The whole point of this site is to act as a springboard for young PR professionals and students. So we think that when major issues come up in the field of public relations, this should be the first place you want to come to get the issue spelled out in plain terms. So, here goes for a major topic of interest in the PR blogosphere right now. But first a little background for those who might want it:

Background on Uses of Social Media

One thing that may be hard to understand until someone really spells it out like this is how exactly companies are trying to use blogs and other social media. One trend we are seeing, is a movement away from advertisements which some companies feel consumers can see right through and are not effective, to a more consumer-engaging way of communicating positive ideas about your company. That’s where blogs come in.

Granted, this idea is not catching on at lightening speed and is having a kind of slow adoption rate, but many people feel that it is the way of reaching consumers in the future, or any target audience for that matter.
(For some, this might be old hat, but who knows, this might be helping others…)

So some companies are looking to have conversations with their publics instead of sending one-way messages through advertisements that they can only hope the consumer will respond to positively. Some companies are responding to new media by having a customer service function which goes out and responds to complaints or queries about products posted on various consumers’ blogs. I have had that happen to me personally. Orvis did a remarkable job of finding where I had complimented a program of theirs and the company wrote me personally saying they were glad I enjoyed a particular program they were doing. I was impressed, heck I am sitting here still talking about it on this site, and that’s what other companies are trying to do: reinforce positive images or get rid of negative opinions of their company that are showing up in blogs for the rest of the world to see on the Internet.

Other than customer service, word-of-mouth campaigns are being started through blogs to reach audiences, and Wal-Mart is one company who has begun similar efforts.

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It’s been widely reported (also see here for Washington Post story) this week that the Pentagon is seeking a PR firm to improve their communications about the war in Iraq. The winner of the $20 million, two year contract will perform global media monitoring, analysis and briefings, translate a key government web site into Arabic and provide other tactical and strategic public relations activities.

In my opinion, the AP’s story headline, “Pentagon Moves Toward Monitoring Media,” is a little odd and a bit dramatic, and the last line of the piece, “Pentagon officials have defended the (PR) program as a necessary tool in the war on terror. But critics have said it contradicts American values of freedom of the press,” is strangely placed. Monitoring media is a fancy way of saying that you’re reading the newspapers, watching TV and listening to the radio. It certainly isn’t against freedom of the press for a government to read the news. In fact, the better media monitoring you have, the better you are able to understand why people are saying the things they’re saying about you, and the better you can create messages that clearly articulate what you’re trying to say so people understand your point of view. So, why is this such a big deal?

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NBC is in hot water after a short video to open the Emmy Awards on Sunday. The video was of a plane crashing and its intention was to spoof the ABC television show Lost. But hours earlier a plane had crashed in Lexington, Ky., and killed 49 people.

NBC apologized for the video saying it was prerecorded and it was not meant in any way to poke fun at those killed in the plane crash in Kentucky. But while its intentions were good, the final outcome was not.

Many believe that the video should have been scratched from the opening of the awards ceremony. But others were not so offended because they clearly saw the ties to Lost and not to the Kentucky plane crash.

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That is the sub-headline for an Associated Press article by David Bauder I found called, “Fox News handles PR like it’s a contact sport.”

Catches your attention doesn’t it?

The gist of the article is that Fox News has a very unconventional way of responding to attacks on their network.

After very negative comments from Ted Turner, calling the network propoganda and relating its popularity to that of Hitler’s in Germany before World War II, a Fox spokeswoman, Irena Briganti replied, “Ted is understandably bitter having lost his ratings, his network and now his mind. We wish him well.”

In a reply to George Clooney’s criticism of Bill O’Reilly, the network responded, “We are disappointed that George has chosen to hurt Mr. O’Reilly’s family in order to promote his movie. But it’s obvious he needs publicity considering his recent string of failures. We wish him well in his struggle to regain relevancy.”

Ouch, huh?

Bauder says at the beginning of his article, “If someone at Fox News Channel wishes you well, watch your back. The seemingly benign sentiment is a creative signature of Fox’s public relations, usually accompanied by a kneecapping. It’s something like a kiss from a Mafia don.”

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Here in the ATL, Delta Air Lines has been a staple of our economy for the last 30 years. Most of the southern suburbs are frocked with Delta pilots and other employees (Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is on the south side of town). When Delta filed for bankruptcy there was a fear of how badly it would affect the city’s economy if Delta went the way of Eastern.

Now that Delta seemingly has righted-the-ship and begun to pull out of its tailspin, it has launched a new marketing campaign, and also boldly pronounced itself as “America’s largest airline,” and “New York City’s biggest airline”…bold, but not necessarily true. And therein lies the problem.

What do you do when your company makes a claim that isn’t backed up by the traditional methods of measurement in your industry?

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Blogging has grown to become a great “disruptor” for PR. For those who are unfamiliar with the clout many blogs carry today, it has substantially grown from random musings, personal experiences, and op eds to full blown reporting across every category you could imagine. Some have even become rock stars in their own right, with PR associates tripping over themselves trying to get their attention.

In my field, which is rooted in tech, we have engadget, Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch, Stowe Boyd’s Message, Tom Foremski’s SiliconValleyWatcher, Om Malik’s GigaOM, among many, many, many others. For example, we had a client’s product (a very expensive gadget) featured on an important blog a few days ago, and by the end of the day, the company had already tracked two sales that stemmed from that post.

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An article on MSNBC.com last week took a peak into Al-Qaeda’s communications machine as the terrorist organization continues to tweak and grow its media operations capabilities. Al-Qaeda is becoming increasingly sophisticated in its communications tactics, recently releasing highly polished video and audio messages, and developing a larger web presence as a recruiting tool. There is no doubt Al-Qaeda is PR-minded. Its media wing was established in the late 1980s, but was revamped in 1998 as the group renewed its anti-western agenda. At the same time, Al-Qaeda recruited a technically minded Adam Gadhan (27), who has since become a major player in developing terrorist propaganda material.

Al-Qaeda’s first big revamped foray into higher quality media came in 2000 as Osama bin Laden ordered the creation of a full-length film featuring actual footage of the attack on the USS Cole. Although unable to record the attack, production moved forward. From MSNBC.com:

In early 2001, al-Qaeda recruiters in Europe began to distribute an unusual new video from Pakistan titled “The Destruction of the USS Cole,” created by a mysterious entity known as the “As-Sahaab (‘Clouds’) Foundation for Islamic Media.” Not only did As-Sahaab’s first video release contain startling and unprecedented footage of bin Laden, al-Zawahri and al-Qaeda’s military training camps in Afghanistan, it was demonstrated that the propaganda arm was capable of producing remarkably high quality video and carefully scripted cinematic effects. Oddly, the nearly two-hour long video was even subtitled in near perfect English.

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I love catchy titles. Especially ones with allusion to other blogs. Man, that English degree is paying off.

Admittedly, I’m a little late to the party with this post, concerning Shell’s 50 city tour across America. But I wanted to let it marinate.

The purpose of this tour: To let the big wigs at Shell explain to me that it’s not Shell’s fault I’m getting killed at the pumps.

My reaction: I don’t care. I want blood.

Most people feel a sense of brand loyalty for certain products. Building that loyalty is part of the PR game. But is oil one of those products? I have never heard the following conversation:

“Hey, let’s get some gas. Pull over to that BP.”

“Naw homey, I strictly roll with Shell. BP is lame.”

In a highly unscientific straw poll I took of my friends and family, not one of them felt any sense of loyalty to a gas company. One of my more eloquent friends put it oh so poetically: “I’m a cheap [expletive]. I go where the gas is cheap.” We don’t want a brand, we want cheap.

This tour seems a bit silly and mostly hollow. Does Shell think it will appease people by sending out the fat cats to explain why gas is so expensive? That’s not what people want to hear. Don’t put up some rich old dudes in front of hard working people to explain it isn’t big oil’s fault. Truth isn’t winning this one, emotion is.

Do they think they will gain a more favorable image by presenting themselves before an angry mass as a punching bag? Sure they do. Oh such gracious executives, allowing us to hurl insults and obscenity at them. Thank you for the cathartic experience.

To communicate transparency is an honorable goal. I do want to know why exactly gas prices are how they are. But I don’t trust Shell explaining it. Will most people? From a communications perspective, this seems insincere. Perhaps parading some regular joes who work for Shell would have a better effect. Educate some everyday employees and send them out there to dance.

Is Shell doing more harm than good here? How can Shell present a more authentic front? With transparency being the hot topic right now, can an oil company be seen as honest? Let’s take another unscientific straw poll.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to hit the coinstar and turn some change into cash. I’m on empty.

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Stealing secrets and selling them to the highest bidder; informants giving information to the rival company; money transfers and arrests…sounds like a movie right? Wrong! This was the foiled plan involving Coca-Cola Company secrets being sold to Pepsi.

In May, a letter appeared at Pepsi Co’s headquarters offering “very detailed and confidential information.” The letter claimed to be from a high-level executive named “Dirk.” Now, in case you don’t know, Coke has been soundly beating Pepsi for the last who-knows-how-long. In light of this, Pepsi could have agreed to take the information, and obtained a leg-up on Coke. Instead, Pepsi contacted Coke, told them about the letter, and Coke called the FBI to set up the sting. Said Pepsi spokesman Dave DeCecco: “We only did what any responsible company would do. Competition can sometimes be fierce, but it also must be fair and legal.” So out of this, Pepsi get a big boost for its image by proving that it is a very ethical company.

Coke now has some employee relations ends to tie up. A memo was sent to all employees by Chairman and CEO Neville Isdell promising “a thorough review of our information protection policies, procedures and practices to ensure that we continue to rigorously safeguard our intellectual capital.” This is a good start, as the employees will look to their executives for how to respond to this situation. Coke also needs to send out a plan for reporting this type of activity if an employee catches another involved with it.

What else do you think Coke, or Pepsi, should do in response to this situation?

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Jay-Z is not happy with Cristal, the beloved champagne he has been spitting rhymes about since 1996.

The story has the details, but a big cheese at the company that produces Cristal made some less than positive comments about the hip-hop clientelle the brand attracts. In response, Jay-Z has said he will boycott the bubbly and discontinue selling it at his 40/40 clubs.

Jay-Z is a style and trend influencer for a large segment of America’s youth, probably most affecting the echo boomers and some Gen-Xers. I’m a big fan myself. If Jay-Z strikes out on an anti-Cristal crusade, he can certainly help galvanize support from the hip-hop culture. The article mentions that Russel Simmons, former CEO of Def Jam Records, put enough pressure on Pepsi for yanking Ludacris as a spokeman, that Pepsi gave $3 million in charitable donations to the record company. Face it. Hip-hop is powerful stuff.

I doubt that the hip-hop culture impacts Cristal’s bottom line in any significant way, otherwise words might have been chosen more carefully. Apparently, Cristal isn’t marketing to that lifestyle.

But if a cultural icon like Jay-Z is upset, damage can be done. I’m curious. Is this a crisis for Cristal? Of course, there are some racial elements to this that will surface, as Jay-Z has already stated he construed the statements as racist.

What do you think? If you were Cristal, what would you do? Holla at me. As Brooklyn’s finest once said, “you can’t knock the hustle.”

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