Branding

Brand journalism: A proper definition

cturner Leave a Comment

With one button, everything changed. Before it was a noisy world – and getting noisier. So many advertisers with so many messages, and they just kept coming…growing louder so you could hear their messages from the other room. They knew you’d gotten up during commercial breaks to run to the refrigerator, or use the bathroom, or let the dog out, so they increased the volume to make sure you could hear them from afar.

Brand Journalism

But that all changed when Eugene Polley of the Zenith Radio Corporation did humanity a great service and created the first wireless TV remote that could turn off the sound. In other words, he gave us the mute button. Continue Reading →

Writing: If you can’t do it find someone who can

cturner Leave a Comment

Years ago I led a workshop for adult learners all wanting to more clearly communicate their work. I flippantly made possibly the most profound statement of my 20-plus years as a professional communicator: If you can’t write, don’t; find somebody who can.

successFailure

Photo courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net

I am more convinced of the profundity of that statement 13 years later. Weak writing is the Achilles Heel of most communications efforts. In this age of brand journalism and content marketing, good writing is the backbone that should give organizations a lift over their competition, but poor writing torpedoes good strategy. Plainly stated, how well you write could mean the difference between success or failure. Continue Reading →

Feedly: My new tool for reputation monitoring

cturner Leave a Comment

The relationship between media relations and reputation management is as close as the relationship between a light switch’s “on” and “off” functions. In most cases, media relations ought to be so closely monitoring reputation that it actually flips the switch when a crisis flares and endangers an organization’s brand.

feedlytop

Think about crisis prevention and management like a forrest ranger standing in a fire tower located atop the highest point in a national park. He peers through his binoculars and scans the endless timber below looking for that little wisp of smoke that triggers an action plan. Now, equate a media relations manager (or someone similar) with that ranger, and media monitoring as the scanning of the forrest. You need the right tools to successfully head off problems. Continue Reading →

Content marketing strategy: shifting from urgent to strategic

cturner Leave a Comment

The first step to solving a content marketing problem is admitting you have one. Unfortunately, what organizational leaders often think is the cause may actually be an effect.

marketing thumb

Content marketing and brand journalism are increasingly recognized as important elements of an organization’s branding and marketing effort. However, some organizations crank out copy like it is being fired from a Gatling Gun thinking quantity is the key to success. Leaders become frustrated with a lack of return on the effort and miss the point that quantity doesn’t necessarily equate to quality. They fail to accurately identify the tyranny of the urgent as the root problem. Continue Reading →

Learning Crisis Communications from the Boy Scouts of America

cturner Leave a Comment

The Boy Scouts of America finds itself in a kerfuffle with its proposed membership standards document. In a nutshell, the BSA is wrestling with dropping its ban on gay membership and in the process has created for itself an organizational communications nightmare that is bludgeoning a century of branding equity. It will take more than a compass for the BSA to navigate this crisis communications firestorm.

Photo courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Photo courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The BSA is in a five-alarm crisis communications nightmare. Very little is coming from its national headquarters in Irving, Texas, that positively positions the BSA. In fact, the organization’s leadership finds itself with few – if any – friends on either side of the debate, and has landed itself in a crossfire. Make no mistake; this is a self-inflicted crisis. Continue Reading →

Use case studies to support content marketing strategies

cturner Leave a Comment

If you are looking for a way to improve your content marketing strategy this year, consider case studies. Case studies are obviously not new. Organizations have used them for years as a way to provide a systematic examination of cause and effect over a period of time. True, some case studies are about as cheesy (and creepy) as a cheap pick-up line. However, today’s savvy organizations tie well-written case studies to a larger content marketing strategy and overall integrated communications strategy.

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you’re unsure on the meaning of content marketing and its role in organizational branding, here is a great summary by Shelly Kramer at V3 Integrated Marketing titled, “Content Marketing: A beginner’s checklist.” Case studies fall within an overall content marketing strategy. Writing case studies requires a marketer’s entrepreneurial mentality and a journalist’s “nose for news” approach. Report legitimate information that establishes a favorable outcome for your clients and supports your organization. Continue Reading →

Websites and branding: Three principles to keep in mind

cturner Leave a Comment

First impressions do matter, especially for small businesses (and every organization), and often the first opportunity to make a first impression is your organization’s website. Question: how is your website branding you?

Photo Courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Malcolm Gladwell describes the idea of “thin slicing” in his book, Blink. His point is that we have the ability to gauge what is important from a limited experience. Gladwell has received criticism for his thesis, but his ideas are valid. You do form an immediate impression when you first encounter others – and they do the same to you. That’s why it is important that your website…fit. Continue Reading →

Content marketing done the “right” way

cturner Leave a Comment

I found it humorous the other day when my brother-in-law was reminiscing about the early days of the Internet. He was just 12 years old when, “Welcome, you’ve got mail,” introduced itself to American culture. His point, however, was how everything has changed because of the Internet, most notably the way we do business.

 

Fast forward to 2006 when blogging was all the rage and Twitter was a newborn in diapers. A few people like Brian Solis were rightly prognosticating the future of social media and its impact on business, but it has really only been in the past three years that businesses are catching up. Unbelievably, some businesses haven’t yet left the social media marketing station while others simply don’t know there is a train to board. Continue Reading →

Learning social media from Which Wich

cturner Leave a Comment

I love social media. As a consumer, I love that I can give a public endorsement of a company where I’ve received great service; or I can [respectfully] pencil whip a company for poor service or product. I recently did both to Dallas -based Which Wich Superior Sandwiches.

 

Sub sandwiches have become a ubiquitous part of our eating culture. There are seemingly dozens of chain stores and mom-and-pop shops slicing bread and layering it with all manner of ingredients. One of the reasons I eat at Which Wich is the avocado. I love avocado and they serve the freshest. Continue Reading →

Media training: Four things leaders can learn from David Stern

cturner Leave a Comment

NBA Commissioner David Stern still doesn’t get it. There is a reason high-profile people need media training, and  Stern proved it again when he followed one poor media interaction with another.

The first and most prominent was a recent interview with sports talk personality Jim Rome, Stern was asked if the NBA lottery was rigged. Stern initially said, “No,” but over the next few minutes became combative, aggressive, insulting and eventually condescending toward Rome before the interview mercifully ended. Unfortunately for Stern, it didn’t end soon enough. A week later he admitted he overreacted. Too late, it was a public relations disaster. Continue Reading →