A branding disaster

In an effort to cope with the fact that people aren’t eating out as much, Pizza Hut decided to rename their restaurants to the “The Hut”. Andy Morris from GQ Daily has explored this rebranding disaster.

You don’t need to be Don Draper to work out that, as rebranding exercises go, it was a disaster. Last year Pizza Hut decided to rename their UK restaurants “Pasta Hut” in a bid to convince people to set aside their prejudice and step inside their red plasticky eateries. They talked of changing tastes in health-conscious times and how their renaming represented a seismic shift from the bad old days of slabs of dough and cheese. They talked of fresh salads and delicate pasta dishes - and the general public could not have cared less. In January, they quietly reverted back to the original name, under the guise of a public vote.

The PR stunt had failed comprehensively. Think about it - when was the last time you went into a Pizza Hut? And why is this? People still love pizza and the chain has never had a full-blown crisis - certainly nothing comparable to McDonalds around the time of Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me documentary. It’s just that their restaurants seem like a refuge from a bygone time.

Everything about them seems dated - the horrid carpets, the faux-Americana - and unfortunately the menu seems similarly uninspired (exemplified by the Terminator pizza, seemingly seeking to cover all the food groups by including steak, pepperoni, chicken, ham and bacon). Given the financial crisis at the moment, everyone is looking for an excuse not to eat out - unfortunately Pizza Hut offer half a dozen seemingly designed to deter you.

So Pizza Hut’s owners recently announced that they’ve come up with a bold new initiative to lure people in. And what is this awe-inspiring new idea? They’ve decided to rename their restaurants “The Hut”. Not “Pizza”, no “Pasta”, just “Hut”.

It reveals a lack of awareness that is simply breathtaking. The head of marketing called it a “vocabulary word” (is there any other kind?) and felt that the shorter brand name would appeal more to the impatient youth market (who clearly are so busy tweeting that they won’t go to a restaurant of more than one syllable).

The final touch? They’ve announced televisions showing “Hut TV” will be installed in restaurants to tell customers about current offers and play clips of TV shows. Because that was what was putting you off before - you thought Pizza Hut wasn’t chavvy enough - but they’ve managed it.

Although it won’t kill off the brand entirely (and I suspect some customers might not even notice), “The Hut” is exactly the opposite of what they should be doing. All that modern customers care about now is whether the food is tasty and if it’s good value. If the food is ethically sourced from local ingredients, then so much the better. If these three basic requirements are met, you’re in business, regardless of how short or long your name is.

Media release template

When you are writing a media release there are a few rules you need to follow.  Here is an example of a media release template, with an actually media release below.

Template

MEDIA RELEASE
Date

Headline
The headline of a media release should summarise the key points but catchy, interesting and strong. It is designed to catch the attention and encourage further reading. Ensure you bold it.

Lead
Start with your town/city (ie Grafton). The lead paragraph is the key part of your media release. It is essential that your lead is punchy and has the story hook. Check that is includes:
WHO did it?, WHAT did they do?, WHERE did they do it?, WHEN did they do it?, WHY did they do it?, HOW did they do it?

Body
The paragraph under the lead should expand on the lead and be the point where you start telling the story. The body of the media release it is important to prioritise messages from the most important to the least important. Use short sentences and short paragraphs with vigorous, active language. Always write in the third person.

Use quotes to make your writing more interesting but remember all assertions opinions must be attributed to a particular person, or the organisation. The media are unable to use newsworthy assertions unless sourced, and they will often call to check on the quotes.

End
The last paragraph is the least important information and can include background information or summarises the essential background information about the organisation, event or person.
Always finish the release with –ends- so the journalist knows it has finished.

Contact information
Add for further media information contact: include a contact name, email, phone number.

Boiler plate (About)
Include background information about the business, art or exhibition. This information will give the journalist an overview and isn’t necessarily needed in the release.

See a media release

NAME

Attention: NAME FIELD,
PUBLICATION FIELD

Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Date)

Minister for Housing launches Homelessness Information Clearinghouse website

Energetica, an IT consultancy specialist in the not-for profit sector has developed an innovative homelessness website to be launched today in Newcastle, by the Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek. The site provides information on various aspects of homelessness in order to help tackle this priority social issue in Australia.

The Homelessness Information Clearinghouse www.homelessnessinfo.net.au, offers opportunities for people to participate in an online community, comment on articles, generate debate, participate in discussions, share information, ideas, expertise, and discuss issues online.

Ms Plibersek said: “The launch of the National Homelessness Information Clearinghouse will make it much easier for the homelessness sector to work together and share ideas.”

“Sharing research through this new facility will help government, researchers, service providers and the community to determine if our responses to homelessness are working.”

“It will also provide links to all levels of government and homelessness organisations websites. This will help to strengthen our ability to address the complex and very real problem of homelessness in Australia,” said Ms Plibersek.

Energetica’s Director Lisa Harvey said the launch of the new Clearinghouse website will provide a central place for agencies and workers in the field to find and share information about good practice, issue management, research and case studies on homelessness in Australia.

Ms Harvey said: “Many organisations in the sector work in isolation and a single source of information will provide an efficient way to increase their capacity to deliver services to homeless people, and to connect with others working in their field.”

“The Clearinghouse website has been designed to cope with large amounts of content and includes files for download in the document library, forums, events, and hundreds of articles and documents covering 150 categories of information.”

“The site also includes several of the submissions to the Federal Government’s green paper on homelessness,” said Ms Harvey.

Energetica’s experience in working with the community sector and their expertise in building online communities will contribute to a strong and focused information clearing house, allowing people to communicate with each other, work through issues and collaborate on shared resources and new ideas.
The Clearinghouse site is an initiative of the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP), National Coordination and Development Committee (CAD).
-ends-

(Contact details of media/PR agency)

Want to know how journalists like receive releases?

I often get asked how do journalists like to receive media releases. Journalist, Stephen Withers has answered this question perfectly:

When you email a release, your first challenge is coming up with a subject line that will grab my attention. “Media Release” probably won’t cut it. If I don’t open the email, you’ve wasted your time and your client’s money.

Make sure the message is right there in front of me when I open your email. That means putting the release in the body of the email - not providing it only as an attachment.

Why do you give me a chance to wriggle off the hook? Put the text in the body of the email, then as soon as I open the message, I’m reading the release. Don’t put another obstacle between me and what you actually want to say.

Don’t use HTML email. What makes you think that you know what font and size I can comfortably read? Use plain text, and then my choice of font and size will be honoured. For example, I sometimes receive releases in Ariel Narrow. Bad move. I can cope with it on paper, but on the screen my eyes seem to slide over it, and I have to make a conscious effort to read slowly. I can’t always be bothered to do that.

If you really must use attachments because you can’t convince the client that it’s a bad idea, I’d strongly recommend putting the text of the release in the body as well.

What format should you use for attached media releases? PDF is OK. The files are reasonably compact and cross-platform. Avoid features that require the use of Adobe Reader, and make doubly sure you’ve done nothing to prevent copy and paste (the latter is less of an issue if you’ve taken my advice and put the text in the body of the email as well).

Word? If you must. But I’d recommend .doc rather than .docx so people using older or non-Microsoft software don’t have to mess around with converters.

One thing you really should avoid is using graphical formats (eg JPEG, PNG, Flash) to carry formatted text. I may need to find your release several months later. If it’s not text, it can’t (readily) be indexed. If it’s not indexed, how can I find it?

There may be times when attachments seem essential. Examples include reports and product photos. You shouldn’t be sending them indiscriminately. Unless I’ve previously asked to receive them automatically, just provide links so I can collect those that I want. If you include the http:// or ftp:// part of the URL, most email programs are smart enough to recognise links within plain-text messages.

But don’t go to the extreme of sending an email with no information other than a URL where the media release can be found, as I’ll almost always ignore that.

Please stop telling me to ‘think of the environment before printing this email’. Why would I print it? It would be better if you thought of the environment by avoiding HTML and attachments to keep emails small. Fewer bits means less electricity is needed to pump them around, and smaller messages mean less storage space and therefore fewer disk drives to store them.

I know my advice about putting a copy of the attachments text in the body increases the overall size of your email, but the real waste comes from sending a release that isn’t read.

If You Are A Leader: The 10 Reasons You Should Use Twitter

Bea Fields from The Edge! has listed the top 10 reasons why leaders should use Twitter.

1.  To build a sense of community. With our future leaders…Generation Y… a sense of community is critical for their ability to connect with your company and to feel a sense of belonging.  And…a sense of community is just great for developing strong teams.

2.  To get messages out quickly. As you probably know, your Twitter account can be connected to your cell phone and to the cell phone of your network.  No reason to wait on folks getting to their e-mail or to an online forum to find out your news.  By integrating your phone to Twitter, your Twitter network can receive a message by text in minutes.

3.  To listen. There are multiple conversations happening on Twitter every second of the day.  By listening to what people are talking about, you can quickly get your finger on the pulse of the most important topics of the day.  As a leader, it is critical to know what the world is talking about.  With a tool like Twist, you can follow the top conversations on Twitter and then look closely to see how this trend might be important or relevant to the decisions you make in your company.

4.  To create a snowball effect. Twitter can be used to get out a message quickly and to have others spread your news to their networks.  It just works!

5.  To bring visibility to your blog. If you are a leader of an organization, I highly recommend that you look into blogging.  A blog can give you a human touch, and you can then use Twitter to let the Twitter network know about your recent posts.  If you host your own blog on your own domain using Wordpress, I recommend setting up an account with Ping.fm and then connecting your blog to Ping.fm using the plug-in WPing.fm. This little plug in will feed your blog to over 10 social networks, including Twitter.  (If you only want to send your self hosted Wordpress blog to Twitter, you can use the Twitter Tools plug-in.)

6.  To get customer feedback. Putting out a question about your company on Twitter is a great way to get instant feedback.  If you have a product roll-out, if you are brave enough, ask your Twitter network what they think about it and solicit feedback to improve your products and services.

7.  To show your human side. As we all know, Twitter is a bit more personal than formal online social networks.  Showing a bit of your human side can help you build rapport and fans.

8.  To educate the public about your company AND your culture. Allowing people the chance to catch a glimpse inside your company (the more personal/human side) and its culture creates connection with both customers and employees and builds trust over time.

9.  To facilitate research and development. The Twitter network offers scores of opportunities for you to get questions answered from people who are eager to jump in and participate.  Just try asking one question on Twitter, and sit back and watch as people bring forward their ideas and resources.

10.  To learn the about the latest/greatest advancements in technology. Many of the people who use Twitter are not afraid of technology…as a matter of fact, they relish it!  If you watch and listen closely enough, you will discover quick insights into the latest/greatest gadgets, software and web collaboration tools.  As leaders, we all need to be out there listening and looking for what’s next on the tech edge.

Tips to guard your online reputation

Smart Company’s Brad Howarth  has written a great article on Tips to guard your online reputation

The internet has handed a megaphone to disaffected customers and business partners, and put them on a platform from which to broadcast their tales of woe to a mass audience.

Bloggers are quick to write negative experiences, and occasionally they strike a chord with their readers. The impact quickly snowballs.

Online forums also give people a place to vent their frustration - such as Whirlpool.net.au, a site set up for discussions (often complaints) around telecommunications companies. Founder Simon Wright said last year:  “People never tire from discussing their telecommunications services.”

And social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter give people another place to air their feelings. For example, the site Optus Poo automatically republishes comments regarding Optus from blogs and Twitter - good and bad. A significant percentage are bad, and the site links to other negative Optus blogs.

Another example is the Qantas Sucks website, which collects news stories on the airline (mainly negative) and even offers $500 for the best submission each month. The site’s tag line reads: “Not affiliated with Qantas airlines - in fact, they hate us.”

The effect on a company’s reputation can be highly damaging.

Read the article.

Journalists on Twitter

Anyone that reads this blog regularly knows I’m a fan of Twitter. (Although I must say I liked it more before it went mainstream).  With my PR hat on, I have been using it to follow journalists and have even (successfully) pitched stories to journalists in a Tweet. It is amazing how succinct your pitch gets when you only have 140 characters.

I came across this list of people in the media on Twitter from The Early Edition (@earlyedition) who has classified a journalist as anyone who produces content for online or traditional media.

Check out the list.

Top publicity stunts

There is a time and place for publicity stunts, and some PR stunts you may not even realise are, in fact, stunts to get media coverage. For example the The Olympic Torch Relay is executed in the months before the Winter and Summer Games and generates massive publicity for the Olympics, athletes, and sponsors .

UK PR Agency Taylor Herring have complied their top 50 publicity stunts. Here are some of my favourite.

Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty. Unilever’s toiletry brand Dove became a household name thanks to its highly PR’able ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ which used real women in ads rather than the stick thin models favoured its by rivals. The campaign kicked off in 2003 with adverts featuring six ordinary women in their underwear, and boosted sales by 700%.

Earth Hour. Earth Hour started off in 2007 with 2.2 million people turning off all their non essential lights in Sydney, Australia. A year later and this event had captured a global audience with up to 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Famous landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Rome’s Coliseum all plunged into darkness as the world joined together to raise awareness of climate change issues.

PETA. The animal rights campaign group are renowned for their highly visible, frequently controversial campaigns. From young women dressed in lettuce bikinis to the annual “Running of the Nudes” PR stunt which sees PETA activists run naked through Pamplona, Spain in a parody of the bull run tradition. The organisation has managed to win the celebrity vote - as such Christy Turlington, Eva Mendes and Naomi Campbell have posed naked on billboards supporting the slogan “I’d Rather Go Naked than Wear Fur.”

Up to 80% of media content is from PRs

Today The Australian reported that as much as 80 per cent of media content is derived from public relations material.

Jim Macnamara, director of the Australian Centre for Public Communication at the University of Technology, Sydney analysed more than 70 local and international studies published over the past 80 years.

His analysis showed the oft-heard journalists’ claim that they never find PR sources useful was “a myth”.

Macnamara said the data showed 30-80 per cent of media content was sourced from, or significantly influenced by, PR practitioners, depending on the outlet, with estimates of 40-75 per cent common.

“PR is a fact of life. Journalists should recognise it as an important communication channel and not deny it. And if there is PR material being used, it should be open and transparent.”

Macnamara will present his findings in Sydney this Wednesday night at a debate hosted by the Public Relations Institute of Australia on the topic: “That PR and journalism are different sides of the same coin.”

Read the full article.

Domino’s PR nightmare scenario

It’s a PR nightmare scenario: Domino’s (US) has to respond to a video, spreading rapidly online, that shows one of its employees picking his nose and placing the result in the food he’s making.  USA Today has reported on this story and here are key things experts say marketers can do to quickly catch and respond effectively to similar social-networking attacks:

• Monitor social media. Big companies must actively watch Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social sites to track conversations that involve them. That will help uncover potential crises-in-the-making, says Brian Solis, a new-media specialist and blogger at PR2.0.

• Respond quickly. Domino’s responded within hours. “They responded as soon as they heard about it, not after the media asked, ‘What are you going to do?’ ” says Lynne Doll, president of The Rogers Group, a crisis-management specialist.

• Respond at the flashpoint. Domino’s first responded on consumer affairs blog The Consumerist, whose activist readers helped track down the store and employees who made the video. Then it responded on the Twitter site where talk was mounting. “Domino’s did the right thing by reinstituting the trust where it was lost,” Solis says.

• Educate workers. It’s important that all employees have some media and social-media training, says Ross Mayfield, co-founder of Socialtext, which advises companies on new media.

• Foster a positive culture. Workers who are content and customers who like your product are far less likely to tear down a company online, PR guru Katie Delahaye Paine says. “This would be a lot less likely to happen at places like Whole Foods.”

• Set clear guidelines. Companies must have clear policies about what is allowed during working hours — and what isn’t, Doll says. “It won’t prevent everyone from breaking the rules, but at least they’ll know what the rules are.”

Read the full story.

Use the power of publishing podcasts and videopodcasts.

Most people have listened to a podcast. If you haven’t, a podcast is digital file that is distributed over the internet for playback on portable media (Mp3) players, iPods and personal computers.

Podcasts involve recording either audio or video material for other people to listen to when they want and where they want. They are extremely useful in a society where people are constantly on the go.

Podcasts are the perfect way to get your message heard and all you need is a computer and microphone to record one. Once you have finished recording you can post your podcast on several websites such as iTunes.

You can use podcasts to market your own business messages or those of your clients. You can also search for other peoples podcasts and listen to the information that they have recorded.

Free podcast software is Podcast Alley where you can search for topics and download them easily onto your computer.  One of the most popular programs for recording podcasts is Audacity. This program is easy to use and most importantly free!

Depending on your style of business, a videopodcast might be an interesting way to visually show your work to the public. A videopodcast is more than just audio, it also includes video. You can use a digital video camera and upload it to iTunes. You may even consider placing video footage on YouTube.

The first step is to create a concept, and when it is time to shoot keep in mind that it will be watched on an iPod, so get close and don’t use wide-screen or high contrast.

Once you have your video you need to compress it so it is optimised for the web and iPod viewing. You also need to tag your movie so it can be easily found online. There are instructions on the internet, so Google this.

You need to let people know that your video podcast exists. To reach as many people as possible, submit your podcast to iTunes. You can also provide a URL for your podcast by including it in your blog. First create an RSS feed  so that you can attach your video to your blog.

Then create an entry in your blog and then place a link to your video. You can also add your podcast to the Podcast Directory and www.podcastalley.com.