As communicators -- PR people, marketers, media, bloggers -- we're inundated with incoming and outgoing messages. Keeping pace is hard enough, but it's also not enough. We must stay ahead of the curve.
In this day and age, that's what our clients, readers, and viewers expect of us. We live in a hyper-connected world and are navigating it at hyperspeed.
Is it any wonder that from time to time, a communication goes awry or a message astray? In this communications environment, the unglamorous 'check and balance' has been run roughshod by the fast and the furious.
It reminds me of the character Toby, in my favorite TV show, The Office (yes, I'm finally making the connection to the photo above!). He's always trying to put the brakes on his boss Michael's ill-conceived ideas. But the office group-think and Michael's impatience always trump Toby's protestations, and Toby is the office buzzkill. It's good comedy, but it's a reminder that what's popular or fun is not always right or appropriate.
But, back to the real world and what happens when the checks and balances aren't adhered to: The New York Times had to post a retraction yesterday for running a letter to the editor that was supposedly from the mayor of Paris. It was critical of Caroline Kennedy and her senate seat run. New York Times letters are supposed to be verified with the author before being published. This one was edited and emailed back to its sender; however, it was published eventhough the sender -- who, of course, was not the mayor of Paris -- never responded to the Times.
This reminds me also of the French-Canadian DJs posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy who got past the checks and balances that should have been protecting U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin from such embarassment.
And, I'm wondering, to borrow a phrase from the French, if "c'est la vie?" I hope not. And as communicators, I think it's imperative that we keep one finger on the pause button, ready to push. Communication is often defined by what you don't say, and keeping quiet can often be the best course (see our blog post from yesterday for more on that topic.)
This season, The Office brought Toby back from Costa Rica. I'll take this as a sign that we're ready to slow the pace down, increase our control over communications, heed and head off problems before they get bail-out big, and live with making unpopular decisions rather than living with disastrous consequences.
There have been a few 'flaps' that have started as the result of a blog post, comment or social media campaign gone wrong.
In November, it was the Motrin Moms, mothers reacting to Motrin's promotion associating 'baby wearing' with pain and a fashion statement. It was meant to be a light and fun viral post, but the reaction it got was just the opposite. Here's what it looked like when Twitter exploded with moms' reactions:
(This chart is generated by Twitscoop a powerful tool for keeping an eye on what the Twitterverse is discussing in real-time. Last week, it was how I learned about the passing of a good friend's well-known mother and that Mats Sundin had been traded to the Vancouver Canucks--the latter which got me cited in the Vancouver Sun's tech blog.)
If you're interested in learning more about the Motrin Moms backlash, there's a great blog post by Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang's blog. Here's the original animation captured via YouTube for posterity, although Motrin took it down shortly after it launched.
This morning there's another example of a social media backlash. This one is the reaction to a guest post by a blogger's boss, and his readers are not welcoming it. The acting CEO of an organization in Washington D.C. called the Center for American Progress Action Fund made a four-sentence post on a blog by employee Matt Yglesias this weekend defending a partner called Third Way that Matt had previously criticized. I don't know either group, or I didn't know either group. But now I do because of her ham-handed communication that like many missives at the heart of a scandal or a crisis had "unintended consequences." Meant originally to appease the partner, what it actually did was anger everyone else. With nearly 500 comments and counting, here are the unintended messages it sent:
m Says: December 21st, 2008 at 10:39 pm Was this really necessary? if I remember, all yglesias said was that Third Way was more a messaging outfit than a policy research institution. that isn’t controversial or false - it is true.
KCinDC Says: December 21st, 2008 at 10:52 pm Well, we have learned that Third Way is apparently thin-skinned enough to demand that CAPAF commandeer the blog and post a ham-handed disclaimer late on a Sunday night.
Bill Says: December 21st, 2008 at 10:59 pm If it’s Matt’s blog, it’s his blog. He should correct factual errors but no one should ever step in and offer a groveling CYA post. That’s just disgusting.
lowellfield Says: December 21st, 2008 at 11:53 pm How could a person who thinks this post is appropriate also be the CEO of CAPAF? Completely bizarre.
The Motrin Moms and this post above both had something in common. They happened on the weekend, with no one monitoring and no one managing the issues.
Social media is a 24/7 environment. So take care to avoid unintended consequences in your communications, but also resist the urge to launch any kind of campaign or missive going into the weekend without plans to monitor and manage the reactions in real-time.
Remember the funniest six minutes you ever watched on YouTube? 107 million views and counting, Evolution of Dance is back at www.eod2.com with a viral animation that gives a sneak peek at the new songs and dance moves of performer Judson Laipply. Sign up and be alerted when the video launches. Crank that Soulja Boy! Thank you to the folks at Saveology.com and partner PeopleJam for getting this going!
At some time, it happens to everyone. You hit 'reply all.' I know this to be true because today it happened to my mother.
Known for her acidic sense of humor and sharp tongue (at least that's how's she's known within the family), I can only imagine the social carnage resulting from her error.
Let me share a tip for anyone who wants to avoid shooting themselves in the foot via email: Set up your email with a 10 minute delay. If you've got an urgent email to send, just manually hit send/receive so it leaves your outbox immediately. But you will -- as I have -- save yourself grief and regret with this simple 10 minute rule.
And since it won't save you if you accidentally hit 'reply all,' learn to check the To field before hitting send--particularly if you've written something you wouldn't want widely circulated. (And if it's a business communication that's particularly sensitive, mark it Confidential too.)
But another benefit of the 10 minute delay is that you'll often remember a point you forgot to make so you now have time to go back and add it in. In today's world of instant communication, building in a little time for reflection is a best practice.
As anyone in Southern California will tell you, it is difficult to get into the Christmas spirit with sunny skies and warm temperatures year round. I'm certainly not complaining, but it seems that without snow, starting your car 10 minutes before you leave in the morning, or seeing your breath in the air - Christmas just doesn't feel the same. Last year was my first winter in San Diego and I even tried ice skating on the beach to compensate, but the slushy mess of an ice skating rink didn't exactly do the trick.
What's a girl from the East Coast with a handful of friends here to do? Force the spirit? Luckily I didn't have to because the answer was in the mail. Literally. Tonight, I received the first Christmas card of the season and it was from my aunt in New York. It wasn't simply Happy Holidays, instead she filled the card with a note catching me up on the day to day activities of the family - how my cousin is doing, hunting season, craft fairs and of course the weather. Things that no one else would be interested in, but I was. I found myself feeling so good after reading her note. I was excited and interested to know what was going on. I was connected. And all it took was a note.
So in this era of blogging, short messaging and communicating in 140 characters or less to as many Followers and Friends as we can, let's not forget that there's no replacement for personal, heartfelt communication. Whether you are a professional communicator or just someone who hasn't talked to their family in a while, good communication can make all the difference. Happy Holidays.
Have you Elfed Yourself this year? The website that attracted over 20 million unique visitors according to analytics I ran on Compete.com, is back and groovier than ever. Office Max has better leveraged their popular creation for brand connection including custom coffee mugs and mousepads, etc. But the question for me is whether Elf Yourself -- now in its third season -- is tradition or tired? Watch the video below and then you be the judge!
There are so many reasons to celebrate Barack Obama’s historic election victory, but one that communicators can all celebrate is the restoration of Presidential elocution.
This may come as a disappointment to publishers of 365-day desk calendars who have made a mint sharing daily George W. Bush malapropisms, known officially as Bushisms, or writers of late-night monologues who are working overtime to craft Obama punch-line material. As for the latter, I have no doubt that they'll figure out how. Yes they can!
But I’d like to take a moment to focus on Obama's rhetorical skills and celebrate what I hope, as a word nerd and communicator, will be four years of articulate leadership.
The crescendo of Obama’s election night acceptance speech is captured below, and I share it with you in the spirit of--nay--the audicity of hope--hope for a day when subjects and verbs can come together in agreement, no participle is left behind, the gerund wars are settled once and for all, and our streets and podiums are free from the dangerous mixing of metaphors.
Enjoy America!
“…If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
This is your victory.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.
I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.
And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity. Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too. And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see?
What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America."
That's beautiful, stirring and serious stuff. I don't know about you, but I could use some levity. You know, come to think of it, there will be a lot to miss about George W. Bush. Here, also for posterity and equal time, are some of his finest moments in public speaking. Yes he did!
It's a chicken-and-egg question. But for me, the answer -- hands down -- is execution.
Take an extreme and recent example: Mortgage-backed securities probably started out as a great idea! But look where poor execution got its proponents. No one has a clue which are the good mortgages and which are the bad.
What went wrong? Greed got in the way of good judgment throughout the lending system, and no one was being held accountable while we were lending and mortgage-backing our economy into oblivion. In fact, those that were accountable were rewarded. So accountability goes hand in hand with great execution, right? If there's no accountability, why care about the result?
Great idea --> Great execution --> Great result
If you're accountable for achieving great results, then there's your basic formula.
Try these others:
Great idea --> Poor execution --> Disappointing result
Lame idea --> Great execution --> Satisfactory result
Even a so-so idea or concept if supported by good execution will generally provide a better outcome than a great idea poorly executed. Albert Einstein gave ideas about 1 percent of the credit and perspiration the other 99 percent.
It was true for theoretical physics and it's true in communications too.
If you can't get the legwork done, or can't keep up with it, and you're not compelling enough or well-enough informed to do the arm-twisting and sell the idea, you won't get the results you're looking for.
This is the reason that the best communicators in the field are those that are driven, passionate and personally invested in the ideas they're communicating. Do you agree?
I have to credit social media guru Brian Solis with a blog post that got me sufficiently motivated to discuss what happens when people confuse social media as an end and not a means.
Let me start by borrowing from the Jeff Foxworthy school of self-inquiry -- and, no, I am not referring to 'Are you smarter than a fifth grader?'
You know you're confused about social media if:
...The number of people you follow on Twitter outnumbers those following you 10:1.
...You have 1,000+ contacts on LinkedIn but only 1 in 10 are people you've actually met or worked with.
...You've uploaded hundreds of photos to Flickr, have Dugg dozens of articles or websites on Digg, etc. but have never commented on anyone else's photos or Diggs.
...You hide behind aliases like "Digital Pimp," "Ninja0539," or "XYZcoceo" and it's not clear from your profile who you are, where you live or what you do.
I think you get the idea. Social media is just like one big cocktail party, and there will always be people who think that just showing up is the measure of success. People who are more interested in how they're being perceived than in learning about others. Or who are more concerned with getting their message across than in receiving anyone else's.
Those who thrive on the cocktail circuit are those that know how to work the room, start conversations and make connections. In fact, before they showed up, these savvy people have researched who's attending the event and pinpointed the individuals or types of individuals they hope to meet. They then proceed to seek those people out at the event and leave the encounter with enough information and mutual interest to continue the dialogue.
Social media might initiallly depend on 'what you know,' but before long, your success with it turns on 'who you know.' And, of course, who knows you.
So if you are confused about social media and want to gain some insight on making more productive social connections -- in person or online -- before you read a bunch of thought-leadershippy talk on social media, check out the advice of Keith Ferrazzi in his best-seller "Never Eat Alone." It's a never-goes-out-of-style guide to relationship building in general. Ferrazzi borders on fanatical about networking best practices, so even if you only go for about 60% of what he recommends, you'll be vastly better off.
For Millennials and others who struggle with making the most from their social media connections, this is a recommended real-world read for better social-media-world results. And for the rest of us, it's a good reminder that the only thing really new about social media is the technology that makes it possible.
Critical, unfavorable or downright bad search engine results that appear in your top 10 Google returns can easily become a stain on your record.
There are ways to manipulate search engine results so that favorable items recieve higher rankings, eventually relegating undesirable results, which are often inaccurate or really old news, to the second page of results.
While your online marketing team and SEO experts work hard to move your site up to #1 in the rankings for your category, be sure you have an online PR team working just as hard to keep the other nine results aligned with your desired image and pushing that cheapshot blog post to #11 or higher. (If after reading this, you're unconvinced of the power of 11, please be sure to watch the video primer that follows below.)
Google is essentially your company's home page and first impression. But there's also now a web project called the Internet Archive and, if Google is your permanent record, Internet Archive is your high school yearbook.
Thought you took down that embarassing webpost or terrible first attempt at a website? Think again and surf over to the Internet Archive: you'll find it there in all its former glory. While this can be painful, it can also be an excellent tool for research if you are looking for an old news release or other data that is no longer cached in the Google results. But it could just as easily be a liability to an organization that thought it had rid itself of a bio from a bad hire, content that it was sued over, or similar material. The bottomline is your overall online reputation is more important than a fleeting TV news story or traditional print coverage, except where that material is indexed by the search engines and becomes a part of your online image.
In the event that you've found this post a bit heavy, we will leave you with this excellent primer on the benefits and advantages of eleven, which is not simply restricted to unwanted search engine results but is also a great asset to amplification technology.
I co-chaired a breakfast session this morning for the Leadership North County Alumni that tackled the topic of education. Gary Moss of the San Diego Workforce Partnership kicked off the panel and his presentation (borrowed from www.thefischbowl.blogspot.com) contained these three slides and an 'aha' moment for me...
In the business of communications today, we are doing things and using tools that were never part of my generation's academic curriculum or early job experiences. But, as with the emergence of the Internet and email as new communications tools just over 10 years ago, social media is something I'm excited to be embracing and incorporating into our agency's toolkit.
Our ability to pick up these new tools and practices and put them to work is aided by our adaptability. We don't fear change and are excited by 'what's new.' That's essential to our business. In fact, the same skills that allow us to meet with a new client and understand their story, their business and their industry so quickly allow us to recognize shifts and adapt to the changing landscape in our own industry.
Getting back to our schools, the best thing we can do for today's students is to teach them the critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and organizational skills they'll need to adapt to whatever the world of work--five, 10 or 15 years from now--throws at them.
The fundamentals--good writing, solid math and science skills--are necessary to equip students for communicating, calculating and comprehending their worlds. (May b im oldskool but what passes for English in text and instant messages shouldn't carry over into other written communications.)
But if a student has the fundamentals down while having learned to be adaptive and resourceful in their outlook, their future will always be bright.
P.S. If you're a bright young thing and this last statement sounds like you, please email your resume to info@wrightoncomm.com.
The Christian Science Monitor website reports that in October, Esquire magazine will feature a battery-powered digital cover that flashes the tag line "The 21st Century Begins Now."
The cover is embedded with an E Ink display, the same setup used by the Amazon Kindle book reader. However, Esquire commissioned tiny custom batteries to fit into its paper-thin front page.
It required a six-figure investment by Esquire executives who hired an engineer in China to develop a battery small enough to be inserted in the magazine cover. Ford Motor has helped underwrite the cost with an ad on the issue’s E Ink inside cover.
You'll only be flashed for 90 days; after that the batteries die. And only if you buy at the magazine stand because the cover is limited to 100,000 copies to be sold to new potential subscribers at magazine racks.
Clearly there is significant PR value in this promotion that is the bigger outcome than just the 100,000 winking covers. Millions of potential Esquire readers will read about, hear or see this story through other media than will see the covers on newsstands.
So it's not a six-figure investment in 100,000 covers; it's a six-figure investment in the brand. It's bold and different, and in magazine publishing, it's a Purple Cow move!
I don't know about you, but I'm an Esquire subscriber and will be tempted to buy the magazine stand version anyhow if I can get my hands on it!
You probably already suspected this about yourself, but if you're anything like the IT workers studied by Gloria Mark, Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine; you shift your focus to a different task on average of every 3 minutes and 5 seconds!
Half of those switches are caused by interruptions. And, what's worse, most of them are you interrupting yourself! i.e. Checking email while you're doing something else.
This seems like a good counterpoint to our last post about Twittering, which is taking off in popularity exactly because it's just the type of thing you can read or post in 3 minutes and 5 seconds!
"We found about 82percent of all interrupted work is resumed on the same day. But here's the bad news -- it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task."
"I argue that when people are switching contexts every 10 and half minutes they can't possibly be thinking deeply. There's no way people can achieve flow. When I write a research article, it takes me a couple of hours before I can even begin to think creatively. If I was switching every 10 and half minutes, there's just no way I'd be able to think deeply about what I'm doing. This is really bad for innovation. When you're on the treadmill like this, it's just not possible to achieve flow." That's why, from time to time at (W)right On Communications, we shut down our email and close our doors to make the needed time for creativity and strategic thinking.
However, there's an upside to interruptions and multitasking too. Often solutions can come to you when you're thinking about something else. And task shifting gives you the chance to leave a tough problem and incubate it until the right answer or idea pops into your head.
Twitter.com lets you post 140 character mini-blogs from your computer or mobile device and monitor those of your friends, professional colleagues or thought leaders who tend to share what they're reading or working on.
Yes, there are some people who Twitter what they're eating for lunch. Don't do that (unless you're a foodie and then it's ok and expected).
Simple rule: If you wouldn't want to read it, don't post it. To follow what we're doing at (W)right On Communications, there is www.twitter.com/juliewright and www.twitter.com/betsybrottlund. You simply visit the page and click to follow the Tweets of people who share your interests (you'll have to join and become a Twitterer before you can be a follower).
We find Twitter extremely useful. We enjoy scanning the Tweets of the people we're connected with through Twitter. But, as with LinkedIn, we're not just connected to the people following our Tweets but to their followers as well. You see, if something we Tweet catches our followers' interests, it could be reTweeted, posted to their blogs, and shared in many other ways -- thanks to the beauty of social networks.
But don't take our word for it. Read this article from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, written by the chief political correspondent for Slate:
Don't Fear Twitter
Using moment-by-moment observations, 'Twitter entries build a community of readers who find their way to longer articles ….'
By John Dickerson
If I were cleverer, this piece on Twitter and journalism would fit in Twitter's 140-character limitation. The beauty of Twitter when properly used — by both the reader and the writer — is that everyone knows what it is. No reader expects more from Twitter than it offers, and no one writing tries to shove more than necessary into a Twitter entry, which is sometimes called a Tweet, but not by me, thank you.
Twing.com is a free service that searches opinions, information, and conversations online —however obscure that particular interest may be.
In our last post, we said that Internet purchasing behavior showed that people still tended toward mainstream buying decisions, but the Twing website was designed to encourage people to find communities relevant to their interests.
We took it for a test drive and searched 'Autism' and 'Nutrition' (since our client Global Health Trax sponsored an autism benefit hosted by actress Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey last weekend. GHT's CEO attended their exclusive autism fundraiser. (Yes, the one where Britney Spears made a rare appearance.) (W)right On supported GHT's sponsorship with an online campaign that we pushed through in about three weeks to prepare and execute.
Here's what Twing.com told us about online conversations:
2,349 views for the top most relevant result: Autismtalk.net
942 views for next result: Forum Garden, which had 13 'replies' to Autismtalk's 3. So less traffic but more involvement.
When we sorted by 'date,' it was clear that right now everyone is talking about radio blowhard Michael Savage's recent assertion that most autistics are fakes and brats.
With one mouse click, the site also produces a graph charting the number of threads and posts for the past week, which is cool.
But, best of all, the site has a 'buzz chart.' So we inserted 'Global Health Trax' and 'autism' to track our PR effort in July for GHT. This is a great feature and allows you to visualize the impact of a campaign like the one we launched only a few weeks ago.
Twing.com just got added to our list of Favorites at (W)right On Communications!
And to reward you for reading this post, here's a photo of gorgeous Hollywood types from last Saturday.
In 2007, there were 91 million songs available on iTunes but 91% of them sold only one copy each. The theory of the long tail was supposed to show how the Internet allowed consumers to find and indulge in their niche interests. But research like this on iTunes and similar research on movies shows that consumers continue to 'nibble' on their more obscure tastes and gorge on a small number of mainstream hits.
And while you're visiting Slate, another great article is "Things are not what they Stream: Have corporate pranks gone to far?" It's a look at YouTube fakes, 'murketing,' and the value to the brand in the big 'reveal' when the brands are found out.
In an expirement, two groups of subjects saw one or the other of these offers to subscribe to The Economist.
Offer A: $59 - Internet Only Subscription (68 chose)
$125 - Internet and Print Subscription (32 chose)
Predicted Revenue - $8,012
Offer B: $59 - Internet Only Subscription (16 chose)
$125 - Print Only Subscription (0 chose)
$125 - Internet and Print Subscription (84 chose)
Predicted Revenue - $11,444
Take a moment to look at this rather startling result. Both offers are the same, with the exception of including the “print only” subscription in Offer A. Despite the fact that not a single person chose that unattractive offer, its impact was dramatic - 62% more subjects chose the combined print and Internet offer, and predicted revenue jumped 43%. The print-only offer was the decoy, and served to make the combined offer look like a better value.
Read more about Decoy Marketing at the Neuromarketing blog.
