In Defense of Public Relations

You and I know New Year’s resolutions are meant to be broken, but I dare say, every year I try to keep them as long as I can. Since I didn’t share what those resolutions were  in the first place (I’ve been crazy busy the past two months), who’s to know I broke any of them? Well, in the spirit of honesty (the only kind of PR I practice and live by), I’ve broken the following resolutions already:

1) I promise to tone down the sarcasm — Well, this was broken by the first of January. Sorry, but like the old American Express slogan, I can’t seem to leave home without it.

2) Never curse at reporters behind their back. Be brave and do it in front of them — Well, I haven’t been brave enough to get pissy in front of them, but I must say I have done so behind their back. What they don’t hear won’t be published. Advice to journos: never leave PR people hanging dog.

3) I will not mail merge any pitches — I hate to admit this because I’ve hung people to dry about doing so. My excuse is I did land a client that warranted this ugly tactic and it resulted in a ton of media placements. On the downside, there were a few that asked to be removed from my lists. I can live with a 90-10 ratio so you understand why I did it, right?

4) I will only speak highly of firmprez and Big Boss — I did for the first day or two back from holiday, but I’m sorry I just couldn’t help it especially when these two are together in a room speaking to a client and lying their asses off.

5) Never touch the flask under my desk — I broke this one first before I broke no. 1 (see above).

Let’s hear what resolutions you’ve already broken. Be real and share. Anonymous comments encouraged.

I was about to let this blog die a slow death. Thanks to Coke, I’ve been rejuvenated to add one more post, No, I’m not O.D.-ing on caffeine. Seriously, I’ve been slammed the past few weeks and sharing my thoughts in 140 characters is just so much easier.  So how did Coke motivate me to write something longer than 140 characters? Simple. They launched a social media campaign.

What irks me about Coke’s social media campaign involving three hand-picked adventurers visiting 206 countries in 365 days is the clear lack of strategy and creativity that Coke is known for. It seems like they were trying so hard to come up with a cool idea that they ended up with a mishmash of Burger King’s Whopper Virgins campaign and the Amazing Race.

In my humble opinion, social media is a channel to build new relationships and cultivate existing relationships. When I first got wind of this campaign, I immediately asked myself, “why should I care?” I have no existing relationship with the three travelers  If I will be following the adventures of the three Coke amigos, I’d like to know  more about them. How they were chosen? Did they beat out millions for the job? What have they accomplished? It just seems so random. They’re almost an afterthought to the entire campaign.

Another thing that bothers me is the name of the campaign itself. “Happiness Goes Around” is just, in a word, dumb. It’s as though they heard the song by Donovan that goes, “happiness runs in a circular motion..,” used in two TV commercials that I know off (Delta Airlines and Cheerios), and then decided let’s go with that. In the case of Delta and Cheerios, the jingle worked well.

As for me and many others, HAPPINESS is simply a state of mind and searching for it in 206 countries might yield some memorable times, but true “happiness” is a choice. Pardon me for being preachy or sounding like Tony Robbins, but then again, Coke might do better in connecting to its customers (that includes me) if they sent us to one of Tony Robbins‘ motivational seminars. I’ll even capture it on video and upload on their site. This would’ve saved Coke tons of money. Whatever Coke saves dough, it should donate to the American Diabetes Association. Now, there’s a campaign that will connect with me on a personal level.

Feel free to share your un-happiness here.