Cat Poop Turns to PR Gold

Imagine meeting with your boss (or client - which in the agency world is the same thing) and he/she tells you, "I'd like to introduce a coffee flavor that will cost five times as much as a regular specialty coffee and is made out of cat poop. Can you help me get the word out on this?"

Blink. Blink. Uh, what?

The first thought is probably, "You're kidding, right? Good one." But if you're a true PR professional like Melinda Isley of m creative you pretty quickly see the potential. $20 bucks for a cup of coffee that is brewed from beans that are eaten and digested by a special type of cat-like creature, then, well, eliminated - hmmm sounded like a PR story to her. And she was right. This story had enough of a WOW factor that it not only made the news, it was a front page story on Sunday. http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009909270359

Whether you think this is hysterically funny, immensely gross or incredibly decadant in the nastiest sort of way, chances are you'll read the story. You may never actually buy or taste the coffee, but you'll remember Bennett's Fresh Roast as a coffee cafe that really is different than the run-of-the-mill coffee shops found at every corner. Now THAT's a good PR accomplishment. Only time will tell if this strategy pays off, but my PR hat is off to Melinda for taking something that seems kind of, well, challenging to say the least, and turning into a great story for her client. Also to note, she used an age-old tactic that works wonders. She got the reporters involved. That's almost a story guarantee. If you can get a reporter to sample or interact with something you want them to report on, you'll have success. She planned a pre-tasting event for media prior to the public availability. The reporters simply couldn't resist. It's what they live for. They love to try something themselves so that they can accurately relate the facts.

Not all reporters are thrilled with the opportunity, but most will take advantage. I had an opportunity once to invite a reporter to go on an anti-gravity airplane flight at Kennedy Space Center for Charter Schools USA. The reporter was thrilled and scared to death. She thanked me and cursed me for arranging it. The flight travelled at zero gravity to allow the participants to truly experience weightlessness like they do in outerspace. The effects could be a bit unnerving and many well, throw up. The cost was pretty high, but we were able to offer the seat at no expense to the reporter. Sadly, at the last minute, her seat was no longer available. I can't really express the sound of relief in her voice. "I'm a grandmother!" she said. "I simply could NOT pass this opportunity up, but man am I glad I didn't have to do it." I have a feeling, her thoughts may have been similar had I offered her a hot smoking cup of cat poop. Either way, the resulting stories were really good. She wrote a great story about the anti-gravitational flight and Melinda's reporters wrote a great story about the cat poo coffee. This is the classic story of turning lemons into lemonade...or better yet... cat poop into gold.

When is it Edgy and When is it Sleazy

Having a business name like Edge Communications and promising to give your business the Edge, I am left wondering how far one can go to the edge without slipping off and getting into sleazy. We all struggle with ways to stand out from the crowd. Look different. Make a splash. This weekend, one of my clients, the Vein and Laser Treatment Center is sponsoring the Just Us Girls event with Clear Channel radio. The event is being billed as the ultimate sleep-over and features businesses that cater to women. There will be free services like manicures, hair styling, vitamins, massages, and other fun things. The fun goes on after the vendors close up as guests may stay and dance the night away until they are so tired, they retire to their rooms at the Coconut Point Hyatt. There will be drinks and food and lots of frivolity. Last year's show was a blast. Moms came with their grown-up daughters, friends came and the bonds of sisterhood were evident everywhere. The venue is ripe for edginess. The client agreed to the posters that I've attached and I think they are fine, but I'm wondering where a marketer draws the line. We coined the phrase, "Get Lazed at the Vein and Laser Treatment Center" last year and are carrying the theme through this year. We decided to add these posters as well as some others that are a little less sexy. Personally, I am really proud of these posters and think Janine at Dzine Studio did a wonderful job on the artwork. The response I've gotten from some of my confidants has been positive...some remarking that sex does really sell.

Now where is my dilemma? It's my own disgust as I listened to a radio commericial for a local transmission company that gives a shift about its customers. I know this because the company told me that they give a shift about their customers right there on the radio. My first thought was, "They do what??" Then I was somewhat disgusted. It just didn't sound right. A little too crude for my virgin ears maybe. Just a few moments ago I approved a radio commercial encouraging people to get Lazed at the Vein and Laser Treatment Center. Am I just as sleazy as the "shifty" transmission people? I guess only time will tell. I will post an update as to the response we get. But I'd love to hear some opinions on the line we draw in the sand. Where is that elusive edge that we all want to live on?

A BRAND new issue for not-for-profits

Branding. It's a word that gets tossed around like a football. Some perceive it as a great big overwhelming concept. Others think of it as a logo. By way of definition, branding is everything that makes your organization who it is. It's the personality, ethics, image, reputation and environment you want to display every day to every stakeholder. OK, that does sound pretty overwhelming doesn't it? Especially if you are a not-for-profit organization and everybody tells you that a perfect example of branding is McDonalds or Starbucks. Those organizations spend BILLIONS of dollars to build their brand. Most of us don't have those kinds of budgets, right? One of my favorite sayings that seems applicable here is..."How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." The elephant here is the big scary brand concept. So, let's start with the first bite. Where to begin? Well, let's assume you've already established your business' personality. The problem comes in when you try to build that brand. Trying to employ cost-saving measurements, artwork and photography are often done "in-house" by people who are pretty good at that sort of thing. What gets lost is consistency. Does that mean you have to pay top dollar? Not necessarily. Look at your stakeholders. Are there any professionals associated with your organization who would be willing to lend their services as volunteers or for a trade dollar amount? The only stipulation would be that they are normally paid for their services. In other words, don't include a writer on your team who is a pretty good writer - try to get someone who gets paid for that service. Here are some rules to follow that will help with the consistency issue.

When to hire a professional.
When you want the finished product to show who you really are.

If you are a dog groomer that is working from home, a black and white flyer created on your laptop in Publisher may be ok. However, if you are an organization that is trying to attract high quality investors or stakeholders, you better look like you are a professional organization.

Some must-have professionals on your team should be:
1) Professional photographers. You need to get a library of signature photos that take your breath away. These photos will be used every time you are trying to communicate who you are. These photos will be used on brochures, Web sites, newsletters, posters, billboards, everything. They will become synonomous with your name. When someone sees these photos, they'll say, "Oh, that's XYZ organization."

2) Professional graphic designers. In today's world, there will always be a talented high school student who is pretty darn good at creating Web sites and drawing pictures for a cheap price. Don't use them. The problem is that they don't have the background or skills to understand how their artwork fits into the bigger picture and strategy. Many logos are beautiful - until you make them small enough to fit on a business card or large enough to fit on a billboard. A professionally trained graphic designer thinks about all the applications and designs a look and feel that can and should be carried out through every communication distributed by the organization. A good graphic designer will be able to develop templates that can be easily updated by in-house staff. BUT make sure stringent graphic standards are adhered to. In other words, don't allow a talented in-house staffer to make minor adjustments to the final design. A little tweak here and a tiny nudge there and you end up with a totally different animal. Also - just a caveat - all graphic designers are not Web designers. When you hire one, make sure they have Web background. See #4 below for more on Web designers.

3) Marketing/PR professionals. Use a professional wherever you can for consultation. The challenge many marketing/PR professionals find is that by nature, they are very helpful people. Problem solvers. For not-for-profits, that can seem like a dream-come-true. For a marketing professional, that can be a tremendous time drain. If they can't afford it, not-for-profits often rely on pro-bono services from marketing professionals. That's OK, as long as parameters are set. A good consultant will put plans into motion that can be implemented by staff. For-profit businesses often rely on consultants to handle the implementation as well. Budget is always an issue, but let's face it, for-profits usually have a bigger budget for this than not-for-profits. Utilize consultants to see if your message is consistent. Is it the right message? Are we delivering the message through the right channels? Does it fit in with our overall brand? Is our brand still viable or does it need to adapt? Are we properly communicating the mission of our organization in everything we do? How can we get the most from our marketing budget? Use these consultants as a living breathing "HOW TO" manual. Just don't have them implement unless they've agreed to a certain number of hours or you can pay them to do it. Their time is the only thing they have to sell. Don't ask them to give it all away.

4) Web designers. It is so easy to create your own Web site these days. Programs make it a snap to get a Web presence and everyone needs a Web presence, right? WRONG. It is better to not have a Web presence than to have a site that looks like it was developed by an amateur. Your Web site should start with a navigational plan that lays out the exact objectives of your site. A Web site should be approached in the exact same manner as any other marketing tool. What is the objective? What do you want it to accomplish? How will it contribute to your branding? Sometimes Web designers are not great graphic designers (same as some graphic designers are not great Web designers) You may not get a two for one, but find the funds to do this right or don't do it at all.


OK, I lied. This really IS a big overwhelming concept. And that bite was a pretty big monster. Next blog, we can talk about how to incorporate branding into your everyday activities. For now, today's bite is "Know when to hire a professional to help you develop your brand!" Happy elephant eating everyone.

Make No Mistake - Freedom Still Rings

I had the opportunity this week to share with my high schooler about 9/11. She was 6 years old at the time and really had no memory of the events that happened that day. Retelling was reliving. It gave me a deep sense of purpose to help young people today understand. I think I feel like those who experienced Pearl Harbor. While we as a new generation know what happened, it was so far removed that our hearts do not break when we think about it. Our tears do not fall for those who went through it. Probably not so with someone over the age of 65. Pearl Harbor is probably as raw and alive for them when they retell it as 9/11 is for us. When she asked, "What was it like, Mom? What were you doing when it happened?" I was transported back to my office at Priority Marketing. I was talking on the phone to Teri Hansen, the company's owner and president. We were interrupted by a telephone call from her husband, then the chief of EMS. We learned about the tragedy, but didn't have a television. The Internet was still very new and was innundated - so although we were able to get some glimpses of what happened, the system was completely overloaded. After we sat there stunned and in shock for a while, I tried to gather myself and "get back to work" I called a client who said, "Colleen, I can't deal with this right now, I'm watching New York City being destroyed." It was like a slap I needed. What was I thinking? You can't go back to normal when something like this is going on. In fact, an event like 9/11 changes you forever. After the plane went down in Pennsylvania, I began to panic. How many more planes would fall from the sky? Was my family safe? My father was staying just outside of Dover Airforce Base - was he safe? We all came home that night and hugged each other. I cried and went to my friend's house. Her husband was just finishing up his two weeks as an Army reservist and she received a call that he wouldn't be returning anytime soon and to bring some supplies to Homestead. After the shock and pain settled, I noticed something though that I had never felt or experienced in my life to that point. Patriotism. I watched my brother return from Vietnam and be persecuted. No heros. I watched the President of the United States resign in humilation. No pride. I watched our world trudge along while citizens became the "me" generation and the sense of entitlement to all that was good started to emerge. The other guy wasn't important and our nation was a joke. Then, 9/11 changed all that in my eyes and heart. For the first time, I was proud to be an American. Watching people pull together to help and feeling a deep need to be one of those people overwhelmed us all. Our generation - the Generation Xers - never felt connected to "The Cause" as the Baby Boomers often did. We felt hopeless and cynical. But 9/11 changed that for a while. Instead of me-first, we watched our nation step aside out of courtesy. People smiled at each other more. The bigger picture came into view. People were scurrying to get flags and for an entire generation, we finally understood what the flag really meant. For the first time in a generation, we listened to the Star Spangled Banner and cried. Wow. Never really listened to those words before. Now I understood what they meant. Our flag was still there! Following 9/11, Tom Sterbens, a pastor at a local church recorded an amazing song called Freedom Still Rings. The lyrics are unbelievable. At Priority Marketing, Teri dedicated her staff to produce a video to accompany the song. The cd and video were to be sold with proceeds to go to the families of the firefighters and police who were killed. The team consisted of Teri Hansen, Olivia Rill, Christine Polito, Kevin Owen, Gary Sharp, Lindsey Grimes and me. I hope I didn't forget anyone, but those are the ones I remember. We spent days either searching for photos, putting together the video or handling everything else while the video was in production. I am going to try and post this video - I found it on someone's MySpace. I hope they don't mind. I thought about the after affects of 9/11. It inspired artists to use their talents - whatever those talents were - to help make a difference. Musicians put on benefit concerts, Bruce Springsteen wrote an entire album - The Rising - to memorialize the event. Country singers wrote rebel songs to inspire patriotism. Painters created visual memories, sculptors crafted breathtaking sculptures. As our civilization has done forever - we tried to make an unspeakable horror into something beautiful. I think we did this because of the patriotism aspect. That burning feeling inside that you are part of something much bigger. In Europe, if something like this happens, their neighbors say, "Boy, that's a shame that happened to THEM" In the United States, if one our states is attacked - it happened to US! We developed an immediate brotherhood with our kin in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. Some of the girls from our office bought tickets to support the crashed tourism industry in New York. They just went to take in a show. That gesture was felt by many New Yorkers who felt vulnerable and alone. These courageous girls (remember - flying was not exactly a popular mode of transportation at the time) took the time and money to fly all the way from Florida to New York, just to let New Yorkers know they cared. We became all part of a bigger family. So was 9/11 a tragedy? You betcha. The worst in our current memory. But our God, the one who was honored by the president's appeal after 9/11 to the country to PRAY, gave us all the courage and strength to pull together and get through it. Please don't allow our children to forget 9/11 like we have forgotten Pearl Harbor. Don't let this fade into history as just another bad thing that happened. Let's help them realize that no matter how bad things get, there is always hope. Americans are good people. Yes, there are bad apples. Yes, our government is a little shaky sometimes. Yes, we argue alot about silly things...and important things. But in the end, we are STILL the most amazing group of people in the entire world. Nowhere in this world is there a land mass the size of the United States that would foster the brotherhood we feel here in the UNITED States. We can go to bed feeling sure that if something really bad happens in Florida - our brothers and sisters in California and Kentucky, New York and South Dakota - all of those other States will be there for us. We may not always agree, but I can guarantee that we are a nation of honorable men, women and children who when pushed will push back to protect our land and those who live in it. I love you all. God Bless each of us. I've posted the video - but I'm not certain it will play. I'll also post it on my facebook page. We can never ever forget.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=6602959

Hey, Mr. Obama - you need to read my post about Objectives!

I usually stray away from political discussions. Why? Well the cat is coming out of the bag now. I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat either. I'm of a party that doesn't yet exist. I call it the "Straight Down the Middle" party. I know this disapponts many of my friends on both sides of the aisle because you all assumed I was your way. Well, I am in many ways. In fact, I'll bet, I represent more of a majority than either of the two parties. One thing I CAN say is that of the things that I believe in passionately, neither party will sway me, so please don't try. All of that is being said so that I'm not accused of or praised for Obama bashing. Watching the controversy unfold about his plan to broadcast live to schools, I simply had to post and ask the President and his advisors to read my former post about setting objectives. Sorry, but the school address is a bonehead idea. Why? Let's look at the possible objectives...

Objective #1 - to encourage more kids to stay in school.
Seems pretty straight forward to me, right? WRONG. This is a fluffy, feel good objective that has no basis in reality. Why? Simple - it makes NO sense.

Reasons? You, Mr. President are highly controversial. People either LOVE you or HATE you. As a result of that, your plan to broadcast live will have a direct impact on having kids NOT go to school that day. Think about it. If the County is a Republican County, the District will refuse to show it live. As a result, the Democratic Party parents will keep their child away from school that day in protest. If the County is a Democratic County, the District will embrace the idea and Republican Party parents will refuse to send their child to school that day. Net result - 1/2 the kids get a day off of school. Missed the objective.

Reason #2. Shall I just say the words - Nancy Reagan? Ring a bell? Oh, how about her "Just Say No" campaign. Exactly how many children did she dissuade from taking drugs after launching that multi million dollar campaign. Easy answer - none.

Does anyone, anywhere REALLY believe for one second that the President's message to children to stay in school will make any impact AT ALL on ANY student? Maybe I'm naive, but my guess is NO.

Come on Mr. President. Being a middle of the roader, I try really hard to cut through the crap and screaming on both sides and make an informed decision. I'm not an emotional person who believes in all the conspiracy theories. I don't think you're going to try and warp young minds by some subliminal messages. I do think your objectives are WAY off. I could be wrong. It is highly possible that you and your advisors had a totally reachable objective. Perhaps your objective was: "Let's enflame as many people as possible and make my unpopular health care reform issue get back-burnered" If that was your objective, I think you're closer to the mark. Mind you, I don't think health care reform debates will be silenced, but you may have just found a way to get your extreme lefters to take your cause back up with a vengeance.

Tame the savage beast

As a PR counselor for a major charter school system, I've seen my share of irate parents, overzealous news reporters and complicated situations. Half of my job is calming the emotions of all involved. I watched rumors escalate to mob lynchings (almost) and non-stories get top status. Through it all, there is always a common denominator - lack of good communication. As is usually the case with disintegrating relationships, one side says one thing and the other side hears something entirely different. If I were to get technical, I could probably find a quote from my APR text book that talks about the underpinings of communication models or something, but I don't think we need to go into all that. Instead,there are a few simple rules to getting to a solution before a simple issue blows up into a major catastrophe.

1) Listen to the other side.
I mean REALLY listen. Don't just hear the words. Listen to what the other person is saying. If they are screaming at you and telling you how you are feeling or what you are doing - (ie: You're just trying to make more money and don't care about us!) There is probably something they are having a hard time articulating. Perhaps if we took the screaming and epitaths out, you'd find the REAL sentence to say "I'm frustrated that I'm not getting my way. Help me to get there or truly understand why I can't.

2) Remove the emotional attachment.
Much easier said than done, but critical if you want to move forward. Listen to an upset person and imagine them talking like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Only pick out the important words. For example: "Wa wa wa wa, my child is not doing as well as I think he should. Wa wa wa, I want to find a way to make this better. Wa wa wa wa wa, this is something you should be aware of and need to take action. Wa wa wa wa, here are some suggestions." Without the "S.O.Bs" and the "you don't know what you are doing", this conversation becomes more manageable.

3) Help the other person feel important.
Most people want to make things better. Many don't know how to express that calmly. Many want to be the big man (or woman) who is the savior who came up with the solution. If you have one of these people standing in front of you, let them be that person. Imagine how quickly an escalating conversation can become tame if you say, "I am so glad you are involved in this solution. I really think your expertise and leadership will help us all solve this problem. Let's figure out how we can get this resolved" Egos are strong things and when you acknowledge someone, that ego can accomplish great things.

4) Know when to stop the conversation.
Regardless of how calm you remain and how reasonable you attempt to be, there will be times when the savage beast just refuses to listen and calm down. In a situation like this, you have to be the one to say, "I'm so sorry, but we are getting absolutely nowhere right now. Perhaps we both need some time to calm down and think things through. I promise, I will call you at ?? time and we can try again, but I believe we've hit an impasse."

Sadly, in a school environment, we've had to actually get police involved to remove irate and abusive parents from the situation. That's really unfortunate, but you know that ego thing I talked about earlier. Without proper stroking, that ego can become completely unmanageable.

Recently, I had an opportunity to be a peacemaker. An irate parent and concerned citizen with a very sarcastic side, a blog and an audience to boot was mad at a situation at a couple of our schools. Legitimate gripes? Absolutely. The problem was that he used violent language. Being from the northeast, I recognized this violent rhetoric as sarcasm. In the education world, however, it is considered a threat. However, instead of getting lawyers involved and issuing a cease and desist, we had a face-to-face with the parent. Setting the ground rules first, we asked him right away to curb any future violent rhetoric in his blog if he wanted to be part of the solution. Afterall, we can't have someone who threatens - even in a sarcastic way - to hit a child to be part of a reasonable discussion. I think it embarrassed him a little. He meant it as sarcasm. I don't think he ever put himself in the shoes of an educator. Once it was pointed out, he agreed. We'll see in future blogs if the reasonable approach works, but I believe it will.