As a lover of sparkling writing, and better yet, sparkling funny writing, I got a decent payoff from last Sunday’s slog through the New York Times from a column entitled “Science and Truth: We’re All in It Together,” by Jack Hitt. I guffawed at least eight times reading it, and am now looking forward to his forthcoming book, “Bunch of Amateurs: A Search for the American Character,” out later this month.

Although the article takes a humorous bent, it deals with a serious topic in which I have an abiding interest as a human and a communications professional – the question of how we know whether something that’s been “reported” is true or not, and how our cultural propensity to dispute and weigh in on things we don’t really know much about affects what the truth ultimately becomes.

I believe one of the most important things we can do as communications professionals is ask the tough questions, and not accept at face value everything we are served up or our eye lands upon. It’s in the best interest of our clients to have a healthy skepticism and to make sure public statements or anything published in any venue have been deeply considered.

The Times piece had a field day with this notion. The first part of it concerned the old news that the long-absent ivory-billed woodpecker had been spotted in an Arkansas swamp.  It was announced at the time with much pomp and circumstance in Washington, prompting then-President George W. Bush to pledge millions of tax dollars for habitat preservation, and a barrage of media coverage and features. But immediately afterward, and despite a peer-reviewed article and other visual evidence supporting the sighting, people began to express their doubts about it in various forums, and to this day no one can say for sure whether the bird was seen or even exists. This lack of certainty is reflected in the Wikipedia page on the bird, which states that “The Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) is or was (emphasis mine) one of the largest woodpeckers in the world …”

We’re not going to settle that debate here, but it all raises the specter of my main concern – the ease with which people are willing to accept as truth what they read or are told, without a natural skepticism kicking in – and conversely, how normal it has become to take issue with every statement, regardless of its possible authority. These tendencies in tandem make for a challenging environment in which to be a professional communicator.

How many times in recent years have we seen “information” being passed on that either wasn’t true, or wasn’t verified when it was being reported? The poster children for this phenomenon are:

• Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona – She was reported by a number of reputable outlets as having died of her wounds sustained in the January 8, 2011 Tucson shooting when of course she had not.
• Michael Jackson – Probably one of the earliest examples of how much havoc can be wreaked when nothing has been confirmed, but everybody talks about it anyway. Celebrity gossip site TMZ began reporting that Jackson had died and from that, so did everyone else. TMZ may very well have broken the story, but it was disturbing that news organizations and social media users felt no qualms about putting this into the ether with no idea of its veracity.

The fallout from the almost pathological need to be first in this age of multiple media platforms is that no one knows what to believe anymore, even from supposedly trustworthy sources. And I think that has produced its opposite effect – disputing things just because it suits one’s purpose to do so. Accuracy and fact-checking have gone by the boards, and sometimes it seems people just accept that now. That’s the wrong direction to be going in. Content providers, whoever they are, have a responsibility to do more than just say “somebody said something.”

Curiously, Wikipedia can be one of the most reliable sources when news is breaking. More than once, when other outlets are awash in speculation, Wikipedia will hold back, refusing to succumb to the roar of the crowd until convinced they have thoroughly vetted the information.

In a world as complex as ours, we may never know if we are completely right, or if something or someone will come along later to prove us wrong. But we will at least know we tried to ensure the truth of the matter as best we could, using an abundance of caution and critical thinking as our guides.

photo credit: Ryan Somma

On my most recent cross-country flight the in-flight movie was the Oscar-winning silent film,  “The Artist.” Perhaps one of the reasons that “The Artist” was so well received by the Academy is the appreciation for a strong visual message without the need for extraneous words. I believe there’s meaning here for anyone who is charged with developing and delivering presentations, particularly those that involve a PowerPoint. I would estimate there were only 15 intertitles or title cards in the entire movie, and yet, the story kept my interest – despite its predictability – and is easily relatable to someone who wasn’t in the audience. I was in a “buy” mode. Aren’t these factors we all hope to achieve with our presentations, to have someone believe in our product, service or information?

All too often, we are the audience to presentations that feature an endless PowerPoint package. The slides are heavy on words (often even a virtual duplication of the spoken presentation) and virtually devoid of interest or appeal. And, because we struggle to effectively process information when it’s coming at us both verbally and in written form, at the same time, the audience grows impatient and then bored with the presenter. We sigh, “If you’re going to put all of this content on the PowerPoint, why don’t you just send it to me and save time for both of us?”

Garr Reynolds makes any number of excellent points in his terrific book,  “Presentationzen,” which should become required reading before being able to access the PowerPoint template. As you might guess from the title, a predominant theme in his book is the idea of simplicity. Simplicity in message. Simplicity in visuals. And yes, simplicity  in PowerPoint. He is addressing the timeless battle between form and function, and style and substance, and faulting us for so much reliance on technique. Clearly, he has been in many of the same conference rooms I have been in, where we spend hours agonizing over a set of 50 slides that virtually duplicate the spoken word. And, we spend just minutes working through the actual spoken presentation and the audience engagement. In other words, we sacrifice meaningful substance and thoughtful discussion for yet another soul-crushing PowerPoint.

Let’s not call for the end of PowerPoint, but let us join together to practice greater discernment and restraint. We can learn to use this tool as an aid to present ideas and encourage discussion and discovery, rather than as a crutch for our presentation.

photo credit: HikingArtist.com

Fahlgren Mortine had reason to celebrate in Dayton last week. The Dayton Area chapter of the Public Relations Society of America recognized our team’s results-driven work for business-to-business, consumer-packaged goods, tourism, technology and financial clients at the PRism award ceremony, hosted at the Dayton Racquet Club.

Fahlgren Mortine took home a total of 12 awards (six PRisms and six Awards of Merit) for work on behalf of: Ohio Office of Tourism, Elmer’s, Crown Equipment Corporation, Emerson Network Power, Standard Register and Harrison College. The awards represent a broad range of categories, including: media relations, community relations, writing, website/electronic media, internal communications, marketing communications and marketing.

Our very own account executive Meghann (Heft) Naveau was awarded the 2012 Up & Comer Award for her outstanding professional accomplishments and service to the Dayton community. Congratulations to Meghann and to the Dayton staff for these tremendous accomplishments!

I recently discovered the new social media tool, Ifttt. I suppose you could consider Ifttt to be your very own social media worker bee.  It creates tasks that fit this simple structure: if this, then that.

At first, I was smitten with everything you can do with it. Like…create a Twitter list from Twitter chat participants, archive tweets to Google calendar, send a tweet to Pinterest or even (and this one is my personal favorite) have a DM sent to you if it’s raining. You can read up on more snazzy things to do with Ifttt on PRSarahEvans’ blog.

But then I learned that my colleague Lara Kretler wasn’t down with Ifttt because it provides users a crazy easy way to automate. And that got me thinking … is automation a sin against mankind that violates the spirit of social media? Or, if used in the right way, can it be helpful to businesses that are strapped for time and resources?

Not going to lie, I do get a little creeped out when I get an auto DM from companies I follow on Twitter. And when I #FF (follow Friday) someone, I’d like to think that their “thank you” tweet back to me was from the heart and not from some lifeless bot. It’s not genuine, and for me, social media is all about relationships.

But what about tools like Hootsuite that allow users to schedule posts in advance? As an individual user, it makes my life easier, but for a business, the time saved can translate into cash kept in pocket. And I love that when I update my blog, it automatically sends a tweet about the post to my followers.

If you want my vote, I don’t think all forms of social media automation are bad – but it’s a fine line. Here are my recommendations:

Acceptable

• TweetBeeps: they’re like Google alerts for Twitter. TweetBeeps help companies keep track of conversations that     mention them. Users can even keep track of who’s tweeting a particular website or blog, even if they use a shortened URL (like bit.ly or tinyurl). There is nothing wrong with a tool that makes listening easier.
• Posting to Twitter or Facebook via SMS text (through services like Ping.fm). This is a great tool when you’re at a busy event and want to update your social network. Or…when a good idea strikes you in bed at 2 a.m.
• Scheduling posts in advance: Let’s face it. I can barely keep up with Twitter and I’m just a person. Like I stated earlier, this functionality can save companies time and money. And the interaction is still genuine – the tweets are still original and organic. Just maybe not crafted and sent in real time. Good tools to use are Hootsuite and SocialOomph.

Unacceptable

• Auto following
• Auto DMing
• Auto thank you for mentions or #FFs
• Auto linking every tweet to Facebook. Twitter and Facebook are two completely different social networks and they work in totally distinct and separate ways. Trust me, your FB friends don’t want to read your every tweet. Especially if you’re like me, and tweet at least 10 times per day.

Bottom line – Automate only when necessary and don’t let it get in the way of genuine engagement. What do you think?

In our agency offices, I sit very close to our McDonald’s account team and am often amazed at how similar, but more so, how different it is to promote burgers vs. bachelor’s degrees. I’ve spent my entire career working in or with organizations that sell services, so it’s interesting to compare and contrast the approaches.

Service businesses, like hospitals and universities, differ from tangible product companies in many ways. Many service companies focus their marketing efforts on the goal of instilling the perceived value of the service – the customer must feel and acknowledge that their life will be made easier, better or richer in some way from using the service. Since the customer, in many cases, won’t walk out of your office with a product in hand, this emotional connection is an imperative element in higher education marketing.

Product marketing brings to mind the 4Ps from Marketing 101 – price, product, place and promotion. Service marketing takes that a step further with what many refer to as the 7 Ps –price, product, place and promotion, as well as physical evidence, process and people.

In order to compete in a saturated market like higher education, where the market has been flooded by for-profit and online providers, it’s imperative to define your university’s unique – TRULY unique – selling proposition. Why are you better? What can you say that your competitors can’t? And – the most important questions of all – Why should I, as a prospective student or parent, care? What’s in it for me? Once these questions have been answered, you can approach your audience with confidence and know – and communicate – that, regardless of how many other, cheaper options they may come across, they’d be crazy to enroll anywhere else.

Research with the target audience also gives us insight into the customer journey and how, where and when they prefer to engage with a brand. From well-planned research, we can work with clients to uncover ways to be innovative and add value to the customer experience – a cornerstone of effective service marketing in today’s highly connected world where word of mouth rules.

Marketing success in higher education comes as a result of using paid, earned and owned media to build connections and relationships between the university and its audiences that we hope will last a lifetime – from enthusiastic high school student, to engaged undergraduate, possibly graduate student, then loyal alumni and donor.

When you think about it, we’re really selling the invisible. In higher education, the product is more than the diploma, cap and gown on graduation day. It’s about engaging the hearts and minds (and ultimately, wallets) of people – and unlike the decision to buy a burger, the decision that they make about a bachelor’s degree will affect them, and those they care for, for a lifetime. There is something very rewarding about working with clients who serve the greater good –and seeing the results of our efforts is truly gratifying.

photo credit: pbuergler

Not long ago, a much younger female colleague introduced me to Pinterest. It’s amazing to see how much the site has taken off, and in a relatively short amount of time, as outlined in this great infographic on techcrunch.com.

Now I am addicted to the virtual pinboard that lets me share photos of things I like with other people. I think I’m a fairly early adopter of social media, and align perfectly with Pinterest’s core demographic, which is largely female and Midwestern.

Using Pinterest and connecting with friends via Facebook, I can find and share great recipes, get ideas of how to decorate a room, find inspiration for a wedding shower, or get an idea of what to buy my teenage daughters for their birthdays. It really replaces the old-fashioned practice of cutting photos out of magazines and catalogs and saving them in a folder or scrapbook – now you can “pin” what you like onto neatly categorized boards.

And while Pinterest skews largely female, men are using it, too. Just look at the Cars & Motorcycles board – it’s full of motorheads who have a passion for big engines, classic and foreign cars, and more.

It’s truly fascinating to see the kinds of items posted on the site – they range from humorous quotes to 40 ways to tie a scarf, and from how to clear your car’s headlights to tips for taking great photos of kids. The range of information and the ease of viewing and sharing images are, to me, what makes the site so appealing.

Three of my favorites to follow are Real Simple, Lowe’s and Better Homes and Gardens, largely because I’m one who would read these print publications if time permitted. Now I can access some of the same content much more quickly on my laptop or iPad. It’s a huge timesaver. Kudos to publications and retailers who’ve embraced this new way of communications.

Recently, however, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal that addressed the issue of copyright on Pinterest. It does pose some great questions about one’s ability to copy an image from a website or blog for use on your board.

According to the Wall Street Journal, all of the lawyers interviewed for the article said the courts are far behind in copyright law in areas where Pinterest could present issues. With Pinterest’s user growth greater than that of Facebook and Twitter at the same point in their history, these issues will likely be in the forefront for the site, as well as for lawyers and those who post original content.

While they figure this out, I’m planning dinner, picking out clothes, considering the best flowers for container gardens and thinking about a hundred other great ideas. All from Pinterest.

Are you on Pinterest? If so, do you follow anyone whose pins are particularly cool or interesting? Please share so I can continue my addiction.

photo credit: erix!

Client journeys lead to big learnings

One of the best parts about working at an agency like Fahlgren Mortine is the number of different businesses I get to touch on a daily basis. Everything from automotive and manufacturing to healthcare and financial services—they all manage to fill a place on my daily agenda. Being exposed to such different worlds has allowed me to appreciate every opportunity I get to uncover the truly unexpected gems in my clients’ businesses.

My most recent experience of the sort was when some colleagues and I were invited to fly the friendly skies at Grange Insurance’s annual agency meeting. (Yes, that’s right. This year’s meeting followed an airline theme.)

Our journey began before we even “took off.” When we entered the meeting space, airline boarding music played in the background, and people mingled jovially. Then, after awhile, a voice over the P.A. asked everyone to take his or her seats. Our trip was about to commence. When I took my seat, I found a folder welcoming me “aboard,” as well as a small bag of peanuts. Before the meeting had even started, I wondered what was going on. This did not seem like an annual insurance meeting to me. I had pictured something more serious, but clearly Grange had different ideas about our flight plan.

As we took off, and CEO Tom Welch shared the day’s itinerary, I couldn’t help but chuckle. This was so far from what I had expected, and I was intrigued. I had to know more. Over the course of the next few hours, passengers enjoyed safety demonstrations, in-flight videos featuring some celebrity cameos (even a Kardashian impersonation or two), updates on the headwinds faced in 2011, and briefings from the cockpit on a sunny forecast for 2012.

This experience was so far from what my team and I expected, but we really shouldn’t have been surprised. As public relations and advertising professionals, we get periodic glimpses into the client world. And it’s usually during these moments that the client’s culture, values and beliefs really come to life. These experiences are transformative, and I’m always amazed at what I uncover.

So no matter what the quest, creed or conundrum, the thrill of the journey will never get old. And the knowledge and understanding will always be invaluable. To me, that’s the beauty of doing what we do.

It’s happened to all of us in public relations at one time or another. When asked the seemingly innocuous question – “what do you do for a living?” – we freeze. There are so many interpretations of public relations, as illustrated by the popular recent meme “what ____ thinks I do,” (pictured at right) that we aren’t always sure what to say. 

There is a discourse happening in our industry right now about the Public Relations Society of America’s recent efforts to update the definition of public relations. Certainly, the organization has anticipated some naysayers, but the leaders held true to the process and provided three options on which members could vote. They were:

•  “Public relations is the management function of researching, communicating and collaborating with publics to build mutually beneficial relationships.”
• “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”
• “Public relations is the strategic process of engagement between organizations and publics to achieve mutual understanding and realize goals.”

Having followed the debate for the past several weeks, I began to wonder what folks around the office would say when asked, “What do you do for a living?” I got some interesting answers:

• I help my clients tell clear, compelling stories.
• I work with journalists and bloggers to get my clients exposure on TV, in magazines and blogs.
• I help companies explain what they do to their customers, communities and the media.
• PR is good performance, well communicated.
• And my personal favorite: “My grandma thinks I’m a journalist and often wonders why I don’t get my name in the paper more often.”

This is just an informal hallway sampling, but what did the masses think? On Friday, PRSA announced their new definition:

“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

Well, it’s still not going to roll off the tongue at a dinner party, but I do applaud them for the effort. They generated a national conversation that drew awareness to the profession and for that I say, “thank you!”

But at my house, my kids will still think that I work at a TV station. Ah, well.

Whether you’re a fan of the new format or not, Facebook will automatically force business/brand Pages to move from a Wall to the new Timeline beginning March 30. That means marketers have less than a month to familiarize themselves with what’s new, make their updates (you’ll see a preview now) and publish the Page.

Here are a few pros and cons to the new format.

Pros:

• Pages are now more visually appealing, allowing for a more branded look throughout the Page. A cover image will be very important in telling your brand story.
• To draw attention to a particular story, “pin” it to the top of Timeline. This is denoted with a yellow ribbon and will remain in the top spot for seven days. Some examples of posts you may want to pin include a big announcement, a photo of the week or a fan spotlight.
• Popular stories can be “highlighted,” which makes the post twice as wide.
• Brands can now add milestones, which stand out in Timeline with a much larger photo. Brands with a rich history will really benefit from this. Check out the New York Times’ Page.
• A big improvement from the customer service side is the ability to respond to inbound private messages from users through the admin panel. However, you cannot proactively reach out to users.
• Custom applications are here to stay, but you’ll need to do a few extra steps to grab fans’ attention. You can promote them with a direct URL (just click on the app and you’ll find it in the navigation bar) and pin a story about the promotion/application. You can also hide apps from non-fans, but I wouldn’t recommend it since they can see the rest of your page content anyway.
• If you’ve been stuck with a Page name you no longer desire, rejoice because you can finally request a name change through the admin panel.

Cons:

• Welcome tabs with like-gates are useless since anyone can see your Page content without liking the Page.
• Custom applications don’t have as much real estate, making you work harder to promote them. You’ll now find them in a row under the cover photo. Be sure to put the most prominent ones in the top spots since users may not click the down arrow to see the others. You cannot use the cover photo to promote an app—or anything else (see next bullet).
• Cover photos cannot include any call to action, URL, offer or arrow pointing to other features. This means you have to make your content do the work! Hopefully you’ve been doing that all along, but the brands with the most engaging content will be the ones that continue to garner the most traffic.
• Photos will always appear first in the apps list (under the cover photo). The other app placements can be shifted.
• Page admins won’t see posts about their Page that people haven’t shared publicly, even though people visiting the Page might see them if they’re part of the audience the post was shared with.

This is certainly not the entire list, but if you’d like to dig in to other changes and learn best practices for showing up in News Feeds, check out our deck on Scribd. You can also view a list of pertinent articles through the Fahlgren Mortine Delicious account.

Do you like the new Timeline for Pages? Why or why not?

I’m writing from the Grand Hyatt in New York City, where the 2012 PR Week Awards concluded last night. Fahlgren Mortine was recognized as one of five national finalists for “Agency of the Year” in our revenue category. And, I am beyond proud to report that my colleague and senior account executive Cari Steiner earned the honor of being the national “Young PR Professional of the Year.”

The agency recognition tonight shines a bright light on so many people who have contributed to our success. Many have been with our company longer than the 10 years I’ve called Fahlgren Mortine home. Many have joined us in recent years through acquisition. Many have left only to come back. Regardless of how my more than 160 Fahlgren Mortine colleagues came to our firm, tonight was about their efforts on behalf of clients of all sizes doing work all around the world.

And of course, we couldn’t be happier for Cari Steiner. I’m fortunate to work with Cari each day in our Cleveland office, and I’m amazed at the impact she has had on our culture and the clients she serves. Her professionalism and work quality are every bit worthy of the national recognition she earned. This night is one she will and can never forget. We can’t wait to see the amazing things she will do as a member of Fahlgren Mortine.

If you’re reading this post and you’re not familiar with Fahlgren Mortine, I hope you get to know us a bit more deeply, whether as a client or as a potential employee. The emotion our team brings to its work every day is contagious. We love what we do and who we do it with. Sure, the awards make us feel good, and we celebrate the recognition. But as I was reminded again tonight, the win for Fahlgren Mortine doesn’t come in the form of a trophy.

The win resides in having people such as Cari Steiner come into our offices every day and the belief that they will make a difference for their clients and for our company. In my mind, this is why we’re one of the most outstanding marketing and communications agencies in the country.

The only things talked about more than the Super Bowl itself are the commercials that air. The expectation has been built that some fans anticipate the spots more than the game itself. This makes everyone an ad critic. But, everyone isn’t an ad critic. Viewers of Super Bowl ads don’t judge the spots on the value of being effective to the target audience; they judge the spots as if they were reviewing a movie. Did they laugh? Did they cry? Were they moved?

The real value in Super Bowl ads – the part that makes it worth the $3.5 million price tag – is the value of being talked about, and in turn, the viral nature in which the ads can be viewed millions more times, if they earn it.

In today’s real-time world, the funnier you are or the more you’re talked about, the more impressions you’ll get as your spot goes viral, as evidenced by the tens of millions of YouTube hits some brands, like Honda and Acura, are already racking up.

I thought this was a good year for Super Bowl ads, which went back to basics and fell into one of three categories:

• Funny – dogs, babies and silliness consistently win with the S.B. audience.
• Dramatic – two words: Clint Eastwood.
• Effective – Chevy’s “end of the world” spots were a direct hit to Ford.

Here were my favorite spots this year:

• Doritos Sling Baby and Man’s Best Friend: Doritos’ popular crowdsourced spots are back, and they still work.
• Volkswagen The Dog Strikes Back: following VW’s success last year with “the Darth Vader kid,” they stuck with the Star Wars theme. Many brands have success bringing familiar characters into their ads. It’s comforting to audiences to connect with characters they already know.
• Bud Light Rescue Dog: a nice tie-in to a social responsibility matter that you might not expect from a beer brand.
• M&Ms Just My Shell: very clever route for the beloved candy.

What were your favorite Super Bowl ads?

photo credit: Peter McCarthy

Five tips to build trust with journalists

Back in November, I began contacting editors I’ve worked with through the years to inquire about opportunities for clients in the New Year. Even though some editorial calendar opportunities were three or more months out, I began outreach to get a jump on the competition.

A funny thing happened … editors emailed/called me back with similar responses. “Don’t worry about the editorial calendar; just send me your best story ideas; use your best judgment and send me byline ideas that mirror industry trends. I’ll find a home for it; I’ll use what you send me … I trust you.”

Building trust with the media starts with building a relationship

After working with editors, producers, freelancers, reporters, bloggers and any other journalistic job title you care to use, I’ve developed a few tips that have helped me create better media relationships.

1. Understand their needs. It is almost as important as knowing your own needs when building editorial relationships. Be familiar with the publication or site of course, but also their readership and the type of writing style the medium employs. Read their articles, blog and Twitter posts to know what they value as news.

2. Use their general lack of time as an opportunity. Editors and journalists are often on deadline or juggling multiple projects; they’re busy just like everyone else, so being efficient in your dealings with them gains their trust. Also, jump at the chance to do them a favor. If they are on deadline and need a quick quote or image, make it happen.

3. Deliver exactly what you promised. Making good on your promises ahead of the deadline builds credibility. It also creates a favorable image for your client as a well-prepared, professional organization.

4. Go the extra mile. Don’t wait for them to ask for images. Offer supporting graphs, photos and links, with captions, along with the submission.

5. Stay in touch. Continuing the relationship with the media involves contacting them on an ongoing basis with newsworthy information and different ideas for them to consider. In some instances, it won’t involve your client, but still serves to build the relationship. A couple of IT media editorial heavy hitters send me notes throughout the college football season to discuss Ohio State’s lack of wide receivers or their team’s spotty defense.

Seeing your hard work published in a magazine or online is a thrill that drives many of us. Another pleasure I get from working with the media is when they take time to send a sincere thank you after receiving your submission. A nice pat on the back from a third party is vindication that you are not just sending information via a mass email, but developing strong media relationships.

Do you have any good stories or tips concerning how to best build bridges with the media? We’d like to hear about them.

photo credit: Piano Piano!