We spend a lot of time talking about how to adapt sophisticated thought leadership to new media since questions like “How do you elevate the conversation on Twitter” weren’t being asked 15 years ago. And we treat that pace of change as remarkable – a sign we’re living in an age of exceptional ingenuity.
But communicators have been adapting to shifting media landscapes for centuries, trying to meet audiences where they are and take full advantage of the available platforms. If you want to see what I mean, you should visit an art museum.
For Employee Appreciation Day this year, Greentarget threw it back to our school days and took us on a field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago (our colleagues in New York took a similar trip to Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian Design Museum). Once we arrived, our friend Howell Malham Jr. introduced us to Gloria Groom, a curator at the Art Institute; together they led us around the European Painting and Sculpture wing, stopping to give us historical perspectives on four particular pieces. Each piece was not only a work of lasting importance in the art world, but also an example of the artists, and subjects, directing the conversations of their time.
The last piece we saw, Model for a Statue of Louis XV (1746-8), struck me the most. Gloria noted that the statue was essentially a solution to a communications problem. King Louis XV of France was perceived as weak and incompetent by the French citizenry. So he did what any resourceful king would have done: commissioned a sculptor to create a massive statue that would portray Louis XV the way he wanted to be seen – as a stirring, dynamic leader who did heroic things with swords.
To depict Louis as a strong leader, capable of leading with wisdom and conviction, the artist Jean Baptiste Lemoyne put a scroll in the king’s outstretched right hand. The sword in his left hand suggests the king was a strong warrior, ready to lead his people to victory. Louis’s relaxed pose conveys a sense of confidence, inviting the French people to trust him, to believe in his prowess as a ruler.
The piece at the Art Institute is not the statue itself, but the model that was to serve as a reference for the monument. The model is a little over two feet tall and made from terracotta, a pliable material that, nearly 300 years later, still bears the artist’s imprint on its surface. The material makes the piece look like it’s still in progress, as if Louis XV could still be imploring the artist to make him a bigger sword.
It’s a far cry from today’s image-making, which leans heavily on social media and made-for-mobile video. But while commissioning statues is no longer the norm, we haven’t entirely abandoned the idea that image can be shaped through art.
Gazing at the miniature statue of Louis XV, I kept thinking about Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of former President Barack Obama, unveiled a few weeks before our field trip. In the painting, Obama leans toward the viewer, hands folded over each other, as if listening intently to whatever we’re saying. It clearly reflects the demeanor Obama projected throughout his presidency: a calm, collected thinker invested in his people – a listener.
Unlike Louis XV’s statue, the Obama portrait is part of a tradition going back to George Washington. But presidential portraits have shifted over the years. Early American presidents were depicted in dark colors, appearing stoic and unwavering. Later POTUS painters have taken a more casual approach, with more colorful surroundings and relaxed poses.
While the medium and images change with the times and technology, some things are timeless. Whether it’s terracotta or Twitter, it’s the message that matters.
Mark Zuckerberg likely didn’t begin his congressional testimony in Washington last week hoping to do much more than limit the damage to his company’s tattered image. And, in a testament to the effectiveness of solid media training, he probably accomplished that goal.
But Zuckerberg could have done so much more. He could have elevated the conversation around Facebook, data privacy and the future of the internet.
To be fair, Zuckerberg took a couple of baby steps. He said that his own data was compromised, which effectively humanized a man who badly needs humanization. And he laid plain his company’s business plans (they aren’t changing). But the wunderkind who had the foresight to build one of the world’s most important companies stayed stubbornly locked on the past – and failed to discuss the future, notably how Facebook and other companies can secure the data of billions of people.
Sure, by remaining defensive and focusing all of his energy on the testimony, Zuckerberg made sure he’d get out of Washington alive. But he didn’t fulfill his obligation – the way we see it at Greentarget – to drive a smarter conversation.
We believe that business leaders like Zuckerberg, who have informed and unique perspectives on important conversations, have a responsibility to help their audience better understand those conversations. That was especially true in Zuckerberg’s case – billions of people trust Facebook with their personal data. And yet for all the preparation that Zuckerberg put in, he didn’t realize the opportunity he had, in front of an audience of millions, to address the fears of those who had their information stolen – or are worried they could be next.
At Greentarget, we regularly counsel clients on how to get their message across. In interviews with reporters, published opinion pieces, public speaking and other forums, the same principles apply. Fortunately, Zuckerberg – and indeed a whole host of Silicon Valley executives – will have more opportunities to improve on the communications front.
What Zuckerberg Can Still Do
Zuckerberg is one of the world’s most important business leaders, so he still has a chance to build on what he said in Washington. The best way to do that is to consider what Facebook users want to know. Where is their data? What steps should they be taking? Do they need to worry about this again? Exactly what is being done to address the problem? It all needs to be conveyed in layman’s terms, but with precision.
This might sound obvious. And yet, so many Silicon Valley leaders – who are best positioned to answer these kinds of questions – have remained silent and instead crossed their fingers that Facebook would take the fall, leading to a stalled conversation. Regulators, corporate executives and average Joes simply don’t have the knowledge of Zuckerberg or his counterparts in the upper echelons of Silicon Valley.
How They Should Do It
While there’s no question that a two-day congressional testimony is not the same as a 30-minute interview with a reporter, Zuckerberg applied the concepts and tactics that go into media training – the type we often provide our clients before conversations with reporters. Namely, Zuckerberg stuck to his message, he retained composure and he didn’t answer any question to which he didn’t confidently know the answer. And if we had trained Zuckerberg, we’d have said he almost nailed it – with one exception.
We always tell our clients to leave a reporter with three things at the end of the conversation – and most of the time, the reporter will never have considered at least one of those things before. That’s the definition of driving a smarter conversation. It’s giving new information to someone who is going to put it out in the world for the public’s consideration.
Of course, Zuckerberg probably wasn’t going to conclude his testimony by giving regulatory advice to Congress or laying out detailed technical plans for his company. He has shareholders to answer to, and executives like Zuckerberg might perform better in a less combative environment than Capitol Hill. But he could have explained how Facebook’s approach to data collection will change in the next year.
He didn’t, and that’s too bad. But the good news is that Zuckerberg, even among tech executives, has a massive megaphone. The question is, will he use it – and will others in the valley do the same? Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Amazon and everyone else should focus on sharing their perspectives on technology and data privacy, including their successes and failures. There are questions that must be answered, and there are others that we don’t know we even need to ask.
It’s possible that Zuckerberg limited his testimony to looking backward because he doesn’t know what the future of data will look like. If that’s the case, he and other Silicon Valley executives need to tell us what they don’t know. Simply posing those questions would make this a smarter conversation.
It was a pretty impressive maneuver. When Kentucky Fried Chicken ran out of fried chicken in the United Kingdom, it managed to turn it into something of a PR coup – all in the course of a week.
Humor was key to KFC’s approach – reversing its namesake letters to “FCK” in a large newspaper ad and playing off the riddle “Why did the chicken cross the road?” And that was indicative of a larger crisis strategy – one that showed up in another narrowly averted PR disaster for Crock-Pot, which was identified as the cause of the death of a beloved (though fictional) character on the hit show “This Is Us.”
The successful efforts by both companies made us think about crisis PR response lessons for professional services organizations that might confront similar situations – even if the details will obviously differ. That is, unless a law firm or management consulting outfit ends up running out of drumsticks.
- Words matter – and the first words matter most. In most crises, quickly responding is as important as the statement itself. The morning following the “This Is Us” episode that implied Crock-Pot’s responsibility in the character Jack Pearson’s death, the company published a statement sharing the audience’s devastation and encouraging consumers to continue using their slow cookers in his memory. A timely and persistent demonstration that your organization cares is critical to properly addressing a crisis, as is demonstrating empathy. KFC, meanwhile, handled its persistent crisis with apparent ease, taking to Twitter every couple of days after the chicken shortage to reiterate that the situation was under control.
- Address situations head-on. KFC’s statement was successful largely thanks to its full-page apology, which was simple and sort of genius. It featured a stark photo of an empty chicken bucket accompanied by the text, “A chicken restaurant without any chicken. It’s not ideal.” Successful statements include acknowledgment of the issue, denial (if something isn’t true), acceptance of responsibility (if it is), actionable steps and reinforcement of an organization’s values without diminishing the impact the event has had or will have on stakeholders. It’s also important that organizations reinforce critical facts. For example, Crock-Pot’s crisis response team provided the media with facts such as, “For nearly 50 years, with over 100 million Crock-Pots sold, we have never received any consumer complaints similar to the fictional events portrayed in last night’s episode. In fact, the safety and design of our product renders this type of event nearly impossible.”
- Empathize, dammit. The perception that you don’t care is the single biggest predictor of broken trust, reputational harm and loss of competitive advantage from a crisis. Just as a single term or phrase can destroy a company’s reputation, it can also save it. Empathy was key to the effectiveness of KFC’s and Crock-Pot’s statements. The first words in KFC’s message were “We’re sorry” followed by a clear acknowledgment that their consumers, team members and franchise partners were all affected. Crock-Pot began each of its messages with empathy and concern for their users (and “This Is Us” fans), describing their own sadness over the character’s demise.
- Be ready when you have to take action. Wouldn’t it be great if all crises ended with quick, clear and sympathetic public statements? Here’s something that won’t shock you – they don’t. Good leaders take action because they know that when a crisis strikes, empty words don’t mitigate the situation. All stakeholders – whether employees, consumers, stockholders, board members, media, etc. – expect an organization to take action. We advise our clients to have a crisis plan in place ahead of time – one that plans for potential threats and identifies which employees will be doing what when a crisis arrives. At that point, you should make sure to gather all the facts and determine the appropriate message (and who needs to hear it). And make sure to continuously evaluate the circumstances and modify the course of action as needed.
With Volume Surging, Clear and Documented Direction Becomes More Valuable
We live in an age of information overload. And consumers in the world of legal marketing are all too familiar with content created without an overall strategy. That’s what makes the findings of Greentarget’s new Legal Technology Service Providers’ Use of Content and Social Media Marketing Survey so troubling. Far too many marketers at companies that provide services to law firms said their own organizations create content – and plan to create even more – without creating and documenting strategies. And many of those marketers will be creating more content without commensurate increases in resources – a sure sign that the quality of their content won’t be increasing, either. These results, collected in early 2018, illustrate that the end goal of content marketing, no matter the intended audience, is generally to win new business. And failing to think strategically about content makes achieving that goal much harder – no matter if you’re a law firm or a business trying to market to law firms. But there’s a flip side. Organizations with documented content strategies that keep their audiences in mind can successfully break through the noise and stand out – if for no other reason than many of their counterparts still haven’t seen the light. More Content, Not a Lot of Strategy Respondents from almost every legal services company surveyed (94 percent) said their organizations planned to produce more content in 2018 than in 2017. Meanwhile, half of respondents said they had no documented content strategy. About a third said they had a strategy that wasn’t documented, and 13 percent said they planned on documenting a strategy within the next 12 months. Perhaps not surprisingly then, the top challenges for content marketing were lack of staff time (38 percent) and budget (34 percent). And while 59 percent did say their content marketing budget had increased for 2018, the gap between that group and the larger one that intends to publish more indicates that many organizations will be producing more but not better content. As marketers try to determine how best to use their budget and staff resources, now’s the time to focus on quality over quantity. Marketers clearly know the value their content can bring, with one respondent noting that content marketing efforts “generated nearly $200,000 in new revenue from leads that came through the website, landing pages, white papers and other content.” Another respondent recounted an interaction with a customer prompted by content work. “We had a partner at an Am Law firm call us and ask for a demo that led to the firm subscribing to our service,” the respondent said. “Previously, the CMO had not responded to our calls.” New Business Is the Focus Winning new business was the top goal for individuals involved in content marketing, followed by building new website traffic and lead generation. Despite this clear focus on attracting new customers, more than half of respondents also identified several other goals – from demonstrating thought leadership to gaining exposure and building new relationships. While this in part reveals the broad usefulness of content marketing, the lack of clarity also may reveal a pervasive failure to carefully plan and target content marketing efforts. More Budget Allocation Needed Respondents to the Greentarget survey reported more widespread budget increases in 2018 than respondents to a recent survey by the Content Marketing Institute (59 percent compared with 39 percent). But relatively few marketers in the space spend as much as their peers in other industries. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents to Greentarget’s survey allocate less than 20 percent of their budget to content marketing. A wider group of business-to-business marketers spends an average of 29 percent of marketing budgets on content, according CMI. “If you’re not spending a third of your budget on content marketing, you’re not keeping up,” said Kevin Iredell, Greentarget’s director of research. LinkedIn, Email Strongly Valued Seventy-five percent of respondents said email was very valuable when it comes to content distribution – much higher than any other channel. But LinkedIn may reach some readers that even email doesn’t. All respondents said LinkedIn was at least somewhat valuable, whereas 6 percent said email wasn’t valuable at all. Email can miss its target for several reasons, from over-active spam filters to unlucky timing. But as a business-focused social network – one that has consistently proved popular in professional services ranks – LinkedIn adds a layer of curation. Readers see only content from their network and only from individuals, not from companies or organizations, boosting the authority of the content published there. Comparing information sources, there was only a slight difference between the value of traditional news media and blogs. They were equally seen as very valuable by respondents, but traditional media was seen as somewhat valuable by a slightly larger group. But that might not be surprising. Greentarget’s 2017 State of Digital & Content Marketing Survey found that in-house counsel continue to give traditional media (e.g., Wall Street Journal, The Economist) higher marks for credibility as sources of legal, business and industry news and information – even in an era of so-called “fake news.” For the full results of the survey, download the report.In 2017, as the popularity of podcasts continued its incredible growth – 42 million Americans now listen to a podcast each week and the average podcast fan listens to five shows every seven days – we had the fascinating experience of producing and launching podcasts for some of our clients.
One such project was the ThinkSet Podcast, published by Berkeley Research Group, a management consultancy based in the Bay Area. BRG joins a list of innovative corporate communicators getting into the game.
As we work on more and more podcasts, we’ve learned a lot about storytelling in the digital age. Much of what has worked in more traditional business-to-business communications remains relevant. But there are quite a few wrinkles to podcasting that set it apart from traditional content production.
The ThinkSet Project
Edward Newland, business development analyst at BRG, reached out to us in early 2017 about launching a podcast as a sister product to ThinkSet Magazine, a quarterly publication BRG would debut that spring. Newland’s idea was to build each episode around an interview with an author of one of the magazine articles.
We worked with Eddie to determine standing elements of the show – format, music, regular introductory and closing remarks – and showed him how to distribute the series via iTunes and other podcast channels. Before long we were producing two episodes a month, and we plan to do the same through 2018.
Early Assets, Obstacles
Importantly, Eddie’s idea was a good fit for a podcast. He would serve as the host role and anchor – a hallmark of many popular podcasts (think Marc Maron) – and the content from the magazine would provide fodder for lively and informed conversations with people who had deep knowledge and strong points of view.
Eddie also had done his homework about why a podcast could resonate with BRG’s audiences. At a time when breaking through the noise and reaching decision makers has never been more important, or difficult, for professional services organizations, podcasts offer a compelling channel. Podcast listeners, according to Edison Research, are typically more educated than the population at large. They also skew younger – 77 percent of monthly podcast listeners above the age of 12 are between 18-54, compared with 59 percent of the U.S. population in that age range. In other words, podcasts are popular with the current and future generations of decision makers.
And, of course, podcasts provide an owned-media alternative to the printed word or video, which is expensive and heavily reliant on visuals. Podcasts also offer a sort of escape for audiences, like busy executives, who might be experiencing screen fatigue. As Jayson DeMers, founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, wrote in Forbes last year:
“Exciting at first, screens have become exhausting for many users, and podcasts represent a refreshing alternative. Rather than using your eyes, you use your ears; there are silences, pauses, and genuine human voices rather than words and images on a screen.” He also noted that “the cost-to-value ratio for podcasts is incredibly low.”
When Eddie first reached out to us, he had figured out something we had been telling clients for a while: Compelling video footage of thought leaders at professional services firms is hard to get, and often amounts to little more than a lot of people sitting at desks, talking into the camera.
Podcasts also helped avoid a scheduling problem that’s common in today’s world. Eddie’s potential guest list was spread around the globe, so getting them together for a video would be unlikely. Podcasts, of course, don’t rely on video. And while in-studio/in-person recordings remain the gold standard for audio quality, there have been some important advances in remote recording audio quality in recent years.
Employing a new online recording platform, Eddie has recorded episodes of the ThinkSet podcast from his Boston office, interviewing guests across the United States, the United Kingdom and the Middle East, all of which is captured by Greentarget producers in Chicago (and, once, in Bangkok).
Tried-and-True Methods
Most of the content we create for Greentarget clients takes the form of writing on a page (blogs, research reports, bylined articles, etc.). But many of the tasks involved carry over to podcasting. For BRG’s podcasts, we conduct extensive background research prior to each episode. Then, we have a discovery call with Eddie and each episode’s guests. This is similar to the work that goes into writing articles and blog posts.
The editing process is also similar. We typically record for up to an hour, with the aim of producing a podcast of 20-25 minutes. Working with Eddie, we pare down the recording to the most impactful and interesting pieces of audio that also coincide with BRG’s overall messaging goals. This is quite similar to the work we do with clients on written content pieces.
Episode 10 of ThinkSet went live this week, and we’re expecting three episodes to be released this month. This isn’t the only way to do podcasts, of course, but it is a good example of a progressive company seizing on new technology and audience behavior to get its insights in the hands of the people it wants to reach.
Greentarget, since its earliest days, has endeavored to give back to the community by working with a variety of pro bono clients. In 2016, we contributed hundreds of hours to worthy organizations across the country. And we’re on track to do the same this year.
Now, with 2018 just around the corner, we want to expand our list of possible pro bono clients with the first ever GT Cares Grant. Throughout January, we’ll be collecting applications from U.S.-based organizations. We’ll evaluate and pick one client to work with as part of a 90-day engagement in early 2018 – and we’ll announce the winner in March. Organizations submitting applications must have a 501(c)3 designation and a communications goal that can be achieved in 90 days. They also should be new to Greentarget and not have a religious or political affiliation.
Greentarget can offer pro bono clients services in media relations, content production, social media, digital strategy and/or public relations training. But we don’t want to limit potential efforts to those buckets. Organizations submitting applications can also suggest other related types of work.
Still, it’s important to keep in mind that we’ll judge applications based on the likelihood of a fit – that is, how well we could serve your organization. Here’s a sampling of organizations we’ve worked with in 2017:
- Barrel of Monkeys: The Chicago-based arts education organization focuses on teaching creative writing to grade schoolers and turning their stories into performances for the public. The organization celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2017, and Greentarget helped create messaging that resulted in coverage in several local media outlets.
- Cameron Kravitt Foundation: CKF teaches future doctors, particularly pediatricians, how to tell parents their child has died. With a primary goal of increasing awareness of and engagement with CKF, Greentarget leveraged earned media as a channel to articulate the CKF story. We also provided a social media framework for the Junior Board to consider implementing in the second half of the year.
- Culinary Care: The organization provides made-to-order meals from a network of quality restaurants for families facing cancer. In September, the nonprofit held its 3rd Annual Corporate Cook-Off with a Chopped-inspired affair. Leading up to the event, Greentarget provided traditional media relations counsel, and post-event we developed follow-up material to help Culinary Care reconnect with sponsors, patients and families in need, as well as social media messaging.
- Heartland Alliance: Each year, Heartland Alliance hosts a Home & Garden Tour in Southwest Michigan offering a glimpse into homes and gardens with interesting architecture and interior design. Because all proceeds go to the Heartland Alliance Fund, ticket sales are of utmost importance. To increase awareness of the event, Greentarget secured media coverage in numerous event calendars, as well as articles in Road Trips for Gardeners and Harbor Country News that promoted the tour.
- Humble Design: The Detroit-based nonprofit helps families transitioning out of homeless shelters by furnishing their new homes soup to nuts (furniture, curtains, towels, dishes, art, books, etc.). The nonprofit opened a Chicago chapter in March 2017 and wanted to get the word out locally. Greentarget secured broadcast coverage on ABC, NBC and CBS.
- Kids in Need of Defense: KIND strives to ensure that no child appears in immigration court without legal representation while continuously educating lawmakers and the general public about what the kids are fleeing and who they are. Greentarget helped get the word out by leveraging traditional and social media to promote two reports on sexual and gender-based violence in Central America, and we produced two Q&As with legal volunteers.
- United Way of Metro Chicago: Greentarget facilitated planning discussions about the organization’s new neighborhood network program, developed an executive positioning plan and engaged in story development conversations with the organization’s CEO and SVP of Community Impact. We also instituted a twice-weekly news monitoring notification newsletter to flag stories that United Way can be positioned to comment on.
- Describe your organization. (200 words or less)
- Give us your best pitch about why we should work with you. (200 words or less)
- What specific communications challenge can Greentarget help you solve starting in early 2018? (200 words or less)
- How do you envision Greentarget helping you meet that challenge in 2018? (200 words or less)
- What is your ideal outcome of the work associated with this challenge – e.g., improved overall messaging, media coverage or increased social media presence? (200 words or less)
- Describe your organization and staff, particularly your communications/public relations personnel. (200 words or less)
