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Humble Pie

Anyone who has read my blog posts knows that, for the most part, I am not the biggest supporter of social networking. I understand its place in the world, but I believe in many cases it replaces vital communication that needs to take place in a more personal way. To me, texting your boyfriend to tell him it’s over or tweeting your daughter to tell her she’s grounded is not a responsible use of this form of media.

However, with all great “I told you so’s,” there comes a time when you are proven wrong and have to swallow a little humble pie. My time is now. I am amazed at the profound effect of social media on the tragedy in Haiti last month – a situation from which I think all local government could learn.

With normal lines of communication nonexistent, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter became the lifeline for those dealing with the aftermath in Haiti. I can’t exactly complain about Twitter when it helped someone buried under a collapsed building to be found by the Coast Guard or enabled a helicopter full of Doctors Without Borders to land safely rather than be rerouted to another location.

Social media should be exploited for what it can offer local governments in a crisis communication role, specifically involving emergencies and natural disasters. Social media allows individuals and communities to share information and cooperate with one another outside the framework of traditional institutions and organizations. When governments need to disseminate information quickly and to the masses, what better way than to their Facebook fans and Twitter followers? The ability to communicate urgent “need to know” facts, evacuation details or road closures in real-time during a crisis is essential to not only keeping constituents informed, but also keeping them safe.

There is definitely a time and place for just about everything and I truly believe that social media has found that time and place. It’s hard not to wonder how different the impacts of a disaster like Hurricane Katrina could have been if only this tool was available just five years ago. While trying out this new media can be scary, yes, local governments need to jump on the bandwagon and start reaping the public information benefits. Just make sure you are tweeting what is important instead of what you are too afraid to say to someone’s face! Then I will be happy to admit that maybe I was a little wrong…

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Posted by Laurie Meza on 02/23 at 01:01 PM
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Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?

It was the talk around the water cooler all last week. What was good, what was bad, what was funny and what was a waste of money. No, it wasn’t the fashion at the Golden Globes; it was the much anticipated Super Bowl XLIV commercials.

There were the ones that busted your gut, the ones that tugged at your heart strings and the ones that just left you completely dumbfounded.  But all in all, I think there were five that stuck out as being truly worthy of the water cooler:

1. Dorito’s Dog Revenge – The dog strapping the shock collar to his master, all for a taste of those triangles of nacho cheese, was priceless.

2. E*Trade Jealous Baby – Give me a talking baby and the term “milkaholic” in a commercial and it might even convince me to begin trading my own stocks. After all, if a toddler can do it, surely I can as well!

3. Snickers – Betty White… need I say more?

4. Google Parisian Love – This simple, yet purposeful, advertisement gets to the heart of what Google is – a search engine.

5. Volkswagon PunchDub – A great throwback to “slug-bug,” my favorite road trip game as a kid. Expanding it to all Volkswagens brings back the fun (and makes for a clever marketing campaign).

Despite the recession, the 30-second advertisements sold for $2.5 to $3 million a pop and companies had no problem forking over the dough to reach the Super Bowl’s estimated 106.5 million viewers. With that price tag, advertisers sure had to do their research to make certain their ads would bring actual results.

The trick to getting results from your marketing efforts is to understand your audience. You have to know who they are, what their likes and dislikes are and where they get their information. The audience of the Super Bowl is primarily male (55 percent this year, in fact) so advertisers historically tailor ads to male interests. This year was no exception.

However, just like its ratings, this year’s female Super Bowl audience was at its highest ever at 45 percent – leaving a large portion of viewers that must not be neglected when it comes to targeted advertising. Such companies as Frito Lay, Mars, Inc. and Anheuser-Busch did well among both genders, according to Nielsen’s findings. These companies did their research, testing the waters with their ads prior to shelling out the cash. And their research paid off as these companies received great ratings across the board. 

Spending $100,000 per second on advertising may not be in the cards for everyone, but by doing our due diligence we can all reach our target audience on a slightly smaller scale.

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Posted by Liz Viscardi on 02/18 at 10:06 AM
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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

In my professional life, I am a big fan of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, the iPhone, the iPad and any other new tool they invent to make the art of business communication easier and more exciting. In my personal life, I believe there are too many distractions that take our focus away from truly connecting with those we love, so I actively spend energy removing those from family time.

Oh, yes. I am THAT mom – the one who bans all electronic devices from the dinner table. The TV must be turned off, cell phones must be put away and the Nintendo DS must be sufficiently out of reach. I don’t want my child listening to her iPod while I try to have a conversation with her about school. Too often I see couples at restaurants, busily texting without taking even a moment to glance at each other.  So far, I have resisted the urge to grab their cell phones, throw them to the ground and smash them with my foot (although I’d like to believe these couples would thank me later for singlehandedly saving their relationship). I think you get my point. Technology, I’ve always thought, is pushing us farther apart.

Then I was introduced to Skype.

Let me give you a little background on this newfound love affair of mine. I am a new auntie of three babies born in the past two months – twin nephews and a niece – all of whom live far away. Before the magic of Skype, I would call nearly every day to check on the babies and get an update. I would beg for new pictures, and I would convince my sisters to hold the phone to the babies’ mouths so I could hear their voices. Then, Santa brought Web cams for Christmas, and my sister told me to get a Skype account.

Skype is a service that allows you to make free video and voice calls through your computer, and with more than 500 million users, it is quickly becoming a global phenomenon. From my perspective, it is building closer families and quite possibly saving the human race.

Maybe I’m exaggerating, but all I know is the first time I sat down to Skype, I almost burst into tears. There, in my living room, on my computer screen, were my two new nephews who I had never met. I could see their facial expressions and hear the way they cried. I could practically smell them (not really, but I’m sure that’s coming). Now, we Skype once a week and I get to watch them grow. My girls can show grandpa the gaping holes in their mouths when they lose a tooth, demonstrate the new hip hop moves they learned in dance class or hold up a stellar report card for Aunt Lindsay to see. It’s brilliant.

I still ban all electronic devices from the dinner table, but there might be a day when I pull the computer screen over to the table and invite grandma to join us for dinner.

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Posted by Kristi Estes on 02/10 at 11:16 AM
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Competition at the Olympics?

With the 2010 Winter Olympics set to begin in just two days, I’m getting a little excited. One thing I always look forward to at each Olympic Games are the critical moments that take place for each athlete; the moment where all their years of training come down to one single shot. Some step up, outperform the competition and secure their moment of triumph. Sadly, we’ll also see some who crumble under the pressure and lament the loss of their Olympic dreams. 

Athletes are not the only ones with critical moments – old media had one and already squandered it.

As evidence, I give you the disappointing Olympic Social Media Rules. Simply put, and according to multiple sources, athletes are restricted in what and how they can use social media. For example, one athlete can’t interview other athletes – they must tweet/blog in the first person lest they be confused with a reporter. Also forbidden is mention (or even a Flikr photo?) of a personal sponsor that is not an official Olympic sponsor.

I understand that NBC paid bazillions of greenbacks for the privilege of losing $250 million bringing the games into our living rooms, and wonder if this investment has something to do with the policy. Apparently there’s already enough competition at the Olympics – more to the point, why would they want competition from the very athletes they are set to cover?

It seems to me this is another example of how the old media is rightly threatened by new media. It also seems to me that the only way for old media to survive is to evolve – taking the best parts of their product and finding ways to integrate new media.

Like it or not, the 2010 Olympic Games is a critical moment for old media. It could have been a moment of triumph but I’m already counting this as another opportunity lost.

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Posted by Matt Wittern on 02/10 at 11:10 AM
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Posted by mother of the bride evening dresses  on  01/18  at  03:39 PM

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Two words, Toyota: Crash and Burn.

Watching Toyota as they recall millions of vehicles and the ensuing public relations disaster is like waiting for the Taylor Swift phenomenon to pass … But the hits they just keep on comin’.

Over the last month, Toyota has illustrated literally every PR “don’t” known to man, serving as the perfect example of what NOT to do when faced with a crisis, and making PR execs nationwide cringe in horror. And let’s be frank here – when you’ve got the Federal government (which now owns Toyota’s competition, by the way, but we’ll save that for the subject of another post) breathing down your neck, you know you’re in deep. But let’s back it up just a few notches and look at the facts. Where did Toyota go wrong and how in God’s name did they let it get to this point?

Remember that romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson, “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” circa 2003? Kate Hudson’s character is a columnist for a popular magazine who decides to write a “how-to” article about all the things women do wrong in relationships, consequently resulting in the demise of their courtship. Well, it has inspired this next step-by-step guide I like to call, “How to Lose Every Ounce of Credibility and Tarnish Your Reputation,” compliments of our friends at Toyota.

Step 1: Recklessly Disregard Your Problem
I was shocked to learn that Toyota knew their vehicles had problems three years ago. But instead of immediately addressing the problem and issuing a recall, Toyota just kind of swept that information under the carpet and continued with business as usual while consumers toted around town completely unaware of the potential threats posed by their trusty Toyotas. Sounds like they applied “The Formula” as referenced in the movie Fight Club.

It was also reported that late last year, the Feds had to make a trip out to Tokyo to “remind Toyota management about its legal obligations” because there was speculation that the automaker wasn’t meeting standards for safety.

And most recently, after the recall of millions of vehicles, Toyota did issue an apology, but only under the forceful fist of the U.S. government. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stated “While Toyota is taking responsible action now; it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point.”

Yikes.

Step 2: Place Blame
Once Toyota finally admitted they did, in fact, have a serious problem, they were quick to point fingers at their pedal manufacturer, who hastily rebutted that all of their pedals were built to Toyota’s specifications, asserting that Toyota was also involved in all testing and production of the faulty parts. Time for a refresher course in Crisis Management 101, I think.

When faced with a crisis, one of the worst things you could do is to place blame. This is not super secret knowledge available only to those of us on the “inside.” Back in the 80s when Johnson & Johnson was faced with the Tylenol cyanide crisis, they didn’t point fingers (even though there really was some crazy murderer to blame). Instead they took the high road, approaching the situation proactively and demonstrated a commitment to the safety of consumers – leading to one of the most famous public relations case studies in history.

Step 3: Abandon Your Brand
This one is actually my favorite. At a recent press conference in Switzerland, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda issued a seemingly heartfelt apology for the unprecedented recall…and then drove off in an Audi. CEOs of auto manufacturers are typically pretty careful about their means of transportation, especially when making public appearances – as they should be. Would you trust a contractor to build your home, knowing that he hired his competitor to build his own house? I wouldn’t. And sure, maybe there’s some explanation as to why Mr. Toyoda preferred the likes of a black Audi wagon to his own namesake, but to me it says, “This is good enough for you, but I’m going with something of better quality.”

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So as you can see, Toyota finds itself in a sticky situation. As a result of this epic PR fail, the Federal government is urging Toyota drivers to take immediate action and millions of vehicles have been recalled with no answers for consumers on how the automaker plans to resolve this issue. In the meantime, Ford and GM are reaping the benefits of Toyota’s conundrum with marketing strategies that offer incentives to buyers switching from Toyota (well played, if you ask me).

This is what can potentially happen when companies take a reactive approach to crisis management and fail to openly communicate with their constituents. Every PR pro and savvy communicator will tell you that taking a proactive approach, while sometimes difficult and hard to swallow, is always the better option.

And while it’s hard to sit back and watch the chaos that has resulted from this case of product neglect, it’s no surprise that Toyota is standing over an empty grave, holding a dirty shovel.

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Posted by Megan Rees on 02/04 at 08:52 PM
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Breaking Up is Hard to Do

I am hesitant to change.

Don’t get me wrong…  It’s not that I’m risk-averse, mind you, it’s just that I tend to subscribe to the philosophy of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Heck, even if it is broken, I’m the type who’s likely to find a work-around to avoid having to give up the convenience of a tried and true service provider or – God forbid – switch to a new product.

I’m what you would call a brand’s best friend – loyal to the end. In fact, I have a long history of products that dumped me long before I would ever have conceived of leaving them! Once I find something I like, I stick with it to the bitter end, when it’s ripped from my needy consumer grasp and replaced with the “latest,” “newest,” “hottest” – but never BEST – surrogate of the day.

Remember the Taco Light? I do. It was a tasty little fried flour shell/taco meat/tomato/lettuce/sour cream number our friends at Taco Bell dished up back in the 80s. I ate one-a-day for three years. Gone. Quisp Cereal? Gone. Mike Berardi’s on 17th Avenue? Gone. Gillette ladies refillable shaver? Gone. I’ve been jilted by a long trail of fickle product lines – enough to fill the rest of this blog and then some.

But that’s not the point.

The point is, I’m like the Holy Grail of consumers – too loyal to dump you and too busy to make a stink when you don’t treat me right. Well, not anymore. I’m tired of being treated like my business isn’t valued.

Case in point: I have had a love affair with Sony Vaio computers that extends long before CIG was ever a twinkle in my eye. Happy with the quality and functionality of their computers, I innocently embraced our relationship when CIG was born and trusted that we would grow together – happily buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of their laptops.

Everything was great between us. Then the PCG-3H1L arrived. Sure, I was attracted to its hip, chocolate brown cover and modern, individually separated keyboard keys, but from day one, we had nothing but problems. I approached these with my usual attempts at work-arounds and tech support visits from the Geek Squad – even a trip for the new laptop back to Sony HQ. Nothing worked. I’d heard the same problems from others with this model. It was finally time to call customer service and discuss a re-match. After all, when quality fails (as it inevitably will every once in awhile), that’s where customer service should kick in, right?

Wrong. That’s when the wheels fell off.

Not only were Sony’s customer service policies not conducive in any way to the needs of small businesses (e.g., send us your laptop for God-only-knows-how-long with no loaner, we don’t transfer software or data, etc.), it was clear that no one within their customer service hierarchy (I was transferred to three different locations, including a final, immensely disappointing stop at “national” customer service) was empowered to actually provide CUSTOMER SERVICE. I was quoted “policy,” chapter and verse.

That’s why I’m typing this blog on my new non-Sony computer. So long Sony…  As much as my heart breaks over what might have been between us, you’ve made it crystal clear that you’re better off without me.

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Posted by Karen Morales on 02/03 at 09:01 AM
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Hi Karen,

Regarding brand loyalty, I couldn’t help but post a cudo for my recent experience with Disney.  A recent visit to the park in Ca. was a disaster.  (over crowded and sold out! You can imagine the crowds)  I simply submitted an email with my story to the guest relations department and they offered me replacement tickets valued at about $400.  If you have ever visited a Disney park,  then you realize the quality experience, and customer service they are bound and determined to deliver.  There is no danger of this brand disappearing,  like some mentioned in the previous article; But we could all take lessons from their “guest relations” department and training to improve our own business experience.  They listened to my complaint, and made ammends in a way I did not expect, but was pleasantly surprised. 

Thanks for sending me the blog info,  I’m always glad to hear from you!

Linda Halleran
HalleranInsurance.com

Posted by Linda  on  02/04  at  10:39 PM

Indeed! Disney is a class act, through-and-through. Thanks for sharing your story. As I noted in my blog—statistically speaking, quality will inevitably fail at some point. That’s when customer service needs to kick in to support the brand and its product. Cool example—love ya!

Posted by K  on  02/04  at  11:35 PM

Karen,

Although I was disappointed you didn’t say you finally converted to a computer operating system named after a fruit, I got over that quickly. You got me thinking about this product loyalty phenomenon. I’m the opposite from you; I’m promiscuous with products, allured by various aspects that appeal to my latest whim. There are, however, three things I’ve remained loyal to:
- Apple computers
- my husband
- Hershey’s dark chocolate

Things and people have to earn my respect—and work hard at it!! (BTW, you’ve earned it)

May your new computer serve you well smile

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  02/04  at  11:37 PM

Thanks Brenda! I truly appreciate your loyalties—especially the Hershey’s ...and don’t worry, I have my fruit! Live well, talk soon.

Posted by K  on  02/04  at  11:42 PM

Oh, so sad. Hate to say it, but customer service is something that too many computer companies can’t comprehend these days. I, too, don’t embrace change easily, but sometimes, gotta do it! Good luck.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  02/05  at  07:17 AM

Soooo what did you end up getting? And please for the love of all that is holy, tell me it at least has one of the incredible Intel processors inside. Preferably a Core i5 or i7 model.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  02/05  at  11:55 AM

Karen, I loved that post…and by the title I was convinced it was heading towards a sad ending!
You’re a great writer; it was a rather captivating piece for simply conveying that you switched laptops!

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  02/05  at  04:23 PM

You described me to a T.  I try to give people an opportunity to correct a situation, but once scorned, I never go back!

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  02/05  at  09:24 PM

Yes, Connie dear—I am happily pecking away on a computer with a Core i5…  grin

Posted by K  on  02/06  at  10:09 AM

Karen, I probably fall into that same category of customer loyalty as you. I feel like I’m cheating if I try a different brand of a product.
I think there must be something about computer companies that think you can’t live without them. I was a loyal Dell customer. Even when most of my coworkers had Apples, I stuck with my Dell. I started having problems and couldn’t get anyone at customer service to help me. I had a hard time just trying to talk to someone in the U.S. who could understand my problem. After writing what I felt was a constructive feedback email and receiving nothing back, I switched brands. There are still times I miss the comfort of Dell, but at that point it was matter of principle.
Why do companies make it hard to be loyal?!

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  02/10  at  05:28 PM

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