How can 2013 grads be successful in PR?

With graduation season soon upon us, I’ve been talking with a lot of young professionals who are eager to break into PR. It’s hard to believe that 10 years ago, I was in their shoes as a soon-to-be graduate from Boston University’s College of Communications.

It goes without saying that our business has changed a lot since I graduated. It still makes me laugh when I think about faxing press releases and assembling binders upon binders of clip books!

In my conversations with aspiring PR professionals, they always ask me what advice I have for them. Here are a few lessons I learned in my career that I’ve passed on to others throughout the years.

• Become a consumer of the news. My first job required me to read four newspapers every morning and deliver a verbal briefing to my boss by 9:30 a.m. Today, I breeze through my Twitter feed instead of four newspapers, but the process instilled in me a strong discipline and love of reading the news. If you’re not doing so already, start reading the news daily. I guarantee this practice will make you a more thoughtful, informed and media relations-savvy PR person.
• Always Have an Opinion. Whether someone is asking you for your thoughts on a pitch or discussing how a client problem should be approached, feel empowered to share your opinion and perspective. You might have an idea or question that challenges conventional thinking. Or, you might be terribly wrong. So what? Someone with opinions is valued far more than someone who sits silently. Which brings me to…
• Speak Up. If there’s something you want to do or try or accomplish, speak up. Maybe it’s wanting to learn more about cause-related marketing campaigns or corporate social responsibility. Maybe you want to become the social media expert in your office. Whatever it is, you’re the one that is ultimately responsible for shaping your career.
  
• Hone Your Editing Skills. As any seasoned PR professional will tell you, writing is a life long skill that must be continually developed and honed. Knowing how to create compelling, concise and error-free written work will take you far. Find an approach to editing and proofreading that works for you now and stick to it.
  
• Network from the Start. The guy in the cube across the way? He will go on to do great things. So will your other peers. Keep in touch and help each other out whenever you can; you never know when your paths will cross again. Remember to get out of the office, attend industry events, have lunch with your colleagues and network. I promise only good things will come from it.

It is the opening day of the 79^th Masters Tournament.

This is the day when golf fans – male and female — act like kids getting their first I-Phone.

The Masters’ major attraction is its heritage, romantic lure and its lush Augusta National course. As CBS Sports proclaims it is “a tradition unlike any other…”

Whether it’s the winner’s green jacket, the vexing Amen corner, the patrons (not the gallery) or the winner’s interview in the legendary Butler Cabin; the Masters is a venerable brand. Its attributes can inspire all marketers and marketing public relations professionals.

In fact, the Masters brand reminds me of the Interbrand annual survey of top 100 global brands. No surprise, Coke is the leading brand followed by the usual suspects – Apple, IBM, Google, and McDonald’s, etc. Incidentally, Coke’s brand value is calculated to be about $80 billion.

Interbrand’s ranking considers these 10 internal and external brand strength factors:

Internal Factors

1. Clarity – the brand’s values, positioning and proposition. It is about target audiences, customer insights and drivers. These must be articulated and shared across the organization.
2. Commitment – a belief in the brand’s importance. The extent to which the brand receives support in terms of time, influence, and investment.
3. Protection — the brand’s security across a number of dimensions: legal protection, propriety ingredients or design, scale or geographical spread.
4. Responsiveness — the ability to respond to market changes, challenges and opportunities. A brand need leadership internally and a desire and ability to constantly evolve and renew itself.

External Factors

1. Authenticity — the brand is soundly based on an internal truth and capability. It has a defined heritage and a well-grounded value set. It can deliver against the (high) expectations that customers demand.
2. Relevance — the brand fit with customer/consumer needs, desires, and decision criteria across all relevant demographics and geographies.
3. Differentiation — the degree to which customers/consumers perceive the brand to have a differentiated positioning distinctive from the competition.
4. Consistency – the level to which a brand is experienced without fail across all touch points or formats.
5. Presence – the point to which a brand feels omnipresent and is talked about positively by consumers, customers and opinion formers in both traditional and social media.
6. Understanding — the brand is not only recognized by customers, but there is also an in-depth knowledge and understanding of its distinctive qualities and characteristics. (Where relevant, this will extend to consumer understanding of the company that owns the brand).

So for golf fans, the question of the week is who will don the Masters’ green jacket?

And for marketers and public relations professionals, the question should be what can my brand learn from the Masters’ and Interbrand’s strength factors?

Reputation Partners’ Corporate Reputation Blog continues to summarize news related to some of the key trends and events that captured headlines. Below are some of the major stories that had us talking this fall.

• In the last week of October, all eyes were on the Northeast as residents and municipalities prepared for Superstorm Sandy. As the storm ravaged through New York, New Jersey and other surrounding states, millions were left without power, forcing affected residents to use social media instead of traditional media for pertinent updates. Many relied on networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to remain updated on the weather and the well-being of loved ones. But as the frenzy of information grew with the storm, some disinformation leaked into mainstream outlets causing rumors to spread.

Former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit addresses the media

• Citigroup showed that the timing and positioning of a CEO exit is key when communicating a leadership change.  The announcement that ex-CEO Vikram Pandit would be succeeded by Michael Corbat, a longtime Citigroup executive, was made only one day after Citigroup reported its third-quarter earnings, which stunned the market and raised questions. The Wall Street Journal recapped some of the lessons learned from the company’s leadership shakeup.

• October saw a double dosage of accidental earnings releases by two Fortune 250 companies, Google and Dow Chemical. Google was the first to jump into crisis mode after alleging R.R. Donnelley filed the company’s draft earnings statement early. Shortly after, Dow Chemical was forced to release its third-quarter earnings report early after accidentally sending a draft press release to Bloomberg News outlining a restructuring program that would lay off more than 2,000 employees.

•  The 2012 Presidential Election took place on Nov. 6, and  social media played a critical role throughout the election. Both campaigns used Twitter to highlight their key messages during the debates, and about 10 million tweets were posted during the first presidential debate. Twitter’s election coverage feed, @gov, noted 20 million tweets were posted on Election Day using the #election2012 hashtag, making it the most tweeted political event in U.S. history. As the television networks called the race for President Obama, @gov reported a stunning 327,453 election-related tweets per minute. Shortly thereafter, the most retweeted tweet ever came from the @barackobama Twitter feed, saying simply “four more years.”

• This November, we saw one of the most recognized brands in America, Hostess, file for bankruptcy. The company warned it would file a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to shut down operations if enough workers from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) didn’t end a weeklong strike by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18. On Friday, Hostess followed through on that threat, eliminating 18,500 jobs and beginning the process of selling off its factories, brands and other assets. As an expert in labor communications, Reputation Partners’ Founder and President Nick Kalm shared his insight on Hostess’ court-sanctioned mediation with its lenders and union leaders.

A member of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) strikes.

• After 80 years in print, Newsweek announced that it will become an online-only publication next year. The last print edition will hit stands Dec. 31, with Newsweek Global, the all-digital version of the publication, marking its beginning with the start of the new year.

What recent news headlines caught your attention? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Every so often I get asked about what it’s like to found and own a PR firm and how it differs from my years working for large multinational corporations and PR firms.  Well, on the occasion of our firm’s 10^th anniversary, here are a few observations:

• Faster decision making.  At the big PR firms, we had to respond to nearly every RFP that came through the door.  We couldn’t argue that we didn’t have a specific capability or didn’t have a legitimate “shot.”  After all, RFPs were (and are) the source of most of big agency new business.  As a boutique firm, we don’t receive a large volume of RFPs.  When we do, we quickly dismiss the ones we don’t feel we have at least a 75-80% chance of winning.  Otherwise, too much time is wasted responding to them.  We’d rather spend it serving our clients or creating our own new business opportunities. We’re also able to make decisions a lot more quickly about clients we’ll agree to serve and people we’ll decide to hire.  No “checking with New York.”  If we want to do something, after considering it thoughtfully, we just do it.
• 

  Nick Kalm, Jane Devron and Megan Hakes started Reputation Partners in 2002.

  Talent that’s equal or better.  In my 29 years in this business on the client and agency side, I’ve been privileged to work with and learn from a lot of talented people.  I’m struck by the fact that the kinds of people we’re able to attract to our firm are as good as and often even better than the caliber of talent I worked with previously.  And there’s a little something “extra” in finding an employee who’s more attracted by the quality of the opportunity rather than the “prestige” of a big company/PR firm name.

• No “dead weight.”  One of the unfortunate realities of many large employers is the fact that not everyone pulls their weight.  Given the economic downturn, this happens less than it used to, but it still occurs.  “Why are they there?” or “What are they doing?” are two refrains we never hear at Reputation Partners.  Here, we make sure everyone is productive; everybody’s working.
• Great, big clients.  When we left the world of big agencies, some speculated that we might be too small to serve some of the biggest companies in the world.  Given that our first three clients were FedEx, GE and IBM, that notion was quickly put to rest.  In the ten years since, we’ve worked with numerous blue chip companies.  But, we’ve also worked with many smaller and mid-sized organizations – and have done some of our most interesting work for them.
• Financial controls equal better results.  Running a PR firm well from a financial standpoint really isn’t hard.  Budget engagements appropriately.  Don’t overservice.  Get written agreements from clients before starting work and at every step.  Follow-up and collect on past due receivables.  Don’t allow one client to become too big a percentage of your business.  Having seen what to do and not do at the big shops, it was relatively easy to set Reputation Partners on a better path.

So, do I have any regrets?  Well, as the old song goes, I’ve had a few.  But, ten years in, I’m as ready for the next ten as I was for the first.  Being an entrepreneur, having a great team, and the opportunities I see ahead are what get me up at 5:00 a.m. every day.

What motivates you?

At the beginning of each month, Reputation Partners’ Corporate Reputation Blog will summarize news related to some of the key trends and events that dominated the headlines. Below are just some of the stories that caught our attention during the month of September.

• The Chicago Teachers Union made national headlines throughout the month of September when the teachers went on strike for the first time in 25 years. While the strike was covered daily by Chicago media, it also appeared on the front page of national print outlets such as The New York Times. As an expert on employee/labor communications during work stoppages, Reputation Partners’ founder and president Nick Kalm blogged about labor communications lessons from the Chicago Teachers Union strike.

A touchdown call made by replacement referees during a work stoppage sparked a PR crisis for the NFL

• In similar labor communications and work stoppage news, the NFL and referees’ union continued talks to negotiate a contract. In the interim, replacement referees officiated NFL games, which led to a controversial last-minute touchdown call that resulted in the Seattle Seahawks winning a game against the Green Bay Packers. However, some argue that the public relations crisis stemming from the call helped end the NFL referee union strike. 

• During the last week of September, thousands of individuals and organizations hosted workshops for Social Media Week, a worldwide event exploring the social, cultural and economic impact of social media. While impossible to recap the more than 90 global events, Crain’s Chicago Business boiled down the important takeaways from Social Media Week events hosted in Chicago. The Reputation Partners staff participated in Social Media Week sessions on the importance of targeted audiences for B2B social media communications, how to get CEOs involved with social media and future trends and technologies of the social world.

• Mark Zuckerberg’s recent media appearances demonstrated the importance of executive visibility during times of challenge, after stepping into the spotlight for the first time since the company’s IPO. As an immediate result of Zuckerberg’s appearance at the annual TechCrunch conference, Facebook shares rose in after-hours trading.

What other headlines caught your attention? Leave us a comment and let us know.

According to a recent Deloitte study, nearly one half of CFOs now see sustainability as a key contributor to financial performance and two-thirds of CFOs are now closely involved in their company’s sustainability strategies. It seems that businesses are increasingly appreciating that sustainability can be a growth driver and a cost saver. Given sustainability’s growing impact on the bottom line, companies need to give greater consideration not only to their sustainability strategies but also to how they credibly and effectively communicate these sustainability strategies.

All communications should include “green” messages

Sustainability reporting, whether as stand-alone reports or annual/sustainability report hybrids, is expected today — at least among publicly-traded companies. While they can serve as good summaries, sustainability reports should not be the end-all be-all when it comes to sustainability communications.  Too many companies spend significant time and money on reports and essentially do nothing with them. Posting a lengthy report on a web site doesn’t ultimately do much to educate customers, employees, business partners, activist groups and others. So, what should companies do to effectively and authentically communicate their sustainability commitments?

1.) Do a report, but make sure it’s credible. It’s no secret that the quality and transparency of sustainability reporting varies dramatically. Too many companies are still churning out sustainability reports that resemble polished marketing collateral instead of the honest, forthcoming accounts that they should be. Good reports, and good sustainability communications overall, avoid hype and spin in favor of facts and data. They include clearly defined goals (near-term and long-term) and report honestly on where they were met – and where more work needs to be done. They include candid input from people and groups outside the company.

95 percent of Fortune 250 companies release sustainability reports

2.) Engage employees. Employee posters and e-newsletter articles about sustainability programs are good to do, but pushing sustainability information at employees won’t do much to engage them. Involve employees in identifying sustainability opportunities – and publicly recognize these contributions in ongoing communications. Employees who feel they can make an impact on social and environmental issues while on the job are twice as satisfied with work as those who don’t, according to a Net Impact/Rutgers Study. Consider sustainability “training” not only for leaders, but also employees-at-large to help them understand what sustainability truly is, how it can be leveraged as a business advantage and their role in furthering the company’s commitments. Hold leaders and employees accountable for sustainability by including sustainability-related goals in job descriptions and job performance crtieria.

3.) Proactively communicate with potential critics. Smart sustainability strategies can’t be developed in a vacuum.  The best approaches include collaboration with the outside world – including communicating with potential critics (such as watchdog groups and NGOs) – who can help identify opportunities for improvement and formulate solutions.  While many companies fear this type of exposure, they should embrace it. Businesses are less vulnerable to attack if they talk openly with potential critics than if they avoid them and simply hope for the best. Importantly, watchdogs and NGOs can provide much needed support in helping companies communicate sustainability credibly and authentically to the public at large.

4.) Speak simply. Remember that not all stakeholders (employees, investors, etc.) live and breathe sustainability day in and day out. While data and facts are a must, avoid buzzwords and technical jargon as much as possible. Simplify complex concepts and make sure the average person can understand what’s being communicated. All stakeholders – even sustainability “experts” –  will appreciate simplicity and clarity.

5.) Integrate sustainability into all company communications. Companies with effective sustainability strategies have integrated sustainability throughout their business. They should also integrate sustainability throughout their communications – in new hire orientations, town hall meetings, sales presentations, investor presentations, Facebook pages, etc.  Sustainability communications should not be considered a standalone campaign but instead should be part of the company’s vernacular – woven throughout communications to/conversations with all stakeholders. If sustainability is a journey, communications should be happening continuously throughout  the trip.

Wisconsin fans gather to watch their beloved Badgers. But what can this really teach us about PR?

Every weekend this fall, college football enthusiasts will break out their Saturday best, gather on the couch or at a tailgate and watch their beloved teams kick-off. Another college football season is upon us.

It just so happens that two of my passions – college football and corporate public relations - aren’t all that dissimilar. As I reflected on this further, I realized that college football can actually teach us some fundamental PR lessons.

• The Coach/CEO Sets the Tone: Woody Hayes, longtime coach of The Ohio State Buckeyes, was famously quoted as saying, “Paralyze resistance with persistence.” He set the tone for his team, the university, its alumni and fans. They weren’t going to give up, no matter what adversity they faced. Similarly, a CEO sets the tone for his/her company. Whether addressing investors, media, employees or industry peers, a CEO has the opportunity to instill confidence and reaffirm the company’s strategy and outlook with every communication.
• Preparation is Key: There’s a reason why coaches spend all that time watching game tape of their past performances and upcoming opponents. They need to know their own weaknesses and that of their opponents. They need to anticipate threats and plan for contingency situations. The same level of preparation should be deployed when navigating a complex communications challenge – be it prepping for an investigative interview, communicating a difficult message to employees or preparing a crisis communications strategy.
• Hone the Fundamentals: Regardless of how many Heisman hopefuls you may have on your team, you’re not going to win a national championship without strong fundamentals. In PR, you’re not going to go far without them either. For me, one of the most important fundamental skills a PR professional can have is being a strong writer. With a mastery of writing for corporate communications, you’ll be equipped to tackle any issue large or small.
• Never Underestimate an Opponent (or a Reporter): Remember when Appalachian State shocked Michigan in the opening weekend of the 2007 season? Some would argue that Michigan wasn’t prepared for the scrappy, hardworking, yet little known Division I-AA team. Just because you’re doing an interview with a small market paper or a niche trade publication, it doesn’t mean that the reporter hasn’t done his or her homework and isn’t going to pepper your client with tough, incisive questions. There’s no such thing as a “slam dunk” media opportunity (or college football win), so prepare accordingly and know what to do if the media interview goes awry.
• It’s All About the Team: Whether defense, offense or special teams, college football is the ultimate team sport. A team will only be successful if all members are contributing consistently and doing so at the highest level of excellence. The same holds true in PR. Be it mentoring junior staff, sharing best practices, examining where we can improve or congratulating a team member on a job well done, we’re only as good as our team. The late, great Michigan coach, Bo Schembechler, captured this sentiment perfectly in his famous “The Team, The Team, The Team!” speech in 1983.

What else can college football teach us about PR? Leave a comment and let me know.

Despite years of declining membership and some very public drubbings, the union movement continues to show signs of life. The currently-unfolding Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) strike is the most recent example.

There are a few important labor communications lessons from the current CTU labor dispute and my own experience in providing counsel regarding labor union communications:

• Strike votes are usually symbolic. But, as the parents of nearly 400,000 Chicago students now painfully know, strikes do occur. The first thing the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Board could have done was show the union (and public) they were ready, willing and able to operate completely without their members. In a very public way, run ads to spread the word that you’re lining up replacement workers, all while urging the striking employees not to strike/return to work. With unemployment hovering above 8 percent for years, plenty of people would jump at the chance. This was common (and effective) practice in the New York area when teacher strikes were frequent as well as in numerous private sector settings.
• Chicago Public Schools Board President David Vitale was quoted as saying the Board agreed not to negotiate through the media. That’s another missed opportunity. If you have a union workforce whose absence is going to affect lots of customers, suppliers or the community, you better make sure your key audiences know what’s at stake and why the strike is occurring – before it happens. A scan of my Facebook and Twitter feeds and media comments show many people seem confused by the CTU strike. The CPS Board could have clearly defined what they had put into their various offers, thereby forcing the CTU to explain what the issues are that are “forcing” them to strike.
• Union/management conflicts are, by definition, a battle for “hearts and minds.” Management needs to do the best job possible of showing the bargaining unit, salaried employees and others not only the logic of what they’re doing, but the emotional reasons for doing so.  “Hearts and minds” are what unions “do” beautifully. Management needs to embrace this as well.

The Chicago Teachers Union Strike in Downtown Chicago

It’s not too late for CPS management to consider some of these steps, as thousands of parents are counting on this strike to be over soon. But, if you work at an organization with unionized employees, you’d be wise to consider these and other steps before your own contracts expire.

On a Chicago stage, where the current production is “Enron,” the company’s Board of Directors are portrayed as three blind mice.  Certainly, the Enron Board’s epic failure is well documented, but more recent failures by various organization’s Boards of Directors (from Olympus to HP to Penn State to the Susan G. Komen Foundation) reveal an ongoing Achilles’ Heel that goes way beyond effective corporate governance.

Over my career, I’ve worked with countless CEOs — many of whom have correctly involved their Boards of Directors on matters of strategic importance.  And, to be sure, when large organizations face serious reputational issues, they often involve in-house corporate communications people and bring in external PR counsel.

But, I think a strong argument can be made that many serious issues could have been avoided or mitigated at the Board level before they rose to a crisis.  Corporate communications people have their fingers on the public’s pulse, so we can and do anticipate issues well and provide valuable insights into taking advantage of market opportunities.  The problem is: very few company Boards of Directors include executives with corporate communications backgrounds or expertise. This is a surprising and noteworthy omission.

Certainly, Boards benefit from the presence of executives with diverse corporate, financial and academic backgrounds.  And, many executives have solid instincts and experience dealing with communications/perception issues.  But, few of them are experienced in and attuned to identifying and addressing public perception issues at the early stages — when they are invariably easier and less costly to fix.

It’s difficult to find any public companies with communications executives currently on their boards of trustees (Yum Brands is a notable exception, but one wonders how active its board was in its Taco Bell subsidiary’s 2011 bruising battle with the plaintiffs’ bar).   Notably, among CEOs, only two — Brian Tierney (of Philadelphia Media Holdings) and David D’Alessandro (of John Hancock Financial Services) — immediately come to mind as having a PR background (vs. overseeing PR).

Would a PR person on HP’s Board have encouraged a more disciplined and thoughtful approach to  selecting CEO Mark Hurd’s successor?  Likewise, if a communications professional were on the Board at Olympus, what would they have recommended when’ CEO Michael Woodford asked the Board to investigate a series of acquisitions led by the company’s chairman?  Finally, though they eventually brought in outside PR counsel, how different would the recent fiascoes with Penn State and others have turned out if they’d had PR at the decision-making table?  I guess we’ll never know, but there are thousands of companies out there who would be advised to think more broadly when filling their next open Board seat.

There’s a story rocketing around the PR agency world this week about a PR firm that finds itself in a very ugly and avoidable fight with a prominent blogger. (NSFW) It’s a great and timeless cautionary tale.

There’s an old saying about not picking a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.  Of course, this is meant to suggest caution about doing battle with a member of the media.

But with most newspapers, radio and TV news in decline, along with the rapid ascent of bloggers, I think the saying should be updated to the headline of this post.

In this case, the PR firm sent a pitch to a blogger who didn’t care to receive it.  Blogger said so (in typical blogger way) and got a snarky reply from the pitcher at the PR firm.  Blogger (who, by the way, had over 160,000 followers — compare that to the readership of your average daily newspaper!) sent back another typical blogger reply (a bit flip and edgy).

This was followed by a foolish “reply all” from the PR firm (that included said blogger).  Well, after this bonehead maneuver (which nearly anyone could have done), the blogger apparently gave the PR firm VP a chance to walk his NSFW comment back, but, no, instead, he decided to double down on snark.

And, gee, what do you think the blogger decided to do about this whole exchange?  Publish it!

Sigh….

Setting aside how this reflects on the whole PR agency world, it was just plain dumb to think that this firm could do (inept) battle with a blogger and come out a winner.

So, what are the lessons here:

Lesson #1 — Treat respectable bloggers (especially those with six-figures worth of followers!) with at least as much respect as you’d treat a reporter from The New York Times.  If you have an issue with something they said, or wouldn’t include in their coverage, etc., sure you can address it with them, but….

Lesson #2 — Assume that anything and everything that you put in writing to/about a blogger will find its way to said blogger (and everyone who follows him/her…and so on….and so on).

Lesson #3 — Once you’ve done your damage, the only thing left to do is give an unqualified apology to the blogger (and the world), and give your staff some remedial training.