Unfortunately, a marketing nightmare is far more probable than a fire at the office. If we spend so much time training, organizing, and preparing for a fire, then why don’t we do the same for our company’s crisis response? A credibility challenge can be just as damaging to your company’s advertising or marketing materials as a real fire would be to your office.

Many corporations believe they have a plan in place. You may have a comprehensive, well-written crisis manual detailing the response of every possible scenario, but when was the last time you read it? More important, does everyone know where it is and how to implement it? Do you have a process for assessing how a crisis could impact your marketing? Do you need to pull ads off of the air? Do you need to create new marketing copy that will address the issue? Does the legal department know that its input on a specific scenario is time-sensitive?

Read more: http://www.cmo.com/planning/why-cmos-should-pull-communications-fire-drill

Matthew Broderick playing himself in a grown-up version of his celebrated role of Ferris Bueller to promote the 2012 Honda CR-V. (Honda Motor Co.)

Prior to the recent Giants/ Patriots showdown, a Super Bowl ad for the Honda CRV featuring Matthew Broderick reprising his role as Ferris Bueller appeared online. It quickly spread, and was praised from several sources, including the Los Angeles Times and Adweek. While I enjoyed watching the ad, and agree that it is worth watching a time or two, I was still somewhat disappointed that I was watching the ad for the first time hunched over my desk at work instead of watching with friends as we passed around the French onion dip.

However, as I continued with my scientific YouTube research, I soon found that Honda was not alone in trying to get a jump start on the competition in their Super Bowl commercials. I quickly found an H&M ad featuring a shirtless David Beckham making the rounds, and soon viewed teasers (image that: a teaser for a commercial; what will they come up with next?) from companies like Volkswagen and Priceline. I was also surprised with a friendly invitation from the Coca-Cola polar bears to join their Super Bowl party. (I had to politely decline as I already had plans.)

As we all know, the Super Bowl is the largest captive audience every year, as more than 111 million viewers watched last year’s game. Along with such large audience numbers comes coveted, and expensive, television airtime – this year translating into an astronomical price of $3.5 million for a 30 second spot.

With such a large investment being made, companies are going the extra mile to ensure that as much attention as possible is being placed on their ad. The current trend is for companies to post the commercial online. So far, the strategy seems to be working, as the Ferris Bueller ad had more than 13 million YouTube views by the time the game kicked off, while Volkswagen’s teaser of fat dogs barking the Star Wars theme song has more than 15 million views as of press time.

Posting commercials online also ensures that viewers watch the ads and aren’t distracted by trips to the food table or side-conversations focusing on M.I.A. and her now infamous middle finger. For example, Volkswagen’s commercial from last year, “The Force,” and personally my favorite ad of all-time, has more than 50 million views on YouTube. This means that the video was navigated to, and viewed on purpose, more than 50 million times. This is easily far more views than the number of Super Bowl viewers who saw the same ad during the game last year and actually paid attention. Additionally, Volkswagen didn’t have to pay a penny to put the commercial online.

Right now, the value of having a commercial run during the Super Bowl is still beneficial for a company thanks to the free media attention and television-viewer hype. However, I do fear that the social media excitement could soon reverse this and make Super Bowl ads far less significant. Consider this: if Matthew Broderick, Ferris Bueller and Honda can make a social media campaign that stands on its own a full week before the Super Bowl, wouldn’t that appear to devalue the importance of having a Super Bowl ad? I mean honestly, since the ad came out before the Super Bowl, I argue that the commercial is not a Super Bowl ad, but is rather a YouTube ad.

With companies dropping millions of dollars for a couple of seconds of airtime, it is only a matter of time before advertisers realize that the Internet can yield just as big an audience as a football game while costing next to nothing. When this happens, the era of the commercials being the most anticipated aspect of the Super Bowl will sadly come to an end.

ILRF’s campaign against Hershey’s isn’t a secret; it started rallying supporters for its cause this time last year. Yet, even when it recently released its plan to air the ad to Super Bowl XLVI’s 250,000 attendees, Hershey’s took its sweet time addressing its starring role. And frankly, it was too little too late when it announced it will make its first commitment to sourcing independently certified cocoa for its Bliss line by the end of 2012 months after ILRF attempted to prompt this very reaction. I’m left wondering: “Did Hershey’s have a preparedness plan?”

In a world so hyperconnected, and where advocacy organizations are finding new and creative ways (e.g. brand-jamming videos) to expose corporate wrong doers, companies like Hershey’s need to be ready for 15 minutes of fame that might not be so fabulous. It also reinforces the absolute need for companies, whether they are in the chocolate or medical device business, to be prepared for controversy.

Enter the critical importance of a crisis communications plan. As customers of all industries evolve and care not only about a product’s price, but where it is made, who is making it and more, it is necessary for companies to ensure ethical business practices, transparency about steps taken to right any wrongs, and ensure a plan is in place for swiftly responding to potential crises.

Even without identifying the exact crisis scenario, companies should have a plan that addresses:

• Steps to assess an array of situations
• Forming the most effective team (and how to get them on board ahead of the crisis)
• A process to gather and document facts
• Identifying the best spokesperson(s) for each possible scenario
• Draft communications materials and a distribution plan
• The media training process
• Resources for monitoring and assessing news
• A format for a post-mortem evaluation and documentation

Devo

With the staccato burst of an electric guitar riff played over a Warhol-esque photograph of an astronaut on the moon, the era of short-form video as a marketing vehicle was born at midnight, August 1, 1981 on MTV. Make no mistake, music videos (and the investment in creating them) weren’t just entertainment: they were public relations, marketing and sales rolled into one. When a video worked, an immediate and lasting image was created, word-of-mouth took off and records sold. What more could a marketer ask for?

Fast forward to today, and what’s old is somewhat new again. An increasingly effective way to deliver and consume information, the short-form video as a marketing vehicle isn’t just new again, it’s necessary. So why are so many corporate videos so bad?

When MTV changed the face of the music industry (much as iTunes has more recently), I was on the cusp of my teen years – ripe for the picking in terms of impressionability. I was in a group that wanted to be impressed upon – a marketer’s dream. Certain videos were exceedingly good at bringing you on board as a fan of a particular band or artist. I believe there are very clear common denominators among those videos that marketers can learn and benefit from today:

• High production value (not cost, a point I’ll address)
• Deliberate, purposeful direction
• Good editing
• Content aligned with delivery

Sounds expensive? It’s not. As unlikely as you might think, the music videos of the 1980s will show us how.

Be Yourself, but Don’t Be a One-Hit Wonder

The Fixx

Being budget-conscious with both my own money and that of our clients, I invest in proven things that stand the test of time. Whether it’s a thought leadership piece, an annual state of the company monologue or a one-on-one Q&A, if you’re going to bear the time and expense of creating a corporate video, it’s important to get it right, not only so it has the immediate desired effect, but also because it will live forever on the Internet – where content takes on something akin to the life of Lestat. And who knows, one video could become three shorter ones leveraged on three different web platforms – something singer Morrissey, then of The Smiths, may have unwittingly predicted when he sang, “…reissue, repackage, repackage.”

But as with anything from previous decades, many videos just haven’t stood the test of time and many more weren’t very good to begin with – this point made, of course, with the benefit of hindsight.

So for the creation of today’s corporate videos, what can we learn by looking back at examples of what aired on MTV during its early heyday?

Quick sidebar: I’ll admit to unashamedly heavy bias, but it would be too easy to mention Duran Duran, whose videos consistently outclassed most others of the era. In looking back at the relationship between Duran Duran and MTV, it can be argued that one thrived off the other and vice-versa: the channel made the band and the band made the channel. (There’s another post here about how platforms and brands can work together for mutual benefit, but that’s for another time.)

But most bands and their labels didn’t have the kind of budget Duran Duran was afforded for shoots in Antigua (for “Rio”), Sri Lanka (for “Hungry Like the Wolf”) and France (for “New Moon on Monday”). Similarly, today most companies don’t have “Rio” budgets and definitely not “Thriller” money. But you can get a lot done with very little. And unfortunately, you can also go woefully off course.

Duran Duran aside, let’s take a look at two videos that paint a vivid picture of what we can learn – both the useful and the to-be-avoided – from early 80s-era MTV. Regardless of the popularity of the bands behind them and/or the songs themselves, consider the videos for The Fixx’s “Are We Ourselves?” and Devo’s “Whip It.”

“Show Me, Show Me, Show Me How You Do It”

The Cure

With just a couple adjustments, the video for “Are We Ourselves?” looks like it could’ve been made yesterday. Beautifully shot, it shows high production value, deliberate and purposeful directing, great editing and a strong connection between content (the song) and delivery (what takes place in the video). And with exception of the aerial shots, the budget was likely conservative (no special effects here).

On the other hand, the video for “Whip It” is firmly entrenched in the time period from which it was spawned. That video might as well be permanently time-stamped, “Made in the 80s.” While the song itself has more than paid off in terms of longevity, the video is among the worst of what many 80s videos became known for – zero (and sometimes comically bad) connection between content and delivery. I’m still trying to figure out what “Whip It” has to do with dude ranches. It has been about 30 years, so the world may never know. It’s as if the director said, “Okay, fellas, just kind of do your lip-synching thing on this here Wild West ranch set and some weird stuff will happen around you.” Today, for a corporate video, that would be like telling the CEO, “Okay, we’re going to start rolling. Just sit there and say the lines.” You have to do more, and it doesn’t have to break the bank. And if you don’t have the budget to shoot on location, “try-y-y-y-y not to fake it.”

Regardless of your specific goals, to assure your corporate videos are effective, here are a few easy, no-cost tips:

• Match the tone and style of your delivery with the content of the message
• Use a tripod (obvious, but overlooked) and do multiple takes from different angles; use the best cuts from each angle
• Do a test run and assure the sound and lighting are on the mark

Of course, these tips offer just a step in the right direction. To increase the chances of success, ask some questions about what you’re working on. Will your corporate video be immediately embraced? Will it stand the test of time? (And, please, will it run about as long as your average three-minute pop song? That’s one thing that, thankfully, hasn’t changed since even the days of Elvis.)

There are 15 references to 80s cultural icons, songs, bands, entities, etc. in this post. Can you spot them all?

Thanks to Andrew Ruotolo, our in-house video specialist, for some of the insights found here.

In the world of public relations, we know it often takes time to see measurable payoffs. That’s why this year, instead of making short-lived resolutions, we are striving to meet our everyday goals year-round.

We’ve translated this list of Time’s Top 10 Commonly Broken New Year’s Resolutions – some of which you may have previously made yourself – to reflect the “Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for PR Pros” to help PR-savvy professionals find success through January and beyond:

1. Lose Weight & Get Fit:

   During the holidays we’re saturated with cookies and sweets, but in the everyday we’re stuffed with emails. Strive to “trim the fat” by organizing your inbox and deleting hoarded emails. And of course, give little to get little: only send those emails that are truly necessary.

2. Quit Smoking:

   We all have less-than-perfect habits, whether slow typing skills or poor name recall. Whatever the case, focus on your bad habit and dedicate time to reverse your thinking. And don’t forget to use your co-workers as your support group!

3. Learn Something New:

   While PR pros pride themselves on being “in the know” about news and trends, there’s always opportunity to learn more. Research publications outside of your scope and actively apply your knowledge by generating new ideas for clients.

4. Eat Healthier & Diet:

   Everyone needs variety in their diet – and in their vocabulary. Mix up your writing by incorporating new words within your communications – from news releases to client emails. This can easily be done by subscribing to daily word-of-the-day emails or putting the Shift F7 keys to good use.

5. Get Out of Debt & Save Money:

   When considering the bottom-line for your clients, look beyond traditional tactics and utilize a connected approach to discover equally effective alternatives that stay within the boundaries of your budget.

6. Spend More Time with Family:

   The most effective PR pro (and any pro for that matter) is one who successfully balances work and play, as it helps them to better focus on their list of to-dos. Make sure to make time for your loved ones (and you!) to recharge your batteries each day.

7. Travel to New Places:

   The best way to get to know your client is through face-to-face interaction. Seize the opportunity this year for onsite visits and dinner meetings to truly understand client needs, challenges and opportunities.

8. Be Less Stressed:

   Is being less stressed possible for a PR pro? Not always – but there are ways to manage it. From social gatherings to colleague lunches, get involved with activities beyond work to relieve stress and better prepare for whatever task comes your way.

9. Volunteer:

   Community service is an opportunity to give back to those who may need it most. See some ways you can take to connect to your community by watching this video.

10. Drink Less:

    Don’t overindulge in the negative; instead drink in the opportunities that arise with every new challenge. By seeing the bright side, you’ll be less likely to drown in the details.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying “Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors and let each new year find you a better man,” a quote that reinforces confronting your personal challenges and setting new goals to improve yourself, your relationships and your work as a lifestyle, not just a month-long concept.

Embrace this mindset by turning your own commonly broken resolutions into the building blocks of 2012, proving to yourself, your colleagues and your clients that it’s not just another year, but an opportunity to exceed expectations throughout.

Without fail, the last few days of December are always filled with endless debate over the biggest or most compelling story of the year. 2011 was unique, however, in that one story clearly rose to the top and quickly became the single most important topic of the year – if not the most significant event of our entire lives. Obviously, I am referring to the Kim Kardashian “Fairytale Wedding” – one of the rare moments in life where even 50 years from now, you’ll able to remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news that Kim and Kris were getting hitched.

I’m kidding.

Recently my colleagues and I reflected on the biggest stories of 2011. Here are some of our thoughts:

Arab Spring

Arab Spring had huge historic and social implications for our world as much of the Middle East has been under the authoritarian rule of tyrants for many generations. Arab Spring signals the humanitarian cry for democracy and human rights for all.

– Susan Stern, President

Death of Steve Jobs

The death of Steve Jobs shows what an impact one person – a business man – can have on the world. We’d known he’d been sick, but no one expected the outpouring that resulted from his death. Coverage and commentary were reminiscent of a president. Jobs left his mark on the world, proving that true leaders do exist. His technology has forever changed the way we live, work and play.

– Stephanie Heckman, Senior Account Supervisor

Sadly I’m not sure I realized all of the incredible things Steve Jobs accomplished during his lifetime and how even little old me was impacted by his life – as I read about his death on my Mac, likely with my iPhone in my hand at the same time! His passing seemed to bring about a sense of community and made people think not only of the impact Jobs had on their lives, but also on innovation, business and the bravery of always pushing the limits of technology.

– Hillary Blum, Account Supervisor

Global Economy

With crisis in the euro zone impacting the economy on an international scale, it became clear unemployment and sluggish growth in the U.S. are bigger problems than we can solve just by creating a few jobs here and there. This year in the news we heard debate over the possibility of a double-dip recession in the U.S. But as the year went on, all focus turned to Europe. One of our clients, Bhaskar Chakravorti (dean of International Business and Finance at The Fletcher School at Tufts University) has been arguing all along, “it’s the global economy, stupid!” It seems like the media has just caught on to that trend and is covering the economy not just in terms of what’s happening in the U.S. but in the global financial markets.

– Jen Ehrlich, Assistant Account Executive

Natural Disasters

The Japan Earthquake and Tsunami was the biggest story this year because of the real-time accounts and social media footage of the devastation. It was hard to turn away from and left the world shocked and horror-struck.

– Adria Tomaszewski, Vice President

The tsunami in Japan was the biggest story this year because it was just so far beyond the scope of what anyone could reasonably imagine.

– Ned Ward, Group Vice President

The Royal Wedding

I don’t think there is another event that could pull half the world’s female population out of bed to watch. In 2011 – or ever.

– Kara Evanko, Account Executive – Direct Engagement Specialist

What story do you think should be on this list? Does the death of Osama bin Laden or the Occupy Wall Street protests deserve a spot? Share your thoughts below.

Here’s to a new year just as full of compelling stories!

It goes something like this: “I don’t get it. What exactly do you do for a living?” And just like that, the search for the elusive Answer begins. I sometimes joke that my father- in-law probably finds it easier to just think I’m in the CIA, believing I go in circles to explain my “day job” just to keep him guessing. Well, I am not in the CIA, the FBI or even the NHL, for that matter; I’m in PR – that most elusive of things to grasp for those not in the know.

Even the Public Relations Society of America, 21,000 members strong, is getting in on the action. The organization has recently launched a campaign to redefine PR. (Hold on. Redefine?) Anyway, you can see just how tough it is to explain what we do through a recent conversation (and accompanying inner monologue) I had with my six-year-old son.

Nathan Ward/Son: Dad, how was your day?
Ned Ward/Me: Good. Busy.

Son: What did you do?
(Do I really just say “meetings” again? When he gets older, he’ll start thinking I’m in AA all day.)
Me: Well, I had a few meetings (How original!)…and did some other work. (A lame attempt to say something new.)

Son: What kind of work?
(I can literally feel my brain function reluctantly kicking back into gear after a long day.)
Me: Oh, I wrote a plan for one client. No, I mean customer. (The word client is not in a first grader’s vocabulary. But from our doing Legos – a lot – he probably knows what plans are about.)

Son: What was it for?
(I pause, mild panic starting to set in.)
Me: Um, to help them, uh, get more customers.

Son: What do they do?
(Is this really happening? Am I really going to be forced into the lost jungle to search for The Answer?)
Me: Well. (long pause) They…sell stuff.

Son: Like what?
(Uh oh. I’m in deep now because none of my clients sell anything you can just get in the car and go buy. For the most part, they are business experts and consultants – not quite available yet on the shelves of Target or Toys R Us.)

At this point, I gave up. It was time to switch the subject with a quick mention of a new toy or cartoon he likes. Phew. I again avoided the frustration and futility of searching for The Answer – what exactly it is that we do around here.

But I’ve been in PR for a long time, so what drove me to finally say it’s time for me to have an Answer for The Question? Recently, at my son’s elementary school, they’d asked for parents to sign up to come into class and talk about their jobs. I quickly said to my wife, “You better take this one, dear.” She’s a nurse. Everybody gets it.

So whether you find yourself needing to explain your PR job to someone who is six or someone who is sixty-something, I want to hear from you. What’s your cocktail party – or even kids’ classroom – definition of PR? Clearly, I could use a hand.

1. Magic Eight Ball:

   To help with those tricky client challenges that would benefit from foresight.

2. iPad 2:

   Honestly, does this require an explanation?

3. Héctor Serrano Digital Downtime Watch:

   A stylish time management tool for the social media-savvy PR professional who needs help in divvying up time spent on Facebook, Twitter and email each day.

4. Year’s Supply of Five Hour Energy:

   A pick-me-up for the dedicated pro who logs the typical 50-to-60 hour work week.

5. 2012 AP Stylebook:

   A must-have resource. We all need a little grammar guidance once in a while.

6. Letterpress Thank You Cards:

   Despite everything going digital, a personal thank you card can’t be replaced.

7. A New Yearly Planner:

   Because an iPad 2 and iPhone are not enough to keep our hectic schedules organized.

8. The Little Printer:

   For the trendsetter because tiny printers are just so much cooler than big ones. The added benefit – receiving your daily news as a small readable digest!

9. Tranquil Moments® Sleep Sound Therapy System:

   To help the PR professional in your life fall asleep to something other than reading emails on a Smartphone.

10. PRSA Membership:

    For the achiever seeking to develop and improve skills through endless learning opportunities – and the invaluable opportunity to meet fellow PR pros along the way!

11. Annual subscription to PR Week:

    What better way to relax during the holidays than curling up with a good “how to” feature?

12. HD Flip Cam:

    For the Steven Spielberg wannabe and also because one never knows when the opportunity to create a client-based viral sensation can strike.

13. Page One: Inside the New York Times Blu-ray DVD:

    For the PR professional who is also a history buff. Watch this Sundance hit for an interesting look into the current newspaper crisis and for the always entertaining David Carr.

14. Gift Certificate to JoS. A. BANK or Ann Taylor:

    PR is an image business, after all, and it’s important to always dress to impress!

Additional Contributions by: Hillary Blum, Ashley Glowinski and Andrew Ruotolo of Stern + Associates.

Image via fresheventure.com

It’s December 1st, and that magical time of year is upon us, full of wonder, merriment . . . and the added stress of more deadlines on your to-do list. Instead of working myself into a tizzy planning my holiday meal menus, decorating the house and shopping for gifts, this self-proclaimed word nerd and grammar geek is getting into the holiday spirit by proposing a change to a beloved Christmas carol: I’m sure “The 12 Days of Crispness” will be a jolly old hit.

Lately it seems grammar gaffes, typos, and misunderstood (and misused) words have skyrocketed. They are blunders published in respected media outlets, mistakes written by business associates, and errors spoken by friends. Starting today, let’s challenge ourselves to keep our language “CRISP” – an acronym we developed at Stern + Associates to ensure our writing remains Concise/Compelling, Researched, Informative, Smart and Punctuated/Proofread. So hum along with me now:

On the first day of crispness, my colleague gave to me. . . the proper use of “I” versus “me.”

. . . four participles that don’t dangle
. . .five style books!
. . . six unneeded words deleted
. . .seven corrected typos
. . . eight proofread pages
. . . nine Oxford commas
. . .ten unsplit infinitives
. . . eleven proper hyphens
. . . twelve apostrophes that possess

Make a resolution to “keep it CRISP” throughout the New Year. Happy Holidays!

Few people know the most powerful piece in chess – the queen – didn’t exist until 500 years after the game’s creation. Will women executives rise to this status after they’ve conquered the board? Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Philip Morris International CEO Louis Camilleri and MetroPCS CEO Roger Linquist made it to December’s most valuable CEOs list. But there’s something blatantly missing from this roundup – where are the women?

The cold hard truth is this: despite major strides for women in business over the past few years, men still vastly outnumber women in the CEO role. In fact, Catalyst research (October 2011) shows that women currently hold only 3.2 percent of Fortune 500 CEO roles and 3.5 percent of Fortune 1000 roles. And on the S&P 500 (the index used to assemble Chief Executive’s list), only 17 CEOs are women.

Why the large gap? Women have proved time and time again they are highly capable of taking the reigns as successful CEOs. Yet female leaders are still lagging in some major industries – financial and technology to point to a couple glaring examples.

According to Dr. Sasha Galbraith, a management consultant and expert on the topic of executive women hierarchy, there are several assumptions that fuel these inequities in the workplace:

• Ms. Executive:

  Misunderstanding women’s goals and believing they don’t really want to become senior leaders.

• Queen Bee:

  Questioning if women are capable of running large corporations.

• The Balancing Act:

  Assuming that women cannot effectively balance their work and home lives.

• Mirror theory – Manager = Male:

  Promoting candidates who are similar to other top executives, who are predominately males.

I find it very unsettling that people still believe these myths to be facts. But on a positive note, we as a society are becoming much more aware of these biases. The larger issues have not been solved, but women are continuing to break ceilings, doors and boundaries to stake their claim in the Corner Office.

I’ll be keeping a keen eye on Chief Executive’s 2012 list, which I hope will include women CEOs in their rightful spot of “most valuable” rankings.