UPDATE: August 16, 2009 – Michael Vick gives his first interview after his release from prison to “60 Minutes“. Good job to Vick and sports reporter James Brown.
July 31, 2009 – This week’s virtual Cup of Joe Award goes to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for conditionally reinstating former Atlanta Falcons star and convicted felon Michael Vick to the league. Goodell and his reputation have nothing to lose by his decision. However, even if a team signs on Vick, he has more than his reputation to lose if he can’t prove himself both on the field and in the public eye.
EveryDayPR’s Cup of Joe Award spotlights our pick of the week for a public relations performance – good, bad or ugly. If you’d like to submit an idea, contact shart@hartpr.com or www.twitter.com/susanhartpr.
The traditional reliance on age demographics for advertising purposes has changed. Social media helps businesses better target their consumers and takes the guesswork out of knowing what’s relevant to their audiences. Read more.
UPDATE – August 18, 2009 – There’s nothing like parody, especially from Jon Stewart, to highlight my point, which is to stay on point. Watch this video.
UPDATE - July 30, 2009 - A new poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 41 percent disapproved of Obama’s handling of the Gates arrest, compared with 29 percent who approved. The poll also found that nearly 80 percent of Americans said they are now aware of Obama’s comments on the matter. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
July 27, 2009
From a public relations perspective, President Obama’s recent remarks that Cambridge police “acted stupidly” regarding the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Gates just flies in the face of message consistency. Healthy public debate was just beginning on the President’s health care ideas, and he alone stopped it dead in its tracks.
Why is he answering questions completely unrelated to his health care messages of the news conference anyway? Our commander-in-chief isn’t unfamiliar with staying on message. It helped get him elected. Like most elected officials, the President fully understands the bridge technique taught in the most basic media training. In such training, I always advise my clients to only speak on matters on which they are accurately and intimately familiar. When the conversation is about Topic A, don’t switch to unrelated Topic Z when there’s no reason to – it just dilutes your message on Topic A.
Hopefully, the President will learn from this experience. His agenda for this country is extensive and far reaching. None of us have time for unnecessary distractions that take away from that agenda.
Announcing the virtual Cup of Joe Award from EveryDayPR! The award spotlights our pick of the week for a public relations performance – good, bad or ugly. And the first Cup of Joe Award goes to (drum roll please):
President Obama for being fashionably authentic. The commander-in-chief sported well-worn bluejeans, a la “Mom” style according to some, to throw the first pitch in a recent All-Star baseball game. Who cares what he wore? All that matters is that he was being himself, a welcome PR move by any standards.
Regardless of the economy, 15 percent of companies stall every year. In a decade, 50 percent of companies stall. Why? A lack of consensus, focus, nerve and/or all of the above.
Motorola signed David Beckham to promote its new Aura phone in worldwide ads.
Steve McKee, author of “When Growth Stalls” and recent speaker at the 2009 PRSA Counselors Academy meeting, knows first-hand the growing pains of starting a business and the commitment to sustainability.
An Albuquerque-based business and marketing counselor who has experienced and recovered from stalled business growth, McKee points to several key internal factors that can contribute to the “death spiral”:
Lack of consensus – Managerial disagreement at the top often inhibits business growth, particularly in a highly competitive environment. Motorola, maker of the world’s first commercial handheld cellular phone, and Sears exemplify how a lack of executive consensus can affect the bottom line, particularly in an environment of changing economic dynamics and strong competition.
Lack of focus – Take a look at Remington Shavers and Citigroup to see how companies tried to be too many things to too many consumers. Define your areas of specialty, and perfect them.
Loss of nerve – When companies show a lack of consistency in their marketing programs, they’re often sacrificing long-term goals for short-term gains – a sure sign of a growth stall. As a decision maker, you need to determine whether or not you’re “investing in” or “spending on” marketing. Your answer can reveal if and how you’ve lost your nerve. As a side note, healthy companies are twice as likely to win creative awards for their marketing programs.
A common result of all of these factors is a death spiral from which it can be hard to recover. To check out the health of your company, take this free self diagnosis.
Real-time exchange of information through Twitter is growing by the millions every day. The platform levels the virtual playing field for large and small brands, provides priceless customer information, and further targets marketing approaches. Read more.
This year’s Top 100 Best Places to Work illustrates how senior management goes beyond traditional ways to appreciate, recognize and value employees. Click on each company for ideas. Read more.
Death hurts at the very core of survivors, regardless of the celebrity status of the deceased. In recent weeks, we’ve seen the loss of several high profile individuals from Ed McMahon to Farrah Fawcett to Michael Jackson. We couldn’t help but watch as millions of people mourned the passing of these and other famous people.
Dr. Jerri Nielsen was a true innovator in life and an unsung hero in death.
Yet there are millions of others who are grieving over the death of family, friends and loved ones who passed in recent weeks as well. Some examples that didn’t make the front page include:
Dr. Tony Hockley, a 65-year-old British neurosurgeon who transformed the lives of thousands of children born with facial deformities.
Lt. Brian Bradshaw, 24, of Steilacoom, WA, died in Afganistan of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Bradshaw was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division in Fort Richardson, AK.
Dr. Jerri Nielsen, South Pole Breast Cancer Survivor, activist and cancer fundraiser loses her battle at age 57.
Rev. Chad Miller, Associate Pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church and faith-based social activist in Wilmington, DE, died at the early age of 34 years old in a kayaking accident.
Oscar G. Mayer, third generation, retired chairman of Oscar Mayer Foods, died at age 95.
These and thousands of other individuals have died in recent weeks, yet their obituary is just about the only thing you’ll see publicized about it. Their passing just reminds us that heroes and heroines don’t have to be famous to be an inspiration to others.
How many times have you heard the “our people are our most important asset” cliché? If that’s true, are you sure your employees know that? How do you know they know that?
Ice cream - an affordable way to show employees your appreciation.
With today’s high unemployment rates, fight for consumer dollars and fear of the unknown, how you treat your employees has a direct impact on how they treat your customers, and ultimately the bottom line. Workplace expert and author Barbara Glanz says many managers think employees’ primary motivators are money and job security. But when you ask employees, their top motivators are interesting work and appreciation.
Easy-to-implement morale boosters include:
Start every meeting with three minutes of good news.
Say good morning.
Show interest. Employees have lives outside the workplace; ask questions, learn about them. You might have more in common than you realize.
Show appreciation for sacrifices: Thank employees and their families when they’ve been working longer-than-usual hours.
Let meetings be managed by junior staff for a change, not just senior staff.
Give staffers some decision-making authority. If they make a mistake, at least they made a decision and can learn from it.
Set the tone: Are you demonstrating your enthusiasm about the important work you and your team are doing? Lead by example.
Summer Fridays – Close the office by 2 p.m.
Suggestion boxes, but only if suggestions are heeded.
Chair massages.
Ice cream treats on the house
A great way to view an organization is to see how it treats its employees, both in good economic times and bad. How are you doing?
Legendary journalist Helen Thomas nailed White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday regarding the process of asking President Obama questions for an upcoming town hall meeting.
Focusing on the White House requirements to electronically submit questions for consideration by the President (more likely his staff) BEFORE a public meeting, Thomas expressed amazement at what she termed “tight controls” for “you people who call for openness and transparency”. She told Gibbs she sees a pattern of controlling the press, stating “formal engagements are pre-packaged…by calling reporters the night before to tell them they’re going to be called on. That is shocking.”
Gibbs’s flippancy, combined with his sarcasm and rude laughter, in the press conference produced no answers. And talk about a pattern – his behavior toward the press should no longer be tolerated. Yes, he has an extremely difficult job that became painfully noticeable when Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination in February for Secretary of Health and Human Services. But his shuck-and-jive, in-your-face, weak-attempt-at-humor banter with reporters needs to stop. He’s not doing himself or the President any favors.
In the meantime, as we celebrate our country’s independence this weekend, let me say “Thanks, Helen Thomas” because you remind us to let freedom of the press ring.
Susan Hart
Susan Hart, APR, is an independent public relations consultant with 25+ years of experience. Beginning as a journalist, she represents clients in health care, financial, technology and real estate. Accredited by the Public Relations Society of America, she serves as Co-Chair of the Ethics Committee for her local PRSA Chapter.
