I am a demanding customer.

Like every other customer, I’ll call customer service whenever something displeases me about a product or service.

But if the problem is not well solved, I’ll e-mail an account of my experience to the customer service manager, copying in the PR manager and the CEO.

Why? Because I know that if the customer service manager doesn’t care about how much impact negative customer word-of-mouth can have on a company’s brand, the PR manager and CEO does! And if customer service won’t hold themselves accountable to the customer experience – and consequently, the company reputation – the PR chief and CEO certainly will!

As a PR consultant, I am closely associated with the clients I serve because my contacts are easily found on online press releases. And I have been personally contacted by unhappy customers whose experiences with my clients’ customer service further aggravated their dissatisfaction. In response, I have stepped in on several occasions to resolve issues that would have otherwise led to letters of complaints in the newspapers or negative word-of-mouth. And, while I don’t have a client-side mandate for customer relations, I don’t think my work was beyond the call of duty. Simply for the reason I stated above. PR is ultimately accountable for all facets of a company’s relationship with the public.

The question I have for experts in Customer Relations is: what do customers expect of PR today? Am I the only one who would demand that they are aware and accountable for sloppy customer service?

In an earlier post this year, I proposed that PR managers should be responsible for orchestrating the concerted PR effort – one that goes beyond mere media and analyst relations, and extends to areas including customer and employee relations strategies.

Do You think the PR manager has a role to play in Customer Service?

I do confess. This post borders a little on being gimmicky (with the 8 P’s and all…).

And why this topic? Considering there isn’t a lack of insights online.

It all started when I was thinking about the Processes and Principles that most businesses seem to overlook when planning to launch a corporate blog. And after the first two, it was hard to resist putting together a string of other P’s. After all, increasing transferability is the best way to share insights.

So here are the 8 P’s to consider when blogging for business (I’ve tried to keep the sequence logical and the description brief):

1. Purpose – the objective; the end-in-mind
2. Plan – the proactive and scheduled content strategy
3. Processes – to obtain insights from within the organisation and without; to measure results; to respond in various situations; to manage online crises; etc.
4. Personality – the unique characteristics of the company/product brand, and how compatible the blogger’s personality (and writing style) is; or how the blogger himself embodies the values of the organisation
5. Pace – the frequency of blog posts
6. Principles – corporate values and guidelines that guide participation in online (blog) conversations
7. Policy – legal guidelines
8. PR – the strategy to reach out to target communities and encourage participation

Update: Debbie Weil has posted her Top 8 Tips for Corporate Blogging in 2008, in which she talks about building an approval process, citing the Southwest example. This is part of the “processes-thinking” I mentioned above.

The social media revolution has given rise to quite a number of ‘rules’. They come in the form of phrases like “the Long Tail” and maxims like “Content is King”; and they attempt to change the paradigms of marketing and communications as we know it.

But are these sayings completely trustworthy?

I wrote in a recent post that “maxims have the power to form paradigms that eventually shape our thinking and consequently (in our case), strategy.”

But while these maxims are fantastic in helping us understand social media, we deceive ourselves when we take them at face value and fail to consider the truths behind counter perspectives.

Think of the proverbial Blind Men and an Elephant story, in which the true physical characteristic of the elephant (truth) is misrepresented by the interpretations of several blind men left to feel with their hands, the different parts of the animal.

True wisdom in PR 2.0 then, is not simply taking every buzzword and saying, and crafting strategies and tactics around them; but rather, in understanding the essence of these ‘new rules’ and turning them on their heads to get to the real truth. It’s all about eliminating the “either-or” fallacy that logical psychology warns of.

If we systematically question every social media maxim that we know, and examine them carefully, we will gain a tremendous amount of insights. Kudos to Chip Griffin who, in his post on “Throwing Out the Social Media Rulebook“, has given us a head-start. John Cass’ commentary following Chip’s post is well worth the read too.

Enjoy.

The Web bubble question popped (no pun intended) up again today, but in the most delightful way possible.

Male a capella group, the Richter Scales, yesterday posted a fabulous video lampooning the optimism in Web 2.0.

I came across the video on Mitch’s blog where, just two weeks ago, he presented his perspective on the possibility of a Web 2.0 bubble forming.

While there are very valid arguments on both sides, and compelling indicators that either one may be right, the question I have today, is not whether we are experiencing a Web 2.0 bubble or not.

But rather, if (and when) growth in Web 2.0 suddenly hits the brakes, what is going to happen to all our social media strategies? And while we should not be losing sleep over it, this is something that PR 2.0 agency folks need to think about because like everything else, nothing can keep growing exponentially without correcting or leveling out at some point – especially in light of quivering global economic indicators.

On one hand, optimism is high in the PR community. Leading PR agencies today have dedicated digital strategies or social media practices; more and more digital strategists or social media consultants have been hired as agency pathfinders in a new era of communications; and there are more resources shored up in anticipation of rapid growth in ’social media opportunities’.

Yet on the other hand, there is a sense of caution, giving PR 2.0 / Social Media detractors and skeptics (yes, some still exist!) more reason to reconsider investments in developing social media or digital expertise.

While a Web bubble will certainly affect the sentiments of online PR and marketing strategists, and (or, by) drastically reducing the number of emerging social networks and communication platforms the likes of Facebook and Twitter, this should not be a reason to stay away from social media altogether.

To those who worry, I have a word of assurance – that one thing’s for sure – even with the bursting of a bubble, social media is not going to go away; and even if the flow of venture capital into Web 2.0 technologies is constricted, the ‘media landscape’ has irrevocably changed.

If anything at all, the increasing demands for communication effectiveness, corporate accountability and intelligent measurement will put the pressure on PR to ‘operate online’ more than ever.

So the main thing is not to worry about Web 2.0 dying, but rather – to recognise that Web 1.0 IS already dead and regardless what the future looks like, it will still be in digital.

Update: The original video has been replaced by another (slightly different) version because of this.

Following my previous post, here’s the million-dollar question: How exactly do you craft an effective content strategy?

I don’t offer any answers here, but I assure you – any consultant/agency that:

1. Develops a methodology – a logical sequence (and think set-plays) – for creating content strategies
2. Understands the market and the nuances of the customers (where they hang out online and offline; what and how they read/watch/listen; etc.)
3. Develops a list of all the types of content that will be effective
4. Understands the subject (client/company/product…) thoroughly, and its many spheres of knowledge and influence

…will win this game.