REICH COMMUNICATIONS

Happy New Year

 

Wishing you a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful 2013

 

from New York City

PR in the New Year

 

As 2012 comes to an end and 2013 waits in the wings, here are a few quick thoughts on what the new year will bring in the world of Public Relations.

PR will become the primary keeper of social media for many organizations.  Smarter organizations will set up systems to involve various functions including marketing, sales, legal and the C-level offices, but PR will be responsible for fast, day-to-day content, monitoring and responses.

It's all about content, as more organizations create their own channels via social media, websites and e-zines.  Since PR people are (supposedly) trained to create content that is interesting, relevant and supportive of an organization's goals, they will take the lead in content creation.  The trick is to make it good, but not overly commercial.

Pitching stories and ideas will still be a big part of what we do, but more will be done via email and, to a lesser degree, social media.  LinkedIn is gaining in popularity and uselfulness as a public relations tool, but that can change in an instant.

 

In my own small corner of the PR world, Reich Communications has just moved to new offices.  Like the old "Jeffersons" TV theme, we're movin' on up.  Up one block, from East 44th Street to East 45th Street.  And up a few floors, from 9 to 11, in a beautiful building at 228 East 45th St. 

The old 11-story building we just left is slated for demolition soon, as the new owner plans to put up a high-rise once new zoning is put into place.  The 100+ year-old building once housed printing companies, but more recently had the Screen Gems studios where "One Life to Live" was taped for decades and, for the past five years, "The Rachel Ray Show."

The new space is still the same neighborhood ... two blocks from Grand Central and a block from the United Nations.  I'll still be able to stop on the way in at Sam's coffee cart at 44th and 3rd, and I'm even closer now to The Comfort Diner, where you can get a fantastic belly-filling omelette with home fries and toasted bagel for less than ten bucks.  And my favorite sushi place, East, is across the street.

The move went smoothly, although we're still awaiting phones and internet to be connected.  Hopefully, that will happen Monday morning.  But if not, I guess I'll have extra time to get cartons unpacked and pictures hung so it feels like home.

To all, best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

 

 

 

 

 

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You've got to be kidding! NRA breaks silence after Newtown

I didn't see the news conference by NRA spoksespeson.  I'm basing this on what I've seen reported in the trade press so far.

But I just cannot believe the position taken by the NRA in its first public statement since the tragic Newtown shootings a week ago. 

According to one trade pub, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre “blamed violent video games and movies, the media, gun-free zones in schools and other factors,” the report says, adding that LaPierre “said that the students in Newtown might have been better protected had officials at Sandy Hook Elementary been armed.

In a statement probably designed to boost gun sales, he also said "putting a police officer in every single school in America might make schools safer.”  He added,  "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."  He didn't address the question of how did the bad guy get the gun in the first place?

I hate guns, but I do understand the basis of the Second Ammendment.  I don't think, however, the framers of the Constitution and the Ammendments were thinking of assault weapons and automatics with clips that hold multiple shells.  These firearms are designed to kill many people quickly.  Why would an ordinary citizen need such a weapon? 

The NRA, in its statement, seemed to be playing clearly to their most staunch constituents.  And totally off-putting to anyone else -- even someone who might be a moderate on the sensitive issue.

Instead of saying that guns are part of (even a very small part) of the problem, the NRA simply goes on the attack, placing blame everywhere but on guns, gun owners and matters of gun control.  The NRA places blame for gun violence on the media and even on gun-free zones near schools.  Say what!!  Gun-free zones near schools are the cause of mass shootings?!!

From a PR point of view, the NRA statement will backfire by rallying those already angered and frustrated by gun violence to take stronger action.  Instead of just scratching their heads and bemoaning the situation to friends, many more people -- spurred by the NRA's terrible PR positioning -- will become more active, pushing their Congressmen, backing politicians who are pro-gun control, and, if necessary, taking to the streets to keep the outrage going and the issue front and center on the nationbal agenda.

So, Mr. NRA CEO - nice going.  

By the way, you might take a closer look at whomever is advising you on PR matters.  They just helped you win a big one -- for the other side. 

Newtown

 

 

Sadly, now we all know where this small Connecticut town is.

What we don't know, but can only imagine, is the terror felt by parents waiting for news of their children.  We can only imagine the strength overcoming fear that enabled heroic teachers to do what they could to protect their precious little ones and try to shield them from "the bad guys."

What we probably can't imagine, unfortunately, is a world where guns are available only to bonafide police and public safety personnel.  The deep pockets and influence of the gun lobby makes that hard to imagine, despite all the talk we'll soon hear from politicians.

That, too, is sad.

 

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My daughter Jennifer sent me her thoughts as she was getting ready to take our grandson Jack to school this Monday morning, up in Maine...

It is snowing right now, a beautiful silent scene, evoking the simple childhood joys of the first snow of the season.  All is calm, all is quiet, all is untouched. There are no tracks worn in, no tire marks making the clean canvas a sight for sore eyes. It is simple.
 

I want to keep it that way, bottle it up and let no one walk upon it. Let it just be, so pure, as nature intended.

But for better or worse, that is not how it is. It is impossible to live in a bottle.

And so, it is in the middle of this beauty, that my stomach churns with anxiety and sadness and horror, as I prepare to send my 7 year old off to school this morning. His sweet, pure, freshly falling snow of a soul. His world is different than mine. He doesn't know of the evil, of the impossible to make sense of. He knows nothing of Sandy Hook.

I cry endless tears for the families that lost their loved ones. There are no words. And I cry for my children too. For knowing that the simple, clean snow they play upon can not stay that way forever. Mud and dirt and sand will creep in and there is no stopping it. I mourn for the families in Newtown, and I mourn for the loss of my innocent children's understanding of this world.

For now, I will watch the snow fall. Soon, I will drop my older son off at school and pray- something I just do not do. I will pray for his safety, for his innocence, and for his heart.

And when he comes home, as I know he will, we will run and laugh and play in the snow-- plowed through and grit covered as it may be.

And we will laugh and we will love, and I will shed a silent tear.

Childhood is fleeting. The world shows its ugly face too soon.
I will try, hard as I might, to shelter my children from all that is evil, from the very knowledge of its existence even. But I can't.

And so we go on.

 

 

Content Marketing Challenges

 

A new survey from my friends at MarketingProfs, where I'm a contributing writer, shows most B2C marketers now use content marketing, even as they continue to be challenged by determining the effectiveness of their efforts. 

Eighty-six percent said they are now using various forms of content marketing to reach consumers.

Social media and websites are the most commonly-used platforms, with 84% of respondents saying they utilize them.  E-newsletters follow close behind, with 78% and online videos and blogs round out the top five at 70% and 69% respectively.

Content marketing is here to stay, but the biggest challenge, after "lack of sufficient budget," is producing enough content and creating content that engages the target audience. Just having content out there doesn't do much good if it doesn't get read or doesn't move people to take some form of action.

That's where good PR people (note, I said "good") should be utilized by marketers.  It's always been a role of PR practitioners to take marketing messages and craft them into engaging content.  That's what we do when we draft a news release or a feature article or a speech.  When we pitch a story or segment idea, or when we script a video or write a blog post or newsletter, we've got to make it interesting enough to get read or viewed and compelling enough to help create a desired response -- buying a product or service, understanding or agreeing with a position on a issue.

PR people are trained or learn from experience to walk the fine line between the blatant, hardcore sales messages of advertising and informative unbiased journalism.  It's that combination, leaning a bit toward the unbiased journalism part of the equation, that enables PR results to have a credibility that advertising usually just doesn't achieve.

So it makes sense that the PR function should be involved in the content marketing task.  It should, of course, be a collaborative effort, coordinating with marketing, advertising and sales.  But PR should be given a very strong, if not decisive, voice in the process to ensure the content in content marketing doesn't get diluted to the point of ineffectiveness by the other marketing and management disciplines.

It will take an enlightened and trusting top management to put such a structure into place and enforce it, but it should pay off in terms of producing and disseminating solid content that attracts attention and engages in an effective way.

 

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