By Danny Sullivan
Over on TechCrunch yesterday, Michael Arrington hit back at those who have condemned his site and others for their policy of reporting on tech companies that are failing in the downturn.
Arrington states: “Reporting on layoffs or a dead company isn’t tabloid journalism. We do not take pleasure in seeing companies fail. But it’s inevitable that most will. And not only is it news, but readers have a right to know about it.”
And, while no self-respecting PR person wishes to see the details of their company’s demise being covered in the news, I have to support Arrington’s position on this.
Every day, I awake to the early business news on BBC radio and, for the past couple of months, every story has been filled with doom and gloom: companies and banks going to wall, layoffs, falling house prices, and so on. And yet I don’t expect the Beeb to ignore the facts of the downturn and to focus only on positive stories, so why should we expect anything different from a blog like TechCrunch?
As consumers of news, we expect the media (and bloggers) to bring us the important facts about the world we live in, and it just so happens that the business world is going through some major turmoil right now. No one likes the current situation, but facing up to reality is the only way companies will come through this successfully. News covers both the good and the bad, and we should not condemn the media for reporting on the uglier facts, just because we don’t feel like hearing them.
By Danny Sullivan
The Beeb reports today on an iPhone app designed by Barack Obama’s campaign team. What next?
This article proves again that Apple, for so long cemented in its position as the outright PR leader among technology companies, continues to generate waves of positive ink without even having to try.
If built on any other platform, this would have been just another article about an interesting mobile web app. The headline would have read “Obama targets cell phones to win support” or something similar. If it had been developed on Windows Mobile, do you think the article would credit Microsoft in any way?
Nope, of course not, but because the developers picked the iPhone to roll this out on, the article ends up with iPhone all over it. The casual reader might even think that Apple was behind it. Lovely!
But I’m just envious. It’s great when your PR is self-propagating – but for most of us, there’s a whole lot more work needed to get the ink!
By Danny Sullivan
Yesterday, research analyst Brian Summer posted a blog on ZDNet about how to conduct, or rather, how not to conduct an effective analyst day. While the post is clearly written with more than a little tongue in cheek, his points are well made.
In particular Summer’s comment around over-hyping a product should be taken to heart by many technology companies. He states, “Sure, any one can tell a story but you don’t need someone who’s clearly drank too much of the corporate Kool-Aid giving your pitch. Over zealous pitchmen are unintentionally obnoxious and impossible to believe.” In my experience this is certainly the case, and it ties closely into another of his points that analysts are smart enough to be able to read between the lines.
Working in tech PR, I can relate to many of his points, it’s incredible how many companies will insist on refering to themselves as some kind of “leader” in all their communications, even when this claim has absolutely no founding whatsoever. If you are a market leader, then by all means, shout it from the rooftops. For the rest of us, far better to address your market by focusing on the truly strong elements of your story, than adopting the language of hype to create an impression that will be seen through by most at first glance.
By Danny Sullivan
This week’s Call Centre Expo conference in Birmingham was overshadowed by the collapse of Lehmans and the sudden merger of two of the UK’s biggest banks in an apparent attempt to stave off a similar occurence on this side of the Atlantic. Wandering the floor and catching snippets of conversation, the same topics seemed to be on everyone’s mind.
With the economy in turmoil and at a conference full to the brim with technology vendors and service providers, it might have been reasonable to expect a poor turnout, but it seems this was not the case. A steady flow of booth traffic was the order of the day at the Sword ciboodle stand, and the CRM software company notched up a record number of leads at this year’s show.
Rachel Tait, marketing manager at Sword ciboodle, commented, “This has been our most successful show yet, and it appears that there is more demand than ever for technology that can help improve customer service.”
Interesting. Perhaps the effects of the slowing economy are yet to filter through to technology purchasers at large organizations, or could it be that these companies are recognizing the value that can be derived by focusing on the customer in times of economic uncertainty?
Earlier this summer, an article in Customer Strategy magazine by the University of Edinburgh’s Frank Kirwan laid out the argument against cutting back on customer service-related spend during a downturn, stating, “Those firms that increased marketing spend or spend on R&D, product launches or activities that affected customer perceptions of value-for-money, typically saw the largest increments to profitability and market share during the upturn.”
And, judging by the noise on the floor at Call Centre Expo, customer retention (let alone acquisition) will be one of the major preoccupations for businesses in the year ahead. All in all, the signs for companies in the customer service arena seem pretty good.
By Danny Sullivan
Industry events, such as conferences and tradeshows, can be a great place to connect with the media that cover your market, but is there any point in meeting with them if you’re not announcing anything of note?
For many organizations, the media are viewed as a channel for communicating news, and little else beyond that. Of course it makes complete sense to arrange media meetings at events when you are launching a new product or have some other major milestone to talk about. But don’t forget the tremendous value that can be gained simply by meeting face-to-face with a key editor, reporter or analyst.
PR is a business where “relationships” are constantly being touted as being key to the success of a program. Here at inmedia, we believe that the strength of the stories you bring to the media has the most bearing on the success or failure of a PR program, BUT we certainly still recognize the significant additional benefit that can result from developing healthy relationships with key contacts.
Meeting with the media at events provides that relationship-enhancing experience, where faces are put to names, and topics of mutual interest can be discussed without any of the hard-sell agenda of a story pitch done over the phone or by email.
And, in my experience, the media are just as happy to meet with companies that play in the sector they cover, whether they have something specific to announce or not. They can also benefit from the relationship factor, which for them can result in exclusives or advance notice on key news, to say nothing of the increased potential for securing commerical opportunities.
