THINKing

Links – 8/29/2008

From Cision’s Navigator enewsletter Media Update Column:
General News Category
Lifestyle/Entertainment Category
Business/Financial Category

Summer Blues For News

The Secret To WOM Marketing

The Future Of Social Media

From THINKing’s Dusty Archives:
Tell Me A Story
Tell Me A Story About Me
Brand Euthanasia

Web News Aggregators

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100 Reporters Were Sitting At A Bar…

We’ve talked here often about the use of digital tools like Twitter for PR and media relations purposes. Digital colleague Joan Stewart alerted me about a post on PR and Social Media at Ronn Torossian’s blog,

Someone made a very wise comment about using Twitter and the value of passively reading comments and thoughts of reporters and writers. He said, “If you had the chance to sit at a bar and silently listen to 100 Reporters talking, would you? That’s Twitter.”

He is dead on. You get to find out what is on their minds and what kinds of stories they work on without having to bother them with an unneccessary phone call or email. Why should you worry about that, you’re asking? Reporters – like everyone else – hate spam and they consider this a form of it. As the Media Relations Blog points out in 11 Tips For Pitching Reporters,

Reporters STILL hate PR spam and irrelevant pitches. Such tactics are unlikely to generate coverage, it turns out. Shocking, I know.

Are you using social media like Twitter or tools like PitchEngine in your media relations efforts? Do tell.

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Tell Me A Story About Me

Marketers know that a story is a good way to engage prospects. But too often the marketer wants to tell a self-serving story about the company instead of about how the company helps the prospect or customer. Chest-thumping puffery does not sell. Tell me about how you can make me more money, save me some time, provide me work/life balance and I’m listening and more likely to ring the register. Otherwise, save your time and money because I just tuned out.

Do you know why people buy your product? I often do customer interview projects for clients to help them uncover the reasons people buy from them. This is the best way that I have found to learn what motivates your customers.

But Author Geoff Ayling’s book Rapid Response Advertising provides an excellent list of 51 reasons why people buy. Let’s review a few and maybe you’ll see some that resonate with you:

1. To make more money

2. To save money – this is the most important reason to 14% of the population

3. To attract praise

4. To increase enjoyment

5. To possess things of beauty

6. To avoid criticism

7. To make their work easier

8. To speed up their work

9. To keep up with the Joneses

10. To feel opulent

11. To look younger

12. To become more efficient

13. To buy friendship

14. To avoid effort

15. To escape or avoid pain

16. To communicate better

17. To be in style

18. To avoid trouble

19. To protect their family

20. To express love

Why do you buy?

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Tell Me A Story

Since the dawn of time mankind has been a sucker for a story. We may be wearing synthetics now instead of skins, but that one truth has not changed. Whether you are communicating with employees, customers or the media, a story has the most power.

I read a piece in Bull Dog Reporter not too long ago quoting Wall Street Journal Reporter Don Clark on the power of narrative to break through the media wall. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Know what constitutes a front-page piece—tell a story. “We’re not just looking for announcements,” says Clark. “We’re looking for great story elements. That’s how we work. For example, your story should include a level of drama—like a guy so upset with his company stock that he flew a plane into a mountain. But drama is just one element.” Some others:

Narrative: “What people want to read now is some narrative and a story line. For example, we tell stories through characters and people—not products,” Clark shares. “A good illustration would be somebody saying their plan worked just like they thought it would. Well, that’s not a story. We want things that are unexpected. We want to hear the stumbles, the roadblocks and the bad luck—then the good news at the end. But PR people always start with the good news.”

Conflict: “Similarly, journalists are interested in conflict,” Clark says. “For example, companies suing each other has plenty of tension. A lot of people want to say they have no competition. But that’s a great way not to get written about.”

Now, how can you incorporate storytelling into your organization’s publicity efforts? Just like Stephen King does. Start with the hero in his everyday, believable world. Then, take him on a journey into an unbelievable world. The hero completes his journey, returning to the old world inextricably changed. You also need a universal theme or a unique point of view that propels the story forward, like “good triumphs over evil,” or “the small outfoxes the large opponent.”

Next, remember the idea is not to sell the audience something, it is to engage them.

So, what’s your story? Weave one of your own to break through the clutter.

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Brand Euthanasia

Was just reading an interesting piece at MediaPost about Kellogg trying to resuscitate a brand – Hydrox – that long had been on life support. Hydrox – developed by Sunshine Bakeries – was the original creme filled cookie. Oreo is the knock-off. But like IBM, whose mantra used to be “second with power”, Oreo out-marketed the cookie pioneer. Mergers and acquisitions turned Sunshine to Keebler and Keebler to Kellogg. Hydrox was shelved.

It has an atrocious name – sounds like a bad tasting medicine. And it was competing as the distant #2 in the category against Oreo. So why bring it back? A core of dedicated consumers, for one.  Next, it was first made in 1908. Kellogg probably thought that a 100-year-old brand with a small, rabid group of fans could have some success. Will it be successful?

Let’s review the brand revival guide from Jeff Himmel, who brought back such brands as Ovaltine and Lavoris.

1. Point of difference. Will consumers buy this product instead of another brand?

2. Unique selling proposition. Does the product tell a unique story?

3. Make the brand stand out.

4. Dominant share of advertising.

5. Frequency of advertising. Make sure the message about your product is repeated over and over to the public.

6. Listen to the consumer, and then listen again more carefully.

7. Produce creative advertising that strikes a chord with the consumer.

8. Control commercial production costs. (He tends to only spend about $2,000 producing a commercial.)

9. Use your money to place ads, not make ads, and get a dominant share of advertising.

10. Live in a state of perpetual paranoia and always know what your competitors are doing.

11. Consider the X factors about your product. For example, does it have an existing distribution, or will it have to be created from scratch?

12. Have discipline to follow all the points on this list.

Do you think Kellogg is going to spend the kind of money necessary to out market Nabisco’s Oreo? Neither do I.  Sometimes it is better just to kill a brand than to try to bring it back.

Hydrox, I believe, is probably one of those brands that needs to be euthanized. What do you think?

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Links 8/22/2008

Online
Magazine Web Traffic: Surge or Embarrassment

Magazine Web Traffic: The Other Side Of The Story

Local Online Ads Moving Consumers

Toothpaste & Word-of-Mouth Seem To Go Together

PR
Getting PR For A Start-Up

Five Ways To Make Pitching More Productive

For Grins
Sanjaya Yourself – Hit replay when you land on this page. In other Sanjaya news…
Give Your Friends Gas – Click on the Give Your Friends Gas video link

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PitchEngine: A PR Tool For Savvy Practitioners

Editor’s Note: Today’s post comes from guest blogger, Jason Kintzler of PitchEngine. This is a terrific service that every PR practitioner should be using. So, get over there and sign up.

How it was born
I don’t claim to be a PR or social media expert, however I have had experience on both sides of the coin, as a journalist and as a PR guy. I’ve seen the disconnect between media and PR when it comes to technology, and I realized that there are better ways to close the gap and better media relations. That’s how PitchEngine came about.

Phase One
The first phase of PitchEngine is the Social Media Release Builder which gives PR firms (large and small) the ability to create and share digital content easily. It differs from what’s out there today because it’s easy, it’s free and it’s designed to be shared via social methods instead of through PR distribution services.

Jason Baer shared the need for PitchEngine in a recent blog post:

“The hang-up with social media releases has been actually getting them built. Most PR folks are not Web programmers, and the very nature of what makes a social media release useful (tags, links, multi-media) makes it tricky to execute if your definition of high tech is inserting a footer in Microsoft Word. PitchEngine is out to change all that. Their slick, exceptionally easy online social media release creation engine is by far the best I’ve seen. Literally, if I took the time to explain what a “tag” was to my 9 year-old, she could make a release (it would probably be about ice skating or the dresses on The Titanic).”

Phase Two
The second phase, which we’ll be rolling out this week, is the Social Media Newsroom. Now, users will be able to create customized newsrooms for each brand they manage within PitchEngine. These Newsrooms host and archive current and future PitchEngine SMRs and can be added via link to a brand’s website (or integrated into a frame set or iframe on their site). This will be a subscription-based service for $600/yr. We’ll have more details up on the site this week!

Phase Three
This phase is the one I’m most excited about. Typical newswires offer media access to a selection of pre-determined RSS feeds full of traditional releases. The media side of PitchEngine will give journalists and bloggers unprecedented controls over PR content. Users can create a completely custom and individualized feed for their newsbeat, industry or category – no two feeds will be alike. Once a media user has a profile, they can send all PR pitches through the PitchEngine system, where they can approve or deny each of them based on their interest level. It’s an innovative platform that I’m anxious to unveil.

The need is apparent. People like social media consultant and blogger, Chris Brogan, are already sending PR people directly to the site.

“I’m going to refer EVERYONE who pitches me to the PitchFeed part of PitchEngine, ” Brogan said in his post on chrisbrogan.com.

The experts weigh in
I’ve read posts and tweets from a few critics of PitchEngine. Without much investigation, they’re quick to jump in and tell people that it won’t work or it’s a pipedream. I’ve heard how newswires are drawing parallels to their services and comparing apples to oranges. I believe PitchEngine competes with Microsoft Word more than it does with PR distribution services, especially at this early stage. I welcome the criticism. The beauty of a start-up like this is that my intentions are genuine and I have no one to answer to except our PR and media users.

The feedback from the alpha run of PitchEngine was incredible. Practically every user I invited fired back an email or a tweet expressing their appreciation for what we’re doing. That says more than any ‘expert’ opinion out there.

Deirdre Breakenridge from PFS Marketwyse and author of PR 2.0 posted this comment within a day of our launch,

“I think that you will really help many PR professionals to learn about the social media tools that are available in such a way that they will feel comfortable and confident with these easy to use resources.”

The influences
There are lot of people doing great things out there right now. From a PR perspective, I value the insights of people like Brian Solis and Todd Defren. Peter Shankman’s HARO is great example of someone pushing the boundaries beyond tradition in PR circles as well. My views may vary slightly, but it’s that spirit of change that drives me. I want to inspire others to rediscover their passion for PR and media. When that happens, PitchEngine will succeed.

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Starbucks – And Now For The Good News

Tim Manners of Reveries has completed a survey about Starbucks that contains much food for thought. Before we get to the results, let’s explore the brand known as Starbucks.

Here’s what I think is wrong with Starbucks. It expanded too quickly, lost its sense of community, and was no longer an experience, but became just another place to get coffee. Because the brand decided it wanted to become a chain, it lost its focus on what made it special. Coffee was key to the experience, but Starbucks decided to focus on music and other add-ons. What’s that all about? Employees became retail clerks, selling commodities, not experiences. Lose the employees, lose the war.

But there is good news for Starbucks in the survey. People feel passionately about it. Many love it. Many hate it. Says Manners,

That the brand elicits such passionate reactions perhaps bodes well for its potential to mount a comeback. Indeed, many of the survey respondents sounded almost desperate for the Starbucks they say they loved and lost. The encouraging news for Starbucks is that roughly the same percentage of respondents said that they “liked” Starbucks about as much today as they did five years ago. However, the percentage saying they “loved” Starbucks has dropped precipitously, from 33 percent who said they loved it five years ago to just 10 percent today. In addition, the percentage saying they are “neutral” about Starbucks has increased to 39 percent, up from 23 percent who said they were “neutral” toward Starbucks five years ago.

Here’s a clue for Starbucks’ success: focus on the ones who love you.

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Links 8/20/2008

The Future Of Twitter
Twitter’s business model is starting to show. An early sign came in April, when the popular microblogging service launched in Japan and the home page for every Japanese user included a big banner ad in the top right corner.

Downturn Gives Rise To New Consumer Beliefs
The current downturn has consumers building on trends that were already gathering momentum, like the simplicity movement.

Pet Health Still Important During Downturn
Even as the financial squeeze is making it increasingly tough to cover living basics, pet owners are striving to do their best by their four-legged family members.

TV News Still Beats Internet
The Internet has made major inroads as a source of American news–largely at the expense of newspapers–but television is still the favorite medium for news.

From Online To Offline
MeetingWave is the latest free social networking site that is designed to connect people digitally and then bring them together for meetings offline.

Fox News Chooses Facebook
Fox News Channel wants more friends. But instead of reaching out on the News Corporation’s own social network, MySpace, the cable news channel is choosing to network on the site’s chief rival, Facebook.

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Business Ethics: An Oxymoron?

Why do I believe good PR and business ethics are inextricably linked? It comes down to definitions. Ethics is learning what is right and what is wrong and then doing the “right thing.” PR involves providing counsel on the “right thing” to do and then helping the organization get credit for it.

The business and political excess of the last 20 years have taken some PR practitioners to the dark side because they felt it was the only way for their company to profit. Although I personally believe doing right for right’s sake is enough, there are some who may not share this view.

OK, here’s a reason that any good capitalist can embrace: research shows that socially responsible behavior is good for the bottom line.

An analysis of overall financial performance of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens shows that this group of firms did significantly better than the remaining companies of the S&P 500. Professors at DePaul University found that the mean ranking of the 100 Best was more than 10 percentile higher than the other firms of the S&P 500.

Additionally, they had a significantly better reputation among corporate directors and security analysts based upon results of the Fortune Magazine survey of most admired companies.

So, you see, it really does pay to do the right thing.

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