Staying on good terms

I’ve recently become hooked on buying NBA trading card packs from the local Mr. E’s Sports Cards shop in Orem, Utah. It’s a fun hobby since a few years ago it started inserting players’ signatures and pieces of their jersey with the cards. Unfortunately, I recently found out that the cards I usually buy will soon be off the shelves because of a new direction NBA is taking.

The two companies who have been producing NBA cards regularly since the early 90s are Upper Deck and Topps. Although they have had a long-lasting relationship with the NBA, the league chose to do an exclusive deal with a different company, Panini, that would last until 2012-13 with the hopes of revitalizing the market nationally and globally. This means Upper Deck and Topps, two U.S. companies, are getting shoved out of the market they’ve been in for almost 20 years.

Both Upper Deck and Topps issued statements saying they were disappointed they are not affiliated with the NBA anymore, but wished it luck and publicly recognized that it was in the league’s best interest to do an exclusive deal with a global company.

This was a good public relations move to not say anything negative or upsetting about the NBA’s decision in their statements. It’s smart to stay on good terms with the league since a new deal would be up for grabs after Panini’s contract ends. In situations like this, it’s best to be cooperative instead of burning bridges because you never know what might come up in the future.

Although everyone is on good terms, NBA is still taking a risk going with a different company. Panini is known globally, but is not fairly known in the U.S. Also, long-time collectors of Upper Deck and Topps cards may be too loyal to those brands to start collecting a different one. As for me, I will buy the Panini cards to see what they are like, but I am sad to know that for the next few years I won’t see the familiar NBA card brands on the shelves.

Everyone loves a freebie

Everyone loves freebies until they run out.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) recently held a promotion giving out free meals featuring their new grilled chicken. They announced this freebie on the largely-watched Oprah Winfrey show. Online coupons were available on Oprah’s website for 24 hours for this free meal. Unfortunately, they underestimated the amount of coupons that would be downloaded and didn’t take into account that they could be Xeroxed after the allotted download time.

Therefore, they didn’t have enough food to meet the high demands. Negative attention occurred for KFC’s inability to provide for their customers with reports of riots. KFC sent out a spokesperson to make clear that no riots had occurred and that they were still honoring the coupons until May 19, and encouraged the public to come.

This situation of freebies running out too quickly can happen on a smaller scale. Down the road from where I live in Provo, Utah, Goldsmith Co. Jewelers held a similar promotion. The shop invited several Utah women bloggers to their jewelry shop by enticing them with a free Pandora bracelet, pearls and even cleaned their wedding rings.

Afterwards, Goldsmith gave them a coupon for a free freshwater pearl necklace to post on their blogs to be made available for public download. All you had to do was print and take it into the shop before Mother’s day to receive the pearls. Goldsmith had 5,000 necklaces to give away. Although they ran out of them before Mother’s day, they gave rain checks to those who still had valid coupons.

Goldsmith’s gave me a rain check for those pearls. The sales representative told me to come back any time after Mother’s day to claim my pearl necklace. A few days after the holiday, I went in and was told once again they had ran out for the day and to come back later. It’s kind of irritating to make so many visits to the shop, but because the hassle was for a pearl necklace, I decided it was worth it.

On the other hand, if my coupon was for a free KFC meal, I probably wouldn’t have made the same effort. In Goldsmith’s case, running out of the product had a positive result since it created even more foot traffic for the store, since people were willing to keep returning to the shop to see if there were any more pearls in stock.

These recent campaigns indicate that businesses should be well prepared for the positive and negative consequences of using freebies as promotional tools. There’s nothing wrong with giving out freebies, just be sure to realize the potential results that can occur when media gets involved whether small local bloggers or big-time Oprah.

Marketers: It’s Time to Come out of the New Media Cave

I have been on Twitter for a year or more now. I like the tool, it allows me to interact with and get to know the media and some of my key audiences, mentors and peers. That said, is it the end all solution for PR and marketing campaigns? Well, that depends on who the audience is.

This morning, I saw some interesting stats on Twitter and other services like Facebook and MySpace. Make no mistake, these new online services are growing like wildfire, but is that enough of an indicator to make these the silver bullet that saves PR or becomes the new default means of communication with audiences?

Personally, I don’t think so.

I think being in the tech industry causes me to forget there is a world of non-techies out there, services like Twitter and so forth become a sort of echo chamber, or, as Plato might put it, the “cave.” (My dad is one of these non-techies, for years he had an Instamatic camera that he never used, and recently I suggested he use an RSS reader to get news from his favorite car blogs, his response, “not right now, maybe later.”) So it should come as no surprise when research indicates that while Twitter is growing like wildfire, it is still not being adopted on a massive consumer scale.

Which leads me to my point, I think, when planning a campaign, what should we focus on? Do we want to wow our client with the newest, latest and greatest technologies, or do we want to use the tried and true methods tools that have gotten the job done for years. I think there are advantages both ways. As PR peeps, should we be agents of change, forcing the market to adapt to us by adopting Twitter and other new fandangled online tools, or should we go to where the audiences are? How do we measure our audiences? Is it quantity or quality?

These are all good questions, that good PR people should be asking themselves as they play their next PR campaigns.

I think these tools are great and have helped me land coverage in some good publications for my clients. I have also learned a lot, been informed of world events and what some of my fellow twitterers are doing at all hours of the day. But, and this is a big but, let’s keep this in perspective. Twitter is a tactic, heck!, most of these new tools on the Internet are tactics, and part of a bigger online strategy, and as with most everything in our lives, as part of our campaigns, these tools should be balanced (moderation ring a bell to anyone?).

So, be wise, be prudent, be realistic, and for our clients’ sake, let’s come out of the cave and look around, I think we’ll be surprised.

The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday

Hizbollah keeps track of Neil MacFarquar’s birthday.

MacFarquhar is an American New York Times correspondent who reports on the lower-profile areas of the Middle East. Serious injuries he sustained in a bike accident in downtown New York City keep him from the war zones he used to cover. MacFarquhar now mostly writes about political and cultural complexities of the Middle East outside of the typical conflicts covered by U.S. media. His reporting and his book, “The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday,” are about Middle Eastern customs, everything from pop stars to humorous fatwas (religious rulings)  to Arabs’ and Iranians’ concerns about the region’s future.

Hizbollah took notice of MacFarquhar’s reporting style. Since 2003, MacFarquhar has received birthday messages from Hizbollah’s media relations department that include greetings such as, “I wish all the joy your heart can hold, all the smiles a day can bring, all the blessings life unfold.”

This story reminds me that the road of media relations isn’t one way. Hizbollah sends MacFarquar birthday cards presumably because it wants to encourage him to continue reporting the way he does. MacFarquar uses these kinds of interactions to present readers a perspective on Middle Eastern culture beyond its instances of militancy. PR people communicate to the media to ensure messages about their organization are presented accurately and fairly. Journalists, in turn, have the responsibility to write the complete story and trust the information the PR professionals provide. MacFarquhar’s perspective on the Middle East seems to complete some of the region’s untold story.

Listen to NPR’s interview with MacFarquhar.

Audi vs. BMW, a most unusual game of chess

This is what I consider creative, fun and competitive marketing at it’s finest.

In August 2008, Audi leased billboard space at the busy intersection of Santa Monica and Beverly Glen Boulevards in Los Angeles. The advertisement for the entirely new Audi A4 called out BMW to make the next move. So, how did Santa Monica BMW respond?

I’ve never doled out a Happy Betty Award before, but I think it’s about time. Well done, BMW. Well done.

Do you want to sell me your house?

As a marketer and first time home buyer, I recently made a mental list of the Do’s and Don’ts of property marketing. In an effort to be kind, this is a strategically written list of Do’s. Feel free to add on below…

Do post pictures and tons of them at that. Use photos to convince me this house is a must-see.

Do host an open house. Actually, feel free to host several. Last weekend I may have been out of town or busy; please give me another chance to see your house (especially if I am looking without an agent).

Do clean your property before I come to visit. Even though we are all human, it is hard for me to imagine my future in the midst of your morning dishes and last week’s dirty laundry.

Do resist the urge to post multiple “for sale” signs in your yard. People will get the idea you are selling just as effectively with one sign. As a side note, current record=6.

Do use the classified section. Free and paid. I found my last two apartments cruising through Craigslist and KSL. I have seen three houses I found through the classified section of the local paper.

Do spend the time and money to make minor repairs. I may love the house, but if I see a leaky toilet I will assume things under the surface are worse.

Do fool me into thinking you are a pet-less and non smoking homeowner. As a woman with serious allergies, I don’t think this one needs any further explanation.

Do leave the house when you have a showing. Buyers feel awkward opening cupboards and walking in bedrooms if you are lingering close by.

Do use a blog, facebook or twitter to market and harness the power of “your people.” (See great example here)

Do hire a professional. Especially in hard times, you need an experienced agent on your side to get the job done. Plus, I love the MLS listings.

Any others? What have I missed?

Google vs Newspapers: The Battle Rages On

I don’t often find myself agreeing with the acclaimed Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times, Maureen Dowd, but I do find her writing style engaging, even captivating.  However, after reading her column from today, “Dinosaur at the Gate,” I asked myself “what the heck will happen to the newspaper industry if they keep giving away content for free–or at least, if Google keeps giving it away for free?”

Then I asked myself, “well, what’s ‘free’ anyway?” I mean, it’s not really for free. They are selling online ads, but online don’t sell for near as much as the ads that run in the hard copy publications (which I don’t really understand since online ads, in my opinion, have an easier time getting someone to act since the action is merely a click!) so the publications aren’t making near as much as they used to. Coupled with what we know about the current economy, traditional media is losing money hand-over-fist, at least that’s what the reports say.

Enter Google and Craigslist. Google aggregates the news of the day and makes it searchable–from the news outlets that let their news be searched. Craigslist gives away something that newspapers used to make a ton of money off of: classifieds. According to a great story from The Atlantic, titled “When No News is Bad News,” even though “The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune are among those organizations that have spent many millions of dollars covering the Iraq War, with each outlet paying for multiple reporters, translators, full-time drivers, guards, bullet-proof armored cars, year-round office space, office managers, and security consultants with intelligence backgrounds to provide threat assessments. And all of them give that work away for free online.”

Kind of makes you think, doesn’t it? Or at least it should. Again, free is an interesting term, but the newspapers aren’t (usually) charging a subscription fee for the articles the same way they do to deliver it to your house, but they also aren’t paying for printing and distribution.

I can’t help but wonder what IS actually killing the newspaper industry? Classifieds seems like a bigger one than giving the content away online, but then I think they need to charge more for advertising online–a place where measurement is actually easier. And if newspapers can’t figure out how to measure the online viewership they need to look at companies like Omniture, which produces online metrics to see how people get to a site, what they do once there, and where they go after (in the simplest terms possible).

In Dowd’s column Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, says that for newspapers to get out of this mess, they need to “…invent a new product. That’s the way Google thinks. Incumbents very seldom invent the future.” Seems logical, but I see one problem with it: The “incumbents” haven’t invented much new about their service since the first paper was produced.

My solution is two fold. The industry as a whole needs to come together to find a solution that ALL agree on, and then follow it. That, or they need to hire some of the top minds from Google and find a better solution. What say you?

The “Right Story at the Right Time”

I recently came across a great editorial in BusinessWeek by Steve McKee,  president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland Advertising, about a marketing tactic commonly referred to as “public relations” (PR). I say that with a little tongue-in-cheek since I happen to work in the profession, and since this blog is contributed to by PR pros, or at least those associated with the field.

So why the sarcasm? Mostly because I love it when folks from the advertising world come down to our level to recognize the true value of PR. Those of us who work in the industry already know that you can’t put a price on an article or mention in a top tier publication, or even a well-targeted publication that suits your clients needs. However, most people completely misunderstand what PR is; how it functions; why do it; and perhaps most importantly, how to gain value for your product/company/service/etc. from using it.

Perhaps the key difference is summed up in this quote taken from the article: “But let’s face it—advertising is expensive. While the current economic situation has brought some temporary relief from relentless media inflation, buying space and time isn’t cheap. You get what you pay for with advertising, but if you want a lot it will cost a lot.”

He then went on to say, “Not so with PR. While it is possible for any publicity campaign to fall flat, the right story told at the right time in the right way can bring powerful and valuable attention to your business far in excess of what you spend to develop it. Especially in light of the second trend forever changing the news business: complexity.” (more…)

Can PR Campaigns Boost Credibility vs. Ad Campaigns? Yes, by as much as 76 Percent, Nielsen IAG Study Suggests

The headline from a recent news release from The Nielsen Company says

“Advertising Builds Confidence for Financial Brands in Crisis, Nielsen IAG Study Finds.”

In a nutshell, 55 percent of the study respondents said they had “complete confidence in the financial health and soundness” of  their banks, insurance companies and investment firms IF “they had seen more advertising for their financial institution” during the previous six months.

This is a very exciting finding! I especially think it’s cool news for those in the advertising and marketing fields, especially since one of the main advantages of advertising is that you can completely control the content, delivery and timing of your messages in an advertising campaign. This is NOT the case with a PR campaign!

In addition, I also found what I consider to be an interesting nugget of information mentioned near the end of the release. Here’s the paragraph in question:

“When asked what factors would increase confidence in the safety and soundness of their financial institution, respondents cited:

• Seeing regular advertising for that institution (25%)
• Receiving regular mail or email offers from that institution (25%)
• Regularly seeing internet offers/advertising from that institution (21%)
• Reading positive stories in the press about that institution (44%)”

Note the last bullet point : 44 percent of the respondents said that “reading positive stories in the press about that institution” would (to quote from the opening sentence) “increase (their) confidence in the safety and soundness of their financial institution.

I’m not a math whiz by any means, but I know that 44 percent is greater than 25 percent. How much greater you ask? Seventy-six percent (76%) greater. [The difference is even greater vs. Internet ads/offers (109% greater), but I'll stick with the advertising comparison for this blog post.]

To me this seems pretty straightforward: PR changes attitudes and perceptions for more people.

Please understand – I am NOT advocating that companies stop advertising. As stated in the third paragraph above,

“. . . one of the main advantages of advertising is that you can completely control the content, delivery and timing of your messages in an advertising campaign.”

Unfortunately, when it comes to public relations (specifically media relations or publicity efforts), companies do NOT have such control — at least not in societies where a free and unfettered press is the norm.

In other words, once you

• get off the phone with a reporter,
• leave a journalist’s office,
• send out a news release,
• deliver a product for a review/evaluation,
• push “send” on your email to an editor,
• etc.

you have absolutely no control whatsoever that any story is going to be published about you, your company, product, service, issue or what-have-you, let alone whether said story will be positive.

You also have zero control over whether or not a story is going to be published at all. Or when or where said story might be published. Or its size/length. Or if it’s going to include artwork. Or anything at all — you have NO CONTROL!

However,

• if/when said story runs, and
• if it’s a positive story,

I believe that such media coverage generates significantly greater credibility than what you can produce through advertising.

How much so? Well . . . the Nielsen IAG study suggests that the difference could be as high as 76 percent greater.

[NOTE: There is no guarantee that the data from this research study can be extrapolated across industries other than the financial world.]

Nevertheless, if your goal is to boost credibility, public relations may be the way to go.

That said, please recognize that PR is not the right discipline for achieving every marketing and/or sales objective. That would be like recommending that the only tool you needed in your garage or toolshed is a hammer.

That’s why we always recommend examining all potential vehicles in the marketing communications mix and choosing the best mixture for the goals and objectives at hand.

Part of what’s got me so psyched about finding this Nielsen IAG study, however, is that I’ve been telling people for years that PR has a higher “credibility factor” than advertising (with a counterbalanced lower “control factor” than advertising). And for the first time, I now have some independent data that appears to support my claims.

Should anyone reading this blog post know of other studies/articles that similarly support such an idea, I’d love to know about them. Thanks.

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DISCLOSURE: SOAR Communications is the PR agency of record for three Nielsen properties: Outdoor Retailer, Interbike, and Health+Fitness Business Expo.

Hispanics and Marketing

Hispanics make 15.1% of the U.S. population, and it’s projected that by 2050 the Hispanic population in the U.S. will grow to 24%. With such numbers, I believe Hispanic marketing and PR could become an even more profitable way of doing business in the near future.

I’m originally from Chile (South American country), thus my opinion might sound a little biased, but during my six years in the U.S. I have come to realize the important role that Hispanics play in the marketplace, as well as the social and political U.S. arena.

Though Hispanics are considered the largest ethnic minority in the U.S., I think there are two main problems when attempting to interact with them: lack of marketing exclusively towards Hispanics, and a lack of marketing from Hispanics.

While living in the U.S. I have noticed that a number of large companies could be doing a better job with Hispanics. Some companies try so hard going after “the one,” they forget about some of other potential publics.

Though the problem mentioned above is a fact, I think the greatest problem lays in marketing and PR being generated from Hispanics.

While walking around town I have seen so many Hispanic restaurants and stores go out of business after two or three months in business, that I wanted to find out more behind this tragedy.

Not too long ago I decided to go to a new Mexican (owned by a Mexican) restaurant in Provo. As some of you may know, Provo is a college town (home of Brigham Young University) thus the whole town is full of college students. While eating and having a good time there, I noticed the owner was close by so I decided to talk to him.

After introducing myself and talking for a while, I asked him how the business was doing so far. After looking at me for a second he went on to confess they were doing fine, but they weren’t getting many new customers. I then went on and asked him if he was trying to target college students or younger publics besides Hispanic families. The owner told me he had tried to but wasn’t willing to spend much money on it. I asked if he had tried social media, I added that it was free, reached a lot of the younger generation, and that his message could be heard by a lot of people in short period of time.

After discussing a couple of good strategies to start with, and some other ideas to generate more customers through Twitter and Facebook, the owner was sitting in our table, exchanging phone numbers, and thanking me for that simple advice. I’m sure that restaurant is not going to generate millions of dollars in revenues because of my advice, but I think the owner has learned a great lesson on how to interact with his publics in a better way.

I sure hope that restaurant does better in the near future, in the meantime I will keep my eyes open for more opportunities and if I’m lucky I might get a free taco out of the whole experience!