.

4. Belief in the mission. Buffett reminds his audience that in good times and bad he has four simple goals: maintaining Berkshire's "Gibralter-like" position, recruiting and nurturing good managers, acquiring new revenue streams, and expanding his subsidiaries' competitive advantage. Imagine how much easier it is to communicate one's goals when they don't change with the market winds.

5. Perspective. Buffett reminds his audience of Berkshire Hathaway's long-term success. "Over the last 44 years (that is, since present management took over) book value has grown from $19 to $70,530, a rate of 20.3% compounded annually."

Finally, he frames the economy's troubles in the context of America's long-term economic prosperity. "Real standard of living for Americans improved nearly seven-fold during the 1900s...Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time...America’s best days lie ahead."

We could all do worse than follow Mr. Buffett's lead when delivering bad news. As one analyst said, "[Buffett] admits when he is wrong. You don't get that candor from other CEOs. That's why his credibility is so high."

Let's hear from you. Should he have said more?

Monday's quick reads

2009-03-02T13:43:00.006-05:00

(Image credit: Rocky Mountain News)

1. "Under weight of its mistakes, newspaper industry staggers." (The Washington Post) -- Newspapers across the country are either shutting down, declaring bankruptcy, or laying off staff as the public migrates to new forms of communication. The Rocky Mountain News (left) is the latest to print its final edition.

2. "Bailed out? Don't get caught having a good time." (Los Angeles Times) -- Columnist Michael Hiltzik outlines the public relations pitfalls awaiting companies and industries that seek government financing in these tough economic times.

3. "Effective communication can help management succession." (PR Week) -- A CEO succession plan isn't complete without a comprehensive communications component.

Twitter in the courtroom?

2009-02-23T16:44:00.009-05:00

Here's an interesting report from the Associated Press that highlights the tension between the deliberative nature of the courts and the instantaneous nature of web communications. At issue is whether a federal judge in Kansas will permit a journalist to cover a trial through a wildly popular social networking website called Twitter.

For those who don't know Twitter, the site allows users to communicate instantaneously with one another through a phone or personal computer. Users post comments online of up 140 characters and "subscribe" to other users for free. They share everything from industry best practices and political commentary to reviews of local restaurants. (If you're interested, my Twitter name is @henryfawell.) The Obama Campaign has the biggest audience on Twitter, weighing in with 315,000 followers.

The debate over Twitter's use in the courtroom pits two arguments against one another: On one hand, the press' right to report on a public trial without infringement; On the other, the defense counsel's concern that the instantaneous and public nature of "tweets" could influence witnesses before they testify.

Judge Marten in Kansas is not the first to consider Twitter's place in the courtroom. (A judge in Colorado granted the use of Twitter in his courtroom last month). With more journalists and newspapers embracing Twitter for its virtues (quick, free, and popular), this debate is likely to be starring in a courtroom near you. Companies and in-house counsel would be wise to operate under the assumption that Twitter will become the rule, not the exception, in courtrooms and should adjust their communications strategies accordingly.

What do you think? Should judges allow journalists to use Twitter in the courtroom?

Millennials, car companies, and you

2009-02-20T10:56:00.009-05:00

A new survey from Microsoft shows that a majority of millennials (born between 1981 and 2001) expect automotive companies to connect with them through new forms of communication, such as blogs, websites, and instant messaging. In my mind, the survey results aren't just about the automotive industry. Every industry would be well served asking how effectively they communicate with younger consumers. Remember, the oldest millennials are now 28 years old. They are adults with steadily increasing purchasing power and influence.

A few highlights from the survey:

Three out of four millennials want to visit company-sponsored blogs to get information and ask questions of the company. (See our previous post about Toyota's blog.)
More than half (56%) want companies to communicate with them through instant messaging.
Nine out of ten expect car company websites to offer a full view of purchase options and service history.
Nearly two-thirds report visiting a social networking site at least once a day, creating a huge opportunity for companies to connect with them on new platforms.

Additionally, more than half of millennials polled (56%) consider the auto industry to be "old." Not surprisingly, a majority also believe the auto industry has a poor public image and fails to offer career stability.

So, how adept is your company at using new communications platforms? The answer may reveal a lot about how well you connect with younger audiences.

History's advice for public speakers

2009-02-19T13:36:00.008-05:00

With President Obama's first State of the Union speech days away, it's a good time to dust off quotes from some of history's best speech givers and speech writers. The advice below applies to corporate executives and communications managers as much as it does to public officials.

"Be sincere; be brief; be seated." -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

"Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em. Then tell 'em. Then tell 'em what you told 'em." -- New York Times columnist and Nixon speechwriter William Safire.

"Let thy speech be brief, comprehending much in few words." -- King James Bible.

“A speech is poetry: cadence, rhythm, imagery, sweep! A speech reminds us that words, like children, have the power to make dance the dullest beanbag of a heart.” -- Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan.

"It's not that tough to write a good speech, but rather just a matter of a few lines." -- Kennedy speechwriter Ted Sorenson.

"Grasp the subject; the words will follow." -- Cato the Elder.

Executives would be well served to heed this advice next time they deliver prepared remarks or interview with a local reporter. Communicating effectively requires more than having something to say; it requires thought, preparation, and knack for memorable quotes.

Let's hear from you. What are the most memorable speeches or quotes in your mind?

Daily Record: Business leaders, take note.

2009-02-13T08:43:00.005-05:00

Our monthly column appeared in The Maryland Daily Record this morning. You can view it by clicking here or read it in its entirety below. We hope it prompts creative thinking about how to communicate effectively in 2009.

Listen up, business leaders: A message from the public

Henry Fawell
Special to The Daily Record
February 13, 2009

Business leaders, take note. There’s an urgent message in your inbox, sent by consumers in the U.S. and beyond. The message is simple: Level with us.

That’s the lesson from two recent surveys that gauge whether companies are communicating effectively in today’s economic climate. If your company depends on public opinion (hint: that means you), the findings in these surveys demand your attention.

Take a look at the evidence: A January survey by Boston Consulting Group finds that less than a third of consumers worldwide have been contacted by their financial institution about the economic downturn and how it affects the consumer. Not surprisingly, those who weren’t contacted by their bank, insurer or asset manager expressed less confidence in that institution than those who were contacted.

But a separate survey by Siegel+Gale shows that what you say is every bit as important as how regularly you say it. Eight out of 10 consumers told Siegel+Gale they are more likely to trust companies that ditch industry jargon in favor of simple, plain-English messages.

Three out of four said that “complexity and lack of understanding” were major contributors to the financial crisis gripping the economy. It should come as no surprise, then, that more than a third said they are less likely to trust their bank, mortgage lender, broker or financial advisor in the coming year.

Ouch. The moral of the surveys is obvious: Financial institutions that kept their stakeholders in the dark last year — intentionally or not — damaged their credibility.

Let’s be clear: Banks and insurers aren’t the only ones who can learn from these findings. Electric utilities are expected to translate volatile swings in energy prices into simple language the average ratepayer understands when he or she pays the bills. Cable companies are expected to clearly present to customers what exactly they are paying for each month. (The next time you open your cable bill, ask yourself whether they’re doing a good job.)

Health care providers, colleges and universities all risk public hostility in recessions as the services they provide are increasingly unaffordable — but no less important — for millions of Americans.

OK, so U.S. businesses have been communicating poorly. How can a business leader use these surveys to improve a company’s reputation? Here are five quick ideas.

Embrace these findings. The ugly truth about how poorly we all communicated in 2008 can be a blessing for companies seeking to influence public opinion in 2009.

Identify your stakeholders. These may include customers, regulators, elected officials or reporters, to name a few. Your communications strategy must be centered on this group.

Listen to your stakeholders. Understanding your stakeholders’ fears is central to putting them at ease. Focus groups, online strategies and face-to-face interaction give you that opportunity. Take the time to listen. What they tell you may dramatically alter how you communicate.

Give your message a tune-up. If you’ve been ignoring today’s economic realities in your public outreach, you’re probably considered out of touch. If your messages are littered with hedges, qualifiers and jargon, you can sound evasive or pretentious. Jargon is fine for industry analysts and trade publications, but not the consumer. The public wants the facts and it wants them in plain English.

Tear down barriers. For too long, companies have had to rely on reporters and editors who filtered news as they saw fit. While objective interpretation of events is important, the interpreters don’t always get it right. New technologies — such as blogs and interactive social media Web sites — allow for unfiltered conversations between you and your stakeholders. Toyota effectively uses its “Open Road” blog to correct inaccuracies in the press and level with the public in language we all understand. Southwest Airlines connects with the public by posting its own messages on YouTube. One of its YouTube messages has garnered nearly 200,000 views, demonstrating that at least some segments of the public welcome corporate participation in online dialogues. These efforts should complement your traditional strategies of media outreach, e-mail and snail mail campaigns, press releases and public speaking.

There is no monopoly on these new platforms. Any organization with creativity and a plan can harness it to their advantage. One caveat: This freedom comes with responsibility. Successful new media strategies are often centered on candid communications straight from senior management.

The message in these two surveys is a tough one to swallow, but it is unmistakably clear. Candor matters. With two-thirds of Americans saying their trust in U.S. businesses has fallen, we’ve got our work cut out for us. It’s time to rebuild that trust, and the time to start is now.

Henry Fawell is a communications consultant for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC in Baltimore and was press secretary for Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. His column appears monthly in The Daily Record. His e-mail address is henry.fawell@wcsr.com.

Toyota blogs from "The Open Road"

2009-02-11T11:21:00.005-05:00

We spend a lot of time exploring how and why companies should consider blogging as part of their communications strategies; the tricky part is figuring out how to do in a way that benefits both the company and the reader.

Here's an example of corporate blogging done right: Toyota recently used its blog "Open Road" to respond to what it considered inaccurate coverage in USA Today. In a January post titled "MPG Race is Good for Everyone," Toyota disputed the paper's contention that car companies were "squabbling" over which company's cars were more fuel efficient.

Toyota pushes back at the paper's coverage and lays out in easy-to-understand terms what it considers the bigger picture: the industry-wide migration away from petroleum-based energy. The response is firm, personable, and in language we can all understand -- all hallmarks of a good corporate blog.

Thanks to The Blog Council for flagging it.

Marketing the recovery plan

2009-02-10T16:59:00.008-05:00

After a detour for jury duty and other obligations, Wag the Dog is back. Let's take a look at how advocates for President Obama's stimulus plan are seeking to influence public opinion -- starting with the president himself.

1. The White House live blogged the president's townhall meeting today in Florida, just hours before the Senate adopted the $838 billion package. It was the president's second townhall meeting in as many days.

2. President Obama held a prime time news conference Monday evening, which the White House immediately posted on Youtube.com. The video had nearly 12,000 views in its first 18 hours online.

3. At the microblogging site Twitter.com, the author dubbed @obamanews kept the public up to date on the Senate debate over the stimulus. @obamanews enjoys nearly 12,000 followers.

4. Just a stone's throw from the White House, the Treasury Department launched a new website dedicated to the new financial market stability plan - a separate animal from the stimulus package - complete with fact sheets, videos, press releases, and more.

5. Treasury Secretary Geithner gave what appears to be an exclusive interview to New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks in an effort to market the stability plan. The results were mixed, but the effort to lower the temperature among critics is admirable.

6. "Organizing for America" - a new grassroots operation housed under the Democratic National Committee - has kept supporters engaged by encouraging house meeting to discuss the president's agenda. Check out this video of the president thanking his supporters and addressing the economic recovery debate on Capitol Hill. The video has 753,000 views in three days.

The strategy accounts for townhall meetings, beat reporters, thought leaders, web video, micro-blogging, grassroots engagement, vocal surrogates, and more.

What do you think? What is missing?

In the coming days and weeks, we'll also take a look at how the president's critics are getting their message out.

Tuesday's must reads

2009-01-27T13:22:00.005-05:00

Here are three commentaries that may spark ideas on how you can communicate more effectively in 2009.

1. Ten ways social media will change in 2009 (ReadWriteWeb) -- Just when you thought you understood what Facebook or Twitter could do for your company, along come these predictions.

2. Avoid inviting distrust (Brandweek) - A new survey reminds us that it's not what you say; it's what people hear.

3. Salmonella scare spurs a boost in online outreach (PR Week) - Find out how the peanut butter industry responded to a massive recall.

Clouding your message

2009-01-20T16:35:00.007-05:00

(ReadWriteWeb)

Companies looking to sharpen their message should consider a relatively new technology: word clouds. This tool - which creates a cloud out of the words that appear most frequently in your text - can be especially useful when writing speeches, press releases, or blogs. The more often a word appears in your speech, the more prominent it is in your cloud. You can analyze any document for free at http://www.wordle.net/. This is great way to analyze whether your key themes are breaking through.

Check out a great word cloud analysis of recent presidential inaugural addresses by ReadWriteWeb by clicking here. Notice any themes?