Businesses should always commit to meaningful action above all things, but many corporations pussyfoot around serious issues in the hope that PR (misunderstood as spin-making) can create a buffer between reality and appearance.

Unfortunately, it is easy for PR professionals to accede to this agenda under various pressures from clients and upper-management. And we have ourselves to blame if we are not taken seriously in the boardroom.

To advance my previous argument for PR’s place in the C-suite, one reason why we’re not there yet, is this: When PR professionals successfully mask the truth to get a positive story where a negative one could have resulted, we get applauded for solving the problem. The recognition may feel good in the short term. But in the long run, the profession takes a beating because we don’t get respected for helping to steer the company in the right direction.

I came across a succinct summary by Michael Tangeman on the need to help companies face up to the truth and take the right action; and it’s worth quoting here:

“The best advice any public relations firm that premises its work on truth can give a client is that if you’ve got a problem, fix it – ‘fess up, tell what you’ve done to correct the problem and move on to the many positive things you are doing… …Trying to help a company mask its problems with other initiatives or justifying a p.r. approach with utterances that clearly don’t connect with the reality of a client’s situation is a true disservice.”

And might I add - it’s a true disservice to both our clients and the profession.

[Disclaimer: This article is not directed at any individual or company in particular. I mean to point out a fallacy in common thinking about PR – a deeply-rooted error in traditional PR practices that seems innocuous, but threaten to jeopardize all the good that we are doing today.]

I stumbled upon a post on the Hass MS&L blog that discusses “the value of online media monitoring”. It makes a case study out of the KFC/Taco Bell crisis – the company was shamed by the news media earlier this year, when rats were found scurrying around in one of its restaurants.

The main point of the article: Seven hours is all it takes for a company’s reputation to be smashed when issues are left unmonitored. And it ended with: “If this company had media monitoring and crisis monitoring someone could have called to move media crews away from the front window or covered the front window where dozens of media outlets had set up shop filming and getting customer reaction shots.”

It is a useful post, because it emphasizes the importance of media monitoring and crisis management. And it presents a very compelling timeline that shows how fast a company’s reputation can “go south” when crises are left unchecked today.

But I am troubled that it was overly preoccupied with the case for monitoring, covering up, and responding to appearances. I understand that PR professionals are concerned with the public image, but I’m disheartened that there was no mention of, or apparent regard for, what’s really needed immediately after “monitoring” – apologies and meaningful action.

Yes, we do have a part to play in a crisis, but we shouldn’t prioritize ‘transparency’ above meaningful action. Neither should we conceal the truth. We must understand that corporate transparency is not something to be manipulated. But we must charge ourselves with higher standards of integrity in a business landscape that’s increasingly transparent.

And I advocate 360-degree pro-activity – understand what goes on in the day-to-day operations of a company, and hold every department accountable to the public. Public Relations should not be just about conversations with the public, but also ensuring that promises are kept after all the talk is done.

In naming an agency effort that deals with the complexities of PR in our very wired world today, Ogilvy PR has nailed it with ‘360 Degree Digital Influence’. Few agencies can do better because “360 Degree Influence” is exactly the challenge that businesses face today in reaching out to the public and other stake-holders, and influencing them. (Well, almost the perfect name. I think ‘digital’ wrongly puts the spotlight on the technological aspect of the media revolution. It is primarily a sociological change, with technological second. But that’s another post altogether.)

The Case for 360 Degree (Digital) Influence
Corporations today are forcibly more transparent than before; with citizen journalists probing at every outlet, and with the power to draw public attention – for good or bad – vested on every employee from CEO to janitor.

Rohit Bhargava in his post on Corporate Bloggers and the Rise of the Accidental Spokesperson offers an insight into the complexities of PR today. He points out that individuals “working for an organization and blogging, but are not considered official spokespersons” can become ‘accidental spokespersons’; and he cites the example of Robert Scoble who became that very accidental spokesperson who humanized Microsoft to the rest of the world.

Similarly, outside corporate walls (and payrolls), there are customer evangelists who speak more for a company than the designated spokespersons or individuals from the corporate communications team itself. Mike Kaltschnee of HackingNetflix.com fame is one such example. So great is his influence on, and for, the online DVD rental service that Steve Rubel constantly talks about what Mike does for Netflix.

The Naked Corporation and its Many Public Faces
The point is – there are more faces to a company today than there were three years ago; and there are more public inquirers in the form of citizen journalists. The world is rife with ‘Accidental Spokespersons’ like Scoble, evangelists like Kaltschnee or unwitting newsmakers like the Comcast technician who fell asleep at a customer’s home while being put on hold by his own company’s customer service!

The Changing Role of PR Managers
In recent months, I’ve been thinking about the role of the PR manager amidst all these changes. The dynamics of PR has changed, but observably, the role of the PR manager hasn’t. And it should. With public spotlight on every inch of the company at all levels and in all departments, the PR manager has to stop focusing on mere publicity and media relations. He has to start influencing public relationships through every department and at every level of the company’s structure – orchestrating, in effect, a concerted PR effort.

The Concerted Effort
John Cass, in his response to my previous post on “Being transparent…”, accurately observed that “many public relations professionals were [not] formerly in the business of creating trusted relationships with customers directly, though certainly maybe indirectly.” He added that “product builders, customer service people and the people who traditionally were the first contact with customers were responsible for creating trusted relationships.”

Now, when you realize that customers (with the power to blog and to be heard online) ARE the Media as well, you can’t help but wonder about the need for PR counsel in Customer Relations, and the many other functions within the corporation.

Why PR Has to Lead
Because PR professionals have the skill-set to deal with the intricacies of public relations and corporate reputation, the PR manager/director must take the leadership reins in preparing the company to deal with the ‘360 degree’ landscape of digital influence.

John Cass observes that “blogging is a team effort that borrows many skills from the public relations profession, [and] also much from other professions.” And that is true. This is why PR must be considered in every aspect of the business; for counsel on the impact of every business function on public relations.

Clearly, PR (in the true sense of the word) is no longer the sole responsibility of the PR team, or designated spokespersons. The reputation of a company and the relationship it has with the public lies in the hands of many.

And the PR manager must lead this concerted effort with an effective strategy – energizing employees to be effective spokespersons, engaging customer evangelists and integrating them into the media and marketing strategy, holding customer service accountable to stringent demands that corporate reputation is built upon etc.

Earning Our Place in the C-suite
Along with this responsibility comes PR’s opportunity to prove our place in the C-suite.

It begins when CEOs recognize that corporate walls have vanished and that the company – like it or not – is made more transparent than ever. And there is a need for effective counsel in the C-suite, because in the ‘transparent organization’ phenomenon lies both danger and opportunity:

Danger, for the company that does not have its house in order. And opportunity, for strong companies to bring vital relationships with the public to a much deeper level.

The way to do it?

Before developing strategy at the C-levels, corporate PR managers must first earn that trust and equip themselves by understanding how every department in the company operates and its intrinsic relationship with the public. When they do, they will see their (transparent) company as it truly is. And this understanding will enable them to forge relationships with the public that views the company, not through the windows of the CEO office or the communications department, but through every pore. Only then, can Influence be truly 360.

Updates:
John Bell and Walter Lim have made two comments that are worth expanding here

PR’s Catapult into the C-suite – Direct Impact on the Bottom-line
John Bell affirms that today, we have an increasingly important place in the boardroom because social media has greater impact on stock prices than before; and “traditional marketing is going in only one direction”.

We need no more evidence than corporate crises like the Kryptonite lock case, or the numerous research papers that forecast higher online expenditure. The imperative is now on CEOs to bring PR into a calm boardroom with a solid game plan; rather than yank them in later with the panic button.

Everyone thinks 360 anyway. It’s time we do too!
Walter Lim points out that another motivation to think 360-degrees – is simply because everyone else does! Even if ‘traditional PR folks’ don’t think so, journalists are even more aware today, of a company’s many public faces. This means that more reporters will want to talk to bloggers with a point of view on customer service, and interview the shop-floor operators who sit 10,000 cubicles away from the HR directors.

If there ever was a motivation for those holed up in ‘traditional media’ to embrace the mandate to think 360-degrees, this is it!

Natural Progression
And a final point – natural progression. The world is clearly moving towards greater social public disclosure. Financial standards, food and drug labeling and manufacturing data, amongst many other aspects, have to abide by stricter standards of social disclosure than before.

Sure, we could wait for a global public disaster the likes of Enron, before bringing PR higher up the management agenda, or we could be proactive in creating constructive transparent relationships at all levels of the business.

It’s your call.

Maximising the Value of Conferences and other PR Events… Virtually.

Chris Brogan wrote a very useful piece on “attending conferences without [actually] being there”. But let me explain why this is absolutely vital to PR folks who plan and manage conferences (and other events) as relationship-building measures:

• Yes, people are now “attending conferences without being there”.
• But, short of bugging the venue with video cameras, they can’t do it unless someone makes it possible/easy for them.
• And, knowing this is going to change the way you plan conferences.

Observably:

• The savvy Netizen today will find more ways to be at an event without actually being there (physically).
• Conference participants-cum-bloggers will be a vital part of the equation.
• The long tail effect dictates that worthy information gets carried as far across the globe as it is relevant, and stays alive online… forever.
• In fact, ‘second-degree audiences’ may even get a better deal because in addition to a blow-by-blow account of the conference, they get expert and mass opinion. (Not really, I’d rather be there first-hand!)
• The recent New Communications Forum in Las Vegas and the ongoing SxSW 2007 in Austin, Texas are excellent case studies.
• Content is even more important today. Audiences have greater choice over how much they choose to be engaged – it’s easier (less embarrassing) to close a browser window than to doze off in the middle of an auditorium when a speech is given. And online audiences can definitely gripe about how bad an event seems to be going!

The reason for this:
The Social Web – and Web 2.0 technologies – is increasing our ability to engage a virtual audience along with the real one. And this does a lot for your event ROI.

The possibilities are clear and the trend is apparent – to get more bang for your buck at conferences; you need to engage more participants than just those who can attend physically.

The impetus on PR:
To be truly effective, PR folks and conference organisers should think about the (potential) ‘2.0’ dimension for every PR event or conference – Can you hold a real-time webcast? Can you invite a blogger/s to blog about or create podcasts of the event? Are you making it easier for the audience (who are also bloggers) to report on what’s happening in real-time? Are you reporting it well enough through your own channels?

Here are some questions to ask before developing a conference plan:

The ‘real audience’

• Who am I inviting? Who are my ‘real’ audiences?
• What am I saying to them?

The ‘virtual dimension’

• Who are my ‘virtual’ audiences? Who did/could I not invite, but are reading and hearing about the event on blogs, podcasts and instant messaging, as the conference unfolds?
• What are they talking about?
• How will their presence be felt? How will/can they interact with the crowds?

Bridging the gap between the real conference and the virtual event

• How can we get them connected virtually? Think webcasts, podcasts and virtual tours (a concurrent Second Life version of the event?).
• How can I enrich their experience?
• How can I extend the virtual reach of the conference? Establish the right infrastructure (wireless Internet access); make URLs visible and accessible; make them easy to relay in print and by speech (it should be short and simple to read); make content immediately available and easily accessible.
• How can I get accurate feedback on the event? The feedback from the ‘real audience’ will be easy to collect (and measure) through feedback forms. But you shouldn’t ignore the feedback from the ‘invisible crowd’. This can possibly be more authentic, given that conference participants tend to be easily swayed by inherent biases found in many feedback forms. Some ways to obtain this feedback are by analyzing blog entries, comments and web traffic etc.

Having said all this, while we extol the virtues of pleasing the virtual audience; don’t neglect to give the real audience something special so that they’ll remember the conference fondly. After all, they paid for it and took the trouble to travel down!

(written for the upcoming IPRS Newsletter)

We need no more evidence that the world of Public Relations has irrevocably changed with the emergence of the Social Web phenomenon and the increasing penetration of Web 2.0 technologies.

Unfortunately, in Singapore, there is still a chasm between what we believe in and what we actually do about it. In an informal poll I conducted early this year amongst more than 50 PR agency folks (from junior staff to MDs), this belief-action gap was most startling. All but one agreed that blogs will have a profound impact on the future of business communications, yet only 34% of them blog and less than 5% are even aware of their company and clients’ corporate blogging policies. And we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of Social Media.

Today, we are ceding control to the advertising and online marketing folks who are first to jump in with very tactical communications strategies that ignore the importance of sustained trust and relationship-building. In doing so, they jeopardise the reputation of the companies that they represent, leaving PR to deal with a clutter of distrust and cynicism online.

There are two reasons why PR is still behind the curve (as compared to advertising and online marketing) in the social media landscape:

1. ‘Digital Divide 2.0′ – even within PR agencies, a huge gap exists between those with a sound understanding of PR 2.0, and those who don’t.
2. There is an even larger gap between knowledge and action, stemming from two main factors – fear of venturing into the unknown; and the lack precedence to prove and promise substantial return on investment. PR measurement is important, but relationship is not a numbers game.

How do we bridge these gaps?
What can you do, as an agency head or account team leader, to develop PR 2.0-savvy agency teams? I recommend five ways:

1. Dedicate resources
Just last month, I met with John Bell, the MD and Executive Creative Director of 360° Digital Influence at Ogilvy PR Worldwide. He was in Asia for a meeting with the company’s regional Digital Influence teams. He also spent some time connecting with influential bloggers in the region. This speaks volumes of the emphasis that Ogilvy PR is placing on developing digital expertise all over the world. According to him, Ogilvy PR has “a global team who is expert in digital influence or digital PR, and they make training and evangelism via client engagements part of their jobs.”

2. Encourage everyone to be digital
John adds that while Ogilvy has a dedicated digital team, “the end game [must] be that everyone in the agency becomes digital.”

He has this piece of practical advice for every PR practitioner – “PR pros have to take this seriously. The business will forever be changed; maybe not tomorrow but soon. Every PR pro should have a RSS feed reader set up, a del.icio.us account and either a blog or at least a profile in a social network like LinkedIn or MySpace. Reading blogs and watching video blogs are a great start. Once the aggregator or feed reader is set up, this becomes a lot easier.”

3. Constantly clarify understanding
We must constantly clarify our understanding of PR 2.0. Many have rushed through their learning on the subject without true comprehension. They consider it an additional set of skills or tools to be acquired, without understanding that PR 2.0 is a complete paradigm shift. They fail to realise that it’s not just all about the technology; and it’s not just the Media that has changed. We have changed.

As a result of poor understanding, many remain focused on mere tactics. Their entire worldview of Social Media strategy comprises almost completely of reaching out to bloggers, and uploading award-winning TVCs on YouTube!

4. Create safe places to experiment
The Social Web can be a brutal place. Make a mistake like Edelman’s Walmart fiasco and everyone jumps on you. Say something wrong on your blog and you may be ripped to shreds. No wonder fear is the main hindrance to implementing PR 2.0 strategies.

To overcome this fear, you should create safe places where members of your team (or your clients) can experiment. An internal company blog hosted on an intranet is an excellent way to do it. Instead of having meetings in the next couple of months, use the blog (where appropriate) to make company announcements and discuss internal issues. Have members of the team respond and establish dialogue over pertinent topics.

Better yet, if you can afford the time and resources, create scenarios and have members of your team role-play online “PR situations”. Coach your team members by providing advice on the effectiveness of their actions online; and clarify their understanding of how Netizens really respond in differing situations.

Set targets, appoint “Social Media” coaches, and create an intensive training ground for the 360-degree complexities of online conversations.

Fear is a primary obstacle to innovation of “Social Media” PR strategies, and the understanding of how things work in the Social Web will dramatically reduce that fear.

5. Hire your audience
The younger tech-savvy crowd of today are possibly the only ones who truly wonder why we even use the term “new media”. They are born into Friendster, learned how to blog as a subject in school and probably never actually owned a physical photo album because Flickr manages all their photos.

So instead of looking only for “traditional” PR experience in your next hire, consider hiring those who already live and breathe Social Media. They may not know how to write a press release, but they write in “conversations”, and you never know when their blog entry may just change the world!

Conclusion
The Social Web is possibly the best thing that has ever happened to PR, and while opportunities abound, there is also much uncertainty. It is absolutely vital then, that we see the path ahead as a journey to lead, and not a walk in the dark.