The Disconnect Created by Technology

Crystal Jackson

If you gave someone a call a few decades ago and he or she was away from the telephone, you’d have to wait and call back. Then came caller ID and voicemail, so the days of waiting by the phone and guessing who was calling disappeared. Those were simple days of long ago. Now, if I want to get in touch with clients, I have to ask if they would like a phone call on their cell, office or home number. But their options don’t stop there! They can opt to be reached by text message, email, snail mail, a Facebook message, a tweet, or we could always just Skype or “hangout” on Google+! Where and when will the madness end? When it comes to the relationship between you and your clients, is technology making you want to change your relationship status to it’s complicated?

As PR professionals, we have to be in the know on the latest and greatest ways to communicate. We’re paid to do so, but when do we need to ditch our modern gadgets for an old-fashioned face-to-face chat? Well, don’t look at me! Who am I to tell you what to do in your relationship? It’s already “complicated,” and I’d hate for that status of yours to change to single because I misadvised you. However, here’s what I can tell you.

No matter what the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg creates to make communication easier for our progressively lazier society, face time with your clients will always be crucial and important to your relationship. Depending on the client, you may need face-to-face contact weekly, monthly or quarterly to maintain a healthy, beneficial and continuous relationship. It’s not the technology that is causing you two to drift apart; it’s you! When you’re first engaging a client, ask how often they’d like to get together to review the plans you’ve made for them. Ask them their preferred method for communicating, but also set dates and times for you to chat in person over coffee, lunch or a cocktail.

You and your client may have busy schedules, but it is imperative that you make time for each other. The level of trust and confidence needed for a successful PR relationship takes time to cultivate and just like any other bond, you must spend time together. This ensures that you’re both on the same page and know exactly where the relationship is headed – whether that is to the CNN newsroom or to changing your status to “in a relationship.”

What's in a name?

Kelli Eason

All good consumers are judgmental. I’ll admit that I often decide whether or not to visit an establishment or buy a product based on its name alone. Sometimes, this works in a brand’s favor. For example, Arm & Hammer has built a strong brand around its name. Because the Arm & Hammer laundry detergent, deodorant and baking soda are so good, I’m willing to bet the kitty litter is too. (If you’re wondering…that kitty litter turned out to be a pretty good purchase.)

For new brands, this can be a challenge. Business owners often ask: How can we create a brand that people will remember for all the right reasons, that will communicate what we do and that we can establish as a leader in our industry? I’ve made a list of a few key things Obsidian considers when naming and establishing a brand.
 

1. The language barrier.
   
   Everyone has heard the classic examples of translations gone wrong: Schweppes Tonic Water was poorly translated in Italy (and who wants to buy Schweppes Toilet Water?), Kentucky Fried Chicken’s “finger lickin’ good” slogan translated to “eat your fingers off” in China, and Coors’ “turn it loose” slogan translated to “suffer from diarrhea” in Spanish. 
   
   You may even be familiar with the most recent global gaffe – Kraft Foods’ new snack food company, Mondelez. After investing millions in the brand, a linguistics professor from Northwestern University (a mere 20 minutes from Kraft’s global headquarters) pointed out the problem. Kraft meant the word to be a mashup of the French “monde” meaning world and “delez,” loosely translated to mean delicious. Unfortunately, those familiar with Russian may also recognize the slang term for “oral sex.” Uh oh. According to Ad Age, Kraft says they did plenty of research, and considered the risk for misinterpretation low.
   
   If there’s any chance your brand could go global, do yourself a favor and do your due diligence first. Keep it simple, and start with a handy dandy tool like Google Translate. 
   
2. Create a brand.
   
   While it may be tempting to name a business “Catherine’s” after your daughter, consider how that brand will stand out in the ever-increasing sea of brand names. Considering that the name has been in the top 100 most popular girls’ names for the past 100 years, it may be a risky thing to do.
   
   Some of the best brands are built from the ground up, so consider creating one for your product or business. For example, Rolex is just a made-up word, according to the book The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches: An Unauthorized History. Despite not a single consumer knowing what a Rolex was, the founders managed to create a brand that is now synonymous with high-quality, luxury wristwatches.
    
3. Protecting the brand.
   
   Do you use a Band-Aid to cover a cut? Do you sneeze into a Kleenex? Have you ever used an escalator? Do you recognize which of these things are actually specific brand names?
   
   While a brand becoming the standard for everything may seem like a nice idea, it’s important to protect your brand from becoming synonymous and, eventually, obsolete. “Escalator” is a classic example, as it used to be a brand name for a specific type of moving staircase. Unfortunately, it lost to the generic standard.
   
   Band-Aid is another brand that is working fervently to protect its name. Have you noticed that the kids singing in the commercials now say “I’m stuck on Band-Aid brand ‘cause Band-Aid helps heal me?” 

Have we missed any that you’d like to add? Just leave them in the comments below!

Sometimes, simpler is just plain better.

Courtney Liebenrood Ellett

 We’ve all been guilty of it at some point – getting distracted while driving, whether looking at our phone, grabbing something out of the passenger seat or stealing a glance into the back to see why the kids are squealing.

But we also know that distracted driving is dangerous. And thanks to a simple strategy by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, we are now privy to how many lives are lost every single day on the roadways of our home state.

This spring, TDOT began posting the fatality count on electronic message boards along interstates and highways. I remember the first day I saw that count; it was near the beginning of May. I believe the number was circling 300. I thought to myself how high that seemed so early in the year. As a Collierville resident who drives Downtown every weekday, I can’t help but pay close attention as that count inches up.

With each increase, I think about how old the person might have been. I wonder what led to the accident. I ask myself could it have been a child. And then I think of my own children. It’s the daily reminder that I need to stay focused on driving and not on attempting to retain my crown as the queen of multi-tasking.  

My PR point is this: The State of Tennessee was experiencing an alarming rise in traffic fatalities in the first three months of this year, up about 28 percent from the first quarter of 2011, despite the state enjoying record-setting declines for the previous seven years. In 2011, 946 deaths was the lowest number recorded since 1962. 

Something needed to be done to drive the safety message home. While TDOT may be involved in other efforts (both operationally and communication-focused in nature) to curb that increasing total, what I see is that number on the electric sign creeping up – and sometimes spiking – every day. And it makes an impact.

This message is simple, free to execute through existing technology and infrastructure and is always up-to-date. It is more effective than any traditional PSA campaign or news story could be. Most importantly, it keeps my eyes on the road so I’m not the next statistic on that board for someone to see and quietly lament.

The FUNdamentals of the Workplace

Lauren Hannaford

The Pink Palace, the Memphis Zoo, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Jerry’s Sno Cones, the Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County, a Memphis Redbirds game, a food truck rodeo, a walking tour of Downtown Memphis, a trip to Muddy’s Bake Shop…the list goes on!

These are a few examples of what we like to call the Obsidian fun team event. Once a month, we take a couple of hours out of one workday to relax and do something fun as a team. Most of the time, we try to find something free or at least relatively cheap, and we’ve been pretty successful. What’s $5 to $10 when you get to take a couple of hours off work to do something fun?

Why are these important? Because sometimes, you just have to get out of the office and do something fun to shake things up! We are entrenched daily in important client work in what I like to call a “strategic thinking-intensive career.” Public relations requires constant strategic thinking, and sometimes that can lead to brain fuzz.

Fun team events allow us to decompress for a couple of hours, relax and bond as co-workers. Bonding leads to better brainstorming, a better office environment and better overall outcomes for us and for our clients. Thankfully, the way we operate at our firm allows time for us to do this each month, and with eight team members in the Memphis office, it is a little easier to organize.

If you don’t already have a regular fun team event in your office, I encourage you to suggest it to your boss, making sure to highlight the reasons why it’s such a good idea. Or, if it’s not possible for your office to host a fun team event, I encourage you to take your lunch hour every once in a while to go do something quickly and out of the ordinary. You’ll be surprised the difference it makes in your day, week and month!

Here’s a list of 365 things to do in Memphis!

Making the Most out of a PR Internship

Sarah Lichterman

Landing an internship is a very exciting time for a college student, that is, until the realization sets in that the next step in the process of life is to get a “real” job. This being the case, you need to make the most out of your internship while you can. Internships have proven to be an immediate gateway to a graduate’s first job, and they can absolutely make or break a job search. Plus, a successful internship gives you the real-world readiness that college just can’t.

Before my first day at Obsidian, I had no idea what to expect out of my internship. Sure, the leadership team had shared overarching duties with me, and I knew it would be more than just answering the phone and taking notes. But I was still nervous to see what kind of client work I would be doing all summer long. If you’ve ever been an intern, I’m sure you can relate.

I’m a month into my exciting internship, so here is my advice to you about making the most of your experience as a PR intern.

·   First, do not be afraid to be yourself. You were hired by your resume and the brief glance of your personality that your employer gleaned during an interview. Now is the time to show them who you are and what you are capable of accomplishing. 

·   Secondly, ask questions. As the saying goes: No question is a dumb question. That really holds true at Obsidian. Yes, you may have had practice writing news releases and clipping stories for a previous job or class, but make sure you know the proper way to do things at the company you are interning with. It is always better to double check something. If you do happen to make a mistake, that’s OK as long as you have learned from it.

·   Lastly, be attentive. Watching current employees is the one of best ways to grow professionally. This is one of the bonuses of being with a PR agency for an extended period of time. You really get to see how the company works. These observations can help you decide if you like working in the agency sector of public relations, or if you think you are better suited to work in another PR setting.

Overall, just remember that an internship is the greatest opportunity to get the inside scoop into the profession you have been working toward your entire college career. My advice to make the most out of it is to embrace the opportunity. Give it your all because the more effort you put in, the more you will learn.

Are you interested in an internship at Obsidian? We're currently seeking fall interns for our Memphis and Dallas locations. Learn more here. 

Introducing From the Rock

Courtney Liebenrood Ellett

Welcome to Obsidian PR’s new blog, From the Rock. A quick shout-out goes to our colleague Thomas Whitehead for naming our new endeavor. Thank you, Thomas!

From the Rock is an obvious reference to our company’s namesake – Obsidian, the dark natural glass that forms when molten lava meets water and is rapidly cooled. But it’s more than that. This is also what strategic public relations can do for an organization − it tempers fires and gives you a solid, impenetrable foundation in an ever-fluid business environment. Known as The Great Stabilizer, Obsidian the mineral is widely regarded for its mystical power of insight. And so is Obsidian the firm.

To that end, you’ll be reading weekly insights from our team members on topics ranging from PR fundamentals and trends in social media to small business tips and communication pitfalls.

Enjoy!