We’ve become so afraid of ‘failure’ – the pressures of work, the lack of job security. And it seems every non-sweeping success is immediately dubbed #FAIL by pundits, armchair quarterbacks and assorted ne’er-do-wells.

Beware the hype 

First of all, watch you don’t step in the b.s.

Talking about so-called scandals, Tyler and I agree that missteps are often publicly branded as scandals and failures when in reality, it’s us fueling the failure machine, adding fire to the flame.

Add ‘gate’ to the end of anything and Presto, instant “controversy.” Ratings sell. Scandals get links. Hype gets clicks.

Second, understand what really is a ‘failure.’

Example: McDonald’s. Even though 97% of tweets and chatter regarding McDonald’s recent Twitter campaign were positive, it was the less than 3% of negative tweets that got all the hype. It was dubbed failure by many when their only mistake was that they did an involvement campaign, without being ready for involvement.

FWIW I did a little backseat tweeting, questioning the expectation of ‘controlling’ such a message campaign. The lack of plan for the trolls, the negative; how hard would it have been to block them, tease back “ok, you’ve had your fun,” reclaim the conversation, show genuine engagement? Would it have made a difference, I still wonder aloud.

Mark W. Schaefer calls it the Vanilla Web, our negativity bias. In a world when one tweet can kill a career, everything has to be perfect, appeal to all while offending none, never straying into dark territory or taking a risk, being human.

Who the hell bats 1,000?

Just went to my first Braves game this season, so I must remind folks that while yes Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs, he also struck out more than 3,000 times. And for those who don’t know baseball or never seen Bull Durham, a batting average of .300 – you successfully hit only 3 out of 10 tries – is considered outstanding.

As you look to hire new employees or outsource your small business PR, social media and marketing communications (Waves Hi!) let me tell you something, you want the ‘failures.’

Someone with an impeccable, safe resume or optimized LinkedIn profile may seem the ticket. The firm with pretty white papers and cases studies may seem the right option. Or perhaps the “Big Name” with the social badges, book deals and List status catches your eye.

Consider the road less traveled.

• Someone who’s failed – they know from getting back up off their ass, starting again.
• Someone who’s struggled – they know from obstacles and how to overcome them.
• Those who make mistakes and do right by them, they learn not to make them again – and possibly turn those ‘failures’ into opportunity while they’re at it.
• Someone who hasn’t had it easy knows from hard work. Much as I hate the ‘do more with less’ mentality, I also know how to get big results with small budgets.
• Someone who’s been unpopular doesn’t worry about kissing middle management’s ass. They know how to use their lack of cool – and get things done.

Take a Risk

We laud risk takers in the media, but so few of us really think along those lines. We praise the successful failures – the ‘once lived in car but now have business empire’ stories – but what about on their way up, or those who never quite get there?

It’s one of the reason I enjoy the TED series, that approach to education. Want more innovation, critical and creative thinking? Be more real, more human – and stop punishing ‘failure’ in school and at work.

Insert [pithy quote on how failure is key to success] here. Got a fave? Do share.

Tags: Communications | leadership | success

Per my resolution to do something different, a book review.

Hitting the Books

Thanks to my iPad, the library’s ebook system, I’ve caught up on a few novels – that left me yawning for my TV. I tried a couple social media and marketing tomes that sadly seemed dated, obvious and frankly, no more insightful than a collection of ‘above average for a Wednesday’ blog posts.

I did enjoy Daniel Pink’s Drive, though still a bit scholarly and academic for me. Think maybe it was all the footnotes and probably some malingering schoolhood trauma.

I like blunt, real world and Raw, Medium Raw

I don’t set the DVR around it or anything, but I’m a fan of Anthony Bordain’s No Reservations. So when his book (haven’t read Kitchen Confidential) was available from the e-library I went for it.

Turns out, there are good business lessons to be learned from Anthony Bourdain and book reviews make decent blog posts. Lessons learned:

“Luck is not a business plan.” Too many businesses skip on the plan, the strategy, think they can coast on luck and a decent head of hair – and until it bites them in the ass.

“People will continue to pay for quality. They will be less and less inclined however, to pay for bullshit.” The jet set do not fare well in the book but then, Mr. Bourdain makes some excellent points about going too far with ‘luxury’ pricing no matter who your customer is.

You can bank on the ‘whales’ – until you go broke.  Interesting explanation on the fact that it was the big wine spender the restaurants banked on – until the big fish (mammals actually) stopped biting. “Chefs and restauranteurs have to go back to their original business model: sell people food they like and make money doing it.” Adding 20 related product lines may seem a good idea at the time, but better to stick with your core strengths; it’s what got you there.

Heroes, villains, circles and cliques. Mr. Bourdain names names as well as calls out what he considers douchey practices, but it’s clear – there are creativity-stifling echo chambers and inner sanctums in chefdom, just like everywhere else.

There can be too much of a good thing. The tales of ADNY with overdone fine dining service, oy. See above, charging for bullshit. Taking things to the next level is one thing; putting on airs and affectations in order to sell overpriced crap, that’s another.

Burgers and tees. People who can’t afford Gucci can buy a t-shirt with the Gucci name on it – at top dollar. Very smart, rightly-cynical look at branding, at marketing and things like burgers, Starbucks coffee – what people will pay for things, how to market ‘down’ without devaluing the luxury brand or market ‘up’ the everyday and mundane.

There was also a nice anecdote about a friend who’d never eaten in his own restaurant. You need to think more like, be more like the customer.

“Belt tightening implies a bad thing. But it also means you’re getting thinner.” Lean, nimble vs. clunky, lumbering – in today’s fast-paced market, the leaner, faster organization is often a healthier business model.

“There is no lying in the kitchen.” A lot of businesses I suspect are very much NOT marketing-proof and have to walk the talk because bullshit like ‘personal branding’ and credentials mean jack squat. You can’t hide, you can’t fake it; you either suck or get it right.

Being a child of the restaurant industry, I know there is tremendous marketing, communications, business sense to what Mr. Bourdain – and I’d suspect other chefs – have to say. There has to be, restaurants are one of the toughest gigs going. In any economy.

What’s something you’ve learned from a different business/industry that still applies to what you do now?

Tags: Business | management | Marketing

Interesting if simple feel good movie, I thought Big Miracle did a decent job of showing what “PR” (public relations don’t you know) really does or is. Spoiler alert - which may be unneccessary in an ‘inspired by real life’ movie but I’m adding it anyway - I’m going to give away big parts of the movie.

This isn’t a review: not discussing the acting, the cookie-cutter characters or how bad I thought Drew Barrymore’s hair looked. “PR” and in ways, ‘social’ was all over this movie (much like the modern-day Dolphin Tale) .. so I thought it’d make for a different kinda post.

The Original Filter Bubbles

There wasn’t any social media in 1988. No blogs, no Google, no Citizen media armed with iPhones and YouTube. Media gatekeepers did the filtering.

There’s a telling scene in the movie in which the evening news editor is deciding on what ‘filler story’ gets the last spot, typically something ‘human interest’ flavored. Better than war or jobs, whales sell. Ratings FTW!

Once national interests are piqued, everyone gets involved. The story goes ‘viral’ with impact on different groups, stakeholders ranging from school children to small business entrepreneurs to TPTB at the White House.

The Stakeholders

Greenpeace is the principle supporter of the whales (and antagonist of the business), first getting spurned by the Governor when asking for help. But once the public support is on the whales’ side and the Governor is pitted against them, he’s quick with the press conference to show he’s changed his tune.

As is Big Oil, overtly doing this for the PR value; smile for the cameras as they realize good PR is good for business. Once the whales catch the eye of the White House, the politicians step in and use the military to help the whales as a means of 1) wrap up the Reagan administration with a bigger, shinier bow and 2) pass some of that ‘tree-hugging’ benevolence onto the voting public.

Local eskimos (and whalers) were the interesting group, who stood their ground fairly well vs. the Greenpeace rep. Showing great PR acumen was the wise old grandpa, who assured the others that no matter how well they make their case, “all anyone would see is blood” as he convinced them to help the whales.

Media. I liked how the story is ‘localized’ by kids, schools, business owners hundreds of miles away; smart publicity tactic.

I totally loved that once the story got even bigger, it’s pulled from a junior reporter and given to one more senior, presumably based on his ‘influence.’ But then, he’s outflanked anyway because the cub reporter has the relationships and is more connected to the key players.

The Twist

All these sides collide in some odd strategic alliances and the message is kept as simple as possible: help the whales or they die. In true Hollywood fashion, life surpassed art and threw in some wrinkles:

• The military/Big Oil solution failed, leaving little hope or other options.
• Supporters, swept up in the story, came to the rescue from parts elsewhere.
• The last ditch option: those Red Russian Soviets.

Something for everyone

The movie showed how the different groups stayed on message, while each telling their own version of the story via a little savvy media relations.

• Greenpeace, clearly pro trees and animals and fluffy bunnies; this gave them great exposure and public support (though I thought they didn’t show as well).
• Big Oil is magnanimous, making themselves look less evil, more sympathetic of the environment and more responsive to the people. The little bit at the end made me laugh.
• As the cold war was thawing, pressure was placed on TPTB to look past the water’s edge and do what was necessary. Letting ‘the enemy’ step in and save the day? In an election year?! The Politicos played this to their favor, all ‘peace, love, goodwill towards critters.’

Movies like Glen Gary, Glenn Ross or Thank You For Smoking (fave!) have gotten it right before but it’s rare. At a time when PR is misused, misdefined as just publicity and stunts (ala Sex and the City), it was nice to see a more accurate – if ‘tweaked for Hollywood’ – portrayal of the many different aspects of public relations.

If you see the movie, let me know what you think.

 Photos: © 2012 Universal Pictures.

Tags: Marketing | message | PR | Public Relations | Social media

Don’t remember if I got the uber Barbie penthouse with the deluxe sports car, or a G.I. Joe with Kung-fu grip. Always had a budget and a need for the practical, so presents were usually clothes, shoes, that kinda thing.

Thanks for the memories 

A few of the many things I remember:

• My grandmother cooking the traditional feast and me helping with setting the table, the nice china, silver and crystal; all the work and hours that went into a meal.. only to be devoured in 34 minutes, cleaned up in time for presents and football. (Geaux Tigers!)
• How great it was to have an evening cold enough for a roaring fire, a rarity for Biloxi and New Orleans. Or how cool it was to wear shorts Christmas day, when others spent their day shoveling snow.
• Whenever someone get a new board game, we’d play Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Scatterogories for hours. (See also, now and the iPad versions.)
• Decorating, baking, late night visits with this friend or that aunt.
• Going to Disney World to ogle the pretty lights and playing ‘Dirty Santa’ – my family’s gift exchange game.
• Food and treats and more food, with the bonus of eggnog and other potent libations when I came of age (even a few sips when I was younger).

So many moments that all share the same things: friends, family, food, fun. Playing cards, nice music, little wine. That’s all it takes, being together… even quality time with annoying relatives.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa. Whatever you celebrate this time of year, may you have lots of fun and easy gift returns. Enjoy these moments with those you love. Best present ever.

Tags: holidays

Happy Turkey Day folks. U.S. folks. (The rest of you, back to work. )

Please enjoy the cleverness of Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Or at least, I think he’s funny.)

For those of you venturing into the madness that would surely rank its own circle in Dante’s hell – aka Black Friday – have fun, be safe; I’ll be sleeping in then cheering “GEAUX Tigers, beat ‘dem Hogs.” Later!