by Daria Steigman on July 22, 2010
This recession has not been kind to marketers and other communications pros. Especially at the senior level.
Frankly, I’m not surprised.
Just look at how we typically refer to ourselves. Marketer. Public Affairs Specialist. Writer. Editor. Media Relations Manager. Videographer. It’s all task-based.
IABC has the word “business” in it, but our titles rarely do. And too often we haven’t made the case that storytelling is key to selling widgets (or sneakers, politicians, goodwill, or support for your cause). That communications is a core business function, as necessary to organizational success as product designers and the sales team.
We talk about transparency and authenticity. Our bosses care about sales, opportunity costs, and ROI.
I’ve heard a lot of hand wringing about how communicators don’t have a seat at the table. Yada, Yada, Yada. Feel better?
Now, what are we going to do about it?
The comments are yours.
Note: This post originally appeared on IABC’s Communication World blog.
Photo by Randy Son of Robert (Flickr).
Tagged as:
authenticity,
Business,
Communications,
IABC,
marketing,
PR,
Strategy,
Transparency
by Daria Steigman on May 18, 2010
An alert friend pointed out to me that Susan G Komen’s slogan is “Join the Global Breast Cancer Movement.” Uh, no thanks. I’m not partial to getting cancer.
What message is your business sending?
Tagged as:
marketing,
Susan G Komen
by Daria Steigman on May 17, 2010
I was on the receiving end of a push poll on Saturday afternoon involving Washington’s mayoral race. In case you don’t know what a push poll is, Wikipedia describes it as:
A political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll… The push poll is a form of telemarketing-based propaganda and rumor mongering, masquerading as a poll… They are generally viewed as a form of negative campaigning.
The mayoral race in our capital city is shaping up as a two-man contest between an arrogant mayor with an interesting take on ethics and transparency (can you say paid Dubai junket?) and a city council chair who’s real claim to fame is that he’s now “the other guy.”
But I digress. The poll asked one question: Which of the two would I vote for? I said I was waiting to see who else was running. Then I heard, “Vincent Gray for Mayor” and a hang-up. Then I got mad–and immediately called Gray’s campaign office to tell them so.
The problem with push polls is that they assume people are stupid. But we’re not, and the insult makes us mad. That’s poor marketing which will lead to bad PR. Plus, in my case, it has me questioning Gray’s judgment and his fitness to lead. How does that help his campaign?
Photo by Steve Weaver (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Adrian Fenty,
marketing,
PR,
push poll,
Vincent Gray
by Daria Steigman on May 10, 2010
Because John Jantsch writes well, The Referral Engine* is a deceptively quick read. Deceptive because, if you’re like me, you’ll want to pause, bookmark, and/or go back and make sure you’ve absorbed all the information Jantsch’s book contains.
At the start of his new book, Jantsch cites an informal survey of small business owners:
Unsurprisingly, I found that 63.4 percent felt that over half their business came by way of referrals. But, of the same group, 79.9 percent readily admitted that they have no system of any kind to generate referrals.
Sound familiar? If this sounds like you, take heart. It will probably turn out that you’re doing some (or many) things right–but perhaps not as systematically as need be.
The Referral Engine is a terrific book. It’s filled with:
- Nuggets of business sense (i.e., “every business needs to create or capture their simple strategy, differentiator, or process that allows them to communicate their unique difference in thirty seconds or less).
- Homework (such as identifying your “secret sauce or way of doing business that you plan to use to drive your content strategy”).
- Examples from businesses that are walking the walk.
This book has energized me to revisit some of what I’m doing to generate referrals in my business. Unless you’re drowning in work and the phones are ringing off the hook, you might want to check out The Referral Engine too.
*Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book in exchange for agreeing to review it–but without any restrictions on what I might say.
Tagged as:
Business,
John Jantsch,
The Referral Engine
by Daria Steigman on February 22, 2010
Oh really? Glad to know I want brake problems.
This turned up in my mail on Saturday. Inside was a shiny brochure about their hybrid vehicles. Don’t you think Toyota should have put off this print campaign until after they fixed their cars?
Tagged as:
advertising,
marketing,
Toyota
This recession has not been kind to marketers and other communications pros. Especially at the senior level.
