We checked our Google alerts recently and discovered that Jean Gianfagna, founder and president of a marketing consulting firm in Cleveland, had nice things to say about the Unbridled Spirit brand New West created for the state of Kentucky in 2004.

More on that in a minute. First, though, Ms. Gianfagna wanted to talk about her home state’s new “Beautiful Ohio” plate. The plate, Ms. Gianfagna said, “makes a classic branding and marketing mistake: Obscuring the name of the product through ‘creative’ graphic design. In fact, it’s hard to imagine what else the designers could have done to bury the brand.” She complained about typeface that’s too hard to read, “clumsy” visual elements, an overly busy design, and positioning of the word “Ohio” in such a way that plate frame holders will cover up at least part of it.

Many other states have made similar mistakes, Gianfagna said. Kentucky, on the other hand, “designed a clean, attractive license plate whose main visual element is its ‘Kentucky Unbridled Spirit’ branding, the official logo of the brand strategy that applies to all of Kentucky’s tourism marketing and promotion – including its license plates.” This strategy has paid off, she said, noting that public perceptions of Kentucky have improved as a result.

“Imagine the impact,” Gianfagna concluded, “if Ohio officials had followed Kentucky’s lead and recognized the state’s license plate as a branding opportunity. Suppose they created a visually striking graphic design that showcased the brand in a readable, engaging, and memorable way and linked to the state’s tourism marketing campaign. Ohio would be making millions of powerful, positive impressions on people everywhere, every day. And that would be a smart branding strategy.”

Thanks, Jean. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

For the full text of Ms. Gianfagna’s remarks, see http://www.gianfagnamarketing.com/blog/2010/03/01/a-branding-blunder-averted-ohio-almost-makes-a-classic-marketing-mistake/

Woods quickly issued a statement saying that he was embarrassed, that the “false, unfounded and malicious rumors” surrounding the incident are irresponsible, and that everyone should respect his privacy. But he repeatedly canceled interviews with the police, and he has refused to speak with the media.

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows defendants to decline to speak with authorities in order to avoid self-incrimination. Any good defense attorney will advise against a police interview it provides opportunities to quibble over holes, misstatements and inconsistencies in one’s story. So Woods was on solid legal ground as police continued their investigation.

But the court of public opinion differs from the court of justice. Whether you’re a famous golfer or a business owner facing hostile scrutiny, speculation flourishes when facts are in short supply. A wise public relations counselor knows that the subject of a news event has only a limited time in which to exert some control over the discussion. After that, the vacuum is filled with conjecture and innuendo – particularly in a media culture obsessed with celebrity and scandal. The National Enquirer and another publication had previously reported that Woods had been having an affair with a New York model and nightclub hostess.

And a few days after the crash, gossip site TMZ.com said Woods told a “non-law enforcement type” that the official story about the crash was wrong. According to “a source,” TMZ claimed, Woods’ wife had confronted Woods about reports that he was seeing another woman, scratched his face, and chased the car as he fled, smashing the windows.

”We’re also told,” TMZ said in breathless tabloid style, “Woods had said during the conversation Friday he had been taking prescription pain medication for an injury, which could explain why he seemed somewhat out of it at the scene.”

How much of that (possible domestic violence, possible impaired driving) is actually true is almost irrelevant in PR terms. The damage has been done. It might not be enough to hurt him in the long run, but it’s certainly provoking snickers for now.

When bad news erupts, New West advises clients to speak up immediately, state the obvious, indisputable facts, and say as much as you can in order to reduce the feeding frenzy.  Use your own social media tools to share your story. If the situation is complicated or involves third parties, then set a time and place when the media can expect an update.  That way the media aren’t forced to fall all over themselves to investigate, to land an “exclusive,” interviewing neighbors, friends, relatives, old girlfriends, high-school classmates, auto-shop repairmen, hairdressers, landscapers and the man on the street to uncover more dirt – whether relevant to the story or not.

Woods certainly has the right as a private individual to refuse to talk to the media, but as a major public figure is he doing the right thing for his image and reputation?

In the absence of a definitive explanation from Woods, questions will continue to swirl and Tiger Woods can expect to spend more time in the rough.

Human Brain Not Yet Obsolete

I have a spelling checker.

It came with my PC.

It plainly marks for my revue

Mistakes I cannot sea.

I’ve run this poem threw it,

I’m sure you’re pleased too no.

Its letter perfect in its weigh,

My checker tolled me sew.

Now, about complement and compliment, easily two of the most confused words in the English language.  Complement means “something that completes or brings to perfection” (”That tie really complements your outfit.”).  Compliment means “an expression of courtesy or praise” (”That’s a really nice tie.”).

One way to help you remember:  when using complement with an “e”, make sure that it is describing something that is enhancing something else.   And then people will compliment you on your writing skill.

Have a grate day!

Each year at this time, New West account manager Gary Elder sits down at his keyboard and writes a short story that incorporates the name of each horse in the upcoming Kentucky Derby.  We always look forward to see what he comes up with and thought you might enjoy reading this year’s effort.  (Is there a pattern that predicts the winner?  You decide!)

Happy Derby!

A Derby Story by Gary Elder

Bernie Clement Freisan, Papa Clem to family and friends, loved to tell war stories.  A World War II veteran, he loved to brag about how he helped rescue thousands of Allied troops in France during the famous Battle of Dunkirk in 1940.  As a “flying private” he was part of a squadron that called itself “Atomic Rain.”  The rest of the crew nicknamed him “West Side Bernie ” because of his California roots.

“We came down on the enemy hard.  They’d never see us coming.  When my commander gave the order, “Okay Friesan, fire!”, I was ready.  There wasn’t any way you could hold me back.  They knew when we hit’em, there was nowhere to hide.”

“There were some great guys in that unit.  I remember one, Danny Bird.  He had a thing for chocolate candy and a short fuse.  He was always hot under the collar.  That’s why we called him Mr. Hot Stuff.  He was always ready to fight at the drop of a hat.  Well, we’d been training with some British troops in London and one summer Bird got into it with one of their guys over something and the guy threatened Bird, yelling at him,’I'm gonna take you out with my musket.’  Man, that just set Danny off.  He went at the guy and got decked.  After we got back to our general quarters, all he kept saying was ‘I want revenge , I want revenge.’   I tried to talk some sense into him.  I said, ‘You don’t want to mine that, Bird.  You’ll pay a regal ransom.’  Of course, he completely ignored my advice.”

“So anyway a couple days later we’re enjoying a little R & R at some club called the Pioneerof the Nile - I always remembered the name because it was so odd – and who do we run into but this same guy.  Bird goes over to him, they start exchanging words and the next thing you know they’re throwing punches.  Then a few other guys decide they want to join in the dance and just like that we got a full-scale brawl.”

“That was just Danny.  Heck, I saw him a few years back, during the first Gulf War, and he said, ‘Come on, West Side, let’s go have us some fun at that desert party they’re throwin’ over there.’  I just laughed, told him he was as nuts as ever and then we had a couple of beers. Ol’ Bird sure was one of a kind.”

Want to read more Derby stories? Check out the full archive.

L-R: New West’s Maria Ladd and Becky Simpson, and our client, Steve Fung of General Imaging.

I don’t want to overstate this. I’m not going to say that cookies got us in front of 11 million people.

A client making a quality product, along with good, old-fashioned media relations, were the main ingredients behind our latest success story.

But let’s face it. Warm, chewy chocolate chip cookies, freshly baked and strategically placed every half an hour throughout your trade-show booth (you’re thinking about cookies right now, aren’t you?), can certainly be the – ahem – icing on the cake when it comes to capturing media attention in these days of overworked, underpaid, job-hanging-by-a-thread news people.

That’s why New West likes cookies.

A couple of weeks ago a team of New Westers headed, um, west to Las Vegas to coordinate and staff our client’s booth at the Photo Marketing Association trade show. We did all the usual stuff – preparing media kits, setting up meetings with industry writers, TV shows and bloggers, and working with the client to make sure the booth got finished – but then came the coup de grace: the cookies. So we fired up the portable oven and got to baking.

Within minutes, the smell of fresh cookies, Mom in the kitchen, home and childhood and everything else you hold dear was wafting out into the concrete abyss of the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. And we saw that it was good. Reporters and analysts and buyers and sellers and, frankly, even our competitors, were suddenly finding reasons to drop by. One reporter in particular came by several times over the three-day show. “Man, those cookies are good,” he’d say each time. And each time we’d talk a little more about business.

A few days after I got home, that reporter emailed me:

Cary:

Gave ya a good ride this week. Thanks for the cookies!

And beneath his signature were the links to his tech column announcement about our client’s cameras – a column that appeared in 30 major newspapers around the United States. Total audience: 11 million people.

Again, I’m not going to say cookies did that. But I do think they greased the baking sheet. The point is, when you want your business to cook, every ingredient is essential.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Like a recipe for failure?

But that’s just what Barack Obama did, and many experts are saying that’s one reason he got elected president last November. Obama allowed his critics to come to his own social network site (MyBarackObama.com) and blow off steam. Whether these critics were nudged into the Obama fold or stayed upset with the candidate is almost beside the point. By coming to one site, the candidate’s site, rather than working behind his back to stir up a movement against him, the critics were largely neutralized. In many cases the complaints were countered by Obama’s staff or, better yet, by his grassroots supporters.

The point is, the debate was contained within a defined forum, on the subject’s home turf. The door was open, grievances were aired, and the world went on turning. And in the process the target of the criticism gained credibility.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve accepted the fact that some people are going to criticize me, my family, my business, my clients, my political heroes, my favorite entertainers, my beloved sports team, or my hometown – no matter how much I wish otherwise. Disagreement and conflict are part of being a human. Google “criticism of Mother Teresa” and you’ll get 227,000 hits, for heaven’s sake.

By the same token, if you’re active and visible, people are talking about you. And you know what? Let them talk. In fact, encourage them to talk. Set up a forum or a blog about your product or service and engage them. Maybe they’ll be defanged by your – sorry, guess I’ll use that word everybody else uses these days – transparency. Your supporters might well come to your defense, or at worst, they will make up their own minds about the validity of any criticism and, if they already have a good opinion of you, they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Most people who have spent a significant amount of time online realize that the Negative Nellies of cyberspace tend to be quite vocal – but not always reliable.

Responding is tricky. If the criticism is isolated, hysterical, or not directly related to your product or service, in most cases you should just let it go. If the same criticism pops up more than once, you should acknowledge it and, if plausible, pledge to look into it. When appropriate, offer to work one-on-one with the critic to resolve the issue. If you do respond, do so with a respectful tone, even if deep down you think the critique is out of line.

Keep in mind that the most valuable lessons in life often come from our critics. Constructive criticism might help you learn how to build a better mousetrap, or how to improve customer service. And in the process, your customers just might become even more loyal than before.

Here is another example, in the form of an excellent article in “Media Daily News” on Procter and Gamble’s aggressive advertising strategy. This is from that article:

“CEO A.G. Lafley said marketing outlays have remained at their traditional levels, and P&G is looking to take advantage of the turmoil in the ad market to build share of voice.

In a call with investors, Lafley said the marketer of Tide and Crest is “absolutely not” trimming ad dollars. In fact, what’s really going on is that “the advertising markets are softening–and for the same dollars, we’re buying more delivery.” That, in turn, has led to “improving our shares of voice” in multiple categories, he said. “

Read the entire article.

We in Kentucky have suffered a double whammy in the past 6 months. We’ve had both hurricane force winds that knocked out power to some for two weeks, then an ice storm from which we are still recovering.

We have helped a variety of our clients create and follow crisis plans and, without fail, they’ve told us how much better they felt being able to follow a plan, rather than simply running from one crisis to another.

How did we at New West weather the crisis?  On the worst day of the ice storm, our office was open and we had power, but many of our employees could not get in.  In anticipation of the bad weather, we asked employees to refresh themselves on the emergency office closing policy in the company handbook and download active projects on jump drives so they could work from home.  Unfortunately, too many homes were without power so some projects were put on hold for a day or two.

Since our staff size is relatively small we created a “phone tree” to tell our staff of our plans the day the storm hit with a vengeance and we also sent out an e-mail as backup.  Most of our employees have Blackberry^TM service.

Frankly, we need to work on the no power, no phone, no cell, and no access scenario.

I am interested in determining how your company communicates with employees during an emergency, so we have set up a short survey you can take. We will share the results in a future e-newsletter article and/or blog post.

In the meantime, I’ll stress it again.  We’ve already had a hurricane and an ice storm in the last few months… what other emergency is lurking out there?  How will you deal with it?

The publication asked some companies to provide their Return on Investment (ROI) for 2008 Super Bowl ads. Remember… these ads cost around $3 million for a 30 second spot. Here are some examples of their results.

• Audi realized a 200% increase in web traffic in the month after the game;
• E-Trade increased by 12%– in one week– its number of new funded accounts;
• CareerBuilder had a 60% increase in job applications;
• Hyundai drew 300,000 Web site visitors who stayed an average of 5.5 minutes and resulted in 25,000 new leads;
• Cars.com had a 12% increase in brand awareness;
• Anheuser Busch had 21 million online ad views in the week after the game;

We’re not suggesting you should spend $3 million on a Super Bowl ad. However, we are saying you can find ways to quantify the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. This also is a reminder that you should think twice before making your marketing budget your first “cut.” The results could be devastating for your company.

Well, the founder of one of the top tech blogs in the world has come down hard against embargoes, and he’s quite “in your face” about it.

“Death to the embargo,” screams the headline over Michael Harrington’s Dec. 17 post on his blog, TechCrunch.com, which, according to Quantcast, attracts 2.4 million visitors per month.

“PR firms are out of control,” Harrington begins. “Today we are taking a radical step towards fighting the chaos. From this point on we will break every embargo we agree to.” In other words, he’s willing to intentionally deceive PR professionals into believing he will honor their embargo request, when in reality, he knows he won’t. He has also included an image of an extended middle finger – presumably a succinct summation of his thoughts – in his post. See http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/17/death-to-the-embargo/

Harrington says that PR people are sending out so many embargoed news items, to so many competing media, and so many of those media are breaking the embargo, that TechCrunch has decided to simply stop honoring them.

Sure, some PR people are lazy or obnoxious, just like some writers (or some plumbers, or some politicians, or some CEOs) are lazy or obnoxious. Still, whether TechCrunch is being reasonable or not (nearly 400 people responded to Harrington’s post, many of them taking him to task), his site’s decision shows a new level of resistance to standard PR/journalist courtesy that cannot be ignored.

You can’t always set the rules in communicating with the media. But you can avoid missteps by knowing what they’re up to – and by using tried and true relationship-building techniques when dealing with them.