Strategic Public Relations

Presentation Trap #234: The (Slow, Boring) Build

A payoff slide kills the boring build, letting you assert first, support later.

There are more than 100 ways to deliver "death by PowerPoint." One death blow I've wrestled with lately is narrative flow.

We tend to build a case for assertions before making them. It's even built into the standard "problem, solution, results" case study. But building up to an assertion risks losing the audience before you can make your point.

The Payoff Slide
Depending on the presentation, I start out with a "payoff" slide in my deck -- not unlike the payoff sentence that kicks off this post. It's my main assertion -- a 140-character elevator speech that can be tweeted by the audience. And I spend the rest of the presentation proving out the assertion. Here's an example on the second slide.

As I've said before, you still need to tell a story that your audience wants to tell after your presentation. So you still need to end on a high note. But if you save it all until the end? You lose the audience before you get there.

Payoff To Stop Walk Out
Losing an audience is literal these days as presentation attendees are more serious than ever about investing their time. An extreme example is South by Southwest Interactive. I've seen SXSWi speakers flame out as people leave during the presentation -- in droves. It's not polite. But it's based on the content they're getting (or not getting) from a presentation. And it reinforces the need to capture and keep the audience's attention.

This guy is boring uploaded by Narisa 

#sxswcares about Japan and needs your help

This post is to alert you to #sxswcares -- a site to collect donations for Japan relief efforts in light of the tragic natural disasters.

In less than 24 hours, as of this post, #sxswcares has raised nearly $5,000 in donations.

You can donate too at the site or just donate to the relief cause. Separately you can text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help.

As I noted earlier*, many are reaching out to social media to try and connect with what's going on and to try and make sense of it all. Twitter is one of the most obvious first stops. It's great to see SXSWi use it to help make an impact with #sxswcares.

If you're so inclined, please alert others to this effort or another option of your choosing. Thank you.


*My time at South By Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) will be summarized here at some point. In the meantime, I'm helping The Cincinnati Enquirer cover the event here.

SXSW Cares #sxswcares uploaded by David Armano

PRSA International Conference Gets Us All Atwitter – Over a Hashtag?!

Twitter does many things, but not *every*thing. IMHO, Twitter earns its reputation during live events as they unfold. From extreme but historic events like Iran’s Presidential Election Protests and the death of Michael Jackson to less substantive events like World Cup and just about every conference I’ve attended since early 2007, they all show in real time how useful and impactful Twitter can be.

The common discussion just before and at the beginning of an event is “What’s the Hashtag?” It’s the common thread that turns Twitter into an event communication channel, promotion tool, recording device and more for attendees, organizers and folks following from afar.

Just this post finds us spending more time than we’d ever imaging discussing event hashtags. It’s not rocket science. Is it an art form? I’ll argue it’s more of a detail than anything else.

“Hashtag Confusion”
It has also become a topic of conversation for the Public Relations Society of America this year as their annual, international conference gets underway. Why? Their hashtag is less than intuitive with an _underscore_ (one of the more dreaded characters to hit the Internet): #prsa_ic.

It has 2.0 practitioners like Kami Huyse asking valid questions while most folks are adding #prsa_ic and #prsa10 and others are just wondering wtf instead of wth. According to What the Hashtag, the official hashtag is gaining more traction. But I have to believe they’d benefit from an easier, more intuitive and shorter hashtag.

In fact, why not just use #PRSA? Twitter generates 12 terabytes of data – every day. 12TB! So Google telling me that Twitter search keeps tweets about a week starts to make sense. My point is, by the time PRSA11 rolls around, the only trace of PRSA10 tweets will be in a dusty stack at the Library of Congress.

This post is not intended to to be a Saturday morning, snark-injected rant towards PRSA – far from it. It’s inspired by a quote from the legendary basketball coach John Wooden:"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

Wooden is right. The simplest answer is usually the best one, per usual. Now get the tweet out of here! No hashtag for you!


Hashtag Nazi taken by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Bombastic ≠ Strategic

We all know the challenge of standing out at big events like BlogHer, ComicCon and (back in the day) leviathans like Comdex.

Electronic Arts is learning about that challenge right now as their "Sin to Win" promotion is doing more than standing out at ComicCon. It's pissing people off.

I've gotten notes from PRSA and a colleague attending BlogHer wondering "wtf?!"

Evidently the promotion revolved around their new Dante's Inferno game. People were being encouraged to have their pictures taken while committing acts of lust with booth babes. Electronic Arts has since apologized and some are wondering if this was a planned strategy.

Evidently Electronics Arts even faked a protest over the same game earlier this summer. Whenever something stupid like this happens, the media wonder if it was planned to generate more ink.

Bombastic ≠ Strategic
Standing out at trade shows in particular can be tough. More than a decade ago, at a client's trade show, I was impressed when one exhibitor was allowing attendees to make their own tie dye t-shirts with the company's logo on it. There booth had a lot of traffic with long lines as a result of the giveaway. When I told my client about this he asked me what the company sold. It wasn't more than 10 minutes later and I couldn't remember.

Anyone can piss someone off if they try hard enough. I'm even reminded of a quote from Spinal Tap when someone objected to their album cover for Smell the Glove. "That's nothing. You should have seen the cover they wanted to publish."

A fine blend of sizzle and steak is required to stand out for the right reasons. And whether or not the Electronic Arts stunts were planned or spontaneous, fake or real, NONE of this is strategic. It's desperate.

Cross-posted to the Bad Pitch Blog.

Interactive Conversations about Social Media, er, Dinner

Added a blogger dinner to the end of a busy and wildly successful trade show effort in New York City this week.

Connecting with industry colleagues from around the world that I simply would not have met otherwise? It's like jet fuel for my blogging efforts.

As we settle into 2008, I'm getting back to my steady diet of social media. Watch this space.

Heading to NRF, the CES of Retail

Heading to NYC this weekend to attend the National Retail Federation Show at the Javits. In addition to media briefings, we have two presentations and a booth so we’ll be plenty busy.

But I’m pumped to see this year’s ”Store of the Future” exhibit. I’ve covered pop-up retail here before as a great marketing and public relations tactic. The exhibit features technology that supports pop-up retail.

The exhibit will show what the pop-up might look like in the future – “demonstrating technologies such as rear projection film, use of retail scales, pedestrian traffic measurement methods, in-store design, electronic shelf labeling, custom store fixtures, high-definition display screens, user-interface shopping technology, mobile marketing devices, interactive communications systems, innovative anti-theft security solutions and more innovative products.

The M-Wallet, one of Motorola’s latest mobile phones which allows consumers to pay for their purchases with the handheld device, will be displayed. Additionally, IBM will feature a 3D Second Life experience to demonstrate both the consumer and retailer perspective of virtual retailing.

Looks pretty interesting. We’ll see.

If you’re in NYC next week and want to check it out, let me know. I have plenty of free passes.

tags | marketing | retail design | NRF 08

Friday Flickr Fix – 02.16.07 – The Ultimate Trade Show

Prior to life on the client side, the bulk of trade shows I attended were industrial, business to business shows. So the nerd kid in me really enjoys seeing Toy Fair coverage.

It’s still a trade show—it can get ugly. But the swag from this show HAS to be cool.

Images from the show are more readily available than ever this year.

NY Int'l Toy Fair uploaded by 1987porsche944

tags | public relations | PR | trade show | Toy Fair 2007 | marketing | Toy Fair

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

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

CNN, President Bush And A Case Of Potty Mouth

When I attend conferences, I’m vigilant about removing my badge as I leave the exhibition hall ("You down with OCD? Yeah, you know me!"). Heading out into the public wearing a badge on is a bad idea on many levels.

CNN’s Kyra Phillips learned a hard, related lesson yesterday as it applies to lavaliere microphones. She forgot to turn hers off when she hit the restroom during President Bush’s speech commemorating Katrina.

“So instead of getting the president’s remarks, CNN’s audience got that and Phillips in some girl-chat.” Three minutes worth to be exact.

Hot Air flushes, er, fleshes the story out for us here. It was bad enough that CNN issued a formal apology:

“CNN apologized Tuesday after an open mike transmitted an anchor’s bathroom conversation with another woman live over the network as it was carrying President Bush’s speech in New Orleans.”

Back in the day, this gaffe would only see the light of day if it made it into a bloopers special. Now? Kyra is big blogosphere news less than 24 hours later.

tags | Kyra Phillips | media | CNN | President Bush