Grounded In Reality

This has been an interesting year for blogging. Going from guerilla to grounded and back… Early in 2007, I heard form some colleagues that their client was ready to cut all ties with Gizmodo after they posted a video poking fun at a speaker during a press conference… come on guys, he is a human being, he wasn’t the best speaker (at the time) and you made him look like a robot? Seriously, have a heart… The good news is they actually pulled the video and only weeks later, hired an onslaught of magazine and newspaper freelancers hungry for work as the print press starts to dry up.

One of the hires most notable to me was former Time Magazine tech reporter Wilson Rothman. From this publicist’s humble perspective, Rothman covers great tech stories (with real news value), he honors embargoes, he is fair and honest and has integrity as a journalist. Huge sigh of relief and Gizmodo returns to good graces with most technology manufacturers. In fact, only a few months later, they were offered an exclusive on the Pioneer KURO HDTV announcement, easily one of the biggest consumer electronics launches of 2007 (Yes, Pioneer is my client BUT, in my defense, the KURO won ALMOST as many tech awards in 2007 as the iPhone).

The blogging community has long been at odds with “credible journalists” and we at GCI have been supportive of the blogging world, counseling our clients to give influential bloggers (FYI, they are just reporters with faster publishing) the same pre-briefings we would offer a few select reporters at New York Times, WSJ, BusinessWeek or Financial Times around a big announcement.

CES 2008 was no exception… influential bloggers had unprecedented access, they brought live blogging to a new art form and they played the mother of all pranks… and that was just Gizmodo.

This publicists humble opinion on the prank of all pranks? I am mixed on this one. On one hand, I want to say, “grow up guys” and stop turning off all of the television around CES with the remote that you blasted in a review three or four years ago. On the other, “no harm, no foul.” It is funny, clever and you wouldn’t have one of the most influential blogs in the world if you didn’t turn a few heads now and then. Still, Gizmodo may just be the “bad kid” in class? All I know is that Engadget has yet to pull a prank like this and they are still hanging on to #1…

Bottom line, I can’t help feeling sick to my stomach for the people behind the scenes at Motorola who worked tirelessly to bring something newsworthy to CES, to put on a good show and get credit for the CNET People’s Voice Award winner, the Moto Rokr E8. I also disagree with Brian Lam’s recent article chastising tech reporters taking freebies and becoming the pawns of major corporations. I believe journalists (and bloggers alike) today are NOT the pawns of corporate America. In fact, for the first time in 50 years, journalism has significantly changed (thanks to blogging and community forums) and it is creating an open dialogue with corporate America that never existed before. Bravo blogga mania – if you must, go on and turn off as many TVs as you like, just don’t be surprised if you find yourself nursing a puncture wound courtesy of the business end of a publicists’ high heel…

Over the past week, Dell has been the topic of many conversations in the blogosphere, spurred by a Forrester Groundswell Award and BusinessWeek article discussing the company’s transformation from digital bystander to leader.  In reading these posts, I am incredibly proud of the GCI team that helped make this happen. (NOTE: Dell is a GCI client)

Below are a few highlights from the blogosphere:

• BusinessWeek: Dell Learns to Listen: Jeff Jarvis takes a guest columnist role to discuss his two-year relationship with Dell and an overview of Dell’s social media initiatives. The online version is complete with a 25-minute video of an interview with Michael Dell (also available on Jeff’s blog: BuzzMachine).   He also posted the un-edited version, which notes a very measurable impact of Dell’s programs:

“Thanks to this new relationship, the company learns about issues online before they do in the press or sometimes in-house. They are stanching the flow of bad buzz. By their measure, negative word of mouth in blogs has dropped from 49 to 22 percent. And my Dell Hell posts, which used to come up third on a Google search for the company, are now relegated to second-page search-engine Siberia. ‘That change in perception just doesn’t happen with a press release,’ Menchaca says.”

• Direct2Dell - Dell’s Blog: Lionel Manchaca did an interview with Jeff near the end of the day and posted the vlog that resulted on Direct2Dell.

• Forrester’s Groundswell blog also mentions Dell’s transformation when referencing the Forrester Groundswell Awards that were given out last week.

Company transformation. Dell.
We created this new category to capture the powerful changes happening across all functions at Dell. The Dell Customer Advocate program, which pursues fast resolution of support problems, decreased the negative share of online comments about Dell by 25%. Direct2Dell, Dell’s frank and informative blog, generates 3.5 million page views per month. Ideastorm, Dell’s innovation community, tallied 500,000 votes for over 7,000 ideas and generated a new product, Dell PC’s with Linux pre-installed. And Employee Storm, an internal idea community, has generated 2,700 ideas and seen visits from 22% of Dell’s employees.

• From Geoff Livingston at The Buzz Bin:

Relationships and RELATIONS are about being human — not God. Together as humans we experience life and grow together. Mistakes happen, and good PR can overcome this. Consider Dell’s incredible lesson in admitting wrongs, listening and changing. This week’s BusinessWeek story is a celebration of relations.

• Our own Paul Walker mentioned that he is “really proud of the people and programs mentioned in the article. Thanks, Dell, for letting us be a part of it.” 

On behalf of GCI, I want to give the entire team a big pat on the back! The consistent creativity and innovation in new media waters is something to be extremely proud of.

For the first time, the NY Times has published a video letter to the editor: Charles Ferguson, documentary filmmaker of No End in Sight, presents a video rebuttal to claims made by L. Paul Bremer III that top American officials approved the decision to disband the Iraqi army.

I’m sure the Times will be monitoring reaction to this new medium–and where the Times lead, others will follow.

With readily available video and audio editing software, cost is no longer a barrier to entry.  However, video or audio letters are not necessarily right for all clients or subject matter.  Factors that determine a good fit include compelling visuals and crisp sound bites.  Ask the questions: What can video do that text cannot?  Are the desired emotions or facts conveyed any more compellingly?  Would the target audience have the motivation or time to sit through a viewing?

Social technographics®–a coin termed by Charlene Li at Forrester Research in a new report about how companies should start thinking about their media campaigns by understanding their audiences rather than beginning by considering the different digital channels and technologies available.

Like all things PR: hello common sense! I mean in a social setting, surely, you wouldn’t talk about the same things, or even use the same language while speaking with your parents as you would with your friends, right? Then why do the same with a media campaign?

It’s interesting to see how the communication strategy roadmap is constantly morphing. In school I was taught, don’t start thinking with the execution. First, think about what you want to achieve and then about what you want to say in order to achive the goal. Now, with the exploding societal effect of Web 2.0, you first start thinking about who your niche audiences are, and then you decide what you want to say to them and finally the how you’d do it.

Just as Steve Rubel mentions, it’s fascinating to see how applicable and appropriate this breakdown of communication strategy can be for a PR professional. Advertising is all nice and entertaining like during the Super Bowl half-time. But, it’s not about engaging your preferred audiences in a conversation as only PR professionals are trained to do.

The tricky/challenging part of this approach however, is that there is no one “right” way of achieving and measuring success. Although personally, I think this, by itself, is a reward on the job! How exciting is it that with a smart and thought out new media campaign we can impact not only perception of our audiences, but also the way they interact and experience these brands!

This constantly changing social technographics® landscape pushes us to think differently not only of the message and the product but also helps us to factor in how our key audiences will use these messages.

A call to action is no longer as simple as “please respond to this email.” It’s more like please respond to this email, post it on your blog, then add a widget about it to your social networking page and then finally discuss it with your family over the dinner table! (or not!)

“It’s always easy to comment from the cheap seats.”

Many people in professional and collegiate sports have said those words at least once or twice in their athletic lives. Many times it’s said in anger or frustration after a tough loss or game.

Well, we received this document from a former reporter, who sent it to someone we work with in the world of public relations. It is as honest a view into a reporter’s soul as you will ever get.

When I was working at USA Today and CNN, I would say that many of us shared this view of the world of public relations.

The one thing I would add is a comment that works in your everyday life - “It’s the relationship, period.”

I have many friends in newsrooms across the country, but I won’t call them just to call about a press release. You have to have respect for what they do and not just call them with a bad pitch for something that doesn’t fit their needs.

Now, what I will do, is call a friend and ask them their opinions and ask who they suggest I talk to in their newsrooms about a pitch. Yet, if it’s not a good pitch, I am not going to waste anyone’s time.  Do that a few times and see how quickly you get voicemail on a regular basis.

Common sense isn’t common, anymore. Use your common sense before picking up the phone to call your reporter friend. This way, you will still be friends for many, many years to come.