Glen Nowak, CDC Director of Media Communications

David also participated in a Q and A forum with Glen Nowak, the CDC’s well-respected Director of Media, to field questions from the audience..

David spoke about creating influence in the digital era and listed six points:

1. Cast off old bad habits, like having that trivial “about” boilerplate on news releases, blasting out emails of press releases to everyone and their uncle and avoiding interaction with the media.
2. The practice of online brand journalism to create distinction for a company or organization is journalism, not PR or marketing.
3. Sharpen your focus to achieve more impact. Your audience is not everyone in the world but those people who really care and benefit from products and services.
4. Deliver constant updates, develop trust and always be transparent online.


David Henderson, News Group Net's Managing Partner

5. Brand journalism online requires news style writing, storytelling, photos and HD video b-roll.
6. Drive traffic to your news relentlessly. It’s a team effort involving everyone in an organization.

Special thanks to Atlanta-based photographer Edward Zeltser for sharing images he took during the conference.

David’s presentation is available online. It’s a 4MB PDF – Click here to download.

The last chapter from “Making News in the Digital Era” by David E. Henderson.

When actor Rainn Wilson wanted to find a way to introduce Soul Pancake, his new spiritually based social media Web site, he signed up on Twitter, joined in the discussions and attracted more than a million followers within six months. Today, 20 months later, Wilson has more than 2-million followers on Twitter.

Actor Rainn Wilson, co-founder of SoulPancake.com.

Twitter fans around the world all of a sudden had instant, interactive access to a top star of NBC’s popular television program The Office, and he openly “tweeted” about his new online endeavor and got into online conversations with his fans.

Unlike other celebrities, Wilson smartly left open the direct message feature of Twitter, allowing fans and friends to send him personal messages. Wilson readily responded to many, often using a Twitter application on his iPhone. That small gesture of accessibility greatly enhanced his online credibility and reputation for transparency and openness.

For Wilson, bringing his motion picture and television celebrity to Twitter dramatically boosted awareness about Soul Pancake, making the Web site even more successful. Each time Wilson acknowledged a message from a follower or reposted — “retweeted” — someone’s mini-post on Twitter, he knew he was making even more friends who might spread the word about Soul Pancake. It worked as a win-win for everyone: Wilson, Soul Pancake, and Wilson’s fans and Twitter followers.

Every day, people in all walks of life, from movie stars and CEOs to members of the media and ordinary people, are using Twitter and other forms of online social media to discuss, share, announce something new or just to listen. It is the ultimate level playing fi eld and is fair to all.

Tony Hsieh is also quite a success story in the online world. While attending Harvard in the early 1990s, Hsieh earned money by selling pizzas. Then he got an idea for an online advertising company, and he eventually sold the company to Microsoft for $265 million.

In 1999, Hsieh became involved in a concept that would revolutionize how shoes are sold, using the Internet. The company is called Zappos, a derivation of the word zapatos, which is Spanish for shoes.

Part of the reason for Zappos’ meteoric success is that it got the economics and operations right. Th e company off ers customers a huge selection of inventory — four million pairs of shoes (and other items, such as handbags and apparel) — which is housed in a warehouse in Kentucky next to a UPS shipping hub. Furthermore, Zappos offers free delivery … and free return if you don’t like the shoes.

Zappos has grown to more than 1,400 employees, roughly half at corporate headquarters near Las Vegas, Nev., and the other half in Kentucky; has been recognized as one of the best companies in America to work for; and, with more than ten million customers, sells more shoes than any other company on the planet.

Zappos has become a billion dollar business, and much of it has been done online, from taking orders and customer service to Hsieh having daily conversations with his customers through his CEO blog and on Twitter.

Hsieh has used the Internet not only to connect with his public and customers, but also to drive broad awareness. Sure, there has been tons of mainstream and online media coverage about Hsieh and Zappos — from Oprah and 60 Minutes to BusinessWeek — yet the catalyst that caught everyone’s attention was how Hsieh communicated his authentic, sincere and open style online.

Early on, Hsieh recognized the importance of investing time personally to establish and build relationships with everyone from customers and employees to reporters and people who are just curious and in the process. He is respected as a business entrepreneur and thought leader who is accessible through his blog, personal e-mail and online social media sites, such as Twitter.

When I asked Hsieh to name the three most important elements of business in the digital age, he responded, “I would boil it down to just one thing: Embrace transparency.

“With the digital revolution,” Hsieh e-scribbled, “all companies are becoming more transparent, whether they like it or not. The ones that choose to embrace transparency will be the ones that gain more trust with their employees and customers, and those are the ones that are much more likely to be successful in the long term.”

Aside from his being a smart visionary with a keen sense for the online environment, I asked what made him see the importance of connecting with audiences through social media.

“At Zappos, our number one priority is our company culture,” says Hsieh. “Our belief is that if we get the culture right, most of the other stuff , like delivery, great customer service and building a long-term enduring brand, will happen naturally, on its own.”

“Could the Zappos business model be transplanted to revitalize such old institutions as General Motors or Amtrak?” I asked.

“In other words, could the Zappos magic be cloned successfully?”

“I don’t think the Zappos culture can be or should be cloned, but I do think the idea of being transparent and running a business based on core values and a meaningful vision that’s not just about money and profits can work for any organization,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter what the core values are, as long as the entire organization commits to those core values. Th e most important thing in any large organization is alignment [around values and vision].”

His company’s 10 core values are short, direct and posted online, naturally, for everyone to see. Th e core values deliver power through simplicity and clarity:

1. Deliver “wow” through service.
2. Embrace and drive change.
3. Create fun and a little weirdness.
4. Be adventurous, creative and open-minded.
5. Pursue growth and learning.
6. Build open and honest relationships with communication.
7. Build a positive team and family spirit.
8. Do more with less.
9. Be passionate and determined.
10. Be humble.

These are not core values that a management committee, badgered by someone in human resources, labored for days to develop, as is often the case at most organizations. There’s consensus among the people at Zappos about these ten values. They believe in the meaning of these values, and they live them at work.

Continuing with our interview, I asked Hsieh why most companies and organizations are slow to embrace the new online world as a way to connect with and engage audiences, preferring instead to continue using Web sites to sell, market and promote in a one-way manner.

“I think it’s because there’s a disconnect between the internal culture of the organization, and the core values and image that the organization wants to project. It used to be that it was okay, and perhaps even expected, that a company’s culture and brand were not in sync. I think we’re entering an era where a company’s culture and a company’s brand are really just two sides of the same coin,” Hsieh responded.

Then the CEO of the world’s largest online shoe store turned the reality of the entire concept of public relations upside down:

PR used to be about who you say you are. I think today it’s much more important to focus on who you are rather than who you say you are, and that really just comes down to whether every employee is committing to and living the core values of the organization.

When you think about it in the reality of today’s online digital environment, Hsieh’s insight is almost like holding a mirror up to the traditional public relations business as it’s been known for decades, and seeing nothing but a vanishing ghost of things past. Times have changed. Th e world has changed. Styles have changed.

The Internet came along and matured as the world’s most powerful of communications. As the Internet’s infl uence has grown, so too has a need for enhanced clarity, openness, credibility and collaboration.

The whole manner by which we communicate, share and exchange news, ideas and information has been altered. We build trust when we connect in terms that are timely and relevant. But we must earn trust too. We must listen, join conversations and be mindful of protocols.

As I said at the beginning, audiences do not care to hear an organization talk about itself. People only want to know how an organization’s products or services benefit them and bring value to their lives.

It’s all happened while mainstream media and the public relations industries were dozing.

As I said earlier, today’s professional communicators must learn how to skillfully balance on lily pads in order to merge — in open, transparent and meaningful ways — the communications disciplines we have always known, together with the exciting online world in this digital era.

© David E. Henderson. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used in any form without permission of the author.

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“Making News in the Digital Era” by David E. Henderson is available at book sellers everywhere.

The original and mostly static style of HTML Web sites has gone the way of the hula hoop. Today, blog technology rules, not only as the preferred “under the hood” software of an estimated 200 million blogs worldwide, but also to power countless online news outlets, social media sites and an exciting new generation of interactive online newsrooms, powered by the dynamic features of WordPress (wordpress.org).

A primary objective of these newsrooms is to help manage the online conversation by becoming an active and primary exchange for news, information, stories, comment and sharing:

• News stories are written by working journalists in a concise, balanced and legitimate news style, free of sales pitches and self-promotion.
• Profiles of employees, executives and experts alike, are drafted as appealing features, giving personal insight and showing a distinctive human side to an organization.
• Photos, shot by accomplished photojournalists, are used widely and add rich dimension to online newsroom stories. Online photo galleries provide easy access to high resolution images by the media.
• Contact links instantly alert specific people assigned to media inquiries or questions from customers.
• Social media tools are built-in to each story to provide easy posting to Twitter, rating on Digg, emailing to a colleague or any number of social networking sites.
• Search engine optimization or SEO runs invisibly and automatically to ping or alert every search engine to new activity and stories and to boost the all-important ranking on major search engine pages.

The online newsroom of the Imperial Sugar Company, launched in May 2009, has become the most popular site in the global sugar industry. It was developed and is managed by the corporate journalists at News Group Net LLC.

This story is a feature in the January/February issue of IABC Communications World. Click here to download.

A boat amid the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico

Headlines shout, “BP, Transocean Lawsuits Surge as Oil Spill Spreads in Gulf” and “BP’s Response to Oil Spill Lacking, Officials Say.” More stories … more coverage … of the worsening situation in the Gulf are being added to the first pages of Google and other search engines every few seconds, 24 hours a day.

What the companies may not know is that these stories will dominate the all-important first pages of search engines for months or years to come … unless something is done, soon.

What’s lacking is any apparent attempt by BP or Transocean to aggressively manage their online images during the deepening crisis … a crisis that has global impact. A few corporate PR stories about the situation on the corporate home pages not only is ineffective, it has the adverse effect of linking everything about the corporate brands of BP and Transocean to the Gulf disaster. It’s the wrong action to take online. Attempting to manage a crisis from a corporate home page can cause self-inflicted brand damage.

What could BP and Transocean be doing online at this very moment?

They could launch and maintain special online corporate journalism sites … tangible assets as interactive places to share and constantly update all aspects of their action steps. While the Coast Guard desires to control press events, such online content management sites can focus, manage and provide the most timely, transparent and open connection with no only those involved along the Gulf Coast but everyone else in the world who is watching … and judging … how BP and Transocean behave. The special sites can be credible online assets to underscore corporate accountability.

The online crisis management team at The News Group Net – seasoned journalists and communications professionals – can have such operational newsrooms online within a matter of hours … for timely and instantaneous news updates, statements, photos, video and live coverage … far more influential information than press releases. BP and Transocean could become more reliable sources for the world’s mainstream and online news media. A single corporate Web site lacks the credibility and clout to do the job … especially to manage the fast-growing other media stories about the oil spill that are now dominating search engines.

Research by The News Group Net’s David Henderson while writing “Making News in the Digital Era” and in the interim has shown that many, if not most, online sites – even those of organizations claiming to be immersed in social media – are more like Chinese walls to prevent contact from outside.

Despite listing general Contact information, a site visitor with a question often will not find it easy to reach either the right person or receive a timely and meaningful response.

Glock

By some twist of irony, it is easier to contact the gun maker Glock online than Kraft Foods.

Test it yourself … check the sites of such organizations as Ford.com, Dell.com, Kia.com … the list can go on and on. For all the illusion of the Web and social media delivering more openness and transparency, these and many other companies send a signal that they are in a world by themselves, still doing business in an old-school mentality of pushing out marketing messages and advertising rather than engaging with and listening to customers. Dell is among the worst.

The poster child for such insular corporate behavior is, of course, Toyota, a company that cooked up myth about its products and aggressively goes after those who question that illusion. And, then, there is Microsoft. Well, forget them because they haven’t given a damn for customer opinions for decades.

By contrast, companies like Apple and Zappos have struck gold by listening to customers.

About blogs … Henderson looked closely at many of today’s more popular personal blogs, and despite all the trendy Top 10 tips and superficial pontification by people who have become a new type of celebrity through Twitter, many sites lack a way to contact the blogger. Sure, you can leave a Comment along with all the other groupies but no direct contact.

Henderson wouldn’t go as far as saying such a closed style is hypocritical, just not very open and transparent in the digital era.

Many of the traditional mechanics of PR – like events, press releases, media kits, etc. – are much less effective. Distribution of PR materials by blast emails is caught and trashed by spam filters, rendered useless. Even writing styles are changing to adapt to the Web.

Communication in today’s world is most effective when it authentically, credibly and transparently engages audiences to share information. Communication today is less about promoting, selling or marketing.

Online newsrooms, for example, today are not about pushing out company news or announcements about your organization. The best online newsrooms use Brand Journalism’s clever style of balance and influence to expeditiously enhance brand distinction and awareness for an organization.

Over the years, it’s interesting how David Meerman Scott and I have been independently writing books about our respective research on the changing face and style of communications in the digital era. And, not surprisingly, our thoughts are occasionally mirrored in lectures and blog postings. A couple of days ago, David wrote this spot-on piece about Brand Journalism, the style of communications practiced by my firm, The News Group Net:

Brand Journalism is when any organization—B2B company, consumer product company, the military, nonprofits, government agencies, politicians, churches, rock bands, solo entrepreneurs—creates valuable information and shares it with the world.

Brand Journalism is not a product pitch. It is not an advertorial. It is not an egotistical spewing of gobbledygook-laden corporate drivel.

Instead Brand Journalism is the creation of Web content—videos, blog posts, photos, charts, graphs, essays, ebooks, white papers—that deliver value to your marketplace and serve to position your organization as one worthy of doing business with.

I’ve been talking up this concept for many years now. While some people resist the ideas, I am now seeing more and more who agree with me, so I wanted to do a post to pull my thoughts together and point to some other people discussing brand journalism.

Skill Sets Required

I’m convinced that those with the traditional skills of marketing, public relations, advertising, and copywriting are not the right people to create brand journalism content. Instead you need the skills of a journalist.

The idea of hiring journalists is a new one at companies, but I think it is essential for success.

Read more from David Meerman Scott … click here.

Check out these outstanding examples of online brand journalism:

• Imperial Sugar Company’s online newsroom
• University of Rochester’s Futurity
• Armed with Science