By Danny Sullivan
This is probably the first and last time the Pope gets a mention on this blog, but this week’s events in Africa got me thinking.
What got the Pope in hot water while visiting a continent ravaged by AIDS/HIV was his public assertion that the use of condoms could increase risks to public health related to the spread of the disease.
For most companies, there are countless topical situations that could be taken advantage of for the purpose of making a point. In some cases it might be appropriate and prudent to do so, and for others, definitely not. The events of September 11, 2001 are a prime example of the latter, where there were some who tried to capitalize on the fear generated around the attacks. But the majority of businesses rightly balked at such callous practice.
Many technology firms will unfortunately come across occasions when a global disaster or terrible event would provide a potential platform from which to illustrate their product’s capabilities, and how they might have prevented events from happening. But they just don’t. Our ethics help us to realize it’s better to say nothing in certain situations.
While I understand that the Pope has an agenda that he firmly believes in (as does the leadership of most organizations), I would have thought that someone within the Vatican’s PR department might have raised the point that certain subject matter might be better left alone when visiting the epicenter of that subject.
By Francis Moran
“Angry phone calls are your friend,” writes Seth Godin in a blog post today. “They’re your friend because the alternative is angry tweets and angry blog posts.”
I agree so completely I’ve already tweeted this post of Godin’s.
But I think companies should have more holistic approaches to customer satisfaction and service for good business reasons that go beyond fear of being slagged on the ‘net. We write about this a lot here at inmedialog so forgive me for sounding a bit like a broken record.
Superior customer service is the only sustainable competitive advantage available to most companies. If you have a technology advantage, your product will swiftly be reverse-engineered, or the next refinement by a competitor will leapfrog over it. If you have a price advantage, outsourcing and off-shoring will swiftly erode it.
If you treat your customers better than your competitors do, however, you will build and expand an advantage than no one will be able to take away from you.
Don’t treat your customers properly just because you’re afraid they’ll write nasty things about you on Twitter or on blogs. Treat them properly because it’s the surest way they’ll stay customers.
[tag] Customer service, Seth Godin [/tags]
By Leo Valiquette
There is no shortage of counsel that an economic rough patch is the time to ramp up, not reduce, a company’s investment in marketing and public relations. When potential customers are reconsidering or holding off on purchasing decisions, you need to be out there giving them a reason why they need to buy, and buy from you, now.
In the current environment, companies that are nimble and can adapt quickly will not only be the ones that survive, but will also be the ones that prosper as they take advantage of the confusion, fear and indecision of competitors standing on the sidelines wringing their hands as the same old way of doing things fails to yield the results it once did.
What needs to change is the message you are putting out. Everyone is feeling the pain of a recessionary economy. Our motto at inmedia has always been that it’s not about the technology, but about the business case for the technology. We always emphasize to our clients that their messaging must articulate how their product or service is the drill the customer needs to make that hole in the wall. (Or as the case may be, the patching compound that will make the hole go away.) Marketing and PR are crucial tools to convey how your product or service can address the most acute and top-of-mind pain points of your customers. They are also key to reaching and cultivating new markets.
Entrepreneur Magazine recently published a good article on where to avoid the temptation to drop the axe to cut costs. It featured a great perspective from Ann Handley, chief content officer at MarketingProfs. She emphasized the importance of marketing in a slump to maintain the volume of sales leads, and to adjust your messaging to reflect the current realities facing potential customers.
“If you sell washing machines, for example, and people don’t want to buy new models, you can stress how much they’ll save on maintenance and electricity with a more energy-efficient model,” she said.
Of course, adjusting your messaging and targeting new markets must make sense and hold the potential of a return greater than the investment. My catalyst for writing this post came from a radio ad I heard the other day from a company that is obviously thinking outside the box to reach a broader demographic of potential customers.
The ad came from retail pharmacy chain Jean Coutu and featured a fellow talking to his buddy about how busy he is taking care of the baby on paternity leave. His comment was along the lines of, “My wife does her part, but thank goodness for Jean Coutu.”
OK. Creative thinking on Jean Coutu’s part? Yes. An untapped market? Maybe. A big market worthy of the effort? Not so sure on that one, though I will concede it may catch the attention of a broader male demographic than just dads on pat leave. What’s important is that it demonstrates the kind of creative thinking that companies need to succeed in the current environment and the value of maintaining the marketing investment. (Consider this free plug I just gave Jean Coutu because I heard that ad and it resonated because I’m a father with a four-year-old.)
By Francis Moran
It might seem odd for this tech-focused blog to be writing about ringette, Canada’s other very cool game played on ice. Believe it or not, however, Ringette Canada was an original inmedia PR client, one for which I had been working for a few years when I founded the agency in 1998.
Another inmedia original was Alayne Martell, who was employee number 3, joining us scant days after we legally incorporated the company. Alayne swiftly assumed responsibility for the ringette account and, when she and inmedia parted ways a few years back, we agreed it made most sense that she take that account along with her.
Alayne being the phenomenal media relations practitioner she is, she has built up the account and continues to provide incredible service to the Canadian — and, periodically, even the international — ringette community notwithstanding that she lives on tiny Brier Island off the very tip of Digby Neck in her native Nova Scotia.
Alayne told me a few days ago about a terrific media hit for the sport and I promised her I would blog about it here. The CBC’s resident funny man and political satirist Rick Mercer suited up last month with the Cambridge Turbos of the National Ringette League and the piece will run on The Rick Mercer Report tonight at 8 p.m., repeating on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Maybe the only thing in Canada faster than Mercer’s mouth when he’s doing one of his famous rants is a ringette player closing in on the net. Tune in; it should be a hoot.
