Forge Ahead

And 27 minutes later…

[SCENE: The Oreo marketing team is meeting at 4:20 last Friday afternoon in some Herman Miller-infested conference room. Ted, the veteran marketing director, speaks first.]

“Okay, everyone. Great work on the creme sculpture project for the Super Bowl. This idea really looks like a winner, and you all should be proud of yourselves. I know I am. As it’s just about 4:30, I think we can wrap this puppy up and put her to bed. Let’s all cut out a few minutes early and get a head start on the weekend traffic and – uhh, yes, Jen? You look like you want to say something.”

“Yeah, I do, Ted.”

“Is it about the creme project?”

“Not exactly.”

“Is it about something related to the creme project?”

“Umm, no, not really.”

“Is it about anything having to do with anything that’s printed on the meeting agenda I sent out two days ago that is sitting in front of you right now?”

“No.”

“But that’s what we’re talking about, Jen. You know the rules. Either you’re on topic or you’re off. And there’s nothing else on the  agenda except the creme project, so if you’re not going to say anything about the creme project, then you’re off topic and, ipso facto, not allowed to bring it up. That’s Management Efficiency 101, Jen.”

“Well, yes, I know that, Ted. But I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Jen, I think we all would love to hear your idea… on Monday, but right now is not the time to…”

“But I think it could be really, really important, Ted. And I think it could make us look really good in front of the executive team.”

“I’m sure it is, Jen. But if we leave now – when all of our work for the week has been finished - we can beat some of the traffic out of the city and get a jump on Sunday afternoon.”

“Well, you see, Ted, I’ve been watching film from the last several Super Bowls, and I noticed something.”

“This better be good, Jen…”

“Well, you see, it’s like this. The power went out before a game a couple of years back, and I think there have been some other glitches before, too. And, you know, with it being in New Orleans a week before Mardi Gras and all… well, I was just thinking something like that could happen again. And if it does, I think we should have something ready to go.”

“Jen, what the hell are you blabbering about?”

“Look, I’m thinking if we have an image or an ad or, or – well, something good that we can push out there just in case there’s a, oh, I don’t know, like a half-hour delay in the game, we could hit a home run.”

“Jen, they play football in the Super Bowl, not baseball.”

“No, seriously, Ted. Why don’t we have something in the can that we can post on our Twitter and Facebook feeds during the outage? There’s no doubt folks will be on their phones and laptops during the game, especially if there’s a delay.”

“You’re a nut case, Jen. But hey, if you want to waste your weekend coming up with something for when there’s a power outage at the most popular sporting event on the planet that’s planned a year in advance by hundreds, if not thousands, of the best engineers, planners and specialists, go for it. As for me, I’ve got better things to do. Speaking of which, hey, everyone, I really feel a sore throat coming on. I’m afraid I’m gonna have to call in sick Monday morning.”

[SCENE ENDS]

Within minutes of the blackout at the Superdome, someone on the Oreo marketing team posted the photo above with the tag, “Power out? No problem.” Four simple words that should go down in Super Bowl advertising history alongside Apple’s “1984,” Coke’s “Mean Joe Green,” and  Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” and Budweiser’s “9.11″ spot.

This is the reality of today’s marketing world. Time is in such short supply these daze (!) that you must “preact” if you want to be able to “react.” Preacting demands that you be  prepared to act. And not just in a loose sense. Either you anticipate what could happen in the future – good and bad – and prepare communication strategies, tactics and materials (like Jen) or you don’t (Ted). It’s clear that the folks at Oreo and its agency were ready to respond to a crisis AND an opportunity in seconds.

It’s sorta like the difference between keeping your job/client or not.

UPDATE AT 2:30 P.M.: Buzzfeed posted this story night explaining how the Oreo ad came about. Kudos to both the Oreo brand team and their agency, 360i. And here’s the story from the 360i blog; note the sentence that reads, “You need a brave brand to approve content that quickly. When all of the stakeholders come together so quickly, you’ve got magic…”

How true…

Does this sound familiar?

I’ve recently been thinking a lot about decisions: what they are, how we reach them, what makes good ones and how can we (well, more accurately, I) make better decisions? After researching the decision-making process from as many angles as I could think of (well, more accurately, that I made time for), I came away completely fascinated (well, more accurately, embarrassed).

As it turns out, I haven’t been practicing good decision-making for a very, very long time. And the more I looked into it, the more I realized: (a) I could serve clients more effectively if I learned to improve my decision-making; and (b) the marketing public relations profession as a whole could serve clients and organizations more effectively if we learned to improve our decision-making skills. So when the North Carolina chapter of PRSA invited me to speak at its annual PR & Marketing Seminar, I decided (bad pun…) to do a presentation on decision-making.

In lieu of asking you to slog through it (though there is a link below if you’re into that kind of stuff), I’ve gleaned some of the key lessons to help small (and large) business professionals learn and practice better decision-making.

Here are seven tips to help you make better decisions in 2013:

1. Embrace reality. Recognize and resolve to overcome the fears that prevent effective decision-making, such as fear of failure and fear of risk. Accept that some of your decisions will lead to good outcomes for you, and some won’t. And every decision – even delaying a decision – entails risk. Fear of making decisions will virtually guarantee your competitors will eat your lunch and wipe their lips with your balance sheet. The key is to understand that you can never eliminate all risk; you can only minimize the risk. And that’s good enough.

2. Fight decision fatigue. Each of makes thousands of decisions every day. In fact, research shows we make approximately 217 food-related decisions alone on a given day. And as the day wears on, our brains simply get tired of the effort required to make the best decisions. So resolve to handle your toughest decisions early in the day whenever possible. And if you do need to make a decision later in the day, be sure your brain has fuel to power it. Keep protein sources nearby to ensure your blood sugar – and therefore your ability to make smarter decisions – remains high.

3. Stop wasting time and energy on trivial decisions. And speaking of decision fatigue, promise yourself to stop wasting energy on less important decisions. For example, standing for 10 minutes in the cereal aisle debating the merits of Cheerios versus Raisin Bran is a bad investment of energy. Really bad. Just choose one and go with it.

4. Trust, but verify. A few years back, Malcolm Gladwell captured the world’s attention in his bestseller, Blink, when he said decisions made on the spur of the moment – i.e., when you trust your gut – can be just as good (or better) than those that are exhaustively researched. In some cases, Gladwell’s advice is spot on. But as valuable as our instincts may be, biases and blinders very often block our ability – and our gut’s ability – to see things clearly. For example, as valuable as past experience can be, it can also warp how we see a situation today (“That idea didn’t work back then, so it can’t work now”). The only constant in the universe (well, other than death and taxes…) is change. It’s critical for us to see how things are today as objectively and rationally as possible.

5. Skate to where the puck will be. When Wayne Gretzky, perhaps the greatest professional hockey player of all time, was asked about the secret to his success, he replied, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.” Competition today is tougher than ever (talk about a blinding glimpse of the obvious, there…). To succeed, it’s critical we learn to identify and understand trends not only in our sectors but in other industries and society in general, as well. Tap a variety of news and information sources to help you see what’s happening around you and, perhaps more important, what will be happening around you in the coming months and years. To stay one step of your competitors (or better yet, three steps), learn to read the tea leaves.

6. Try on someone else’s shoes. As important as it is to understand what motivates and persuades you to think or do something, it’s equally important to be able to sense what motivates and persuades others. While it’s impossible to know for sure what someone else is thinking or feeling, a key to winning customers or a colleague’s support is the ability to imagine what it would be like if you were someone else. What pressures might they be facing? What might be their needs and priorities, and how well do you understand and satisfy them? Answers these questions, and you’re on the road to success in business (and life, for that matter).

7. Stop. Think. Act. When the waste material hits the revolving blades, it’s easy to ride the tidal wave of emotion (and fear…) and make decisions willy-nilly. Hint: This is not a good idea. No matter how pressing the crisis (excluding life-threatening situations, of course), always take time to look before you leap. Step outside mentally, if not physically, and give yourself space to think about what you are doing. Sometimes 30 seconds spent considering alternatives and focusing on the long-term outcome you want can spell the difference between keeping the ship on course and watching the ship sink before your eyes. Always step back and identify your “magnetic north,” that place in the future you want to be that can serve as a guide for your decision-making.

(If you’re interested in learning more, here’s a link to my presentation, “Reading the Tea Leaves: How to Use the Future to Strengthen Your Decision-Making Skills Today.” And please feel free to let me know if you’d like to see some of the articles and research on which this presentation is based; I’d be happy to share any information I might have found.)

Is it really a wonderful life?

So here’s a quiz for the holidaze: Raise your hand if you can explain what the following paragraph is saying?

“Citigroup today announced a series of repositioning actions that will further reduce expenses and improve efficiency across the company while maintaining Citi’s unique capabilities to serve clients, especially in the emerging markets. These actions will result in increased business efficiency, streamlined operations and an optimized consumer footprint across geographies.”

Okay, I know. That was waaaay too easy. Let’s try the next paragraph:

“Michael Corbat, Citi’s Chief Executive Officer, said: ‘These actions are logical next steps in Citi’s transformation. While we are committed to – and our strategy continues to leverage – our unparalleled global network and footprint, we have identified areas and products where our scale does not provide for meaningful returns. And we will further increase our operating efficiency by reducing excess capacity and expenses, whether they center on technology, real estate or simplifying our operations.’”

Clear as a cup of Christmas cheer, right? I mean, let’s be serious: who doesn’t know what “an optimized consumer footprint across geographies” means? And gosh darn it, it’s just clearer to everybody involved to say “our scale does not provide for meaningful returns” and “simplifying our operations” instead of “11,000 of our employees will be out of work in a few days,” isn’t it?

It Just Shouldn’t Ever Have to be This Hard

This is just bad, bad, bad. In fact, it’s so bad that it qualifies the folks who endorsed it as early frontrunners for the 2013 Darwin Awards.

As this spot-on report in Ragan’s PR Daily observes, there’s no mention until the bottom of the third paragraph that 11,000 (um, yeah, that’s 11 with three zeros after it) Citigroup employees are being laid off.

This is just bad, bad, bad. No doubt the Citi public relations team fought hard on this one, but good gravy, why should they even have to in this day and age? Seriously, what are the suits in the C-suite smoking that makes them think: (a) this kind of a release is a good idea; and (b) they can (or should) escape unscathed when everybody with a phone, tablet or library card – which, of course, includes “repositioned” employees – has access to a global communications pulpit? Do they really believe that investors on Wall Street to whom this story is really aimed would prefer Citi use this kind of attempted sleight-of-hand rather than plain talk? And does obfuscation of this magnitude really make Corbat and Citi execs and investors feel better about the company?

Like any other organization, Citi has to do what it has to do to remain competitive, profitable and well-positioned for the future. That sometimes includes having to make tough decisions that are just plain crappy for employees. But what Citi doesn’t have to do – and should never even contemplate – is to make matters worse by making stupid decisions.

The Rules of Public Relations Haven’t Changed

There’s no doubt the rules of media relations have changed in this so-called “digital age.” But what constitutes real news – like, oh I don’t know, 11,000 people losing their jobs - hasn’t changed. And the fundamental rules of public relations – be honest, authentic and transparent, not to mention human – have not changed. Neither has the Golden Rule last time I checked. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Or better still, do not treat others as you would not want to be treated. That’s a pretty simple and productive way to live your life whether you’re a ditch digger or a multibillion-dollar global financial behemoth.

Seriously, you would think a company that’s been under public, media and government scrutiny during the past five years for its part in the collapse of our economy would know better than to try to bury the lede with clumsy obfuscation and corporate jargon. Think again. Apparently the MBA whiz kids at Citi never heard of George Bailey and his wonderful life.

A big #PRFAIL on this one to #Citigroup.

Let’s gaze into the crystal ball.

Earlier today, I had a chance to look into the crystal ball and catch an early glimpse of tomorrow’s business leaders.

Wow…

I had the pleasure of joining fellow Epley Associates alumnus Eva Hornak in judging presentations delivered by students at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Grouped into teams, their assignment was to research and develop a new product or service for a real-world company that’s currently facing a market or business challenge. The groups chose Volkswagen, GameStop, Office Max and Barnes & Noble.

To put it mildly, I was flat-out blown away by the poise, creativity, business acumen and smarts displayed by the students. Their ideas were smart and well-researched (quite frankly, the ones for OfficeMax and B&N might be ready for prime time right now), and their preparation for and performance during their presentations were outstanding. It was the kind of work you’d expect from students in one of the top 10 MBA programs in the country.

Only they weren’t MBA students.

In talking after class with the teacher, Dr. Sharon MacMillen Cannon, associate professor of Management and Corporate Communication at the school, I was quite literally shocked to learn the students are, in fact, undergraduates (mostly juniors), many of whom are taking their first business classes. (No wonder they all looked so young…) As I told Dr. Cooper, these presentations were more professional, dynamic and downright enjoyable than scores of presentations I’ve suffered, errr, sat through by corporate wonks twice their age. Not only that, they handled Q&A in mock press conferences afterwards with confidence and ease (better than many senior executives we’ve taught in our spokesperson coaching sessions). And the questions they had to field about their ideas weren’t softballs either. Three journalism students on staff at The Daily Tar Heel served as chief questioners.

Much is made about the sad state of youth in our country today. That’s nothing new, of course. For example:

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

Sound familiar? It should. Socrates is credited with saying that nearly 2,500 years ago.

I don’t know about the youth in ancient Greece (maybe they were spoiled little brats), but I can say this: if what I saw today is any indication of the caliber of students in our colleges and universities these days, I can say without reservation both they and we as a country have a very bright future.

The great philosopher Socrates (aka, “The Dude”).

Decision, decisions, decisions…

Decision Making 101

It’s estimated we make at least 217 food-related decisions each and every day. Should I have a Grande Unsweetened Soy Milk Vanilla Latte with one extra shot or two? Should I go with my workmates to that new Thai place or just grab some Nabs and eat at my desk? Exactly how much butter is too much? Geez, decision making is hard!

In fact, some of us seem to put more time and energy into deciding what, when, where and with whom to eat (not to mention whether the peas can touch the mashed potatoes) than we do on decisions that affect our coworkers, companies, clients and careers. Given the stakes involved in those big decisions, it’s easy to see why we focus instead on little decisions involving steaks.

And yet, it’s those bigger decisions that deserve the critical thinking we put into choosing what to eat what wear. Weak decision-making skills often have a long tail. Think Tony Hayward, Jerry Sandusky, David Petraeus and Bernie Madoff.

Some decisions have very long tails.

Strong Decisions = Strong Reputations

Several months ago, we began thinking more about what goes into making decisions. As we fleshed out our Reputation Design(sm) model, we realized the central role effective decision-making skills play in building and sustaining a strong brand. We wanted to understand how to apply the latest research on better decision making to public relations practice and, in particular, successful reputation design and management.

We delivered the interim results of our work at the November 15 PR & Marketing Seminar sponsored by the North Carolina Chapter of PRSA (#ncprsa). In a session titled “Reading the Tea Leaves: How to Use the Future to Strengthen Your Decision-Making Skills Today,” we outlined the factors at play when we make decisions, some of the obstacles that block effective decision making as well as some tools and concepts that help you choose more wisely.

Back to the Future for Better Decision Making

We also talked about something near and dear to our hearts: the future. Or more specifically, the importance that a future perspective has in successful decision making. You see, a decision in and of itself is neither good nor bad. The only place from which to judge if a decision is “good” or “bad” is the future – as in, looking backward. While there are any number of definitions of what a “good decision” is, our favorite is this one: “one step along the path to a desired outcome.” And that desired outcome is not something we experience when we’re making a decision, of course. Rather, it’s something we see in the future (e.g., a successful career, a happy marriage, a satisfying dinner). It’s something we want to have happen that requires a bunch of decisions along the way.

Go back to the future to make good decisions.

So from our perspective, it’s best to start out in the future with your desired outcome and then walk back to the present to identify the decisions you’ll have to make along the way (along with what you will use to guide you). For example, if you want a reputation in your industry for impeccable ethical behavior, that goal – we like to call it a “magnetic north” – will drive each and every decision you will make. From who you hire and how you train them to what you talk about in performance reviews, company retreats and external marketing materials.

A Penny for Lincoln’s Thoughts

Abe Lincoln once said, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” With all respect to Honest Abe, we suggest amending that maxim this way: “The best way to predict your future is to decide to create it.”

If you’re interested in seeing our presentation on effective decision making and reviewing some of the skills that can help you make better choices, you can access it here on www.prezi.com.

Create the future you want.

On September 10, 2012, Roger Friedensen of Forge Communications was the featured speaker for a Brown Bag Webinar hosted by the PRSA New Professionals section. He focused on teaching young public relations professionals how they can grow into successful PR counselors and strategists rather than simply technicians.

If you missed the session, you can access the PowerPoint presentation below (or here on SlideShare), and you can listen to the audio here.

Clint Eastwood would be proud…

As a follow-up to our most recent post about walking away from a prospect who asked us to forego our fees for the better part of the next two years, here’s a priceless exchange posted by a good friend and colleague of ours in New York on his Facebook page:

Conversation with a new business prospect that I had written off a few weeks ago:

 Prospect: We really want to work with your firm, but we’ll need your fees to be more in line with what our other agencies are proposing.
Me: Why aren’t you using one of your other agencies?
Prospect: They don’t have experience with litigation.
Me: If I didn’t know what I was doing, I’d charge a lot less, too.

Looking forward to seeing how this movie plays out for them. Please pass the Jujubes.

We include this here not as much to say the prospect was wrong to seek the most value for his or her dollar, but rather to highlight that in our business as in pretty much every other business, you get you what you pay for. That doesn’t mean anyone should pay extra for something they don’t need; that’s wasteful and rarely a good idea for either party. It does mean, however, that if you want or need a certain level of quality in a product or service, it’s important to recognize that upfront and understand the implications.

And for gosh sakes, don’t ask someone for something and then not pay them. That’s a really Wimpy thing to do…

Ummm, no…

We fired a prospect today.

Or, to put it more politely, we elected to adhere to our corporate and personal values, trust our instincts and cut our losses.

Either way you put it, we walked away from a potential client in the midst of a stunningly long economic slow-down that all of us are just plain tired of talking about.

Why? Because it made sense. And dollars and cents.

We had had two exceptionally good meetings with the management team of a start-up here in North Carolina. Over the course of those sessions and a bevy of phone calls and emails, we felt we’d built up quite a rapport with them. In fact, we left the last meeting pretty much being told “You guys get us completely, and we’re looking forward to working with you.” We were smiling.

Now, our radar had been going off every now and again during our meetings as the company has yet to build a working version of its product that they believe will revolutionize their industry. All they have now is a prototype, a couple of patent pendings, manufacturing partners and money from friends and family. But if the product works as they hope, it very well could revolutionize an industry that touches virtually every one of us at home, work and school.

“If the product works…”

In our 26-plus years in this business, we can’t count the number of folks who came to us convinced they were going to revolutionize the world with a “groundbreaking,” “cutting-edge,” “truly innovative” (as if anything can be “falsely innovative”) and “game-changing” idea. (Think dot-coms here whose business plans were written on the backs of napkins.) But that’s not the main reason we declined (politely) to ask these guys to the prom. The primary reason was understanding and respect – a lack of understanding of what public relations is and an apparent lack of respect for it.

Yeah, yeah, we know; no real news here. But the lesson is still an important one.

As they are bootstrapping the company at this point, there’s just not a lot of extra cash sitting around. We understand tight budgets. Who doesn’t? So they had asked if we would consider keeping our fees low in the beginning and taking equity in exchange for some of the dollars. In all our years, we had never agreed to trade fees for equity, but this time we decided to give it a try as the product is seriously cool and would be a blast to help launch (assuming it works, of course).

We wrote our proposal to cover the usual stuff you cover in a strategic communications program: branding, messaging and the development and execution of an integrated public relations program. The budget was modest. Like really modest. Like way below six figures to support a regional launch (followed then by a national launch) over the next nine months. Pretty standard fare for a PR proposal, right? And we included a suggested budget split of two-thirds in cash and one-third in equity. We submitted the draft proposal for review.

The next day, the marketing veep writes back:
(1) the president will never approve a budget like this;
(2) you really ought to consider revising your fee structure and stretch it out over a longer period, say two or three years;
(3) you can have “profits interest” not equity (meaning we’ll get paid if and when they are profitable); and
(4) by the way, we’ve been talking to another firm that does marketing and design and it looks like you’re proposing to do work that overlaps with them. We need you to do the PR, not branding and messaging.

Now we’ve never been hesitant to put our credentials up against anyone, and we rarely, if ever, have backed down from a pitch. But this felt different. This felt as if we were being asked to be only a media pitch shop (“Just get us some PR so everybody in the U.S. hears about us. You know, send out some news releases and get ‘em placed in the trades.”). He was seeing that age-old delineation between public relations and marketing/advertising. “Those guys will handle all the branding, messaging and all the marketing because they know how to do; we just need you to get us ink. And that really shouldn’t cost all that much, should it? Because we don’t have that much money right now, and we’ll have to pay the other firm.”

Heck, the prospect even struck through the word “marketing” when we used it in the term, “marketing public relations.” Clearly, we’re not speaking the same language much less being on the same page.

Now we’re not saying there’s anything wrong with being media specialists. Quite frankly, I admire folks who slog away at that every day and achieve meaningful results for clients. Gosh knows, they earn their pay, and it’s not something I want to do full-time (heck, I’d be on top of a book depository with a .30-06 inside of three weeks).

But the main point here is that being a media shop is not what Forge Communications was founded to be, it’s not what we want to do and we know that’s not how we can best help build value for our clients. We know firms that do that well for much less money, and we’re happy as mollasks to recommend them.

We believe we contribute most when we are full and equal partners on the business leadership team. We bring the most to the table when we’re allowed – wait, that’s wrong – when we’re invited to offer counsel and service that’s based on decades of experience helping companies of all shapes and sizes solve challenges so they can move into the future with confidence. When strategic communication consultants are told to keep their opinions to themselves and just stay put in the traditional “media shop box” – especially when traditional media are dissolving in front of our eyes( and may well be the wrong channel to use in the first place) – both the consultants and the clients lose. And neither we nor clients like it when scarce financial resources are squandered.

In this case, we decided a win-win could best be reached if we just walked away. No blood, no foul.This really needs no caption…

You gotta know when (and here’s the important part) and be willing to fold ‘em for your business and the client’s business.

And you know what? It feels really, really good.

“Breathe, breathe in the air,
Don’t be afraid to care.”
- Pink Floyd 

Twitter, the beta version

“I believe that in the future, social media will be like air – it will be anywhere and everywhere we want and need it to be.” – Charlene Li, one of the most influential voices in technology, in The Washington Times.

Assuming we take this analogy at face(book) value, we seem to be evolving into a society – or, perhaps more accurately, species – that cannot live without social media. There is no doubt there will be cynics, curmudgeons and just plain cranky-ites among us will consider that assessment heresy, but the fact of the matter is this: we are a tribal species, we know we are a tribal species and we like being a tribal species. Anything that helps us strengthen our ties to fellow members of the tribe, be it smoke signals, secret handshakes, handwritten letters, telephones or Pinterest is going to survive. It will evolve, of course (witness the changes we’ve seen in the telephone over the past 100 years), but the fact is communications channels that help us connect will survive because they help US survive.

My advice to individuals and tribes of individuals (you know, like a Fortune 500 company, local dry cleaners or a marketing public relations firm..): take a deep breath and jump into the grown-up end of the pool for fun – and profit.

10.  Wait until the last minute: why prepare now if it may not happen at all?

9.     Ignore your employees or members: it’ll just distract them.

8.     Ignore the media: heck, they’ll just twist the truth anyway.

7.     Play by your rules:  why give a hoot about what anyone else wants?

6.     Never accept responsibility or apologize: my lawyer always knows best!

5.     Ignore emotions:  feelings are for wimps – Facts Rule!

4.     Cooperate only when you have to: keep your head down and your mouth shut.

3.     Provide only the bare minimum: why invite confusion with details?

2.     Dazzle ‘em with jargon: if a little is good, then a lot is even better!

2b.  All this social media crap is just a passing fad.

And the Number One way to trash your reputation is:

1.     Ignore it, and it’ll go away…