My web site has two purposes
1. A showcase for my communications expertise. 
2. A teaching device for the "next generation" of communicators and executives on what good public relations can—and should be.

Electrifying speeches

Stories and anecdotes make a good speech

Writing well
Six tips to improve your feature writing

Useful transitional words and expressions

... more

Is a camel a Mercedes?

University of New Brunswick undermines credibility

There is no question that the worst use of public relations in the history of the modern world belongs to the Nazis in the 1930s and leading up to the start of WWII in 1939. The mastermind of Nazi propaganda was Joseph Goebbels, who effectively used communication strategies and tools to spread Hitler’s message among the German people.

My point here is simple: the Nazi’s communication strategy was sound and the tools, other than the Internet and e-mail, were not all that different than they are today. Unfortunately, sound principles and well implemented tactics can be used for very evil as well as honourable ends.

On January 27, we remember and honour all those who were killed by the Nazis; we must guard against history repeating itself. All responsible public relations professionals must guard against using our skills and talents for immoral ends.

Friday, January 21, 2005

A few good (blue) men needed
Blue Man Group coming to Toronto in summer 2005

Performance troupe trio Blue Man Group, whose unique theatrical act incorporates wacky and bizarre stunts, percussive music, art and audience interaction, has successfully blended brand recognition for Intel’s Pentium™ and Centrino™ processor chips and entertainment since February 2001.

For the uninitiated, Blue Man Group, which has become a cult event in New York, Chicago, Boston and Las Vegas, was created in Manhattan in 1987 by Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink. The result is a one-of-a-kind form of tribal rock whose driving, industrial rhythms create a strangely hypnotic audio experience. Now, the group will add Toronto to their list of performance venues starting in June 2005. www.blueman.com

Blending brand recognition and entertainment

Wouldn’t you have just loved to be the "fly on the wall" during the boardroom presentation of Intel’s marketing department to the Executive/Management Committee: "We’re recommending that these three, silent, cobalt blue, alien-like creatures who engage in a variety of unusual activities, including spitting paint-balls on canvas and drumming on PVC pipes, are a good fit with the Intel brand." Eh? Talk about risk-taking!

Branding lessons from Intel:

• Huge reliance on visuals. Three guys painted cobalt blue doing antics.When you describe them to anyone, you’re sure to get a lot of raised eyebrows.You have to see them for yourself—that was the Intel plan.
• Huge reliance on the outrageous and the simple. Simple, yes.Weird, yes. Memorable, yes, because no one else is doing anything similar. This approach works; it works even better if you have deep pockets and you’re not watching your corporate pennies. It cost Intel $300 million to launch the Blue Man Group advertising campaign in February 2001.
• Simple customer message: "Intel Inside" logo. This straightforward message addresses the problem that Intel’s products are imbedded in other products. It is hard, but not impossible, to carve out a brand for a B2B product. Intel has plastered the cobalt blue and hot pink "Intel Inside" sticker on all PCs that use their chips although it is interesting that Intel’s other tagline, "The Technology Within," never caught on—not simple enough.
• Intel's signature four-note music sequence. Not even a jingle, just four simple notes at the end of the commercial: when you hear these, you immediately think "Intel."
• Leverage the benefits of cross-over. Today, the Blue Man Group is selling BOTH Intel and their own act. The perception must be one of third-party endorsement or sponsorship, rather than flat-out paid fees, in order for the message to be believable and believed by prospects.
• There are always inherent risks in celebrity endorsement. Any complex marketing and sponsorship relationship carries risks. Case in point:  Now that the Blue Man Group show is coming to Toronto , four actor unions want to reach agreements with the troupe. They picketed the production offices with “Boycott Blue” signs. This negative PR is not a good thing for Intel, but sometimes, that’s how things go.

"The group's sensibility and approach is very similar to Intel’s; they have a sort of tech-y quality about them that Intel has," North America creative director Larry Silberfein of New York-based agency Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/Euro RSCG (MVBMS) told Shoot magazine in an October 2000 interview.

"There's an innovative, fresh approach they have of looking at things ... every time they pick something up, [it’s as if] they’re exploring it in detail for the first time. Intel also has that sense of being very innovative, very discovery-oriented. Also, the humor of Blue Man Group fit very nicely with Intel’s," he added.

The group's Toronto location will be in the old New Yorker Theatre, now undergoing renovations, on Yonge Street a little south of Bloor.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Wal-Mart launches PR campaign to defend reputation—now what?

The world’s largest retailer (and also the largest private employer in the U.S. with 1.2 million employees began a huge PR blitz to defend itself from "Wal-Mart bashing" on Thursday, January 13, 2005. The barrage of criticism has become so loud lately that the Bentonville, Arkansas, retailer could not afford to ignore it any longer.

The company launched the campaign with full-page ads titled "Wal-Mart is working for everyone," which consisted of an open letter from Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott in more than 100 daily newspapers across the U.S.

These ads were tailored to regional audiences and touted the sales tax revenues Wal-Mart pays, contributions to local charitable causes, its employee benefits package including health care, the diversity of its workforce and the jobs it plans to create this year. Wal-Mart also stationed executives in key markets around the country.      ...MORE

Parallels of good scripts 
and speeches

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns is a master storyteller and has many things to teach corporate communicators. Burn’s new film, an Unforgivable Blackness, a four-hour, two-part documentary (info here) about the tumultuous life and racist times of championship boxer Jack Johnson, is being broadcast on Monday and Tuesday, January 17 and 18, 2005, on PBS. Read more: Here are some lessons his script writing teaches professional communicators.

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Prince Harry dons Nazi uniform
for costume party
Prince Harry, 20, showed up on Wednesday, Jan. 12 at a costume party in a Nazi-style uniform complete with a swastika, a cigarette dangling from his lips. The picture appeared in London’s tabloid newspaper The Sun 

Then the New York Times ran this photo of the Sun front page, in front of Buckingham Palace.

Clearly, Harry is not the brightest star in the royal firmament. Although he has apologized for his poor taste and lack of judgment, he has outraged Jewish groups around the world.

1. Not all "news holes" are good. Not to make light of the almost 150,000 victims of the tsunami, but the story has been covered from a multitude of angles by every news organization in the world. We have witnessed unimaginable suffering as well as stories of incredible bravery. More than two weeks later, it is time to move on. This means that there is a news hole for other stories; transitions can be tricky.
2. Beware of timing. What came before? What comes after? In this case, Holocaust Memorial Day is January 27 and the Queen who was surely "not amused" by Harry’s antics will participate in these ceremonies.
   
   About eight years ago, I had many discussions in a large Canadian organization on what I thought was a "no brainer": why it was a BAD idea to announce Same Sex Medical and Dental Benefits on April 1—April Fool’s Day. Frequently, the role of PR is to point out the obvious.
3. When public figures do silly things, news organizations rejoice. Every editor’s and producer’s dream: a great story, with a large audience, with hardly any effort.

A really meaty speech
Lana Duke stakes out 
claim on branding
Canadian Lana Duke, the largest single franchise owner of the popular Ruth’s Chris Steak House chain now turned branding expert, is bringing great steak and great business leaders together in a new executive speaker series just west of Toronto. But don’t yawn just yet…. What’s different about this lunch series? A few things:

1. A natural line extension, from steak to branding consulting. She is applying the lessons of building the Ruth’s Chris brand to selling consulting services—and she is not stingy with this knowledge! "I’m a big believer in mentoring," says Lana Duke.
2. Showcasing some of Canada’s leading CEOs as speakers on how they built their respective brands. Now, if Lana can secure speakers who have a great message AND deliver a good speech—written text or exceptionally well rehearsed text—I will be the first to congratulate her.
3. Avoiding downtown traffic. This lunch series will take place at Ruth’s Chris in Mississauga only, purposefully avoiding downtown Toronto where business lunches are a dime a dozen. "That’s why we built the corporate dining room in the Mississauga location. Corporate is a big market for us," Lana told JanaSchilder.com today.
4. The lunch series is reasonably priced. Steak, side dishes, glass of wine, and speaker for $75, plus GST. And, no traffic hassles and no $18 downtown parking fees for lunch.

I met Lana Duke a few months ago; here's that story. And here are the lunch details. 

Thursday, February 3, 2005
Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Mississauga
77 City Centre Drive 
(NW corner Hurontario and Burnhamthorpe)
Registration: 11:30 am Lunch & Speaker: Noon to 2 pm

Our most talked about story from December 2004 Reptilian Marketing and the logic of emotion.

Here’s an interview with French branding and marketing guru Clotaire Rapaille.  

He is best known for his "Reptilian marketing" or the logic of emotion: an argument for marketers to pay attention to the visceral reaction of customers rather than heed the content of over-analyzed market research.

Read the story here.

Here is my latest article, published by the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario

Getting to the root of 
performance problems

Bush administration hoping "Excellence by association" will catch on

When I picked up my copy of The Globe and Mail, the Reuters syndicated photo of George Bush against a duotone red-and-black backdrop (festive enough to start us thinking of the Christmas season, no less!) with Roosevelt and Churchill, I chuckled. And Bush’s handlers even colour-coordinated his suit and tie to blend in nicely with the backdrop.

This is a prime example of what I call "excellence by association."         ... More 

In other words, get your picture taken with great leaders and the implication is that you, too, are a great leader.

While I’m not opposed to using theatrics and backdrops such as this one to drive home a Key Message for any organization or government, this technique usually works best if it’s a stretch—and not complete science fiction.

Roosevelt and Churchill have earned world leader stature both by their actions and their words. And their leadership has withstood the test of time and the chroniclers of history. The most we can say about George Bush so far is: "the Jury’s still out on how history will judge him."

Nevertheless, the technique of using backdrops for photo ops (at Annual General Meetings, the release of quarterly results, and other major organization announcements) is an effective one. It gives PR professionals a great visual—something that newspapers are always looking for. So, it’s O.K. to stage stuff and send it in to your newspaper.

Friday, November 26, 2004

The award-winning marketing pros at the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) have done it again: they have assembled a kit for those times when your guests are in no shape to drive home after your holiday party and will avail themselves of your guestroom for what remains of the night.

The "Good Host Kit" is sponsored by the LCBO, Shoppers Drug Mart and MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). Half of the $9.95 price goes to support MADD. Brilliant and timely!

The kit contains shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, deodorant, comb, hair gel and body lotion. The host provides the Advil and the ice pack—a bag of frozen peas works well.

Lots of other great marketing ideas at: www.lcbo.com

Friday, November 19, 2004

"What is wrong with everyone nowadays? Why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities?

This comment made by Prince Charles in a memo emerged Wednesday at an employment tribunal hearing where a former personal assistant in Charles' office, Elaine Day, claimed unfair dismissal. She also claimed sexual harassment by the prince's assistant private secretary, Paul Kefford.

The memo, which was read aloud at the tribunal, was written in reply to Day's suggestion that personal assistants with university degrees should be given the opportunity to train to become private secretaries—a more senior position within the royal household.

More excerpts from Prince Charles’ memo: and some media relations tips.

Friday, November 5, 2004

"The secret of my success? Go Big! You can always go back," said Lana Duke at the podium after a petit filet steak dinner at the Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Mississauga, just outside Toronto. How to Build a Brand from Scratch was the theme of Lana’s after dinner speech. And who better to deliver a keynote speech on branding that the number one USDA Prime Beef Queen herself?         ...more

Tuesday, October 5, 2004

What the Bleep! Do We Know?
Documentary merges science and spirituality

The sleeper hit film What the Bleep Do We Know is picking up speed. The film is about the increasing confluence of leading-edge science—including quantum physics, neurology (like the brain synapses in the photo), microbiology, and so on—with spirituality. As such, the film ponders the Three Great Questions: "What is the universe? Where do we fit in? And, why do we do what we do?"

www.whatthebleep.com

After debuting in one theatre in Oregon this spring, Bleep! expanded to 114 theaters last Friday, up from 88 the previous weekend.                                ...more

Saturday, October 2, 2004

Remember the mantra of all media training for executives in the 1980s? "Just get your three Key Messages out. You’ve got a live microphone, a TV camera and an audience. Never mind what the reporter’s question is!" The result of these "conversations" is predictable: disjointed and confusing.

Frustrated anchors and reporters at all the major Canadian and US networks are pushing back on over media-trained corporate executives. Increasingly, I’m hearing: "That’s fine Mr. X or Ms. Y, but you didn’t answer my question. My question once again is …."

Here are the new rules of media relations, as I see them:

1. Just answer the question.
   Answer the question that was asked by the reporter. Don’t deflect. Don’t fudge. Don’t obfuscate. Otherwise, you risk alienating the reporter and in some ways insulting the viewer. Have a conversation that makes sense.
                                                  ...more
   

I am always amazed at how many organizations miss the opportunity to tell their story in pictures in addition to words, or at least have a decent accompanying photo.

Today, communication departments seems to sweat the content at nauseum (ever notice how a simple news release or brochure can go through 17 sets of changes?), but somehow most organizations have forgotten about photography.                  ...more

UPDATE TO Five reasons why employee communication is ineffective in most organizations Click Here

Five ways to make your 
website work harder

Other than building signage, delivery trucks and business cards, the main "storefront" or public persona for your organization is your website. It is now expected that anyone in business has a website—and most organizations do.

There is a world of difference between those that just "do" and those that "do them well." Here are five ways to make your website work harder for your organization:

1. Keep your website current. This seems a blinding flash of the obvious, but there are a surprising number of websites that have been created and then abandoned. The last time they were updated was sometime in July 2002. In Internet time, that’s the equivalent of when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Flag new items as such, or better yet, put them right on the Home Page. First rule of journalism: don’t bury the lead.        ...more

Five reasons why employee communication is ineffective in most organizations (update Sept. 14: Shel Holtz comments, at http://blog.holtz.com)

Alarmed by a recent Accenture study about the effectiveness of employee communication, Shel Holtz wrote a feature for PR Canada. Read it here. http://www.prcanada.ca/INDNEWTX.HTM#5 

Apparently, high-level executives are increasingly worried that their workforces aren’t up to the challenges on the horizon. His conclusion? That employee communicators are doing a lousy job.

Based on my 20 years experience, most of those years in organizational communication, I have other ideas. There is a whole list of reasons why employee communication is not effective:

1. When it comes to employee communication, the battle between Human Resources and Public Relations continues: who has right of way? PR should have the lead on corporate goals.
2. In most organizations, public relations still does not have a seat at the management table. By extension, employee communication is even less of a priority.
3. In most organizations, the employee communication function is performed by a junior member of the PR team. Typically, employee communication means newsletters and goes no further. And, it is one-way communication.
4. Too many people "input" on employee communication materials. During the writing and editing process, materials go from clarity to "inadvertent obfuscation" and "purposeful omission."
5. There is a disconnect between corporate communication and the communication responsibilities of managers who have staff reporting to them. Managers frequently don’t make the time to help translate corporate goals into department, group or individual goals for their direct reports.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

A story in O'Dwyer's about Charles Pizzo's advice on making web sites media-friendly
Charles Pizzo, a friend and associate listed on Links & Partners is featured in an article in Jack O'Dwyer's PR Daily paid web site. Jack welcomes readers of JanaSchilder.com to come and read the story. Just go to www.odwyerspr.com, click on log in, and then use august for the user name and trial for the password. 

Among the highlights of the story, pointing out how web sites can be effective media relations tools:

The best content in the world, said Pizzo, suffers when it may wait hours, days or even weeks before it gets posted.
     PR staffs, he noted, either don't know how to do it or are not allowed to change the websites.
     Pizzo urged the communicators to seek this know-how and power. He pointed out that programs such as Dreamweaver make it easy for web neophytes to uplink and change copy on the web.
     Putting up pictures and other art can be complicated but it is something all communicators should learn, he said.

Charles is making a customized version of the presentation at IABC's District Five conference in Phoenix, September 26-28.

Thursday, August 5, 2004

Truly tasteless advertising from Mercedes
The headline on an outdoor billboard on the NW corner of Lakeshore Boulevard and Jarvis Street in downtown Toronto screams: "Don’t wet your lederhosen." The billboard features a hard-to-see photo of a car, shot against a black background. This is a Mercedes ad.

Pee-pee advertising not only goes against the Mercedes brand, it is truly tasteless. What is Mercedes thinking?
                                                                 ... more

Wednesday, August 4, 2004

This is the headline in today’s [Wednesday, August 4, 2004] on-line version of The Globe and Mail. The hardcopy version is similar: "WestJet head sorry for imbroglio."

Five magic words: "I’m sorry. Please forgive me." A rare apology from a North American business leader.

Well, full marks to WestJet Airlines Ltd. CEO Clive Beddoe for personal integrity and properly maintaining the reputation of the firm he co-founded. (It's one of Canada's Most Respected Corporations.)              ...more

Thursday, July 29, 2004

How to write an electrifying speech 

The thought of writing a speech produces a similar reaction in many professional communicators as a deer caught in headlights: dazed and confused, with no way out. "Couldn’t we just call in the hired guns?" Granted, speechwriting is a specialization of public relations; top speechwriters command top dollars.

Speechwriting is hard. And like everything else in life, some professional communicators are better at it than others.

That’s talent.

Then there’s practice. Professional communicators can get better at writing speeches. But you have to write speeches. The more speeches you write, the better you get.

Parallels of good scripts and speeches

Bush administration hoping "Excellence by association" will catch on.

"Beach on wheels" as Mexican Tourist Board rolls into Toronto

Special China issue of Globe and Mail makes news

What the Bleep! do we know? Documentary merges science and spirituality

New Rules of Media Relations

Five ways to make your website work harder

Wal-Mart launches PR campaign to defend reputation -- now what?

Customer service and privacy at CIBC

Real women now eat steak, Lana Duke & Ruth's Chris

... more

... more

 

What were they thinking

Media Relations

Employee Communications

RESPECT -- A Canadian value

The 4 things I want from a professional communication association

6 reasons why your organization’s messages aren’t getting through —and 5 ways to improve your odds  

The birth of "editorializing" and 
the cult of the (media) personality

Eleven Things I Know About Public Relations...