ARTICULATED

Scott Warner of Warner Strategies, a trusted partner of Kinkennon Communications, writes occasionally for this blog. This is one of those posts. To the left is him in a downtown-DC nature setting.

I’m amazed we still see news stories with the phrase “So-and-So did not return calls for comment.” It happens all the time, even from large, high profile, mature organizations and companies that certainly should know better.

In an example the other day in The Washington Business Journal, a respected D.C.-area business had clearly opted not to respond to a reporter writing about a legal matter involving the company. I appreciate the sensitivity and internal tension around complex legal issues. But refusing to answer questions in an age of 24×7 communications and pervasive citizen journalism is an entirely outdated modus operandi. PR101 instructs us to get out ahead of such stories. Be upfront and proactive. If communications strategy does not match legal strategy, then both are at risk of failure.

In the case of this particular company, the unreturned phone calls had the same negative consequence as they always do. Other people were sought out to comment in the vacuum left by the company’s silence. The narrative was set by the media and random third parties. As a result, the story did no favors for the company nor, I’m guessing, its legal position.

If your company or organization finds itself in a legal predicament, figure out a communications strategy other than silence. Find a way to put forth your side of the story. Craft and communiate your legal messages in a timely manner. No matter how sensitive the material, your reputation is on the line, and silence will never, ever help you.

Photo courtesy of bitzcelt (http://bit.ly/aijJnR)

My partner Warner Strategies and I recently wrapped up work for a client that is doing some important if not particularly sexy work. It is a good little company with a very relevant mission. We were hired to generate news stories about it.

Early on in the arrangement, I could see the indirect benefit to the company of the media placements we were generating. But I had a nagging suspicion that, based on the company’s stated goals, there were higher-value activities to which it could have been allocating those marketing dollars. In time, I wanted to articulate my private assessment. Of course, the fact that the company had chosen media relations was helping me pay my mortgage. I kept my mouth shut.

My principles are a powerful motivator in my business dealings. As a consultant, I feel compelled to speak the plain truth as I see it, even when such recommendations might make my client uncomfortable, and even when they might not be the smartest thing for Kinkennon Communications. I believe it’s what is “right” for me. I’ve taken the risk plenty of times in my career. Sometimes it’s rewarded in spades. Sometimes it’s not.

At the same time, I love revenue, more rather than less. I have an obligation to myself and my family to keep my infrastructure amply funded. I recognize that letting one’s opinions get in the way of that objective is self-indulgent, at the very least.

By and by, we secured some pretty good national news stories for the client. But we never quite generated what the client or we had hoped for. It’s a new company trying to create an entirely new market niche. There were just too many ingredients still unmixed for a media-relations program to cook. Personally, I thought that instead of pursuing news stories, the company should have been investing in a comprehensive go-to-market strategy, more direct in approach, mixing some very different and precise tactics to uncover and qualify new-business leads.

In a meeting, the client CEO unexpectedly popped in, and I had the perfect opportunity to make my case. As a team we are very qualified to do the kind of work that I believed would have generated greater ROI, so it was not a foregone conclusion that we would get canned if I spoke my mind. The CEO asked for my opinion! My candor might have resulted in an all-new, higher-revenue project!   But I allowed media relations and its underwhelming results to dominate the conversation once more. We lost the client the next day.

That client paid us pretty well, and I never really offered the best of my brainpower in return.  Now the client is gone.  If I had foregone what was clearly smart in the name of doing what, to me, was obviously right, might I have saved the account?   Might I really have helped that company? I’ll never know.  But I’ll be even more thoughtful, and possibly more courageous, in how I strike that balance in the future.

This post is by Scott Warner, principal of Warner Strategies, a friend and regular partner to Kinkennon Communications. Follow him at @scottpall on Twitter.

In the past two weeks, two separate studies were released that should be duly noted by all practicing public relations professionals wondering what the future holds.

The first study, by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, found that “much of the news people receive contains no original reporting. Many of the stories simply repeated or repackaged previously published information.” The study importantly pointed out that traditional media made wide use of new platforms and of news makers breaking news directly to the public rather than through the press.

The second study, by Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations, found that an overwhelming majority of reporters and editors now depend on social media sources when researching their stories. “Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter. The survey also found that 61% use Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia.”

What does this sea change mean for the public relations industry and what can we do to adjust?

1. The 89% number should be a wake up call. If your company/organization/CEO is not blogging, what are you waiting for you?
2. It’s not a lost cause. If traditional media is embracing new platforms, (i.e. online video) we have new channels to tell our stories. The important distinction is to educate clients/stakeholders and manage expectations.
3. Don’t forget the basics. Yes, the landscape and tools have changed, but public relations is still a fundamental business. Tell your story in a compelling fashion to a targeted audience and it will get communicated correctly.

This post is by Scott Warner, principal of Warner Strategies, an old friend and regular partner to Kinkennon Communications. Follow him at @scottpall on Twitter.

After years toiling in PR firms large and small, I enrolled in business school with the goal of running a communications department at a large, multinational company. Fresh with my MBA, what did I decide do next instead? Promptly join the legions of solo PR practitioners.

Over the past three years, I have seen the communications marketplace rapidly evolve, yet some of the same mistakes continue to be made by businesses and organizations alike.

1. The media is dying, yet clients want more ink.
We all know newspaper and magazine subscriptions continue to decline. What we don’t know is will there be any newspapers or magazines in 10 years? Companies and organizations continue to demand ink in the traditional PR mindset, yet can’t understand why they don’t achieve more media coverage when the numbers just don’t exist.

2. The press release is still loved.
Just not by reporters. Companies and organizations will sometimes do battle internally over one word in a press release and spend weeks perfecting it. What they forget is that a reporter has a delete button on their keyboard. The press release can serve as useful purpose, but the time spent should be kept to a minimum as the reporter ultimately will write a story based on an interview and his/her own research.

3. People are forgetting it’s still all about relationships.
By developing relationships with reporters, clients, former colleagues, the community, etc. – those relationships lead to better stories, better business and better networks. Companies and organizations that don’t nurture relationships will never see the fruits of their labor.