Biggest PR Disasters of the Decade

Can you tell I love the end of the decade, when you get the roundup of the best and worst across a multitude of categories? Well, kids, today it’s the roundup of The 15 Biggest PR Distasters, again from Business Insider.

And yet again, there are many we are all very familiar with: Bridgestone/Firestone tires, Nipplegate, O.J. Simpson’s “I Did It” that almost was, JetBlue holding passengers hostage for 11 hours, and the Oprah KFC stampede. Some I haven’t heard of, but they are truly horrific: Urban Outfitters’ Ghettopoly? Cartoon Network causing a bomb scare in Boston? Philip Morris trying to put a positive spin on smoking deaths? Wowza.

Key takeaways: common sense. Hire a professional. Media training. Common decency. Respond immediately.

Okay, kids - enjoy, and happy holidays!

Top 100 New Media Tools

Yes, yes, yes, we’ve all heard of Tweetdeck, and FaceBook, and LinkedIn, YouTube, and Delicious. But have you heard of Twhirl, Pageflakes, Scribd, or FreeMind? Or am I just showing my ignorance? Anyway. I always hear of these other tools others are using, and I wonder what these elusive tools do and how these people hear of said tools.

I found a great compendium of the top 100 new media tools. Though the article is geared for a job search, these tools can obviously be used for other purposes. It’s a helpful list, nonetheless.

100 Tools to Help You Communicate Better by Jane Hart on jobsuccess.org.

The Decade’s Top Flops

Research, research, research. For those of us who aren’t a huge conglomerate (or who aren’t in the pharmaceutical industry), research is the holy grail. We’d love to do it, but rarely have the funds to do so - properly, at least.

I saw an interesting article recently on Business Insider titled “15 Overhyped Products that Completely Flopped This Decade“. 

Athough I’ve never heard of many of these products, some of them, from their descriptions, actually seem like a great idea (the Sony Mylo, for one). However, the companies behind them either didn’t do their research up front to determine whether or not there was a market, or they weren’t fully prepared to support the product. Of course, I can’t speak for some (most) of the other products, which make you wonder what was going on behind closed doors for the greenlight okay (Jimmy Dean Chocolate Chip Pancake-wrapped Sausage on a Stick, or how about the Heinz purple and green squeezable ketchup).

What’s the takeaway? Do some research. Do as much as you can afford, and do it properly. It’ll save money, and embarassment, in the long run.

Creative PR Ideas - Holiday Themed

Often, the best part of our job is being able to think outside the box. Conversely, often the hardest part of our job is thinking outside the box. Here are some samples of extremely creative PR ideas, with a holiday theme.

• BigWarmUp by  Land’s End - viral campaign with tons of buzz. Better yet, it creates an emotional connection.
• Trackthetree.com - A three week marathon of over 4,000 miles, with CNN and the RFID Journal cheering on the Capitol Christmas tree as it crossed the finish line.
• BotanyAngels - A New Zealand PR shop employeed people dressed as angels to perform random acts of kindness on harried shopping mall shoppers at the holidays.
• TwitterMoms - Staples’ PR department developed this campaign to give out $100 gift cards to online moms who spark conversation on how to make holiday shopping easy
• Holiday Tweetups - many people are using Tweetup to gather people for various causes and events
• Christmas carols - Christmas carol parody for a software security company got attention, mostly negative

The takeaway is that there are a zillion different, unique ideas out there, and sometimes hearing about the ideas others have had (whether they’ve worked or not) can spark a flicker of creativity in your program planning. I know it helps me!

My thanks to Frank Strong of Vocus for posting the link to the article that detailed these ideas: ‘Tis the season: 7 creative PR ideas for the holidays.

Blogging Mistakes

Well, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve committed the number one blogging mistake, the one I caution my clients against, the one that will kill your blog quicker than a bad link. I HAVE NOT POSTED. I haven’t posted in a month, people. Over a month, to be accurate - since November 4. Take that as a lesson learned, oh ye of the internet - blog often, or at least consistently.  And never, ever underestimate the amount of time commitment involved in a blog! It will be more than you think, people. More than you think.

Want some other top blogging mistakes? Here you go:

• Technical Issues - not hosting your own blog, having a clunky URL address (for example, www.mycompanyname.com/about/blog)
• Lecturing Tone - you need to write as if you were talking with someone, rather than talking at them. No one wants to be the Charlie Brown teacher, “wa wa wa wa waaaa”. You can still be professional while also being personable.
• Not Promoting It - just writing and posting? Might as well be sending your messages afloat in a glass bottle. Develop a promotion plan to get your blog out there. Post comments on bloggers with similar topics, include your blog URL in your Web signature, etc.
• Clever Headlines - clever headlines are great for newspapers, but if you want people to find your blog through searches, your headline needs to incorporate the blog topic. There’s a bunch of guidelines for SEO for blogs, if gaining alot of traffic is a goal of your blog. I, myself, have fallen victim many a time to the clever headline siren call.
• Not Linking - link to others, and they’ll link back to you, thereby increasing your readership as well as your search ranking. It’s all good.
• Unoriginal Content - don’t repeat what others have said. Credit them for their thoughts, and expand on it, or write your own thoughts. Fresh, unique content is the key. For company blogs, you don’t want to become the preacher on the soapbox touting your company and your products to your own employees or clients. For one, they know what you’re saing (selling?) already, and two, you’ll soon end up writing to the big open void. Connect with other bloggers, open up a dialogue, provide fresh ideas - anything to be relevant. You want readers to come back because they want to, not because their boss is making them come back.

If you want more mistakes, ProBlogger has a great article titled Warning: Do you recognize these 21 blogging mistakes?