CEC Insider

Like most political junkies, I spent last Tuesday night following the returns of the Massachusetts “special election.”  Among hundreds of potential reasons for the upset cited, many pointed to Scott Brown’s effective use of social media.  This significant event in the application of social media to politics followed a more symbolic event the day before.  On January 18^th, 2010, Barack Obama sent his first tweet. (I found this shocking because I would have put the over/under on his total tweets at around 100, but this was the first from the President himself.)

These developments reminded me of three recent member conversations on the following question:  Will social media erode the line between traditional lobbying and public relations?   I won’t predict the future, but I’ve seen enough smoke lately from some very credible parties to suggest the potential for a significant fire.    Read More »

By Lisa Schievelbein

I spent my winter break at a yoga retreat in Oahu, Hawaii—a mere 10-minute beach stroll to Barack Obama’s vacation getaway. (Or at least, that’s how long it took to walk to the literal line in the sand drawn by the Secret Service, clad in Hawaiian shirts.) Though I was intent on unplugging from all thoughts of Corporate Communications on this trip, Obama’s brush with crisis communication (re: the airline terror attempt on Christmas Day) did call to mind the many communication challenges that Comms and POTUS share.

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I hate TV commercials. When we first got a DVR (greatest feature = the “skip ahead 30 seconds” button), I vowed to reduce my intake of commercials by 100%. Nothing gives me more giddy joy than watching a full hour of American Idol in 42 minutes. I feel like I’m getting away with something (gotta say, I do love that feeling!).

But despite my heavy-handed imposition of a “zero tolerance policy” at home, a few TV commercials do slip in from time-to-time (mostly when another family member is commanding the remote). Good thing, actually. Cause one I have seen recently is the new Domino’s Pizza ad campaign. Have you seen it?

Essentially, their message covers five points:

• We’ve been asking you what you think of our product.
• You say it sucks (crust like cardboard, sauce like ketchup).
• And you know what? We agree.
• So, we’ve used your input to reinvent our product. Thank you.
• We hope you like the changes. Again, thank you.

What Domino’s is communicating, (in the most publicly naked way ever!) is a magical quality that virtually all of the world’s great companies share. Humility. Read More »

Around this time every year, I get a bit obsessed about one thing: what is the biggest challenge that communicators are wrestling with right now? As Ev mentioned last week, our members have a lot of interest in new media, and they’re especially keen to discuss its impact on traditional PR. There’s one big question underlying these conversations: Is this just an adjustment period or a fundamental shift? There’s definitely evidence on both sides, but I’m currently inclined to think (to paraphrase REM), it could well be the end of the world as we know it.

In this blog, I’ll be looking to share some of the more interesting material we’re discovering in our research process. On that note, I saw some analogous lessons for PR in this HBR blog post about the eroding value of traditional networking (vs. social networking). Here are two important points: Read More »

One of the best parts of my job is getting out to visit our members in person.  What’s especially fun about live events is the chance to see members’ eyes light up when they discover a new way to look at a particular challenge that makes it easier for them to address it.

I traveled recently to a cool and rainy Amsterdam to talk about social media with a number of our European members.  (CEC members can check out the meeting materials here.) The 20ish participants, graciously hosted by Delta Lloyd, shared their experiences with the social media tools—such as blogs, Yammer, Facebook, and Twitter—used by many large corporations today.  The best discussion, though, was focused on the social media questions that lack easy answers. Here are a few that we talked about:

• How can we convince internal skeptics (especially Legal) to permit more social media use?
• When should we respond to what is being said about the company on social media platforms?
• Who should be allowed to speak for the company on social media platforms, and within what guidelines? Read More »

It’s January 2010, and internal communicators everywhere are pulling Christmas trees into their driveways, turning up the thermostats in their offices, and—most importantly—thinking about what they want to accomplish this year. CEC members are putting creative energy to work in a lot of good places, like smart use of internal social media and supporting manager-led communication. I’ve also heard a few unusual ideas lately—ranging from a corporate pirate radio station to video games that reinforce messages.

All that said, my favorite member experiments usually involve one thing in particular: the giveaway. Since the dawn of time, when a cro-magnon communicator placed a dinosaur egg on a cro-magnon employee’s desk and asked him to “think egg-cellently,” the kitschy giveaway—also known as corporate swag—has been widely used to attract employee attention. And almost everyone I’ve talked to has a funny story about work knickknacks that are, let’s say, ill-conceived. Read More »

Admittedly I’ve had a bit of an obsession with the Tiger Woods scandal.  He was (or is— I’m not really sure anymore) my favorite athlete and the whole reason I took up golf.  Having followed the minutia of his swing changes for 10 years, I think I’m entitled to listen to a few 911 tapes or double click on the latest Elin sighting.  Usually such pursuits are driven by a healthy dose of schadenfreude, but in this case, it’s utter amazement that a US$1 billion enterprise could nearly fold in a few short weeks.

That amazement quickly gave way to a rather predictable scene: experts using Tiger’s failed response to re-iterate well-known Communications truisms that call for a full public mea culpa.  I don’t know if a trip to Oprah’s couch would really affect the decisions of his sponsors, but I think there’s a more interesting subject at hand: what can corporate communicators—the guardians of valuable brands—learn from the implosion of Tiger Inc.?  I’d argue that the real lessons lie not in the response but in the prevention of crisis. Read More »

One of my favorite parts of work is getting the non-obvious, top-secret scoop about what communicators are doing. With social media as my specialty, I especially like getting the behind-the-scenes tour of their social media platforms. Who manages their blog? What’s being censored (if anything)? How does the company get value from the site? I recently asked these questions of Nick Caplin, Corporate PR Manager for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Check out what he had to say here:

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Every fall, the CEC research team spends nearly every waking minute on one activity: talking with the membership about their biggest concerns for the coming year. In my dozens (and dozens!) of conversations with members across over the last few months, one theme has come up repeatedly: the effect of new media on traditional media.

The week between Christmas and New Years brings much needed quiet to the office, and this year, Rebecca and I decided to explore a less traditional research method—one that actually got us out of our cubes for a change. On Rick’s recommendation, we made out way to D.C.’s own Newseum to learn about the history and changing role of journalism first-hand. Read More »

Over the past six months, I’ve been touring the world to meet with CEC members about the topic of Mobilizing the Workforce (some of the best work CEC has ever done, IMHO). One of the central themes is the power of personal connection…when employees can see a clear link between their daily work and the organization’s larger mission. These employees are proven to work smarter and harder on the things that matter most…and hey, who couldn’t use more of THAT these days?

But how can we as communicators help every single employee make that connection? The short answer is simple: WE can’t. That responsibility has to rest with the managers throughout the organization—the people who employees know, and have some kind of relationship with.

At this point, you might be wondering, OK…so how can I help managers create that connection? I think you already know. And I think I can prove it. Read More »