Tiger Woods just issued his first public appearance and public apology since the truth about his infidelity and affinity for porn-stars exploded via media.

Read the transcript of his public apology here.




A few points from Crisis/Reputation Management 101 that Woods seems to have been coached on:
1. If everyone knows you're at fault, say you're sorry.
Woods' first item of business today was to clearly say "I'm sorry." He addresses his primary publics (his wife, his kids, his family, his fans, his business partners, etc.) and issues a clear apology for how his actions impacted them.

2. Acknowledge you are like everyone else.
Woods admits that he doesn't "get to play by different rules." In effect, he is like everyone else. I.E. He has made mistakes like everyone else and he has to pay for them like everyone else. This is a good tactic in that it makes the rest of us imperfect souls consider our mistakes and realize that Tiger Woods, after all, is only human. He has to play by the same 'rules' as we do but at the same time, he is as imperfect as the rest of us.

3. Assurance that improvements have begun.
Tiger talks about his 45 days of inpatient therapy. This assures his publics that he's already taken steps to fix the problems he has caused. He alludes to intentions for ongoing improvements. "I have a long way to go. But I have taken my first steps in the right direction.

4. Rumor control.
Woods does address rumor in a relatively ambiguous manner. "Some people have made things up that never happened." Then he goes on to refer to the rumor of performance-enhancing drugs, but doesn't allude to any of the outlandish stories of infidelity. It's good that he doesn't elaborate on this point, but instead leaves the issue hanging in peoples' minds as to which stories were rumors and which were truths. It's doubtful this will stifle media speculation, but that may not matter.

So, what are your thoughts/feelings/reactions from Tiger Woods' public apology?

Was it enough? A good step in the right direction? Were his actions simply unforgivable? Was he practicing good PR in doing this press conference? Anyone know who his publicist or PR agent is?

We have our own individual opinions here at Drake Cooper. But we'd really love to know yours.

Labels: crisis communication, Public Relations, Tiger Woods

Whether you drive a Toyota Prius or have just been following the media waylay Toyota has received over the issue of the Prius's faulty breaks, it's been fascinating to see media and even D.C. politicos inform the extent of this crisis and Toyota's response - lacking or not.

Academic approaches to crisis communications (read - great scholars like Coombs, Holladay, & Ulmer) often look at the extent to which media actually inform and manifest a crisis.

For Toyota and the case of the faulty breaks and sticky gas pedals, staunch media coverage and the whole "stop driving your Toyota's" misstatement from transportation secretary LaHood, definitely seem to be manifesting a crisis that never actually happened.

I say the crisis "never actually happened" because, well, it's not like millions of Prius drivers' breaks all suddenly failed at once and a bunch of people perished. (For a more appropriate definition of a crisis, see Haiti).

Now - should faulty break and sticky gas pedal malfunctions have been addressed? Absolutely? Should Toyota have responded with recalls sooner? Probably. But the recalls are out - to the tune of 8.5 million cars and trucks, globally.

Toyota has produced (quite quickly, I might add) some television spots like this one, which practice crisis management 101: remind audience of long-established, trusted history; softly acknowledge faults; point out efforts to fix errors; talk about bright and promising future.




I actually think the messaging in this video is solid - straightforward - and affective. Granted, I don't drive a Toyota. So for those that do, are Toyota's actions sufficient in easing consumers' fears?

Or do additional media reports about an inaccessible brand and closed company culture carry more weight and implications than a 15-second TV spot with reassuring messaging can fix?

Ironically, companies with closed cultures and their ability to survive crises is also an oft-studied topic when it comes to crisis communication.

And the basic premise of many theories resulting from these studies?
If you have a tight-lipped, inaccessible corporate culture and you or your product encounters risk or an actual crisis, media are going to attack you corporate practices right along with the risk/crisis.

Which is to say, media-generated crisis or not, it's still a crisis.
And I believe it takes a lot more (read corporate culture overhaul) than a creative commercial spot to make the crisis subside.

Labels: crisis communication, crisis response, Media, Public Relations, Toyota

Wired Magazine published this article, titled 'Don't Be Evil,' Meet 'Spy on Everyone':How the NSA Deal Could Kill Google.

Anyone (read everyone) who uses or has used Google or any Google applications should read it and keep an eye on how Google is monitoring and processing or sharing your information.

I'll leave the conspiracy theory blotheating about the impact of this Google-NSA partnership for my personal blog.

Personal rights to privacy aside, it is interesting to consider how this partnership with the NSA might impact Google from an economic standpoint.

As its mantra "Don't Be Evil" diminishes in meaning, will the masses start looking to search engines like Bing for answers, applications and advertising?

Or, are Google's programs so widely used, and the Google brand so predominant, that the company can create partnerships with the likes of the NSA without suffering a PR debacle?

The answers will develop over time on this one. But for those interested in everything from rights to privacy to SEM, the Google-NSA relationship might be a good one to follow.

Labels: Google, Internet privacy, NSA, Public Relations, SEO

I recently had the amazing opportunity of attending the PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) National Conference in San Diego, CA. The conference was a great place for students to connect with other students and professionals in the industry, as well as to get a better feel for where public relations is at and where it is going. There were many workshops that I attended, but I am going to focus on two of my personal favorites from the event.

The first workshop, "A View From the Top: How to stand out as a young professional" was lead by Ron Culp and Kevin Saghy from Ketchum PR. This was a very valuable presentation because it gave both an upper and lower management view of young professionals coming into the field of public relations. They posed four main questions and then gave the responses they received from both upper and lower management, across many different agencies and corporations.

The four questions they asked were:
1. How can young talent stand out in your organization?
2. What example comes to mind of a young professional who advanced quickly in your organization, and why have they done so well?
3. How can/have employees hurt themselves by trying to raise their profile?
4. If you could anonymously say one sentence to your junior staff, what would it be?

There were many responses and quotes given for each question, so I will briefly go over the most common and relevant responses.

1. How can young talent stand out in your organization?

Senior Management - They show initiative, and they are a team player.

Junior Staff - They go the extra mile, and they show a positive attitude.

2. What example comes to mind of a young professional who advanced quickly in your organization, and why have they done so well?

Senior Management - They know the business, they show quality work, engage us with intelligent ideas, and they go the extra mile.

Junior Staff - Quality work, they present smart ideas, they work hard and they are willing to explore new learning opportunities.

3. How can/have employees hurt themselves by trying to raise their profile?

Senior Management - They should not seek credit all of the time, or follow own agenda instead of the agenda of the team.

Junior Staff - Don't throw co-workers under the bus, and don't skip the tactical work. The ones who succeed are the ones who do not have a sense of entitlement.

4. If you could anonymously say one sentence to your junior staff, what would it be?

Senior Management - What are you doing to prepare yourself for the next level? There is not a bad idea in a brainstorming session.

Junior Staff - Become known for your willingness to take on the most challenging, difficult assignments no matter how big or boring. Be the 3 C's: current, curious, and creative!

I feel they addressed a lot of the prominent questions a young professional has when going from college into the professional world. I also had the opportunity to stay after the seminar with a few other students to hang out and talk with Kevin and Ron for about 40 minutes. This was where the real insights came out, and allowed for some great one on one discussion about how the industry is evolving and where they feel it is going from here.

The other event I am going to talk about was the speech given at the PRSA National Conference by Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/)Arianna was a great speaker, and had some great insights on the industry. The most important piece of information she shared I felt was how drama is a necessary component in the news and in public relations. This is the driving force behind passion, and getting people to care about what you have to say.



Arianna Huffington speaking at the PRSA National Conference in San Diego, CA


Overall, I would say this was an amazing conference where I had the opportunity to meet a number of students and professionals in the field and get some great insight on how Public Relations is changing. Since the day I started at Drake Cooper, I have witnessed a passion and desire to always be ahead of the game by everyone in the agency. This conference strengthened my view on how important this fact is not only for young professionals going into the field, but for professionals already in the public relations field, and in any field for that matter. It is this drive that sets apart the amazing crew at Drake Cooper, and I am very blessed to be apart of it all.

Sean Winnett

Labels: Arianna Huffington, Drake Cooper, National Conference, PRSA, PRSSA, Public Relations

http://twitter.com/adweak

Labels: Public Relations

It's always considered to be quite a coup for a public relations professional to place a story in The New York Times.

We started working on a story for Arnold Aviation in Cascade, Idaho, in early April when the U.S. Postal Service announced that it was going to terminate the air taxi's $46,000 annual contract as of the end of June.

I sent out a news release about this unfortunate turn of events, and it launched a great deal of media coverage in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest in no time at all. I wrote the news release much like I would have written the story for the New York Times when I wrote for them on a regular basis as a freelancer in the 1990s, and it found plenty of traction.

The story in the Saturday issue of the New York Times was well-done. It includes a slide show of some beautiful pictures of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and the sea of mountains in Central Idaho.

Happily, this story had a good ending after many people complained, and Idaho's congressional delegation put the pressure on the Postal Service to retain Arnold's contract. Sometimes, the system works. - SS

Labels: Arnold Aviation, backcountry mail service, Idaho, Idaho backcountry, Idaho wilderness, pacific northwest lifestyle, Public Relations

It’s no secret that around here we view our own Joanne Taylor (and her twenty-five years of public relations experience) as something of a PR Goddess. So when the Idaho Business Review wrote an article about Joanne and her advice on crises management, we weren’t surprised. Joanne offers thoughtful insight to IBR writer, Dani Grigg, and discusses what she did when a client’s 200 ft sign literally came crashing to the ground right after she and her team promoted the construction of the world’s largest sign.
To read the full article, click here.

Labels: Public Relations

As reported in the Idaho Statesman this week. Congratulations Joanne!

Idaho's chapter of the Public Relations Society of America has announced its slate of officers for 2009. The chapter will be led by president Joanne Taylor, director of public relations and social media strategy at Drake Cooper, a Boise-based marketing communications agency. Taylor has more than 20 years of experience in public relations management, having led PR efforts for three publicly traded companies and several clients at Drake Cooper. She has served on the PRSA Idaho Board of Directors since 2005 and is an adjunct professor at Boise State University.

Here's a link to the story in the Statesman.

You can also find Joanne on Twitter and befriend her on Facebook.

Labels: Drake Cooper employees, Drake Cooper PR, Joanne Taylor, PRSA, Public Relations

Courtesy of a PRSA teleconference, four members of the national news media weighed in about Twitter. The panelists ranged from a technology reporter from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, a business columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, and the digital audio manager for ABC News. About 10 PRSA members from Boise came over to Drake Cooper agency to participate in the discussion.

A blogger once described Twitter as "the latest Silicon Valley play thing" or "instant messaging for adults." Approximately 4 million people are using it now, a 440 percent increase from this time last year. Between 250,000 to 500,000 new people are jumping on board each month. This compares to 41 million unique visitors who frequent Facebook per month. Twitter is growing, but it's certainly not the only social media tool out there. Even so, because million of people are using it, it has become a marketing tool, it's a great way to pass on information to your friends and associates, it's being used by journalists to find sources for stories, and it's being used by PR people to pitch stories to journalists.

So, Twitter is another conduit that PR people can use to reach journalists who may have blocked their email inbox from unsolicited queries. How do we find these folks through Twitter? There are several lists out there online. Click here to see a pretty inclusive list of twittering journalists. This is great intelligence for the PR professional.

BUT ... the journalists on the panel warned us that sending them a story pitch via Twitter may not be the best way to pitch a story. Some of them prefer to receive a pitch via email, and some of them suggest getting to know them first by following them on Twitter, and then pitching them later.

They also reminded us that the same rules apply for pitching stories to them:

1. Research their bio and know what topics they cover.
2. Research the media outlet they work for and make sure they haven't already covered that story.
3. Get to the point quickly.

On the last point, Twitter requires you to be succinct because a "tweet" can not exceed 140 characters. Some journalists in the high-tech field prefer to be pitched on Twitter so they don't have to wade through a lengthy email to find the crux of the story pitch, if one exists at all.

The journalists also suggested hooking up with them via Facebook. The techie reporter for the St. Paul paper said he loves Twitter and hates Facebook. He also just finished a book about Twitter titled, "Twitter Means Business: How Microblogging Can Help or Hurt Your Company."

The other journalists on the panel liked Facebook, and see that service providing a lot more information and bells and whistles than Twitter.

Ultimately, we should know that Twitter is a unique social media tool, and it should be used accordingly. Figure out your goals, and use whatever communication tools are best suited to reach your goal. None of the tools are the end-all be-all by themselves.

But as new tools emerge, the Drake Cooper PR team believes that it is prudent to learn more about them and know how to use them.

A couple of Twitter resources:

• twitturly.com - Shows popular url's that people are sharing on Twitter.
• tweetbeep.com - Set up like a Google alert to keep tabs on what people are saying on Twitter about you, your company or your products.
• twitter.com/stevestuebner My Twitter handle.
  
  

Labels: agency, Boise, PRSA, Public Relations, Twitter

Journalists are now (admittedly) using Twitter as a way to look for tips, trends and sources. A handful of them are going to talk about "twit pitching" preferences this Thurs. (Dec. 11) at 11 a.m. MST. Idaho PRSA is paying for the conference and Drake Cooper in Boise is hosting. We have a few spaces left if you'd like to join us (RSVP to me at jtaylor@drakecooper.com) or you can go to Bulldog Reporter to register yourself.

Here's the list of panelists:
Brian Stelter, Reporter, The New York Times (circ. 1,500,394)
Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Consumer Technology Reporter, St. Paul Pioneer Press (circ. 252,055); Author, "Twitter Means Business: How Microblogging Can Help or Hurt Your Company"
Ina Fried, Senior Writer, CNET News
New Speaker: Chris O'Brien, Business Columnist, San Jose Mercury News (circ. 241,518) Dan Patterson, Digital Audio Manager, ABC News

Labels: Public Relations

This headline is how Scott Monty at Ford Motors describes social media. Brilliant, I think, as we all play a role in it--I know here, at DC, we do. Much of the social media work falls to or is centered around PR, as Scott mentions in this Q & A, but all departments are touched by/contribute to the work. Who would have guessed a year ago that Ford Motors would have a social media strategy, a full-time strategist and a staff and agency backing him? Anyway, if you want a quick education, read the Q&A. And, if you're interested, check out Scott's blog.

Labels: Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations

GREAT piece of research here for marketers and technologists.Contains internet, advertising, social media data. From Morgan Stanley (surprising?) presentation @ Web2.0 Summit: http://is.gd/6xAf

You can follow me on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/idaho_jamie


-jamie

Labels: Public Relations, social media research interactive, Web

Image via CrunchBase

The web 2.0 summit just wrapped up it’s fifth conference – with speakers like Lance Armstrong, Arianna Huffington, Al Gore, Shai Agassi among others. Lots of great quotes from the speakers and events. I will share some over the coming days as the things going on in this arena are of interest to marketers around the world.

This one is not from the conference itself but is from the founder of the idea of web 2.0 who has just published a paper on one of the hottest and simplest technologies to emerge in the last year.


“So, if you wonder whether Twitter matters for business, remember, if you will, when people new to cell phones used to call each other to report the most trivial details of where they were and what they were doing; remember how blogs at first were thought of merely as personal diaries of no interest to anyone in business, and how they grew up to become the heart of a new media paradigm. For that matter, remember how the personal computer was dismissed by the titans of the computer industry as nothing but a toy.

The future often comes to us in disguise, with toys that grow up to spark a business revolution. Twitter is like that.”

~Tim O’Reilly (Twitter LATE adopter, foremost expert on web 2.0, author and web marketing expert. Tim now has 13,436 followers on Twitter. Actually 13,437 now.)

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• Shai Agassi on Electric Cars
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• Thinking Bigger: Web 2.0 Summit Gives a Purpose
• Al Gore and Darren Rowse - both show mainstream Twitter
• What's Web 2 All About This Year?

Labels: Public Relations

Image via Wikipedia


What if we all cared enough to vote?

Starbucks ran this killer ad during this past week's Saturday Night Live. So good, it made me stop the DVR and watch. The spot was cool, but what I found most interesting was their excellent tie-in and use of social media to compliment their overall campaign – which, from what I can tell, looks to be a huge success. Free always seems to work, and driving traffic into Starbucks stores, at a time when they really, really need some love, is huge and will surely generate sales and, maybe more importantly, longer term goodwill.

First their selection of mass media was spot-on. Running the ad in the most politically hip arena, Saturday Night Live, seems to have worked well for their brand and their audience. Then to get real follow on the social media machine went to work.

Here are the social media results as of 11.3.08:

Facebook: Starbucks set up a straightforward Facebook event that looks to be created and administrated by someone inside the company. I am betting this is about an hour investment of their time – max. And...they have garnered 423,792 invitations from people on Facebook just forwarding it around to their friends. Also, 164,883 people have said they will attend with most of the rest still awaiting response. There is also 13,187 wall posts and tons of pictures, etc. That is pretty heavy duty work for a social media campaign - driving a ton of traffic to them on FB – which also has other things for people to do, like see the commercial, participate in the “My Starbucks Idea” section and more. I would love to see their web stats today. If you are on Facebook check it out here.

Twitter: There are 8,022 people following Starbucks on Twitter. That is big given the total audience for this fairly new micro blogging/social media site. There is a lot of conversation back and forth from the company and it looks very engaging. Some interesting posts from the company like this one: “IMPORTANT: To ensure that we are in compliance with election law, we are extending our offer to all customers who request a tall brewed drip.”

Youtube: 187,135 views on Youtube. That makes it the fourth largest watched video of the day. Again, huge numbers. And the number 3 video is of the Tina Fey, John McCain SNL sketch...nice tie in.

Kudos to Starbucks. I think they are creating good will and some new friends. If this campaign doesn’t point out the effectiveness of integrating mediums and how to use social media for marketing I don’t know what does.

jamie

Labels: Public Relations

Image via CrunchBaseClick HERE for the article.

Labels: Public Relations

Boise-based contemporary dance company Trey McIntyre Project is making headlines throughout the US with positive reviews of last week’s performances at Jacobs Pillow, a 10-week summer dance festival in Becket, Mass. Among those giving accolades to the company were The New York Times, The Boston Globe and Voice of Dance, just to name a few.

It's been a pleasure working with Trey and his talented staff and company of dancers. Beyond the creativity, talent, passion and expression, there is a sincere commitment to become part of the Boise community, and to help further posture Boise as a performing arts mecca. Positive national media coverage is just the beginning.

For those who haven't heard, the season premiere of Trey McIntyre Project’s ‘08-‘09 inaugural world tour will be held in Boise on Sept. 20 at the Morrison Center for Performing Arts. For more information, see http://www.treymcintyre.com/. For tickets, go to www.treymcintyre.com/tickets.

Labels: Public Relations

Interesting article here. The article discusses how the SEC has recently officially stated that companies can meet full disclosure requirements by posting information on their web sites and blogs - something not previously allowed. PR professionals will be freed from the constraints of traditional media that had been binding them to meet legal requirements. As larger companies begin to take advantage of this new convenience, I predict we will begin to see a revolution in the traditional news release.

The article says this "opens the door for the 'Social Media Release,'" a tactic that the author points out should supplement, not replace, a traditional release. The social media release is a much richer way to offer information to the media, utilizing Web 2.0 components such as YouTube, iTunes, Flickr, etc. The Drake Cooper PR team has been studying the social media release in the past months, and we included it as a capability of ours in the dairy pitch. Read the article for a more detailed explanation of the significance of the announcement.

If you can't get your mind wrapped around what we mean by "Social Media Release," I would compare it to the way cnn.com presents the news versus how a traditional, tangible print paper presents the news. Take this article, about gorillas, for example. If you read that in the Wall Street Journal print edition, you would get the text you see there, and nothing else. That's comparable to our traditional release. Covers the basic information and tells you how to find out more. Alternatively, on cnn.com, you can click on the tabs at the top of the story for more integrated information - there's a tab for read, video, map and background. A social media release allows you to explore, interact and learn more about the subject, just like cnn.com does with their news. It goes light years beyond an e-mail full of text about a topic. Here's a screenshot of one social media release template:

One thing I personally am unsure of regarding these will be where we host them...do we get our clients to put them on their websites? Do we post them on our site? Will there become an open source site for anyone to post this type of releases to - a Wikipedia of news? Will the Statesman allow PR professionals to upload something like this a place on their site for their access? All of the above?

This social media release could work well for a number of our clients...now if we can just get them to consider posting their news this way.

Labels: Drake Cooper PR, gorillas, news release, Public Relations, social media release

I have the pleasure of escorting some local media the opening night of the of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony Series at the new Sun Valley Pavilion this Sunday, and I am really looking forward to it. The pavilion is a real marvel as far as design and engineering, and I know the Sun Valley community is very excited about the new venue. The striking structure is completely unique and different from any structures in the region. It will serve as the permanent home for the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, the largest privately funded, free admission symphony in America, and host many other events year round.

A little bit about the pavilion: The outdoor entertainment venue is made of wood, tensile fabric, copper shingles and travertine rock imported from Italy. The structure was developed and engineered by FTL Design and Engineering Studio of New York City. More than 1,500 concertgoers will fit beneath the white, tensile fabric that stretches a half acre from the main design feature, a soaring 75-foot arch. The roof is horn-shaped and covered with reflective copper shingles. The distinctive shape of the roof and the arch allow the structure to blend seamlessly with the breathtaking beauty of Sun Valley and classic view of Bald Mountain. The white fabric tends to appear that it is "glowing" in the soft evening light. It's going to be gorgeous.

For more information: http://www.sunvalley.com/SunValley/info/act.ent.sym.aspx

Labels: Drake Cooper PR, Pavilion, Public Relations, Sun Valley, travel and tourism

It's a good day when the Boise PR community is treated to the likes of Zachary Hyder, managing partner and senior digital strategist at Fleishman-Hillard. Digital at Fleishman translates to web. More specifically, it's everything to do with social media platforms, social networking, online content creation, online promotions.

Let's face it, social networking applications are changing the way we communicate with the media, consumers, constituents and each other. And, as PR specialists and PIOs, we need to move our companies and/or our clients beyond traditional media in order to take advantage of everything social networking has to offer.


Zach and a few media folks are going to give us a hand with this during a PRSA Idaho program on May 19 entitled Moving Beyond Traditional Media—How to Get There and Prove Results. Idaho Statesman Editor Vicki Gowler will be on hand for this discussion along with Jill Kuraitis, Idaho publisher and editor for NewWest.Net.

If you're interested in hearing what they have to say, write to Robbie Johnson at ACHD, Rjohnson@achd.ada.id.us. The meeting is being held at the JR Simplot building at 999 Main.

Hope to see you there.

Joanne

Labels: Public Relations

A new restaurant is on its way to BoDo and the Boise cultural district. Bonefish Grill will open its doors at Broad and 9th streets at the end of the month. As a way to join in our local community and truly become a part of the cultural district, Bonefish is kicking things off with a benefit for Boise performing arts. Proceeds from the April 25 event will significantly boost the Boise Arts & History Anchor Fund which is split among Boise Contemporary Theater, Ballet Idaho, Opera Idaho, Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Boise Philharmonic. Pulling this off has taken a great deal of time, effort and cooperation between the City of Boise and the various organizations involved. Yet the Bonefish Grill team has not swayed in its commitment to good local citizenship. They have actively been involved in planning the event, even going as far as to pay for postage for the more than 800 invitations that went to membership lists. If you didn't get an invitation but want to go, you can. Tickets are available at http://www.cityofboise.org/forms/artsbenefit/

It's not often that you get the opportunity to work with people who truly care and actively seek out ways to give. The first assignment we had from local Bonefish owner John Aemmer was to send him a list of all the major non-profit events going on in the city this year. He was interested in donating auction items and providing chefs for local events. He's followed through, giving more than a dozen "excursion-style" dinners for 8 and 16 as silent auction items for fundraisers and committing one of his chefs to help prepare the meals for the Idaho Foodbank's Chef's Affaire. These are not self serving acts. He wants to be part of the community and he sees the restaurant as an extension of himself. So, he says, "It's the natural thing to do."

This, and the fact that John and the guys from the corporate office hug us rather than shake our hands each time we meet, has been refreshing. There is such a thing as goodness in the corporate world and we are glad it’s just around the corner from us.

-Joanne

Labels: food and beverage, Public Relations