Marketing Wisdom

Wiki’s – How important are they?

I have been, as I am sure you have been, reading and seeing all this controversy, discussion, and issues with having and doing a Wiki – either inside your company or one outside your company.

As usual, I have a comment on this.

Wiki’s are great!!! Internally. Let your workers and employee’s educate each other with a Wiki.

One company I recently worked with would have monthly training classes for non-division employee’s. Meaning – divisions would attend a meeting, put on by another division, to learn about the product that that division was working on/in. Two to four hours a month in these meetings may have helped morale or understanding, but, loss of work was also high (to many of the meetings were attended by people who didn’t want to do their existing work and this was an easy approved out of doing it).

In hi-tech, this is very common, where one division does not know what the other division does or has with its similar product and cross education/training is done.

My point is is a Wiki can do that same education in “real time” and everyone can contribute and add details and info, so the whole picture is understood by all.

But, a Wiki outside? To the general public? I can see it happening if you want to do it as “fun” or as a “joke” – which Wikipedia is quickly becoming. When Wikipedia begins to turn political (more then it is now), it will quickly lose it’s luster as a “general” information base – it will fall into a label, where it will be difficult, if not impossible to get out (i.e. if it is labeled a “right wing conspiracy site”, then, only those that believe they are part of the right wing conspiracy will go there).

I appreciate the value of a wiki and what it means for free speech and free collaboration. But, without safeguards in place (i.e. review of content in some way), then, they will quickly become the way of the street corner preacher (you don’t see them as much anymore do you? They realized it is easier to preach to captured audiences then to people who don’t care).

Think this through, if you are going to do a Wiki - understand that the content that may be posted may not be what you want. That the content may hurt your company – and be prepared for it.

Don’t get me wrong – a Wiki can also bring someone or something “back from the dead”, like Wikipedia did with Sinbad - BRILLIANT move by his agent to bring an actor that has dissappeared back into the limelight.

Make sure that you, the leader of your marketing, are part of the decision making process AND that all of your concerns are brought up AND understood by all parties who will be administering it.

Just because having/doing a Wiki today is the “hot” thing to do doesn’t mean it is the RIGHT thing to do.

PR 101

Woke up the other night and remembered a nightmare that happened to me a few years ago working for a very young and immature Israeli company.

The company had hired me to do their marketing, which included their public relations activities. As usual, I did not just sit back and do it half-way. I went after Fortune, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, but, on the other hand, I also went after Playboy, PC Magazine, The Robb Report, Mac Home Journal, and anything else that would write about us.

The nightmare involved the Wall Street Journal and Walt Mossberg.  Two weeks before the WSJ ran our story, I had a great two page story from Business Week. The CEO and CFO were ecstatic – the investors were besides themselves with praise and excitement about the company and product.

So, two weeks later, there, on the weekly technology section that Walt puts out, was a picture of our product and how it was going to change the world (I did the interview with Walt while on vacation in D.C. – don’t EVER think that an Israeli company will reward you for going the extra mile).

In the article, Walt spoke about how small our company was (only 100 people and less then $100M in sales) and that some other company would probably take ownership of the product and own the market.

My CEO and CFO were livid. Now, I worked and lived in Israel. My CEO and CFO lived and worked in Israel. I walk into the office (I lived 15 minutes from the office, had a cell phone, etc.), and there, on my computer, was an email from my PR agency (in Los Angelas), saying that the CEO and CFO were trying to get ahold of Walt and can I do anything about it.

Of course, I had NO clue what was going on. And in short order, I found out what the h**l was going on. And calmed them down (they wanted Walt to put a retraction in the next days paper saying that he was speculating and was sorry for saying what he did).

My PR agency and I were besides ourselves, on EACH SIDE!!! On one side, because we had our company and a picture of our product reviewed by Walt. On the other hand, because our CEO and CFO pissed on all the groundwork that we had laid with Walt (for future products) because they didn’t understand what Public Relations was and how it works.

Never, EVER, let your CEO, CFO, or anyone sacrifice a contact of yours. Never ever let someone who was NOT involved in the interview process become involved, after the fact.  When you are promoted into a marketing postion or come into a company as a marketing executive, make sure that you get buy-off from the C-level management that you can do what you need to do to make the company a success – without their interference.

Would love to hear some of your horror stories out there.

How important are looks?

Over my years as a spokesperson for the various companies I have worked for, one overwhelming fact continued to be true – that looks to affect how people view you – and that is most important in your Public Relations activities.

A few years back, I was going on tour with one of my Marketing Managers in Europe. A couple of facts, a) my Marketing Manager had never done a tour before and was extremely nervous about doing it, b) she (yes, a woman) was absolutely beautiful, c) she was from Romania and liked to dress like a Romanian woman, and d) she knew French and English (along with other languages that were not important in Europe).

I knew that I had to address some of these items so that we could get the best response from the editors and analysts that we would be meeting.

First, we went through an extensive media training course so that she would be able to do the interviews (instead of me).

Second, we made her beauty an asset. Any man, and any appreciateve woman, would recognize the beautiful woman that she was – and I did not want that to be wasted.  She dressed, what I can only call, severly. She would pull her hair back into a ponytail, TIGHT!!! So that she looked “severe”. Wore very little make-up and wore clothes with very little color.

It was extremely difficult for me to tell her that I did not like the way she dressed and that I wanted her to change her looks. In America, I knew that I would be sued in a second, and my many years of managing American’s made me leary of approaching her, let alone discussing this. But, she took it the way I thought she would, as a professional and someone who wanted to improve herself and make a success of the tour.  But, I did, and she did.

We went on tour, and WOW, it was great, the sexist French editors could only stare at any part of her body below her face, but, she was good, making sure to remind them to “write this down” so that they would have a story when we finished.

I must admit, what I wrote above did not occur on the first day, but, by the third day of the two week tour, she had it down cold and was able to pitch the story as well as interact with any men that appreciated her looks.

I am not sexist, but, I am a realist and know that men appreciate having a beautiful woman in their office (or be seen walking one down the hallway of their office).

Another example of this, done a little more blatantly, was something one of my companys competitors did back in the early 1990′s.

The year was 1991, the company I worked for – Nintendo, our competitor – Sega.

Sega, to get the story, and to get the sale, hired Playboy Bunnies as their spokespeople, as well as their “honorary salespeople”. 

Not only did editors and analysts “appreciate” having Bunnies come in and speak with them, but, buyers from all the major toy retailers “demanded” to have meetings with Sega salespeople (as long as the other sales people came along – hint hint).

Sex sales. Yes, it is hard to accept (if you are a woman that doesn’t appreciate what she has and how to use it). But, years ago, seeing a woman get an interview and me not, showed me that a) looks sale, and b) sex sales. 

As for you men, you still have to dress nice. Smell nice. And above all, be sincere.

Lawsuits – Who Talks???

Was watching the continuation (second month now) of the dogfood controversy; who poisoned what, who was at fault, and, more interesting to me, was who is going to have the lawsuit??

Watching the various spokespeople for all the various companies, it was amazing how NONE of them have communicated with each other. Especially the brand(s).

Yes, they are competitors, but, they also have one thing in common – they are the brand(s) that are killing peoples pets (of course, not the manufacturer of the food who supplies the brand).

Why aren’t they speaking with each other? Why aren’t they getting together (over the phone would be easiest) and discussing what to say and what not to say – why aren’t they showing a united front.

As I previously mentioned in a post, they are waiting for the other to make a mistake and everyone (lawyers) focus on that one company – and then, let the feeding commence.

With just 30 minutes of time, they can have this all figured out and show that they are all together, that they are remorseful for what their suppliers did, and that they will do everything in their power to help the owners of pets get through this difficult time.

Simple isn’t it? I bet there are some angry and confused marketing people in these brand companies.

Get together now, because when the lawsuits really start coming in, then, it may have been very good forethought to have had your spokesperson speaking from the first day (everyone will turn to him/her for info) then demanding that the CEO get out in front of the firing squad.

Crisis Management

Yes, we can go back to the pet food and continue, but, I want to speak more generally about Crisis Management.

In my experience, there are only two kinds of crisis’ that occur:

1) Those that you were unprepared for,

2) Those that you were prepared for.

Yes, who would have thought that a supplier of yours would now start shipping poison instead of their regular product, or that your CEO died in a car crash, or that an earthquake would shut down your assembly plant.

The ones that you are not prepared for are truly a crisis.  Everyone turns to everyone else for answers, which of course moves up the chain of command (and time is wasted) until the CEO is called upon to make a final decision as to how to respond, if a response is necessary, when to respond, and who will be the one in front of the camera’s (or quoted in the press release, etc.).

The biggest issue when a crisis occurs – and one that you can’t get back – is time. Every second that is lost can be perceived as “inattention” or “inactivity”, and worse, that you don’t care or were totally unprepared.

So, become prepared.

When I lived in Israel, I prepared “pre-packaged” press releases; that, yes, were pretty morbid. One was if a homocide bomber hit our building (and some employee’s were killed), another was if our CEO or CFO died by a homocide bomber, and another was if our building was hit by a rocket.

But, I didn’t stop there.  I prepared for an earthquake in China and our fab was shut down (investors would be asking “how can you make product?”); or our European office was closed down because of a general strike in France; or, a plane crashed with all of our sales people on it (coming back from a trade show).

These weren’t all press releases.  These were plans laid out as to what we would say or not say, when we would say it, and so on. Just one page documents on the plan.  If we knew that a press release was required, then, we had a draft made up – and yes, there were some blanks in it, but, the “meat” was there.

In a crisis, if I was on your team, and a crisis occured, at ANY time of the day or night, all I did was pull up the plan (or the one that closely resembled it), pulled the people listed in the plan together, and supplied them with the next steps (or draft of press release or speech).

It has occured to me in the past, and you know what, it saved me time, which saved my company time, which saved embarassment or perception that wasn’t needed.

What you say, stays here – NOT

What you say is never off the record, no matter what is said.

Let me repeat, you are NEVER off the record.  There is never any occasion to ever  believe that you will be off the record.

Something I say to all the trainee’s when I am media training them:

Expect that whatever you say will be on the front page of the Wall Street Journal the next day.

Even when having a lunch or dinner with a reporter, you are always on the record. Riding in the elevator and talking, you are on the record.  Waiting for the taxi to pick you up, you are on the record.  The reporters/editors job is to get the story and they get paid to GET the story, so whatever you say, if it helps them get a raise or keep their job or “look good”, they will print it.

And just so we are clear, you are always on the record when you are at a bar, or out eating dinner with your boyfriend or girlfriend, or whatever you are doing.  You never know who is sitting next to you and listening.

You tell me the truth and I will tell the lies

Years ago, I was lied to by personnel in a company I was working for. I was responsible for all the communications of the company as well as, most importantly, being the company spokesperson.

What the lie was about is inconsequential, but, the fact that the lie led to much embarrassment for the company (and myself!) is what mattered.

I learned then a saying that I have used many times in preparing marketing and communications strategies and tactics.

            “Tell me the truth and I will determine how to present it in the best possible light”.

In today’s world, and most recently in the political arena, lies are told everyday, and many times, those lies are discovered and then those people and/or companies are eviscerated for lying to the public. 

I do believe in ethics and morality (I have mentioned this before), and therefore, I will never lie.

You don’t have to tell the “whole” truth, just a portion of the truth if the “whole” truth damages you or your company. Politicians are extremely adept at this. But, there is always the opportunity for the whole truth to be discovered, so, be prepared.

In technology, this is easier to do, because the engineering and development of the product is so complicated, most people don’t understand it and “have” to accept what you are saying is the “whole” truth.

But, back to my opening paragraph; because I was lied to by the CTO on what the products features and benefits were, I informed the world that this was the “whole” truth. Sadly, the information was easy to determine that it was not the truth, that it was an exaggeration, which in turn turned into an embarrassment for the company.

You MUST impart the importance of being lied to as detrimental to your company’s success. Keep saying to your business associates that they must tell you the whole truth and it is your job to spin the damaging or “weak” parts into strengths (which could be you not saying anything at all or putting a “spin” on it to make it strong).

For this to occur, you must gain their trust – that you DO know what you are doing and that you will not damage their reputation or the companies.

This is easily done by saying “Trust me”, and then telling them, after they tell you the truth, how you would “spin” that information so it isn’t embarrassing.

It’s up to you.

One last thing – look at all the spokespeople for Presidents; these spokespeople, in defense of their reputation, ask that they are NOT part of some discussions, so that, when speaking with the press, they are not lying, but telling the truth “as they know it”. Yes, there is the opportunity for them to be labeled “dupes”, but, personally, I would rather be labeled as someone not fully informed compared with someone who will lie to protect their company or boss.

 Again, it’s truly up to you and how you want to be remembered.

How important is your pitch?

The elevator pitch is very important for the success of your company. Doesn’t matter the size of the company, from huge to one person, if you can’t tell someone what you do in an elevator, then, you are failing as a business.

Two questions that you should be able to answer within 30 seconds (each):

1) What does your company do?

2) How is your company going to do it?

Let’s take the first question first, what does your company do. This must be answered in three (3) sentences or less. You offer a solution to what?

Some examples:

“We offer a software solution that will secure a users data in case it is lost or stolen. No one will be able to access the data and “see” what is on their lost device – either it being a USB Flash Drive, a laptop, or a cell phone.”

“We offer a service that allows brides and fiancee’s to be worry-free about their upcoming wedding. Our professionalism takes the stress out of the wedding day, allowing the participants to enjoy the day it was meant to be.”

Doesn’t matter what the company does or is, the short elevator pitch should be no more then three sentences in length.

As to the second question, how is your company going to do it. Again, answered in three sentences and 30 seconds. What or how is your company going to grow or maintain its business? Who are the markets? What is the potential? Who are current or future partners/clients?

For example:

“We are targeting males, 30-55 years old, who golf. There are currently eight million golfers in this market and with our solution, we are confident that they will understand that our golf ball will improve their game by three strokes, making it the best golf ball on the market”

“We will target those individuals who make over $1 million a year, providing them the incentive to donate to our non-profit, allowing us to build our new annex and thus insuring that the community and tourists will be educated about the cultures that have been in our area for the past 10,000 years. Targeting will include direct mail, personal visits, personal phone calls, and advertising in our community. With these targeted efforts, we are sure that we will reach our $600,000 goal.”

Be positive. Be confident.

Public Relations

There is much information on this subject, but, I want to talk about what I consider the KEY to making a PR program/campaign work (or be successful).

A press release, a press kit, or having a PR agency is all nice, but, it all comes down to the interview (just like a job).

You have one chance to “sell” yourself and you have one chance to “sell” your product/service.

Both are important, but, rarely does the product “sell” itself. YOU have to sell the product, and, what I believe to be the only way, is that you have to sell yourself.

You have to be considered an “expert” in the field (that your product or service will be in), an “expert” on the product, and, something very few people do, is become an expert on the competition.

When I mention competition, many people do Press Tours where they “slam” the competition, by saying “it is no good because A, B, C, and ours is better because of X, Y, and Z”.

Of course your product is better, but, by slamming the competition, you look like a typical PR hack hyping your product. Let the editor/analyst come to their own awareness to what makes your product better. This is easily accomplished by stating the facts about your product – of course you know what makes your product better, but, “present” that information so that you lead the editor/analyst to discover what advantage your product/service has over the competition.

Here is an example:

“What makes your product better then others?” asks the analyst.

“Well, you will have to come to your own conclusions about what makes our product better or worse, but, let me tell you about ours – it can do A, where most of our competitors can only do B; ours can do D, which is not as great as our competitors who do C, but, because we can do D, it allows us to do E also”.

I hope you get the idea.

Work on what you will say. It is an extremely difficult skill to master an interview – that’s why they have media training – for those individuals who can’t “handle” an interview that may be combative or even uncaring.

This blog entry is a bit rambling – just trying to get you guys to think about your marketing and the do’s and don’ts.

Lastly, I just said that some interviews can be uncaring. Let me give you this for an example of what I mean:

“Hi, my name is Blaine. Thanks for seeing me today – I am really excited to show you are latest product and what it is going to do for the world,” I said, shaking a reporters hand in his office.

I could tell immediately that he was very very sad (because he had tears in his eyes).

“Ahh, are you okay?” I asked.

“I just got a call and my dog died”, he said, holding back the sobs.

“Ohh, I’m so sorry. Do you want to cancel the meeting and do some other time?”

“Noooo, let’s get this over with”.

The interview, as you should be able to figure out, was not the best. The reporter kept breaking down crying. I ended it after 15 minutes.

In fact, twice in my life, I have gotten up and left an interview – because one got into the politics of Israel (I worked for an Israeli firm) and how wrong/bad/etc. they were and no matter what I did, we couldn’t get off this issue unless I stated that Israel was an evil country – and the other was because no matter what I did (for a product) and said, the reporter would not listen to me, she just kept putting the product down and how much of a failure it was going to be; no matter what statement I made, it was met with a sneer and the statement “I don’t believe it and I know you are lying”. After 40 minutes of this, we ended the interview (the product went on to make over $500M in sales).

Those two interviews above were over 20 years of doing interviews – 2 out of a couple thousand – 2 that asked me to surrender my morals and ethics. I still fill bad to this day that I did this, but, no regrets, just sad that they came from this perspective.