A few posts for your blogging pleasure:
Gerald Baron, a.k.a. Crisisblogger, posted this week about reputation and how much reputation really matters. And asks how companies like Dell overcome headlines like “Dell Hell.” The post is interesting in and of itself, but also interesting is that Dell responds! Jason at Dell leaves a very thoughtful comment (take note, my students for your blogging strategy assignment).
Is this dialogue? Or marketing speak?
Over at Media Orchard, guest blogger Joy Jennings lists 10 dumb things smart communicators do. My favorite (because I saw this all over the place on the last assignment) is number 3 – capitalizing the name of your industry or other non-proper names. (excerpt:)
Do you promote your company’s role in the Fitness market or the Mainframe Maintenance space? Do your press releases quote the Vice President of System Push – CRM Resource Adjunct? Just stop. The names of industries are not proper nouns and neither are job titles.
Have you been guilty of any of the “dumb things”? What would you add to the list?
[shameless self linky love] At In Bloom, my account exec, Michelle, talks about how a product she loves has turned her into a customer evangelist. I must admit, I’m one of the evangelized and the product she mentions is en route. How about you? Ever been an “evangelist”? What product/service/idea did you just want to spread the word about?
We are the researchers, the eyes and ears, the spokespeople and the counselors. No aspect of this role should be taken lightly, as it is a great responsibility. Not to sound as though we’re curing cancer, but public relations is much more then adding spice to a young start-up’s marketing mix or getting a socialite’s name on Page Six.
What do you think? Does Danielle get it right, or is she have a little case of rose colored glasses?
Finally, ChemNurta, the company that imported tainted ingredients for pet foods has hired two crisis public relations companies and started a “blog.” B.L. Ochman of Marketing Profs takes issue with the “blog” label. It appears, she says, to be a repository for press releases, not a forum for dialogue. What do you think? Is this effective use of “Web 2.0” technology or just a tactic, as Ochman suggests, of “crisis flacks.”
