High-Tech PR Blog >> Beyond the Hype

It's all about your people

Over the past couple weeks some of the best and brightest of LP&P represented us well as we won Best Places to Work awards both in Boston, MA and Austin, Texas. This is a very meaningful award to me, as it represents our employees' view of our agency in both locations. It is particularly gratifying -- and humbling -- to have these great people vote our agency one of the best places to work during a year in which the perks and compensation are not as good as we'd like them to be.

Mike Parker, who leads our "Shoemaker's Children PR Team" for the agency, attended the award ceremony in Boston with one of our agency PR volunteers, Jim Crook.  He says Jim straightened his tie, said, "I'm on it," and bolted for the stage when Mike asked him if he wanted to accept the award for the agency.  Mike and Jim rallied the troops here in our busy Boston office to get the employees to participate in the survey required for entry. It was very fitting that they accepted the award on our behalf. Both of them are key contributors to the culture of our firm that makes us one of the best places to work.

In addition to leading the all-volunteer agency PR team (and carrying that banner for quite a while now), Mike Parker recently organized our new Wii golf tournament to get the golfers into the act and to supplement the annual Foozball Tournament.

Jim Crook has been swinging a bat for the LP&P Softball team for years, recruiting new members and scheduling games. This year he's become the captain as well. Whether it's helping organize the annual Halloween Party's costume parade for the kids of employees or creating the list of "superlatives" we announced at last year's summer outing ("best hair," "biggest sports fan"), Jim is always willing to keep the fun outlets going, which are important de-stressors in a client-service organization.  

In Austin, our office lead Carol Hanko accepted the Best Places to Work award from the Austin Business Journal several weeks ago, ably assisted by Lydia Hekman and Erin Hanley. I spent last week with the Austin team and they are a model of a hard-working team that knows how to collaborate and have fun together. Carol has set that tone since she joined LP&P and Lydia and Erin are key contributors to the good culture we have built in the Lone Star state. 

Lydia Hekman drove the submission for the ABJ award and works closely with Erin Hanley, who heads Austin agency PR. Both are active participants in the potlucks, happy hours, summer outings and holiday events that keep this team playing together as well as they work together. They both participated in SXSW and have helped us put on great open house events for our clients and friends each year. If you're ever in Austin near 5th and Congress Streets, come meet our great team.

Thanks again to all of these employees for helping us earn this honor during such a difficult time.  And hats off to all LP&Pers for putting a big smile on this agency principal's face.

Actors Without a Script Really Need Media Training

  The much anticipated "rematch" of Today Show host Matt Lauer and Tom Cruise occurred this week, It came about 3.5 years since the dustup in which Cruise passionately decried Brooke Shields' use of anti-depressants for post-partum issues and called Lauer "glib" for his defense of Shields and psychiatry in general.  If people were expecting fireworks, they were sadly disappointed, as news reports and blog posts including one from Gearlive.com noted.

Now over three years later, the Valkyrie star is proving that he actually does care what other people think about him. In this morning’s sit-down with Lauer, the 46-year-old tried embarrassed about his behavior from that day. “In looking at myself, I thought I came across as arrogant. It’s one of those things you go, ‘OK, I could have absolutely handled that better’,“ Cruise acknowledged. “I didn’t communicate it the way that I wanted to communicate it. And also, that’s not who I am. That’s not the person that I am.“ (So you don’t use the word “glib” in your everyday life?)

If Today’s anti-climatic interview (Cruise actually seemed a bit, uh, sedated) had you yearning for that 2005 conversation, you’re in luck. You can relive the fun below: [note that the blog post includes a video of the entire interview.]

Reviewing the interview, as I always do, as a long-time executive trainer of executives, I must say I am stunned at the lack of preparation Cruise had for questions that absolutely anyone could have anticipated.  Matt Lauer was trying to be a good celebrity interviewer and not be too edgy this time.  He asked what I thought were softball questions like, "What was the reaction to the last time we sat down," after he commented that the Today Show got more calls after that interview than they usually do.

Cruise should have had a response ready for that one.  Instead he stumbled and rambled, seeming almost incoherent in spots, and finally admitting he came across arrogant then and should have handled it better.  What took about 60 words could have been said more clearly in no more than 20.  He had a very humble demeanor, however, which may have been the primary goal, but it went beyond humble to, frankly, boring and flat.

Lauer commented that Cruise has been in the entertainment industry for 25 years and that, before the Today Show interview debacle in 2005, had been a "golden boy" that interviewers vied for.  After that interview, he said, the same interviewers began taking shots at Cruise rather than lining up to talk with him.

Cruise interrupted him here, seeming to disagree with the assertion that the interview was a tipping point, but he blathered so much that it was hard to figure out what he was actually trying to convey.  He did talk a little about the giants of the silver screen he had worked with during that period, but he certainly could have had a stronger answer.  For heaven's sake, Paul Newman, whom he used to race with and who he acted with, just passed away.  He could have done a tribute to the man.

If you read any of the coverage of the interview, it was very short with only a one-line quote from Cruise.  This isn't because space was short in the publications or on the blogs.  It is because it was hard to find a sound-bite in Cruise's blather.  You really had to extrapolate that he was sorry that happened, but felt he learned a lesson, and now he thinks his life with his wife and daughter is great.

Interestingly, when Cruise switched to promoting his movie -- the purpose of his current tour of the TV couches -- he was more articulate.  He still wasn't passionate or terribly interesting, but he could at least string a few sentences together.  It seems his publicists did a good job of feeding him lines about the movie he could repeat over and over and he remembered them.

It was an odd interview overall, though, and did not do a lot to change people's view of Cruise or intrigue them to go see a movie on Christmas day about an (obviously) failed plot to assassinate Hitler.  One wonders if the choices the publicists faced were "manic Tom" -- he of the jumping on Oprah's couch fame -- or the "boring, inarticulate Tom" and chose the latter.  A mock interview with someone simulating Matt Lauer at his worst could have given him the help he needed to come up with a few crisp answers that would have made the interview much more interesting.  And if he was too exhausted or, as the blog post suggests, sedated to do a good job with the Today Show, it might have been better to reschedule, as this one will live on in YouTube and online forever, right alongside the "crazy Tom" videos from 2005. 

The numbers don't lie

A couple weeks ago there was great joy in Red Sox Nation when one of our unlikely heroes -- Dustin Pedroia, our smallest player and starting second-baseman -- was named MVP of the American League.  It was gratifying for two reasons.  First of all, no one deserved it more.  This is a player who comes to play every single game and gives everything he's got -- no, more than he's got, really.  Heck, he subbed for our slugger, David Ortiz, who towers over him, in the three spot in the batting order when Ortiz was injured during a key run-up to the playoffs.  And he did well!  Secondly, it was a great lesson that it isn't the flashy and obvious choice that is the winner.  Pedroia wasn’t every sportswriter’s first choice initially, but once they crunched the numbers, they could see that his overall performance was superior to that of his competitors.

The numbers didn't lie and the measurement of them was key in awarding the true top performer, the MVP.  As we've been working with our clients on their 2009 planning, many have asked us to help them pull information on the best way to focus their marketing spend to get the absolute most out of every dollar.  We're telling them that a key to this is making sure they are crunching the numbers and evaluating the return on their spend.  If they don't have a tool to do this, we have put together some good cost effective ones they can use.  We're confident that as they measure their marketing spend, they are going to find that the best dollars are spent on PR that smartly incorporates targeted social media. 

Marketwire recently published a white paper [note that you have to register for the free download] entitled the "Top 10 Strategies for Boosting ROI Despite Shrinking Budgets and Dwindling Resources."  The first strategy was to leverage "PR 2.0" to tap into the social networks that directly influence customers.  Many publications are shrinking, which means that the journalistic channel to their customers is slimmer than in the past.  It is therefore critical that, as my colleague Bill McLaughlin said recently in a client meeting, companies become their own publishers via blogs and smart, focused use of social media as part of their PR toolkit.

The white paper points out that: "You can now get better mileage from your PR dollar than you can from your advertising dollar, particularly in today's new media landscape." 

A combination of content creation and the right targeting to influencers, as well as the right level of listening and communicating directly with customers through targeted social media communities will yield the best results -- results that are measurable.

And despite the fact that press releases are a much-maligned element of a PR program, the white paper pointed out that they have a longer shelf life than other marketing elements and no followup use costs, like pay-per-click advertising.  When you combine them with good search engine optimization and targeted links through social networking sites like Twitter, they can be very effective -- of course  when they are concise and have the right messaging and payoff for the reader.

A blog post from Gail Nelson of Burrelles Luce just before Thanksgiving pointed to some good news for PR practitioners in a New York Times article about the drop off of advertising in the luxury goods market. 

Though luxury brands are reducing advertising, many continue - quietly - to spend on client dinners and launch parties, which they view as directly affecting sales.

Nelson noted that "the spending on launch parties - which are believed to directly affect sales - does underscore the belief of business in the effectiveness of public relations."  She went on to point out a PR Week article, In-house PR execs pull back, maintain budgets for 2009, by Chris Daniel that suggested that executives are largely maintaining their PR budgets for 2009.

Our clients are not selling luxury watches, but they are marketing large expenditure items to enterprises who have to justify every dollar spent and the potential return on the investment.  They will not be swayed by a slick printed ad or even the a cleverest ad during the 2009 Super Bowl.  They might be convinced by executives like themselves who not only have invested in a technology, but also have been willing to talk about it in a blog post or an article or a podcast on a company site.  They also might be influenced by hearing directly from the CEO of the technology company in a speech before industry peers or a blog post describing the highlights of the piece or in an op ed in a magazine that directly addresses the pain they are facing and the potential cost-effective solution. 

All of these elements are created by focused, strategic public relations.  A modest PR budget targeted exactly at the audience a B2B company needs to reach, executed by internal or agency PR people who are truly knowledgeable about social media tools and techniques, can build the credibility and direct connection to potential customers faster and more cost effectively than any other marketing program.

As you are pondering all of this and planning for 2009, don't just take my word for it.  Make sure you are measuring your PR and social media results and comparing them to your closest competitors. We firmly believe you will have the ammunition you need to make the right decision on where to put those focused dollars.

And then when the cheap shots about PR ring out from the journalists or the A-list bloggers, as they always seem to do with little or no provocation, you can just smile and remember that 5 foot 9 inch 180-pound (dripping wet, I'm sure) second baseman who can knock the stuffing off of the ball -- and who can beat the flashy big guys when the numbers are crunched.

Agency Relevance in a Communications 2.0 World

I recently moderated a panel on global communications, which we hosted at the Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin, Texas.  Here’s a link to some of the details.

There were some good questions raised by an audience member:

What is the relevancy of agencies in today’s world of communications?  Has social media and the contraction of the traditional media landscape made agencies vulnerable? How necessary is an agency? Can all PR and communications be handled in-house?

Clearly everything about public relations, the media and communications is changing at warp speed. With these changes come the necessity to continually learn and reinvent ourselves as professional communicators. Some will adapt, while others may not.  For those that do, there always will be a role to play as a valued partner to companies in crafting and executing their communications. Here are just a few reasons why agencies will continue to matter.

• Balancing out the Kool-aid factor. Regardless of the environment or new tools, companies can always benefit from third-party perspective. It’s human nature to think your child is the smartest, cutest one out there. A seasoned agency team can help you see and understand not just the opportunities, but the challenges you will face in getting audiences to hear your message and care about your product or company.
• Benefiting from the success or mistakes of others. A huge advantage agencies have is that they work with so many companies. They’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. This knowledge is invaluable in helping you determine the right blend of social media strategy and tactics that will yield the best return.
• Scale and reach. In a world where determining who matters to you changes so quickly and is increasingly harder to find, having a partner who’s constantly out there searching for them and engaging with them on your behalf is critical. Further, agencies have the tools and services that help them keep abreast of the latest developments regarding media and influencer beats, assignments editorial focus, etc.  This leads me to the next point...
• The serendipity factor. I see this every day. Because agencies are working with so many clients and constantly communicating with influencers, they have the ability to uncover and share opportunities with each other and their clients so much faster than any single individual or small internal communications team can.
• Speed and focus. In my experience, an internal corporate communications person’s responsibilities are usually very different from those of an agency professional. Typically, the internal person has to manage relationships with many internal constituencies including product management, marketing, sales and customer service.  They are responsible for creating content and often own internal communications as well.  At the end of the day, what percentage of their time is truly focused on managing media and influencer relations, staying on top of breaking developments, pitching new stories and developing relationships?

There are many more I could list, but then again, that’s just one person’s perspective. Tell me what you think.

The PR Paper Chase

One of the recent stories from the storage space was Asigra suing ROBObak for libel. The case stems from two press releases ROBObak issued recently. What interests me about this case is that ROBObak's PR firm was named. I only know about this case from some stories in the storage trade pubs, and do not know anyone at the agency or at the two companies.

The case is a reminder of what a PR agency person needs to think about when anything with their name attached goes public. This is especially true  with social media and more agency PR people representing clients in public online forums such as blog comments, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

In light of this case, here are some of the principles that I think PR people need to abide by:

1. First off, dust off the old Comm Law 101 books and make sure you know what to worry about. Libel is written defamation and slander is spoken. And there are three get out of jail free rules that make speech not equal defamation: Truth (the Yankees are not in first place), privilege (around government/judicial issues) and fair comment (ie: I believe the Yankees do not have the pitching this year to make the playoffs.)
2. Second, your name (and if you are at an agency then your agency's name) are on those press releases. No agency person can hide behind the "well, my client told me to do it" excuse, and internal PR cannot blindly follow what product marketing says. A communications professional has to understand all of the consequences of a pitch. And a person without a rock solid belief in what you are pitching is little more than a hired megaphone. That belief in your product/client logically means that you will think every consequence of public communication through thoroughly.
3. Indemnity clauses are your friends. Even with taking proper caution, PR agencies have to rely on the information given to them by their clients. If that data is flawed, there is only so much an agency can do. That is why personal/professional liability clauses should be part of any agency/client contract relationship.
4. Get everything in writing. If you have concern, have it in writing. And if you really feel passionately enough about it, ask to keep your name off it. It may raise an issue with the client, but we live on our reputation.
5. On the client-side, you should expect that your agency team knows the nuances of libel and slander and can counsel you when to be cautious. 

What do you think?  Is there anything else that should be added to this list?

It's Crunchie Time

It will soon be award season in Hollywood, and in the tech world as well. This morning, the Crunchies were announced. The awards, organized by GigaOm, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Read/Write Web, will honor the most promising tech start-ups. The awards will be voted on by "the fans", members of to-be-named-later blogging communities, so think VMA's and People's Choice rather than the Oscars.

We'll be back with more information as it becomes available.

E-mail is easy - but the phone is still there

This morning I arrived in the office and a New York Times article in my inbox struck a chord.  Essentially, it explains that e-mail is easy to write, yet it is often misconstrued by recipients.  The writer attributed this to new findings in social neuroscience, explaining how a design flaw has been found "where the brain encounters a computer screen: there are no online channels for the multiple signals the brain uses to calibrate emotions."  Therefore, the writer states that e-mail is "emotionally impoverished" and "we tend to misinterpret positive e-mail messages as more neutral, and neutral ones as more negative, than the sender intended."

Shortly after reading this article, I entered a presentation training course with Kraemer Winslow.  Her training supported this article by asserting that people gain trust with other people based on three factors -- visual, verbal (content) and vocal.  Kraemer cited a UCLA study on this topic that found that vocal and visual cues combined make up 93 percent of the factors that lead people to trust other people (55 percent visual and 38 percent vocal). Only 7 percent is based on content!

I traveled to Japan for clients several times in the past, and one thing I noted was that Japanese-based companies frowned upon e-mail for regular correspondence.  Much of it had to do with their relationship-focused mentality.  Their take was that e-mail can't replace face to face communication -- period.

E-mail is incredibly widespread in our society and provides tremendous value.  Though, when it comes to gaining the trust of people -- be it media or clients in our case -- the phone and in-person meetings are still critical in order to sustain and broaden relationships.  E-mail is a great tool, but in business, trust is key.  And if you're trying to gain it, picking up the phone or making an in-person visit when possible is probably wise. 

Are Women on Corporate Boards Making an Impact?

A Catalyst study released this week indicates that they are.  As noted in a Portfolio blog posting, the study concludes the following:

Large corporations with the highest representation of women board members significantly outperformed those with the highest concentration of men, according to a report released today by Catalyst, a New York research organization founded to promote women in the business world.

The study, titled "The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women's Representation on Boards," also found that corporations with three or more women directors performed notably better than companies with less gender diversity.

"Diversity well managed results in great performance," Deborah M. Soon, Catalyst's vice president of executive leadership initiatives, said. "It signals the value the company places on cultivating an environment of openness, broader discussions and thinking out of the box.

It's worth an analysis of this research as you think about the composition of your board, a topic that often is discussed in our client base.  I must admit that when we are doing research on a new client or prospect, I always scan the management team and board to see if there is good diversity.  It really does communicate something about the company and its leadership and culture.  Although I always have chafed at the thought of choosing someone for any position based on their gender or any characteristic other than ability, I am pleased to see the positive impact that women on boards are making.  It speaks to the value of diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds in general in corporate leadership.

Here's hoping that eventually we won't even have to do this type of study.

Semiconductors and the Sun

I'm sitting in a Starbucks in San Francisco today, attending my 9th annual SEMICON West conference. It's a scary prospect, but feels good at the same time to recognize old faces in the crowd. The conference is the largest one catering to the semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers, who outfit the fabs that manufacture computer chips that are found in just about any device a consumer picks up. To say it's a techie crowd is quite an understatement. The brainpower hurdling through the Moscone Center this week is massive.

The show started out in the fairgrounds of San Mateo - RVs served as the company booths, which apparently held a keg of a beer combined with a multi-million dollar piece of equipment. Times obviously have changed, but the event now exists more for networking purposes rather than generating sales.  This morning I already have talked to three different companies that told me PO numbers aren't exchanged at the show anymore. Instead, it's all about sustaining the relationships and demonstrating who has more marketing prowess. If you are familiar with how much a trade show booth costs, you see that this is quite an investment to maintain relationships and showcase your brand.

One thing that did catch my eye was the excitement around the solar market. The semiconductor market has the transferable skills to push solar technology into the mainstream, and according to the industry titan Applied Materials - solar technology is about to experience a price inflection in the near future that will create a new booming market worldwide. The semiconductor industry needs to join forces and make this happen because as it stands now, Germany and Asia-Pacific dominate the market. The press is catching onto this story, and I hope the semiconductor industry is able to band together to give the U.S. market a piece of the pie.

I attended an event in Austin, Texas a few weeks ago where Herman Scheer, the President of the European Association for Renewable Energy, spoke to a group via conference call. He said it best - "as long as the sun exists, we can create solar power." And according to his scientific sources, we have at least another 5-8 billion years.

The 'Me' Brand vs. the 'We' Brand

There is an interesting article in this morning's Wall Street Journal that makes the assertion that a CEO whose personal brand becomes larger (or as large as) the company's brand may actually do a disservice to the company.  The article states:

Unlike entrepreneurs who boost their companies when they promote themselves, an executive at an established corporation who brands himself is competing with his company's image.  Such executives risk quashing the spirit of teamwork essential to innovation and productivity, and they tend to fail to do vital succession planning.

We always advise our clients who are CEOs of emerging companies that they need to be the face of the company, particularly if they go public, but they should not be the only face.  We appreciate the CEOs who are willing to be visible and, frankly, are a bit wary of the type I've also thought of as willing to crawl over broken glass for visibility or to get coverage for themselves.  Being a great CEO isn't about building your own ego; it's about building a great company and providing leadership to your team and their teams that will engender a culture of success.

Last week we met with a senior management team of an interesting growing company.  The CEO made it very clear that although he is willing to be involved with the PR program and does his fair share already, the program isn't about him, it's about the company.

In an era of relentless Steve Jobs worship, that was as refreshing as this article.