Hill+Knowlton Strategies

1. It doesn’t replace the press release…
2. it creates opportunities to move beyond it. 
3. It rewards intelligent risk-taking…
4. yet punishes deceitful intent.
5. It puts the emphasis on content…
6. while rejecting blatant spin.
7. It succeeds and/or fails regardless of what we (the PRs) think…
8. because what ‘they’ think will (and should) always matter more, and
9. It’s a transaction (their attention in exchange for your information)…
10. as much as it is an interaction.

Sure, there’s a lot more… but these stand out in my mind…

1. Because no self-respecting CEO should be without an avatar in second life.
2. Because business journalists wouldn’t have anything to write about otherwise.
3. Because CEO’s need to be convinced that bloggers are not voracious, flesh-eating fire ants intent on painfully stripping away the layers to reveal the truth about your ‘brand”.
4. Because lawyers need to understand that “no comment” is not a legitimate key message.
5. Because bankers need to understand that, sure, shareholders are important… but so are customers, employees, partners, suppliers, regulators, communities, NGO’s etc. etc.
6. Because when things go wrong, it inevitably gets characterized as a “PR blunder”, and people need someone to blame.
7. Because advertising doesn’t.
8. Because perception is reality.
9. Because bad things can – and do – happen to good companies.
10. Because I wouldn’t be in this business otherwise.

(of course, some of this is tongue-in-cheek. I challenge you to identify which)

Insert a smidgen of Mitch on social media: “It’s attitudinal not generational.”

Add a dash of Ze Frank  on viral success: “Dance like an idiot and don’t sell anything.“

Toss in a pinch of H. L. Mencken on old age: “Old age ain’t no place for sissies.”

Bake at 425 degrees, and serve hot:

Read more about the Zimmers here.

Hat tip to Meegs.

In communications, very often, pictures (like video) will trump the written word. Toondoo is a site that caught my eye recently as an entertaining though simplistic application for creating very basic cartoons – blending both images and text – to communicate a concept or message. I took my first stab today (click the link for a larger image of the above), and while the result may not be pretty (or particularly funny – Natural Law Party, get it?), it was an exercise in creating “dialog” that – if applied appropriately – could have impact in a variety of PR capacities.

Nice also to see that it offers all the social media bells and whistles that we’ve come to expect – comments, page views, sharing and linking features, RSS etc.

And to those who didn’t laugh. I challenge you to do better! 

Ryan at the New PR points to a fascinating Washington Post article that, although not specifically about PR and marketing, speaks volumes – albeit implicitly - about the challenges and realities facing, well, PR and marketing.

First, some context (from the WP): No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made. His performance was arranged by The Washington Post as an experiment in context, perception and priorities — as well as an unblinking assessment of public taste: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?

Why should marketers take note?

1. It speaks to challenge marketers face to capture the attention of audiences already struggling with the realities of their day-to-day lives; to rise above the noise.
2. It speaks to the notion that although content is king (even more so now in this user-generated world) we cannot ignore the importance of the context in which that content is delivered, and the appropriateness of the channel used to deliver it. Without such context, the ability to interrupt specific behaviours and perceptions is virtually impossible.
3. It speaks to the notion that technology is as much a filter as it is an enabler.
4. And, it shows the impact when a meaningful connection is actually made when Bell is finally recognized by a solitary individual: the difference between $17.17 for a 43 minute solo performance and $37.17.

You can listen to the full metro-station performance here.

It’s snowing in April. Kurt Vonnegut is dead. This Blogger Code of Conduct nonsense is like a bad smell that just won’t go away. And now…. ?

Please, Mr. Webber. To consider that an organization even has a choice about being “transparent” (or being seen to be “transparent”) is laughable in 2007. Transparency is being imposed upon them whether they want it or not – and my guess is that they would chose the “not”. But does that really matter?

In an age where disgruntled and dissatisfied customers have the tools to broadly share and aggregate negative experiences with a specific brand or product; where activists or concerned citizens can post stories, videos and photos of inappropriate or unethical behaviour that contradict an organization’s flowery prose around social responsibility; and where employees can leak internal memos or expose management wrong-doing… PR people can’t simply counsel their clients or senior executives to circle the wagons and rely on spin to make the problem go away.

Granted, this doesn’t mean flinging the doors to the executive suite or the shop floor wide open (then again, what do you have to hide?), although where issues of personal privacy, material disclosure or other areas of legality come into play, clear lines have to be drawn.

Rather, it means embracing the notion that much of what you say and do (as an organization) – and more importantly, much of what your employees say and do (as representatives of that organization) - will be publicly scrutinized, and potentially challenged. Not only do we need to accept this reality, we need to re-think the practice of PR accordingly, and consider how we bridge the divide between what our customers are saying and what we’re saying, and ensuring that the relationships we foster are built on open, authentic dialog (not just from the perspective of the communications department, but from the organization overall). Because who are you going to trust otherwise?

Telling stories that are in the best interest of our clients is fine - but is it enough? And is the PR department the appropriate distiller of those messages such that they ring true to our constituents? Vonnegut wrote in “Breakfast of Champions: “The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become.” And that, to me, is what our business should be about.

The fervour with which the armed forces of various countries (and their supporters) have embraced video – and Youtube, in particular – as an outlet to reach out to potential recruits, showcase the conditions under which the troops serve, communicate to loved ones, and deliver personal tributes to the men and women who serve in the military (of which there are nearly 100 for the Canadian Forces alone) is fascinating. 

Without question, Youtube has helped to more broadly expose the harsh realities under which our troops operate, and to amplify the efforts of recruiters to reach younger audiences. 

But they can also portray a lighter side of a dangerous job, one that highlights the pride and camaraderie of the soldiers, sailors and airmen on the front lines. Perhaps the most entertaining are the growing numbers of music videos created (out of sheer boredom, one wonders) by the servicemen and women themselves. A sample playlist:

• The “Sun Kings” of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 116 rendition of the Black Eye Peas’ hit song, “Pump It” and Outkast’s’ “Hey Ya,” (You can read here about the potential impact of these videos on recruitment. Hat tip to Ian Ketcheson.)
• Not to be outdone is the Royal Navy’s version of Queen’s Bohemian Rapsody.
• And you can judge for yourselves which version of “Is this the way to Amarillo” is better: this video by British soldiers stationed in Iraq, or this clip video’d by the Dutch military in Afghanistan. (what is it about this song?)
• One clip I wish I could find, and an example from a Canadian context, is Rick Mercer’s 2005 (or was it earlier?) visit during his This Hour Has 22 Minutes days to Canadian soldiers stationed in the Former Yugoslavia, to lead a rousing karaoke sing-along to ”We’re here for a good time, not a long time” by Canadian rock dinosaur, Trooper.

  Sadly, since I can’t show that, I figured I’d show another Mercer/Trooper moment just prior to the 2006 one of the recent Federal elections, and to the tune of “Raise a Little Hell“. Fun, but not quite the same impact though.

A message to anyone involved in creating client presentations and pitch decks: Can the bullets and think visual. 

Because new research shows – according to the Sydney Morning Herald – that the combination of written text and spoken word is more hindrance than help in getting people to retain the messages you’re trying to deliver.

Says the article:

If you have ever wondered why your eyes start glazing over as you read those dot points on the screen, as the same words are being spoken, take heart in knowing there is a scientific explanation. It is more difficult to process information if it is coming at you in the written and spoken form at the same time.

Here’s the crux, according to John Weller of the University of NSW’s faculty of education, “It is effective to speak to a diagram, because it presents information in a different form. But it is not effective to speak the same words that are written, because it is putting too much load on the mind and decreases your ability to understand what is being presented.“

So no more relying on “bullets” to serve as back-up for poor pitch preparation. Science has finally proven that it can be harmful to the health of your client – or prospective client – relationships.

Hat tip to Provokat

Who says media should be the only group allowed to muckrake and rabble-rouse? Thankfully, in this 2.0 world, we all have the power to rail against the political elite (or champion them) and challenge the primacy of the traditional media. And in Canada, political blogging is arguably one of the more popular pasttimes.

And, as in any area of interest, through their diligence, dedication, spirited writing, willingness to question, and no-holds-barred discourse, a few bloggers have risen to the fore as powerful players in their own right. In Canada, Stephen Taylor is one of those.

As co-founder of the Blogging Tories, Stephen is arguably one of the more influential voices in Canadian politics, and a welcome guest for our next Third Monday, on April 16, 2007.

When: 6:00 pm EST

Where: Fresco Cielo (Elgin Street), Ottawa

Please register (it’s free), and I look forward to seeing you all there (I may even buy you a drink): http://publicrelations.meetup.com/84/calendar/5607700/   

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