A local hospital 
is at the beginning of what promises to be a lengthy and costly resolution of a situation involving a prominent physician, many, many of his patients and now, legions of attorneys.
In fairness to the hospital, it is a complicated situation not easily explained and therefore not easily understood by most of us. Additionally, there are many points of view that will be played out in the media for the foreseeable future.
However, based on media coverage thus far, the hospital does not appear to be assertively defining the situation to one physician in one department utilizing one procedure.
If we were asked our opinion on what their crisis communications strategy should be, we would implore them to quickly and decisively place the situation in context of the hospital’s overall reputation. It should then implement an ongoing, focused communications program that defines and defends the institution’s expertise and reputation beyond the boundaries of the current situation, albeit a serious and far-reaching one.
Get Ready for the QR Code
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Perhaps you’ve noticed those square barcode-looking thingies in the corner of magazine ads or on product packaging. They’re also beginning to appear on posters in malls, stickers, real estate “for sale” signs, and t-shirts.
Called QR Codes (for quick response), we’ll be seeing more of them as they catch on, and lots of PR uses are waiting to happen. Here’s how they work: first you need a mobile barcode reader app on your smart phone (I downloaded QuickMark and Microsoft’s Tag Reader for my iPhone). When you come across one, aim the phone’s camera at the little icon and voila, the QR Code does its thing and instantly brings up a website or displays contact information or generates an email or a text message (whatever the generator of the code wants to share). They’re a way to deliver “saveable” info to someone on the go. Microsoft says they “add interactivity to your physical materials.”
Aim your phone at the QR Code in this post and you’ll find yourself at the Sawmill Marketing Public Relations website. It took me about 10 seconds to set it up using Kaywa’s QR Code Generator.
Jesse Kaye, who runs HomeTryst.com in Washington, D.C., told me he’s using QR Codes for his real estate company. He also created an informative how-to video on his blog. It’s a good idea starter and can give insights into how businesses can use this new technology, including ways the restaurant sweetgreen is using them!
We’re already brainstorming ideas with clients. How about you?
The incredible coverage in the traditional media, posts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other online venues of the recent Jet Blue flight attendant’s bizarre reaction to a less than civil passenger brings home the point that a crisis is rarely, if ever, straightforward in the facts surrounding what happened.
IMO, what’s getting lost in the accolades for the flight attendant’s way that he quit his job are the bigger, more serious issues of the safety risk he put the passengers in when he deployed the evacuation chute and the complicated state of today’s customer service.
It will be interesting to watch how Jet Blue moves forward and how it incorporates the incident into its customer service training. It should make for an important case study.
Opportunities and Challenges of Social Media
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We were asked by a prospect to describe the opportunities and challenges of social media. Rather than write the latest book about it, we came up with these 10 points. What do you think? Did we miss anything?
Opportunities
Social media allows an organization to tell its story directly to audiences without having to go through the filter of the media;
The real value of social media – customer service – means the public can get answers to questions quickly and efficiently, potentially increasing a brand’s reputation;
Social media enables the sharing of video and photos – in addition to text – to provide a better story to a public that does not have time to read;
With mainstream media consumption decreasing as more people head to social media, establishing a presence enables an organization to reach people where and how they want to receive information;
As mobile devices and applications become even more popular, social media enables organizations to offer information where and when consumers want it.
Challenges
While “free” to set up, the cost of social media is in the manpower of monitoring and responding to questions/comments which can become time-consuming when done properly;
By definition, social media is two-way communication, so organizations not accustomed to listening to and responding to criticism sometimes have a difficult time accepting social media;
Opponents and critics have a ready-made venue for their complaints with social media, so monitoring and responding requires the expertise of someone trained to deal with crisis PR and communications;
Some organizations want a defined return on investment (ROI) for their use of social media, but such a measure is difficult to gauge;
With social media, complete control of the message is not in the hands of the organization as it is with one-way communications such as advertising.
Here’s a new one, brought to the PR Buzzsaw’s attention via a Twitter exchange this morning:
Gus Sentementes, a reporter with The Sun in Baltimore, received an unusual request from a PR person who wanted a “100 percent guarantee” that Gus would write a story before he would be granted access to the company. No chance to judge its newsworthiness, no opportunity to see if they had anything interesting to say/show, not to mention what Gus’s editor would decide. Promise you’ll write a story first, and then you can sit down with the company reps. Otherwise it’s a waste of time!
Gus was likely as surprised as we were, and sent out a tweet to see what PR people who follow him on Twitter thought.
I tweeted that the PR person was either clueless about the media or did not have the ability to counsel his/her management team about what a bad idea it is, and that it will have negative repercussions for the company/brand down the road.
Gus confirmed in a subsequent post:
“I meet a lot of people and I have a long memory. Just b/c I don’t write about u now doesn’t mean I won’t in the future.”
Later, Gus tweeted how he responded:
“I said making a guarantee would be unethical and unrealistic. I haven’t heard back.”
If any PR people out there have ever requested a coverage guarantee, we’d love to hear your point of view. Has it ever worked? Maybe we can all learn something.
BALTIMORE, Md. (July 12, 2010) – Craftsmen Developers LLC, a residential and commercial land development firm, has selected Baltimore PR firm Sawmill Marketing Public Relations for a public relations campaign to increase awareness of the firm’s land development projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and its expertise and commitment to environmentally responsible green development.
The Baltimore-based PR and social media company is implementing a comprehensive public relations campaign that includes media and community relations programs and that will initially focus on Craftsmen Developers’ distinction of achieving the first National Association of Home Builders Research Center 4-Star Green Land Development Certification on the East Coast.
About Craftsmen Developers, LLC
Based in Glen Burnie, Md., Craftsmen Developers, LLC, founded in 2008 by CEO W. Dennis Gilligan, is one of the most experienced land developers in the Mid-Atlantic region, serving the real estate needs of residential home and commercial building industry clients with properties in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware. For more information, visit www.craftsmendevelopers.com
About Sawmill Marketing Public Relations
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations is a Baltimore PR firm and social media marketing communications agency established in 1995 specializing in the development and execution of marketing public relations programs as business development strategies for business-to-business, business-to-consumer and professional services clients. The Maryland public relations company specializes in social media, traditional media relations, media training, and crisis communications. For additional information, visit www.sawmillmarketing.com
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Media Training Tip #11: Company is Coming!
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In preparing for a visit from a member of the esteemed Fourth Estate, focusing on getting yourself ready with relevant talking points, answers to anticipated questions as well as a mock interview session or two are the obvious and right priorities.
However, you should regard this visit much as you would that of any VIP or a guest in your home. Make sure to communicate “Welcome” with a comfortable setting for the interview, appropriate refreshments, and check that the office areas are free of clutter and the restrooms are spotless. Simple but important.
An Insider’s View from Television Hill in Baltimore
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Here at Sawmill we take every opportunity to meet with decision-makers in the news business to learn how we can help them do their jobs. We recently heard from news and assignment desk sources at WJZ-TV, the CBS affiliate in Baltimore, who told us exactly what they’re looking for and how to reach them. We then took a quick tour of the studio with members of the Baltimore Public Relations Council. Here’s a behind-the-scenes (or should we say in-front-of-the-cameras) view, beginning with the Morning Edition desk, then sweeping left to the main news desk and finally the First Warning Weather center.
BP’s Crisis Communications Continues to Bewilder
By · CommentsBP continues to distinguish itself in a growing number of categories in the ongoing sad saga of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill mess, including the bewildering way it communicates with the world.
We wish we could enroll them in our crisis communications summit. But it may be way too late.
Sunday’s photo of Tony Hayward watching his yacht race was one that will rank high on the “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes I would have never believed it” list! How could anyone at BP have thought that would be an OK way to spend a Sunday afternoon in public and that the media would give his attendance a pass?
While the opportunity has been missed for BP to get out in front of the crisis as well as also ignoring a long list of other effective crisis communications fundamentals, there is still time (thanks in part to BP’s difficulties in finding a workable solution to capping the leak) for BP to communicate — through their actions and words on and off the job — genuine and sincere empathy to a world that is in dire need of it.
Will they do it?
