Could Clinton Win Presidency in ‘Fifth Estate’ Age

June 9, 2011 by

If Governor Clinton had been up to his shenanigans in the “Fifth Estate” age, do you think he could still win the U.S. presidency? Or would the citizen media’s ability to document indiscretions and spread them virally have squelched his political ambitions?

It’s hard to say for sure. But without a doubt his successful message control strategies wouldn’t work today. As Geoff Livingston, Zoetica cofounder, emphasizes in his new book, Welcome to the Fifth Estate:

“Telling people what they want to hear or sticking to your three messages, truthful or not [no longer works]. Faced with social media, PR practitioners need to unlearn, retrain and change. … Message control in social media environments doesn’t work; two-way conversational capabilities have permanently closed the door on that strategy,” he writes.

Ironically, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), has reportedly sought advice from President Clinton on his Weinergate scandal and (coincidentally or not) reportedly attempted to copy President Clinton’s message control playbook by encouraging women to lie about their relationship with him and offering them the help of his public relations team.

Apparently Weiner was too busy with his Internet sexcapades to notice how Web 2.0 sunk the career of his New York colleague, Republican Rep. Chris Lee, who got caught sending a shirtless photo of himself to a woman he met through Craigslist. Or perhaps he thought his close personal connections to a message control master gave him a unique advantage?

I think we can safely say that Weiner and those advising him should have realized things have completely changed and President Clinton’s message control wizardry can no longer be replicated. They should have realized the new rules of communications required Weiner to tell the truth immediately. As Livingston writes in Welcome to the Fifth Estate, today you need ethics and transparency to win at the public relations game:

“Trust needs to be fostered through strong ethical action in social networks of any kind. Without actions to back up the talk, there’s little hope of success,” he writes, adding later: “If the public’s trust is broken by an organization misrepresenting itself, regaining it will be difficult. The Fifth Estate expects an organization to represent itself ethically online and demonstrate transparency in organizational efforts, especially in crisis situations.”

That means when Weiner got caught, he should have fessed up immediately, admitted he suffers from a terrible addiction, and went into treatment… especially with a child on the way. If you disagree and think messages still can be controlled, read Livingston’s new book. It provides an excellent foundation of the strategic principles of social network marketing and will help you unlearn what you were taught in business or communications school and, if necessary, step out of the darkness.

Do you disagree that the “Fifth Estate” is changing all the rules of communications? If you think my analysis is wrong, challenge me.

Filed Under: Books, Communications Tagged With: , , , , ,

Video Clip of the Month: Google Goo Goo for Gaga

June 1, 2011 by

My June 2011 video clip of the month—a commercial for the Google Chrome web browser and Lady Gaga’s new “Born This Way” album—was part of an unprecedented social media campaign that propelled the album to more than 1.1 million sales during its first week of release.

I picked the viral video because it’s an amazing example of how digital is changing marketing. Today’s superstars don’t buy attention. They earn it, and Lady Gaga is the queen of earned attention.  She has managed to build one of the world’s largest fan bases through her talent and using the Internet to talk directly and openly to her fans, who she affectionately calls “Little Monsters.”

The video, released May 18, celebrates “Mother Monster’s” relationship with her fans and how the Pop star uses Google products to connect with them. It features Lady Gaga interacting with her fans online and several of them singing and dancing to “Edge of Glory,” a single from her new album. The “Little Monsters” in the video were among the hundreds who began posting their own covers of “Edge of Glory” on YouTube within hours of its release just nine days earlier on May 9.

Perhaps, most importantly, the video successfully takes the nerd factor out of a web browser and makes people want to view a commercial. As of today, June 1, more than 1.4 million people have watched it, with tens of thousands recommending it to their friends.

What do you think of the Google Chrome commercial? Post your thoughts in the comments section.

Filed Under: Communications Tagged With: , , , , , ,

HOW TO: Remove the Snooze from Your Company Blog

May 24, 2011 by

Once you get past the “should my company be blogging” hurdle, you need to ask yourself “what type of blog is right for my company?”

Unfortunately, many companies forget that question and take starting a blog lightly. That sets them up for a blog full of regurgitated press releases with a high snooze factor and little readers. To remove the snooze from your company blog, figure out what strategy (or strategies) will build the most rapport with your target audiences and achieve your company goals.

In no particular order, here are ten to consider:

1. Share what’s going on behind the scenes. Have your employees create “personal diaries” about the work they do and the people they touch to create an emotional connection with your readers. Example: Operation Blessing’s With My Own Eyes blog.

2. Establish thought leadership. Blogging about industry trends demonstrates to your readers you deeply understand your industry, the needs of your customers, and the broader marketplace in which you operate. Example: Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide’s Fresh Influence blog.

3. Showcase creative ways to use your products. Blogging about all the fun, cool, and innovative things you can do with your products (while refraining from sales pitches) inspires your readers to buy them to try them out. Example: Sharpie Blog.

4. Engage your customers. To increase sales and brand loyalty, invite readers to send in stories, images, and videos of themselves using your products in fun and interesting ways. Example: REI Blog.

5. Engage your employees. Encouraging a cross-section of employees to write blog posts and submit comments helps connect with your customers and increase camaraderie. Example: Southwest Airlines’ Nuts About Southwest blog.

6. Solve problems. To enhance your brand image and highlight tough industry issues, provide an online community for readers to share ideas and support one another. Example: March of Dimes’ Share Your Story blog.

7. Crowdsource innovations. Ask readers to submit ideas to improve your products or services to make your blog a giant brainstorming platform. Example: My Starbucks Idea blog.

8. Reflect on your company news. Having a top executive create a “personal journal” blog about the latest company news can increase customer satisfaction and sales. Example: Marriott On the Move blog.

9. Increase customer loyalty. To keep customers coming back for more, create a blog that creates nostalgia for your brand. Example: Coca-Cola Conversations blog.

10. Showcase altruism. To enhance your company image and connect with your customers, blog about your employee volunteering and corporate social responsibility efforts and what your support means to the people you serve. McDonald’s Values in Practice blog.

Did I leave your favorite strategy out? Please share your ideas in the comments section.

Filed Under: Communications, How to, Strategy Tagged With: , , , ,

Is Twitter King and the Press Release Obsolete?

May 22, 2011 by

Now that anyone can break a story through Twitter is the old-fashioned press release obsolete?  People have been predicting its demise for years, but I think the truth is much more complicated.

As I wrote in my Are Blogs King and Press Releases Obsolete? post last year, today’s Web 2.0 world doesn’t mean you should stop issuing press releases and replace them with announcements on your blog. Likewise, you shouldn’t just start tweeting all your announcements. The press release is alive and well—but for increasingly narrow purposes.

When to Use a Press Release

You should still consider using a press release when you want to:

  • Shape perception of a story and generate positive media coverage. Chick-fil-A’s unconventional first person press release countering criticism from gay rights groups is a great example.
  • Entice the media to pick up your feature story.
  • Provide the 5Ws (who, what, where, when, why) and quotes the media can use for background on a story (especially local news).
  • Announce a press conference, upcoming event, or changes at a publicly held corporation.

Make sure to include keywords (otherwise known as magic magnets) in your press release copy if you plan to post it online.

When NOT to Use a Press Release

But never ever waste time getting a press release written and cleared when:

  • Bad news hits. In a crisis, you need to get ahead of the story and post information via Twitter and other social media channels as soon as management clears it (assuming you’ve built strong networks ahead of time). If you don’t act fast, an information void can quickly fill with unflattering or untrue rumors. Virtually any press releases you release will be too late and out of date (of course, as noted above, you still may want to issue press releases to shape perceptions).
  • Your story will become too stale. A Legal PR Advice blog post has a funny—and frustrating—story about a law firm that took a week to write and approve a press release after winning a major patent infringement case. As a result, the firm received no media coverage. A quick email to all the IP and tech reporters would have gotten the story picked up fast. So would have a tweet (assuming the firm built a strong network ahead of time).
  • Your story isn’t news. So many crappy press releases about non-stories are written that it is easy to jump to the conclusion that the press release is dead. If your story is purely self promotional and has little chance of generating any media coverage, don’t just post a boring press release on your website. Instead, post a Facebook update or blog post (then tweet a link) telling the story of the end result in emotional terms.  More people will read and share your story, paying much higher public relations dividends.

Your turn … what other ideas would you suggest for when to use or not use a press release?

Filed Under: Communications, How to Tagged With: , , , ,

Top 12 Blogs to Help You Change the World

May 13, 2011 by

If you want to use social media and mobile applications to make the world a better place, a number of blogs can help you chart your way, even as technologies change. Among the many strong ones out there, here are my favorite 12:

Beth’s Blog—one of the most popular and useful blogs for nonprofits (and anybody else interested in making a difference)—provides the latest insights into social media, online networking, and transparent organizational management. Its author, Beth Kanter, is a huge peer learning advocate who generously posts commentary and SlideShare PowerPoints from the talks and lectures she gives in the United States and abroad.

Build it Kenny, and they will come… helps grassroots nonprofits in the developing world use mobile technology to enact meaningful change. Its author, Ken Banks, created FrontlineSMS, a free open source software for collecting and distributing information through mobile phones, with no need for the Internet.

Danny Brown’s Social Media Marketing Blog offers suggestions, solutions, and idea starters on combining marketing, public relations, customer service and more with social media to change the way you and your clients or company does business. Danny is more than a good writer and strategic thinker. His authentic writing style inspires trust on many levels, leaving you confident to chase your dreams.

The Dragonfly Effect Blog, part of the companion website for the must read book of the same name, is about how individuals, organizations, and companies can leverage social media with the power of design thinking and psychological research to propel social change. It’s full of big strategies, small tips, and real-life success stories to inspire you.

Geoff Livingstson is about creating, sustaining, and measuring successful social media campaigns in the face of fast-changing technology. Geoff is one of the rare visionaries who understands communications strategy and the difficulties of culture shift.

idisaster 2.0 is about the benefits and challenges emergency managers (or anyone) face when introducing or expanding the use of social media and mobile applications before, during, and after a crisis. The blog has plenty of useful advice for speaking to and working with new media newbies at all levels.

Katya’s Nonprofit Marketing Blog offers sound advice based, grounded in the latest research, on using social media for marketing, fundraising, and branding. Aimed at small nonprofits, her advice is about doing good in the world better and faster (and at a low cost).

Max Gladwell provides strategic and tactical advice on using the combined powers of social media and geographic location applications to connect with customers and accelerate change. Particularly focused on green living, the blog’s underlying message is that social and environmental problems are solvable and entrepreneurs can lead the way to those solutions.

MobileActive provides incredible case studies on how mobile technology is being used to change the world.

My Hearts in Accra provides excellent analysis of the African tech space, international development, and free expression versus state censorship in the digital world. Its author, Ethan Zuckerman, cofounded Global Voices, an international community of bloggers who report on blogs and citizen media from around the world.

Social Butterfly is about using social technologies with social marketing to make the world a better place. The blog has an infectious optimism that will make you believe you can achieve anything.

White African is about ditigal activism and mobile and web technology change in Africa. Its author, Erik Hersman, is a cofounder of Ushahidi, a free and open source platform for crowdsourcing information and visualizing data.

Is your favorite blog about changing the world missing from this list? Please let me which blogs you would have picked instead.

Filed Under: Communications, Relief & Development, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,