A Helping Hand From Your Virtual Friends

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Over the past week and a half, Mark Zuckerberg has been the topic of conversation. I mean, after casually dropping $100 million, why wouldn't he be? The Facebook creator--who is estimated to be worth aproximately $6.9 billion--donated a worthwhile chunk of his fortune to the flounder Newark, NJ public school system.

While the act is definitely respectable, many are questioning if Zuckerberg's primary intention was to save his reputation, which is currently under fire since the release of the motion picture, The Social Network. The film is said to portray Zuckerberg in a less than flattering way.

PR stunt to the extreme??

Since "PR" was mentioned in almost every article, I was naturally drawn to this story. Is Zuckerberg genuinely interested in creating a change in Newark by drastically affecting the quality of education?  

Zuckerberg has defended his action numerous times and has said that his heart is truly in this project and donation. Referring to the mayor of Newark--Cory Booker, who Zuckerberg met earlier in the year--the Facebook billionaire said, "This is the guy I want to invest in. This is a real person who can create this change."

Sounds fabulous, but why would Zuckerberg make an official announcement of his donation on the Oprah Winfrey Show (a.k.a. Queen of the World)??

I clearly don't know Zuckerberg, his thoughts or intentions. I don't even have the slightest idea if I believe Zuckerberg's genuineness or not, but this is definitely a hot topic that tickled my fancy.

Impact Investing--the next big thing?

"I4c Campaign invests in environmental, social change"



I happened to stumble upon this article and thought it was really interesting. Casey Verbeck started this campaign out of Boulder, Colo. in hopes of "raising capital and awareness for ventures focused on environmental and social change."


Basically, Verbeck's I4c campaign is a large scale proactive public relations effort. Verbeck has serious interests in the business word, environmental issues and social changes. Because of this, his initial desire "was looking for a way to support young companies with sustainable models or "triple bottom lines" of people, planet and profit.


The article touched on the concept of impact investing, which was something I have never heard of prior to reading this story.  It was interesting to read a little background information on the practice of seeking out companies who focus on environmental and social problems. 


This trend is said to be growing, especially among institutional and wealthy investors. These investors are focusing on more than just finances and want some substantial social change in return as well. 


If this trend does indeed grow, the world of non-profits certainly has a reason to keep it's head up.

An Ever-Changing and Complex Industry

In an industry that undergoes change at the drop of that hat, it's only natural for those planted in the midst of it all to want to grab on to each other like a warm security blanket. Well, not exactly, but considering all of the advancements that the world of media technology has undergone, it is not only comforting--but beneficial--to have a strong list of media contacts.

http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/
are-all-these-face-to-face-
meetings-necessary.html

With that said, said technology developments has put a strain on the personal aspects of these media relations. Society has one thing on its mind these days--immediacy; the ability to have information ready and available within seconds after the event occurred. While media relations are still maintained, they become a lot less personal because conversations are through emails, texts, etc. A personal phone call? No way. A business lunch? If you can find room in your BlackBerry's booked calender.


This isn't to say that all colleagues need to be life-long besties, but if one must work with someone for what should be years, it seems desirable to know more than just their pin number or Facebook friend count. 


Forming relationships with the media is pivotal in the success of any business, especially nonprofits. Let's face it. The media will be responsible for getting your news story (promotional material, etc.) out and into the public. If they have no idea who or what your company is, why would they care to relay the message? If you constantly hound them through emails or phone calls promoting story after story, chances are they will not be too fond of you. A healthy medium needs to be reached; one in which both parties will benefit from the interaction. 


It kind of seems like common sense, but your organization should be run as professional as possible. This includes press releases, fact sheets, contact info, interviews, press conferences, VNRs and major events. Not only should materials represent your business to the highest standard, but employees should as well. An organization that runs like butter will be appreciated by media contacts as well as sought after. If you make their job easier, why wouldn't they want to work with you?


The most important thing to remember is TO BE PROACTIVE. Not one reporter is going to seek your organization out, time after time, looking for story after story. There are endless mediums available to reach out to the media and only those companies willing to professionally take advantage of them will leave their mark in the fast-paced industry. 

The Spin Project

Interesting article from The Spin Project, a communications leadership institute based out of San Fransisco, California. 


Working with PR Consultants

Ba Da Ba Ba Ba, I'm Not Really Lovin' It

Who NEEDS to hear your message? Who has influence over your target? Who must be moved to action so your goals will be met? Who has the greatest impact on the outcome of your campaign efforts?  


According to The Spin Project, these are all questions that an organization needs to ask itself before setting out on its quest to create change. After all, "it's easier to hit your target when you know where it is."


If an organization knows absolutely nothing about its most important audience, chances are they will not be reaching said audience in the most effective way. Every effort an organization makes towards spreading its message will be wasted if it doesn't reach those who can make a change.  With the price of advertising, print materials, employees, etc., it would be devastating for a company to not reap the intended benefits. 

http://www.autonorth.ca/display/ShowJournal?moduleId
=650998&categoryId=67444

In 2006 (article), about.com highlighted how McDonald's teamed up with GM to give away over 42 million toy Hummers in children's Happy Meals. While Happy Meals are supposed to be specifically targeted towards a younger audience, GM admitted that they were hoping to promote the vehicle to parents by the way the tiny McDonald's toy. During the time of the giveaway, McDonald's had a link, HummerKids.com, listed on it's website, but once clicked on, the link took you to the normal--adult focused--Hummer.com. 


GM clearly knew that the parent demographic was who they wanted to reach, yet they certainly did not go about reaching this audience in the right way. An important part of knowing your target audience is knowing HOW to reach them. Friends, this attempt was an utter failure. From years of babysitting and talking with moms of little ones, the toy received in the frequented Happy Meal is the furthest thing from a parents mind, let alone the analytics behind the minute knickknack. 


With kids fighting over milkshake flavors, trips to the bathroom and shouts coming from the PlayPlace, the audience of parents are not going to be actively "involved" in the message to buy Hummer. Talk about wrong place, wrong time...


I'm not too sure if Hummer/GM actually had a message that they were delivering. "We care about your children's happiness too," perhaps? Whatever GM's intent was, they did not fool the millions of parents that then had mini-Hummers being pushed around their homes. In fact, many parents were angered by the fact that Hummer would try to advertise to parents through something so innocent as a kids toy. 


This attempt skipped over a value based message and didn't necessarily fit in to the "levels of thinking" scheme either. 


Hummer, you're a cool car. McDonald's, I love your fries. But this attempt at reaching yo peeps was am utter failure. 

The Nitty Gritty

A strategic communications plan will most likely only see measurable success when a plan's key principles are fully addressed and applied to their fullest potential. It is very important for an organization--especially a nonprofit--to realize that media does not just happen at the blink of an eye; an organization has to make a conscientious effort to reach out to reporters as well as education and inform the public and targeted audience members.


Chapter 2 of Strategic Communications for Nonprofits touches on the pivotal aspects of a strategic communications plan that need to be implemented in order for an organization to get the media attention they desire.


Briefly stated, an organization must:

1. understand its target audience and the most efficient/effective way to reach said audience
2. research past media coverage of the topic at hand as well and the general opinion on the issue
3. generate the message to be delivered
4. compile materials to be produced and distributed
5. utilize the resources from which valuable equipment can be drawn
6. develop a written work plan that incorporates ongoing activities for maintaining the organization's communication goals

This list is certainly just a summary of required actions, as within each there are tons of monotonous aspects, such as: naming realistic and measurable goals, exact details of how to reach your target audience (medium to be used), the public's opinion of your organization and the issue at hand and producing high quality/respectable PR materials.


PRNewswire  has a Non Profit tool kit that offers services pertaining to these exact principles. The services focus on distribution, communicating with journalists, accessing important media outlets/journalists and using photos/visuals to increase an organization's visibility within the media and the public alike. 


One thing that stuck out to me while reading this chapter is the importance of reaching a distinct target audience. The more narrow of an audience your organization can establish, the better. Now that doesn't necessarily mean it will be your only audience, but perhaps one of many. Segmentation has made it easier to reach audiences of a certain demographic. When an organization knows all there is to know on the targeted group, they will know the audience's position on the topic, what the organization's goal is when reaching how, the best and most effective way to reach the audience, what the audience's role will be in social chance, etc.


After seeing these principles addressed numerous times in textbooks, I wanted to apply it to a real-life organization....
    ...enter breastcancer.org


A press release dated September 3rd 2010 highlighted an event set for September 11 at the Neiman Marcus in the King of Prussia Mall (Pennsylvania). There will be a mother-daughter fashion show featuring breast cancer survivors as the models.
The press release states that

"the goal of this event is to honor breast cancer survivors and recognize the important work that Philadelphia-based, global nonprofit Breastcancer.org does in supporting them in their battle against breast cancer. As the world's leading online breast health and breast cancer resource, Breastcancer.org helps millions of people affected by breast cancer understand and interpret complex medical information so they can learn what to expect and make the best decision for their lives."

Breastcancer.org is doing a phenomenal job of reaching their target audience--females affected by breast cancer. A fashion show is something that many women would enjoy watching, let alone participate in. The event reaches out to patients and non patients, which parallels the organizations goal of simply spreading information and helping to make those important life decisions when it comes to this horrendous disease. This event is a kickoff to Rock the Ribbon, which will be held in Philadelphia on October 13th. Harry Conick Jr. is set to perform at the event, so breastcancer.org is certainly pulling at the heart strings of the average American woman. This prior event is being used as a way to reach the targeted audience and get them enthralled about what it still yet to come.

I explored the websites for both the event and the organization itself and the materials are certainly of respectable quality. This is important because it shines a direct light on the organizations reputation and credibility. 

From this brief press release, I would say breastcancer.org has a strong strategic communications plans intact and is slowly but surely releasing its secret weapons one by one.

Glenn Boring

Drama continues....