Marketing-Gimbal

The Evolving Role of PR and Social Media: 5 Questions with Lois Paul of Lois Paul & Partners

 Lois Paul co-founded LP&P in 1986, with the aim of building an agency that did high-tech public relations a different way. Prior to founding LP&P, Lois was executive editor/features and a founding member of PC Week (now eWeek). During her tenure, she was responsible for more than 50 percent of the newspaper’s editorial content and specialized in reporting on the computer software industry. Prior to the launch of PC Week, Lois was senior editor/software at Computerworld, the leading computer weekly publication at the time.

Disclaimer: The Company I work for, “Lumension”, is a client of LP&P.

1. There has been a lot said and written in recent months that with the advent of social media there is no longer a need for Public Relations firms. What’s your take on that point of view?

There is no question that Public Relations has had to evolve over the past few years, in particular, as the marketplace has changed and social media has become a more critical communication channel to customers and the industry.  The Public Relations professionals who have embraced this change are in higher demand than ever.  Social media adds a new element to a marketing mix that requires careful strategy, monitoring and measurement to be truly successful and high ROI.  It fits perfectly into a good Public Relations firm’s mix of programs that are customized based on each client’s market and needs.  Beyond this, the opportunity afforded by social media to speak directly to customers means companies need to speak their language.  A good Public Relations firm can help with this.

2. Lots of companies today are trying to figure out how to use social media tools within their business. What is your advice to those companies on how to begin?

Just this week I talked with several companies who are at this beginning point.  My advice is always to determine your end game – who are you trying to reach with social media and what is your ultimate goal for the conversations you want to engage in with those people.  Once you clarify your target and mission, you need to assemble your assets to determine what content you have and what you need to assemble; who will ultimately own content development, monitoring services, etc.  Essentially you need to build a social media plan, just as you strategically plan all aspects of a solid communications program and measure their results.  At the same time, you should spend time listening to online conversations on blogs, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, and others to learn who is talking about you, your products, competitors and problems you’re trying to solve.  This provides valuable data that can help formulate the strategy.

3. What are your thoughts on the “Social Media Press Release”? Does it replace the tried and true press release we all grew up with?

In short, there’s a place for both social and more traditional news releases.  We have used the social media style releases for many of our clients, but not in all circumstances.   A strategy release that really needs to document a story cannot be handled as well with this type of release, for example.  In many ways, the traditional press release needs an overhaul, whether or not it is to shift it to the series of links that is essentially the format of a social media release.  We often suggest news advisories or bypass releases entirely and strategically target news dissemination.  Many sales forces feel that a win hasn’t happened unless there is a press release.  In those companies, we suggest a shorter format for releases that are less labor intensive and will require shorter review cycles to achieve their ultimate goals.

That said, companies should use social media releases to offer atomized pieces of content that complement the information in the release itself.  This allows bloggers, (increasingly) traditional media and members of a company's buying community that are publishers/ creators of information to embed in their own posts or online articles about the subject of the release.  The other aspect that's more important now in the age of microsharing is to include triggers that prompt people to share the news, such as a "Tweet This" summary that is hyperlinked so someone can more easily distribute it. 

The other view we have is that there is not a one-size-fits-all template that should be followed for every release. That said, the templates that are out there help to determine what people and companies should consider adding to releases.  There are certain elements that should be in every release (links to company web site, Twitter summaries, straight URL's to content/channels on third party services like Flickr, YouTube, related links, calls to action with simple links to a purpose landing page for the release so it is measurable, etc.), but not every release should be in a bulleted format, nor should every release include multimedia content.

4. What type of policy issues should a company consider before embarking on a social media/blogging program? Do we now need safe zones in the company where twittering or blogging on items discussed is not allowed?

Public companies in general need to be mindful of all of the rules related to selective disclosure before they embark on a social media policy.  Public or not, all companies really should establish a policy that helps everyone understand how to proceed – whether it is with regard to a company-sponsored blog or Twitter channel or a personal blog, Twitter feed or Facebook or MySpace pages.  Just yesterday I talked with a company that has some strong contributors to Twitter building relationships on that channel.  Their CEO wants to pull them back a tad, just to make sure they are careful about disclosing information too soon that might come out of conversations with clients, prospects or partners.  Twitter is such an immediate medium that it’s key that all heavy users are well versed in corporate guidelines before they inadvertently reveal information prematurely or inappropriately.

5. The approach Johnson and Johnson took to its product tampering issues in the 80’s has long been viewed as the gold standard in crisis communication. How does this approach to crisis communications hold up in the world of web 2.0?

I think J&J’s approach, which I remember well, still stands up today.  I have done many blog posts talking about how companies or even individuals would have been better served by being straightforward in the face of a crisis.  It’s important to determine the facts, the key stakeholders, and the designated official spokesperson.  Then it is key to be as clear and transparent as possible, using all appropriate channels.  If you cannot answer a question, you should be clear about that.  But you should provide as much information as you can as quickly as you can.  Social media is just another channel in this type of communications approach.  A corporate blog gives companies a perfect forum to disclose information in a controlled way, linking to press releases, videos, etc. that will help them communicate the facts in a clear way.  Twitter is a way to push this out more broadly.  When I was a journalist, I always sensed that information one of us would dig out was always bigger news that information that was revealed to us.  I think that still holds in the world of Web 2.0 and social media gives companies new tools to control and self-publish that information.

5 Key Insights for CMOs from CMOs

I’m a member of great social media community called The CMO CLUB. The community is for senior marketing leaders to come together and share ideas, and thoughts on the issues of the day.

 

Pete Krainik, started the club and has done a great job at taking the club to the next level. Earlier this year Pete asked the Truman Company, an executive marketing consulting firm, to help The CMO Club develop a set of actionable insights, gathered from club members in an effort to help navigate these trying times, and build successful strategies for 2009 and beyond.

 

The result of this effort was “Insights from CMOs” — the collective wisdom of nine CMO Club members based on in-depth interviews with the Truman Company conducted in early 2009. I thought I would share the top 5 insights as I think its good advice in this age we are in:

 

1.   Customer Centricity: Marketers must take responsibility in brining the voice of the customer into the organization and help the organization identify where, and how to add value to these customer relationships. I agree, but I also think this is one of the most challenging areas. With more pressure on short term revenue generation, and decreasing budgets this reality is harder to achieve, but we shouldn’t lose focus of the importance.

 

            "It’s marketing’s job to make sure that the consumersare at the center of the process."

2.   Marketing must secure a strategic role in the organization: Marketers must focus on demonstrating how they add value and ROI to the business in order to have a voice at the table. True, and depending on the organization this can be a tough one. Sometimes marketing is viewed as nothing more than the “cake & cookies” functions or “those guys that make pretty pictures”. If this is your reality, then it is imperative that you shift the discussion, and the function of marketing as the full value of marketing is not being met.

 

                    "Every time I sit down in front of the CEO or the CFO, I should act like I’m pitching an idea to venture capitalists."

3.   Marketing must become the key agent of change within the organization-Marketing can do this by shedding light on the customer. If you’re successful in points 1 & 2 you will naturally be the agent of change.There are also several dimensions of change taking place that marketing must lead in as noted below.

 

 

4.   Internal stakeholders are just as important as external stakeholders. This is a key insight in my view as marketing must align itself with sales, product development, service and the c-suit if it is to be a successful function. One reason why the turnover is so high in the CMO role is due to this insight.

 

            "Spend 50% of your time educating your internal stakeholders on the value of marketing, and speak in their language."

 

5.   Drive short term revenue but ensure the longer term view. This is especially true in this environment. Marketing must focus on driving revenue but not at the expense of keeping our eye on the long term strategy, and in supporting and enhancing our brand promise to our customers and markets.

 

 

All quotes and graphics in this blog post are from the executive presentation which I have posted here: Download CMOInsightsPresentationforNYSummit19May09. The full report can be found for members of the CMO Club.

Is The Secret To A Great Customer Experience Less And Not More?

I came across a blog post by Matthew E. May this week that really intrigued me. As a marketer I have a keen sense of understanding in how hard it is, or can be, to make the complex simple, and that in many ways is our primary job.

In this age of challenging business times there is no doubt that we will or have already been pulled into multiple meetings to discuss our customer experience and what we can do to make it better. Usually I find these discussions to gravitate towards what more we can do or how much price can be cut or what products can be packaged together(sorry I work with a lot of sales guys).

In Matthew’s blog post he calls out a strategy utilized by Apple. They have a stragey that they call the “Stop Doing Strategy”. In this strategy instead of asking what more you can add, or bundle you would ask some very different questions:

·         What would our customers love for us to eliminate, reduce, or stop adding and doing in our current business model and engagement?

·         What is it that our competitors would struggle with if we were to stop doing several things?

I found that when thinking about my business and customers and prospects in this context that my eyes opened to a much larger landscape potential of what we could do if we could stop doing things.

So maybe the secret to a great customer experience is less and not more. Nuff Said.

Social Media Continues Evolution. Marketers Take Note

I was pursuing through Jeremiah Owyang’s blog and came across a post he had that featured a recent bit of research regarding social media or as Universal Mcann calls it “Wave 3”. In this latest round of Universial Mcann research they call attention to several trends noted by the following statistics:

• Social media is a global phenomenon happening in all markets regardless of wider economic, social and cultural development. If you are online you are using social media

• Asian markets are leading in terms of participation, creating more content than any other region

• All social media platforms have grown significantly over the three Waves

– Video Clips are the quickest growing platform, up from 31% penetration

in Wave 1 to 83% in Wave 3

• 57% have joined a Social Network, making it the number one platform for creating

and sharing content

– 55% of users have uploaded photos

– 22% of users have uploaded videos

• The widget economy is real

– 23% of social network users have installed an application

– 18% of bloggers have installed applications in their blog templates

• Blogs are a mainstream media world-wide and as a collective rival any traditional media– 73% have read a blog

• The blogsphere is becoming increasingly participatory, now 184m bloggers world-wide– The number one thing to blog about is personal life and family

• China has the largest blogging community in the world with 42m bloggers, more than the US

and Western Europe combined

• Social media impacts your brands reputation

– 34% post opinions about products and brands on their blog

– 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs

Universal Mccann International Social Media Research Wave 3

view presentation (tags: socialmedia research social media)

 

Universal Mcann makes a poignant note in their statement:

“Social media is an important shift, as it summarizes the importance of interaction, the consumer and the community. The term emphasizes the idea that as a collective it can have as much impact as any traditional media platform. In truth, to claim social media as “new” is slightly misleading. From the beginning, the internet was founded on message boards, chat rooms and peer to peer communication. What has changed is the mass involvement that modern social platforms inspire.”

 

To that point social media has been around as long as humanity has been around. The friction in the communication between and across large numbers of people has been removed and this is fueling the a requirement that we as marketers must accept, adapt to and embrace in our daily actions. Nuff Said.

 

4 Things to Never Say to The CEO. And Then Some.

I came across this article by Bill Lane who wrote “Jacked Up”. A book based on his experiences working with jack Welch at GE. Bill rcenlty wrote an article in US NEWs & World Report where he put down 4 things you should never say to the CEO. After working for several large companies and seeing many presentations go awry and walking on egg shells myself a few times I have to agree with every one of these. I’ve encapsulated the 4 here:

1. "I'll have to get back to you on that.": In other words, you don't know and didn't do your homework…………….

2. Making fun of a corporate program. Feel free to make fun of this stupid stuff--as long as you're willing to leave the company the next day………..

3. Something you find funny. If you're lucky enough to get on the CEO's calendar, get advice ahead of time about what he's really interested in.."

4. "That can't be done.": No CEO wants to hear that something he deems important is impossible. I like to recall this scene from The Godfather: Part II: The boss wants somebody killed. His lawyer says, "Michael, you can't do this. It's impossible." Michael turns to Torpedo, his right-hand man. "Well?" "Difficult," Torpedo answers. "Not impossible. Never say something is impossible.

I have to vouch for # 4 especially hard. I was in Mexico doing a sales meeting for one of my past companies. The business unit president wanted to get some product sent down to Mexico the day before the show. The marketing manager explained that this was “Impossible” due to customs. The CEO calmly stared straight ahead and said “There is nothing that is impossible, only a lack of will. Either you find a way to get this product down here or I will find someone new with the will to do it”. Needless to say a way was found.

I will take the liberty at adding a few more not to do's to Bill’s list:

5. Never debate the king at his round table. Never debate the king in front of his knights. These issues are to be resolved before the meeting. I have seen too much road kill along my career path to ever forget this rule.

6. Nemawashi (Nema-Wa-She) to avoid debate at meetings. To often people mistake the term “meeting” as having the connotation of getting together and hashing things out. While this may be true at the lower levels it is never true at the senior executive levels. In my Japanese experience I learned to nemawashi. Nemawashi is a Japanese terms that means “going around the roots”. In other words it means to “lay the foundation”. In Japan meetings are mere formalities where the decision and debate as happened long before the actual meeting itself. If there is one piece of advice I would give to all young executives it’s learn to nemwashi, as it will give you longevity.

7. Perception drives reality. It really doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong. It matters what the perception is. Too many executives miss this fact and fail to address perception issues. Until perception changes you will never be given an opportunity to do the things you want to do. If it means focusing on some tactics before strategy, do it so you can live another day to develop your great strategy.

8. Rehearsal is a good thing. Central to point #7 is that you should always rehearse your formal presentations. Too many times executives don’t spend enough time thinking about what to say and how to say it. Every time you get up in front of people you are building your personal brand based on perception.

9. Don’t identify the problem. Propose a solution: How often do you have people do a wonderful job at identifying what we should be doing, or what’s not working, but never have a proposal on how to address the opportunity or problem with sufficient detail. I pay people to have opinions and to drive proposals on how to address our issues. If you’re constantly validating what the issues are and never coming up with solutions as to how to address them you will eventually hit a ceiling.

10. Always have an ask. Any time you get in front of senior management make sure you have some asks ready. If you don’t its just a power point pitch and you’re wasting their time. I don’t care if you have it handled 100%, you should always have a few asks ready to go. Besides, these guys need opportunities to make themselves feel like they’re doing something constructive anyway. Nuff Said.....