The PR Warrior

When did you last get up close and personal with your customers?

While social media makes it possible for organizations to increase their reach cost effectively, today's smart brands realize it’s not just about online communication: it’s also critical you regularly get to see the ‘whites of the eyes’ of the people who matter most to their business – customers, influencers, media and stakeholders.

Companies and organizations that 'get' this incorporate into their marketing mix – and importantly, actively leverage – face-to-face tactics such as:

• events and roadshows,
• roundtable debates and boardroom lunches,
• seminars and speaking engagements,
• stunts, brand experiences etc.

Sometimes the goal of this 'live media' activity is to create a credible platform from which the brand (and others) can create content and conversation via online and offline channels.

 

Maybe the goal is to interest a journalist or two in your event, or get close to some influential bloggers and/or power Tweeters?

Maybe it's designed to simply thank your customers, or build your brand's credibility and thought-leadership positioning?

Whatever your goal, strategic face-to-face activity - when coupled with traditional media efforts and your social web communications - can be super-effective in bringing your brand to life, thus making it more 'human' and accessible to the public.

EXAMPLE: Johnny Cupcakes

Johnny Earle, the founder of US clothing company Johnny Cupcakes, is big on getting up close and personal with fans of his brand. Probably his most visible way of doing this is his 'Lecture Series' in which Earle tours colleges and presents to students on entrepreneurship and running a small business. However, only recently Earle kicked off his 'Back to Basics: Suitcase Tour' (see video introduction above).

This, from the Johnny Cupcakes website: Starting this April, I'm bringing it back to my roots. I'll be driving the CupcakeMobile all around the USA to sling t-shirts out of my suitcase and hang out with my customers. I think it will not only be a great way to have personal meet-ups with all of you, but also a nice way to celebrate the humble beginnings of my brand.

What a fantastic idea - a great way to take a brand to the people who matter: the loyal customers and long-time fans.

  The audience listens to Johnny Earle speak at Suffolk University Law School (SOURCE)

EXAMPLE: Zappos

Zappos organizes public tours of its headquarters in Las Vegas. It started as something quite informal, but the demand from diehard Zappos customers keen to get a fix up close of their favorite brand has forced the company to properly structure the tours.

According to USA Today, Zappos tours are given four times a day, four days a week at Zappos' office. Tourists have ranged from college students to other business owners; highlights include themed cubicle pods, no dress code along with free food and massages, cowbells, noisemakers, Mardi Gras masks and mullet wigs.

And guess what? People often blog about the experience! How cool is that for the Zappos brand?

Pic source

EXAMPLE: Chris Brogan

Chris Brogan puts the 'social' in social media. A major player in all things social web and new media, Brogan - consultant, speaker and best-selling author - understands better than most that meeting up with fans is a real plus for his business (that would be the business of being Chris Brogan).

Here is an example of a shout-out he posted on his hugely popular blog for Blog World Expo in Las Vegas.

However, if you follow Brogan closely, you'll see that this was far from being a 'one-off'. He is well regarded for his accessibility as well as his work in helping to connect others.

Brogan may be a big star in the social media universe but this is one guy who doesn't sit in his ivory tower. Then, it probably explains a lot about why he continues to build a mini-empire around his personal brand.

Chris Brogan (second from left) meets 'n' greets! PIC: Brian Solis (original source).

*** THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON MY SWEAT EQUITY BLOG ***

How a Real-Time Facebook Promotion - Borne Out of Frustration - Ends Up in 'The Oz' Newspaper

Melbourne entrepreneur Scott Kilmartin was frustrated on Thursday last week.

The owner/operator of cool recycled products brand Haul was fired up after Westpac's electronic payment system (including EFTPOS) went down for much of one day, leaving businesses such as Scott's in a spot of financial bother.

Scott (or was it his 'celebrity' dog Gus the Boxer that came up with the idea?) quickly went into action and posted a 'distressed' promotion on the company's Facebook page, following up with messages to the Twitterverse.

Here was the wording in full irreverence:

SALE, SALE, SALE!

In honour of Westpac leaving us high and dry with an EFPTOS machine & online payment gateway experiencing 'technical difficulties' we've decided to have a SALE.

ALL Westpac & St George customers get %33 off EVERYTHING in our North Fitzroy store.

Methods of Payment:
CASH, rubber cheques, IOU's scribbled on the back of beer coasters (with a note from your mum saying you'll cough up the coin).

Raid that rainy day stash, smash that piggy bank and show Gus your ATM cards (what else are you going to do with them today) at the door.

fine print:
SALE ends whenever Westpac comes online

Fast-forward to Tuesday.

The IT section of The Australian newspaper covered the Westpac debacle and featured a pic of Scott with his 'stern face' on.

A lesson for marketing in today's high velocity hyper-connected age:

When you post something on Facebook - when you tweet about it - if you're clever enough, who knows where the story will lead?

In Haul's case, some good publicity in a major daily national newspaper in a section that's perfect for the brand - you see, many of Haul's products are laptop satchels and iPad covers made from recycled advertising billboards. And who reads the IT pages?

All up - not great for Westpac, but pretty cool for Haul.

The Future is NOW: Two Examples of Innovation in Print Media

One thing that continues to occupy the minds of senior executives at major (print) media houses is how to not only survive today's ever evolving new media world but to thrive in it.

As a keen observer of the space, I occasionally see slivers of 'progress' at such establishments but any major innovation, which is what's needed, is generally pretty slow in coming. There's a lot of noise, but very little action as far as I can see.

But there are some trailblazers out there and in this post I look at two examples of innovation in media.

One is a newspaper company that is attempting to redefine itself as a 'digital first' organisation, the other is a magazine format created for the iPad.

Journal Register Company

Mid last year John Paton, chief executive of the Journal Register Company, heralded a new direction for the company - 'Digital first, print last'.

JRC is not a small concern - it publishes 19 daily newspapers among its 170 print titles and also has 154 online sites. 

Interestingly, the company was in bankruptcy when Paton and Co. took over. A year later it had made a profit of $41 million while at the same time blazing a trail of innovation.

Some of the measures Paton has initiated include:

• issuing 1000 Flip cameras to its reporters so they can video record the news as well as write about it;
• appointing an advisory board consisting of three eminent thinkers on 'new journalism', including Jeff Jarvis, author of 'What Would Google Do?' and the blogger who in 2005 was at the centre of the 'Dell Hell' online firestorm;
• experimenting with a number of community initiatives designed to get the public more involved with its newspapers (and the process of news gathering itself) - for example The Register Citizen Open Newsroom Project (which includes a Newsroom Cafe, Community Journalism School and a Community Media Lab);
• setting up the Ben Franklin Project, an experiment that provides JRC the opportunity to "re-imagine the newsgathering process with the focus on Digital First and Print Last"; 
• establishing ideaLab whereby a group of JRC journalists are "charged with experimenting with the latest technology and tools to help our company think differently about what we do and how we do it". 

John Paton not only embraces digital technology but also the open and transparent 'mindset' required to make it work effectively in a large organization. This is what makes a difference. The digital tools are all well and good, but it is the open attitude and progressive thinking (led from the top of the company) that is driving this cultural shift.

Paton's blog Digital First chronicles his efforts in transforming JRC. It is essentially a dialogue with staff about the journey they're all going on, but is shared openly with the public as well. Well worth a read if the topic of media reinvention is of interest to you.

Project Magazine

Project is an exciting initiative of Virgin Digital Publishing with content that focuses on design, entertainment, technology and entrepreneurs. It's a web-enabled multimedia version of a traditional magazine, created specifically for the iPad viewing experience. It's pretty cool!

Basically, Project brings 'life' to the reading experience.

The front cover becomes a video (see below).

Stories have extra dimension (one travelogue piece on Berlin, for example, features a 3D map).

Links are scattered everywhere, and readers are able to submit comments on stories.

Plus there's a blog.

Lots of reading goodness in one iPad package. Long may it live/grow/prosper!

PROJECT Issue 4 - featuring Eric Bana from PROJECT on Vimeo.

Maria Muldaur is All Over the Shop OR What if Country Road Went Punk?

Yesterday I purchased a handful of Maria Muldaur songs from iTunes (on my playlist she's sandwiched between octogenarian jazz great Lee Konitz and rap-metal tyros Hollywood Undead!).

You might remember Maria – she had a big hit many moons ago called Midnight at the Oasis.

I had always wondered what ever happened to her; looking at her large repertoire of albums available on iTunes (above), Maria's obviously been active, but she also seems to be a bit all over the shop in terms of musical styles – she’s done specific albums dedicated to swing, blues, jug, gospel, soul – even a kids’ album!

What if Country Road went punk?

Now, I get it that artists need to grow and stretch – indeed, as a rule being able to extend across boundaries is a key in a band or singer's longevity (U2 anyone?) – but Maria seems to have overly bounced around stylistically and thus potentially has tested the patience of her audience.

While for an artist there is a certain integrity in exploring different styles and genres, brands unfortunately aren't afforded such luxury. They need to be consistent in their actions, in their communications and in their dealings with customers - otherwise we get confused and start looking for alternatives (imagine if Country Road went punk, for example).

Consistency builds reputation, and your brand essentially is all about reputation.

What about your brand - does it succumb to the 'Maria Muldaur Syndrome'?