Thursday 23 April 2009
Voices in Harmony
Since I last blogged about the international 3rd place medalist a capella chorus Voices in Harmony, I’ve so enjoyed their performances that I went ahead and joined the chorus as a performing lead singer. To hear why, come out for our annual spring show, 7:30pm May 30 at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose
Thursday 16 April 2009
PR Firms: Adapt to the Social Web, or Die
I lunched today with PR agent extraordinaire Abigail Johnson, who gave me great tips for my upcoming trip to Russia. I reciprocated with a lesson I learned from a recent exercise in amateur PR.
I had wanted to tell the world about an exciting development at MashLogic -- a startup we're incubating at Bessemer -- so I blogged about it. Having posted the article, I congratulated myself on a job well done. But weeks later I noticed a blog post titled Why I Uninstalled MashLogic from a user (Zoli Erdos) spooked by privacy concerns. Our mission at MashLogic centers on user empowerment and privacy, so this negative post might have easily erupted into a contagious meme on the web -- a potentially fatal backlash against our young product.
Fortunately, though, MashLogic's architect and co-founder Ranjit Padmanabhan (photo right) had been combing the blogosphere, so minutes after Zoli posted, Ranjit responded with a very open acknowledgment of the issue, a full explanation of our privacy policy, why we think our approach is right for users, and what we're doing to improve it. Ranjit showed genuine appreciation for the feedback. Zoli's response: "Kudos to you guys for recognizing the issue :-)" and then he updated his blog post with a commendation of MashLogic for the immediate response.
The conclusion here is probably obvious and intuitive to some readers, but it may bear elaboration for those among us saddled with more outdated expectations of the PR process...
As everyone knows, PR agencies cultivate relationships with journalists and editors who are in a position to generate product awareness among their readers and viewers. In a world where most people were reading a concentrated set of newspapers and magazines, these agency relationships -- combined with diligent follow-through to address the journalists' questions -- promised significant value to companies who wish to get their message out. Plant the story in a few key chokepoints, and everyone would read it more or less as pitched to the media outlets.
But in today's world, it's not enough to hit the major news sources. For every story printed in the New York Times, hundreds or thousands of reader comments, blogs, emails, and tweets react to the story. Indeed, user-generated content now dominates professional content in both volume and mindshare, and so the tenor of user-generated commentary is far more important to the agency's client than the tenor of the original article.
For almost all agencies, though, favorable press hits represent the end of the PR process, not the beginning. But favorable press hits themselves should not be the metric of success. Rather, PR firms today should document an intense followup in the two or three days following press hits to actively engage the market through comment pages, blogs and Twitter.
Specifically, a great PR firm should help its client companies address the inevitable questions and reactions that skeptical readers should and do express, and to do so quickly while the public reaction is still forming through social echoes of the story. Responding to a "backlash" a week later is much more difficult than pre-empting the backlash in the first place.
Really I'm just talking about listening to customers, giving them straight answers, and doing it quickly. In today's transparent world, spin doesn't work. Questions must be addressed with humility and honesty (just as Amazon did yesterday); today more than ever, a great PR firm must help its clients respond fast, without defensive thinking.
I hope Abigail appreciated the advice as much as I appreciated her pointers to the Czar's palaces near St. Petersburg. I do hope to see her agency and others adapting to the dynamic, transparent PR requirements of social media.
I had wanted to tell the world about an exciting development at MashLogic -- a startup we're incubating at Bessemer -- so I blogged about it. Having posted the article, I congratulated myself on a job well done. But weeks later I noticed a blog post titled Why I Uninstalled MashLogic from a user (Zoli Erdos) spooked by privacy concerns. Our mission at MashLogic centers on user empowerment and privacy, so this negative post might have easily erupted into a contagious meme on the web -- a potentially fatal backlash against our young product.
Fortunately, though, MashLogic's architect and co-founder Ranjit Padmanabhan (photo right) had been combing the blogosphere, so minutes after Zoli posted, Ranjit responded with a very open acknowledgment of the issue, a full explanation of our privacy policy, why we think our approach is right for users, and what we're doing to improve it. Ranjit showed genuine appreciation for the feedback. Zoli's response: "The conclusion here is probably obvious and intuitive to some readers, but it may bear elaboration for those among us saddled with more outdated expectations of the PR process...
As everyone knows, PR agencies cultivate relationships with journalists and editors who are in a position to generate product awareness among their readers and viewers. In a world where most people were reading a concentrated set of newspapers and magazines, these agency relationships -- combined with diligent follow-through to address the journalists' questions -- promised significant value to companies who wish to get their message out. Plant the story in a few key chokepoints, and everyone would read it more or less as pitched to the media outlets.But in today's world, it's not enough to hit the major news sources. For every story printed in the New York Times, hundreds or thousands of reader comments, blogs, emails, and tweets react to the story. Indeed, user-generated content now dominates professional content in both volume and mindshare, and so the tenor of user-generated commentary is far more important to the agency's client than the tenor of the original article.
For almost all agencies, though, favorable press hits represent the end of the PR process, not the beginning. But favorable press hits themselves should not be the metric of success. Rather, PR firms today should document an intense followup in the two or three days following press hits to actively engage the market through comment pages, blogs and Twitter.
Specifically, a great PR firm should help its client companies address the inevitable questions and reactions that skeptical readers should and do express, and to do so quickly while the public reaction is still forming through social echoes of the story. Responding to a "backlash" a week later is much more difficult than pre-empting the backlash in the first place.
Really I'm just talking about listening to customers, giving them straight answers, and doing it quickly. In today's transparent world, spin doesn't work. Questions must be addressed with humility and honesty (just as Amazon did yesterday); today more than ever, a great PR firm must help its clients respond fast, without defensive thinking.
I hope Abigail appreciated the advice as much as I appreciated her pointers to the Czar's palaces near St. Petersburg. I do hope to see her agency and others adapting to the dynamic, transparent PR requirements of social media.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Wednesday 15 April 2009
Monday 6 April 2009
Carless for a Year
I didn't mean to become carless -- it just kind of happened.
The 2004 Mercedes E500 has a poor track record for quality, so a week before the warranty expired on mine, I sold it. I couldn't figure out what to buy, and there are so many cars to test drive. (Who Has Time For This?) That was 14 months ago.
It hasn't been so bad, really. I hitch rides with my wife and my colleagues, and sometimes I bike to work. I borrow my friend's car when he's away on travel, and I joined ZipCar. And when I'm not traveling for a whole month, I pay Hertz $600 to rent an Audi, BMW, or Infiniti .For regular customers like me, Farshid at Hertz Palo Alto drops off and picks up the car and -- here's the best part -- It turns out that renting is actually cheaper than either buying or leasing.
View Larger Map
Here's why it works for me (and maybe for you): my wife drives an old Odyseey minivan (winner of the WhoHas award), for which the liability insurance has got to be cheaper than for any other car. But still the policy covers my liability for rentals up to one month, and AmEx covers any damage to the rental car (as I now know first hand). I don't have to pay for insurance, registration, sales tax, maintenance, depreciation, cost of capital or even car washing. (I still pay for gas, but less than before, thanks to BillShrink.) Even if I rent the car 7 or 8 months a year, it's still way cheaper than owning the same luxury car, and I get to feel just a tiny bit greener.
So when the hell are you going to buy your own car? they ask me at work as I bum rides home. Well, I did put down a deposit on a Fisker Karma, so that pretty much guarantees I won't own a car any time soon!
The 2004 Mercedes E500 has a poor track record for quality, so a week before the warranty expired on mine, I sold it. I couldn't figure out what to buy, and there are so many cars to test drive. (Who Has Time For This?) That was 14 months ago.
It hasn't been so bad, really. I hitch rides with my wife and my colleagues, and sometimes I bike to work. I borrow my friend's car when he's away on travel, and I joined ZipCar. And when I'm not traveling for a whole month, I pay Hertz $600 to rent an Audi, BMW, or Infiniti .For regular customers like me, Farshid at Hertz Palo Alto drops off and picks up the car and -- here's the best part -- It turns out that renting is actually cheaper than either buying or leasing.
View Larger Map
Here's why it works for me (and maybe for you): my wife drives an old Odyseey minivan (winner of the WhoHas award), for which the liability insurance has got to be cheaper than for any other car. But still the policy covers my liability for rentals up to one month, and AmEx covers any damage to the rental car (as I now know first hand). I don't have to pay for insurance, registration, sales tax, maintenance, depreciation, cost of capital or even car washing. (I still pay for gas, but less than before, thanks to BillShrink.) Even if I rent the car 7 or 8 months a year, it's still way cheaper than owning the same luxury car, and I get to feel just a tiny bit greener.
So when the hell are you going to buy your own car? they ask me at work as I bum rides home. Well, I did put down a deposit on a Fisker Karma, so that pretty much guarantees I won't own a car any time soon!
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Sunday 5 April 2009
CertifiedVideo: GoodMail has a Tiger by the Tail
On Friday Twitter was abuzz about GoodMail's new CertifiedVideo service.
For those who missed my post on Why I Invested in GoodMail, GoodMail shifts the onus and cost of email security from individuals like us to the commercial senders who have the budget and motivation to pay for authentication, cryptography, scanning, and monitoring. And the need for trusted email has never been higher, as scammers exploit the economic crisis to deploy phshing attacks of unprecedented sophistication. GoodMail already delivers billions of Certified Emails every month (look for the blue ribbon icon in your inbox to spot the authenticated, unphishy messages).
GoodMail's latest service enables senders to present full playback video inside email with cryptographic proof that the video is safe and the source is trusted. According to yesterday's Wall Street Journal, CertifiedVideo opens up for media companies and permission-based marketers a compelling new channel that promises much higher engagement and response rates. Studies show users 4X as likely to play video that is embedded rather than linked to. That's why the NY Times, Turner, Fox, NBC, Target and LiveNation are already on board.
Play ABC News segment:
For those who missed my post on Why I Invested in GoodMail, GoodMail shifts the onus and cost of email security from individuals like us to the commercial senders who have the budget and motivation to pay for authentication, cryptography, scanning, and monitoring. And the need for trusted email has never been higher, as scammers exploit the economic crisis to deploy phshing attacks of unprecedented sophistication. GoodMail already delivers billions of Certified Emails every month (look for the blue ribbon icon in your inbox to spot the authenticated, unphishy messages).
GoodMail's latest service enables senders to present full playback video inside email with cryptographic proof that the video is safe and the source is trusted. According to yesterday's Wall Street Journal, CertifiedVideo opens up for media companies and permission-based marketers a compelling new channel that promises much higher engagement and response rates. Studies show users 4X as likely to play video that is embedded rather than linked to. That's why the NY Times, Turner, Fox, NBC, Target and LiveNation are already on board.
Play ABC News segment:
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)