OP-ED Contribuitor

PR's Adaptation to Technological Change

By Simona Surdu

March 20, 2011

            More than anything since the invention of the postal service, social media has revolutionized how we relate to one another.  In 2006, Forrester Research released a report called “Social Computing”, identifying a social phenomenon that has exploded since.  It’s the force of millions of people combined with the rapid evolution of new technologies. Individuals increasingly take cues from one another rather than from institutional sources like corporations, media outlets, religions, and political bodies.  So now that the public is credited for calling the shots, what does it mean for public relations?

            Famous blogger Stowe Boyd slams the traditional 3^rd party voice press release manufactured by PR people as an antiquated notion, a holdover from the days of the telegraph. “The old broadcast model” has been replaced by “participatory public relations’” changing the balance of power.  According to long-time web-content guru Gerry McGovern, “Traditionally, public relations was about honing a silvery message that communicated exactly what the organization wanted us to hear. Now we can hear all sorts of voices on the subject. It’s true democracy at work”.

            Communications professionals can no longer shape public’s perception through one-way communications, they have to engage in discussions with people and spend a lot of time listening to what they have to say.  Simply put, it is our job now to turn the force of customers connecting to our client’s advantage.

Here are the 10 commandments for public relations professionals in the Golden Era of Participation from Steve Rubel[1] SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital:

1) Thou shall listen – Utilize every avenue available to you to listen actively to what your publics have to say and feed it back to the right parties.

2) Remember that all creatures great and small are holy – It doesn't matter if it's the New York Times calling on you or an individual blogger, both have power. Take them all seriously.

3) Honor thy customer – Create programs that celebrate customers and they will celebrate you.

4) Thou shall not be fake – Keep it real; don't hide behind characters and phony IDs.

5) Covet thy customers – Don’t sue your fans. You will alienate them.

6) Thou shall be open and engaging – Involve your customers in the PR process. Invite them to help you develop winning ideas and become your spokespeople.

7) Thou shall embrace blogging – It’s not a fad, it’s here to stay. Be part of it.

8) Thou shall banish corporate speak – People want to hear from you in a human voice. Don’t hind behind corporate speak. It will soon sound like ye olde English.

9) Thou shall tell the truth – If you don’t tell the truth, it will come out anyway.

10) Thou shall thinketh in 360 degrees – Ask not what you can do for your customer, but also what your customer can do for you.

And now that we got the GIST of ‘participatory public relations’ let’s get to work.  In my opinion no matter what the task, the public relations practitioner can combine an array of social technologies to generate positive impressions for the company.

            First stop: Twitter micro-blogging technology.  The speed and simplicity makes it appealing to a wide range of individuals and organizations. It allows users to share opinions quickly, organize impromptu events and keep up with trends and news alerts. From a brand building and networking standpoint, the key is not to look at micro-blogging as individual posts, but to think of the overall impressions and value that can be created over time. [2]

Twitter is the place where companies look when trying to monitor not just run-of-the-mill customer opinions ("wow Walmart super center employees are rude!") but real-time feedback on their own breaking news stories. [3]

For instance, Domino's Pizza used Twitter to engage directly with people spreading the news about a YouTube video that showed employees adding, shall we say, nonstandard ingredients to the food. By responding to the scale and intensity of the customer mood, Domino's averted what could have been a major PR disaster.

Twitter redirected users to a “Behind the pizza” user friendly interface to educate consumers about the natural ingredients they use, by combining interactive content, games and rewards (coupons) and a “Brag about it” link to Twitter and Facebook. They also created a counter YouTube “Domino’s Pizza Turnaround” where they addressed customer concerns from Twitter posts.

How’s that for combining social media technologies to engage consumers and shift attitudes?

            Second stop: blogging. Horton sees blogging as a low cost publishing tool that has the advantage of being able to broadcast company news out quickly, in a less formal way. Blogs allow for instant responses, multiple conversation threads, and a sort of accessible history of issues that can be referenced, added to and corrected at any time. This is why blogs have the potential to help the organization develop stronger relationships and brand loyalty with its customers because they represent the “human face” of the organization. Using Technocrati, a search engine designed specifically for bloggers, you can find out exactly who is discussing your topic.

A good example of “how to” on blogging is HP, who decided not to have a single corporate blog, but nearly fifty executive blogs, regulated by a straightforward blogging policy that guarantees transparency and compliance with the financial disclosure laws and regulations. One very important request: “to include name and position (in blogs and comments) and write in the first person” so that consumers can interact with a “human face” in the blogosphere. Not only these blogs generate traffic, but also they generate trust, because they help consumers make informed decisions by stimulating discussion among specialists and other buyers. The ROI of blogs also includes: getting valuable customer feed-back, heading off PR problems, avoiding support calls, and word-of-mouth value.[4]

            And finally, on a related note, I would like to zoom in on support/community forums, a social technology application replacing traditional customer support.

Technical support calls cost companies around $10-$20, adding up to billions of dollars to run call centers. Outsourcing support calls overseas lowered the costs but added to consumer’s frustrations. Web self-service can be a hit or miss, most of the times complicated questions still typically generate a phone call. 

The breakthrough came when Massachusetts General Hospital found out with Care-Pages that people were happy to support each other online, given the chance.  People are far more willing to trust each other than a company and amazingly people are willing to spend lots of time helping each other. [5]

Caterina Fake, cofounder of Flickr called it “the culture of generosity”. And what that really means for companies is that they don’t have to pay people to do it, they just pretty much have to facilitate the medium for visitors to solve their own problems, which is why support forums can save them millions of dollars.

The information in support forums is searchable online and answers can be viewed by hundreds of people who are looking for an answer on the same issue.

According to Sean McDonald, director of Dell’s global online community team, when Dell surveys people leaving the site between 20 percent and 50 percent say they got an answer to their question, which means they’re far less likely to be calling Dell’s support lines.

PR can harness the power of this participatory culture by using fan forums to build support for a cause, a public figure or a campaign.

Bottom line, right now customers are writing about your products on blogs and recruiting your commercials on YouTube. They’re defining you on Wikipedia and ganging up on you on social networking sites like Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter. Most companies see it as a threat. [6]

But in the end,  ‘If you can’t beat them join them!”

To thrive in an era of Social Computing, companies must abandon top-down management and communication tactics, weave communities into their products and services, use employees and partners as marketers, and become part of a living fabric of brand loyalists.

According to a Customer Experience Report for North America, in 2010 "word of mouth" can make you or break you.Consumers aren’t just complaining when something goes wrong, they are determined to have their presence felt by the company at fault:

79% of consumers that had a negative experience with a company told others about it

97% used word of mouth as their preferred method to share their experience*

However, all hope isn’t lost if a company makes a misstep. In today’s transparent environment, owning up to your mistake and taking action yields positive results.

92% of consumers said they would be willing to go back to a company after a negative experience if they

· Received a follow up apology/correction from a supervisor/head office (63%) 

· Were offered a discount (52%) 

· Or were offered proof of enhanced customer service (49%)

It looks like, more than ever, enhanced customer service is the secret weapon for turning around negative word of mouth, and further more, for increasing revenue.

According to the same study, 85% of consumers said they would be willing to pay more over the standard price in order to ensure a superior customer experience.

· 76% would pay 5% or more 

· 55% would pay 10% or more 

· 27% would pay 15% or more 

· 18% would pay 20% or more 

· 10% would pay 25% or more

And these numbers stack up to make quite an impact. For example, the US airline industry could make an additional $10.6 billion in revenue this year if they could guarantee a superior customer experience.

Companies spend billions on advertising and marketing, yet word of mouth remains the most powerful vehicle for influencing one’s purchasing decisions. 76% of consumers said word of mouth most influenced their purchasing decisions, followed by customer reviews and online feedback at 49%, product review web sites at 41%, magazine articles at 23% and reputation on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube at 7%.

58%

of respondents would like the company to respond if they left a comment on a social networking site

but

ONLY

22%

of consumers who left a comment on a social networking site got a response from the company...

It looks like social networks add a whole new dimension to customer service. If negative comments are left unaddressed then it will influence buyer's choice a lot more than positive comments and advertising combined. 

Find the full study Here.

*These calculations were done by RightNow based on the results from Harris Survey and predicted US Airline revenue for 2010 by the Bureau of Transportation Statics

From the comfort of my home office (yes!) I joined today a nicely crafted webinar by the folks from CRT/tanaka, as part of PRSA professional development tools. To better understand the presenter's approach on creativity, I took a peek on their website.
Experienced in communications management, marketing,branding, interactive and social strategy CRT/tanaka explores 'whatcanbe' not only as a philosophy but as a strategic planning model.
'The whatcanbesmprocess is broken into three phases —“what,”“can” and “be.”

what

Reveal opportunities
We begin by understanding thechallenge and target audiences, unearthing unique insights andopportunities. We pay special attention to understanding influencingfactors and behaviors of key audiences.

can

Unleash creativity
Proprietary models help us generateand design unique solutions to client problems.

be

Deliver flawlessly
We manage execution and build the teamand tools that will best achieve the client’s goals within budgets.'

And here's how they go about Unlocking Great Ideas in the Workplace. (link to presentation)

The ROI of Creativity can be measured by the sheer volume of original concepts that can be tied into what the client needs. In order to deliver that, ideas are challenged and filtered, to ensure that they are on target, they can be executed, and people get energized about execution. The big ideas are often times the simple ones.
Thank you Ellen LaNicca for the reference list:

A Blackbound 2009 survey, detailing ROI for different on-line marketing/fundraising strategies, including e-mail marketing, social networking, online "Friends-asking-friends" events.
Blackbaud Survey

With the touch/tap of a finger you can now create your presentation on a mobile device, upload it online and share it with whoever you want. Sounds edgy, right? Well, here are a few things good to know, before you roll down your sleeves...

1. Creating ~The custom designed themes are I must say, state of the art and you can use the media browser to add photos and videos from your iPad Photo Library.  It automatically saves your work, so if you need to quit the app, you can go back where you left, without loosing work. You have the ability to personalize the templates by changing fonts, adding custom frames to your images, masks, shadows, animated slide transitions. If you get to that part (animations!) you should be prepared that the app will crash on you, couple times - you might even need to restart your iPad to recuperate your work. But the good news is that everything will be there, you don't loose progress during this challenging segment. However, the transitions will only work in Keynote,hence on the iPad/

2. Presenting ~ When it comes to running the presentation you can do it directly on your iPad if you have a small audience; you can have anyone open it on their iPad, if you have a gadgety audience or you can connect your iPad to a projector using an optonal adapter (haven't tried that one yet) and present to a large audience. The downside is that when you have it in presentation mode it won't display on your iPad as well as the projector/

3. Sharing ~ Although you have the option to e-mail it in Keynote or PDF format, the file size will make that challenging. But if you want to move it on your computer you can use File Sharing. The part I find inconvenient about it is that Keynote format only works on iPad, so you can export/download only in PDF format on another computer. Keynote is not compatible with Power Point, so don't get your PC involved, unless you just want to have a PDF copy. The <iSync everything> drive that's been pushed by Apple has a better solution, if you want to have your presentation available on-line, and share it (by invite only- so it's not public!) - you can just upload directly from your iPad to iWorks and it will store it for you and it's accessible through internet connection/

Overall, for the price of $9.99 this app delivers similar capabilities as Power Point for a fraction of the price, but you have to be in the IPad club to be able to share as intended, otherwise you will end up with a nice PDF/

Featured Keynote Presentation

Be sure to wear plenty of sunscreen, take a chill pill and drive safely this Memorial Day! Don’t forget the soldiers who made the United States the free country that it is today.

Across the world mothers have a special day; the begining of this celebration goes back to the Middle Ages. Every country of the world has embraced the opportunity to honor in some way the special person who we so fondly call "mom". Happy Mother's Day to you all! International Mother's Day 2010 Around the World
Between 30th January and 1st March	Isreal (Shevat)
14th February 2010	Norway
3rd March 2010	Georgia
8th March 2010	Afganistan, Albania, Azerbaydzhan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia
14th March 2010	Gibraltar, Nigeria, Rep. of Ireland, United Kingdom
21st March 2010	Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
7th April 2010	Armenia
24th April 2010 ( +/- 5 Days)	Nepal (Balash Amavasya)
2nd May 2010	Andorra, Angola, Azores, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Hungary, Madeira, Mozambique, Portugal, Spain
8th May 2010	Albania, Korea
9th May 2010	Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, Czech. Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Grand Cayman, Greece, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Holland, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Leichtenstein, Lesotho, Lithuania, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mariana Islands, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norfolk Islands, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Sardinia, Sicily, Singapore, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St Croix, St John, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Martin (Sint Maarten), St Thomas, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tobago, Tonga, Trinidad, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States of America USA, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe
10th May 2010	El Salvador, Mexico, Qatar
26th May 2010	Poland
27th May 2010	Bolivia
30th May 2010	Algeria, Corsica, Dominican Republic, France, French Antilles, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Martinique, Mauritius, Monaco, Morocco, St Pierre / Miquelon, Senegal, Tunisia
31st May 2010	Sweden
1st June 2010	Mongolia
13th June 2010	Luxembourg
27th June 2010	Kenya
12th August 2010	Thailand
15th August 2010	Antwerp (Belgium)
19th August 2010	India
14th October 2010	Belarus
19th October 2010	Argentina, Paraguay
28th November 2010	Russia

Since "mother in-chief" Michelle Obama proclaimed that she aims to end child obesity within one generation, companies and foundations out there embraced a new marketing strategy that's all about forming healthy nutrition habits.
There are 25 million overweight children in United States, who according to a study released in 2005 by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention may live shorter lives by two to five years than their parents because of obesity. Let's Move (letsmove.gov) aims to do for healthy eating and exercise what the government's anti-smoking campaign did in the 1960s: change how people think about their health.
So here's a brand new market segment to cash in on.
Foundations all over US are aligning their strategy with this goal in hopes of generating more revenue from Government grants to sustain their projects.
Retailers are adding more features to their products that guarantee freshness and smart snacking. You can also buy peace of mind that a percentage of your purchase goes to support charity.
Restaurants are counting calories for you, in hopes of making their customers feel like they're more aware of the ingredients they use and portion size.
And of course celebrities like being associated with this new trend, after all staying healthy and skinny is their business.
Check out Jennifer Garner endorsing a fancy $3,000 French refrigerator that claims to donate $1 for Save the Children Foundation up to $50,000 every time you Stop the Clock between 4/30/10 and 7/31/1 and register with your e-mail address for a chance to be entered in a drawing to win one.

Check out the Foundation Center website this month for a wealth of information on education funding.
Hot PubHub reports for CA (free!) include:
PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education
Public Policy Institute of California
April 2010
Higher Education in California: New Goals for the Master Plan
Public Policy Institute of California
Johnson, Hans P.
April 2010

You can also subscribe to Education Funding Watch and stay up to date on the latest education funding news, jobs, and opportunities.

I attended last night a somewhat unusual Monday night event courtesy of the Every Monday Matters Foundation (EMM), produced by Henry Island Productions and The Presstige Group PR - a start studded benefit to celebrate the official launch of the "You Matter- Our Schools Matter" Sponsorship Program.
The spectacular "Party with a Purpose" event featured DJ Tony Okungbowa from "Ellen DeGeneres Show" and celebrities like Forest and Keisha Whitaker (Repo Men, Vantage Point, Phone Booth, Panic Room) , Tia Carrere (True Lies, Natural Enemy, Five Aces), Omar Miller (Miracle at St. Anna, Lucky You, Get Rich or Dye Tryin'), Matthew Gubler (500 Days of Summer, Criminal Minds).

EMM started with a book by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Borza, turned into an international movement completed with the launch of the YOU MATTER K-12 Curriculum and the EMM Social Responsibility Program. The philosophy behind it is that ordinary people can change their lives, communities and the world by taking small actions like voting, donating for a good cause. People matter.
Our SchoolsMatter Program has been implemented in over 500 schools in 18states.

This reminds me of  Pay it Forward , the movie (2000) ~ centered around the same concept of making a difference by helping people and getting them motivated to helping other people, like a ripple effect set on changing the world with every good deed you make.

Taking it one step forward, enhanced by the power of social media and networking, EMM movement has captured the minds and the hearts of people around the world.