Consumer Lifestyle

When I started my career in public relations, I swore from the onset I wouldn’t do events – I didn’t sign up to be a glorified party coordinator after all.

That was a foolish oath blatantly revealing my naiveté about life (never say never) and the many layers of PR (it’s not just pitching, stupid).

The inevitable role of any good public relations practitioner is, in part, the art of creating, managing and staffing events you and your client can be proud of. This is no small task. Think of the last time you organized a birthday party for a friend or planned your own celebration. Who will cater? Who do you invite? Will they show up? Unlike your typical affair, who attends, who they talk to, what is discussed and what they do with the information after they leave is everything.

In PR we don’t throw parties to show off our savvy people skills (but they do come in handy!). We strategically assemble the right people in the ideal environment on a key date and time to accomplish specific goals that at the end of the day show a return on the investment. Most often, we want targeted media to attend and we need illustrious spokespersons that will tout key messages and toe the party line, so to speak.

Make a date

Think carefully about the date – does it coincide with a significant regional or national event that can outshine yours? Does it coincide with a holiday or other commemoration that can nicely compliment your efforts? Consider the time of day. If TV stations and print reporters are important to you (as they typically ought to be), consider their on-air schedules and run dates. Are they likely to give up their evenings for a 7pm event? Is it on a Saturday? Are there crews that will come out on the weekend? Remember that stations are severely understaffed on weekends. On the other hand, news is slow on weekends and your event could be just the ticket.

Location, location, location

Consider the size of your event and the length of the guest list. Bigger is most definitely not always better. I’d prefer a space that is overflowing with attendees than an excessively spacious one where people tend to gravitate to the side or corner with a bare center, leaving the impression there were a lot of no-shows. Outdoor locations are great for health or fitness related activities or musical events, but if you’re planning on some place where rain anytime is possible, have a Plan B firmly in place. Indoor or out, know there will be a lot of city government, union and venue restrictions; know them all well in advance so there are no surprises. Describe the event flow to the venue representative so you can negotiate what’s allowable and what isn’t every step of the way.

Oh, and develop a comprehensive, step-by-step event flow of the day’s activities – be meticulous and thoughtful about every detail. This becomes your team and the client’s bible for what to do, when, how and where in timeline form.

Talking heads

Identifying and securing the right spokespersons – from niche experts to high-profile celebrities – is a skill in itself, often underestimated. Give the discussion and analysis with your team and the client the time and energy it deserves. Know your limitations. If you’re not up to speed on celebrity causes or interests that match your client’s, bring in third party experts to help identify options and to secure the talent. This process should begin a good several months before the event. You will likely not secure your first choice, or even your third. Anyone who has dealt with managers, agents and lawyers knows that there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears before contracts are signed and the working relationship begins.

Parting words

The best advice I can give is to do an audit before you make a significant financial investment. Ask your media friends if they would cover your event on the date and location you’re considering. Ask your own friends if they’d attend if you’re throwing a consumer event that hopes to attract the general public as well. What would they expect to see and receive? Most of all, ask your clients what their vision for success is. You’d be surprised that what they think a great event is might differ from your own.

Take a realistic look at your budget and manage your clients’ expectations. They can’t rent the ballroom at the Peninsula at a shoestring budget, or expect A-list talent to attend or play the role of spokesperson on the cheap or without clear incentive.

Got it all? Good, have a BLAST!

To the pr/marketing firm who will almost certainly co-opt this ploy to launch a viral campaign for an energy drink/videogame/R-rated cartoon and inevitably be forced to face nightmarish backlash all for trying to come across as edgy.

 Dear PR/Marketing firm, 

I know you think that this stunt will be the guerilla campaign that puts all other guerilla campaigns to bed.  I know you think that staging a fake kidnapping will be cool.  Maybe you’ll create scratchy, blurry videos to go along with it and hide clues across various websites and, for all I know, it might work.  But don’t.  Just don’t.   

Sometimes marketers can get caught up in the race to be the most cutting edge.  Sometimes marketers like to think that by creating the illusion of danger or adventure that they’re really connecting with consumers on a gut level.  And they might be.  But sometimes there’s something to be said for the good old fashioned techniques that PR and Marketing are built upon.  We can’t forget the basic building blocks in the race to be the next big thing.   

Sincerely,  

Your Audience

A recent guest post on TechCrunch by Dan Ackerman-Greenberg, co-founder of a viral video marketing company, touched a nerve with readers. He shared “secret strategies” behind many of the viral videos that appear on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet. What is striking about the post is that he was willing to share so unapologetically some controversial tactics used to promote viral videos.

Among the shady YouTube tactics Ackerman-Greenberg outlined are the use of misleading titles, creating fake user accounts, creating false controversy by posting phony comments back and forth, deleting comments they don’t like, paying bloggers to post videos and more. The post generated about 500 comments, mostly decrying these tactics.

First, people shouldn’t be surprised that these tactics are being used by some to push viral videos. The ultimate search for marketers is to reach the elusive youth demographic. The potential to reach such a huge audience makes us all consider how to get our message to them.

So, back to the angry response of many TechCrunch readers …

What are they expecting? Don’t most videos that appear on the most viewed page have some agenda? Of course they do. One comment by “rico” says it well: “i know a lot of people would like to keep their youtube experience pure - heaven forbid their viewing of cat videos and snl skits be tainted by marketing, but don’t get angry just because someone figured out how to make money in a creative way.”

YouTube and other social media resources are a great way to reach a lot of people. We think that it is just not worth it to use unethical tactics. It’s a good rule of thumb in PR that if something could embarrass your client if found out, then don’t do it.

Ultimately, good content is key to any viral video’s success. If done correctly, hundreds of thousands of potential customers may view your message. But that is not really the end goal, is it? While stupid videos like this one mentioned by Ackerman-Greenberg may generate a lot of views, we doubt that it is really going to influence the company’s bottom line. It is hard to correlate a large number of views with actual actions taken by consumers, voters, etc. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth creating good viral videos. If the video encapsulates your brand well and inspires people to act, it can have a huge impact.

Greenberg states, “You simply can’t expect to post great videos on YouTube and have them go viral on their own, even if you think you have the best videos ever. These days, achieving true virality takes serious creativity, some luck, and a lot of hard work.” Yeah, that is probably true, but we believe that there are more ethical ways of “greasing the wheel.” Doing it the wrong way just gives our profession a bad name and ultimately hurts our clients.

Let us know what you think. Post a comment or two.

Navigating the uneven ground of social networking continues to uncover ethical dilemmas traditional media is unconcerned with.  While marketing to children has long been considered a touchy subject, there exists a fine line between capitalizing on one of the largest influencers and convincing children they are inferior unless they purchase the endless stream of gadgets and gizmos.  Social networking sites aimed at youngsters bring these issues to the forefront.

Traditional media and advertising have the distinct advantage to claim persuasive commercial messaging is geared toward adults and therefore, ethical.  Social networking sites specifically for children are another story.  As seen in this CNET article, virtual worlds are inherently commercial.  Kids are encouraged to buy virtual goods to make their avatars “happy.”  This early form of consumerism paired with the traditional Web based advertising targeting children could spell long term consequences.

As new opportunities present themselves, marketers and consultants must carry a sense of accountability to ensure an ethical use of messaging.  Explosively popular mediums like virtual worlds give marketers the opportunity to be judicious in how they leverage them.  Just as the Joe Camel debate brought advertising to children to the public’s eye, will virtual worlds spark similar interest?

It’s no secret that Facebook has quickly become one of the most popular marketing platforms online.  With an extremely attentive audience, a naturally viral setting and a low cost for entry,  public relations professionals should take note of a few Facebook channels that can elevate a campaign:

1. Facebook Flyer – The original way people could post advertisements on Facebook.  These are the small sidebars on the left of the page that can include graphics, text and links.  Anyone can post these ads, from a student running for Student Body president, to a large company trying to gain customers to a clinic seeking egg donors.  Flyers are very inexpensive ($15 for 7,500 flyers over three days).
2. Facebook Poll – A valuable market research tool.  A company can create multiple choice question and target specific demographics, with the questions appearing on users’ landing pages.  Facebook polls allow people/brands to get answers to a question in a very short amount of time for $26.
3. Facebook Group – Free to create and a simple way to unite users with a common interest.  When members join a group they can post pictures, make comments and join discussions on the group page.  Group membership is usually posted on a person’s profile page. Group moderators can post and send messages to group members.
4. Facebook Event – An invitation where guests can RSVP and also post comments.  Moderators can send messages, and members get reminders of upcoming events.  Creating an event is free.
5. Facebook Applications – When Facebook opened its platform to 3^rd party developers, many companies took advantage of the Facebook applications.  Applications are widgets that users can download and display on their profile page.  Some applications are very simple and just display a graphic while others are complex and may integrate information from other Web pages or even other social networking sites.  There are a number of regulations for Facebook applications.  For example, Flash animation and music cannot run automatically on a page, it must have a play button.  Facebook applications also can’t have automatic pop ups.  All Facebook applications must be installed and can be uninstalled at any time.

In our next post, we’ll share some strategies to keep in mind when activating a campaign on Facebook.