Nokia's Viral Campaign Confuses Consumers

Nokia has launched a new viral marketing campaign designed to take advantage of consumer curiosity. Unfortunately, the message is so obscure and the timing is so poor, it doesn't seem to be attracting much interest.

First, they began with a site called OpenAtOwnRisk.com which challenged consumers with "A secret that can now be found within Nokia Download service, allowing the public - you, to find the key and break the seals. And see..." There was no indication as to what the announcement would be, although one can assume it will be related to a new product, service or software.

The story they're telling began "hundreds of years ago when several royal families got together and created something so unnerving, it was locked up behind four seals." The instructions on how to break the seals have been hidden for generations. And, now the seals were to be broken, according to a hidden count down, around 101 hours from the initial site launch. In other words, today.

This morning the same URL contained a sly "notice of termination" letter that appears, at first glance, to be a genuine cease and desist order to the person who launched the site. But, the copy indicates the person behind the site will stand trial accused of "intent to publish content driving people insane." Obviously, this is not a real charge and is the next step in the campaign.

While the concept is clever, the execution of this campaign is flawed. There hasn't been a great deal of media coverage on it, even in the blogosphere. And, the coverage I have seen is largely confused by the campaign. Now, being confused is not necessarily a bad thing. Getting people asking each other what it is and what they think the announcement will be was clearly the goal here. But, Nokia has some things working against them in terms of really generating interest. First, the 101 hour countdown took place over a U.S. holiday (4th of July / Independence Day) when a lot of people were on the beach instead of online. Secondly, some bloggers and commenters on blogs are confused by the notice of termination letter. Many people, it seems, are not reading the letter closely enough to catch the joke of it and are, instead, dismissing the campaign entirely.

Clearly, the letter is designed to generate more anticipation and further the notion that whatever lies behind the seals is terribly strange. Unfortunately, the delay in showing this content is creating the opposite effect. People are losing interest.

I will keep you advised of new developments in the campaign. But, so far, it seems to be a good idea executed poorly.

-- my two cents

Clorox & Sierra Club: The Good, The Bad, The Green

We've talked a bit here about Greenwashing and the importance of honesty and accountability in Green marketing campaigns. I came across an interesting case study that has some celebrating success and others crying foul.

As was reported in January, Clorox was granted permission to use The Sierra Club's name and logo to sell its "Green Works" line of cleaning products, in exchange for Clorox paying an undisclosed percentage of sales to the environmental group.

The campaign brought with it both controversy and cash for Clorox.

AdAge reported yesterday that "Green Works sales are estimated at $20 million and the product with the Sierra Club tie-in has gotten exposure on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' and 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show,' resulting in Clorox raising its volume forecast five times."

Meanwhile, the Sierra Club has been slammed by members and non-members alike. Four Sierra Club chapters actively and publicly opposed the deal, which, according to some accounts, resulted in 27 leaders' expulsion from the group.

In fact, a quick search turns up many blogs by angry Sierra Club members decrying the partnership. In the political blog Counterpunch, former member Karyn Strickler insists the Sierra Club sold out to Clorox. And, Tim Hermach, also a former member, writes in his Green Change Blog that The Sierra Club has become "just another corporate front." He goes on to say, "They are whoring the environment for financial gain, they've lost their mission and lost their way."

Betsy Roberts, a former chapter chairwoman, and Karen Orr, a former chapter political-committee chairwoman, blasted the suspensions in blogs and online environmental publications, arguing it happened as the national group pursued "its unsavory new focus on lucrative revenues from corporate donations."

Green Works' brand manager, Mark Kohler dismisses the criticism as "misinformation" and says the negative press has been "frustrating" for Clorox.

Amid protests and Sierra Club suspensions, Clorox sought to reassure customers that its environmental claims were genuine, and not just hype or Greenwashing with PR messages in various blogs, in "guest essays", and interviews, as well as publicity stunts like representatives from Clorox and The Sierra Club jointly ringing the bell to open trading.

Still some environmental experts questioned the Sierra Club's decision to back Green Works without a standardized review process that applies to other products, too.

"It sounds risky both to Clorox and the Sierra Club," said Scot Case of the group EcoLogo, which sets environmental standards for products. "I would want to know exactly how the Sierra Club made its determination. Unless they are going to publish the standard that products have to meet, it sounds like a form of greenwashing."

As Green marketing continues to grow and more brands hop on the bandwagon, this Clorox case study should be a lesson to us all. An argument could easily be made that sales are up, so who cares if there is criticism. But, it will be interesting to see what kind of backlash continues and how/if that impacts the overall brand.

Similarly, with the Sierra Club bearing the brunt of the backlash (the notion being that of course Clorox did this, they're corporate; but a trusted environmental group should have known better), it's highly doubtful this group and others of its kind will be quick to offer product endorsements in the near future.

-- my two cents

More Journalists Ban PR Pros: How to Avoid the Blacklist

Okay, I know what I'm about to say is blasphemy in our world, but I agree with the recent reports of journalists blacklisting PR professionals. (Go ahead, grab your pitchforks and light your torches.) I agree because I've had enough reporter-pals share these SPAM-pitches with me to know how frustrating it is. Pitches with all caps shouting ad messages; misspelled names; identical emails sent to 5 people at the same publication; a technology story sent to someone on a real estate beat...it goes on and on.

For those who might be unaware of the uproar, there has been a flurry of reporters to officially blacklist individual PR pros and, in some cases, entire agencies because of this kind of activity. The most recent complaints have come from Gina Trapani, editor of Lifehacker, who published a PR blacklist of domain names from firms that had sent her SPAM-like pitches. Blogger Matt Haughey also joined the fray, complaining about an endless stream of PR SPAM and Wired magazine's editor-in-chief, Chris Anderson, shared similar frustrations last year. Todd Defren of PR Squared, one of the blacklisted firms, published an open letter of apology to Gina and other offended journalists hoping to get back in their good graces.

So, here's my inevitable two cents on the subject. Media pitching has always been a delicate art, made even more so by the explosive number of targets and tactics available to us. It's so easy to forget that for every one reporter, there are thousands of us vying for their attention. Seriously, think about how often you pitch reporters, now multiply each one of those emails and phone calls by oh, I dunno, 50,000 and maybe you get an idea of the numbers we're talking about.

So, here's my advice to avoid the SPAM-pitch.

Think like a writer. So often we forget that reporters & bloggers are writers. And, what does every writer need? Characters. Conflict. Resolution. Emotion. Every story has these. How did the company leaders meet? What problem does the product solve? What challenges were overcome to get where they are now? There is a story in there, I promise. Find it and pitch that instead of the company or product.

Think like a reader. So, you've got your characters and story-line. Now ask yourself, is this something I would read? Would this capture my interest? If not, go back to the beginning and find out why; what's missing? Where is the heart? What was the ah-ha moment that started it all?

Tailor to your target. Know what your target media writes about and tailor your story to them. Blasting out a bunch of press releases or the same pitch to hundreds of reporters will never get you a real story. Maybe, at best, you'll get a couple of minor hits. But, if you want a real narrative, you need to make it personal.

Be Brief! This is especially important when considering the volume of pitches media get. The goal of a pitch is to get a reporter's attention not to provide an epic thesis on every possible angle or idea relating to the product. You want to simply demonstrate the potential for good ink. Journalists & bloggers know their craft and they can read between the lines of your pitch to see the bigger picture.

It's not always about you and your needs. Our job is to make reporters' jobs easier and sometimes that excludes our clients. When I hear about a story that I know Joe Journalist will love, I tell him about it. It doesn't matter that it has no relation to any clients on my roster. I am building a relationship with Joe that will pay off in the long run. These guys get enough self-serving emails/calls every day. Toss them something that serves only them and they will remember you for it.

So, let's redeem ourselves here folks. Get creative. Get writing. And remember sell the story, not the product.

-- my two cents

Pontiac’s Interactive Scavenger Hunt Falls Flat

It’s a mad mad mad mad mad world for GM Canada as they’ve concluded a three-city interactive campaign for the new Pontiac Vibe called “Catch the Vibe.” But, in my view, this campaign was hardly worth the cost and effort. Here’s the breakdown:

A cross-country scavenger hunt fueled by Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr; plus e-mails, online ads, video clips, blogs, wikis, and text messages.

The campaign consisted of two-person teams, each driving a Vibe.

So far, it’s not unlike past campaigns: Budget’s 2005 16-city treasure hunt or Volvo’s 2007 buried car treasure hunt (a Pirates of the Caribbean tie-in), for example.

What’s so unusual is that each team is made up of journalists, 96 in total, covering their efforts as they raced around town to complete bizarre tasks and search for objects. They were given a Pearl 8130 to help search for clues and complete challenges like taking a picture in front of a church with red doors, or a shot of a participant hugging a cop. Points were given to teams who recruited people to cheer for them on the site.

The Vibe's online campaign site attracted around 4,000 unique visitors and in excess of 2,000 registered online team supporters since the event began on March 24.

Hardly a success, in my book. The math alone speaks volumes: 96 participating journalists and 2,000 registered supporters. Sounds like friends and family to me. Consider that Volvo’s campaign had more than 32,000 participants and over a million site visitors. Budget saw nearly 50,000 participants. And, both of those campaigns were directly linked to increased sales/rentals and dealership traffic.

The thing is most of these reporters automatically test-drive new vehicles. So, GM didn’t really gain anything by limiting the campaign to media. In fact, they may have hurt their launch because instead of writing about the car and its features, participating journalists wrote about the goofy things they were made to do; and – in some cases – reported on how much they love the Pearl (see paragraph 3 under Mathieu Lapointe). Sure, they had fun on GM’s dime, but writing about collecting coins and finding three vibrating objects doesn’t really boost Pontiac’s bottom line. And, nothing better exemplifies this aspect of the blunder than a quote from Chris Chase of Candian Driver, "Unfortunately, I didn't get to drive the Vibe at all (not even around the block), so I haven't a clue how it handles or feels. But, I had a good amount of time in the passenger seat -- which is fairly comfortable."

Some of the journalists invited to participate don’t cover cars at all. I can understand the notion that getting someone like Ellen Mizra, a freelance beauty writer, to post about her scavenger hunt adventures might introduce the car to her readers. But really…if I’m reading about beauty products, I’m not so sure a report about Ellen’s difficulty blow-drying her hair in public will sell many vehicles.

I don’t get why consumers weren’t brought into this campaign. The ultimate goal is to sell cars. You do that by getting the buyer in the vehicle. In fact, at about 1:37 in this clip, a representative from this campaign specifically says, "the target market is the 25-35 year old who lives in social media." Okay, so why not include that target in your campaign? It's like they forgot the "social" part of social media. Campaigns like this are about participation, involvement, community. GM approached this like old-school media where people sit around reading about the exploits of others. Had GM allowed average folks to participate, even as part of the journalists’ teams, they could have introduced the Vibe to potential customers. Seems to me this was much ado for nothing.

Then, again, this is just my two cents …

April Fool Pranks Backfire Into PR Nightmares

So, it’s April Fool’s Day. Those who know me know I love playing pranks on people. I once changed the name on my former CEO’s door to a competitor’s name. (He got me back by having a reporter call claiming to have dirt on the company’s president which she planned to run the next day. I fell for it completely and when I told the CEO, he said, “fix it! This is what we pay you for!” I ended up quoting libel law at the reporter until she finally confessed to the prank. But, man oh man, was I sweating!)

I’m sure more than a few of you were goosed by your favorite radio station, web site or blog this morning. I’m not going to play a joke on you today - mainly because I didn’t plan ahead enough to do so. Instead, I’ve compiled a list of some April Fool’s Jokes that backfired. So, if your client is insisting you issue that phony press release, you may want to refer to the below. (List courtesy of www.museumofhoaxes.com and Wikipedia.org).

Bank Teller Fees: In 1999 the Savings Bank of Rockville placed an ad in the Connecticut Journal-Inquirer announcing it would begin charging a $5 fee to visit a live teller. More than 1,000 customers closed their accounts. The bank ran a second ad revealing it was a joke and asking customers to return. Most of them did not.

Death of a mayor: In 1998, WAAF DJs, Opie and Anthony reported that Boston mayor Thomas Menino had been killed in a car accident. Menino happened to be on a flight at the time, lending credence to the prank as he could not be reached. The tasteless rumor spread quickly and spawned news alerts. The DJs were fired shortly thereafter and the radio station issued a nationwide apology.

Free concert: Radio station 98.1 KISS in Chattanooga, TN falsely announced in 2003 that Eminem would give free show in a discount store parking lot. Police faced traffic gridlock and enraged listeners who threatened to harm the DJs responsible. Both DJs were later jailed for creating a public nuisance.

Webnodes: In 1999, a press release hit Business Wire announcing a new company called Webnode, which had been granted a government contract to regulate ownership of routes of data called 'nodes' on the 'Next Generation Internet.' 50 million nodes were available for $100 each. Offers poured in for the fictional nodes. Business Wire didn't enjoy being used for a prank and sued the perpetrators, the now-defunct ISP First World Communications, for fraud, breach of contract, defamation, and conspiracy.

Free Trip: 1972 was the 100-year anniversary of Thomas Cook's first round the world travel tour. The London Times ran a full article about Cook's 1872 tour, which mentioned the travel agency Thomas Cook was offering a similar package deal at 1872 prices to the first 1000 people to apply. Crowds formed outside the Thomas Cook offices, which nearly became a riot. Thomas Cook issued an apology for the hoax and, interestingly, the reporter who wrote the article, John Carter, was fired.

Mt. Milton Erupts: In 1980 the Channel 7 news announced a 635-foot hill in Milton, Massachusetts had erupted, and that lava and ash were raining down on nearby homes. Footage was shown of lava pouring down a hillside. At the end of the segment, the reporter held up a sign that read "April Fool." But by that time frantic residents were fleeing the area. One man, believing that his house would soon be engulfed by lava, had carried his sick wife outside to escape. Channel 7 was so embarrassed thath they apologized for the confusion, and the executive producer responsible for the prank was fired.

So, Happy April Fool’s Day folks and be careful out there!

-- my two cents

Tony Stewart Puts Goodyear in a PR Tailspin

"Goodyear can't build a tire worth a crap," said driver Tony Stewart on Sunday at the Atlanta Speed Motorway about new tires the NASCAR sponsor created specifically for the race. "The tires were made with a harder material so they would not wear down, but that made handling difficult,” said Ed Clark, president of Atlanta Motor Speedway. “Issues with the handling made drivers more cautious and the race less exciting and that disappointed fans.”

A video of Stewart vowing to “go home and take everything that has Goodyear on it off and put Firestones on to feel a lot safer” has been circulating YouTube and fan sites today. Not exactly the kind of result Goodyear expected after paying millions to be the exclusive NASCAR tire sponsor.

So far, there’s only been a non-comment comment from Justin Fantozzi, marketing manager for Goodyear Motorsports who said, "We don't make decisions for any reason but to provide the safest tire."

While it's good to distance themselves from Stewart’s comments. (Directly addressing Stewart would only flame the fire.) With other drivers now joining in the complaints, I'd say Goodyear should quickly explain the specific problem the drivers were having and describe how it will be fixed. Take responsibility. Then action. And, move on.

As far as the success of their sponsorship goes, William Pate, president of marketing at Career Sports & Entertainment in Atlanta, said “NASCAR fans are a loyal lot. Studies show 70 percent buy products associated with the sport and there's a huge gap between second place. It will be interesting to see what comes next."

Added Note: I just want to give props to Jerry Edwards who posted this idea in the comments section: "They should hire Tony as a consultant. He uses their product to make a living. Who better to give Goodyear the guidance they need to make a tire that delights its customers. " I love this idea. Great hay could be made.

-- my two cents

Mark Cuban Bans a Blogger from Maverick's Locker Room

As we continue debating media access for bloggers, an ironic twist has come into play. Mark Cuban, a blogger himself, banned a blogger from the Maverick's locker room for having too much media credibility! Now there is a first!

Tim MacMahon, who writes a blog for the Dallas Morning News was denied entry to the Maverick's locker room over the weekend because of a new policy refusing access to writers whose "primary purpose is to blog."

On his blog today, Cuban says he's not coming down on the citizen journalist. He's calling out traditional media who send in bloggers, instead of feature writers, to get a jump on media companies that don't blog.

"What I didn't like was that the Dallas Morning News was getting a competitive advantage simply because they were the Dallas Morning News. Some out there will take this as my not 'liking' blogs. Ridiculous. its the exact opposite. What I don't like is unequal access. I'm all for bloggers getting the same access as mainstream media when possible. What I'm not a fan of is major media companies throwing their weight around thinking they should be treated differently."

The Dallas Morning News, however, claims this new ban is aimed at MacMahon, whom the paper says was asked to leave the locker room on February 29th after posting a piece that was critical of coach Avery Johnson. MacMahon has been blogging about the Mavericks for the Morning News since 2006.

Banned For Too Much Journalistic Credibility
Usually organizations ban bloggers for not having enough traditional media cred. But denying a major-media-backed blogger just because the Dallas Morning News could publish a story first? Well, that would be like telling TV networks they can't cover an event because they'd scoop print reporters. Or denying CNN an interview because 24/7 broadcasting gives them an unfair advantage over the networks!

Technology changes the game. Always has. Always will. Those who play smart, win. Certainly Mark Cuban, the man who created Broadcast.com, understands this. And, considering that bloggers have been beating traditional media to the punch for years now. Perhaps turnabout should be fair play here.

-- my two cents

Taco Bell to WGA: Wanna Write for Food?

Time and time again Cohn & Wolfe has executed flawless PR campaigns for the world’s top brands. I’ve always been impressed with their ability to provide tangible results – generating real numbers for measurable success.

Today Cohn & Wolfe announced their client, Taco Bell, is “supporting the WGA” by offering striking writers the chance to win $260 worth of free food for 10 clever quips to be printed on sauce packets. (i.e. "Use your stomach, nacho mind.")

Normally, I love campaigns that allow customers to personally interact with a brand. But, this feels like such an obvious attempt to milk WGA publicity. I wouldn’t be so bothered by the idea of paying writers in food if it weren’t for the faux altruism behind it.

In the press release, Chief Marketing Officer for Taco Bell, David Ovens, says, “The writer's strike is now in its second month, and Taco Bell wanted to show its support for the thousands of creative minds itching to press pen to paper, or in our case, Border Sauce packets."

Both an insult to the writers and to advertising copy writers everywhere.

Many brands have secured a little publicity by having food delivered to the picket lines – Taco Bell among them. I certainly think that’s a good move and one likely to be appreciated by the writers for a long time to come. But it just feels wrong to pretend that giving writers the chance to win free burritos for a fast food pun is anything but a publicity stunt .

.

I'm also not clear what this will really do for Taco Bell's bottom line. It seems to be a stunt purely for the sake of general publicity. Most stunts center around attracting new customers, capturing customer information, or creating a buzz for a new product launch. All this does (for me) is demonstrate corporate greed with Taco Bell paying $260 for ad copy while piggy-backing a union's publicity.

Who knows, maybe this will be a huge success for Taco Bell. If it is, I will enjoy a big slice of humble pie right here in front of you all. But, for my money, this falls flat.

-- my two cents

image courtesy of www.defamer.com

Target Tells Bloggers to Buzz Off

Today the New York Times reported a PR pro from Target told a Blogger the company does not respond to non-traditional media outlets. The story goes something like this:

1. Last week someone from Shaping Youth, a Blog that covers the impact of marketing on children, emailed Target’s PR team about a current ad.

2. The PR pro brushed off the Blogger saying they only talk to “traditional publications that reach our core guests.” The Blogger ran the story/editorial about the ad, along with Target's non-comment comment.

3. A Blogstorm quickly followed and continued throughout the weekend. Bloggers spread the word: Target doesn’t like Bloggers; Bloggers aren’t Target’s customer-base; Target is living in 1997.

4. Today, Monday morning, Target was forced to address both issues: the original concern about the ad and what they said about Bloggers when the New York Times picked up the story, which has been syndicated through the Associated Press.

The official Target spokeswoman, Amy von Walter, told the Times, “We do not work with Bloggers currently. Target’s policy is to focus limited resources on the big media outlets, like television stations and newspapers, which reach large numbers of shoppers. With a small public relations team, we want to make sure we are making an educated decision and we live up to any promises we make, in terms of service.”

Anyone who believes that Bloggers do not reach a large number of shoppers need only recall Dell Hell, a blog that became so popular it cost Dell its place as market leader. To this day, the company is still trying to rebuild its customer service image.

There is simply no more immediate way to spread information than the Blogger. Every one Blog is linked to other Blogs, which are linked to other Blogs, and like the old shampoo commercial goes…and so on ... and so on.

In fact, companies that embrace Bloggers (and PR pros who pitch them) often see a loyalty not found in a lot of traditional media. Bloggers have the luxury of writing what they want and they can be your most vocal advocate if you invite them in.

On the flip side, disrespecting Bloggers is the quickest way to invite their wrath, which Target has most assuredly done because, once again, Bloggers have the luxury of writing what they want.

The fact is: media are everywhere and they take all forms. The first thing I say on my web site is:

The Internet has democratized our media landscape. Through blogs, webzines, social networking and more, your customer now has a voice as loud as any traditional channel—perhaps even louder. In today’s world, your customer is the media. That’s why it’s never been more important to “speak media” fluently in terms of strategy, message and delivery.

And, as I’ve said before on this blog—a great number of Bloggers work for traditional media outlets, in addition to writing their own blog. This is part of the one-two punch in pitching a Blogger; you can get your story in front of two media channels at once. Similarly, in this day of 24/7 news, a lot of media search Blogs for leads, as we’ve seen with today’s New York Times.

So, let the lesson be loud and clear: Bloggers are media too! In fact, they are fast-becoming the most important media Target out there (pun intended).

-- my two cents

Top PR Blunders of 2007

Fortune just released the 101 Dumbest Moments in Business for 2007.

PR guru Shel Holtz pulled out the moments that were "created by bad communications or had unusually horrific PR consequences."