Tag Archives: communications

My take on ‘Putting the Public Back in Public Relations’

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I’m not usually one to read business books. I got really burned out on them during grad school and would much rather spend my free time devouring a good novel. I paid little attention to the swath of social media tomes that hit the shelves in 2009. I felt like there were probably a few of those books I should be reading, but figuring out which were worth it and which were not seemed daunting. Especially when every review of each new social media book seemed rosy and glowing.

I happened to read Bill Sledzik’s less-than-glowing review of Brian Solis’ and Dierdre Breakenridge’s Putting the Public Back in Public Relations on his blog last fall. I left a brief comment thanking Bill for his honest assessment and for saving me time and money from buying the book. Within the day, Brian Solis sent me a DM on Twitter telling me he disagreed with Bill’s review and offered to send me a free copy of the book so I could decide for myself. He did, and I did.

My verdict? Honestly, it’s not too far off from Bill’s original review. I wouldn’t recommend PPBPR.

Why I can’t get behind PPBPR

I usually plow through books in one sitting, no matter the author or genre. Despite carrying PPBPR with me on planes, trains and automobiles throughout the holiday season and beyond, it took me forever to get through the book. PPBPR takes 300 pages to say what probably could have been conveyed in half that (length was also one of Bill’s complaints).

It’s repetitive. A lot of the passages are long and general and rehash discussions that have already happened on countless blogs over the past few years. The book reprints several blog posts in their entirety and I had a few déjà vu moments where I realized I had read those passages months (or even years) before when they had been originally published. For any PR practitioner who’s been even marginally keeping an eye on the changes to our profession or read blogs like Todd Defren’s or Dave Fleet’s or even Brian’s blog, PPBPR will feel a bit stale.

To be fair, Brian claimed in comments on Bill’s post that the book was written for PR professionals who haven’t been paying attention. But I don’t feel as though PPBPR would give those practitioners a strong sense of direction and tactics to walk away with; the book felt unfocused and lacked solid case studies to give professionals an idea of where to start, what’s been done, what’s worked, and what hasn’t. The few case studies it does mention are overdone: Comcast, Southwest, Zappos.

The tactics and tips that the book does offer are heavily focused on media relations for larger, consumer-facing companies. A lot of communicators simply don’t work in this kind of environment. I felt the book was light on actionable advice that could be implemented by someone running communications for a small nonprofit or a B2B manufacturing company or someone who works in employee communications. Part II, the tactical part of the book, is limited to blogger relations, social media releases (which I’ll expound upon in another post this week), video news releases and corporate blogging.

What to read instead

I’d much sooner recommend Groundswell to social media newbies than PPBPR. I think that book offers a more concrete approach to understanding the way people are using social media and how to begin to think about implementing (and integrating) social media into business operations. It also does so without relying on a lot of derivative content (like other people’s blog posts) and offers stronger examples and case studies.

I truly appreciate the that Brian was willing to reach out to me and send me the book –  it shows he is walking the walk by monitoring his brand and engaging with the people who are talking about him. I was really hoping that I’d find the book more useful, but ended up struggling to get through it and not finding a lot of value. It just didn’t work for me.

Writing a book on social media is a difficult undertaking since the tools and tactics are constantly changing. That’s the primary reason I’d rather rely on blogs and the Web for information and discussion on how these technologies are evolving and affecting communications. I’ll save the space on my bookshelf for Austen, Coelho and Chabon.

Reputation management: Royal Caribbean and Haiti

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External crises can force companies to make consternating choices.

Royal Caribbean has come under fire for continuing to dock its cruise ships on the Haitian peninsula of Labadee in light of the devastating earthquake. An article in The Gaurdian, later picked up by The Huffington Post and the LA Times travel blog, among other outlets, questions whether passengers should be sunning themselves and enjoying cocktails on the beach when so many are suffering in Port au Prince.

It’s a sticky situation for Royal Caribbean. On the one hand, they’ve used their cruise ships to deliver pallets upon pallets of supplies and drinking water for the residents of Haiti. They’re bringing economic activity to Labadee, where hundreds of Haitians rely on tourism income to feed their families (in fact, it’s probably less a matter of the positive economic impact of the cruise passengers than it is the avoidance of the negative impact should the cruise ship divert to somewhere else and thus leave those who depend on tourism revenues in a lurch). Royal Caribbean has also pledged $1 million in relief to Haiti.

Opinions are flying around the Internet and in the media as to whether RCCL is doing the right thing. Passengers themselves are divided, and some refused to disembark during the Labadee visit and stayed on the ship. Others are glad to be spending their money and be involved with the relief effort. Some have made the argument that Haiti (and for that matter, most Caribbean vacation destinations) was abjectly poor and in need before the earthquake, yet that didn’t stop cruise ships from docking there and passengers from visiting.

It’s a reputation management nightmare. There’s no clear-cut “right answer” that will make all RCCL stakeholders happy. Royal Caribbean made its decision and while many are supportive of their efforts, some are swearing off the cruise line and calling it insensitive, shameful, or even disgusting.

Blogging the company’s rationale

I do admire the way Royal Caribbean has communicated throughout this crisis. The company’s blog, written primarily by the CEO, has been almost entirely devoted to Haiti for the last two weeks. One post details the internal processes the company is using to monitor and manage the situation in Haiti – they’ve even posted a link to a .pdf of their daily meeting notes. Another post addresses the Guardian article and defends their decision to continue operations in Haiti. They’ve posted several photos of relief supplies and discuss a meeting with President Clinton. Both the CEO, Adam Goldstein, and Associate Vice President, John Weis, are posting a few times a day.

Sometimes CEO blogs get a bad rap, and it’s often deserved. They can be dry and uninformative. But having a CEO or company blog in place gives you an instant response platform when a crisis arises. Royal Caribbean had to make a tough call, and through its blog has been able to not only explain and defend its decision in detail but also receive instant feedback by way of comments. Many of the comments support the company’s choice.

I’m sure the RCCL team agonized over what the proper course of action was. I’m still not entirely sure what I would have chosen to do had I been the one making the choice. But I can appreciate that Royal Caribbean was honest, forthright and transparent about its reasons and processes with its customers. I read the posts and can relate to Adam and John as real people who had to make a difficult decision and ultimately are trying to do right by the people of Haiti, their employees, their customers and the public at large.

Did they get the communications piece right?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Instead of debating whether or not RCCL made the right choice to continue docking in Labadee (those discussions are happening all over the Web at the links I included above), I’m more interested in hearing your reactions to how they’ve communicated their choices and actions during this crisis. What could they or should they have done differently? What risks do they still face in terms of reputation management and how do you think they should address them?

How you can help

My earlier post on how to donate and support Haiti relief efforts

Image via Royal Caribbean’s Why Not blog

Facebook etiquette: To delete, or not to delete?

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The following is a guest post from Lindsay M. Allen, a PR and communications pro from central Michigan. I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with her on Twitter and meeting her a few times in person this year. Enjoy. -AM

This post has been brewing for awhile — too long, really (and I bet Amy won’t disagree … ha ha ha). It started when I noticed a brand that is near and dear to my heart (and shall therefore remain nameless) making what I felt was a big ol’ Facebook boo-boo, leading me to ponder when — or whether — it’s acceptable click that “Remove” button on the Facebook pages we are called upon, as professional communicators, to moderate.

Back to the inspiration for this post …

Organization X posted on its Facebook fan page, “(Organization X) has some breaking news to officially announce… Stay posted for details.”

Unfortunately for Organization X, there were several other organizations involved in its “big news,” and the scoop was already floating around out there and being reported on by credible mainstream media outlets that regularly cover the organizations involved, including Organization X. Bottom line: Lots of people already knew the “exciting news” and began posting about it in the comments section under the post.

As I revisited the page several times to see when Organization X would finally, officially post the news, I noticed something. The fans’ comments — all positive, excited remarks about the forthcoming news, which also was positive — were being deleted almost as quickly as they were being posted. It was sort of like a a clay-pigeon shoot, communication-style: The comments kept popping up, and someone kept shooting them down … so quickly that it would’ve been impossible to get accurate screen captures of the situation.

I was stunned by, a little angry at, and quite disappointed in Organization X. But then I realized … Organization X and its Facebook gatekeeper(s) probably aren’t alone.

Really?! Are there communicators who need so badly to control their organizations’ messages that they go so far as to delete positive comments about positive news just because they haven’t posted the news yet (probably because a news release is caught up in the review process and stuck on a manager’s desk somewhere)?!

Most conversations I had with people in the aftermath of the situation yielded one opinion: In cases like these, don’t delete! Arment Dietrich PR CEO Gini Dietrich said one of the things I’d been thinking:

Gini also suggested that any deletion of tweets, comments, etc. could be unethical, but I definitely saw something on another Facebook fan page this fall that made me think that a deletion is sometimes justified:

The folks behind the Kohl’s Facebook page removed Gilbert’s comment, and I can’t say I blame them. Would you leave something like that on your company’s Facebook page? Shelby’s “Wow” comment — presumably posted with a “holy crap; I can’t believe someone posted that” sentiment – echoes the likely thoughts that others had upon reading Gilbert’s comment (myself included).

Regardless of whether it was true, would you want to read something like that about a store where you shop? I don’t know about you, but I’m a fan of Kohl’s on Facebook so I can get news about sales … not so I can read about the company’s employees’ sexual exploits with one another. Someone at Kohl’s must’ve thought that, too, since the comment was deleted.

So, the question remains: To delete, or not to delete? And under what circumstances?

Why I blog

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I’ve flogged this deceased equine before, but no foray into social media– be it blogging or anything else– should be without strategy. That emerged as a major theme from last Friday’s Social Media Breakfast Tech Valley #4, which featured a panel discussion on blogging.

The panelists discussed how companies should decide what they hope to get out of a blog before they start one. That’s solid advice for companies, but it also spurred a discussion about personal blogs: Not every mommy blogger needs or wants to grow up to be Dooce. Not every technology blogger needs or wants to grow up to be Engadget.

It got me thinking about a very simple question: Why do I blog? What am I hoping to get out of this?

I started blogging nearly a year ago practically by accident. My first post explains how I had been becoming more active on Twitter and finding I had more to say than 140 characters allowed. I had been a long time reader of PR blogs but never felt as though I had anything to contribute. The last year has been quite a journey for me and after reflecting for a bit on “what does this all mean?” (blogging, not life), here’s what I came up with:

I don’t necessarily have a “strategy” for this blog. I don’t blog for page views or ad revenue. It’s one piece of a diverse online presence for me where I share conversations (both personal and professional) with colleagues, clients and friends. For me, it’s a success.

Why do YOU blog?

Reaching stakeholders through social media

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Here are the slides from the presentation I gave today to the Capital Region Chapter of PRSA:

PRSA: Reaching Stakeholders Through Social Media
View more presentations from amymengel.

Here are some links to content I referenced:

If you’d like to attend Social Media Breakfast on Oct. 30, register here (still a few seats left).

Let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed that you’d like a link to.