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Posts Tagged ‘Brian Heffron’

Good things happen when brands unite

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

I recently found myself dreaming about bringing two brands together. My wife was tapping away on her iPad as I was driving along unfamiliar roads during a family vacation. She had access to information that I wanted on the dash. Reading espn.com, watching “Modern Family” episodes or going through email doesn’t make sense at 75 MPH. But live traffic updates, route options, extensive music playlists? It got me wondering about which automaker would make a good partner for Apple? At that moment I wished for a Honda-Apple marriage. A few years ago there was talk that it would team up with Mercedes. It never happened. Is it the earthy Subaru set? Lexus? Audi? Volvo?

Automakers continue to embrace relationships with other brands to improve their vehicle experience. Toyota and Microsoft this month announced a partnership to do just what I dreamed about driving along the Shenandoah Valley. Or they do it to put their cars in front of consumers, like Acura is planning to do for the first time with a major motion picture.

But what if you’re not selling cars, motion pictures or technology? What makes a smart partnership?

Regardless of your industry or marketing budget there is another company that would make an ideal partner. They could improve your customers’ user experience or help introduce your product to a new audience. The ideal partner has credibility, shares some of your personality traits and values, and owns both an established voice and loyal audience. Ultimately, you are best served when both partners can achieve something greater than a pay-for-play sponsorship.

A committed relationship builds incentive for both organizations, whether matching a company with a cause or bringing together two brands. You have to be on the same page with all tenets of the relationship for it to bring real value. And be careful not to take on too many partners. As a CTP colleague points out, “Don’t go so overboard in sticking your name on other people’s stuff so much so that it eventually becomes meaningless to consumers and worthless to prospective partners. Like Swarovski.”

When done right, though, partnerships benefit both companies and the consumer.

Now if we can only get Cold Stone, Five Guys and JetBlue in the same room.

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Tagged: Acura, advertising, apple, Audi, brand partnerships, Brian Heffron, cause marketing, Cold Stone, Five Guys, Honda, iPad, JetBlue, Marvel Comics, Mercedes, PR, Public Relations, sponsorship, Thor, Toyota, Volvo

Feeding the digital machine

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

I hated the Sunday paper. As a 10 year-old paperboy pushing a shopping cart filled with the Boston Sunday Globe uphill I dreamed about the day they stopped publishing. Now I want it – and others like it – to stay vibrant. Because social media users and bloggers depend on it.

Newspapers and broadcast networks generated more than 99 % of the stories linked to by bloggers, according to a Pew study from last year. Against all odds, traditional media remains the prime news-gathering engine. For now.

As more people absorb those traditional news sources on computers and iPhones, and do so for free, how long will media companies be in position to pay reporters? Publishers continue to experiment with online fee models, like the New York Times pay wall approach. But there is no best practice yet established.

That’s where I come in. Well, me and millions of others who still read the print version of the newspaper each morning. We are a dwindling class that look to keep them afloat as they figure it out. Even my 70 year-old parents have cancelled their Globe subscription and read it on their iPad over the morning coffee. When I complain that our morning paper never lands anywhere near the front door my wife dares me to cancel it. (My snow blower swallowed it one morning this February.) I am tempted to stop delivery but a higher calling keeps me from that act of treason.

Truth is, I get most of my news through digital channels. Twitter is my newsfeed, and I scour dozens of sites each day. Many newspapers and magazines are bringing stories to life with interactive graphics, video and other elements you can’t get in the print version. Still, reading the paper version of the Globe in the morning has been part of my life for more than 30 years. I love reading the Wall Street Journal at lunch, flipping through the tabloid Boston Herald and picking up USA Today outside my hotel door. Most importantly, as a former reporter and a PR practitioner, I feel an obligation to keep professional news gatherers employed.

If more media companies wilt will the substance of what we read online become less compelling? Will rumors, fact-less opinions and branded messaging replace substantive analysis and hard news? Not completely. But I’m prepared to do my small part to stall the demise of traditional media distribution just long enough for publishers to figure out a better business model. I hope they do it soon because the aim of my newspaper delivery person gets worse by the day.

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Tagged: Brian Heffron, iPad, iPhone, media, Newspapers, PR, Public Relations, social media, Twitter

Attacking the attacker

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Fight or flight? How you react to taunting as a kid can help shape your reputation in the neighborhood. It’s no different in business.

Growing up, my mother told me it was best to ignore troublemakers. My dad, on the other hand, knew that wasn’t always possible. “Don’t let them push you around.” If someone takes a swing at you, poke them right back.

They were both right. If you’re too defensive you can hear a slight in even the most innocent comments. That means you spend a lot of wasted time repairing damage you needlessly created. But to dad’s credit, you sometimes have to push the instigator back. Taco Bell agrees.

A class-action suit that claims those burritos and enchiladas are filled with something less than real beef can take a bite out of your $7 billion in annual sales. So you have to swing back with force, speed and precision. Your lawyers will take care of the lawsuit. But if you’re a national QSR you better have a top-notch crisis response plan, one that treats traditional and social media with equal importance. (Right, Domino’s?)

Taco Bell seemed well prepared and ready to fight back. It is countering the “beef filler and extenders” claim with a Truth campaign that has used media relations, social media, paid search, online video and full-page ads in high profile newspapers. The integrated response has helped regain control of the story. Has the response been perfect? Probably not but it’s been pretty effective. Thanking the plaintiffs for the lawsuit, as it did in its ad, may seem like false bravado but the company has at least taken back the offensive position. And if a fight is necessary that’s the position you want.

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Tagged: Brian Heffron, crisis, PR, Public Relations, social media, Twitter, web 2.0, youtube

Don’t say it, show it

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

We are again reminded that when PR and journalists meet words are best accompanied by proof.

A Burson-Marsteller study shows that PR folks miss the mark a lot more than they should and not just with mainstream media. According to PR Week, the agency’s “Message Gap Analysis” looked at 158 messages from 16 Financial Times Global 100 companies. It found that 45% of the time in the US a company’s message “is not the message the mainstream media portrays.” This is not reporters misquoting a spokesperson; it’s reporters not believing what your selling them.

Delivering your story through new media channels can be even more challenging. The disparity between what is said and what is typed grows to 76% when blogs tell the story.

Is there a hyper-cynical group among bloggers and journalists? Sure. But complaining about the messenger is wasted time and won’t help you get your story told. And you can’t blame those at the keyboard for guarding against spin – or pablum. The reality is, PR and corporate communications professionals can’t take Pollyanna elevator speeches and sales propositions and mask them as press releases and serious conversations with the media. If you want people to buy your words the onus is on you, not the messenger. You best tell your story through concrete and interesting programs, data and real-life examples, not prose. And you can’t deal with bloggers the way you once dealt with traditional media. The rules have changed.

While ignoring the media and bloggers isn’t wise, we are more empowered than ever to strip away the traditional filters and talk directly with our audience. Be warned, though, that the price for trying to snow them can be a lot more painful.

So in the end, live by the adage: “It has the additional benefit of being the truth.”

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Tagged: blogs, Brian Heffron, Burson-Marsteller, PR, PR Week, social media

Keeping philanthropy a secret?

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

When rescue crews remove the slick black film from wildlife affected by oil spills they use Dawn dishwashing liquid. Apparently they’ve been doing it for 30 years and for almost that long Dawn’s corporate parent, P&G, has been donating money and product to help animals hurt by disaster. But it was only recently that P&G began to involve its consumers. Through its “Dawn Saves Wildlife” campaign, shoppers can go online to activate a $1 donation from P&G with every bottle of Dawn they purchase. A colleague said he recently bought Dawn because he saw the campaign, and he felt really good about himelf.

But why did Dawn take so long to show the public that it is making a difference?

For some companies, it’s a lack of focus. They can’t discipline themselves to focus on a single cause. Instead, their giving program is diluted by opting for a range of charities. Other brands simply fear cause marketing. They think talking about it will transform their good deeds from philanthropic to shallow. But that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, 2009 PR Week/Barkley PR Cause survey says 91% of women (the lead consumer) say it’s important for companies to support a cause. Moreover, 83% of all consumers want to know exactly where a corporate donation is going and how it’s being used.

Focusing help on a specific area, especially one that is synergistic with your business, and getting your target audience involved in the campaign makes you not just a good marketer but also a good corporate citizen. Those two are not mutually exclusive.

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Tagged: Brian Heffron, cause marketing, charity, Dove, P&G, PR