A Media Person's Musings

Waggener's Woes

Dear oh dear. The curse of electronic media has struck again and I have to say I do feel great sympathy for the nitwit from Waggener Edstrom (the worldwide PR company that invented Communication Innovations!) that hit the send button in error! Boy oh boy was this a communication innovation if ever I saw one!

The email that was sent to the journalist, one Fred Vogelstein a contributing editor to Wired Magazine, contained a full dossier of notes relating to .... Fred Vogelstein! It isn't uncommon for agencies to keep notes on journalists but this 13 page document contained really personal commentaries with comments like "it takes him a bit to get his point across so try to be patient" and "we're pushing fred to stop reporting and start writing". Fred's own commentary on the matter makes interesting reading and his experience here further reinforces the low regard that some journalists have of PR people.

This booboo exposed, in my eyes, some questionable practices. In my first agency we took notes on journalists but when the Data Protection Act came to force in 1998 I decided to stop this process because as the act dictates " when we hold data, we hold it in trust for people, and we are obliged to treat the data as their property and not ours". In effect it means that any notes we hold on any person is their property and their right to see.

But, also I am very uncomfortable with people expressing their own personal opinion in judgement of others. We have all come across situations in everyday life where we take a dislike to someone who a colleague or a friend may think is simply great. This can happen with journalist relationships too. Keeping notes on people means that you are influencing others before they have even formed an opinion or taken their own approach.

I think it is fine to record when a journalist has reported on or interviewed a client but giving opinion just can't be condoned. My advice is, when you keep a note on a journalist, to consider if this is something that they would be happy reading about themselves. If, as in Waggener Edstrom's case, it is more than mildly embarrassing, then think again about what you write.

Also - I have written about how to deal with a crisis many times on my blog. Frank Shaw the Waggener Edstrom CEO has absolutely blown it when it comes to handling his own crisis in his blog. He faffs around saying that he doesn't want to talk about it and then offers to have a beer with people who press him for comment. Bizarre. Current and potetial clients may well think twice before looking to WagEd for their crisis communications offering. If they can't teach their own CEO how to communicate in a crisis I hold out very little hope for them of helping their clients in times of need.

All Together Now

I was interviewed today by a magazine about how corporations can better integrate staff across continents and time zones through video conferencing. We installed video conferencing between our office sites last year and were surprised at the relative low costs. I am a great fan of the medium because I believe that we express ourselves much better when people can actually see (as well as hear or read) what you are saying. After years of conference calls where I have struggled to hear a point of view over the general hubbub I find that video conferencing doesn't only make you communicate better but it also leads you to feel more involved and part of the wider team.

Video conferencing helps me integrate at a meeting/management level and and it is also useful for the cross continent training sessions we run for staff through our Peppercom State University but it isn't the most useful tool we have. I was shocked to see how much of a difference having internal Instant Messaging has helped. At the suggestion of one of our staff we installed Google Talk across the company. Every staff member is listed with their picture and I can IM everyone from the CEO through to the credit controller and have a quick instant chat. It has the immediacy of a telephone call and is more personal than email.

However, the use of any communications platform - be it phone, email, IM or video conferencing - still needs a business etiquette so that it can be used courteously, effectively and professionally: We all know not to use CAPS in emails or on forums because it means that we are shouting. In some ways the tools themselves are helping us overcome communications actions (caused by cultural differences) that can be misinterpreted. For example at the end of every conference call I have with companies inthe US they simply put the phone down without saying goodbye. I used to get really offended by this until I realised it was just the way they did things. Now we wave goodbye! As new communications platforms continue to emerge it will be interesting to see how people grapple with how to use them courteously and effectively.

First Impressions Count

Yesterday I met with a search consultant who was putting together a shortlist of agencies for a huge multinational organisation. When I asked her how she had found us she said that her search process had started months ago and that, at the beginning of the search she had telephoned over 100 agencies, and had whittled down from there to the 6 that she was to vet in person.

So what had made her select Peppercom as one of the final six? Of course she had done her research and seen that we were well referenced, had all the right capabilities and were award-winning but that was not the reason why she selected us. She simply said 'first impressions count'.

Her numerous calls to many agencies had caused her much frustration - having to leave messages here and there and frequently being put through to voicemail (where more often than not she decided not to leave a message).

When she called us the phone was answered promptly and politely. She stated she wanted to speak to a director and was put immediately through. She got answers to all her questions and made an appointment then and there.

We have had much debate in the office about whether to have voicemail. Personally I hate it and think it is very impersonal. There is no real excuse for it now that we have email and most people have mobile phones. Certainly in our profession you should be able to contact us immediately. The visit from the search consultant totally validates my point.

Finally it shows how important and valuable your 'front of house' person is. I am lucky that we work in a very flat meritocracy where everyone is involved and is as important as the next. Yesterday the big pat on the back of the day went to front of house and if we are lucky enough to win the account it is largely down to them.

Sticky Wicket

Its the cricket World Cup and the competition is fierce in St Lucia. England is not doing well having just been beaten by New Zealand and a crucial qualifier beckons in just over a day's time when disaster strikes! Freddie Flintoff, the hero of England's Ashes win and vice -captain of the England team is suspended by the management and stripped of his vice-captaincy after he was found to have been out partying with team-mates well into the small hours of the morning. He was so drunk he fell out of a pedalo and had to be rescued by hotel staff!

Of course there was the normal hue and cry in the media - rantings about what it means to be a professional sportsman, the privilege of representing one's country and the sad role models we have for our children nowadays.

The ECB (or whatever 'powers that be' on the tour) handled the whole nasty episode brilliantly. They acted quickly and strongly: They took action immediately and even called a press conference the next day to put the ashamed Flintoff in front of the media to explain himself. He was clearly well groomed for the appearance (without his big diamond studs and hair smoothed down so that he looked like a disgraced schoolboy). Clearly he had been media trained: He stayed 'on message' giving a humble apology and repeated his messages over and over again. A masterful performance that can be seen here.

This was a lesson in damage limitation. Without such decisive action there would undoubtedly have been more of a broohaha. I for one think Freddie has been singled out as the whipping boy. Yes he did a stupid thing. Yes he is probably a bit arrogant, overpaid and definitely naive but he handled the media attention admirably and with dignity and never once referred to all of his other team-mates who were only punished with fines. Indeed the genius of holding the media conference distracted the media away from some of the more worrying facts about the night..that the coaches were out boozing too...the very people who are supposed to be the arbiters!

So will Freddie suffer ultimately from this? I think not. He has gathered quite a lot of sympathy since his appearance on our screens yesterday. And actually, when it comes to being a role model, he's not so bad! He (like David Beckham after the notorious sending off in the World Cup when he received death threats as a result of the negative media) has taken his punishment like a man, admitted he was wrong and pledged to be better in future. I hope he can.

David Beckham has just announced his football academy website and he is making a great contribution by trying to give all kids some healthy and safe pursuits and an alternative to hanging out in gangs on street corners.

It is always heartening for all of us imperfect people to see someone take themselves by the scruff of the neck, moderate their behaviour and change for the better. Beckham did it by curbing his temper, focussing on his career and now by giving back. If one knife-wielding youngster follows Freddie's example, seeing that even if you do go wrong that you can make it right, I think that would be a good thing.

Food for Thought

My last post about Mencap provoked some debate in the office about how things are described. Now I hear that it is politically incorrect for us to have 'brainstorms' as it is derogatory to  people with mental conditions! These, apparently, should now be more appropriately titled 'thought showers'. For God's sake. If I went to a client and said 'let me go back to the office with the team so we can have a 'thought shower' I would be laughed out of town.

That led to a heated discussion about a documentary that focussed on the presenter and footballer's wife Louise Redknapp aiming to get down to a size zero from what was described as a 'curvy' size 8 (US size 4). I find it hard to believe that anyone (unless they were 7 years old) that was a size 8 could be described as 'curvy'. Louise Redknapp certainly wasn't curvy at 7.10 and I think this sets a really bad example to people who watched the documentary.

Sure, she showed the horrible side effects of intensive dieting but with so many cries in the media for women's natural sizes to be represented responsibly and reasonably by the fashion industry and the media it is quite shocking that an already thin woman was chosen for this 'social experiment'. More shocking that she was described as curvy...

Mencap Madness

The recent news reports about patients with 'learning disabilities' being discriminated against by hospital staff who, not understanding their needs, caused (in some cases) them to die, were shocking and tragic.

The thing that struck me as odd was that these poor people had been described as having learning disabilities. The fact of the matter was that they were seriously mentally ill. To my mind having a learning disability is to be afflicted with something like ADD or dyslexia.

Mencap, whose press campaign generated a national and broadcast coverage, says that a learning disability is "not a mental illness. It affects someone's intellectual and social ability their whole life. It used to be called mental handicap but the term is no longer used because many find it offensive."

Now I may be sticking my neck out here but I really dont think that the 43 year old man who starved for 26 days because he couldn't speak and staff couldn't get a feeding tube into him could accurately be described as having a 'learning disability'. The truth is he was plainly mentally impaired.

In PR we are always accused of dressing things up and spinning things. Shoot me down in flames, call me politically incorrect if you will but I think Mencap could be accused of the same. In fact if you think about it Mencap is doing a disservice to people who have actual learning disabilities by classifying them in the same group as people who are seriously mentally ill/handicapped/impaired etc. We live in an age of mad political correctness. What is wrong with describing things as they are - factually?

Twitter - Boom or Bust?

A colleague introduced me to a new social network site  called Twitter. He had been following John Edwards presidential campaign and had seen how he was tapping into online communities to get support from young voters and raise awareness. John Edwards is leading the way with this approach and via his website you can link to popular communities including Gather, Flickr and de.licio.us.

Edwards is also using Twitter which is one of the fastest growing sites with a cute concept. It allows users to send updates via text, MSN or email about what they are doing at that present moment in time - a sort of micro-blogging. John Edwards twitters are usually about where is is or where he is visiting next. Just short personal updates.

There is talk of leveraging Twitter from a marketing perspective - I can certainly see how celebrities, high profile CEOs or politicians can stay up close and personal to their loyal followers. But as to the other possible uses that have been suggested such as SEO, quick updates, focus groups and trend spotting I am not so sure. True, the real potency of something like Twitter is yet to be seen but I wonder who gets the time (or indeed has the inclination) to give a couple of sentences every couple of hours on their whereabouts and activities. It will be interesting to see how active Twitter's user base remains but here's my two pennies worth. I think that these social networking sites are staring to become two a penny and the power of each will lessen as more come to market. Maybe the old originals like MySpace that continue to innovate will emerge as the dominant ones but people will get bored of surfing multiple sites for the same purpose. There just simply aren't the hours in the day.

Tesco Travesty

What on earth is Tesco thinking of? The UK's biggest retailer has recently been in the throes of handlling a crisis - and doing a pretty good job of it up until now. The crisis came about as a result of Tesco supplying contaminated fuel to customers at its filling stations that damaged their cars' engines. The company responded quickly and decisively, went on a PR offensive and ran full page advertisements apologising, explaining the reasons for the error and offering to pay for any damage caused. The resulting coverage showed Tesco in a positive light.

But, this has happened before. Today the front page of Metro exposes Tesco for refusing to pay the repairs on a van damaged 3 years ago - even though they admitted liability! It took a court order and bailiffs going into a store and seizing £60,000 worth of alcohol before Tesco paid up. Their feeble excuse was "an administrative oversight".

All Tesco's good work (and money spent) to limit the damage to their reputation was gone in a minute. They issued a statement saying a cheque was on the way and it "no way reflects the usual treatment received by our customers". But I agree with Mr Bond who has had to wait all that time for his compensation when he says "maybe they think they are bigger than the courts".

Tesco should realise that every bad customer experience is a crisis and needs to be handled accordingly. Just because it happens to one thousand customers doesn't mean they should respond any differently when it happens to one.

The Best Present

Ok it's official I am now 40! And I am having a ball! I decided to meet the challenge head on by having a big party and inviting everyone who has been part of my life..from childhood friends through to industry friends, business colleagues and new poker buddies!

The process of doing this has been great and I have regained contact with so many old friends through a simple party invite. However there was a tinge of sadness when I got the inevitable bounce-backs from people who had moved on and changed their email addresses.

So, it was with delight that I got an email this morning from an old friend from college who I had lost contact with. He had googled my name and dropped me a line. I don't think he even knows it is my birthday but I have to say it was the best present I could have had!

Blogs - News or Views?

Fellow PR blogger Simon Collister just highlighted an interesting incident in the blogosphere yesterday - http://simoncollister.typepad.com/simonsays/2007/03/recess_monkey_c.html . A left wing political blogger Alex Hilton had been 'tipped off' by a reliable journalist source that former British PM Maggie Thatcher was dead and immediately rushed out a post with the 'scoop' - http://www.recessmonkey.com/2007/03/05/stop-press-maggie-dead/. Of course it was not true and Alex, having discovered the prank, posted an apology saying that he rushed it out before going to bed.

Alex has come in for a lot of criticism about how he handled the whole thing but one thing that was highlighted is that this blogger was trying to be a news source. I am all for 'people publishing' but can blogs really be credible news sources? I thought that blogging was all about giving your opinion on news and issues that are important to you..not actually delivering the news.

That said, it is a great story and hats off to Simon for picking it up, however I am suspicious that maybe Alex wasn't that naive in not checking the tip off for its veracity..maybe, just maybe, it was a cynical attemt to get more traffic to his site. If the intention was to stir up a hornets nest he has done just that but looking at the comments on his blog he may have turned more people off than on..