Relatively Journalizing

Well... This is Awkward: Where the Posts Have Been

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 19:43:00 +0000

I once read somewhere, in all the what must be thousands of articles on social media I have read in the past decade, that you shouldn't start a blog post on a long-neglected blog with lines such as "I apologize for not posting in so long" or "Wow, it's been a really long time!" While I agree that it might be poor form to draw attention to the fact that you have failed to keep a blog up-to-date if it is, say, a corporate blog, for a personal blog such as this one... I'm going to let the rule slide. Besides, taking a paragraph to justify why you're writing a blog post about not having blogged makes for a feasible blog post introduction.

But really, why no blogging from me for a long time? It's been something like three months, and the posts were admittedly sporadic before then. It's not that I haven't been inspired. I keep a list of blog topic ideas on my desktop, but I often find an idea to not be very timely by the time I come around to writing a blog post. I've tended to, during the last couple of years, try to stay on topic with this blog and focus on public relations and journalism posts exclusively. I think, however, that now that I'm knee deep in my field, I pour my heart and soul into my work and rarely feel like I have enough left to want to come home and write blog posts about it. They say doing what you love as a hobby for your job takes the fun out of it — I don't concede that, I love strategic communication as a career, but working in a field certainly makes you less likely to spend your free time producing extra content on the subject when you know you'd be getting paid to do so otherwise.

I started ReJo as a blog to chronicle my internship during graduate school. It then evolved into a smorgasbord of humor, sports and all sorts of other posts before I really honed in and made it as specific as a blog should be. However, that specificity has limited the amount of content that I write that I actually end up posting here. Though, I'm not ready to let go of ReJo just yet. I like knowing the outlet is here when I have something to say in long form, and there is a lot of what I consider to be great content, much of it evergreen, buried within these posts. But really, if I haven't been posting here, where have I been?

Working is one answer. After graduate school, I embarked into my career first as a public affairs writer for a government contracting firm working in the energy field. I loved it, gained a promotion, and led a small public affairs team to become what I think was perhaps the most knowledgeable team of writers to ever exist on the subjects we covered. It was a ton of fun, and being a passionate environmentalist, it was joyous work for the most part. But the contractor for which I worked got bought out simultaneously with the energy project I was on being subsumed by its parent organization — that meant I was headed to another government agency. At my second gig for my new old company, I was primarily editing technical reports, doing graphic design and prepping briefings for some very senior staff. It was important, good work, but I was utilizing a very small subset of my broader strategic communication knowledge. In addition, the new company that bought my old company was, you guessed it, being bought. It was time to go.

I ended up interviewing, and landing a position, with a small-but-bustling strategic communication firm that specializes in both government work and high-tech commercial work, both within my specialty range. Now, I'm head-first in advertising, marketing, public relations, copywriting — really doing all of the things I know and love, but managing those tasks from a more strategic level, as they should be done. While I'm certainly working more, I'm doing all the things I've talked about doing before on this blog. I suppose you might say I've come full circle, as my job now is similar to the work I did as a graduate intern, when my love for PR and related subjects was solidified.

And there you have one major reason as to why I haven't blogged here on ReJo much. Instead, I'm blogging on behalf of clients and focusing my creative energies elsewhere. But, that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. A writer can never stop writing.

Because I'm focused on communication all day long, I've been using my free writing time to talk about a lifelong hobby of mine, one that is often misunderstood by outsiders — gaming. I won't delve into all the details of video games and why they are actually a good thing — there's plenty of that out there already if you want to go read about the interactivity, the writing, the music, the art, etc., of video games. (And oh yeah, the marketing and PR lessons from game developers and publishers is fascinating, by the way.) But I'll just point you toward my other blog — Thunder Hokie's Blog. Gaming isn't just fun, it's a form of media filled with juicy narratives and brain-bending puzzles — and it is a way for me to write, something I can't keep myself from doing, but still relax. I game, then I write about it. As you can see, Thunder Hokie's Blog has received a lot more attention from me (and commenters) than ReJo.

Aside from work, my MyIGN blog and the other related life happenings, another reason for my lack of long-form blogging has been microblogging using Twitter. I love Twitter because you can customize your feed to the things that are important to you by following experts in those areas — news, celebs, gardening, gaming, sports, you name it. Plus, I don't need even a WSIWYG editor or other special interface — I can tweet or have a conversation with folks on my mobile device. If you're missing out, join the conversation on Twitter. And be sure to follow me @joshuadelung.

And now you know, as the famed radio host Paul Harvey put it, the rest of the story. Thanks for reading, commenting, tweeting, sharing and all that in terms of this post and my blog in general if you have been a reader for years. Who knows when the next time I post here will be... but stay tuned here and via my other blogs, social networks, etc., and keep in touch with me. Let's see where the innerwebz take us next....

Photo credit: Shari Baloch; photo taken of me at Sunset Beach in August 2011

Broken Trending Topics and ABC's Twitter Fail

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:15:00 +0000

This isn't a blog post about the usefulness of Twitter. You're either sold or not on the benefits of being involved with Twitter and social media in general. The only thing I'll say is that Twitter — for any late adopters — is not the endless stream of what people had for breakfast that you think it is (in fact, that's increasingly becoming Facebook). Twitter is anything you want it to be — follow news, your favorite celebs or your fellow hobbyists.

The key with effectively using Twitter is in carving out your niche. Finding people to follow who are valuable. Either they provide helpful links, breaking news, humor or interesting musings about a topic in which you are interested, such as the environment or video games (two of my favorites). One tool that can make this process easier is by paying attention to trending topics.

What's in a trending topic?

Bear with me for a second, Twitter pros. Here is a good definition of trending topics straight from Twitter:

Twitter's Trending Topics algorithm identifies topics that are immediately popular, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help people discover the "most breaking" news stories from across the world. We think that trending topics which capture the hottest emerging trends and topics of discussion on Twitter are the most interesting.

Sounds really helpful for staying in the know

If you think trending topics sound great, you're half right. There is a lot of potential for keeping up with current events in following trending topics. Often, when breaking news happens, it will be a trending topic on Twitter within seconds. However, there is a lot of room for Twitter to improve this feature, and trending topics aren't always the most reliable source of information, and they are rarely ever fully helpful.

Take, for example, the recent RIP Jackie Chan trending topic. Guess what? Jackie Chan didn't actually die. But once a few people tweeted that he had as a hoax, it caught on fire... the more retweets, the more those words had potential for becoming a trend. Eventually, even people asking "OMG Whyz JACKIE CHAN RIP ???" were fueling the fire by feeding Twitter's algorithm and appearing in the stream for that trending topic.

Unreliable information isn't the only problem with trending topics (TTs from here forward). Another problem is that people latch on to pretty useless TTs sometimes. As I'm writing this (using the U.S. as my TT region), one TT is #youlookedgooduntil. The top tweet of that TT is from @kattwilliams: "#youlookedgooduntil I saw you in person. U must be using that new makeup called photoshop?" Not really even that great from a humor standpoint. Another example is #dontdoit. As in @RealWizKhalifa's utterly genius (sarcasm, yes): "Changing your looks and lifestyle to please someone #dontdoit..."

So what's the newsiest thing trending on Twitter at this hour? It seems to be "Joan Jett," a non-hashtagged trend. However, I have to read several tweets down in the stream to find out that Joan Jett is supposedly going to perform with Miley Cyrus on Oprah. Not sure if that's actually accurate (too bad there's no verified status for tweets like there is for accounts). Most of the tweets that show up first in this timeline are quotes from Joan Jett that people have apparently found inspirational.

There's a great opportunity with TTs if Twitter will capitalize on it. The geniuses there need to perfect their algorithm or perhaps even hire people to monitor trending topics and do a better job of filtering the useful from the junk (more on spam in TTs later). What's intended to be a spotlight on what people are talking about is too easily becoming a random list of mundane things that segmented audiences are skyrocketing to 15 seconds of fame, leaving much of the real news, humor and social movements in the dust. Even when important things do rise to the TT list, users often need to do some scrolling and perhaps even some Googling to figure out exactly what is going on with this topic (unless, of course, you're hopefully already following someone who is in the know, which is where Twitter is actually highly valuable). It's not uncommon to see 25 tweets when you click on a TT of people asking "WTF Why is da #cheeseballz trendings?" These people don't know why the topic is trending, but they are contributing tweets with the same words that appear in its stream and keep it trending, making it even more useless. Simple monitoring of the TTs to provide a quick explanation and perhaps a link to an AP article or a company news release about a new product at the top of the page would be super helpful.

Let's just promote trending topics about our company then!

Before you start delving into the realm of paying Twitter to advertise on its site by sponsoring a trending topic, think long and hard about your messaging and if this is right for you and your brand. One problem with TTs is that they can easily be hijacked by the public, and they bring increased attention to your company and your messages. One perceived wrong move, then you're toast, and you just wasted a bunch of money on ineffective social advertising. Plus, spammers will take advantage of your spent cash by using the words from your sponsored topics in their tweets so that they appear in your stream, potentially offering a competing product or even malicious links.

Luckily, ABC provided me with a great example of this for my post today! To promote its new show, Happy Endings, ABC created @HappyEndingsABC and sponsored a TT based on the hashtag #HappyEndings. If you've ever been 12 years old, you can see where this is going. When I check out that stream, I see tweets such as these:

@azraluvzyou: #happyendings well I've always wanted one.
@RadHayes: I think it's awesome that #HappyEndings is the promoted trend right now. Glad people finally realize the value of full-release massage.
@PkSmith9: #HappyEndings are only in fairy tales and at the end of a Asian massages

More mature tweets deal with folks claiming that happy endings only happen in Disney movies or that there is no such thing as a real happy ending in life. I just refreshed the page, and without scrolling, I see no tweets that are actually about the ABC show. I am in awe that no one at ABC had the foresight to think that this messaging might be hijacked. But even if you use more carefully crafted messages, be aware that even when you pay for promoted tweets — the public controls the message with social media, not you. That's why you have to constantly develop your brand and build good relationships so that when the ball is in your fans' court, they slam dunk your message home for you.

Discussion

What do you think? Have you found trending topics to be sort of helpful but lacking in substance? Do you love following them? Do you ignore them altogether? And do you have your own stories of lame promoted tweets or perhaps of very successful ones? Share it and discuss in the comments!

The Mass Effect: PR Tactics

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:51:00 +0000

Opening rant

I'm not entirely sure who is doing public relations for BioWare right now, but whoever it is could school the industry a bit on generating buzz. I didn't take the time to do an extremely thorough search, so if anyone knows who the mastermind is behind yesterday's cryptic announcements, leave it in the comments. I was able to find some PR firms that BioWare utilized in the past on some old press materials, but they don't seem to have the developer listed as a client currently. I did also see some @bioware e-mail addresses on other materials, indicating that internal folks could be responsible for recent communication efforts.

Now, if you aren't a gamer, you're likely still staring at your screen asking, What buzz? And why the heck should I care as a PR professional about some video game developer?

Well, look, I'll catch you up on the news next. But you really should be paying attention to the gaming industry, which is comparable in sales ($10.5 billion in 2009) to the movie industry ($10.6 billion in 2009). Americans have already spent about $9.7 billion on gaming in 2010. And right now, the gaming industry is exemplifying good PR and marketing smartly.

So what'd they do this time?

BioWare is a Canadian-based video game company responsible for many bestsellers and gamer favorites such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect (and their sequels). The company is a subsidiary of industry heavyweight Electronic Arts.

Yesterday, Spike TV posted a video on its 2010 Video Game Awards site stating that BioWare will make an announcement during the awards show Dec. 11:

BioWare - What's Next? | SpikeTV | SPIKE.com

Gamers immediately began scouring the Web for information... is this a new franchise, or could it be that BioWare is already dishing out the next part of the highly popular Mass Effect series? (Mass Effect 2 only came out this year and is a nominee for the 2010 game of the year — even still, an announcement would likely mean a late 2011 release for a new game.) Not long after the promo debuted, a savvy poster on the gaming site Kotaku noticed that the rifle shown in the video was very similar to a rifle obtained in Mass Effect 2, the M-29 Incisor:

As if that wasn't enough to fuel the nerdy fire, moments later, BioWare's Facebook page (and its pages for Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc.) posted two cryptic barcodish symbols:

This is where the PR buzz really exploded. Hundreds and hundreds of commenters and 'conspiracy theorists' across BioWare's various platforms and on Kotaku, IGN, Shacknews and elsewhere discussed what it all could mean, some fervently defending their positions.

The general consensus seems to be that the barcodes can be scanned in and translated to binary and eventually determined to equal the mass of iron and the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth (temperature is apparently known as an effect in physics). Also, that temperature of -128.6 F was recorded in Vostok, Antarctica. Vostok is also a system in the Mass Effect universe. This has led many to believe that BioWare's Dec. 11 announcement will be Mass Effect 3, or a related spinoff game. Others think that because of the connection to a temperature on Earth and the prevalence of iron on Earth that the new Mass Effect game may take place on the planet (Mass Effect has never explored Earth previously, even though the Milky Way is a part of the lore).

A successful PR tactic

By the end of the day, BioWare had gained coverage on all of the major gaming and tech news sites, several gaming podcasts and all over the social media space. It will be interesting to see what ratings turn out to be for the VGAs this year, but I predict they'll be mediocre at best because (A) good luck figuring out what channel Spike TV is and (B) gamers would rather just find the info online during/after the show. For BioWare, though, this tactic of using a little mystery with some cross-promotion couldn't have gone better, and it's a perfect case study for PR professionals seeking some inspiration on innovative ways to connect with target audiences and get them talking.

Photos are from wikis, social media and officially released press materials obtained through Games Press.

Undead Nightmare Anything But for Rockstar Games

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 17:55:00 +0000

Just in time for Halloween, Rockstar Games has released its Undead Nightmare downloadable content (DLC), and the company might have a hit on its hands. Only time will tell, but one thing that's for certain is that the actions taken by Rockstar and its affiliates surrounding this release seem pretty smart. Perhaps it's just another example of the ever-growing gaming industry doing some smart PR.

If you aren't familiar with the video game world, DLC is content that gamers can download directly to their Xboxes and Playstations, usually as an add-on chapter to a full game they've already purchased in disc form. In this case, Undead Nightmare is a horror-themed add-on for the hit game Red Dead Redemption, the open-world Western journey of an outlaw across the American frontier in the early 1900s. What the new DLC does is essentially transform that world into a horror film, bringing back characters from the dead as zombies into the world players have already explored.

There are several reasons that Rockstar deserves credit from the business/advertising/PR standpoint for this move:

1. Zombies are a hot topic right now in pop culture, regardless of what season it is. The success of books such as World War Z, podcasts like We're Alive, movies in the vein of Zombieland and new TV releases such as The Walking Dead, have fed the market. While video games like Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead have been popular for years, capitalizing on the current popularity of zombies is likely a good idea.

2. Rockstar isn't just cashing in on an opportunity in the marketplace here, though. The company is known for making quality games, not just putting out products to make a quick dime. The fact that this DLC is a followup to one of the year's best-reviewed games means Rockstar is giving gamers more of what they want.

3. What really grabbed my attention here was that Undead Nightmare was advertised on TV, and the release being coordinated with Halloween (with ads on channels playing Halloween movies about zombies and such) is just one great promotional move by everyone involved with the project. Also, please leave comments on this blog post if I'm wrong, but I think this is the first time I have ever seen DLC advertised on TV instead of just a standalone game. (Note: Is this a first? I've tried confirming online but can't seem to find out. I've been thinking really hard about this and can't think of another ad for DLC on TV before. Unless they did this before with some of the extra GTA content?)

4. The coordination with Halloween audiences on TV was great, but just the idea of getting the word out about DLC is also a good idea. How often does new content release for video games but gamers have already moved on to another title? Giving them a little reminder somewhere other than their Xbox Live dashboard (because let's face it, that thing requires a lot of scrolling to find anything) certainly seems like a great piece of the strategic communication strategy behind this DLC's launch.

What else do you think Rockstar has done right/wrong with the communication about its products? Leave it in the comments!

PR No-Brainers Managers Disregard

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:10:00 +0000

Set clear, measurable goals. Sounds simple enough, right? But CEOs and managers in organizations all around the country seem to get infatuated with ideas such as Oh! We’re going to make a really cool website! or Let’s see how many news releases we can get out this week!

Some officials seemingly go about these tactics without ever stopping to think about their overall strategy. Again, even if you get a lot of website visits and spam people with 40 news releases per week, it’s important to see if those materials are helping you achieve a clearly stated goal on which the entire public relations staff has been thoroughly briefed. Remember: Clear, measurable goals.

I’ve revised a slide from PRSA’s “Documenting the Business Outcomes of Public Relations” presentation to reflect the key public relations questions every practitioner should ask of his or her manager (presuming, of course, that person is regularly accessible, which sometimes isn’t the case):

Whom are you seeking to affect?
What about them are you seeking to affect?
How much must they be affected to be successful?
By when does this effect need to occur?
How are you measuring success or failure?
When are you adjusting your tactics according to your measurements of effectiveness or ineffectiveness?

If these questions have not been answered and effectively communicated internally, then forget having any sort of noticeable relationship management by any other way than luck (if you believe in such things). In order to begin answering these questions, quite a bit of formative research must be done. As often as vague objectives are poorly communicated to PR staffs, projects are launched before enough research is conducted. For example, how can you know what segmented audience needs a better relationship with your organization if you haven’t researched what specific public has issues and what those issues are? How can you know for certain that a website is the best medium through which to reach your target publics if you haven’t done research to find out what their preferred means of engagement are?

Once audiences, goals and tactics have been determined, the implementation of the overall strategic process can begin. Constant measurement of the effects of implemented tactics must take place in order to prevent wasting valuable time and resources. It’s not just enough to see website hits increasing — how do you know if your target audience is taking away the message you intend for them to if you aren’t interacting with that audience on a regular basis? Pretesting and post-testing in relation to your public relations efforts can be a great aid here. Remember, the business of public relations is about relationships, not sheer numbers.

I’ll leave you with two thoughts from two of my favorite communication scholars (and parents of the excellence theory of public relations), James and Larissa Grunig. This material came from a 2001 study on public affairs within a government agency:

“It is important to point out that measures of communication processes must go beyond measures of products. Too often, communication products (such as numbers of press releases or publications) are counted without understanding how those products fit into a strategic process for communicating with a particular public.”

and

“Less-excellent departments conducted no formative or evaluative research and generally had only vague objectives that were difficult to measure.”

@joshuadelung is on Twitter

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Photo credit, Flickr Creative Commons uploader jayneandd.

Quirkiest Journalism

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:50:00 +0000

The other day, several of my coworkers and I were discussing our earlier days in journalism and some of the stranger pieces we had done in our careers before we started working in public affairs. One coworker told us she had reported on the "cat beat" for a short period of time, covering all things feral and furry. Another writer had a classic assignment — to write about a new doll that had been released for young girls. The conversation went on from there.

Here's an excerpt from my submission:

"We're setting up a gateway; we will invite the dead through so they can join us for our rite."

Read more here.

What's one of the more interesting pieces of journalism you've done? Talk about it in the comments and/or post a link there! You can join the discussion and become a fan on Facebook here.

Note: Feral cat photo is not actually a feral cat ... just a scruffy-looking cat to go along with the reference made to covering the cat beat. In fact, that cool-looking kitteh is a Norwegian forest cat, according to the photographer, Flickr user eva101. Check out the original here.

Gaming Industry Exemplifies Smart PR

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sun, 23 May 2010 13:58:00 +0000

One area of public relations that doesn't yet receive a lot of attention in communication research literature, in the classroom or in boardroom discussions is that of PR in the gaming industry. And no, I'm not talking about casinos.

Video game sales are way up — scoff not, this is a big business that has overtaken music sales. Since the latest generation of gaming consoles released — beginning with the Xbox 360 in 2005 and ending with the Wii and PS3 in 2006 — the industry has grown to epic proportions, and even nontraditional gamers began snatching up Wii consoles to try its unique motion controls (soon to be released by its competitors as well). Mainstream and high-end gamers stuck with the Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively. But now that we're years into the current gen, it's software (actual individual game) sales that are stunning.

Bungie is allowing some players to test its new game, Halo Reach, in a beta test on the Xbox 360. Here, players use a vehicle to move across the game's world. | Microsoft photo

Well-known retailer GameStop reported a 13.3-percent increase in new software sales for its first quarter earnings this year. The year's big games once released during the holiday season, leaving what gamers referred to as a summer drought. But now, publishers are learning that with the right titles, marketed to the right gamers, they can sell games all year long.

So how has gaming become such a hugely successful industry? I could debate that topic for days, covering everything from achievement systems implemented lately in games to targeting new demographics to the immersion experience that movies and music can't provide to the increased popularity of mobile devices and therefore mobile gaming. But a large part of the gaming industry's success is thanks to good PR and marketing.

Game developers employ a two-way communication channel with the games' eventual players. Virtually every major company maintains forums where they have open conversations with gamers about what they want from games. These companies also know what type of people play first-person shooters as opposed to flight simulators — they put in the time to do good market research.

Perhaps one of the best moves used by the gaming industry is something we might think of as a pilot test in the communication realm — companies make end users a real part of the development process. Two of the top game makers in the business — Blizzard and Bungie — are both currently in the process of beta testing their latest titles with select loyal gamers. This is the process where gamers can sign up to actually play parts of a new game early in order to help tweak the balance of in-game characters and report bugs. This makes gamers feel more invested in the game, and even those who don't participate in the beta are more confident in buying the final product because they know their peers have already tried to 'break the game,' therefore making the retail version virtually a perfect experience.

PR practitioners should take a page from the growing gaming industry. Put more time and thought into the development of products and campaigns, open up communication channels with stakeholders and involve end users in the process to ensure a polished final result.

Want to know more about gaming? Joshua DeLung is also a D.C.-metro area gaming writer for Examiner.com. You can find his articles here.

Tired of Poor Pitching

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:51:00 +0000

I'm a fan of The Bad Pitch Blog by Richard Laermer and Kevin Dugan — it's a regular must-read for public relations professionals. It is to that blog that I must give credit for the idea behind this post — a bad pitch.

The longer I'm in the journalism/PR fields, the more my name gets out there on random mailing lists of companies and people looking to sell something or hoping that I'll write an article or blog post about them. Most of them, like many of the companies Laermer and Dugan 'highlight,' do a poor job of this, simply because they are using outdated, traditional methods of pitching and primarily because they are mass mailing without taking the time to craft a real, dedicated pitch or without trying to learn anything about me as a practitioner or writer.

So, who am I about to call out? That would be Vycor Medical Inc., a "medical device company that designs, develops and markets next (sic) generation neurosurgery retraction devices." Bored yet?

Oh, where to start about the suck that is the e-mail I received today...

Salutation — There barely was one. The e-mail started, "Please let me know if you would like to connect with..." Well, don't try to get me excited or anything. The pitch didn't address me by name and provided little call to action up front. An ill-formatted link (they placed the full URL in the middle of a word, i.e., S"URL"ite) just made it even worse. Then, "Merilee" signed her first name, even though (A) I don't know her and (B) she never bothered to introduce herself in the e-mail.

Hed — "Vycor Medical's Revolutionary ViewSite(TM) Neurosurgery Retraction Devices Adopted by the North Shore-LIJ Health System" was the three-deck headline. Not only is the headline boring and way too technical, but also it's unrelated to anything I've ever written about for a news site or blog and also unrelated to virtually any entity for which I've ever done PR.

Sub Hed/Dek — A 52-word subheadline in italics is pretty much where I stopped paying attention. Get to the point already!

Dateline — Bohemia, N.Y. What? I could probably Google Maps this location, but instead, I'm just left wondering why I was sent this release. There's no topical relevance for me, and now I find out there's no geographical connection either. I've been in New York for less than an hour my entire life.

Lede — The lede and nut graf here are long, filled with URLs in parentheticals and riddled with technical jargon that tells me nothing about the newsworthiness of whatever it is Vycor is promoting (I'm still not sure, though I think it's some tool that makes brain surgery easier).

Content — The news release was lacking an actual narrative of any kind. The quotes within were stuffy and sounded as though they were crafted specifically for *gasp!* a news release. This isn't the way to catch a reporter or anyone else's attention. After rereading a few times, it seems this entire annoyance of a pitch was to announce that a health system in New England has adopted the company's neurosurgery technology. Again, tell your local paper, tell a medical journal — but why pitch to me? And why do it in such a boring way with a cookie-cutter, traditional news release? (A little research about me if they were going to pitch to me would've revealed that I'd prefer a well-done social media release.)

Boilerplate — As Bob Roseth would say, boilerplates are fine if you're from Purdue (home of the Boilermakers). But to refer to the BPB folks again, there's no better way to end on a lame note than the boilerplate. Words in Vycor's actual body copy — 252. Boilerplate words — 577. If your boilerplate crap is more than double the length of your 'news,' it's either probably not news or your boilerplate is too long — or in this case, both. The lengthy, mostly useless, legal jargon-filled ending to this release moved my snooze into a coma. End with something more useful and interesting, and link to this info if needed.

Final thoughts — To make matters worse, when I went to Vycor's Web site to find a copy of this news release to which I could provide a link, well, it wasn't there. In fact, the most recent release on the Web site is from 2008. If you're going to mass e-mail pitches with your Web site URL plastered all over them, wouldn't you at least make sure your site looks up-to-date?

The image included with the news release (above) is probably the most well-done part of the whole ordeal. The design is actually sort of interesting, even if the messaging seems more geared toward medical professionals than someone who would be interested in talking to company executives about publicity.

Has anyone else out there received similar pitches? What are your thoughts about companies that take this shotgun approach? What are your thoughts about folks who still use traditional news releases with corporatespeak and giant boilerplates?

Top-drafted Quarterbacks Likely No Good

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 02:39:00 +0000

By Guest Blogger Daron Williams

Editor's note: Every now and then, I like to add some variety to the blog and stray away from all PR/journalism posts and talk about some other stuff I love — family, food, football, you name it. And when one of my favorite guest bloggers sends something on a topic such as those my way, well of course I'm going to post it. Keeping in the vein of our theme, though, here is the result of guest blogger Daron Williams' journalistic digging that shows why potential top draft picks Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford might need a lot of PR in the future.

As I do every April, I’m thoroughly enjoying the hoopla surrounding the upcoming 2010 edition of the NFL Draft. This year, the talent pool has been classified somewhere between 'good' and 'very good,' and there are several juicy storylines to follow. Where will 'Jesus of Gainesville' land, and will there be some water nearby for him to walk on? Who will draft a boy named Suh? And what to make of the other QBs in the draft?

It is this last issue I want to analyze. With so much emphasis placed on the quarterback position, doesn’t it make sense to spend a little extra time breaking down the numbers? Without getting too technical, I’m going to undertake this effort, mainly with the intention of showing just why the Rams may want to think twice before taking likely no. 1 pick — Sam Bradford.

So let’s go. My contention is that no Big-12 QB is likely to succeed in the NFL. Two Big-12 QBs are generally listed among the top five (if not top three) QBs in this draft – Oklahoma’s Bradford and Texas’ Colt McCoy. Both come from powerhouse football farms, and both can boast record-setting offensive careers at their schools. But dig deeper.

Let’s look at the success, or lack thereof, that the current Big-12 schools have produced at the quarterback position. I’m going to focus mostly on the schools with big-name QBs in the hunt this year. For NFL purposes, I’m going to stick to the last 10 years or so because I look at St. Louis’ 1999 “Best Show on Turf” as being a pivotal moment in the proliferation of today’s pass-happy NFL offenses. You would think this would play into the hands of the Big-12’s also-pass-happy schemes. You’d be wrong.

The last three QBs drafted at Texas include Vince Young, who’s already experiencing his second NFL life, just four years after being drafted by the Tennessee Titans. Nobody doubts his athletic prowess, but I don’t think anyone sees him going to Canton either. And he still has plenty of doubters as to whether he can even throw a slant (believe me, speaking as a Titans fan, I know from whence I speak). Before that, it was Chris Simms, who’s had an unremarkable career thus far and may never start another game. Before that? Third-rounder Rick McIvor in 1984 – I’ve never heard his name, but Wikipedia tells me he played in six games over two seasons and threw four total passes (all incomplete).

OOOOO-klahoma, you say? They’ve had six QBs in the last 10 years to Texas’ four. Names such as Josh Heupel, Heisman winner Jason White and Rhett Bomar may ring a bell in college lore, but not one of them has played any real minutes in the Not For Long league. The only OU QB currently on a roster is Bomar, whom the Giants took in the fifth round, and he certainly won’t see the field behind Super Bowl winner Eli Manning.

After digging a little, I can’t really find much success in the QB ranks from any Big-12 program in the last 10 years, with the exception of Young’s moderate success with the Titans. There are currently two likely starting QBs from Big-12 schools – Young and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Josh Freeman (Kansas State), ranked the no. 16 and no. 28 QBs in the league, respectively. With two (likely) starting NFL QBs, that puts the Big-12 behind the Pac-10 (eight), the SEC (five), the Big-10 and the ACC (four each). USC alone has four current starters listed (Palmer, Cassel, Leinart, Sanchez).

So what’s the big deal? I can’t hold the professional failures of their predecessors against McCoy and Bradford, right? Watch me.

The point is, historical success by QBs hailing from a particular program, especially when controlled for coaching era in college and offensive era in the NFL, has turned out to be a great indicator of expected success for incoming QBs. The system that a player runs in college has a lot to do with how they will adjust to the NFL game, and Big-12 QBs simply haven’t cut the mustard, despite the high-flying offenses and gaudy numbers they put up in college. Why, I do not know – that’s for another column.

To be fair, one could apply the same logic to the NFL quarterbacking black hole that is The Swamp and say that Tebow has no shot at success, and one would be justified in saying so. But McCoy and especially Bradford are expected to sign sizeable contracts and challenge for starting positions immediately, and in this, one of the last few years of the pre-rookie-contract cap era, a team simply cannot afford to go wrong selecting a quarterback so high.

But they will. Sorry, Rams fans.

Toyota's Recovery: Inevitable or Out of Reach?

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 22:00:00 +0000

A couple months ago, the Toyota scandal was still freshly ripping through America, and it was the only thing you could find on the news, it seemed. Daily mentions on the 24-hour news cycle still happen, but health care, Tiger Woods, iPad disappointments and coal mining have all taken over the headlines for now. Slowly, but surely, the negativity surrounding Toyota is… well, not going away, but it’s on the agenda far less.

Shortly after the whole thing went down with floor mats and sudden accelerations and supercharged Prius hoaxes, I wrote about the importance of relational history for organizations and how, based on Toyota’s previous good standing with its customers, the company should be able to rebound. Heck, just look at Audi, once the target of similar scandal, now known as a high-class brand. Though, it did take the automaker 15 years to recover, and Audi was exonerated of building faulty cars in the end. The point, though, is — recovery is possible after a crisis.

Toyota’s problems might be more severe than originally thought, though. It seems there was deception going on within the company, as newly released internal memos urged officials to “come clean.” When the pre-existing good relationship with consumers was built on a lie, it certainly complicates image restoration. Again, here is an example where having a public relations professional at the table and actually listening to his or her expert advice would have come in handy. With all the available case studies out there, you’d think by now corporations would realize that cover-ups never, ever work — at least not for very long. Honesty always has been, and still is, the best policy.

Still, however, my prediction that Toyota should rebound from its crisis seems to hold some water. The company is doing some things right, such as offering unbeatable deals and promising via its advertising that it will do better in the future by its customers. Toyota’s sales were up a whopping 41 percent in March, compared to the same month a year ago. This increase was likely more a result of unprecedented deals than Toyota’s mostly successful social media outreach efforts since the crisis, considering you’ve probably never heard of the Toyota Digg interview. Regardless, 41 percent is quite a bit for a company the media has demonized enough to make any Toyota owner hesitant to touch the acceleration pedal.

It seems Toyota’s woes are far from over, but it also doesn’t sound as though we’ve seen the last of them. Will it take 15 years to recover? Only time will tell, but if Toyota plays its cards right by becoming more transparent, it should remain profitable.

Top Super Bowl Ads of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:35:00 +0000

The Super Bowl is over for 2010, and that means it's now time for the debate to begin about which ads were winners and losers. I had a great time seeing comments from some of my fellow advertising/public relations folks on Twitter during the game, and I definitely see an opportunity for a live-blogging exercise in the future for events relevant to our industry. Check out Twitter feeds for @joshuadelung, @rlaermer and @accessus for last night's tweets.

I'll say up front that none of this year's ads were phenomenal, and none of them really made an effort to break the rules, do something relevant with a target audience or provide a true call to action. However, I've rewatched all the ads one last time before making my judgments, and here are my top five Super Bowl ads for this year, followed by a couple of honorable (and not-so-honorable) mentions.

1) Google: Search On — It wasn't flashy. Heck, I could've made this ad in my living room. But the narrative that played out just by watching someone perform searches from falling in love to building a crib was a cute and genius way to show off Google's usefulness. This is a simple ad that shows people what to do and how to do it with a product, which is sorta the point. The other advertisers should take note.

2) Doritos: House Rules — A cute kid, tasty chips and hilarious dialogue. Is it going to make me run out and buy more Doritos? Probably not. Is it going to make me smile each time I walk past a bag of Doritos in the store for the next few months? Absolutely.

3) Mars' Snickers: You're Not You When You're Hungry — Who doesn't love Betty White? Seeing Betty White get tackled? Well, that's pretty funny, too. While the eat-a-Snickers-bar-to-transform-into-a-lean-mean-football-player trick was highly predictable, that doesn't mean we weren't still laughing when the screen faded to black.

4) Motorola: Megan Fox Photo — No, I didn't put this in the top five because Megan Fox is one of the hottest (if not also trashiest) stars out there. But the idea of her sending a viral pic of herself in the bathtub out via cellphone is not only tantalizing, it's also relevant in our Internet age, and the resulting distraction among American men shown in the ad probably isn't far from what would actually happen.

5) Volkswagen: PunchDub —I wasn't aware that the "Punch Buggy [Color], No Punch Back" game had now extended to all VWs, so I'm glad they decided to let us in on the secret while also getting people to talk about their cars more often when they see them out on the road. Genius. The whole Stevie Wonder thing is sorta played out, especially for Gen-Xers (and probably not even relevant for Millenials), but the addition of Tracy Morgan helped make that part of the ad at least slightly humorous.

Honorable Mentions:

Most Well-Written
Chrysler: Dodge Charger — This is perhaps the most well-written ad from the entire Super Bowl in 2010. It wasn't all THAT interesting, but if you listen to the dialogue, it definitely connects with the target audience in a way that no other ad did this year. Watch it.

Best Production Value
Coke: Sleepwalker — Coca-Cola's ads are always very shiny and fun to watch, even if they aren't all that memorable in the long run. Crisp, clear, great settings, music, and on and on... these were some well-produced ads and not much more. Watch it.

Most Worth Going Online For
HomeAway's "Hotel Hell Vacation" (Full Version: 13:52) — I think everyone was super-excited to see Chevy Chase reprise his role as Clark Griswold from those hilarious National Lampoon's "Vacation" films. And while the stand-alone ad was funny and a cool idea, it didn't quite deliver enough to make me remember to use HomeAway instead of one of the more well-known hotel rental sites. All that being said, the full version of the ad is available online and runs almost a full 14 minutes. It plays just exactly like a scene out of a brand-new Griswolds movie and offers plenty of laughs and familiar memes. Watch it.

Dishonorable Mentions:

Biggest Fail
Dockers: Free Pants — The ad wasn't original, as it was one of three pantless ads that ran during the Super Bowl from various companies. Then, it saved itself by mentioning a "free pants" giveaway online. It was sort of a form of bait-and-switch tactics, though, as visitors to the Web site could actually just enter for a CHANCE to win free pants. That is, if those visitors could get the Web site to work. For a good hour after the ad aired, the Twitterverse was alive with "Dockers Fail" tweets because the servers crashed. Even after the site finally loaded, then the entry form seemed broken. I finally got registered for my chance at some pants after many ill-fated attempts. But all this ad really proved is that Dockers is an aging brand that's out of touch in a technology-driven world. Watch it.

Biggest Waste of Taxpayer Money
U.S. Census Bureau: Preproduction Meeting — I am absolutely outraged by this ad. Just in case you don't realize it, YOU paid for this ad. Almost $3 million in taxpayer money was used for this spot that played out more like a sitcom preview than a government call to action. You should know that even if about one percent of the estimated 100 million people who were supposed to watch the Super Bowl this year mail back their Census forms, it will save taxpayers $30 million that would otherwise be spent sending workers door-to-door, according to U.S. Census Bureau spokesman Stephen Buckner. My question is: Why the heck didn't they just say that in the ad? Be direct already! As we recover from an economic crisis, saving taxpayer money is a hot topic to which people will pay attention. If you had just mentioned that little detail about how people mailing their forms back equals loads of saved money and preventing the inconvenience of Census workers knocking at your door, I imagine that this ad may not have been such a waste. Watch it.

Why Toyota Should Rebound

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Prior Relationships Key to Image Restoration

What a mess! Your company is taking hits left and right; your once-sparkling image is seemingly ruined forever, and things just keep getting worse. But what does the strategy behind public relations tell us about what lies ahead? Is there hope? Read on to find out …

Toyota hopes its image is soon back to being as polished as this latest version of the 4Runner was at the 2010 Washington Auto Show. | Photo by Joshua A. DeLung

… In recent weeks, there has been quite a bit said about Toyota’s misfortune concerning recalls of certain models — floor mats, accelerator pedals and potentially problematic brakes. Yeowch! This is definitely not a situation in which a company wants to find itself. And while it may be every PR practitioner’s dream to successfully manage a crisis for an organization, when the actual event arrives, things don’t seem so glamorous.

I’m not going to focus on what has already been said day in and out. We know Toyota is in trouble, and we’ve seen plenty of prescriptions for what they should’ve done, could’ve done better and how and why and all that jazz. But the past is the past, and as PR folks, it’s our job to continuously perform environmental scanning (which might prevent a crisis altogether, but that's a post for another day). Seeing into the future is tough, but we have to make our best estimates, investigate trends and do some solid research when digging out of a crisis. Take note of what went wrong in order to avoid letting it happen again, but figuring out the next step quickly is imperative. That's where restoration and renewal come in.

The media offer didactic messages about lessons learned and adjudicative ones that tell us who to blame. But as practitioners, we must ask ourselves what part of our organization’s response has been positive in attempt to retell our story and push toward image restoration. Social networking sites and other outlets can help us circumvent mainstream media somewhat to start a new conversation, though we can’t underestimate MSMs (dwindling?) power.

In some cases, apologia and corrective action may be enough to restore faith in an organization, but in the event of a large-scale crisis, renewal efforts are more complex, requiring us to uphold our commitments to stakeholders and re-establish our core values. If your company is someone like, say, Microsoft, with a history of bullying and buggy software, then you might need to consider renewal. In other words, a rebranding of your organization — find a way to start over with a more positive way of doing business. For most organizations, though, image restoration is possible after a crisis within an organization where the culture has historically been one that encouraged ethics and responsibility.

And herein lies the key to being resilient after crisis: relational history. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of maintaining good relationships with key publics and encouraging an ethical and responsible culture at all times internally.

An organization has the best chance at bouncing back after a crisis situation by having a stellar and trustworthy reputation in the first place.

As PR practitioners, it’s our job to point out to CEOs (or anyone else) when their actions could taint the company's reputation. Because, let’s be honest, if you’re acting like an Enron Corporation all the time, then your chances at image restoration are slim to none.

This is why I think Toyota will eventually bounce back from its recent problems. I have heard plenty of doom-and-gloom statements about how the company is finished, especially in the U.S., but I’m not so sure. Will it take plenty of time? Of course. But Toyota wasn’t known for being flashy (Ferrari), luxurious (Mercedes-Benz) or rough-and-tough (Ford). Toyotas are known for dependability, practicality and being fuel-efficient and long-lasting.

It is because of these reasons that Toyota will be able to regain its customers’ support and eventually gain new buyers. That is, of course, considering it takes care of concerns about the recalls properly by getting it right the first time and by giving affected customers the red-carpet treatment. Establishing trust with key publics day in and day out should be utmost in the mind of every PR practitioner. If it is, then when a dreaded crisis strikes, image restoration will be an available next step.

Full disclosure: I own a Toyota, though not one affected by the recalls. I was not paid in any way for this post, nor did I have any contact with Toyota or any other company in developing the content for this post. These statements are strictly my own professional opinion.

Tweeting to Become a Better Writer, Editor

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:54:00 +0000

Want to increase your editing skills? Want to write more concisely? Then why aren't you using Twitter?

With its limit of 140 characters, Twitter forces you to become a better editor. Sometimes, what you have to say will go over the limit, so you must learn to edit out unneeded words and irrelevant points. Writing clear and concise statements that your audiences will understand (and that will save them time) is a must in today's 24-7 world of media consumption.

Not only will being part of Twitter help you edit down your work, but also you'll find it makes you more skilled at getting attention. Worried your headlines aren't interesting enough to pull in readers? Twitter can be a testing ground for your headline-writing and link-sharing abilities. Go in and start practicing writing headlines and sharing a link, and see how many people actually follow the link or say something to you about it.

Remember, Twitter isn't the here's-what-I-ate-for-breakfast tool that so many who just haven't given it a chance or don't fully understand its uses play it up to be. If you don't have something useful to share or something interesting to say, you're doing your followers a disservice. So wait. Make sure you share a good idea, or a personal thought that gives some insight into who you are. Be of value to your followers. Well-edited, catchy tweets will do just that, and those benefits will carry over to other elements of your work outside the social media realm.

Follow me on Twitter @joshuadelung.

Get-It-Before-It's-Gone Marketing Outdated

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:38:00 +0000

Just let me say, you'd better read this blog post before it's gone! I'll lock it in the Relatively Journalizing vault in just 24 hours! Yeah, right, you either (A) don't care that much, (B) don't believe me or (C) just copy/pasted the entire post to a Word document just in case. And those reasons, the latter one especially, are why get-it-before-it's-gone marketing is an outdated tool in the Internet age. If you want something, chances are you'll find somewhere to get it.

Yet, for some reason, the Mouse thinks this still works. Disney expects us all to become so frightened that we might not see The Little Mermaid for 10 years that we'll rush out to buy it on whatever format happens to be the trendiest at the time. Think again.

I checked to see what titles are currently in the so-called vault right now, and guess what? I was able to find multiple copies of all of them on Amazon for various reasonable prices in DVD format. Yet, I still see plenty of advertising for the titles the company plans to hide away from us all come Jan. 30, 2010. I'm not scared, are you?

So what leads Disney to think this sort of tomfoolery will still work in 2010? Your guess is as good as mine.

Guest editor over at The Bad Pitch Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:13:00 +0000

I recently was given the honor of being a guest editor for one of Richard Laermer's posts over at the amazing public relations tome of knowledge, The Bad Pitch Blog. It addresses the very timely issue of NBC's PR fail in terms of programming, especially in regards to Jay and Conan. Check out the post here.

Give Your PR Team a Seat at the Table

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 01:32:00 +0000

Most of us with any formal education at all in public relations are familiar with the excellence theory, perhaps most notably attributed to James and Larissa Grunig’s IABC study while at the University of Maryland. While two-way, symmetrical communication might be the part of that paradigm that has generated the most content (including plenty of debate), my focus for this post is on the idea of the PR practitioner being part of the dominant coalition and its importance.

All too often, internal or external publics seeking information are unable to retrieve the info they need about you in a timely and helpful manner. I’ve seen this first-hand, as I’m sure many of you other communicators have, and the fix is really quite simple — make your PR (relations, counsel, communication, whatever you call them) person(s) part of the dominant coalition.

For you nontheoreticals out there (as I often am myself until a situation occurs for which theory offers a solution), this isn’t highly complex stuff. Let me break it down into one sentence: Make your PR people 100-percent aware of everything that happens within their area of responsibility, and give them a seat at the table when discussing important projects and company decisions. There, easy as pie.

For many CEOs or program managers, this idea might seem a bit abstract, out-of-the-ordinary, ineffectual or even intimidating. Get over it. If Journalist X calls your communication specialist, he or she should be an expert in your subject area, knowledgeable about all company projects, programs and communicative efforts. Journalist X should not have to wait on Practitioner Y to run every little detail by Program Manager Z. Practitioner Y should’ve been in on the meeting where Project ABC was discussed and should’ve been briefed already by senior leadership as to what information can or cannot be shared and in what forms.

If your organization does not employ well-informed practitioners who can make certain on-spot decisions and actually be helpful, acting as a spokesperson for your organization, program, campaign, etc., then you are going about PR all wrong. Don’t expect external publics such as journalists or potential stakeholders (and in some cases other people who work for you who need information) to show you love after a couple of ill-fated attempts.

Now, realistically, there are some questions that are going to need to go through senior-level folks. But an expert practitioner will know the difference between those and general questions that can quickly and concisely be answered to supply internal and external publics with key information that can get you noticed and make you a recurring source. Dominant coalition isn’t some fancy terminology just for those professors sitting at the great communication research universities. Forming a dominant coalition that includes your communication team is just a best practice in business.

Why Your Energy Organization Needs PR

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:37:00 +0000

International talks in Copenhagen. A boom in renewable energy and retrofitting jobs from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Serious commitments from state and local governments to save energy. Corporate America going green. These are just a few of the reasons that climate change and organizations related to it are gaining ground, increasing legitimacy and creating jobs in an economy that still has a recession fresh in its memory. And all of this means that if you are one of these organizations — you need a public relations arm.

As someone who works in the energy field, I interact almost daily with contractors, nonprofits and renewable energy companies who deal in everything from research and development of solar panels to the manufacturing of wind turbines. Some of these entities are easier to communicate with than others, though.

As the owner or CEO of a company that brands itself with energy, you might be hesitant to consider adding a public relations practitioner to your staff. You might think, “Hey, business is booming right now, so I don’t need any of that stuff. It’s just an added cost anyway.” Think again, corporate America.

People who have to get information about your business need real communicators with whom they can interact, not stuffy CEOs or uninformed sales reps. And public relations is not marketing or advertising, if done correctly. Marketing might increase sales, and advertising can raise awareness, but only PR will develop the long-lasting relationships that you want and need with your employees, stakeholders, clients and, of course, the media. (And you thought PR was only media relations, didn't you?)

There will be increasing interest in your business in the coming years as the U.S. — and the world — switches over to a green-collar workforce in a new clean energy economy. Weatherization technicians and geothermal engineers are the computer programmers of the future. Therefore, your company will grow, and you’ll need an arm of your company who can perform tasks such as outreach programs, speech coaching/writing, PR campaigns, relationship management, internal communication, crisis and issues management and environmental scanning (that’s looking for potential issues on the horizon, taking an actional legitimation stance). Of course, PR practitioners are also good for getting you involved in the social media realm — the right way — something that many organizations still struggle with today.

If people have to wait to get in touch with your vice president just to get info or a quote for a news story, or if your company doesn’t keep itself legitimate in the eyes of the public, things won’t continue to be as profitable as they are now. It’s sometimes tough for leaders to decide if they’ll see enough return on investment for communication efforts. However, it’s a myth that PR isn’t measurable, and your ROI will likely be very noticeable, especially to those folks who need to have a two-way conversation with your organization (rather than just being hit over the head with what you think they need to know).

It’s a lot easier to keep yourself out of a mess to begin with than it is to dig yourself out of a crater of an image. So give a PR practitioner a seat at the table in your organization today, and you’ll have a head start!

Still need some persuading? Check out the Business Case for Public Relations site for more information, including case studies, information for CEOs and more!

10 Ways to Make Your Blog Work

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:20:00 +0000

As someone with a huge interest in public relations, I’m constantly trying to improve my own skills while observing what others are doing. Additionally, I apply the communication best practices and theories I know with the tips from top practitioners that I read each day to form my own evaluations about what I see on a daily basis. Not every organization understands the true potential of social media — or blogging in general — or how to implement it. So I’m here with some advice based on my own professional experiences and critiques of other organizations. Here are 10 tips for getting the most bang for your blogging buck:

1) Avoid overload — Don’t bog your readers down with too much content and too many updates at once. This same principal is true with tweets and Facebook updates as well. You don’t (and shouldn’t!) update with every tidbit imaginable that happens at your organization. Internet users have so much content being thrown at them already, so they are likely to unfollow you, hide you or just avoid you altogether if you make their lives difficult. Say what you need to say, then leave your audiences alone!

2) Don’t go off the radar — Again, you don’t want to bury your content by posting five blog posts a day, but you can’t abandon your social media (including the blog) efforts for days and weeks at a time and expect to pick right back up where you left off. If you don’t update for a while, chances are that your audiences will get bored with you, delete your RSS feed, stop visiting your site, etc. I could definitely improve in this area with my own personal blog, but unfortunately, my professional blogging duties take precedent. For your company, you’re being paid — it’s not a hobby maintaining the online legitimacy of your organization, so get to it!

3) Be predictable — Don’t me wrong here, you definitely want to display some creativity on your blog. What I mean by predictability is that you should format all of your content in a similar fashion so that it’s easy for your readers to navigate. Additionally, schedule posts if at all possible. If you can publish on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then maintain that regularity, and your readers will appreciate you for keeping things convenient and manageable.

4) Mix up the content — If every post is about the same topic, or if every post is line after line of boring text, you’re not going to keep audiences interested and coming back. Post a video once in awhile or include a guest blog post, for goodness’ sake! Just be sure not to post something so off-topic that you alienate your core readership.

5) Pick a target — Speaking of your readers, you need to cater to them. If you’re a wind turbine manufacturer, then your company blog probably doesn’t include a lot of stories about the latest pop artist to top the Billboard charts. Do your research! Before you start writing your organization’s first messages, find out at whom your messages are targeted. Write in a style and tone that appeals to that audience, and include references they will understand and find compelling. Too many organizations just start throwing up content and worry about how they’ll target it and market it later down the road. You’re just wasting resources by doing that.

6) Spread the word — I didn’t mention marketing your content for no reason! Develop a plan up front for how you’ll get your blog posts out to the world and noticed by your target constituencies. Why spend time and money putting together a flashy blog (or any social media effort) if you don’t have a plan to get it noticed? It’s easy for your content to be lost in the vast amount on the Internet, so you need to have a multiplatform design for spreading the word about your organization that includes traditional media, new media and good ol' word-of-mouth marketing.

7) Don’t cut off the conversation — Too many companies try too hard to regulate the conversations that happen on the Web about their image. The days of being able to control who says what and finds out what about your company whenever you want are over. Forget about it. Don’t even try it — it’ll be a futile effort that leaves your organization looking foolish and outdated. Allow comments on your blog posts, and engage audiences with friendly customer service and informed replies in your social media efforts.

8) Don’t get wordy — Keep your content short. Blog posts shouldn’t include much scrolling, and videos that go on for more than three minutes are going to leave people restless nowadays, if they even click the play button at all. Seeing how long it's going to take to watch the video is the first piece of information that many users seek.

9) Include compelling visuals — This goes along with mixing up the content. Too much of anything is not a good thing. When you don’t have videos, good photos that fit your themes are always helpful. Pages of plain text make your blog look like an industrial, corporate-sponsored, old-school forum. Staying away from being stuffy and boring doesn’t mean you have to be flashy and outlandish, but readers expect your content to look contemporary!

10) Stop being so newsy — Blogging isn’t news writing. Sure, lots of journalists are great at blogging, but that’s because they have superb writing skills that allow them to write like people talk. That’s how your blog should sound — conversational. Don’t scare anyone away with hard-news tones and posts bleeding with data and cookie-cutter quotes. Blogging should be more personal, and if it is, your readers will appreciate you for it! If you’re copying and pasting news releases or print stories as blog posts, well, no one will probably ever give your blog enough time to notice it — or you.

Joshua A. DeLung is a public relations practitioner in the Washington, D.C., area.

Personal profile updated

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:27:00 +0000

Just updated my personal official Web site a bit. Give it a visit if you haven't before. If you're a public relations or journalism professional looking for inspiration, maybe there's something in my portfolio that can help spark your creativity!

www.prjosh.com

5 Tips for Amazing Guest Blog Posts

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:18:00 +0000

I recently finished up a guest blog post on none other than the topic of writing guest blog posts. The post is over at Moments in Time, so check it out here!

More Than a Grandfather: Granddad

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:40:00 +0000

I haven't posted a whole lot recently, as I'm a full-time working man now, so full-time blogging sort of has to be on the backburner. But don't worry, I haven't abandoned the site, it's just that I have to have (A) some time and (B) something worth blogging about before I can get a post up lately. Usually, that has to do with public relations and journalism, but there's something on my mind today that is much more worthy of a post.

Just one week ago today, I lost my grandfather to cancer. And it wasn't like I lost someone who I only saw on Christmas or who I remember from my childhood — I lost someone I grew up next door to, someone I saw daily until college and at least once a month since. I lost a great friend, mentor and an example of how to live.

I called my grandfather "Granddad," and my earliest memories of him are following him around one of his gardens, eating oatmeal cream pies together at the kitchen table and him bending down to plant a big wet kiss on my forehead, calling me his "sugarlump." As I aged, he called me "a fine young man" and "grandson," but what he called me didn't matter as much as how he treated me and everyone else he met. Granddad was a compassionate, generous man. Though some who didn't know him might have found him quite serious at times, around us he always had such a great sense of humor. I loved it when he would get to laughing because when he found something to be funny, he'd laugh so hard he couldn't stop, and he'd turn red as a beet, as the saying goes.

Speaking of vegetables, Granddad was a tremendous farmer. Our family lives on the old family farm, just across a creek from where my great grandfather's house once stood. Though we never had many animals (aside from a few chickens) while I was growing up, Granddad always maintained about three gardens and a couple small orchards. He loved gardening, and he loved sharing the results with friends and family. I'm pretty sure he was happiest on all fours, with his hands dirty, sweat on his brow, chewing tobacco in his cheek, enjoying nature — and I'm pretty sure most of the time while he was out there alone, he was just talking to God.

When I was a kid, I could run next door to Granddad and Grandmama's house any time. Sometimes I was probably trying to get out of some trouble I had gotten myself into at home, but most of the time I was going because my grandparents and I have always had a strong bond. I went because I loved Granddad's stories, and I admired his examples of hard work and living a Christian life, regardless of what came his way.

When I grew up and would visit, I always knew Granddad would have some good advice. I knew he'd have words of encouragement. And I knew he'd let me know how much he loved me. Sometimes, when I talk to older folks (though, Granddad was only 73, which seems pretty young in retrospect), I feel as though I don't have much in common with them. That was never the case with Granddad and I. We could sit on the back porch or at the kitchen table and actually have a conversation. He was just calming and fun to be around.

There were times Granddad took me fishing, and he was a pretty darn good coach. Every now and then, Dad, Granddad and I would go down to the river and set up along one of the riverbanks there for the evening. Some of us fared better than others (OK, I'll admit, I was never much of a fisherman, though I really enjoy it), but it was the three of us being together that made it memorable, not the fish. There, three generations stood, sometimes talking, sometimes with distances separating us, but never out of one another's line of sight ... never too far to send a look one another's way that said, "I'm here for you."

I'm taking everything pretty well, I suppose. It's easier knowing that Granddad was ready to die. Before going, he had told us that he was ready, that he didn't fear death. It was tough seeing him go, especially so quickly — the cancer took its toll less than a month after diagnosis. As I told my Dad, we lost a member in our trio (my dad is an only child, as am I), and now the two of us have to carry on. It will be difficult, but we care for each other just as much as we cared about Granddad. Just as much as we know he cared about his family. So all that considered, I'm going to be OK because I know he'd want me to be.

The roughest part was the other night after my Dad and I finished putting some new license plates on my car in my grandparent's garage. Dad left the garage, and I was about to follow him out. But something stopped me. I sat down in a chair and looked at Granddad's small tractor on which he used to ride around the land. I looked over at his blue chair by his desk, and I remembered all the times I had sat there, just like that, talking, watching him fix a vacuum or sharpen a pocket knife. I was filled with emotion.

That'll be the most difficult — not watching him ride around when spring comes and not being able to go through old routines like walking in the garage and plopping down to chat over some Gatorade and Beanee Weenees. Or not being able to watch deer together from the back porch, listening to the birds as they argue over who will get to reside in one of Granddad's many bird houses. There's so much I'll miss. But at the same time, having all those good memories of someone you've lost gives you plenty to think about until you meet again.

10 Tips for Finally Landing a Job

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Let's face it, I am now realizing what everyone in the so-called real world always told me — you don't have much time for blogging when you get a grown-up job. OK, maybe no one actually ever used the words "blogging," but the general warning was there. And they were right. In fact, my social media and video gaming time has significantly decreased in the month since I've been working full time. Sure, I'm not spending my evenings doing homework anymore, but I also can't stay up until 3 a.m. because I don't have a class until noon.

So for all of you out there still playing video games into the wee hours of the morning, sucking down Mountain Dew and pursuing creative endeavors to your heart's content (a.k.a., the unemployed), I imagine you'd like to know how I finally landed a job in this tough market (or perhaps you just stopped reading because you realized how foolish of a plan getting a job actually is).

Well, I can't say that my methods are the only way to go or that they will even work for you, but I thought the least I could do is share some tips that I've come up with based on my own experiences. If I can help anyone else out there at all, then using my few minutes of free time to write this blog post is worth it because, in all seriousness, I know first-hand how frustrating it can be to try to find a job, especially in a recession. And while signs point to the recession being over, the job market is still expected to be in rough shape until about halfway through next year. While my field is public relations, and that's the area I try to focus on the most on this blog, I think these tips have multidisciplinary relevance.

Saturate the job market, and start early— I applied for more than 200 jobs from late December 2008 through the end of summer 2009. Let's face it, you might not be qualified for every job, or perhaps there is a lot of more-experienced competition in play, especially during a time when a lot of seniority has been laid off elsewhere. Spend some serious time filling out apps, and make it your full-time job until you find one.
Don't broaden your horizons — You always hear the opposite of this advice, that you should be open to jobs that aren't directly related to your degree and skills. I was very open for the duration of my job search. I even became willing to accept pay that probably wouldn't have covered the rent, and I started applying to lots of jobs outside my field or below my education and experience qualifications. However, I never heard back from places such as Barnes & Noble and Gamestop, so I guess there really is such a thing as being overqualified. I even had a Borders manager tell me outright that he only wanted to hire folks that he thought would be there long-term, and he didn't see me being one of those with my qualifications. He was right. In the end, the job I got is one that matches my background and skillset almost exactly. I'm doing public relations work for a client that has a heavy journalism focus to its tasks. Moral of the story: Don't settle. Find the job that matches what you are all about because employers will take notice when someone is a perfect fit. And it'll speed up the rate at which you get calls for interviews.
Don't apply to jobs that don't really interest you — I sort of covered this in number two, but this deserves explicitly stating. If a job really isn't up your alley or isn't in a location where you can see yourself actually moving, don't bother applying. You won't try as hard to get the job, meaning you're just wasting your time applying to a job when you could spend that time applying to one for which you'll actually put some effort into the application process.
Try CareerBuilder — And don't use a cover letter. Seriously, this is how I got my job. Also, it's how I got every single interview to which I was invited. I used Monster, USA Jobs, company Web sites, you name it, and CareerBuilder was where I had the most success. And no, they aren't paying me to say that. Once you have your résumé formatted just right, and once it has the proper information in the proper format, it should speak for itself, no cover letter needed. When you upload that résumé to CareerBuilder, you'll be able to apply to jobs in one click, making the number of jobs to which you can apply in one day much higher than with traditional job hunting.
Be patient and flexible — My current employer posted their job early in the summer, and I applied to it at the beginning of July. I participated in several phone interviews and about three in-person interviews with the company before I got the job — in late September. Yes, it took quite a while, and it required me to make a good impression on lots of different people within the organization (and eventually on the client). The key here is balancing following up with a company with not coming off as completely desperate and annoying. It's OK to wait a few days and followup after an interview with an e-mail thanking the interviewers, which hopefully will trigger a status response without you actually having to ask if you got the job, what the next step is, etc. I thought more than once that I was the butt of some joke or that the company had moved on, but just letting them have some time and space worked out in the long run.
Have an online portfolio — Several times in interviews, employers referenced the online portfolio I had sent them. Other times, when people asked for a portfolio of work samples, I was able to direct them to my Web site on the spot, which they seemed to find impressive. Whether you're a writer or you build things, it's definitely great to have a quick reference point for potential employers to visually check out your product.
Be honest about your strengths, weaknesses and desires — Don't embellish your skills. You don't have to come right out and say you have a weakness during an interview (unless, of course, it's directly related to the requirements for the position), but be honest about where your strengths lie. And be sure to let potential employers know exactly what sort of work you hope to do, that you really are interested in the company and the job (some prior research definitely helps). Finally, the question everyone hates is the one about what your salary requirements are. I've read so much advice about this, and lots of people say to ask what the range is for the position and to go with a middle-of-the-road approach. However, I gave a number that I really thought would be fair, realistic and competitive, and my employer actually went a little higher when they sent me the offer letter. Of course, for a different interview at a different company, the manager told me on the spot that I couldn't expect to make that much there (even though the requirements I gave him were $12,000 annually less than what I ended up starting at with my current company). Moral of the story: Don't get ripped off. Make sure you're getting paid what you're worth. And repeat your strengths, but be truthful.
Don't rely on social media — Finding leads and contacts for jobs via social media is fun, often exciting, and it is played up a lot by social media fanatics. Keep in mind, though, that most of those fanatics don't have jobs. I did get a couple good names and leads via social media, but nothing gained through Facebook or Twitter ever yielded an interview.
Clean up your act, and make it consistent — Make sure your social media accounts and Web presence are clean and professional. Google yourself and make sure there's nothing that a potential employer would find that could even come close to making a negative impression. On the other hand, they shouldn't find zero results — some good, professional references to you online make a good impression. It shows that you're not a nobody. It's also a good idea to make all of your social media profiles private and to brand yourself — use the same copy and profile picture (wearing dress clothes!) on any public profiles you may have on sites such as LinkedIn and any other similar sites that potential employers can see.
Take some time off — Enjoy being unemployed while you can. After a while, yeah, you're tired of it. Trust me, I've been there. But the fact is you won't have all the free time you have right now at any other time until you're retired, most likely, so spend some days actually having fun instead of grinding away applying for jobs. After all, you'll just get burned out and stop putting effort into it after so long anyway, so you'll need a day or two to refresh before you get back at it.

Have you tried anything else that works? Have questions? Feel free to discuss in the comments section, and best of luck in your job search!

Synchroblogging 4: If I Had a Superpower

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:01:00 +0000

My blogger buddy Kelvin over at Moments in Time hosts a synchroblogging event from time to time, where bloggers from around the blogosphere gather to publish a post on the same day about a previously agreed upon topic. (Relatively Journalizing's past synchroblogging.) Be sure to click the above link to Kelvin's site find out what approach other bloggers took to today's topic. I hear that he will compile the posts and put up a list over the next day or so.

This time around, the topic to blog about is what superpower I would want if I could have one. I should note, I've previously written about superheroes. The catch to this post is choosing only one special ability because the topic specifically says a superpower.

I'm going to perhaps be a little boring and cliché here, but I absolutely have to say that my first choice in a superpower would be highspeed flight. I think, primarily, that this power would be very helpful because I could travel from one place to another very quickly, and I could reach almost anything.

However, if you think about popular superheroes in pop culture who can fly, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with one that didn't have some combination of powers to go with flight. And that is where I think the problems with being a superhero graced with only one power inherently lie. Wouldn't it be interesting if the comic book companies created a hero whose story we see as a series of unfortunate vulnerabilities instead of a hero whose powers are complemented by other powers either of his or her own or by those of teammates?

So what if I can fly from the Rocky Mountains to Washington, D.C., in a matter of seconds? How fast would I really be able to go? Could I maximize the full potential of my supersonic flying abilities? Likely not. Let's face it, one large bird at a high enough speed, and my lack of an invincibility power or mutant-like strength means I'm dead.

After further consideration, perhaps invincibility would be a better power. But I would still choose to fly any day and just take my chances, being extra careful of course. Invincible characters are so boring anyway, and they really aren't allowed in the superhero realm. If there's no question about the outcome of an adventure, then why would we care? That's why even the Man of Steel can be brought to his knees by a little green pebble.

This all leads me to think that it's the vulnerabilities in our heroes that we really like to see play out. So a hero in a world without heroes with only one superpower would be unique, but just imagine how long that person might survive. What would the expectations of society be for that person?

I never thought that this is where this post would go when I started, and that's sort of what the synchroblogging exercise does. You take a topic and run with it, and you let your mind wander a bit without really having an outline of where you want to go. Definitely some things to think about though.

What do you think? What would your power be?

The Ultimate Bubba Files: Does Walmart Have a People Problem?

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:17:00 +0000

If you haven't seen People of Walmart yet, it is possible that you've been living in a cave since it debuted in August of this year. But as the meme catches on within more and more circles, advertising and public relations professionals are taking notice. Is the site detrimental to Walmart's already tainted image? What should the folks in charge of strategic communication at the big-box giant do, if anything?

If you're unfamiliar with People of Walmart, you should go check it out before reading the rest of this post. The owners of the site don't have anything against Walmart, they just like to poke fun at the ridiculous people who shop there, most of which are reminiscent of our Bubba Files. The concept is simple: regular Walmart shoppers capture those other shoppers on camera who are oblivious to social norms, anything resembling class or fashion, and who might actually think that they are sexy while we find them repulsive.

So what is a little bit of poking fun going to hurt? It is, after all, likely that the people featured on the site will never figure out how to use a computer (or figure out that Walmart has only one L, even if they do get the Web browser opened), so their feelings probably aren't going to be hurt. In fact, if they grow a three-foot-long mullet and wear a mustard-stained wife beater out in public, it's safe to say they don't care what anyone thinks about how they look anyway. Fair enough. But what about Walmart's reputation as a company?

Let's face it, Walmart is similar to Microsoft in that it's no one's favorite corporation — it's just a necessity for some people that they probably wouldn't mind avoiding if they could get the same services and products elsewhere for less cost and more convenience. The arguments about why Walmart practices unfair employment and business tactics abound, so the Mecca for Beccas from 'Bama doesn't really need another PR headache.

Writer B.L. Ochman over at AdAge writes that Walmart can't stop the site, but he also says the company shouldn't try to do anything special about it either.

If Walmart tries to squash the site, they'll quickly become the laughing stock of social media. If they laugh with the site, they'll be accused of laughing at their own customers. They're better off to stay quiet and let the hoopla die down. Which it will, eventually, if Walmart doesn't get heavy-handed. It's not a site that's likely to do lasting damage to the brand, or help it. It's a joke that's gone viral. But my bet is that Walmart won't suck it up and be a good sport. Time will tell.

Walmart's spokesperson, David Tovar, said to ABC News, "It doesn't seem like it's news that there's a Web site that allows people to post photos on it.

Well, OK, Mr. Humorist. I think a better statement might have at least attempted to say something nice about Walmart's customers.

But is ignoring the site really the best strategy? Some in the media community have suggested that Walmart should flip the script by creating its own Web site with flattering pictures of its more photogenic customers. I could see this working out well (once they find the customers, which will likely be a daunting task), especially if the photos are accompanied with short blurbs about why the shoppers love Walmart instead of snarky captions about self-defecation. However, while it would look good for Walmart, I'm not sure it would be a viral success because it wouldn't be funny. And the media might turn the story about Walmart's counter site into an investigation to see if the customers are cherry-picked, considering the company doesn't have the best track record with trying to implement social media (just Google "Wal-Mart blog scandal" or click here).

I am rarely one who thinks that companies should ignore potential image damagers. I think trying to just let things blow over is generally a very poor PR strategy that often results in disaster. However, in this case, I'm not so sure. Almost any action taken by Walmart would be like them saying, "Those aren't typical customers, our customers are usually very well-dressed and well-groomed." Oops, you just called a third of your shoppers rednecks.

My thinking is that, as a discount warehouse, Walmart isn't expected to be classiest place on Earth. People shop there to get anything they need in one convenient place and to get it at a price that is less than they would pay elsewhere. I don't think People of Walmart is going to stop anyone from shopping there (aside from those who already refuse to shop there) or hurt the company's bottom line. Will People of Walmart taint the company's image? No, I don't think so, because it's not telling anyone anything that they don't already know — it just gives us a chance to relive those special Walmart moments in our own homes where we can actually laugh out loud instead of having to restrain ourselves.

Even though People of Walmart has gone viral, it's not likely to cause widespread tremors in the media now that the launch has come and gone. Similar sites have gone viral on a much larger scale, especially those affiliated with social media mogul Ben Huh, such as I Can Has Cheezburger? and FAIL Blog. Still yet, I'd guess that the general population (and an even higher percentage of those in a Walmart store at any given time) have even heard of these sites. Sure, you think for a second that I'm crazy because everyone knows about those cute kittens with their misspelled phrases, but you're reading a blog right now. You're not exactly at the bottom of the food chain in that whole diffusion of innovations theory.

All I know is I can't wait for a Women of Target site to launch.

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So, what do you think Walmart should do? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Toad-a Pop or Toad-al Scam? The PR Case Study Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua A. DeLung) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Surely you've heard about the recent Diet Pepsi scandal involving a "frog or toad" found in Florida in a can of the popular soda. Found... or strategically placed?

What you might not remember are the massive hoaxes of the early 1990s involving Pepsi, when a couple in Washington state claimed to have found a syringe in their can of soda, sparking widespread claims of similar tampering elsewhere in the country. Unfounded accusations of tampering, that is. While a few cases were never fully resolved, Pepsi was never found to have done anything wrong, nor was there ever any proof of tampering at its manufacturing facilities. In fact, virtually all of the cases were found to be hoaxes.

Why this matters in terms of public relations is how Pepsi handled the whole syringe situation in 1993. While the liars looking to make some quick bucks off Pepsi were taking the trial to the media, Pepsi had to find a way to do the same thing without making the ultimate PR mistake of all — accusing the consumer. And thus the reason this became one of the greatest PR case studies ever.

Pepsi's statement then was a mirror image of its statement in light of the frog-in-the-can accusations. Paraphrased, they said that the speed at which cans move on the lines at Pepsi factories is too fast for tampering to have taken place. In order to help change the minds of the American public (while losing tons of money on lower products being sold and the marketing campaigns necessary to combat the hoaxes), Pepsi took to the media as well. Before long, the negative coverage about claims of syringes turned into broadcasts of Pepsi's video news releases and video taken by reporters invited into Pepsi plants around the country. The images of the fast-moving conveyor belts looked pretty convincing.

But perhaps the most genius part of Pepsi's PR plans involved the FDA. The company pressured the FDA to make a statement that the cases were apparently hoaxes, which they eventually did. This allowed official word to come out that it was some consumers who were at fault and not Pepsi, without Pepsi actually having to do the deed.

Fifty-three people in 20 states were arrested for filing false claims back then, and that's not even close to the number of people who actually made claims. Remember the finger in the Wendy's chili back in 2005? Think about it for a second. Can you remember how that was resolved? If you did, you're probably more media-savvy than the average consumer. Just to clarify, the woman making those claims was arrested too, and it all turned out to be a hoax. The problem organizations face in terms of PR is that the media heavily report the sensationalized stories of dangerous and exotic items being found in our favorite products, but the subsequent resolutions of these matters (almost always hoaxes) end up as briefs in the back of the newspaper or buried at the bottom of your favorite news station's links of the day on their Web site.

So am I saying that Fred DeNegri of Ormond Beach, Fla., is a liar? Well, in all likeliness, yes. Now, I'll admit it's possible that Kermit left Jim Henson's closet and trekked from L.A. to Texas before swimming across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida and making his way to Pepsi's Orlando plant. Yes, anything is possible. Oh, but wait, then Kermie freaking sneaked inside the plant, avoiding all of the workers, before finding a frog-sized ladder to climb up to the conveyor belt with the soda cans on it. Kermit had been taking notes from his buddy Frogger, you see, and he knew that he had to time his greatest scheme ever just right or he would end up splattered from Orlando to Tampa Bay. So he waited, and he waited, and then he jumped with the precisive accuracy that only an overweight, 35-year-old gamer in his mother's basement on an Atari 2600 guiding a pixelated amphibian could achieve. And, splash! Kermit had made it in the can, somehow losing his "internal organs normally found" in a frog. Orrrrr, DeNegri could be making it up. But who are we to pass judgment?

Oh, and DeNegri's original guess as to what was in the can? A mouse. Later in 1993 (after the syringe panic), a Mexican woman visiting the U.S. did indeed find a small rat in her Pepsi can, which federal investigators confirmed but did not initially release findings about for fear of creating another scare. However, Pepsi denied any responsibility in this matter. It is convenient, however, that with a little bit of Googling, DeNegri could have also learned this. I'm not saying he did it, and I'm not saying it's all a hoax. But it's almost always a hoax when something such as this has happened in the past.

In its most recent PR efforts, Pepsi's spokespersons have used the rhetoric surrounding all the previous hoaxes to their advantage, stating that "there never has been even a single instance" where these types of claims have been traced back to manufacturing issues. Other than that statement, Pepsi seems to be keeping mum on the incident, but it's likely there won't be enough idiots out there who think they can get away with fake claims to cause any sort of panic like the one that occurred in 1993. And that's the reason why the DeNegri's are either very unlucky Pepsi drinkers or very stupid people. Only time will tell, but I'd expect Pepsi to let the whole ordeal run its course, probably ending with an FDA statement if a hoax is confirmed. After all, they've been through this before.

Don't expect Pepsi's sales or reputation to suffer as much this time around as they did in 1993, either. After all, syringes brought up thoughts about AIDS and drugs, topics that were quite a bit higher in the media's priorities and in the daily repertoire of politicians at the time. We can handle swallowing frog parts as long as we don't get a disease, right? In addition, there have been a lot of these I-found-something-in-my-something-else stories and false stories via e-mail chain letters since 1993 as well. In a way, the American public is more desensitized to this than they were 16 years ago.

Feel free to discuss Pepsi's PR strategies and anything else you please in the comments section below. What theoretical applications do you see here, and would you do anything different then or now? What are your thoughts regarding the brand of Pepsi? Keep the comments and questions coming!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to grab a Diet Coke.

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Sources/Additional Reading:

FDA says residue is frog or toad
Wendy's hopes arrest will bring back customers
Hoaxes are found in the Pepsi case
The Pepsi Product Tampering Scandal of 1993
Needle in Pepsi