The Flack

Adding to the endless stream of end-of-the-year lists is Variety's 10 "Stories That Never Happened." These wayward predictions are instructive for PR types who often are tapped for their instincts in divining how trends and "the conversation" can affect the business or reputational fortunes of a person, product or enterprise.

Several that caught my eye (and were subjects of this blog over the last year) involved Mel Gibson, "Snakes on a Plane," and Katie Couric:

"Mel Gibson's career is dead. After his DUI arrest, anti-Semitic outburst and attempts at redemption, some well-known industry figures declared they wouldn't work with him -- nor should others. Then speculation abounded that Disney would drop "Apocalypto." Then there was the further consternation over Gibson's Diane Sawyer interview: Was he really repentant? But "Apocalypto" opened at No. 1 at the box office. And even though biz has dropped off considerably for the pic, it's hard to blame that on Gibson's exploits and not other factors like competition and whether holiday audiences really wanted Mayans literally pulling at each other's heart strings."

"Internet marketing will drive the box office. "Snakes on a Plane" was to be the wave of the future, proof that the online confederation of Internet movie geeks could not only determine what makes a movie a hit but even guide its content. Even AintItCool.com's Harry Knowles said, "New Line began listening to media misperception that they had a hit in the bag because the Internet was behind them." No one is saying the Internet doesn't play an important role in opening a film these days, but it is not the only thing, and the lackluster biz for "Snakes" proves it has its limits. Or that pre-release overkill can make people sick and tired of something they haven't even seen yet."

"Katie Couric revolutionizes the evening news. Amazing interviews, commentaries and personality. Plenty of personality. After touring the country in advance of the most-hyped debut in recent memory, Couric has hardly reshaped the evening news business, or even redefined it. Rather, her broadcast has proven to be more like -- well like the news was when Bob Schieffer was anchor. Nor has there been a ratings shift. Given the glacial pace of changing viewing habits, more can happen over time, but Couric has proven the limits of how much you can really change a broadcast rooted in the 1960s. Likewise, her departure from "Today" may have created a brief opening in the morning, but Meredith Vieira has proven a seamless replacement and the competitive landscape in the morning is largely unchanged."

May all your predictions and prognostications come true in 2007.

PR Variety Mel Gibson public relations Katie Couric

Sure, the launch of Vista will be big. And landing the PR chores for it was big news in the biz.

Let me digress for a moment. It seems like yesterday when the world was treated to the launch of Windows 95 for God's sake. Now that was as hyperbolic as it gets. MS flew journalists from around the world to its Redmond, WA campus for fete after fete after fete.

I remember it well. We were working with Ziff-Davis Publishing at the time. (Greg Jarboe was my client.) In fact, I recently reminisced about it with ZD's Jim Louderback, who was in NYC.

Our PR strategy entailed holding a pre-emptive media breakfast on the day of the launch, but featuring the top editors from ZD (versus Mr. Gates and the gang). Our mission: to help lay reporters "separate fact from the fiction" when discussing the highly touted new OS (and to build a little buzz for Ziff's magazine brands). It worked like a charm. We infiltrated much of the mainstream media coverage.

For Microsoft's big bash, I don't recall any press-junketed scribes complaining about the over-the-top hospitality shown to them. It was all SOP. After all, how could the product be reviewed without free access (and free shrimp)?

That was a different era. It was before the blogosphere.

I'm keeping a watchful eye on the Vista launch. There's a kerfuffle brewing, and I'm scratching my head. It seems that some citizen journalists were offered free laptops loaded with the OS, causing a handful to cry "bribe!" Neville shares his thoughts here. Jeremy here.

Why the big controversy? Without the free loaded-laptop program, how else can the new OS expect to gain trial (and attention) from those viral bloggers? Could it be that bloggers wish to be treated differently? Duh. Had the offer come directly from MS (versus its PR agency), would there be such a commotion? Hmmm. I wonder.

PR Microsoft Vista public relations blogosphere Windows 95 media relations Jim Louderback

It's no secret that the advent of social media, and its many incarnations, have redefined the PR practitioner's traditional role and function.

It's also no secret that the industry has ceded considerable creative and commercial control of the new tools to others such as specialty ad, media, marketing and branding boutiques and firms.

Which brand of marketing services firm will eventually own these new "tools of the trade?" Or more precisely, which "trade" are we taking about? The lines between ad/PR/direct/programming continue to blur.

This dynamic recently crystallized when Steve Rubel excitedly confided in me that his firm stands to reap considerable added revenue at the direct expense of advertising agencies. I'm not surprised. Advertisers are shifting their ad expenditures to the digital arena, and those firms perceived to have mojo in the space will benefit.

Still, most PR firms are still not perceived by marketers as having the DNA to crack the viral code like a, let's say, Crispin Porter + Bogusky or the Jun Group.

So then, can the PR industry regain its footing to own the digital communications realm? And if not completely, which of the new tools naturally exploit the PR pro's natural proficiencies such as clear and concise communications, a moral compass, instincts about public opinion, knowledge of message delivery mediums and channels, etc?

I raise this question after reading Kevin Maney's piece today in USA Today that explores how wikis are being used successfully by the business enterprise. His story, pegged to Don Tapscott's forthcoming book on the subject, gives examples of how certain companies have tapped the collective wisdom of the many to solve their business challenges. (Full disclosure: I rep the We Are Smarter Than Me collaborative publishing initiative cited in Maney's piece.)

Would a company seeking to create a wiki as a means to exploit the public for its own business ends turn to a PR firm to make it happen? Should it? Geesh, isn't the PR biz experiencing enough angst trying to understand and meld social media, corporate blogging, virtual worlds, SEM and SEO, SMA, digital video, podcasts...with traditional PR services that remain valid and valued?

I certainly appreciate the goal of building a bigger digital footprint for our clients, but let's hope we don't byte off more than we can chew. In other words, let's focus on those service offerings for which our recognized core competencies and intrinsic expertise are directly indicated.

Update 12/29 - Business Week's Jon Fine adds to the discussion of the blurring between marketing disciplines.

PR social media Don Tapscott public relations Steve Rubel digital PR Kevin Maney We Are Smarter Than Me Crispin Porter + Bogusky Jun Group

As President of the Publicity Club of New York, an organization whose mission is to help PR pros do a better (i.e., less annoying) job interacting with journalists (of every stripe), I am exposed to a fair share of tales of good, bad and ugly media pitches.

Every five or six weeks PCNY holds a luncheon wherein an esteemed panel of journalists takes their collective shot at the poor put-upon PR pros in the audience.

The same themes invariably surface:

• Familiarize yourself with the outlet before pitching.
• Don't call to "follow-up."
• Don't call at all. We'll call you.

Occasionally, we'll get some variations on the pet PR peeve list:

"How many times does my first name need to appear in the pitch letter from some unfamiliar PR person?" lamented Abby Ellin, a frequent contributor to health and fitness pages of The New York Times.

"Half the PR people are trying to get me on the phone. The other half don't return my calls," noted engadget's Peter Rojas.

Yesterday, in his own version of a Christmas gift to PR people, CrunchGear's Seth Porges offer ed his perspective in a post titled: "Ways PR Agents Piss Off Journalists, and a Few Companies That Do It Right." He warns:

"While good PR can rarely secure placement for a worthless product, pissing off soft-skinned journalists can ensure products never pop up on pages."

He also recognized "A Few Good Eggs." "Below are a few of the companies I've had the best experiences in dealing with. No hard-sells, no fake friendliness, and no feeling dirty just for talking on the phone with them. Of course, comparing the Belkin to Microsoft just ain’t fair (budgets, anybody?) so extra points are given to companies who have made the best of minimal resources:

T-Mobile: Some PR people lay the hard-sell so thick that you want to bathe in bleach. I've dealt with these guys for years, and I can’t ever recall them actually ASKING for a product placement, much less begging or trying to force one down my throat. They just tell me what they’ve got, and let the cards fall as they may. It’s refreshing. And they throw good parties.

Belkin: Every time you see a Belkin product in print, remember that their entire PR staff consists of two young women with no agency and no ad budget (meaning they can’t threaten to pull ads if they don’t get what they want—which does happen!). Just keep that in mind.

Samsung: These guys get credit for one thing: Unlike their Lucky Goldstar peninsula counterparts, they know better than to give their Korean executives 30 minute speaking blocks at their events. A favorite game for tech journos is to “spot the sleeping reporter” at such events."

PR CrunchGear PCNY public relations media journalism media relations

In the interest of bi-partisanship, today we turn our attention to the big plans to re-cast Nancy Pelosi, the first woman Speaker of the House. Recognizing the inherent news surrounding Rep. Pelosi's historic ascendancy, her PR consiglieres have structured a series of media "events" to milk the media for what it's worth, and in so doing, change the Republican-crafted perception of this California legislator.

Now Rep. Pelosi's planned efforts aren't as insidious as they sound. For years, she was portrayed by her adversaries as that San Francisco liberal. Her advisors hope to use the spot news window to set the record straight. They have thus smartly and deliberately selected photo opportunities they hope will re-calibrate the faux public perception of her.

"This is important strategic repositioning," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who teaches political communication and rhetoric at the University of Pennsylvania. "Essentially, she's trying to embody the Democratic Party that she would like to offer the nation in 2008."

And who's to blame her? If there ever was an opportunity to have her re-cast in a more accurate light, this is it.

"'San Francisco liberal' is a construct used very effectively for a long time by Republicans," Jamieson said. "It's a little like 'Taxachusetts.' It's telegraphic and very powerful. They haven't been able to get her identified with it because, to this point, a lot of people didn't know who she was. She's trying to position a counterimage before she gets well known."

Again, would this be considered "spinning?" Sure. Some of it's over the top, e.g., Carole King and Wyclef Jean performing, and let's not forget Barbara Walters' love fest, but all in all I think Pelosi has been misportrayed. Here's what her press rep had to say:

After running through a long list of planned events designed to highlight different phases of 66-year-old Pelosi's life, her spokesman Brendan Daly said, "Overall this is who Nancy Pelosi is. And this is a chance for people to meet Nancy Pelosi and see who she is."

NY PR man Ken Sunshine even weighed in:

"If she's going to Mass, right on," Sunshine said. "Going to Baltimore, right on. This is really where she's from. She wasn't born in an elite setting. Here's a wife, mother, grandmother, and in her spare time, she becomes speaker of the House. I don't know if this is a new brand, but it's true about her. Why should the Republicans have a lock on those qualities?"

Right on.

PR Nancy Pelosi liberal Speaker of the House photo op reputation management

Disgraced? Demeaned? Desperate? Start a blog.

Today's New York Times has a feature on ousted House Speaker Tom Delay's new blog. In it, Mr. Delay, one of the more dastardly and dishonest Texans that followed this President into office, seeks money (gee, this man always seems to have his hand out) and reputation restitution. If he can do it by bypassing the filter of the news media, all the better.

"'There is life after Congress,' said Mr. DeLay, who at 59 has not ruled out another run for office but has said it is unlikely. His future, he says, will not include a criminal conviction in his home state Texas, where he is under indictment on money-laundering charges, or in Washington, where two of his former aides have pleaded guilty to corruption charges involving the lobbyist Jack Abramoff."

Unfortunately, Mr. Delay's history of exclusion and obfuscation will not fly in the citizen journalism movement where transparency and access are the accepted means to the end.

"A spokeswoman for Mr. DeLay, Shannon Flaherty, said the group was sorting hundreds of applications and would withhold approving anyone’s membership until 'we’ve checked the references.' She said the group was concerned that liberals would try to 'infiltrate' the group."

Anyway, back to the money and the blog's true intentions:

"For an annual fee of $52, members are promised 'insider information' on Congress and 'updates on the ways of combating the plans of the radical left and their associates in the left-wing media elite.'"

Ironically, his posting today actually pays homage to one of those media elite:

"That's right folks, the New York Times is giving Mr. DeLay's blog coverage...and surprisingly, it isn't half bad! Now that's what we call '...news that's fit to print.'"

Don't hold your breath, Tom. The (real and figurative) juries are still out on your fate.

PR Tom Delay blog The New York Times citizen media reputation management

As if the Astor Family Feud wasn't enough to sate your appetite for the private problems of the rich & famous, this morning the pendulum swings back to give Yoko Ono's chauffeur a dose of instant kharma.

Of particular interest to PR fans: the second Mrs. Lennon has retained none other than the publicist for...Paris Hilton. Elliot Mintz had this to say:

"My overall position on all of this is that I’m not going to be engaging in a war of words between Mr. Gottlieb’s reckless assertions and my client," Mr. Mintz said. "The fact of the matter is, Yoko is the victim."

I guess Mr. Mintz's more notorious (but suddenly stranded) client earned him the right to use the first-person singular.

In the other corner of the reputation ring stands flamboyant lawyer Robert Gottlieb repping Ms. Ono's illegal Turkish man-servant. Mr. Gottlieb also repped that perv Peter Braunstein. (You remember -- the guy who dressed up as a fireman on Halloween then started a fire to gain entry to a former co-worker's building so he could rape and terrorize her.)

Mr. Gottlieb's opening salvo sounds like a description of his former client's modus operandi:

"Miss Ono used and abused Mr. Karsan by pressing him to perform immoral and, in fact, illegal acts."

This is going to get nastier, before it ends. My advice to Ms. Ono's lawyer: seek a gag order or settle, before your client's carefully honed image crumbles in the court of public opinion.

PR Yoko Ono Paris Hilton Robert Gottlieb Elliot Mintz public relations

Few can argue that the new film "Dreamgirls," based on the Broadway show, based on the definitive diva, has had some of the best WOM leading up to last week's opening.

Hey, any film with a cast that includes Beyonce, B-->A lister Eddie Murphy and Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx, would have to struggle not to find its media mojo. And it wasn't even JayZ's girl who got the biggest boost.

Al Abrams, the veteran Motown publicist who is credited for building the tale of the supreme dream team, has a new book due in January containing all the original press releases that fueled the dreamgirls dynasty.

In spite of the caustic BL's dismissive comments about the news release and her even more demeaning comments about "useless" PR people, "Waking the Dreamgirls: The Complete Motown Press Releases, 1964-1966," speaks volumes about the much-maligned news delivery tool on which PR pros have consistently relied to build brands and make noise, if not legends.

"Typed and crudely mimeographed, they are presented un-retouched, with typos, sometimes strange syntax and even bad puns. If the news was truly breaking, the press releases went out as 'Deliver, do not phone' Western Union telegrams.'"

"Barbara Holliday, a veteran Detroit Free Press reporter, once wrote of Abrams' press releases, 'This is the rhetoric of Al Abrams … the baroque but amazingly effective approach (through which) Abrams has the knack for making the unlikely possible.'

Sure posting a digital video clip on YouTube or tagging, digging or making content del.icio.us is cool (and important) too, but little will ever replace a skilled PR pro's cogent and convincing command of the English language for advancing a client's interest. If it happens to manifest in a news release, so be it.

PR Dreamgirls news release public relations Motown Diana Ross Al Abrams Beyonce Jamie Foxx

My friend and sometimes collaborator Kent Holland, the other half of Plesser Holland, sent me a link to PR Week's list of top ten PR blunders for 2006. Fortunately (for me), eight of the ten have not gone unnoticed by this blogger. Here are all ten:

1 HP's spying blind
The computer giant presented 2006's best corporate soap opera when its chairman OK'd spying on its own board and journalists to root out leaks. New word "pretexting" was the method employed to access personal information on the targets. While many CEOs might have cheered at turning the tables on reporters, they did so secretly.

2 Dell's exploding laptops
Video footage of an exploding laptop at a conference in Japan caught Dell flatfooted, as the clip spread far faster than the company's subsequent response. When will computer companies finally figure out this Interweb thing?

3 Cheney got his gun
Yeah, it was an accident. But with the bungled communications response that followed the Veep shooting his friend while hunting, one could be forgiven for thinking conspiracy theories. Cheney's people weren't talking to the White House, McClellan joked while the guy suffered complications, and the media had a field day reporting on the scramble.

4 Oprah gets Freyed
Winfrey first downplayed the revelation that many of the claims made by James Frey in his once-acclaimed "memoir" A Million Little Pieces never happened. But when she knew the audience wouldn't buy it, she used her bully pulpit to rip Frey to shreds and restore her own image.

5 Wal-Mart and Edelman's blog blunder
The retail giant can ill afford bad press these days. Meanwhile, Edelman had made much of its rivals' ethical slights and of its dominance in navigating the new-media market. One improperly disclosed blog later, funded by Wal-Mart's own Astroturf organization, and both companies look bad.

6 Celebs behaving badly
This year was truly awash in celebrity bad judgment and subsequent mea culpas, including, but not limited to, Mel Gibson, Lindsay Lohan, Michael Richards, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Nicole Richie. Vastly inflated self-importance mixed with alcohol, drugs, or diminishing star power are, in some combination, generally to blame.

7 Fox throws out the OJ
Fox has never been the highbrow choice. But its bad-taste barometer was way off here as one of its companies agreed to publish Simpson's book, If I Did It (under ReganBooks) and air a TV interview about its content. But Rupert Murdoch's rare public mea culpa made it all worthwhile.

8 Cristal thinks it's too good for us
Jay-Z touted Cristal Champagne, but the MD of Champagne Louis Roederer told The Economist he'd prefer that rappers drink something else. A half-hearted boycott effort may not have taken flight, but the company displayed no class in judging the color of money coming its way.

9 Comcast sleeps on the job
Consumer empowerment was taken to a new level when a Comcast customer videotaped a repairman who fell asleep on his couch, while waiting for his own service support to call him. The video went round the world faster than you can say, "Please hold, someone will be with you shortly."

10 Allen full of macaca
During midterm campaign season, (soon to be) former Sen. George Allen (R-VA) referred to a young man of Indian decent as "Macaca" during a rally, and welcomed him to America. Turns out the guy was born in Fairfax County, VA. Good thing it wasn't an important election.

PR Week's "Book of Lists" also looks at the ten most daunting PR jobs, brands that rock, brands that rock-bottomed, and others end-of-the-year compendiums too wonderful to list here.

PR PR Week public relations

Jeff Trachtenberg worked late tonight. The intractable publishing industry reporter for The Journal dashed off a short piece on the firing of Judith Regan by either her boss at Harper Collins or her bigger boss at News Corp.

This was inevitable. There are some things that just won't wash clean no matter how many PR-driven apologies are made. Think H-P's Patricia Dunn. Hell. Think Lady Macbeth.

Ms. Regan did issue a public statement in the wake of the OJ fiasco, which, in my opinion, droned on and on, but simply didn't add up. Short, heartfelt, cogent and plausible usually works best.

What's unfortunate (for Ms. Regan) is that the whole sordid endeavor was likely green-lighted by her big boss, and he's no worse off for it.

PR Judith Regan Harper Collins News Corp OJ HP crisis management Rupert Murdoch public relations

Over the years, Apple has used its legendary Macworld Shows to fan Mac fan speculation on the next big thing from the Cupertino creatives. With Macworld still three weeks away, the hyperbole surrounding the long-awaited iPhone unveil is deafening. Why not ambush the speculators and do it the other side of this weekend!?

Now let's say you're tooling in the PR department at Apple, and Mr. Jobs plugs you in with news of the iPhone and the directive to create advance WOM...but without divulging the product's specs. Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters? Nahhh. MacUser. Nooooo.

Gizmodo? Sure. You give Brian Lam a prototype of the phone and permission to say he's seen it, but nothing else. Now you're Brian Lam, and you know you're being used, but then again, you never went to J School, and who really cares? YOU'RE THE FIRST GADGET GUY TO SEE THE iPHONE.

No brainer here. You take whatever license you're given:



Apple iPhone Macworld PR Gizmodo Brian Lam public relations

As if The Donald needs another publicist, file this one under slow news day:

"First Flack To Appear On Apprentice Issues Requisite Press Release."

Media Bistro's FishBowl New York received an e-mailed pitch note with the "requisite" news release pasted therein. The Phoenix PR firm that sent it breathlessly touted the selection of one of its own as the first in the PR profession to appear on the silly show. A "requisite" interview was offered. Fish Bowl NY, for its part, reprinted verbatim the pitch note and news release.

Unfortunately, the story is not exactly true. The firm, Orca Communications, apparently didn't do its homework before releasing this whale of a story to exploit, for its own publicity, this ignoble calling for one of its employees.

The fall 2005 season of Martha Stewart's "The Apprentice" did have a PR pro as one of its 16 contestants. She is Dawn Silvia, "a 33-year-old PR consultant from Boston, MA. who heads up Red Wagon Communications, a marketing and PR agency." So much for superlatives.

PR "The Apprentice" publicist public relations Donald Trump Orca

No score and seven years ago, the world was awash in dot-com mania. It was the last quarter of 1999 and the PR biz boomed. Web 1.0 exuberance showed no signs of irrationality. Traditional media continued to set the national news agenda. Online news sites factored little. Blogs were nowhere, and other social media had yet to register, except perhaps for a fledgling little operation called eBay.

Out of the boiling cauldron of hype and hope emerged a slew of new media brands on whose (paper) pages an appearance signaled a client's arrival of sorts. A feature story or even a small mention created legitimacy -- or so many of us believed.

The era birthed such media kingmakers as The Industry Standard, Red Herring, Wired, Fast Company and Business 2.0, nearly all of which thrive today albeit in different formats. The non-survivor, John Battelle's Industry Standard, ruled the roost. At its peak, the sheer girth of that magazine gave anything Conde Nast or Time Inc. could muster up in September a run for its money. You see, the VC-fueled naifs perched atop the dot-coms resorted to advertising when their PR firms couldn't command the attention of The Standard's harried (and haughty) edit staff. Then came the bust.

Today we find ourselves in the midst of yet another realignment of media and a new pecking order for media relations pros. Sure, a feature in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Time, Fortune or Business Week still commands considerable attention (though some say less so). And few will argue a diminishing of influence by the AP or Reuters -- both of which have sufficiently morphed to a point where their content enjoys the dominant digital footprint.

Yesterday, Ketchum and USC's Annenberg School released a study titled "Media Myths & Realities, 2006 Media Usage Survey" affirming the continued vitality of traditional media. The news release headline starts off: "Traditional Media Far From Dead..." From there we learn:

"According to the survey, nearly three-in-four consumers (73.6%) rely on their local TV news while nearly 70 percent (68.9%) depend on their local newspaper, and this heavy reliance cuts across all generations. As for new media, just 13.4 percent of the general public use blogs while only 4.8 percent use podcasts and 4.5 percent get media via their cell phone. However, usage of new media varies significantly by age."

Nonetheless, as someone who's toiling in this new media reality, I'm finding that certain "outlets," which didn't exist five years ago, have supplanted many of the aforementioned in terms of PR desire. Forward-thinking pros view these new "influencer" outlets with the same envy as The Standard (bearer) before them. They have names like TechCrunch, engadget, PaidContent, micropersuasion, perezhilton, TMZ, Blog Maverick, TV Newser, Scobleizer, TechDirt, Huffington Post, Gawker, the Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, Buzz Machine, and way too many others to list here.

Some of our PR brethren have placed these nouveau niche, conversation catalyzers even higher on the media-targeting totem pole than their still-influential mainstream forebearers. (Was it something Scoble said?) Furthermore, these outlets' newly acquired authority has not been lost on their Citizen Kane-like creators. Jarvis recounts today a feud that erupted among some of these A-listers following one's brazen take-down of the old guard followed by a dissing of some of his new guard colleagues.

So we arrive at the point of this post: should pros kick-off their public relations/marketing communications campaigns in the blogosphere with the hope that the medium's viral nature will create a tipping point of awareness, and mainstream pick-up? Or should pros acquiesce to the increasingly common demand by many top-tier mainstream journos for exclusivity, with the hope that the news will trickle down to reverberate in the blogosphere's link-driven echo chamber?

Up or down? Two compelling considerations. No easy answer. As Amy Gharan relates, by the time many MSM outlets are ready to go to press with their "scoop," the blogosphere may already be buzzing with the news. Gee, I wonder if it's disingenuous to offer a MSM outlet the "exclusive" when you know that some bloggers already are on the case? Is there such thing as a mainstream media exclusive?

Personally, I don't think the two realms should be treated as mutually exclusive. They both need to be worked, honestly, earnestly and transparently. They feed into each other. Sure, the blogosphere allows much greater specificity in terms of finding and engaging the exact right constituent. Still, there's no guarantee that one's carefully planted blogseeds will ever bare fruit in the MSM. Hence, both ends of the media relations equation remain vital and ripe...for now.

PR social media dot-com public relations The Industry Standard digital PR blogosphere media strategy Buzz Machine viral mainstream media journalism

I'm in DC today at the WOMMA confab where I sat on a panel that explored whether bloggers are journalists, and whether they should be accorded comparable press creds, as such. The short answer: some yes, some no.

On a different, but most buzzworthy topic here today, I'm trying to reconcile the coverage of yesterday's FTC ruling, which appears to condone the duplicitous, yet popular practice by some "word of mouth" marketers, e.g., those who are payed-to-post or payed-to-promote.

I'm sure WOMMA doesn't care much for seeing the term "word-of-mouth" used to define the non-disclosure crowd.

The dueling headlines in Ad Age and the Washington Post didn't clarify. From Ad Age:

"FTC Rejects Call for Probe Into Word-of-Mouth Practices, Could Lead to Increased Spending in Already Controversial Marketing Tactic"

From the Post:

"FTC Moves to Unmask Word of Mouth Marketing, Endorser Must Disclose Link to Seller"

To disclose or not to disclose, that is the question. Maybe the staff opinion from the FTC itself will shed light. And then there's the release from Commercial Alert, the organization that brought the suit in the first place. Its headline:

"FTC Gives 'Giant Christmas Present' to P&G, Word of Mouth Marketing Industry"

Who'd a thunk that WOMMA's values could be so aligned with those of Commercial Alert?

PR WOMMA Commercial Alert viral marketing word-of-mouth digital PR bloggers social media

With the NBA season in full swing, Commish David Stern is out on the court dutifully spreading basketball fever far and wide. He's also likely hoping that some of the superstar bad-boy incidents of years past don't raise their ugly heads anytime soon.

Kobe and Artest's troubles have faded, though Iverson's making some noise in Philly. The abject futility of the media capital's marquee franchise continues unabated, in spite of a glimmer of stardom from the 6'11" 285-lb. Eddie Curry. Still, while Rome's burning, Nero plays on.

Here's a simple promotion that has done (and can still do) more for the sport and the reputation of its petulant players than all the news conferences, suspensions, fines and slam-dunk contests combined.

The big idea is not from the usual deep-pocketed purveyors of such pumped up pomp: that swooshy Oregon company or that day-glo sweat-producing sports drink. It's from Steve and Barry. Who?

You see Steve and Barry's is a fast-growing supermarket-sized sporting goods retailer. They also own the rights to slumping superstar Stephon Marbury's signature brand of sneaker -- Starbury One. While top drawer basketball sneakers from Nike, Reebok, etc. can run from $100 to $200, or $5000, Marbury's on a nationwide tour promoting his brand -- at $14.98 a pair:

"'It's not about basketball. They're trying to make it basketball and the sneaker. You can't add both of those together,' Marbury said. 'This is not about basketball, this is about change and it's about growth and it's about people being able to have something that they never had before.'"

While the Knick coach and management may have issues with the injury-prone Mr. Marbury and his sudden lackluster play, this superstar has gained countless new fans (and a most favorable ruling in the court of public opinion. Last weekend he was at a local mall handing out pairs of Starbury Ones to the first thousand players from any high school varsity team.

Smart-bury!

Stephon Marbury Starbury One Steve and Barry's David Stern NBS Nike Gatorade PR public relations

I had a chance to sit with Edelman's Steve Rubel and Converseon's Rob Key on a Publicity Club of New York and PRSA NY co-sponsored breakfast panel at F-H this morning titled "What PR Pros Need to Know About Social Media." Of course, I brought my digital recorder, which halfway through the discussion, started beeping then flashed that the memory was full. Geesh. (One day I'll figure it out.)

Anyway, the conversation was wide ranging. Some highlights included Steve Rubel's assessment that "blogging has peaked" in terms of numbers of (active?) bloggers and amount of content created. He did reserve final judgment pending the release of the next wave of Technorati data.

Rob, whose company specializes in "conversation mining," SEM/SEO, building social networks, search engine reputation management, etc., said that starting a PR campaign without an up-front analysis of "the conversation" is comparable to approaching a group engaged in conversation at a party and just start talking. Steve took it a step further by saying it's like entering a social affair wearing a football uniform with a number on it.

The conversation included a take on "Second Life" to which both Converseon and Edelman have taken a different approaches than others for establishing their respective presence. Rob is "planting a forest" as a way to raise monies for an environmental cause. Steve says, for visitors, it's all about making money.

We also talked about the unveiling this week of Edelman's version of the social news release and its "StoryCrafter" template to build it. Steve did acknowledge Todd Defren's work in this area as somewhat of an "inspiration," but that the Edelman version is more "evolved." I asked whether it will be available to the industry as an "open source" application. He said that he believed it would, but Edelman clients would get their own special treatment.

The net net for me was that the PR and media landscapes are fast changing, as are the rules for engagement. YouTube, MySpace and Second Life are first-mover brand leaders today, but is their popularity sustainable? When someone asked about good books to read, and the names of Cluetrain, Long Tail, The Search and Naked Conversations were dropped, Steve opined that even those books are somewhat outmoded since first being published (and that's just a couple of years ago). Personally, I still think they're worth a read.

I want to thank Steve and Rob for their candor, and for Steve's voluntary comments on his firm's recent unpleasant experience with one of its major clients. While he personally was not involved, he was drawn into it, and is "better off for it." Important lessons were learned from these "mistakes."

Update Dec. 8: Fleishman-Hillard's SVP and social media mover David Bradfield posts these thoughtful observations of the session. Dec. 9: Naked Conversations co-author Shel Israel weighs in on the conversation here.

PR social media release Web 2.0 public relations Steve Rubel digital PR Rob Key PCNY PRSA social media

This morning's A1 piece in The Journal outlining the Edelman-fueled PR campaign for the agency's beleaguered Wal-Mart client will probably provide further fodder for the uninformed to accuse the world's largest retailer of having more concern for its image than its HR policies.

I'm not so sure. My take-away, as an armchair observer who spent some time at that agency, is that former Edelman operative Leslie Dach would not have accepted the top in-house PR slot (and the chance to spend time in Bentonville) if he hadn't truly believed that Lee Scott and company were genuinely committed to taking tangible actions to address the relentless criticism of the company's practices and policies.

"'I'm convinced Wal-Mart is changing and the change is real,' Mr. Dach wrote in an email to friends announcing the move."

Of course, there was this inducement:

"In hiring Mr. Dach, Wal-Mart granted him stock then valued at $3 million and nearly 169,000 options."

That, on top of his likeness appearing on the front page (sub required) of the nation's leading business journal, and in a sidebar Q&A. (When was the last time we saw a PR professional so thusly anointed?)

The bigger question, I suppose, revolves around whether today's prominent exposure better serves the client or the agency (as an extension thereof). I will guess that both parties were pleased (if not relieved) since transparency just feels good and right. (After all, this is the premise on which this blog was built.)

But the question remains: is Wal-Mart simply combating the critics in the court of public opinion, or tackling the root cause of the criticism in the C-Suite where real policy change takes place, as Mr. Dach would want the naysayers to believe? In reading the coverage today, I suspect a good dose of both. From Mr. Dach:

"It is really all about impressions. In these political campaigns, you try to mold every day, you mold every event. In the end, the American people form an impression about a candidate, and vote on that. I think they do the same thing if it's about a corporation, an individual or a politician."

"The way people change their opinions is when they see your behavior. It's not about the press release; it's about your behavior. That's one of the things that's very relevant here to Wal-Mart. People look at how the company behaves and form their opinions that way."

PR Wal-Mart Wall Street Journal Edelman Leslie Dach public relations

Two months ago, as Sun Microsystems held a buzz-making, but inconsequential presser in Second Life, that company's CEO dropped a post on his blog asking the keeper of all things Reg FD to allow the Java maker to break material news on its weblog(s). He reasoned that news releases are anachronistic, and frankly, not very effective. (Hey! What about those social media releases?)

I haven't followed Jonathan Schwartz's call for action that closely, except for the fact that the MSM finally noticed once the SEC chimed in ...weeks after Schwartz first posted. It does appear, however, that a hybrid approach, e.g., a combination of a paid wire-distributed release (and its posting on one's website and other social media outlets), augmented by a first-person elaboration from the company CEO, is the current mode for making material news (by the digitally cognizant enterprise).

Case in point: Nasdaq: YHOO. Just before Thanksgiving, a senior executive at the challenged Sunnyvale company let leak the now infamous peanut butter memo in which he aired the company's dirty laundry, e.g., Yahoo's spread too thin, albeit in a rah rah tone intended to rally the troops. The memo didn't exactly achieve the desired result (especially after the blogospherical pundits got hold of it). At the time, Yahoo's CEO was relatively low key about the whole sticky mess.

Last night, he finally piped in with a blog posting that followed the issuance of a news release announcing a major re-org at the world's # portal. The posting itself falls pretty squarely in the CEO command-and-control variety, albeit with a brief allusion to that unfortunate (but perhaps galvanizing) memo:

"Now, I know what you're thinking — this is all about peanut butter. Actually, we've been orchestrating this plan for a number of months as we envisioned the next phase of growth for the Internet."

Expect some to weigh in that Mr. Semel didn't stray too far from the legally and semantically vetted "script." I am not one of them. As CEO, it is his fiduciary obligation to command-and-control...AND to dialogue. To the last point, his weblog, unlike Google's, allows for public comments. Let's watch today as those comments grow, and monitor whether they precipitate a two-way conversation with Mr. Semel. I hope so. (Now just don't forget about your employees, as noted by paidcontent.)

PR Yahoo YHOO Terry Semel public relations CEO Jonathan Schwartz Sun Microsystems Google Inc.

Go away, Leonardo! Shoo!

This morning, I was intrigued by one of the Huffington posts. I clicked on the story from Arianna's home page and was greeted with not one put two flash-animated ads for "Blood Diamond," each "framing" the story. In fact, the ads impaired the text so much that they rendered the piece unreadable on my 17-inch flat panel. And they wouldn't get out of the way.

Rolling my cursor over the dual disruptive ads prompted their further expansion, though a small "x close" square was briefly glimpsed. Then it disappeared. I rolled again, and quickly clicked on the X with the hope of finally getting to my morning reading. The images contracted, but only to their original state and not enough to reveal the full text of the story! A brooding sideways-sliding Leonardo DiCaprio blocked my view. Hey, Leo, lighten up. You got to work with Jennifer Connelly (pictured) on this one!

Remember the nascent days of Internet advertising when consumers revolted over the commercial intrusion in their online lives? Today, some say that more online ads give online publishers greater selection and thus the latitude to accept fewer of the obtrusive variety. I'm not so sure.

With P&G proclaiming a stepped-up migration of its ad spend away from broadcast TV in favor of cable and online, and the leading media moguls, gathered at the CSFB Media and Telecom Conference in New York this week, predicting robust advertising revenues from their online strategies, I believe that online travelers are in for even more intrusive and cursor-resistant come-ons. A small price to pay for content?

At least we can instantly opt-out of the full-screen ad that greets us upon entering Forbes.com. It's the content-blocking ads from which one has to struggle to escape that bother me. Don't you agree, weather.com?

Blood Diamond Huffington Post online advertising CSFB Media Conference Leonardo DiCaprio Jennifer Connelly online marketing

Some months back, we received word from down under about a movement to expose the nefarious PR practice called "astro-turfing" in which stories were pitched (to bloggers) pseudonymously or friendly-sounding groups were started to opaquely advocate for social, political or business agendas.

More recently, we were greeted with irrationally exuberant pronouncements by some numbnuts touting the "promising" trend of paying bloggers to post on certain subjects or commercial endeavors. "Why shouldn't bloggers be able to make a buck?" was the jaundiced rationalization for such an obviously dangerous practice.

My friend and colleague Colin Nagy pointed me to an insightful and ominous post over the weekend on "the corruption of social media," which has implications for all marketing and public relations professionals who engage social media to advance their clients' fates and fortunes:

"...enterprising companies have gotten into the business of actively corrupting that socialization for a fee."

Tony Hung of "deep jive interests" observes:

"If you want any proof for how popular and well accepted PayPerPost is, just sign up for Google Alerts under “payperpost”. After a while you will see that every day all of the alerts for “Payperpost” are about how great it is and how people are using it to make a little cash. The blogosphere, by and large, isn’t outraged by it, but are embracing it as another means to monetize their blog."

At a time when the PR community to some extent is defining the ethical boundaries of new media relations, we need to put our collective foots down to confront the naive, if not unscrupulous marketers whose professional underpinnings never grasped the intrinsic value that separates church and state, edit and business. Mr. Hung concludes:

"Users of social media, and as it grows more prevalent, really, anyone who uses the Internet, needs to ask some fairly important questions on a fairly routine basis.

Who am I really interacting with?
Who is really behind this story?
Who benefits from the promotion of this story?
And above all — who has really earned my trust?

For our industry's very survival.

PR social media astroturfing pay-per-post public relations

It's a chilly but spectacular sunshine-filled Sunday in New York. While waiting for the Giants-Dallas game to start, I was checking out the list of attendees for Tuesday's night's NYC bash hosted by Rafat, Staci and the gang at PaidContent.org.

The PDF file is organized by job title, and judging from the number of CEOs, COOs, heads of marketing and biz dev, I would say that PaidContent has laid down the gauntlet as the must-read for all content digeratis. (But I've been saying this for a while now.)

While on the subject of digital media, my brother Steve, who turned me on to Ziggy and The Who back in the day, sent me this fab video clip that purports to be some kind of Rube Goldberg music contraption made from farm equipment, but is really a computer animation. Cool stuff, nonetheless. Here's the faux-background:

"This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa. Amazingly, 97% of the machines components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft Iowa, yes farm equipment!

It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video but as you can see it was WELL worth the effort.

It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University of Iowa and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian."

FantasticMachine2

The Smithsonian denied its existence, but maybe it merits a place at some museum in Second Life. Enjoy it for what it is (and just watch as it catches fire online, then migrates to the MSM.)

PaidContent University of Iowa Fantastic Machine2 computer generation hoax viral video

Defamer gives Lindsay Lohan a pat on the back for not delegating to her publicist her rambling homage to the late Robert Altman. Judging from the reaction it prompted, she probably should have.

Or, rather, her publicist might have weighed in more assertively before approving the release of the peripatetic prose. Hey, maybe these were her publicist's words? Here's how I imagine it unfolded that fateful night on the town:

LL: Shut up, everyone! I hear my new Paris ringtone! Hulllo.
LS: Lindsay, can you hear me?
LL: No, shpeak louder! I can't hear ya.
LS: Lindsay, where are you?
LL: Shut up, Britney! I'm trying to talk. Hello?
LS: Lindsay, it's Leslie. I need to tell you something. I promise it's really important this time. Where are you?
LL: Ummm. I think I'm at Tao. No, can't be. That's Vegas. Hey, everyone. Where are we? No wait wait. I know. We're at Butter...ummmm, or is it Soho House? No. Let me think. Yeah. That's right. We're in L.A. Hyde? Whatever! What's up, Leslie?
LS: Robert Altman died today.
LL: Oh no. What will happen to the band? Hey, didn't he die years ago? Something about a peach truck.
LS: Nooooo! Not Duane Allman, you tw...Robert Altman, the director. You know. Prairie Home Companion. Prete a Porter.
LL: Shush up everyone! I can't hear! I think they said Robert Altman is dead.
LS: Right! Reuters and AP just called for a comment from you. What do you want to say?
LL: I'm drunk with sadness? No. Those nasty low-life bloggers will twist my words.
LS: Why don't I just release a statement from you saying that you're saddened by the loss of such a great man and you want to extend your heartfelt condolences to Mr. Altman's family.
LL: No way! That's so cliche. Everyone will say that! I'm Lindsay Lohan. It needs to be first-hand and personal, like I really knew him well. How's this? Bob was, um, like the father I used to have...before he got locked up. Oh Leslie, I'm starting to cry.
LS: Lindsay, I've told you a hundred times. Don't ever talk about your father...never! Now pull yourself together.
LL: Leslie, I have a new Sidekick. This will be good practice using the teeny weeny keyboard. Oh My God! The DJ's playing K-Fed. Let's get the hell out of here everyone! Leslie, I'll send you something.
LS: Hurry up, please. The wires want to move their stories and your inclusion could be a boost to your career.
LL: OK I'll work on it in the limo.
(One hour later)
LS: I just received what you wrote. it's a little, uh...long.
LL: No way! Paris, Britney and I spent more than 15 minutes of fame writing it. We think it's perfect.
LS: Bububu but, Lindsay.
LL: If you've got issues, Leslie, have someone else in your office send it! Gotta go. Ciao!

In defense of her client, Sloane says, "When I got the reports that (Altman) had died, I reached Lindsay on her cell phone, and she had no idea. She was devastated. She started crying. She quickly put something together on her Blackberry."Here was a girl who found something special in this man that she felt so close to. And she was completely shocked and blown away that he just died. It was written very quickly, and it was from the heart."

Her current handler says it's the media's fault. While Ms. Lohan's former handler let spill that her daughter's supposedly in AA.

Update, 12/4 - Brit and Paris imagined dialogue. How original...not!

Lindsay Lohan Robert Altman Leslie Sloane Britney Spears Paris Hilton celebrity

In an editorial, Honolulu's leading daily newspaper doled out kudos to public relations pros for preserving the state's tourism industry following the recent earthquake. The Star Bulletin's opinion piece titled "PR campaigns help offset quakes' effect," admitted a softening in tourist visits, but says it could have been a lot worse:

"The drop does indicate a softening of the market, particularly on Oahu and Maui, but the numbers also suggest that public relations efforts to assuage travelers' concerns about post-quake conditions here were successful."

Last year, I posted on the earthquake in the Yucatan Peninsula, which reminded me of another below-the-border quake back in the 80's. We repped Fonatur, the Mexican Tourism Board, and were tasked to put in proper perspective the apocalyptic tales of destruction reverberating in the global media in the quake's immediate aftermath.

In reality, the actual damage was confined to relatively small areas. We immediately dispatched a TV crew to Mexico to capture on tape (3/4" SONY U-Matic, no doubt) aerial views of the earthquake's impact.

We fed the footage via satellite to local U.S. broadcasters encouraging them to downlink it for use in their newscasts. For the folks at PR Watch, please know that the footage was clearly identified as having been produced by Fonatur! We also booked the Mexican Secretary of Tourism back-to-back on two network morning shows (with accompanying footage).

Anyway, it was refreshing to see a newspaper acknowledge a PR campaign at a time when such acknowledgement is rare indeed.

PR Hawaii Tourism Mexico Tourism VNRs earthquake public relations