The Internet has forever changed the face of PR and marketing. Today the importance of Websites, blogs, bulletin boards (forums) and e-newsletters are well understood. However, when it comes to social media, things get a little sticky. Plenty of savvy marketers have found ways to effectively leverage virtual communities such as Second Life, Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed and Twitter for the purposes of building brands or influencing opinions. But for many, social media marketing is still confusing and its value questionable.
For me, Twitter was the most difficult to grasp. I knew several members of the media used it, as did most of the PR 2.0 thought leaders. But the first few times I visited the site, I could see very little value. All I saw were messages about what people are having for lunch, what they did at the gym or reports about their personal bathroom habits. The only conclusion I could draw from my initial experiences with it was that Twitter was absurd.
Just to be safe, I discussed my experience with several colleagues to see if they had any additional thoughts or insight. Ultimately, we concluded that twitter was something worth monitoring, but it wasn’t very valuable as a public relations tool. We were dead wrong.
A few months later I read about some of the various third-party Twitter tools designed to help users manage the flow of information and filter out the garbage. A few hours after that, once I installed a few of those tools, I fully understood the value and kicked myself for not figuring it out sooner. Today I use Twitter on behalf of clients, to promote my business, to promote my blog, to follow competitors, to keep up on trends and to monitor breaking news. I’m still not a Twitter junkie, but I now understand why some people are.
At the end of the day, the only way to truly understand a social media site is to become an ACTIVE member of the community rather than just a tourist or guest. Taking the time to truly get to know why a particular social networking community finds the site valuable is a worthwhile exercise. From a marketing standpoint, it is also absolutely necessity. The reason communities like these are so effective at influencing opinion is that people tend to trust information from people they know (even if they don’t know them in person). If you are seen as a legitimate member of the community – even if you are there openly representing a particular company – you will still be seen as trustworthy to some extent. If you are an obvious outsider there only to promote a single agenda, you will have no credibility and you are likely to be run out of town on a virtual rail (along with your client’s reputation).
Yes, it takes a lot of time and effort to establish yourself, but in the end, it is worth it.
This year, one of our clients, StalkMarket, teamed up with Grill Master Rick Browne to promote the concept of green barbecue. Last night was New Years Eve and we ended up cooking lobsters for 7. Being a New Englander, the only method I’ve ever used was steaming, which is pretty fail safe. Just for fun, I decided to try grilling this time. I consulted Rick for some sage advice and was very glad I did. Not surprisingly, he was able to provide me with a recipe and methodology that was every bit as effective as the way of the Yankees. It also makes it slightly easier for guests to get at the meat and makes for a much more managable mess at the table. I’m a convert.
I'm going to halve you for dinner
Rockport Grilled Lobster
4 two lb. Maine lobsters, live
1 lb. salted butter
4 cloves garlic, mashed
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 shallots, minced
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Juice of 1/2 medium orange
2 Tbs. fresh tarragon
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh lemon wedges.
The best kind of bugs to have at a BBQ
Sauté shallots and garlic in saucepan for five minutes or until soft. Add rest of ingredients except lobster and lemon wedges, and heat until butter is melted. Set aside and keep warm, stirring occasionally.
Line grill with aluminum foil, prepare a medium hot fire.
Split lobsters by placing on its back, sever the spinal cord by inserting a sharp knife between tail and body, then split lobster in half lengthwise. Remove guts and nasty bits. Crack claws and sprinkle meat with salt & pepper. Paint lobster with melted butter mixture and place on grill flesh side down, cooking until there is a light char on the meat. Turn, baste with butter and grill until meat is firm.
Remove lobster from grill and paint with melted butter, keep wrapped in foil, remove claws from lobster and place claws back on grill for 5-6 minutes more. Remove and serve with the split lobsters.
A recent article in BusinessWeek covered the growing number of companies that are looking to Twitter and other forms of social media as a way to bolster customer service. Twitter gives companies the ability to listen to what is being said about their brands as the discussion is happening and even join in when appropriate. Considering the number of journalists and other highly influential folk that hang out on Twitter, this is a very good idea.
Letting your customers know that your company IS listening to customer feedback – particularly from those who care enough to broadcast that feedback online – is an awesome way to build strong customer relationships and create lasting brand loyalty. It is not uncommon to convert people from vocal detractors to serious evangelists if handled properly. However, based on a recent number of exchanges I had with the GoDaddy customer service team, it occurred to me that if social media is the ONLY place a customer feels his voice can be heard, the long-term branding ramifications could be disastrous.
In my case, there are three things I wish GoDaddy’s blog software would do that it currently does not. These are:
Provide the ability to add tags to individual blog posts
Provide a tool that enables users to easily flow copy around images (more accurately, restore the tool that was recently removed)
Remove the phrase “What are you doing?” from the new “Twitter Link” widget that allows you to add your Twitter feed to your blog
The first item on this list is extremely important to me because it is a critical component of search engine optimization. Frankly, I don’t see how or why GoDaddy would have omitted this functionality in version 1.0 of the software. Surely a company such as GoDaddy must realize the significance of SEO. It is one of the very biggest reasons for businesses to blog.
The second item on this list actually did exist up until a few weeks ago. Its strange disappearance in the middle of the night is what prompted me to pick up the phone and call customer support.
GoDaddy’s customer support process would be funny if it wasn’t so maddening. The people who answer the phone serve as both the sales team and the support team. These are not pure technologists. If you ask them a technical question that they cannot answer (which is usually the case), they put you on hold, call someone who actually does know the answer, ask them the question, then take you off hold to relay to you what they found out. If they get either your question or the tech. person’s answer wrong – and they do – you find yourself in a lengthy and infuriating version of the telephone game. What’s worse, company policy dictates that the customer cannot speak directly with technical staff.
When I called customer support that fateful evening, the kid that answered the phone not only didn’t know what he was talking about, he was also an insufferable smart ass. Some people bitch incessantly when customer support calls go to India. I never do. I’d much rather speak to a polite person with a slight accent who actually knows the answer to my question than deal with someone who has no accent and no solution to my problem.
I went berserk.
While I did get an apology from the kid’s supervisor, the best he could do in terms of solving my problem was to tell me that GoDaddy intentionally designed its blogging software to be void of some important blogging functions so that it will be easy to use. He did suggest I send an e-mail to suggestions@godaddy.com, which is exactly what I did. Not surprisingly, the receipt of that communication wasn’t even acknowledged.
I should probably mention that the only reason I chose to go with GoDaddy’s blog software over WordPress was that I was under the impression that, should I run in to problems, GoDaddy customer support would be there to help out. To me this was worth the $10/month price of admission. So much for that theory.
A few days later, I was on Twitter when I saw a message from Jeremiah Owyang from Forrester Research (who is considered one of the foremost thought leaders in social computing). He was giving advice to a Twitter newcomer telling him to use tweets to do more than answer “What are you doing?”. Instead, he suggests they be used to share thoughts, ideas, links to interesting articles, etc. Using Twitter in this way is what makes it a useful communications tool.
I weighed in (on Twitter) how cool it was that GoDaddy now lets people using its blog software to include a Twitter feed in their blogs through its “Twitter Link” tool, but how uncool it is that “What are you doing?” is predominantly at the top of this tool AND URLs aren’t active – which pretty much makes the tool useless.
Soon after that tweet, I noticed I was being followed by @godaddyguy. The next day, GoDaddyGuy called and e-mailed. Suddenly, I got the feeling that SOMEONE at GoDaddy actually did give a damn! GoDaddyGuy and I have since exchanged e-mails and I genuinely believe that my suggestions about Twitter Link have been elevated to the development team and that an improvement is on the way. I also have acknowledgment that my two more serious issues with GoDaddy have been registered (thought I’m not holding my breath).
This is pretty cool. By all accounts, GoDaddyGuy saved the day. Hooray for GoDaddyGuy! My hero! But there’s a downside too. Every time GoDaddyGuy (or DellGuy or ComcastGuy or JetBlueGal) solves a problem, they are also providing customers with positive reinforcement for posting something negative online. Short-term, companies are likely to get a lot of goodwill and recognition for even being able to respond to problems this way and this should more than balance out the negative. However, I’m not sure this will be the case in the long run. Surely, those companies that are lacking in traditional forms of customer service will be the first to find out.
Update 12/30/08 – I got an e-mail from GoDaddyGuy yesterday. He pointed out a few important things:
The undocumented image editing functionality I had been asking him about has been restored (now – provided you are in FireFox – you can right click on images and manipulate them without using HTML)
The ability to add meta tags per post is added to the list of future features
They are going to tweak the Twitter widget
He also reiterated that every suggestion relayed through suggestions@godaddy.com does get reviewed, though not all are acknowledged. While I still think the overall point of this post is still valid, it is mighty impressive that GoDaddy is – at least in one form – actually paying attention to customer feedback AND acting on those suggestions. Thanks GoDaddyGuy.Update 2/21/09 – GoDaddy’s Blog software just isn’t adequate for what I’m doing. I’m going to go back to where I started. So long GoDaddy. Thanks for the memories.Update 2/27/09 – the same week I bailed on GoDaddy they actually began to offer users the ability to add meta tags to individual posts. Humorous to say the least. I’m still glad I switched though.
For the record, we liked Ecopreneurist even before they decided to profile KoiFish Communications
We do a lot of work with “green” clients. Not surprisingly, we monitor the influential blogs having to do with environmental issues. All told, we review more than 2,000 environmentally-related blog posts a month. Our favorite all-around green blog is www.treehugger.com. You can read about what makes Treehugger so valuable on the StalkMarket blog. Another one of our absolute favorites is Ecopreneurist. Ecopreneurist is part of the Green Options blog network. As the name implies, Ecopreneurist is written for social entrepreneurs focused on finding solutions to some of today’s most daunting environmental problems. They cover a huge range of topics that we and many of our clients find invaluable. We were honored that Ecopreneurist recently published a quick write-up on KoiFish Communications and proud to have been able to provide to provide some insight on ways green companies can increase company visibility through PR and marketing.
I’m all about edgy. I like dark twisted humor and laugh at jokes that make many people cringe. I nearly always root for the companies that have the balls to do something different and take risks with communications campaigns that push the limits. But I also have learned — occasionally the hard way — there are times when edgy is simply not the right tool for the job. A recent ad campaign by BBDO Dusseldorf and Pepsi provides an awesome example of where edgy is definitely uncalled for.
The ads portray a personification of a lonely calorie offing itself in a variety of gruesome ways. The point they are trying to highlight is the joyous fact that Pepsi Max has but one calorie. The violent and graphic images they use overshadow and muddy that point.
Not surprisingly, the ads caused quite a stir. Advertising Agewrote all about the ordeal in an online article that circulated very quickly. If you look at the reader comments about the article, you’ll see that most people agree Pepsi made a big mistake – one that Pepsi’s PR team is currently working to correct.
But a surprising number of reader comments defended the campaign. Their comments discuss the importance of being edgy, how political correctness has ruined the advertising business (along with everything else) and how those who are offended should simply “get over it.” The overwhelming majority of these comments came from the folks in the creative or graphics segments of the ad biz. Perhaps the apparent lack of judgment and filters is why ad agencies rarely take these guys to client meetings (a shame, really, because those meetings would probably be a lot more fun if they did).
What I find most interesting is that the people who stick up for this particular campaign genuinely don’t appear to understand WHY it is such a colossal screw up. But the reason is simple; it strays way too far from the rather whitewashed and benign brand image that Pepsi has spent more than a century working to create.
Goes great with Thai
Pepsi may call itself the “Choice of a New Generation” but, in reality, they have a customer base that extends across hundreds of cultures and virtually every imaginable demographic. And the bigger and more diverse your audience, the greater the chance an edgy campaign will miss its mark and be seen as offensive or even hurtful. With a customer base as big as Pepsi’s, even if an ad like this only drives off one percent of its customer base, you are still talking about a huge number of people.
Where Edgy Works
It might seem ironic that the very same ads that worked so miserably for Pepsi could actually work fine for a company that is going after a more specific and targeted audience. I even think the title of the Advertising Age story on the issue works fine. It reads “Pepsi Opens a Vein of Controversy With New Suicide Themed Ads.” Even though it is a little tasteless, most of the magazine’s readership probably recognizes it as clever and are able to take it in stride.
Edgy for the sake of being edgy doesn’t make sense. But when it works, it works well. There is a great Wired Magazine article about Ian Woolward, who did a bunch of print ads in the early 1990’s that pushed the envelope and arguably crossed the boundaries of good taste. But they worked (at least I thought so).
One of his most infamous works appeared in PC Magazine in the early 1990’s. It was part of a series of ads for Logitech. They were a new company that had just come out with a line of ergonomically- correct mice. The purpose of the ad was to underscore how good the mice felt to use. All of the ads were offbeat, but the one that caused the biggest stir was the “peeing baby” concept. On one half of the page was a diapered baby boy laying on his back with a caption that read “feels good.” On the other half of the page was the same baby – this time without the diaper peeing straight up in the air with a caption that read “feels better.”According to Woolward, “the ad really says that the product is fun to buy, fun to use and is fairly sophisticated because the ad itself is sophisticated.” Did the add “piss off” any potential customers? Yes. But Logitech knew this and accepted it from the outset. But it made me curious enough about the product to run out an buy one and I still use Logitech mice to this day.
The VW ad below isn’t real. Though clearly designed by professionals, it was (supposedly) a spoof that just happened to get leaked and go viral big time. While the political correctness police would never allow a company like Volkswagen to air such an ad, if they had, I’d probably be joining the creative types and say “just get over it.”
Public relations has the power to mold and shape public opinion – often more than many people realize. Discussion about the ethical use of this power is as old as the profession itself. In the 1920s, Edward Bernays, who is often referred to as the “father of PR”, developed a very successful campaign for the American Tobacco Company designed to help convince women that smoking was healthy, fashionable and even patriotic.
Unfortunately, his campaign succeeded. Later in his life – once cigarettes were found to be anything but healthy – Bernays was plagued with remorse saying that if he had known the dangers of tobacco, he never would have taken the account. But plenty of today’s largest and most well-respected PR firms have gladly picked up where Bernays left off, knowing full well the danger of the products they promote.
And it isn’t just big tobacco. It seems like pretty much any company, no matter how despicable, is capable of hiring world-class PR representation if the price is right. Like any good defense attorney, who justifies representing criminals because the “deserve their day in court,” these agencies justify their actions by saying their clients deserve representation (or their day in the court of malleable public opinion).
Public relations has undergone a tremendous amount of change in the last decade. Traditionally, the role of the PR practitioner has been very much behind the scenes. We used to help clients talk at customers through print and broadcast media. Today we help clients engage in discussion with customers through a variety of methods. In some cases, we may even lead the discussion and serve as spokespeople.
Weber Shandwick has given this paradigm shift a name – advocacy. In fact, advocacy, has become the backbone of the agency’s branding strategy. In many ways, they are right. In order to effectively promote a company in today’s PR and marketing environment, where words like “authentic” and “transparent” carry a lot of weight, it makes sense that true believers be employed to help spread the word.
By definition, a real advocate must take on a greater level of personal ownership for the message he is spreading. But what happens when a PR person is asked to represent a company that isn’t really worthy of advocacy? What happens when the actions of that company run counter to the individual practitioner’s belief system? This is where the concept of advocacy begins to fall down. Bottled water – besides being a major pet peeve of mine – provides an excellent example of what I’m talking about.
Bottled water is an unsightly pig upon which PR and marketing types are currently applying copious amounts of lipstick. It is said that people in the United States go through TWO MILLION plastic bottles every FIVE MINUTES. This bona fide environmental disaster is illustrated beautifully by artist Chris Jordan. Frankly, it makes me sick. Not surprisingly, the industry has increasingly come under attack by environmentalists.
The industry’s response? More marketing! Fiji went with a new “Fiji Green” initiative and is striving to become “carbon neutral.” Arrowhead came up with a new “eco-shape” bottle that uses less plastic and a smaller label. Ethos Water went with an oh-so-chic cause-related marketing angle.
While some consumers and even a handful of media actually seem to be buying in to this nonsense, those who genuinely care about the environment are having none of it. Many of them call it “greenwashing.” The rest call it “bullshit.” And that’s exactly what it is.
Greenwashing at its finest
Bottled water is big business. Fiji, Arrowhead and Ethos Water all have big PR and marketing machines (how else could they have convinced consumers to pay for something they get for free in the first place?). Presumably, very few of the people on these teams actually think they are helping their clients save the planet.
The way I see it, anyone who participates in this type of marketing is doing something that lacks integrity. However, those that call themselves advocates actually bear a personal moral responsibility for the harm these companies are doing to the environment.
KoiFish Communications is selective about the type of clients we represent. This allows us to accept ownership of our clients’ messages, to get behind their causes and to genuinely serve as advocates. It also allows us to take a great deal of pride in what we do. While relatively few employees of larger PR firms have much of a say in terms of what clients the agency takes on, everyone has the ability to choose not to work on a particular account. And if you really consider yourself and advocate, it isn’t a choice – it’s an obligation.
The Truth About Bottled Water — Penn and Teller (mature language, NSFW)
Here’s an article I pulled out of my archives. It was originally written after the burst of the technology bubble completely hammered the PR industry. Alas, it seems just as relevant now.
The best agencies can help you in lean times by working smart
Today, it would be hard for even the most die-hard optimist to say that the economic outlook for next year isn’t a concern. Many PR budgets will be cut and all of them will be more heavily scrutinized. As a corporate marketing or communications professional, the decisions you make today become realities your company will have to live with for the next several months. This makes now a great time to evaluate what you are getting out of your advertising, public relations, graphic design and interactive service agencies.
Regardless of business climate and budget, the first and only priority of your agency’s account teams must be to ensure that every dollar they spend is used to contribute to the success of your company. In good times, this means having the discipline to stop themselves (and possibly you) before moving forward on big campaigns that make a lot of noise, but don’t get you closer to meeting your business objectives.
In hard times, it means your agency might need to help you determine which programs should be scaled back, which ones should be approached differently and which ones shouldn’t be fiddled with. In extreme cases, they will let you know that a serious re-alignment of goals, results and resources is in order, and they will help you make this case to management.
By sacrificing some short-term revenue, your agency is betting on your continued success and demonstrating a long-term commitment to your business as well as their own. They know that when you look good, they look good-when you fail, they fail. Understanding this principle provides the foundation for a long-lasting business partnership.
Unfortunately, in good times as well as bad, there are other pressures that can cause some companies and their agencies to deviate from this course. They act first, think later and make some big mistakes in the process.
PR agency fat cats don't deserve nine lives in a down economy. All activities should revolve around your most important business goals
When communications dollars are plentiful and business is good, some companies try to spend their way into a position of market leadership, giving little thought to how expenses map to results. Some agencies are more than willing to help clients spend their budget by promoting half-baked strategies or ideas. This approach usually generates nothing more than fat invoices.
Conversely, when resources are tight, anemic communications budgets are often expected to yield unrealistic results. Adding fuel to the fire, some agencies attempt to bridge the budget-vs.-expectations gap by offering more for less through steep discounts as a way to win business.
If you want to get stellar results with limited resources, you need a smart agency with the proven ability to do things right the first time. This isn’t the time to bargain hunt. When evaluating your communications budget and considering where to invest, consider these important questions:
How long has the agency been in business and what is the health of the organization?
What is the agency’s business model?
How does management protect against market volatility?
Has the agency operated successfully in strong and weak markets before?
How did the team help clients weather the storm when times were tough?
What processes does the agency have in place to manage your budget and avoid overspending?
How are contracts and billing handled?
You need an agency with an established track record and lots of experience. Try to get a feel for how well the business is run. If its managers don’t have a good handle on their own organization, you can’t expect them to help make important decisions that impact yours.
Don’t just ask the agency these questions-ask existing clients. Any good agency will provide you with references that should be able to discuss overall performance, service and how their account is managed. If you are evaluating a public relations agency, you might also check in with key editors and industry analysts.
Don’t forget that a real business partnership requires two-way communication and a lot of give-and-take. Your account team needs to know the good, the bad and the ugly. They also need to know immediately if your objectives change. Be straightforward financially. If times are good, let them know so they can make recommendations accordingly. If tough times lie ahead, help them manage their own business by letting them know as soon as possible.
When looking for an agency to grow old with, be leery of those that seem too desperate for your business and are willing to do anything to win it. While the best agencies are always looking for great new clients, they usually have a steady stream of work regardless of the economy.
Choose wisely.
A controversial article by Paul Boutin came out on the Wired Website yesterday. In a nutshell, it pretty much said blogging is no longer relevant; all the cool kids have headed to greener pastures like twitter and facebook and those of us who are hoping to use blogs for markeitng purposes should pack up our tents and go home. His main beef was that the blogosphere is no longer “a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought.” Instead, it has been hijacked by marketers and commercial enterprises with professional writers that have turned them into online magazines.
On the one hand, he’s got a point. Clearly blogging isn’t what it used to be back in the day. But is that a bad thing? I find a lot of value in some of the blogs on Technorati’s top 100 list like treehugger,engadget and various New York Times blogs. Obviously a lot of other people find these next-generation, more professionally-written blogs beneficial as well – that’s why they are on top. From a PR and marketing standpoint, this is a good thing.
Perhaps most interesting is that the article itself, as it appears on Wired.com (complete with an RSS feed and a place to provide comments) is nearly indistinguishable from a blog post. Granted, this is one of Paul’s points, but the whether the piece is an online magazine article or a blog post doesn’t really matter. What is important is the impact the story has. In this case, only a few hours after it was written the article was e-mailed to me by an associate. Moments later, I came across a mention of it on a former colleague’s Facebook page, where he directed readers to his own blog. There he discusses the piece at length. A quick online search shows that plenty of other bloggers are writing about it as well. In my mind, this demonstrates the viability of blogging AND online magazines.
Of course, for marketers who want to stay on the cutting edge, we mustn’t dismiss the point that Paul is really making – that things are always in a state of flux. We constantly need to keep track of where all the cool kids have gone and we need to figure out appropriate and “authentic” ways to follow them. This is what helps make PR and marketing in today’s world so exciting. Yes, it can be confusing. Yes, the penalty is high if you are among the first to commit a major new media blunder. But the rewards are equally great.
To get the right answers you need to ask the right questions — a great RFP can make all the difference
The use of outside public relations counsel can help build your brand and raise your company’s profile quickly and cost-effectively. Bringing a new agency on board can be a significant investment and deserves a fair amount of investigation. Since PR is a practice more difficult to define and quantify than many other types of services, this can become a daunting process. Sometimes, the best solution is to create a formal request for proposal (RFP) that is answered in writing, presented in person or both.
The trick is developing an RFP that will help you find an agency to enable you to meet your marketing objectives and provide maximum return on investment. In addition, it should help you identify a team that is able to work within your corporate culture and one you will enjoy spending time with. Below are some suggestions for putting together an RFP that will allow you find a firm to best fit your needs while making the process easier on you and your team and setting a positive tone for your new working relationship.
Define your needs
Developing an RPP for a PR agency can be a challenge. Before you begin your search, have a clear understanding of the business objectives you are trying to achieve and how a PR program might be used to help reach them. Communicate this clearly to the prospective agency. This will ensure that the recommendations they make will map to your needs and will help the agency focus its strategic and creative thinking. If your company has not yet clearly defined its business objectives, this may be a sign that it is too early to engage an agency.
Nondisclosure
A good agency will insist on learning all about your company before providing recommendations. Understanding the good, the bad and the ugly is critical from the beginning. Before you share your dirty laundry with an outside company, make sure they sign a nondisclosure agreement. Once this is signed, share everything.
Define the scope
Be realistic about the scope of the PR program you want to develop and be up front about your budget. If you have specific ideas about the PR program you want to implement, a quick conversation with a prospective agency should be able to provide a ballpark idea of what it might cost.
Even if you are unsure about the specifics of the program, providing a budget range will help the agency prioritize recommendations and develop programs and campaigns that you can realistically implement. It is also helpful because it allows the agency to build the right team for your needs from the outset.
Discovering at the end of the review process that you and a prospective agency do not agree on a budget can waste tremendous amounts of your time, your executives’ time and the agency’s time.
Insist on meeting the account team
Meet the team that will be staffing your account – particularly your day-to-day contacts and account managers. If you are asking an agency to do anything more than a basic capabilities overview, you should expect the account team be involved from the start.
Assess the right skills
Do you want to be entertained or do you want to find the best agency?
There are a number of skills the people on your account team should possess. These include interpersonal communications, attention to detail, follow up, writing, creative thinking, strategic thinking and thinking on the fly.
Think about how to assess these skills before, during and after the presentation. The ability to develop and deliver a creative, polished and snazzy presentation is great, but a much wider skill set is required to deliver reasonable results. Consider the complete process, not just the presentation.
What are your first impressions of the people? Would you enjoy working with them? How did they prepare for the pitch? Did they ask insightful questions? Did they uncover good information? Did they do their homework before the first meeting? How about follow-up?
If you would like to see what it will be like to partner with the agency, bring them in for a working meeting to discuss an issue, campaign, new product launch or a specific idea. See how they react to an interactive discussion and what kind of ideas they have on the spot. Then what they come up with after a day or two to think about it and conduct additional research.
Prepare your decision-makers
Let the decision-makers know ahead of time the scope of the RFP and what you have asked the agency to discuss so that they can understand the full context and scope of what is being recommended or presented.
Also, if it is a presentation, make sure the people in the room are committed to being there. Consider limiting presentations to one a day. This makes it easier for your executives to give each presentation their full attention. Also, consider asking that all cell phones, lap tops, PDAs, and other devices be turned off.
A PR program requires a strong commitment from the client in order to be successful. Keep in mind that a the best agencies are selective about the type of clients they work with. They need to make sure that a strong partnership can be forged and are using the RFP process as a way to evaluate whether or not they want to work with you and your team.
Play fair
Even the most modest RFP response or new business proposal can be extremely time consuming and expensive for an agency to put together. In addition to various hard costs, thousands of dollars worth of staff time goes into every one. The costs for a large and competitive pitch can be staggering.
While this cost is admittedly a cost of doing business, it is only fair that an agency asked to come up with ideas and recommendations for your company should be able to expect the possibility of seeing a return on that investment.
Conducting an RFP for the sole purpose of gathering research, insights and creative ideas, or intentionally misleading a prospective agency in regards to potential budget, is dishonest and can reflect poorly on your company.
Finding the right agency can have a positive impact on your business. Getting the RFP right is an excellent step toward that goal.
This post is long and has absolutely nothing to do with PR or marketing. Regardless, it is something that is extremely important to me and millions of other people. If you or someone you know suffers from Obstructive Sleep Apnea, you might find it worthwhile.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a very bad thing. In fact, it is lethal. Since being diagnosed with sleep apnea a few years ago, I’ve tried a couple of different treatments. I’m pleased to say I’ve finally found one that I can live with (literally). Unfortunately, this treatment isn’t one the medical community seems to have embraced. Nor is it something that is regularly recommended or even frequently discussed by the sleep medicine community. Frankly, I think this is criminal. For those who would prefer to get straight to the punch line, the treatment is an oral appliance that I got from the good folks at the Sleep Medicine Network in Portland, Oregon. The device has changed – and most likely extended – my life. Suffice it to say that the folks at SMN have quickly become my new BFFs.
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep due to a blockage of the airway usually caused when the soft tissue in the back of the neck collapses as the muscles relax during sleep. People with sleep apnea actually stop breathing, often for a minute or longer and as many as hundreds of times during a single night. When the airway closes and breathing stops, the body eventually recognizes a significant decrease in blood oxygen and the sleeper awakens to begin breathing again. The arousal from sleep only lasts a few seconds and the person is never really conscious of being awake, but awake they are. This makes it very difficult for them to get REM sleep, which means what little sleep they actually do get isn’t terribly rejuvenating.
All of this is extremely hard on the body and the mind. The frequent drops in oxygen levels trigger the release of stress hormones. These hormones raise the heart rate and increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes, stroke, irregular heartbeat and heart failure. In fact, the overwhelming majority of those who suffer from these conditions have OSA. Sleeplessness can also be a major cause of depression. People who have any of these conditions or are overweight or snore profusely are taking an unnecessary risk with their health if they don’t get checked for OSA.
There are a lot of reasons people with OSA are never treated. First, many people who suffer from OSA don’t even know it. They aren’t conscious of waking up over and over again all night; they only know they are always tired. The National Sleep Foundation estimates 25% of adults in the US suffer from OSA, yet 85-90% of them go undiagnosed. Second, it isn’t something primary care physicians routinely discuss with patients that aren’t reporting symptoms.
The Medical Community – How Do They Sleep at Night? The most commonly prescribed solutions to OSA are surgery or the use of a CPAP machine. Surgery is extremely painful and often fails to solve the problem. This leaves the CPAP, which provides positive air pressure to prevent the soft tissue from collapsing as the go-to treatment used by the sleep medicine community.
My experience with the CPAP was extremely unpleasant. It sucks wearing a mask strapped to your head all night. And because I require a lot of air pressure to keep my airway open, the mask would leak and blow a high volume of air all over my face and eyes that would wake me up repeatedly throughout the night. The mask required daily cleaning. It gave me zits. It dried out my mouth. It was cumbersome to travel with. The rare nights when it wasn’t leaking, it filled my stomach and bowels with air. This is extremely uncomfortable, though I did take some juvenile pleasure in the fact that I was able to produce belches and flatulence with a volume, tone and resonance that one cannot achieve naturally (my wife was not amused). Most nights, I ended up taking it off after about 3 hours.
CPAP set on full blast really blows
My CPAP difficulties were far from uncommon. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, 20% of people who try CPAP reject it outright and fewer than 50% stick with it for more than 4 years. Unfortunately, most sleep medicine clinics don’t have much incentive to recommend other alternatives. In fact, I actually asked my sleep medicine doctor about the oral appliance and he said that, best case scenario, it would only allow someone built like me to use a lower CPAP pressure.
In some cases this is true. In others it isn’t. With the benefit of hindsight, going to a lower pressure would have still made the device worthwhile. I ultimately discovered that much of the common wisdom regarding who will and who won’t be helped by the oral appliance is flat out wrong. The truth is, most sleep medicine professionals don’t have enough experience with the device to know what they are talking about. What makes me upset is the underlying reason that so few sleep medicine doctors don’t know much about the devices and aren’t really motivated to experiment with them – profit. The fact is that sleep medicine clinics make a tidy profit off of the ridiculously overpriced CPAP equipment.
While a patient can buy the same equipment online for a fraction of what it costs at a sleep clinic, most of the time insurance won’t cover it unless you buy it from the healthcare provider. Furthermore, you need to frequently replace CPAP parts, so there is a lot of recurring revenue. It would be nice if this sort of nonsense wasn’t so prevalent in healthcare, but it is.
Getting Oral and Loving it.The first time I heard about the oral appliance was from a friend with mild sleep apnea. It allowed her to get rid of the CPAP entirely. Since I was under the impression that it wouldn’t allow me to do the same, it wasn’t something I decided to pursue. Fortunately, it turns out I also grind my teeth when I sleep, and my dentist insisted I begin wearing a mouth guard. I decided that if I was going to have to have to sleep with something in my mouth anyhow, it might as well be something that helps with OSA. That’s when I was referred to the Sleep Medicine Network.
The oral appliance works by moving and holding the lower jaw in a forward position, which opens the airway. There is a reason why the first step in rescue breathing/CPR is to perform a jaw thrust and this is it. If you look at the video below, you’ll see the guy’s jaw move back before he starts choking. Keeping the jaw forward makes intuitive sense and it works. You can even try it for yourself. Simply bring your lower jaw as far toward the back of your throat as you can and make a snoring sound. It is easy to do. Now jut your lower jaw out as far as you can – it is a lot harder to make the same noise. That’s all there is to it.
Only sexy to a perverse few
My thinking is that this device should be the FIRST – not the last – treatment someone tries for sleep apnea. It might just solve the problem outright. Even if it doesn’t, it makes the CPAP experience a lot more tolerable. It also gives you a much better option for traveling. And, let’s face it, few chicks dig the way a CPAP looks.
Where to Go for Treatment
Another important decision is where to get the oral appliance. Since the device itself involves the teeth and jaw, it falls under the domain of the dentist. However, since OSA is a very serious medical condition, sleep apnea treatment and management is something a medical professional should oversee. The key is to find a provider who offers both. Insurance companies look at it the same way. Devices are not covered unless medical supervision is part of the solution. It goes without saying that the do-it-yourself devices advertised on TV are completely unacceptable. I understand they also don’t work.
In summary, OSA, if left untreated WILL contribute to medical issues and an untimely death. Finding the right treatment is important and, for my money, there is nothing better than the oral appliance.
Soon after that tweet, I noticed I was being followed by @godaddyguy. The next day, GoDaddyGuy called and e-mailed. Suddenly, I got the feeling that SOMEONE at GoDaddy actually did give a damn! GoDaddyGuy and I have since exchanged e-mails and I genuinely believe that my suggestions about Twitter Link have been elevated to the development team and that an improvement is on the way. I also have acknowledgment that my two more serious issues with GoDaddy have been registered (thought I’m not holding my breath).
This is pretty cool. By all accounts, GoDaddyGuy saved the day. Hooray for GoDaddyGuy! My hero! But there’s a downside too. Every time GoDaddyGuy (or DellGuy or ComcastGuy or JetBlueGal) solves a problem, they are also providing customers with positive reinforcement for posting something negative online. Short-term, companies are likely to get a lot of goodwill and recognition for even being able to respond to problems this way and this should more than balance out the negative. However, I’m not sure this will be the case in the long run. Surely, those companies that are lacking in traditional forms of customer service will be the first to find out.
But a surprising number of reader comments defended the campaign. Their comments discuss the importance of being edgy, how political correctness has ruined the advertising business (along with everything else) and how those who are offended should simply “get over it.” The overwhelming majority of these comments came from the folks in the creative or graphics segments of the ad biz. Perhaps the apparent lack of judgment and filters is why ad agencies rarely take these guys to client meetings (a shame, really, because those meetings would probably be a lot more fun if they did).
What I find most interesting is that the people who stick up for this particular campaign genuinely don’t appear to understand WHY it is such a colossal screw up. But the reason is simple; it strays way too far from the rather whitewashed and benign brand image that Pepsi has spent more than a century working to create.
Obstructive sleep apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep due to a blockage of the airway usually caused when the soft tissue in the back of the neck collapses as the muscles relax during sleep. People with sleep apnea actually stop breathing, often for a minute or longer and as many as hundreds of times during a single night. When the airway closes and breathing stops, the body eventually recognizes a significant decrease in blood oxygen and the sleeper awakens to begin breathing again. The arousal from sleep only lasts a few seconds and the person is never really conscious of being awake, but awake they are. This makes it very difficult for them to get REM sleep, which means what little sleep they actually do get isn’t terribly rejuvenating.
All of this is extremely hard on the body and the mind. The frequent drops in oxygen levels trigger the release of stress hormones. These hormones raise the heart rate and increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes, stroke, irregular heartbeat and heart failure. In fact, the overwhelming majority of those who suffer from these conditions have OSA. Sleeplessness can also be a major cause of depression. People who have any of these conditions or are overweight or snore profusely are taking an unnecessary risk with their health if they don’t get checked for OSA.
There are a lot of reasons people with OSA are never treated. First, many people who suffer from OSA don’t even know it. They aren’t conscious of waking up over and over again all night; they only know they are always tired. The 
The most commonly prescribed solutions to OSA are surgery or the use of a 
The first time I heard about the oral appliance was from a friend with mild sleep apnea. It allowed her to get rid of the CPAP entirely. Since I was under the impression that it wouldn’t allow me to do the same, it wasn’t something I decided to pursue. Fortunately, it turns out I also grind my teeth when I sleep, and my dentist insisted I begin wearing a mouth guard. I decided that if I was going to have to have to sleep with something in my mouth anyhow, it might as well be something that helps with OSA. That’s when I was referred to the Sleep Medicine Network.
The oral appliance works by moving and 
