Morgan McLintic on PR

Shots from AlwaysOn

Marc Benioff, Salesforce
Originally uploaded by Morgan McLintic.

I've posted a few shots from AO yesterday onto my Flickrstream here - http://flickr.com/photos/56222279@N00/sets/72157594213793733/

Marc Benioff was in top form for his keynote yesterday describing Bill Gates as 'a recently retired software executive', Yahoo as 'a local software company in Sunnyvale', MS Exchange as 'the worst piece of software in the industry' and assuring the audience that he'd be more than happy to run through SFDC's 'Safe Harbor' statement in detail with them if they'd like.

Has blogging and social networking changed the marketing game?

Panel at AlwaysOn with Charlene Li of Forrester, Jeff Nolan of SAP, Steve Rubel of Edelman, Brad Silver of brandimensions, and Jay Stockwell from Intelliseek/Buzzmetrics.

The big question - are brands scared of losing control and how can they react?

There's a continuum between control and transparency believes Steve Rubel.

Some companies adopt blogging because they are forced by events which plunge them into it, others see their customers discussing their brand and want to engage. An example of these issues which flare up being the Comcast technician who fell asleep and was filmed by a customer, the video of which received 2m hits on YouTube in three days. Companies need to have a defensive alert system to be able to react to this quickly, but more importantly to listen to what their customers are saying and take action in product development, strategy and approach.

Companies should find bloggers who are interested in their brand and align with what those bloggers are looking for. Organizations need to understand them rather than see bloggers as merely a channel to transmit marketing messages. That will fail since it will not be authentic.

'Blogs are a microphone approach - you don't get much communication back' - Charlene Li as she states that building a community for a consumer brand may encourage greater interaction. That said, will consumers migrate towards brands or should those brands take small slices of their content and inject them into the places where their communities already are. If this latter, then it needs to be done delicately. If the former, then the community may be small initially but may contain the most ardent fans.

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Speaking of Salesforce

Notes from Marc Benioff 's keynote at AlwaysOn - The Code Ahead

Question - why are companies not using SaaS more for their email, when as consumers we are comfortable using Gmail, Hotmail etc? Yahoo and Google both offer small business hosted email solutions, but companies continue to use Exchange 'which is the worst piece of technology in the whole industry'. Benioff predicts that we are on the cusp of a change in that dynamic.

Marc Benioff's ten imperatives of successful on-demand business software:

• Multi-tenant
• 99.9% availability and 300 milliseconds per transaction - reliability, performance, security and transparency (of that performance)
• One to 10,000+ users of the same instance
• Easy meta-customization transcends versions
• Standard web services APIs deliver easy integration
• Mashups - composite web services apps
• Replicated development environment-as-a-service
• App exchanges and directories eg development of widgets
• Multi-applicaion execution as a service
• Write once, run anywhere

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“We're the Salesforce of...'

The SaaS model is rapidly gaining traction in enterprise software as vendors try to target SMBs and departments within enterprises. Salesforce.com was one of the pioneers of this model and remains its poster child. With funding flush, there are now numerous start ups in the enterprise software space aiming to replicate that success in document management, security, HRMS, ERP etc.

Almost every one claims to be the 'Salesforce of xyz'. I can't help thinking this is more wishful thinking than good positioning.

How far will consumer-generated media go?

The AlwaysOn conference kicked off last night and is now in full flow with a panel about the future of user generated content. Chad Hurley of YouTube, Michael Arrieta of Sony Pictures, Dave Goldberg of Yahoo Music and Michael Robertson of MP3Tunes (now SIPPhone, I think) are discussing how far consumer-generated media will go.

The panel feels that a mix of user-generated content (UGC) and professional content will become the normal model for video sharing sites. There is concern about the level of protection the DMCA can provide over YouTube's ability to continue showing pirated content. YouTube is protected by the DMCA at present since its users are uploading the content themselves. Nominally this means that YT is not responsible for the content it hosts, but most of the traffic comes from visitors wanting to access copyright content. The panel actually feels this has helped the online TV industry when compared to the music industry (Michael Robertson was sued for distribution of copyright music) since it is forcing Hollywood to collaborate with these services, rather than litigate with them.

Note, when we talk about UGC, we're mainly talking about videos and photos rather than music (karaoke, lipsyncing and amateur bands are less interesting).

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a hot topic. The DRM is required by the copyright owners but it's of no value to consumers or the artists per se. How the studios manage DRM will be interesting. Much of the copyright content is available in the wild without DRM wrappers, so legitimate buyers are almost penalized by the restrictions DRM places on them. Unless the DRM becomes transparent and less intrusive the temptation to access non-protected content will remain (or to stick with traditional channels).

Chad Hurley confirmed that YT is not profitable but is still planing an advertising model for both UGC and for professional content. That said, he's not predicting their users to want feature-length content like movies but to have a clip-culture. At the moment, YT is only considering banners and sponsorships rather than bumpered ads or video ad inserts. These don't work with clip-length content - who'd want a 30 second ad before a 3 minute video? Yahoo says that it does work with professional music videos which are slightly longer and has Pepsi and Toyota advertising in this manner online. Consumers are comfortable with the fact that music has a value and that someone needs to pay for online music videos.

Michael Arrieta feels consumers still struggle with online video ads and they are experimenting with 5, 10, 15 second formats rather than a straight 30. They're uncertain which will be best received and most efficient.

YT is serving 100m videos on a daily basis, with 65,000 uploads - that's a lot of content. Chad claims that 'ads are content' which is a nice thought but many of them are not entertaining or engaging. Ads must be interesting and targeted if they are to succeed but of course statistically many are merely average, the panel countered.

Sony is interested in combining its professional content with UGC. Examples might be trailer mash-ups, additional scenes, DVD-value-adds, and even pilot shows made by users. They hope to find new creativity and innovation here like the Snakes on a plane trailer mash-up. There is some skepticism about whether this will work since with trailers, the content has already been professionally created, says Michael Robertson.

The panel was moderated by Kara Swisher of D: All Things Digital.

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Monday poll: Are you expecting a Summer Slowdown?

Traditionally, Summer is seen as a quiet time for PR. Reporters are on vacation. Clients are away too. There are fewer conferences. No-one plans product launches for July and August. It's a time to catch up on the planning, to get across that background reading, for training sessions, and perhaps some early cuts to a local bar.

A few clients even ask if the fees can be lower, so it must be quieter, right? But is that really the case? There are plenty of events (like this one tomorrow in SF and Sydney), product launches, and do reporters and clients really all holiday en masse? Not to mention the new business pitches while companies get aligned for H2. So is the Summer Slowdown still real? Are we wrong to save projects for a notional time 'when things are a bit calmer?' Should companies be confident in launching in August, perhaps beating the rush? Or are you expecting things to get a little quieter, so you can recharge for the September marketing offensive?

For those reading this via a newsreader, there is an AJAX-based poll pasted below which may not appear in this post via RSS. Please vote on the site - thanks].

Defining 'Social Media'

Here's your chance on Wikipedia. Drew's started the definition having noticed the blank page.

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The Paradox of the Best PR Consultants

The best PR consultants are essentially paradoxical - they're at once highly insecure and deeply confident.

The best PR consultants are insecure - they are constantly thinking about what might go wrong, how a story might play out, how satisfied their client is, whether their team is fully motivated, whether the campaign is hitting objectives etc. This insecurity drives them to make sure their clients are happy, their team aligned, the copy is crisp and on message, the PR plan updated, and the news monitored. They're constantly looking to do better, get more coverage than the last launch, more awards, briefings, speaker opps, analyst meetings. If you're not focusing on what might happen next, anticipating the worst case, you should be.

The best PR consultants are confident - they know where the campaign will go, are sure the approach and messaging will work and that the story will pan out as planned. They're willing to back their creative ideas and deliver against them. They're bold in putting themselves and their clients forward, making them stand out from the crowd. They'll shoot for the top, and if they don't get it, bounce straight back. 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' is their motto and more often than not, they'll get that breakout coverage, broadcast piece or keynote. If you're not confident in the strength of your ideas and your abilities to deliver, you should be.

Many PR consultants only display one of these traits. Purely insecure execs do well and cover all the bases for clients but tend not to push themselves forward. This can be frustrating since they do great work but are less successful in new business or making that killer first impression. Confident execs are almost the reverse, they always put themselves forward but sometimes struggle to walk the talk. They rely on a few standout achievements which help them progress, but may be lacking in other areas.

The best PR consultants have the paradoxical mix of confidence and insecurity. They have a tough, confident persona which in turn inspires confidence in their team and the client, while at their core hold a streak of insecurity which constantly drives them to perform and improve. It's a rare paradox - but if you've got it, you're destined to be the best in the industry.

The three types of PR consultant

There are three general types of PR consultant:

1. The Media Pitcher - is great at selling a story. They're the ones who get the ink. They have the connections, they have strong people skills, fascinating to talk to, conversant on a range of topics, persuasive, engaging, strong sense of humor, rich voice with a range of intonation, nicely measured pace, and can really spot a story. Pitchers love the media and keeping on the pulse of the industry. Give a Pitcher a story and they'll run with it - never happier than on the phone or in the bar with reporters.

The main challenges for Pitchers tend to be their organization, their team work and their ability to spot potential issues with clients.

2. The Writer - is a copy expert. Give a Writer a topic, some supporting bullet points and sources of further research, and she'll turn in crisp, engaging copy to the exact length. A Writer is a polymath, interested in a range of topics, deeply considered, has an interesting perspective, a good turn of phrase, broad vocabulary, and an eagle-eye for grammar and syntax. A Writer has the ability to hammer out copy with single obsession despite noise and banter around them without distraction. She naturally spots a story and is able to weave in messages seamlessly. Writers also like feedback on their copy to hone and refine it, as long as it stays sharp. Writers create the ammunition for a PR campaign.

The main challenges for Writers tend to be their time management (when they're in the zone), their interpersonal skills and ability to balance multiple projects simultaneously.

3. The Client Manager - has a sixth sense when it comes to client management. The Client Manager simply understands and can anticipate the client's needs and expectations. Client Managers are able to build strong relationships with clients, ones which are long term, can weather the highs and lows of a campaign and often border on personal friendship. Client Managers really care for their clients, are compassionate, extremely organized, articulate, planned, deadline-oritented and good team leaders. Client Managers are capable of absorbing huge amounts of granular detail and tracking progress across several campaigns. These are the guys who keep clients happy and the PR campaign on track.

The main challenges for Client Managers tend to be in keeping an external perspective from the client, pitching the press and creativity.

Most PR consultants excel in one of these three areas. The good ones have strengths across two and occasionally all three. Considering which you are will help develop your skills within your agency into other areas. Or focusing on one to become a real expert can help in interview situations - there will always be positions in agencies for strong Media Pitchers, or excellent Writers, or people who can hold down clients.

We're hiring

I'm looking for three people to join the team here in San Francisco. Two at Account Manager/Supervisor level with 4-9 years' experience and one at Account Executive level with 1-4 years. The SF office has grown at over 80% this year so there is plenty of room for career development, team leadership and working on exciting campaigns. These positions would suit someone who wants to join an expanding agency, which is still building its name (we're less than 3 years old here in SF) and is in that ideal 15-50 person stage. At the same time, we're not a complete start up, (it's part of a $20m+ group) so we have all the HR policies, IT support and financial infrastructure you'd expect from a firm of that size.

Salaries, benefits and vacations are all industry benchmarked and top percentile, and there are bells and whistles which come from being independent in terms of potential for partnership (profit share/share ownership) and job security. It's also a global firm, so there will be international travel and many campaigns have an cross-border element. Regular training, active mentoring program, social stuff naturally.

Got to like media, be urban, have a international outlook, and be committed to what they do. Would not suit prima donnas or the fluffy fringe (sorry - life's just too short). If you know anyone who might be interested, please let me know. I think it's a good opp, but then again, I'm biased. Thanks for your help.

[Note - all approaches will be treated in confidence].

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