Ugly is in!

It’s rare (for me at least) to be driving down the road and pay attention to the influx of billboards lining the sides of the freeway, much less remember what any particular one said. It’s even more rare for me to literally laugh out loud at a billboard. It happened for the first time recently, and it’s all thanks to that ‘ugly box’ from Toyota. It’s hard not to laugh when a company will willingly make fun of itself, but in Scion’s case, it’s also hard to not pay attention.

This is not the exact image I saw on the side of the freeway, but it is all part of the same campaign: the Ugly Campaign. The marketing team behind my favorite advertisements of 2007 weighed the pros and cons of the Scion xB and quickly realized every reason half of consumers love the car parallels each reason the other half of consumers will never own it. And then they did the smart thing, they thought outside the box of traditional marketing and took a shot at themselves.

It makes an impression … a positive, lasting impression.

Sometimes it’s important to remember that advertising really can be as simple as being able to poke fun at your company in order to make the general population laugh and, more importantly, pay attention.

Save Me a Slice: Mouthwatering Pies

When it comes to e-mail campaigns, your 50 character headline is sometimes all that stands between you and your customer’s spam folder.

The title of this blog post is the subject line of an e-mail I received from Albertsons.com last week. Not only was the subject line catchy but receiving the e-mail at 12:30 p.m. perked my stomach’s attention as well.

Honestly, I was most impressed that the subject line was interesting without the use of ALL CAPS, obnoxious exclamation marks, or a 24-hour deadline. There is a fine line between “catchy” and “spammy.”

Now, where is that pie?

“Experts” Generate Greater Media Coverage

It’s always nice to see your name in lights (or be quoted within a story, as happened yesterday for me and Politis Communications with the KSL radio story on “Cyber Monday“).

The truth of the matter is that since I moved to Utah in 1987, I’ve made myself available to local reporters and media outlets as an expert on all things techology-related, someone who can simply and quickly explain the most technical subject for the average layperson. As a result, I’ve been used as a media resource throughout Utah — in print, on the airwaves and behind the scenes — for more than 20 years.

It can take some time to get to the point where journalists trust that you

• really are a subject matter expert,
• can string more than one cogent sentence together, and
• that you are a reliable resource.

However, the benefits of becoming a trusted expert resource to media outlets are invaluable.

I’ll provide a specific list of action points in an upcoming post about how to become a trusted subject matter expert that journalists will call on again and again. And as a result, how you can generate greater media coverage than ever before.

KSL-AM Turns to David Politis for “Cyber Monday” Story

The Monday after Thanksgiving is now known as “Cyber Monday,” supposedly the biggest online shopping day of the Holiday Season.

KSL-AM’s Paul Nelson turned to Politis Communications founder David Politis for his insights about what Utah companies would likely do well today.

Included in his list were Overstock.com, BYUBookstore.com, DeseretBook.com, CampChef.com and HobbyTron.com.

Read or listen to the story here: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2220726.

Love your PR professional

Ahh, Thanksgiving.

As most Americans sit around the dinner table among loved ones after feasting and graciously dole out lists of what they’re thankful for, I have decided to share with you a different kind of list that I recently came across. Something a little more “tongue-in-cheek,” as the list author and director of public relations at iMemories, Linda VandeVrede, described her “Top 10 List of Reasons Not to Hate PR People.”

Sit back, loosen the belt a notch or two, and laugh a little at the realities of being a PR professional.

Top 10 Reasons Not to Hate PR People

• They know that just building a better mousetrap won’t get the world to your door.
• They’re much easier to talk to than other professions. (Ever attend an engineering or accounting conference?)
• They’re not lawyers.
• They are the ones who have to tell the client the baby is ugly.
• They’re well read and thus would make perfect teammates on a game show.
• They’ll never correct your math mistakes.*
• They’ll never impose a deadline on you.
• They’ve deliberately chosen a field where there is little control and few thank you’s.
• They’re no divas—they know what it’s like to be the ugly stepsister trying to get the prince to dance with her at the ball.
• They don’t care how you communicate with them. They’ll respond to emails, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, cell phones, smoke signals, you name it.

  *This reason got the biggest chuckle around the office and is easily my favorite. We did go into communications for a reason…

Turkey Day Ads Weigh Down Salt Lake Tribune

Ask most Americans what day of the year produces the biggest/heaviest newspaper and most would answer Thanksgiving Day. And they’d be correct.

The reason is simple. The day after Thanksgiving — affectionately known in retail circles as Black Friday — is typically the biggest revenue-producing day for most retailers in the United States.

So on a whim, I took all of the Free Standing Inserts (FSIs) in today’s Salt Lake Tribune down to the Draper Post Office to weigh them. Final weight?

(more…)

The Call to Action

Making sure each marketing message includes a call to action may seem like a no brainer, but the problem is that sometimes it becomes convoluted by the rest of the message or forgotten altogether. No matter what strategic marketing method or tactic is used to reach out to your customer, employee or client a call to action should always be included.

Even for all forms of advertising, whether it be on TV or Billboards, online or in magazines, this call is especially crucial. The reader or viewer should know very quickly what you want them to do, buy or support. When working with any media the call to action should exist within the talking points which should be prepared before most interaction with the media. This will help you stay on message and communicate effectively.

In all, the call to action should be an integral piece of all marketing outreach efforts by a company. When done appropriately and frequently enough, results are bound to follow.

Mike Lowell’s eyebrow clippings in Cooperstown?

That’s the offer Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame’s PR guy, Jeff Idelson, got not long after the Boston Red Sox won the 2007 World Series against the Colorado Rockies. Idelson, whose official title is vice president of communications and education for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, works in one of, what I think, would be the most fun PR jobs in the world.

Sidebar: Too often the public doesn’t see everything that we PR pros do behind the scenes. And sadly, when they do it often comes with a negative connotation! You’ve got your flacks and spin doctors — which certainly also tells us as an industry we’re not doing a stellar job defending or explaining our profession. Back on point though, I think it’d be fun, from time to time, to highlight or showcase other PR or marcom professionals in a job that may never have crossed anyone’s mind. Today I’m gonna highlight Jeff Idelson and you can read the whole article that got me interested in his position at Cooperstown here.

Every company, individual or organization has a story to tell, it’s typically referred to as the brand. Well, America’s national past time, baseball, and Cooperstown’s National Baseball Hall of Fame are no different. And that is Idelson’s job, telling the story of baseball to the millions of visitors that peruse Cooperstown’s halls year in and year out.

What a job, most of us have some connection to the game. Whether it’s when our dad or grandpa or childhood father figure took us to our first game between the Dodgers and the Mets, or the foul ball we caught — or almost caught — when we were 12. Telling baseball’s story is an incredible, albeit fun, feat! Good PR people know how to tell a good story. Whether it’s asking Jason Varitek for the final ball of this year’s World Series, Idelson has to have an idea as to what will tell baseball’s story thro0ugh the ages and to the masses.

Make no mistake, PR professionals have lots of functions, duties and job responsibilities, but accurately telling, re-telling and correcting a story is by far one of the most important roles we play.

And, for the record, as a Boston Red Sox fan I think Lowell’s eyebrow clippings should go next to Schilling’s sock!

PS-If I didn’t convince you that Idelson’s job was cool, either you weren’t reading or you don’t like baseball. Here’s another article describing what Idelson does for baseball fans all over.

Seasoned Journalist Offers Advice to PR Pros

The idea that anyone, let alone a public relations professional, would speak with a journalist while chewing food is mind-boggling.

But that’s what award-winning, Salt Lake Tribune Reporter Paul Beebe says that at least one PR “pro” did last week while visiting with Paul at last week’s Speed-Pitching Event produced by the Utah Valley Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America at Utah Valley State College.

The first-time activity was a fun and helpful PRSA get-together designed to allow PR reps to spend four minutes pitching a story idea to one of six different journalists, of which Beebe was one.

This was obviously a worthwhile chance to meet one-on-one with local journalists, so we had one team each from SOAR Communications and Politis Communications on hand (with clients in tow) to take advantage of the opportunity. And in my opinion, it went quite well; then again, the proof will be in the pudding (are stories written/produced about our clients or not by these journalists).

But back to Beebe’s 11/18/07 article, entitled “Let a hack pitch ideas to a flack.”

First off, for the uninitiated, “hack” is an unflattering nickname for what Beebe terms “a mediocre writer.” Conversely, Beebe writes that “flack” refers to someone who “nag(s) reporters on deadline with bad ideas for lousy stories.” OUCH (on both parts)!

If you have a moment (assuming the link above to the story is still “live,”) check out Beebe’s full article. As I would expect, it’s well-written, direct and pulls no punches.

However, since I’ve noticed in the past that Tribune stories often become unavailable after a week or two without a subscription, I’m going to republish below Beebe’s complete list of advice to PR practitioners everywhere.

So (with Beebe’s permission), here is Paul’s list:

• Do not talk with food in your mouth. That’s gross, and it happened last week.
• Never say you just started your job yesterday. Saying, in effect, you know next to nothing about your client doesn’t inspire confidence.
• Make eye contact. Speak in short sentences. Don’t drone on. Avoid hype. Avoid jargon. If you can’t describe your company in English, you’re in trouble.
• Know what you are going to say before you start your pitch.
• Tell me immediately what you want. Don’t expect me to figure it out.
• Don’t repeat yourself unless there’s a good reason.
• Anticipate this question: Why should I care?
• Bring a business card (some folks last week did not). I expect one. Don’t just circle your name at the bottom of your press release.
• Pitch real stories. Telling me your company is wonderful and your CEO is a great person is usually not persuasive.
• Ask yourself, would you really want to read what you are offering? If the answer is yes, your idea will usually sell itself. Otherwise you’re in trouble.
• In that vein, don’t ask me what I want to read. I’ll know it when I see it.
• Don’t ask me who covers what or who to contact at the newspaper. It’s your job to know.
• Understand what newspaper journalists do. They report news and trends, often on deadlines. Their interests are not necessarily aligned with yours. Tell them why their readers should care about your client.
• Be aware of business or economic trends and how your company fits in.

I STRONGLY recommend any person preparing to speak to a journalist read (or re-read) Beebe’s list and adhere to his advice.

For although most of Beebe suggestions should be second nature to PR professionals, the fact that he wrote the story/column at all proves that some PR practitioners and spokespeople have some basic improving to do.

Heard It Through the Grapevine: Word-of-Mouth Marketing

The 1960’s motown hit says it all.

I recently read an interesting article about word of mouth marketing in AdvertisingAge. The coverage piqued my interest as a marketing professional but also because WOM marketing is testimony of how badly our industry needs The Betty Factor!

WOM marketing is creating discussions and enabling information to spread from one person to the next and the next. It’s the word on the street, the energy around a product — it’s about creating and sharing ideas that people will talk about.

Basically, WOM marketing is powerful because consumers cut the “industry jargon” and “marketing clutter” and tell their friends and acquaintances what they really want and need to know about new products and services.

12.07.07

New study results on WOM marketing and here