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Monthly Archives: May 2010

The SEC Gets Social

  By Roger Friedensen | May 29, 2010 - 2:14 pm | Uncategorized
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“After two days in the desert sun, my skin began to turn red,
After three days in the desert fun, I was looking at a riverbed.”
– America

The proverbial horse designed by committee

That Twitter is a very real and very serious communication channel for businesses seeking to connect with customers is not news to most folks these days.  That Twitter is now being used by the government agency that rides herd on the investment community, on the other hand, might well be a surprise.

In this post from SmartBlog on Social Media, Emily Molitor reports on how the SEC — yep, that SEC — has developed a fairly sophisticated social media strategy comprising Twitter feeds, YouTube, a mobile site and an investor-specific microsite.  Mark Story, the SEC’s new media director, notes that the agency has three Twitter feeds that target specific audiences: news media, investors and job seekers.  That’s smart.  And it’s a smart move that other companies — including those the SEC monitors — should adopt.

We see a two-fold lesson here.  First, anyone who doubts the utility and business value of Twitter and other social media tools for B2B as well as B2C communications is either not paying attention or just plain stubborn (bet you know someone like that).  Second, when an organization whose job revolves around regulations and investors can find use for not only one but three Twitter accounts, it’s time for all Luddites to pull their collective heads out of the sand and recognize that the camel train is just about ready to leave them behind. Unless, of course, they enjoy sucking sand.

Inflexibility is rarely a viable business strategy, especially when it comes to communications.

 

An Old Dog Who Can Still Teach us a Trick or Two

  By Roger Friedensen | May 27, 2010 - 2:15 pm | Uncategorized
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“He said, ‘My name’s the teacher, that is what I call myself,
And I have a lesson that I must impart to you,
It’s an old expression, but I must insist it’s true.”
– Jethro Tull

A man and his Apple

While Apple CEO Steve Jobs has rarely been known for openness and accessibility, this story in Wired proves that not only can old dogs learn new tricks, they sometimes can set the pace for other dogs in the neighborhood

Over the past few months, Jobs — who is notorious for being tight-lipped and rarely responding to media calls — has decided to reach out and touch someone.  Or, to be more accurate, reach out and touch someones who are special.

Breaking with his monk-like tradition of letting others do the talking, Jobs has been sending personal e-mails to customers, reporters and others in a “return” to one-to-one communication from the top.  As helpful as mass-distribution channels such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs can be in getting the word out, Jobs knows that the most effective communication is based on one-to-one communication, even when that communication is pounded out on the keyboard of a MacBook Pro (we’re assuming here, of course, that Jobs is not typing his messages on a ThinkPad . . .).

What’s the lesson here?  Simple.  Jobs is relying here on one of the most fundamental tenets of Marketing 101: identify and connect with key opinion leaders who can help carry your message — credibly — to the masses.  Just as Everett Rogers wrote some 50 years ago in his seminal book, The Diffusion of Innovation, the strategic use of thought leaders to spread your message can not only speed up the process by which an innovation (like an iPad) is adopted, it can often help reshape your reputation and build a powerful network of influencers upon which you can rely in the future.

Perhaps this new-found openness on Jobs’ part was tied solely to the launch of his newest baby, the iPad.  Or maybe not.  Maybe he’s found religion in the wake of his health struggles over the past few years.  Either way, Jobs is once again leading the pack and demonstrating that the best CEOs remember that their success — and the success of their companies — begins and ends with individuals who are treated as such.

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“‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said, ‘to talk of many things’”

  By Roger Friedensen | May 18, 2010 - 2:21 pm | Uncategorized
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“I am the eggman, no,
They are the eggmen, no,
I am the walrus, goo-goo-goo-joob.”
– John Lennon

I am he as you are he as you are me, and we are all together.

This from the “Oh no, this cannot be true” files …

A report from today’s Homeland Security Wire citing a story by USA Today’s Rick Jervis indicates that BP’s 582-page emergency-response “plan” may never have anticipated a massive oil spill like the one threatening the Gulf of Mexico and entire East Coast these days, but gosh darnit, it did warn that a spill could endanger animals such as “seals, sea otters and walruses” in the Gulf.

Okaaaaaaay …

If you’re suddenly wondering if you’re remembering your fourth grade elementary school teacher’s lessons (and countless documentaries on “Animal Planet”) accurately, you are.  No such animals live in the Gulf of Mexico.  Maybe Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, but not in the warm waters off St. Petersburg, Fla.

While the “plan” (and again, we use that term pretty loosely here) was approved in July by the Minerals Management Service, an arm of the federal government, it now would seem that the massive document comprises mostly boilerplate language that was not tailored to the specific situation at hand.

It’s certainly true that many crisis plans have common strategies and tactics, however, comma, each crisis plan must be tailored to the organization’s specific environment and the contingencies that may be faced.

To cut and paste boilerplate language and call it a crisis response plan is not just lazy – in some cases, it’s absolutely criminal.

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