What I found particularly interesting about this story wasn’t the fact that mom’s were using Facebook to voice their concerns (the term ‘mommy bloggers’ was born due to their large influence in the social media world), but rather P&G’s response which is highlighted in a Social Media Influence article. They acted fast, distributed SEO friendly content, used an integrated media approach (local TV news and YouTube) and they were clear on the product changes.

Too often in a crisis situation, organizations tend to remain quiet and address the issue with more of an internal focus versus responding immediately to public outcry. P&G did the exact opposite and set up an immediate, integrated media effort to respond to the comments being made on social media. From interviews with local TV stations to posting videos from experts on its YouTube channel to address concerns, it was obvious that P&G was monitoring the conversation taking place on multiple channels and responding when appropriate. It is clear they have previously discussed possible online crises and developed a plan that allowed for quick response within the correct channels.

To me the most impressive part of their response was the way that they acknowledged and validated the parents’ concerns. P&G even added additional customer-service representatives in order to provide additional time to speak with consumers with questions about the Pampers product. They have admitted that their initial launch of the product lacked detail and may have caused some confusion with parents. I find some comfort in the fact they are listening to their audiences and taking action to rectify the issue.

It will be very interesting to watch the debate continue between consumers and P&G. Will the social media storm continue to grow? Or will P&G’s efforts successfully satisfy shoppers and the media. We can praise the transparency and speed in which P&G responded to the complaints – a practice we should all learn from.

If you’ll recall from my blog series back in February, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently enacted guidelines for bloggers’ disclosure of gifts and other forms of compensation.

Last week a Daily Online Examiner article revealed that Ann Taylor Loft received a warning letter last week from the FTC after they provided bloggers with gifts at a January preview of the retailer’s summer line. The warning highlights the importance that bloggers disclose all material connections to companies they write about.

Other companies may not be so lucky to get away with a warning. According to the article, Ann Taylor took a few steps that prevented it from being reprimanded more severely. They posted a sign at the preview requesting that bloggers disclose the gifts if they posted comments about the preview, although the sign may not have been easily seen by all bloggers. Luckily for Ann Taylor, many of the bloggers did disclose the gifts and Ann Taylor put in place a written blogger disclosure policy shortly after the preview.

The fact that the FTC sent the warning letter to Ann Taylor indicates that they are actively investigating companies who may not be taking their guidelines seriously. It is very likely this is the first of many warnings and reprimands the FTC will make as their investigations move forward.

Is your company doing its best to comply with the guidelines? If not, it may be time that you consider implementing a social media policy and training your employees on what your expectations are for marketing via social media. As we learned from this example, simply having a corporate social media disclosure policy in place helped Ann Taylor avoid major fines and repercussions.

There was a reoccurring topic among presentations and participants this year- measurement. 

Measurement and return on investment is a concern for every business function, and this applies to word-of-mouth and social media communications.  Just as with traditional public relations and marketing, social media ROI does not always have a clear cut definition.  At the 2009 Summit companies and organizations continued to share their best practices for ROI within social media. A few key takeaways:

• A greater level of ROI accountability is being placed on social media programs as budgets are expanding into 2010 and more investment is being made.
• Engagement number (such as page views, number of members, comments) does not equal ROI. ROI is a business result, such as earnings, decreased expenses, etc.
• Social media benefits are often long-term and don’t fit into the short-term measurement lenses of traditional communications.

There is so much information and ideas around measurement and metrics in social media that WOMMA has developed a new guidebook for best practices and lessons.   Go to the WOMMA site to download the guidebook and I’ll continue to share some of my favorite info I discover here on the blog.

Most of us are looking at fourth quarters that are pretty slow, especially if our clients have had their budgets cut. But, perhaps like us, you are seeing an unprecedented number of RFPs issued for January start dates. (If only they paid us to write these wonderful proposals!)

The Council of PR Firms released their third quarter survey. It indicates that most firms thought their revenues would be lower or flat against 2008, but also indicated they expect client budgets to be higher in 2010. Leading economists say the recession is already over and that’s good news for everyone, so I’m passing that along as much as I can and believing in the power of positive thought.

A couple of years ago I authored a piece on success for members at Pinnacle Worldwide and I think it still holds true, so with your indulgence, I’ll reprint it here:

Success

“I think all of us who are successful in business share common traits. First, we have a vision of what we want our companies to be and we stick with it. Second, we stay committed to the concept of lifelong learning for everyone in our companies. It makes employees better at their job, moves them along the education curve, and encourages them to grow as professionals. Third, we are pioneers. We go above and beyond what everyone else is doing. We create cultures and workplace environments that break the mold. Finally, we have made a commitment to doing business responsibly and ethically.

Mixing Good Work with Good Works

Success in business is only a part of true success. There is added satisfaction if we also make our communities better places. In that spirit, we participate in numerous causes that are important to our employees, our companies, and our communities. We serve on boards, we give money, we loan our executives and employees to good causes and we try to make a difference.

The Three C’s

We all understand that our competition is not only other PR and marketing firms in our respective areas, but the national and international companies that play in our space. We need to think and act globally so we can get our piece of the action, and we need to innovate to create new action. To effectively do this we have three “C’s”:

Communicate – we need to know what types of work we are all doing and how we can better work together to snag big clients, share best practices and share information with one another quickly and easily;

Consult – we all have experiences – both positive and negative – as well as different areas of expertise that we should share so we collectively get better and smarter individually, and as a network; and

Cooperate – we should be looking for opportunities to pass on leads and potential work to our peers in other markets and to find ways to collaborate.
A successful industry is a benefit to all of us. It’s in our collective best interest to make it work.”

I am President of Pinnacle Worldwide (PWW), a group of independently-owned PR and advertising firms from around the world. PWW as an organization has always been about helping one another. And, our partner in the Phillipines—Romeo Virtusio of Virtusio Public Relations along with his staff, friends and neighbors– has endured a typhoon and torrential rains that have caused loss of life and property. Although Romy reports that his family and staff are fine, we recently announced we were collecting money to send to Romy to use to help his fellow countrymen rebuild. If you haven’t already, please click here to donate.

We have major challenges and opportunities in the coming year. We won’t know what a recovery will look like and how our clients will respond. But, one thing we can be sure of…it’s going to be interesting.

Now, the FTC is proposing regulations for online endorsements and testimonials. The PR and social media world is buzzing with news of the guidelines. A final ruling is expected later this year. The proposed guidelines place personal liability on bloggers and marketers for false testimonials and require clear disclosure of any relationship between bloggers, advocates and marketers.

The Word of Mouth and Marketing Association (WOMMA) recently reviewed and amended its code of ethics that addresses some of the issues surrounding endorsements and testimonials. This review was to ensure WOMMA members and industry leaders follow and understand ethical practices, as well as abide by future FTC guides.

TVG is a member of WOMMA and I serve on the WOMMA ethics committee that helped review the codes. In order to most clearly address the upcoming FTC guides, the committee amended the WOMMA code to read, “We stand against marketing practices whereby the marketer or its representatives provide goods, services or compensation to the consumer to make recommendations, reviews or endorsements without full, meaningful, and prominent disclosure.”

To learn more about the practical applications of current regulatory and legal events surrounding word of mouth, including the FTC’s proposed endorsement and testimonial guidelines, visit WOMMA’s new blog, DiResta the Law.

The Harvard Business Review has expanded their social media presence from @HarvardBiz to now include @AskHBR, @TheDailyStat and @ManagementTip. Just one glance at the recent tweets by @AskHBR tells you it is a must-add to your list of Twitterpals.

The first post on their page when I logged on read:
Tutorial: What business are you really in? Is your answer the same as your customers’? http://bit.ly/a0R9c Questions?

Following the link, I read through the article and am now thinking about “What business am I really in?” and I want to ask the team I work with what their answers are.

The title of the article is “Marketing Myopia” and seems to be a well-chosen name. The brief presents four myths of marketing positions that, in the writer’s opinion, put a business at risk. The responses are things I believe TVG practices with our client service, yet it requires a deeper look at the “physician-heal-thyself” risk that consulting firms often ignore.

There has been a lot of churn in the economy, the ways clients spend money, the ways clients make decisions and the ways professional service firms in the marketing communications field are positioning themselves. Yet, who is thinking about mar comm from the vantage point of ‘what business are we in?’

If a consulting company turns our teams and our creative talents outward, to serve the marketplace, we achieve success for the short-term. If we focus these teams on looking inward as well, we stand a better chance at long-term strength. We’ve started down a path of rebranding TVG for 2010, and I think I’ll add this question to our next thinking session. So for those of you on my team, be ready to answer: What business are we really in?!

One of the themes presented was the relationship between research and public relations. Her notes on the presentation stated the speaker indicated: if research isn’t involved it is likely not public relations.

Are the two always linked?

I found I agree with the speaker from the Webinar. Research is involved with public relations. But it points to a different problem in my mind. Labels.

What is public relations? What is marketing? I used to tell people I worked in PR, but it sounded a bit flat to me. Then TVG started using the qualifier “strategic communications”, and that fit me much better. There isn’t anything we do for our clients that isn’t strategic. And to me, strategy includes asking questions – the very genesis of research.

So can you provide PR without research? Here comes the challenge with defining PR, and the other labels that exist in this more-art-than-science field I’ve chosen as a profession. To a point, you can provide PR without research. In my opinion what you can’t provide without research, is results. I’ll give you an example.

One definition of PR is PR = media relations.

I can respond to a client requesting media attention around a subject related to their industry. I can call the press identified in the media list, pitch them my content and see what happens. Then report back to the client. OR I can do research with the client:

1. What is the news value of this subject?
2. What features/benefits are potential talking points to the press?
3. Do we have testimonials?
4. Are there specific publications or reporters you’d like to have cover this story?
5. How does the media relations effort around this pitch drive your business objectives?

Next up is to go to the media list AND do more research.

1. Has this reporter covered this story angle/company recently?
2. Which reporter at this outlet is the best target?
3. Does the audience of this outlet match my target market?
4. Are there stringers in this field who could push this into a bigger media outlet?
5. Is there an audio opportunity? A video opportunity?
6. What are the social media activities of the media outlet or reporter that I can tie in with my pitch?

Then I get on the phone, tailor my pitch to that individual reporter, and conduct ongoing field research with the reporters I reach about level of interest, likelihood of this being something they would cover, and getting ideas for the next pitch where I might be calling them for this client. Then report back to the client.

Which option would you want? Would you agree that research adds a component to public relations? What do I like so much about the second option? Even if I come up short on the measurement side of this pitch with both options, the latter gives me content, relationships and access…and that research can eventually deliver results.

Unfortunately, with all of the subscriptions, it is rare that I have the time to read an entire article. However, last night one particular post titled, “Hamster on a Wheel” on PR-Squared caught my attention. The overall message of the article really resonated with me, and I’m sure many other young professionals. There were several key points that I found particularly interesting:

• It may be hard to recognize sometimes, but “getting frustrated” is not the same as “getting stale” or “burning out.”
• It is not your manager’s responsibility to motivate you on a consistent basis. You have to take personal responsibility for motivating and challenging yourself. (This applies to everyone, at all levels in an organization).
• Sure, it’s great to get good feedback in your annual review. But ultimately, achieving small, personal goals will be just as satisfying, if not more. “Cuz only y-o-u know what you’re really bad at, terrified of, need to work on; only y-o-u know what’s going to make you feel like a world-beater.”

I plan to put the advice from this article to use throughout the rest of the summer months. I guess I’m still a kid at heart because when it’s sunny and 80 degrees outside, it’s a little bit of a fight to stay motivated and focused on my work. Hopefully setting some small personal goals will help me fight the fight and stay on task.

Instead of providing a long synopsis on some of the lessons learned, I wanted to share a few of my favorite tidbits and tweets from presenters and attendees.

I hope these tidbits get your mind going about interactive marketing and social media within your organization. For more of a wrap-up from WOMM-U, visit their conference Web site.

The social media realm has really taken media’s center stage over the last 12 months. With the boom of Twitter and growth of social networks among older demographics, companies everywhere are not only starting to take notice, but they are making room in their budget for social media programs.

What WOMM-U demonstrated was companies are also starting to understand the unique qualities of this medium, especially the need to put some of the control into the consumer’s hands. The common mistakes of controlling the conversation over the past few years seems to be fading and companies are truly embracing the conversations…and it is paying off for their business!

Start your week off on YouTube to learn about past marketing campaigns, start a conversation in your office or just get your creative juices flowing with a good laugh. Enjoy.

The Now Sprint Commercial. Ok, I really saw this on TV first, but then saw it again on YouTube. This is a great example of a company appealing to the social media savvy while still reaching old-fashioned media audiences who watch television instead of chatting on Twitter or Facebook.

Will it Blend? This YouTube campaign has been around for a while, but I just learned about it last week from a blog post by Zeus Jones, “The Best Social Media Marketing.” The people at Blendtec bring energy, humor and interest to a product as simple and everyday as a blender. With almost 3.5 million channel views, this proves social media can benefit just about any business- it is not just for the tech and teen products.

Network- Turn off your TV! Ending with something entertaining and thought provoking. I found this video thanks to my younger brother’s personal blog. The clip from the 1976 movie is cynical yet inspiring, and still applicable today. The brilliant performance by Peter Finch brings to mind today’s media conglomerates, closing news companies, rumors of Google and other vying to buy Twitter, the changes of how we communicate with each other and much more.