Is advertising dead?

John Cass (PR Communications) doesn’t think so.

But I think it is. Not that it’s going to go away. Or that it should…(I really love advertising film festivals). But I think they may become more art than sales “tool.”

Why? Because I think the best advertising a product or service can have is when someone I know says they’ve used “it” and it was good. I’m more likely to buy or use whatever’s been recommended to me by someone (even if that “someone” isn’t someone I know personally…it could be a blogger for instance who seems to have no real stake in selling anything, but just has an opinion).

So is advertising dead? No. There’s just a better way to get real information. (For ideas…check out my last post.)

Comms unification…it’s time for the PR, marketing, employee comms merge

Social media is changing the power dynamics between employees and employers, consumers and manufacturers, media consumers and news producers.

How?

Anyone with an opinion can be heard…and not just by the people sitting the next cube over. Reach. If you’ve got a PC and Internet access, you’ve got worldwide reach. Some may point out that it’s more potential reach, than absolute. And absolutely, that’s true. But it doesn’t change the fact that word can spread faster than ever these days. And if the ‘talk’ is something you’d rather people didn’t know, it’d be good for you to know what they’re saying.

There’s my two-second pitch to execs who say blogging is a passing fad that they can easily ignore…WRONG! Why? Because not only are consumers blogging and -casting you over the Internet, so are tech reviewers (see TechCrunch for instance…rising in popularity and increasingly influential), and perhaps most interestingly…your employees are “out there” too, talking.

What are they talking about? Their lives. Interests. And where do most people spend most of their days? Well, that’d be at work. (And sleeping…but this post isn’t about that.)

Employees are online talking about what the company’s like. The culture. The people. And of course, the work itself. They’re not likely spilling company secrets (that would be stupid, and most most people aren’t stupid)…but they’re certainly letting people know how they feel about the company where they work, the products or services they sell, and what it’s like to be an employee there.

Now think…if I’m a young, hard-working, intelligent person looking for job, who’d I want to talk to? Someone who worked at the company I was considering. Before, you’d have to find someone to meet over coffee to have a chat. Now, there’s Google…and plenty of employees already talking about the company. Execs often mention that it’s only the complainers out there blogging (if this is true, and I don’t believe it is at all)…you should want to know and care what they’re saying, because it’s going to effect the talent you can attract to your company.

Mandy Thatcher at Melcrum mentioned in a recent post on ‘Consumed’ that they may look at my prediction that soon: companies-in-the-know, won’t have separate PR, marketing and employee comms departments. These functions will soon blur into one “communications group.” It could become known as the “conversations dept.” (And who wouldn’t want to work there!?!)

Employees can be the best or worst PR. Same goes for marketing.

Note to execs: Your employees are talking about your company. And most of them want to enjoy their jobs, be fulfilled, and find meaning in what they do. So let them. Be good employers: challenge your people, empower them to do brilliant work and let them talk about it. (They are anyways.)

And to the merge: when PR, marketing, and employee comms become one group, everyone will be able to know what the goals are, what should be kept secret, what doesn’t need to be.

The-cube-effect is rolling in…

Do you ever get a feeling that the people you work with just don’t “get” you? It’s not that they’re not nice or talented. It’s just…I don’t know, maybe “the-cube-effect.”

 

Being surrounded by tall grey cubicles with shades-of-grey carpet, and beige-grey walls….well it gets to you. I should say, it gets to me. I have a problem with this environment for a few reasons:

 

-          It’s uninspiring. I write for a living—online, for podcasts—and I do this for a corporation….so I need to be extra creative to devise ways to get busy, cube-dwelling colleagues interested enough to read/listen to my stuff. Picture this: me at my desk (I’ve got a standing one). I’ve velcroed photos everywhere I can, bought fuzzy orange-pink fake fur to cover my [grey!!!!!] office chair. I’m tapping away at my keyboard. Things are going well. I’ve got a good flow going. BUT suddenly, I get stuck. Hhhmmmm….what do I need here? I gaze away from my screen for some inspiration…and WHAT DO I SEE? Greyness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-          Cubes cut you off from human interaction. There must be at least 150 people in the 15 or so cube-rows immediately surrounding me. I know 30 of them. Think of this. I could be walking in my neighbourhood park and pass by, or sit next to someone “I work with” and have absolutely no clue!!! (This is sad. Very sad.)

-          Cube life also seems to be synonymous with corporations. And corporations are notoriously known to use clichéd, exclusive language that often lead to circle-talking (and not actually making a meaningful point). They struggle with being personal—people often complain of feeling like a number. Say: 11135559 (the number has been slightly changed to protect the identity of…well…me).

-          People are walled off and always look busy (whether they are, or are not…and secretly playing solitaire), so it makes me feel as though I must cut straight to business with no small chat….no getting-to-know-ya opportunities. It creates a sense of seriousness to the place.

 

Because of these effects (among others) cubicles have started to influence my behaviour. It’s not good. I need an intervention….someone throw me some hope…throw it over the cube wall before I succumb to the-cube-effect!

 

American comedian, Conan O’Brien knows what I’m talking about. Check out his tour of an Intel campus in Santa Clara.

Jargon fatigued?

YEP!

And it’s not just corporate jargon that’s got me down most…it’s the fact that communicators are some of the worst offenders. And worse yet: the other day during a workshop on improving two-way communication between managers and employees, I challenged some of my colleagues to go a week without using acronyms or jargon and people wanted to know WHY!?!

Is it not obvious?

I guess not. So here are just a few (cuz I could go on, and on, and on, and on, and on….) of my reasons for abolishing jargon and acronyms:

1. They lead to confusion. People often cite efficiency as a reason for relying on tired corporate axioms and TLAs (three letter acronyms…oh yeah…it even has its own meta-acronym), but there are many acronyms that have dual, triple, quadruple…meanings. So while you think MLB means moveable lane barrier in the transportation biz, if you’re in medicine, you might mistake the person’s meaning because you know it to mean microlaryngotracheobronchoscopy…CLEARLY. Confusion ensues.
2. They are tired. Cliches. (I’m referring to the jargon here.) Stop with the enabling synergy, leveraging ecosystems, blah, blah, blah!
3. What does enabling synergy even really mean? I often find jargon so ambiguous…be clear about what you mean, don’t just rely on silly buzz words to make it through a meeting. Put your thoughts together and be meaningful.

That’s it for now. I’m sure others can add their least favourite office speak. Have at it!

Do you like corporate videos?

I don’t.

We have an extremely talented video team at employee comms within Intel. They make beautiful videos. Still, I’m not a big fan. And it’s not at all their fault. (Like I said, they really are super amazing and I really like them a lot!!! Thing is, the team’s hands are tied by nervous executives and even more nervous legal teams who vet everything to death before employees get to see it…and what’s left is a very corporate video with very minimal–if any–humanity left in it.

What’s interesting though…is today, I was checking out our stats. And when we post videos that have been done by external orgs (like News Hour, or a PBS special where the CEO is interviewed)…these vids get huge views (anywhere from 25,000-35,000).

The reason? I think it’s because they’re not scripted. There’s no lawyer in the “background”…the execs can speak freely. It’s not that the execs aren’t coached, or that they didn’t prepare speaking points, I’m sure they have. But they’re allowed to loosen up.

I CRAVE that for internal comms. This is my plea to any execs reading this or communicators who have sway with execs…let yourself be natural. Be yourself in front of your employees…we want the real you…not the leveraged, synergized, enabled you!!!

Social media is not about communicators giving up control

I’ve read in a recent Melcrum study about social media that one of the “issues to consider when developing your social media strategy” is that you have to “prepare to relinquish control and share the process.”

Here’s where I disagree and get concerned….when you’re trying to influence a group of (often) reluctant senior executives to use social media tools at the company, the last thing you want to say is that: “…um…yes…well, you will need to give up control.” I’ll tell you, that meeting won’t go well.

To me, the idea of giving up control suggests we had it in the first place. Did we as communicators or executives ever have control over water-cooler conversations…over what employees say to their colleagues, friends or families? While I agree blogging for instance, means employees (who write well and cleverly) can easily amass an internal following and get the ears of a wider audience. This can be risky. Yes. BUT…at least with blogs we know what employees are talking about.

Social media tools provide insight into hot topics, issues and conversations that are happening in the hallways and beyond. And this in turn provides opportunities to influence these conversations by contributing our opionions/position on any given topic.

So…are we giving up control? I’d argue by bringing these conversations online we actually have more of a chance to really know what’s going on in our own companies.