Changes on Madison Avenue
Twenty years ago, an ebullient three-year-old sat on the Madison Avenue bus in New York eager to chat with the conservatively-dressed businessman next to him. "These are my new marbles," he confided to the man. "Do you like them? I had other marbles but I lost them, so Mommy bought me new ones." The man responded, "You're lucky, young man. When you lose your marbles on Madison Avenue, you usually don't get new ones." And he got off the bus.
As I spent time last week with this young man, now a six-foot grad student, I couldn't help reflecting on the vast changes that have taken place in 20 years. There is hardly any "Madison Avenue" left on Madison Avenue, for one thing. The exodus to offices where only factories, printers and wholesale butchers stood 20 years ago is just about complete. Now the conservative suit has given way to the de rigeur all- black wardrobe.
Those are superficial changes. But new technologies have changed the way we communicate. Expressions connected to old technologies are now out of the lexicon and a mystery to younger employees. We don't "set type" any more or do "lay- outs" and "paste-ups." Nor do we say, "hold the wire" when we're on the phone, since many of them are wireless (except for my mother, who won't touch a cell phone – or a computer, so there's no danger she'll see this!). How many people under the age of 40 have even heard of a ditto machine? Or know what cc: stands for?
Words that didn't exist 20 years ago are part of our everyday lives now, like blog, Google, podcast, email, online – even the Internet itself. The technologies these words describe have caused huge shifts in the dynamics of the communications marketplace.
In the PR industry, communications innovations continue to evolve almost daily, creating new implications for both positive and negative effects on PR goals. It's not always easy to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change. But it's crucial to stay on top of emerging technologies and know which must be embraced quickly.
Lucy Siegel
Our London Bridge
Nothing could be more of a mystery to many Americans than the ways of our cousins in the UK. We're pleased to feature a guest article in this issue from David Watson, principal, Campaign Team, his own PR and corporate communication firm, based in the UK. David, formerly managing director at two UK top-20 PR firms, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations - obviously qualified to give us tips on UK PR and dealing with the Brits. If you have questions about the UK market or want to part with a chunk of your budget there, email David at occam_uk@yahoo.co.uk.
No Fog on Airstrip One...Or How to Deal with the Brits
By David Watson,
Principal,
Campaign Team
The UK's sense of itself has often been summed up by the headline from a 1940s British national newspaper: "FOG IN CHANNEL – CONTINENT CUT OFF."
But this was self-importance, not isolation. Ever since we worked out how to build ships we've been all over the place, exploring, trading and generally making trouble – or as we say now, networking. But while the glory days of Empire are over, there's a legacy:
- We're the fourth largest economy on Earth and we're well-connected more or less everywhere – so we generally know what's going on in the world, and we often have a piece of it. If you want to irritate us, assume our impact matches our geographical size.
- We're several countries and it's important to get these right from the outset. The UK is "the United Kingdom of Great Britain (i.e. England, Wales and Scotland) and Northern Ireland". Each is distinct and there are rivalries. Deal with them individually if you possibly can – don't expect a Scot to come to London to meet you – Scotland's a big market, so cross Hadrian's Wall. Learning a dozen words in Welsh will make you almost unique as a foreigner – but only a fifth of people living in Wales speak, read and write the language.
- English, however, is the world's lingua franca, and although Churchill talked of two nations divided by a common language, he was wrong. It's not about how we pronounce "tomatoes" (i.e. correctly), it's whether or not you can spot such British foibles as understatement and irony. If your potential customer says your product is "not bad" that probably means "wow". If a journalist asks you how long you've been the world's leading expert in your field (and you're not), that's irony, and things are getting dangerous.
- Don't assume we've gone metric. And don't assume that we haven't either. While it's illegal to sell fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces our road signs are in miles not kilometers. Be prepared for both imperial and metric systems – and remember that our gallons are a fifth larger than yours. Nothing is simple.
- In "1984" George Orwell called England "Airstrip One" to reflect the way he thought the "special relationship" was going, but things have changed. The British are the biggest investors in the U.S. by far and that's the reason you're so high up our news agenda – it's nothing to do with awe. So take the trouble to build relationships with us before you try to make a sale or fix a media tour. Our journalists react badly to the news that an American CEO they've never heard of will be available at Heathrow for interview.
With over 3,000 PR firms in the UK, including all the world's biggest, the battle for media attention is intense and sometimes bloody. Have your PR people brief the relevant journalists over time; in particular have them brief you in depth about any you're going to meet (what have they been writing about? what axes do they have to grind? why did they ignore your main competitor? do they do lunch?); make sure you're up to speed on the media's current obsessions before you travel (listen to the radio program that sets the news agenda at www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today and take out a subscription to Private Eye www.private-eye.co.uk).
And don't get so concerned by all this that you look the wrong way crossing the road at the airport. Driving on the left might seem like niche behavior, but over 70 countries do it, including Indonesia, India, Australia and Japan. Some of that's legacy too.
Bad Word-of-Mouth Is Disaster for Retailers
Negative word-of-mouth about a store is worse than a negative personal experience, as a deterrence to shopping there. That was the take-away from the study that Bridge helped Toronto public relations firm High View Communications release on retail customer satisfaction. The study was jointly sponsored by Canadian firm The Verde Group, which specializes in measuring the cost of customer dissatisfaction, prioritizing the issues based on ROI, and fixing them for improved retention and profitability; and the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
"This study is unlike anything we've seen before because it shows that for every 100 American shoppers, 64 people will be told about a store's poor products or services and no matter what that store does to entice shoppers - sales, promotions, advertising, marketing - those people will not set foot in their store," says Paula Courtney, President, The Verde Group. Nearly one-third of all U.S. retail customers who have a bad shopping experience will tell four people in such a way that those four people will be more negatively impacted than the person who initially had the problem.
Bridge Execs Speak to BSU Grad Students
Bridge President Lucy Siegel and Vice President Keiko Okano were guest speakers in February at the Ball State University graduate school public relations management class of Dr. Melvin L. Sharpe, APR. The topic was cross-cultural management styles and public relations. Of the 20 students in the class, about a third were from Europe or Asia, and they quickly grasped Lucy’s and Keiko’s explanation of what is important in working with cross-cultural management teams due to differences between countries and cultures. The students posed questions about the best preparation for a career in international public relations management and received advice on types of courses and internships that would be helpful.
The class was held in Muncie, Indiana, at Ball State’s Department of Journalism, but Lucy and Keiko joined via teleconference.
Adrianne Velez Interns at Bridge
Adrianne Velez, a 21-year-old senior at College of Mount St. Vincent in New York, is interning at Bridge three days a week this semester in preparation for a career in public relations after her graduation in May. Adrianne, who will earn her B.A. in communications with concentrations in Corporate Communications and Broadcasting, received two academic scholarships throughout her four years of school: the Sr. Berry David Scholarship and The Verizon Scholarship.
"My growing interest in PR is what led me to Bridge," Adrienne explained. "The staff has given me the opportunity to put my education to use by being part of many different activities, and it has taught me a vast amount in the short time that I have been here. This experience alone has increased my desire to pursue a public relations career." |
