The PR Warrior

Social Media Helps PR Grow Another Leg

I’ve followed for some time the argument (mainly overseas and now outdated) that the emergence of social media will be the death of public relations.

Errr, nup. I don’t think so.

To the contrary, I’d go so far to suggest social media is potentially the best thing to happen to the public relations industry since, well, the advent of the telephone (still a very important tool in our business).

Click here to read the rest of this story. 

Content exclusive to Marketing Magazine.

A PR Warrior Plug for parkyoung

Excuse me while I indulge myself for 30 seconds to plug my new venture - a partnership with David Park in the strategy and communications advisory firm parkyoung.

parkyoung launched this week with the expressed view of helping our clients gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace through the sustained use of strategic communications.

Our mission is to challenge the way our clients think about and use public relations.

Between us, Parky and I have over 40 years' combined experience in business and marketing communications, either in-house or consulting to some of Australia's (and the world's) biggest brands.

Check out parkyoung's new blog - IN BRANDS WE TRUST.

We have also recorded two podcasts (under the handle: 'Conversations on the Couch with Parky & the Warrior') - episode one is a two-part chat with Karen Morath, author of the new Australian public relations book 'PRide & PRejudice: Conversations with Australia's PR Legends'; in episode two, Parky and I discuss 'The Death of Corporate Trust'. 

If you'd like to organise an informal no-obligation chat with Parky and myself, please click here for contact details.

Redesigning the Stop Sign - a Lesson in 'Less is More'!

What if there were no stop signs...and a major corporation was charged with inventing one?

Intrigued? You'll love this - it's hilarious.

The lesson? Less is definitely more. 

Simplicity is key. Why use multiple words when one will suffice.

Packing a Punch With Powerful Words

This brief presentation (discovered via the wonderful Presentation Zen) is very cool.

It's simple and clever and clocks in at just 1:44 mins, but still manages to pack a punch. But, make sure you watch through for the twist.

According to Presentation Zen, this presentation placed second in the AARP U@50 video contest.

Want to Cut Through the Clutter & Generate Buzz? Try Getting Off the 'Stage'!

During Coldplay's performance at the Sydney Sound Relief Concert last Saturday, band leader Chris Martin left the stage and went for a joyous run through the crowd.

He embraced the crowd and in turn, the crowd embraced him back. It was a cool moment, indeed, a defining moment in what was a pretty amazing concert. And people are still talking about it.

No wonder Coldplay is such a major act. They're unpretentious and genuine. Oh yeah, and their music ain't half bad either.

What about your brand? Does it 'get off the stage' and mix it with the public? 

Try it some time. Who knows, you might actually 'cut through' and people may talk positively about you!

The World's Greatest Twitter Treasure Trove - Please Feel Free to Plunder & Pass On!

Twitter continues to nibble away at the edges of mainstream acceptability (or is that respectability?).

Here, for the first (and definitely last) time, the PR Warrior has kindly cobbled together for you lot to plunder potentially the broadest array of stuff about Twitter ever posted in the one place. 

THIS COULD WELL BE THE GREATEST TREASURE TROVE OF TWITTER TID-BITS EVER ASSEMBLED! 

This is a one-time deal folks, so sit back, dim the lights and enjoy the Twitter show. 

COOL TWITTER APPS, PLATFORMS + SLIGHTLY TECH STUFF 

Twellow

A search directory that helps Twitter users find people to follow. From accountants to yoga, Twellow categorizes and organizes Twitter into hundreds of niches to make your searching easier.

Tweet Scan

Whether or not you use Twitter, you might want to take a look at Tweet Scan, a Twitter-based search engine that allows you to search Twitter's public timeline for snippets of text.

TweetDeck 

A simple desktop application that allows you to collate your various Twitter streams for easy management.

TwitterCounter

Allows you to graph the progress of Twitter users in terms of numbers of followers. Is your following growing or laying stagnant like a New Orleans swamp?

Twitter Grader

Measure your social media profile - how well do you rank? Are you a rock star or what?

TweetWheel

Find out which of your Twitter friends know each other. Careful what you say!!

Tweetburner

Track the links you share on Twitter!

Twitterless

Get updates when someone stops following you on Twitter. Then you can ring them and find out why :)

Tweet Grid

Create a Twitter search dashboard that updates in real time. Nice.

Twitterrific

An application that lets you both read and publish posts ("tweets") to the Twitter website. Got one on my iPhone. Very useful and easy to use.

TwitPic

Enables you to share photos on Twitter. A must-have.

Twittertise

Allows you to advertise on Twitter and track the success if branded communications with your customers.

Follow Cost

I know, I know - it hasn't got Twit or Tweet in the title...but, it does answer the question: "Is that Twitter celebrity worth the pain?".

Twinfluence

A cool application that allows you to analyse the influence of individual Twitterers.

Qwitter

Tracks and emails you when someone stops following you.

Twitter Business Directory

Promote your business on Twitter, free (apparently).

Twitterholic

What's your Twitterholic ranking? Hic.

PeopleBrowsr

A nifty visual dashboard that adds more power to Twitter, similar to Tweet Deck.

TwitterGallery

Pimp ya Twitter page with these free themes.

Twitterfeed

Allows you to post your blog to Twitter via RSS feed.

Twitter Groups

Find Tweeps who share common interests. Worth a look.

Twtpoll

Poll your Twitter friends!

StrawPoll

Similar to Twtpoll - tiny polls in 140 characters or less.

TweetBeep

Free Twitter alerts by email.

Twitturly

Real-time link tracking on Twitter.

Retweetist

A website dedicated to retweets (RTs) - a good way to see what Tweeps are sending on.

Tweetmeme

The hottest stories on Twitter! Very cool.

TweeterGetter

Get 15,000+ new Twitter followers in 30 days. (MMmmmm. Really?) If you're interested, check this.

Monittor

Monitor Twitter in real time. Pretty cool.

HootSuite

The ultimate Twitter toolbox

Twibs

A Twitter business directory - which companies and brands are on Twitter. Good resource. 

VARIOUS TWITTER ARTICLES, BLOG POSTS, HINTS, TIPS, INSIGHTS + LISTS

Twitter Help

A constantly updated collection of blog posts and suggestions to help you get the most out of Twitter.

Do you need to 'tame' Twitter? Check out these three tools.

Interested in knowing which celebrities are on Twitter? Here's a blog post that aggregates several sources. And here's another one - Top 50 Celebrities on Twitter.

And more celeb stuff: Twittering Celebs Tell All From Oscars Party.

And here - another celeb list, this time from Timesonline.co.uk.

Twitter case study: The Home Depot.

You're on Twitter. Now What? Excellent piece from Conversation Agent.

What's a Dry Cleaner Doing on Twitter? Find out here. Interesting.

Another case study: The Ranger Station Fire: How Ford Motor Company Used Social Media to Extinguish a PR Fire in Less Than 24 Hours.

Australia's Top 100 Influential Twitterers. Who Are they? You know you want to look!

10 Great Twitter Tools, according to PC World.

Laurel Papworth's list of Australian journalists on Twitter. She has also written a handy list of hints and tips for Twitter newbies.

60 Useful Twitter Resources - a Twitter Mini-Guide. Excellent stuff! (From WebGeek).

Britain is All A-Twitter - The Independent's take on Twitter.

Rohit Bhargava's looks at the five stages of Twitter acceptance. He also looks at nine ways to make Twitter more useful for you.

40 of the Best Twitter Brands (and the People Behind Them) - a good post by Jennifer Van Grove.

Be Careful of What you Post on Twitter - traps for young players, a tale of caution by Peter Shankman.

20 Australians You Should be Following on Twitter - compiled by popular blogger and all-around nice guy, Lucio Dias Ribeiro.

Just in case your mind goes blank: 10 Things to Tweet About.

How to be a Twitter All-Star!

Twitter is hot, but how will it change your business? Check out this story by Smartcompany.com.au.

Twitter creates a boom for the PR industry 'cos someone's got to interpret what's being said online about companies and brands. The Sydney Morning Herald weighs in with this story.

UK journalists on Twitter (and PR people too).

How NOT to build your Twitter community - find out here. Here's the bookend article: How to build your community.

Dave Fleet's top tips for Twitter beginners. A good starting point (and a follow-up to another post about getting started on Twitter).

Online shoe retailer Zappos is one company that 'gets' Twitter. Here is an interesting interview with company CEO, Tony Hsieh. 

Prominent social media expert Todd Defren poses the question: "Get into Twitter or Get Outta Public Relations?"

Psssst! Wanna get the most out of Twitter? Here are 12 tips. But don't tell anyone, okay?

What is Twitter and why does it matter? Here's a presentation on Twitter by Alison Young, delivered at Pub Cam Sydney. 

Do Business and Twitter belong together? Chris Brogan delivers 50 ideas here; here are a few more articles on using Twitter for business. Business Week weighs in with this article about how companies use Twitter to bolster their brands.

Social Brand Index - a good resource to find out what companies are on Twitter. What about CEOs? @Silkcharm has that covered!

Are you a web strategist? This blog post by Jeremiah Owyang tells you what you should know about Twitter.

That's enough Twitter treasure for now - PLUNDER AWAY!

FLASHBACK 2006: When Mentos 'Got It' & Coke Didn't. What Would the Story be Today?

I've just finished re-reading Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba's excellent book Citizen Marketers.

In it they provide a snapshot of the Diet Coke/Mentos video experiment that went on to become a massive hit on Revver and YouTube (see below). 

You may remember it - two guys in white smocks - one a professional juggler, the other an attorney - combined Diet Coke and Mentos lollies to create a choreographed fountain of Diet Coke geyers.

Although this video wasn't the first example of what happens when you mix together Diet Coke and Mentos, it became the best known. Within no time it went nuts online, spawning thousand of copycat videos. 

Interestingly, it's a classic example of a company losing control of its brand to consumers - two companies in this case - and how each handled the situation. 

According to McConnell/Huba, a Mentos spokesman said: "We are tickled pink by it". (And why wouldn't you be? It's estimated Mentos generated online buzz to the value of $10 million!).

Coke's response? 

"We would hope people want to drink (Diet Coke) more than try experiments with it," the Coke spokeswoman said, adding that the "craziness with Mentos...doesn't fit with the brand personality" of Diet Coke. Ahem.

Given we're three years on and social media has gripped the world and consumers are getting involved with brands on a scale unimaginable 10 years ago, I wonder how Coke would react if the same situation arose today? 

Would they get in on the act and come out and say "hey, that's pretty cool...look at all the free publicity we're getting, and consumers are having fun interacting with our brand"? 

Or, would they bang on about all this "craziness with Mentos...doesn't fit with the brand personality" of Diet Coke. 

Coke didn't 'get it' in 2006, and fair enough. But I wonder if the company's response would be any different if the same situation arose today? 

The answer would go a long way in illustrating how far big brands have come to grips with the 'new consumer reality' of today's hyper-connected marketing landscape. Do they 'get it', or have they still got a long way to go?

Master Communicator Warren Buffett Continues to Mesmerize

The way in which senior corporate executives talk speaks volumes about the company they run.

When business leaders speak candidly using language that's easy to understand, people tend to listen.

And if people are listening, then levels of communication improves. 

When levels of communication improves, the message has a better chance of getting through.

And when the message cuts through, executives (or politicians or community leaders etc) become more persuasive, authoritative, credible, influential, logical and coherent. Indeed, more effective. 

And isn't that what being a leader is all about?

Communication takes on particular importance in these hyper-connected times when what someone says one minute can be bounced around the globe via broadcast, print and online mediums within a matter of hours.

Which is why famed US investor, Warren Buffett, 78, continues to generate interest whenever he speaks.

This week he released his much-anticipated 'state of the economy' address, in which he shouldered the blame for "some dumb things" (his company Berkshire Hathaway reported a 62 per cent drop in net income for 2008).

"We are certain that the economy will be in a shambles throughout 2009 - and, for that matter, probably well beyond," Buffett said.

Or this gem (reported in The Australian):

""By year end," he says of 2008, "investors of all stripes were bloodied and confused, much as if they were small birds that had strayed into a badminton game".

PIC: CNBC

What can business leaders learn from Warren Buffett (above)?

• Be straight and tell it like it is.
• Be open, candid and genuine.
• Use plain English (minimise jargon).
• Inject your personality.
• Don't be afraid to use the odd quirky turn of phrase or analogy (see referral to birds-and-badminton above).

Click here to read Buffett's entire letter to investors.

Compare Buffett's tone and use of language to others in the corporate sphere, as discussed in a previous PR Warrior post. 

THESE ARE NOT MY WORDS: "Greater business level empowerment and flexibility within a non-negotiable compliance framework will ensure more efficient and effective decision making."

It hasn't been a good week for one of Australia's largest brand marketers, Pacific Brands.

Hot on the heels of giving themselves significant pay rises, the Pac Brands board retrenched 1850 staff. Naturally, the media was all over it. 

(To be fair, Pac Brands is not the only company to axe large numbers of staff nor give its senior executives hefty increases in remuneration, but its actions have caused more public outrage than most).

The rationale provided by the company certainly wouldn't have helped matters.

The following is sourced from an article by the Australian Financial Review (Feb 27), page three. (As is Fairfax's wont, you need to be a registered subscriber to view much of the newspaper's content).

This is reportedly Pac Brands CEO Sue Morphet's response to the question 'why cut so many?':

"Greater business level empowerment and flexibility within a non-negotiable compliance framework will ensure more efficient and effective decision making." 

WHAAAAT?

Communication plays a critical role in the corporate retrenchment process. Apart from communicating openly with stakeholders including workers, unions and government in the run-up to any decisions being made, the tone of language used when speaking with the media and others is absolutely critical.

Morphet is not the only senior executive to speak corporate psycho-babble that no-one understands. It's a trend, and a very bad one.

According to the Fin:

Ford did some "outbalancing" of 450 staff last year. 

Citigroup expected its "near-term headcount to be down 20 per cent" when it recently cut 50,000 jobs (yes, that's 50,000 jobs). 

"Starbucks looked comparatively impotent when pursuing 'operational efficiencies' to cut 685 jobs".

And so the article goes...

"Rightsizing" (job cuts)

"Investment experience" (when writing down $225 million).

"Monetisation process" (God knows what that is!).

"Management adjusted" results (WTF?).

Use of such nonsensical language frustrates all in its path - shareholders, sharemarket analysts, media and the public. It's designed to bamboozle but only succeeds in reinforcing the well-held notion that big business is extremely out of touch with 'new world' realities - no wonder trust in companies has become such an explosive issue (Check out previous blog post: Corporate Australia Cops a 'Bloody Nose' in Edelman's Latest 'Trust' Findings).

The Fin rightly applauds "old-school" Gerry Harvey who closed five Harvey Norman outlets late in 2008.

"The stores can't make money", Harvey reportedly said.

Now that's communication!

THANK GOD FOR GERRY HARVEY! (Pic Source)

@andrewbarnett weighed in with this little gem, using the simple but effective 'WTF' as a heading.