Forever and a day I’ve seen this concept play out in various categories from beverages to food, travel services to floor care and cleaning products, that 80% of your profits can routinely come from 20% of your customers who constitute the most engaged, heavy users in your business. Call them your best fans.
Yet routinely we focus our efforts, strategies and spending on casting a broad net. We try to be appealing to everyone because we keep telling ourselves that our brand and business not only deserves high household penetration, but “we can’t ignore the volume opportunities.” To be sure, but the 20% that’s mainlining your brand and paying attention to your messaging with a little help and “enabling” can become a more productive core of real-world ambassadors. People who can help spread the word effectively to those who are not as fully invested and who don’t buy as often.
Take cheese and pet food for example. Cheese is one of the most popular food categories in supermarkets. We like cheese, so it’s a big volume business. Yet a closer look reveals that consumers who are more emotionally engaged and devoted to cooking represent a “heavy user” profile that purchases more cheese products, more often and in many cases will go for higher priced items when they feel the value proposition is credible. So paying closer attention to this group of emotionally charged ‘kitchen commanders’ can yield incremental benefits in talk value and word of mouth, once they’re fully embraced, recognized and rewarded by the brands they love.
Or in pet food: a dynamic audience combination we refer to as indulgers and doters consists of a high percentage of higher income households who treat their animals like family members — and will even go as far as cutting back on some of their own discretionary purchases in order to keep Fido in tip top shape by feeding him a super-premium pet food diet. Industry statistics show this group continues to fuel an incredible growth track record in the emerging natural and organic segment – even though the tough economy has weighed in heavily in many segments to compel “trading down” behaviors.
Your call to action…
Think of it this way, your PR communications ROI outcomes will improve when communicating with an audience that’s really, genuinely paying attention. Those who have emotional, personal lifestyle connections to a brand are listening — first at the category level. A brand that works over time to mine relevance with this audience has the opportunity to build a unique relationship and bond. Conversely broad awareness tactics can perform as a “reminder mechanism” for the larger audience segments out there who may buy less often but who have ties to the franchise through their habit behaviors.
1. Consider for a moment the opportunities from investing more fully in courting your heavy users. What would you do differently? What efforts might you undertake to help create a community around these groups and empower them to interact with each other – especially important for home chefs and pet parents who want to share tips, ideas, experiences and insights with each other.
2. What rewards and recognition can you offer to your most devoted followers that surprise and delight – and thus are often the triggers to generating strong, credible and organic word-of-mouth communication.
3. What sponsored experiences can you create and deliver that bring your brand as close as possible to your best fans and allow them to interact with you and each other. In food this could include unique culinary experiences that reward your best customers with an opportunity to learn from the food heroes they respect like celebrity chefs. For pets it could be local dog park events and contests that allow pet parents to engage in shared experiences with their animal and with each other.
But wait there’s more…
Today, excellent blogger and thought leader Sonia Simone has an interesting post at Copyblogger that talks about the personal side of the Pareto Principle and how it impacts you and what you do. Her observations:
“…Which means that 20% of your customers provide 80% of your revenue. 20% of the time you spend behind your computer provides 80% of your best work. And 20% of that great meal you had last night provided 80% of the pleasure. (It was the chocolate mousse cake, wasn’t it?)
Because of the Pareto Principle, there’s always a “20%” you should be spending your time on. And in just about every discipline, it’s known as the fundamentals.”
Have you sat down to think about your day, your activities and to reflect on this idea – that 20% of your efforts will produce 80% of the great results and accomplishments you’re looking for? So what do the fundamentals look like for you? Maybe it’s a good idea to start by putting more energy and investment into courting your biggest fans…
It’s Wheatley & Timmons’ 10th anniversary — a time to reflect and think ahead.
When I first got started in the PR business, I was impressed with our unique ability to bring a higher standard of proof, credibility and demonstration to new products and brand promises. But additionally I was concerned by an all-too-frequent focus on tactics (read: publicity) and what appeared to me to be an absence of connecting the dots between our work and business strategy. You know the old saying, “if the only thing you do is a hammer then the answer to every problem will be a nail.”
Just seemed to me that a stronger business proposition was to help client’s better understand their barriers to growth and success – before applying the cure. And in doing so to make sure the remedy laddered back to specific business outcomes, not fuzzy claims of “increased awareness.”
My first attempt at changing the view that PR was the province of press releases came in the form of a brand guidance plan developed for a regional food company called Nalley’s Fine Foods, based in Tacoma, Washington. My client didn’t ask for the plan, instead I treated this as “extracurricular” homework that might open the door to a larger playing field for our firm. It did.
In its day Nalley’s was a successful brand playing effectively in categories dominated by national stalwarts like Kraft, Frito-Lay and Vlasic – from salad dressings to snacks, canned meals, pickles and other packaged food categories. The platform I worked on was a refined recipe for go-to-market strategy and new product development behaviors appropriate for a business that sat in between generic store brand and large national players.
To get it done I had to study the categories and more fully acquaint myself with the channels of distribution and the growth drivers within each product category my client was competing in. There was no mention of PR in the brief. It was a great exercise and I learned a lot. The client was impressed that a PR guy would come to the table with this sort of perspective. Their opinion of what we did and were about changed. It was interesting to watch the transformation in their views and opinions. The experience had an impact to this day.
Wheatley & Timmons is a unique joining of similar strands of thinking – that the craft of editorial and social media forms of communication are enhanced and our value to clients improved as we marry our great creative work more closely to brand strategy guidance and the consumer insights required to make that leap.
It would probably be easier just to continue cultivating our best practices along traditional lines and devote all of our energies to being great tacticians. We think that’s table stakes. We fundamentally believe the world needs a better, more strategic PR firm and so we’re not satisfied with the traditional scope. My partner, Rich Timmons, shares this view and it’s our collective mission to redefine what a PR firm is all about. Missionary work to be sure given the perceptual baggage we carry with us — that “get me on Oprah” thing.
I couldn’t be prouder of the great people who’ve joined our team and their ability to embrace our calling and to deliver on this promise every day in the services we provide. It’s a challenge, but I think part of what makes you successful is your willingness to embrace a higher calling – to tackle something that goes beyond the communications training you’ve had. Makes you stretch.
Have we got it all figured out? Not by a long shot. Everyday is a learning experience, a chance to grow and refine our premise and our capabilities to deliver. We remain steadfastly determined on this path. Persistence can be a great ally, so we forge ahead and believe it’s by “demonstrating and doing” that all of this comes to life. This agency’s work for Sargento Foods is an example of bringing new perspective and ideas to the table about a brand’s future business opportunities in their category. Much the same as Rich and our team has done to such dramatic effect for Thermos brand and for Crescent in the art framing business.
We’re in the early stages of a new relationship with Crown Imports and the Corona beer franchise. It’s exciting. And not just because we know the beer business, but also we believe we can play a measurable role in helping improve their business outcomes and relevancy to a consumer — who is evolving right now.
The future
We believe that earned media (various forms of editorial media from conventional to digital) will continue to be vital but also see incremental growth for “owned” media – content created, published and distributed by brands themselves. Technology now allows us to leapfrog reporters, editors, producers and other media gatekeepers, to talk directly to consumers in environments that are more interactive and thus seen as honest.
Profoundly we see the mix of media solutions moving to embrace social platforms and other venues where brands and consumers can meet each other on more equal terms. Thus the over-arching need for relevancy between brand propositions and the lifestyle interests of their users.
One lesson remains true, from the days with Nalley’s to our work at Wheatley & Timmons over the next ten years: whatever we do in communications must be tied to a foundation of consumer insight and understanding. It’s what will inform our future and our ability to change and improve the growth path of the brands we represent.
Remember Bill Clinton’s distillation of his Presidential campaign bid to one singular message platform: It’s the economy, stupid. Similarly the onion surrounding social media success for brands and business can be peeled back to reveal one central and over-arching truth – it’s the content that drives the attraction value, fan-base growth and conversation.
Never before in the history of brand marketing and PR have we been in such a position to build credible relationships, real ones, with those we wish to communicate with.
Image c/o Getty Images
Throwing messaging baseballs
Yet so many in the communications business these days seem hell-bent on continuing to push self-serving messaging AT people in every media pathway. Why? Because we’re so used to sitting down and defining what we want to “convince” audiences of about our brand. We labor greatly to define key messages and then look at every vehicle out there as a vessel for delivering the message payload, be it paid, earned or owned media. We throw messaging baseballs at people expecting them to step up and catch them.
Oops they dropped the ball
But more often than not, consumers drop the ball, walk away from home plate and simply ignore the spinning missive at it passes by. They don’t want to play the game that way. Social media is by its very definition an “accrual” proposition. Your Facebook page or Twitter account begins with an audience of zero. Unlike every medium that’s come before it where access to a given media property brought you a specific audience size and type. In the new world of owned media, you start at the beginning. With nothing.
Building the fan base
Aggregating an audience is an outcome of great content, conversation and meaningful offers. The authenticity and value of that content is related directly to its relevance to the consumer’s lifestyle interests. Thus brands must find a path to “hook-up” with consumers based on what THEY care about, not the other way around.
1. For the food brand it might be enabling a recipe sharing community or bringing consumers into contact with their kitchen heroes like chefs.
2. For a beverage brand it could be enabling unique social experiences and providing ways for fans to share their impressions and ideas with each other.
3. For a fashion brand it might involve helping fashion-forward people to share their ideas and insights on what to wear for different occasions, from beach to ballroom.
Eyes wide open
This whole process gets a lot clearer when brands employ consumer insight research to better understand the lifestyle interests and needs of their core consumers. Then ask themselves: what can the brand do to facilitate, enable or create opportunities to experience and share those things?
Building better brand relationships
Content that’s meaningful, valuable, interesting and entertaining is the path to establishing a community of engaged fans. Here are a few practical hints for doing it right.
Multi-media is the way to go. Facebook’s share functionality only works when multi-media contact is used – podcasts and videos for instance.
Ask questions. Interactivity occurs when we purposefully invite our community into the conversation, seeking their views, ideas and opinions.
Use emotional terms and words. We are not fact-based, analytical decision making machines. We are expectation creation machines and thus frame our brand relationships based on feelings more than facts. Are you using emotive words?
Responsiveness. The “get back to me” bar is considerably higher in the digital era. Consumers want and expect quick responses to their questions. Speed matters and being responsive is part of the assessment of how well your brand performs in the social media space.
Conversation. Like-minded individuals congregate together in specific communities because of their shared interests. Are you helping enable their ability to talk with one another?
Surprise and delight. Reward your fans with special offers and values they won’t get elsewhere. Recognize your most faithful followers with special status and access to unique content or other VIP experiences.
Social media is working well when its done right. Enough so that some sizable brands are upping their social media investments. Kellogg just announced they’re tripling their social media budget in the year ahead.
Girl Scouts effectively tap social media engagement
By Robert Wheatley
Social media can be powerful — when deployed effectively. YouTube provides a readily accessible platform where video can engage a broad and diverse audience — but only if it’s done right.
Meaning, the content thus is initially more important than the medium. In the absence of compelling content, social media is just a distribution platform. The viral rubber meets the road when the communication itself is relevant, interesting and thought provoking.
So today we have a living example of “right” from the Girl Scouts.
My seven-year-old daughter Heather is a Daisy this year, the entry-level designation for Girl Scouts to be. And, as you’d expect she’s selling cookies. An recurring metaphor for Girl Scout-dom that seems it’s been institutionalized as an annual right of passage for eons. She came by the agency office recently to tempt the staff with the baked delights. Virtually everyone signed up.
You don’t really think about the value of it other than the surface view that it raises funds for the organization, and you get a tasty treat in return. It’s a fair exchange. But what if you elevate the whole idea to a stronger context. What if you can re-position the perspective on cookie sales to a more meaningful and valuable proposition?
Today Marketing Daily ran a piece about the Girl Scouts’ effort to reframe the cookie sale program into an emotional call-to-action. It’s about the character-building outcomes of doing this. All housed within a deeper understanding of how the proceeds go to help others.
Watch it here:
It’s a terrific piece of story telling that uses the video medium effectively. Short, consumable, powerful – everything you want in a compelling trip to social media interaction. You watch – THEN decide how many boxes you really want. I dare you.
Self-interests can no longer be served through selfishness….
By Robert Wheatley
Image c/o Philip and Karen Smith
With all of the conversation and discussion about the explosion of social media, and the era of two-way engagement and conversation that shift ushers in, you’d think businesses must be falling to their collective knees in a sort of Road-to-Damascus epiphany about discovering a new path to building brands. Have we seen the light?
Has a new marketing and communications religion taken hold? Apparently it’s still a work in progress. We learn that the vast majority of marketing spending still flows down the hide-bound and intractable pipe of interruption media and its embedded agenda to disrupt, persuade and imprint messages.
Oscar Wilde once quipped, “I can resist anything except temptation,” and so the addiction to push media solutions rolls on. Like a massive electric motor bolted to the floor of an industrial age power plant, the tradition-bound backbone of brand marketing built from an interruptive model continues to spin on its own inertia.
Consumers are not walking wallets merely to be sold. If anything there’s a refined “selling detector” that’s emerged as consumer’s turn away from and avoid or ignore blatant pitches in favor or more interesting and helpful forms of brand interaction.
We’ve institutionalized a legacy over time of brand narcissism that should evolve. It’s not all about us anymore. Yes, the fundamental goal of a business organization is to sell more stuff more often and more profitably.
But if the tone, tenor and manner in which we go about achieving business objectives flows from a view that consumers are merely walking wallets, then we’ve failed to grasp the fundamental changes that impact how great brands are built in the age of consumer control. Behaviors that reinforce customer relationships as transactions-to-sweep-in only lack understanding that consumers now control brand interaction. And so we must move from push to engage, from tell to listen, from imprint to co-create.
Brand narcissism is a systemic problem. It emanates from deep-seated behaviors that suggest company’s can compel consumers into favorable purchase behavior at will. Years of pushing messages and other tactics at consumers continues, whether openly acknowledged or not, to flow from a belief that the one-size fits-all consumer will do what we tell them to do.
Not so.
What’s needed…?
1. Enduring brand relationships are now built from a foundation of mutual respect, interest and caring.
2. Brands must earn permission for a relationship with core customers by aligning themselves with their unique lifestyle passions and interests.
3. A form of brand selflessness must authentically take root — such that all points of contact reverberate with the same level of reverence for consumers as friends of the brand, not just targets to target.
The change here is more attitudinal than anything else. Once consideration is given towards how a brand can mine a “higher purpose” built around reciprocity, then we have room to move to refine strategies that will help effectively build a foundation of trust. And let’s be clear, trust is the fabric that binds brands to consumers.
It is the absence of meaning, compelling value and trust that turns businesses into commodities…
Social media by the way is a partner in all of this, not a stand-alone panacea. Engagement media gets interesting and valuable when it is integrated as a component part of all forms of outreach.
We’ll examine more of media integration piece tomorrow. What do you think?
Too often we hear stories of brands ignoring new technology and communications tools because they can’t grasp the ROI (or, more often, they don’t want to hear consumers complain!). Then in some unforeseen chain of events the brand must quickly engage the tools to overcome a communications crisis (e.g. Twitter response by new moms’ to poorly positioned Motrin advertising). Fortunately, I have a positive story that may help uncover the benefits of a two-way conversation with your customers.
My husband and I are beer drinkers (which makes it even more rewarding that Wheatley & Timmons handles communication strategy for the Modelo Brewing Group portfolio). Last night, I was winding down my weekend with a beer from a craft beer brewer, Dogfish Head. I’ve had their beer on a number of occasions and always found the same reliable, quality and taste.
Unfortunately, when I just wanted to savor one more sip of the relaxing weekend, my beer had other plans. Something was off and the taste replicated more grape juice flavors than the caramel and vanilla taste I had hoped for.
With a bit of frustration at 8:52pm (cst) I tweeted out “agh! my dogfish head palo santo tastes like grape juice WTF…I’ve had corked wine but don’t know what to call this beer.”
Within three minutes, one of my followers, Matthew Horbund (@mmWine), a wine consultant and blogger, responded that I should ask professional beer writer Ashley Routson (@TheBeerWench) what may be wrong.
Now, I do follow Dogfish Head on Twitter (@dogfishheadbeer) but at this point in the night I didn’t think anyone would be there to solve my problem so I just left it alone (*note to self: in the future, just send a tweet to Dogfish Head. THEY LISTEN!).
By 6:03am, I received a tweet from @dogfishheadbeer, “Not good – can you DM me an email address? Our QC folks would love to get some details from you (bottle data, etc).” From that point, I was quickly put in touch with quality control and was able to offer them the data on the bottle. I was then put in touch with a local rep who picked up the bottle from my house and made a visit to the wine and spirits store where we purchased the bottle.
As a consumer and also a brand strategist, there were a few things that ran through my head throughout this experience:
First, after I drank the off tasting beverage:
I was completely surprised that I was having a poor experience with Dogfish Head, a brewery I trust to always put out quality product. It made me consider that perhaps quality control had slacked. Could I trust my next beer selection with them?
Then, after receiving the first tweet and following rapid correspondence from DogFish Head:
I was completely geeked-out by the amazing commitment the company had to their product and their customers. They used listening tools to seek out what customers are saying. They LISTENED then used the opportunity to make a situation better. Plus, this did not take much additional effort by the customer (me). They sought the information and ran with the response.
This for me is a perfect case of when a company is truly LISTENING and showing commitment to their product and their customers.
Are there any other brands that you feel are good ‘Listeners’?
If you are interested in some additional insight in how to better connect with your consumers, I’d love the opportunity to chat. I love chatting about wine, food and building consumer relationships. Email me: cbecker@wheatleytimmons.com or find me on Twitter: twitter.com/CarrieBecker7
The world’s largest pizza chain knows a thing or two about delivery and convenience. But according to national consumer research, they have much to learn about that other half of the food equation: taste experience. They came in dead last on taste among national chains in a study done by Brand Keys last year.
So in keeping with what we already know about the consumer’s growing savvy-ness concerning quality and flavor experiences, the chain moves to substantially improve its recipes. But more importantly, Domino’s now recognizes that medium and message also matter to the outcome of brand communication.
The chain is going into the maw of the very audience previously doling out the criticism about its not-so-great tasting pies: food bloggers. Yes, into the new-age PR realm Domino’s jumps by inviting outsiders, who are beyond its control to sample, savor and sing through posting live comments at their web site.
According to USA Today’s coverage, Domino’s has tested “dozens of cheeses, 15 sauces and 50 crust-seasoning blends over two years.” Headed towards the biggest pizza consumption occasion of the year the Super Bowl, Russell Weiner , marketing chief at Domino’s said, “The best defense is a good offense.” Amen.
Bravo first to Domino’s for its willingness to take the larger risk of altering the franchise recipe in the name of better quality and taste. Second, coming from its earlier run-in with social media’s sharper knife in the form of stupid YouTube video hijinks, the chain now embraces the paradigm of transparent, conversational communication.
When you’re a $5.5 billion dollar organization there must be great temptation to revert to the old interruption model. But what we know today is that consumers look for validation brand claims and assertions from sources they trust. The rest is routinely tuned out and serves mostly as reminder media. The true convincing comes when others with the right pedigree agree and chime in.
Love the faith and belief that trust is ultimately at the core of successful brand relationships. This will be interesting to watch. What do you think?
$11,000 (per occurrence) consequence if rules not observed
By Robert Wheatley
Over the last few months we’ve been reporting on the FTC’s efforts to refine guidelines on use of celebrity/third party spokespeople and the emergence of bloggers as a new, legitimate channel of media. A channel, by the way, that comes without the built-in rules traditional media organizations observe regarding ethical separation between PR and reporter.
Let’s start with the FTC’s hard news: if outside spokespeople participate in communications activities outside of advertising, such as a talk show interview, they need to disclose the paid relationship if they are going to talk about a brand or business. Similarly, if Bloggers (or other word-of-mouth sources) receive consideration in the form of payment or freebies in return for promoting a product, that also must be disclosed.
The FTC is saying something that only makes sense: consumers have a right to know if the mouthpiece has received payment in return for endorsement. While there may be some tawdry exceptions to this, for the most part, PR people in previous eras have not been in the business of buying favorable editorial coverage. A story has to stand on its merits. But the spokesperson thing was always a grey area in terms of how a relationship between third party and brand is defined or explained.
Now clarity exists on all fronts, and to the benefit of the consuming public — full disclosure of who is working for whom. Celebrity’s must say in an interview, I’m here today on behalf of brand x. And when Bloggers are paid to write, the deal must include requirements for disclosure of the arrangement. The FTC’s goal is to make sure all information is upfront, should any of it have an impact on the consumer’s decision to purchase something based on what they’ve heard or read.
This is a good thing!!!
One of the hallmark’s of effective public relations strategy is building credibility, and that is best served when all aspects of a relationship with media and third parties is out in the open. Honesty supports integrity and trust reigns supreme in relationships between brands and their users.
Agencies and clients from here on in must abide by these rules of disclosure or risk punitive action
We applaud the FTC and their decision because it supports what we’ve always believed that great products, services and businesses don’t need to employ fakery or illusion to win in the marketplace. This will foster greater need for PR people to choose wisely in selecting outside spokespeople, preferably those who have genuine interest and reasonable, tangible connections to the products they endorse. Scrutiny, as always, is present these days and authenticity will be apparent to all observers. Why? Because in the new media age anything that can be known will be known.
A recent post by Sonia Simone of Copyblogger posed a question the other day, is branding dead?. The comments that followed quickly descended down the trail to tactics and thus left the real conversation about brand value and moved on to communication.
Many interpreted the decline in conventional media platforms as evidence that branding is indeed on the respirator in the marketing ER ward. That, I think, entirely misses the point of brands and branding.
Branding by the way is not about logos, Web sites, events, advertising or any other form of outreach. Just for fun let’s play with this a minute. If brand didn’t matter, what would? In marketing, if all products were essentially generic and stood solely on their features then lowest price would be the primary driver of commerce.
We would naturally gravitate to the cheapest car, toilet paper, jeans, beer and shop the cheapest channels, probably dollar stores. Evolution here would be 50-cent stores or perhaps the return of the old Five and Dime idea our prices are so low you have to stoop to pick them up. Segmentation would dry up as the high end falls away. Efficiency, cost effectiveness, frugality and economy would be the lexicon of product communication.
But that’s not going to happen, is it?
Last time I looked we were still human beings and thus are essentially emotional, social creatures. We love, we laugh, we cry and we care. We get mad and get even. Our lives gain greater meaning when we participate in something that’s larger than ourselves.
We have needs for recognition, esteem and personal pride. We feel good about successes and disappointed at times in failures. We want, we desire. We reach and dream. Some of us have aspirations and drive. Others are content to sit inside their comfort zone, hopeful that the status quo and familiar will remain in tact.
Do products and services play any role in our lifestyles, in our human-ness?
At times we literally wear brands because of the statement or cachet they imbue. Certain brands convey meaning that is at once obvious to others such as Mercedes as luxury auto. And might also suggest social and economic status messages, too.
There are brands that matter to us, that deliver meaning and therefore added benefits. Our experience with them ladders up to a form of joy. I can give you a new take, for example, on my iPhone. I love everything about it — the ease-of-use; it’s functionality and design. But when I started to add App-store games my six-year old daughter could play with glee, delight and a smile, suddenly I had a portable amusement center. What fun. Now it’s value to me has accelerated. Thus my attitude towards Apple grows thicker, closer. The extra investment cost is soooo worth it.
I will admit to a personal indulgence: I love Robert Graham shirts. They are unique, well made, stylish and fashionable. I probably have a dozen of them. They are not cheap. Oddly enough, however, when compared to designer name plain dress shirts, the Graham products are a bargain. I feel good when I wear them, sort of a signature thing. I get compliments, people notice the distinctive fabrics, even the little touches like different patterns inside the cuffs and collars
Probably all of us can tell similar stories about things we enjoy, that matter to us, that perform beyond the utility of their ability to provide warmth or sustenance.Organic Valley dairy products are more expensive. But I like their ethos of supporting family farms and the absence of hormones in the milk is something I prefer for my young daughters.
Brands are indeed conveyed by their names. Many of these ideas however require building, investing, communicating to help us fully embrace their worth and meaning. But the thing itself gains equity in our lives because of the emotions we associate with them. Mostly good feelings for the items we care about vs. the commodities we don’t and wish just to purchase cheaply.
Branding is not dead. Branding will never be dead. Unless of course we’re all replaced by robots. The intersection of commerce and humanity guarantees it. While communications techniques and media forms may indeed evolve, the role products and services play in our lives will endure. The emotional fabric that sits between us and the things we like will continue, too.
Our firm is all about brand building. (I love my work). And while what we do in PR communication is increasingly moving to social media platforms, our efforts to help clients better define brand value and positioning is as right as rain, the sun rising and the world turning.
Makes me happy. Especially because brands now grow on the basis of their ability to define, understand and mine consumer lifestyle associations. Said another way to become enablers and facilitators of their consumer’s interests and aspirations. To earn permission for a relationship. Hey, wait a minute. We just might be in the happiness business.
Everything you used to believe about crisis strategy is evolving
By Robert Wheatley
Yesterday I had the extraordinary opportunity to speak at the annual conference of the Pulp and Paper Manufacturers Association in Milwaukee. My deepest thanks to Dick Kendall for inviting me. This organization represents leading companies that make paper products and the components that go into them. The theme for the conference was “The Road to Recovery.” And part of the agenda was devoted to disaster and what to do when it strikes.
My part: to present the case for an entirely new approach to crisis communications strategy, emerging from the growth, influence and realities of social and digital media.
Just before I got up to talk, two gentlemen with Packaging Corporation of America, Ron Zimmerman and Bruce Kummerfeldt, led a heart-rending review of a recent plant disaster that claimed the lives of three of their colleagues following the explosion of a large storage tank. They chronologically described the unfolding events from the moment the ground suddenly shook like an earthquake through the days and weeks that followed. Media was on-site at the plant within 20 minutes of the explosion.
You could feel their pain as they described and maybe re-lived — the unnerving conditions and loss of life. Some of the activities in response to press and other agencies (OSHA) followed a well-worn path that those of us in crisis response have been down so many, many times before. But all of that is changing. Right now.
It’s Now Disaster at the Speed of Light
Early in my career I worked on the aftermath of the Bhopal disaster in India that claimed at least 10,000 lives. I got involved downstream (1984) with a team assembled by Ogilvy & Mather, agency for Union Carbide, to address mounting community relations challenges in areas where their domestic plants operated. In those days, we spent time in due diligence, research and planning, and our work with media followed this effort using the familiar tactical tools we had come to rely on in the TV generation of sound bites, fact sheets, third party expert interviews, etc. The materials and tools we developed became the grist for stories written or produced by trained journalists. We all understood the rules of engagement.
I love this quote from Rupert Murdoch that just nails the evolutionary moment we are in: Technology is shifting the power away from editors, publishers, the establishment, the media elite. Now it’s the people who are in control.
The traditional media world of rules of engagement has given way to information, images and video uploaded by anyone (not professional journalists) at anytime to platforms that are instantly global. And those pieces of communication may or may not convey the facts correctly. Perception indeed leads reality.
My message: you are not in control anymore. And events unfold at speeds approximating the nanoseconds of digital transmission. Social media can help create and help solve crisis events. But the time to get involved in social media is not at the moment of crisis, but now.
The crisis communications toolbox has forever changed. There are advantages to social media communication in our ability to listen more quickly, effectively and to distribute information directly to stakeholders and by-pass the once exclusive filter of traditional media. But that comes, too, with responsibilities founded on honesty, humility and transparency.
It’s a new world, requiring a new recipe. Are you ready? Says Jason Baer of Convince and Convert blog: If you can’t get a video of your CEO on YouTube within 3 hours, anytime of day or night, you are not ready.
It’s time to overhaul the crisis response protocols. You agree?
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