I had lunch with a friend, and fellow PR practitioner yesterday and learned he was in a very serious accident just the day before.

Very serious in that he was driving down the freeway when he was clipped from behind, causing his car (a minivan) to flip on to the hood and careen down the freeway across all lanes of traffic, staying on the hood the whole time. All the windows were smashed out.

His kids were also in the car with him. One in the seat directly behind him (his 18 month-old), and the other all the way in the back (his 3 year-old). They all emerged uninjured except for a minor cut on his eldest child’s hand.

As he described the crash and the ensuing events where he found himself staring down traffic fast approaching his upside-down car, I could not help but think about what is really important in life.

I recognize this is not a normal post for “The Betty Factor,” but keeping work and life in perspective is good advice no matter where you find it. After learning of the accident we didn’t talk about the contingency plans needed in case a serious member of your executive team dies, or about the importance of building a solid crisis communications plan. None of that seemed to matter. What was important was that he was alive and well, as were his children.

If there is a PR lesson from this story, it’s that we should always have a communications, or contingency plan in place just in case of an emergency or disaster.

But perhaps a better lesson was summed up by my friend. After getting out of the mangled, upside down vehicle he said, “I just held my children and thanked God they were both alive and well.”

Here are a couple tips on writing headlines that will draw in readers:

1. Create controversy. Getting readers riled up isn’t all that bad, some issues will create mixed feelings and will serve as a lightning rod for companies or issues. The key to putting out this kind of message is that you need to be ready for the backlash and be able to manage the story as much as possible. In this case the proof is in the pudding, 113 comments in the first 5 hours the story has been online.



2. Write something shocking. The next example says it all.



3. Just be creative. Whether it’s using a tongue twister, funny or a variation on a cliche, whatever, the bottom line is to grab the reader’s attention.

I think you get the point. Good headlines get readers, the fact is, more people will read your headline and lead paragraph than the article. Writing catchy, eye-grabbing headlines increases the chances readers will pick your article over another.

Seen any good headlines lately? Post the URL or headline in the comments.

For example, eMarketer recently predicted that by 2011, half of all adults in the U.S. and 84 percent of online teens will be using social networks. With more than $1.6 billion ad dollars going to social networking this year, marketers are often in uncharted territory when it comes to getting the most bang for their advertising dollars.

The safest and most obvious way to make sure you are reaching your target audience is through smaller, emerging social networks.

Niche sites like meandmybicycle.com and anglingmasters.com (former SOAR client) reach a very specific audience (cyclists and anglers), allowing for some very cool and unique campaigns.

Targeting niche sites that relate to your products and services are also seen by users as less obtrusive because your company is an authentic member of the community or conversation.

One announcement that caught my attention was the launch of the Patagonia Footprint Chronicles Web site.

The site highlights 5 of the company’s newest products with interviews and photos from the factory and to the finished product. Beyond providing a transparent view of “friendly business practices” the company says it hopes to encourage thought and discussion. Something they term “learning out loud.”

What I like the most about this move is that Patagonia puts a lot of information out there. They give what they call “the good” and “the bad,” each section highlighting what they know they are doing right and where they need to improve.

Yes, Google. The company that does the least amount of advertising of any on the list. In fact, the article in Advertising Age even states that “Despite doing no visible consumer advertising, the search giant repeats as this year’s most powerful brand…” Truly, this is a company that understands the power of public relations and its role in brand management and development.

Now, before I ruffle the feathers of friends or others in the ad industry, I should note that Google is the only “brand” listed in the top 10 that does not advertise. However, each of the top 10 receives so much coverage that it’s hard to imagine a true need for advertising, except to support its ongoing PR efforts.

Don’t believe me? Try ‘Googling’ any of these companies, listed in order of global brand ranking–or click on them to see the current search, er, I mean, Google News results:

• Google
• GE
• Microsoft
• Coca-Cola
• China Mobile
• IBM
• Apple
• McDonald’s
• Nokia
• Marlboro

One reason for Google’s success as the world’s greatest brand, it owns a word. When you think “Search” or more specifically, “Online Search” you think Google. They have owned these terms almost from day one. The same could be said for almost all of the companies listed in the top 10. They own a word or term (the only one I can’t give a word to is China Mobile, but that is more because I’m not as familiar with as say, the rest of the world).

The top brands also have the customer- or user-base to support it’s spot on the top 10, although as Travis Hudson, a blogger for PC World put it, “When I think of Coca-Cola, Apple, IBM, Nokia and even Microsoft I can specifically recall how that brand has affected or had an important role in my life. Google on the other hand, doesn’t have the same feeling. Sure, I use Google’s services daily, but I don’t feel that kind of brand connection as I do with the other top brands… Congratulations on your top spot, Google, but you’ve more work to do before becoming a top brand in my heart and life.”

Perhaps a little bit of advertising to give Google full control over the message would warm Travis’ heart. But for now, Google can enjoy its top spot on the best brands in the world. And in honor of its ability to be the best despite advertising, I’m awarding Google a “Happy Betty Award” for successfully utilizing PR in its branding strategy.

My thoughts for this post come after the thousands of miles I’ve driven on freeways going past billboards that are, at best half thought out. Billboards should be the epitome of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).

Ever driven by a billboard at 65 mph (or here in Utah, 85 mph) and seen a billboard that was intriguing but didn’t leave you knowing what it was for? How about a billboard that insisted that graphic content was key and consequently used what appears to be a bold 72 point font for the contact info? How about a billboard that was so full of text you couldn’t make sense of it? If you’ve answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you’ve seen a poor example of a billboard.

So with that in mind, here are my top 6 keys to good, successful billboard design:

• Remember that your audience is traveling at 65 mph or faster — their attention span is limited.
• Get to the point, think sound byte-sized copy.
• Billboards can be works of art, however, that’s not their end purpose, use design to enhance readability and ensure the message is delivered successfully.
• Never forget contact info. Your billboard does you no good if I don’t know whose it is, or how I take action. Using an appropriate or custom Web URL or phone number can be very effective. (This also provides a way to track the effectiveness of the billboard.)
• Don’t play “Where’s Waldo” with your billboard. I shouldn’t have to search for the gist or message of your billboard (remember rule #1).
• Don’t be afraid to hire a professional. It may cost you $$ to do so, but imagine what it will cost to design an ineffective billboard (it’ll be like flushing money down the toilet).

Of the billboards I drive by on I-15 here are a few that are good examples:

• AT&T (or is it Cingular?)
• University of Utah medical services
• Blue Boutique
• Cream O Weber

I would list the billboards that don’t do it right but they just don’t stick in my mind nearly as well, imagine that!

Seen any good or bad billboards lately? Share pictures or sponsors in the comments.

Written by Raymund Flandez, “Getting on the Radar of an Industry’s Top Bloggers” provides a solid, if basic, overview of some of the steps an individual can take if they want to see themselves, their products, services or organization become a darling in the blogosphere.

And with the latest research suggesting that there are more than 110 million blogs in the world today (a number that is growing daily), finding and targeting the top blogs for one’s industry is a critical part of a PR strategy focused on bloggers.

Here’s link to the article, but I think you need to be a subscriber to read it online.

Or you can read it below:

= = = = = = = = = =

Wall Street Journal, 4-15-08 edition, page B6

Getting on the Radar Of an Industry’s Top Bloggers

Online Tools Help Firms Identify Sites To Pitch Products

By RAYMUND FLANDEZ

Small businesses looking to pitch their products or services to influential blogs have some help these days.

A host of Web sites and free tools are allowing companies to find out who the top bloggers in their industry are, what they are writing, and how readers are responding. Being informed about what is being said can help a small business craft a pitch that will garner the attention of both the bloggers and readers.

Getting a mention in an influential blog can be a marketing coup for a small company. Some bloggers have a loyal following of readers who trust their opinions. So if those bloggers write positively about a product or service, chances are some of those readers will give it a try.

“A lot of companies are now taking the time to build relationships with the right influential bloggers,” says Greg Verdino, who is chief strategy officer at marketing firm Crayon LLC of New York and writes a blog about trends in social media and marketing. “Over time, they hope to convince those bloggers to write about those products and services and even more importantly, to use those products and services.”

But Mr. Verdino cautions that it’s not always best to approach the top bloggers on the Web right away because it may be difficult to get their attention. He says sometimes it’s better for small-business owners to first spend time cultivating interest from less-influential bloggers who have built a loyal community in a specific niche.

Who’s Talking …

The first step is to find out who the bloggers are in your specific industry. You want to focus your time and attention on blogs that will be the most receptive to talking about the kinds of products or services you offer.

Alltop.com, operated by Nononina Inc., a Web technology firm based in Palo Alto, Calif., is a blog aggregator that collects headlines from news Web sites and blogs in several categories. It categorizes about 60 different topics and subtopics. For instance, the Living category includes topics like beauty, health, food, travel and wine. Clicking on those topics will bring up a page listing relevant blogs.

Some Web sites list the most influential blogs in a specific industry. For example, AdAge Power150 (www.adage.com/power150), run by Advertising Age magazine, shows the top media and marketing blogs, while eDrugSearch.com’s HealthCare100 (www.edrugsearch.com/edsblog/healthcare100) ranks the top English-language health-care blogs.

… And What’s Being Said

It’s also important to find out whether your company already has been written about in a blog. If there’s a favorable post, it gives your business a foundation to establish a relationship with that blogger. If the mention is negative, you have the opportunity to post a comment disputing a claim or telling your side of the story.

You can use Technorati Inc.’s site, technorati.com, which tracks about 112.8 million blogs, Google Inc.’s Google Blogs and ask.com to easily search a blog for a mention of a specific company name or Web site.

Google also has an alert feature that sends an email each time a specific name is mentioned in any blog or online news item. You sign up at Google.com/alerts using an email address and can stipulate how often you want the alerts sent.

BlogPulse.com, a text-analysis tool from Nielsen BuzzMetrics Inc., part of information and media firm Nielsen Co., allows you to track how much chatter there is on the Web about a given company or topic. Click on the “trend this search” icon on the site’s search-results page to create a BlogPulse Trend graph, which tracks mentions of a specific name on blogs over a specific period of time.

Getting to Know You

Once bloggers have been identified, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the blogs’ content.

Read a dozen or so posts and comments to gauge a blog’s readership and a blogger’s personality. That way you can tailor your approach, like whether to go casual or formal, when making a pitch. You also can mention some posts that you found interesting. Some bloggers may need to see that you are a regular reader in order to take your pitch seriously.

There are tools that can help keep track of new posts on the blogs you frequent most. These include Bloglines, operated by IAC Search & Media, a subsidiary of San Francisco-based IAC/InterActiveCorp; FeedDemon, operated by NewsGator Technologies Inc. of Denver; Google Reader; and AideRSS, operated by Inc. of Ontario, Canada. AideRSS, for instance, also can give you a list of the top 10 most-read posts.

You can even get instant updates about what bloggers are musing about or planning to do via Twitter, a social-networking service from San Francisco start-up Twitter Inc. Essentially a mini-blogging tool, Twitter lets registered users send brief updates — 140 characters or less — to groups of fellow Twitter users simultaneously, via text messages, instant messages, email or Twitter’s home page.

It’s also useful to read blogs that the bloggers themselves read. It can give you a ready list of other people to approach. Look at the blogger’s Blog Roll, a list of links to other blogs that a particular blogger finds interesting and noteworthy. It’s usually located on a sidebar or column on the right side of a home page.

Write to Raymund Flandez at raymund.flandez@wsj.com

When consumers are pinching their pennies, what is the best way to introduce a product they don’t really need? The answer maybe found in a simple marketing strategy that has fallen by the way side in the last 10 years.

Coupons. Coupons, Coupons, Coupons.

A recent study from ICOM Information and Communications says that of the more than 1,500 survey respondents, 67 percent said they were much more likely or somewhat more likely to use coupons during a recession.

Picture this, Suzie Homemaker is frustrated with her broom and dustpan. She has seen several commercials for the brand new Swifter Vac, II. She wants to try it but an additional $25 or $30 to her grocery bill will put her over her tight budget. Next, factor in a $5 off coupon sent to Suzie because she opted in to receive weekly emails from P&G. You now have a much better chance of getting Suzie to invest in your new product. Also, you can track every step the coupon makes, evaluating along the way if the strategy is working.

Bottom line, let’s mobilize the penny pinchers. Let’s give them a reason to buy our new product or service. There is no need for manufacturers to send out more coupons. They do however, need to focus on sending them to the right individuals and maybe consider extending expiration dates.

Successfully deployed, these SEO PR tactics help create greater relevance for a product, service and/or company within the proprietary algorithms used by search engines (Google and Yahoo! being the most prominent) and produce a higher “organic” ranking for the particular words, terms and/topics. (In this context, organic ranking refers to a non-paid ranking or listing that occurs naturally.)

Hence, the savvy PR pro will sprinkle critical SEO terms and words within news releases and other PR materials. And just to be clear about this, this concept is just one SEO PR tactic that will help increase one’s results/rankings on the Internet.

Does it work? You bet.

How do I know?

Well . . . we got a call just the other day from a marketing communications exec working for a medical products company in the Midwest. We had never spoken before nor had we ever attempted to contact this person or company.

How did she find us? Obviously, with an online search.

Her search term (in Google) was “medical products PR agencies.” And if you try out the same search right now (please open another browser window to do this), you’ll find that the fourth (4th) organic link on the first page is about Politis Communications. (And you’ll get the same results if you change the word “agencies” to “agency.”)

Interestingly, this marcom person didn’t even visit our Website first; she apparently found the agency phone number within the release (801/523-3730) and called right away.

Does it mean that we’ve won the account? No. But she is going to send us a formal RFP (Request for Proposal).

Yup, all from a single news release published nearly 5-1/2  years ago.

This is just one example, but the truth is that if you are NOT crafting news releases and other marketing communications materials that are (or might be) published on the Web with SEO strategies and tactics in mind (and Search Engine Marketing strategies/tactics as well), you are doing yourself, your company and/or your clients a HUGE DISSERVICE!

TIP:

Selectively look for opportunities to weave SEO-friendly words, terms and phrases into all of your PR and marketing materials.

This will increase the chance that you will naturally boost your rankings within the various search engines when people search for your type of products/services on the Internet.

And that’s a very good thing.  

So! In the meantime, I want to highlight a blog post I recently read written by Jennifer Patterson over at Small Agency Diary that really taps into small agency culture through a story about — of all things — a squishy carpet.  It’s a testament to the career path many  us have chosen and I just wanted to share! I’ll check back in soon.

There was a time at the agency when the floor squished as you walked from reception into the kitchen. The squish eventually migrated from reception to one of the offices and soon became a sort of character in the office. People would come in and ask “What’s the squish-factor today?”

When the squish was vacuumed out, we lost more than a water-logged floor. We lost a part of our culture.

This sounds absurd, but anyone who works at a small agency will know this to be true. At a small agency, we’re used to communing with the elements. Those little inconveniences are part of day-to-day work life. At a large agency, these inconveniences are efficiently handled — there are plans, there is a person whose job it is to deal with the squish. At a small agency, you just keep squishing along.

We never really mentioned the squish to outsiders. After all, no client wants to hire a (literally or figuratively) sinking agency.

But I am here to say the squish is worth something.

Small-agency culture is all about creativity and spontaneity. On a given day you deal with the highest altitude issues of client’s brand and business and the lowest altitude issues like what kind of coffee to buy. But getting your hands dirty with the in’s and out’s of your own business is a great reminder that your client’s business is also about the elements.

Examples that come to mind for me include the red Coke glasses on the judges table during American Idol, The Office character, Michael Scott’s love for Chili’s or even references to Fragments.com on BRAVO blog post by Alex, one of the new Real Housewives of New York City.

A recent Ad Age article suggests that product placements are “spectacularly average”, often becoming additional clutter the average viewer has learned to tune out. One quoted ad executive said,

“The best opportunities [for product placement] in reality shows are where real people in true-to-life situations are interacting favorably with the product. If the person is an expert and has credibility in the field, the integration is even stronger.”

After attending two baby showers and a book club this week where the majority of the conversations revolved around the budding TLC show Jon and Katie+8, I would say companies jumping on board opportunities with that show are set to make some extraordinary impressions.

Whether the Jon and Kate are headed to Hershey Chocolate World, the American Girl Factory in NY or just putting the DuraBibs on the multiples before each meal, this show is a perfect opportunity for viewers to see an already entertaining family interact favorably with products. Not to mention that any woman who can keep track of that many toddles becomes an “expert” in the field of parenting to me.

Regardless, I am interested to see how many woman are taking notice of the nanny services Kate is using or the restaurant the family chooses for Jon’s surprise birthday party; I know I am!

For those who aren’t as familiar with SEO, it is “the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a Web site from search engines via ‘natural’ — sometimes call ‘organic’ — search results for targeted keywords.” So as you can see, keywords play a huge part in driving traffic to a Web site.

So how can we make them more effective? There are a couple best practices that help generate the best keywords. They include:

1. Make them relevant to customers. It may be an obvious observation. But in practice, some people are still not using the keywords their customers are searching. If you’re not sure what they’re searching, ask them. Mr Beldin had a great suggestion. Gather a few family members or friends, and ask them what terms they would search for after you describe what you’re doing. Sometimes you’re too close to what you’re doing to realize that the keywords you’re using aren’t matching the keywords your customers are looking for.
2. Along with making it relevant to customers, think about misspellings, too. Customers aren’t typically spelling bee champions, so there’s a high probability that from time to time they will spell a word or two wrong. Including misspellings in your keywords will help you still reach the customers who can’t spell.
3. Use phrases. It used to be that searchers would only use one term when searching for something in a search engine. But people have realized that using only one keyword will give you too broad of results, and as search engines have advanced, so to have the number of words people use to search for the right Web site. So use phrases as your keywords, too.
4. Don’t limit yourself to a few keywords. There’s a popular saying, “Go big or go home.” That applies to keywords, too. Generate a large database of keywords you can use and you’re more likely to attract Web traffic. Keep in mind rule #1, and keep your keywords relevant. But don’t limit it to a certain few.
5. Localize the search. As much as the Internet enables global connectivity, people still want to use it for local searches. Therefore, make your search applicable to the local market. Use terms like, “PR firm in Draper, Utah” — hopefully that brings up Politis Communications.

As in all things, keep tabs on your keywords to make sure they are working for you. Review them regularly to avoid letting your Web site slip in the rankings. It requires a watchful recognition of what’s happening in your particular market, but doing it right can bring tons of benefits.

However, and this surprises me, not everyone in the profession adheres to similar standards. Well, it doesn’t surprise me that their are unethical people out there who are trying to manipulate the system for their own or their clients benefit, but it surprises me that they feel it is an acceptable tactic.

So why is this news? Cisco recently ran into legal problems because they did not have a disclosure policy in effect. How could they and many other companies avoid a potential lawsuit or loss in the trial of public opinion, be transparent.

In our world of chat rooms, blogs, citizen journalism, etc., transparency is and should play an ever more important role in how we all handle ourselves. It’s easy to hide behind pseudonyms or invented aliases, but it rarely helps a company or individual when the truth comes out. Especially if they’ve been using the alias to hide behind a smear campaign or been involved in any form of slander.

In that respect, I’d like to give a “Happy Betty Award” to Dell for being proactive and requiring their employees to adhere to a policy of transparency ahead of the curve. Cisco now shifts to a crisis communications role, which they could have avoided by following a few simple guidelines.

Makes sense, the name of the game is measurement, so why not set up a way to measure site/video traffic for videos. So my question is this: Why did it take so long to turn this function on?

Don’t tell me this couldn’t have been done some time ago given Google’s advances in technology.

*  Involves a real person,

*  Who overcomes adversity and/or long odds, and

*  Achieves success.

Jason Alba fits into the great story category.

Without going into all the details, Jason’s a tech guy with an MBA under his belt who found himself out of work in January 2006. After several months of unsuccessfully looking for ajob to meet his skill-sets and needs, he decided to branch out onto his own by launching JibberJobber.com — a Web-based solution to help others out of work manage their job-seeking efforts.

Picking up on repeated questions he heard about the benefits (if any) of LinkedIn, the social networking site, Jason wrote a book entitled simply enough, I’m on LinkedIn. Now What? Recently he published a second book: I’m On Facebook. Now What?

By themselves, these are positive steps in what sounds like a decent personal turnaround story. But Jason’s taken his entrepreneurial efforts beyond the basic “woe is me” story to the “I’m doing pretty okay now” with his fairly tireless self-promotional efforts.

His most recent hit? A very nice 3-25-08 write-up in U.S. News & World Report entitled: “Boosting Your Sales with Social Networking.”

As proven by the USNWR story (as well as by inclusion in stories from The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and others), Jason has now transformed himself into a sought-after expert — in essence, a brand unto himself.

Congrats, Jason. That’s good news for you, and for those seeking your advice/assistance as well.

Specifically, if we truly believe that simple, direct, to-the-point and uncomplicated marketing communications efforts for our clients will be successful, then shouldn’t we undertake similar efforts for the various POLITIS LLC companies? Ya’d think so, right?

So . . . we officially launched TheBettyFactor.com on 11-11-07 with no fanfare whatsoever. And as reported here on February 18th, I think we’ve made pretty good progress (so far) with this blogging/marketing effort with the Betty Factor. (We have a ways to go yet, but so far, so good.)

Now comes an interesting video report from Yahoo!’s Tech-Ticker about “Media’s MVBs: Most Valuable Blogs.” Driven by a recent article from 24/7 Wall Street that ranked the 25 most valuable blogs or blog media networks, I think Henry Blodgett (the face behind No. 12-ranked Silicon Alley Insider) provides some good insights into the initial transformation of some blogs/blog-networks into professional media companies, companies with real valuations.

Here’s the Blodgett interview:

TIP: 

What does all of this mean for the average marketer considering blogging as a marketing communications tool? In two words: Do it!

I know that it will take lots of time and it will involve real effort, but in the end, blogging is only going to become more and more critical as a vehicle for companies, brands and people to create and sustain a two-way dialogue with current and prospective customers, partners, investors and more.Besides, if you don’t blog, you risk becoming irrelevant, particularly in our hyper-connected, always-on, on-the-go Web 2.0 world.

So what are you waiting for? Get blogging!!!!!

Recent events have shed light on what this saying truly means; two highly publicized and one not so publicized events show that it does no good to lie about or embellish the truth.

In the first example, Kwame Kilpatrick, the 37-year old mayor of Detroit, has “been booked on charges of lying about steamy text messages with his former chief of staff.” He is accused of “multiple counts of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct” in a scandal that will, in all likelihood, land him behind bars and end his political career. Telling the truth may not have saved his political career, but it certainly would have saved him from being sent to the clink.

In the second example, in an effort to establish her “battle-tested” leadership, Sen. Hillary Clinton said last week during a campaign rally speech that during a visit to war-torn Bosnia in 1996, she had to land “under sniper fire”, “without a welcome ceremony” because she and her party had to run “with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.” But a CBS correspondent who was with the former First Lady on that trip produced video evidence that what Senator Clinton had said was simply not true. Now, her media relations team is doing some manipulating of the facts themselves, which will probably continue for the next couple of days until the press gets tired of writing about it. But instead of boosting the “battle-tested” leadership image she is so desperately trying to portray, it shoots holes in her claim to any previous leadership experience at all. What stories are embellished, which are fabricated, and which ones are completely imaginary?

The third example comes from a recent job application we received. We had previously worked with the applicant and knew about some of the information on this person’s resume because of our working together. However, the “facts” claimed on the resume for work performed while with us did not mesh with what we knew the applicant did, nor did the facts match what was reported on a client’s Web site. The applicant knowingly embellished information on the resume, probably thinking we would not catch it, or that if we did, we may not recall the exact details. However, when the embellishment was caught, the application process ended. We probably would have progressed further with the application process, but the trust was now exhausted.

We could go on for days; there are many more examples of individuals who flat-out lie, possibly under the impression that they’ll never get caught. But eventually, the truth always comes out. Elliot Spitzer found out the hard way; so too, has Kwame Kilpatrick. The simple fact is, they didn’t have to find out the hard way. They just needed to tell the truth.

It may be hard to do in the moment, but giving the facts is much better in the long run than falsifying information.

In one of seven points he makes as to why he believes that the average Information Technology department is headed for death’s door, he writes,

“IT loses credibility by speaking in technical jargon . . .”

Michael Krigsman, “Is IT becoming extinct?” ZDNet, 3-23-08

As I explained earlier today in a post on Utah Tech Watch,

“Jargon in any form is antithetical to the Betty Factor and creates a huge disconnect between many IT professionals and corporate executives.”

“The Slow, Lingering Death of I.T.,” David Politis, UtahTechWatch.com, 3-24-08

Not only is technology jargon antithetical to Betty Factor principles, jargon in any form between any technical person and a non-technical person is communications death. 

UNLESS (of course) the technical person KNOWS for an absolute certainty that the non-technical person understands the basic, underlying concepts/premises of the matter being discussed.

The problem is that such certainty is very, very difficult to attain. Hence, in almost all instances, I.T. does lose credibility by speaking in technical jargon.

TIP:

When in doubt, always simplify and demystify any sales, marketing and/or marketing communications materials or efforts.

Getting “more granular” (going into more detail) in a technical discussion is NEVER the problem.

Conversely, explaining something in less time and/or with fewer words or images is ALWAYS MORE DIFFICULT.

Don’t believe me? Fine.

Take a technical product, service or concept and describe it in eight to 10 minutes. Now take that same product, service or concept and boil it down to a 30-second explanation.

Which was harder? Exactly.

Now, there’s this new “fad,” we call it ‘green marketing.’ I call it a fad, not because I think it’s going anywhere anytime soon, but because I think that companies are jumping on the bandwagon like this is some new idea.

Honestly, how many companies do you think had some sort of recycling program in place in the last decade? How ’bout a watercooler before all the water bottles? Granted, people are certainly finding more creative ways to go green, but the point is it’s not a new idea, we’re just finding a way to capitalize on it.

I came across a truly green piece of marketing collateral, the folks at Honda actually sent out a mailer that can be planted. That’s right, it is a flower in an envelope. I have to take my hat off that this is quite possibly the most creative ‘green advertising’ I’ve come across.

Add the targeted component that this letter was sent to customers of Honda’s lawn and garden products and I believe you have a real winner here. Honda is putting their money where their mouth is and I don’t believe being ‘green’ is a fad to them.

What do you think? Is Honda doing it’s part or appeasing the activists?

The story began nearly two weeks ago when Haile Gebreselassie, the current marathon world-record holder, announced that he would not compete in Beijing this August due to his concerns that air pollution in Beijing would permanently harm his lungs. (Gebreselassie suffers from asthma.)

Previously, gold medal tennis winner and four-time French Open winner, Justine Henin, had proclaimed that she would not defend her gold medal in China since the pollution would aggravate her asthma as well.

The decisions of these athletes notwithstanding (and the threat of other world-class athletes withdrawing from the Games due to health concerns), the IOC distributed on Monday, March 17 with the headline “IOC ANALYSES BEIJING AIR QUALITY DATA.”

The thrust of the release is that the IOC’s Medical Commission has been evaluating air quality data collected in August 2007 during a three-week period while international sporting events were held in 12 disciplines. Interestingly, the release said

“The findings indicate that, at Games time one year out, the health of athletes was largely not impaired. This finding is upheld by the fact that no health issues related to air quality were reported to the IOC by any of the team physicians who looked after athletes competing during the August 2007 test events.”

IOC news release, “IOC ANALYSES BEIJING AIR QUALITY DATA,” 3-17-08

Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC Medical Commission, expanded on this release in a interview with the Associated Press (and reported by CNN) when he said,

“In general terms I must say that I am sort of pleased really with the outcome of this analysis. We find that the competitions, although not necessarily under ideal conditions at every moment . . . will be good for athletes to compete during the Beijing Games.”

Arne Ljungqvist, Chairman, IOC Medical Commission, speaking to Associated Press on a conference call from Sweden

Looks good, right? Maybe; maybe not.

Here’s a list of the 12 sports included in the August 2007 “Good Luck Beijing” Sport Events:

1. Archery;
2. Baseball;
3. Beach Volleyball;
4. BMX;
5. Canoe-Flatwater;
6. Canoe-Slalom;
7. Equestrian;
8. Hockey;
9. Road Cycling;
10. Rowing;
11. Sailing; and
12. Wrestling.

So you tell me. With the possible exception of Road Cycling, which of these twelve test competitions held in August 2007 approach the level of aerobic requirements found in either tennis matches or a marathon? Exactly. None of them.

The BOCOG distributed its own news releaseyesterday to add its own voice to the efforts of the IOC spinmeisters.

Among other things, the BOCOG disclosed that the 2007 air quality data reviewed by the IOC was actually provided by the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau and not by independent testing organizations. (Typically not a big deal, except that the People’s Republic of China, and all governmental agencies within the ROC, are still under the totalitarian control of the Communist Party.)

Additionally, the release stated that

“. . . physicians for athletes who competed in the August 2007 “Good Luck Beijing” sport events did not report any air quality-related health issues to BOCOG or the IOC.”

BOCOG news release, “IOC official: Beijing’s air quality will continue to improve,” 3-18-08

Sounds great, except that few of the 12 sports listed above create anything approaching oxygen deprivation. So what type of reports were we really to expect from these physicians? Exactly.

No, at the end of the day the IOC appears to be bending over backward to not upset the BOCOG and to make it appear that air quality in Beijing is not something any athlete should be concerned about.

Here in the States, we call such efforts trying to “spin” the news.

A more direct definition is found online at Dictionary.com under the word “obfuscate:”

• to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.
• to make obscure or unclear: to obfuscate a problem with extraneous information.
• to darken.

Yup, sounds exactly like what the IOC and BOCOG are trying to do — obfuscate.

And for that, both organizations land Sad Betty Awards from yours truly and The Betty Factor.