Metzger Associates' Blog

If It Isn't Bad Enough the First Time Around...

posted by Doyle

Poor Miss South Carolina.

I have no idea what the ratings were for the recent Miss Teen USA pageant, but I know I wasn't watching. But I have seen the pitiful clip of Miss South Carolina's rambling rant on why many Americans can't locate the U.S. on world map.

It would be too easy to poke fun, and too many already have, so let's hope she was just really nervous.

However, there's a lesson here for all of us regarding the conversational media -- millions of people that have no interest in a beauty pageant have watched this disaster. A mistake by any of us now lives on the Internet. It can be shared, forwarded, commented upon and rapidly distributed to an even larger audience than the original broadcast.

Just like bad news about your company, or missteps by members of your management team.

 

Bad Idea

posted by Doyle

Paying bloggers to post is a bad idea for everyone concerned.

Can lots of posts improve your search engine ranking? Yes. Is it OK if you disclose you were paid to post? It's better, but still not advisable. If you want to buy an ad, buy an ad. If you want to join the online conversation, do it openly and honestly.

We work with bloggers as well as members of the mainstream media to introduce them to appropriate stories they may find interesting. If they do, they may choose to write about them, online or in a traditional media outlet. If there's not an interest or fit, they don't cover the story. If they cover it, we get an honest story. We often learn a great deal for our clients from people who choose not to write about a topic -- we might find out there are similar offerings, or we're not explaining the benefits as clearly as we could, or a number of issues. These honest conversations are often as valuable as a story.

Paid blogging can severely damage the reputation of the company who pays, and it can destroy the credibility of the blogger who takes the money (whether they are required to be positive or not).

Bad idea.

The iPhone Can't Be That Cool... or Can It Be?

posted by Doyle

So, I gave in. I got the most-hyped, must-have gadget of, well, maybe of ever.

The iPhone.

My friends immediately fell into one of two camps: the first was the "I'm so jealous" camp. These folks know they want an iPhone, but something -- usually a contract with another carrier -- is holding them back. The other camp was the "is it really that cool?" camp.

The answer -- yeah, it really is that cool.

As a gadget freak, I've usually had some pretty cool phones, and I pass the habit down. My kids each carry pretty nifty Nokia music phones (with unlimited text messaging, of course). I've recently had a T-Mobile MDA, a Blackberry and a T-Mobile Dash. They're all very good units, each with some pros and some cons, as you might expect. Depending on your needs, I'd recommend each of them.

Then there's the iPhone. It's sleek, it works great, and it's delivery of the Internet is unbelievable. While I've used my cell phones as alarm clocks, I've never been able to grab one, hit snooze and browse the Wall Street Journal while spending a couple of extra minutes under the covers. Yeah, yeah, my past phones would do that in theory, but it wasn't really a readable version of the Web site. This is. Really.

The map function has eliminated the need to visit Mapquest while running out the door, and the iPod features are great (since I use subscription music, I've not been a big iTunes user -- that, and I'll rent DRM-laden files, but I won't buy them). iTunes is far and away the best solution in the industry for easily updating podcasts.

I got to thinking about what I don't use as much, if at all, since I got my iPhone, and the list is pretty telling:

• Mapquest, as I mentioned.
• My home computer -- why go into my office to do a simple task like check Gmail or read a few blogs when I can do it from anywhere in the house with my iPhone.
• Traditional newspapers -- I can easily scan two or three of my favorite papers each morning while brewing some tea (to be clear, I happily pay for subscriptions to those that ask and offer a quality product, like the Journal. I'll pay for content rather than the mechanism to get the actual paper to me).
• My digital camera -- my last couple of phones took photos that were slightly better than not having a photo at all. The iPhone is a real live camera. While it won't replace my high-end Sony for everything, the high-end Sony doesn't go out to dinner very often, so it's nice to be able to grab a snapshot of reasonable quality.
• My desk phone -- the iPhone lets me listen to voice mail in any order I like. That probably saves an hour a week.

Yes, there are little things: no cut-and-paste function, no MMS, no Flash support and no video camera. But for me, those are rounding errors for the outstanding functionality in all the other areas.

I have to admit it -- the iPhone is that cool.

Certification for PR Professionals: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

posted by Doyle

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is considering certification for public relations professionals.

We say: it's about time.

Many people don't know what the qualification is for entering the PR field today, but the bar is pretty low. Get some business cards, and you're in PR. While that level of professional probably won't be successful, there's a great deal of damage done to the reputation of the field each and every day by people that say they are PR practitioners, but are far from professional in their approach to the business.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- one of the hardest parts of my job is undoing the damage done by some of the PR folks who have come before me when I call a reporter for the first time.

The PRSA task force on the issue is working to accomplish the following objectives:

• Conduct a comprehensive study regarding the feasibility of professional certification for public relations.
• Identify potential areas of certification with leaders of PRSA professional practice areas, such as utilities, government, health care and others where large numbers of professionals practice PR-related specialties.
• Select one or two areas to be the initial focus of this inquiry and explore how PRSA might establish certification.
• Explore how PRSA might oversee certification to assure that wherever it may be proposed within the spectrum of activities, a credible, uniform and highly acceptable approach is undertaken, independently monitored and validated.
• Present the Task Force findings to PRSA leadership.

This is a difficult undertaking, to be sure, but our hats are off to PRSA for giving it a go. We're looking forward to the results.

Simply Brilliant

posted by Doyle

Bravo to Geert Desager, Microsoft's Trade Marketing Manager, for this video (and thanks to John Kembel at HiveLive for passing it along).

This is the best illustration of the difference between talking to your customers vs. talking with your customers I've ever seen. It's simply must viewing for anyone in marketing, public relations or any subset.

Well played!

Frank at Apple Rocks!

Posted by Doyle

I purchased an iPhone last week (I'll write more on the device in another post) and had some issues getting it to sync with my Windows computer. I know, I know... all the Mac fans are saying "get a Mac." Actually, based on my first-ever experience with Apple tech support, that's more likely than ever before.

Long story short, the issue was a complex one, and I was escalated to a specialist. The good news there was that the first person to answer the phone quickly ascertained the issue was not simple  ("Did you reboot?") and got me where I needed to be right away.

I was transferred to Frank, and we ended up spending a couple of hours on the phone together. Usually, two hours with tech support would be right up there with a bad dentist appointment -- and it wasn't how I wanted to spend part of a sunny Saturday afternoon -- but Frank was outstanding. It was clear he was determined to fix my problem, not get me off the phone. We brainstormed ideas, he emailed me links and articles while we were on the phone, and he provided me with his direct line and email so I could quickly get back to him if further issues arose.

Even better, I've received two emails with links and information in them and a follow-up phone call from Frank making sure I'm a satisfied customer.

Believe me, I'm a satisfied customer.

If this is any indication of the customer service and support Apple provides to its customers, I"m a step closer to understanding the legions of rabid Mac fans out there.

Who knows? Maybe my next computer will be a Mac. If something goes wrong, I can always call Frank!