Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
The functionality of cellphones has shifted dramatically over the past few years. Today, people are accessing vast amounts of information, updating their social media profiles, watching videos and playing games all from their mobile phones. As convenient (and fun) as this may be, it comes with a price tag. Most cellphone providers have a limit on the amount of data a user can consume each month without additional charges.
As a college student (and Communiqué PR intern), I feel as if I am constantly using my cellphone to be online, and I need to be cautious about avoiding data overage charges that are deceivingly easy to accumulate. Thankfully, there are ways to monitor one’s data consumption, and be warned about possible data overages before it is too late.
Consider Communiqué PR client Mobidia Technology Inc., the maker of My Data Manager, a smartphone application that provides data usage tracking functionality. Through this application, users can better understand and manage their data consumption and Mobidia is able to provide mobile operators with unique insight into subscriber behavior surrounding data usage.
This year, Mobidia and Informa Telecoms & Media collaborated to analyze data collected from hundreds of thousands of global smartphone users to determine data-usage trends. This discovery allowed them to publish their second whitepaper titled, “Understanding Today’s Smartphone Users” and engaged Communiqué PR to generate awareness of its availability. Specifically, we were chartered with editing the press release, developing a media list, distributing the news and coordinating the wire distribution.
To date the following seven news outlets have written about the availability of the whitepaper:
- FierceWireless – published on August 1, 2012
- Thephonecast.com – published on August 1, 2012
- Business in Vancouver – published on August 7, 2012
- Globe in Mail – published on August 2, 2012
- Wireless Week – published on August 2, 2012
- IMTC – published on August 2, 2012
- Telecommunications Wireless – published on August 2, 2012
Within the first 24 hours after the press release, this coverage resulted in approximately 50 downloads for Mobidia’s latest whitepapers. It was exciting for our team to be part of such an interesting and relevant discovery.
For more information on our involvement with Mobidia, read our past blog titled, “Mobidia Provides Perspective on Mobile Network Congestion.”
“Can you review this document?” “What do you think about this word choice?” “Let’s brainstorm on this project for a minute!” These phrases probably sound familiar. In a collaborative work environment, one that many businesses aspire to create, interruptions can be the norm. While there can be merits to interruptions – a needed mental break, connecting with colleagues – there can also be downsides.
You might consider setting aside certain hours for closing your door, popping in your headphones or hiding in an office and getting work done. But in the post, “Does Helping Others Hurt Your Creativity? The Cost of Interruption,” the author highlighted a report published in “Applied Psychology,” in which “…researchers in Germany and Switzerland report that periods of quiet time actually harmed the performance of help-seekers and help-givers.”
Of course, each environment is different and thus, certain methods for dealing with interruptions would be more effective than others.
Here are some tips that I picked up along the way:
- Headphones: Wearing headphones can block out unwanted sound and indicate to others that you’re focused and don’t want to be bothered. Being interrupted also requires the other person to forcefully interrupt you if you can’t hear them speaking to you and then wait for you to pause music and take the headphones out. It can be a deterrent for others wanting to bother you because they know it will take effort on their part. Additionally, if you’re actually blasting music, this might get around the quiet time being harmful. I find music to inspire, give me energy and increase my focus and creativity.
- Awareness: Telling your coworkers you need to go “heads down” for a few hours can go a long way in helping you avoid interruptions. If you have an IM program you use to communicate with coworkers, putting up a status message letting people know you are busy and don’t want to be disturbed can help as well.
- Promising to follow up: If you do get interrupted, it’s okay to let the other person know you are working against a deadline and will follow up with them once you’re free or at a certain time. Acknowledge the importance of the conversation and remain positive, but note your competing priority.
- Working from home: I find that I get more accomplished when I work from home because it’s an extended period of quiet time and there are fewer interruptions throughout the day. If you are able to spend a half or full day at home to focus, you should take advantage and see whether it’s effective for you.
- Block time on your calendar: What if you’re the person getting distracted and interrupting others? Scheduling time on your calendar to complete tasks can allow you to plan out your day and increase efficiency. Knowing what you should be doing during a certain time could help you remain focused.
What methods have you found to be effective when you’re trying to focus? Do you find certain methods more effective based on your environment and customize them appropriately?
I hear it all too often and, to be honest, I’ve been guilty of it as well: “Let’s create a viral video to drive buzz, raise awareness, etc., etc.” Sounds like a great strategy, but the truth is you can’t really create a viral video. In reality, all you can do is create the video and it either goes viral, or it doesn’t. Whether a video goes viral isn’t your choice, your company’s choice or your client’s choice – rather, it’s the audience who decides.
I recently came across an eye-opening Fast Company articled written by Scott Stratten titled, “Why No One Will Watch Your Crappy Corporate ‘Viral Video, And How To Fix It.’” The author hit the nail on the head. While you can’t just decide to create a viral video, there’s one critical step you can take to compel your audience to broadly share your video: Evoke strong emotion.
Think about this for a second. What makes you share a video or news story and immediately hit the “like button” and/or tweet about it? It’s typically something that makes you laugh or cry. Or something that completely inspires you or even upsets you to the point that you feel compelled to spread the word.
Take for example, P&G’s ad for the 2012 summer Olympics, which currently has more than 5.7 million views. The video evokes a strong emotion that millions of people can relate to. Almost as important is the fact that there’s no branding for P&G until the very end when the company thanks moms and highlights that it’s a proud sponsor of moms and the 2012 Olympic games. As Stratten notes in his article, people don’t typically share commercials, they share emotions. If P&G opened its ad with a logo and plastered it throughout, would it have been as successful? Likely not. It would’ve diluted both the message and the emotion associated with the message.
Stratten also highlights the difference between videos that go viral artificially versus organically. When companies push out content, they often encourage their social media followers, friends, peers, etc., to spread the word. Some companies incent people to share content such as promising a giveaway once they reach 1,000 Facebook likes on their video. While this may help get more eyeballs on your content and encourage some folks to share, it can also decrease authenticity and won’t likely spark meaningful conversations, particularly if the content isn’t compelling. Additionally, if people constantly plead with others to share content, cast a vote, or “like” something, you’ll quickly find yourself tuned out and blocked from news feeds.
In the secret sauce of viral videos and just about anything related to effective communications, content is king. You must create content that evokes strong emotion and that’s easily relatable to a wide audience. After watching P&G’s Olympic ad, I immediately shared it with close friends, who further shared it with their own networks.
Have you had success in creating a video that went viral? Do you have other examples of compelling viral videos? Please share!
While talking with professionals seeking employment at Communiqué PR, we meet a variety of candidates with different levels of experience. And sometimes we find ourselves impressed with candidates who present themselves well during the interview process.
If you’re curious about the traits of successful job candidates, we’ve compiled a few tips for PR professionals seeking to grow their career:
Before the interview:
1) Research the company. Reading about the agency, including the client roster and leadership team, as well as any media coverage or awards won, will help you during the interview process. Not only will you be able to speak intelligently about the firm, but you’ll also have background context should accounts or team members be mentioned during the discussions. If you can find a way to insert one or two mentions of something you read during your research, you’ll show you spent time preparing for the interview.
2) Prepare your messaging. As mentioned in a previous personal branding post, you should develop messaging to deliver your elevator pitch, provide background on your career and highlight your skills. Many job interviews open with a general request allowing a candidate to tell the interviewer(s) about themselves. Having messaging prepared will help you answer that open-ended question with poise, focus and confidence. Your key messages should fit into your overarching narrative about your career and how the opportunity fits into that story arc.
3) Practice, practice, practice. We regularly tell our clients to prep for media interviews by practicing. This is solid advice during the job hunt, too. Often, the written word will read well; however, once you begin speaking the answers, you might find something sounds confusing or inauthentic. But be warned: There’s a fine line between rehearsing and sounding rehearsed. Don’t use a script; rather, write down key points you want to make and alter your language based on the setting.
During the interview:
4) Take notes. You should bring a notepad and pen or pencil to take notes during your interview. Some people are nervous during an interview and there is often a lot of information to remember. Feel free to jot down what people are saying – the job responsibilities, culture descriptions and next steps are just a few of the things you can learn during an interview. Think about showing up for a client meeting without paper and a pen – it could be construed as unpreparedness or unprofessionalism.
5) Ask questions. An interview isn’t a one-way street. While you are interviewing for the job, you’re also interviewing the company to determine whether it’s the right fit for you. Ask about roles, culture, growth opportunities and any other qualities that indicate whether the company and team are a match for you and your aspirations. What’s not appropriate to ask during the interview? Some examples include: salary, benefits or publicly available background information on the company. For the latter, you should have done your homework ahead of time. For the two former examples, it’s likely too soon in the process and will either be covered in subsequent discussions or was discussed previously during a phone screening.
6) Be positive. Your old job was boring, your boss was crazy or you were overworked. These are insights you don’t need to share during an interview. It’s obvious you want a new job, otherwise you wouldn’t be interviewing. When asked questions about why you want to leave or what you would change about your current situation, remain positive. The PR world is quite small, so while you’re bashing your manager, you could unknowingly be bashing the interviewer’s best friend. Not only that, it’s rude and unnecessary. Focus on the positive aspects of your current or past roles and don’t blame anyone but yourself for your failures or shortcomings.
After the interview:
7) Follow up to say thank you. While you’re interviewing for a job, your interviewer(s) could have deadlines, calls to make or materials to draft. Don’t forget they are taking time out of their day to speak with you and answer your questions. Everyone has a different philosophy regarding following up with a thank you (email, snail mail, etc.), but make sure you send some type of follow-up, personalized communication. Not only does it allow you to express gratitude, but timed correctly, it could remind the decision makers about you and perhaps increase the likelihood of a call-back.
As you seek a new opportunity, following these guidelines could help you be more successful. What have you found to be effective tips for interviewing?
Who isn’t striving to get better in some area of his/her professional or personal life? If you or someone on your team has a development need or simply a desire for continuous improvement, I have a book recommendation for you. It is FYI For Your Improvement, a guide for development and coaching. In its fourth edition, the book was recommended to me by Robin Shapiro, president and COO of Allied Health Advocates and founder of Health Advocacy Strategies, and it is fantastic.
FYI For Your Improvement contains recommendations for people with specific needs. It lists key skills such as conflict management, informing, work-life balance, and listening, and provides definitions so you can determine what an unskilled, skilled or overused skill would look like for a particular competency.
For instance, if perhaps you want to be more action oriented, the authors of FYI spell out the behaviors that are associated with someone who is unskilled (e.g. the person maybe slow to act or overly methodical). Then they explain what skilled and overused skill would look like. They then provide ideas for practical remedies and suggested readings on the topic so one can come up with a general development plan.
I know this will be another book that I routinely pick up and rely on as I coach individuals at a variety of levels in our organization. and it will be a resource for me as I continue my professional growth. With a collective 167 competencies, performance dimensions, career stallers and more, this book gives readers a comprehensive body of material for development and coaching.
Many businesses question the value of quarterly review meetings, considering the cost and time required for preparation and execution that could have been spent elsewhere. But experts agree that businesses that invest in quarterly reviews have a greater chance of meeting their goals and succeeding in the marketplace.
According to a Harvard Business Review blog post on best practices, titled Four Fatal Flaws of Strategic Planning (Ed Barrows, March 13, 2009,) number four on the list is: “Dodging Strategy Review Meetings.” Enough said.
At Communiqué, we believe quarterly reviews are an essential piece of the strategic plan and value partnerships with clients who share this belief. One example is Tecplot Inc. They invest regularly in quarterly review meetings and have experienced first-hand the inherent benefits. Having just participated in another productive quarterly review with their marketing team, we are reminded of the value. Below are highlights from some of the best counsel we’ve heard and read from strategic planning experts, including M. Dana Baldwin of the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning:
Why invest in quarterly review meetings:
Think of a quarterly review as a quarter break or time-out in an NBA game. Why don’t the players just keep playing and trying to win? They watched the films and had a plan before the game started. The answer is simple: time-outs allow the coach and team a chance to pause, discuss how the game is going and adjust strategy to ensure the best possible outcome. They do this throughout the game so they can course-correct while there is still time.
The same strategy applies to business. If you only review your success once you execute against your annual strategic plan, you are only able to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. There is no time left to change what wasn’t working. Strategic plans should be living documents and companies should be flexible enough to change course when needed. Changing a plan is not necessarily a sign that the original plan was weak.
Why might you need to course-correct if you’ve developed a good strategic plan at the outset? Strategic decisions are based on the knowledge you have about your business at that time and the assumptions you make about the business environment. And the assumptions are many: the appeal of your product or service, opportunities that lie ahead, competitive threats and/or roadblocks. You can only plan based on what you assume will happen. What actually happens remains to be seen. A quarterly review allows you to take stock of which of your assumptions have played out as expected and to what extent.
Other factors may also affect your strategy that cannot be planned for in advance, such as big events or market changes that might impact your product (think 9/11 if you’re in the travel industry or the fast rise of the iPod if you’re in the business of CD players.) Also, new opportunities might pop up that you hadn’t anticipated. Are they more or less valuable than the opportunities you targeted in your plan? The quarterly review allows you to factor in these changes and adjust the plan accordingly.
Tips for a successful quarterly review:
Planning for quarterly reviews should not be an arduous task. Ideally, the data should already exist in weekly or monthly status reports. This data can be pulled, summarized and analyzed for the quarterly review. There should not be much new data shared at the quarterly review, but it’s a chance for deeper analysis of what is already known with corresponding strategic “regrouping”.
The quarterly review should be a broad look at the business addressing large functional areas together, rather than each piece individually (for example, the entire marketing team rather than a PR-specific review.) As such, the review allows you to hear what other cross-functional teams are doing and ensures a greater chance for integration and consistency.
Successful quarterly reviews should also be held in person where all participants are in the same room, if possible. In today’s perennially “connected” world, employees are often disconnected physically with many working remotely or simply working heads-down in their office and communicating mostly via email even with colleagues down the hall. Quarterly reviews allow the team to pull back from the day-to-day work, and have a chance to think more strategically and collaboratively. And the chance to come together in-person also results in more cohesive teams and a higher functioning organization.