The Power of Exclusivity

by Julie Primrose

Companies dream of everyone rushing to buy their product or use their service on the first day it’s available.  But should they, really?

For years, marketers have limited the supply of popular products to sustain consumer demand.  Some of the world’s biggest brands have been successfully employing this strategy for years, but it seems this tactic is increasingly being used as the world becomes more digitally connected.

The most recent example is Google+.  Google has chosen to reserve its new social network for individuals who receive a personal invitation.  Surely Google has the capability of allowing more users onto Google+, but it has chosen to treat it like an exclusive club … you have to already know a member to get in.

Google takes an important lesson from the most popular social media site, Facebook.  In its early days, Facebook was limited to Harvard students, and eventually college students in general.  If you didn’t have an “.edu” email address, you weren’t invited to the party.

Consumer products have been relying on this tactic for years as well, with perhaps the most successful company being Apple.  People wait in line for hours to be the first to buy the latest Apple products, knowing there is a limited supply available.  Apple was just able to meet the demand for the iPad2 this month.  The demand for the iPad is staggering, but surely Apple could ramp up its production if it wanted to.

But would customers still covet the iPad or the latest iPhone if they could go to an Apple store on the release date and pick one up from a towering stack?  I don’t think so.

Do It or Die

by Roger Pynn

In the latest release of his blockbuster video essay “Social Media Revolution,” Socialnomics Founder Erik Qualman makes it very clear why every business needs to integrate social media into its marketing communications mix.

Quite simply it is about survival, he says, predicting that in 10 years more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500 will no longer exist.  Hence, “The ROI of social media is that your business will still exist in five years.”

Just yesterday I’d gone back to look at my Partner Dan Ward’s July 2008 post here on Taking Aim titled “In Anonymous We Trust,” in my mind a classic prediction about where our world is headed in terms of where consumers look for honesty.  Now just three years later Qualman’s research shows “90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, while only 14% trust advertisements.”

The way we converse, the way we connect and the way we conduct research all have changed.  With more than half the world’s population under 30, the future of commerce is inextricably linked to their digital habits.

“We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it,” says Qualman who uses his statistics to warn “Imagine what this means for bad customer experiences.”

Can A Company Have Ethics?

by Roger Pynn

Seth Godin’s somewhat rambling essay on business ethics left me with a lot of questions, but one thing I was sure about:  companies, just like people, can have ethics despite Seth’s position that “only people can have ethics.”

Ethics are principles.  Principles are like our U.S. Constitution … the foundation our society is built and lasts upon, rarely altered.  They transcend the temporary leadership of the organization.

Godin’s point that businesses are people is right on … and his suggestion that we ought to be pushing the people who run our businesses to do the right thing is obvious.  The law sees a corporation as a person … but a company’s principles may or may not match those of the person at the helm at the moment.

If everyone did the right thing the world would be a sweet place known as Utopia.  Unfortunately, we’re not there yet and as public relations counselors we need to remind clients constantly that their role in maintaining their company’s reputation demands a “do the right thing” mentality.

Godin writes about his father who he admires for building a company based on “taking personal responsibility, not on blaming the heartless, profit-focused system.”

Business decision-making should not and cannot be only about profit if a company is to survive in the long haul.  Making money is honorable.  Fiercely protecting your company’s honor may not insure a profit in these fast-moving times, but failing to do so will surely result in its decline.

We tell clients all the time that we’ll be happy to help them as long as their actions are legal, ethical and moral.  We also tell them that we’ll walk away if they aren’t.  That’s business ethics, Seth.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

by Heather Keroes

 

“A Fond Farewell… Thank You for Shopping at Borders” – I wasn’t too surprised to see this message in my Inbox the other day.  Truth be told, this break up has been a long time coming, and we haven’t seen each other in quite a while.  But just like with any break up, you find yourself reflecting on the relationship and how it ended … and what that means for the future.  There are the good times to remember – the days when my friends and I would want to kill some time before a movie or make a bookstore the main event of our evening (yes, we were cool).  But there were the bad times too – the overpriced coffees and the guilty feeling one had after mom and pop shops went out of business, a la the Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks classic, “You’ve Got Mail,” (which also featured former ISP giant AOL).

Now that most books are digital, I wonder if it’s possible to get the same level of exposure you’d have to writings outside of your normal sphere.  When walking up and down the rows of books at Borders, or other major chains, I’d come across books I would have never thought of reading.  Browsing was a joy, browsing was free, and highly encouraged by all of the little comfy nooks with chairs just asking for you to sit down, grab a book, and get “your read on.”  Not so, online, where a few sample pages and a limited listing by genre await.

I also wonder what this means for already suffering newspapers and magazines.  If I want to find a new magazine to read, I have to somehow hear about it and subscribe to it.  Will libraries someday be obsolete too?  I don’t think the digitalization of the world is a bad thing.  Anyone will tell you how much I love downloading books on my phone.  There’s also the possibility for publications to reach beyond normal markets and for new writers to emerge.  I’m saddened by the end of this relationship … and yet I’m hopeful too.

A Casey Sunday

by Roger Pynn

As if it weren’t enough to have been bombarded with Casey Anthony’s release, having chosen to work in the office Sunday afternoon I was hit once again with a taste of this sordid affair when the phone rang and the fellow at the other end told me he had just met with her and had been told by “people I trust” that I ought to hire a public relations firm.

You have to wonder how many firms he had dialed on a Sunday afternoon.

He described himself as “nationwide process server” and he had delivered papers to Ms. Anthony in “a personal meeting.”  Aren’t all process servings personal?  Perhaps this one was in a garage in downtown Orlando between SUV rides.

Explaining to him that this was not the kind of work our firm does, I was tempted, but resisted telling him that rather than hoping to build his reputation with a few seconds on TMZ he might use proven techniques like direct communication with the people who hire process servers:   attorneys.

But, of course, if he met with Ms. Anthony, he no doubt saw a few.

What’s Your Excuse?

by Roger Pynn

Nike built its brand with the admonition to us to “just do it!” back in the 80s. They were great moments in advertising and a simple reminder that you can’t spend all your time planning what you want to do. They weren’t just about sports … Nike was telling us to take a bite out of life.

Chris Brogan’s “You Know What To Do” post reminds me of how much time people spend defending themselves for doing nothing instead of just getting the job done … or at least trying. Brogan is writing about the human condition of knowing what the problem is and then over-analyzing the problem instead of doing something about it.

Worst of all, he writes, is the cost of making excuses for why something won’t work or why you haven’t done it. Nike’s campaign was incredibly simple messaging … because it put sneakers on all of us. You don’t have to be an Olympian to wear cool shoes, but you do have to do whatever it is that will make your life complete.

If our firm were a product, I’d want our slogan to be “lace ‘em up.”

PR Gets in Hot … Coffee?

by Kerry Martin

I recently watched an interesting (albeit, one-sided) documentary about tort reform—the aptly named Hot Coffee, which examines frivolous lawsuits and the famous settlement after the McDonald’s spill.  While mostly political, it made a few observations … especially with the portrayal of “evil PR companies.”

The documentary’s ‘exhibit one’ explained how the McDonald’s case was blown out of proportion in the media, twisting the victim’s plight into a prime example of consumer greed (what they called winning a ‘lawsuit lottery’).  That case became the poster child for frivolous lawsuits and spawned a campaign for tort reform in the media and in the political arena.  And where does this documentary point the finger?  The vulture PR consultants, of course, who were bankrolled by those evil corporations and who spun the story.

But the funny thing is, all of the examples this documentary provided were of advertising campaigns … billboards, commercials, and other ads that carried the same message.  All were paid spots pushing one point of view.

Too often, I see public relations vilified because it gets lumped in with other professions.  No, I’m not a publicist and wouldn’t advise a client to do a sex tape to get their name out there.  PR is also different from political campaigning (I’d like to meet the “PR professional” that came up with the Taliban Dan smear spot).  And now in this latest example, PR takes the blame for advertising spots that used scare tactics and insults to get their message across.

The main differences between advertising and public relations are paid coverage versus earned coverage and the gatekeepers who filter and evaluate the messages we present.  That’s why PR in its very nature is an industry that espouses honesty and integrity—all claims are examined and reported by a third-party:  whether the news media or in this era of social media “citizen journalists” who Google every word looking for cracks in your story.

My favorite part of the movie came when one expert being interviewed said she blamed the journalists who didn’t do their research when reporting on cases.  I guess they got taken in by those scheming ‘PR’ people.

Entrusting Your Team with Facebook

by Heather Keroes

Several years ago I worked for a company that decided to block social media access.  As public relations professionals, my department had to convince the company to, at the very least, grant our team access, as social media was growing in great importance to our field.  Access was granted and eventually extended to the entire company.  Today, all top 100 companies to work for allow employees to access social media sites … which is why I was so surprised to hear in this video report by Ragan that 57 percent of companies still don’t allow employees to access Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

The great fear prevailing among companies that block social media access is that their employees will waste valuable company time on these sites – checking statuses, posting pictures, tweeting what they ate for lunch and the like.  However, the video brings up a good point – you should trust your employees to spend their time wisely.  How strong can your business be, if you don’t trust your team?  You also risk making your company less appealing to Gen Y talent, who have grown up with Facebook and lead “plugged in” lifestyles.  Although I doubt that blocking social media would prevent all companies from finding new employees, it definitely won’t help retain them … especially when a company is lacking one of its greatest assets – trust, pure and simple.

Why Didn’t I Think of That?

by Kim Taylor

Allow me to trail off the general theme of “Taking Aim” for a moment to discuss my passion for business, and more specifically, great business ideas.

Great business ideas like eBay or 1-800-Got-Junk take simple ideas – concepts that we can easily understand – and turn them into highly profitable ventures.

The latest “idea” to cross my path is a new neighborhood business called iStudioSalons, which initially sounded like a cross between an iPhone, recording studio and hair salon.  Turns out, it’s a genius concept created by entrepreneurs, Mark Abbett and James Schregardus, which allows independent stylists to own and operate their own salon.

iStudioSalon’s spaces are laid out with 20 or so individual (or double) fully equipped “studios” which allow the stylist to basically run their studio as their own business … setting their own hours, making their own rules, etc.  A concept that is a true blend of full ownership and typical chair rental … offering the benefits of the former without the headaches of the latter.

What they did isn’t mind-blowingly brilliant, but they did something that Seth Godin recently talked about in his blog post, Unbetterable.

“Find things that others have accepted as the status quo and make them significantly, noticeably and remarkably better.”

How do you break through the ruts in your business and find ways to make an impact, or is everything around you simply “unbetterable”?

Powerful Social Commentary

by Roger Pynn

If you’re old enough to remember the three martini lunch, this post on Mark Shaefer’s {grow} blog will either scare the living daylights out of you or make you pick up the phone and invite a client out for a drink.  If you’re younger, hopefully it will provide some food for thought.

Shaefer fears the days of conducting business based on these deep relationships is over, but I disagree.  To the contrary, as our economy continues to recover buying decisions will be made based on trust … the belief the person you are buying from will follow through on their promise.  That can only come from getting to know each other.

Hence, successful public relations programs will focus more and more on direct communication rather than relying on media (traditional or social) alone.  Face-to-face and event-based opportunities to share a message will become more powerful than ever before as you compete to earn trust.

That doesn’t mean the return of the three martini lunch, nor does it suggest that tactics once used by over-zealous salesmen who showered clients with expensive perks and questionable favors will once again be common.  Rather, it means savvy executives will be provided with opportunities developed by strategic public relations people who have designed plans that allow for building personal relationships (PR).