I think we may have just grown up a little as a new communications agency.  Here’s the back story.  I would very much appreciate your thoughts.

Our company – Vehr Communications - started in early 2007.  Our focus is strategic communications and, although new and clearly in an “eat-what-you-kill” mode during our start-up, we want to be strategically engaged with our clients in figuring out how communications can help to address their business challenges and opportunities.

A week or so ago we received a Request for Proposal (RFP) from a prestigious non-profit with a great Board of Trustees and an important community mission.  We were up against some other local agencies.  Our competitive juices were flowing and we wanted to win.

As we dove into preparing our response to the RFP it became clear  to us, rightly or wrongly, that the prospective client was not really looking for a strategic partner, but a vendor to implement what they predetermined they wanted and needed. 

They sought quick answers – in about 3 weeks – to what we felt were very complex issues and the entire length of the engagement was 3 weeks.  They were clear there were prospects for additional work, but that was not a part of this RFP.

We felt in our heads and hearts that it was unwise for them to move so quickly.  We were not comfortable that the substantive advance work they had done and shared was as complete and comprehensive as was necessary to achieve the stated objectives for the program of work.

We decided to respond and we decided to tell them what we thought.  We said that their accelerated timeframe was not advisable and provided a timeframe that was still compressed but more realistic, from our perspective.

Of course, we didn’t get the account.  The money would have been great and I am certain the prospect for longer term work was real.  I am convinced, though, that we made the right decision. 

I told our team I was proud of them and the substantial work they put into the RFP response.  More importantly, I told them I was proud that we submitted what we thought was right. 

So, that’s the story.  Have you been through this professionally?  Any suggestions for a better way to deal with such situations going forward?  Should we have simply not responded and spent the time preparing the RFP response?

William Faulkner (picture from reverendross)

This one got my attention right away. 

First, it was forwarded by Pete Blackshaw (thanks, Pete). 

Second, in the first sentence if referenced William Faulkner, one of my favorite authors.  In college, I once took a course where we read 13 Faulkner novels in one semester.  Phew!  But, it was one of my favorite courses.

Anyway, the post by Andy Dunn,CEO and Co-Founder of Bonobos, offers some very seasoned and rational suggestions for making social media work for you. 

I’ll summarize his four main points, but encourage you to read them for yourself:

1. Ask provocative questions. If you want to have an impact in these channels, you have to be relevant. Do this by asking provocative questions.
2. Spend as much time listening and responding as you do talking. Be a good date! Show your appreciation for your customers by listening to what they tell you through social media and then by responding to their comments.
3. Complement self-promoting with promoting others. Re-tweet from your corporate Twitter page. It will help propagate an interesting idea, and you’ll pop up on the original tweeter’s radar. Same goes for blogs.
4. Blend the personal and the professional. Consumers are savvy; they want a well-balanced mix of salesmanship and personality. Find a happy medium between promoting your product and bringing variety to your social media efforts. The more interesting it is for you, the more likely it will be interesting to your customers.

As professional communicators, we must understand that social media is “social” first and “media” second.  That certainly doesn’t make it any easier, just as it doesn’t make it the right for all clients.  But, it is what it is!

Fascinating column in today’s NYT written by blogger Choire Sicha, co-founder of TheAwl.com regarding some new FTC regulations for online endorsements.

I don’t even know what the new regs are, but I loved this column!  Just read this line:

“That every consumer is now a retailer is capitalism’s ultimate and most logical evolution.  Regulating every last one of us in our tiny imaginary boardrooms (in my mind, mine is mahogany-paneled and has a Haagen-Dasz fountain) is as ludicrous as not skipping past the advertisements on one’s DVR.”

Creative, extremely well-written and, right on.

No libertarian, me, but a realist.  The article shares some somewhat satirical, or maybe real, examples of how impossible it would be to regulate a medium that is, almost by design, unregulatable (if that’s even a word).  It’s a must read.

Government is much too late, if they even had a role in the first place, to put this jeanie back in the bottle. 

I also can’t pass up the irony, or the ironic new reality, of a celebrity trend/fad blogger placing a column in the NYT which will undoubtedly spike his popularity in, you got it, the blogosphere.

Someone once said that having 2 ears and 1 mouth was the right ratio – we all need to listen more and talk less.

This, of course, is the key to good community relations – a critical component of any integrated, strategic, public relations strategy.

This blog post from William de Worde sums it up well:

“Public relations and community relations really work hand in hand, without one the other becomes much harder.  If you take the time to develop good relationships with your community – whoever that is – you may be able to do better public relations than any standard ‘PR Plan’ can come up with.”

From political candidates to ballot issue campaigns, from land-use plan development to major infrastructure repairs and improvements, from new capital projects to business incentive awards – good community relations can build new relationships, strengthen existing ones or repair ones that have been damaged.

Of course, community relations is more about listening (2 ears) than talking (1 mouth), if you are sincere about it.  Your target community deserves to be heard and you should listen.

An interesting post on Strategic Public Relations about marketer over-reliance on mommy bloggers.  Professional communicators - a must read.

Kevin Dugan reinforces what I have always felt – too much of anything is likely not the right choice for marketers.  Or, as he puts it:

“Mommy bloggers have become the Robitussin of marketing. Arm broken? Put some ‘tussin on it. New product? Do some mommy blog outreach.”  (You’ve got to watch this Chris Rock video excerpt!)

This blog concludes that, “the most potential lies somewhere in between paid and earned media.”  The potential refers to the opportunity to postively influence consumer behavior – choice. 

This applies to B2C or B2B programs.  The creative execution, tactics and channels may differ, the strategy does not.

Personally, I believe that earned media promises much greater potential than paid media because of its authenticity, but will admit that opportunities for earned media are more diluted than in the past.   

Of course, opportunities for paid media are challenged, as well.  As consumers segment across myriads of media options – cable v. network TV, print v. online, online v. more and more online, etc. – the need to be more creative follows.  The success of paid media can depend on its originality and integration within a broader program.

The growth in importance and influence of social media on the other hand is not the end to earned media – or good, old-fashioned media relations.  It’s just another rung on the earned media evolutionary ladder.

Enjoy the blog link.

Two experiences this week to share. Both reinforce the point that “everything communicates.”

Cincinnati Pops - A great Cincinnati feature sold by our CVB

Cincinnati USA CVB:  At a Board meeting this past week, the VP for Marketing and Strategic Initiatives shared some of the great work and great progress the organization is making at communicating to secure new conventions and meetings in our town (full disclosure, I chair the Board of this organization).

She shared some information about recent “FAMs” (familiarization tours) held by the CVB to show-off the region to meeting planners including interesting food experiences, entertainment options and random interactions with citizens. 

She reinforced their very successful efforts with the term “everything communicates” when referring to the experiences they seek for their guests.  She was right on.

Parking Perks

Perkonomics:  I spoke this past week to a gathering of 20 Catholic high school principals about marketing in a recession economy.  I shared with them a new trend in marketing referred to as “perkonomics.”  Well, it’s kind of new. 

We all know that perks and privileges are nothing new.  But, figuring out how to develop and deliver them in the context of an organizational mission for a consumer who is consumed by challenging economic realities is the real trick.

I occured to me that perks and privileges are nothing more than an extension of the concept that “everything communicates.”

It’s all about the value exchange between the business and the consumer.  It’s all about not playing the price game and putting at risk your brand equity.  The consumer really wants value, not just what’s cheapest.

So, “everything communicates” and perkonomics, at least to me, are about figuring out how to communicate and deliver real value to minimize price sensitivity in a tough economy.

Any thoughts?

Post by Nick Vehr - 9.26.09

It is not too often that you read social media experts drawing attention to some drawbacks of one of the most popular social media applications – Facebook. 

Professional communicators, pay attention to this one.

Rather than comment myself, I encourge you to link over and read Todd Defren’s latest “PR-Squared” blog post on some of the shortcomings for Facebook for business applications. 

He is by no means condemning Facebook.  He is, though, drawing attention to some ways in which it comes up short for business purposes.

Take a moment to read this.  It’s worth it.

Post by Nick Vehr – 9.22.09

What I have lacked in being an early adopter of Twitter I have made up for with curiosity and intrigued. 

I have been looking for applications beyond the fascinating and highly popular personal social applications.  I tried my own immersion with more than 100 tweets over a 7-day personal vacation (2009 Comfort Food Tour).  But, that was clearly one of those personal social experiences.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, there is a fascinating article about how some entrepreneurs have tweeted their way through business crises of various sorts. 

Assuming those businesses had already developed a significant enough follower list that they could communicate direct through whatever crisis they were experiencing, this makes a ton of sense.  I get it.

METRO, Cincinnati’s bus system, opened a Twitter account and tweets route change and update information.  It was especially helpful in a snow storm last winter and you can easily imagine the benefit to a METRO rider/METRO Twitter follower waiting at a bus stop getting an update that their bus has been delayed or cancelled.  I get it.

It is still obvious to me, though, that Twitter is very much a “consumer” application with limited, or at least very specialized and selected, B2B opportunity.

Post by Nick Vehr – 9.15.09

Every professional communicator, whether on the agency or client side, is looking for that extra edge – the cutting edge – that enables their client to gain market share.

But, what does that mean? 

Without question, it can mean developing a creative idea, a breakthrough moment (e.g., product innovation, service technique, creative expression, etc.) that generates excitement, creates buzz, draws attention and, most important, draws customers.

This may happen once or twice in the lifetime of a consumer brand or a company providing much-needed services to individuals or other businesses.

More likely, businesses find and maintain their “edge” by marrying creativity with clarity of expression, consistency of application and disciplined implementation over time. 

For every “one hit wonder” there are hundreds of “slow and steady win the race” examples in business.

From a communications perspective, this means having an integrated marketing communications approach. 

This, in turn, means that your company is fully committed to implementing business processes to ensure that all contacts with your brand, whether a customer or prospect for your product, service or organization, are meaningiful and consistent.

Easier said than done.  From the company’s perspective, it requires all employees to be on the same page in terms of the company’s values – who it is, what it does for whom and why.

From a communicators perspective, it means learning and teaching ways to ensure that the client’s culture – it’s values – translates into every interaction with a customer or prospect.  And this means in all offline (traditional) and online (new media) communications activities. 

From media releases to social media, from direct contact to direct mail, from collateral materials to community presentations, from graphics to packaging, the key to an integrated approach is to deliver creative, clear and concise messages over time that reflect the true value the company brings to its customers.

Post by Nick Vehr - 8.31.09

Have been thinking a lot about integrated marketing communications lately and the real value it delivers for clients and the challenges it presents for professional communicators. 

A colleague (thanks, Laura!) shared this article this morning from FastCompany.com.  It’s title is, “Scale: The Importance of Cafe-Shaped Experiences.” 

The premise is clear – it is important to strive to personalize every brand interaction to enhance brand reputation and develop or strengthen the relationship that is at the core of the value exchange.

In essence, this is precisely what integrated marketing communications does.  Its goal is to ensure that every interaction with your brand, whether a consumer, a business or a service, reinforces why you re interacting in the first place. 

It doesn’t matter if the interaction is with Starbuck’s coffee or Tide detergent, or the supplier of 200 containers of building supplies or the architect designing a new R&D facility. 

What matters – and what leads to repeat interactions and value exchange – is the sincerity, honesty and consistency of each interaction that leads to trust, loyalty and a deepened relationship.

The FastCompany.com article, in essence, touches on just the same thing.  It’s a good read and I hope you enjoy it.

Post by Nick Vehr - 8.28.09