Airfoil Public Relations

Personal, professional lives inspired by nature

An Airfoil client recently launched a product design software that leverages the principles of nature and biomimicry to help architects and designers be further inspired when developing their designs. It has had my whole team thinking for months: How much does nature influence us in our everyday lives?

 

Type “Nature-inspired” into your Internet/news browser of choice (Bing it, perhaps?), and you’ll get an overwhelmingly diverse response from a variety of different sources. Nature-inspired architecture, nature-inspired furniture and interior design, nature-inspired auto, nature-inspired art – you name it, and someone has come up with ways to utilize nature to enhance or influence it. And there certainly doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with that. In fact, it seems to only make sense to use nature – it’s been around much longer than anything else, and through thousands of years of trial and error, has come up with the most fascinating and efficient ways to inspire and make things work.

 

Take a look at a few cool ideas and innovations that are inspired by nature:

 

· Stickybot is a robot that can climb smooth surfaces. This little guy’s “feet” were inspired by geckos.

· Speedo mimics shark skin in swim suits to help Olympic swimmers like Michael Phelps maximize their swim strokes.

· Who would have thought that a school of fish could inspire Nissan’s crash safety concept?

 

Even a product demo or modeling tutorial looks all the more interesting when you incorporate aspects of nature. This video demonstrates how to model a wasp using a design tool – I still love watching it in action!

 

Something as simple as a beautiful sunrise inspires me to try to have a good day and pass it on (ideally in the form of Higher Thinking for my clients, media friends and colleagues). What have you noticed in your daily lives and in the news that have been somehow influenced by nature? Or more importantly, what inspires you?

 

-- Jenn Korail

Leaping Back to School

Now that the kids have gone back to school, maybe it’s time that we did too; because there’s so much new to learn every day. The pace of technology has accelerated so rapidly in the past year—even the past weeks—that the term “Internet speed” seems somehow antiquated.

Next month marks the 40th anniversary of the connection of the first two nodes of what would evolve into the Internet. Since then, we’ve seen Web 1.0 change the underpinnings of the world’s information resources; Web. 2.0 change our relationships to business, government and each other; and Web 3.0 change our vision of how all these relationships intertwine.

The upshot is that Facebook this fall is significantly different from Facebook last spring. Twitter, which is still a mystery to large portions of the population, is being used now by engineers for real-time data updates , by customer service departments to respond immediately to service issues and by PR firms to replace news releases. Your mobile phone recently has become a primary entertainment center for live video and cool applications that you hadn’t thought even to add to your computer.

The world will leap ahead of us more quickly than ever unless we conscientiously make the effort to keep abreast of the changes speeding past us. How do we stay in touch, stay on top and stay out front of all that’s happening?

Perhaps the best way is to use new tools themselves. Perch yourself on Twitter and confront Facebook. Follow Airfoil and join its fan page, while you’re at it. Search for topics of interest, and invariably you’ll find someone (or hundreds) tweeting or posting about them. You’ll learn from the community about new ways they are using online technology.

Create an account with YouTube or Vimeo or any of 10 different video-sharing services and see what businesses are doing with the medium. Throw some photos up on Flickr and play “tag” with the community.

In other words, leap before you look to get your feet wet. The best way to sort it all out is immersion and relying on your new-found community to keep your head above water as change floods our lives.

-- Steve Friedman

Falling Flat on Customer Service

As airlines contract their schedules and jam their cabins, business travel continues to become more frustrating.  Recently at Charlotte Douglas Airport, when it was time to board my flight, attendants discovered that the Jetway had a flat tire.  Not the plane—the Jetway—and they could not figure out how to deplane the arriving passengers.  Over the period of an hour they tried to re-inflate the tire—no air in the portable tanks, apparently, and then to jack up the Jetway to change it.  Another dud attempt—how do you remove the lug nuts from a Jetway wheel?

Eventually, the passengers left the DC-9 by the tail door stairs, and the workers finally realized they needed to push the plane back and roll up a staircase.  When we subsequently boarded, the pilot tried to comment on the situation but ultimately was speechless.

To the credit of Northwest/Delta, those of us at the gate were kept apprised of the situation, but a lot of passengers missed their connections in Detroit that evening. (The flight took even longer because the aircraft was routed through Indiana to avoid thunderstorms.)

The whole experience reminded me that customer service involves more than just being responsive to customer complaints and concerns.  It entails preparation—measures that will forestall potential delays, defects and/or debates from impacting customers.  To reduce complaints and enlarge compliments, think strategically about what could/might happen and take steps early on to avert negative tweets, posts and YouTube videos:

• If you’re in a business like transportation or technology, maintain the backup supplies and systems you may need if you experience a sudden “flat tire,” and advise teams of where and how to access them.  Better yet, duplicate the systems when practical so you can switch servers or staircases rapidly.  Virtualization, for example, has enabled companies to duplicate the functions of multiple servers on just one piece of hardware.

• Monitor social media like Twitter and Facebook to discover what customers are saying about your company.  Many free monitoring and tracking applications are available online; and by taking advantage of them, you can reply in real time to upset customers or those spreading false information, avoiding a punctured brand image.

• Watch local and regional online news media for articles relating to your company, product or service. Digital newspapers and broadcast outlets really are social media these days.  You can post explanatory information, opinions or corrections of factual errors right under each story in the online edition.  You may be able to share photos, post videos or even write your own blog on the news outlet’s site.  See what is available and use it to shape your image and put a halt to any building consumer concerns.

I’m flying to O’Hare soon and…well, imagine the possibilities.

--Steve Friedman

Customer service: hit me with your best shot

Small-business owners can learn so much about their company through customer feedback -- the opportunities, threats, the hottest products or services you should continue to keep available, what’s working well and what isn’t. Your best shot serves as a key to a secure position in an uncertain future within a shaky and newly emerging economy.

Businesses are starting to realize that if they don’t take customer service into account, negative feedback can turn into a public relations crisis and impacts the bottom line. While it may be easier said than done (and an ostensibly painful experience), be fearless and take the feedback head on.

A recent article by Michael Sanserino and Cari Tuna in the Wall Street Journal shares how even larger companies such as the Cheesecake Factory, Inc. and Sprint have tuned into customer service activity via social media and turned the feedback into an action plan and scorecard to track and improve their customers’ experiences.

You see surveys at the end of every receipt you get from a major retailer. When you purchase online from Amazon, they ask for your review of the product and, if applicable, of the independent seller.

Here are a few tips and tools to get you started:

• Set up an account with a service that provides review capabilities to survey and connect with your customers post-transaction (disclosure: RatePoint is an Airfoil client).

• If possible, collect contact information through online transactions and during brick-and-mortar checkouts; keep a database of your customers to keep them informed on the latest company news and discounts.

• Consider a Twitter account. Twitter doesn’t have to be a mini-complaint board. You can use it to reach out to customers, gain new ones and establish a steady dialogue. Twitter recently released a <Twitter for business guide.

• Allow customers to provide impromptu feedback via a comment form on your company Web site. Alongside transactional surveys, customers may have questions prior to purchase.

At this economic juncture, the goal of being in business is to stay in business. So make your business bullet-proof and ask your customers to “fire away” with feedback.

-- By Meg Soule

 

Does speed trump accuracy in media wars?

Or did traditional media take too much time in the news-gathering process? Because if you were waiting for the day when you could finally start writing that case study titled, “The Day New Media Made Old Media Look Slow and Decrepit,” it would have been the day Michael Jackson died.

While news of the King of Pop’s passing originated on celebrity gossip site TMZ.com and spread like wildfire on Twitter, CNN was reporting only that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital.

Even though CNN, understandably, did not want to report on the death until their sources confirmed the story – especially after the Steve Jobs/iReport debacle last year -- they came away looking slow and behind-the-times.

Meanwhile, most outlets (including the local sports talk station I was listening to on my way home from work) were citing TMZ.com.

You can chalk it up to luck, or a case of not having a reputation to uphold, but TMZ was the clear winner.  It wasn’t until nearly two hours after the first reports of Jackson’s death surfaced that CNN finally called it.

But at that point, they were regurgitating what was already known rather than breaking news.

It begs the question: Does new media stand for speed and traditional media equate to accuracy?

As an aside, the contrast between the two anchors reporting the news – Dax Holt on TMZ and Wolf Blitzer on CNN – was almost laughable if it weren’t such an accurate representation of new and old media colliding.  By all accounts, Blitzer is an accomplished and accurate reporter of news, but his presence on the air as the story developed only served to reinforce the image of old media, albeit unintentionally.

Score one for new media.

-- Brad Marley

 

Where Have All the LPs Gone?

I’m determined that, some day, I’ll find the time to put together the coffee-table book that has been percolating in my head for a decade or so.  It’ll be called “Where’d It Go?” or “Whatever Happened to Baby Ruth?” or some similar title that reflects the silent, rapid, baffling disappearance of those objects that once formed the foundation of our daily personal and business lives.

Certainly the book will include full-color pages on carbon paper, wooden clothes pins, Coke bottles, typewriters, Wite-Out, rooftop TV antennas, ¾-inch tape machines, record players, answering machines, carburetors and goose horns.  But the longer I delay publishing the book, the longer and heavier the book becomes, for now I must consider adding first- and second-generation technology that is being replaced by subsequent generations.  So I’m also reserving pages for:

• Videotape

• Telephone keypads

• Phone booths

• Toner cartridges

• File cabinets

• Offices with doors

Beyond the never-ending obsolescing of our favorite products, however, I’m running into another nagging issue.  None of these items has really totally disappeared.  Many businesses in cold climates still prefer carbon paper because carbonless systems don’t work well there.  Camera crews use wooden clothes pin every day to clip gels over powerful lights—the wood doesn’t absorb the heat.  The occasional columnist still literally pounds out his wares, and vinyl is becoming a prestige medium for music.

The fact that so many of these now useless devices have continued to draw so many users has made me reluctant to add print newspapers and magazines  to my ready-to-die list.  No matter how convenient the Web, no matter how uneconomical the alternatives, I have a strong feeling that the world holds a niche for the morning paper and the weekly mag, just as it does for mp3 and flash drives.

To update General MacArthur, newsprint doesn’t die; it just slowly fades away—but it grows on trees and will always be revived  by those who, lounging in their yard on a July 4^th weekend,  would rather fall asleep with the funnies covering their face than with a mobile phone in their eye.

And as for my coffee-table opus, on further reflection I’ve come to realize that my list of practically obsolete products has failed to include two other items that are ready to bite the dust (except for the nostalgic few of us) coffee tables … and coffee-table books.

--Steve Friedman

 

Productivity, fewer meetings become hot topics at Midwest Technology Leaders Conference

Lance Perry, vice president of IT Customer Strategy for Cisco, is my new productivity hero. A key theme of his keynote remarks at last week’s Midwest Technology Conference at the amazing MGM Grand Detroit Hotel was how to do more with less.  He spoke of Cisco’s and his own personal commitment to manage the amount of time spent on and in meetings.  How is Cisco going about this? It begins at the top: The CIO and CEO are asking employees to rely more on technology (Cisco technology that is) to spend less time in person and more time on line.  According to Lance, more is getting done and travel costs are plummeting.  Cisco took a first step in this mission to beat down the meeting by providing employees with computer-top cameras and technology that virtually connects them with their peers and customers. 

Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer is on a similar meeting theme, according to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal, in which Ballmer describes his new meeting management style:  gone are the long, drawn-out PowerPoint presentations; instead, he asks that PowerPoint decks be provided in advance of meetings, which are reserved for dialogue and feedback.  The result: tighter meeting agendas, better decision making, and more productivity.

Speaking of productivity, it was a major theme across the conference.  Specifically, how to use technology to promote productivity in a down economy.  Here again, Perry had good common sense to offer as he described the five things Cisco is doing to prepare for the economic turnaround: 1. Save to invest. 2. Unlock employee potential (let employees have a voice in technology purchases and usage; top down IT decision making is a thing of the past). 3. Drive customer intimacy (Cisco managers are encouraged to visit customers in person at least quarterly). 4. Outpace the competition. 5. Transition to a borderless enterprise.

The attendance and quality of speakers/content at the Midwest Technology Leaders Conference helped to invigorate and refresh my interest and enthusiasm for technology innovation – right here in Detroit.  Perhaps it is a sign of better things ahead.

-- Lisa Vallee Smith

 

Doctors Talking to Doctors: The Best Medicine for HIT Marketers

I’ve been immersed in the world of healthcare information technology (HIT) for the past few years, and I’m amazed at the sheer volume of information about HIT tools and their value coming from every direction, due in large part to HIT provisions in the ARRA. From healthcare trade publications to consumer media to technology-focused television advertising, it’s clear HIT’s heyday is here.

More hospitals, health systems and physician practices than ever are giving serious consideration to HIT investment, but the myriad volume of news and commentary about what to think about, when to think about it and what tools to leverage can leave the average CIO, practice manager and physician scratching their heads.

So how can those who market HIT stand out from the countless offerings on the market and become more than just another voice in a crowded room?  The answer is deceptively simple, no matter what’s being said in Washington: When doctors talk to doctors, HIT marketers should be there – and should do far more listening than talking.  It may surprise you to learn the process begins and ends with listening.

In my work representing an electronic medical records (EMR) software provider, I have heard and absorbed doctors’ concerns about using EMR technology. EMR had to be intuitive and require little to no staff training. It had to offer local service and support, since doctors who can’t access data can’t practice. Most importantly, it had to be an enabler to better patient care rather than a detractor from it by conforming to the way doctors practice medicine.

With these requirements, my job was clear: Spend time listening to doctors talk about how EMR should bring value to their practices, and then talk about how my client’s product met and exceeded those value expectations, with firsthand feedback from the doctors themselves. An aggressive healthcare trade campaign, several product demos and a battery of case studies later, we showed we cared about what doctors need, adding value to their operations, adding value to my client’s brand and growing the sales pipeline.

The HIT marketer’s world is fraught with a variety of pressures, and it’s incredibly easy for even the most experienced among us to focus on the tactical rather than the strategic.  In reality, the prescription for success is simple:

• LISTEN. What do my end-users really want?

• RESPOND. Does my product address those needs? Does it require improvement?

• COMMUNICATE. How can I demonstrate my product addresses my end-users’ needs?

• SELL. Let doctors “try before they buy.”

• LISTEN AGAIN. Has my product hit the mark? What have I done well? What do I need to improve?

-- Brian Barthelmes

 

Innovation at Telematics Detroit overshadowed by major automotive industry news

You have to give it to the automakers, despite bankruptcies, government control, slumping sales and a perception that innovation is lacking, they continue to move forward. This was evident at the Telematics Detroit show held in Novi this week, where you could find representatives of all the major automakers actively engaged in conversations to find the latest telematics innovations for the vehicle.

Look at how Ford Sync, powered by Microsoft, has been a major factor in its emergence and clearly consumers’ expectations for vehicle technology innovation is high.

Airfoil client UIE Automotive showcased its new mobile technology platform, myCar™ , at the show. UIE Automotive’s myCar™ platform connects vehicles with owners on their mobile devices, showcasing connected services on the iPhone from Apple and RIM’s Blackberry Bold. WWJ’s Matt Roush called it “the coolest thing I saw,” and many other attendees reacted similarly. Innovations like myCar™ will be what fuels the comeback of GM and Chrysler.

There’s no doubt attendance was down, but that’s nothing new. While tradeshow attendance and exhibition may be down, the quality of conversations at these events for those still willing to make the investment is high.

So despite GM’s bankruptcy announcement, life went on this week for the auto industry and if you can have a little faith, there’s a sunny day down the road once the clouds clear.

-- Tim Wieland

 

HIT marketers need to follow SMB tech marketers’ example for success

As I become more of a healthcare tech geek, each experience at my own physician’s office turns into a discovery mission. My most recent visit to the doctor was a healthy visit last week. My poor physician had no idea he was heading into an interview when he entered my room.

“Are you using EMR? How far into the adoption process are you? What system are you using? What factors are influencing that decision? Have you seen any financial or clinical benefits from adoption?

Luckily, he was happy to talk. He’s not in charge of his practice's EMR adoption but his partner is and had attended HIMSS (http://www.himssconference.org/). My doctor has some serious reservations.

His first was patient relationships. His wife went to her doctor for a visit last month and the doctor only made eye contact with her once during a 20-minute visit. The rest of the time, her doctor was busy entering data into a computer. Yikes. I understand why my physician has reservations. The clinical data proposition is powerful to many doctors but if it is at the expense of the patient relationship that drives patient loyalty and perceived visit value, it isn’t worth it to them.

His second was his affiliated health system’s “solution” does not work for his practice for many reasons.  Physicians desire customized solutions, which carry a heavy price tag.  Based on this, the subscription-based models likely have the most growth opportunity with this market. They are easy to implement, many times can “talk” to any number of the existing major HIT systems, and physicians can see faster ROI.

My doctor is a small business owner. His customers (READ: patients) are his lifeblood and any investment must be heavily weighed against time-to-ROI.  It makes sense that he’s not jumping on the bandwagon or, perhaps, off the bridge, in this case.

HIT providers desire to market to the big dogs – the hospitals and health systems – but these networks will not function properly until our local physicians are active participants.  To get them ingrained, HIT marketers must provide the “what’s in it for me” for individual practices and physician groups.  HIT marketers should take a cue from small business tech marketers and make the value proposition clear and easily achievable.

(Warning: shameless plug) I do know some marketing experts in SMB tech and healthcare if anyone is looking…

-- Elin Nozewski