I Will Not Be Ignored!

I'm your customer. But I’m a person first. And...

I feel ignored when you tell me that my call is important to you as I wait for you to answer my call.

I feel ignored when you tell me how friendly you are but no one greets me when I enter your store.

I feel ignored when you call me by my first name the first time we speak.

I feel ignored when you interrupt me at home and mispronounce my name.

I feel ignored when you ask me how I am and launch into the script before I've answered.

I feel ignored when I give you identifying information more than once in the same call.

I feel taken for granted if you say your name is 'Pat' but you sound more like a 'Vishalakshi'. Don't make your first statement to me a lie.

I feel ignored when you say you value me as a customer but you give the free offer to 'new customers only'.

I feel ignored if your 'convenient hours' don't include the one time I need you.

So now I’m right here, in front of you, in person, on the phone, in a chat queue.

I can’t be a more cooperative prospective customer. There is no bigger buying signal. You attracted me with your great strategy, compelling ads, responsive community, and attentive automated lead nurturing.

And so here I am! I did what you wanted.

Why are you ignoring me?

The Art of the Apology

Like a lot of people, I have been following the Gulf oil spill... and the related apologies - from BP, from the regulatory agencies, from Tony Hayward and other executives, and the list goes on. And it is not only the oil spill. Recently I've heard apologies from General McChrystal, Val Kilmer, Dave Weigel, JD Hayworth, Akio Toyoda, Joe Barton, Subway Sandwiches... oh hell, just Google "apologizes" and see what I mean.

So here it is folks, a marketer's guide to spin contr- er, apologies. I hope you’ll never need it.

1. You are sorry. A brief statement to open the apology that states the offense and expresses remorse and modesty. Shame is also useful if addressing issues of moral turpitude. Express interest in regaining trust/keeping customers.
2. You know what you did. A paragraph dedicated to a complete, albeit brief, restatement of the event or behavior.
3. You are responsible. Capitulate to your role in the incident and shift no blame, even if in fact it was shared. Your audience, not you, will assign blame among multiple parties. Acknowledge the injury done to effected parties.
4. You won't do it again. Detail your commitment to change and show customers/the public the actions you are taking to ensure that this type of situation will not happen again. (This is where celebrities announce their intention to go to rehab.)
5. You'll 'do the time'. If appropriate, offer details on information on restitution and compensation.
   

And if Tony Hayward is any guide, don’t worry, you don't have to mean it. As Jean Giraudoux once sagely stated, “The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made.”

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

If your company or product were a fictional character, who would it be? It's one of the questions I ask when trying to determine the intended brand perception for a client. And I get more than my share of rolled eyes from the engineers in the room.

But consider your own response to this question: If you were thirsty, where would you likely find an ice-cold Obama? Next to the Dr. Pepper or nearer the energy drinks?

If you called your friend, would you expect to pick up and dial the McCain or are you more likely to just go online and 'poke' them on Obamabook? Maybe you'd discuss the McCain supertanker that is caught in a storm off the gulf coast, or the latest music player from iObama.

You can think about this when you pick up a snack of some organic dried fruit at Obama Foods for your flight to Chicago on McCain Airways.

Okay, the whole thing is silly. But now reverse that:

If you were thirsty, where would you likely find an ice-cold McCain? Next to the Dr. Pepper or nearer the energy drinks?

If you called your friend, would you expect to pick up and dial the Obama or are you more likely to just go online and 'poke' them on McCainbook? Maybe you'd discuss the Obama supertanker that is caught in a storm off the gulf coast, or the latest music player from iMcCain.

You can think about this when you pick up a snack of some organic dried fruit at McCain Foods for your flight to Chicago on Obama Airways.

Relatively speaking, the former made more sense, didn't it? And it proves out the power of branding on not only our perceptions of products, but perceptions of our leaders, our friends, and ourselves.

This important article was sent to me by a designer with whom I do much of Strategy180's branding work. It underscores the power of branding and how it may not only impact the can of soup we put in our grocery basket, but the future leadership of the world's last great superpower.

Perhaps now you might want to budget for that branding study, yes?

Of Babies and Bathwater

This blog post, ‘Fire Your PR Agency’ by Jason Calacanis, founder and CEO of Mahalo, was sent to me by a client and I thought it’d blog well, so I’ve taken what was to be my email response and posted it here.

I agree that you can, conceivably, do PR yourself. But I think the value in the article is more useful if titled “How to support your PR firm’s efforts”. Better to keep the baby and change the bathwater, as it were. Jason is a natural press agent himself even if he doesn’t own up to it - so PR comes easily, naturally to him… and what he is suggesting requires a completely different set of skills than most entrepreneurs have and therefore they do require the support of a quality PR outfit.

I know plenty of PR firms, however, that can do more harm than good. In fact, I can provide a list. I’ve hired and fired several. Often because my colleagues and I were their lone source of ideas, which flies in the face of what Jason is suggesting, as he thinks this is a good plan. I don’t. While I appreciated the recognition that I was, in fact, brilliant, I’d have liked to have other ideas heard as well. It gets lonely when the only voice you hear is your own. This is not the same as providing your PR firm with information, resources, and access, which is critical and as this blog goes on to recommend. It is a partnership between client and agency.

Still, although I believe his premise – that you can do this yourself – is flawed, he makes some excellent points:

1. Be the Brand: It is easy for Jason to say this, he is his brand. This is useful if the leadership is savvy, well-spoken and political, or at least enthusiastic. Not every CEO is, and in fact, it is sometimes dangerous for firms to become too attached to their founder as it limits later growth, flexibility and potential M&A activity.

2. Be everywhere: This is simply blocking and tackling for start-ups. Too many engineer types think their better mousetrap will drive people to their door. Well, for that I have one word: Betamax.

3. Always pick up the check: The most important point Jason makes in the entire blog post is here: “If you're not a social person, learn to be, because it's your job if you're at a startup company.” See my comment above, #1.

4. Pitching as Jason uses it here is a euphemism for selling. The best PR opportunities aren’t ‘sold’, just like few of the best products are actually ‘sold’. That’s just PR 101. But I know that too few PR types have graduated that class, and others, while aware of it, are pressured by their clients or bosses to do just that. Sell, sell, sell. Ink, ink, ink. I once had a PR agency drop a couple of three ring binders on the conference table to indicate the amount of press they generated for a similar firm. Leafing through it, it amounted to page after page of one paragraph reprints of press releases. And this was a nationally recognized PR firm. Oddly, scrolling to the end of his post, Jason comments to measure press by the pound. Bullsh*t. You can’t blog about targeting appropriately and suggest measuring success by the pound in the same post. That’s oxymoronic.

5. The critical comment in point #5? “Spend just 30 minutes researching the journalist you're pitching.” PR folks can be lazy. Hire ones who aren’t.

6. His point #6 essentially states to make certain the client, not the agency, has the journalist relationship. Actually, both is important, but once again, good common sense is so rare it bears repeating.

7. Number 7’s key takeaway: “Your job as a subject is to say things concisely and with few words.” Not a reason to fire a PR agency. A good reason to have one, even if they only act as editors.

8. Invite people to "swing by" your office. Of course. Journalists are supposed to become your friends. Invite your friends for a visit. Remember what we learned in Kindergarten: To have a friend, be a friend.

9. Attach your brand to a movement - absolutely. But this works only if the environment allows for it. Generally good business advice, but certainly not a reason to fire a PR firm. A good PR firm can find opportunities to do just that.

10. Embrace small media outlets. Again, PR 101.

Further, don’t mistake media relations (making certain you are visible, acting as a resource for reporters, etceteras) for public relations. The former is easier and often used by weak PR firms as an indication of progress. It isn’t. Media relations is a tool, not an objective. Also, regarding hiring PR firms: The key is in the evaluation, and in the evaluation, the key is the people. Make certain it isn’t the A team selling the agency and the B team doing the work. Know who is on the account and their backgrounds, and hold them to their commitments. They need to be savvy, connected, creative, inventive. This needs to be determined upfront, because success or failure in PR can only be measured on the back end.