Wallace and Ruth

We’re doing some (early) spring cleaning at the AHA office. As we go through files, media coverage binders and jump drives, we have the opportunity to reflect a little on campaigns and projects from the past. This week, we came across the files for one of our favourite creative campaigns. In the early days of AHA, we were fortunate enough to be asked to work on a documentary series called Healing with Animals, produced by Mystique Films. This was a fabulous series that focused on how animals help humans heal.

We wanted traditional media coverage for the launch of the series. (This was back before social media was as widely accepted as it is today… Seems like a million years ago, but in reality we’re only talking about seven years.) We also wanted ongoing coverage as well. We were fortunate that the filmmakers (Mary Bissell and Chris Bruyere) were out-of-the-box thinkers and “got” what we wanted to do, because we used a creative approach that took a bit of a leap of faith on their part. (Which is why we loved working with them!)

One of the segments focused on Wallace, a llama that would visit homes for the elderly. It turns out that Wallace loved people and that seeing a llama in their lobby created a positive reaction in some of the elderly, especially those suffering with dementia. Quite often, the surprise of seeing Wallace would pull the person into a period of reality. They were able to interact, converse and connect in a way that they normally struggled with due to their condition. Wallace loved the attention and the people he visited loved him.

We ended up generating a huge amount of national coverage for the series and Wallace was one of our “stars.” Our client was thrilled with the results.

The lessons we learned working with Wallace were many—below are the top three.

If you are pitching media, do your research.

We knew that (at that time) national talk show host Vicki Gabereau had a soft spot for animals. She ran a weekly spot showcasing pets that were up for adoption. She owned two labs. We saw an opportunity here to appeal to her personal interest in animals, as well as to pitch why it was good for the show as a whole.

We customized our pitch to reflect the key points we knew about Vicki and the show. It wasn’t a generic pitch; it reflected the show’s mandate and touched some personal interest points for the host. The producer loved the idea and Wallace and our client were invited to come on the show.

Get the most value for your efforts.

Wallace lived on Vancouver Island and The Vicki Gabereau Show taped in downtown Vancouver. There was a body of water between us. Wallace’s wranglers brought him over via ferry. (He loves the ride and had his own customized van for travel.) It took a lot of time and effort from everyone involved to bring Wallace to Vancouver to appear on the national talk show. In order to make the most of this opportunity we added an autograph session to Wallace’s visit. (I mean, really, how many times in a communicator’s career do you have a llama in the downtown core of Vancouver?) Prior to the taping of the talk show, we had Wallace at the corner of Burrard and Robson (one of Vancouver’s busiest corners) “signing” hoof autographs for fans. Wallace loves people, so he was in his glory with the tourists, the children and everyone coming to meet him and pet him. We sent out a photo opportunity notice to media across the country—explaining that Wallace was in town to be on The Vicki Gabereau Show to promote his segment in Healing with Animals.

There was huge national coverage on this. The coverage not only showed images of Wallace in downtown Vancouver, but also mentioned his upcoming appearance on The Vicki Gabereau Show (the show was live to tape so aired a day later) and mentioned Healing With Animals and when it aired. Everyone benefited.

We also had a shot taken of Wallace on the corner signing autographs and sent this out to community papers and other media that couldn’t make the photo opportunity. This also generated coverage and it was used in promotional materials for the show, providing additional value to the filmmakers and the broadcaster.

Do whatever it takes to get the job done.

People have an idea that the life of a communicator is filled with nice lunch meetings and business class trips to posh client organizations. Not my life, not that I would trade it for anything.

I learned a lot about llamas while working with Wallace. 1) They spit when they are mad. (I am grateful I never made Wallace mad at me.) 2) If Wallace really liked you, he would lean in for what seemed to be a kiss, and then he would expel air in your face. No spit, just stinky llama breath of affection. (He seemed to really love me!) 3) They won’t go to the bathroom unless there is already llama poop at the spot. Well, Wallace needed to do his business before we took him into the studio. His wranglers had thoughtfully brought a bag of llama poop with them. It was my job to put out the poop so Wallace would then do what he needed to… which he cheerfully did. Then it was my job to pick up all the poop.

There I was, in a small parking lot just off Burrard Street, picking up llama poop in my business clothes. Such a glam life I lead.

Now, I am not sure I would put Della up against Jeopardy genius Ken Jennings—that’s just a different kind of smart (and one that I believe has more to do with memory than anything else). But I have seen Della in a wide range of scenarios—from dealing with an organization facing a huge crisis to sipping a cold beverage at an outdoor patio on a hot summer day—and along with her strategic, steel trap of a mind… There is something else, something special and rare and well, simple, that is the foundation of her style of genius (and her success). She is a relationship builder.

Della recently launched a blog – Della’s Deck. It’s about effective, powerful and authentic communication. And it provides straightforward advice that can be put into action immediately. It is valuable to me from a professional communications perspective, and I get value from it in my personal life. This week, Della wrote about the power of authentic relationships. She also shared a list of questions that you should/could know about the people in your life… I was amazed at how many of them I couldn’t answer about people—clients and friends—who I would say I have particularly close or positive relationships with. I am going to change that.

Authentic relationships are at the heart of communication. And that doesn’t mean that, as a communicator, you need to meet every single person on your media distribution list—although you should know who they are, what they cover for their media outlet or blog, and understand why what you are sending them is of interest to them. That is a relationship. It might be a few steps removed from the kind of relationship where you can call a journalist and ask them to meet you for a coffee, but it is still a respectful relationship.

At AHA, we often have people call us out of the blue and tell us why we should hire them. No relationship building by commenting on this blog or chatting with us on Facebook or Twitter. Their calls are based on what we should know about them. I often wonder how much they know about us—if anything.

We recently had someone become quite persistent about calling to tell us why we should hire the company she works for to produce video for our clients. We asked her if she realized that we have a video crew here at AHA. She hesitated and then said: “But we’re better.”

Really?

Firstly, I don’t think she even checked our site. Secondly, our crew produces brand journalism videos. Had she looked at our site and paid attention to who we really are, she might have said: “Yes, I see you do brand journalism videos. I really liked the one that you did for Vancouver Community College’s Year of Science event. We actually produce a more corporate (or documentary or VH1-like) style. Perhaps we could chat and see if we can be of value to you, for those times when you need a different video style.” That might have gotten my attention. Opportunity lost because she didn’t even try to start an authentic, mutually beneficial relationship with us.

Relationships matter.

There are some standard approaches to storytelling that consistently work – if you have compelling content. There is the “Hero’s Quest.” This tells the story of someone standing up – against the odds – for what they believe in. We have had many opportunities to use this in showcasing how individuals in an organization brought social responsibility to their workplace or how they overcame personal challenges to grow and evolve, and what that experience means to their professional role.

The “Coming of Age” is the story of transformation where there is a valuable life lesson that is learned through experience. This storyline can be very effective in our wired world. We have used it to showcase how an organization grew and evolved, how another embraced new methods of employee attraction and retention, and how one embraced the new conversational approach of social media and the active, online consumer.

There is the “Stranger in a Strange Land” approach, which speaks to change and how to adapt. We have used this with great success when introducing a new CEO or senior executive that has come from another industry.

And we can’t forget the “Romance” – in a corporate environment, this would be called “Collaboration” – which we have used during mergers and acquisitions, when two diverse divisions or departments were given an opportunity to work together.

These are just a few of the classic storylines that you can use to tell your story. At the heart of it is the human interest component, which we will talk more about in Thursday’s post.

Once you have defined your storyline and understand what it is you want to share, it is also important to identify the medium (or mediums) that will work for your stakeholder groups. Often we develop a storyline that is told through different mediums, which gives us the opportunity to share different aspects of the story. Writing a profile article is very different than a feature piece; telling the story through video will showcase different aspects than a print piece. A podcast is different again.

It isn’t just about what medium will tell the story most effectively; it’s also about how your target audience wants to engage. We often reach out with a brief survey and ask them whether they would prefer to read an article or watch a video or, in some cases, listen to the podcast. Instead of assuming, go to the stakeholder group and ask.

The fact is, stories are being told about your organization all the time. Whether the stories are good or bad, they are being told by clients or customers, by service providers, employees and contractors (and their families and friends), by competitors, your board members, government officials and by the media.

When we start working with a client, we often do a little bit of research and find some of the stories that are being told about the organization. There is a great deal of information that can be found online, in blogs, in media coverage, on social media networking sites and on consumer review sites. We also often develop and execute communication audits that ask a range of stakeholder groups for their confidential feedback. Focus groups, both more formal and informal, can also help to inform us of what your story is “on the street.”

Once you have a sense of the story that others are telling about you, it helps to understand what type of story you should be telling at this point. Are the stories that are being told by stakeholders positive or negative? Are they accurate or do they contain errors or misinformation? What is the theme of the stories?

You can learn a great deal from what is being said about your organization now. Understanding this component is the first step in developing your organization’s story on your terms and, when you share it, having your stakeholder groups connect to it and retell it – the way it should be told.

Next week – step two and three.

One of my professional goals is to work with more clients who realize that great PR is about building relationships, about educating and informing, and about engaging with your target market or stakeholder group. Social media has made a huge impact on public relations. There are many avenues for great PR and they include traditional approaches and new media. One of the areas I am excited about is in the area of brand journalism. Brand journalism allows organizations to create interesting, useful pieces – video, articles, Q&As and more – that share relevant information that is of value to the stakeholder group.

We recently worked with a client who was concerned that if they took a brand journalism approach it would mean that their objectives would be left behind – that they would be putting budget towards something that doesn’t have measurable results. Their CEO was committed to creating a different avenue to communicate directly with stakeholders (who were consumers). They were surprised (and relieved) when we explained that not only can (and should) a brand journalism approach support the organization’s objectives, but also that response and reaction can be measured.

Brand journalism is about telling your organization’s story in an interesting and compelling manner. When we start a brand journalism project, we work with our clients to define their objectives and goals, we research and develop interesting (and authentic and true) story angles, and we define how the story should be told – articles, video, podcasts, town hall meetings, online live question and answer sessions, etc. – by understanding who the target audience is and what they want. In order to measure, we need to clearly understand what the goals and objectives are and we need to know the current status – where are you now and where do you want to go?

Brand journalism is an editorial approach to telling your organization’s story in a credible and interesting way. Think about a segment you might see on the morning news and how it shows more than just the sales pitch for an event, a product or a service. It talks about trends, about why something is becoming popular or important, and it focuses on why it matters to the audience. It focuses on the human interest component – the heart and soul. It’s about people, the experience and about providing some type of information that is of value to you. That’s what a good brand journalism piece or campaign should be – what it should do is make the person reading or watching feel like their time was well-spent, that they learned something, and that they have a new or different perspective. They should never feel like they are being sold.

Here’s to a fun, challenging and successful 2012 – filled with great and authentic stories and clients!

It was refreshing to read this article on pitching on Ragan.com. New York Times Tech Journalist David Pogue talks about the pitches that grabbed his attention. (Just for the record, we are big fans of Pogue!) It’s worth a read. And if you think the information provided by a tech journalist isn’t relevant to your organization and what you want to pitch – you’re dead wrong. This approach translates to almost any proactive media pitch for any industry. It’s about being relevant, being timely, understanding what the journalist or blogger is interested in, and catching their attention in a way that works for that particular blogger or journalist.

Great media and blogger relations takes time. Don’t slap together a news release and shotgun it out to everyone. It doesn’t work that way anymore!

Like any communications tool, blogging isn’t for everyone. It depends on the objectives, goals, overall strategy and, of course, the resources. It takes time and effort to produce a relevant, interesting and informative blog post on a regular basis.

A blog provides an opportunity to share relevant news and information, to educate and inform, to provide opinions and context within an industry and to clarify and correct any misunderstandings or factual errors, which could come from rumours or speculation. A blog can prove valuable during an issue or a crisis; and while it would be a positive to already have one up and running so that you have already created a community that reads the blog, starting one to share information during a challenging time that can provide reliable communications is appreciated – and read.

Depending on what the objective is, there are different types and styles of blogs. And some are a blend. Today we’re going to outline the CEO or President’s blog.

The CEO or President’s Blog

Typically this positions your CEO or President in a thought-leadership position within an industry or field. It also provides the opportunity to show the “human” side of your leader. These types of blogs work best with a CEO or President who is comfortable in the spotlight, who actively participates within your industry, likes to share her/his thoughts, opinions and ideas and who appreciates interaction and feedback. There are those who believe the CEO or President should write their own blog and, in a perfect world, we agree. However, most leaders don’t have the time it takes to do this. We have found that the most authentic and realistic way for this type of blog to succeed is to have regular meetings (which can be on the phone while the CEO drives to work) where she/he downloads ideas and key points and the post gets written in their personal style. The CEO reviews it to make sure that their thoughts and ideas are reflected.

There is some discussion about the authenticity of this approach, but in our experience it’s similar to having someone write a speech. It has to reflect the CEO or President’s thoughts, ideas and style, but it can be written for them. We always recommend that in the about section of the blog that this is explained or defined.

Think of this blog as your CEO or President having a column that is produced two or three times a week.
On Monday, we’ll visit the organization blog, the employee blog and a blended blog.

Create an Editorial Schedule
Do you have a schedule of the content you will upload? A little forethought goes a long way when you are busy and need content or an idea in a hurry.

Here are some things to think about when developing an editorial schedule. What are the key areas of content that are valuable to your stakeholder group? Are there annual events or happenings that you can put in to the schedule? Ask stakeholders what they are interested in hearing about from you and add it to the schedule. Look at information you are using – do you have a media pitch or news release that you can repurpose? Do you have more information than you used from an interview with your CEO or another industry leader?

Ask for Assistance
We have worked with some clients to establish a content committee, an advisory board and we have also put out a call for volunteer content creators (establishing exactly how much of their work week can be put towards this task). Often there are individuals within your organization that have skills in this area that you don’t realize. Their positions might not have anything to do with writing, taking images or identifying good stories, but they are good at this. Asking for assistance isn’t a sign of weakness; it shows that you want to get others engaged and that you are interested in their areas/departments.

Think Like the Media
It is human nature to fall into writing material in a more promotional manner – it’s often a big part of our job. Take a step back and think like a magazine/newspaper editor/writer or broadcast producer. Moving into the role of content producer doesn’t mean you are going to air dirty laundry or talk about negatives; it means that you are going to create authentic, compelling content. It means creating content in an editorial style – a style that is balanced and has quotes that are substantial. The content could show the humanity, the challenges, the risks and the successes of your organization.

Change Up Your Words
We recently had a client that struggled with taking on an editorial approach. She was a good writer, but the content she was creating read like marketing material. Working with her, we developed a list of words that she agreed not to use; words like leading edge, exciting, innovative and world-class weren’t to be used. (Don’t get us wrong, we have nothing against these words in the proper context.) It was a bit of a challenge at first. She had a big case of writer’s block because she relied on these words. However, she had a breakthrough. Now her content is read by a large stakeholder group and it is regularly shared throughout the industry. It was a big step forward in building her organization’s brand.

It seems pretty straightforward to me what to pitch to us. Which makes us shake our heads in wonder when we get pitches from random PR agencies and independent PR practitioners that have nothing to do with what we write about here. It looks to me like some people just grab any email they can find and send out a news release or pitch, whether it is relevant or not. We suspect they might then go to their clients and say, “We developed a database of 10,000 journalists and bloggers and have reached out to them.” What the client isn’t hearing is that if they are sending useless (and sometimes annoying) information to journalists and bloggers. It’s not good for the organization’s reputation or the agency’s.

We remember who these people are, who the organization is and while I may not have much power or influence in these type of things, I can tell you when we get together with colleagues and friends who are in this field, who are journalists, who are bloggers – the discussion turns to this and we talk about them. And not in a good way.

When someone comes on board as AHA Crew, we ask them how they build their media and blogger lists. What their criteria is, how they define who are the right journalists/bloggers to approach, and how they would approach each media outlet, journalist or blogger. It’s about being strategic, targeted and taking the time to do it right.

So, if you are one of the people pitching us on story ideas that are so off topic that it makes us laugh out loud – please stop. (I doubt this will work because I am sure none of these people take the time to read this blog.)

If you are one of the communicators that care, check out the media outlet, the beat or column, the pieces that the journalist you are pitching focuses on. Read the blogs and subscribe to them. Media/blogger relations is an important component of what we do; take it seriously. Give the journalists and bloggers the respect they deserve. You will get better results.