Everyday PR

That odd-size publication consistently seen in homes, doctors offices and businesses around the country has fallen on hard times, and I just hate it.  Reader’s Digest has filed for Chapter 11, so you may as well cancel all orders for baseball and apple pie.  This 77-year-old part of Americana is older than most of us, smarter than many of us, and funnier than all of us.  For their contributions to readers everywhere since 1922, they’ve earned an urn  this week as our Cup of Joe Award winner.  Maybe the coffee will help them reorganize.

 The virtual Cup of Joe Award from EveryDayPR spotlights our pick of the week for a public relations performance –  good, bad or ugly.  If you’d like to make a nomination, contact shart@hartpr.com or www.Twitter/susanhartpr

We live in a world where consumers trust each other more than they trust brands. The power of conversation via the Internet has become the great equalizer between brands and consumers, and between dominant brands and their challengers.  Now seems like an opportune time for brands to build on consumers’ experiences  Read more.

As public relations professionals, one of the most fundamental skills we provide is writing.  So how can we continually improve that skill?  Simple – by reading.

Businesses can learn many things about survival and stability from a hedgehog.

Reading expands your vocabulary and gives you new insights.  For example, I learned the following from this summer’s reading, which included Groundswell, Sarah’s Key, Ordinary Men: Reserve Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, From Good to Great, How Doctors Think, Living a Joyous Life and Return from Exile.  CAUTION: I mostly read history and non-fiction.

1.         Hitler was a vegetarian.

2.         The story of most people is not the story of all people.

3.         Diagnose a problem based on data and research as the initial situation often isn’t what it seems to be.

4.         According to the I Ching, the one who knows the greatest love  is the one who is capable of experiencing the greatest pain.

5.         Karl Marx converted from Judaism to Christianity at age 6.

6.         Between a fox and a hedgehog, bet on the hedgehog. Think Walgreens.

7.         Many public schools focus on lots of facts, but give little attention on how to actually deal with life.

8.         A strategy that treats everyone alike fails.

9.         In German-occupied France in 1942, the Vél’ d’hiv’ Round-up was the greatest mass arrest of Jews as local police gathered 13,000 Parisian men, woman and children for deportation to death camps. The French government apologized in 1995.

10.       When CBS cancelled “Jericho” in 2007, fans sent the network 20 tons of peanuts (referring to a character’s use of “Nuts!”).  The series was renewed.

See how much smarter you are from reading this post?  Now back to writing.

Just because the Wall Street Journal asks you to do something doesn’t mean you should.  Whole Foods CEO John Mackey learned that the hard way when he agreed to write an op ed on health care for the WSJ only to receive a whole lot of consumer backlash. As head of a publicly traded company, Mackey’s first responsiblity is to his shareholders.  Regardless of the merits of national policy suggestions, any action on the part of a CEO that could negatively impact the stock price is not in keeping with that first responsibility.   And while hard to tell, who’s to say how much the bad press and boycotts contributed to the subsequent dip in Whole Foods’ stock?  No joe for this CEO.

The virtual Cup of Joe Award from EveryDayPR spotlights our pick of the week for a public relations performance –  good, bad or ugly.  If you’d like to nominate a performance, contact shart@hartpr.com or www.Twitter/susanhartpr.

President Obama’s intellect, knowledge and analytical skills are impressive, but his leadership is ineffective, according to this strategic business blogger and frequent “Harvard Business” contributor.  Specifics of the President’s leadership mistakes are listed, as well as how not to make the same mistakes whenever and wherever you’re called on to lead.  Read more.

Pretend that the United States Congress is your client – scary thought, I know, but work with me.  The goal of your client is to communicate via a grassroots effort the specifics of an issue, gather feedback regarding said issue and accurately report findings of said issue to the CEO.   What kind of public relations tools would you provide for your client to accomplish that goal? 

Solely based upon the drama of media reports of recent town hall meetings, I’m not convinced that our elected officials were adequately prepared.  These individuals were charged with addressing what has became a controversial, confusing and convoluted debate on an 1,018-page health care proposal near and dear to most Americans.  Between the loud shouting and near fistacuffing, it’s hard to tell who was more prepared – the politicians or the participants. 

For future meetings, elected officials might find the following public relations tools useful:

*  Q&As – Shouldn’t leaders be given a list of Q&As of key concerns to better prepare them to speak intelligently on the bill?

*  Handouts – How about a handout of top points with page numbered cross referencing to the proposal?

*  Influencers – Did any politician or their staff meet with community leaders to solicit feedback, ascertain concerns and explain position?

*  Hotline  – What about a telephone hotline for constituents to call to get either a call back or a recorded explanation of key issues?

*  Database – Did people sign in with qustions and contact information so Congressional staff could respond to their concerns following the meeting?

*  Social Media – What did our elected officials doing via social media to inform, engage and educate?

Lack of preparation will continue to serve as a source of drama for media coverage. In the meantime, I strongly suggest that we maintain a regular exercise and healthy eating program every day to decrease the chances of us having to use health care in the future.

Kudos to Southern California Edison for its energy efficient program that pays homeowners to replace their old refrigerators with new models, and then recycles the appliances to sell as scrap metal.  Since the program began in 1996, results include the recycling of some 800,000 refrigerators, a 20 percent reduction in participating homeowners’ electric bills and a diminished need to build a new utility plant.   This public relations performance is user friendly, measurable and results oriented – a win-win for the service and the community it serves. 

If you’d like to nominate or make suggestions for the Cup of Joe Award, let me know at shart@hartpr.com or www.Twitter/susanhartpr.

Authenticity, adjective. Being true to one self; being genuine; having established authority; creating credibility.  All acceptable definitions of authenticity. 

Multi-talented performer Dolly Parton is very real about being fake.

In a recent online survey of PRSA Counselors Academy (CA) members, respondents ranked as their number one issue facing the profession as client relations, specifically “providing authentic strategic counsel”, followed by demonstrating return on investment.    Alright, as a CA member, I want to know who’s NOT being authentic out there and/or what’s not “authentic” about strategic couseling currently being provided.

Could be semantics here, but being authentic doesn’t necessarily mean being nice.  Look at Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinegad.  By all accounts of decency, he’s tyranically manages Iranians, disrespects the protocols of the United Nations and repeatedly expresses questionable views on all things Jewish.  But he is being authentic.  Conversely, music icon Dolly Parton is well known for her heart felt sincerety, yet she is totally reliant on her anything-but-real hair and fingernails.  And speaking of fake, don’t even try to be something you’re not, especially authenticity, as David Letterman painfully learned. 

I challenge my fellow CA members and other public relations practictioners to reconsider placing so much emphasis on “authentic” strategic counsel.  Can’t we just be our professional selves, providing well-researched, account-specific, quantifiable and realistic strategic counsel to clients?  That would be authentic.

The World Health Organization this week estimated that some two billion people – 30 percent of the world’s population – could be infected by the swine flu by the end of the pandemic.  In comparison to the media coverage of earlier this year, the health warning practically went unnoticed. 

Considering the WHO’s ambiguous announcement, the organization’s alarmist nature and the ongoing competition of Michael Jackson headlines, the WHO needs to regain credibility with the national media and the public.  Unfortunately, August isn’t a sweeps month.   No one gets coffee this week.

If you’d like to nominate or make suggestions for our Cup of Joe Award, let me know at shart@hartpr.com or www.Twitter/susanhartpr.

Plate-size sunflowers. Endless rolling hills. Plentiful fruit orchards.  Not a scene from a Tuscan postcard, but a typical countryside view in Moldova, a small Eastern European country regarded as the world’s hub for human trafficking.

I recently returned from a mission trip there to Straseni Orphanage, a government-run facility that’s clearly bottom of the budgetary totem pole.  Remember the outhouse scene in “Slumdog Millionaire”?  The institution’s bathrooms were slightly above that, which explains the pungent smell of sulphur everywhere.

At the same location were the most beautiful children I’ve ever seen. I’d heard that many couples go to Eastern European countries to adopt native children as they look most like Americans.  I disagree.  Moldovan children are much prettier.

We worked with children ages 4 to 16.  The innocence of the youngest was refreshing and heartwarming.  The teachers consistently displayed their genuine concern for the orphans, and they even had a separate cook to prepare meals.  The funding must be greater for preschoolers.

The older the kids were, the less innocent they were – similar to this country, but in a different and awkward way.  Pre-teens wore provocative, albeit cheap, clothes like halter tops, tight jeans, spike heels and huge earrings.  I asked my translator about it, and she said two words: “Brittany Spears.” As if these girls didn’t have enough to worry about with kidnapping and trafficking, they think they have to emulate a Western pop star who most Americans regard as a joke.

Moldova’s beauty is best seen through its natural scenery, purity of fresh food and virtue of its youngsters. Although the country is a long way off from impacting human trafficking, I find it  sad to see how Western influences have infiltrated an otherwise traditional and beautiful environment.