Like many industries, PR pros occasionally run into clients who understand the importance and value of PR, but for various reasons, have a hard time carving out ample time to communicate with their communication team and provide what’s needed to execute strategy in a timely manner.
Over the years, we have personally seen strong satisfaction and success correlations among clients who are communicative, set a certain time during the week to talk to us or assign another staff member to be our point person. We stay on track, we get things done and we are successful. Now, many of our clients who simply cannot keep up with us each week are still very successful accounts. There are many paths we take to ensure that we continue to garner news coverage and carry out other projects. We just have to have “information transfer” meetings. And that works, too.
Similarly, we see correlations among clients who aren’t the most communicative in the bunch. While we love all clients nevertheless, this lack of communication can create staleness or a stall in action for the account, and we just don’t like that. We like to stay busy for all clients all of the time. That’s what we get paid to do!
The simple truth is that if you are considering retaining a public relations firm like Obsidian, expect for us to “need” you on a regular basis. The key to a successful relationship is regular communication.
Here are a few helpful tips on how to keep things on track despite your busy schedule:
Set a certain time during the week to review projects and communication, and provide feedback on those.
Assign a point person that has time within their role to be a liaison.
If weekly call is not possible, plan to have a longer meeting once a month.
Vocalize your preferences on how we communicate with you (phone, email, text, etc.)
I have often joked about having to do “family PR,” but I’m taking it seriously this Thanksgiving, as I’ve decided to take my kids on a trek across three states to reunite with family members we haven’t seen in a while – some we haven’t seen in quite a while. So, I’m pulling out a few PR tactics to ensure a smooth ride on the “interstate of family interactions.”
Begin with a goal and set realistic expectations. My ultimate motivation behind this trip was to provide an opportunity for my kids to reconnect with family they haven’t seen in a while. Some of the impending exchanges are expected to be awkward and uneasy. I’m bracing for uncomfortable conversations and embarrassing moments. But, my goal is to end up back at home with a memoir of stories for my kids to tell for years to come.
Keep media training tips in mind. I’m expecting several communication speed bumps during this trip, so I’ll be looking to practice what I preach in my media training sessions and avoid some of the most common danger zones. Here are just a few examples:
The absent-party trap. As is the case at many family functions, discussions about absent family members are sure to arise, and I’m vowing to stick to silence this year when others push to discuss the absent party.
The hypothetical or “what if” question.I’m planning to disappoint a few of my “glass half empty” family members by halting the discussions about hypothetical gloom and doom. “We don’t expect that to happen” will be the stop-and-turn point for those conversations, with a move back to my key messages of positive plans for our future.
Picking a fight.Let me tell you, I have buttons, and some of my family members know how to push them! But with my end goal in sight, I’m committed to keeping my cool and killing them with kindness to get through the trip and give my kids an awesome experience; and I’m prepared to walk away when the going gets too tough.
Map out a plan, prepare for detours and enjoy the ride! From the physical route to my vision for how the trip should play out, I’ve taken time to think through the details, determine possible problems and prepare as best as possible for what may come. And, as I’ve learned from event planning, there comes a point that the planning is over and the party begins. I will enjoy this trip and be proud of myself for making it happen for the family!
Happy Thanksgiving from Obsidian Public Relations! We'll be taking a break next week to enjoy the holiday with our families. We'll get back to blogging following the break.
If you’re like me, silence can be deafening. While I definitely appreciate silence for some activities – like sleeping – I almost always need some background noise for others. At Obsidian, we’re lucky to have a pretty open office. If someone asks a question, everyone else can answer without having to leave their desk or exhibit the ultimate form of laziness: emailing or calling a colleague who is no more than a few doors down. (I’ll admit it; I’m guilty of that on occasion.)
When everyone is absorbed in work, when I’m working by myself somewhere or when it’s imperative to get something done, music tends to be my favorite escape. The jury’s still out on whether there is actually a correlation between music and productivity – most studies say music with words is distracting, but instrumental music feeds productivity. That said, most of the Obsidian team enjoys a little musical accompaniment on occasion, and they shared what helps them turn out great work for our clients every day.
What is your favorite type of music to listen to in general?
Thomas – Rockabilly – Is that term still used? I like things like The Avett Brothers, Pearl Jam and Wilco.
Katie – I really don’t keep up with music all that much…or at least, I go through phases where I don’t. Generally, if I have a really long commute to work, then I care more about music. For example, all these Avett Brothers/Mumford & Sons/etc., I couldn’t pick their songs out of a lineup. I just listen to whatever is on FM radio. That said, my favorite song in the history of ever is probably “Oh Happy Day” as performed by the St. Francis High School Choir in Sister Act 2.
Lauren – I like all different kinds of music, but mainly oldies, singer/songwriter, Ryan Adams, Lucero and The Temptations.
Dana – I like pretty much all country, pop and alternative music.
Courtney – I love almost everything (besides blues and jazz). My favorite band is The Killers. Here’s a snapshot of what’s in my multiplayer CD in the car today:
Justin Timberlake
Black Eyed Peas
Ludacris
Damien Rice
O’ Brother Where Art Thou? Soundtrack
Miranda Lambert
Do you listen to music while working, and do you listen to different types of music depending on the kind of work you’re doing?
Kerri – For work-related listening, it depends on what I’m working on. Here are my favorite Pandora channels right now, and generally when I listen to them:
Telepopmusik – No. 1 choice for task mode (when I have a lot of little things to get done – key note: no writing tasks
Enya/Cirque du Soleil – No. 2/No. 3 choice for task mode (when more creativity may be involved) - once again, no writing tasks
City and Color, Ambrosia, Coldplay, Sade, Sia – choices for “entertainment music” when I’m doing tasks that take a lot of time but don’t take much brain work.
Anugama – No. 1 choice for writing/strategy developmentGeorge Winston – No. 2 choice for writing/strategy development
Kelli – What I’m listening to depends on how hard I need to concentrate! If I’m trying to really dig deep into something that’s difficult to wrap my brain around (like numbers or something scientific that I’m writing about), I need something calming and slow. If a song that is really fast-paced or that has a great beat comes on in the middle of those tasks, it’s over. When I’m rolling through things quickly and doing something fun, I like music that makes me want to dance a little, it helps me stay motivated under a big to-do list.
Kim – If I'm working, like on schoolwork or Obsidian work, I actually prefer silence! I've tried listening to music while working, but if it's something I really need to think about and concentrate on, the music becomes more of a distraction. I'll either start dancing in my seat to the tune, humming along to the song or start thinking about some distant memory that is somehow connected to the song playing. Now, if I'm doing chores, running errands, etc., music is definitely involved.
What’s on your favorite Pandora station?
Lauren – I have a lot of Pandora stations, but they include the Temptations, Al Green, Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Supremes, Lionel Richie and Motown stations.
Courtney – Lately, it’s been on a station that plays cinematic scores and soundtracks from spooky and Halloween-type movies.
Kim – I can really only pick one? I think it's a three-way tie between my Halestorm channel, Carrie Underwood channel and Put Your Records On (Corinne Bailey Rae) channel.
Crissy – I actually prefer Spotify while I'm at work so I can hear entire albums or specific artists, but the Pandora station I've been attached to lately is Alanis Morissette – good things from the '90s come out of that station.
Kelli – I mostly listen to a “Quick Mix” that combines several stations I like. I add or remove based on what I’m doing, but it generally includes some mix of the Black Eyed Peas (for those big to-do list days), Bob Seger, Adele, Country, what I call “Rock Out” and a Christmas music station for that one month a year.
Is there any sort of music that hinders your productivity?
Dana – I can’t have anything with overbearing vocals. That does distract me.
Thomas – Music that I like that can also be distracting – old school rap. Music that distracts me because it’s bad and I don’t like it – country.
Katie – My least favorite band on earth is Alice in Chains. Their music literally makes me gag. And my husband loves them, so that works out well.
Crissy – I absolutely cannot listen to Broadway musical soundtracks at work! I want to sing, sing, sing, and that leads to zero productivity!
Kerri – I have the following channels on my Pandora but can’t listen to them because they are (to me) weekend music, and they make me want to hang out with friends and not work: Widespread Panic, Allman Brothers, Jack Johnson, Sting and James Taylor.
At Obsidian, one way that we really bring value to clients is through crisis management. In a time of crisis – large or small, internal or external – we work with the client to determine what should be said to key stakeholders (including media), how it should be said, who should say it, when it should be said, in what medium should it be said…you get the idea.
One common instinct that we see with many new clients is the impulse to respond to a tricky question with, “no comment.” If this is something you can envision yourself saying to a reporter asking about a crisis, you must fight the urge to duck and run because that’s exactly what a “no comment” response is: the verbal equivalent of running and hiding under a rock, hoping your bad situation will just go away on its own. Wouldn’t it be great if it were that easy? Trust me, it’s not.
There are many words that you would probably want your target audience to associate with your organization: strong, innovative, trustworthy, responsive, caring and so on. But when you say “no comment,” here are some words that come to a reader’s mind: Evasive. Secretive. Shady. It makes the reader wonder what you are hiding and why.
Certainly, there are circumstances during which you are legally very limited in what you can say, such as lawsuits or ongoing investigations. The trick is to always be prepared to say SOMETHING, even if you can’t address the actual item the reporter has asked about. Here’s our philosophy: There is ALWAYS something good to say. To give you a better idea, take a look at these two sample exchanges between a CEO and a reporter.
Reporter:“Can you tell me where you stand with your employee who was arrested for fraud?” CEO: “No comment.”
Reporter:“Can you tell me where you stand with your employee who was arrested for fraud?” CEO: “I’m sure you understand that I’m not able to speak on the details of an ongoing investigation, but what I can tell you is that we are evaluating our procedures and tightening our controls to prevent anything like this in the future. Our customers, employees and shareholders are extremely important to us, and it is our No. 1 goal to protect their investment of money and time.”
On Oct. 28 during the Tennessee-South Carolina football game, South Carolina’s All-SEC running back Marcus Lattimore suffered only what can be identified as a gruesome leg injury in the second quarter. For the sake of the squeamish, I have not included a link to this clip. You can find it very easily if you haven’t already seen it. Just a little background: Marcus suffered a season-ending injury last year, but still returned this year to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL. His performance this year so far reinforced the suggestion that he was still capable of playing professionally. In addition, by all accounts, he was a model student-athlete and was very popular among college football fans, even if their team was on the opposing side of his touchdown runs. Despite all the upsets and close games this day, Marcus Lattimore’s injury was the top story of the college football world. His career pretty much ended, and many are praying that he will even be able to walk again. Once this injury happened, which was around noon CST, the social media world blew up, as we have become accustomed to in this day and age. His name was trending, and the video of the injury was already posted on YouTube. Again, none of this is surprising in 2012 and is generally expected. People comment and share instantaneously. We get it. But, there was one more movement to this story that really surprised me. I noticed at 12:45 p.m. CST, some South Carolina fans had already created a Pray for Marcus Facebook page. I clicked on it, and it already had 20,000 likes. My mind was blown away by this. An hour earlier, this man was still dodging tackles, and now, there was a page offering up prayer requests for him with the online population of a small town. AND THE GAME WAS STILL BEING PLAYED! The game ended around 2:30 p.m., and I decided to check the Pray for Marcus page. It had ballooned to 40,000 likes. As of this writing, the page is just over 73,000 followers. I am sure there are other examples of pages being created almost instantaneously, but this was my introduction to it. And this should be a huge eye-opener for companies, brands and organizations especially during crisis communication situations. I can see other examples of this occurring, especially in situations that might be more controversial than that of the career-ending injury of a beloved football player. This might be seen as a threat to companies in times of crisis, but rather, perhaps it should just be seen as another layer of opportunity to monitor your message and communicate with your audiences. In any valid crisis communication plan, you have delegated responsibilities to monitor media, address frontline calls from the public affected and provide communication to all shareholders involved. These plans generally will encompass all lines of communication, electronic and otherwise. HOWEVER, this serves a good reminder to not only monitor your own social media platforms, but be mindful that others might create them on their own. Yes, many people will use a company’s official page to share their comments, but nothing limits individuals from sharing only on a company’s preferred platform. I predict that the immediate creation of Facebook pages in reaction to specific events and moments will continue to be a trend for the next year at the very least. It will be a quick way for people to express how they feel at that exact moment. Again, this should not be treated as another element in which your company has no control over because you didn’t really have control to begin with regarding the situation. Rather, see this as a chance to be more aware and proactive that the existence of publicly created pages regarding your brand can exist and this should be added to your crisis communication plan.
