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The week in PR: Blacklists, sex, education and breaking down walls

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Well, the week started with the shot heard round the world, 21st century style: Chris Anderson, the editor in chief of Wired, blogged more than 300 email addresses that had spammed him in one form or another — mistargeted pitches, unsolicited newsletters and so on — in the past 30 days. And this followed right on the heels of Marshall Kirkpatrick’s 5 bad pitches post the previous week.

I’m sure that a large number of the folks outed in Anderson’s email were just in the wrong place (his email box) at the wrong time (October 07). They made a mistake. Do they deserve to be raked over the coals forever? No, and they won’t be. They may never get off his list but I doubt it will ruin their reputations or their careers.

And some of them don’t have reputations to ruin. Being on the Anderson blacklist won’t affect them in the slightest because they will just get another email address and spam away. They don’t care, and they never will.

Nevertheless, much online conversation ensued. Most commenters sympatized or empathized with Anderson’s plight. Some approved of the tactic. Others understood the motivation but didn’t approve of publishing the email addresses. The rant also spawned endless analysis of the state of PR, manifestos for change and the usual apologies for the bad behavior of the profession. [Too many to count, too many to link. To read the many screeds, here’s the Google search and here is Technorati for the terms "Chris Anderson PR" ]

Some commentary was good, some less so, but, really, it all felt like more of the same to me. Public outcry over bad PR practice, much gnashing wailing and wringing, promises to do it better, to make it better, god damn it. But it doesn’t seem to get better. Not really. This blog is almost three years old, and the more things change… 

The responsible practitioners of PR — the good guys — are still faced with unrealistic client expectations, a societal attitude that PR people are guilty until proven innocent and really bad PR practice from some members of the profession. Witness the truly juvenile behavior from two flacks, and I use this term deliberately, who used Anderson’s rant as an excuse to engage in some mutual, public mudslinging and attempted client poaching. Perhaps someone told them that any PR is good PR? Umm, no, and if that’s the sort of advice they give their clients…

And mixed up in the commentary was a theme started the week before by Jeremy Pepper in  PR will lose Social Media to Advertising Because of Sex, a manifesto of sorts for PR to change its ways or risk losing the "fight" for social media to the dreaded Marketers.

This is a far more interesting topic. No, not because of the sex. The title of the post was just a tease. Good tactic, that. I’ll have to use it someday 🙂

In my opinion,  we have to look at this conversation, this communication with our customers, with a completely different lens. Keep seeing it as a battle for supremacy, nobody wins. Not PR. Not marketing. Not the companies. And definitely not the customers.

In a post after the Anderson rant, Jeremy calls for better education, and that’s a start. But I don’t think it’s enough.

We have to break down the functional walls between PR and marketing. PR isn’t the rightful "master of social media" because of its traditional role as counselor, any more than marketing is because it has been the traditional channel to the customer.  You have to be able to do both, and you have to be willing to give up some of the most deeply held, profound assumptions about the "right" way to do things in the parent disciplines.

For example, press releases. Still useful, whether new or old form, when communicating with journalists, including journalistically inclined bloggers. Usefulness to customers. Not so much. The detached, impersonal format just doesn’t tell them everything they need to know. Now, neither does a hyped up direct mail piece. Sure, direct response has its place, but it is generally to encourage action, not to share information.

I firmly believe a blogger wants a meld of both. An honest, open, relevant communication with a clear benefit statement that tells her WIIFM. What’s In It For Me. To do this, you have to know, really know, what is in it for her. [Sidebar: I expect journalists would be happy if they got this much honesty too. More on that another time.]

The best social media marketing people won’t be PR people. Or marketing people. They will have a skill set that blends both disciplines. Whether you are at an agency or in a company, start developing this — in yourself, in your teams.

Stop worrying about whether PR or marketing is going to win. The answer is neither. And both.

The only thing that’s certain? If you keep thinking of it as a fight, with a winner, you will be the loser.

That, and if you spam Chris Anderson, one strike and you’re out.

Time to start breaking down some walls.

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Thirteen to One

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In honor of last night’s stupendous Red Sox performance in game one of the World Series, here are 13 things that I’ve been meaning to write about. Mostly social media and marketing related and in no particular order.

1. A new social network The Point  attempts to harness the power of collective action to bring causes to the tipping point. People and organizations post their causes on the site as an if/then. The basic idea is that if enough people do whatever the action is – if the cause tips, then some other thing would happen. Once it emerges from alpha, it could be an interesting vehicle for a company that is supporting a charitable cause. If enough individuals/customers do something (volunteer, quit smoking, whatever) then the company would do something as well — donate money, sponsor an event, and so on. From Jeremy Pepper, who works for the company, via Twitter.

2. Last week Doug Haslam from Topaz Partners emailed me about a social media survey done by his client, community builder Prospero Technologies. What was most interesting about it, though, wasn’t the survey. The sample size of 50 from a population of the company’s customers is neither large nor random, and the results were pretty much what I’d expect given that population: generally positive about social media with no clear idea of what is working and what isn’t. I do however give the company credit for actually asking its customers, rather than assuming.  What was most interesting was that Doug was pitching other marketing and communications bloggers; both Shel Holtz and BL Ochman wrote about the survey. If you wanted more tangible proof that the media landscape is shifting, this is it. We aren’t just the media relations folks. With a nod to Dan Gillmor, we are the media. Ain’t that a kick. Doug also blogged about this phenomenon.

3. "You could be a Durex Condom Tester and Win $1000"  Durex is pimping for recruiting condom testers on-line. Must be that new form of word-of-mouth: virile marketing (seen on Media Buyer Planner).

4. Do It Wrong Quickly: How the Web Changes the Old Marketing Rules by Mike Moran.  Not much news here for anyone already deep into social media marketing and communications, but a good read anyway. I’d recommend this as an intro text for experienced marketers who want to come up to speed quickly and get some practical advice on what they should do next.  Plus Moran is funny and he says lots of things I agree with  🙂  (via pitch from Peter Himler)

5. Society for New Communications Research is holding its annual Research Symposium & Gala in Boston December 5-6.

6. Kudos to Kami Huyse for spearheading liveblogging and twittering at the PRSA Annual Conference last week.

7. Andrea Weckerle has a good post on how social media has been, and will be, used in real-time disaster response. And if you twitter, make Ike Pigott happy and follow the Red Cross. 

8. Congratulations Josh Hallet, on joining Voce Communications and Geoff Livingston, on the publication of Now Is Gone.

9. I’ve been playing around a bit with Photrade, a new photo sharing site. It’s now in closed beta but I have three invites. Email or twitter me if you want one.

10. Courtesy of Scott Baradell, a great example of why we should NOT write blog posts simply for search engine optimization.

11. Papeldance.

12. Thank you to all the PR and marcom students who have been  reading the blog and leaving comments. I love to hear from you, even if I disagree with you.

13. Are the comment spammers getting a little more clever? Check out this one on an old Marketing Roadmaps post, comment left up purely to use as an example. Someone less suspicious might not catch it as spam, as the comment is pretty innocuous. BUT: I almost always follow commenters back to their sites. It’s a great way to discover new bloggers and get to know my readers better. AND: I am always a little suspicious when I get comments on really old posts.

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The lines they are a-blurring…

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Over at Communication Overtones, Kami Huyse has proposed a "drip theory" for social media adoption. No, not that we are all drips, thank you very much. Her thesis is that social media is adopted slowly, by presenting it to clients/bosses in easily digested bits or drips :

"By adding in a few social media tactics at a time, they start to get the power of the medium and they tend to add a second, then a third element.  Soon, they are converts."

She concludes:

"Progress is achieved by the relentless drip of water weakening the established structure. When the dam finally gives way it looks like a revolution, but it really happened just one drip at a time."

A spirited discussion ensued in her comments, and I urge you to check it out.

Even before her post, I was thinking quite a bit about how companies and agencies adopt, or not, social media strategies. And the conclusion I keep coming to is that the traditional lines between the disciplines of public relations and marketing are blurring. Perhaps into a new discipline, but definitely into a new set of requirements.

Here’s how it goes. A long time ago, when the earth was green….

Well maybe not that long ago.

It used to be clear. We had public relations and we had marketing. PR reached out to the press, which acted as intermediaries between companies and their customers.  There was a process, and everybody understood the rules of the game. It was all about news.

Marketing, on the other hand, developed programs and campaigns to communicate directly to customers. There was a process and everyone understood the rules. It was all about mutual benefit, mutual value.

Each side had its place, and rarely the twain did meet.

But it isn’t that clear anymore.

When we talk to a blogger, we are talking to both an influencer and a customer. We need to bring both the marketing and the PR mindset, and skill set, into the conversation.

And that makes it hard. Because the traditional PR agency trains and reinforces the skill set necessary to reach out to intermediaries, reporters. Talking to customers? Not the strong suit.

And though marketers are often not much better, talking to the customer is a slightly more natural state for them, so it may be easier to make the transition. Once they stop calling them "consumers" that is.

The fact of the matter is that the lines between the two disciplines are blurring as a direct result of social media. You have to bring both sensibilities to the table. That means understanding that bloggers are influencers, often with as much, if not more, power than the mainstream media. It also means talking to them with enthusiasm, commitment, and caring — just the way you would a valued customer. They don’t need, or want, the studious detachment you practice when talking to reporters. They also don’t want press releases with no cover note (pet peeve).

Learn how to meld the two skill sets when you reach out. It truly is adapt or die.

Or risk becoming the unicorn (YouTube video)

The Unicorn Song
words and music Shel Silverstein, performed by the Irish Rovers

A long time ago, when the Earth was green
There was more kinds of animals than you’ve ever seen
They’d run around free while the Earth was being born
And the loveliest of all was the unicorn

There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn

The Lord seen some sinning and it gave Him pain
And He says, "Stand back, I’m going to make it rain"
He says, "Hey Noah, I’ll tell you what to do
Build me a floating zoo,
and take some of those…

Green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
Don’t you forget My unicorns

Old Noah was there to answer the call
He finished up making the ark just as the rain started to fall
He marched the animals two by two
And he called out as they came through
Hey Lord,

I’ve got green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but Lord, I’m so forlorn
I just can’t find no unicorns

And Noah looked out through the driving rain
Them unicorns were hiding, playing silly games
Kicking and splashing while the rain was falling
Oh, them silly unicorns

There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Noah cried, "Close the door because the rain is falling
And we just can’t wait for no unicorns

The ark started moving, it drifted with the tide
The unicorns looked up from the rocks and they cried
And the waters came down and sort of floated them away
That’s why you never see unicorns to this very day

You’ll see green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
You’re never gonna see no unicorns

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PR 2.0 at the PRSA Northeast Conference

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I’ll be in Rochester NY at the PRSA Northeast Conference this coming Thursday October 4th. I’m on a panel with Aaron Urmacher from Text 100 and Chip Griffin of Custom Scoop. The panel is called PR for Web 2.0 – Blogs, RSS feeds, WIKIs, Widgets and more and we’ll be doing it twice, at 1:45 pm and 3 pm.

In good 2.0 style, we’re planning on having a conversation WITH the audience about PR 2.0, not a presentation TO you, so come with questions and comments.

Hope to see you there.

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Blurring the lines — just what is advertising on a blog?

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Most online advertising is easy to spot. Skyscrapers  or banners with blinking lights and  flash animations. Text ads with the clear tag "XYZ Ad Network" or Google Adsense.

But what about blogs that are sponsored by a company. For example, Scratchings and Sniffings, a pet blog sponsored by Purina.

Or Pay Per Post? Or blogging networks like Parent Bloggers Network in which companies pay a consulting fee for review coordination and the bloggers keep the products?

Or blogger relations — where companies reach out directly to bloggers with products and exclusive stories and other blog-worthy material?.

Are the posts that result from these efforts advertising or editorial? It has to be one thing or another, right? After all, in the" good old days," it was black or white. It was advertising or it was editorial and never the twain shall meet. Right?

I mean, we’ve never had evaluation labs that did paid reviews of products and applied a seal of approval. Oh wait a minute. Yes we did.

Magazines and newspapers never sold editorial-like space for advertisers to write their own stories. Oh wait a minute. Yes we did. And do.

And it wasn’t really a problem. It just was.

And is. Readers have always been, and still are, able to apply their own judgment to the material they read, no matter how stupid advertisers seem to think we are. The Web is no different.

And all these approaches have their place in our informational ecosystem. So, let’s put a little definition around the issue.

What is advertising, what qualifies as "advertorial," and when can we expect that a blog, podcast or Web site is serving up "pure" editorial content?

Advertising. The advertiser has complete control over the ad content and landing pages. Paid or pro bono, using rate cards not that different from the old magazine CPM. Examples: site advertising, Google AdSense, BlogHer ad network, Blogads.

Advertorial. This is where I put things like Pay Per Post and blog networks like Parent Bloggers Network. In the print world, of course, the advertiser has complete content control and the magazine simply dictates a common format. Online, it is a bit different, but the end result isn’t. Online, the advertiser has control over the initial factors — what is to be reviewed or written about and who will be writing. But, after that, the blogger is more or less free to write what he pleases.

That said, we can certainly expect a certain cognitive dissonance effect; paid reviewers will be more likely to be positive about  a product, regardless of their opinion, or lack thereof, before starting the review. While they aren’t being paid to voice a view contrary to their own opinons, as were the subjects in Leon Festinger’s original research in the 50s, the mere fact that they are being paid by an entity with a vested interest is bound to shape the review.

But so what. Readers can make up their own minds. And will. However, full disclosure of relationships is absolutely essential. If the service or network does not require full disclosure, I strongly advise both advertising companies and bloggers to stay away.

Sponsored blogs fit in the advertorial category. Even if the writer is totally independent, a certain sensibility is bound to affect the blog. The sponsor may not say "don’t trash me" but the writer isn’t going to. Unless there is such an egregious situation that the blogger wants to divorce the sponsor. Likewise, I consider review networks like Parent Bloggers to be advertorial because even though the writer is free to write whatever she wishes about the product or services, there is a prior agreement that there will be a post.

Caveat: Do not confuse pay-per-post type writing with freelance writing. Paid posts on a personal blog reflect the personal opinion and style of the blogger — some are short and breezy, some funny, some deep and introspective. The clients are not paying for the in-depth research, impartiality and writing skills that we might see on a sponsored blog or from a professional freelance writer.

This does not mean that bloggers cannot be freelance writers. They can. It just means that we need to understand that there is a real difference between pay-per-post writing and freelance writing, and the fees each type of writing should command.

Independent editorial. The blogger may take advertising, but the expectation is that the blog contents are 100% owned by the blogger, in all senses of the word. The blogger may be receptive to pitches from blogger relations, marketing and PR firms, but there is no quid pro quo. The company making the pitch had better tell a compelling, relevant story that offers something of value to the blogger. Or risk being ignored, or worse, ridiculed.

Companies that get this right can have long, mutually beneficial relationships with bloggers. Get it wrong? Just ask Wal*Mart.

Pay Per Post and other paid blogging services can supplement blogger relations, but in my opinion, do not replace it.

They can however coexist. Just as advertising, editorial and advertorial have been working together to tell us the story for years.

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