Andrew Lark

Shame... <>

A great Editorial from Adage... gets right to the heart of the issue on pulling advertising...

The primary reasons for advertisers to invest in any media product should be the bond that product has with its audience and the relevance of that audience as a marketing target. Such relationships are often based on trust and credibility. Tools such as ad-pull policies can damage that credibility. They make clear to editors and publishers that if they don't create an editorial environment friendly to a marketer's message, the money will go elsewhere. - AdAge

A seperate story staes: "The memo cites a new BP policy document entitled "2005 BP Corporate-RFP" that demands that ad-accepting publications inform BP in advance of any news text or visuals they plan to publish that directly mention the company, a competitor or the oil-and-energy industry."

BP says:

"Scott Dean, a BP spokesman, said that to his knowledge MindShare penned the memo. He called the language in it "unfortunate" and "regretable."

"This is not meant to be Draconian or to influence coverage. We are just asking for a head's up" about a cover story about the oil industry. We never asked to read [editorial] copy in advance."

Grikey mate... You have you no right to either. Its this thing called freedom of the press. Nice try though.

I've been a big advocate of companies not funding media or analysts that they deem to be unfairly reporting on them - the media have a right to free speech as much as companies have to free investment of marketing dollars. But even that is a dangerous game.

Given this seems to be an escalating trend it seems smart for all PR teams to get ahead of this issue by briefing both their procurement functions and media buying teams on media policies. A little education might go a long way here...

News Blinks & Pointers: May 23, AM '05

• The Freakonomics Blog...
• THe new Skype blog... if you don't have Skype, get it...
• Tiny URLs - cause who needs a long one...
• Think Different...
• Lakoff Interview...

News Blinks & Pointers: May 19, AM '05

• Ann Coulter - a fine read on the NewsWeek mess...
• How to start a start-up...
• Public relations on the Internet... good read... and an interesting primer...
• Powerlaw primer and Google on the Longtail...

Google Bias...

A study by USC Annenberg School for Communication suggests that  "Articles returned by Google News tend to be significantly more biased in one direction or the other than articles from Yahoo News." And that non-traditional news sources are a cause of that bias. Some background:

Google News, still in beta three and a half years after its launch, tracks the top stories on some 4,500 English-language news sites, updating its index roughly every 15 minutes. The ability to effectively search this huge collection of timely information has helped make Google News one of the Internet’s most popular news portals, drawing about 5.9 million visitors a month... Ranking news stories based on some measure of quality may be a step in the right direction, but to maintain its credibility, Google News needs transparency – both in its selection criteria and its list of sources.

Pepsi's Echo

First it was Carley's comments at a graduation - now it's Pepsi with CEO Indra Nooyi making inflamatory remarks regarding America's role in the world today:

After talking of her childhood back in India, Ms. Nooyi began to compare the world and its five major continents (excl. Antarctica and Australia) to the human hand. First was Africa - the pinky finger - small and somewhat insignificant but when hurt, the entire hand hurt with it. Next was Asia - the thumb - strong and powerful, yearning to become a bigger player on the world stage. Third was Europe - the index finger - pointing the way. Fourth was South America - the ring finger - the finger which symbolizes love and sensualness. Finally, the US (not Canada mind you) - yes, you guessed it - the middle finger. She then launched into a diatribe about how the US is seen as the middle finger to the rest of the world. The rest of the world sees us as an overbearing, insensitive and disrespectful nation that gives the middle finger to the rest of the world. According to Ms. Nooyi, we cause the other finger nations to cower under our presence.

Pepsi has posted a comment and a copy of her remarks. The blogosphere is wound-up on this one. Frankly, it isn't a great speech, it's geographically incorrect, the metaphor doesn't work and is offensive, and the comments are definitely controversial...

It breaks most of the rules of effective public speaking, some of which are - ensure your content, tone and comments are in line with your brand - both personal and company; ensure the topic illuminates the brand and doesn't detract from it; focus on subject matter that is relevant to your message; use clean and clear metaphors that aren't so multilayered that they cloud the content and your message... the list is a long one. What did Pepsi hope to gain from speaking on this topic?

More here...

Aside from all that, there is another lesson here for all communicators in that the blogosphere is an incredibly powerful medium for distributing executive's remarks, and stimulating debate on them - so much more than conventional media. Hugh covers this.

Brands are being shaped at wire-speed in the blogosphere. Having a blog might not just be a proactive communications tactic but also vital for reactive communications. Rather than the staid press release or statement, imagine a Pepsi blog right now with dialgoue taking place and Indra engaging with the enraged community of Pepsi drinkers. She might even rally a few supporters along the way.

Transparency and open dialogue would have enabled a much better response to an unfortunate metaphor.

 

Pitching Bloggers...

During a Blog 101 Workshop on Monday I was asked about pitching bloggers. I get a few pitches a day. I've yet to write about one of them. Most are silly requests to link to a new web site, etailer or communications service. Some are just the usual bulk mailings from PR people that don't know any better.

My simple rule is don't waste your time unless it is carefully tailored to what we write about and you genuinely think we might be interested. We don't have slow news days. We don't carry a story quota. Fellow Corante contributor Suw Charman has a lengthy post on what not to do while also pointing to post on Corante by Michael O'Connor.

So, some thinking on rules for pitching bloggers:

1. Tailor it. Massively tailor it. No standard pitches.
2. Don't post the pitch to our blog. Drop us an email.
3. Don't ask us to link. Invite us to take a look at your material, blog, or product. We're smart enough to figure out the rest.
4. Don't follow-up. Read our blog - that will tell you if we were interested.
5. Most of us barely have enough time to blog so it's unlikely we're going to be interested in your survey.
6. If you are going to insist on pitching bloggers, only pitch people you read. Never, never pitch from a MediaMap list.
7. Be warned, we will probably post your pitch. As Michael says, the NYT can't do that, we can.

Steve asks about which bloggers can you trust when it comes to pre-briefings and the like. One could equally ask which journalist can you trust... While I'm concerned that people suddenly start treating mainstream bloggers as a news service, here are some thoughts:

1. Understand why you are pre-briefing bloggers. If it is just to be hip and cool, don't do it.
2. Restrict your pre-briefings to major bloggers who are acting as news drivers. Spend time identifying the news drivers. The more you expand the scope of briefings, the more likely the news will break before you want it to.
3. Read and get help understanding SOX and SEC disclosure guidelines. If you are pre-breifing on material information for publicly traded companies you might find the US Govt has you wearing a little ankle bracelet before you know it.
4. Understand that we are not media - so it's much harder for us to pay attention to all the logistics around embargoes and the like.
5. Ask whether we are interested in being briefed at all.

This begs the question of why a blogger would want to be pre-briefed. Frankly, I have little interest. The corollary is in big media. The opinion and editorial journos at say the Post, NYT or WSJ wouldn't be that interested. The news folks might. So, while the simplest answer to "can you trust a blogger" is, "that all depends" - the issue of pre-briefing goes much deeper than that. Suddenly the PR person really needs to understand the blogosphere, bloggers and their needs and not overlay prior practices - that worked for the media - on this new influencer set.

Hyperspace...

More and more product launches, communities and brands are incorporating blogs as a way of engaging with their constituents. Today's new entrant is Star Wars who have buried blogs in their community site. To find them you are going to need to force on your side but they are there! Here you go...

Blogs are much more than traditional brand extensions. They are brand activators, providing a platform on which the community can come together to share, interact and broaden their experience. You've got to pay to play, but hey, every community membership has its price.

Gluttony...

Is good, really good. And do, here are three food blogs I'm liking:

Chocolate & Zucchini
Holy Shitake
The Food Section
Delicious (not a blog but a great mag...)
Gastroblog

News Blinks & Pointers: May 17, AM '05

• Looking up words on your Mac...
• Is that a Condom in your PodCast...
• Now that's the way to build subscribers... Start charging more... It perhaps the dumbest marketing move of the tear, The New York TImes will, for a fee, provide exclusive access to Op-Ed and news columnists on NYTimes.com, easy and in-depth access to The Times's online archives, early access to select articles on the site, as well as other exciting features. All this will encourage me to do is dump my print subscription all together. The FT is looking nicer by the day... Isn't EPIC looking real?

WSJ On Newsweek and Unidentified Sources...

Well worth a read...

At the same time, the Internet has led to unprecedented scrutiny of the accuracy of articles. Media criticism is now a staple of mainstream Internet sites as well as of bloggers, and cable news channels have joined in, putting news publications under a microscope.

And, from the Opinion Journal:

The problem in all three cases is that news organizations were so zealous in their pursuit of the next quagmire or scandal that they forgot their first obligation, which is to tell the truth. Until those in the mainstream media are willing to acknowledge that it is this crusading impulse that has led them astray, we are unlikely to see the end of such journalistic scandals.