Some personal PR

OK, so sometimes you gotta do your own shameless PR.
And here it is.

Did Coca-Cola shoot itself in the foot?

Interesting article in today's Toronto Star about Coca-Cola's sponsorship of the Olympic winter games in Turin. Coca-Cola has sponsored the games for a long, long time but when you sponsor a huge worldwide event it can turn the spotlight onto your company's (sometimes unethical) practices.

So what do event sponsorships mean to your organization's reputation? And are they worth the risk of the unwanted attention that goes with it?

Your comments, as ever, are appreciated.

Good point of purchase makes good point for PR

So the shop just across the street from my apartment is small. Real small. One of those mom and pop stores that’s being put out of business because of those evil big box stores. Except it’s not. From what I understand it’s doing pretty brisk business and people from the whole neighbourhood drop by for bread, milk and other types of stuff we humans can’t seem to do without.

Why? Well the answer gives a pretty good insight into what makes good public relations and it’s often overlooked. You see, some of your key publics, the folks that have some relation to your company, may never watch TV. They may never pick up a newspaper and might never tune into the radio. So any of that regular-fangled PR stuff you do to promote your company and build its reputation might go unheard by these folks. See, some of your key publics might be media-lite and the only impression they take of your organization is when they physically enter your premises. And herein lies the moral of the story.

The wee store across the road gets an abundance of repeat customers (including your humble correspondent) because of good customer service. And they’re nice. Real nice. You go in the store and they say hello, they ask you how you are, they say you can pay later when you forget money…they even give you a free calendar on New Year’s. Now that’s good service and one of the biggest reasons us customers keep coming back.

So put down that pen. Forget about that news release for a moment. And file that fact sheet. Go down to your reception now and observe. How are your customers being treated? If it’s as good as my mom and pop store across the street you’re onto a reputational winner. If not you might need to take a good hard look at changing the status quo. Because mom and pop are usually right.

Just take a public relations minute

One minute, that’s all it takes. One minute to stop, think and then act. But all too often, public relations professionals don’t take that minute. Instead they decide to act before they think. And acting before you think is the surest darn way to score big marks on the cringeworthy scale. Or even worse – it can get you fired.

As one public relations professional, Eric Govan, found out to his cost this week. Govan was the Public Relations Manager for the Golden State Warriors NBA team who last week made a very costly error. He sent an email intended for just one recipient to the team’s whole distribution list, an email about a ‘ghetto prom’ showing scantily-clad women. Not a wise move.

Yes, we’ve all done it. Sent an embarrassing email to more people than we had originally thought or pressed that ‘Reply to All’ button. But when you’re in public relations you have to be especially cautious; remember, it’s your job to protect your organization’s reputation. So please, take that minute.