Microsoft’s PR puke

Seriously?

A puking woman, supposedly because she found porn on her husband’s computer, was supposed to help Microsoft sell Internet Explorer 8?

Clearly the video, designed for the Web – not TV, was supposed to push the edge a bit. But Microsoft misjudged the potential reaction and pulled it from its “ie8video” YouTube channel yesterday after a bit of a backlash. And 255,000 views.

Titled “O.M.G.I.G.P.” I found it on YouTube here, consider yourself warned:

According to this story in the Brisbane Times, the spot was described by one veteran technology commentator as the “worst tech commercial ever”…

And in a statement, Microsoft said the ad was intended to be a “tongue-in-cheek” look at IE8’s InPrivate Browsing feature using “irreverent humour”.

Great, I’ll get IE8 so my wife won’t know when I’m looking at porn, thus preventing her from puking over my lack of respect for her.

That’s the sales hook? Nice.

Here’s the PR spin from the Microsoft statement: “While much of the feedback to this particular piece of creative was positive, some of our customers found it offensive, so we have removed it.”

“Much…” of the feedback. “Some…” of our customers.

Better to have “some” buzz, then “much” respect, right?

Puke? Porn?

To me, the trouble starts with the fact the clip was directed by “comedian” Bob Goldthwait, who starred in the Police Academy movies. Not necessarily a barrel of laughs. Goldthwait also directed the three other spots in the campaign featuring actor Dean Cain. Those other clips are mildly amusing, but still odd to say the least.

Poor Dean Cain.

Take the time to watch them and decide for yourself. I will say that the most amusing of the rest is titled “F.O.M.S.,” the Fear of Missing Something on the Web:

Here’s another one, “S.H.Y.N.E.S.S.”:

And the final, least funny of the three, “G.R.I.P.E.S.”:

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5 signs your company is behind in social media

If you work in corporate communications, you’re probably at the point where your company is at least talking about using the various tools of social media, if they haven’t implemented something already, right?

Wrong?

Oh… no. Not good.

I pity you if you can identify with one of these five scenarios.

1. A manager in your corp comm department asks you… “What’s RSS?”

2. A mid-level executive says… “Why should we be on YouTube, there’s nothing but Diet Coke and Mentos clips on there.”

3. An any-level manager/executive says… “I really don’t think we need to worry what bloggers say about us.”

4. A marketer for one of your company’s products asks you… “Have you heard of Twitter?”

5. Your CEO says… “I’d like to start my own blog, can you write it for me?”

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Air Force reaps PR on 60 Minutes

The recent 60 Minutes story titled “America’s New Air Force” caught my eye for a couple reasons. One, I’m always interested in learning about the cutting-edge technology employed by our military. And two, the story clearly would not have seen the airwaves or the Web without a strategy and a PR reason for the Air Force to allow CBS to tell it.

The full story is on the CBS website, linked above, and on YouTube:

The story details the latest innovation in what the Air Force calls “unmanned aerial vehicles,” or UAVs. 60 Minutes showed how the “pilots” of the new $11 million a piece “Reaper” and the “Predator” sit in a room on a Nevada air base, controlling its quiet – almost undetectable – flights above Iraq and Afghanistan by satellites, providing real-time protection for troops on the ground. Very video game-like. Maybe a job for my 12-year-old son, someday.

Amazing stuff.

But from my perspective in the corporate communications world, I also marvel at how the Air Force got the favorable story out there.

Sure, Lara Logan tried to hit on the chances that UAVs don’t always get things right. And that’s certainly a valid point when it comes to any technology and the human factors that contribute. But the story is, the Air Force has the capability to get it right, an incredibly high percentage of the time.

I like those odds.

And I like the protection and secrecy the UAVs provide.

Kudos to the Air Force and CBS for getting this out there. Extra credit to CBS for getting the Air Force to cooperate for this cool shot of Logan and her crew on the ground, from a Predator camera, for a demonstration during the story:

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Doing more with less?

I don’t think it really matters what industry you’re in, in a communications or PR role or not, but chances are you’ve heard someone utter the phrase “it’s about doing more with less” a few times this year.

It’s now officially on the corporate buzzword bingo card. We get it. We’re all doing more with less.

Bingo!

It got a little ridiculous for me when I was doing some video work at a marketing trade show/conference back in March, when every single marketer I interviewed dropped the line. Granted, at least they took a stab at defining what that meant for them and their marketing colleagues, no matter where they worked. Having less money your budget means you have to get more for the dollars you do have. Makes sense.

But doing more with less should be the mantra whether the economy is in the toilet or not. You owe it to yourself, your boss, your volunteer capacity… to always attempt to do more with less. There’s nothing honorable about wasting money on ineffective tactics, PR or otherwise. Waste is a sign of inferior leadership, not something to be admired.

Parents involved in kids activities – like Scouting and youth sports – know the importance of stretching every dollar. You don’t plan a weekend campout that costs $200 per kid, you aim for $100, etc… You don’t pay for college students to coach your organization’s baseball teams if you have a willing, qualified parent who can do the job effectively.

It’s about being efficient.

But it’s not just about money. In PR, it’s about resources and tools needed to get the results you are looking for. Where can you realize savings along the way to the desired project end? Whatever you do, in doing more with less, should still lead to more brand visibility. More conversations. More revenue.

If I’m going to be taking the time to research and write a news release for a client’s Gizmo version 3.3… There’s no reason my research work can’t also provide me with enough material for a post on the corporate blog, in addition to the news release. In fact, nearly every interview I do related to a news release I’m working on is also recorded on video or audio – that way I’ve got a soundbite or podcast option if the project is worthy.

Do more – blog posts, podcasts, white papers, etc…

The trouble for communications and PR pros is there are still only 24 hours in a day. That’s another post. But the more/less mantra means you might have to be more selective about the projects you say ‘yes’ to. If you’re in a corporate setting, like me, it’s hard to say ‘no’ when various clients around the business come to you with requests for your expertise.

And if there are a few less of you in your role in your office than their was a year ago, clients need to understand that what used to be a one-week turnaround could be more like two, depending on your workload at the time. You still need to do quality work. Doing more with less shouldn’t affect the quality.

Doing more with less. Scott Anthony at Forbes.com also framed it nicely a few months back. Worth checking out his post for more insight on this.

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You don’t have a choice

Catching up on podcasts again. Mitch Joel had a great conversation last month about digital marketing and social media with Avinash Kaushik, “Analytics Evangelist” at Google (Six Pixels of Separation #152).

“Orgasmic” digital marketing, in fact.

Kaushik is the author of Web Analytics: An Hour a Day and the Occam’s Razor blog.

If the mere mention of analytics makes you run for the door, this podcast will blow away any thought you have that analytics are boring. Kaushik is enthusiastic about his craft.

First off, we all need to understand this stuff better. And by stuff, I mean how to measure the impact your social media efforts are having on behalf of your company, brand, etc… What do you measure? How do you do it? What’s significant and what isn’t?

Are you measuring and caring about the wrong things?

And, how you can capitalize on the conversations on the Web that are happening about your company, for good or bad?

The title of this post came right from Kaushik in the conversation with Joel, after Joel asked him if businesses and brands really want two-way conversations in this day and age on the Web, since it doesn’t lead to big sales overnight. It’s more of a long-term effort.

“You don’t have a choice,” Kaushik replied.

In 2007 and 2008, he says, businesses still had a choice in how to interact with customers – and do what they had always done if they wanted to - but we’ve reached a point where it is mandatory that you have two-way conversations.

“The influence channels that have worked thus far – TV and coupons – don’t work anymore and they will not work anymore at a rapidly escalating pace. With every passing day the slope of the curve is becoming more and more hard to reach.

Another great takeaway comes toward the end of this podcast, when Kaushik says he spends four hours a week learning about something new he didn’t know about before. If you aren’t, you will be irrelevent. If you are, you will be at “the top of the mountain,” Kaushik says.

Good advice, indeed.

Anyone doing marketing, PR or corporate communications must listen to this podcast. Whether you think you know what social media is about, or not.

Kaushik’s smarts are scary. His enthusiasm is contagious. Listen to this podcast and learn.

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Tuesday’s Top 5 for 05.05.09

1. On Beet.TV, you get a better sense of the success of JibJab and how they hit it big through online video.

2. I enjoy reading The Simple Dollar, always good links and money advice, like “My 25 Favorite Personal Finance, Career and Personal Development Blogs.”

3. Church Marketing Sucks has some new info on the encouragement of church-goers tweeting sermons. Personally, I think the cellphones should be off in church. It irks me when I see – usually – a teenager texting in church while mom or dad sitting next to them allows it to happen. People in the pews and seats should be paying attention. Let a church staff member tweet the sermon as a community outreach effort, not the church-goers.

4. From Adweek, “General Mills Recruits Blog Backers.” Is it a sign of blogger relations to come?

5. CRM.com has details of a report from Forrester Research, in a post titled “Social Media: The Five Year Forecast,” that projects more interesting shifts in online power and influence to consumers. The sooner businesses realize that’s where we’re heading, the sooner brands will be more effective on the Web.

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You and I would be fired for this by now

Seriously?

The director of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera, thought this was a good idea? A photo op for a plane that passes for Air Force One, along with an F-16… over Manhattan?

Seriously?

So if you and I agree that if we had been in the room when this photo op was dreamed up the idea would have been killed instantly, how come Caldera – and everyone around him? – lacked our brilliant foresight?

You can read more about this debacle here. Perhaps Caldera will be canned after all.

But allow me a key takeaway from a PR perspective:

-Don’t do anything that will be seen by thousands of people, if not millions, without your boss knowing about it

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Tuesday’s Top 5 for 04.28.09

1. I’ve vowed not to type the name of the British woman in the middle of massive media overkill, just because she’s gotten enough play right? But Jeff Pulver smartly cites her as just one of the reasons why “Old Media + New Media: NOW Media.“

2. The future of publishing got an interesting treatment in The Wall Street Journal’s “How the E-Book Will Change the Way We Read and Write.”

3. From Inc.com, “6 CEOs Share Their Biggest Regrets.”

4. If you’re like me, you see a ton of apps for Twitter, go to sign up, and then realize they want your password to be able to use them. No thanks. That’s why I was glad to go to TwiTip and see “11 Useful Twitter Tools That Don’t Require Your Password.”

5. We’re all into looking to see where we are on the Web, right? From TIME, here’s “Why Google Wants You to Google Yourself.”

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The new piss-off factor in product placement

You know what I’m talking about, right?

Clearly this insane trend of inserting “ads” into the TV scripts and reality show scenes is already out of hand. But rest assured, it hasn’t reached its peak. We’re in for more of it, and who knows what how it will evolve. I’m seeing more and more of it and it really challenges the intelligence of the consumer, doesn’t it?

Can you picture the boardroom scene with networks and advertisers?

Closeup. Joint being inhaled.

Network exec coughs, and says… “I got it… We’ll put the commercials… (coughs and giggles) …into the script!”

Closeup. Smoke blown across the table.

Closeup. Advertiser laughs a hearty, sinister laugh.

You don’t think that’s accurate? Maybe I’m embellishing a bit.

The biggest cuplrit, at least from what I watch on a regular basis, is “The Biggest Loser.” Chew this gum, use this plastic bag, drink from these water bottles…

Enough!

The worst offender, one I admit I’m taking my wife’s word for, is a recent “Days Of Our Lives” episode where a character touted the convenience of Tyson Chicken.

Yeah, that’s a natural product placement.

Even my kids are pointing it out to me now. What’s odd is that product placement in movies has never really bugged me, probably because it’s less overt. A main character drinking a Pepsi in a movie is no big deal. But a main character in a TV show drinking a Pepsi saying to another character “Hey, have you tried the new retro Pepsi?” just doesn’t work.

It’s just dumb.

Hey advertisers! We get it that you’re not making money from your commercial breaks… we do. But viewers aren’t stupid. I guess the only way to make it stop is to stop watching. For most people, I suppose, it hasn’t ticked them off enough to do that.

Desperate times apparently have called for desperate marketing measures.

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Tuesday’s Top 5 for 04.21.09

1. The question portion of any of the major beauty pageants are now the main creators of YouTube moments from the show. The questions are lame. And you can almost see the contestants’ heads spinning as they search for anything remotely intelligent to say. Almost.

Sunday night’s Miss USA show didn’t disappoint. Before Sunday night nobody knew Carrie Prejean’s name outside California. Little did she know when she reached into the jar and pulled out Perez Hilton’s judge number that Prejean – Miss California – would be making news as the unlucky recipient of a question Hilton had planned about gay marriage,

Forget the question, forget the answer… this post isn’t about that. The story that isn’t out there yet is if NBC knew what Hilton was going to ask. I’m assuming they did. Doesn’t matter I suppose.

I bet Prejean – or any of the other finalists – wished she would have drawn Kelly Monaco’s judge number out of the jar… because the winner, Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton, got Monaco’s hard-hitting “Do you believe that taxpayers money should be used to bail out struggling U.S. companies?”

Dalton actually started her answer by saying,”That’s a tough one.”

That’s the YouTube moment nobody’s talking about. And that’s your Miss USA 2009, America.

2. Speaking of Web hysteria, B.L. Ochman offers up timely “Lessons from the Amazon, Domino’s Debacles” on BusinessWeek.

3. From Brandweek, “What It Takes To Be a Top Marketer,” is a profile of Proctor & Gamble’s Roxanne Watson, who manages the Tide brand.

4. Some great stuff once again on Conversation Agent, “50 Content Ideas that Create Buzz.” Including #18, Add value in exchange for attention. One of the best ways to add value to others is by being generous with links to other good content.

5. I went to college in Wisconsin, worked in TV in two cities in the state…. so I know the folks in Dairyland can be a little… um… er… off. But you have to admire this research at UW-Madison involving Twitter, highlighted by MSNBC.

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