A Virus Worth Catching: Social Media and PR

The word "virus" immediately stirs up negative connotations in our mind.  However, in the social media world it can be a very lucrative term when something we need quickly diffused like wildfire becomes viral.  Pamela Seiple states that "public relations is the practice of managing communication between a particular organization and its publics...whether with prospects, customers, media, investors, the government, or even internally with employees".  Being proactive in social media is vital to public relations on many different levels.  I discussed last week about having a strong "why" and building from the inside out and establishing a community.  Kevin Allocca with YouTube says "participation is how we become a part of the community and do something new with it.  We don't just enjoy it.  We participate."  Tom Dickson is a grandfather and the CEO of Blendtec.  His marketing director proposed an idea of making videos where they take various objects such as marbles, computer games, an iPod, etc. and test them in his blenders.  The campaign worked and became a virus that Mr. Dickson was more than happy to be a part of because his sales are seven times what they were three years ago.

Soumitra Dutta says that "today's leaders must embrace social media because they provide a low-cost platform on which to build your personal brand, they allow you to engage rapidly and simultaneously with peers, employees, customers, etc. and they give you an opportunity to learn from instant information and unvarnished feedback".  In public relations and as strategic communicators we need to be able to produce something that is unique and unexpected because that is what stands out and captures the attention of key people.  Of these key people is what Allocca describes as "tastemakers".  These are people that introduce us to new and interesting things and bring them to a larger audience and begin spreading the virus. This can be an employee that feels completely informed and appreciated in her company because of a company blog or a celebrity who enjoys a unique and interesting video on YouTube and decides to show it on his national show as Jimmy Kimmell did with the double rainbow video (now you want to run and see what I'm talking about, correct?).  A beautiful example of an idea going viral and producing something beautiful is Eric Whitacre's virtual choir.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs

On the other hand, we need to be on top of what is going on in our social media world and have an open forum where our community feels welcome to make suggestions, comments, and offer insight.  These platforms "allow companies to collect information about their fans, gather rich insight, and encourage micro-communities and loyalty-driving conversations".  Organizations need to have a plan in place in case videos go viral that portray their company and/or staff members in a negative light.  One plan is to have trained and intelligent staff from all departments handling the comprehensive online communications for the company.  Having a strong internal corporate base as aforementioned provides a strong beginning point when dealing with criticism.  This also keeps turnover down by being aware of our potential new hires and their credibility and integrity.  How will they represent our company?

 Nestle is a good example of the wrong way to handle negative feedback.  In 2010 they were Greenpeace attacked them for getting palm oil from a company that was "illegally deforesting the rainforests of Indonesia".  Instead of being compassionate and effectively listening to the comments, they retaliated with sarcastic remarks and censoring critics and removing posts that furthered the outrage.  When the values of others are threatened, the effectiveness of our company "why" and its integrity are in jeopardy and the virus can become fatal.  In 2011, Southwest Airlines had a near disaster when the roof of one of the flights ripped open warranting an emergency landing.  Southwest was proactive with their Facebook page and allowed the conversation to take its natural course and responded honestly and kept the followers up-to-date on what they were doing to remedy the situation.  This served them well.

This is a picture of some of the Mom Time gals I talked about in my last blog posting.  We are not a corporation.  However, we strongly believe in what we do as moms and love that we have the virus and our community keeps growing.  If Jimmy Kimmel got hold of some of our videos he would have a heart attack!  Rocky Creek Baptist Mom Time put the F-U-N in fun.  We DO have a facebook page, we DO effectively listen to comments, suggestions, and raves, and we do appreciate the heart of each person we have the privilege of getting to know.  OOOOOOOOOOOO...the RCMT virus!  Come catch it and spread it as far as you can!  There is a Mom Time group waiting for you wherever you live!