CROSSROADS

What Mike Wise is Missing

This morning a crack member of the Schwartz Research team (Bill Bode) brought the recent Mike Wise kerfuffle to my attention. Basically, Mike Wise, a reporter for the Washington Post, was suspended for one month because he made up a story about Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and tweeted it out. Some media outlets ran the story and some people retweeted it.

According to the Huffington Post, he claimed he did it to

1. See which news outlets would pick up his report, and
2. Show the inaccuracy of social media reporting.

Wise is missing one key thing. As a proven sports columnist for the Washington Post he has both authority and experience. For years, people have believed what Mike Wise wrote. People also put their trust in the Washington Post.

What he truly showed is how if a credible source wants to spread disinformation, they can have some success the first time, but will then destroy their reputation. This isn’t limited to social media. If an analyst put out a false report, people would use the data, until the analyst was exposed.

This problem goes back to well before the dawn of social media. Remember Janet Cooke (also of the Washington Post) who had her Pulitzer Prize winning story “Jimmy’s World” exposed as fabrication?  This was also showcased on WKRP in Cincinnati with Bailey Quarters and Les Nessman in the “Dear Liar” episode in Season four.

If I tweeted about Ben Roethlisberger and cited an inside source I knew at the NFL, no one would retweet it. Why?

1. I am not a sports reporter or blogger, and
2. Schwartz has great experience with technology, healthcare and green companies, but our football experience deals primarily with luminescent paper for championship game tickets – not with NFL headquarters.

So yes, Wise showed things can spread on Twitter and some folks don’t check their sources. But he is in actuality a better poster child for how someone with respect and authority can abuse their power, be caught and damage their reputation.

By Mark McClennan on September 1, 2010 9:49 AM
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Press Release Buzzword Bingo

My post last week that highlighted the most overused words in a press releases was very well received. Since so many of you liked it, I decided to take it a step further and turn the top 25 buzzwords into Buzzword Bingo cards. I didn’t want to slight anyone, so I created one card based on Sherk’s recent post, and the other card based on David Meerman Scott’s post from last year.

Here they are for your viewing and reading pleasure. May you never complete a bingo!

Or download them as PDFs here:

Feel free to download, share and use as you want. Give copies to all the PR people with whom you work. Remember, only by acting together can we stop buzzword abuse.

For those that don’t know what Buzzword Bingo is, Wikipedia has a pretty good description.

By Mark McClennan on August 25, 2010 8:54 AM
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The NHL Scores - In Digital Media

By Martin Gleissner and Anna Vaverka, Stockholm, Sweden

It is no longer a question of if but rather of how companies will extend their products, their brands and their messages to the digital universe.

One prime example of this is the National Hockey League (NHL), which continually develops digital products and services with which to shorten the distance between the League and its fans.

One of the major trends right now is that of iPhone Apps. What the NHL had already successfully accomplished on the web – delivering the best content, particularly video, to consumers online − it extended to one of the world’s most highly used mobile devices through NHL Ice Time 2010, the League’s official iPhone app. The app makes content from the web readily available on iPhones and is the latest product in NHL’s rapidly expanding digital portfolio, designed to meet the content demands of the most tech-savvy fans in pro sports fans.

NHL Ice Time 2010 gives time-shifted trans-Atlantic fans (NHL games are typically played in North America while Europeans are sleeping) the ability to see live scores and statistics, video clips and highlights.

For the launch of NHL Ice Time 2010, the NHL had a highly specific business goal: to drive downloads of the app among those countries already proven to be the top consumers of NHL hockey (based on NHL.com Web traffic), including Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

In order to launch NHL Ice Time 2010 in Europe, the NHL turned to Schwartz Communications. From our Stockholm office we rolled out an extensive media outreach in these European hockey hotbeds. Besides traditional media, we paid much attention to bloggers, especially covering sport and mobile technology.

Turning strategy into the message

Beyond the cool features of the app itself, Schwartz immediately identified and amplified the launch as indicative of how organizations can and must adjust to consumer demand for digital access. And the interest that we generated from media was strong in terms of volume and tone. To reach media outside of the sport and tech area, Schwartz uniquely tailored and told the story of the NHL’s efforts in leveraging digital media as a means of serving the evolving demands of fans, alongside the evolution of digital and mobile media.

The launch was highly successful and already in the first week, the app sailed into the top five most downloaded sports apps on iTunes in Europe. Additionally, the NHL experienced hundreds of thousands of downloads in just eight weeks and the end results included more than 70 media stories in more than 10 countries.

The NHL iPhone campaign is an excellent example of how companies and organizations should integrate emerging technology trends into their product development strategy marketing and communication strategy. Schwartz encourages others to embrace the diverse possibilities of digital media as the ways that we consume information are continually evolving.

We are not saying that each and every new media trend is worth investment. But to ensure that your company is at the forefront of communicating with consumers, one should evaluate which of the tools out there could be the right ones for you.

By Laura Kempke on August 20, 2010 10:50 AM
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The most overused buzzwords in press releases: word cloud

To paraphrase Tom Foremski, “Buzzwords. Die! Die! Die!”

I remember a time when everything was a robust, scalable, enterprise-wide, mission-critical, client/server, WYSIWYG, CORBA development solution with OLE.

Well, maybe not quite that bad, but there are definitely words that have been overused when it comes to press releases. In some cases, these words have been so overused, their meaning is completely devalued to the point the eye skips over them.

Recently one my clients sent me a link to a great post from Adam Sherk on The Most Overused Buzzwords and Marketing Speak in Press Releases. He did some great analysis of words overused in press releases for the past year. His post also reminded me of a David Meerman Scott post on the topic from last year.

The lists are useful, but different people learn in different ways.

I decided to take Sherk’s list and turn it into a word cloud of the most overused words in PR. I weighted everything based on the actual frequency of appearance. To me the word cloud really drives home how some words are so overused they lose their meaning completely, even more than a list of the words.

So without further ado, the word cloud of the most overused words in press releases.

View a larger image

What words do you want to see disappear forever?

By Mark McClennan on August 19, 2010 8:32 AM
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PR Measurement: Building On Core Principles

Last month at the 2nd European Summit on Measurement, the 200 delegates passed the "Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles."

I applauded the effort, but didn't blog about it at the time, because it just seemed like common sense and the way Schwartz has been conducting public relations on behalf of our clients for years.  As the Schwartz Communications Research Group continues to grow, though, I did want take a minute to chime in.

Some of the principles have always been the essential foundation of what we do as an agency and as responsible practitioners.

• Set goals
• Measure results not activity
• Quantify business impact when you can
• Social media should be measured
• AVEs (ad value equivalencies) don't measure PR

I was a bit surprised by the ordering of some of the other Principles as I have found more clients focus on message delivery/inclusion and would put that above tone.  Typically, I would want to segment by message and then tone rather than the reverse.

These principles are essential for showing the true impact of public relations. Many practitioners talk about wanting a seat at the table. At Schwartz I have found we get our seat at the table by providing strategic counsel; showing the business impact of PR; understanding business drivers and challenges; and presenting creative ideas that support the business objectives.

I was recently speaking with a young man heading off to college to study engineering. I reminded him there are two key things every engineer needs to remember:

1)    F=ma
2)    You can’t push on a rope

I wish PR had a formula as easy as F=ma for calculating impact. But then I realized engineers don’t either.

For them impact is calculated: P=(Fimpact2L/2AE)=(m2σ2gh/LAE)=(m2gh/LAρ)=mgh

or

Just like there is no one measurement formula for impact, there is no one solution for PR measurement. What measurement is right for your company depends on your business objectives. Align measurement at the start of every engagement and measure results and you are off to a good start.

What do you think of the Barcelona Principles?

By Mark McClennan on August 18, 2010 11:10 AM
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Approach to VMworld v3 - Trending Topics On the Move

In this week’s installment of ‘Approach to VMworld,’ the Schwartz research team was at it again, analyzing topics covered by the tech reporters and bloggers we turn to for the latest, most comprehensive and thoughtful virtualization commentary.

Since the team conducted its last snapshot, we’ve seen a few significant shifts in topics of interest. In addition to highlighting what’s hot, we’re also looking at what’s moving. Many words, such as Security, vSphere and Microsoft, showed huge jumps – indicated by red, orange and yellow. Others, like SaaS, Management and Solutions are getting colder (though still significant) – shown in blues and purple. 

‘Security,’ which was already red hot, continues its accelerated growth and ‘Support’ got a bump too. It’s not surprising that security and support continue upward. When InformationWeek Analytics surveyed enterprises to determine cloud computing concerns, the top three were related to security, followed by application and system performance and DR/BC of the provider. Content on the blogs and websites we track is targeted to potential enterprise IT buyers – many who are considering or already in the process of virtualizing their IT environments and moving some or all of that infrastructure to a public, private or hybrid cloud. To ensure that the concerns of the enterprise are addressed, many vendors include security and support messaging in most external communication. The more news announcements, vendor interviews, case studies, trend commentary and so on that we see, the more security and support will grow.

A key take-away from the research: At the end of the day, news is still a primary driver of content and buzz. The movement of trend topics proves it. Take for instance some of the biggest movers this week:

• While VMware maintains its dominant presence, helped by the release of vSphere 4.1, other players have joined the party. Up from last week are both Citrix and Microsoft. Schwartz prepared a tip sheet that offers vendors advice on how to maximize presence at VMworld. You can get more in-depth suggestions by downloading the tip sheet here, but one tip we included was to consider timing news with the event. Making a major announcement prior to the show can increase interest among media and analysts at the show. Though it’s not surprising to see the major players competing for share of voice, I’ll be interested to see presence for other vendors as we get closer to the conference. The one or two weeks before VMworld, expect vendor names to increase in size and prevalence in the word cloud.

• Another example of news as a driver is illustrated by virtual desktop management vendor Unidesk. Though it presence last week is small compared to VMware or Microsoft, the company still made the cloud. We’d attribute this to a few announcements that the company made in late June. With none since, Unidesk’s traction dropped off the radar, though “desktop” remained steady.

• Final proof point – check out the HUGE spike for vSphere around July 14 – fewer than 50 posts to more than 400 the days following the v4.1 announcement. Virtualization vendors: hitch your wagon to significant VMware news by being able to provide commentary and see a similar spike. 

By Mercedes Carrasco on July 27, 2010 11:14 AM
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Mobile World Congress - Making the right calls to secure your speaker slot

Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the must attend event for any wireless company.  Taking place on February 14-17 2011 in Barcelona, Spain, the show is unrivalled in showcasing the companies and latest developments of the dynamic mobile industry.

The 2010 event attracted more than 49,000 mobile professionals from 192 countries, a majority of which were C-Level executives.  Catching the attention of such an important group is crucial but with over 1,300 other companies trying to do exactly the same how can you stand out from the crowd?
One opportunity is to secure a speaker slot available at the show.  However, with the deadline for submissions seemingly getting earlier every year, companies now only have less than a week (deadline July 30th 2010) to submit their entry.

The slots are developed independently from the Congress sponsorship and exhibition and are therefore completely free.  Potential speakers do not have to be exhibiting at the event to secure a slot. Indeed, if you are successful you will be given a pass for the whole event!

What are the organisers looking for?

Speakers are chosen on a number of different criteria.

•    Topic relevance
•    Originality (of both topic and presentation format)
•    Newsworthiness of the content proposed
•    Proven ability and prominence of the speaker in the industry
•    Strength of the reference offered
 
Standing out from the crowd

With so much competition how can you make your submission stand out from the crowd? The following five tips will help you focus on what you need to include to be successful:

1)    Relevance – Remember that audiences do not want to hear a 20 minute presentation of you promoting your latest products. Focus on issues and topics that are affecting the industry and will make your audience sit up and take notice.

2)    Strong controversial angle - A key component to making your submission stand out from the crowd is including something out of the ordinary. Delegates attending the show want to hear the views challenging current thinking – they’re not going to attend a presentation to hear something they’ve heard a hundred times before.

3)    Focus on the future – Talking about future trends is another key aspect of a successful submission.  Audiences want to hear your opinions on what the industry will look like in two years time, not in two weeks time.  Make sure you have plenty of predictions to capture the imagination of delegates.

4)    Customers - Bringing a customer will always help to endorse the views you are expressing as well as making your submission stand out.  You can also suggest a panel discussion – recommending panel members (with their prior approval) to join you and a subject area to discuss really helps to boost your chances of making into the line up.

5)    Newsworthiness – With hundreds of journalists, analysts and bloggers attending the event alongside industry professionals, the need for your presentation to be newsworthy is crucial. Your topic should have the potential to deliver quotable, exciting sound bites that can easily be transferred to an article, blog or report.

With these five areas covered you should be in a position to fill out the submission form.  If you want to increase your visibility at MWC please do not hesitate to contact us.
 

By Andrew Chatterton on July 27, 2010 4:19 AM
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