Well, there goes the neighborhood. No, not actually the neighborhood, but maybe the brand identity, as we know it.

The actual news about Starbucks’s intention to serve alcohol – beer, wine and hard liquor, made the media rounds just a week ago, but it was out there well before that. The rumor mill of its launch had been trickling out in tidbits, ever since the chain first served alcohol in a “soft” trial run, back in October 2010 at a single Seattle store. It has been serving wine and beer in limited Oregon and Seattle stores for the last two months.

But now there are plans afoot that the Seattle-based company will sell beer and wine in as many as 25 locations by the end of this year, to include stores in Chicago, Atlanta and Southern California, among the selected locations.  It should prove good business.
The rationale behind this move is clear: U.S. Starbucks stores get 70% of business before 2 p.m. Clearly the company wants to maximize its real estate space and labor costs, after the early crowd thins out.

Apparently Starbucks executives have struggled for the last few years, trying to decide how to expand their brand. They finally found their answer: alcohol. According to Clarice Turner, senior vice president of U.S. operations, the company isn’t considering the concept for the whole chain. We’ll see… The good news is that at the stores that serve alcohol, there will also be fruit-and- cheese plate and focaccia with olive oil. Yumm…

Look, no one can fault them for wanting to add brand extensions. With 10,700 Starbucks cafes in the U.S. and about 6,200 internationally, building organically through brand extensions, makes sense. They are following suit with such other companies as the Dunkin’ Donuts chain and McDonald’s, that have introduced non-breakfast foods to attract people during slower times.

Although coffee and Starbucks have just about become synonymous, globally, I do have to admit that the real essence of the brand remains constant – the Starbucks experience – a lifestyle. Time will tell whether the rapid spread of the new concept will obliterate the brand as we know it –or morph into a new one..

The jury is still out…

Richard Block

Richard Block is Vice President of Marketing for Haier America. In that capacity he leads all marketing initiatives, as well as company and product promotions, through a variety of marketing platforms. He also directs the company’s relationship with the National Basketball Association, in which Haier is named the Official HDTV of the NBA. With 30 years of experience as a marketing veteran, Mr. Block joined Haier America in June of 2006.

Q: Given that Haier has so many different product categories, how does product marketing work at Haier – does the company form different silos for the marketing of each brand, with different goals, strategies and tactics or does it all fall under one company umbrella? Does each category work with its own team, whether in house or outsourced?

A: What it really comes down to is as follows: there are many different factories, all with their own teams; marketing, product merchandising and otherwise and, everyone runs their own individual company. It’s pretty much that simple… Once the product comes to market, I work with the product marketing groups that are responsible for each individual product and discuss strategy with them. Then, based on what they (in the factory) want, I execute that strategy. As such, I don’t own that strategy, they do. I do own the Haier brand, so when it comes strictly to branding, that’s something that I can execute outside of their realm.

When you look at the NBA official partnership relationship with Haier, that’s something that I execute and do for the entire Haier brand.

When I first started here five years ago, Haier had an “unaided” awareness of about 7%; it’s tripled to almost 20%; “aided” awareness is now up to almost 40%. The truth of the matter is that I believe the NBA partnership is great for the television factory. For example, I chose to use the designation of the NBA, as an official marketing partner, for nine categories because it just sounds better, works better, looks better and feels better. Most think that it’s a very strong vehicle for the TV division, but I think the whole company benefits as well.

Q: Are all your products/product categories branded under the Haier name globally or does it differ according to regions?

A: Most of what we do is branded as Haier; however, there are sub-brands. There are many companies we’ve done business with, and even here, we have sub-brands. The only part that is a bit disappointing is that because of this, we don’t have 100% of the effort going in the same direction. When you’re doing sales for a sub-brand, you cannot really market under that brand, so the investment goes to the overall pie, and gets taken down by a notch because all the monies are not going toward one goal.

Q: Haier was recently ranked by Euromonitor International, the world’s leading independent provider of business intelligence on industries, as the number one brand of major appliances in the world. What overall strategies does your company employ to retain that position, most specifically, in the US? Does social media play an important role in connecting to your customers?

A: We are very proud of that designation. Especially so, when you take into account that Haier America is a fairly young player in the United States (almost 12 years old), and that this designation is worldwide.

As to social media, the NBA partnership was key in growing our overall branding effort on that platform. We use other advertising and marketing vehicles that also impact the social media component. Just take a look at what was accomplished at the recently finished NBA All Star Weekend with our production of a 20-25 minute international infomercial; sponsorships of shooting stars for the 5th year before the 3-point and the Sprite Slam Dunk – all of which netted literally 1,000s of tweets and re-tweets! When I get a new analytics report following the All-Star Weekend and it shows that our onsite traffic for that weekend (or month) was the highest of the whole year — then you tell me how successful that is!

Certainly, our commitment within the digital/social media arena will continue to grow and we are already exploring and testing new programs.

Q: As a Chinese headquartered company, what are the cultural challenges that you encounter, if any, as to marketing operations?

A: Well, look there’s no question that there are challenges, but I don’t really think it’s because we are a Chinese company, rather because we are a foreign company, with people separated by social barriers and 12,000 miles. Often they just have different ways of looking at business aspects. In China, while they manufacture for a certain price, we actually have to buy it at a higher cost because we’re their customer and it costs a fortune when you consider freight, gasoline, time, energy/effort — whatever, to get it over here. So right away that’s a disadvantage. The other issue is in terms of distribution. China believes in a localized strategy. In China, there are hundreds of Haier kiosks and stores. As such, they have a built in customer distribution base, which is a tremendous advantage, especially when you consider that in the West we deal with the Best Buys, the Lowes, the Targets, the Wal-Mart’s or wherever in the world we sell. In the book, The Higher Way, it clearly delineates the Chinese localized strategy. This also works in our favor, since China believes that their partners here in the US, certainly know and understand the social ways of this country best, and while offering help/guidance/support, they do allow us to run the business from New York, as opposed to China.

Q: Haier’s partnerships with the NBA offer a great tie-in opportunity with a key target audience. Based on that, is Haier planning to expend its partnership program beyond sports?

A: We are always looking for new partnerships. I literally take hundreds of calls and emails about new opportunities every day. I can’t even begin to fathom how many people want to do business with us. Often I feel much like Michael Douglas’s character in Wall Street, when he said, “I look at hundreds of deals and I say yes to one of them.” We need to be very discerning. I don’t necessarily think that sports are the best value, nor the right targeted demographics across the board. For, at the end of the day, although we want to see our television and electronics businesses continue to grow, we also want to continue to do business as a leading air conditioner manufacturer in the United States and the number one compact refrigerator manufacturer in the United States. Really, we see the thrust, the focal point, of our growth, in major appliances. It’s no secret that we want to continue to grow as the number one appliance brand in the world and continue that strength here on the shores of the US.

Tomi Holt

Tomi Holt has been director of communications for Jelly Belly Candy Company since last year. She ran a boutique agency in the Bay Area specializing in food and health for two decades and also worked in advertising for Young & Rubicam and Glamour magazine.

Q: With a very high level of brand awareness among consumers already in place, how does Jelly Belly continue to build brand relationships with its consumers in today’s competitive candy marketplace?

A: Our position is that style and good taste are eternal. Delivering on the promise of a surprisingly authentic flavor of Jelly Belly is our primary mission. We receive thousands of suggestions for new flavors from consumers, whether through post, email and social media and we welcome them all. However it’s not only the enjoyment of the eating experience. We are in the business of putting smiles on the faces of our consumers. The memories of pleasurable times, the creativity in flavor innovation, the brilliant colors are all areas that inspire participation and celebration.

We also look for new ways for consumers to have fun with Jelly Belly beans. We offer public tours and develop new ideas to use our product. Currently the marketing department is running a cupcake decorating promotion, which we announced through the trade and blogosphere. Also, we are out in the marketplace with a mobile tour and a series of sponsorships.  While we enjoy wonderful brand awareness, we are not content leaving it at that. We are still a small company, although we enjoy a large image. That means we leave no stone unturned. We actively reach out through the media, web, events, retail promotions and social media. By keeping the strategy squarely focused on what we do best, and having responsive media relations, we generate a good deal of buzz.

Q: Much like Kleenex has become synonymous for any brand of tissue, the Jelly Belly brand name has become synonymous with “Jelly Belly Beans” candy. How has PR/Marketing strategy adjusted to keep the Jelly Belly brand name from becoming “genericized?”

A: Our trademark attorneys just got a shiver down their backs with this question. We actively protect the brand name, even to the point of notifying media outlets when they have it wrong. Beyond that, a key PR strategy is to focus on innovation in flavor development. If you’re the first or only candy maker to figure out how to make an acai berry flavor, for example, then it’s an opportunity to position the brand as innovative and trend setting. We have a steady stream of new flavors that provides fodder for publicity.

Keeping the brand name at the forefront is also organic to everything we do. We print the Jelly Belly name on every bean–that’s about 15 billion beans – so consumers are assured they have an authentic Jelly Belly bean in hand. We use every avenue at our disposal to tell the story. We have produced a trade newsletter for more than two decades to share knowledge on quality candy making, point-of-purchase tips and retailing. For consumers our public tours are important environments for key messaging. When 700,000 visitors a year leave our facilities, they know it takes 7 to 21 days to make a Jelly Belly bean, a surprising fact to many.

Q: From a PR perspective, what factors are key drivers of consumer demand for Jelly Belly candy?

A: We hope it is love at first bite. When those of us who work for the company mention Jelly Belly, a common thing happens. People will smile and tell us what their favorite flavor is, and/or which one they don’t like. Sometimes they suggest a flavor they would like us to try, or one they wish we would ditch. We are dedicated to the largest variety of flavors in the world, and each is developed to deliver a unique taste. We play on the natural curiosity about “what will they think of next.”

Jelly Belly is not your average bag of beans. It is our mission to make the highest quality confection and maintain the highest quality standards in our business practices. That translates to stellar customer service and timely response to consumers.  We believe every interaction is an opportunity to make a new fan, even if they start out being upset. We are charged with a simple philosophy: “if there’s an issue or a problem, don’t just fix the problem, but make it better than before the issue arose.”

Q: Jelly Belly has “hung its hat” on its palate pleasing variety of natural flavors.  What is Jelly Belly’s approach to building brand loyalty in instances where consumers have not, or are not immediately able to sample the product?

A: The company is committed to active media outreach, responsiveness and high value media relations. From this office, we issue news on everything new, and not only Jelly Belly beans. Recently we launched a mellocreme candy called Peas & Carrots that brought us excellent coverage. At the very least, media want to try something new, whether they report on it or not each time.

The advent of tours opened whole new vistas for travel media outlets, which are excellent environments for telling our story in a full and interesting way. I also believe in collaborating with others who have a mutual interest and can carry our message further. That may take the form of building good relations with trade associations, working with PR teams assigned to trade shows, and supporting creative retailers with their own local media efforts. I agree with President Reagan when he said, “There’s no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”

Q: How did the connection between President Reagan and Jelly Belly come about? How did Jelly Belly maximize this stellar endorsement?

A: Our company began shipping mini jelly beans to Governor Reagan, around 1967 when he was in Sacramento. We learned from a colleague in the candy business that he was trying to give up pipe smoking and was eating the Jelly Belly beans we made. The company was very small then, and never attempted to seek an “endorsement” or to advertise the connection. Insiders in Sacramento knew about the Jelly Belly beans and the Governor sent a letter of thanks to the company saying he could hardly start a meeting without passing around the Jelly Belly beans.

It wasn’t until Ronald Reagan’s second attempt at the presidential race that the media noticed he was eating our Jelly Belly beans on the campaign trail. The San Jose Mercury News broke the story that those jelly beans came from a small Bay Area manufacturer, and the next thing Herm Rowland, our owner, knew was that Ronald Reagan won the election and was headed for his first inauguration. Suddenly the media wanted to know more about our company. The story went wildfire through the media with virtually every major outlet, including international media, reporting on the president and his affinity for Jelly Belly beans. The company made exclusive White House jars for the president to give as gifts.

While Herm Rowland agreed to comment on the news stories, the company did not advertise or promote the connection with the White House. The media coverage did more for the brand than any of those efforts would have done, and President Reagan’s personal charm and diplomacy were apparently extended through his gifts of Jelly Belly beans.

When I wrote my first press release for the company about three years into the Reagan presidency, I was told you can’t mention the president or the White House.  That was an interesting challenge. The company’s primary goal was to be respectful of the Office of the President, which sounds quaint in today’s world. The secondary goal was for consumers to love Jelly Belly beans for their good taste, not because they were a novelty preferred by a famous person. Another quaint notion that has stood the test of time, is that we now make more than fifteen times the number of Jelly Belly beans that were consumed during the early years of the Reagan administration.

By the reelection campaign for his second term we commissioned a portrait of the president made from thousands of Jelly Belly beans and that portrait went on display at our tour center in California in 1989. Again we did not advertise it, but allowed word of mouth to take a natural course. Some years later we donated a similar Jelly Belly portrait to the Reagan Library where it hangs today.

When President Reagan passed away we were amazed to see average Americans spontaneously leaving bags of Jelly Belly beans at memorial sites. Several major news outlets called wanting to know how we intended to capitalize on this, and we were appalled. Very quickly we managed to get our message across that our respect for the person, his legacy, his family and his memory meant we would not be issuing a special package or promote our brand in this way. The decision not to claim an endorsement on the basis of the connection to the president allowed us to side step what could have been very negative and crass coverage in the media.

This year, some forty-five years later, we have placed the first advertisement honoring the Reagan Centennial Celebration and Reagan Foundation. The company sponsored the kick off to the Centennial year with the entry of a float in the 2011 Rose Parade, which was awarded the National Trophy by the Tournament of Roses. Throughout this Centennial year we expect to give away a half million Jelly Belly samples with information attached about the life of the president. If there’s a lesson for all of us in this, it’s that good taste and style are eternal.

In today’s world of crowdsourcing and outspoken self-proclaimed critics, the answer may very well be that it is simply another chicken and egg story.  Some will say the company, while others will point out that the customer is always “king.”

Take the Gap saga, as an example.  In my blog of October 12, 2010, I posed the same question when the company acquiesced to a consumer outcry against its new logo roll out – an outcry that flooded the Internet with derisions, mockeries, parodies, causing the company to retract their new logo. Never mind that the new logo was designed based on two years of market research with costly development costs.  A knee-jerk reaction at best…

Now it’s Starbucks’ turn to roll out a new logo on its 40^th anniversary and, to the chagrin of its loyal customers, the new green logo is essentially Starbucks’ representation of its old logo’s female siren, but without the company name or ‘coffee’.  Actually, it is kudos to Starbucks that they have evolved to the level of recognition where a name is unnecessary such as several well-known companies, including Apple, Inc. (AAPL.O) and Nike, Inc (NKE.N), which have long used only symbols to represent their brands.

Much like the Gap roll out, self-described Starbucks fanatics were not impressed and, among hundreds of comments on Starbucks’ website, called for the company’s name to be put back into the logo.  There is an OMG reaction to the change and the resulting negative buzz, although not as frenzied as with Gap to date, is building in fury.  As an example, from infuriated customers we hear comments such as, “I think it’s nuts,’ and “What’s it going to be — the coffee formerly known as Starbucks?” or “At the rate the logo is evolving, it will soon be nothing but an extreme close-up of the mermaid’s nose,” or  “Who’s the bonehead in your marketing department that removed the world-famous name of Starbucks Coffee from your new logo?”

What I don’t get is why customers bother, when their worries, if any, should be about taste or price changes. The on and offline media have certainly fueled the new uproar by headlining Starbucks’ new logo in major publications. The last two days must have been slow news days…

But what is more worrisome is the changing relationship between brand and customer. There is a growing sense that customers, regardless whether Gap, Starbucks, or other, feel they own the company to which they have given their loyalty – that it is theirs, because without them there is no company and, as such, corporate headquarters owe them the courtesy to consult them before changes occur.  The worry is that with the explosion of social media and real-time feedback, has given customers a platform from which to hold brands hostage to their whims of likes or dislikes.

The reality is that companies spend years on market research and money to fund it, research that nets new opportunities or roads to take.  Customers would do well to trust the companies that gave them the products that they adopted as theirs — and leave the driving of company growth – to the companies.

Unlike the Gap, Starbucks hasn’t budged. The logo stays so far…

We introduce our next guest blogger of our monthly series on the 25th of every month, in celebration of our 25th anniversary this year, Kathy Cripps, President, Council of Public Relations Firms.

Kathy Cripps is president of the Council of Public Relations Firms, the U. S. employer-based trade association. Kathy worked with multinational public relations firms and had her own firm for many years; she and the Council are strong advocates for PR firms and the value they bring to clients around the globe.

In two days (October 27) Marc Pritchard, Global Marketing & Brand Building Officer for Procter & Gamble, will speak at the Council’s Critical Issues Forum. The room will be filled with PR agency executives, their staffs and their clients from many different industries. We are thrilled Marc will address the group because when P&G speaks, people listen. Marketers and their public relations firms care what P&G has to say.

There’s a larger significance here as well. Public Relations is important to organizations like P&G.  I’m referring to the strategic relevance of our industry to organizations, whether in relation to reputation management, employee communications, crisis mitigation, marketing or public affairs. While the continued economic uncertainty has led to slower-than-hoped-for industry growth, public relations is more relevant and integrated than ever.

As the president of the Council of Public Relations Firms, the U.S. trade association for PR agencies, I have the opportunity to speak with firms around the country about what keeps them up at night, and what excites them about the future.  I know public relations is a hard business;  running a firm provides its own set of unique challenges, from servicing clients to managing and motivating talent.  It’s great to see firms like Pollack and others celebrate significant milestones.

The Council of PR Firms’ Q3 Quick Survey (of member firms) revealed some interesting statistics as firms and clients move into 2011 planning mode.  When asked what new business trends firms believe will be most important in 2011,  our members cited “more requests for digital and social media expertise” most often (80%), followed by “more competitive pitches” (57%) “a shift away from traditional media relations toward online influencers”  (56%) and “integrated campaign development “( 54%).  These responses are primarily good news as they represent not only a robust business environment but the expansive platform from which PR now operates.

Twenty five years in business, represents a time to reflect on growth, change and what’s ahead.  I don’t think I need to list the many ways the public relations business has changed since 1985. Suffice to say, staying competitive is one of the biggest challenges a PR firm faces today.

Here’s what I suggest to keep a firm healthy — and moving toward the next significant milestone:

• Don’t give away your thinking. I know, I know, competitive pitches require that you come to the table with creative ideas. Before you get into the trap, encourage the client to select a firm, or narrow the list, using the firms’ capabilities. Clients who challenge the finalist(s) to answer 2-3 strategic questions learn enough about the firm to select a partner.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for fair compensation. This applies not only to new business, but ongoing client work. Help your staff understand why it’s more than OK to be paid for work outside the agreed upon scope, and equally important to be paid in a timely manner (you are not a bank, right?)
• Help your staff get excited about public relations, especially working at a firm and making it a long-term career.  There are so many opportunities with the right public relations firm. With proper training and career guidance, today’s account executives can be tomorrow’s CEOs.
• Diversify your firm. Staff differences in experience, ethnic background, gender and skills will make your firm a richer source of ideas.
• Really listen to clients (and their competitors). Knowing your clients’ business will help you get new assignments because you will be an invaluable resource.
• Learn to say no. If your firm doesn’t have the required expertise, invest in it, partner with a firm that does or don’t accept the work.
• Be ethical. Following a moral compass is good business; it’s important to your clients and your employees.

As an industry we’re poised for growth – in size and responsibility.  Let’s go for it.

It’s finished.  It’s over.  Gap has retracted the new logo and put back the old one  – for now.  The company has acquiesced to a consumer outcry that flooded the Internet with derisions, mockeries, parodies as well as amateur re-design suggestions, as the new logo rolled out. The whole journey, from new logo roll out to retraction, took just a few days.

But it took two years for the company to develop a new logo earmarked to better represent the evolving Gap brand, one that is “more contemporary and current and honors the heritage of the Gap brand with the blue box but takes it forward” according to Louise Callagy, a Gap spokeswoman — plus an untold sum of monies spent.

The social media frenzy that followed Gap’s new logo roll out, could probably have been predicted, given that the brand is such an iconic one and so beloved by the very generation that view themselves as bona fide, self-proclaimed and self-appointed critics and use social media as their main communication tool.

As a matter of fact, had Gap’s recent logo change been based on a social media experiment strategy, it would have been brilliant, for the unplanned rapid fire online reaction has all the elements that would make any marketer salivate. The problem is that it wasn’t planned and it seems to have caught Gap by surprise, causing them to scramble in response with knee-jerk reactions.

Initially, the hastily made-up response came from Gap’s president and its corporate communications VP, who spoke of the logo as only “starting a conversation,” although clearly after the fact and not the original intent.  Then the company opened up this “conversation” by indicating that it would be pursuing a “crowdsourcing project” in the near term. Whether that project was earmarked for a logo or not, time will tell, but the timing of it is certainly coincidental.

Based on the Gap case, marketers would do well to consider as to who owns their brand and who decides a brand’s corporate identity – the corporation or its mass audience? Or better yet, who leads it, the corporation or the crowd? Can a brand’s identity even be Crowdsourced?

Brandchannel commentor Gunter Soydanbay notes that, “without any kind of even mildly specific strategy or direction, crowd-sourcing anything is a futile exercise. Unless Gap is actually suggesting that the brand is crowd-sourcing a business plan.”

In the end, it is a game.  Look, it’s not critical whether a logo is blue in one corner or the other, or whether the font is Helvetica or another.  What is critical is that consumers today want a say as to what ensues with their beloved brands and corporations of such iconic brands and will need to be aware of this and find a means to be inclusive, well before a logo change is planned, implemented and monies are wasted.

It might be smarter to choose to CrowdSource a logo, or have a social media competitive design competition with input by brand advocates who are not necessarily design professionals (but can be also), and then take it all back to the drawing board and come up with a look that “feels” inclusive, assuages the masses, but still has the corporation in charge of their own brand identity. Or have a well-prepared plan in place to better prepare consumer advocates for a coming change.

The Gap case feels like a chicken and egg story. What comes first?

In my blog of February 10, I was both intrigued and skeptical about the“ Pepsi Refresh” initiative. Intrigued, because it represented everything that an ideal interactive campaign can be – “creative, innovative, highly engaging and very popular, while building on the brand in a fun and social way.” Skeptical, because Pepsi was to grant large sums of money ($5,000 to $250,000) to charities (within selected categories) based on a populous vote of “friends and peers.” Critical thought as to urgency or evaluation of need, did not come into play.

Still, my skepticism faded rather rapidly as Pepsi came up with another angle within its campaign — its “Do Good for the Gulf” Refresh campaign, which has awarded 32 grants each month worth $1.3 million. Now Pepsi has invited consumers to submit ideas that could “refresh the communities of the Gulf states,” through July 16 and has pledged another $1.3 million. Starting August 2, consumers can vote on the ideas they like best. Finalists will be announced on September 2, and grants will be awarded on September 22.

For big brands to spend money on major causes is not new. Nor is it new for big brands or companies to get behind a disaster and offer funds and equipment as needed. If it is also somewhat self-serving, and is based on an ulterior marketing motive, so be it. Still, marketers would do well to note how well the Pepsi’s Refresh campaign worked in that it has empowered the consumer and rallied the public-at-large to come up with ideas in support of a disaster, in this case, the Gulf Oil disaster.

It’s a fine line to cross, however, and can be seen as opportunistic.

In this case, Pepsi has gained recognition for outstanding corporate social responsibility (CSR). It has earned it in a substantive way, for the Refresh Project has given more than $7 million in the first five months of the year and expects to invest at least $20 million in worthy causes.

And it has raised a populous conscientiousness as to charities. How does that get rewarded?

Following is the next video in a series celebrating The Pollack PR Marketing Group’s 25th Anniversary:

Special guest post by Chris Paine. Chris directed “Who Killed the Electric Car?” His next film, “Revenge of the Electric Car” is set for release 2011.  Currently, he is working on two projects related to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. http://www.facebook.com/revengeoftheelectriccar http://www.facebook.com/chris.paine

Exxon Valdez veteran marine toxicologist and author Riki Ott (“Not One Drop”) laid out some disturbing comparisons of the two oil disasters during our recent shoot in Louisiana.

BP is using the same playbook Exxon used on us in Alaska.  It’s all about minimizing liability and damages in court. So right off the bat, BP is underestimating how much is spilling, understating harm to the environment, claiming  dispersants are “safe” and “not toxic” to marine life, and putting workers at risk because BP doesn’t want to supply respirators. BP says it will pay all “legitimate” claims, but what this means is ‘see you in court.’ Same old story with Exxon.

Here are a few examples:

1). Broken Promises:  The oil industry makes false promises to get permits:

-Exxon: Promise: Double hull tankers and advanced vessel tracking so ‘not one drop’ of oil would spill in Alaska.  Actuality: Single hull tanker grounds, destroying pristine ecosystem and fishing industry for decades.

-BP:  Promise: State of the art drilling platforms with fail-safe safety procedures. Actuality: Multiple reckless decisions lead to massive oil spill threatening wide destruction of Gulf ecosystem, fishing  and tourism.

2). Manipulate Government Regulations

-Exxon:  Manipulate government regulatory bodies to receive multiple exemptions. Examples: A) Take advantage of OSHA exemptions for colds and flus to mask chemical poisonings of cleanup workers  B) Convince EPA and Coast Guard to rubber stamp contingency plans like using low grade “mill pond” buoys instead of “ocean grade” buoys. C)   Circumvent vastly variable effectiveness  of dispersants for different oil grades by persuading EPA to create one “compromise” effectiveness rating D) Convince EPA to sign off on toxicologist reports for dispersants that have only  been tested on older animals, not juveniles.

-BP: Examples A-D above still apply.

3). Spiller in Charge

The oil polluter becomes a ‘super state’ in charge of running response and cleanup. America leaves spiller in charge of cleanup. The Coast Guard sides with industry.

-Exxon:  USCG signed off on “miles of beaches” treated. USCG backed up Exxon’s control of images.

-BP: Signs of similar activity.

4). Under-Reporting Spill:

-Exxon:   In Alaska, Exxon reported up to 3 times less oil spilt then estimated by independent experts.

-BP:  IN Gulf, BP at first estimated  its spill at 1000 barrels of crude oil per day, then increased it to 5000 once researchers said it was at least this much. Now independent researchers using satellite images estimate as much as  70,000 barrels a day.

5). Under-Reporting  Cleanup

-Exxon: Said that it recovered 10 to 12% of oil on beaches in Prince William Sound but this was based on its own underreported spill size. When you take actual spill size into account, Exxon actually only cleaned up about 4%.   Eyewitnesses reported as much of 80% of recovered “oil” as being water in the last of three tankers that off-loaded “oil” from the stricken Exxon Valdez.

-BP:  Initially claimed to be recovering 20% of spill with its first siphon but this was based on inaccurate flow meter data . Later estimates for recovered oil per day are considerably lower

6).  Minimize public perception of impact

- Exxon: immediately put a flight restriction over area to prevent photography. It also required cleanup crews and workers not to talk to media or take photographs

-BP:  Many reports of similar measures. Dispersants used to prevent visible oil slick. Massive messaging effort to minimize public and government reaction.

7). Sick wildlife

-Exxon.  Ecosystem collapsed 4 years after Exxon Valdez spill.  Pink Salmon eventually recovered but Herring fishery utterly collapsed and 15 of 24 species have not recovered 21 years later

-BP:  Effect of oil and dispersants still unknown — and NOAA has not yet initiated comprehensive ecosystem studies despite vast extent of oiled estuaries and marshes.

8). Sick Communities

-Exxon.   Medical and social trauma caused by collapse of fishing industry never anticipated or compensated.   Domestic violence, divorce, suicide, drugs, and depression rates due to financial stress and cultural dislocation were at historic highs for 20 years with PTSD as high as 99% increases.

-BP.  Hospitalized oil clean up workers.  Already signs of severe financial stress amongst unemployed fisherman just recovering from Hurricanes Katrina/Rita.  Cleanup workers facing illness without proper protection.

9). Minimize liability, Write off legal costs

-Exxon.   Exxon appeals $5 billion punitive fine for 20 years until claim to reduced to $507 million – about 10% of original claims. Legal fees become a business expense, written off against revenue from taxpayers.

BP: ‘We will pay all legitimate claims’.  “Translation?” says Ott, “See you in court.”

It is either a brilliant marketing ploy calculated to boost the giant liquor company’s sales or a spontaneous lucky streak for Smirnoff.  Or not — for the popularity of the ‘Bros Icing Bros’ game, which originated on college campuses and quickly spread virally via all social media channels, may very well cast a shadow on Smirnoff’s public image and its stance on responsible drinking.

Although Smirnoff has denied that this might be a company-mounted marketing scheme, the jury is still out, considering that the winner clearly is the liquor giant itself and that it has remained largely silent. The game has also triggered sales of Smirnoff Ice drinks within demographics that probably never even heard about the sugary ice malt beverage.

The rules of the game, which had a murky start somewhere in either Florida or Vermont, are explicit on the web: a ‘bro’ hands a friend (or ‘bro) a Smirnoff Ice and he (most participants have been men) “has to drink it on one knee, all at once — unless he is carrying a bottle himself, in which case the ‘attacker’ must drink both bottles.” The listed rules include: “You cannot refuse an Ice.  If you refuse to drink the Ice you are instantly excommunicated and shunned and thus can never Ice another bro or be iced. If you are Iced by a fellow bro you can Ice block.  When presented with an Ice, you pull out an Ice of your own and reverse the Ice on your bro. The ultimate ice insult…”

The mercurial spread of ‘Bros Icing Bros’ from the Web to living rooms and offices around the country seems bizarre, when you consider that it has gone way past college fraternities and now includes young professionals and minor celebrities such as the rapper Coolio, the actor Dustin Diamond and members of the rock band The National.  According to the New York Times, there is even a campaign online that aims to Ice Ashton Kutcher, who often serves as a kind of Kevin Bacon of Web memes, linking disparate areas of the Internet in fewer than six degrees.

Here’s the rub…If it is a social media trend that sparked spontaneously, the game will play out virally until the next ‘thing’ comes along, that is, unless Smirnoff finds ways to disavow the game.

However, it can also end abruptly if the young ‘Bros” get a sense that they have been co-opted by the brand for its own purposes, that they’re being used, in fact, to market a drink that, by all accounts, they really don’t like. But this will surely come back to “bite” the Smirnoff brand.

It’s every company’s dream to have sales rocket through the perennial roof without spending for a marketing campaign.  But this is about a game that extols uncontrolled drinking, with one particular product, with the potential of youths of questionable drinking age, participating.

It raises doubts…

A Smirnoff company statement says, “We never want under-age ‘icing’ and we always want responsible drinking.” Well, that’s good. But if, in fact, Smirnoff had nothing to do with initiating the game, how about taking a stronger stance to distance the company from all the ‘Icing’?

Not happening as yet.  Sales are good.

The British should be familiar with parodies.  After all they invented the form…

BP is ripe for mocking, as witnessed by the launch of the faux BP Twitter account, @BPGlobalPR,  which already has outdistanced BP’s real Twitter stream, attracting nearly 60,000 followers, compared to the company’s 7,000 followers.

While it is true that the company’s real twitter account @BP_America offers continued updates about actions taken toward a solution of the international calamity, no one buys that the effort alone is commendable.  And yet, in reading and watching all the hyperbole that the company puts out, all the gaffes made by its CEO and all the meager attempts at “talking” to a public through full page ads in the NY Times, daily, the company continues to exude a righteous behavior that is irritating and obnoxious, as well as arrogant and disdainful – certainly not characteristics that can endear a company to its many publics.

In the words of a tweeter, “The engineers (may) be busy but PR (folks) are (in) hiding.”

And so, while BP’s PR advisors seem to be AWOL, people turn to mocking.

It’s a real circus out there.

Twitterers are tweeting about the now “extinct mermaids” to the “sharks getting entangled in oil geysers” to changing the word catastrophe and agreeing to call it a “whoopsie daisy.”  The faux account has sold “BP cares” T-shirts with the profits from the sales going to the nonprofit Gulf Restoration Network. Apparently its humorous blasts have been re-tweeted by everyone from filmmaker Michael Moore to singer Michelle Branch.  And then there were preposterous headlines made by Kevin Costner and numerous TV appearances by Bill Nye, the Science Guy, the children’s show host who is apparently now an authority on the issue.

Apparently the faux twitter account’s fictional character “Terry” who has steadfastly remained in character, weakened and fell out of character when asked as to why this effort, to which he answered, “Companies screw up and then they hire folks like me to come in to make it look like they’re doing something while they figure out how to make money again.”

Well, there you have it – the public mocking of a company…

The curious thing is that according to a dialogue that Ad Age had with BP spokesman Toby Odone, he said that, “he wasn’t aware of any attempts by the company to have the feed taken down.” In playing the role of a real BP spokesman, the bogus one took the opposite stance – the one that the real BP should have taken in the first place by saying, “I’ve heard rumors of fake BP PR accounts, and I assure you if we find out who is in charge of them, we will annihilate them.” In further mocking the company, he added, “BP is doing everything we can to save our reputation and hopefully salvage some oil out of all this.”

Here’s advice for BP: hire the faux twitter account owner for advice as to next moves or push your PR folks out of hiding and make them unleash a PR campaign that is based on critical thought and one that is substantive…

As if the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, with the potential of a global calamity of unimagined proportions, is not enough of a disaster for BP corporate, the company’s well recognized “Beyond Petroleum” campaign, launched almost 10 years ago, has come back to bite it.

The “beyond petroleum” campaign, which positioned the company as “transcending the oil sector” and as being innovative, progressive and environmentally responsible and performance-driven, now seems more of an empty marketing ploy than a true descriptor of a company on a mission.

It has the stench of public deception.

It is not BP’s first petroleum mess and PR disaster that it has wrestled with, proving that being environmentally responsible has to go beyond a marketing tag line. In 2006, it was disclosed that BP’s Prudhoe Bay pipeline, which supplies 8% of U.S oil production, was corroded and leaking — for many years because nobody inspected it. It is interesting to note John Kenney’s wry comment at that time in The New York Times, “The company that claims to be ‘beyond petroleum’ shut down a pipeline that serves up 400,000 barrels of oil a day. Maybe Coca-Cola’s new line should be, ‘It’s good for your teeth.’”

This time around, according to BP PLC Chairman Lamar McKay, “no preparations for such an accident were made because it was unforeseeable, and seemed inconceivable, that equipment in place to avert an oil-well blowout, would fail,” referring to a valve mechanism sitting on top of the oil well nearly a mile down in the ocean, which failed to shut in the malfunction. Reports surfaced that it had forgone a $500,000 “acoustic trigger” shut-off device required of offshore oil wells operating near Norway and Brazil.  Apparently, this valve is the last line of defense against oil spurting out of the earth, but it didn’t seem to warrant another half-million expense.

Wouldn’t an environmentally concerned company have a plan ready for the “inconceivable” even if it was “unforeseeable” and include a plan that addresses the “last line of defense” as well?  As Kenney commented back in 2006, “If BP hadn’t been so “holier than thou” in its marketing during the last few years, I doubt that it would be getting hammered right now — at least to this extent. “

Speaking of history repeating itself…

Creating a glorified company image through marketing tag lines, without a genuine effort to become what it says, will always backfire.  Far better to take the cautious track and first make a genuine attempt to engage the public in a debate or a corporate rallying cry to change the paradigm – before you preach to the world what you cannot, or have not intention to, uphold.

In an ironic twist, BP was recently named as a finalist for a federal award honoring offshore oil companies displaying “outstanding safety and pollution prevention.”

Retiring the “Beyond Petroleum” posturing, has been urged before and considered, but rejected to date.  Now is a good time…

We introduce our fourth guest blogger of our monthly series on the 25th of every month, in celebration of our 25th anniversary this year, Tom Searcy, who helps companies in finding business solutions.

Tom Searcy, co-author of  “Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company”, author of “RFPs Suck!” and founder of Hunt Big Sales, is a sought after business solutions expert for small to mid-sized companies.  Follow Tom’s thought leadership through his blog: www.huntingbigsales.com or access his resources at www.huntbigsales.com.

I remember watching a documentary on nudists when I was of an age that I couldn’t yet buy my own “nudist” magazines at the drugstore…the ones with the brown wrappers…if they even bothered wrapping them. The documentary talked about the “freedom of nudity”, its “natural state” and “the beauty of the human form.” It was confusing as hell to me- because the human form, at least the ones at the colony, were not beautiful. Even at distance and with discreetly placed black-box-blockouts, these were some pretty unattractive people. Their nudity not only put me in a position to look at things I didn’t want too, but it answered questions about people, (surgery scars, stretch marks, the body’s response to gravity over time for example), that I was not asking.

The documentary was about a microscopic sliver of the population who had made a distinct choice. But we are all living naked now. You, me, our companies, our children. We are all naked. And we will be beyond naked very soon- (BTW, I don’t know what “beyond naked” means but I think it involves Flickr™ photos of our last set of x-rays and dental records). Are you ready to live naked?

YouTube™, Flickr™, Digg™, Twitter™, Facebook™, LinkedIn™ and the rest of the usual suspects of the social media revolution are creating a naked world. Every customer experience, every shipped product and online FAQ answer, each touchpoint in the chain of your business is open for scrutiny and discussion. You may be aware of this, which puts you ahead of the huge brands out there being lampooned every day in painful and direct ways. But what is your strategy?

I work with small to mid-sized companies who are trying to grow quickly. One of the things that we work on is their market image. One of the nice things about everyone being naked is that it’s easier to do the necessary research on a prospect company before you see them. But…It works in reverse…(sometimes when I work with companies they forget this part).

Here’s what I tell my small to mid-sized companies:

• Control – You don’t have it any more, so take a deep breath and stand tall, proud and naked. You can control your integrity and your authenticity. Focus on that. Don’t focus on the buttoning-down of over point of entry and exit to your perceived brand machine. That’s like trying to grab the wind with a sack.
• It’s Never Fair – Of course attacks are unfair. No one is trying to provide a ‘fair and balanced’ story, as if there ever is one. Don’t waste time trying to make their attacks ‘fair’ by offering your point-by-point answers. The bell has rung- you are not going to un-ring it. You can just respond.
• Fast and Good – A quick response that is reasonable is much better than a slow response that is perfect. Do you see Toyota out there floundering with the slow and perfect story? That’s because slow in the naked world is by definition imperfect.
• Find Your Voice – As a writer and speaker, I go through a number of exercises to make certain I am writing in my voice. Not what I think to be the “professional and homogenized” voice. In the heralded brands around the world, one of the key elements to the rankings is their consistency and authenticity of their voice. You need to make certain that the voice is an authentic voice.
• Be 3-D – All the movies are going 3-dimensional for the same reason; the audience expects a different experience. You have to be multi-dimensional in your market message. A website with a never-changing brochure of product/service lists doesn’t cut it. Customers want the multi-dimensional experience. Give it to them. Videos, photos, blogs and ever-changing content.
• Thousand Points of Light – Your brand is no longer just the crafted message of your marketing firm. The touchpoints are now your brand- employees, customers, vendors and competitors. You have to be out there knowing what is being said. You can’t survey once a quarter and keep track of the voices. This has to be a daily part of someone’s role. Key word searches and tracking make it easier- but it has to be done constantly.

On this blog-site, you can read past entries to see what it is like to live naked. Noemi’s blogs provide examples of how ugly in can look when big companies try to hide. This is especially true for those companies who have not yet realized that the emperor not only isn’t wearing clothes, but his wardrobe has been shredded. But the question for you should be “What is my strategy for living naked?”

When thinking through your strategy, include these questions:

1. On a simple Google search of my company’s name and my name, what comes up and in what order? Is it what I want to come up? How can I change it?
2. How do we tell our story to the world at the level of customer, employee and supplier? How is the world telling our story to us in the naked world at the level of customer, employee and supplier? What does it mean about us if no one is telling our story?
3. Who are the examples of companies, regardless of industry, that we look up too in the naked world? What can we learn from them?

Fortunately for me, living in a naked world requires neither diet, nor exercise nor surgery. But it does require confidence and a strategy. What’s yours?

Just when we got comfortable with Internet addresses that end in .com, .net, .org, or .edu, along comes an agreement between the US government and the Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN, the body in charge of assigning Internet addresses), that will allow for Internet addresses to end in .anythinggoes or .somethingorother.

The new agreement, which is to take effect next year, will surely unleash a mad dash to gather up names to better brand a company or product, as in Pepsi.cola, Taco.bell, Fat.burger, Ivory.soap and Apple.mac.
Ok, we can get used to that. It will just seep more memory from our already extended brains…

There really would be no end to the “fun” that could ensue, if it were not for the price tag — a major downer. With a fee of more than $100,000 for applications, you better believe it that it won’t be Mom.mommy or Joe.plumber that will be first in line to grab that one customized and ownable word that best defines a brand. Sadly small- to medium-sized businesses will also be hard pressed to come up with the six figures needed to pay for the opportunity to differentiate.

Still, there is much good to be said about this move which paves the way for a new and more open web. ICANN, operating under the aegis of the US Commerce Department, had always caused concerns for some, most notably the European Union that had lobbied for ICANN to be delinked from the U.S. government. The concern was that with ICANN as the only decider on what names can be added to the Internet’s top level domains (TLDs) such as .com as well as country designations, the Internet did not really belong to a wider global constituency.

According to a Reuters news article, “this agreement, which allows ICANN to become a “private sector led organization,” will now subject ICANN to periodic reviews by a panel that includes a U.S. representative and independent experts, essentially allowing the organization to no longer report solely to the United States.” ICANN will now be a nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States and has promised that it will address various issues, including consumer protection and trademark matters, before implementing new domain names.
Apparently, in a survey conducted by the Future Laboratory earlier this year, two-thirds of businesses were unaware they will be able to use their own name in place of today’s domain extensions.

Wait until they find out. Can’t wait for the creative juices to flow and the scramble for domain words to begin…

In recessionary times, companies are re-evaluating proposals for marketing campaigns from every angle to make sure they are cost effective.  Clients almost want a “guarantee” of ROI on every tactic before they venture out and “gray” no longer counts. Apparently, building awareness of a new product (as an example) or generating visibility for a company’s CSR (corporate social responsibility), often a prime goals of PR campaigns, now fall into the gray area according to clients and unless they can be tied into tangible results or are translatable into profits, they are put on the back burner.

One would assume that that sort of thinking would put traditional large-scaled promotional events at bay or, minimally, on a shelf to be dusted off in better economic times.  But not so with companies that understand their value and, as such, are bucking the trend.

Verizon’s two 99-cent campaigns launched in New York City this month, are an example of how imagination, big picture thinking and partnerships can meld together into successful campaigns. Apparently the original goal was to tout a Verizon business segment that has low consumer awareness: prepaid cellular plans. And yes, of course, the pre-paid plan’s daily usage fee is 99 cents.

As to the campaigns, they were planned for the season.  Just in time for the official start of summer, Verizon teamed up with Mr. Softee Ice Cream to sell ice cream from four Verizon Wireless-wrapped trucks at high-traffic locations in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens during the lunch hour.  Branded napkins and additional prepaid details came with the ice cream.

Earlier in the month, Verizon had teamed up with a New York City Cab Company for one day only, sponsoring 99-cent cab rides that started from select locations (with Verizon-branded taxis) for destinations anywhere in Manhattan.  When you consider that a typical cab ride in New York City can cost between $10 and $20 — or more — depending on traffic and destination – that’s quite an eye-popping deal.

Still, what’s troubling here is that, according to a report in Adweek, Verizon’s original goal of building consumer awareness for its pre-paid plan got muddled.  Apparently, the success of the promotions, were also tied to immediate sales.

Counting on increasing consumer awareness through such an imaginative campaign is absolutely realistic.  Counting on immediate sign ups for the plan by virtue of having eaten an ice cream or riding around in an almost free cab is not, even with the support of a large NY ad campaign.

I think that “gray” (in this case, consumer awareness) does move the needle and that ROI needs to be built into any program — but counted on, a bit down the road.

It was not the Super Bowl ads that mattered so much to the brands that paid an obscene amount of money to have their ads aired on the biggest Advertising Sunday of the year…  It’s what happened afterwards, or as in Denny’s free breakfast for America, what happened the “morning after.”

What pushed the staying power of the Super Bowl ads this year was the intensive twittering effect.  You would think that all the tweeting would have happened between football and advertising fans.  But no, the biggest “chatter” emerged from the brands themselves, according to AdFreak.com, brand managers who worked the twittering from the vantage point of a well-planned marketing campaign.

So much for spontaneous twittering…

Anyway, none of the ads this year got the five stars from Fanfest (or, for that matter from any other reviewers) that would propel them into national stardom vis-à-vis consumers and resonate with them for any length of time.  Maybe nothing can.  Maybe we’ve seen it all…

But there are those of us who do remember this year’s 25th anniversary of the introduction of Apple’s Macintosh in 1984, the one that came out with a foreboding futuristic theme that brought out both wonder and astonished terror in the viewers.

That had staying power, beyond a twittering effect and well past any “morning after” sales gimmick.  It had staying power because it broke through all creative boundaries ever tried before.  And as The NY Times wrote in today’s edition,  “people still talk about it” 25 years later.

Oh well, as a diehard optimist, there’s always next year….