July 7th, 2010 by Meghan O'Sullivan
Is your sales force begging you for additional marketing support because sales just aren’t where they should be? Don’t worry, the problem may not lie within your marketing program. It could be that your company's prospects just don’t think they have a problem that needs solving or they are not in enough pain to be motivated to buy your solution. That’s where a diagnostic tool comes in. A good diagnostic tool can come in the form of a questionnaire or a tool that measures the monetary size and scope of a problem. Diagnostics can help expose issues and problems that were not readily apparent to the buyer. Just remember, your diagnostic needs to uncover problems that you can solve. And be sure your follow-up proposal or pitch addresses solving the problem head-on. In addition, we often encourage our clients to charge for their diagnostic as it adds more weight and credibility. Otherwise they may brush the results off as a sales tactic vs. really uncovering major issues that need to be resolved.
July 2nd, 2010 by Meghan O'Sullivan
In a recent post on BNET, Donna Fenn, an international author and journalist, calls-out PR professionals on spamming, poor writing, poor research, pitches that go too long and more. The Seven Deadly Sins of PR is a great reminder for all of us about the dos and don'ts of pitching to reporters. However, there's a bigger, underlying problem contributing to these “sins.”
I would bet that most of the long, poorly written pitches are due to the fact that the account executive has been assigned a very complicated story. This is almost always the case when pitching innovative technology companies that have developed new products, fitting into new categories. The blame however, should not be placed on the junior level account executive. Oftentimes, the blame lies with the technology companies for dismissing the importance of investing in a solid messaging strategy. Instead they hire junior level copywriters to regurgitate what the company thinks is important without doing any testing of the message. Unfortunately what the company thinks is important isn't always what their target markets want to hear or what reporters want to hear for that matter. So, copy gets developed for websites, marketing materials and PR pitches that miss the mark entirely.
The best investment any start-up can make is in producing a solid story. After all, before people buy your products, they have to buy into the story about it. Essentially your story is your product and requires just as much time, research and strategy as a product development. Good messaging strategists work backwards from the market to develop messages that address buyer’s needs. They distill complicated technological innovation into value benefits, position you against market alternatives and provide a delighter - a ”hook" for the buyer, or in this case the reporter.
If companies don't spend the time and money involved in developing a good story- losing a reporter's interest is the least of their problems.
June 22nd, 2010 by Meghan O'Sullivan
Each day, medical devices are developed to help prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor serious and life-threatening diseases. After taking years to develop, these devices then undergo a regulatory review process before entering the marketplace. It then takes even more time for them to be adopted into clinical practice and for patients to realize the benefits.
Can the government do more to encourage the development of the next generation of medical devices? That is the question that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and participants from other federal agencies will examine this week at a workshop titled “Identifying Unmet Public Health Needs and Facilitating Innovation in Medical Device Development.” The workshop is scheduled for June 24, 2010, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg in Gaithersburg, Md. This initiative also is designed to identify potential barriers in the development of devices that the federal government can directly or indirectly remove or minimize to meet a public health goal.
The meeting will be an opportunity for the FDA and its federal partners to listen to academics, industry, and users.
Source:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
January 29th, 2010 by Meghan O'Sullivan
The I-pad
Well, the iPad presentation came and went and from a story telling perspective, Steve Jobs did a great job with his delivery and with generating excitement up to the presentation. But the story didn’t achieve all it could or even elevate the product to the level of wonderment everyone expected. Why? It missed some presumed attributes.
Presumed attributes, are those product features that everyone assumes will be in the product. If they are not there, the reaction of prospective buyers is negative.
And although there were plenty of “delighters,” those features that people weren’t expecting such as the price, the virtual keyboard and quality of the e-book reader; they became overshadowed by the fact that the presumed attributes were missing.
The presumed attributes that were missing from the iPad story included:
• A Camera
• The ability to run multiple applications simultaneously
• And Flash for watching videos.
The lesson to be learned is that while new innovation is exciting, if product marketers don’t address what people presume, the disappointment will slow the adoption of the product. Hopefully the Apple developers and marketing team are reading blogs like this and put back in what we presumed would be there.
January 26th, 2010 by Meghan O'Sullivan
I came across a wonderful organization on-line the other day called MassMouth – The Power of Story- The Living Art of Story Telling in Massachusetts. How can you not be intrigued?
On January 31st the organization is hosting its next “Story Slam” at
The Enormous Room & Central Kitchen 567 Massachusetts Avenue Central Square, Cambridge Hosted by Will Luera from Improv Boston.
I highly recommend this for marketing executives who want to learn the ingredients of good story!
What is a story slam ?
Based on a poetry slam format, a story slam is a contest of words by known and undiscovered talent. Each of the featured 5 minute stories is judged on how well it is told, how well it is constructed and how well it honors the time limit and relates to the theme. Prizes will be awarded at each slam. There is a $7.00 cover – $5 for students/seniors. You can get more information at www.massmouth.ning.com
January 7th, 2010 by Meghan O'Sullivan
Our firm has recently changed offices. While getting ready for the move, I decided to start purging old files. What did I find? Hundreds and hundreds of newspaper clippings, DVDs and VHS tapes of broadcast coverage from past clients. I even found old Bacon’s Media books. I couldn’t bare to throw them. After all, whenever we get a new recruit, I have to be able to show them how tough media research used to be and how lucky they are to use today’s on-line tools. I also found slide viewers, boxes of white-out, two typewriters, and old business cards.
I don’t know why I kept these items, but I couldn’t help but laugh when I found them. It reminded me how much things have changed, and how much we continually have to adapt to an ever-changing business world. Remember when email was new? Websites? When CDs replaced Zip discs? When DVD’s replaced VHS tapes of coverage? Remember clipping services vs. online tracking? And heck, I can’t even remember life without Google.
I know as an industry of marketing and pr professionals, we’ve recently had to adapt to a whole new set of tools all over again. We’ve had to master social media, search engine optimization, on-line marketing, viral marketing, inbound marketing and a whole pile of new marketing tools, portals, terminology and more. But I say, “enjoy the new while it lasts!” Someday we’re going to stumble upon our old linked-in page, Youtube video, blog, or e-book and say, “Oh, yeah, I remember those days.” And guess what? There will be something brand new waiting to replace or enhance them.
January 4th, 2010 by Meghan O'Sullivan
This week I’ve been stuffing myself into tight pants, claiming that they must have shrunk in the dryer. But the awful truth is I’m stuffed into my pants like sausage, because I ate too much over the holidays. I couldn’t help gorge myself with all the tasty morsels.
It made me wonder, how many of us keep stuffing more details into the stories about our companies or products simply because it tastes good and satisfies us? Do we really need all those details that we cleverly come up with to describe our offerings? Or is it really just our way in indulging in our own pride in what we do?
I know I did this with the story about my firm at a cocktail party this holiday season. A delightful man asked me what I do; I told him I’m the president of a PR firm. Fearing that just wasn’t enough I spurted out, “But it’s more than PR in a traditional sense, we also have a social media division, and of course before we launch any PR campaign we have to get our clients’ stories right, and to do that we have to work backward from the buyers, and that requires research and strategy…and blah, blah, blah, indulge, indulge, indulge.”
So what happened? The man’s eyes glazed over and he tried to spurt back what he interpreted I do and he got it all wrong. Why? Because I got it all wrong. Stories have to be simple to be memorable. I tell my clients this all the time. They have to be told in layers. I’m sure if I just let it stand I was president of a PR firm, he would have asked, “Really, what kind of PR?” and then I could tell him the next layer and so on, and so on.
I tell my clients to shorten their stories all the time, and what did I do – The exact opposite.
So – My First New Years Resolution: Trim Down the fat in my thighs, and the fat in my own corporate story. And for heaven sake, practice what I preach
June 10th, 2009 by Meghan O'Sullivan
So many clients, friends and colleagues ask me about Twitter and the real use for it. My answer: To learn and build relationships. But many still struggle with barriers for adopting this social networking tool. Here are some responses to your reluctance.
1. I don’t have time to manage my account
You probably used to say that about email too. Now you email all the time. In the beginning, there really is nothing to manage. You register, you fill out your profile, you find people you already know to connect with, you post an occasional tweet. You won’t need to “manage” anything until you get more followers or are following a lot of people yourself. Then you can use tools to track them like tweetdeck or splittweet.
2. I have nothing to say
I doubt that. You have opinions about industry trends, events to post, news to announce, links to share (to blog posts, press releases, interesting articles) and valuable advice. But even if you have nothing to say for now, follow people who you’re interested in. See what they are saying. Learn from them. The whole concept of Twitter is building relationships and sharing information. Follow an industry leader in your field, you’ll learn a lot.
3. I’m nobody, who would follow me?
You would be surprised. You don’t need to be Ashton Kutcher to get followers. What you do need are common interests. You can find people with common interests at twellow.com. And you can get followers who have common interest at Mr. Tweet (mrtweet.com). Try to avoid any companies that offer you followers in great numbers. This is not a contest. You don’t need hundreds of followers to benefit from Twitter. You just need to connect with and track the right people who can help you learn and connect with others in your field.
May 1st, 2009 by Meghan O'Sullivan
Most of the time, Retellers are very discerning about what they choose to write about. But what happens when there is disagreement about the validity of a story and you see multiple interpretations on the channel? Take for instance the recent coverage of the Swine Flu or the controversial MMR vaccine and its alleged link to autism.
Some months back there was an article on ZDnet titled: Did the Press Give Your Kids Measles? by Dana Blandkenhorn. The author raises some interesting questions regarding the rising number of parents refusing the standard Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, based on the since-discredited research of Andrew Wakefield linking the vaccine to autism.
The explosion of media coverage on the controversial issue of a vaccine (needed to prevent a healthcare crisis) and its link to autism, which seems to be arising at epidemic portions – shows how retellers can influence an entire nation.
In 1998, 91% of two-year-olds were immunized in England and Wales, but by 2004 that had fallen to 80%, far below the 90% rate needed to keep the disease under control. (The Econosmist: Sow the Wind, Dec 10).
But this is not just about Retellers in the media. The news has spread even faster through Retellers like Jenny McCarthy and hundreds of mothers blogging and sharing information on health websites relating to their children’s reaction to the vaccine.
Yes, some people could complain that the “press, Jenny McCarthy, and countless social networks” might give your kids the measles. But, on the flip side they could argue the “press, pediatricians and the CDC gave their kids autism.”
It’s tough one to call. Which Reteller do you believe?
April 22nd, 2009 by Meghan O'Sullivan
Retellers have always had the power to both help and hurt you. That’s why getting your story right is critical. After all, if you place the wrong story on the channel, Retellers can quickly move from friend to foe. And with the emergence of the internet, people won’t necessarily forget a bad story. Why? Because, Google never forgets. Type in a press release or from a year ago. Go ahead I’ll wait. It’s still there isn’t it?
And just like press releases and news article, Google can find other information as well. So if you’re using Facebook, MySpace, Blogs and more to network for business, beware of what you share, because Google will find it.
Seth Godin posted an interesting story on his blog about a friend who advertised for a housekeeper on Craigslist. Three interesting resumes came to the top. She googled each person’s name. Here’s what she found:
The first search turned up a MySpace page. There was a picture of the applicant, drinking beer from a funnel. Under hobbies, the first entry was, “binge drinking.”The second search turned up a personal blog (a good one, actually). The most recent entry said something like, “I am applying for some menial jobs that are below me, and I’m annoyed by it. I’ll certainly quit the minute I sell a few paintings.”And the third? There were only six matches, and the sixth was from the local police department, indicating that the applicant had been arrested for shoplifting two years earlier.
Godin ended the article: “Three for three. Google never forgets.” And he’s right.
I’ll take it a step further. Get your story right (everywhere) before telling it.
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