Monthly Archives: February 2010

Feb 25 2010

UFC Forces Fighter to Apologize for ‘Death’ Comments: Does this Help or Hurt the Company’s Image, Popularity?

Earlier this week, former UFC champion Frank Mir spoke with radio station WXDX-FM in Pittsburgh about a potential third clash with current heavyweight champ, Brock Lesnar, who has been sidelined with mononucleosis since October 2009, and had the following words for him:  

“I want to fight Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person. I want to break his neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries. That’s what’s going through my mind.”

Shortly after his comments were made and garnered publicity worldwide, UFC president Dana White had Mir make a formal apology in a press release issued on Tuesday.

So my question is: Did UFC really need to make a press statement and force one of its “fighters” to apologize? Last time I checked, this wasn’t exactly a non-violent sport and part of its popularity was the brutal nature of the fights. This isn’t something where fighters are going to speak kindly of their competitors and look to have cookies and milk with them after the fight.

Since its first mixed martial arts (MMA) competition in Denver in 1993, UFC has faced an uphill battle in generating mainstream popularity and acceptance given how vicious these matches can be. However, the Company eventually achieved huge successes. In 2006, UFC generated more than $222 million in pay-per-view revenue, which was an all-time record for a single year of business, and in 2009 popularity surged with UFC’s 100th event,  which attracted 1.7 million buys on PPV.

UFC has spent almost 20 years building up its popularity, but given Mir’s comments this week, I’m wondering how this will affect the public perception of the Company with the mainstream audience, and with their loyal fanbase. Here’s a few pros/cons I came up with from a UFC point of view:

Pros:

  1. Any publicity is good publicity, and more people are going to sign-up to see what happens at UFC 111.
  2. We reacted quickly and made sure that the public doesn’t think Mir’s thoughts are a direct reflection of the Company and its other fighters.

Cons:

  1. This is a dangerous sport with passionate fighters, and we don’t go around issuing apologies – will our diehard fans accept this or will we lose them in the short-term?
  2. Just as we were skyrocketing in terms of popularity, this type of incident is going to kill our momentum and scare sponsors and viewers away.

I’m not saying that I agree with Mir’s comments or disagree with UFC issuing a statement, I’m just wondering if this hurts/helps their image with the fanbase, and whether or not UFC is going to lose some of the acceptance it finally secured with the casual fan. I think it’s probably going to be a little bit of both, but eventually this will blow over until this type of incident happens again … and it will.

Feb 22 2010

Five Steps Towards Controlling Your PR Ego


“I never needed anybody’s help in any way”

I’ll never forget my first client placement. It was just a short segment on a local Austin, TX broadcast outlet, but the client was thrilled. Shortly thereafter I began to get more responsibilities on my accounts (all six of them) and was pitching more and more. And when I started getting media opportunities with everyone from The New York Times to CNBC my ego took off like like a spaceship from Kennedy Space Center. I went from being this wide-eyed entry-level publicist to an arrogant one, seemingly overnight. 

While some might say that a little arrogance never hurt anyone, it’s easy to get swallowed up by it and turn others off – co-workers and clients alike – and the challenge is to not let that happen. I’m not saying people didn’t like working with me or that I lost clients … nothing could be further from the truth. But what I am saying is that eventually I had to slow down, take a deep breath, and continue to do my job. If I was going to get ahead in this business it was not going to be because of a couple media opportunities, it was going to be due to my effort and my willingness to go above and beyond what a task called for (working late, showing up early … you get the point).

So does any of this sound like you as well? Are you looking for help, too? I certainly don’t have all of the answers, but I’ve come up with a few basic tips that I think are useful when looking to control your ego:

  1. Recognizing that you have an ego is the first step towards recovery
  2. Try to remember that no matter how successful you are, there will always be someone else that knows a little bit more than you
  3. At some point you need to realize that not everything is always going to work out the way you want it to. It’s how you recover from these times that defines you as a success
  4. You are good at what you do because you work hard, not because you are God’s gift to PR
  5. Having a supportive team plays a large role in your achievements. It’s not just you that makes a client happy, its the team’s effort

Would you add anything else to this list? Do you have any personal stories to share like this one? Please comment.

Feb 18 2010

Poll: What’s the Current Morale Level of Communications Professionals?

"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." - Drew Carey

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of discussion regarding employee morale. From ABC News to The Epoch Times to The Seattle Times, everyone seems to be covering this topic and talking about job satisfaction … or lack thereof.

Now, it’s no surprise that in this economy people are not always going to feel hunky dory when raises and/or promotions are few and far between. However, with a U.S. unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent, should those publicists that have jobs accept the current job climate and be thankful they even have somewhere to go each morning?

So I thought we’d try to find out just what the current state of morale is of communications professionals(PR, Marketing, Social Media, Advertising, etc.). Are you happy with your job? Indifferent about it? Frustrated? Looking for a new one? Please watch the following videos and cast your vote below for which best describes your current morale level at work:

Video #1) I Love my job, everything is great, and I’m just ”Walking on Sunshine”


I’m walking on sunshine , wooah
I’m walking on sunshine, woooah
I’m walking on sunshine, woooah
and don’t it feel good!!

Video #2) I have a job and can’t really complain. You could say I’m in the ”Middle of the Road”


In the middle of the road,
Is my private cul de sac.
I can’t get from the cab to the curb,
Without some little jerk on my back,
Don’t harass me kid,
Can’t you tell I’m going home, I’m tired as hell,
I’m not the cat I used to be,
I’ve got a kid, I’m thirty-three baby.

Video #3) The economy is bad and I need to be patient because “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”


You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

Video #4) I hate my job and hope someone can help “Get Me Outta Here”


I realize this isn’t a song, but this was too good to pass up

Feb 15 2010

What Publicists Can Learn From Rick Astley (Valentine’s Edition)

If you find this blog post cheesy it’s ok, part of me agrees with you. However, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day what better way to discuss a love-themed post than with Rick Astley?

So let me start off by asking you a question: What does dating have in common with clients? Give it a few seconds.. Still nothing? Well, when I think about dating I think about the similarities it has, or should have, with how you treat your clients. Here’s the short list I came up with:

1) You should do whatever it takes to keep them happy
“You know the rules and so do I”

2) Keep up the effort and support them in the way you’d want to be supported
“A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of”

3) Don’t go days without calling and checking in
“You wouldn’t get this from any other guy”

4) Always be honest
“I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling”

5) Listen. Listen. Listen.
“Gotta make you understand”

So when dealing with a client, the moral of the story is to treat them like you are dating someone you really like. If you do this, then I’m certain they will never want to give you up. Right, Rick? Click here

Feb 11 2010

Top 10 Social Media Mentors that PR Students and Publicists Need to Know

Just a few months ago, I was speaking to undergraduate students at my alma mater, West Virginia University, and asked a direct social media question:

“How many people know who Chris Brogan is?”

Not one person raised their hand (Please omit WVU jokes). And not that I think Chris is the absolute authority on social media, but with 121k followers on Twitter, the author of several books, and a blog ranked in the top 5 of the Advertising Age Power150, it’s safe to say that he’s a person worth paying to attention to.

This got me thinking that maybe students, and professionals alike, could use a little help. So I came up with this idea to put together a beginners list of important social media influencers.  However, before jumping into this list, let me first say that I am the last person that would ever call himself an ‘expert’ on social media. I also want to state for the record that I know for a fact that there are many others deserving to be on this list that will get overlooked. This is where you come in. At the end of this list, please provide the names of other influencers that you feel should be included, and eventually I will post an updated, master list later this year. I want this to be a helpful resource for students and PR pros everywhere.

Now, without further ado (note that this list is in random order), 10 names that every student and publicist should pay attention to:

10. Robert Scoble – @Scobleizer – A blogger, tech evangelist, and author, Scoble is best known for his blog, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure at Microsoft. He currently works for Rackspace and is building a community for people fanatical about the Internet called Building 43. He is the co-author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers with Shel Israel.

9. Seth Godin – @ThisIsSethsBlog – Godin is the author of 10 books that have been bestsellers around the world. Permission Marketing was an Amazon.com Top 100 bestseller for a year, a Fortune Best Business Book and it spent four months on the Business Week bestseller list. It also appeared on the New York Times business book bestseller list. He is also a renowned speaker and was recently chosen as one of 21 Speakers for the Next Century by Successful Meetings and is consistently rated among the very best speakers by the audiences he addresses.

8. Peter Shankman – @skydiver – An entrepreneur, author, speaker, and worldwide connector, Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about Social Media, PR, marketing, advertising, creativity, and customer service. He is best known for founding Help a Report Out (HARO), which is currently the largest free source repository in the world. He is also the founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc.,  a boutique Marketing and PR Strategy firm.

7. Guy Kawasaki – @GuyKawasaki – Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. and was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh  in 1984. He is noted for having brought the concept of evangelism, initially focused on creating passionate user-advocates for the Apple brand, to the high-tech business. He is also the author of nine books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way.

6. Soraya Darabi – @sorayad - Recently left her positions as manager of digital partnerships & social-media marketing at the New York Times in order to work on the collaboration site, Drop.io,  as product lead for their new PR tool, PressLife.  She was influential in helping to build NYT’s Twitter presence, and was also behind the NYT’s multimedia Inauguration Day Facebook campaign, which won first prize at the International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) Awards for excellence in marketing.

5. Gary Vaynerchuk – @garyvee - After primarily utilizing traditional advertising techniques to build his family’s local wine business into a national industry leader, Gary rapidly leveraged social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to promote Wine Library TV, his video blog about wine. Gary’s landmark seven-figure book deal with Harper Studio was featured in The Wall Street Journal and he was recently profiled by The New York Times and Market Watch.Recently, Gary was named #18 on Askmen.com’s Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2009.

4. Jeremiah Owyang – @jowyang - As a Web Strategist, he delivers insight on disruptive technologies and their impact on how companies communicate with their customers. Technobabble 2.0 rated his analyst blog as no. 1 in the industry. He’s currently Partner of Customer Strategy at Altimeter Group, a strategy consulting firm that provides thought leadership, research, and consulting on digital strategies. Previously, he was a Senior Analyst at Forrester Research, and has over 10 years experience as a practitioner on both the vendor and brand side.

3. Charlene Li – @charleneli – The Founder of Altimeter Group and co-author of the critically acclaimed, bestselling book Groundswell (a personal favorite). She is one of the foremost experts on social media and technologies and a consultant on leadership, strategy, social technologies, interactive media, and marketing. Charlene was named one of the 12 most creative minds of 2008 by Fast Company, and one of the most influential women in technology in 2009

2. Brian Solis - @briansolis – Principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning New Media marketing and branding agency in Silicon Valley. Solis is globally recognized for his views and insights on the convergence of PR, Traditional Media and Social Media. Considered one of the original thought leaders who paved the way for Social Media and PR 2.0, Solis is co-founder of the Social Media Club and is an original member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup. BrianSolis.com is among the top 1.5% of all blogs tracked by Technorati and is ranked as one of the leading voices in the Ad Age Power 150 index of worldwide marketing bloggers. Solis is also the publisher of bub.blicio.us, and is also a contributor to TechCrunch,  BrandWeek, and Mashable.

1. Chris Brogan – @chrisbrogan – I stated some of his background earlier, but also worth noting is that he’s an eleven year veteran of using social media and both web and mobile technologies to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals. He is also co-author of the New York Times bestselling book Trust Agents.