Strategic Public Relations

5 New Twitter Tools You Can Use

Here’s a how-to post on some Twitter tools worth checking out. Keep in mind these are just the latest, “new to me” tools. This is not an exhaustive list and just the tip of the Twitter iceberg.

Friend Or Follow: Some folks have a fairly OCD matrix of who they follow and who they ignore. Others are more carefree. For those folks somewhere in the middle, I offer Friend or Follow. It sorts out mutual follows, folks you’re ignoring and folks ignoring you. Bonus points go to this site for not requiring your password to get the info to you.

Tweet Trak: Tweet Trak is just like setting up Google News Alerts, only for Twitter. Per its bio: “follow Tweet Trak, then send a DM to me: 'track (term)' to get messaged whenever someone tweets that term. Created by RyanK, it’s one of a few ways to track keywords via Twitter, including Tweetscan.

Mr. Tweet: Your “personal Twitter assistant” identifies influencers beyond your network you might want to follow. Mr. Tweet also notes which of your followers you should be following back. And once again no passwords required.

The Media is Dying: This service wants to “update the flack so pitches aren’t whack.” The name sounds macabre at best, but it‘s almost an informal media database – in reverse. Only not really. Just check it out and you’ll get the idea.

Micro PR: Brian Solis and others have created an early alert system for media looking for sources. An overly complex description is available here. MicroPR is dwarfed by the Help A Reporter Out (HARO) service, but it can’t hurt to follow MicroPR.

Speaking of HARO, if you aren’t signed up, check it out. And if you aren’t following HARO founder Peter Shankman on Twitter you should do that too. He posts urgent media queries to Twitter first.

Twitter is a handy utility made all the more useful by services like the ones above. If you are on Twitter, you can follow me here. If you’re not, check it out. Twitter and social media are a lot like the lottery, you have to play to win.

Wearing My Twitter Shirt uploaded by -nathan
tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | Twitter | marketing

The Big Three Needs Political Strategy, Not PR Strategy

A reporter and I just traded emails about the Big 3’s PR efforts around the auto industry bail out. It’s for a follow-up article to the polarizing story on how the Big 3 CEO’s took private jets to Washington D.C. to “pleads for public money.”

Dan Lally weighs in with a post that notes

“If your best argument is that gas-guzzling luxury jets ‘send the wrong message,’ I suggest that you have run out of arguments.”

Lally is correct. Unfortunately that story has taxied down the runway already. This segues into the quick Q&A I did.

Do the PR offices of these companies bear some of the blame for the corporate jet story/black eye?

The Big 3 CEOs flew in corporate jets because it's seen as a productivity/security issue. CEOs can't work on life or death company business sitting on a commercial plane.

Did this story undermine the Big 3 campaign to change public opinion about the bail out? Definitely. Just type GM corporate jet into Google. More than 375K search results come up. It's been defining the coverage of this story.

Big 3 PR have a campaign underway to change public opinion. The GM Facts and Fiction website looks more like a political candidate's website. It has specific ways for consumers, retirees and employees to get the word out. E-mail marketing and YouTube are also being relied on to spread the word.

But when you search for GM on YouTube, this corporate jet story is the first result that pops up. Search results are reality unfortunately. The Big 3 should be buying ads here and for defensive search terms like corporate jet so their side of the story gets equal time in the search results.

What do you think companies like GM, Ford and Chrysler should do to manage their images during this crisis? On the one hand, they need to make it clear that they are in very bad shape but at the same time they don’t want to completely diminish their brands. Mostly, do you think their CEOs need to make more of an effort to appear contrite?

Worrying about diminishing their brands is a moot point now. This is about survival. The Big 3 should be running this like a political campaign (just like their Facts and Fiction Web site).

Campaign strategists edit the story being told every day based on their competitor’s, current events and voter feedback. The return of 2 jets is an “act of contrition.” But what if the Big 3 CEOs arrived on their next visit to D.C. in a convoy of their companies' hybrid cars? It would change the story faster than you can say Joe the Plumber.

What we really need is more media coverage over the pros and cons of a bailout so people can make an informed decision. Pollyanna? Perhaps. But focusing on the private jet story right now feels a lot like arranging furniture on a sinking ship...feng shui of course.

UPDATE: It looks like my idea was an obvious one. Forbes reports: "The Big Three CEOs--Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford and Robert Nardelli from Chrysler--have made sure they at least will not be chastised again for their choice of transportation to Washington. After taking flak for traveling to their last round of congressional hearings by private jets, Wagoner and Mulally drove from Detroit in hybrid vehicles, and Nardelli flew commercial."

Spooky, huh?! You heard it here first.

Oil Reserves in Doubt uploaded by Michael P. Whelan
tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media

Motrin Moms and the Monday Morning Quarterbacks

People reading this on Monday are in one of two camps regarding Motrin Moms – in the know or 2.0 slow. But first some background.

Motrin’s latest commercial is seemingly trying to be casual and humorous. Instead it has snowballed into an ire avalanche for the brand – completely online and over a weekend.

Within 12-24 hours of the initial/negative response, Kathy Widmer, Vice President of Marketing for McNeil Consumer Healthcare, responded to several mommy bloggers who were insulted by the ad.

Some are saying Motrin took too long to address this situation. I disagree. From all of the conversation I see on this topic, I think this all started this weekend. Based on the type of issue, the time in which it unfolded and who was responding personally to people, I think this is a fast initial response. It will be interesting to see Motrin’s follow up over the coming weeks.

So if you were online this weekend, you may have seen this unfold and perhaps you were as amazed as I was at how fast folks got organized around the topic. From the #Motrin Moms Twitter tag to the cottage industry of gawkers, er, pundits like me -- there was a lot of activity in a short period of time.

And by Monday morning you’re poking through the ashes and cooling embers of this fire drill. You can watch the ad above (pulled from the Motrin web site but posted to YouTube), the resulting impact, the company’s response as well as insight, analysis and even a parody of the entire issue thus far.

Consider that this was all initially limited to a weekend and online (primarily, if not exclusively, over Twitter, blogs and YouTube). The news media were on it but they’re rehashing what we’re seeing online, well after the fact.

So if you’re 2.0 slow that's not an insult. 2.0 is moving pretty darn fast. But if you’re still ignoring 2.0, I think this is a great example of why you need to pay attention and get engaged.

tags | public relations | PR | social media relations | Motrin | Motrin Moms | advertising | marketing | consumer-generated media

Creative Ad FAIL(s)

Maybe I’m reading FAIL blog too much lately. But when this seemingly creative ad execution hit my desk, FAIL quickly became the caption for it.

The picture shows what looks to be your average belly band. This type of ad has been around for years and now is even seen online.

The print version wraps around the outside of a magazine and it might even contain editorial content. The format is expensive as it guarantees exposure and usually comes with a free ad inside the magazine.

What sets this belly band apart is that it doesn’t wrap around the magazine. It wraps around to a spread ad in the magazine -- ensuring the reader sees the ad. Call it intrusive, but it gets your attention.

The belly band copy is short, sweet and sets up the reader. The payoff is in the spread ad which includes the obligatory, drama interior shot.

So how does it FAIL?! There is NO web address on the ad. A quick phone number and email are the only way to follow up if this company intrigued you enough to make you want to learn more.

To be clear, this is not my suddenly snobby nerd side. Consider the purchase decision cycle.

The ad is designed to make an impact so there’s little copy. Shouldn’t the reader have an option to learn more about the company before they are required to phone or e-mail? It feels like a step is missing in between the ad execution and connecting live.

That’s my take. What do you think?

Belly Band 1, Belly Band 2 and Belly Band 3 uploaded by prblog
tags | trade media | advertising | marketing | brand