Say something when you talk to me

A blogging study published by Edelman Public Relations and Technorati within the past year, Public RelationSHIPS: Communications in the age of personal media, resonated with me when I read it today. It's interesting to me that the study came to the same conclusion that I did earlier this week (before I even read the study): Humility and honesty in communications are essential, and communications fail miserably when they are absent.

"The best preparation for spokespeople has been a 'message triangle' in which all questions can be worked back to a set of mutually supporting concepts, vetted in advance through focus groups or field research. This type of disciplined approach minimizes the chance of error. The tightly controlled approach is also based on periodic interaction with stakeholders, which caters to a company’s need to determine when that interaction begins and ends...

"Every consumer can tell the difference between an over-scripted spokesperson and one who is speaking from the heart. Empower companies to be human, which often means admitting error. Local executive teams should have more leeway to speak freely, without having to check every action with headquarters. Interaction should be continuous and conversation conducted according to stakeholder needs."

Put simply, we know when someone is blowing smoke, especially when they won't directly respond to a question. Transparency and honesty are becoming essential (and they should have been all along) in communications, and that's a big change for public figures. The best way to reach other people is to engage rather than to avoid.

I won't belabor this point because it's been well addressed earlier this fall, but Edelman's own staff members reinforced this point about openness and integrity in communications when they were exposed as secretly preparing a blog for Wal-Mart that was intended to appear independent.

Digital Influence

The Wall Street Journal has a thought-provoking story today on public relations as it relates to blogging. Here's a quote from John Bell, an Ogilvy employee who is quoted in the article:

"The interesting thing about digital influence is that control is the wrong word. You can't really control everything. What we can do is get involved in the conversation. When we're [dealing with] bloggers for instance, our best strategy is to start to talk them as fellow bloggers. Many of us are bloggers, myself included."

I like the use of the words "fellow bloggers" because I feel like bloggers have a high sensitivity toward deception and inauthenticity. Communicating with a blogger only works if you are sincere about it, I think, if you're being proactive and if you're coming to him or her with something that is legitimately suitable for their blog. If you're just trying to blast your message out, it isn't going to succeed.

Participating in the conversation is the appropriate way to dive in, too, I think. It will only work if you're willing to participate and willing to give up the control Bell mentions above. That lack of control is what gives blogging its credibility. Giving up control and being open and honest are essential behaviors, in my opinion. That's the same advice I give anyone who's about to interact with traditional media, so in that sense I guess new and old media share some similarities after all. This bit of advice is straight out of kindergarten, but that means it's pretty solid advice.

"As marketers, we believe in and support the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association's ethics guidelines, which boil down to: Be honest. Be transparent. Don't trick people."

If we all did that, this would be a much easier world to call home. :)