Citizen Brand

It's not about spin

It seems to have died down a bit of late, but from time to time those of us in the realm of public relations are referred to as spin doctors.  It implies of course that what we do for a living is to take a fact and twist it into something to serve a particular agenda.  It happens, to be sure, but just like other lines of work, the wrongdoers are in the minority.

Kami over at Communication Overtones has a nice post that serves as a good reminder to us in the biz of what we should focus on each and every day.  And it will give those not in our world a clear picture of what good public relations is all about.

Kami is right about one thing.  Good public relations is about courage.  We have all had those moments when we are faced with a tough decision.  Do we simply go along with what our client or our boss wants to do - OR - if we believe their actions or words are wrong and will do harm to their reputation or that of the organization - do we stand up and say so? 

It's a good challenge for all of us in public relations.  For that matter, it's a good challenge regardless of what you do for a living.  After all, we all need to take responsibility for our own reputations and that of our organizations. 

What will you do?

Personal foul in the Red Zone

I understand the need for companies to protect their brands and proprietary products but I think the Heinz Company is offsides in asking the Red Gold  Company of Indiana to stop a charity program because of trademark infringement.  The brouhaha started a week ago or so - The Indianapolis Star tells the story for us.

"The H.J. Heinz Co. of Pittsburgh has filed a complaint with the Colts over the NFL team's partnership with ketchup and tomato products manufacturer Red Gold of Elwood, Ind., over some informal naming rights.

Red Gold says in a statement today that Heinz filed a cease-and-desist order with the Colts objecting to Red Gold being a sponsor of the Colts' "red zone" during team's time on offense. "Red zone" is a nickname for the defensive team's area of a football field inside the 20-yard-line.

For the past four seasons, Red Gold, which is an official Colts sponsor, has donated 136 tons of canned tomato products to Indianapolis area food pantries each time that the Colts have scored a touchdown from the “Red Gold Red Zone” during home games.

Red Gold officials today say Heinz filed a legal challenge claiming ownership of the term “red zone.”

Details of that legal complaint were not immediately available. The news release says that the “red zone” is not trademarked but became accepted vernacular of the game 22 years ago.

Heinz sponsors the “Heinz Red Zone” at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers."

So Heinz says it's  a trademark infringement.  Red Gold and the Colts say no way.  The Red Gold Red Zone program in Indy has filled local food pantries with 136 tons of food over the last four years.  The Heinz effort appears just to be a branding program for themselves.

It always amazes me when these kind of David and Goliath scenarios crop up.  And they seem to do so with regularity.  Goliath just never seems to learn his lesson.  Heinz looks like the big bully and Red Gold, a regional brand, gets tons of awareness and good will they would never have paid to get.

Another reason to cheer for the Colts in the Super Bowl.

To cause or not....part 2

It's been a while since I last posted.  I have some new responsibilities at our company and that has kept me otherwise occupied.  More on that in a future post.

Meanwhile, Selfish Giving has joined the discussion regarding the merits of cause branding.  I like his closing point:

"Inger suggests that if companies really want to help, they "should pay their fair share of taxes.  Then education, health care, research and other priorities could receive greater funding, with no strings attached."  Right.  Given the choice between waiting for Uncle Sam to mail me my no-strings-attached check or cause marketing my way through Corporate America, I'll take the risk of one day having to admit that I only have myself to blame.

On a related note, our public relations firm had a great meeting last week with Julia Hood, editor of PRWeek magazine, to discuss the second installment of our joint cause branding survey.  It will be published in late October.  We discussed how we might be able to go in some new directions this year and in the future.  We are all thinking about the various options we discussed and will be making a final decision on our direction for 2006 very soon.

Our objective is to keep providing new information and data that all of us committed to cause branding can use to improve our programs for everyone involved.

The Cause Generation

If you are between the ages of 18 and 30, then it is likely you are part of the generation that will tip the balance in moving cause and corporate social responsibility from a nice to have in business to business as usual.

Proof of this comes from the 5th Annual College Explorer Study sponsored by Alloy Media + Marketing and conducted by Harris Interactive.

Calling all brands.  Are you paying attention?

Lunch

As we head into a long holiday weekend in the States, check out this new magazine called Lunch.  Just when you thought maybe there were no new, refreshing magazine concepts left to launch, here comes Lunch.  What is it?

"LUNCH is a magazine for the smart, savvy (post)consumer aged anything between 16-60 years old; LUNCH is more an attitude than an age. Value-conscious but increasingly aware of living a lifestyle paradox: responsible, trendsetting but also trend-driven. Wears Blackspot as well as Converse. Loves shopping, buys organic food and drinks Diet Coke, wears People Tree as well as H&M, weekends in the country, frets about global warming but flies EasyJet, wore a MakePovertyHistory band, loves festivals, breaks into a trot when approaching Selfridges. Has probably boycotted Nike, Nestlé et al, albeit temporarily. Loved No Logo and Supersize Me, reads Vogue and Closer.
Recognise anyone?"

Thanks to Audeamus for pointing this out to us.

Cause is Growing

Investment in cause programs will increase more than 20 percent this year breaking the $1.3 billion mark.  That according to IEG, Inc.  Cause branding is now the fastest growing segment in the entire sponsorship arena.  Sponsorship on the whole will grow a little more than 10 percent this year.

What does this mean?  It's real simple.  More and more companies are realizing they can make better and more real connections with their customers if they are doing something to help society.  As sports sponsorships see another year of decline, it is cause branding that is picking up the slack.

As my fellow cause colleague at Selfish Giving  says: 

"If you're a retailer and don't believe me, test it out for yourself.  At one register, ask your shoppers if they can donate a dollar to help a poor, sick child.  At a second, ask them if they could spare a dollar so you can flash your company name on the jumbotron at Fenway.  Believe me, just because New Englanders love the Red Sox doesn't mean they don't think like Yankees."

Want to learn more about cause branding?  Download our white paper on the topic at www.beappr.com.

Have a great Fourth of July.  I'm heading to San Diego for a few days of R & R but will try to stay in touch.

Goldman Sachs Goes Green

Fast Company tells us that Goldman Sachs is taking a strong stand for the environment.

Arguably the world's most prestigious investment banking firm, Goldman recently adopted an environmental policy that calls for "world governments to tighten restrictions on greenhouse-gas emissions, commits to investing $1 billion in renewable energy, and proposes a Center for Environmental Markets, a research partnership that will explore how the free-market system can solve environmental problems."

This is the kind of leadership that companies need to emulate quickly.  Green issues are only going to grow and the employees of the future want to work for companies that are truly trying to make a difference. 

This move will only solidify Goldman's position as a global leader and puts them well on the road to becoming a real Citizen Brand.

Talking to Customers

One key attribute of a Citizen Brand is open communication with everyone inside or outside the organization. Southwest Airlines is one of my favorite brands and it is a company that has always been open in all of its communications.

Right now, for example, Southwest has been in the news regarding a potential change in their open seating policy.  If you have never flown Southwest Airlines, then you may not know that there are no assigned seats.  You board in three groups - A, B and C - and you take whatever seat you want when you get on the plane.  It has become part of the Southwest culture and an important part of their ability to operate more efficiently than other airlines.

Not everyone likes it of course.  In fact, some people will avoid flying Southwest just because there are no assigned seats.  I personally like it.  But the fact that there are customers who don't means Southwest has to listen.

So what do they do about it?  Do they just suddenly change their policy and then try to spin some kind of announcement to make it sound good?  No, they don't.  Instead, the CEO of Southwest is discussing the issue on the Southwest blog.  There has been no decision made, yet here is the CEO talking direct with customers about the issue and its pros and cons.  Refreshing.

Too bad it seems refreshing instead of being the norm in business communications.

More on this at Andy's blog.

Consider this conference

I have registered to participate in The Annual Public Innovators Summit in August.  After you read what it's about, you might want to consider participating or know someone who should. It sounds like a great weekend of exchanging ideas with people from all over the country about how to create the kind of society that produces more Citizen Brands.

The Summit is being jointly sponsored by The Harwood Institute and Fast Company magazine.  What draws me to this summit is that it is based on the correct notion that we are a "nation in retreat from politics and public life."  Consider these core values that guide The Harwood Institute.

• We believe in the innate goodness of individuals and the possibility for change.

• We seek for people to imagine and act for the public good so that we can all do the unfinished work of our communities and the nation.

• Together, we must create the conditions for people to tap their potential to make a difference and join together to build a common future.

• Our aim is to ignite a sense of possibility and hope in America.

• We must create more advocates for public life.

Sounds like our kind of folks.

Plus the location won't be too bad a place to be in August.

Lee National Denim Day

Our client, Lee Jeans, made a big announcement today regarding their signature cause branding program benefiting the fight against breast cancer, Lee National Denim Day.

Here are the details about Lee's new partnership with The Entertainment Industry Foundation.

The first ten years of Denim Day have been focused on education and awareness.  The second decade of Denim Day will focused on funding specific research projects working to find a cure to breast cancer.

It will be exciting to see where the second decade of Lee National Denim Day leads all of us who have been on this ten year journey.