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March 31, 2008
Digital PR
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▶ Contents
Issue 13 Vol. 64
Internal Research
Communications
How to Lose Friends & Alienate
People: Refuse to Relinquish Control
Of the many reasons executives
cite for being hesitant to fully
embrace the power of digital
communications channels, the
fear of losing control is among
the most frequent. But that’s not
to say that the same executives
aren’t pushing to incorporate
these channels into their business
plans. According to the results of
a recent survey conducted by PR
( DID YOU KNOW? )
Seven Things You Will
Learn In This Week’s
Issue Of PR News
1. Thorough research can be the
backbone of a media relations
effort. (p. 4)
2. 36% of surveyed executives
report that 1%-10% of their
overall marketing budgets were
allocated to digital tools. (p. 2)
3. 75% of consumer survey
respondents say that corporations’ green efforts are more
credible when endorsed by environmental groups. (p. 3)
4. Traditional political campaign
techniques can be applied to
shift investor sentiments. (p. 7)
5. The four “Cs” to live by in the
digital age are: consumers, content, creativity and change. (p. 6)
6. Having a library of abstracts
will increase your chances of
being selected for a speaking
engagement. (p. 8)
7. 51% of survey respondents
stop watching online video once
they encounter an in-stream
advertisement. (p. 3)
News and Peppercom, it’s quite
the opposite.
Of the nearly 500 professionals who responded to the
survey, the vast majority (87%)
believes that digital platforms
will play a more strategic marketing role in 2008 (for results,
see page 2). However, the findings revealed some inconsistencies. For starters, despite the
widespread belief that digital
will play a more strategic role
in 2008 marketing plans, the
need for improving digital
Investor Relations
▶Digital PR Con’t More Digital PR Survey Results 2
▶Quick Study Monetizing Word Of Mouth
3
▶Case Study Crunching Numbers To Lessen Debt 4
▶Tip Sheet Building A Corporate Speakers Bureau 8
communications is currently a
low priority in the overall marketing budget, with almost half
of respondents saying that only
0-10% of allowance was allocated for digital tools in the last
year. Only 8% believe that this
number will increase significantly in the year to come.
But enough with the numbers for a moment; the true
pulse of digital communications can be taken by looking at
what executives are (and aren’t)
doing to force these platforms
Financial Comms
into their overall business plan.
Southwest Airlines remains a
time-tested example of a company that opened itself up to
risk, and reaped rewards (measured in reputational capital)
accordingly. The list to date of
their branded digital platforms
is impressive: the “Nuts About
Southwest” blog; the “Wanna
Get Away” microsite; YouTube
videos; a Facebook page; a
Twitter application; and a presence on LinkedIn. (For a guide
Page ▶
Digital PR
Recession-Proof Investor Relations:
Leveraging PR to Reassure Stakeholders
Communications professionals
now find themselves working
in an investor-driven business
context. Faced with a looming
recession and all of the challenges that go with it, business
executives are increasingly
quick to cater to the whims of
investors to keep their operations afloat. In addition, shareholder activism is on the rise
in an environment altered by
online interactions.
This wouldn’t be striking
if PR executives were fluent in
investor behavior, but such is
often not the case. Plus, acts
of deception across all industries—political, financial or
otherwise—have upped the
ante even further. With these
realities at the forefront of
business transactions, com-
municators, be they corporate,
agency or nonprofit affiliates,
must learn strategic investor
relations practices, and they
must be prepared to revise
these learned strategies early
and often.
“The learning curve of
investor communications
has ramped up considerably in the last 10 years or so,
thanks in part to the scrutiny
of the Securities Exchange
Commision and SarbanesOxley, which has served
notice to issuers about their
responsibility for full, fair and
timely material disclosures,”
says Robert Ferris, executive
managing director of RF Binder
Partners. Communications professionals play a role in these
material disclosures, whether
it’s through relaying them to
shareholders or the media, or
preparing annual reports.
While in-depth PR/IR
guidelines could be an entire
book’s worth of real estate,
consider this a primer in
strategies and best practices
for engaging shareholders in
meaningful ways.
▶ Transparency is king. It
almost—almost—goes without
saying, but transparency, especially in the wake of SarbanesOxley, is an essential investor
relations practice. However,
completely transparent communications are easier said
than done, and the key to meeting a high standard is having
a deep understanding of your
Page ▶
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Digital PR Research & Best Practices
▶ Page in the best content in the digital age, see sidebar on page 7.)
Clearly, the Southwest execs
have jumped on the bandwidth
bandwagon—the key, though,
was being willing to cede control to the audiences in that
popular cyberspace.
“Conversations are going
to happen on other blogs and
[social networks], so why not
let it happen on your own
site?” says Paula Berg, PR manager for Southwest. “You can’t
control it, but you can at least
try to contain it.”
Berg is referring to
Southwest’s practices of allowing consumers to generate
content on the company’s sites,
be it through blog posts, videos or general commentary.
Rather than censoring remarks
that are unkind or unpleasant, the communications team
publishes everything, save for
comments that are profane in
any way.
“Don’t let unapproved
comments go unposted or
unaddressed,” Berg says. “That
undermines transparency.”
Indeed, transparency is the
backbone of digital platforms,
as consumers are quickly
becoming immune to corporate speak; shallow pleasantries
only raise more eyeballs and,
in turn, alienate more people.
In this vein, Ford highlights
the following barriers to implementing a social media plan:
• A lack of commitment
among senior management;
• A lack of best practices; and,
• A lack of leadership from
marketing and PR firms in
the digital space.
▶ A cure for commitment-
phobia: “With talk of a recession and growing competition
in the digital space, companies
are increasingly concerned
with building a stronger
digital presence,” says Steve
Cody, managing partner of
Peppercom. “However, they
are unwilling to allocate the
resources necessary to have a
stronger online presence.”
If this sounds familiar and
commitment-phobic leadership teams are holding you
back, boost management’s confidence by offering examples
of companies that have profited by taking a chance, a la
Southwest. When the airline
was considering abandoning
its open-seating policy in favor
of assigned seats, the CEO
made the announcement on
the blog. More than 700 people
responded to voice their opinion, which, it turned out, was
largely in favor of not changing
the policy. This commentary
strongly influenced executives’
decision-making process by
making them aware that, if it
ain’t broke, there’s no need to
fix it.
▶ If at first you don’t suc-
ceed … “The majority of those
Page ▶
Digital PR: A 4-Minute Survey by PR News and Peppercom
1. Which of the following digital tools is your
company currently using (check all that
apply)?
Blogs................................................ 27.7%
Social Networks............................... 21.9%
Podcasts.......................................... 18.1%
Viral Videos...................................... 10.8%
Wikis................................................... 9.1%
None/Other......................................... 7.7%
Sentiment Monitoring......................... 4.7%
2. Which of the tools that you are not currently using do you plan to explore in the
next 6-12 months (check all that apply)?
Podcasts.......................................... 20.8%
Social Networks............................... 18.5%
Blogs................................................ 17.8%
Viral Video........................................ 17.5%
Wikis................................................. 14.6%
Sentiment Monitoring......................... 7.9%
None/Other......................................... 2.9%
3. What is the main goal of your digital program (check all that apply)?
Build/Enhance Reputation............... 31.6%
Drive Sales....................................... 18.8%
Keep Up With Competition.............. 13.8%
Testing/Experimenting...................... 13.6%
Internal Communication................... 12.0%
Recruit/Retain Employees.................. 6.3%
Other.................................................. 3.9%
4. How much of your overall marketing budget was allocated to digital tools in the last
year?
1%-10%........................................... 36.1%
Don’t Know...................................... 22.6%
11%-25%......................................... 19.5%
None................................................. 13.6%
26%-50%........................................... 3.9%
51% or more...................................... 3.9%
No Response...................................... 0.4%
5. How much do you expect that number to
change in the next year?
Increase Slightly............................... 35.5%
Increase Somewhat.......................... 24.8%
Don’t Know...................................... 17.2%
Stay the Same.................................. 12.5%
Increase Significantly......................... 7.6%
Decrease Slightly............................... 1.2%
Decrease Somewhat.......................... 1.0%
These findings are a follow-up to the survey preview, which appeared in the 03-03-08 issue of PR News.
PR News | 3.31.08
▶ Quick Study
Partnering With 3rd Party NGOs; Loyal Customers Spread
the Love; Video Engagement; Monetizing Word of Mouth
▶ Everything Goes With
Green: A company’s green
efforts are more credible when
endorsed by third-party environmental groups whose efforts
have an impact on their local
community, according to a survey by Peppercom and MediaScreen LLC. However, while
this news is widely accepted by
executives, the results suggest
that most companies interested
in going green don’t know
which environmental groups to
partner with, or how to work
with them on policy development and communication.
More than 100 communications executives and
300-plus consumers were surveyed for the study “Influence
of Environmental Groups
on Consumer Decisions
and ‘Green’ Corporate
Communications Programs.”
Among the consumer-based
findings:
• 75% of the consumer respondents indicated that efforts
seem more credible when
endorsed by environmental
groups that have programs
designed to have a direct
impact on local communities;
• The same percentage says
their purchasing and investment decisions are influenced
by NGOs;
• 78% turn to online sources to
get information about environmental issues;
• Among the environmental
groups consumers are familiar
with, 73% are NGOs; and,
• 72% of consumers give
companies the benefit of the
doubt, saying that corporate
efforts to help the environment are believable.
Customers” study solicited feedback from more than
10,000 customers throughout
the U.S. to judge customer
engagement across four service
sectors (hotel, retail, banking
and casual dining), and to look
at the links between customer
engagement and financial
performance. The top performers in the apparel sector
As for the business side:
are J. Crew, Nine West, Ann
Taylor, Aeropostale, Chico’s,
• 82% of companies interGuess and American Eagle
viewed have created formal
Outfitters.
green communication proAdditionally, the study
grams, mostly in the last six to found that engaged customers:
12 months;
• 71% turn to environmental
• Promote the company or
groups and other organizabrand;
tions to help guide their pro- • Intend to return in the future;
grams, while 53% look to PR/ • Go out of their way to do
marketing firms with “green”
business with the company;
expertise; and,
and,
• Among the companies that do • Feel passion—even love—for
not work with environmental
the brand and experience.
groups, 55% say the reason is
Source: PeopleMetrics
that these groups can be “distrustful of corporate motives,” ▶ A Video Affair: More than
while 41% believe the goals
154 million Americans will
of environmental groups are
watch online videos this year.
not typically aligned with
According to eMarketer, that’s
their own and 27% don’t see
a 12.1% increase from last year.
a need/reason to work with
But are these online video ads
environmental groups.
really engaging consumers?
According to a study by
Source: Peppercom and
MediaScreen LLC
Burst Media of more than
2,600 online users in December
▶ Get Engaged: PeopleMetrics’ 2007, most advertisers are still
2008 “Most Engaged
in the experimental phase when
it comes to video advertising.
The findings reveal that 51% of
respondents stop watching an
online video once they encounter an in-stream advertisement,
suggesting that the benefits for
watching online video advertising need to be greater in order
to engage viewers.
Source: eMarketer & Burst Media
▶ Monetizing Word of Mouth:
A new study from customer
loyalty solutions provider
Satmetrix Systems examines
the financial impact of positive
and negative customer WOM.
The study illustrates this
impact by enabling companies
to categorize customers into
“promoters” (those who are
highly likely to recommend
a company and/or its products/services) and “detractors”
(those who are unlikely to recommend the company).
Satmetrix’s Net Promoter
WOM Economic Framework
then determines total customer
value based on buyer and referral economics.
Applying this framework to
the computer hardware industry, the study revealed that each
“promoter” was worth about
$2,600, and that promoters
account for roughly one-half
of a new customer acquired
through positive WOM.
Source: Satmetrix Systems
Prove your Weight in Platinum
Entry Deadline:
May 16, 2008
The Platinum PR Awards will salute the year’s most outstanding
communications initiatives and programs in the highly competitive and
dynamic PR arena. The awards are open to all individuals and teams
worldwide at for-profit and non-profit organizations. Your hard work is
done – now it’s time for you and your team to get recognized for it!
Visit www.prnewsonline.com for entry information.
Sponsorship Opportunities: Vice President and Publisher, Diane Schwartz at 212-621-4964; [email protected].
Entry Questions: Awards Coordinator, Saun Sayamongkhun at 301-354-1610; [email protected].
PR News | 3.31.08
▶ Case Study
Media Relations
Research
Measurement
PR Execs Crunch Numbers and Conduct Research
To Help Alleviate Financial Burden of College Education
Company: AllianceBernstein
Investments
Agency: Tiller, LLC
Timeframe: 2006 - present
Although a college education
may be a necessity in today’s
competitive job market, it
is virtually unaffordable for
many families across the
country. As college tuition
increases every year, families
very often find themselves
unable to meet the financial
burden due to a poor savings
plan. What often results is a
mountain of debt that parents
pass on to their children, who
in turn find themselves living paycheck to paycheck and
delaying major life goals, such
as buying a home or having
children.
To combat this problem of families not properly preparing for the high
costs of a college education,
and to prevent the resulting debt, AllianceBernstein
Investments embarked on a
program that would help parents plan, save and invest better for their children’s college
educations. Having worked
previously with Tiller, LLC,
(a New York-based marketing communications firm)
on an assets allocation initiative called “The Right Mix,”
AllianceBernstein executives
quickly enlisted the agency’s
support for their new “College
Savings Crunch” program.
“After we had done the
asset allocation program, [we
thought], ‘What can you do
to help us raise our profile?’ It
really started internally to get
our own salespeople to start
talking about this great product
again, and to start talking to
our financial advisers about the
importance of saving for college,” says Stephanie Giaramita,
assistant VP of media relations for AllianceBernstein
Investments.
Her fellow PR exec and
partner on the “College
Savings Crunch” program confirmed the fluidity of the relationship, as well as the cause it
stood to benefit.
“AllianceBernstein is one
of the premier managers of
the 529 plan [a tax-advantaged
investment vehicle designed to
encourage saving for the future
higher education expenses],”
says Rob Densen, president of
Tiller, LLC. “And, saving for
college is almost like a public
policy issue now.”
• Provide families with
information,
tools and
resources
to help
them meet
their financial goals for
paying for college; and,
• Position
AllianceBernstein as
a thought leader and
investor advocate while
elevating awareness of
the company and its
tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan, the
CollegeBoundfund.
Strategizing was key in the
initial stage of the campaign,
which began in 2006 and is
ongoing. The team designed
public opinion polls to better understand the cause and
effects of families’ college savings shortfalls. The research
findings would become the
basis of media and marketing
communications materials.
HONING GOALS TO
Also important was drawENABLE MEASURABLE
ing attention to the issue
RESULTS
through widespread media
Early on, the team homed in on coverage of the research, and
three main objectives for the
leveraging it to educate the
initiative:
public to meet their college
savings goals.
• Educate and motivate families
As a follow-up to the initial
to plan and save effectively for research, AllianceBernstein
their children’s college
retained the services of market
education;
research company Matthew
Do Your Research—and Do it Well
For Rob Densen, whose company, Tiller, LLC, executed the marketing and communications strategy for
AllianceBernstein’s College Savings Crunch program, the lessons learned were simple but potent.
“The bar is really high to do really smart, original research. I think AllianceBernstein did that. No one had
ever before taken a long-term look on the impact of college debt on people’s lives. People look at what the
college deficit was but no one looked outward, such as how does it impact your life and life choices. No
one had ever looked at it [extensively like this]. This was the first piece of research that did that, and one
of the reasons that we [were so successful] with the press was because [the program used] smart, original
research.
PR News | 3.31.08
AllianceBernstein’s College Savings
Crunch supporting materials.
Greenwald & Associates to
survey more than 1,500 college
graduates, ages 21 to 35, both
with and without college debt,
to understand their post-college lives.
The results were eye-opening, revealing the extent that
college debt can have on a
young adult’s life. According to
the survey:
• 42% of those with college
debt said that the phrase “living paycheck to paycheck”
described them very well;
• 34% had sold personal possessions to make ends meet;
• 44% have delayed buying a
house;
• 28% have delayed having a
children; and,
• 32% had move back in with a
parent or guardian or live at
home longer than expected.
It was also discovered that
college debt could also harm
a college graduate’s ability to
pay for their own children’s
education as well as save for
retirement.
These findings became the
basis of a story in BusinessWeek,
which helped elevate the profile
of this program.
“Tiller helped us pre-negotiate with BusinessWeek,” says
Giaramita. “We did an exclusive
with them [during the first
phase of the program, which
was May 2006].”
The timing was hardly
coincidental. “We timed it to
the Memorial Day weekend for
a number of reasons,” recalls
Densen. “One, it’s a large news
hole, so the press is looking for
copy. But it’s also kind of a start
of the high school graduation
season, so saving for college is
now on people’s minds.”
In addition to BusinessWeek,
Carolyn Bigda, a syndicated
columnist for the Chicago
Tribune who covers young
people in their twenties and
thirties, was also approached
for media coverage.
“We gave her a leg up as
well,” says Densen. “Carolyn’s
story really had a running head
start coverage-wise.”
Other media outlets that
also covered the initiative’s
research on the long-term
impact of college debt during
the first phase of the College
Savings Crunch campaign were
the Baltimore Sun, the Orlando
Sentinel and, later in the fall
of 2006, the Associated Press,
which ran an exclusive on the
realities and falsehoods of college financing.
CRUNCHING NUMBERS
In the summer of 2006, the
team conducted a bilateral
study consisting of 1,538 parents of children under age 18,
as well as 200 financial aid
administrators. The aim was to
illuminate the realities of pay-
ing for a college education and
pinpoint the misconceptions
and mistakes that derail families from college savings plans.
What the team found was
that even though most parents
understand the high costs of
college, they still remain illprepared to meet these costs.
The average parents of college-bound students think that
having $12,000 saved for their
children’s education is enough,
when in truth, that amount
covers less than the current cost
of one year at a public college.
This survey also revealed
other significant findings:
• 87% of parents are counting
on their children receiving
financial aid, such as scholarships and grant money, thus
creating a false sense of
security;
• Nearly three-fourths of parents think their children
are likely to have “special or
unique” talents that merit
scholarships;
• Many parents aren’t making
college savings a priority as
they opt to spend more on
dining out, vacations and
electronics each year rather
than saving for college costs;
and,
• The majority of parents
expect their children to go
into debt, thinking that it’s
just part of life.
GAUGING THE Return
on investment
The ROI more than fulfilled
the program’s chief objec“What we wanted to do was tives. Media coverage citing
highlight what parents thought AllianceBernstein’s research,
how financial aid would be
underscoring the importance
available. A lot of them think
of saving for college, appeared
it’s free money, and they don’t
in publications and broadcast
realize they have to pay it back,” outlets that had a combined
explains Giaramita. “We had
circulation/viewership of more
this he says/she says dynamic
than 120 million.
Also, consumers have
ordered more than 20,000
educational brochures, and
many families have visited the
Web site, taking advantage of
its resources. The college debt
slide rule created for the campaign was cited by syndicated
columnist Chuck Jaffe as one of
the investment industry’s best
educational tools.
In addition to informing
investors and advisers, the
College Savings Crunch initiative built brand recognition of
AllianceBernstein, positioning
the firm as one that is working to help families meet their
financial goals.
For both Giaramita and
Densen, presenting the research
in a unique and fresh way was
a demanding task but one they
were able to meet with flying
colors.
“It’s a really crowded area.
A lot of parents are looking at
college planning,” says Densen.
“To come up with a research
plan that’s so differentiated—
that was the primary challenge.
And it was the quality of the
research that piqued media
interest. It just happened that
the timing of what is going on
in the news, with lots of people
focusing on this issue, was propitious.”
“That’s part of the thrilling
thing about doing campaigns
like this, because you feel like
you are contributing to the
public discourse,” he continues.
“That’s something that as a
PR practitioner, you feel really
good about.” PRN
CONTACTS:
Stephanie Giaramita, stephanie.
giaramita@alliancebernstein.
com; Rob Densen, rdensen@
tillerllc.com
Media Director, National Wildlife Federation
PRNews
PR Job Center
with what the parents believed
and what the university financial aid administrators who put
together this package say the
real impact is. So, it was differentiating and unique. We had
kind of the myths and realities,
which garnered huge press coverage.”
To help further the program, a Web site, www.collegesavingscrunch.com, was created
to educate consumers about the
importance of saving for college, and to teach them about
the benefits that can be derived
from working with a financial
adviser and using a 529 plan.
For the next part of the
campaign, press kits containing the aforementioned
research findings, screen
shots from the initiative’s Web
site and pithy quotes from
AllianceBernstein spokespeople were sent to key media targets, which included personal
finance, higher education and
parenting reporters.
AllianceBernstein also parlayed the research to create a
number of tools and resources,
which included consumer brochures, a college saving guide
and a slide-rule calculator that
compares the monthly cost of
paying off a student loan versus how much those payments
could grow to if they were
invested instead.
Nation’s largest wildlife conservation organization seeks seasoned advocacy media professional to oversee busy and dynamic Communications shop. Position leads
team of six communications managers to establish strategic media positioning for National Wildlife Federation issues including global warming, wildlife habitat,
endangered species, public lands, tribal partnerships, and water resources. Works with team to determine best media outreach tactics to generate press coverage in support of organization’s positions with emphasis on policy and legislative
initiatives. Qualifications: Knowledge and experience running advocacy media campaigns, preferably on environmental issues. College degree. 8 years progressively responsible experience managing team of media professionals. Track
record of successful press campaigns. Hands-on ability to engage top tier media. Prefer non-profit experience on advancing green issues. Knowledgeable on all forms of media outreach including print, broadcast, web and blogs. Position
based in Washington, DC with minimal time at organization’s Reston headquarters. Some travel required. Do you hear the call of the wild? Apply at www.nwf.org/careergateway and join us in mobilizing Americans to protect our country’s
wildlife. NWF offers a competitive salary, excellent benefits and is an equal opportunity employer committed to workplace diversity. National Wildlife Federation. It starts with people…like you.
The place for talent.
PR News | 3.31.08
Digital PR Research & Best Practices
▶ Page surveyed are reacting to digital
ing initiatives and any other
customers. The company’s
tactically but lack the necessary
underlying circumstances
schedule planner posted an
planning that is essential in crewhich, if discovered by users
explanation, which was met
ating a strong digital presence,”
without being made explicit
with more negative commenCody says in reference to the
by marketers, might appear
tary. This prompted execs to
findings. “It is essential to learn
dishonest,” says Sam Ford,
change their inventory policy.
from established best practices
project manager for the
The change was explained in
and the pitfalls of prior misMassachusetts Institute of
another post, and customtakes.”
Technology’s Convergence
ers had the satisfaction of
While the pitfalls of prior
Culture Consortium Program
knowing that their voice was
mistakes are unique to each
in Comparative Media
heard—and answered.
organization (and, hopefully,
Studies.
few and far between), there
• Hire a babysitter: Every
are a number of universal best
• Think dialogue, not
digital platform in your
practices:
monologue: Allow negacommunications portfolio
tive comments to be posted,
should have an owner who
• Transparency is critical:
and address them with a
is responsible for updating
“Anyone marketing in the
follow-up explanation. In
content, managing comdigital space must take
Southwest’s case, the airline’s
mentary and monitoring
great care to be completely
short booking window
consumers’ reactions. The
open about their marketincited complaints from
more platforms you have, the
LEARNING THE FOUR Cs
At the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) conference in Orlando, held March 5-7,
2008, the main theme was “Digital Changes Everything.” For keynote speaker Anne Sweeney, co-chair of
Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television Group, content itself is still the starting point. She repeatedly drove home the point in her presentation that it’s content, not just digital, that
changes everything.
“[Content] drives revenues, platforms, our brands and your messages,” she said. “We’ve led the way
into the digital revolution with great shows in great ways. We see huge potential on digital platforms
because Disney Media Network reaches every media demographic.”
Sweeney offered four best practices—the “Four Cs,” as she called them—for media practitioners to live
by in the digital age. They can also be easily applied for PR professionals.
• Consumers Come First: Pay attention to your target audience, study the demographics: Who are they?
From there, create a campaign that reflects their interests and goals. For Sweeney, “what consumers
want is more TV at their fingertips and at their schedule.”
• Content Drives Everything: Everything starts with content. It’s a maxim that’s been so oft repeated
it’s starting to become a cliché, noted Sweeney. Content drives consumers to media channels that
can effectively convey that content. The demand for it is constant. The challenge lies in leveraging that
demand to forge stronger relationships with consumers.
In Sweeney’s case, because ABC/Disney had the content, they were able to “move easily into the digital
space,” as evidenced by their newly launched video platform, Stage 9 Digital Media, which will present
short videos or series, such as the Trenches sci-fi thriller.
• Creativity Is Everything: In a market as cluttered as entertainment, it’s important to be more creative
than ever to break through, said Sweeney. Remember: Creativity is key when communicating messages
to the public and making them stand out. Are there any components in your campaign that could handle
a bit of tweaking to make it more compelling for coverage?
• Commit to Change: In Sweeney’s world, there are three constants: the demand for content; partnership
between TV and advertising; and change. But the entertainment business—and society—have been radically altered since the dawn of the digital age. To evolve, it’s imperative to not adhere to the old rules.
Change is a challenge, but it’s also critical. “Status quo isn’t a viable strategy,” said Sweeney.
In the PR vernacular, this can be translated to mean the following: Don’t be afraid to take risks when
working on a PR plan or campaign. It’s when you’re afraid to take that step into the unknown that you
remain stuck in neutral. And, in PR, that’s a sure sign of death.
PR News | 3.31.08
more supervisors you need;
dumping the entire load on
one person will lead to insufficient updates, unanswered
comments and unaddressed
complaints.
• Let it go: As Berg suggested,
it’s time to let go of your
control issues, because consumers are going online and
talking whether or not you’re
there. “The spread of online
video cannot be tightly controlled by the company if
you want it to be successful,”
Cody says.
▶ Lead, follow or get out of
the way: The third barrier—a
lack of leadership among communicators themselves—might
be the most difficult to remedy,
as it involves changing characteristics that have been long
imbedded into professionals’
very beings. But sometimes
leadership actually means getting out of the way and letting
others do the work for you.
Case in point: When an
online video demonstrating the
geyser-like chemical reaction
that occurred when a Mentos
breath mint was dropped into
a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke
surfaced, it went viral instantly.
Mentos executives relished
the free positive publicity,
but Diet Coke representatives
refused to stand behind the
video, missing out on a golden
opportunity to enhance the
brand.
“Pay close attention to how
your product is being used by
others, but don’t let a prohibitionist stance kill a good branding opportunity that is usergenerated,” Cody says. PRN
CONTACTS:
Steve Cody, scody@peppercom.
com; Paula Berg, paula.
[email protected]; Sam Ford,
[email protected]
Recession-Proof Investor Relations
▶ Page audience—so said Dominic
Jones, a principal of Clarity!
Communications of Canada
Inc., and the founder of IR
Web Report, in a conversation with Shel Holtz, principal
of Holtz Communication +
Technology (as documented in
Jones’ IR Web Report blog):
“The root of transparency
is empathy. Transparent companies are those that understand their audiences, who
are able to relate to the people
they are talking to because
they are good listeners.”
Likewise, understanding
and transparency imply credibility, which is, of course,
essential.
“As recession becomes
more of a reality in the market, companies, of course,
should be mindful of conservative fiscal policies, and
communications and investor relations professionals
should ensure that investors
understand that this is the
corporate attitude,” says Ferris.
“Adopting a ‘doing what you
say you’re going to do’ attitude is one of the best ways
to enhance relationships with
investors and maintain their
trust. Transparency is the
watchword for credibility.”
▶ Get aligned. In the same
vein as transparency, communications professionals must
aid the alignment between
investor and management
expectations, as any incongruence would imply disaster.
“[A risk is] misaligned
expectations between management and investors, and a
lack of a ‘license to operate,’
which I think is a major risk
for multinational corporations,
particularly those in industries
sensitive to public sentiment,”
Jones said.
Regarding the increase in
multinational organizations,
Ferris says, “Foreign compa-
nies, newer to the U.S. capital
market, have a lot to learn in
[the area of investor relations],
but also have a lot of counselors
standing in the wings to guide
them.”
The key for public relations
executives, then, is being these
counselors, and the first step
begins now.
▶ It’s an online world, after
all. Annual reports are the
backbone of investor relations
and shareholder communications, as they disseminate
financial statements to share-
holders and other constituents.
With the push to go online,
many annual reports have
taken on a digital format, and
PR execs are integral to making this transition in compliance with new requirements.
Beyond this, though, is the
growing presence of online
activist shareholders, or those
who use their equity stake in
a corporation to put public
pressure on its management.
This lends itself to dissident
relations between companies
and their shareholders, and
in turn requires attention on
the part of communications
professionals. The sidebar
below offers tips for managing
online activist shareholders in
the context of one company’s
failed attempt to overlook the
influence of one individual
who was armed with nothing
more than an Internet connection...and 96 shares. PRN
CONTACTS:
Shabbir Safdar, ssafdar@
virilion.com; Jeff Connaughton,
202.457.1110; Robert Ferris,
[email protected]
INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES IN THE
AGE OF ONLINE ACTIVIST SHAREHOLDERS
For decades, corporate management held the distinct advantage in their relations with dissident shareholders, who rarely could successfully challenge management plans. In the last few years, however,
significant developments have upset this balance; now, corporate communications and investor relations
strategies must adapt to a new age of online activist shareholders who—whether small and poorly funded
or powerful and wealthy—are empowered by the Internet, zero-cost publishing and Web-based communications strategies.
One recent development is the SEC’s new rules that permit the electronic distribution of proxy materials,
lowering the cost for anyone to run a proxy fight without the high cost of direct mail. The other developments are signified by the savvy techniques Walter Hewlett used unsuccessfully against the HP-Compaq
merger in 2002, and by the more recent fight Eric Jackson has taken against Yahoo.
In 2007, activist shareholder Jackson held a mere 96 shares of Yahoo; he had a desire to see the value
of his stake rise. However, he was dissatisfied by the company’s lack of requirements for directors to
buy stock. He relentlessly published his criticisms on his blog and on YouTube, and put his strategic plan
(“Plan B For Yahoo!”) up on a wiki. Months later, he had accumulated a huge stack of press clippings, not
to mention the satisfaction of seeing many of his suggestions reluctantly taken by a battered Yahoo.
The Internet and the SEC’s new rules on the use of electronic proxies have changed the entire landscape for investor communications. To deal with these new changes, corporations should consider the
following strategies:
1.Monitor activist shareholders and online sentiment. A critic may own just a single share, but if a
company ignores him/her and the arguments he/she makes resonate with the market as a whole, that
critic can become a spokesperson whose influence is too big to manage.
2.Engage the activists carefully. Yahoo should have rebuffed Jackson’s arguments in writing. Instead it
brought him in for a meeting with executives, thus giving him an audience, and then refused to budge
on any single point. This in turn made Jackson an even more motivated critic with a global voice.
3.Use traditional political campaign techniques to move opinion. Once an investor sentiment problem
reaches a critical mass, corporations have no choice but to meet it with the time-tested techniques of
political campaign communications, including setting the agenda, amplifying supporter voices and rapid
response.
This sidebar was written by Shabbir Imber Safdar and Jeff Connaughton, who were part of a crossagency team that provided strategic and digital communications consultation to Hewlett-Packard during
the proxy fight over the Compaq acquisition. Safdar is the founder of Virilion Inc.; Connaughton is vice
chairman of Quinn Gillespie & Associates. You can read more about Walter Hewlitt and a detailed case
study about Eric Jackson’s campaign against Yahoo and the implications for investor communications at
www.prnewsonline.com.
PR News | 3.31.08
▶ Tip Sheet
Optimizing Speaking Engagements: 7 Ways
to Build a Corporate Speakers Bureau
Speaker Programs
Ask any VP of corporate communications what she/he is
doing to secure executive
speaking opportunities, and the
overwhelming response will be
“not enough.” A savvy communications executive knows the
benefits of a successful speakers
program: brand development,
executive visibility, product/service promotion, thought leadership and lead generation.
One speech can reach an
enormous and valuable target
audience of clients, prospects,
employees, media, business
partners and analysts. The
audience has chosen to attend
the conference and your presentation, so they are ready and
willing to listen to your experts
and your messages. The conference environment is conducive
to networking and deal making.
And you can’t beat the price.
These coveted sales, marketing
and PR benefits can be yours
for the mere price of a plane
ticket.
Yet many companies are
frustrated with the process
and the results of their existing
speaking programs. Why? In
our 20-plus years of experience
creating and managing speakers bureau programs, we’ve
found the root causes to be a
lack of planning and a shortage
of resources. Typically, companies assign a junior-level PR or
marketing person to establish
and manage a speakers bureau
program with no strategic plan
and no executive support.
If this sounds familiar, know
that there are a few simple
things you can do to build your
speakers bureau program into
a highly visible and successful part of your marketing and
communications strategy.
1. Create a game plan: Invest
the time and effort to determine clear, attainable goals for
your program. In addition to
increasing brand awareness,
you may want to promote a
new leadership team or support
the launch of a new product.
Creating a program based on
these goals will not only help
you secure management buyin, it will enable you to plan,
prioritize and execute more
effectively.
You also need to work
closely with your management
team and subject matter experts
(SMEs) to determine the most
charismatic, effective and willing speakers. Make sure this
conversation also addresses
their expectations for the
program. You need to understand what they want from the
program and be able to adjust
those expectations accordingly.
presentations and spend time
building relationships with
conference organizers.
4. Invest in your speaker
program: Like other key components of your PR and marketing programs, a speakers
bureau requires investments of
time, money and resources to
be successful. It is critical that
you dedicate an experienced
professional or team (internal
or external to your company) to
manage all aspects of the program—from abstract development and executive relations to
logistics and follow-up. And be
ready to invest significant time
and energy in doing it right.
Follow up regularly on submissions, speaking frequently
with show organizers to build
relationships that increase your
chances of placement and help
you identify upcoming opportunities.
By Lori Zetlin & Jeanne Tee
tunities—brochures, Web sites,
press releases and direct mail
campaigns. Leverage the conference location to conduct
meetings with clients, press,
partners and employment candidates.
7. Did we mention follow-up?
After the speech is delivered
and the conference has come
to a close, there is still work to
be done.
Look for ways to repurpose
the speech for other conferences and other audiences.
Share the speech and its impact
with your employees, press and
analyst contacts, clients and
business partners to reinforce
your key messages and boost
2. Prioritize, prioritize, pribrand awareness and thought
oritize: With an ever-growing
leadership.
list of business and industry
Conduct an assessment of
conferences, it is critical to prieach speaking engagement.
oritize your efforts. Know your
Track attendance numbers and
target audience and your busi5. Prepare before your pitch:
audience profiles, and solicit
ness goals and be true to them
Take the time to create a library feedback from both the speaker
both when researching confer- of speaker biographies, head
and the conference organizer.
ences and pursuing speaking
shots and noncommercial
This will help in determining
opportunities. Consider current abstracts on timely and comwhether or not you should
and past speakers, location and pelling topics—this last piece
pursue a speaking opportunity
venue, attendee profiles and
can make or break your placenext year.
other important criteria when
ment chances. There’s nothbuilding a focused target list.
ing worse than identifying an
In an increasingly crowded
opportunity at the right event
marketplace, a strategic and
3. Know the realities:
and then scrambling to meet
well-managed speakers bureau
Successful speaker placethe submission requirements.
program can help your comment is a difficult pursuit, so
Having these critical pieces
pany reach the right audience
be ready for the challenges.
ready will increase your abilwith the right messages. But,
Placement timelines are long
ity to respond to opportunities as with other key marketing
(six-to-nine-month lead time), quickly.
programs, you have to invest
so start early and be willing
the necessary time, money and
to track an opportunity for
6. Leverage your successes:
executive support to realize the
months. Competition is stiff
The speech itself will come and tremendous benefits a speaking
and sponsors get many of the
go in less than an hour, and
program can yield. PRN
top speaking slots (the unforwhile the impact is significant,
tunate “pay to play” system).
promoting your speaker sucCONTACTS:
You can work around this sys- cesses and taking advantage of
Lori Zetlin and Jeanne Tee
tem, but it takes perseverance
ancillary business opportuniare managing partners of S3,
and creativity. Select speakers
ties can help you increase the
Strategic Speaker Services,
and topics that are compelling benefits of each engagement.
Inc. They can be reached at
and noncommercial, enlist
Participate in all available
[email protected] and
clients for joint case-study
conference marketing [email protected].
PR News | 3.31.08