Corporate Communications and Social Media
June 13, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Social media -- media where consumers, customers, and curiosity quenchers can interact with producers, distributors, and creators -- is here to stay.
Companies must adapt to the new paradigm of social media or otherwise increase the risk of damaging consumer relationships in an already fragile economy. The challenge intensifies if the company owns brands that rely on a personal relationship with the consumer, for example, children's entertainment.
Parents make the ultimate purchasing decision regarding children's entertainment in the household. Companies attempt to reach these consumers by investing time, money, and personnel resources to create elaborate product launches, marketing campaigns, and public relations strategies.
These methods all have their place in creating anticipation, building loyalty, and maximizing awareness. Old school methods communicate messages to media in the traditional sense, usually trade magazines (Hollywood Reporter, Ad Week) and consumer magazines (Parents).
Social media, however, allows the company to communicate directly with the consumer.
For example, a blog gives the company terrific flexibility in consumer relationships. In our scenario of a children's entertainment company, a blog can reinforce the company's brand values and reflect the parents' values. Because a blog may have opportunity for comments, the communication becomes a conversation directly with parents in the language they speak instead of the rather dry language used for press releases.
Additionally, a blog can provide information about children's safety, health, and education to reinforce the company's image of understanding the complex challenges involved in improving children's well-being.
Facebook also allows the company to build, maintain, and increase customer awareness of its brands. Besides giving information about the company's products, the company can create fun quizzes for the parents to find out which of the company's franchise characters match their respective personalities. Parents were once kids, too!
Also, when parents become Facebook fans of a character or the company, then the company has another outlet for immediate communication to customers.
Through awareness comes interest. Through interest comes decision. Through decision comes action. If this cycle is successfully repeated, customer loyalty increases.
Twitter requires more active maintenance of communications. In short, rapid-fire bursts of 140 words or less, the company can keep "followers" informed of deals, upcoming product launches, and reviews.
The responsibility for maximizing the value of social media falls squarely on the corporate communications team. The team needs to be proficient in three key areas:
1) History
Because the corporate communications staff comprises the "face" of the company in communicating with the media, staff, and consumers, it must show deep knowledge about the company. It begins with the history, particularly when the company revives brands. For example, when Warner Brothers released the film Batman in 1989, it was the first major relaunch of the property since the 1960's television show Batman starring Adam West. Warner Brothers heavily promoted the rich history of the Batman property in comic book reissues, press releases, and news stories.
Accumulating knowledge about a company's property is a deep challenge. Institutional memory fades with layoffs, cutbacks, and lateral moves within the industry. Corporate communications staff must build its own institutional memory through a variety of sources. In the entertainment industry, for example, fan sites, books, and previous press releases will be helpful in addition to the memory of long-time employees who still work for the company.
However, all information must be vetted. Trust but verify. No corporate communications staff member wants to be challenged because the information represented is false, incomplete, or misleading.
2) Listening
Corporate communications staff will represent the company's message, brand, and values to consumers, trade media, and mass media. However, different divisions in the company will have different priorities. Consequently, the elusive skill of active listening is an invaluable asset. Corporate communications professionals must incorporate the needs of the respective divisions and the company as a whole in its communication strategies.
3) Crafting a Message
Ultimately, the corporate communications team will have to craft a message. It can be a speech by the CEO to an industry group. It can be a press release touting a product launch. It can be an update about deals on Twitter.
Whatever the media, the corporate communications team needs to have a plan for each avenue of communication. What is the objective of sending the message? Who will be the voice of the company? What is the crisis communication plan?
Additionally, avenues of communication exist beyond courting editors in old media and consumers in digital social media. Executives can speak at industry conferences, author scholarly and mainstream articles in industry media, and speak to consumers at the grass roots level -- Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, PTA, et. al.
In every case, though, corporate communications staff must have the writing, speaking, and networking skills necessary to ensure the message it sends is the message received.
david@davidkrell.com
Social media -- media where consumers, customers, and curiosity quenchers can interact with producers, distributors, and creators -- is here to stay.
Companies must adapt to the new paradigm of social media or otherwise increase the risk of damaging consumer relationships in an already fragile economy. The challenge intensifies if the company owns brands that rely on a personal relationship with the consumer, for example, children's entertainment.
Parents make the ultimate purchasing decision regarding children's entertainment in the household. Companies attempt to reach these consumers by investing time, money, and personnel resources to create elaborate product launches, marketing campaigns, and public relations strategies.
These methods all have their place in creating anticipation, building loyalty, and maximizing awareness. Old school methods communicate messages to media in the traditional sense, usually trade magazines (Hollywood Reporter, Ad Week) and consumer magazines (Parents).
Social media, however, allows the company to communicate directly with the consumer.
For example, a blog gives the company terrific flexibility in consumer relationships. In our scenario of a children's entertainment company, a blog can reinforce the company's brand values and reflect the parents' values. Because a blog may have opportunity for comments, the communication becomes a conversation directly with parents in the language they speak instead of the rather dry language used for press releases.
Additionally, a blog can provide information about children's safety, health, and education to reinforce the company's image of understanding the complex challenges involved in improving children's well-being.
Facebook also allows the company to build, maintain, and increase customer awareness of its brands. Besides giving information about the company's products, the company can create fun quizzes for the parents to find out which of the company's franchise characters match their respective personalities. Parents were once kids, too!
Also, when parents become Facebook fans of a character or the company, then the company has another outlet for immediate communication to customers.
Through awareness comes interest. Through interest comes decision. Through decision comes action. If this cycle is successfully repeated, customer loyalty increases.
Twitter requires more active maintenance of communications. In short, rapid-fire bursts of 140 words or less, the company can keep "followers" informed of deals, upcoming product launches, and reviews.
The responsibility for maximizing the value of social media falls squarely on the corporate communications team. The team needs to be proficient in three key areas:
1) History
Because the corporate communications staff comprises the "face" of the company in communicating with the media, staff, and consumers, it must show deep knowledge about the company. It begins with the history, particularly when the company revives brands. For example, when Warner Brothers released the film Batman in 1989, it was the first major relaunch of the property since the 1960's television show Batman starring Adam West. Warner Brothers heavily promoted the rich history of the Batman property in comic book reissues, press releases, and news stories.
Accumulating knowledge about a company's property is a deep challenge. Institutional memory fades with layoffs, cutbacks, and lateral moves within the industry. Corporate communications staff must build its own institutional memory through a variety of sources. In the entertainment industry, for example, fan sites, books, and previous press releases will be helpful in addition to the memory of long-time employees who still work for the company.
However, all information must be vetted. Trust but verify. No corporate communications staff member wants to be challenged because the information represented is false, incomplete, or misleading.
2) Listening
Corporate communications staff will represent the company's message, brand, and values to consumers, trade media, and mass media. However, different divisions in the company will have different priorities. Consequently, the elusive skill of active listening is an invaluable asset. Corporate communications professionals must incorporate the needs of the respective divisions and the company as a whole in its communication strategies.
3) Crafting a Message
Ultimately, the corporate communications team will have to craft a message. It can be a speech by the CEO to an industry group. It can be a press release touting a product launch. It can be an update about deals on Twitter.
Whatever the media, the corporate communications team needs to have a plan for each avenue of communication. What is the objective of sending the message? Who will be the voice of the company? What is the crisis communication plan?
Additionally, avenues of communication exist beyond courting editors in old media and consumers in digital social media. Executives can speak at industry conferences, author scholarly and mainstream articles in industry media, and speak to consumers at the grass roots level -- Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, PTA, et. al.
In every case, though, corporate communications staff must have the writing, speaking, and networking skills necessary to ensure the message it sends is the message received.
Peace Is Conflict Management
June 11, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
When I was a senior in college deciding where to attend law school, I visited Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California. An invitation from Pepperdine for an orientation triggered the visit. My knowledge of the area consisted of Baywatch frequently showing scenes from Malibu and Pepperdine hosting the classic sports event Battle of the Network Stars.
My first solo trip -- no family or friends. I only vaguely remember the cross-country plane ride, the hotel, and the Pepperdine faculty whom I met.
Although I did not ultimately attend Pepperdine, I did learn a valuable lesson during the orientation. A faculty member closed his presentation on lawyers and negotiation by saying, Peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is the management of conflict.
When I was an in-house counsel at an entertainment company, a gentleman approached the company with artwork of a famous character owned by the company. His father created the artwork for character merchandise in the 1940's. Although the artwork was in pristine condition, we clarified, emphasized, and repeated our intellectual property rights to the character. Translation: You can't merchandise this artwork without our permission. Corollary: Let's make a deal.
Managing the conflict led to a deal. The client did not have intellectual property rights. The company did not have the artwork. Neither side could exploit the artwork without the consent, compromise, and acknowledgement of each other.
Consider this fictional scenario with real-life implications, counterparts, and challenges. A fictional character is the subject of a short story written as a promotional giveaway for a department store in 1945. A song written about the character debuts in 1950. A 1965 cartoon featuring the character and the song becomes the best-known incarnation of the character. The beginning credits indicate the cartoon is based on the song.
If the company owns the copyright to the cartoon but the songwriter's heirs own the rights to the song upon which the cartoon bases, then who has the merchandising rights to the cartoon version of the character? Logically, one would think the company that owns the cartoon will control the merchandising rights associated with it.
Each side will stake its claim to rights through torturous, sometimes byzantine avenues of legal argument, theory, and chains-of-title. In some cases, original contracts may not exist. So, the challenge intensifies because the starting point for rights clarification begins not at the beginning but at the date of the first existing document -- contracts, letters, memoranda, affidavits, court filings.
Let's say a licensee approaches the company with a deal for a snow globe featuring the character. A week later, the licensee revises the deal proposal to include a turnkey that plays the aforementioned song. What was once a standard licensing deal now becomes more complex. If you are the attorney for the company, do you notify the owners of the song? If so, who will be responsible for quality control of the product? What will the royalty breakdown be between the company and the song owners? Who will be the point person responsible for negotiating with the licensee? These vital questions have the undercurrent of conflict that must be addressed, clarified, and managed if each side wants to realize a deal.
Again, peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is the management of conflict. For either side, management of a business relationship requires traits beyond legal and business acumen -- stamina, people skills, quest for compromise where each side will benefit. These are the traits they don't tell you about in law school. Some lawyers are born with them. Some lawyers acquire them. Some lawyers ignore them, ultimately to the detriment of their relationships with other members of the bar.
Consider the case of Leonard Goldenson as an example of excellence in conflict management. In 1953, Leonard Goldenson was an entertainment lawyer who bought a ragtag group of stations from Life Savers king Edward Noble and built it into the powerhouse television network ABC.
Because the entertainment industry's engine relies on the fuel of content, Mr. Goldenson had to be nimble, creative, and courageous in taking risks.
In the early 1950's, Walt Disney needed seed money for his dream project -- Disneyland. No studio or bank would invest in Disney's idea.
Leonard Goldenson needed product for ABC. The two moguls struck a deal. ABC invested in Disneyland and Walt Disney provided the shows Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Club.
The conflict for Disneyland was lack of money vs. innovative entertainment. The conflict for ABC was lack of product vs. already established networks NBC and CBS. By acknowledging their respective conflicts, each side managed them effectively. Each side needed something from the other. And each side agreed to fulfill those needs.
Leonard Goldenson and ABC also struck a deal with Warner Brothers to produce television shows for ABC. Before the deal, no movie studio wanted to touch television. At the time, they viewed television as a threat, not an opportunity. Leonard Goldenson knew different.
Warner Brothers created shows revolving around young, hip private detectives with character crossovers a common occurrence. They became signature shows for ABC in the late 1950's and early 1960's -- 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Bourbon Street Beat, Surfside Six.
The conflict for Warner Brothers was embracing the new medium of television vs. letting a competitor get a potential jump start. The conflict for ABC was mirroring the already established programming paradigm of NBC and CBS vs. trying something new for a younger demographic.
david@davidkrell.com
When I was a senior in college deciding where to attend law school, I visited Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California. An invitation from Pepperdine for an orientation triggered the visit. My knowledge of the area consisted of Baywatch frequently showing scenes from Malibu and Pepperdine hosting the classic sports event Battle of the Network Stars.
My first solo trip -- no family or friends. I only vaguely remember the cross-country plane ride, the hotel, and the Pepperdine faculty whom I met.
Although I did not ultimately attend Pepperdine, I did learn a valuable lesson during the orientation. A faculty member closed his presentation on lawyers and negotiation by saying, Peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is the management of conflict.
When I was an in-house counsel at an entertainment company, a gentleman approached the company with artwork of a famous character owned by the company. His father created the artwork for character merchandise in the 1940's. Although the artwork was in pristine condition, we clarified, emphasized, and repeated our intellectual property rights to the character. Translation: You can't merchandise this artwork without our permission. Corollary: Let's make a deal.
Managing the conflict led to a deal. The client did not have intellectual property rights. The company did not have the artwork. Neither side could exploit the artwork without the consent, compromise, and acknowledgement of each other.
Consider this fictional scenario with real-life implications, counterparts, and challenges. A fictional character is the subject of a short story written as a promotional giveaway for a department store in 1945. A song written about the character debuts in 1950. A 1965 cartoon featuring the character and the song becomes the best-known incarnation of the character. The beginning credits indicate the cartoon is based on the song.
If the company owns the copyright to the cartoon but the songwriter's heirs own the rights to the song upon which the cartoon bases, then who has the merchandising rights to the cartoon version of the character? Logically, one would think the company that owns the cartoon will control the merchandising rights associated with it.
Each side will stake its claim to rights through torturous, sometimes byzantine avenues of legal argument, theory, and chains-of-title. In some cases, original contracts may not exist. So, the challenge intensifies because the starting point for rights clarification begins not at the beginning but at the date of the first existing document -- contracts, letters, memoranda, affidavits, court filings.
Let's say a licensee approaches the company with a deal for a snow globe featuring the character. A week later, the licensee revises the deal proposal to include a turnkey that plays the aforementioned song. What was once a standard licensing deal now becomes more complex. If you are the attorney for the company, do you notify the owners of the song? If so, who will be responsible for quality control of the product? What will the royalty breakdown be between the company and the song owners? Who will be the point person responsible for negotiating with the licensee? These vital questions have the undercurrent of conflict that must be addressed, clarified, and managed if each side wants to realize a deal.
Again, peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is the management of conflict. For either side, management of a business relationship requires traits beyond legal and business acumen -- stamina, people skills, quest for compromise where each side will benefit. These are the traits they don't tell you about in law school. Some lawyers are born with them. Some lawyers acquire them. Some lawyers ignore them, ultimately to the detriment of their relationships with other members of the bar.
Consider the case of Leonard Goldenson as an example of excellence in conflict management. In 1953, Leonard Goldenson was an entertainment lawyer who bought a ragtag group of stations from Life Savers king Edward Noble and built it into the powerhouse television network ABC.
Because the entertainment industry's engine relies on the fuel of content, Mr. Goldenson had to be nimble, creative, and courageous in taking risks.
In the early 1950's, Walt Disney needed seed money for his dream project -- Disneyland. No studio or bank would invest in Disney's idea.
Leonard Goldenson needed product for ABC. The two moguls struck a deal. ABC invested in Disneyland and Walt Disney provided the shows Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Club.
The conflict for Disneyland was lack of money vs. innovative entertainment. The conflict for ABC was lack of product vs. already established networks NBC and CBS. By acknowledging their respective conflicts, each side managed them effectively. Each side needed something from the other. And each side agreed to fulfill those needs.
Leonard Goldenson and ABC also struck a deal with Warner Brothers to produce television shows for ABC. Before the deal, no movie studio wanted to touch television. At the time, they viewed television as a threat, not an opportunity. Leonard Goldenson knew different.
Warner Brothers created shows revolving around young, hip private detectives with character crossovers a common occurrence. They became signature shows for ABC in the late 1950's and early 1960's -- 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Bourbon Street Beat, Surfside Six.
The conflict for Warner Brothers was embracing the new medium of television vs. letting a competitor get a potential jump start. The conflict for ABC was mirroring the already established programming paradigm of NBC and CBS vs. trying something new for a younger demographic.