These days, social networking sites, blogs, review sites, and similar forums are a double edged sword for businesses.  On the one hand, new products can be launched in record time.  It used to take months or years to spread the word about a new product or service.  Now it takes a few days.  Both positive and negative public relations now travel at the speed of light.

 

What starts out as a comment or an aside on facebook, twitter, or a relevant blog can and does spread like wildfire.  Lately, companies like Taco Bell and Burger King have both experienced the power of P R at the speed of light.  Issues that might have never surfaced at all just a few years ago now take on a life on their own.

 

Taco Bell is in a running battle with rapper 50 cent over the use of his name and image in Taco Bell ads.  All of the details of this issue are all over the net. 

 

Burger King has created controversy around its Whopper Virgins campaign.  Anyone with an axe to grind and an internet connection can now make trouble for any company, practically overnight.

 

Although Russ Klein, President of Burger King’s global marketing, has stated that “We know we can’t be pleasing 100% of the people 100% of the time”, it’s a real dilemma for businesses that would prefer to be doing just that (if possible.)

 

 

Think Like a Political Advance Team

 

Pete Blackshaw, Executive Vice President at Web researcher Nielson Online, says “Marketers need to think more like political advance people.  Political advance people are always scoping out what could go wrong ….and in an age of viral communication and consumer control, you really need to up the ante on advance work.”  (USA Today, December 8th.)

 

Advance teams think through how their campaigns and branding messages could be perceived, and develop spin control and instant reaction messages as contingency plans.

 

For most small to medium size businesses, this might seem like overkill, but your brand is at risk.  If you think in terms of how you will respond to negative P R of any kind in advance, it will keep your company out of crisis mode.  You can act, instead of react.

 

The key to all of this is speed.  Don’t let misperceptions fester unanswered for days… think in terms of hours.  You or your PR agency will want to get your message out fast, so your positive P R can travel at the same speed that the negative PR will.

How LDSWA Founder Daryll Jonnson Turned Her Dream into a Reality

Latter-Day Woman Magazine

There are not many women in this world who are more sincere and loving than Daryll Jonnson. I’ve heard Daryll’s story many times, but it always inspires me. As said in her own words:

“I had been working for many years, in the corporate world, and although I enjoyed what I was doing, I did not feel a great deal of satisfaction. I felt that I wanted to really do something that would help others and that I was very passionate about.  Coming from the United Kingdom, I also had a desire to find something that would allow me to interact with other LDS women across the oceans…

… Then, in a quiet moment, while sweeping the floor of all things and feeling desperation because I was getting no answers, a strong impression and idea permeated my whole body and left me feeling “WOW…. where did that come from?”  Again, I prayed about it and received confirmation that this was the path I was to follow – to form a women’s alliance, the LDSWA.”

LDSWA launched its new online presence in July of 2008. Shortly thereafter, it launched Latter-Day Woman, its online magazine, and Our Ladies Room, its social networking site. Within only several short months, their magazine is already being read by women in over 48 countries.

LDSWA is an amazing company with so many things it’s doing right, but the thing that really makes it such a success is Daryll’s ability to tell a story that is remarkable. And the reason it is so remarkable is not only because it is different, but mostly because it is so relevant. Her idea has spread like wild fire throughout the LDS women’s community because there are so many women who didn’t have a place to congregate online. Daryll has provided this in a sincere, humble way.

When you can tell a story about your business that comes from the heart, it makes all the difference. It’s not about a slick advertising campaign. It’s about being sincere and tapping into a need (or want) that isn’t being fulfilled.

If you are interested in learning more about LDSWA, visit www.ldswa.com.

TechCrunch just wrote an article about SnapAds. Get this - within 3 days this display ad optimization company was able to increase an ads return by 1922%. Here’s what the TechCrunch article had to say:

“[SnapAds] has created a system that dynamically adjusts the appearance of banner ads over time to maximize engagement. And it seems to work - a three day trial campaign for a recent film saw an increased clickthrough rate of 1922% over three days (not a typo).” To read their article, click here.

SnapAds - Display Ad Optimization from SnapAds on Vimeo.

This is multi-variant testing at its best. The system they built literally keeps getting rid of the weakest link until they are only displaying the ad with the very best click through rates. Brilliant.

Traditionally banner advertising has not worked too well. Unless you are advertising within a really nichey area…but the click-through rate is usually pretty bad (like .01%). I’m glad to see there is a company that is improving these rates

As always - if you have questions - feel free to email me at laura@virtualmg.com.