It's 102 degrees in Washington, DC today and with the humidity index it's 115.
How many times do people just pick up information off the Web and republish it under their own names? It's happened to me and I saw today a perfect example of how it's done- except this person got called on it. And their immediate reaction was to deny it, even though the articles were almost identical.
It reminds me of a discussion I contributed to recently about whether or not picking up someone else's blog post - if it was attributed - was considered unprofessional. Although it is common practice, the comments were pretty straight forward. Don't do it. It makes you look bad.
If you can't come up with something that is at least a new take on an age old topic then don't write it. Blogging is a pain in the neck, and I can't tell you how tempting it is sometimes when you see something that's good by someone else to change it a little and make it yours. But that's plagiarism pure and simple
The original article was written by a U.S. News & World Report blogger. I'm not going to put names on this because I'm really writing about the topic rather than the people. The bottom line is someone in this little story took someone else's work and passed it off as their own. That makes all of them look bad except the original writer who pointed it out.
Here's the discussion - judge for yourself. The plagiarized blog post has already been take down so I copied the conversation for you. Interesting example of a gut reaction to deny and then a realization that a person who was trusted really did just take someone else's work.
The original writer - This article is copied from an article I wrote for US News and World Report, word for word. Are you really passing this off as your own - in a group that I moderate? This is the the article that I wrote. Word for word.
The blogger who posted the copied article - Our article came directly from a manager with a Fortune 500 Company. If you read both articles there are differences. We don't copy articles. She did an interview with our content writer and I know she didn't copy your article.
I have written articles myself on what is now a hot topic, that are now showing up all over the sites. I published a book in 1998 with an entire chapter on the subject.
Sorry if you want to take this off the site please feel free to do so. She included new info in point number 6. I think there are only so many ways you can reinvent the wheel and write from experience. The manager wrote this we just edited and helped with the title.
The original writer - Are you kidding me? Helped with the title? It's EXACTLY the same title. The content isn't rewritten - it is the same. You added one thing to post it in a group that has a string with 450+ comments to try to bring more traffic to your site. Before you write me back and try to justify your position, take a look, make a quick comparison. It is copied and then you had the nerve to come and post it in a group I moderate. Really?
Your manager didn't write it. You should start checking your content from your content farm through a checker for plagiarized work. This is copied. You should be giving credit to the original owner, not passing it off as your own content.
And yes, please take it off your site.
My take on this - In this situation, if I was the person who posted this article, I would never try to defend it - just apologize and take it down immediately. There's nothing to be gained from denying it especially when the two articles are almost identical.
A few minutes after I posted this the apology came. Kudos to the blogger for taking action quickly.
The blogger - I am so sorry. We had no clue this was copied. We are taking the article off our site and I will leave your group. This is a new site, we didn't expect anything like this to happen and we will make sure from here on out that this does not happen again. I have a feeling the manager read your article and didn't realize what she was doing was wrong b/c she does interviews all the time using Stars.
Also I just got off the phone with my editor and she told me she heavily edited the content of the article that she submitted. The manager and I talked weeks ago and she gave me all of those reasons she didn't hire people off the top of her head. I asked her could she write them in an article and she said yes.
I have two staff writers that freelance and they have either interviewed our contributors or sent them questions for the articles. And some of our contributors have submitted their own content. We don't copy. I am a published author and I would not want anyone doing this to me. I apologize and will leave your group. I posted to a few sites and I can't see a way to remove the posts but I will try to get them off of Linkedin. . .
In the end, the lesson learned is pretty straight forward. People plagarize other people's work and on the Internet I believe it's become a much more common practice than it once was. What people don't seem to understand is that everything on the Internet is copyrighted the moment it's published. So the same rules that applied to print work - apply online.
Will the copyrights be enforced? Probably not. But is it really worth it? In the end, the whole point of blogging is to add to the conversation, not copy someone else's. Yes we're all crazy busy and it's easy to take an idea, change some of the words, and represent it as your own.
I've been working a long time, and have seen most of the new and brilliant marketing approaches touted as new ideas before. The media marketers are using today may be different, but fresh ideas are hard to come by. This particular blog post was pretty generic and contained information that has probably been published in many different forms over time - repeating much of what has already been said.
What do other marketers think? Do you re-package others content and if you do how do you attribute it?
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Marketing the Real Senior Executive - What it Takes
I got a call several months ago from a recruiter who asked me if I knew a younger version of myself who would be interested in a PR position in a scientific organization.
Wow. I have my own business, although periodically I do look for a full-time job because I’ve got a kid going to college in two years, an ex-husband who thinks he should pay much less child support than is needed, and a house that is pretty costly to run.
So is there age discrimination in PR? Is there air? Over the past six weeks a massive conversation that I believe is up to 420 comments has occurred over this topic. The original question was actually Age Discrimination in PR Recruiting posted by Mark Schumann, former IABC International chair, on his blog.
The debate ensues on The Public Relations and Jobs Community LinkedIn page. There is a photo of a man who appears to be in his 70s and it doesn’t even show his whole face. But we get it. This guy is older and wiser.
The answer from all of us who are above the age of 40 is DUH. Of course there is age discrimination and not just in PR, everywhere. In this recession, companies have basically decided that 10 years of experience is enough to do pretty much anything except the CEO’s job. Highly experienced is 3-5 years. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t know anything about anything when I was 25. I was all raw talent and a lot of bluster.
Getting a Job When You’re in Your 40s plus
The discussion on the LinkedIn page is more about getting a job in PR, which unless you somehow manage to get incredibly lucky and find a state or federal government position, or something in non-profit many of whose leaders understand that age means experience, you can kind of forget about it. The discussion has centered on a number of topics some of which I’ve listed here.
Social media and it’s meteoric rise has elevated the 23 year-old to a new status. Even though they don’t often have a clue how to use it for business. Youth means social expert, everyone under 25 is a social media expert. It’s not true, but hiring managers buy it and so do their bosses who think Twitter is a fun thing that no one else looks at. Yes Congressman Weiner, I’m talking about you.
The HR people who are the first round of filling many senior PR positions, knock out older people because of cost and because we refuse to give up our dignity. They ask for references (to a blind ad are you kidding me?), salary requirements (I wouldn’t provide those to someone who didn’t even interview me), etc. If you don’t put those in, you get deleted. Well you know what, that’s their loss, but it’s also ours.
They make you fill out endless forms and produce your college transcript. My college transcript is probably in a crypt somewhere and the idea of giving it to anyone is ludicrous. I mean really. Twenty five years of experience and you need to see that I got a C in geology. They also make prospective candidates fill out the same application that an entry level person would fill out. How demoralizing is that?
The 35 year-old Executive VP. PR is famous for inflating titles, particularly the agencies. If you’ve got ten years of experience you are a veteran, an expert, a genius. What they don’t bother to think about is you are also getting ready to start a family (which limits a woman's potential depending on what her mothering beliefs are), and means the dad has to go home too if he wants to see his kids.
Wouldn’t you be better off with a 55 year-old whose kids are grown and can work late into the night and travel when needed?
Europeans don’t do this. I’m not sure this is true, but many who’ve chimed in from England, France, Italy, etc. have said that there isn’t that much age discrimination in their countries. Experience equals wisdom. Well good for them. In the USA experience often equals the person who wins the Apprentice. Paris here I come.
How to get around the age issue
Shave everything but the last 15 years off your resume.
This is actually decent advice because something you did 25 years ago is pretty darn irrelevant right now. Don’t put down your college graduation date – even though it’s a dead giveaway you are older when you exclude it and anyone who knows how to Google can find it in 30 seconds or less. But maybe they won't bother to find out you were a child of the 70s.
Keep up to date with new developments in the PR profession.
If you don’t understand social media, aren’t at least doing it for yourself, don’t have a blog, don’t get what digital means, you’re of another generation. Get your skills up to today’s market. Read what’s going on – attend seminars, learn how to walk the walk and talk the talk. Do you know what SEO is? If not, learn, and I don't mean just what the acronym means but how to do it well.
Update your technology, music taste, celebrity knowledge, etc.
I guarantee you most 50 year-olds have no clue who Justin Bieber and Usher are, think kids admire Lindsay Lohan, have never seen a Harry Potter movie (the last one is due out this summer), have no clue that an eight year-old can get around any computer security device on the planet, don’t take and edit video, and cannot name an X-Box game or define virtual reality.
Brush up people. I am lucky in this regard because I have an 11 year-old and a 15 year-old. I even listen to the Kane Show, watch Jon Stewart and haven’t seen David Lederman in years. Oh that’s right, you’re already in bed.
My final question is for the people who keep saying we should raise the retirement age to save social security. Yes of course we should save it. But if you cannot get a job at 48, how are you possibly going to work until 70? No one will hire you. Maybe it’s time for them to get a reality check too.
Wow. I have my own business, although periodically I do look for a full-time job because I’ve got a kid going to college in two years, an ex-husband who thinks he should pay much less child support than is needed, and a house that is pretty costly to run.
So is there age discrimination in PR? Is there air? Over the past six weeks a massive conversation that I believe is up to 420 comments has occurred over this topic. The original question was actually Age Discrimination in PR Recruiting posted by Mark Schumann, former IABC International chair, on his blog.
The debate ensues on The Public Relations and Jobs Community LinkedIn page. There is a photo of a man who appears to be in his 70s and it doesn’t even show his whole face. But we get it. This guy is older and wiser.
The answer from all of us who are above the age of 40 is DUH. Of course there is age discrimination and not just in PR, everywhere. In this recession, companies have basically decided that 10 years of experience is enough to do pretty much anything except the CEO’s job. Highly experienced is 3-5 years. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t know anything about anything when I was 25. I was all raw talent and a lot of bluster.
Getting a Job When You’re in Your 40s plus
The discussion on the LinkedIn page is more about getting a job in PR, which unless you somehow manage to get incredibly lucky and find a state or federal government position, or something in non-profit many of whose leaders understand that age means experience, you can kind of forget about it. The discussion has centered on a number of topics some of which I’ve listed here.
Social media and it’s meteoric rise has elevated the 23 year-old to a new status. Even though they don’t often have a clue how to use it for business. Youth means social expert, everyone under 25 is a social media expert. It’s not true, but hiring managers buy it and so do their bosses who think Twitter is a fun thing that no one else looks at. Yes Congressman Weiner, I’m talking about you.
The HR people who are the first round of filling many senior PR positions, knock out older people because of cost and because we refuse to give up our dignity. They ask for references (to a blind ad are you kidding me?), salary requirements (I wouldn’t provide those to someone who didn’t even interview me), etc. If you don’t put those in, you get deleted. Well you know what, that’s their loss, but it’s also ours.
They make you fill out endless forms and produce your college transcript. My college transcript is probably in a crypt somewhere and the idea of giving it to anyone is ludicrous. I mean really. Twenty five years of experience and you need to see that I got a C in geology. They also make prospective candidates fill out the same application that an entry level person would fill out. How demoralizing is that?
The 35 year-old Executive VP. PR is famous for inflating titles, particularly the agencies. If you’ve got ten years of experience you are a veteran, an expert, a genius. What they don’t bother to think about is you are also getting ready to start a family (which limits a woman's potential depending on what her mothering beliefs are), and means the dad has to go home too if he wants to see his kids.
Wouldn’t you be better off with a 55 year-old whose kids are grown and can work late into the night and travel when needed?
Europeans don’t do this. I’m not sure this is true, but many who’ve chimed in from England, France, Italy, etc. have said that there isn’t that much age discrimination in their countries. Experience equals wisdom. Well good for them. In the USA experience often equals the person who wins the Apprentice. Paris here I come.
How to get around the age issue
Shave everything but the last 15 years off your resume.
This is actually decent advice because something you did 25 years ago is pretty darn irrelevant right now. Don’t put down your college graduation date – even though it’s a dead giveaway you are older when you exclude it and anyone who knows how to Google can find it in 30 seconds or less. But maybe they won't bother to find out you were a child of the 70s.
Keep up to date with new developments in the PR profession.
If you don’t understand social media, aren’t at least doing it for yourself, don’t have a blog, don’t get what digital means, you’re of another generation. Get your skills up to today’s market. Read what’s going on – attend seminars, learn how to walk the walk and talk the talk. Do you know what SEO is? If not, learn, and I don't mean just what the acronym means but how to do it well.
Update your technology, music taste, celebrity knowledge, etc.
I guarantee you most 50 year-olds have no clue who Justin Bieber and Usher are, think kids admire Lindsay Lohan, have never seen a Harry Potter movie (the last one is due out this summer), have no clue that an eight year-old can get around any computer security device on the planet, don’t take and edit video, and cannot name an X-Box game or define virtual reality.
Brush up people. I am lucky in this regard because I have an 11 year-old and a 15 year-old. I even listen to the Kane Show, watch Jon Stewart and haven’t seen David Lederman in years. Oh that’s right, you’re already in bed.
My final question is for the people who keep saying we should raise the retirement age to save social security. Yes of course we should save it. But if you cannot get a job at 48, how are you possibly going to work until 70? No one will hire you. Maybe it’s time for them to get a reality check too.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The New Business Rudeness
A decade or two ago if a mid or senior level executive was approached by a peer or someone younger they responded. They may not have given you the answer you wanted to hear, but they knew that rudeness was not how you do business.
What happened to that professionalism? Did it go the way of the land line, and the receptionist that isn't a computer, a return phone call or email acknowledgment, the we've decided to hire someone else but thank-you letter?
I was talking to a friend the other day who designs men's jewelry, which is featured in a number of high priced men’s catalogs and stores.
She was telling me how she’s calling people she’s known for a long time about showing her designs for Father’s Day. About how so many people that she knows well just don’t call her back.
I got to thinking about that too. As a marketing/PR consultant and a former journalist, I have a wide network of people I’ve worked with over the years. We’ve had fun, we’ve done great work together, we’ve respected each other, and often these days I email them, I call them and I can’t get them to call me back.
A number of people have recommended me lately, I’m in a marketing mode, and their contacts don’t call me back either.When you finally get them on the phone, the standard excuses are I didn’t get your email, I was really busy, etc. You still can't get in to see them and the interaction is uncomfortable and kind of weird. They want you to disappear. You want them to act like you deserve the courtesy of a response.
I’ve also noticed that people will put you through a couple of phone conversations, ask you to write a proposal and then a couple of weeks go by, and you don’t hear from them. So you get back in touch.
Of course you know they’ve decided “to go in a different direction,” or hired someone else. But if you ask me to take my time to think through a proposal for you, at least do me the courtesy of telling me I didn’t get hired.
I know the market is tough. I know that people are doing two and three jobs. I also know I’m not a kid raised in the age of email, Facebook and online dating, etc. where if you’re not interested in someone you just blow them off. I have never done that. No I’m not some kind of an etiquette maven, but whatever happened to basic common business courtesy and professionalism?
That’s when I started to realize that there is a new, inexplicable rudeness in the business community today. People who are looking for jobs tell me they write letters, they call, they apply, and they never hear a word back.
A hospital down the street from me was hiring a senior communications person, and I applied. It’s a great facility, growing, they are very strong medically, etc. I’ve always admired them and what could be better than working three blocks away from your house?
I never heard a word, so I called the senior vice president who runs that division and emailed her. She ignored me completely. I checked with HR, and they said if we’re not interested we just don’t respond. This after making you fill out an endless application that makes you feel like an idiot with the banality of questions asked. And they don’t even acknowledge you. Wow.
I worked for a business executive awhile ago who was probably the most driven person I’ve ever known. He worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He never stopped working. But anyone from an intern to the president of a company who got in touch with him, got an immediate response. That was impressive.
This man didn't have to work anymore and he didn’t need any of them. Maybe he was old fashioned. Or maybe he just understood that it's not smart business to be rude.
Remember Bill Clinton, before Monica Lewinsky. The Friends of Bill. The way he had of keeping in touch with everyone he met along his road to the presidency. He built constituencies. He made friends with everyone from doormen to CEOs. And it worked.
I don’t know why professionals today are so unbelievably rude. Why people who have achieved many of the same things you have, don't have the common courtesy to at least say no thank-you. But as long as I’m working, I will not have much respect for anyone who is.
What happened to that professionalism? Did it go the way of the land line, and the receptionist that isn't a computer, a return phone call or email acknowledgment, the we've decided to hire someone else but thank-you letter?
I was talking to a friend the other day who designs men's jewelry, which is featured in a number of high priced men’s catalogs and stores.
She was telling me how she’s calling people she’s known for a long time about showing her designs for Father’s Day. About how so many people that she knows well just don’t call her back.
I got to thinking about that too. As a marketing/PR consultant and a former journalist, I have a wide network of people I’ve worked with over the years. We’ve had fun, we’ve done great work together, we’ve respected each other, and often these days I email them, I call them and I can’t get them to call me back.
A number of people have recommended me lately, I’m in a marketing mode, and their contacts don’t call me back either.When you finally get them on the phone, the standard excuses are I didn’t get your email, I was really busy, etc. You still can't get in to see them and the interaction is uncomfortable and kind of weird. They want you to disappear. You want them to act like you deserve the courtesy of a response.
I’ve also noticed that people will put you through a couple of phone conversations, ask you to write a proposal and then a couple of weeks go by, and you don’t hear from them. So you get back in touch.
Of course you know they’ve decided “to go in a different direction,” or hired someone else. But if you ask me to take my time to think through a proposal for you, at least do me the courtesy of telling me I didn’t get hired.
I know the market is tough. I know that people are doing two and three jobs. I also know I’m not a kid raised in the age of email, Facebook and online dating, etc. where if you’re not interested in someone you just blow them off. I have never done that. No I’m not some kind of an etiquette maven, but whatever happened to basic common business courtesy and professionalism?
That’s when I started to realize that there is a new, inexplicable rudeness in the business community today. People who are looking for jobs tell me they write letters, they call, they apply, and they never hear a word back.
A hospital down the street from me was hiring a senior communications person, and I applied. It’s a great facility, growing, they are very strong medically, etc. I’ve always admired them and what could be better than working three blocks away from your house?
I never heard a word, so I called the senior vice president who runs that division and emailed her. She ignored me completely. I checked with HR, and they said if we’re not interested we just don’t respond. This after making you fill out an endless application that makes you feel like an idiot with the banality of questions asked. And they don’t even acknowledge you. Wow.
I worked for a business executive awhile ago who was probably the most driven person I’ve ever known. He worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He never stopped working. But anyone from an intern to the president of a company who got in touch with him, got an immediate response. That was impressive.
This man didn't have to work anymore and he didn’t need any of them. Maybe he was old fashioned. Or maybe he just understood that it's not smart business to be rude.
Remember Bill Clinton, before Monica Lewinsky. The Friends of Bill. The way he had of keeping in touch with everyone he met along his road to the presidency. He built constituencies. He made friends with everyone from doormen to CEOs. And it worked.
I don’t know why professionals today are so unbelievably rude. Why people who have achieved many of the same things you have, don't have the common courtesy to at least say no thank-you. But as long as I’m working, I will not have much respect for anyone who is.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Only 30% of Americans Understand Basic Science - What Should Marketers Do?
Scientific literacy in this country, and around the world, is a big issue discussed regularly by educators, government leaders and other important stakeholders.
Without it, most people cannot read the science sections of newspapers and understand them. Most are written at a 5th or 6th grade level. Research from Michigan State University shows less than 30% of Americans qualify as scientifically literate.
What does this have to do with marketing you ask? The job growth in the next few decades is going to be in science, engineering and health fields, and so will many of the products and services developed. Without basic science literacy it will be impossible to hire people for these positions and for them to market what they are selling effectively.
And if companies want to hire Americans, it is up to them to train the high school and college kids of today in the information that they need to know in order to get hired.
What does a scientific literate person need to know? According to the Nuffield Foundation he or she should be able to:
• Appreciate and understand the impact of science and technology on everyday life.
• Make informed personal decisions about things that involve science, such as health, diet, and energy.
• Read and understand the essential points of media reports on science.
• Reflect critically on the information included in such reports
• Discuss scientific issues with confidence and clarity.
Michigan State University professor Jon Miller said in an article published by AAAS’ EurekAlert that, "A slightly higher proportion of American adults qualify as scientifically literate than European or Japanese adults, but the truth is that no major industrial nation in the world today has a sufficient number of scientifically literate adults.”
A recent study of scientific literacy in college students, which was published in January of 2011, shows just how deep the problem goes. Miller and other researchers recently examined the science knowledge of more than 500 students at 13 U.S. colleges in courses ranging from introductory biology to advanced ecology.
Most students could not answer these questions:
1. How does carbon transform? Most students failed to apply principles such as the conservation of matter, which holds that when something changes chemically or physically, the amount of matter at the end of the process needs to equal the amount at the beginning.
2. Why and how do we lose weight? Students trying to explain weight loss could not trace matter once it leaves the body; instead they used informal reasoning based on their personal experiences (such as the fat "melted away" or was "burned off").
3. How do plants grow? Most students incorrectly believe plants obtain their mass from the soil rather than primarily from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
We've found in research done for AAAS on our Science Inside Alcohol project that the majority of middle school students didn't know that human body systems are interconnected. So when we set out to write a book for parents and a microsite for kids, we started by explaining each body system that they needed to understand in order to get the science of how alcohol affects our bodies.
Aside from needing jobs, college students are the ones who will over the next few decades be grappling with climate change issues, among others. How can they intelligently discuss and debate what is happening to our planet and people without a basic knowledge of science? The answer is they can’t.
In Chattanooga, TN under a grant from the National Science Foundation, a local high school formed a health academy that students attended from 10th grade on. They wore scrubs to school (how cool is that) and learned much of the basic science and technology they would need to take jobs in local medical companies (albeit they weren't high level jobs they were entry level employees but you have to start somewhere).
There are academies like this within many high schools, courtesy in part from the Gates Foundation. And there have been for quite some time. But Chattanooga did it differently.
High school teachers went to local health and science companies, and talked to them about future workforce needs. They learned about what it would take for students to get their jobs, and worked with the companies to create a curriculum that prepared them with the basic science and medical background they would need. The companies also agreed to hire the students as interns so they could learn while doing and get to know their inner workings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCvQKuTBONY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSXW7rDJHvM
So come on marketers, step up to the plate.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Back to Basics: Three Things a Marketer Should Never Forget
Toward his honorable discharge from service and in pursuit of his second career, a colonel is interviewed for a CEO job in a large corporation.
"Why do you think you fit the job?" he is asked.
"I have all the relevant experience because running this company is just like commanding my brigade: You have employees, I had soldiers; you call it a stock room - we called it logistics; your HR is just another name for our adjutancy; we compete with the other units in the command just as you deal with your competitors!"
"OK,” says the interviewer, "How about the customer?"
"The customer?" retorts the colonel after three seconds of thinking, "he's the enemy!"
The Moral: FOCUS IS EVERYTHING
A discussion on LinkedIn’s Marketing Executives Group), started by Dr. Brian Monger, CEO at Marketing Association of ANZ in Melbourne, Australia, addresses this and other core marketing issues that sometimes we forget.
Monger posed the question: “How do you know when someone really doesn’t understand marketing?” What are the primary indicators - in your experience?” That discussion has drawn more than 300 comments to date. I’ve taken some of the best answers and turned them into three questions marketers should ask themselves on a regular basis.
1. When was the last time I listened to my customers?
People who’ve worked in the same industry for several years, often start to take it for granted. They’ve done the focus groups, the talking to members and customers and conducted satisfaction survey and needs analysis just the way they are supposed to. But are you really on top of what your customer needs. Let’s do a little self-examination here:
• Do you dislike visiting plants, stores, meetings or talking to customers?
• Do you talk with all the different departments in your organization that are connected to marketing on a regular basis – advertising, member services, web developers, social media experts, etc?
• Do you listen to what internal employees are telling you and act on their feedback?
• Do you read discussions on your LinkedIn, Face book and other social media pages, as well as tweets on your industry, and bring important information to your attention?
2. Is my marketing plan integrated across all the different parts of the mix?
There’s a big difference between marketing that creates opportunities, and sales which transform those opportunities into making money for the organization.
In my experience, marketing often begins before advertising, public relations and outreach. Many organizations decide to hire a communications or marketing firm after they’ve just redone their web site. This is a clear indicator that they don’t understand integrated marketing.
While many companies have a marketing plan, it does not account for every as Ogilvy & Mather puts it “touch point” by which an organization reaches its customers. As a result, branding is fragmented across different target audiences, and cohesive messages on what a company stands for and the value of its products or services aren’t always delivered.
The MEG members pointed out many times, that they know immediately that someone doesn’t understand marketing when they start talking about elements of the mix, without an overall strategy that drives the work.
Some of the comments on lack of integration and branding were:
• Marketers need to go back sometimes and remember the brand we have tried to build. A brand is a promise. To foster loyalty, it always has to deliver on the promise.
• Elements of marketing work together – it’s a unique blend of art and science.
• So many marketing departments continue to not connect a marketing activity to metrics and not tie it to a business goal.
• When they use words interchangeably such as marketing, sales, promotion, PR, publicity, etc ... without regard to context.
3. Do we have a clearly articulated marketing strategy and a flexible plan?
I’ve worked for marketers who had a clearly articulated marketing plan – and didn’t want to pay to develop one. But the plan resided in their heads which doesn’t leave much for those who are expected to implement it. Basically it was this is what we need to do, and this is how we’re going to do it. Then the rest was about sales, sales, sales.
Perhaps the best purpose of a clearly articulated strategy and plan is involving everyone who must implement it during development, and obtaining buy-in as you go.
One marketer reports, he used to have a sign hanging on his door that said, Just because you have always done it that way doesn't mean it is right (pictured underneath was a man getting run over by a bull at the running of the bulls in Spain). He reports, there are so many aspects to successful marketing: knowing what works and applying it, knowing when a practice doesn't apply anymore and being open-minded enough to look for new approaches to getting in front of your target audience.
(A version of this article was published by ASAE's Marketing Insights, March 2011, written by yours truly).
"Why do you think you fit the job?" he is asked.
"I have all the relevant experience because running this company is just like commanding my brigade: You have employees, I had soldiers; you call it a stock room - we called it logistics; your HR is just another name for our adjutancy; we compete with the other units in the command just as you deal with your competitors!"
"OK,” says the interviewer, "How about the customer?"
"The customer?" retorts the colonel after three seconds of thinking, "he's the enemy!"
The Moral: FOCUS IS EVERYTHING
A discussion on LinkedIn’s Marketing Executives Group), started by Dr. Brian Monger, CEO at Marketing Association of ANZ in Melbourne, Australia, addresses this and other core marketing issues that sometimes we forget.
Monger posed the question: “How do you know when someone really doesn’t understand marketing?” What are the primary indicators - in your experience?” That discussion has drawn more than 300 comments to date. I’ve taken some of the best answers and turned them into three questions marketers should ask themselves on a regular basis.
1. When was the last time I listened to my customers?
People who’ve worked in the same industry for several years, often start to take it for granted. They’ve done the focus groups, the talking to members and customers and conducted satisfaction survey and needs analysis just the way they are supposed to. But are you really on top of what your customer needs. Let’s do a little self-examination here:
• Do you dislike visiting plants, stores, meetings or talking to customers?
• Do you talk with all the different departments in your organization that are connected to marketing on a regular basis – advertising, member services, web developers, social media experts, etc?
• Do you listen to what internal employees are telling you and act on their feedback?
• Do you read discussions on your LinkedIn, Face book and other social media pages, as well as tweets on your industry, and bring important information to your attention?
2. Is my marketing plan integrated across all the different parts of the mix?
There’s a big difference between marketing that creates opportunities, and sales which transform those opportunities into making money for the organization.
In my experience, marketing often begins before advertising, public relations and outreach. Many organizations decide to hire a communications or marketing firm after they’ve just redone their web site. This is a clear indicator that they don’t understand integrated marketing.
While many companies have a marketing plan, it does not account for every as Ogilvy & Mather puts it “touch point” by which an organization reaches its customers. As a result, branding is fragmented across different target audiences, and cohesive messages on what a company stands for and the value of its products or services aren’t always delivered.
The MEG members pointed out many times, that they know immediately that someone doesn’t understand marketing when they start talking about elements of the mix, without an overall strategy that drives the work.
Some of the comments on lack of integration and branding were:
• Marketers need to go back sometimes and remember the brand we have tried to build. A brand is a promise. To foster loyalty, it always has to deliver on the promise.
• Elements of marketing work together – it’s a unique blend of art and science.
• So many marketing departments continue to not connect a marketing activity to metrics and not tie it to a business goal.
• When they use words interchangeably such as marketing, sales, promotion, PR, publicity, etc ... without regard to context.
3. Do we have a clearly articulated marketing strategy and a flexible plan?
I’ve worked for marketers who had a clearly articulated marketing plan – and didn’t want to pay to develop one. But the plan resided in their heads which doesn’t leave much for those who are expected to implement it. Basically it was this is what we need to do, and this is how we’re going to do it. Then the rest was about sales, sales, sales.
Perhaps the best purpose of a clearly articulated strategy and plan is involving everyone who must implement it during development, and obtaining buy-in as you go.
One marketer reports, he used to have a sign hanging on his door that said, Just because you have always done it that way doesn't mean it is right (pictured underneath was a man getting run over by a bull at the running of the bulls in Spain). He reports, there are so many aspects to successful marketing: knowing what works and applying it, knowing when a practice doesn't apply anymore and being open-minded enough to look for new approaches to getting in front of your target audience.
(A version of this article was published by ASAE's Marketing Insights, March 2011, written by yours truly).
Thursday, March 17, 2011
6 Warning Signs a PR Firm is Not What it Seems
There are a lot of bad PR people out there, as there are in any industry. If you are trying to hire a PR agency and notice any of these issues run like hell.
1. A Room with a beautiful view – I had a colleague who was convinced PR agencies used the same tactic as pharmaceuticals - hire a lot of young, beautiful women to sell their products and services, because let's face it the majority of doctors are still men. There are some extremely bright and attractive young people in the PR business. But PR is also famous for bait and switch. If the agency gray hairs do all the talking in a room and you have a handful of young, very attractive people who only say a few scripted remarks, chances are those are your new account executives. Ask how many vice presidents the PR agency has who are under 30? That’s a good way to check what’s really going on.
2. That’s a brilliant idea – You’re not hiring a PR agency to tell you what you want to hear. If your ideas are so great you would just implement them yourself, right. I had a boss once who would sit in a room with our CEO and repeat back exactly what he’d said a few minutes earlier in different words, and glow when he praised her. She had grown up in a Fortune 500 company, and was very good at it, but if you were paying attention you would notice she had nothing to say.
3. We know him, her and every journalist in your field and they take our calls This person is lying. Media has gone through so many upheavals in the past few years that no one knows everyone anymore. Name dropping in my opinion, is just obnoxious, unless it is done very sparingly and only to emphasize something you are already saying. Fortunately we live in the age of easy search – get a client list and Google recent stories about some of their biggest clients. Ask for the Today Show or evening news clips, articles about their clients by the famous columnist they know well, and that NPR story they are so proud of.
4. An outdated web site – If the PR company you are talking too has case studies from 10 years ago, no video or visuals, inactive social media spaces, no blog or a just plain outdated web site run like the wind. I've heard the excuse I'm too busy to redo my site many times but you know what, we're in an image business. Your web site is your image as are your social media spaces. What matters is the quality and currency of the information they put out there. We live in a very fast moving world and if the PR company hasn’t updated their look, materials, etc. they don’t live in it. What kind of message does old stuff send to a potential client?
5. You don’t need media training – Everyone needs media training before starting a campaign, no matter how big their ego or how many interviews they’ve done. I had a client once who used the exact same quote in every interview he did, and thought he sounded young, hip and brilliant. There are benefits to sticking to your messages but he came off as having only one thing to say which when you searched his interviews didn’t make him look very smart. The media training doesn’t have to be a full-blown, multi-tiered, many thousands of dollars deal, but at the very least – no matter how small the budget is – new messaging and mock interviews are really important.
6. Our expertise and role in the formation and dissemination of messages to all stakeholders is of value across the spectrum of traditional media as well as increasingly called upon by numerous new media options. English please? This lovely sentence came off the web site of one of the biggest PR agencies in the world. There are just way too many people out there that hide behind big empty words that don’t tell you anything about them. Many people are comfortable with that, it sounds like they write I guess. But the fact is if you can’t tell me your point of difference, then you don’t have one.
1. A Room with a beautiful view – I had a colleague who was convinced PR agencies used the same tactic as pharmaceuticals - hire a lot of young, beautiful women to sell their products and services, because let's face it the majority of doctors are still men. There are some extremely bright and attractive young people in the PR business. But PR is also famous for bait and switch. If the agency gray hairs do all the talking in a room and you have a handful of young, very attractive people who only say a few scripted remarks, chances are those are your new account executives. Ask how many vice presidents the PR agency has who are under 30? That’s a good way to check what’s really going on.
2. That’s a brilliant idea – You’re not hiring a PR agency to tell you what you want to hear. If your ideas are so great you would just implement them yourself, right. I had a boss once who would sit in a room with our CEO and repeat back exactly what he’d said a few minutes earlier in different words, and glow when he praised her. She had grown up in a Fortune 500 company, and was very good at it, but if you were paying attention you would notice she had nothing to say.
3. We know him, her and every journalist in your field and they take our calls This person is lying. Media has gone through so many upheavals in the past few years that no one knows everyone anymore. Name dropping in my opinion, is just obnoxious, unless it is done very sparingly and only to emphasize something you are already saying. Fortunately we live in the age of easy search – get a client list and Google recent stories about some of their biggest clients. Ask for the Today Show or evening news clips, articles about their clients by the famous columnist they know well, and that NPR story they are so proud of.
4. An outdated web site – If the PR company you are talking too has case studies from 10 years ago, no video or visuals, inactive social media spaces, no blog or a just plain outdated web site run like the wind. I've heard the excuse I'm too busy to redo my site many times but you know what, we're in an image business. Your web site is your image as are your social media spaces. What matters is the quality and currency of the information they put out there. We live in a very fast moving world and if the PR company hasn’t updated their look, materials, etc. they don’t live in it. What kind of message does old stuff send to a potential client?
5. You don’t need media training – Everyone needs media training before starting a campaign, no matter how big their ego or how many interviews they’ve done. I had a client once who used the exact same quote in every interview he did, and thought he sounded young, hip and brilliant. There are benefits to sticking to your messages but he came off as having only one thing to say which when you searched his interviews didn’t make him look very smart. The media training doesn’t have to be a full-blown, multi-tiered, many thousands of dollars deal, but at the very least – no matter how small the budget is – new messaging and mock interviews are really important.
6. Our expertise and role in the formation and dissemination of messages to all stakeholders is of value across the spectrum of traditional media as well as increasingly called upon by numerous new media options. English please? This lovely sentence came off the web site of one of the biggest PR agencies in the world. There are just way too many people out there that hide behind big empty words that don’t tell you anything about them. Many people are comfortable with that, it sounds like they write I guess. But the fact is if you can’t tell me your point of difference, then you don’t have one.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Women Still Earning 75% of What Men Do - This is about PR
When I was in my mid-20s, I worked with a guy who is now a big shot writer. I can't remember how, but I learned that he was making substantially more than I was doing the same job. At that time, I thought it was because he was a much better negotiator. His strategy was to walk in and tell them what salary he expected to earn, then let them negotiate him down. I had taken what they gave me and negotiated that up slightly.
This happened at another company too and it was done because the men were supporting families and the women were considered secondary wage earners. Well when I got divorced I was no longer a secondary anything. I am raising the kids, paying a pretty hefty mortgage and still getting underpaid.
The bottom line is the workplace still doesn't value women the way it does men. We also need to push harder for equal wages and know what the disparities are before we start talking about salary.
Right now, no one wants to push too hard because the line behind them stretches so far back that the organization will find someone else male or female who will take less.
But we still shouldn't let people take advantage of us when it comes to fees and salaries. And we still do.
All of this leads up to some new data that documents over the past 20 years women have still not reached parity with what their male counterparts earn for the same positions. This information is for PR people - which should put all of us females on notice.
Bey-Ling Sha, Ph.D. chairs PRSA’s National Committee on Work, Life & Gender and she published this article recently on LinkedIn. I thought it was important enough for all of us to give it more distribution.
The White House this month released a report showing that women still only earn about 75 percent of what men earn on the job. I feel disgusted but unsurprised.
Women have earned less than men since the government began tracking these numbers. In 1979, a woman earned 62 cents for every dollar earned by a man. In 2005 and 2006, women made 81 cents for every dollar men made. That was the all-time high!
In the last half decade, we’ve not only failed to make progress on the issue of gendered income inequity—we’ve increased the wage gap between men and women.
The public relations profession is not immune to this larger societal problem.
Preliminary data from the Public Relations Society of America’s 2010 Work, Life & Gender Survey indicated that the average annual income for men in public relations was about $120K; that figure for women was about $72K. In our 2006 survey, the average annual income for men was $98,188.82; the average for women was $67,853.08.
This income disparity is a problem for the public relations profession. Here’s why:
1. The problem appears to be getting worse. In 2006, the average income for women in public relations was 69 percent of men’s average earnings. In 2010, the figure was down to 60 percent. This widening wage gap is discouraging, not only for women practitioners, but also for the increasing number of households that rely on women as the primary wage-earner.
2. The percentage of women practitioners in public relations is increasing, not decreasing. This means that, as more women enter public relations with their lower annual earnings, the average incomes for the profession as a whole will decrease. This is a simple issue of math.
3. The profession may lose talent. As average incomes for the public relations profession decline, we may see talented practitioners move to other, related fields with higher salary offerings. This is a more complicated issue of competitiveness for our profession as a whole.
Of course, preliminary data are just that—preliminary.
This year, members of the Work, Life & Gender Committee will be doing some detailed analysis of the survey data. Perhaps the income differential is due to differences between men and women in years of experience or education levels. Perhaps it’s because more women than men are working part-time. Perhaps it’s because women’s careers get interrupted by child bearing and other family responsibilities. Perhaps.
Of course, past research has indicated that—even with all these possible explanations controlled and accounted for—women in public relations still earn less than men. But perhaps this will be the year the data show us a different picture.
If so, I will be totally surprised, but totally not disgusted.
This happened at another company too and it was done because the men were supporting families and the women were considered secondary wage earners. Well when I got divorced I was no longer a secondary anything. I am raising the kids, paying a pretty hefty mortgage and still getting underpaid.
The bottom line is the workplace still doesn't value women the way it does men. We also need to push harder for equal wages and know what the disparities are before we start talking about salary.
Right now, no one wants to push too hard because the line behind them stretches so far back that the organization will find someone else male or female who will take less.
But we still shouldn't let people take advantage of us when it comes to fees and salaries. And we still do.
All of this leads up to some new data that documents over the past 20 years women have still not reached parity with what their male counterparts earn for the same positions. This information is for PR people - which should put all of us females on notice.
Bey-Ling Sha, Ph.D. chairs PRSA’s National Committee on Work, Life & Gender and she published this article recently on LinkedIn. I thought it was important enough for all of us to give it more distribution.
The White House this month released a report showing that women still only earn about 75 percent of what men earn on the job. I feel disgusted but unsurprised.
Women have earned less than men since the government began tracking these numbers. In 1979, a woman earned 62 cents for every dollar earned by a man. In 2005 and 2006, women made 81 cents for every dollar men made. That was the all-time high!
In the last half decade, we’ve not only failed to make progress on the issue of gendered income inequity—we’ve increased the wage gap between men and women.
The public relations profession is not immune to this larger societal problem.
Preliminary data from the Public Relations Society of America’s 2010 Work, Life & Gender Survey indicated that the average annual income for men in public relations was about $120K; that figure for women was about $72K. In our 2006 survey, the average annual income for men was $98,188.82; the average for women was $67,853.08.
This income disparity is a problem for the public relations profession. Here’s why:
1. The problem appears to be getting worse. In 2006, the average income for women in public relations was 69 percent of men’s average earnings. In 2010, the figure was down to 60 percent. This widening wage gap is discouraging, not only for women practitioners, but also for the increasing number of households that rely on women as the primary wage-earner.
2. The percentage of women practitioners in public relations is increasing, not decreasing. This means that, as more women enter public relations with their lower annual earnings, the average incomes for the profession as a whole will decrease. This is a simple issue of math.
3. The profession may lose talent. As average incomes for the public relations profession decline, we may see talented practitioners move to other, related fields with higher salary offerings. This is a more complicated issue of competitiveness for our profession as a whole.
Of course, preliminary data are just that—preliminary.
This year, members of the Work, Life & Gender Committee will be doing some detailed analysis of the survey data. Perhaps the income differential is due to differences between men and women in years of experience or education levels. Perhaps it’s because more women than men are working part-time. Perhaps it’s because women’s careers get interrupted by child bearing and other family responsibilities. Perhaps.
Of course, past research has indicated that—even with all these possible explanations controlled and accounted for—women in public relations still earn less than men. But perhaps this will be the year the data show us a different picture.
If so, I will be totally surprised, but totally not disgusted.
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