Strategic Public Relations

The Bipolar Consumer

One trend my firm follows is what we call consumer dissonance.

Consumers are breaking all of the conventional rules of shopping behavior. The same consumer shopping at Costco is also taking luxury spa vacations. And they have a Hummer H3 sitting next to a Toyota Prius in the driveway.

You get the idea.

“I’m So Sick of You “
This trend also applies online. Consider the YOU Fad Trend. The power of one has become obvious with the emergence of citizen marketing. It reinforces the value of, and need for, authenticity. It even comes with a backlash (courtesy of TIME Magazine).

Get A Second Life
Now while I want to express myself and maintain my individuality through social media, I may want to do the exact opposite in a virtual world. Take Second Life for example. The ability to fly and teleport is standard and avatar customization is encouraged. Brands mirroring their real world presence in SL are missing the point of virtual worlds. One SL member I’ve talked with notes “SL is an extension of me, not a duplication.”

What’s my point? One size never fits all in marketing. Whether planning for real worlds or virtual ones—how well do you know your consumer?

The choice is yours uploaded by squacco

tags | consumer trends | authenticity | Second Life

Are You a Media Source or a Media Pest?

Was in NYC earlier this month for a trade show and I arranged several media briefings, amongst other duties (reg. req.).

We began scheduling appointments two weeks prior to the show. In an email exchange with a trade reporter, I sent her to a site I thought she might find interesting. It has nothing to do with my firm or any of its clients. Her reply?

“Thanks for the site...these things are great for news. I actually find newly opened stores on blogs all the time...seems to be the new media of choice for publicizing new lines, stores, etc.”

I spotted the site as part of my usual news tracking efforts. The ability to establish yourself as a source with the media is simple if you keep up with all the industry reading you’re supposed to be doing. The Bad Pitch blog details this all the time.

Know the News to Make the News
Being well-read on current events gives you insight into what the competition’s doing, what the industry’s saying and it helps you identify the issues and trends to which your client can speak.

This routine pays off in spades during a trade show. We had a busy show with some high-profile coverage coming out of it.

Whether you are a speaker, attendee or exhibitor—trade shows are a circus. You have a tight window with the media and the more you know, the better the conversation. And a briefing really should be a conversation.

At some point in the near future, we’ll provide some tips around creating an effective post-show report. Until then it’s back to work.

Brave uploaded by Szczur
:: Cross-Posted from the Bad Pitch blog ::

tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | good pitch | bad pitch | bad pitch blog | marketing | trade show marketing

PR Week Airs Client/Agency Dirty Laundry

PRWeek reports that Hitachi Data Systems and Hill & Knowlton have ended their two-month-old relationship as client and agency of record.

The article points to this YouTube video as a driver behind the break up.

"Things that make you go hmm," right? And after this post-inspiring quote, the plot thickens.

"H&K was simply not a strategic fit with the company," said Steven Zivanic, HDS director of corporate communications. "There were more issues than a video. That quote is an understatement. There were multiple issues on multiple areas."

wtf? In an attempt to be as unbiased as possible, let me first note that I have nothing more than this article to go on (reg. req.). And there is clearly more to this story than is being reported. But if a business relationship ends on bad terms, would you ever issue a negative quote like this?

Media Relations 101 points us to thinly-veiled puff statements like “the agency wanted to spend more time with its children” or “the agency is going to pursue other interests.” It’s the professional way to conduct business. For the above quote to come from a company’s director of corporate communications makes this article even more unfortunate and surprising.

Bottom Line: Companies spend a lot of time and money conducting agency searches. Agencies spend a lot of time and money competing in them.

To break up after only two months, IMHO, calls Hitachi’s search and review process into question more than it calls H&K into question.

And to the swarm of agencies that, quite understandably, rush to fill a departing agency’s void—ask a lot of the tough questions required to make sure you do not suffer a similar fate. Because no matter whose dirty laundry is being aired, it always stinks.

Dirty Laundry uploaded by Stephen Roy/Gonzo

tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | PR Week | Hitachi Data Systems | Hill & Knowlton

Mountain Dew Customer Service Follows Up, Follows Through

Terri Maini from PepsiCo consumer relations responded to my recent post on PepsiCo’s customer response loop.

Hi Kevin,
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your candid feedback about my e-mail to you. I misunderstood your request and I apologize because my response wasn't very helpful.

We agree that Sue Teller is quite a character and everyone seems to love her. And please know that I did pass the "Tonight Show" information onto our Public Relations department as well as our Brand Team and I know they are following up on the inquiry.

Thank you for being such a great Dew fan and for having such a good sense of humor!

Regards,
Terri
Consumer Relations

Terri, no need to apologize. I will still do the Dew (but I prefer to sip the Starbucks).

E-mail follow up like this between a company and a customer goes a long way to clearing up any misunderstanding. Whether they have arrows or accolades for a brand, consumers usually just want their voice to be heard.

Since I’m helping put their spokesperson onto two different national TV programs, I’m surprised the PR and brand folks have not gotten involved at some level in an obvious fashion. So when it comes to customer service, Mountain Dew gets the Goofus and PepsiCo’s Terri Maini gets the Gallant.

Mountain Dew clearly offers several methods for customers to provide input, ask questions and give feedback. They are also responsive and are monitoring relevant brand conversations online. Connecting with the customer is the final step.

It may be tough for some companies to decide whether or not to jump into the conversation. But the brand that hesitates in an effort to avoid another misstep may merely make it worse. I reference corporate personality a lot while others chant the mantras of authenticity and transparency. But it all boils down to just being yourself. If you do this you are allowed to make mistakes. By simply following up with a personal e-mail, Terri Maini turned a misunderstanding into an opportunity.

Mountain Dew Sign uploaded by Silfverduk

tags | public relations | PR | PepsiCo | Mountain Dew | Sue Teller | advertising | marketing | brand

Sue Teller goes from YouTube to National TV

Sue Teller's YouTube videos are clearly generating some mainstream interest—two national TV programs have now contacted me to get contact information for her and to learn Sue Teller's true identity.

I'm told that Sue is meeting with The Tonight Show today—watch your local affiliate for details. I’m not sure if she's meeting with Jay Leno or if she is being screened first.

Now The Ellen DeGeneres Show also wants to speak to her.

So am I becoming Sue Teller's agent? Nope. This is just a great example of how potent Google and blogs are when mixed together. I'm at the top of the search results for Sue Teller. I'm also naturally responsive to media inquiries.

In the hopes she’ll indulge us with an interview, I’ve submitted some questions to Sue Teller’s family. Hopefully we can learn more about this YouTube star. Stay tuned.

RELATED:
Mountain Dew’s Curious YouTube Video
Jay Leno Wants to Meet Sue Teller

tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | YouTube | Tonight Show | Jay Leno | advertising | marketing | consumer-generated media | Mountain Dew | Sue Teller | Ellen DeGeneres

DewTube Update: PepsiCo's Customer Disservice

After sending emails to mmand86 and Mountain Dew, Sue Teller's daughter sent me Sue's real name and contact information. I forwarded it to the Tonight Show's talent coordinator. We'll see what happens.

The real story here comes from PepsiCo, Mountain Dew's parent company, and its silly, inconsistent customer service.

Mountain Dew’s Help Page is all about being cool with rounded corners and a spooky, talking customer service animation named Jack. Jack hails from the aptly named Oddcast.

After giving me the heebie jeebies, Jack sent me to an e-mail form at PepsiCo's site to pose my question to the mother ship. Fair enough. After telling PepsiCo the particulars, I and included a link to my blog post and my work contact information (to give them a more credible email addy). I made it clear that the Tonight Show wants to have their unique spokesperson on their show.

A few hours later, PepsiCo responded. I was impressed until I read the email.

---
A Message from Consumer Relations 011187727A

Ms. Kevin Dugan
WORK MAILING ADDRESS
Cincinnati, OH 45202

Dear Ms. Dugan:
Thank you for taking the time to contact us here at Pepsi-Cola Company.

We thank you for your interest in our company. To further pursue your request, we suggest your sending a written proposal to the following address:

Ms. Tricia Lynch
Pepsi-Cola North America
700 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase, NY 10577

Again, thank you for contacting us, and we wish you the best in all of your future endeavors.

Terri Maini
Consumer Relations Supervisor
[email protected]
011187727A
---

What What? She's a man baby!

Actually, that's not a big deal. I can take the hit. But submit a written proposal? It reminds me of AT&T's fabled, and now ancient, "Put it in Writing" ads. Um, thanks for the uptight, legal-approved letter. But I'll pass on the homework assignment.

This response gets points for being sent so quickly. But the low tech answer is a joke. It’s an example of what can happen if you do not have a corporate personality. It comes off less than genuine to say the least.

RELATED:
Mountain Dew’s Curious YouTube Video
Jay Leno Wants to Meet Sue Teller

tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | YouTube | Tonight Show | Jay Leno | advertising | marketing | consumer-generated media | Mountain Dew | Sue Teller | Super Bowl XLI | Super Bowl ads | Super Bowl | advertising | marketing | consumer-generated media

Jay Leno wants to meet Sue Teller

Have you seen this geriatric DJ?

The plot thickens with the Mountain Dew YouTube video of Sue Teller "getting her freak on" old skool. Strategic Public Relations was just contacted by the Tonight Show.

Hello,
I am a Talent Coordinator at The Tonight Show & am looking to contact Sue Teller. Can you assist me? I can be reached at 818-555-XXXX.

Thanks,
NAME
Talent Coordinator
The Tonight Show

Sue Teller could become the Clara "Where's the Beef?" Peller of the YouTube Generation.

In an effort to help out The Tonight Show, I am pulling a Scoble and posting my cell phone as I am traveling today: 513-382-9829. Call me if you have any leads. I already sent a YouTube message to the producer of the Teller videos. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. I may just be a pawn in Mountain Dew's Super Bowl strategy.

tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | YouTube | Tonight Show | Jay Leno | advertising | marketing | consumer-generated media | Super Bowl XLI | Super Bowl ads | Super Bowl

This Trade Show Stinks

So I’m in New York, haunting the Javits at the National Retail Federation’s BIG Show. My firm gave two different presentations and, amongst other duties, I helped create some retail porn for one of them. The idea is to use some a/v to attract attendees into your presentation and create the kind of excitement the usual “podium/power point deck of doom” can crush as soon as the atypical title slide advances to the overview page.

The NRF Show had become almost completely technology-focused, but this year they created a space for retail design—The NRF Studio. My firm even has a booth.

Safe from the circus of the main expo floor, the Studio’s Five Senses Pavilion shows various technologies and their ability to immerse customers in a retail space by engaging all of their senses.

The Smell and Taste booths are the most interesting in my opinion. How many non-food brands consider how these senses might be engaged? How many food brands consider how audio might be engaged to establish their brand? Starbucks did to its benefit. I'm thinking Starbuck’s music cds and NOT its Hear Music concept.

FIELD TRIP! New York readers should check out the melee at NRF. From The Studio and the Five Senses Pavilion to the Store of the Future and the tchotchke-packed expo floor—you can get in for FREE. Just head down to the Javits and register for a free Studio Pass. Use the promotion code 1240.

tags | public relations | PR | trade show | NRF | retail design

Gates to Buffet "Look! Boobies!" – Friday Flickr Fix – 01.12.07

Canuckflack sent this Alpha Nerd Moment of Zen. From a Hooters news release:

"Clearly these guys can go anywhere they want to. The fact that they picked Hooters hopefully says something about the strength of our brand."

Um, no, it says they're cheap and horny.

Here's a free PR tip to Hooters. If you're giving away two VIP passes worth free food for life, pick customers in a lower income bracket if you want positive coverage of the gesture.

Caption Contest: Submit your caption as a comment to qualify for a free prize. I'll start out: "Wait till the bridge club hears about this!"

Regular readers (Hi, Mom!) will note this is not a Flickr pic—we're bending the rules.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Maggie Fox at Social Media Group for her caption: "Melinda is going to kill me." Check out the comments for all of the entries and a special thanks to Topaz Partners for their group entries and "critique."

tags | public relations | PR | media relations | | Hooters | Warren Buffet | Bill Gates

Reality TV’s Endless Commercial

Via WWD, reality television is the top product placement vehicle. Of the top 10 TV shows guilty of incessant product placement in 2006, nine of them are reality TV shows.

“How effective is product placement? Nielsen Media Research found that this form of advertising boosts brand recognition by 20 percent when combined with a commercial.”

1) American Idol, FOX: 4,086
“The judges sip their supersized Cokes, the contestants are driving around in Ford Mustangs, and the audience is text-messaging in its favorites of the week using Cingular cell phones. Despite the blatant use of product placement on the show, people just can't stay away.”

Is it any surprise that Coca Cola was the top brand being placed last year? I suspect they have Simon, Paula and Randy to thank.

2) The Amazing Race, CBS: 2,790
3) Extreme Makeover Home Edition, ABC: 2,701
4) The Biggest Loser, NBC: 2,405
5) America’s Next Top Model, UPN/CW: 2,309
6) Hell’s Kitchen, FOX: 1,909
7) The Apprentice, NBC: 1,831 For anyone that has watched this show, I find it surprising The Donald is only at number seven.
8) The King of Queens, CBS: 1,742
9) Rock Star: Supernova, CBS: 1,609
10) Big Brother, CBS: 1,591

Depressing? Well, evidently, product placements actually DECREASED in 2006. Product placements were down 20 percent to 120 hours of TV devoted just to product placement…NOT commercials.

How do you Tivo through that?

Related: Product Placement is Morphing, But is it Working?

I OWN YOU uploaded by ultraclay!
tags | product placement | Coke | American Idol | media | television | TV | advertising | marketing