Morgan McLintic on PR

Out of Office but not out of touch

I'm on the plane back to San Francisco following a week's vacation. As little as five years ago it used to be quite common for people on vacation to drop off the grid entirely for a week, sometimes two. We used to debate whether it was better to triage email while on holiday or to log off and let it await our return. Before that, we used to leave a contact number in case of emergency.

This has now changed. Communications have become so fast, that to most dropping off the grid would be unconscionable - it's integral to how they express themselves, connect with friends and family and do business. Smartphones have made it much easier to read and reply while away from base. Our Out of Office replies now apologize for sporadic access to email, rather than zero contact.

As our work and personal lives blend, this change was inevitable. The technologies are now there to avoid the jarring return to work, an overflowing inbox, fizzing issues and catch-up meetings. Instead, we can slip straight back into the flow of work.

The skill now is in knowing what to respond to when out of the office, and for our co-workers to know when to elevate things to our attention. Recreation is re-creation, and that can't happen if the icy finger of our work pressures repeatedly reaches out to grab us. For me, it's more relaxing to know things are under control and that I have fewer than 200 emails to consider on my return. Others may prefer to be more active while on vacation or hands-off. I'd suggest setting an expectation with your team about the types of issues you want to be involved with while away so they know your boundaries and expectations. Then you won't miss something vital or be pulled into minutiae. Perhaps that's what we should be putting in our Out of Office replies?

The Power of Commander's Intent

I've started listing to the audiobook version of Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. It builds on Gladwell's The Tipping Point, focusing on what makes a good idea go viral, or stick. Early on they talk about the concept of Commander's Intent, which is part of military planning. The military likes to plan. But plans don't survive contact with the enemy, so the commander expresses the clear goal of the plan at the top of every page. This Commander's Intent must be simple, specific and singular. Namely, it must be the single most-important thing the plan achieves. It must complete the following sentences -

'If we do nothing else, we must [xxx]'
'The single, most-important thing that we must do is [xxx]'

Here's the military definition from the FM 100-5 Staff Organization and Operations manual: The commander's intent describes the desired end state. It is a concise expression of the purpose of the operation and must be understood two echelons below the issuing commander. . . It is the single unifying focus for all subordinate elements. It is not a summary of the concept of the operation. Its purpose is to focus subordinates on the desired end state. Its utility is to focus subordinates on what has to be accomplished in order to achieve success, even when the plan and concept of operations no longer apply, and to discipline their efforts toward that end.

This premise directly applies to PR. We are no strangers to 90-day timelines and plans. The discipline which comes from thinking through a PR plan yields much greater clarity of communication, tighter integration and better measurement. But often, in the heat of battle, the plans start to get outdated. New priorities take over, launch dates shift, and crises erupt - and soon you are working off plan.

The power of the Commander's Intent is that it anticipates that the plan will go awry, but it gives guidance to all subsequent unplanned actions. If the new activities do nothing to further the Commander's Intent, then those activities should be disguarded. This gives flexibility down the structure, empowering each level while keeping them aligned. It also avoids endless scenario and what-if requirements.

The power of this for a PR program is evident. There are lots of 'nice to haves' and ad hoc requests in a PR program. Navigating the priorities can be difficult for team members, so having a clear Intent would act as a beacon. In reading the description of the Commander's Intent, it is also clear that the exercise of creating a single, prioritized and specific goal is very powerful in itself. We are often tasked with multiple goals - but which is the most important? For each of your programs can you complete the simple sentence 'If we do nothing else, we must [xxx]'?

Why PR firms will win the social media race

The worlds of public relations and advertising are starting to collide. As ad spend increasingly goes online, advertising firms are starting to pitch for social media campaigns. Equally, public relations firms, faced with a decline in the traditional realm of media relations are turning to social media channels to reach their clients’ audiences. As a result, it’s increasingly common to find ad firms, competing directly with PR firms for the same piece of business.

Competition of course is a good thing. And many ad firms were early into digital communications and have made the transition from megaphone to conversation. Those are the ones which will do well. An ad firm already has a number of distinct advantages over PR – they have long thought in terms of campaigns, whereas sadly PR often succumbs to the tactical; they have planning departments who are strong at analyzing the audience; they are used to big budgets which helps with big thinking; they have strong visuals which lend themselves well to the web; and they are often ‘in at the right level’ at the client, where PR’s interface can be lower down.

However, fundamentally public relations firms are better positioned to implement social media programs for the simple fact they understand conversations. PR has always been about relationships with audiences, and so disintermediation to build those relationships directly with a brand’s community poses no paradigm shift. It’s just a natural extension of the core skills of a communicator – simply via new channels.

If you see the Social Web as a conversational and editorial medium rather than a broadcast and advertorial vector then it becomes clear that a PR firm is well placed to guide that program. However, PR firms must make rapid advances in terms of their planning, their visual presentation; their technical skills; and their ‘big picture’ integration. Ad firms have often taken the lead across the promotional mix, but that is now changing.

In fact, the lines between an ad firm and a PR firm are becoming increasingly blurred. Take SEO for instance. Part of that is Search Engine Marketing (or Search Engine Advertising) ie the buying of keywords. That’s ad spend but is integral to a PR program given the amount of content PR produces. Or take Facebook app promotion – that might include some targeted ad spend but be implemented as part of the social media campaign by PR. In fact, the more integrated the campaign, the more indistinguishable the roles, and broader the skillset required.

Since communication is fundamental to the Social Web, PR firms have less far to come than their advertising brethren. But the journey will change us both, and neither can get there without the other, so it will be an exciting ride.

What does your desktop say about you?

Given I normally have too many applications running, it says that I'm probably trying to do too many things at once (productivity red flag). Looking at the number of documents stored directly on my machine, it says I still haven't learned to save stuff to the server and to share what I'm doing properly. I am however good at filing those documents away, deleting extra files and emptying the wastebin which reflects some affinity for order. My desktop image is a picture of my son, which helps me keep a perspective.

If someone sat at your machine, what would it say about you?

Let's make the conversation faster

Alternative microblogging/aggregation platform, FriendFeed relaunched today with a cascading conversation format that updates constantly. So fast in fact they had to insert a Pause button so you can read what people are saying and respond. It's all about making the conversation faster - more input, in less time.

But potentially too fast. Twitter was awash with comments about users not being able to keep up. Certainly if you follow several thousand people, the effect will be akin to standing in crowded room with everyone talking at once. Lots of noise, no signal.

The challenge here is that communications is not about talking more quickly. It's about talking more clearly. And often that means talking slowly. The points need to be delivered at a pace where the audience can understand (and respond). The more complex the message, the slower the delivery. Conversations are not about machine-gunning minutiae at a broad spectrum of people in the hope some of it will stick.

I wonder where the trend of conversations getting shorter (140 characters) and faster (like FF) will lead. Just like razor blade companies trying to convince us that 5 blades are better than 2, (or URL shorteners convincing us that 7 characters are better than 9), will communicators buy the new shiny? Does it add to the conversation mix? Certainly, it will be up to us to advise on where these tools fit into the mix, and more importantly how.

Should we use media embargoes?

An embargo is a mutual agreement between a reporter and a company to withhold the announcement of news until a specific date and time. A useful mechanism, they've been over-used for the wrong purposes and are now falling into some disrepute.

Until I came to the US, I'd never used an embargo. On the day of the news announcement, you'd simply pitch the story to your primary contacts, hoping they'd be available, have time to cover the news and that interview schedules would work out. And this works fine for the vast majority of news announcements today, and is standard in many countries.

The embargo became useful when you wanted to be able to talk to people in advance. This would mean you could speak to more reporters/bloggers and get more news the day of. In turn, the reporters would be able to schedule the interviews better, write a more researched piece and know they'd be first with the news. It was a win-win.

And so, the use of embargoes escalated. For instance, it was a way for print reporters to break news at the same time as blogs - 9.00pm PT being a classic time since that's the time the WSJ refreshes its online content. For PR teams, it meant that you got more coverage through sheer weight of numbers - more time to pitch and hold interviews.

But the system started to break down. The quality of embargoed news started to dilute - an announcement which didn't have much value might get a bit more pop if it was embargoed. And some media outlets broke embargoes to get a jump on their competitors. The temptation is always there for PR departments to embargo weak news and for media outlets to leak strong stories.

This is a recipe for frustration all round. If an embargo is broken, everyone who held to the deadline is rightly annoyed, and some vent that towards the PR firm and client, not to mention the offending outlet. Breaking an embargo is a lose-lose since it's not a given that the breaker gets the links and traffic, and it means the relationship with the agency and company is then damaged. For larger firms, this could be a bigger repercussion than the potential upside of the leak.

Embargoes have also been mishandled with PR representatives sending the embargoed news without getting agreement that the reporter will hold to it beforehand. Some publications have guidelines about how far in advance they can receive such news, and other flatly refuse to honor them, which is fine.

All this said, I do think embargoes can work and are appropriate in certain circumstances:

- if the news is significant and far reaching ie there are lots of potential people who would be interested
- if the announcement is complex ie it needs demonstrating and explaining
- if there are commercial reasons why details can't be shared gradually over time beforehand eg competitive pressure
- if the goal is to get a lot of coverage and the company has the resources to do so

The challenge then becomes who to include and how many outlets to involve. There is a natural tendency to increase the list from the perspective of inclusion (so as not to miss vital people out and end up damaging relationships). Against this, the more included, the greater the risk of the embargo breaking. It's a difficult process to manage, but if done properly (and with some luck) embargoes can be beneficial all round.

If all else fails, low-ball it

In a recession competition increases. There are more agencies chasing fewer client accounts. This is generally a good thing. Clients might see one or two more firms, agencies might work harder, and hopefully the right decision will be made - the company will get the firm which is the best fit, which is good for everyone. Even for those that lose - you don't keep clients if the fit isn't right.

Now of course, over supply should create downwards pressure on total budgets and on day rates. Since staff costs are fairly inflexible this normally means margins are compressed. But there does come a point for some firms, where if costs are fixed and revenue variable, you just want some revenue. Any revenue. And that leads to low-balling, which is a practice of pitching at a ridiculously low, loss-making cost.

For the agency in question, short-term this can help cover fixed costs (mainly the rent). But as an industry it's bad practice. If you don't value your own time, then clients won't either. It's the entry point to an abusive relationship. And typically, if cost is the biggest factor in the decision-making, you'll get churned when something else comes along.

But the rent will get paid for those few months - and since rents aren't going away any time soon, I doubt low-balling will either.

The time of your life

You may not realize it, but this is the time of your life. Deep in the depths of the darkest recession I hope we will all face in our lifetimes, you will discover your true mettle. How you respond to the waves of bad news which crash onto us on a daily basis, may well define your future. The seeds of success are sown in adversity.

Will you rise to the challenge? Find within you the strength to redouble your efforts, rethink your approach, cast aside the way that used to work and embrace a new one? Or will you be the victim, controlled by external factors? It's not your fault.

This recession will be long and hard. Even now we may only be nearing the end of the beginning. If the dotcom bust is anything to go by, many will flee the industry and seek sanctuary elsewhere. They may return when dawn breaks. But they will have missed the lessons learned in the darkest hours. The recession will temper those who have the resilience to get up each day and to give their all. Some of those lessons will be professional, but most will be deeply personal. When daylight comes, you should bear your scars with pride, they will be well-earned.

Recessions are good for our industry. Like a hard winter, they weed out the weaker players and they improve those that remain. This one comes amid changes in the practice of PR - sweeping changes of globalization and disintermediation. No firm will remain untouched - many will struggle but that does not make them bad. If they survive, it makes them stronger.

For emerging agencies, the recession is the opportunity they have been waiting for. Their value shines out. They can zig while others zag. Their management can show how they are different. All the preparation they have done during the boom - developing new techniques and services, building their roster, salting away profits, building the infrastructure - will start to pay off. For them, the recession was the opportunity they wanted, and for them it was fought and won before it began.

Yes, the recession is difficult. Hard decisions will have to be made. These are uncertain times. But uncertainty brings opportunity - for brands, agencies and individuals. So this is the time of your life. You just have to realize it, embrace it and act on it. Good luck.

The big O - organized

When most people think about getting organized, they immediately think of their To Do list. Most PR consultants are pretty good at managing their daily To Dos. Whether they use an online system, a PDA or written lists (often with various florescent codings), they tend to keep on top of their daily actions.

As a sweeping generalization, women tend to be better at action tracking than men, and more experienced staff better than more junior staff. If you're a young man then, you need to write things down more than you think you should. Essentially though, you don't last long if you can't keep the plates spinning.

But being organized does not stop there. Stand up, step back, and take a good look at your desk. Aside from today's coffee cup and the papers you are working on, what else is on it? Does everything that is there, need to be there? Is it all in the right place or does it need filing? Better still, can you throw it out?

You probably sit at your desk for a large part of your waking life while at work. During the course of battle, it will get a bit untidy and accumulate 'stuff'. But it's important to wage war on that stuff - the piles of mags you haven't read, the freebie crapola you were given at a show, all those conference passes, that folder of reference information, and... the filing. There should not be things written on parchment written with a quill at the bottom of that pile.

I openly admit to being anal about having a tidy desk. An untidy desk increases your stress since it reinforces feelings about loss of control. All that 'stuff' will constantly attract your attention, get in the way and ramp up the pressure. It's amazing how cathartic spending just ten minutes clearing the decks can be - and that's often all it takes.

Plus your coworkers will make judgements about your organization from the cues given off by your desk. Some people are so bad it becomes an office joke. You don't really want to be that person.

Now let's look at your work area. If you are fortunate to have an office, what's in the filing cabinet, those drawers, on the walls? Can you sling any of that out? Are you still filing stuff from an old campaign four years ago? Those clips from now defunct publications about a company which has since been acquired? What's in that box? [It is amazing how many people keep empty boxes for months under their desks - are they going to sleep there or something?]

Now what about the office? Walk into reception. What's the first thing you see (apart from Julie who manages front of house)? Probably some magazines and papers - are they recent? The clips on the walls current? Those awards still relevant? Is the paint chipped? The carpet stained or dirty? Like an interview, you've got 30 seconds to make that impression to your clients and prospects. Is it the right one or can you smell the cabbage someone is kindly nuking in the kitchen?

Time to go home. If you drive, what's in the car? The glove compartment, on the back set, in that handy door pocket? At home, is it all arranged to help you relax and re-energize? If not, then it's time to make a list of home To Dos as well.

In fact, few people track their personal To Dos as efficiently as their work ones. It's likely there will be just as many of them, and they'll be adding to your stress levels just like that burning work deadline. Again, it's cathartic to just write them all down. Work/life is a false delineation, they both impact each other. So if your personal affairs are disordered that will impact your professional performance and focus.

I'm not suggesting taking a Western reductionist approach to organizing your life to the nth degree. Life is inherently chaotic and impulsive. But it is important to acknowledge that 'being organized' doesn't stop at having an updated To Do list, or even a tidy desk - it needs to extend to other aspects of your life to produce a sense of control and calm. So get a bit obsessive about it, and it'll soon become a habit.

[If you haven't read them already, you can find practical advice about organization in David Allen's excellent books Getting Things Done and Making It All Work.]

Get fit, or get out

Beating the recession starts with you. You can make a difference for your company or agency. We probably all feel the pressure to excel now, not just for our own careers and job security, but for those of our friends and colleagues.

Let's assume that the recession will place tighter disciplines and more demands on you. Tolerances will be reduced, there will be fewer resources and you'll probably work harder than you ever have before. Under those circumstances, the first place to start is with your physical health. You simply won't be at your peak performance if your body cannot cope with the fresh demands you will place on it.

This means a healthy diet and a rigorous exercise regime. Exercise decreases stress and unlocks more energy to tackle the demands of the day. I have personally found this means at least 45 minutes of exercise four times per week in order to make a substantial difference on your well being. The challenge is to build this into your daily routine. It will take 10-12 repetitions of that behavior for you to make it part of your routine so it needs to be at a fixed regular time eg cycling to work, running home from work, or first thing in the morning.

For instance, I used to run the 4 miles to work every day. Now with other demands and while it's dark first thing, I've found it easier to get up and row for 30 minutes on weekdays before my son wakes up. Whatever works for you, but try to integrate it into your daily routine rather than grabbing ad hoc opportunities since that is hard to sustain.

On a blog about PR, it may be odd to talk about physical health (and I am no expert nor a shining example I'll admit), but fighting a recession is a marathon. In order to cope and do your best work, you need to make sure you are physically able to do it. There's no point missing days here and there, working at 80% in the afternoons, or suffering chronic stress. You need to feel good, strong and on top of your game. Ask yourself, are you fitter now than you were five years ago? If not, then you have work to do. Don't let your physical condition dictate your future - it's one thing you can control.