Life Moves Pretty Fast

by John Lonsdorf, R&J Public Relations

One of the great modern-day philosophers, Ferris Bueller twice said (at the beginning and at the end of the iconic 1986 movie, so it must be important), “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

The same can be said generally about all businesses. But in particular, the Public Relations business has moved incredibly fast.

When I started R&J back in 1986, the same year that Ferris gave us his great advice about life, I had an IBM Selectric typewriter on my desk, and the only Gekko we ever heard from was Gordon, who was telling us (convincingly) that “greed is good.” We didn’t even have a fax machine; they were just then gaining widespread utilization. Back in that time, our role as public relations practitioners was clear and simple: to get publicity – and lots of it – for our clients. We did this by writing lots and lots of press releases (and mailing – yes mailing – them out to the media, usually with 5” X 7” glossy photo prints), establishing personal relationships with journalists (and there were a lot more of those covering much narrower “beats” back then), and pitching like crazy. It was a great business – fun and rewarding in so many ways.

But a funny thing happened along the way. Life moved pretty fast.
Business changed, and with that change, came the need for a far greater degree of strategic, forward-looking business counsel and strategic thinking. To accommodate these business needs, the public relations industry also underwent tremendous change. And the transformation of our business and our industry that was necessary to stay ahead of our clients’ needs has been incredible – often happening at break-neck speed.

Today’s successful PR firm is far more than a publicity shop. Today, we often play a central role in brand development, market strategy and business-building for our clients. We’re called in at the beginning of discussions on positioning, market strategy and brand personality. We consult on the ins-and-outs, and the potential ramifications of every communication tactic – both traditional and in social media. We prepare, and when needed, execute crisis management plans. In short, we are important counselors and marketing partners for our clients, and not simply “publicists” (although publicity is still a very important deliverable for many of our clients).

Firms like ours welcome this never-ending change. We thrive on it, and look forward to engaging with new media channels and outlets, and new techniques. It’s actually become fun to learn how express a full marketing thought in 140 characters or less! And I am very fortunate to have surrounded myself with a lot of smart, curious and insightful people, who don’t hesitate to remind me how fast things change, and how if we aren’t riding the wave, then we risk being swallowed up by it.

Yes, Ferris had it right: Life does, indeed, move pretty fast. We are happy to have evolved along the way, and to have helped our clients through many of these changes. We continue to look ahead for the next inevitable round of changes.

How to Be a Good Client

Here's an early Christmas (or a late Hanukkah) present for those of you out there who hire agencies.

Ryan Greives writes a quick primer on what it takes to be a good client (click here) for a PR firm. Almost all of this is certainly applicable to ad agencies, design firms, and interactive shops as well.

If you hire any type of marketing communications firm, this Top 10 list is required reading. By following these simple suggestions, you will get your firm to work harder and to always do their absolute best for you.

If I might add an additional point: Know that all we want is to make you look good. We are not out to take your job (we are on the "agency side" because that's what we love to do). And we are not out to grab the glory. No, our "glory" comes from having a satisfied and appreciative client who pays our bills in a timely manner. Making you look like a superstar to your CEO, your Board, or whomever signs your paycheck is the best possible outcome for us.

Hope you have a very happy holiday season, and my best wishes for a very successful and rewarding 2010!

Posted by:
John Lonsdorf
President
R&J Public Relations
www.RandJpr.com

Social Media: Ethics and Workplace Survey from Deloitte

"While the decision to post videos, pictures, thoughts, experiences, and observations to social networking sites is personal, a single act can create far-reaching ethical consequences for individuals as well as organizations. Therefore it is important for executives to be mindful of the implications and to elevate the discussion about the risks associated with it to the highest levels of leadership."

Sharon L. Allen
Chairman of the Board
Deloitte LLP

Deloitte has recently released a 2009 survey on Ethics and Workplace in relation to Social networking and reputational risk in the workplace. With the rapid growth and acceptance of social media and networking, the ways people choose to communicate and collaborate are varied and beyond the normal control of business. Even workplace policies banning the use of FaceBook or MySpace cannot stem the personal use and chatter existing on the Internet.

"Deloitte LLP’s 2009 Ethics & Workplace Survey shows that there is great reputational risk associated with social networking as 74% of employed Americans surveyed believe it is easy to damage a brand’s reputation via sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube."

The Deloitte survey reveals that only 15% of executives have elevated this discussion to the board room, although 58% agreed that it was necessary to do so. And, more importantly, one-third of employed respondents never even considered how their boss would feel about content posted, indicating that it is none of their business (freedom of speech anyone?)

Although our natural response, as communicators, is to put policies in place to serve as guidelines for social networking and publishing, only 50% of respondents indicated that such guidelines would impact their behavior.

How does your company manage the new rules of social media?

Wendy Flanagan

AMA B2B Sig Chair
Co-President, Murray

908-362-8174 x111

cell 908-619-7204

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

Chairperson, NJ MarCom Council
Board Member, NJAdClub
Member AMA, MENG

Upcoming lecture: Using Social Networks to Leverage Your Networking and Drive Your Business on behalf of the charitable Garden State Woman’s Education Foundation on September 17 at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Register Online

Riding the Social Media Wave

The wave of social media options is very real and connected. Why would you blog... unless your insights might change the thoughts and patterns of behaviors, generating traffic to your offering.

Why would you need a podcast... unless you are a speaker and your off the cuff presentations go undocumented. Why would you want to tweet... unless your prospective customers are identifying themselves with quick keywords showing their need. Why do you need a youtube video... unless your sincerity and knowledge, whit and humor transcend the attention-span of an over-saturated audience. People like the spontaneity, accessibility and control of the Web. the ability to click where they want... surfing in a seemingly random pattern.

...But we know the truth about the Internet. True randomness evaporates under the crush of data-driven marketing and user pattern identifiers. If you doubt that randomness is gone, think about the google of yesteryear. When you used to be able to search something and get various papers, and expert opinions from academia, researchers, and government resources. Now, paid placement exerts its muscle, racking up the first 500,000 organic returned searches. (Oh, it's not 'paid' as in, 'I bought an ad'... but certainly paid to an individual or firm that specializes in ranking.)

You might think, in reading this, that I object. Not a chance. For every media that becomes commercialized, my work evolves. My company's offerings are adapted to meet the constantly evolving needs of marketers for strategy, design and technology combinations that accurately convey their offerings to their audiences. Marketing plans are more diverse, integrated, and results-driven. In a very short time, marketers have changed from asking, "How do I get a Content Management System (CMS) for my Website?" to asking "How can my CMS drive my mobile, print and eNewsletter promotions?"

Social media marketing supports sales basics. Like, trust, use. It takes the giant funnel of people and, based on data, drives the connections to the ones who might use your product or service. the creativity, language and design allow an individual to like the offer (or the person). The virtual connections and validity of network can demonstrate a foundation on which transactional trust can exist. The online user is lulled into thinking they ever had a choice which way the current was headed... Truly strategic marketers have taken this into consideration. Money once spent on prime time advertising has been diverted to virtual currents.

I'm certain the next wave is rapidly approaching.

Wendy Flanagan
Co-President
Murray
http://www.murraymedia.com
908-362-8174 x111

Social Media Impacts Ad Agency New Business

Here's an article that had a name and subject that jumped off the page as my first post for the Ad Club Blog-an article about Social Media and Advertising. It's an article by Michael Glass from his Blog "Fuel lines-fueling ad agency new business."

Fuel Lines

This is a guy I follow on Twitter-and today he twittered this article. So, thanks to me, you don't have to follow him or figure out Twitter to get the benefit of this work-just take a look at his article.

As you can see if you go to his page he has a lot to say about how social media and advertising are changing together. He compares how social media marketing and "traditional marketing" gain a prospects attention, control the message, and how important measurement and ROI are in the new scheme of things. I found this little article to be a good start if you're wondering what's happening to ad agencies as a result of social media marketing.

Chuck B.