Airfoil Public Relations

Who Owns the Gray Area?

While many of us were feverishly working to wrap up business loose ends in advance of the holiday weekend, Procter & Gamble made a significant announcement that probably didn’t generate the attention it deserved.

Read the full story from AdvertisingAge here: P&G Restructures Communications Under Marketing Chief Pritchard

From my perspective, the really big news coming out of this story is the fact that the P&G communications group is now being tasked with ownership of the "social-engagement" aspect of marketing.

For years, social media have existed in what I like to call a “gray” area.

There are a lot of advocates and believers in the power of social as a business platform, but the definition of roles and responsibilities is very loose.

Is it the responsibility of the marketing team that is pushing company messages to audiences across a variety of channels?

Is it just another extension of PR that can be used to raise the brand awareness and the overall thought-leadership position of a company to the general public?

The answer to these questions is exactly what I’m guessing the team at P&G discovered during their internal review process: that empowering communications to own the social engagement is only going to help their marketing team deliver messages that will better resonate with audiences.

If the goal is to foster conversations with audiences, then there is no one better at doing this than seasoned, strategically minded communications professionals.

No gray area there—sounds like P&G found a recipe for success!

 

 

 

-- Janet Tyler is a co-CEO at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Silicon Valley and Detroit. Follow her on Twitter @Janet_Tyler

 

Six Technology Developments We Really Need

The story of technology frequently has been the development of things we never knew we wanted. No one really needed in iPad or a Nook tablet until technology told us we did. We were getting along just fine with films before digital movie projectors came along. For that matter, we all may have been a lot less tense when we had an office phone, a home phone, and nothing else tethering us in between. 

Now, undeniably, technology has worked in ways to make our lives so much easier, businesses so much more profitable, and news and entertainment so much more accessible. But technology companies constantly seem to be putting the exclamation point before the verb—stirring immense excitement over the pending release of some device, service or software before consumers have stated a need, desire, awareness or acknowledgement that such an offering would be a welcome change. We didn’t need it—until we did. This phenomenon may be recapped as, “Invention is the mother of necessity.”

I guess that’s how markets are made, but I think it’s time that business professionals and consumers alike started enumerating the technology they actually do want and need in their lives and then demand that innovators create it. It’s time to Occupy the Cloud! It’s past time for us to engage in forward thinking instead of window shopping for the latest tech.

I have six “Items that I Really Need” on my checklist and herewith issue my challenge across the Valley to bring these capabilities to my home and office:

1. The self-cleaning house. We have self-cleaning ovens; can’t we extend that technology to the entire house—without burning it down or becoming uncomfortably toasty? Think of the productive time that husbands, wives and dorm-room tenants would save and the environmental enhancements such a device would bring.
2. Biofeedback-adjusted eyeballs. I’m constantly hunting for my glasses and succeed on my quest about 75% of the time. Can’t technology put some kind of capsule in my wristwatch (Yes, I wear a wristwatch—deal with it) that allows me to use biofeedback techniques to lengthen or compress the lenses in my eyes or reshape my eyeballs to focus on the task at hand? I’d save all that searching time and do a better job of reading, driving and finding my mouth with my fork.
3. Self-editing editorial copy. Of course, we have spell-and-grammar check, but everyone knows that this still rudimentary technology often misses errors, suggests corrections where none are needed, and may produce an unjustifiable sense of confidence in the author. The self-editing document would likely antiquate half the work I do every day—but it would give me time to pursue the other, more creative half.
4. The social-media engagement button. Public relations practitioners constantly are urging clients, not just to participate in, amplify and measure their participation in social media networks, but also to “engage” with the denizens of those sites. As Far Field Productions asks at the end of the credits for Bones, “What’s that mean?”  Set up a group? Answer tweeters’ questions? Compliment them on their fonts? Hey, technology, you gave us social media; now figure out this engagement thing and . . . just . . . build it in, so we can click “Like,” “Share,” or “Engage.” How much time we would save right there!
5. The self-mowing lawn. The benefits of the self-mowing lawn are self-evident. Certainly technology could invent a grass that grows two inches high and then continuously sheds its top, dropping its own nutritious clippings on which it will feed and shed for future generations. Such techno-grass would enable us to enjoy our Saturdays; reduce smog; and cut the demand for gasoline, oil and bandages simultaneously.
6. The meeting-bot. Some of us spend half or more of our day in meetings—listening, collecting information, commenting, offering recommendations, giving instruction.  Computers, clouds and websites already can do all those things. Life would be so much more productive if our personal meeting robot could roll into the conference room with all the other bots from the office, exchange information and make decisions in milliseconds, and roll back to us with a PowerPoint presentation detailing our next required actions. We could actually get some work done this way—and maybe the bot could be programmed to say “Atta boy” and pat us on the back.

What do you want technology to tackle to make your life better? We’ll probably never see the self-balancing budget or the 30-second standing rib roast, but please comment (er. . . engage) on  the devices you’d really like to hang on your belt.

 

 

 

 

--Steve Friedman is the director of marketing communications at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley. Follow Steve on Twitter @prwritingpro

 

Social Media mAD-ness

On the heels of a major Facebook announcement (cue shock of IPO announcement), an unexpected story began to emerge. A couple of days ago, rumors broke of General Motors cutting its $10 million budget for Facebook advertising. GM plans on finishing their current advertising and continuing to use Facebook as an area for content strategy. This set off a flurry of news as top media outlets began to question GM’s decision, discussed the ramifications for Facebook on the eve of its IPO and brought attention to the rapid response from rival auto manufacturer Ford Motor Company.

Was GM right in cutting its budget? Are Facebook ads ineffective? The answer is all in how they’re executed.

It all gets back to one of the rules that Airfoil recently published. You have to interact with your customers in the right places, on the right platforms, and at the right time. And while we’re at it, in the right way. As Ford’s Director of Marketing Communication, Matt VanDyke stated, "You won't make the right choices if you view Facebook as an advertising network. You can't just pick up advertising that would run somewhere else and put it on Facebook as an ad banner."

GM needed to view Facebook as a place to promote creative storytelling, to share consumer experiences with its brands and promote recent stories from consumers who recently purchased one of its vehicles.

How can your business be successful advertising on Facebook? Here are a couple suggestions:

• Pick the right type of paid advertisement

Facebook has the option to choose whether you want to do a “Sponsored Story” or a “Facebook Ad.”

• Target your ads to the right people

Facebook gives you the opportunity to target precisely. You can target by age, interests, geographic location and more. You can even target friends of those who like your brand. Talk about being where your audience is!

• Create the right text for your audience

Have the proper call to action for your brand. You’re not going to sell a car by leading them to a dealer website. For larger investments like purchasing a car, lead them to a shared consumer experience where they can engage and learn from the stories of current customers.

Not all brands will see quick ROI, but remember what is important about social media: being a brand that fans can interact with. Tell them a story, create a friendship, interact and engage, and build that relationship. Don’t use your ads as an area to offer 10 percent off, use them in partnership with the main purpose of Facebook – to engage.

What are your thoughts on GM pulling their Facebook Ads? Do you think Facebook Ads are successful?

Melissa Heidel is an account executive and Eric Dornbrook is an account coordinator at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Silicon Valley and Detroit. Follow them on Twitter @melsaheidel and @ericdornbrook

10 Tips for More Effective Email Communications

Emails expose the real “you.” In an organizational setting, the communications you send to prospects,
clients and partners usually pass through some kind of quality check—an editor, an administrative assistant or the guy in the next cube. But for the most part, we’re on our own with emails. We exchange email messages with all our brilliant insights and all our flaws right there on the screen with no one else checking our grammar.

Therefore, emails frequently provide the most honest assessment of the sender’s knowledge, capabilities and care. We should be taking as much care with the emails we send as we do with our annual reports, because our personal brand is on the line. In preparing your email messages, you may benefit by keeping in mind these 10 tips:

1. Use your best grammar, spelling and punctuation. Emails are presentations to important people and part of your “permanent record” in their minds.
2. Realize that even deleted emails may be retrievable forever. Many companies receiving your email (as well as your own firm) may need to retain them for legal e-discovery, so never send emails that could result in lawsuits over abusive language, threats, libel, racism, obscenity or other issues.
3. Never expect your email to be private. Recipients may forward, copy or publicly post them; so for private messages, meet by phone or in person.
4. Don’t use capital letters for emphasis. “All caps” indicates screaming. Instead, italicize, underline or bold the words you want to stress.
5. In business e-mails, avoid texting-style abbreviations. It’s very likely that your recipient may not understand the meaning if IMHO (in my humble opinion) or BTW (by the way). One woman purportedly confided in a Facebook post that her mother, in concluding condolences and other serious messages, has been signing off with LOL, which she believed meant “Lots of Love.” LOL!
6. Always proofread before hitting the send button. Just as news editors know that their biggest errors are most likely to occur in the boldest headlines, your biggest embarrassment may occur in the shortest message. Just ask apologetic business associates who follow up a mistake with a one-word email reading, “Opps!”
7. To avoid an accidental “Send,” complete the “To” line after drafting the message. If you’re replying, cut the “To” line names and paste them back in after completing the draft.
8. Use caution in choosing “Reply” or “Reply All.” Sometimes the initial recipients may not be appropriate for the reply, as many a former employee has discovered in responding to a company email message.
9. Create separate personal and business email accounts. In that way, you can avoid accidental auto-complete of the “To” line with a business contact name, rather than that of a friend. Also, an embarrassing personal message meant for a friend is less likely to end up in a business colleague’s inbox.
10. Be considerate of the recipient’s bandwidth. Never send very heavy presentations or video as email attachments. They may tie up the recipient’s inbox, blocking other emails while they download. Instead, store the document on your intranet or extranet or in your public cloud space and send the recipient a link.

If you feel these tips are helpful, you might email them to a colleague. But proofread them first, just in case.

 

 

 

--Steve Friedman is the director of marketing communications at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley

McDonald's Redesign Looks More Like a Prison for Kids

McDonald's announced in May of last year it would redesign its restaurants to appear more upscale. At the time, Bruce Horovitz from USA Today, who had an exclusive look at one of the first redesigned models, did question whether it would alienate McDonald’s core audience of families with children.

Recently, the McDonald’s renovations came to my neighborhood of Canton, Mich. After the full facelift was complete, I decided to gage my children’s thoughts about the new makeover. So, as we were driving by in my Dodge Grand Caravan, I decided to throw the question out to my children, “What do you think of the new McDonald’s?”

“Do you like the new look?”

The car was a bit silent. Until Luke spoke up and said, “It kinda looks like a kid’s jail.”

“What!?,” I exclaimed.

I hung a Michigan left onto Michigan Ave. to drive by one my time. Sure enough – I saw it. I saw what Luke was taking about. It did look like they transformed the McDonald’s PlayPlace into a prison from the outside.

What became really apparent to me as a parent is McDonald’s forgot most importantly about the core customer who has influenced – I would ballpark – nearly 80-90 percent of all purchase decisions – children. I remember my mom telling me that one of my first words was McDonald’s or as I said it back then ‘ ‘Donald’s’ since there was a Golden Arches nearly every mile and a million commercials on TV. McDonald’s attracted my attention as a child because of its bright colors and friendly décor. Even at an early age, I recognized this was a place for me. A waving clown, bright red and yellow colors and a big letter ‘M’ – for ‘ME’.

And– when asked which fast-food place my children would like to stop at, they always select McDonald’s. And that will be the pattern until they all turn 12 (then it is Taco Bell). McDonald’s key competitive differentiator and brand roots revolve around kid-friendliness, and it’s paid off: McDonald’s ranked as the No.3 most friendly brand for kids in 2011. The closest in the restaurant
category are Pizza Hut and Burger King, which don’t even fall in the Top 25.

So, take a look at the photos and tell me. What do you think? Do you think McDonald's may have misfired in potentially alienating its most influential, engaged, loyal audience?

Only time will tell. I do think there is an opportunity for a competitor to move in on this turf. Who would most likely be best positioned to win over the children? Burger King?

In McDonald’s quest to transform itself, it may have opened the door to competition on its kids-market stronghold.

-- Leah Haran is Senior Vice President, Client Services at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Silicon Valley and Detroit.

Five Tips for Recent PR Grads

Hello slightly younger versions of us! Susie and Dave here, offering up our congratulations on being part of the graduating class of 2012. Now that you can put away your books and pens (do students still use these?), what’s next for you in the journey they call life?

Since you’re reading this, odds are you’re searching for that elusive entry-level PR job that you’ve worked toward for the past four (or in Dave’s case, seven) years. However, recent reports that one in two new graduates are jobless or underemployed can take the air out of your celebration and make the upcoming months an intimidating time for you and your classmates.

But don’t despair! There are many ways to leverage social media to your advantage and although we don’t make hiring decisions, we’d like to offer you some tips on ways to ease your transition into the PR industry:

1. Hone those skills – There are certain universal skills that will never go out of style, regardless of organization, job title or industry area of focus. It may seem obvious, but in PR, the stronger your writing and communication skills are, the more you’ll set yourself apart from the crowd. The key is to never stop practicing. Love sports? Develop a blog that breaks down the latest recruiting news. Are you into the arts? Sharpen your creative writing skills by writing reviews of the latest film festivals and art exhibits. What you’re writing about doesn’t matter. The point is that you’re practicing and developing a strong written voice. And bonus! You’ll have a great writing portfolio to share with prospective employers. 
2. Attend networking events and conferences – You know by now that PR people love social media. But after all of the interaction online, it’s a great idea to take those relationships to the next level and meet in person. Industry and community events such as TEDxDetroit, Ignite Detroit and the PRSA 2012 Michigan Conference are great opportunities to put faces with the names and strengthen your relationships. 
3. Arrange a job shadow – As you’ll soon find out, PR professionals are a friendly bunch (except for Susie). Along those same lines, we understand what you’re going through when it comes to finding a job, mainly because we were in your shoes not too long ago. We’re always looking to offer advice and help where we can, which is why asking an agency for a job shadow is a great way to learn more about the industry, gain a helpful mentor and be visible to an agency that may be looking to hire.  
4. Volunteer (with a purpose) – Take some time to assess what issues you care about and explore ways to get involved with organizations that align with your interests. Do you spend a lot of time reading about environmental issues? Consider volunteering with a non-profit that works to preserve the natural resources in your area. Are you an animal lover? Volunteer to walk dogs and clean cages at a local animal shelter. Not only will you be fulfilling your passions and helping a great cause, you’ll expand your network. You get bonus points if you volunteer to support their communications efforts. Non-profits can always use help with media relations, event organization and member communications.
5. Explore post-grad internships – A common misconception with internships is that they’re only meant for current college students. Obviously, pursuing internship experience and references during college is important, but just because you’re out of college doesn’t mean you should be discouraged from applying for an internship. On the contrary, an internship gives a potential employer a chance to see how awesome you are, and the fact that you already have your degree makes it that much easier for the agency to bring you on as a salaried employee. In fact, several ‘Foilers began their careers at Airfoil as paid interns before getting called up to the big leagues.  

In the end, it comes down to investing in yourself, keeping your options open, and reaching out to experienced PR professionals who can lend a helping hand.

 

 

-- Susie Johnston is an account executive and Dave Niemiec is an account coordinator at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Silicon Valley and Detroit.

Have You Unlocked the Potential of Your Brand?

The playing field for brands has been leveled. Consumers use web, mobile and social to define brands on their own terms, ultimately transforming themselves into becoming the brand. Winning brands of today and tomorrow have only one choice – embrace and be empowered by consumer action and engagement. How can you get there? We’re sharing Six Rules for Progressive Brands. Check out Rules #1 Control Freaks Need Not Apply and #2 Check Your Ego at the Door.

This week we’ve released Rule #3 – Don’t Be a Clown at the High School Prom. In this day and age, you can’t force the customers to come to you - instead you must interact with your customers in the right places, on the right platforms, at the right time. Why be a clown at a high school prom when you can be lighting up young faces at an 8-year-old’s birthday party!

Hear some ‘Foilers explain why it’s critical to be where your customers are:

 

Need a recap on our previous two rules?

#1 Wanted: Creative Directors for Progressive Brands - Control Freaks Need Not Apply 

Accept that you can’t ignore and control online conversations, but you know that you can help direct the show with our tangible tactics.

#2 Check Your Ego at the Door 

What can progressive brands learn from Mr. Splashy Pants? Let go and embrace the power of your online community, but don’t do it blindly. Planning, strategic messaging and careful monitoring are critical, as is transparency, ongoing, regular engagement and activation of your brand advocates.

Let us know what you think and stay tuned for next week’s rule!

--Eric Dornbrook is an account coordinator at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley. Follow Eric on twitter @ericdornbrook

 

Back off my social media

New research shows Americans hate social media promotions

Social media is hot and companies are all trying to find ways to leverage this captive audience, but according to new research from ExactTarget, social media promotion is doomed from the start because Americans hate it.

In a recent blog post on Convince & Convert from social media guru Jay Baer, he highlights a great point, “Your company needs to be human because your competing with humans.”

As brands are fighting to find the brass ring method of using social media, it could be just this simple: humanize your brand.

I think about it in terms of sales people. People don’t like “sales” people, but the most successful sales people are people that we like. We want to buy things from people that we like, not people that are pushy and trying to get us to buy something. This directly correlates into how brands are behaving on social media. Beware, consumers are pushing back and basically telling brands to back off their social media.

In ExactTarget’s 2012 Channel Preference Study (download it here for free), 1,500 Americans ages 15 and older were asked about their usage of email, social media and text messaging. Key lesson found in the report, “…just because consumers embrace a channel for personal communications doesn’t mean that they want to receive direct marketing messages from your brand via that channel.”

According to the study, 1 percent of respondents selected Twitter and only 4 percent selected Facebook as the preferred channel for permission-based promotional messages overall. The numbers rise slightly when you look at the younger generations, but not nearly as much as one might expect. Respondents were even more critical of promotions on the business social media network, LinkedIn, with zero percent selecting the platform as its preferred communications method.  Even text messaging beat out social media with 5 percent of respondents selecting this method of communication. 

So I am sure you are now wondering how Pinterest falls into all of this. As the fastest growing, independent social network with more than 17 million registered accounts as of March 2012 according to ComScore, every communicator is trying to figure out how it plays a role in our efforts. The report sums this up perfectly: “The lesson of Pinterest for marketers is right there in its name – interest.” In other words, stay away from using this platform for promotions too. Instead, use this platform (only when it makes sense to) for sharing and inspiring others to share great content. 

The good news is, while consumers are not responding to promotions via social media, they are not opposed to receiving it directly through email. In fact, the results show that the majority of Americans prefer to receive promotional materials from companies via email (77 percent). Email was reported to be used most often with 91 percent of respondents reporting daily use.  These promotions are also the most likely to result in a purchase, with 66 percent overall reporting that an email promotion resulted in a purchase.

In conclusion, businesses should leverage the power of social media as a way to humanize their brands and connect one-on-one with consumers. It should not be used as another sales channel. Give the people their social media back, your sales tactics are not welcome. 

 

-- Deana Goodrich is a senior account executive at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley.

Technology, Attire and Adoration

-- We’ve discovered that technology allows us to succeed just as well in denim as in serge.

Something subtle—but, I’m convinced, significant—has happened to our lifestyles over the past few years, something we don’t notice much until we attend religious services. Maybe it’s a difference between my Midwest upbringing and life in the South, but I don’t really think so.

Look across the pews on a typical Friday night in temple or Sunday morning in church, and you’ll spot worshippers in jeans, tennis shoes, short sleeves, open-collared polos, T-shirts, even short-shorts. Not just a few of them—most of them, including the clergy. This casual approach to the most solemn of our weekly routines is markedly different for Gen X and Gen Y congregations than for their predecessors. 

My grandfather, my dad and I all pretty much would have looked the same in a snapshot at services. We’d be wearing a dress shirt, tie and jacket at the least—often a suit.  Grandpa’s might have a wider lapel and Dad’s might be double-breasted, but the dress code didn’t change much over three or more generations.

Today, however, we’ve extended the Casual Friday of the Dot.Com Era to weeklong casual apparel and now to religious services. Some may chalk this up to the fashion influence of laid-back Silicon Valley, but it’s not a stubborn fad. It’s a new way of life.  In my opinion, furthermore, even though Java programmers may not be the instigators of this transformation, technology certainly is.

Our personal tech has allowed us to work as easily from home as from at the office. It’s simpler now to carry on a videoconference with colleagues or customers, anywhere in the world, than to participate in formal meetings. We can speak to our car’s instrument panel and send an email more easily than drafting a memo.

We’ve brought technology home, and we’ve brought home to technology. The distinction between work and home life is blurred not just by the projects we transfer between cubicle and kitchen table but also by a standardizing of the way we dress every day.  Why put on a suit and tie when the office is just one fraction of the geography where we work each day—a dwindling fraction, at that? By some sort of silent convention, business people across a broad swath of industries have agreed to dress for home rather than dress for success—because we’ve discovered that technology allows us to succeed just as well in denim as in serge.

So on Friday nights and Sunday mornings, we bring home to our houses of worship. If “dressing up” for services once had been considered an act of respect, “dressing down” has become an act of community. Let’s pray that the casual comfort we find in our evolving, technology-driven dress code extends to an increasing comfort with each other, wherever work or worship may be accomplished. Amen.

 

 

-- Steve Friedman is the director of marketing communications at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Detroit and Silicon Valley.

The Lost Art of Human Interaction

Given the option, which would you choose: watching the NCAA Final Four on TV, or attending the games in person, immersed in the energy, sights and sounds of a packed arena?

It’s a no-brainer, right?

With the proliferation of email, cell phones, Skype, iPhone’s FaceTime and Google+ Hangouts, we now have access to exciting and affordable technology that makes it easier than ever to interact with each other, regardless of distance. But believe it or not, the same factors that tip the scales in favor of watching a basketball game in person still play an essential role in communication as well.

A few months ago when one of Airfoil’s clients appointed a new executive, our team thought long and hard about how to best introduce him to the media and our public audience. With no hard news to share, we looked at our assets: 1) an energetic and knowledgeable new executive, 2) a company that, despite being between new product cycles, had compelling products on its roster, and 3) a high concentration of key reporters in two major cities.

The solution? We enlisted our new executive to travel the East Coast, meeting with reporters to share his knowledge and perform hands-on product demos along the way. And thus, the “Traveling Product Showcase” was born.

It seems deceivingly simple, right? But unfortunately, it appears this strategy is becoming less and less common, and based on the feedback we received from our reporters, “in person” is all too often an overlooked form of communication.

So what specifically makes an in-person meeting so impactful? There is seemingly endless research available that touts the importance of non-verbal communication cues, but on a less scientific level, I’ll share a few of my own observations:

1. Energy: Unless an email is filled with exclamation points (and let’s be honest, over-punctuation can be hard to read!!!), it’s difficult to convey the enthusiasm and energy needed to make something compelling. Phone calls can also fall flat, especially when hindered by zero facial expressions or body language and awkward pauses (does “Sorry, I was on mute,” ring a bell?). 
2. Tone: You know what email doesn’t have? A sense of tone. Do you know how often this has caused a recipient to misinterpret/overreact/under react to a simple statement? All the time.
3. Give-and-take: During the “Traveling Product Showcase,” one of the best interviews we conducted was less of a Q&A session, and more of a conversation. The verbal tennis match between our executive and the reporter was unlike anything I’ve seen during a media engagement, and the discussion was exhilarating, informative and valuable for all involved. As the reporter later put it, “There are just some conversations that can’t be had over the phone or email.”
4. Effort: Taking the time to arrange an in-person meeting says a lot about how much you value the other person. Trust me, it won’t go unnoticed.
5. It’s just more fun: This may be oversimplifying everything, but humans are social by nature. We thrive on interaction, so why should we limit our engagements to computer screens and phone lines?

So the next time you’re planning an interview (or any type of interaction, for that matter), consider making the time and effort to meet in person. You’ll be surprised by how much value it can add to your experience.

I’d love to hear what people think about this so leave a comment, or if you’re feeling bold, shoot me a note and let’s meet in person for a happy hour. It would be much more fun, don’t you think?

 

-- Susie Johnston is an account executive at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech PR agency with offices in Silicon Valley and Detroit.