February 8, 2011

Twitter power: Or how to get the mayor to shovel your sidewalk in 140 characters or less

When we last left guest blogger Katie Sweeney, she had just invited Philadelphia’s Mayor Michael Nutter to shovel her sidewalk via Twitter. Join Katie and me for the exciting conclusion about how Twitter connects and influences real people in real life.

Katie Sweeney: Kicking it off with Mayor Michael Nutter in under 140 characters.

 

“Jarring” is how I’ll describe seeing my name appear in a Tweet from a celebrity, even one whom I’ve just addressed. But there it was, a retweet of my invitation to Mayor Nutter with a vague acknowledgment that he’ll “try” but also asking which block I lived on. If the conversation ended there, he probably could have counted a happier resident. People want to know they’re being heard, and he’s out there trying, folks.

But things were just getting started. Within five minutes I had a new follower and a request to direct message the mayor my phone number. Minutes later I was chatting with one of his people who asked what we had going on outside on the street. This is where I sort of started feeling bad because surely there were worse streets in Philadelphia, and we’re a pretty hardy crowd. Although it is a small street, and we do usually shovel it out ourselves, I told him, because equipment doesn’t usually make it down. “Get a bunch of people out there helping and we’ll be there in 10 minutes” the voice on the other end of the phone told me.

When Mayor Nutter arrived some 20 minutes later (wearing a Temple hat and what appeared to be creased snowpants) he was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of residents, citizens and voters. I thrust out my hand with an introduction and a thank-you, which he upgraded to a hug. The mayor shoveled snow for a good 30 minutes, while his team of handlers found a clear spot on the sidewalk to continue conducting business, safety and logistics. Ahhh, the Tweeter, no doubt.

Aside from the benefits from his personal interactions with the people on my street, Mayor Nutter’s visit also generated a bit of traction and goodwill in the social sphere. While it would be impossible to measure the exact reach, there were 21 mentions with my Twitter handle & Mayor Nutter’s in the same message, plus 15 or so more from people in my stream following the story and commenting back. Social media experts tout “authenticity”, but I believe this is a successful case when team members can effectively use the channel to connect the Person with the people.

Quietly, the team passed the signal that it was time to move on to the next location. But before leaving, Mayor Nutter posed for cameraphone pictures, chatted with us about the storm, our neighborhood, Philly sports and accepted our invitation to return for our summer block party.

Throughout his visit, we never felt he was just making an appearance –  the man was truly there to work; not only did he leave us a clear(er) street, he left behind a pretty great impression.

Katie Sweeney is a freelance writer. Follow her random observations and invitations on Twitter at www.twitter.com/k8iedid.

Editor’s note: This was a blast (thank you, Katie). I mean, I’m having a real Ira Glass moment here, in a good way. Presenting my own stories and observations is fun. Presenting other folks’ is even more so.

So if you have a story about, well, storytelling and changing peoples’ minds, hit me up in the comments and we’ll talk.

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February 4, 2011

Twitter power: Part 1 of 2

Brendon’s note:

I’ve been following Katie Sweeney on Twitter for well over a year now. We have a lot of things in common: an interest in changing people’s minds using smart writing, a love for our respective Philadelphia neighborhoods and a minor-league-but-relatively-healthy addiction to Twitter.

More to the point, we use the same kinds of metaphors to describe Twitter to others. And we have the same kind of respect for the influence it can exert. Katie’s story, presented here exclusively in two parts, is a great example of that influence and how Twitter can reveal personalities better than any press conference or commercial ever could.

Here’s her story:

When explaining Twitter to the uninformed I usually take the approach of comparing it to walking into the largest party imaginable and being able to listen and contribute to all the conversations that interest you. With Twitter you can hear about special sales on your favorite products at the same time you hear breaking news headlines.

Before Twitter, you may never have had the opportunity to meet Shaquille O’Neal in person, or tell your favorite author Sloane Crosley how much you love her short stories. With Twitter, you can find out what @Shaq had for breakfast or where @AskAnyone is doing her next book reading.

You may even get your Mayor to come over and help shovel snow on your street, as I did.

I began following @Michael_Nutter if only to stay informed on the issues that he found important enough to Tweet. It seemed that he was only an occasional Tweeter, either not sure yet how to use his voice or audience or just too busy to update. Yes, I believed it was Mayor Nutter himself, clicking away on BlackBerry keys to inform his legion of followers on Twitter his every move.

Although I don’t follow many politicians, Newark’s mayor, Cory Booker caught my attention during the city’s late-December snowstorm. I’m always interested in seeing new ways companies and individuals use Twitter and this was the first time I’d seen a public figure turn to Twitter to personally help residents. Booker’s efforts came across both genuine and tireless. Though I probably couldn’t have named the mayor of Newark days before and my quality of life wouldn’t improve, I clicked follow. I could definitely learn from Mayor Booker’s Twitter strategy.

Where Twitter offers a unique connection to people you’d never otherwise have the opportunity to interact with in real life, it also offers a sort of protection. Were we in the same room, I would never have the freedom or confidence to walk up to Mayor Nutter and invite him to “swing on by” my block to help (an invite to help, how kind!) us shovel snow. Working from my home office (see: kitchen table) during the  snowstorm last week I saw Mayor Nutter’s tweet about helping residents in North Philly shovel their sidewalks. Curious at this adaptation of Mayor Booker’s successful, personal interaction campaign, I clicked Mayor Nutter’s feed to read his last few messages. It seemed he was spending the day visiting and helping residents clean out.

“What do I have to lose?” I thought.

Katie Sweeney: Kicking it off with Mayor Michael Nutter in under 140 characters.

For the exciting conclusion, check back here next week.

Katie Sweeney is a freelance writer. Follow her random observations and invitations on Twitter at www.twitter.com/k8iedid.

And to follow my random observations, follow me at www.twitter.com/bshank.

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January 14, 2011

And now for some news about me

It’s funny. For a PR person, I sure have a hard time talking about myself. This could be due to my Midwestern roots. But I’m going to try anyway.

Starting on February 1, I’ll be heading up the communications department for the Philadelphia-based Society of Hospital Medicine.

SHM has been a client of mine for almost three years and I’m very excited about this new chapter in our work together. Together, we’ve had great media successes and have helped to solidify some of the very concepts that I’ve blogged about in the past (I’d be lying if I said that my experiences with SHM weren’t already fodder for previous posts).

This is exciting for a lot of reasons. Hospital medicine is the fastest growing medical specialty in medical history and it’s on the very front lines of improving healthcare. Moreover, this is a new position and I’m joining a staff of incredibly talented, forward-looking and energetic folks who are excited about the impact they’re making on patient care.

For me, I’m eager for the challenge of working in-house. My entire career has been agency-based, so switching sides will be fun and refreshing.

I will still make room for some consulting clients – especially those whose projects fit my three F’s – so I won’t be taking www.brendonshank.com down. Rather, I suspect that it will become a forum for the new challenge ahead.

And if you have any tips about making the switch from agency to in-house, I’m all ears. Please share them in the comments.

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January 10, 2011

The three F’s of good client work

“So what makes a good client for you?”

If you’ve ever been to a networking session or met with potential referral partners, you know it’s one of the first questions you can expect to hear.

F gets a bum rap. I blame the educational system. Per usual.

I think about this question a lot. Not because I need an answer for a networking breakfast, but because I think that some of the best relationships between a consultant and client have some common threads. Those common threads have helped me assess the potential for other gigs and — so far — they’ve been pretty spot on.

So I thought I’d share them.

These are my three F’s of a positive professional relationship:

  • Fun: Okay, not every client/agency or client/consultant relationship is fun all the time, but good ones should have moments where it doesn’t feel like work. Like it’s more about a single team working toward something good.
  • Fair: This gets back to my general philosophy of return on investment. If both sides aren’t deriving value from the relationship, it’s time to address it and figure out why. And that goes for the agency/consultant side, too. Over-investment in a client is not a long-term business strategy.
  • Fantastic: Not fantastic in a subjective sense, but fantastic in a “we’re going to walk out of this far better than when we started” sense. I often ask myself — and the client — “how do we make this project an industry award-winner?” Even if you don’t submit for awards, it’s a good standard for work.

So the next time you think about hiring a consultant — or if you’re a consultant taking on new work — try these on for size. And let me know what you think.

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January 6, 2011

Changing your logo? How to avoid logo panic

Logos change. It’s a fact of marketing. But every time they do, consumers and the media ready the pitchforks and light the torches.

Starbucks unveiled a new logo yesterday and the backlash has already started.

And a few months ago, the Gap revamped its decades-old logo. And then they promptly switched it back after public outcry about the change, along with a major corporate mea culpa.

Around the same time, technology blog TechCrunch was about to present 50 TechCrunch logos over 50 days, but stopped on day two because social media site Reddit just did the exact same thing a few weeks prior.

The furor over designing or re-designing a logo can be overwhelming. It’s understandable. Logos are accessible and ubiquitous and everybody has an opinion.  As comedian Stan Freberg wrote in a song 50 years ago, “everybody wants to be an art director.”

But TechCrunch, Reddit and even Google all bring us to an important point: your organization is not the same thing as its logo. All three demonstrate that you could probably change your logo every day, as long as you back it up with good product and service.

Same person, different glasses. Just like your new logo: same organization, new logo.

To loyal customers, a company with a new logo is like seeing an old friend with new glasses.

Sure it may take some getting used to, you might not even like the glasses, but over time, you get used to them and — after all — your friend hasn’t changed. Just her glasses.

Same goes for a nonprofit and its donors. Or an association and its members.

So, how do you quell logo anxiety?

  • Implement it quickly. Make sure that you don’t leave lingering logo relics of your old logo on your website, advertising, letterhead or offices. To make sure you’ve scoured out all of the old logo, consider organizing an employee scavenger hunt to see who can find the most appearances of the old logo.
  • Don’t panic. Even if some individuals in your audience react strongly. As long as you’re comfortable that you’ve done due diligence and the new logo is aligned with your brand identity, odds are good that your audiences will slowly adjust to the new logo.
  • Don’t lose focus. Logo-talk can go on forever if you let it. And it can distract from your core mission and functions, which is what people really associate with your organization.

Logos are important. Logos are a big part of the brand identity that people unconsciously create when they think of your organization.

But your logo isn’t your organization any more than you are your new eyeglasses.

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December 13, 2010

Lucky #30?

A century ago, Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker was once quoted saying: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

That occurred to me yesterday, when my blog post about distributing press releases was featured on WordPress.com’s “Freshly Pressed” site and as the featured post on WordPress.com’s Media site.

My trophy for the week: A featured post on the WordPress Media Tag site.

The fact is, despite all our modern audience targeting and measuring, Mr. Wanamaker still has a point. That blog post — the 30th on my blog — wasn’t discernibly different than my others, it just happened to grab the attention of the right people at the right time.

The same can go for an ad that finally strikes a chord with your target audience. Or a press story that finds a life of its own and spreads through media. Or an online video that’s so successful that it spurs dozens more from celebrities and the president.

To me, Wanamaker’s quote isn’t about luck or frustration. It’s about perseverance in marketing.

Marketing is about a dialogue with people. People — and the things that affect them — are unpredictable, so it’s up to marketing and PR people to learn, tweak and persevere.

Giving up or reducing efforts only ensures that both halves of your marketing efforts will be wasted.

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December 9, 2010

Twitter and media: changing the system, not the people

Earlier this week, a five-alarm fire raged in downtown Baltimore. And one of the reporters who covered it first wasn’t even on the scene.

Using his Twitter feed, New York Times reporter Brian Stelter began aggregating photos from fellow Twitter users who were at the fire and posting links to their pictures.

It used to be that being first to the scene was the most important. Now, with hundreds of cameras already on the scene in the hands of passersby and the ability to distribute it to millions instantaneously, media and other organizations simply can’t win the footrace. It’s barely worth trying.

But here’s what IS worth trying: telling a better story. Either by taking a better photo or weaving together a narrative that’s compelling about an event happening in real time. When US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson last year, it was the wide-angle photo of passengers getting out of the floating airplane that told the story.

Twitter and other social media haven’t changed people, it’s changed the system in which we learn about and report news. What used to be a one-to-many paradigm is now thousands-to-millions. It’s up to the people who create the news and report it to adjust accordingly.

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