Most academic institutions are highly structured organizations, not unlike large corporations and the military.
Students must abide by a code of conduct, faculty members have rigid tenure requirements, and campus security will boot and tow your car if you park alongside a curb that’s painted red.
The stakes are especially high for universities with prestige brands that have been built over centuries. Harvard, with its $26 billion endowment and top rating among global academic institutions, has a long way to fall if its reputation gets tarnished.
Yet Harvard is also the place where great minds are encouraged to challenge the status quo. It’s where Mark Zuckerberg, his roommate and their computer science chums founded Facebook.
It’s against that backdrop Brian Kenny accepted the challenge of becoming the chief marketing and communications officer for the Harvard Business School.
“We have to get comfortable being uncomfortable,” was the advice Kenny gave those who lured him to Harvard two years ago.
Among the tactics Kenny and his team have employed to battle what he calls an undeserved reputation for being “old and stodgy and technology-averse” are the use of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and consumer-generated content.
Kenny and I spoke at a Business Development Institute session called “Social Integration: Harmonizing Social Channels into the Marketing, Communications & Service Platform.”
“ANFO” was lingo I learned in my first PR agency job, writing a monthly column called “Shot Rock” for Pit & Quarry magazine. My account was a commercial explosives business that had been spun off from DuPont, and ammonium nitrate was a mainstay for blasters.
At UPI, articles we promised to write for newspapers were called “skedders,” because they were scheduled ahead of time.
PR Newswire loved to refer to its clients’ heifers. It was newsroom lingo for “HFR — Hold for Call.” Nothing to do with cows.
So when I took on my first operating role since leaving PRN, I expected that I’d have to learn a new vernacular. Context Optional, where I’m vice president, strategic accounts, has developed many of the most popular branded applications on Facebook. Clients include Clinique, Target, OpenTable, Microsoft and the U.S. Census Bureau.
I’m no newbie to Facebook. But it isn’t until you look beyond your “wall,” “news feed” and “live feed” that you realize how damn confusing the platform can be for anyone — let alone a brand — trying to harness the power of the medium as a way to attract and engage fans.
Facebook does have a sales team to work with deep-pocketed consumer brands. Often, though, CMOs want to do more than advertise to create a tighter bond with online consumers.
That thirst for engaging content has created a nice business for the select few who understand the always-changing technical underpinnings of Facebook and the rules concerning user privacy and best practices.
The fact that Context Optional has earned the coveted “Facebook preferred developer” label is just a starting point. It’s my job to bring my new colleagues’ API-driven creativity to those marketing and PR pros charged with attracting and retaining fans and followers, and to do it in a manner that achieves business goals and is culturally acceptable on Facebook.
So I’m learning about the differences between canvas applications and apps that live on tabs. I’m diving into Facebook “boxes” and trying to understand why they are about to be discontinued. And just when I was starting to forget about the investor relations profession’s nightmare transition to the financial reporting language XBRL, I am told that Facebook code is written in FBML.
Luckily, the fans of Einstein Bros Bagels don’t have to worry about any of that to get a coupon for a free bagel and schmear. All they have to do is click on the “free bagel” tab. My new employer has handled the back end integration with Facebook to make this special offer work. My guess is that the fan base will soon be well north of today’s 22,000.
The 548,000 fans of Chanel were awarded this week with the option to download screensavers that display the time with two vividly recreated J12 timepieces. Budget-wary teens were given a fun set of viral “Stop Me From Spending” tools. Still other soon-to-launch apps are aimed at Valentine’s Day, the Vancouver Winter Olympics and even a mobile phone texting competition.
Needless to say, I am having a ball working with brands to creatively earn the right to have a relationship with consumers on the Facebook platform and beyond. Just forgive me if I don’t yet know the difference between a poke and a nudge.
When the dining room of a popular gourmet restaurant in Manhattan was gutted by fire, the refrigerators were packed with expensive food that needed a new home — fast! The solution: a donation of truffle butter, fiddleheads and other goodies to a nearby soup kitchen.
Same goes for leftover crusty French baguettes, asparagus spears whose tips have been used by a finicky chef and pans of fresh tuna steaks trimmed to the wrong size and rejected by the intended restaurant.
These tasty donations — a regular occurrence at Broadway Community’s Inc.’s soup kitchen, on Broadway at West 114th Street in Harlem — are a stark contrast to the institutional-sized No. 10 cans of food heated up and ladled out at many facilities serving the underprivileged.
The stories I hear from my wife of 23 years, Maureen Fitzpatrick, sous chef at the gourmet BCI soup kitchen, never cease to amaze me. After preparing today’s lip-smacking lunch of lamb tagine, Maureen raced to her cookbooks for details on blinis and creme fraiche. Why? Because Wednesday’s meal promised to be even more incredible, thanks to the donation of an $1,100 tin of Petrossian caviar by someone who wants to remain anonymous.
Chef Michael Ennes and volunteers like Maureen and chefs John and Bob are able to add back a bit of dignity for the 200 or so souls who are served restaurant-style — no paper plates – in the basement of Broadway Presbyterian Church.
Thanks to a generous connoisseur of caviar, the kitchen’s last meal of 2009 will be world-class fare in a world that has been less than fair.
There’s something special about a guy who isn’t a rock star yet has three times the Twitter followers of Bob Dylan. He’s not a deep-pocketed electronics retailer, yet his social media presence dwarfs Best Buy.
Jeremiah Owyang is an influencer in Web strategy, a futurist, a gadfly and — most important of all — someone who listens, studies, engages and shares. A partner in the newly formed consulting firm Altimeter Group, Owyang earned his nearly 60,000 followers the hard way.
Since I dived into the social web after leaving PR Newswire, I found that Owyang’s Forrester research reports provided a well-grounded reality check that validated fundamental shifts in consumer behavior, marketing methodologies and the demand for new PR and marcom tools. He’s routinely quoted by CMOs during conferences and, unlike many celebrities, @jowyang almost always tweets back immediately.
During my recent visit to Altimeter Group’s new headquarters in San Mateo, California, Owyang showed no signs of being jet-lagged, despite returning less than a day earlier from one of his frequent overseas speeches. He also demonstrated keen knowledge of an increasingly confusing vendor community supplying social media monitoring, analysis and curation tools.
To illustrate why the public relations industry should familiarize itself with social customer relationship management systems, Owyang shared an anecdote about how appliance maker Whirlpool failed to appease a disgruntled customer, and the damage it caused due to that customer’s ability to influence millions through social media.
“Customers do not care what department you’re in,” said Owyang, predicting that some forward-thinking companies will take on the challenge of building smart systems that inform Support, PR, Marketing, Product Development and offer a single view of the customer no matter where they touch the company.
I am aware of one large food manufacturer whose PR department is heading into the new year with amped up monitoring capabilities and a plan to pipe real-time data into their customer service call centers. If the readers of PounceNow are aware of organizations where PR is embracing the challenge, please comment on this post.
“Take a penny leave a penny” is a welcome sign at cash registers.
Sadly, I’ve seen far fewer of these spare change jars as retailers would rather weigh my pockets down with 97 cents of change rather than giving up 3 cents that could go toward rent, workers, utility bills and suppliers. The recession has clearly made even once-generous businesses of all sizes into penny pinchers.
That’s why I was pleasantly surprised to see this week’s innovative corporate social responsibility campaign from Pepsi.
In the first test of the philanthropic power of the GPS-based social network Foursquare, Pepsi is pledging 4 cents to the not-for-profit Camp Interactive for each point earned by Foursquare users. The campaign encourages more iPhone , Blackberry and Android users to “check in” with Foursquare all around town, all day, knowing that the pennies will add up.
What does Foursquare get out of the deal? Thanks to a good cause and a deep-pocketed sponsor, Foursquare will experience a supercharged rate of entries to its database from users who log in their favorite hip bars, restaurants, coffee shops, health clubs and other venues. In fact, I just added the New York Public Library’s new Grand Central branch to Foursquare (that’s 4 cents more, Camp Interactive).
Harnessing the excitement of consumer technology will continue to set innovative brands apart in 2010. A few years ago another Pepsi brand, Dorito’s, was among the first to stage a YouTube-based contest for the funniest amateur ad, to be aired on the Superbowl. Since the advent of inexpensive mini camcorders, like Cisco’s Flip and Kodak’s Zi series, it’s become affordable even for charities in third-world countries to create engaging content for global audiences. (Nokia sponsored a contest around the crowd-sourced translation of those videos for the charity PlanUSA.org)
It took just one visit to the website of Camp Interactive, the Bronx-based youth program that mixes technology with outdoors activities, to see another creative CSR linkage to another Fortune 500, Chase.
Unlike Pepsi’s decision to spend 4 cents at a time, Chase made its budget clear at the outset: $5 million. Through a very smart Facebook application, the bank is using crowd-sourcing in a very different way. Facebook users are rallying support for their favorite charities, and Chase will divvy up its $5 million based on that input.
The San Francisco-based social media agency Context Optional worked with Chase and is also behind super projects that highlight socially responsible programs for Toyota Prius, Target and ToysRUS.
As print and broadcast spending slows, CMOs appear to be channeling more resource into their community-giving outreach via social media. Working with the New Jersey firm S3, coffee and tea maker GoodEarth is pledging 50% of its profits to charity through the end of February. The larger, Nasdaq-listed Green Mountain Coffee, which uses the platform JustMeans for its responsibility program, is extremely active and global, making loans to hurricane-ravaged growers in Mexico and sponsoring river cleanup efforts closer to home.
With mass media atrophying and consumers refusing to be swayed by spin, it will become increasingly critical for organizations of all kinds — small and large businesses, associations, NGOs, political candidates, celebrities, etc. – to demonstrate their commitment to doing good. Professional communicators tuned into best practices will be far more likely to win new business, promotions and a seat at the table in this new paradigm.
Riders of elevators in New York City office buildings know what topics are trending on Twitter even before they fire up their computers each morning.
As legions of office workers scurry to their desks, the data they’re seeing on the Captivate elevator ad network is the same information driving editorial and sales decisions at a new consumer-driven online news network with a familiar name.
AOL is relaunching in December as an marketing-supported provider of original content in dozens of consumer and business markets. Unlike news products from Google and Yahoo, AOL is not simply aggregating articles from other news sites.
CEO Tim Armstrong plans to direct his growing team of employees and freelancers to write copy and create multimedia content based on what topics are drawing the largest amount of consumer attention at any given time. To hell with long tail, this play aims clearly at the head of the beast.
If executed well, Armstrong’s model will be appealing to brands that want their people, products and ideas to be included in relevant online content in real-time. The payback comes when the brands sponsoring timely articles and multimedia packages see better performance than current online advertising. The blowback, however, could happen if a brand’s desire to use the platform as an advertorial vehicle is not tempered effectively.
Advertorials and contextual adverising are not new business concepts. But uneasiness about polluting editorial content with paid information has kept them from scaling, beyond CNBC’s “Business of Innovation“ sponsored profile on IBM and a few similar efforts.
For decades in the news business, PR people and marketers have done the best they could to anticipate when topics will flare up in the media. At United Press International, where I cut my journalistic teeth, and later at PR Newswire, legendary features editor Fred Ferguson’s annual calendar (PDF) of “special sections” guided us to gather content just ahead of events and holidays.
Likewise, publishers prepare editorial calendars to make sure there’s ample bridal content to surround the inevitable bridal advertising that characterizes wedding-planning season, or Mother’s Day stories for late April.
That long-lead material will be easy for Armstrong’s team to produce, with or without the sophisticated web-consumption algorithms and freelancer assignment site that are the secret sauce for the new AOL.
But it’s much harder to quickly build out credible, sponsored content around timely topics that could not be easily forecasted.
When Kanye West dissed Taylor Swift during the MTV Video Music Awards, it meant a glut of searches about the teenage crossover star and the rapper who loves Beyoncé. Social media chatter about the episode hockey-sticked first, followed quickly by entertainment news sites and mainstream broadcast and print media.
Some “breaking news” can be pre-packaged. There’s going to be two feet of snow in Buffalo any day now, so why not hit up Goodyear for a sidebar on snow tires? Likewise, food poisoning outbreaks are happening like clockwork these days, so Seattle attorney Bill Marler has developed a formula for getting his name into the hands of media and victims’ families within hours.
If AOL can systemetize and monetize this “PounceNow” approach to marketing, it will become a welcome source of income for writers, photographers and videographers displaced in the old media Armageddon. They’d welcome hearing the familiar AOL voice over their computer speakers saying, “You’ve Been Hired.”
Don’t let the mustard-colored sports coat fool you. Tom Kunz is one hip CEO.
As head of Cenury 21 Real Estate LLC, Kunz is in an industry that’s being disintermediated by the Internet and ravaged by the recession. Yet I have never met a more positive, open-minded and technology-friendly executive.
What does he do right:
He’s not afraid to experiment. Century 21 pulled its TV advertising budget and spent the cash to bolster its presence online. Kunz says brand recognition for the franchise was already in the high 90s, so there was no reason to spend millions on 30- and 60-second image spots. The company is contemplating a switch back to TV, but it would be a web-based format where Century 21 branding was visible at all times on the screen.
He understands the time-sensitive nature of news. When Congress extended incentives aimed at first-time homebuyers, Kunz dropped what he was doing to record a 2 minute presentation on a tiny, inexpensive Flip video camera. His comments were up on Century 21’s YouTube channel within minutes. As of today, the video had been watched nearly 1,700 times.
He takes counsel from Matt Gentile, Century’s 21’s director of corporate and brand communications. In an interview with PR Week’s Eric Iacono, during the Next conference, Kunz talked about making media outreach in local markets a priority. By incorporating interviews with local print and broadcast media into trips, and inviting local Century 21 franchisees to participate, the organization lands extended coverage rather than the short soundbites afforded by national media.
He doesn’t hoard good information. While many CEOs would stay silent about marketing strategies, Kunz is a walking dictionary definition for transparency, even sharing his age (61) with the crowd. As for naysayers, he advises them to watch the AT&T “Lost Dog” YouTube spot to explain power of social media.
I also liked Tom’s ability to be self-effacing in a manner that seemed genuine: “I’m a gadget freak,” he told those attending the Next event at the Waldorf Astoria. “It doesn’t mean I know how to use them all, but I buy them all.”
Tom was kind enough to do a short interview with me following his appearance at Next. Please excuse my camera work, as his head is halfway out of the frame for portions of the video. Yet another reason I never worked in TV.
My former boss had a funny line to describe how often the owner of a mid-sized New York investor relations agency showed up at free media breakfasts: “He’d show up to the opening of an envelope.”
These days, any exec who attended the plethora of events aimed at professional communicators would be hard pressed to get their work done — assuming their job wasn’t eating rubber chicken lunches in hotel ballrooms and attending tweet-ups.
Barely a day has passed since I finished reading tweets from those attending the annual research symposium of the Society for New Communications Research (whose SNCR acronym is pronounced like the caramel-nougat-peanut candy bar) outside Boston. Now, some of those very same techie flacks are heading to San Diego for the big Public Relations Society of America conference.
But wait, we’re not through yet. Thursday marks PR Week’s NEXT event in New York City. On Nov. 12, 18 and 19, Steve Etzler’s Business Development Institute is holding three separate forums. Before the month’s out, there’s even a PR Camp in New York, the brainchild of Atlanta comms veteran Dan Greenfield.
The unprecedented fragmentation taking place among publishers, industry associations, entrepreneurs and ad hoc groups involved in PR means there’s plenty of idea sharing and peer conversations taking place at these events. The sad reality, though, is that many would-be attendees have to hold down the fort because of a lack of adequate staffing and a downhold on corporate travel expenses.
Anyone who wishes to see the PRSA action in real-time should keep their eyes on Twitter posts with the #prsa09 hash tag as well as a live video stream from dna13 on Monday, November 9 starting around 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time. This free access to the conference can be found at http://blog.dna13.com
Zillow just scored a nice Wall Street Journal hit, along with 300+ references in Google News, for its inaugural “Trick-or-Treat Housing Index.” Timing of its October 26 blog post was excellent, with ample time to spread virally before Halloween.
The premise was to look for the most affluent and safe neighborhoods where the houses are closest together, reasoning that’s where costumed kids could haul the most candy with the least amount of walking. It’s great branding for the Seattle-based online real estate resource, which promises to spread the index beyond its hometown next year. (Childhood obescity experts will undoubtedly position themselves for the counter attack.)
When I was a kid in Rochester, New York, the Rapp family was the local Canada Dry soda distributor. They handed out cans of pop to kids in the tony Browncroft neighborhood on Halloween. (One of the kids, C.J. Rapp, grew up to invent Jolt cola.)
This Saturday night, kids everywhere will readily share Halloween strategies that are not dissimilar to Zillow’s methodology. But no matter how many Saf-T-Pops, Mary Janes or miniature Snicker bars are proffered, the real prize on Halloween will be figuring out which houses are doling out full-sized candy bars, whole packs of gum or other top-shelf goodies.
A marketing and PR coup would be a branded mobile app that used GPS and crowd sourcing for strategic trick-or-treating. Lord knows it’s possible. Garmin makes GPS navigators capable of displaying known police speed traps, and FourSquare tells me which nearby bar is giving the first glass of wine away for free.
Those who say this could ruin Halloween should look at the benefits before passing judgment: Kids with peanut allergies could tag houses handing out Skittles. Vegetarian kids could avoid the Skittles (which contain gelatin). Dentist homeowners could opt in to author their own “No Candy Here” disclaimer to lessen the chances of getting TP’d for giving away pencils and tooth-shaped erasers.
I’m going to stop now and write my CandySniffer app business plan. Anyone know which VC funded Webkinz?
Let’s take the social media temperature of the airline industry.
United breaks guitars. Bad situation, though I loved spokeswoman Robin Urbanski’s quip: “This strikes a chord with us.” She was classy while under fire.
jetBlue has 1.4 million Twitter followers. When the airline tweeted about a unique $599 pass that allowed unlimited flights during a traditionally slow month from mid-August to mid-September, they quickly sold out.
Malaysian carrier AirAsia trended on Twitter and was a top story on many news sites because a baby born onboard one of its jets was awarded free flights for life.
Delta issued a statement saying that laptop computers are prohibited on the flightdeck of its flights and those of its Northwest Airlines unit. Media reports, including this blog entry on LaptopMag.com, say the pilots overshot Minnesota’s Twin Cities airport because they were distracted by their laptops.
“I know whenever I get to playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook hours and hours can go by without my noticing. And I’ve missed my stop on the train more than once while heavily engaged with Chess Titans,” wrote K.T. Bradford.
Delta is a global company that serves plenty of developing nations. These are some of the same regions where Nicholas Negroponte sought to distribute inexpensive, rugged, wifi-equipped laptops to help educate the world’s poorest children. It seems to me that Delta could earn high marks from its customers by introducing a welcome distraction into the lives of kids who could benefit from a laptop: a large contribution to One Laptop Per Child.
I would value comments from readers on whether or not Delta should take additional public action, beyond its October 26 statement.
The stories I hear from my wife of 23 years, Maureen Fitzpatrick, sous chef at the gourmet BCI soup kitchen, never cease to amaze me. After preparing today’s lip-smacking lunch of lamb tagine, Maureen raced to her cookbooks for details on blinis and creme fraiche. Why? Because Wednesday’s meal promised to be even more incredible, thanks to the donation of an $1,100 tin of 
Riders of elevators in New York City office buildings know what topics are trending on 
Zillow just scored a nice 