Last week, PR NEWS talked turkey with digital agency man Don Middleberg about leadership and competition in the online PR space. In part two of our chat, we delve into
issues of executive education, online media opps and new workspace models.
PRN: We've covered some of the challenges for agencies competing in the online space. Can you talk about the corporate PR side?
Middleberg: Corporate inhouse people have so many pressures. For them, it's not just about getting things done tactically, but gaining acceptance for [online
initiatives] throughout the organization. There are a lot more political and budgetary issues. Their priority cannot be understanding new technologies if they want to survive,
because internally they are not rewarded for that.
PRN: On what basis are they rewarded?
Middleberg: On how well they do in Washington. Or on employee satisfaction, consumer satisfaction, increased brand awareness, how they handle the chairman, making sure
speeches are done right and stock price.
PRN: Ok, so as the client, your focus shouldn't be on understanding technology, but rather on hiring the right outside people to develop and implement your
online strategies. If you aren't up to speed on the technology, how do you know if you're hiring the right agency?
Middleberg: You need to establish some metrics of success that are both qualitative and subjective. I've been to business school, and I use a sophisticated approach
called the "you'll know" system. If an agency is proactive, pushing the envelope, coming to [the client] with ideas, responding on time, educating the client...there are many
intangible ways an agency proves its worth.
PRN: You mentioned earlier that one of the biggest uphill battles for inhouse PR staff is getting approval from senior management. What do you do if your CEO
isn't Jeff Bezos?
Middleberg: Actually, we are now getting requests from inhouse PR people who want to educate their management teams about trends and developments in the digital world.
We've started putting together management seminars on a project basis. We have done it now for Enron, Bristol Myers Squibb, American Express and some others. What they want is
someone who can come in and teach them what's going on in a time-efficient way in a half-day or two-day program. The inhouse PR people end up looking like heroes and then get
approvals for jobs that have been sitting on the drawing board for months.
PRN: So after a five-hour seminar, a corporate exec can walk out as a Web guru?
Middleberg: The traditional company wants to get its senior managers educated. This doesn't mean they have to now make their company an Internet company. But what they
now understand is they can't have a business model without the Internet being a part of it. The question becomes, "How big a role should the Internet play?"
PRN: What are the knowledge nuggets that corporate execs need to walk away with? Mastery of specific tools? Webcasting? Data mining?
Middleberg: The hardest thing to master is the strategic approach. It's one thing to know what Webcasting is, or what a Webzine is, but you have to understand how it
fits within the total communications program. You need to distribute a press release digitally? You can get a 22-year old kid to do that. But when do you distribute
electronically, and how do you avoid spamming? When do you archive it, and how does it fit into your Web site? The expression is, you don't have to know how an engine works to
drive a car. You don't necessarily have to know how to do a Webcast. But you do have to know when to use it, how much it costs and who can do it for you.
PRN: What's the price tag on your seminars?
Middleberg: A half day program is around five to 10 grand. But you get an education that's worth half a million dollars. You have to say, "I recognize the Internet as
a legitimate form of communications. And in fact, for many of my customers, employees, journalists and other constituencies, it is the preferred means of communications."
PRN: Speaking of journalists, I'm assuming you'll be conducting the Middleberg/Ross Print Media in Cyberspace study again this year? Any forecasts you can
share?
Middleberg: We saw last year for the first time that journalists in times of crisis will now go to a company Web site as a second choice if there's no live source to go
to. Also, we're seeing that there's an awful lot of opportunity to place stories on, for example, BusinessWeek online or People online. At this point, more than
50% of content on those sites is original. This means more opportunities to place.
PRN: How is your agency walking the walk when it comes to technology. Have you incorporated wireless services into your client offerings?
Middleberg: There are a couple new things we plan to launch next year as real-time client/agency communications tools. The first round of stuff will be restricted to
the PC - real time reporting, working on press releases jointly, billing, filing reports. The agency and client will electronically become true partners. All wireless technology
will do is eventually take what's being done on the PC and transfer it to a tablet.
PRN: So you're developing proprietary software to create a virtual shared workspace?
Middleberg: Yes. It'll be installed inhouse on our clients' PCs. Also, we're moving in February or March and we're very seriously looking into the idea of having
nothing but wireless laptops. The idea is we'll give them to maybe 50-70 employees who can move them anywhere - to demonstrate a new program, to meet with a team on another floor,
to bring into a conference room for a presentation
PRN: Sort of like the Chiat/Day virtual office experiment of eight years ago, in which staffers had no personal workstations, just lockers and laptops?
Middleberg: Yes, but we're going to modify it. I don't like the idea of people just coming in without an office everyday or a place to be. I think it's very unnerving
and impersonal. That might work for technology people and engineers. But PR is still about high touch and I don't want to remove that aspect of it. We're just trying to enhance
people's ability to communicate without the restrictions to being in an office with walls. The idea is that if you have your PC with you, you can go over a document, see a
streaming video or attend a press conference online from someone else's office or conference room. Why be restricted to physical walls and electronic cords when this new world is
open to you? The only thing we have to be assured of is that technology will work. In theory, it sounds great. And it's gonna happen. It's just a question of when.
Don Middleberg is chairman and CEO of Middleberg Euro, and author of Winning PR in the Wired World. 212/888-6610.
Middleberg Bookmarks Resources for
competitive intelligence online
http://www.sec.gov
http://www.hoovers.com
http://www.companysleuth.com
http://www.djinteractive.com
http://www.emarketer.com
http://www.vault.com
http://www.insightexpress.com
http://www.fuld.com
http://www.interactivehq.com
http://www.netcurrents.com
http://www.brint.com
Source: Winning PR in the Wired World: Powerful Communications Strategies for the Noisy Digital Space, by Don Middleberg (McGraw-Hill)
Sink or
Surf
Wanna ingratiate yourself with online insiders? Middleberg's advice:
Do: Create a special e-communique for your online audience with information not available elsewhere to make it valuable and attractive.
Don't: Blast email a standard press release to the online community and/or post it to newsgroups. This will be unappreciated and, most likely, ignored.
Do: Encourage your online audience to forward your information to their friends and colleagues. Better yet, ask them to refer others to your Web site for more info.
Don't: Relegate handling an online rumor to your legal team only. Involve other "image stakeholders," such as customer service reps, media and investor relations staff,
compliance officers and HR.
Do: Notify the SEC and other third parties if you become aware of inaccurate information circulating on the Internet about your company.
Don't: Permit employees to respond directly to miscellaneous rumors and hearsay online. Negative and inaccurate postings or sites should be handled in a centralized
fashion, not unlike a media inquiry.
Source: Winning PR in the Wired World: Powerful Communications Strategies for the Noisy Digital Space, by Don Middleberg (McGraw-Hill).