Inside PR 3.13: The importance of participating in real life

October 26, 2012 • admin • PR

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It’s fall and, like many of you, we’re on the learning circuit. Now, I’m not talking about formal post-secondary education (of course, that’s valuable too). I mean attending conferences and events, gaining insights from speakers and meeting new people. We were recently at the PRSA International Conference in San Francisco and will be featuring audio and video interviews we did over the next few weeks.

And, on November 7 we’ll be at meshmarketing in Toronto to talk to more thought-leaders and digital innovators.

On this week’s show, we discuss some of our PRSA highlights and feature an interview with Kristina Halvorson, CEO of Brain Traffic, and one of the keynote speakers at meshmarketing.

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This year’s conference was filled with standout content and lots of lively interaction between sessions. Highlights include a keynote by Twitter founder Biz Stone, who said ‘creativity is a renewable resource’, sessions on story marketing, a panel let by the CEOs of several major PR agencies looking at where the business is heading and presentations by Lee Odden, Shonali Burke, Shel Holtz.

One takeaway Joe observed is that we’re living in a post-social-media world and looking at a PR industry that’s positioning itself to compete with advertising and digital. We’re interested to hear your thoughts on how the profession is evolving.

Kristina Halvorson: content as a complicated beast

According to Kristina, the web is content. That’s one of the primary reasons we go online, whether to consume or create content. Businesses are waking up to the fact that we need to be focusing our time and energy on it – and it’s not easy; content is a complicated beast.

That’s because many organizations aren’t properly structured to identify the kind of content that’s needs to be created, how it’s all going to work together, who’s going to develop it, where it’s going to be published and who’s going to maintain it over time.

She believes companies need to start by having a group therapy session; a series of candid conversations where they can share their challenges and work toward a shared solution to create a more effective content strategy with clear goals.

You’ll be able to hear more from Kristina – and Lee Odden – at meshmarketing.

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Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.12: The Right, the Wrong, and the Accidental

October 22, 2012 • Gini Dietrich • PR

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During the Presidential debate on October 3, 2012, the person handling the KitchenAid account tweeted this:

The tweet was deleted almost immediately but not, of course, before it was screen grabbed and retweeted to death.

And then something surprising happened. KitchenAid caught their mistake and handled it. Immediately.

And then, Cynthia Soledad emailed Mashable to say:

During the debate tonight, a member of our Twitter team mistakenly posted an offensive tweet from the KitchenAid handle instead of a personal handle. The tasteless joke in no way represents our values at KitchenAid, and that person won’t be tweeting for us anymore. That said, I lead the KitchenAid brand, and I take responsibility for the whole team. I am deeply sorry to President Obama, his family, and the Twitter community for this careless error. Thanks for hearing me out.

And then she tweeted directly to the President to apologize.

Joe Thornley, Martin Waxman, and I (Gini Dietrich) discuss this topic, why it’s news, and whether or not it was crisis well done.

We also talk about the trend of social TV and how big real-time events, such as the debates or the Olympics or the Academy Awards, create an opportunity for each of us to have a voice via the social networks as we’re watching.

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Earlier this month, Darren Barefoot challenged The Globe & Mail for not linking to an Inc. article they wrote about and for using a much too similar “link bait” headline (which was changed when Barefoot emailed the business editor).

The real meat of the discussion comes when he says in his blog post:

In our remix culture, I feel strongly that we ought to, whenever possible, acknowledge our antecedents. It would have been easy for the Globe to recognize and link to Inc. in the text of the article (“In August, Inc. asked the question…”) or in a footer at the end of the article.

We discuss (and don’t all necessarily agree) on whether or not journalists should be required to link to sources of inspiration.

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Inside PR 3.11: We’re baaaack…

October 13, 2012 • admin • PR

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Well, it’s fall 2012, our extended summer vacation is over and we’re excited to be starting a new season of Inside PR.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our collection of interviews and want to thank our listeners for being patient and to welcome all of you back.

This week, we catch up by mentioning a few of the changes that have happened since our last recording including the fact that Google has eclipsed Microsoft as the second largest technology company by market cap. Byng is getting closer to Facebook and that’s making it a more relevant search engine. And Twitter’s closing the gates to their API and leaving some of the developers who’ve helped build the service behind.

As many of you know, Gini has just finished 25 weeks on the road, launching her new book, Marketing in the Round and she talks about some of the things she’s learned.

She said she was most surprised by the length of the process – a full year to sign a contract, write, edit, publish a book and then another few months for people to start reading and talking about it and for the authors to know if they’re making an impact. That’s very different from the instant gratification we get from blog posts and online social interactions.

She also found traditional sales measurement lacking. It takes a couple of weeks to receive reports and they only track hardcover sales and not special sales or ebooks. She says she’s used to working in a fast-paced world and publishing is more traditional and slower.

So what’s on the horizon for Inside PR? We’re happy to be partnering with PRSA again. Joe and Martin will be at the International Conference recording video and audio interviews with some of the speakers and thought leaders. Martin’s also presenting a session called Social Media Barometer. So if you’re there, please say hi.

We’re also excited to be sponsoring MeshMarketing 2012 in Toronto. We’ll be talking to some of the presenters including Kristina Halvorson and the organizing team and will be roving reporters at the event – which always features innovative thinkers in the social and digital space.

And we’re interested to hear from you and any ideas you have about what you’d like us to discuss.

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Inside PR 3.10: Check-in with the Founder of Foursquare and the Role of Agency and Client

September 27, 2012 • admin • PR

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Well ladies and gentlemen, this is our last episode of the summer series of interviews. Next week, you get to hear all three voices of the Inside PR team: Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joseph Thornley.

This week, Martin catches up with Dennis Crowley, co-founder and CEO of Foursquare , at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Martin and Crowley talk about how far Foursquare has come, what they plan on doing next year and the amazing stuff they are doing with big data.

Martin also catches up with Doug Haslam, Client Services Supervisor at Voce Communication Architecture, at the PRSA Digital Impact Conference. Martin and Doug talk about the relationship between agency and client and the roles each should fulfil.

They also talk about data and trends. Doug says “data lies, trends don’t.” It is important to look at data over a period of time watching where the spikes and lows are to determine what works and what doesn’t.

Doug also shares his views on infographics. He has two Pinterest boards, one called Infographics I like and the other Infographics Crimes Against Humanity. Just remember, Doug says “if you make me scroll I will troll.”

Until next week!

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Inside PR 3.09: Martin Waxman at the Social Capital Conference

September 21, 2012 • admin • PR

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We’re almost finished our summer series of interviews (and will be back recording new shows next week!). And we’ve been fortunate to talk with some very intelligent and interesting people in our industry.

This week, we air Martin Waxman‘s interviews with three presenters at the Social Capital Conference in Ottawa this June.

The conference blended formal presentations with community/un-conference style sessions on topics ranging from Twitter to LinkedIn, the technical details of self-hosting a blog to the how-tos of personal branding, and online community building to social media in the workplace.

Martin was thrilled to be the keynote speaker. The crowd sure loved him, because he started trending in Ottawa on Twitter. Go Martin!

Martin caught up with Tanya Snook, a web and social media strategist for the Government of Canada, also known as @spydergrrl on Twitter. They talk about Tanya’s presentation which concentrated on five ways not-for-profits can successfully engage in social media.

Martin also spoke with Kat Inokai, whose Trying Times blog is featured on YummyMummyClub. They talk about Kat’s experience about blogging on subjects that are very private in her life. Some believe she is too open. Kat and Martin explore her story and discuss privacy for bloggers.

And finally, Martin interviewed the closing keynote speaker at the Conference, Heather Greenwood Davis, a writer with more than 15 years of journalism experience in traditional media. Recently, she just got back from a year travelling around the world with her husband and two young boys. Martin and Heather discuss how she used social media to keep in touch with family and enhance her experience abroad. You can read about her travels on her blog.

Thanks to all three ladies for their time and wisdom. And thanks to all the organizers of Social Capital!

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Inside PR 3.08: Rob Flaherty and the PRSA 2012 International Conference

September 17, 2012 • admin • PR

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This week, we air a special episode of Inside PR. Martin Waxman catches up with Rob Flaherty, the co-chair of the PRSA International Conference and CEO of Ketchum.

The 2012 International Conference takes place in San Francisco between October 13 and 16 and focuses on the intersection of technology and media. Here’s where to go to register online.

Flaherty talks about his role, and how he, along with his co-chairs Jack Martin, Global Chairman & CEO, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Janet Tyler, Co-CEO & Founder, Airfoil Public Relations, worked on planning the conference. He says it took a lot of bright and intelligent people to bring together such a strong line-up for 2012.

Flaherty also talks about an exciting panel on The Agency of the Future, hosted by himself, Jack Martin, Tyler and Fred Cook, CEO of Golin Harris.

If you are attending PRSA, you may catch Martin at this panel. You can also catch Martin at his own session, Social Media Barometer, on Sunday.

This year’s conference theme is ‘The Future is Now’, which represents how we are entering a new era of public relations and communications. Everything from radical transparency to globalization of PR.

To support the theme there will be keynotes by some of North America’s leading entrepreneurs, thinkers and innovators:

Biz Stone, Co-Founder, Twitter
Tim Westergren, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Pandora
June Cotte, Ph.D., Consumer Behavioral Expert
Michael Steele, Political Analyst, MSNBC

But, PRSA is not all about the keynotes, there are a variety of networking opportunities to meet other greats minds in our industry.

If you have the opportunity we encourage you to check out the conference in San Franciso between October 13 and 16. Make sure to look out for Inside PR we hope to see you there!

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Inside PR 3.07: Passion Combined with Measurement Make Oink Outings a Success and We Love Our Schools Clean Classrooms

September 12, 2012 • Gini Dietrich • PR

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As a vegetarian, I was very interested to learn more about the Oink Outings with the Minnesota Pork Producers, particularly how they care for the baby pigs to make sure they get the right nutrition as soon as they’re born so, well, they can be slaughtered and brought to your dinner table.

While they didn’t turn me back into a carnivore, this interview covers more than just public relations, results, and the Silver Anvil entry.

You’ll learn that Oink Outings are events created by the Minnesota Pork Producers and Weber Shandwick to get moms to the farm. There they learn about what the pork producers do – from farm to fork – in order to build trust for the product. The goal was to show moms it’s OK to serve pork to their families and that it can be a trusted food source.

One of the things Weber Shandwick did as part of the PR program is survey moms before and after the program. What they found is a 79 percent increase in trust after moms had been on an Oink Outing.

When asked the three things other communications professionals can take away from the program, they said: Have passion for your work, measure your efforts (before, during, and after), and have fun!

If you have passion and know how to combine that with strategy and measurement, you’ll win every time.

Have a listen…I think you’ll enjoy hearing from a Minnesota Pork Producer. Her passion is very clear during the discussion.

Also in this episode…

The “We Love Our School” initiative from Bounty left behind chalkboards that gleamed brighter, windows free of fingerprints, and desks so clean you could eat off them. By cleaning more than 2,500 classrooms across the country, “Bounty” and “clean classrooms” was on the tips of the tongues of more than 25,000 volunteers and 430,000 students.

When Bounty learned teachers were spending their own money and time on classroom cleaning and supplies, the brand saw an opportunity to put its product to use for communities and students nationwide. Launched on Valentine’s Day last year, “We Love Our School” successfully mobilized the Bounty target audience – moms with kids in school – to launch a nationwide school cleaning initiative.

Bounty encouraged parents, students and administrators to take the “We Love Our School” pledge and vowed to help provide cleaner learning environments to help foster creativity and hands-on learning.

With a multi-faceted campaign containing a persistent message, strong sampling and “always on” social media, Bounty’s program fulfilled a need in the community and engaged consumers with its “We Love Our School” initiative.

With roving reporter Gini Dietrich (aka me), you’ll learn more about the program, the research compiled ahead of time, and the results that created clean classrooms across the country.

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Silver Anvil Awards: interviews with finalists [videos]

August 31, 2012 • admin • PR

Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joseph Thornley got busy this year at the PRSA Silver Anvil Awards. They, well, Gini, caught up with award winners and finalists to find out what made their campaigns and initiatives successful.

Here are some of those interviews, enjoy!

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Home is Where the GIFT Is

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Centennial Celebration of Service

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: The Power of the Purple Purse: Talking About Domestic Violence

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Oink Outings: Bringing Moms to the Farm

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Helping Pets Win a Losing Battle

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Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.06: Two Silver Anvil awards about giving back to the community

August 30, 2012 • admin • PR

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As we continue our special summer series of interviews, this week we feature two interviews from the Silver Anvil Awards, or as Gini likes to call them, the Oscars for the PR industry.

First we talk with Jay Winuk from the non-profit organization MyGoodDeed. Jay shares his story of the birth of 911 day, a national day of service to commemorate and remember those who perished on September 11, 2001.

9/11 Day is the international non-profit movement to observe September 11 every year as a day of charitable service and doing good deeds. It was created soon after 9/11 to provide a positive way to forever remember and pay tribute to the 9/11 victims, honor those that rose in service in response to the attacks, and remind people of the importance of working more closely together in peace to improve our world. Today millions participate annually by taking time out on 9/11 to help others in need, in their own way.

Then, we talk with Taryn Sullivan from Edelman in Atlanta and The Gateway Center about their award winning submission called Home is Where the GIFT is. Atlanta’s nonprofit Gateway Center, which battles chronic homelessness by providing services and self-sufficiency skills, asked Edelman to secure media coverage of a $32,000 gift from the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District publicprivate partnership. The agency did much more than that by executing a program that drove $70,000 in donations, contributed to securing 54,200 homes for the homeless, and established sustainable relationships to continue generating support.

That is all for now, until next week!

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Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.05: June Cotte, PRSA International Conference keynoter, on ethical consumption

August 27, 2012 • admin • PR

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This week, Martin talks with PRSA International Conference keynote speaker, June Cotte, associate professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario and the school’s George and Mary Turnbull Fellow.

Professor Cotte studies consumer behavioural and purchase issues, also the subject of her presentation, ‘When Will Consumers Pay to Be Good’.

Cotte and her colleagues conduct research on socially conscious consumption including recent experiments where consumers are exposed to certain purchase conditions and then asked to respond in order to determine how and why people behave the way they do and when they’ll pay more for ethically produced products.

In addition to paying a premium for ethically produced products, she found consumers will penalize brands by paying a lower price for goods when a company’s corporate behaviour is in question. Consumer attitudes are cyclical and Cotte observed that ethical consumption was important in the ‘70s though less so in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The current prevailing sentiment toward socially responsible behavior began to emerge again in the 2000s. She contends a cultural zeitgeist drives the change and that is where PR can come in, to explain the story and the benefits of an organization’s positive behaviour to consumers. This is especially important in an economic downturn where price becomes more of a consideration.

And because firms can get into trouble when they oversell a claim, communicators can help organizations strike a balance between explaining what they’re doing and the effect it has and help them deliver the story in the right tone.

It’s a fascinating study and you can hear more at the PRSA International Conference, October 13 to 16, 2012 in San Francisco.

Gini, Joe and Martin will also be at the conference and we look forward to meeting you there.

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Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.