Ad firm charged Ottawa $150 per hour to watch concert

OK, I admit... I have suggested that countries such as Canada do more to increase their profile. The story here highlights exactly how NOT to do it. I understand the poutine hit the fan a while back in Canada over this, and rightly so.

1) I don't think it is important for governments to increase their visibility at LOCAL events. Everyone in Canada is (or should be) aware of Canada and the Canadian government. What governments such as the one in Canada should do is increase their profile internationally.

And no, this does not mean sending people to attend a Neil Diamond concert in the US

2) Please ensure that when you do something to increase the visibility of Canada, make sure you have metrics so you can measure RESULTS.

I am so sick of people using PR as an excuse to have a party. It makes the rest of us look immature (bad enough I sign my name as "Penguin").


Sympatico/MSN News - CBC.ca

Tyranny of humanities

The problem with PR nowadays is that is has gone from a social science to a humanity. The discipline that Edward Bernays envisioned was one that understood the public and could anticipate the reaction of a crowed of people. It attempted not to understand the behavior of an individual, but rather to carry out initiatives that demonstrated an understanding of the behaviors of a wider public (was Isaac Asimov’s Hari Seldon a PR practitioner? But I digress)

Nowadays, PR is too concerned with language. What we say and how we say it. We’ve evolved from being applied social scientists, to masters of semantic antics.

Silicon Valley Sleuth: Microsoft doesn't need Linux to make a fool of itself

Nice cut-up of MSFT here. The blogger here is referring to a press release issued by MSFT. I won't summarize it here (don't be lazy, just click through) but I'd like to think that no PR person was actually involved in this news release. I have NO insider information, but my gut tells me this is one of those all too often cases when a business unit or some internal person with a warped ego somehow gets a hold of the PR process.

Press releases: do not try this at home, kids. We are professionals.

Silicon Valley Sleuth: Microsoft doesn't need Linux to make a fool of itself

Berry, Gellar Nix William Morris

Ouch! Always remember, the goal of PR is to get coverage, which means people may actually read what you say and react accordingly.

This is yet another reason why people will hesitate to be candid with the media and have all of their messages thoroughly bathed by PR... which is unfortunate. We're losing spontaneity in the media... perhaps another reason as to the popularity of blogs? At last a place for candid off-the-cuff talk?

It is a shame because New Yorker Tad Friend was more than fair to his subject IMHO (was he a tad friendly? Sorry!) and it is a great story.

Is the good PR for William Morris worth the loss of two prized clients (well, one prized client and Sarah Michelle Geller)? Maybe.

I will NEVER get into showbiz PR!

Yahoo! News - Berry, Gellar Nix William Morris

Nikkei

Is it possible to work with a Japanese publication that is not named Nikkei? Just wondering.

Hot business opportunity!!!

Wanna earn some huge money, fast? Here's the business opportunity for you! Invest in the growing market of "how blogging will destroy conventional media" seminars and workshops. Get in at the ground level. Now you can invest in 12 such seminars for about 10 cents.

MIT Backs Open Source in Brazil Computers for Poor

This is an interesting case study of what I call a "backdoor story." (Yes I know, it is a dumb name... best I could come up with at the moment.)

Semantics aside, it is interesting because this was at the top of my Yahoo News! It directly impacts an important company (Microsoft) in one of its key issues (open source) yet the story didn't originate in the US, it came from Brazil.

No story is regional anymore. Although this is a story written in Brazil, about the Brazil market which is way different than the US market, it directly impacts the perception of who is winning the OS war, Microsoft or open source.

Yahoo! News - MIT Backs Open Source in Brazil Computers for Poor

Bush's Wednesday Comments on Video News Releases

PR should help inform the news and shape the news, but it shouldn't BE the news. PR, at its core, should be a tool of public service not public manipulation (I know, I can hear Edward Bernays rolling over in his grave... sorry Ed).

Paying off pundits and pushing VNRs as news is a garden path to Orwell-land. But putting blame where blame is due... these TV stations shoudl make clear when they are airing a VNR or any footage not shot by them, be the content political or commercial in nature.

Is it too much to ask for some honesty from the media? Likewise, is it too much to ask for a president that is capable of speaking in complete sentances?

Bush's Wednesday Comments on Video News Releases

Karen Hughes Sells Brand America - She's supposed to market Bush policies to the Muslim world. Good luck! By Fred�Kaplan

Generally I’m in favor of this “national PR” approach (see the post on Canada earlier.) But to in effect “sell” a country in a region where that country may not be popular requires I think PR, rather than publicity.

Let me explain:
Publicity demands a more emotional response. You want the audience to like you, and to have empathy for you. I don’t think this is the approach the US should take in the Muslim world. Maybe someday in the future it will be, but not now.

At the moment, what is required is PR, that is to say an effort to gain an analytical, emotional response. We want people to understand and respect us. They may not like us or our way of life, but we need them to understand America’s relevance in the world.

Telling people how nice we are ain’t going to cut it. Telling people how important we are and that they should respect our democratic principles, even if they don’t fall in love with our consumerist society is the key message.



Karen Hughes Sells Brand America - She's supposed to market Bush policies to the Muslim world. Good luck! By Fred Kaplan

Is India the new black?

Could be India, could be Japan. Bottom line is that there are some concerns about the China economy, where it is going, and if there exists the financial infrastructure to properly mange it.

So where does that leave us who need to know where global finances are going? Looking to India maybe. At 7% growth and a more market driven approach, India may be the next darling of the communications crowed. Want your company to look like its got a strong global story? Then you may need to articulate its India sales plan (notice how I’m now talking sales and note R&D/outsourcing)

I think the dark horse of Asia is Japan. Once they get their stuff sorted (admittedly, that could take until the next ice age, which may be fast approaching) then I think companies will again be killing themselves to talk about their Japan story.

Is India the new black?

Could be India, could be Japan. Bottom line is that there are some concerns about the China economy, where it is going, and if there exists the financial infrastructure to properly mange it.

So where does that leave us who need to know where global finances are going? Looking to India maybe. At 7% growth and a more market driven approach, India may be the next darling of the communications crowed. Want your company to look like its got a strong global story? Then you may need to articulate its India sales plan (notice how I’m now talking sales and note R&D/outsourcing)

I think the dark horse of Asia is Japan. Once they get their stuff sorted (admittedly, that could take until the next ice age, which may be fast approaching) then I think companies will again be killing themselves to talk about their Japan story.

The many faces of APAC

What I like about Asia is that each country is so different. The Europe and even to a (much much) lesser extent Latin America, there is some cohesions across the region. But each Asian country is as different from each other as you can get. China and India may be neighbors, but there is not a lot that they share in common. And Australia… well they an entirely different kettle of dingos altogether.

It is these differences that make the region interesting. But it also poses a challenge for communications. You have to be able to speak the local language (literally and figuratively).

I’ll forgive you if you think Europe is a single entity from a communications point-of-view (although I’ll think you’re not too clever.) But any thought that sending out a news release in Singapore and/or Hong Kong and you’ve got APAC covered will get you smacked with a frozen herring!

Local knowledge

The most critical thing to PR is local knowledge. Without it, you’re sunk. Please may get all excited about the Internet and blogs as PR tools--and then are, very powerful ones indeed—but their abilities to collapse time and space will only take you so far. An ability to read what is going on locally and to scrap it out at the street level are really what separates organizations who understand communications to those who do not.

Obituary for a colleague

I’d like to officially pronounce the death of the news release right here, right now. It is not with a heavy heart, nor a great deal of regret that I make this pronouncement. After all the document was clunky, fake and often so late in arriving that the time you were able to get it out the door, it was too late, the news had already happened.

We may never completely get rid of the news release. It will still have its place as a sort of official piece of corporate communications. But in terms of being a useful media relations tool, its days are over.

National PR

You know who needs more PR in the US? Canada. If they don't want to join the missile defense initiative, that's great... It is their decision. But they need to better communicate that here in the US. In fact, they need to go on a charm offensive to show to the US why they still matter.

And don't get me wrong, I think Canada does matter.

If you have millions upon millions of dollars of trade crossing your border EVERY DAY, then something must be going well.

The problem is that most Americans don't see it. Trade with the Canada is part of the scenery and is barely noticeable... Unlike trade with China, for example.

Also, the power center in the US is moving from the northeast (who know Canada... well...at least shares similar weather) to the southwest, where the influence of Mexico and Asia is far more noticeable than anything from Canada.

It is in the southwest (as well as Washington DC, of course) where Canada has to focus its charm offensive. I don't know what sort of common ground you can find between Canada and, say, Texas, but you gotta find some in order to stay even remotely popular here.

Canada is a major foreign contributor to both Hollywood and Silicon Valley, yet those contributions go largely unnoticed in Sacramento.

Mexico, India, Israel and China are the countries off the top of my head that do a good job furthering elements of thier national interest here. Japan is being very agressive is promoting itself as well through its JETRO initiative, as are European countries like UK and France through their own initiatives.

Canada... never hear from them.