In its rigorous search for food & drug safety, the FDA added searching through the personal emails of agency employees who questioned FDA decisions. That would be an oops – for both sides of that story. Here’s the lowdown: on Sunday (Jan. 29, 2012) the Washington Post reported that the FDA was being sued by staffers – scientists and doctors charged with testing medical devices – for harassment and wrongful dismissal as a result of the agency’s surveillance of their personal email accounts. That email surveillance revealed that the FDA staffers were contacting Congressional staff with whistle-blower complaints about FDA approval of devices that the scientists and docs thought were a risk to patients. Hue and cry! Bad FDA! Actually, I agree that the snoopy surveilling of personal email accounts is creepy, even wrong. However, here’s the rub: the FDA staffers were accessing their personal email using computers at work. At the FDA. Within the Federal government IT infrastructure. You know, the people that oversee other stuff like Echelon. And the Pentagon. Gee, FDA guys plotting whistle-blower campaigns on work computers – stupid much? On the FDA side of the story, we have creepy fascist tactics deployed by an agency that should be all about making sure that no pharmaceutical, no medical device, no food product makes anyone sick. Or worse, dead. The record there? Not so stellar. Can you say Vioxx? On the outraged-former-employee side of the story, we have some folks who thought they were veryvery smart (scientists and MDs always think that, trust me), but who played veryvery stupid on the interwebz. Accessing personal email on a computer that belongs to your employer is pretty dumb if you’re doing or saying anything that casts a shadow on the hand that feeds you. Yes, that means you become…
This year has seen some really stunning examples of how to completely screw oneself, and one’s career, in public. Here’s a review of some of my favorites: Anthony Weiner’s wiener: Do not take a picture of your package and post it on Twitter. This is a rule for everyone. If you do this, be prepared to watch the job you’ve had for 12 years disappear in a bright, shiny flash. And to become a never-ending joke in the process. Aflac duck drowns in tsunami: Gilbert Gottfried managed to tank his career with some very ill-advised tweets in the days immediately after the Fukushima tsunami. Note to self: when hired to provide humor and comedy material for a client, insult comedy is the *wrong* approach. GoDaddy CEO shoots elephant, wounds brand: Bob Parsons shot an elephant, and almost brought down the mastodon that is the GoDaddy brand in the process. When your business is high-profile, low-profile hobbies are a good bet. Take up golf. Much less likelihood of killing your brand with a 5-iron. Ashton Kutcher is a no-talent jerk. Who knew? Well, actually, I think a lot of us knew. But when he leapt to Joe Paterno’s defense in the hours after the Penn State pederasty parade started up, he showed just how clueless and tone-deaf he is. Along with that total lack of talent. I almost felt sorry for Demi. Almost. Some rules to live by: don’t do or say anything on social media that you wouldn’t want on the 1st page, above the fold, of the New York Times. Because that’s exactly what could happen, even if you’re not Anthony Weiner, Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Parsons, Ashton Kutcher, or countless other social media idiots. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it …
I’ve noticed a huge increase in friend requests on Facebook and invitations to connect on LinkedIn that come from logos, not faces. I don’t accept any of them, and here’s why: the word “social” precedes the word “media” for a reason. Social media is social. My Oxford American dictionary defines social thus: 1. of or relating to society or its organization; 2. concerned with the mutual concerns of human beings or of classes of human beings; 3. living in organized communities. Nowhere in that definition do the words corporation, brand, or enterprise appear. It’s all about human beings: their activities, their concerns. So why should I be “friends” with a logo? I’ve ignored friend requests from restaurants, insurance companies, car dealers, and a host of other branded personal profiles. I’m looking for a human connection, and only then will I consider adding a connection to a brand represented by that human connection. On LinkedIn, this seems even more egregious. I understand that many small business owners are solopreneurs, and their company brand and their personal identity can seem to be inextricably intertwined. However, I want to see and connect with the person. And then, based on my assessment of their talents/value/contributions, I might choose to follow their company. But they have to convince me that they’re human first. Major brands make the same mistake on a larger scale, and have since the enterprise emerged after the Industrial Revolution. That’s been the subject of both humor – “what’s good for General Bullmoose is good for the USA!” from Al Capp’s L’il Abner was inspired by Eisenhower SecDef and former GM CEO Charles Wilson’s Congressional testimony that included “what’s good for GM is good for the country” – and rage. The rage includes everything from the Motrin Moms mess, to the #epicfail that…
I don’t care what being in love means regarding saying you’re sorry. Personally, I think Erich Segal’s book sucks, but I digress. If you’re in business – running one, managing one, working for one – you’re in the apology business. In fact, being human puts you in the apology business 24/7/365. And business always needs a good dose of human, particularly in the age of the 24-hour news cycle and the Facebook Fan Page wall post. Not being human, and being willing to admit you made a mistake? #fail. In a great post on INC.com, Tim Donnelly gives very solid tips on how to approach the brand apology when your business screws the pooch. His #1 tip: just say it. “I’m sorry.” Simple … so why is it so hard for a brand to do that? I think the root cause of brand cluelessness is that businesses forget that they are, after all, human. They may own skyscrapers in cities around the world, but guess what? Those buildings are full of … people. Doing business with … people. When your spouse, or your buddy, or your kid do something to hurt you or your feelings, they apologize. You do the same thing when you screw up. (If you don’t, let me know. I know some terrific divorce attorneys.) Same rules apply if you’re J.C. Penney, the example that Donnelly uses in his piece. Be human, don’t be a brand-droid. You don’t have to literally fall on your sword, or drape yourself in sackcloth and ashes (I still have random PTSD episodes from 12 years of Catholic education) to apologize. You don’t have to take responsibility for every goof since the beginning of your brand’s recorded history, either. Just say you’re sorry, and then you can move on. If your factory…
On August 27, a very angry Hurricane Irene came calling all up and down the east coast, including Virginia – which is where I live. I have plenty of hurricane experience, including a sojourn 500 miles offshore in a schooner during a Category 1 hurricane. I don’t recommend that experience unless you really want to know what your laundry feels like on max-agitate in your washing machine. Landmasses with human habitation that are visited by hurricanes always have plenty of wind and flooding damage, and our experience with Irene was pretty typical. Lots of trees were knocked down, which took a lot of power lines with ’em, meaning that lots of local utility customers were in the steamy dark once Irene blew town. #1 cause of a PR crisis: lots of unhappy people. No one – at least, no one with a mature level of life experience – could have expected Dominion Virginia Power to restore everyone to lighted bliss immediately. Those of us who were here during Hurricane Isabel (hurricanes with “I” names must hate the Commonwealth of Virginia) knew we were in for a sweaty, dark few days, at least. Crews from utilities in surrounding states came in to help Dominion crews get us all lit up again. They are still working their butts off, and they are most certainly not the target of this post’s ire. Because Dominion has truly screwed the PR/crisis-comms pooch on Irene’s aftermath. All the interactive outage maps in the world – and Dominion has some great ones – mean squat to customers who have to huddle in a local Panera or library to view them. Announcing where crews are working via local media is of some help. What Dominion failed to do, however, was put a face on the problem. One of…
The #1-with-a-bullet rule of social media, no matter what platform, is: be authentic. This does not mean that you should be an authentic idiot, however. I had a troubling conversation on LinkedIn a few days ago, with someone who sent me a connection request. I’m a pretty open networker – my only rules are Have a profile picture of your face, not a logo Be a human, with a name, not a brand or a handle Be able to answer the “how did I wind up on your LinkedIn radar?” question effectively All three of those guarantee acceptance. Any one of them missing, “ignore”. So when a woman in my geographic zone sent me an invitation to connect, and had cleared the first 2 of the above rules, I pinged her with a “how” – and that’s where things got interesting. She told me that she was looking for a job, and a recruiter told her that she wouldn’t even get a look if she didn’t have at least 150 LinkedIn connections. In other words, the recruiter was basically telling her that she needed to gather up connections quickly. Which is, in my estimation, really rotten advice. I’m not against the idea of a dedicated campaign to make meaningful professional connection on LinkedIn, or any other social media network. I do, however, question a recruiter instructing a potential client to essentially spam her address book. That’s likely to get you the LinkedIn bitch-slap, which can be as painful as being kicked off LinkedIn, and at a minimum highly circumscribed on the invitation-to-connect front. Authentic connection takes time. I’ve been on LinkedIn since 2004, and my connection count of 1,000+ is a testament to my approach of authenticity. I don’t meet all my connections face-to-face – wish I could, since some…
One of the best arrows in an organization’s business-building quiver is a well-executed event. Doesn’t matter if it’s a seminar featuring your company’s expertise, or a massive trade show effort in Vegas – planning is critical to achieving that “well-executed” tag. And, other than the actual value-delivered-in-the-room, nothing matters more than your PR strategy and execution in support of that event. In other words, failure to meaningfully plan your event’s PR will likely mean event #fail. The rules: Give yourself enough lead time: an effective event PR strategy requires enough time to make the connections that will ensure success. Media, industry influencers, key company executives – you have to have time to build awareness and buzz. Build an engaging and informative media kit: this is particularly important for big events like major trade shows. Why is your organization creating or participating in this event? Tell that story from the ground up: the keynote speaker(s), the industry folks you’re targeting, the team putting together the event, the city where the event is happening. Make it accessible, with downloadable PDFs. Add video if at all possible. Reach out early and often (within reason!): develop a robust list of contacts who can make a difference to the event – press, top industry bloggers, communications directors at top companies in the industries you want to have attend the event. Share your information in engaging ways – see Bullet #2 for tips. Craft a comprehensive message calendar: media outlets use editorial calendars – PR pros do, too. For every event, build an editorial calendar for your messaging outreach. Assign tasks, track progress: lather, rinse, repeat. Not rocket science. Not even complicated. Follow these guidelines, and I predict your event will be both standing-room-only AND a popular media topic. That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to…
It’s been a busy month, and it’s not even over … yet. First, we had the highly anticipated LinkedIn IPO last Friday, May 19. Analysts initially recommended a share price of $32-35, but the stock was priced at $45 at the open, roared up to $108+, and then closed the day just above $94. Today it’s trading at $83+, which still puts it in the “win” column, even if it seems a harbinger of Bubble 3.0. Earlier this month, we had the Facebook campaign to smear Google,driven by some creative dingbats at Burston-Marsteller. On the creepy/evil ratio, Facebook is creepier than “don’t be evil” Google, even though both of them do all kinds of data mining and privacy busting that their users often aren’t aware of. Full disclosure: I use both, but I’m rigorous about reviewing my privacy settings. Caveat emptor, baby. And last-but-srsly-not-least, we have the Rapture’s #epicfail. I’m not sure who I feel more sorry for: the misguided nut-case Harold Camping who made spreading the May 21 Rapture word his mission, or the other nut-jobs who sank their life savings into helping Harold spread his #epicfail message. Need I repeat – caveat emptor, believers. If you believe in a divine being, don’t take a human being’s word for what said divinity has on his/her schedule. Really. That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.
You can spend a lot of worthwhile time on LinkedIn – it’s a great place to study industry trends, listen to meaningful conversations, and keep an eye on your competitors. What does your LinkedIn profile say about YOU? Sure, it’s got a chronological list of all the great companies you’ve worked for, and the degree(s) you’ve earned. It’s got some information on your interests, and a listing of the groups you’re part of. But what does it say about you…really? Does your Summary list a blizzard of buzz-words, or an assortment of acronyms? What does it say, in real words, about the value you deliver to your customers? Is your Experience list just a straight list of companies, job titles, and years there? Even if you’re on a corporate payroll, you’ve got customers. Customer #1 is your boss, and Customer #2 thru infinity are your boss’s and your company’s customers. Every single one of them. When a potential customer Googles your company, LinkedIn results appear. Which means your profile could be on view. What does it say about you, your company, and your value? If your LinkedIn profile reads like an old-school job application – and that’s so 20th century – here’s how to turn it into a 21st century value statement: Clearly state who you are – what you bring to the table, what your talents are, and what kind of terrific value you’ve delivered over your career. Clearly state why you matter – why do you do what you do? What fires your enthusiasm? How do you inspire others? Make it clear who should care – obviously, your boss is someone who should care that you show up. Who else might be on that list? What do THEY do – what job titles make that list? How would…
Well, of course they were at the airport. They’re an airline. My point is that by not responding quickly to the Steven Slater Beer-Slide incident, they’ve really missed the boat on kicking off a great conversation about and among an entire industry and its customers. The conversation is kicked off, and JetBlue is a major part of the story, but they screwed up a huge opportunity to manage a crisis well. It took them TWO DAYS to formulate a response on their blog. In hiding behind the “we don’t comment on individuals” curtain, they missed a chance to become the Great & Powerful Oz of the air travel industry, at least in the customer-cabin-crew-connection-and-convo category. What would I recommend to a company who finds themselves in the position that Jet Blue was in on Monday? Offer a comment along the lines of “today’s events are offering us an opportunity to start a conversation across our industry about customer service and workplace conditions. If you’d like to share your views with us, [blog/email/Facebook/Twitter] – we welcome the chance to explore how we can improve our relationships with our customers AND our employees.” That doesn’t assess or assume blame, but it says you’re paying attention. Monitor traffic, engage in conversations with heart but not an excess of passion (IOW, don’t pull a Slater). Monitor commentary about your brand, and the individual who set off the situation. Respond only to direct queries by pointing them at your crisis-comms traffic cops mentioned in Bullet 1. Jet Blue wasn’t completely silent. Unfortunately, the cries and whispers of the guy who manages their corporate comms Twitter feed got into a Twit-fight with Andy Borowitz (@BorowitzReport). In a battle of wits with a comedian, Jet Blue’s guy is an unarmed combatant. And he forgot the 1st rule…