The Future of the Press Release - Part I, Acceptance

The press release is on life support and I’m rallying a team of supporters to euthanize it – not to put it out of its misery, but to keep it from contributing to the misery of reporters, analysts, bloggers and the people who read them.

The process of writing and distributing a press release can be excruciatingly painful and is almost laughable when you read the final product.

Company X Launches World’s First, Industry-leading, Innovative Thingamabob that will Change Our Lives for the Better

Fantasy Land, Sept. XX, 2007 -- So and so, a leader in such and such, today announced the world’s most groundbreaking, revolutionary, and never-before-seen widget and will change the lives of everyone who use it. Not only is it versatile and ubiquitous, but it scales across the marketing bell curve and in to the long tail. It is a disruptive game changing solution that forces a paradigm shift and, yes, it’s just that simple to use.

“We are excited and thrilled and happy and delighted that our new widget will change your life,” said a company executive who didn’t say this quote, but instead simply signed off on it since their PR person wrote it for them. “There really is nothing out there like it. We have no competition. This is something everyone needs; they just don’t know it yet.”

# # #

OK, so I think you get the picture.

The funny thing is that releases like this pollute the wires and search engines and one can only imagine how many revisions and contributors it took from the marketing and executive teams to ensure that every buzz word and useless piece of jargon made the final cut. The end product will usually say nothing about what it is, who it’s for, why it’s different and why it’s valuable and beneficial to the people to whom it’s targeted. Yet, everyone needs to get their hands on it as some form of self righteousness, demonstration of value, or simply job security.

But why doesn’t everyone already know this isn't the best way to do things? The press release is 100 years old!

I recently joined a Bulldog Reporter panel to discuss “smart” press releases and the art of creating SEO (search engine optimization) and Social Media Releases and the differences and advantages of each over traditional releases.

As the conference rolled along, I found myself thinking that before we jumped into this important topic, we should have started with the basics of what makes a release worthy of attention – regardless of SEO optimization or Social Media optimization (SMO).

As you may or may not know, I’ve been a proponent of reforming press releases since I was able to integrate HTML and multimedia into them back in the mid-to-late 90s. Do you want to know the first thing I learned?

No matter how tricked-out your press release is with “extras,” if it is still full of garbage, then we’re only placing our trash in a fancier container.

This isn’t anything new however. Journalists have been complaining about the press release even before I was in the game, which for the record, has been for a long, long time.

What’s important in these remarkable times, however, is that whether it’s good or bad, technology has globalized and democratized information, allowing press releases to reach journalists and customers directly – without ever having to send a pitch or make a call.

According to Outsell, Inc. in November 2006, 51% of information technologists (IT) source their news from press releases found on Yahoo or Google News over traditional trade journals. While this is technology, I can assure you that this stat is probably equally significant across a variety of major industries. What this means is that press releases are no longer limited to journalists, bloggers, and analysts, but also read by customers directly in order to help them make important decisions.

So in the face of this revelation, why are we, PR, still insistent and stubborn about not changing? Why do we still firmly plant our feet, and our heads, in the sand and expect greatness, when in fact all we deserve is expulsion from the conversations that are taking place out there with or without us. Or are we simply afraid to speak up for fear it might cost us our jobs.

Maybe it’s just like the bad driver syndrome. It’s up to everyone else to learn how to drive because we are flawless. Still using the driving analogy, I can guarantee that defensive drivers are the least likely to crash when compared to reactionary drivers that mosey along highways with blinders on.

So if the path to writing better, more meaningful, and relevant press releases is a 12 step program, the first step is to move from denial and accept that as is, most releases should be euthanized. In the social economy, attention economy, conversation economy, or whatever you wish to call it, people, and the groups they represent, are now part of the equation, which completely change the game for all of us.

Stay tuned for Part Two of a multi-part series.

Update: The story is on techmeme as WebProNews re-packages the story.

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Next up:

Removing "audience" from the equation

The need for multiple versions of the press release

PR in the Long Tail

SEO vs. Social Media vs. Smart Releases

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History Lesson (backgrounder):

As a recap, the Social Media Release has been pushed by many influencers for just over one year now, including Tom Foremski’s public outcry for the death of crappy press releases; Todd Defren who offered the first template and remains an authoritative champion; Chris Heuer who helped lead an effort to propose a standard for their construction and distribution; Stowe Boyd who reminds disingenuous, lazy or opportunistic PR people that they’re not invited to participate in Social Media (and rightfully so); Shel Holtz (along with Chris Heuer and me) who hosted the original NMRcast, and continues to demonstrate the value of new releases; Shannon Whitley's work to help PR "get it;" and the many others who continue to carry the flag forward.

And to all of you who continue to experiment with and discuss SMRs.

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Additional Resources:

Social Media Releases: Everything You Ever Wanted to (or Should) Know

YouTube Killed the Video News Release Star

How to Write an SMR Template (and what it looks like on the wire)

Social Media Killed the Press Release Star

How to Write a Social Media Press Release, Why, and What It All Means

How to Write a Social Media Press Release - Part II

Don’t Kill the Press Release, Shoot the Messenger

PR in the Long Tail

SocialMediaRelease.org

Society for New Communications Research

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press release press+release pressrelease pr pr2.0 PR+2.0 public+relations publicrelations publicity communications news news+release sncr new socialmedia social+media blog blogger journalism smr hrelease social+media+release new+media+release todd+defren template tom+foremski media+2.0 media2.0 media

Link Love for Sept. 28, 2007

The Effects Of Digg on My Blog - Chris Brogan reviews the impact of Digg on blog posts.

The Magic Art of RSS: An Interview with Marjolein Hoekstra by Marshall Kirkpatrick - Marjolein Hoekstra lives in The Hague, Netherlands and writes the blog CleverClogs.org. In the magical world of RSS power use, Marjolein is the High Priestess.

Will we never learn? Shel Holtz Reviews the lack of transparency in a recent Microsoft-Burson Marstellar campaign.

PR-Squared's "Social Media Tactics" Series ... Edgework With Social Bookmarking - Todd Defren explains how to use Social Bookmarking for Edgework.

Steve Larsen @DEMO: The wisest words of the night- Shel Israel spends time with serial entrepreneur Steve Larson who offers the following mantra, "Constraint spawns creativity."

(dis)Functional PR - Planet Relations examines whether PR works, and if not who’s to blame.

Where (or how) to begin with social media - First Person PR

pr blog blogger linklove link+love social+media public+relations publicrelations rss

Get a F#ck!ng Blog Already

The title of this post is dedicated to B.L. Ochman. I felt that I'd keep up with the spirit in order to convince companies to stop asking questions and accept the fact that they need to engage. The only question they need to ask is,"what do I need to do?"

Good friend Duncan Riley recently asked me to help with an article he was writing regarding PR professionals who also blog and whether or not the companies we work with are ready to embrace the blogosphere.

Duncan is one of the smartest tech, marketing and media-savvy people I know, so I was flattered that I was able to collaborate with him. And his the slogan on his blog is absolutely perfect for this discussion, "Blogging is not a spectator sport."

Duncan asked, “How would you recommend clients use blogging as part of their PR strategy?”

The easy answer is I would love them to start...

Contrary to popular reports, blogging is far from reaching its tipping point. In fact, it’s hardly done enough in business. In fact, it’s not nearly deployed enough.

Believe it or not, only a small percentage of the companies I speak to are actively blogging and many push back when I present the advantages for doing so. Not only do they push back, but many have the audacity to ask my team to write their posts so that they can put their name on them.

I was sitting next to Shel Israel on a flight recently and we of course immediately jumped into the discussion of blogging. Israel co-authored Naked Conversations with Robert Scoble in 2005 and is considered one of the first books designed to help companies engage in the conversations taking place with or without them.

According to Israel, “We started talking about the subject years ago to help companies start blogging. We thought we failed because, quite simply corporate blogging was not happening right away. Here we are 30 months later, and enterprises are now screaming to learn about blogging and they’re also shocked to find out that you can also embed pictures and video in them. They are finally starting to understand that being shouted out at in the open is better than when they can’t hear them.”

While some are just now getting hot on it, there are also many who still completely underestimate it. It’s still viewed by many as merely an online journal, when in fact, it can be the most powerful, consistent voice for a company, the brand, and its personality ever available to them.

Unlike other forms of traditional marketing, blogging requires new or additional resources to not only create the blog template and platform, but also actively write compelling content using a new voice and also actively participate in the blogosphere to help promote an active and genuine presence.

The challenge initially is to justify and measure the investment against a legitimate and proven ROI model. It just doesn’t stack up or compare to anything most companies do today, so it’s an incredibly difficult first step.

Outside of the tech sector, participating in the greater “conversational marketing” movement is still a foreign and highly misjudged concept. While others simply think that blogging is only an extension of existing marketing using the channel to spew corporate BS in the vain attempts to sell more stuff. Oh, but I can’t forget those company executives that consider blogging a chore. Rather than take the opportunity to share insight and expertise and help consumers make more informed decisions, they instead opt to not blog at all or, as I mentioned earlier, have a PR flack or marketing associate write posts or repurpose existing content and then post them under their own name.

The truth is that a thoughtful and well-cultivated corporate blog can yield many benefits that not only help PR, but also enhance every facet of corporate communications along with improving sales cycles, customer service and ultimately loyalty.

The best thing any of us can do is create a strong case for why and how companies create a new, or improve their existing, blog strategy. It all comes with a greater respect for people and the honest intent of improving relationships.

In blogging and in all of Social Media, intention is everything.

In order to shape the brand and company personality we wish to portray to customers, reporters, investors, analysts, and anyone who can help the company grow, we must embrace a new level of engagement and stop speaking “at” people, only with them. And it all starts with listening.

As Shel said, it’s about working with companies to realize that there’s more value in listening, participating, and embracing conversations in the public world of Social Media rather than plugging their ears and pretending like none of it is happening.

Blogging requires a true and persevering commitment. You get out of it what you put into it. To quote B.L. Ochman, “Create a totally fucking amazing blog.” Make people read it. Make people value it. Make your peers source it and link to it!

Blogging is about extending a voice, connecting people, and nurturing relationships. This is the only foundation for which any blog strategy should be built.

It is our job and our responsibility to guide them through the uncharted paths of transparency, reminding them that letting go of controlled messages and communications can actually stimulate more conversations and ultimately escalate brand resonance and loyalty.

We’ve all heard that content is king and with blogging, I have to say that simply generating content doesn’t cut it. This is about people talking to people. Sharing expertise, offering advice, offering compassion, defining the landscape, and more importantly, listening to the conversations taking place in and around your brand, and that of competitors, are the necessary ingredients to effectively participate in the blogosphere.

And it’s not just blogging, it’s actually participating in the community. Company employees can also help people, demonstrate thought leadership, stimulate traffic, and strengthen customer ties by actively reading and commenting on other blogs posts.

Note: I’m not talking about running around and selling people on your products or services. I’m talking about genuinely going out there and joining the conversations that could use your input!

Ultimately, this is all the same advice for PR people as well. There’s no room for pitching, spamming, or the day-to-day BS that defines most PR. With social media, PR is now exposed to the public again and therefore now needs to reengage by putting the “public” back in public relations.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and it looks like hard work” – Thomas Edison

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Blogging blog shel+Israel naked+conversations nakedconversations nowisgone naked conversations shel Israel Duncan+riley corporate company marketing social+media social media socialmedia media+2.0 media2.0 2.0 pr2.0 pr+2.0 pr public relations publicity communications public+relations publicrelations Thomas+Edison marketing+2.0 robert+scoble

Link Love for Sept. 24, 2007

What Is Influence? - Max Kalehoff explores influence and why it should be a focus of every marketing campaign.

The Immediate Media Age: Of Broadband & Blogs - Om Malik discusses how the face of media has changed creating a new medium of immediacy.

Valley PR Blog, 5 Reasons to Use Social Networks - Linda VandeVrede discusses 5 reasons to use social networks for PR professionals. Features a quote from yours truly.

Social Media: Evolution to Execution - Excellent discussion and overview of Social Media, its opportunities, misperceptions, and challenges.

Can marketing be conversational? Doc Searls brilliant surmises conversational marketing while pondering the its role in human interaction.

Measuring Social Media Efforts - Chris Brogan analyzes the value of measuring and mapping the ROI of social media campaigns.

pr public+relations socialmedia social+media publicrelations pr2.0 pr+2.0 blog blogger doc+searls chris+brogan public relations publicity bookmarks

Conversational Marketing Versus Market Conversations

The much discussed and highly revered Cluetrain Manifesto is proving to be more relevant than ever. As Social Media becomes more pervasive in marketing, it’s imperative that we become gatekeepers to prevent opportunistic marketers from bankrupting the conversation economy.

As someone noted, aren't all marketers opportunistic?

Yes and no.

It's the difference between leveraging an opportunity because you can bring value to the discussion vs. selling an opportunity simply because you can capitalize on it.

Jakob Nielsen added a unique perspective to ClueTrain when he surmised that the authors “defected” from marketing and took sides with markets against it.

The markets on the other side of the proverbial "other side of the fence" however, should be warned that the very marketers that forced the defection have figured out that there’s fortune and bountiful opportunities in jumping ship and blending into the new world of Social marketing.

As Stowe Boyd says, the edge dissolves the center. We are the edglings and we’re experimenting with new forms of media, not to gain fame or fortune, but to change marketing from a business of bullying, bullshit, and deception, to a genuine form of respectable and valued sense of service and personalization.

If it’s one thing that we can learn about Social media is that people and the markets they represent have rallied against marketing and slick marketers and have demanded personalization, transparency, and sincerity.

Social Media is about breaking down barriers to engage in conversations.

They don’t want to be told what to buy, what to think, or have their views and opinions disregarded simply because they are not classically trained in the art of service, design or marketing.



Gone are the days of talking “to” people and controlling the message from company to influencer to audience. Now companies are forced to let go as "audiences" have given way to the very people we chose to leapfrog for the greater good of mass marketing.

Brands have become democratized. Audiences have evolved into factions of people linked together by common interests. Messages have deteriorated into a lost language that no one cares to revive, not even Mel Gibson.

Control is lost and now is now firmly placed among, and cultivated by, the people.

There is no audience in conversations. Nor is there an audience for any other form of Social Media. Each venue comprises of groups of people and they each come to the table with a different recipe of experiences, preferences, dislikes, and prejudices all wrapped in a blanket of skepticism and hope.

People have voices and thanks to the fact that Social Media “goes to 11,” their opinions and views have more volume and influence than ever before - more so than many care to acknowledge. But whether companies agree or not, the fact is that conversations are taking place with or without them, no matter how many ads they run, key words they buy, or press releases they push out over the wires.



Conversational marketing isn’t a bandwagon or a golden ticket. It is a call for reform, evolution, and humility.

We’re witnessing the shift from B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer) to P2P (peer to peer) marketing – or better described as conversations between people, not companies doing their best impression of adults in the Peanuts cartoons as they talk to audiences in a monotone, robotic, insincere voice, “wah wah wah wah wahhhhhh.”

Participation is marketing and it is wreaking havoc among traditional marketers in PR, advertising, direct marketing, and every discipline all the way down the line. And, it concurrently represents a winning lotto tickets for those marketers who find a new point of differentiation to cash in by jumping into the new conversations.

The mistake that most Social Media practitioners or conversational marketers make however, is that they assume they’re all invited to the conversation, whether they host it or they jump into to existing discussions. The reality is however, that they’re not welcome at all.

Markets are conversations, but that doesn't mean all conversations are marketing opportunities.

Like Social Media, suddenly everyone is an expert in conversational marketing, when in fact, there are truly only a handful that truly leverage their experience as a new media savvy consumer before they tap their inner marketer.

What many miss though, is that conversations and Social Media are influenced by sociology, not technology or action. Relationships are the new metric for ROI.

With all of the hype, it’s critical that we analyze and understand the difference between conversational marketing and conversations.



The recent Conversational Marketing Summit organized by Federated Media brought the category in the spotlight recently, simply stating that brands are conversations.

Indeed brands are conversations…as much as companies, products, and the people behind them are also conversations. In this regard, one could argue that conversational marketing is still a form of marketing, although one step removed, that seeks to engage groups of people through strategic initiatives that still attempt to push messages, shape impressions, or align with markets through new social channels.

On the other hand, markets are conversations as well. The difference is that the focus is on people and the meaningful discussions and topics that compel them to speak up or speak out in the forums where their peers congregate to share insight and wisdom. The focus on relationships ultimately impact and benefit brand resonance and loyalty, and therefore, fuel the philosophy that markets are also conversations.

Chris Heuer recently wrote a passionate post entitled, "Stop the Insanity! Don’t Call It Conversational Marketing" where he states, "...despite a lot of people whom I respect using the phrase “Conversational Marketing” to describe the new way companies are relating to customers, it devalues the underlying shift which is, in Doc Searl’s words, of “greater significance”. While the word marketing is intended to get the attention of those corporate folks who are somewhat attached to their titles and have budget, the language devalues the importance and ends up missing the point."

David Weinberger, Cluetrain co-aurthor, commented on Heuer's post, "Just because markets are conversations doesn't mean that marketing is."

Doc Searls recently asked, Can Markets be Conversational, and answered, “The framing for conversational marketing should be conversation, not marketing. Think about what you want in a conversation, and let that lead your marketing…[conversations are] about paying attention, not getting attention.”

I admire Doc.

Searls also pondered labels, since marketers love to categorize things, “I remember struggling with a term that wasn’t 'audience' and was truly conversational. 'Partner' was the best I could come up with at the time. If we must label others in conversation, let’s call them partners.”

He went on to invite other suggestions.

To me, partners isn’t terribly conversational, in fact it’s a bit too formal. Conversations are usually between people. And, the more significant discussion are held between people who share respect between each other, thus evolving into peers.

So whether we’re talking about partners, people or peers, the critical element that most marketers have and will continue to miss is that intruding into conversations is not conversational marketing at all. We forget that as marketers, we’re not welcome. We have to earn the right to participate. Listening is the price of admission and adding value eventually earns us a spot at the table. Respect and support keep us there.

Instead of jumping directly to the assertion that brands are conversations, we should first inject a step that acknowledges that brands are evolving from catchy slogans and artistic logos to living, breathing personalities that are defined by the people, principles, and community-focused activities behind them.

You simply can’t engage in conversational marketing if you aren’t first listening to the conversations and studying the culture of the communities in which they take place.

The most effective campaigns will place people in front of brands, be sincere and honest with their intentions, and humanize the story in a way that matters to the people they’re trying to engage.

So from this regard, conversations can’t be outsourced to traditional marketers. A new regime of people with an genuine sense of community are required to engage in participatory marketing.

And by listening to people and studying the culture and sociology of their communities, conversational marketing and conversations can become one in the same. At the end of the day, you get out of it what you invest into it. Without sincerity, empathy, humility, or value, then it simply resorts to traditional marketing

Additional reading:

Peter Hirshberg of Technorati on conversational marketing

A "Manifesto on Monday Morning" by Technorati and Ogilvy

Redefining Conversation at Data Mining

Finding conversational marketing's heartbeat by Dan Farber

Bloggers Drive Conversational Marketing

Markets are conversations - but not all conversations are marketing - Web Jungle

The Social Media Manifesto

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socialmedia social+media manifesto cluetrain conversation conversational conversation+marketing pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 public+relations publicrelations media2.0 media+2.0 media 2.0 doc+searls fm+media fm federated+media cmsummit cm+summit advertising copywriting ads advertising+2.0 marketing+2.0 marketing public relations publicity press affairs customer+service community evangelism peanuts

Link Love for September 19, 2007

Truth and Transparency and the Pursuit of Happiness - Brian Blank talks about the need for companies to participate transparently in the new world of social media without applying old school tactics to the process.

Analysts of social media - A list of the top analysts covering social media

Top 50 analyst bloggers - A ranking of the top analysts who actively blog

NxE’s Fifty Most Influential Bloggers - There are literally millions of bloggers out there, each of them with their own voice and style, and yet in the blogging world, a handful stand out. These are the movers and shakers. When they speak, the blogging world listens.

How to Have a Totally Fucking Amazing Corporate Blog - Excellent article by BL Ochman on why companies need to blog - and how to do it right.

social+media blog blogging socialmedia pr2.0 pr+2.0 links linklove pr public+relations public relations

Now is Gone on Amazon.com; Pre-orders Open

I'm happy to announce that Now is Gone is on Amazon.com and is available for pre-orders.

Now Is Gone – A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs, explores how New Media (and Social Media) are forcing the evolution of PR through a rich set of meaningful interviews, case studies, and comprehensive discussions.

In the past, my approach to discussing New PR and Social Media has been focused on the blogosphere. I realized however, that if I wanted to reach broader groups of people, that it would take a traditional form of media to realistically reach the people that would most benefit from the ideas and strategies shared in this book.

Good friend, Geoff Livingston invited me to help him document the shift in media and the necessary evolution in PR and I jumped at the chance.

Now is Gone contains zero BS, spin, old school marketing dressed up as something new, nor does it borrow the ideas of others and claim them as our own. It is simply an excellent resource to help you grow along with new media by sharing insight and experience from the edge.

For more information, visit the Now Is Gone blog.

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

social+media nowisgone now+is+gone geoff+livingston marketing communications pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 public+relations social media socialmedia media2.0 media+2.0 2.0 book\

Yahoo's New Social Network Mashes Facebook with Myspace

I received an invitation from Lee Oden to jump into Yahoo’s new Mash social network and while I reserve a more in depth post for later, I definitely wanted to take a moment to share some initial reactions and assessments.

First, Y! Mash is cute. Yes, cute.

It’s more related to Myspace than Facebook, so it's definitely not the leading contender to channel a river of relevance or act as the premier online hub for your personal brand - at least not in a Facbook capacity anyway. But that doesn't mean that we should write it off either.

This is the new world of Social Media, and Yahoo's Mash represents the latest network where people will experiment with existing and new relationships - many of whom, are already among your many networks.

Like Facebook, it shares a compartmentalized design template featuring modules that can be moved around to create the profile design you prefer, including the ability to upload backgrounds, CSS stylesheets and also to simply customize the colors.

It’s absolutely effortless to customize your profile and there are already several applets to further personalize the page, and, even add some fun little games for viewers - without touching HTML.

Mash does offer some very interesting features that make it fun, friendly, and surprisingly versatile.

For starters, you can edit not only your profile, but your friend’s pages as well, which I think is very clever.

It also features the ability to bring in modules, which are basically Facebook-style widgets that add embeddable functionality to each page. For example, you can add RSS feeds, Twitter status, flickr photos, Last.fm artists, and Youtube videos - among many other games, time wasters, and tools.

Mash also features a “pulse” stream. which is similar to the newsfeed of Facebook, that highlights the latest updates and activity from you and your friends.

Surprisingly however, the social network is missing the viral functionality of searching for friends. While you can integrate various address books to find and invite friends, the ability to discover them organically is missing. In fact, the “search” box on each profile is simply for Yahoo search.

However, if you're looking to tap into conversations on certain topics, Mash does feature the ability to find people through the folksonomy of tags a la Technorati. Basically, profiles feature the ability to add tags that describe you and your interests and can be defined by you and your friends. This is a shortcut to find the right people, and your friends, as long as they are truly represented through keywords. When you search by tags, Mash serves up a list of profiles that match the tags, which makes it very interesting to find groups of like-minded people.

So as a marketing professional, pay attention to Y! Mash. It's easy to immediately disregard it as a young Facebook or simply as just another MySpace. I think its value lays somewhere in the middle.

Either way, our job is to listen to relevant conversations taking place and engage wherever the people we want to talk to congregate.

As more people experiment, the more momentum the network gains. And the more momentum it gains, the more likely that third-party developers will embrace it, thus creating more killer modules that people will want to incorporate into their profile. The more excited they are about it, the more people they'll tell.

You can bet that Mash won't be the last social network to debut, so let's stop complaining about social network fatigue and figure out how to participate. This is the social economy and it's up to you as to whether or not you need to engage in the conversations that matter to you and your business - wherever they may take place.

Mash is currently in Beta, but if you'd like an invite, try InviteShare.

More at TechCrunch, TopRank Blog and Social Days.

If you’re looking for me at Mash, here’s the direct link.

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

mash yahoo y! techcrunch socialnetwork social+network social network facebook myspace media2.0 media+2.0 media 2.0 pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 publicrelations marketing smo socialmedia social+media

Crisis Communications 2.0 - Apple and the iPhone Price Bomb

One week following the aftermath, it's worth another look to dissect and analyze what went right and what went horribly wrong in order for PR people to understand how to prevent crises and also know how to react when they inevitably arise.

Gasp. Is it true? Can apple actually "do" wrong?

Yes indeed, but before you can call em on it, Steve Jobs swoops in and saves the day, again.

Yes, we all know by now that Apple reduced the price of the Apple 8GB iPhone by $200 and killed off the 4GB model after only two months of being on the market. However, this post is part of my Crisis Communications 2.0 series which analyzes how companies react in crises.



Let's remember that this was a press event to launch the new iPod line. So in that regard, the price cut practically eclipsed this important news and demonstrated that Social Media is a powerful force that can work for or against you, whether or not you try to control the conversation and the message.

There are two camps on this. One side says that Steve Jobs and the Apple PR team screwed the pooch, while others believe that Steve's honesty might have actually positioned the company for aggressive growth across the desktop and portable PC, media and cell phone markets. And by growth, I mean stealing market share away from existing anchors in each segment.

After much thought, I can say that I have been a visitor of both camps and now reside comfortably in the church of Apple. I'll explain more in a bit.

So what went wrong?

First, the new iPods did not get their due spotlight even though this was the stage for an amazing set of individual stars.

Second, the only people talking to the community were upset customers and the media and bloggers that cast the spotlight on them.

Let's dig a little deeper though as to why a price drop would be an issue in the face of the eagerly awaited new iPods...

The iPhone is considered to be one of the most successful consumer product launches in history and combining this caliber of news from two different, but beloved product lines was a recipe for disaster..

As many have said, the iPhone launch was the moon landing for geeks. Many camped out, albeit unnecessarily, for the opportunity to purchase the sacred device. And, while many have said that if the iPhone was worth $600 to you and you happily paid it then, why would you be upset that the price went down.

Hey, it's tech right? The price always inevitably goes down.

But this is no ordinary customer base. This is the church of Apple. And, in this case, church goers are early adopters - people who support all new products from Apple without the care or benefit of peer-to-peer influence or regard for price. So a price drop after only two months doesn't come with evolution, it arrives with the stinging and the embarrassment of an unexpected bitch slap.



As you could imagine, the army of iPhone zealots, myself included, were a little upset at the news of the massive and sudden price drop. And most of us shared our stories, creating a tsunami of memes that washed out all other news and topics for several days.

It's hard to believe that Apple communications didn't see this coming. It's unclear as to the role PR specifically played in preparing Steve or the press for an "expected" negative reaction. It's also unclear as to PR's involvement in helping to broker the information between the company and the people - or whether they jumped, at all, into conversations with customers directly.

What we do know, is that this news was embraced with nothing short of anger, bewilderment, and intensity. The fallout could only be described as a revolution that spilled into the global streets of Social Media and only grew stronger with every new post, link, tweet, video, podcast, livestream, and comment.

You couldn't go anywhere online without seeing the discussion of Apple's iPhone fiasco.

But where was Apple PR?

Where were the community evangelists? And I'm not talking about iJustine here - who has my vote for Guy Kawasaki 2.0 by the way. I'm talking about Apple representatives engaging in the conversations. This is inevitably what every company will have to do anyway.

The only people talking (and shouting) were customers, press and bloggers, and I can assure you that none of them heard a peep from Apple marketing.

But it's not just marketing. It's investor relations. The stock took a hit.

At this point, there really was only one choice and the ultimate evangelist himself, Steve Jobs stepped up to make things right.



Jobs responded with a remarkable open letter to iPhone customers.

Jobs wrote, “I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale. After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions…Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store.”

He continued, “We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.”

From a crisis communications, customer service, PR, and investor relations perspective Jobs, did exactly the right thing here. He acknowledged the mistake with an apology for disappointing "us" and extended an olive branch.

Almost immediately, the blogosphere, Web, and search engines lit up with links to the letter and discussions about its content.

But it was much more than a tactic to silence the angry mob, it was a peek into a new Apple, Inc. - and it still has people talking.

It's the opening of his letter that is the most revealing , "First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to 'go for it' this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone 'tent'. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season."

That's right..."go for it this holiday season." In fact, it's mentioned twice in just one paragraph.

Welcome to Apple 2.0. Not only is Steve trying to calm the anarchy, but he's steering the conversation, and the company, towards the discussion about how it plans to reach the mainstream - and it just might work. Think about how brilliant this is. He turned a negative into a business and vision discussion about how the iPhone is going to capture significant market share. And we're still talking about it, just like we're all still talking about Britney Spears - regardless of how disastrous her performance was.

Since the price cut, only one week ago, Apple strategically timed, or simply lucked out, with news that it sold its 1 millionth iPhone.

From Apple 2.0, "Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, whose 50-hour survey of Apple (NADAQ:AAPL) stores produced the most definitive estimate of iPhone sales to date, has combined his data with yesterday's report that Apple sold its 1 millionth iPhone on Sunday to calculate the effect of last week's 33% price cut."

Jobs responded, "One million iPhones in 74 days -- it took almost two years to achieve this milestone with iPod. We can't wait to get this revolutionary product into the hands of even more customers this holiday season."

Everyone loves the underdog.

And then there's also the news that the iPhone has been successfully unlocked, freeing it from the stranglehold of AT&T - without worry of penalty or loss of features. It's almost perfectly timed to help the iPhone quickly consume market share.

According to engadget, "We've confirmed the hack! Yes, it's fully restore-resistant, too, which is great news."



And, also within one week, Apple's stock has regained $6 per share just $10 shy of its 52 week high.



But how does Apple's recent rollercoaster apply to the rest of us?

Well, first of all, all but a precious few have a iconic CEO such as Steve Jobs running their company. And secondly, it's about running through a series of responses and predictions and lining up the direct and indirect strategies to deploy in such cases.

Aside from strategic PR and investor relations, companies also need a Guy Kawasaki-like community evangelist to engage in conversations and participate in all important forms of social media. It's these discussions that remind us that people hold a company's brand within the confines of their conversations and will incubate and grow wildly out of control if not pruned by proactive, and sincere, conversationalists. Note, we're not talking about marketers, nor are we talking about speaking at our "audiences" with "messages." We're talking about hearing and talking to people and coming back to them with something of value.

Crisis Communications 2.0 will have a plan, ready to go, that combines traditional and social activity that each place people at the center of the discussion - the rest are just the tools to execute. But nothing can go live without first listening to the conversations taking place.

I think at some point though, Jobs is going to realize that he can not control every conversation - or is he the exception to the rule?

UPDATE: Apple Activates $100 Offer For Early iPhone Customers

UPDATE #2: Guy Kawasaki responds on Twitter,


guykawasaki @briansolis My pleasure. Thanx for the mentions. No one is asking, Does a company lower prices on stuff that's selling well? I say no.

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Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

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Related stories:

For a fun story, read BBspot's, "Jobs Offers Apple Lisa Early Adopters Store Credit"

The gutsy marketing and strategy behind Apple's iPhone price cut - BlackFriar's Marketing, "What people don't get is that Apple is waging a marketing war to reshape the value chain for the mobile phone industry...Apple is going to use its iPod playbook all over again"

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Crisis Communications 2.0 Series:

The Skype is Falling

Microsoft PR Sparks a Blogstorm with Acer Ferrari's and Vista

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apple skype microsoft acer vista ferrari steve+jobs iphone pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 publicrelations public+relations guy+kawasaki evangelist media media2.0 media+2.0 2.0 unlock

Facebook is the Hub for Your Personal Brand

As I've written in the past, Facebook is the most legitimate and productive social network for business professionals on the Web today. Not only does it connect people with other contacts, but it also, either intentionally or unintentionally, evolved into a powerful platform for aggregating all online activity to showcase a professionally wrapped package of expertise, personality, networks, and experience.



But Facebook is much more than a social network. Its infrastructure facilitates profile and presence aggregation, channeling all online activity through one main hub. Simply said, it becomes a repository for every social media product, which ultimately transitions from a static profile into a dynamic destination for your personal and professional brand.

And, with lifestreams and data streams creating additional channels to broadcast social activity, Facebook also further contributes to the "river of relevance" by allowing people to create a visually-rich, centralized dashboard that also helps to tell your story and spark conversations.

With social tools adapting their services to Facebook through the use of widgets , we can easily share a wealth of integrated activity including twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce for microblogging, RSS readers for sharing relevant stories, flickr for sharing pictures, "video" or kyte for adding live or packaged video, upcoming.org for sharing events, and the list goes on and on.



It's not just about collecting and arranging important streams however. It also represents how you interact and participate within the community itself. The mini-feed on each profile or the main "home" is the pulse of Facebook (no pun intended Plaxo.) It is also a river of relevance that displays invaluable insight, giving you tdirect access into the most important conversations and activities taking place in and out of Facebook. It also is your opportunity to shine the spotlight on your own activities, which demonstrate how you participate - keeping in mind that participation is also marketing.







Now with Facebook's recent announcement that it will be integrating profiles into search engine results, its value as an online hub for showcasing a cohesive online brand is will skyrocket.

Here's what you need to know:

"In a few weeks, we will allow these Public Search listings (depending on users' individual privacy settings) to be found by search engines like Google, MSN Live, Yahoo, etc. We think this will help more people connect and find value from Facebook without exposing any actual profile information or data."

Imagine that someone is "googling" you and that your Facebook is one of the top results. A well written and strategically populated "public" profile could be the one-stop page that represents who you are and why you matter to your peers and prospects.

How will you tell your story?

What is the brand you want to portray?

Whether you know it or not, your profile, your feed, the groups you belong to, the events you attend and the friends you share say everything about you.

What all of this nets down to is that Facebook, now more than ever, is becoming a powerful platform, showcase, and scale for your social capital, inside and outside the network.

Fore more about Facebook and its opportunities in the business world, attend Dave McClure's upcoming conference Graphing Social Patterns: The Business and Technology of Facebook

Related stories:
Facebook "costs businesses dear"
Facebook now ranked third in pageviews, Myspace down 20%

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

facebook social+network social network socialnetwork media2.0 media+2.0 media 2.0 pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 socialmedia social+media publicrelations public+relations

Now is Gone Book Cover Ready to Print

Just wanted to share the good news that the cover for Now is Gone was finalized and is ready to go. It should be listed on Amazon soon.

Thanks again to Geoff Livingston for including me in the development of this book.

Now Is Gone explores how New Media (and Social Media) are forcing the evolution of PR through a rich set of meaningful interviews, case studies, and comprehensive discussions.

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social+media nowisgone now+is+gone geoff+livingston marketing communications pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 public+relations social media socialmedia media2.0 media+2.0 2.0 book

Link Love Sept. 10, 2007

Facebook Blog: Public Search Listings on Facebook - I'm working on a post about this which further examines why Facebook is the online hub for your personal brand. In the meantime, here's the first post.

Search Engine Guide: Why You Should Embrace the New Social Media News Release - A good overview on the Social Media Release. Read here for everything you wanted to know about SMRs.

Now is Gone: Facebook Marketing Primer

Read/Write Web: Social Network Quechup Accused of Spamming

New Rules Communications: Monday, Bloody Monday, As Axe Swings At SF Chronicle

Stowe Boyd: danah boyd Is Confused By Facebook Success

Marshall Kirkpatrick: Feed reading: filtering and delegation

GigaOM: The How of Habbo Hotel

Huffington Post: The Unheard Sounds of 9/11 by Steve Rosenbaum of Magnify.net

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