Of news and nonsense at SXSW

It’s South by Southwest (SXSW) time in Austin. The events began on March 9 and runs through March 18. Film, Interactive and Music.

There’s so much noise coming out of downtown Austin, it’s difficult to filter the news from the nonsense.

If you are a communications professional for a brand at SXSW, how do you get noticed? Do you initiate a full-on social media assault, hold a special event, hire temporary staff to work the crowds throughout the SXSW venues or resort to gimmicks? Do you publish content each day during SXSW hoping to ride the coattails of others announcements adjacent to your market and product offerings?

All of the above…and more?

Other than pumping out useless dribble, most any article, blog, video or other observation piece will get some traction online.

An industry event like SXSW (or CES) carries so much cache that you should publish…often. Just make sure it’s strategic, interesting, insightful, unique, and worthy of your brand.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m headed downtown to take in some live music. If I see or hear anything of interest, perhaps I’ll blog about it here. Rest assured I’ll try to avoid the nonsense and not end up becoming part of the news.

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Keeping your communications house in order

So I started the day with a specific plan in place. After completing a couple of tasks and recording my work on the project sheets I stepped outside to take in the beautiful spring day in Austin. As I walked along the back yard soaking in the sun I thought to myself, what a perfect first day of Spring Break and fourth day for SXSW going strong downtown.

A quick glance at my house disrupted that train of thought.

It also disrupted my day, although that wasn’t immediately apparent when I judged the extent of work ahead of me.

Getting antsy

What caught my attention was an army of ants soldiering up the side of my house. I quickly surveyed the situation and knew I needed to get a ladder and a can of ant spray. I returned, climbed the ladder and began spraying. I have a two story and as I followed their path I kept aiming higher and higher. And then I stopped. There were hundreds and hundreds of ants at the roofline entering the house via a vent and a seam in the soffit. They were well out of reach. I needed my 24' foot extension ladder.

Setting up the extension ladder was no easy feat. I have a large live oak six feet from the house. I occasionally trim the canopy to keep the branches from scraping the house, but the last trim was at least nine months ago. While the clearance was narrow, I did manage to get the ladder stabilized.  Up I went 18 feet and began spraying.

As dead ants dropped to the ground, peered along the roofline.

Oh no.

Further disruption

Roof fascia damage from a branch rubbing against it in the wind. More unplanned work that couldn’t be delayed. 

Several hours later I had a pile of branches, a very stiff neck, sore shoulders and tired legs. I also had many items on my checklist that didn’t get completed.

And that made me think about responding to disruption in the market. What will you do when a competitor makes a significant product introduction that fires the imaginations of the market, press, analysts and even your customers and partners?

Communications mayhem

How will you respond? What will you say? What will you do? What will you publish?

Will you throw an army of marketers and communicators at the problem? Will you release a raft of content designed to take the air out of you competitor’s sails? Will you go for quantity or quality?

When I put it that way, the answer seems obvious, doesn’t it?

Ultimately, the communications strategy you put in play should not deviate in tone of voice, or from your value proposition or your key messages. In some way you’ll need to address your competitor’s announcement, probably indirectly through a reinforcement of your own strategic direction, portfolio of solutions, and roadmaps.

Stay the course

Be crisp, clear and concise in your response. Precision in communications matters most in a crisis.

A carefully constructed and consistent conveyance of calm assurance in your communications will be far more impactful than cutting a conveyor belt of confusing clutter.

That will serve only to undermine your credibility and throw your marketing and communications strategy (and teams) off plan.

Both will cost you more than it’s worth.

del.icio.us Tags: corporate communications,copywriting,precision in communication,ghost writing,ad copy freelance,marketing communications consultant,social media writer,blogging

Branding and societal norms

Should brands reflect societal norms? Should brands influence societal norms? Can they do both? Or neither? Can brands simply exist?

These are fascinating questions that are not so quickly and easily answered. There are an abundance of factors and variables to consider. Some are universal, while others depend on the place, product and target market.

For example, brand managers for firearms (guns) products have much greater responsibility than their counterparts in other industries. They must be much more in tune with societal norms everywhere their products are sold. The cultural mindset for gun ownership is much different in the State of Texas as compared to the States of Delaware, Ohio and Hawaii. Market your guns on other continents and the disparity is even greater. Think Singapore vs. Australia and you understand that massive challenge global brand stewards face.

This is a rich topic with many layers and I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’m very interested in hearing what experienced brand experts have to say. Perhaps I’ll pose my questions on Quora and see how some brand strategists and managers reply.

Stay tuned.

"A brand is a living entity - and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures" - Michael Eisner, CEO Disney

Of course, as always, feel free to share your thoughts in the Comment box.

LiveJournal Tags: brand strategist,societal norms,brand influence,brand advertising,brand affinity,copywriting,precision in communication,ghost writing,ad copy freelance,marketing communications consultant,social media writer,blogging

A brand old saying

I’ve never agreed with the saying “Any publicity is good publicity.”

That’s nonsense.

Stewards of corporate and product brands must recognize the incredible risk they assume should they give the saying credence.

Do you think BP subscribes to this tenet? No. They are in image repair mode and are spending tens of billions of dollars to mend the damage to their corporate brand. Beyond the cleanup and research funds and damages they’ve paid to States and businesses affected by their oil spill, BP is advertising on behalf of the tourism industry to restore public faith in the safety and cleanliness of the beaches and seafood products from the Gulf. They’ve also developed a low-key publicity campaign touting their efforts. They are tastefully done and seem to be generating positive publicity.

Do you think Carnival Corporation is thrilled with the publicity surrounding the Costa Concordia disaster? Of course not. They will probably be following BP’s playbook (if they are wise) to navigate this catastrophe and hopefully become stronger in the long term.

Clearly these are extreme examples, but when you make a blanket and sweeping statement, there are no exceptions.

Consistency is key

Brand managers need to stick with what got them there, so to speak. There’s no reason to change course. In an increasingly transparent world, where everything a company does is vetted by a cynical public and everything its executives utter is dissected, analyzed and critiqued by experts and fools alike, remaining consistent and true to your core values will be rewarded.

"Your brand is created out of customer contact and the experience your customers have of you."  - Scott Talgo, Brand Strategist

Consumer loyalty is based on a series of consistent interactions. We take comfort in being associated with a particular brand that represents a set of values that line up with ours. Brands that stray from the norm and indulge in something that isn’t congruent with their reputation risk a backlash. A loss in consumer confidence weakens the link that binds a customer.

Stay the course

Why open the door to the competition? You know they are watching your every move and your every spoken word. They will exploit any misstep. Don’t give them the opportunity.

A better saying

If you need to adhere to a saying as a guide, I suggest “Be true to your school.” Any questions?

LiveJournal Tags: corporate brand,mission statement,company values,product brand,brand image,brand perception,copywriting,precision in communication,ghost writing,ad copy freelance,marketing communications consultant,social media writer,blogger