FIR Podcast Network

We have a trio of discussion items this week. The first is from DigitalCommerce360 and concerns how customers should be your best advocates at building your brand identity and promoting your company. Marketers who focus on improving the customer experience and figuring out ways to regularly listen to customers’ desires and complaints can benefit from low-cost and powerful word-of-mouth promotion. So why don’t more B2B marketers have programs aimed at loyal customers?

Late last month there was some progress to report on the Open Data Initiative, a standards effort launched last fall that seeks to create a standard for the interchange of marketing data. Sounds boring, but with marketers spending more on analytics than IT organizations these days, we thing it’s important. Executives from Adobe, Microsoft and SAP just gave more details about how the three will standardize interfaces among their products to help common customers get a clearer view of their customers without going through a lot of messy data transformation. The trio also announced a slew of VAR partners that will support ODI. But the list was also notable for the big companies that weren’t there, like Oracle, Salesforce.com and marketing automation vendors. 

Our final item is How to Create a Style Guide for Content Marketing. Too often marketers jump in to content programs without laying the groundwork for a consistent style and direction for their blogs and websites. Having a solid style guide isn’t just about where to place your commas but the right tone of voice and point of view that your authors should take. There is a lot of good advice in this piece.

In the second part of a special two episode series, Chip and Gini discuss fundamental skills that PR and marketing agency owners should spend time and effort to improve to be more successful.

The topic was first raised by Gini on her Spin Sucks Podcast.

The skills she identifies include:

* Networking

* Financials

* Estimates

* Patience

* Communication

* Negotiation

* Learning

Over the course of these two episodes, Chip and Gini look at why each is important and how to find ways to improve.

No matter how experienced an agency owner may be, there is always room to grow.

[read the transcript]

This week, we take a deep dive into Roger McNamee‘s Zucked. McNamee, an early investor in Facebook and an erstwhile advisor to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg has provided us with an insightful consideration of how Facebook and social media have changed over time. It is an account that throws light on questions of responsibility and accountability. And while it pulls no punches, it also presents a vision of what might be done to create a healthier relationship between the giant entities that dominate search, social and tech.

This should be a a must-read for anyone who deals with social media and search, with marketing and online advertising, with community building.

Also, on this week’s show, we pay tribute to Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson’s FIR Podcast, which just hit the 1,000 episode mark. Sometimes weekly, sometimes biweekly and now monthly, Shel and Neville are the seminal PR podcasters. And they’re still going strong and providing insight that we can’t do without. Keep it up guys.

Finally, a shoutout to Martin on the completion of an important milestone. Huzzah Martin!

In the first part of a special two episode series, Chip and Gini discuss fundamental skills that PR and marketing agency owners should spend time and effort to improve to be more successful.

The topic was first raised by Gini on her Spin Sucks Podcast.

The skills she identifies include:

* Networking

* Financials

* Estimates

* Patience

* Communication

* Negotiation

* Learning

Over the course of these two episodes, Chip and Gini look at why each is important and how to find ways to improve.

No matter how experienced an agency owner may be, there is always room to grow.

[read the transcript]

Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz resume The Hobson and Holtz Report — albeit as a monthly podcast — with conversations about these stories:

* Print is still a viable communication tool; Raspberry Pi is distributing multiple print magazines

* Pandora is the first streaming service to introduce a sonic logo

* In the aftermath of the terrorist attack in New Zealand, we find ourselves at a fork in the social media road

* The nature of a news story determines the trajectory of its lifespan

* Gartner expects AI to assume 80% of all project management tasks by 2030

* Companies are now mining your voice to learn more about you for purposes both noble and nefarious

* Facebook just won’t change even though the Cambridge Analytica scandal should have been a catalyst

* Companies need to take social and political stands but it needs to be done strategically, according to new reports

* Dan York’s Tech Report covers designing for teenagers, Apple’s March 25 event, Firefox for iPad, email as the future of social networks, and the final week of Google+

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog.

The next episode of For Immediate Release will be posted on Monday, April 29.

Links from This Week’s Episode

* Print Magazines Dead? Bite Your Tongue (6 Reasons to Rethink Print)

* Pandora Releases Its First Sonic Logo

* The fork in the road for social media and our society

* Did publishers and social media giants have a part to play in the Christchurch terror attacks?”

* Christchurch terror attack: Social media changing the way we think – Martyn McLaughlin

* Christchurch shootings: ‘Bad actors’ helped attack videos spread online

* Facebook blocked over a million uploads of Christchurch attack video

* Internet not to blame for hate

* The Lifespan of News Stories

* Unpacking the Lifespan of 2018’s Breaking News Cycles

* Why Companies Want to Mine the Secrets in Your Voice

* The Cambridge Analytica scandal changed the world – but it didn’t change Facebook

* Study Finds Companies Need To Know Their Audienc...

Joe had a moment of surprise when he realized that, not only does he no longer listens to radio, he doesn’t even own a radio! Over the past few years, he had transferred his listening time from linear radio to on-demand podcasts. And he hadn’t even noticed the shift in his media consumption – until his wife threw out the last radio in their house.

A recent report out of the UK suggests that Joe isn’t alone:

Since 2010, around 840,000 15 to 24-year-olds have switched off for good, according to research from Enders Analysis. And among the 6.5 million or so who do still tune in, the amount of time they spend listening has plummeted 29% between 2010 and 2018.

Both Martin and Gini also have noticed a shift in their media consumption. Not just one that adds to their daily information diet. But a shift that has replaced one medium with another.

So, if podcasting is constituting a greater portion of many people’s media consumption, you just know that advertisers are eyeing it and entrepreneurs are looking to provide them with a new medium to reach consumers. We’ve seen Spotify’s big move, acquiring Gimlet and Anchor. This is unlikely to be the last move of this sort.

As others follow, what does that mean for the open podcasting system that has let enthusiast and professional podcasters coexist? Will services like Spotify start to push the enthusiasts off to the side, out of sight, as they promote their own professionally produced podcasts so that they can maximize revenue? Sound familiar? Substitute the words blog and Facebook for podcasts and Spotify.

So, is this the end? Not necessarily. It may be possible for two systems of podcasting to existing together, thanks to things like Patreon, which didn’t exist during the rise of Facebook and the decline of blogs, along with membership-oriented initiatives life that being advanced by outlets like Slate.

The short answer is yes, and we explore the various dimensions of The Facebook Problem in this week’s podcast. First we touch on the swirl of commentary about Zuck’s latest pronouncement that the company will combine Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram into a single, unified product. Is there a business model in there somewhere, or is this just wishful thinking? Some analysts have already said that the era of Facebook’s News Feed is now officially over. We aren’t so sure, but we agreed that Facebook has become mostly a waste of time. There are some other business-oriented networks that we think have more value, including Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, Alignable and Spiceworks. We’ve found all to be more fertile hunting grounds for business marketers. We also have advice about how to choose and test among those sites. 

We recorded this episode just before Brian Krebs revealed that Facebook exposed hundreds of millions of user passwords to more than 20,000 employees for years. Paul’s tweet kind of sums up our reaction.

Just how f****d up is this company? “Facebook Stored Hundreds of Millions of User Passwords in Plain Text for Years” writes @briankrebs. FB says there’s no evidence of abuse, so apparently everything’s OK. Don’t you get it? YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE DONE THIS! https://t.co/A9NCN1bIaZ

— Paul Gillin (@pgillin) March 21, 2019

One final thought about Facebook: Reuben Arnold, Starbucks’ vice-president of marketing and product in EMEA, said he wants to  have deeper conversations with some of its customers and promote its brand using private groups and private accounts on social media channels. Maybe this is an alternative to just posting to the greater universe. We’ll see. 

But wait, there is more. We like this post about whether it’s time to go back to taking notes with pen and paper. How many of those people tapping away on their laptops during a meeting are doing something related to the meeting? You know the answer. Maybe it’s time to ban the laptops and aim for shorter meetings instead. 

We also discuss a recent news item about how execs from the UK-based convenience store Tesco are frustrated that the company is having to spend an increasing amount of money on ensuring its advertising doesn’t appear next to inappropriate content and believe publishers should foot more of the bill. It used to be that publishers protected their advertisers from this kind of embarrassment, but in a world dominated by algorithms, anything goes.  

Finally, there was a charming story earlier this month about a handwritten note to the CEO of Quantas from a 10-year-old boy who wanted to start his own airline. The airline posted the kid’s letter and a welcoming reply from CEO Alan Joyce, who commented, “Our competitors don’t normally ask us for advice, but when an airline leader reached out, we couldn’t ignore it.

Diverse, inclusive workplaces are essential to business success. But how does a company achieve authentic representation without resorting to stereotypes?

Four IABC Fellows — Priya Bates, Todd Hattori, Jim Shaffer, and Brad Whitworth — joined host Shel Holtz for a conversation about the role in promoting diversity and inclusion for a discussion about how to evaluate diversity and inclusiveness and hear about best practices in language and visual representation.

About the panel

Priya Bates is a senior communication executive who provides strategic internal communication counsel in order to ensure leaders, managers, and employees understand the strategy, believe in the vision, act in accordance with the values, and contribute to business results. She is president of Inner Strength Communications in Toronto and previously served as senior director of Internal Communications at Loblaw Companies Limited.

Todd Hattori — After 20+ years of leading in-house communication functions within a variety of organizations and industries, Todd “Tosh” Hattori, ABC, IABC Fellow was drawn to the consulting world by PeopleFirm’s core business philosophy: your people = your success. He leads PeopleFirm’s organization design community of practice, engaging and collaborating with cross-functional teams to address business challenges by designing solutions with their people in mind. Outside of his client work, he serves on the volunteer board of directors for the Technology Access Foundation, a national model / leader in providing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education to students of color; and improving teacher diversity and retention of teachers of color in Washington. He currently serves as the IABC Ethics Committee vice chair.

Jim Shaffer is a business advisor, leadership coach, author, and speaker. As leader of the Jim Shaffer Group, he helps organizations accelerate results through superior strategy execution. The Jim Shaffer Group creates hard business results by translating the business strategy to the people who need to implement it, aligning systems, processes, and culture to make the gains sustainable. Jim was an architect and leading practitioner of Towers Perrin’s (now Towers Willis Watson) change management consulting practice. He designed and produced the IABC Academy Course, “Managing Change Communication to Drive Results and Value.” Some of his change management clients have included: Abbott, ConAgra Foods, FedEx, IBM, ITT, Mayo Clinic, Medtronic, Owens Corning, Pfizer, Toyota.

Brad Whitworth is a communication manager at Hitachi Vantara.  A communication coach at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Brad was most recently an executive communication manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Before that, he was senior communication manager at Cisco Systems. Before Cisco, Brad led communication programs at HP, PeopleSoft, and AAA. He earned undergraduate degrees in both journalism and speech at the University of Missouri and an MBA at Santa Clara University. A former broadcaster, Brad has made more than 300 presentations to executives, communicators, and university classes around the world. Brad has a long history with IABC, including serving as chairman of the international board and president of two local chapters. He is one of the authors of The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication.

In this episode, Chip and Gini conclude the two-part series on hiring and firing in PR and marketing agencies.

Chip kicks it off by firing Gini. (Fret not, ALP fans … it was a joke.)

Gini explained that, “I’m very bad at it. I let people go far longer than I should just because … it’s a very personal thing.”

Chip agreed that “in some cases, I have been too slow to fire.”

“As you’re growing an agency, there are going to be situations where there’s not really a fireable offense that happens, it’s just that … the business has outgrown somebody on your team or members of your team,” Gini said.

What about the actual termination process itself?

“If I see an employee and a supervisor, go behind closed doors for a termination and it lasts more than three to five minutes, something went horribly wrong,” explained Chip.

Gini also touted the benefits of having a specific process in place. “Because we learned the lesson, we have a checklist of everything that we need to do, either when somebody leaves  of their own free will or when they’re let go.”

The hosts wrapped up by agreeing that most terminations look like the right decision in the rearview mirror.

“Not a fun thing. But you’re exactly right. In the end, it ends up being better for everyone,” Gini concluded.

[read the transcript]

We have some news to break on this week’s Inside PR. Gini and Martin are going to be working together. Martin has joined the Spin Sucks team. Gini has been building Spin Sucks as a community for a decade – and growth has reached the point in which she needs help leading the content team. Enter Martin.

We also talk about the acceleration of job losses in journalism. Clearly, online journalism has proven no less immune to the hoovering of advertising support by Google and Facebook. So, in 2019, we’re still waiting for the new model that will save journalism as we know it.

And talking about PR in a world of disappearing and shrinking newsrooms, Martin and Gini argue that PR pros must stay true to the core value of relationships while making the search for the new influencers and news brokers with whom they must establish working relationships.

Having said that, are we in a world in which we are playing for time. Do we need to find a new core to PR to replace the central role that media relations once played. At one time, we thought it would be social media. But that has fragmented. And it seems that the pace of change is accelerating. So, we continue the search for the next key leverage point.