Twitter, for better or for worse, has forever altered the way that humans connect with one another on a daily basis. It took the basic concept of the text message and changed it from a private conversation between two parties into a public platform for all to spread their opinions.
This, in turn, brought corporations into the social media fold as customers would be frequently tweeting away about what they loved and, more commonly, what they hated about about the brands. Twitter serves as an excellent medium for customer relationship management for brands: an opportunity to directly connect with unhappy customers to address their concerns and transform them into brand advocates. At least, that's what effective social media management looks like for a large brand.
But for some companies, consumers spit so much vitriol at them that no matter how much the brand communicates with them, its image cannot be fixed. This is where the strategy around how a company uses a tool like Twitter. Marketers and PR pros have to look carefully at a company's position in the eyes of the media, the consumers and its competitors to help dictate its social media strategy.
Clearly, J.P. Morgan missed the memo on this lesson. Right in the middle of its settlement negotiations with the US government over its role in the 2008 financial crisis (which ultimately resulted in a $13 billion settlement), the team at J.P. Morgan decided that this would be a good time to host a Twitter chat with its vice chairman, Jimmy Lee.
Call me crazy, but people don't seem to like banks very much since 2008, do they? And I don't exactly think that this is uncommon knowledge. So it should come as no surprise that thousands of individuals descended upon the Twitter chat's corpse like vultures and picked it apart so badly that J.P. Morgan ceased the chat right in the middle of it. But the damage was already done by the time they stopped it. They completely lost control of the situation.
J.P. Morgan, in its defense, isn't the first major brand to have a screwup like this. McDonalds experienced a similar crisis when it tried to start a chat with the hashtag "McDStories". It was quickly hijacked by various groups that used the social platform to bombard the brand with its grievances. Just like J.P. Morgan, McDonalds had to stop the chat almost immediately. The fact that J.P. Morgan committed the same exact social media sin after all of the negative whiplash that McDonalds saw from this makes it all the more embarrassing.
Customer relationship management is a tricky business. Don't engage with customers and they complain that you don't listen to them. Listen too closely and you just might not like what they have to hear.
But when it comes to brands like J.P. Morgan, giving consumers a vocal platform where many voices can drown out one may not be the best option. If the company's intention was really to target students in particular, as they claim, set up a series of seminars on college campuses and have local leaders appear there to speak with the students. While it may require slightly more money and time, it is in a situation that the company can control.
Twitter really has changed the way that we interact. But that changes means different things to different parties. Brands that want to communicate with their consumers or spread a message must closely examine the inherent risks that these changes have brought and weigh the benefits against them. Otherwise their carcasses will be picked clean by the flocks of tweeters above them.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Monday, 18 November 2013
TTBG #4: Hats Are For Outside, Not The Restaurant
Admittedly, there are not a lot of violators in this category. But the ones who do are egregiously ignoring not just a simple gentlemanly move, but just plain common sense. When has it ever been okay for a guy to wear a hat inside of a restaurant? And why would it be okay?
It's not raining meatballs inside. You don't need to protect your hair from the sunlight. The restaurant isn't so cold that you're losing heat from your head.
And if you are at an outdoor restaurant and you're wearing a fedora like you're Jason freakin' Mraz, do us all a favor and just stop. Show yourself the door and walk into traffic. Because it doesn't get worse than that.
In all seriousness though, I have seen this happen before and it baffles me. It wasn't like I was at Mooo or Davio's in downtown Boston (both nice steakhouses), because those restaurants would actually tell you to remove a hat if you were wearing one.
Nope, I've been at several establishments where it wasn't quite nice enough to tell the guy to take his hat off, but you can be sure that he was drawing stares from those around him. I don't know if the wife/girlfriend/fiance/mistress just didn't care or didn't notice, but he should know better regardless.
The gray area is when you are at a bar that serves decent food at it. A laid-back environment like this may lead to the belief that a man doesn't need to remove his hat. But here is a good rule of thumb for that: if you even have to think about this at any point, then the hat should probably come off. Anything above a fast-food chain should scream "take it off" and is also another good rule to adhere to in the future.
To recap: don't wear a hat in a bar, don't wear it in a club, don't wear it in a restaurant. If you have to even stop and think about it, then it should come off. End of story.
Notable exception: bars that show sporting events ONLY when said sporting event is on and others in attendance have a hat on.
Previous Entries
#1 Stop Peeing on the Seat#2 Put the Toilet Seat Down when Finished
#3 Eat to the Pace of Your Company
It's not raining meatballs inside. You don't need to protect your hair from the sunlight. The restaurant isn't so cold that you're losing heat from your head.
And if you are at an outdoor restaurant and you're wearing a fedora like you're Jason freakin' Mraz, do us all a favor and just stop. Show yourself the door and walk into traffic. Because it doesn't get worse than that.
In all seriousness though, I have seen this happen before and it baffles me. It wasn't like I was at Mooo or Davio's in downtown Boston (both nice steakhouses), because those restaurants would actually tell you to remove a hat if you were wearing one.
Nope, I've been at several establishments where it wasn't quite nice enough to tell the guy to take his hat off, but you can be sure that he was drawing stares from those around him. I don't know if the wife/girlfriend/fiance/mistress just didn't care or didn't notice, but he should know better regardless.
The gray area is when you are at a bar that serves decent food at it. A laid-back environment like this may lead to the belief that a man doesn't need to remove his hat. But here is a good rule of thumb for that: if you even have to think about this at any point, then the hat should probably come off. Anything above a fast-food chain should scream "take it off" and is also another good rule to adhere to in the future.
To recap: don't wear a hat in a bar, don't wear it in a club, don't wear it in a restaurant. If you have to even stop and think about it, then it should come off. End of story.
Notable exception: bars that show sporting events ONLY when said sporting event is on and others in attendance have a hat on.
Previous Entries
#1 Stop Peeing on the Seat#2 Put the Toilet Seat Down when Finished
#3 Eat to the Pace of Your Company
Monday, 11 November 2013
TTBG #3 - Eat to the Pace of Your Company
We are going to move away from the topic of bathroom decorum for a little bit, although I am fairly certain that I could come up with about two dozen other tips on that topic alone, and make our way to the dining room. Let me preface this post by noting that the tip that I am going to state is generally more applicable to eating in public places versus the comfort of your own home.
One of the more commonly overlooked pieces of etiquette is the concept of eating to the pace of your company. Whether it is a first date, dinner with your parents or celebrating a wedding anniversary, the occasion doesn't really matter. It could be the best steakhouse in the entire world or it could be a burger at the dive bar down the street - you should always be conscious of how quickly you are eating your food relative to your company.
To understand why this is important, let's take a look at this from a date perspective. Imagine looking around a restaurant and seeing a woman having a conversation with her male counterpart and having a plate half-full. She's clearly still eating, but she just hasn't devoured the food like one of the hyenas in the Lion King. Meanwhile, the man across from her has already practically licked his plate clean, making the woman uncomfortable as she is left to eat by herself. Not exactly a situation any person wants to be part of on a date.
On the flip side, if a man is eating so slowly that the lady has taken care of her plate and is waiting for the check, he needs to reevaluate the way that he paces himself when eating meals.
The idea isn't to dictate the pace of meal consumption yourself; rather, it is important to remember that making the other person - doesn't matter who it is - feel comfortable when they eat is the key. You receive your food at the same time for a reason. Try to, at least, finish your food at roughly the same time.
Admittedly, this is not one of those things that people are going to notice frequently. But you will likely find yourself experiencing better conversation and meal-flow as the pauses to eat and to speak will come more naturally. Meal etiquette is a tough topic to nail and there are plenty of other tips that I will plan to cover (looking at you guy who licks his fingers clean and continues eating from a group dish), but locking down the small stuff is a place to start.
Previous entries:
#1 Stop Peeing on the Seat
#2 Put the Toilet Seat Down when Finished
One of the more commonly overlooked pieces of etiquette is the concept of eating to the pace of your company. Whether it is a first date, dinner with your parents or celebrating a wedding anniversary, the occasion doesn't really matter. It could be the best steakhouse in the entire world or it could be a burger at the dive bar down the street - you should always be conscious of how quickly you are eating your food relative to your company.
To understand why this is important, let's take a look at this from a date perspective. Imagine looking around a restaurant and seeing a woman having a conversation with her male counterpart and having a plate half-full. She's clearly still eating, but she just hasn't devoured the food like one of the hyenas in the Lion King. Meanwhile, the man across from her has already practically licked his plate clean, making the woman uncomfortable as she is left to eat by herself. Not exactly a situation any person wants to be part of on a date.
On the flip side, if a man is eating so slowly that the lady has taken care of her plate and is waiting for the check, he needs to reevaluate the way that he paces himself when eating meals.
The idea isn't to dictate the pace of meal consumption yourself; rather, it is important to remember that making the other person - doesn't matter who it is - feel comfortable when they eat is the key. You receive your food at the same time for a reason. Try to, at least, finish your food at roughly the same time.
Admittedly, this is not one of those things that people are going to notice frequently. But you will likely find yourself experiencing better conversation and meal-flow as the pauses to eat and to speak will come more naturally. Meal etiquette is a tough topic to nail and there are plenty of other tips that I will plan to cover (looking at you guy who licks his fingers clean and continues eating from a group dish), but locking down the small stuff is a place to start.
Previous entries:
#1 Stop Peeing on the Seat
#2 Put the Toilet Seat Down when Finished
Monday, 4 November 2013
PR: Targeting The Appropriate Reporters
As PR professionals, we are often asked to create news where there isn't any available. The enterprising process for stories is often times difficult and tedious. It generally means leaving no stones unturned and searching for connections between seemingly disparate topics.
Sometimes you may develop a great pitch with a storyline that would fit for your executive - one that you haven't seen discussed much in the media. The pitch may have legs and land your team a couple of interviews, pending that you are pitching the right journalists.
I have written in the past before that PR professionals need to stop blasting pitches and releases to any journalist that may even have smallest amount of potential interest. And I do believe that that is still the case.
But even pitches that are carefully researched, developed and fine-tooth combed still may not resonate with certain journalists. Two different reporters for a website may cover the same topic. One may focus on a strictly news basis - executive leadership changes, product announcements, etc. - while the other may prefer to try and create a dialogue with her readers - thought leadership and industry trends.
As PR pros, we have to be able to look at what a reporter writes about most frequently, combined with the contents of our pitch, and target the correct reporters. Just because two journalists cover the news of a new Nike shoe doesn't mean that they should receive the same pitch. This is especially true if one focuses on the information in the press release and the other covers the design and craftsmanship.
I was following up with a reporter who didn't like my original topic and asked me what else my executive had to discuss with him. When I let him know that our team was working to develop another storyline, he came back to me with six simple words that summed up what I should have remembered just looking at his coverage history: "Here's a hint: come with news."
I won't lie: I thought that the pitch was good. The topic is something that he covers. But there was no way a conversation with him and my executive would have taken place given his writing style and that's a fact I should have recognized before I pitched him.
The art of the media pitch is difficult to master. It is why there are so many bad PR people out there that are clogging the inboxes of experts (not that I claim to be one) and giving the profession a bad name. Before you send out your next pitch, take an extra second to put yourself in the reporter's shoes and consider whether this is a conversation that they would be truly interested in having. If the answer "no" crosses your mind for even a second, then it should be back to the drawing board.
Sometimes you may develop a great pitch with a storyline that would fit for your executive - one that you haven't seen discussed much in the media. The pitch may have legs and land your team a couple of interviews, pending that you are pitching the right journalists.
I have written in the past before that PR professionals need to stop blasting pitches and releases to any journalist that may even have smallest amount of potential interest. And I do believe that that is still the case.
But even pitches that are carefully researched, developed and fine-tooth combed still may not resonate with certain journalists. Two different reporters for a website may cover the same topic. One may focus on a strictly news basis - executive leadership changes, product announcements, etc. - while the other may prefer to try and create a dialogue with her readers - thought leadership and industry trends.
As PR pros, we have to be able to look at what a reporter writes about most frequently, combined with the contents of our pitch, and target the correct reporters. Just because two journalists cover the news of a new Nike shoe doesn't mean that they should receive the same pitch. This is especially true if one focuses on the information in the press release and the other covers the design and craftsmanship.
I was following up with a reporter who didn't like my original topic and asked me what else my executive had to discuss with him. When I let him know that our team was working to develop another storyline, he came back to me with six simple words that summed up what I should have remembered just looking at his coverage history: "Here's a hint: come with news."
I won't lie: I thought that the pitch was good. The topic is something that he covers. But there was no way a conversation with him and my executive would have taken place given his writing style and that's a fact I should have recognized before I pitched him.
The art of the media pitch is difficult to master. It is why there are so many bad PR people out there that are clogging the inboxes of experts (not that I claim to be one) and giving the profession a bad name. Before you send out your next pitch, take an extra second to put yourself in the reporter's shoes and consider whether this is a conversation that they would be truly interested in having. If the answer "no" crosses your mind for even a second, then it should be back to the drawing board.
Sunday, 3 November 2013
TTBG #2: Put The Toilet Seat Down When Finished
I am the youngest of four children in my family. I have two older sisters and an older brother with my oldest sister being six years older than I am. The four of us had to share one bathroom growing up, which, as you can imagine, was a nightmare at times. My sisters had more random trinkets for getting ready in the morning that I never really considered the bathroom to be mine. It had always been their domain.
Now, one of the things that came from this situation is I learned at a very young age what a guy must to do survive in a girl's bathroom.
Touch nothing that isn't yours. Showers should be short and should not use very much of the hot water. My shampoo went on the lower levels of the rack in the shower. They got first dibs on warm showers after a cold soccer game.
Sure, sharing a bathroom with a girl sucks. And I think that many guys understand that the bathroom, by and large, is not a place where we spend as much time. So I don't have any qualms following the unspoken agreement between the sexes to model the bathroom off of what the woman wants, not what is most practical for men.
This means putting the toilet seat down every time you pee. I know what you're thinking and, yes, it is far easier for us to just leave the seat up at all times. Then we can stroll right into the bathroom, go about our business and continue on with our day.
But getting into the habit of lowering the toilet seat every time you are finished (only after you have flushed!) is a small gesture that makes life a little bit easier for the woman in the household, be it your mother, sister, girlfriend or wife. That way when it is four in the morning and they get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, they don't just fall right into the toilet bowl when they groggily stroll in.
The thing that baffles me the most about this particular tip is that it is so unbelievably easy and I see guys so frequently fail to actually perform the task. The two additional seconds it takes to grab the seat shouldn't even be something that is seen as "gentlemanly". It should be seen as mandatory. It is is an easy habit to develop.
If you're anything like me, you've already accepted that the bathroom should be for the lady's convenience and not your own. So next time you're zipping up your fly and going to wash your hands, stop, turn around and lower the seat for the females in your life.
Now, one of the things that came from this situation is I learned at a very young age what a guy must to do survive in a girl's bathroom.
Touch nothing that isn't yours. Showers should be short and should not use very much of the hot water. My shampoo went on the lower levels of the rack in the shower. They got first dibs on warm showers after a cold soccer game.
Sure, sharing a bathroom with a girl sucks. And I think that many guys understand that the bathroom, by and large, is not a place where we spend as much time. So I don't have any qualms following the unspoken agreement between the sexes to model the bathroom off of what the woman wants, not what is most practical for men.
This means putting the toilet seat down every time you pee. I know what you're thinking and, yes, it is far easier for us to just leave the seat up at all times. Then we can stroll right into the bathroom, go about our business and continue on with our day.
But getting into the habit of lowering the toilet seat every time you are finished (only after you have flushed!) is a small gesture that makes life a little bit easier for the woman in the household, be it your mother, sister, girlfriend or wife. That way when it is four in the morning and they get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, they don't just fall right into the toilet bowl when they groggily stroll in.
The thing that baffles me the most about this particular tip is that it is so unbelievably easy and I see guys so frequently fail to actually perform the task. The two additional seconds it takes to grab the seat shouldn't even be something that is seen as "gentlemanly". It should be seen as mandatory. It is is an easy habit to develop.
If you're anything like me, you've already accepted that the bathroom should be for the lady's convenience and not your own. So next time you're zipping up your fly and going to wash your hands, stop, turn around and lower the seat for the females in your life.
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