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.
Navigating the changing media landscape while simultaneously outsmarting the economy can be a challenge for PR professionals. It’s important to share our experiences, knowledge and expertise so we can learn from the triumphs and tribulations of others and ultimately, emerge successful.
Despite the myriad of social networking sites and the “always connected” lifestyle we all embrace, connecting with others in the business world can be tough. Enter the new weekly “PR Works Show,” an online radio show which debuted today at 9 a.m. PST.
PR Works is hosted by Lee Weinstein, former director of communications at Nike, Inc. and principal of LWR PR in Portland, Oregon. The 45-minute talk radio show will feature PR pros from a range of backgrounds discussing what works and what doesn’t in PR. You can listen to the show here.
Says Weinstein, “I’ve always loved radio and with the Internet and podcasting, there is so much more potential with this medium. Reading takes time, which is a shrinking commodity. I’m hopeful that the PR Works show will be something people can listen to as they’re doing e-mail, driving to work or sitting in a reception area with their iPod.”
He goes on to say, “We PR people have a lot to share with one another and we hope this is a format that allows for great discussions!”
Aside from the invaluable insights we hope to gain from listening to PR Works, we’re excited the show will be available via podcast so we can listen whenever we want.
Scheduled guests thus far include:
Dave Ingey, director of Olympic marketing, Johnson & Johnson
Corey DuBrowa, president – Account Services, Waggener Edstrom
We’ll be sure to post any valuable insights we gain from listening on our blog – stay tuned!
Today, RCR Wireless, one of the most well respected mobile and wireless publications in the industry announced it would cease publication of its print and online entities after 25 years.
RCR Wireless is one of several publications who have recently made the decision to close down due to the current economic climate. A few weeks ago, the Rocky Mountain News shut its doors after 150 years, and other major national dailies such as the San Francisco Chronicle and Seattle Post-Intelligencer are up for sale as publishers look for new ways to survive the economic downturn.
It’s no secret that this shift in the media landscape has been a long time coming. For decades, the magazine and newspaper industries have struggled to maintain and increase advertising revenue to support circulation costs. In addition, disruptive technologies such the Internet and social networking as viable forms of communications have forced traditional media outlets to look at other business models to retain readership.
According to a Dec. 2008 survey by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, more U.S. consumers get their news online than from newspapers. The survey reveals that 40 percent of consumers rely on the Internet for news, surpassing newspapers as the main news source for the first time since Pew started administering the survey in 2001. In addition, the rising popularity of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook is giving way to the next generation of the citizen journalist with people leveraging these mediums to report and comment on events and news in their neighborhoods, cities and areas that matter most to them.
So what is the future of news? That seems to be the million dollar question and one our industry is watching closely. As traditional and new media continue to converge and social networking increases, I believe we will see traditional media outlets offering their content in new ways. We’re already starting to see this with online content, podcasts and journalist blogs. I think we’ll also see these outlets use micro-blogging sites and mobile social networking more in the near future. No matter what happens it will be interesting to see what happens.
As a PR professional who has worked with editors at RCR Wireless such as Colin Gibbs and Dan Meyer for many years, we are sad to see the publication go and wish everyone there the best of luck. Their industry insight and perspective will be missed.
As social mediums such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace continue to gain popularity, there’s one thing that’s very important to keep in mind – the line between personal and professional communication is disappearing. A recent incident involving a Ketchum employee exemplifies the importance of self-censorship when it comes to social media.
According to PRWeek, a Ketchum staff member posted a controversial Tweet on Twitter about his client’s hometown. He commented, “I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say ëI would die if I had to live here!'” The Tweet caused offense and “prompted an angry memo that reached executives on both sides and the blogosphere.”
Although this issue has been resolved, it had an impact and undoubtedly scarred a few reputations. This example illustrates the importance of evaluating content before posting it online and reminds PR professionals and business leaders alike to ask ourselves, “Is this content appropriate to share publicly?”
Here are a few tips to on how you can avoid situations such as this.
Educate your employees. Everyone across the organization should receive education in social media etiquette. They should understand the implications and be advised on what is appropriate to post on company blogs or their own personal blogs. (Some companies are providing their employees with guidelines about posting corporate information in their corporate handbooks.) For example, Communiqué PR’s blogging guidelines state:
- Bloggers should state that the opinions expressed in any blog about work-related matters are their own and have not been reviewed or approved by the employers. Bloggers should also state that they assume full responsibility and liability for any work-related content contained in the blog.
- Bloggers are required to comply with the Company’s policies protecting its trade secrets and other confidential information, including information about customers.
- Bloggers should not disclose any customer “insider information” and should not address any customer-related activity during certain black out periods required by securities laws and regulations.
If you don’t want your manager or clients to see something, DON’T POST IT. Even with privacy settings on social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, it’s important to remember content on the Internet can be forwarded to other friends, colleagues and even strangers. Someone that you don’t want to see inappropriate pictures or read personal comments may be exposed to them through network connections. According to Barri Rafferty with PRWeek, “Everything should be treated like it’s in the public domain, because it is.”
Remember “digital dialogue” travels at a rapid speed. As exemplified by the Ketchum situation, one post has the possibility to affect thousands of people within minutes or even seconds. It can drive social reaction and also create positive or negative conversations throughout the blogosphere and social networking space.
The more informed and experienced you and your colleagues are with social mediums, the less likely it will be that you will make mistakes that can have an affect on your career, your relationships and your personal and professional reputation.. Social media is a great tool and when used properly, can help you and your company or clients immensely.
As PR professionals with clients in the high-tech industry, we see first-hand, how technology impacts everyday lives. The evolution of mobile phones, Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile WiMAX has shifted our lifestyle to an “always-connected” culture. Given this, we are especially excited about helping Alaska Airlines launch the customer trial of its new satellite-based wireless Internet service.
The service is called Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi and can be used by passengers to browse the Web; access online music, games, podcasts and webcasts; send and receive e-mail and connect to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
There are many times I have boarded a plane and wished I had bought one more magazine to read or remembered an e-mail I wanted to send. With this service, I am looking forward to staying connected – whether for business or entertainment. I can only imagine the fun I could have getting caught up with friends on Facebook at 30,000 feet.
I am not the only one excited about Alaska Airlines’ announcement. We did an informal poll to determine what others think about this service and here are a few of the comments we heard:
“This is one more thing that makes Alaska Airlines the very best,” wrote Debra Yergen. “I’ve been an MVP flyer with them some years, and just a regular flyer other years (when I’ve just missed the levels), and I always feel like I get the very best service. From their inflight digEplayers to inflight Wi-Fi, Alaska Airlines is continually fantastic. It’s great to be able to send e-mails and keep current with events – especially on long flights from Seattle to Maui (which I just took in November/December 2008).
According to Spencer Harrison, “Inflight Wi-Fi is amazing. I was literally checking e-mail and chatting with friends via Instant Messenger at 37,000 feet. It made the flight go by so much faster.”
Ed Kohler, a frequent traveler out of Minneapolis, and a customer of Alaska Airlines for flights to Vancouver and Seattle wrote us to say, “I’m much more likely to consider Alaska Airlines over other options including Minneapolis-Saint Paul’s incumbent airline Northwest Airlines (soon to be Delta) based on having Wi-Fi as an option.”
Kohler went on to explain. “My hope is that they’ll also include power outlets onboard. If not, this may prompt me to go out to buy an iPod Touch for use when my laptop’s battery eventually dies. Using e-mail will be my biggest benefit from this. While surfing the web, online games are great, e-mail is the killer app for communication while traveling for business. It’s the first thing I check when I hit the ground.”
Ruth Carter shared, “I think it’s awesome that Alaska Airlines is adding Wi-Fi service to its airlines. I’m a law student and a research assistant. Even though I’m only in my first year, I already have the mindset that ëtime is money.’ I support anything that lets me use my time more efficiently. For some of us, being out of touch, even if only for a few hours, can be a huge hassle. I don’t think that cell phone use should ever be allowed on airplanes because it would be so annoying and distracting to other passengers. However, I completely support the idea that travelers will be able to conduct research on the Internet and communicate with others through their laptops while they are in-flight.”
To date, there have been more than 45 print and broadcast mentions about Alaska Airlines’ Wi-Fi service trial including USA Today, Wireless Week, CNET TV, Anchorage Daily News, Seattle Times, KOMO 4 News, KING 5 News and KIRO 7 News.
We hope this is helpful as you consider how you might take advantage of this new service. For more information on Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi please e-mail us at info@communiquepr.com.
In January, Communiqué began working with the Washington Poison Center (WAPC) to help the organization raise awareness of the budget cuts proposed by Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire.
Specifically, our goal was to inform key audiences – state residents, members of the legislature and the media – about the potential impact these budget cuts would have on the WAPC and state residents.
To educate citizens and legislature representatives on the WAPC’s funding situation and encourage the community to speak out on behalf of the WAPC, we recommended the following grassroots strategies:
Launch Letter Writing Campaign – The purpose of the lettering writing campaign for the WAPC was to motivate its network of partners and constituents to write letters or place calls to local lawmakers asking the state to re-instate funding for the WAPC. The letter provided supporters with data points they could communicate with lawmakers from both the WAPC and the Washington State Department of Health about the organization’s invaluable services and how the budget cut would impact state residents.
As a result of our efforts, we helped the WAPC develop valuable letter writing campaign materials that were used to garner support from the WAPC’s network.
Meet with Editorial Boards – We reached out to more than six editorial boards on behalf of WAPC. These groups typically carry tremendous power to advance issues and motivate the community to take action on an issue. The outreach we conducted led to several op-ed opportunities.
Develop and Place an Op-Ed – We partnered with the WAPC to write an op-ed piece for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to drive awareness of the WAPC’s funding situation and convince key audiences to take action with the state’s legislature. Working closely with the WAPC, the team placed the following two op-ed pieces.
– Seattle Times | Save Mr. Yuk from Washington’s budget cuts
– Seattle Post-Intelligencer | State Budget Cuts
It has been a pleasure to support the WAPC. If you are interested in learning more about how you can support the WAPC as it works to re-instate funding, please contact us at (206) 282-4923 or visit: http://www.wapc.org/ActNow.htm
Peter Shankman, host of the popular HARO service, recently hosted a call with a panel of journalists to share advice on how to pitch reporters effectively. On the call were journalists from NPR, Reuters, Crain’s New York, the Indianapolis Business Journal and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The journalists unanimously confirmed that pitches remain a crucial source for story ideas and sources. Here are a few valuable insights I gained from the call:
Journalists are doing more with less. Newspapers and media outlets are feeling the economic pinch, and this means reporters have more work and less time. One reporter described his typical day as “frantically busy,” a sentiment echoed by fellow panelists.
Make your pitch succinct. Journalists joked that with the advent of Twitter all pitches should be limited to 140 characters or less; but the truth is that with limited time, journalists are more receptive to pitches that get straight to the point.
The journalists shared their idea of a perfect pitch. All of these objectives should be met within one paragraph.
1. Grab their attention in the first three lines
2. Summarize the topic in a sentence
3. Explain why it’s relevant
4. Provide a question that needs to be answered or tension that makes the story compelling
The pitch should be clear, simple, summarized and easy to digest. You should also indicate that you know who the reporter is and what they cover.
Imagine the headline. One reporter suggested that if you can’t imagine the headline for the story you’re pitching, chances are you shouldn’t be pitching it.
Tie it to a broad trend. If your client launches a new product, it might not be a newsworthy story. But if your client launches a product that can be tied to a prominent trend, it might be worthy of inclusion in an article.
Avoid adjectives. Explaining why your story is newsworthy with a string of adjectives and sound bites is much less effective than providing a few key data points that illustrate your point. The panel of reporters all agreed that they view adjectives like “exciting,” “revolutionary” or “amazing” as extra noise that detract from your pitch.
Manage Expectations. When offering an executive for an interview, be clear about the chances that she will be available to speak with a journalist the same day. If you think the chances are slim, let the reporter know.
When issuing a press release however, always make sure the executive quoted is available to speak with reporters that day. Several reporters complained that all too often they call to speak with the executive quoted in a press release the day it is issued, only to discover that they are unavailable.
Consider the follow-up story. Several journalists mentioned that they often receive pitches from PR people who, after reading a story about a topic relevant to their client, write the author to suggest a follow-up story. But why, the journalists asked, would they publish another story about a topic they just covered? You’re more likely to be successful if you suggest an alternate angle for a follow-up article.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can deliver compelling pitches that interest reporters and garner coverage for your client.