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SlideShare is fast becoming an important method of communication for public companies reaching out to current and potential investors. While not as widely used as other social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, SlideShare offers a unique opportunity for companies to provide an easy to use and interactive experience with corporate presentations and reports to investors. SlideShare is now an emerging best practice as it offers a more engaging experience for investors rather than just posting a downloadable PDF version of a presentation on the website. Investors are now able to view Presentations and reports as they were intended and are able to easily share the content with their own contacts....
Apple PR Fail: Tech Giant Scolds New SVP... Hey, how’s Apple doing? Well, their stock just soared to an all-time high in anticipation of new iPhone and iPad models, and they’re currently the most respected company on the planet according to a recent Barron‘s survey. So yeah, no worries there. But today we bring you news of a rare PR Fail among Apple’s top brass. John Browett joined the company in January as senior vice president of retail, replacing the lamented Ron Johnson after he left to head aging retailer JCPenney–and the new guy found himself in a bit of hot water this week thanks to a few well-placed rumors and some very dedicated bloggers. Seems like Browett told some insiders at the company that, in his humble opinion, the celebrated Apple Stores were “bloated” with too many employees. He then shared news of his plans to help them run “leaner” by reducing the hours of part-timers and laying off hundreds of recent hires at branches around the world if they insisted on working more than 32 hours a week. This tough talk quickly came back to bite Browett–hard.... [Oooooooops - JD]
It came as no surprise to this blogger that GM fired its controversial CMO Joel Ewanick after just two years behind the wheel. As I reported when Ewanick arrived in Detroit, the guy has pursued a scorched earth policy that... And, so, having decided it had been sideswiped one time too many by this road rage of a marketing executive, GM fired Ewanick, saying “...he'd failed to meet the expectations the company has of an employee." Now, there's an interesting non-statement. Usually, when a Fortune 500 company terminates a high-profile C-suite executive, the press release indicates he or she “...left to pursue other interests.” Failing to meet the expectations the company has of an employee tells me there may be more to this dismissal than meets the eye (or exhaust pipe, if you prefer)....
The Jack Daniel's people sent the nicest trademark letter ever to the author of a book that aped its logo for a book cover. Usually when we write about trademark disputes, one party claims that another party is using its size to “bully” to get its way. Not this time. In what might just be the nicest cease-and-desist letter we’ve ever seen, the people at Jack Daniel’s Properties not only politely explained the situation to Wensink, the company even offered to help pay for the cost of designing a new cover. Jack Daniel’s Properties isn’t even forcing Wensink to take his book off the shelf. Instead, the company just wants him to change the cover when it’s reprinted.... [Sweet, smart PR - JD]
We like to believe that a few bad apples spoil the virtuous bunch. But research shows that everyone cheats a little—right up to the point where they lose their sense of integrity, writes Dan Ariely. We tend to think that people are either honest or dishonest. In the age of Bernie Madoff and Mark McGwire, James Frey and John Edwards, we like to believe that most people are virtuous, but a few bad apples spoil the bunch. If this were true, society might easily remedy its problems with cheating and dishonesty. Human-resources departments could screen for cheaters when hiring. Dishonest financial advisers or building contractors could be flagged quickly and shunned. Cheaters in sports and other arenas would be easy to spot before they rose to the tops of their professions. But that is not how dishonesty works. Over the past decade or so, my colleagues and I have taken a close look at why people cheat, using a variety of experiments and looking at a panoply of unique data sets—from insurance claims to employment histories to the treatment records of doctors and dentists. What we have found, in a nutshell: Everybody has the capacity to be dishonest, and almost everybody cheats—just by a little. Except for a few outliers at the top and bottom, the behavior of almost everyone is driven by two opposing motivations. On the one hand, we want to benefit from cheating and get as much money and glory as possible; on the other hand, we want to view ourselves as honest, honorable people. Sadly, it is this kind of small-scale mass cheating, not the high-profile cases, that is most corrosive to society.... [Wonderful, thoughtful read, especially for PR and marketing pros LOL - JD]
Becoming an industry thought leader is a critical legitimization tool for your business. Industry thought leaders build trust and loyalty. ...Think about it- when was the last time you made a really important or expensive purchase? What drove your decision to go with product X or service Y? I’d be willing to bet that it was influenced by an interaction (doesn’t have to be in the flesh) you had with a person who had earned your confidence on some level. It’s human nature, after all. Nobody likes to look stupid, especially when making decisions that matter the most. Here are 15 tips to help you gain similar influence as a thought leader in your industry...
The New York Times' Gene Marks asks Christopher Carfi three good PR questions: Q: Do you think negative advertising is effective? Q: One often hears, “Any P.R. is good P.R.” Do you agree? Q: What do you recommend for a small business that gets “bad” P.R.?
All CEOs should speak this way.... ...In an era in which communications professionals, attorneys, and brand consultants scrub everything many CEOs say, this was admirable and refreshing. More CEOs should speak like people. It makes them more approachable and likable. It reminds everyone that they are people doing jobs. And it makes everyone actually listen to what they have to say. In any event, when Carol Bartz got canned as Yahoo's CEO, she went out exactly the way she came in: With a short note to the staff...
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Are you a courageous communications professional? A maverick marketer? PR pioneer? Or do you aspire to be? Great. Our world needs mavericks to shake things up and break through barriers. But not at all costs.
What lessons can we learn from the rise and sudden fall of General Motors’ bold marketing chief, Joel Ewanick, who was recently (and abruptly) bounced from the company? A lot. And these takeaways could save your job—and reputation....
Earlier this month, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare announced that it had agreed to activist demands that its Centrum brand amend its marketing practices. With the prospect of a lawsuit from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) looming, the company agreed to discontinue claims that some Centrum products promote “colon health” and “breast health.” The company also agreed to qualify statements made on the Web and in traditional advertising that certain supplements contribute to “heart health.” All of the changes, including revised product labeling, will be in effect by January 5, 2013. The agreement represents one of those rare instances in which a major corporation – they don’t get any bigger than Pfizer in the pharmaceutical industry – quickly backs down in the face of activist pressure. Some may wonder why Pfizer would make such a move. But don’t fault the company for capitulating just yet. There are least three good reasons why Pfizer’s decision made sense under the circumstances.... [A good strategic public relations lesson -JD]
Venture capitalists are hiring full-time public relations experts to tell bloggers and reporters of their investing prowess. It wasn’t so long ago that venture capitalists kept secrets. The young start-ups they backed certainly sought attention, but most venture capitalists operated under levels of secrecy typically reserved for Swiss banks.... Investment partners at Sequoia even used a disparaging name for venture capitalists who promoted themselves to the press: “parade jumpers.” Now, Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley is one long parade route. Venture capitalists are hiring full-time public relations experts to tell bloggers and reporters of their investing prowess. They publicize their every doing and thought on Twitter and in blog posts. In the last year, several top firms have hired people to handle marketing, branding and public relations full time. Among them: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lightspeed Venture Partners and True Ventures. Many others, like Benchmark Capital, New Enterprise Associates and Greylock Partners, keep public relations firms on retainer. [Reputation matters and sociaal media is playing a key role in PR & VC success - JD]
In my view, public attacks, whether in the mainstream or social media, reflect more on the attacker than they do on subject of the attack. Customers and prospects on the sidelines see right through the motivation: though offered under a veil of differentiation, it’s clear any company that attacks another is doing it for attention. Further, it has little if any credibility. Of course we say nice things about ourselves.,,,
The folks at Goldman Sachs are breathing just a little easier today. The media sharks have found another sad victim: JP Morgan. $2 billion in trading losses is a lot. Certainly would be hard for me to swallow. And that’s part of the problem with this kind of story. It’s pretty hard for us common folks to understand the scale and scope of Wall Street Investment activity, and when you have politically motivated “reporters” doing all they can to make these bankers seem evil incarnate, it gets even more confusing.... [Different perspective on JP Morgan $2B loss and crisis management - JD]
The Arthur W. Page Society today introduced “Building Belief: A New Model for Activating Corporate Character and Authentic Advocacy,” a corporate comms model that builds upon the organization’s 2007 “Authentic Enterprise” report. Back then, the group described the new comms landscape. This new model offers a framework for managing it....
The reputations of Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs all fell significantly in this year's Harris Interactive survey,... More than three years after the financial crisis, Wall Street banks are still in the doghouse. In a survey intended to track the reputations of leading companies, only 17 percent of respondents had a positive impression of the financial services industry, according to Harris Interactive, a consulting firm. That is lower than the 22 percent of survey participants who had a favorable opinion of the industry last year. Wall Street ranks third from last in popularity among all industries surveyed, above only tobacco and government.... [What do? - JD]
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