public relations

How These 8 Company Stocks Fared Following Scandal

Tim Lemke — Fri, 05 May 2017 08:00:10 +0000

From bad business decisions to PR nightmares (looking at you, United Airlines), negative news can crush a company's bottom line and send investors fleeing. But not all scandals — or their fallouts — are the same. Some companies rebound quickly, while others spend years recovering — or go out of business altogether.

Let's take a look at some of the largest corporate scandals in recent memory, and their impact on shareholders.

1. Tyco

This was one of the biggest corporate scandals in the early part of the millennium. CEO Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark Swartz were convicted of grand larceny after improperly awarding themselves millions of dollars in bonuses. Details of the lavish $2 million birthday party that Kozlowski threw for his wife made for great tabloid fodder.

Tyco's shares took a hit in the short term, but the company's underlying business in security and fire protection systems was still sound. Over the years, Tyco has split into multiple firms, leaving patient investors with shares of a diverse array of companies — many of which have outperformed the markets. Pentair, a company that acquired one Tyco division in 2012, has seen shares rise more than 40 percent. Johnson Controls bought Tyco last year and then spun off its automotive seating business, Adient. Adient shares are up 55 percent since the spinoff in November. (Disclosure: I own some shares of Johnson Controls, Adient, TE Connectivity, and Pentair.)

2. Chipotle Mexican Grill

The burrito chain faced scandal in 2015 after an E. coli outbreak affected dozens of customers. The company's share price suffered for months as investors wondered whether it had a handle on food safety. Those issues appear to be in the past now, and shares have risen 23 percent in 2017. Still, they fail to come anywhere close to the highs of two years ago.

3. Samsung

Samsung was forced to recall all of its Galaxy Note 7 devices last year after reports of the phones catching fire due to battery defects. The discontinuation of the high-end phone cost the company billions of dollars. Samsung also faced bad headlines when one of its vice presidents was arrested in connection to a bribery scandal. But the markets have shrugged off these missteps.

The company's share price is up more than 66 percent on the Korean stock exchange since this time last year, and up nearly 19 percent in 2017. Demand for Samsung devices remains high, and the company continues to battle with Apple for the top spot among global smartphone manufacturers.

4. Volkswagen

The German automaker found itself in big, big trouble after lying about emissions from its vehicles in 2015. It's now on the hook for billions of dollars in fines. Shares dropped by about 40 percent after the scandal and hit some of their lowest prices in three years. While it appears that customers haven't abandoned the company altogether, and Volkswagen's stock price rose a bit in the first half of 2017, shares are still well below where they were pre-scandal.

5. Exxon

Remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska? The oil tanker accident in 1989 led to widespread environmental damage, with 10.8 million gallons of oil spilling into Prince William Sound. The disaster meant terrible headlines for Exxon, as it was sued for more than $5 billion. (It eventually paid about $500 million.)

One could argue that the reputation of the fossil fuel industry was damaged permanently, but Exxon rebounded over time. In fact, Exxon merged with rival Mobil 10 years after the spill and became one of the largest and most profitable companies in U.S. history.

6. AIG

Many companies were impacted by the collapse of the financial sector in 2008. AIG was uniquely hard-hit because it had nearly $60 billion worth of subprime mortgages on its books. The federal government bailed the company out, shares fell by more than 80 percent, and it was pretty much a disaster for AIG and its investors. AIG still exists as a company, but there is no remarkable comeback story to tell here.

7. Enron

The biggest scandal of the dot-com era, Enron found itself in trouble in 2001 following revelations that it had engaged in fraudulent accounting. Enron was trading above $90 per share in mid-2000, but began to fall as journalists questioned the legitimacy of some of the company's financial claims. Within a year, share value was cut in half, and by the end of 2001, the company had declared bankruptcy. Several executives went to jail, charged with a variety of crimes including conspiracy, fraud, and insider trading. And shareholders? Well, most ended up with zilch.

8. United Airlines

United's story is still being written. Shares fell around 5 percent in April, shortly after news broke about a passenger getting injured while being forcibly removed from an overbooked flight. But, shares rebounded rather quickly and are now trading at around pre-scandal levels. United has settled with the passenger it removed for an undisclosed amount, avoiding what could have been a costlier lawsuit. The question now is whether bad publicity will keep flyers away from United and impact its revenue in the coming months.

This article is from Tim Lemke of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The 6 Companies With the Best Customer Service

Damian Davila — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:00:07 +0000

Nowadays, it seems like every single company is trying to cut corners.

If companies are not laying off several employees, then they are forced to find creative ways to cut labor costs. Given the deadly combo of smaller budgets and fewer employees, it seems that great customer service is bound to disappear. (See also: 9 Ways to Get Exactly What You Want From Customer Service)

Does this mean that great customer service is dead? Fortunately, there are several companies out there working very hand to consistently deliver outstanding customer service. Here are the six companies in which great customer service appears to be alive and well.

1. Amazon.com

The online retail giant takes the the mantra "the customer is always right" very seriously. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos often leaves a seat open, representing the customer, at conference tables. The "empty chair" is supposed to represent "the most important person in the room."

Bezos takes customer service so seriously that he welcomes messages from any client to his very public email jeff@amazon.com. He is well known to read customer complaints and forward them to the relevant Amazon employee with just a single character addition: "?" Question-mark emails from Bezos are taken as top level action items by their recipients.

The empty chair and question mark strategies from Bezos seem to be getting the point across and creating a culture of great customer service. The 2014 Customer Service Hall of Fame list puts Amazon at the top for the fifth consecutive time with 57.5% of survey respondents giving Amazon's service an "excellent." Additionally, the American Customer Satisfaction Index has put Amazon at the top of its online retailing category since 2000 and within its overall top 10 for several years.

Need further proof? An Amazon service rep didn't even blink in replacing a $500 Playstation at no extra cost that got stolen from a customer's doorstep.

2. Morton's Steakhouse

When I asked on Twitter (BTW you can find me at @DavilaDamian!) for tips on companies with the best customer service, a follower, who prefers to stay anonymous replied via direct message: "You have to check out Peter Shankman's Morton experience."

Shankman is a busy author and speaker and back in 2011 he was stuck in a rut. He knew that between 3:30 a.m. and about 9:00 p.m. he would only have time for a single meal, during a lunch meeting. Since he is steak lover, he jokingly tweeted to Morton's Steakhouses if they would meet him at the Newark airport with a porterhouse. Turns out they did! Despite the 23.5 mile distance between the closest restaurant and the airport, the short three hour window to pull off the stunt, and the tweet meant to be a joke, Morton's came through with an outstanding example of customer service.

3. Nordstrom

The main source for Nordstrom employee's great customer service is empowerment. For several years, the company's Rule #1 in its employee handbook has been: "Use best judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules." Employee autonomy has been identified by several industry experts as the source for Nordstrom's renowned customer service. This is why even housekeeping staff are able to help customers.

What do Nordstrom employees identify as their key differentiator from other retailers? A Nordstrom employee that worked in the corporate offices and store #001 reveals that it is the no-excuses return policy. Ever heard of the customer that returned tires to a Nordstrom in Alaska? (Catch: Nordstrom doesn't even sell tires!) Nordstrom accepts returns even without receipts and no matter how worn out a piece of clothing might be. She also points out that everything is in small details such as:

Answering the phone on no more than the second ring.
Walking a customer to a location instead of pointing to it.
Providing one-on-one service.

4. USAA

In the financial services industry, USAA often tops the best customer service lists. In the 2014 Temkin Customer Service Ratings survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers, USAA's banking business took the top spot, and USAA's insurance business tied with Amazon.com for second place.

A USAA customer for several years, Ligaya from Fort Rucker, Alabama, explains why she is loyal to the company: "Consistently great customer service, always upgrading banking options and polite service reps. I also like that they take customer security very seriously. I've never been in one of their actual banks but have never had a problem in over 10 years."

Founded in 1922 by a group of U.S. Army officers, USAA focuses on customers who are military members and their families. After reviewing 70 customer reviews from this company, it seems that Ligaya is not the only one happy with USAA service. A remarkable 67% of those reviewers give 5 out of 5 stars to USAA.

5. Ritz-Carlton

Despite being a very large hotel chain with several locations in 21 countries, the Ritz-Carlton has been able to maintain a strong reputation for outstanding customer service for over a century.

Take, for example, the story of Joshie the Giraffe. When a boy's beloved stuffed animal was left behind at a Ritz-Carlton in Florida, a father told him a white lie: Joshie decided to stay a bit longer at the resort. The same night, the staff from the Ritz-Carlton called the father and informed him that they had found Joshie. The father requested if they could take a picture of Joshie on a lounge chair by the pool. The staff did not only agree, but also carefully documented Joshie's extended vacation before sending him back along with some goodies.

This and other "wow" stories are shared during the company's daily 15-minute meetings. The same wow story is shared across all Ritz-Carlton hotels on the same day to congratulate staff that provided outstanding service and inspire everybody else. For example, employees are empowered to make decisions, such as providing freebies, to minimize the perceived waiting time.

6. Zappos

This list of companies with best customer service wouldn't be complete without including Zappos. This company has not one but several stories of legendary great customer service.

A best man for a wedding was saved from going barefoot by intercepting a pair of shoes that were being delivered to the wrong address and providing an overnight replacement pair of shoes to the right destination.
Zappos sets the expectation for both customers and staff members that everything can be returned. No questions asked and at no charge to the customer.
A woman, whose feet had been damaged by harsh medical treatments, had to order six different pairs of shoes to see if one would provide her comfort. The rep that helped her process the return of the unwanted shoes via phone wowed her with a bouquet of lilies and roses.
The company offers over 1,060 pairs of vegan shoes. No, that's not a typo. Zappos decided to take action and address the hundreds of requests for those that prefer non-leather shoes.
The company holds the record for one of the longest customer service calls: 10 hours and 29 minutes. The most amazing thing is that the rep remained friendly, even when most of the call was about providing advice on how to relocate to Las Vegas. The customer did buy a pair of Uggs boots.

These stories go to show that there are still companies around in which the customer is king.

What is your best customer service experience? Please share in comments!

This article is from Damian Davila of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

PR Blunders and How to Avoid Them

Tom Harnish — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:37:25 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/pr-blunders-and-how-t...

Many small business owners think PR means sending out a news release with carefully chosen words to promote, say, a new product. But public relations covers a broad scope of activities. Done right, PR can help build awareness of your company, products, services, technologies, people and issues. Done wrong, PR will still do the same thing, but in ways you really don't want.

The Candy Bombers

Take, for example, the 1920s German candy company that thought it would be great public relations to drop confections from a biplane. The press all over Europe exploded with articles about the stunt — predominantly complaints from people who said they'd been bombed with chocolate.

But years later, in another context, the same idea was a huge success. During the Russian Blockade of 1948-49, a major Cold War crisis, pilots flying food and fuel into isolated Berlin thrilled the city's children by dropping candy attached to little parachutes. Reported worldwide, the act of kindness had a huge positive impact on German-American relations in postwar Germany.

Why was one candy drop a PR blunder and the other an international success? The former was self-serving, the other selfless. Sure, corporate communications is about getting the word out about your company, products, services, technologies, people and issues as we've said. But a real PR success goes beyond simple communications, and says something about the values of the organization too; it's about what you offer others.

Carrying a Spork without a License

PR isn't just about getting the word out. It's also about sending a message. Take, for example, the Delaware teacher and principal who suspended an enthusiastic six-year old for bringing a Cub Scout "spork" to school — a folding spoon, knife, and fork. The school board, in the wake of the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings, tried to send a message and rigidly sentenced the A-student to 45 days in reform school for violating their "zero tolerance" policy regarding "weapons". Only after the New York Times and the NBC Today show took them to task was the innocent tyke allowed back in school. Did their actions influence public relations? Oh, yeah.

You can avoid such a blunder if you keep in mind that the message received is the message sent. Regardless of your intent, your relations with the public are the result of how they perceive what you said — and how you said it. Handled differently, with careful thought about the message they were really sending, the school district could have sent a very positive message to their audience and influencers. And the little boy, who said, "...there's something wrong with the law not me..." would have learned a much more beneficial lesson at school.

Airline Mangles Public Image

And then there's the famous case, a guitar case actually, that was thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers causing $1,900 damage to Dave Carroll's $3,500 Taylor guitar. Missing an opportunity for good PR, United initially refused to pay for the damage. Understanding the power of PR, Carroll and his country band, Sons of Maxwell, created a YouTube video that was viewed three million times in the first week. Apparently it struck a chord with United, who eventually agreed to pay for the damage.

In a further demonstration of good PR, Carroll asked United to donate the money to a charity. United’s response? Unbelievably, they lost Carroll's baggage while he was traveling to deliver a speech…you guessed it…about customer service.

But the PR award in this episode goes to Taylor Guitars, who invited Carroll to their factory and presented him with a new guitar to replace the one United's baggage handlers mangled.

How could United have avoided the blunder? The same way you can, with old school public relations: care about your customers.

Above all, remember that PR, good and bad, is sticky. Taylor is still a hero and United is still the goat, three years and 10,282,619 YouTube views later.

This article is from Tom Harnish of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How to Get Free Publicity

Heather Allard — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 22:39:40 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/how-to-get-free-publi...

Everyone knows publicity is good for your business. After all, publicity:

Creates buzz
Positions you as an expert
Brings traffic to your site
Skyrockets subscriber sign-ups
Launches the heck out of a new product
Drives sales
Increases brand awareness
Establishes authority & credibility
Builds your platform
And much more…

But let's face it, professional publicists are an expense most small business owners can't afford. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get great publicity — for free? Well, you can. All you need is a little time and a lot of desire.

Here are six ways to get amazing publicity that won’t cost you a penny.

Social Media

More and more, media outlets are using Twitter and Facebook to find great sources for the stories they’re working on. Is there a magazine or TV news show you’d like to be featured in? Chances are, they’re on Twitter and Facebook, and once you “follow” them, you’ll see awesome shout-outs for sources like you.

Help a Reporter Out

Like Match.com for reporters and sources, HARO provides publicity-hungry sources with hundreds of media opportunities each day. All you need to do is sign up, get your HAROs and start pitching.

Guest Posts

Get your business in front of a whole new audience by guest posting on other people’s blogs. Check out Copyblogger for 10 tips on how to snag a guest post on an A-list blog.

Press Releases

Despite what some PR people say, the press release isn’t dead. Writing and distributing a press release can announce news, launch products, tweak your SEO and help you reach the media. DocStoc.com has several free press release templates and Mashable.com lists 20+ free press release distribution sites.

Editorial Calendars

An editorial calendar shows the major editorial features planned for forthcoming issues of a newspaper or a magazine. Editorial calendars are traditionally used by the advertising department to sell advertising, but you can use them to increase your chances of getting featured in a publication.

Where can you find editorial calendars? Go to the publication’s website and look for a link or tab that says “Advertising” – it’s usually way down at the bottom of the website. Click on that and you’ll likely find rate information, closing dates and a “download editorial calendar” link. Download the editorial calendar and start hunting for publicity opportunities in the features they have planned!

Product Placement

Have you ever seen your favorite products being used in movies or TV shows? That’s called product placement and you can get your product placed, too! Sarah Shaw of Entreprenette has a genius free service called Instantly Famous Products that'll get your product on the big screen.

Much like HARO, Instantly Famous Products broadcasts queries from TV and movie producers looking for certain products – clothes, accessories, green items, food, bags, shoes, whatever. All you need to do is pitch your product and cross your fingers.

Publicity is a powerful way to boost your business. And as you can see, there are many fun and free ways to get it. So go get it!

This article is from Heather Allard of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Free Advertising: The Magic of Getting Media Attention

Kate Lister — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:52:08 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/free-advertising-the-...

Whoever said there's no such thing as a free lunch obviously didn't know about PR. A single public relations stunt can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in free publicity. No, I'm not suggesting you stash your son in a barn and send the National Guard on a wild balloon chase — that's dishonest.

But there are plenty of honest ways to garner media attention. I've run three businesses over the past 20 years. The first was a consulting firm that helped businesses find financing. The second was a vintage airplane "flight-seeing" operation (think Snoopy and the Red Baron). And the third is a telework research and consulting firm. Without the "free ink" in newspapers and magazines, none of those businesses would have survived, let alone prospered.

Newspaper and magazine ads, direct mail campaigns, and other conventional marketing tactics, meanwhile, are expensive and risky. I know. I've tried them. One $5,000 magazine ad, or rather the total absence of calls from it, was particularly memorable. A pre-show ad at the local movie theater seemed like a good bet for the flight-seeing business; after all, it’s a visual sell. Fortunately, a fire at the theatre allowed us to cut our losses on that contract. The aerial banner towed behind our biplane that read "R-I-D-E-S • 1-8-0-0-S-K-Y-L-O-O-P" felt like a sure thing too. Sadly, the only call we received was a noise complaint.

By contrast, PR efforts are cheap and effective. But your business is too boring to make headlines you say? I say "horse puckey." Financial consulting and telework research aren't exactly Barnum and Bailey, but we've scored media hits in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Washington Post, and other publications. Any business, no matter how boring, can be newsworthy when a bit of creativity is added to the mix.

Let’s say you own a neighborhood shoe store. The latest wingtips aren’t exactly headline material, but you can create your own with a bit of creativity. These ideas might get you a foot in the door at the local newspaper:

For Valentine’s Day, you could run a safe "socks" sale or joy of "socks" special.
Declare April (or May, or June, or...) Foot History Month and hold a contest for the best essay about feet that have made history. For example, did you know that Warren Harding, our 29^th President, had size 14 doggies? How’d you like to fill those shoes?
Speaking of presidents, wait for the next political slip of the tongue (you shouldn’t have to wait long) and parlay that into a press release about famous foot-in-mouth moments.
Flip-flops can go on special when the local democrat turns republican.

Of course, not all PR has to be funny or even quirky. The possibilities are endless. Just about any holiday, any headline, or any historical event holds the potential for a story about you, your business, your customers, or even your suppliers. Just find the angle and make the pitch.

Best of all, PR isn't rocket science. It's something you can do on your own with very little training. You just need to find a hook that will reel the media in.

How has PR helped your business succeed? Do tell!

This article is from Kate Lister of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Good Press: 6 Steps to Writing Killer Op-Eds and Commentaries

Chris Birk — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 21:08:07 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/good-press-6-steps-to...

Media commentators have pronounced the press release dead more times than Mel Gibson’s career.

Twitter, Facebook, and other social media avenues have no doubt altered the way business owners and entrepreneurs approach public relations and building buzz. There’s certainly increasing value in social media releases, Facebook groups, and other evolving tactics.

But that doesn’t mean it’s lights out for more traditional media plays like basic press releases. The problem is those standard announcements become the static, default option.

And that’s why business owners should give serious consideration to the power of the op-ed.

Developing top-notch opinion pieces and commentaries for traditional news outlets and online information hubs is a great way to boost your credibility, your brand, and potentially conversions.

The phrase “op-ed” refers to the page opposite a newspaper’s editorial page. Traditionally, the op-ed page has served as a public forum for various viewpoints and opinions on the news of the day, from political and social commentators to community members at large. Online publications may not have tangible editorial pages, but high-level sites certainly embrace compelling and timely commentary.

Either way, this is prime real estate, which means it’s tough to land a slot, especially at larger news outlets. Generating compelling and truly newsworthy opinion pieces that enhance your reputation and instill authority take significant time, investment, and nuance.

But the rewards are usually handsome. Getting a guest commentary in a mainstream newspaper or on a high-traffic website can snowball into future gigs, steamrolling link love and more.

For example, I put together a Veterans Day op-ed as part of my work for a national mortgage company that specializes in VA loans. The piece focused on how these loans and veterans themselves can serve as a model for redefining sustainable homeownership in America. It was published in newspapers across the country, including three in the top 45.

For us, timing was obviously everything. It’s a bit more difficult to push a commentary about veterans and VA home loans in the middle of June. And that strikes at the heart of this — strategy is a major key to success when it comes to op-eds and commentaries.

Whether you’re looking for business exposure or you’re simply a regular Joe trying to get your voice heard, there are some steps you can take to boost your chances of op-ed success. Here are six big ones.

Be Timely

This is the single most important aspect. There are some evergreen issues (health care, taxes, etc.), but having a solid time peg makes you instantly more attractive. News is, well, new. Business owners should look for ways to inject their opinion, product, or expertise into a current hot-button issue. Media outlets don’t care about your latest innovation or a new product line — seek to latch onto a more generalized issue or trend.

Find a "Nut Graf"

This is a journalism phrase, one that undergraduates nationwide tend to abhor. The nut graf is basically the “So what?” paragraph. You need to show readers (not to mention editors) why they should care. What’s the point? The impact? How will this affect their wallets, their grandchildren, or their future plans? Make sure this paragraph is up high in the piece. Once you finish writing, ask yourself: What’s the point? If you can’t provide a simple, one-sentence answer, you’re not ready to start pitching.

Write Tight

Conciseness is especially key to a guest commentary. Most outlets have a ceiling around 800 words, but that doesn’t mean you should aim for it. Editors love writers who can make the same point in a lean 500 words. Get to the point immediately and use short sentences with active verbs. Embrace economy of language.

Stick to One Issue

Reforming the welfare system or addressing prison recidivism are complex issues. Drill down into a core aspect of your topic and focus on that. You can’t effectively cover an expansive current event or lingering social ailment in 750 words. Focus on clearly and concisely making a single point by using examples, anecdotes, and data.

Offer Specific Solutions

It’s incredibly easy to sit back, take pot shots, and call for further research or an immediate halt to whatever police action you’re protesting. That’s not likely to inspire an opinion editor or readers. Instead, offer specific solutions to the problems or issues you’ve raised.

Finish Strong

This is true for anything you write. Leave readers with an emotion, whether it’s awe, hate, or indigestion. Avoid snarky and cliched finishing strokes. Consider circling back to your opening paragraph and bringing the piece full circle with a tie-back paragraph.

This article is from Chris Birk of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How to Create a PR Crisis Strategy Before You Need It

Thursday Bram — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:46:49 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/how-to-create-a-pr-cr...

The day you realize that you need a crisis strategy is usually the day you have a crisis. It's rare for small business owners to think about how to handle a crisis when they aren't in crisis mode. Having a strategy in place, especially when it comes to public relations, is absolutely necessary. With the help of the internet, a negative story can be widespread in a matter of minutes, leaving no time to formulate a response on the spot.

If you already have a plan on how to respond to a problem, however, you have a better chance of making sure that your side is heard and reducing the impact of a negative situation.

Think Worst Case Scenario

It's not easy to think of every potential crisis ahead of time — there are just too many variables. But you can put a general plan into place and even draft a few 'fill in the blanks' statements that will let you get a head start on a crisis.

Your strategies can typically go one of two ways: First, if a member of the media already has a piece of negative news, you'll need to respond to it quickly. Second, if it's more a matter of time until somebody gets negative information, you'll need to find a way to release that information yourself. When possible, it's useful to build in time in your response planning for investigation. You may not immediately know all the details of a situation and may need to find more information.

Set up a list of resources for your crisis situations: who to call, which templates to use, and other information you're going to need close at hand. Don't count on being able to remember anything. After all, it may be a stressful situation where you can't take anything for granted.

Get It in Writing

Write out a generalized approach to how you want to handle a crisis: how you want to release information, who is responsible for talking to the press, and if there's a reporter who you would be willing to give a scoop about your crisis to. Have general policies on the sort of tone you want to set in your responses. If there are any particular weaknesses in your business with the potential to cause problems down the road, gather information about those weaknesses. Once you have a written plan, it's worthwhile to take it to a public relations consultant and get some feedback.

It's usually better to create your own plan (and then get advice on it) than rely on something crafted by someone outside your company. The fact is that a consultant can't know all the details about your business. Just knowing the potential weak spots ahead of time can help you put together information that will be necessary during a response.

You may also need to sit down with your employees and give them an overview of your crisis response plan. They need to know who to refer questions to, what constitutes a crisis in your view, and when to get you out of bed to handle problems. If you have a particular person in your organization tasked to keep track of what's being said about your company through tools like Google Alerts, she should have a way to communicate that information to you, as well as prioritize anything that could become a problem.

Go Looking for Trouble

You want to be the first person to know about any potential problem. Whether or not that's actually possible, you need to make sure that you're in the loop on everything and that potential problems are brought to your attention. Because something that doesn't look like an issue internally can suddenly turn into a big deal outside your company, it's important to stay aware of what's being said about your business on a regular basis.

Monitoring discussions about your business, especially online, can help you create something of an early warning system — but it's important to make sure you can move quickly on anything you discover.

Build Relationships Ahead of Time

The more connections you have with the media, the more flexibility you can expect. While you can't ask a reporter not to run a story, having an already-established working relationship with a journalist can let you ask for a few minutes to make sure everything is clear before you start answering questions.

One of the simplest approaches to building a working relationship with members of the media is to be a source for their current projects. That can mean pitching article ideas, connecting them to interview subjects, and otherwise being useful. Of course, such an approach is also useful for building awareness of your company and promoting yourself. Cast as wide a net as you can. Time can be a key limitation, but the better your connections to the local media, the more options you have in a time of crisis.

Train for Media Response

In most small businesses, the main point of contact for reporters is the owner. If you're the person that everyone wants to talk to, you need to be prepared. You won't be able to pass the matter along to a PR consultant brought in just for this particular situation. Since that's the case, it's important to be able to communicate well with the media.

Typically, media training can cover a couple of different skill sets. One of the most important is simply being able to keep your cool when talking to a member of the media, whether it's a blogger or a television news anchor. It's also useful to learn how to formulate responses that will work well in an interview. You can get media training from many public relations or marketing firms, and it's a worthwhile investment in your plans for the future.

This article is from Thursday Bram of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

48 Guerrilla Marketing Tips From Top PR Pros

Linsey Knerl — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:33:47 +0000

Link:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/money/article/48-guerrilla-marketing-ti...

Your business is feeling the crunch this year — and your marketing budget is dwindling as a result. We’ve asked some of the most experienced public relations professionals to share their secrets on how to market a company on a small budget. Here are some of the best ways to use social media and word-of-mouth marketing to gain a competitive advantage in this tough economy.

1. Claudia Goffan, Target Latino — @TargetLatino

Form relationships with other local businesses that cater to your customers. Ask them to offer a discount to their customers if they mention coming from their store when they purchase from you. Feel free to reciprocate.

2. Shannon Cortina, Springboard Public Relations — @scortina

Make a realistic list of the top five targets (news/media outlets, blogs, or social media) that you feel your business would benefit most from being mentioned or featured on. Research and get to know each of these targets and their influencers by reading their articles, following them on Twitter, watching their segments, etc. Use a relevant article or blog post of theirs to reach out to them to introduce yourself via the comments section or through email. Taking the time to understand their coverage area, as it relates to your business, can help you position yourself as an expert resource for their next piece.

3. Molly Lynch, Lynch Communications Group — @mollylynch

The key to Twitter is thinking of it as a dinner date, rather than an opportunity to promote your product. A dinner date (or at least a good date) means a dialogue between two people, who share thoughts, ideas, and interests. Twitter is not a monologue or a place to simply post thoughts. Networking, engagement, and responses are required. While promoting your product or company is important, successful Tweeters do not simply post sales or information. Talk with your followers, engage them, and learn from them. Then, they’re more likely to take an interest in your brand. Make it a two way street and make it a great Twitter-date!

4. Amy Mannarino, TheWalters Art Museum — @walters_museum

We have found that having multiple staff members “co-tweet” about our organization has increased our audience diversity on Twitter. Each person highlights different aspects of the museum. For example, a marketing professional might tweet factoids about an upcoming exhibition while a curator may add an artwork to Flickr and tweet about its meaning.

5. Kwesi Robertson, MM2 Public Relations — @kwesirobertson

Use Twitter as a Social Media Newsroom. Twitter allows a brand to quickly release multimedia news or information about their company. To create more unified stories, I use a free-service called Pitchengine to create social media news releases that I upload via my/clients twitter account(s). Pitchengine allows me to track how many views my article has received.

6. Sarah Wilson, Sarah Wilson Business Communications — @SWBizCom

One of the primary complaints about social media is that it's time intensive, however, there's really no need for that. By using tools such as TweetDeck, it's easy to take Twitter remarks that are appropriate for your Facebook and/or LinkedIn audiences and simultaneously post to those accounts as well, while omitting remarks that may not be a fit.

7. Paige Phelps, North Texas Food Bank — @ntfb

We use games. Currently we’re rolling out a Haiku contest for students and teachers. Our newest metaphor in use here at NTFB is that the number of hungry children in our 13-county, North Texas region would fill the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium two-and-a-half times. Using that, we’re engaging our contacts at local public and private schools to get teachers on board with the theme “Haikus for Hunger.” We are using that as our hash tag too (#haikusforhunger). We think it’s a fun way to open up the discussion of hunger in the community, teach kids a little something about poetry, and have fun. The numbers aren’t in yet, but meme games like these are always a ton of fun to play, no matter the age.

8. Niccolinas Soto, Public Relations Depot — @MamaPR

My advice for marketing strategies: use it all, use it consistently, and use it properly. Don't just join Twitter or Facebook and only post about your products. Be a part of the online communities and really participate. Reply, comment, and give back...don't just take. Also, it’s clear all you're doing is marketing when you join a site and only post your business info, and no profile photo as well as not a single blog written or comment given — this is the fastest way to be forgotten or bypassed by visitors. Fill out profiles completely, and post up some helpful blog posts.

9. Ronnie Manning, Mynt Public Relations — @RManning_Mynt and @MyntPR

Become a voice in your area of expertise, and utilize the comment posting sections of blogs and online publications. These comment boxes can allow you to link directly to your web site and boost traffic. Follow those writers who cover you space and offer opinion, personal experience, and complementary comments relative to their stories. Be transparent with who you are, put your name/title/business/website after your comment which will help get you and your business name out there. (However, it’s very important that you do not do a straight product or services pitch, as these types of comments will often be removed by moderators as being too marketing-oriented.)

10. Rebecca Goldberg, DMD Insight — @RebeccaGoldberg and @DMDInsight

Small businesses have an advantage over big businesses: a unique voice. That voice is the result of a tight-knit culture and typically one of a visionary leader who has an inherit brand strategy because her or she is the brand. To me, that's attractive. I think that small businesses should capitalize on who they are and what makes them special by letting the dreamers and do-ers share what’s going on behind the scenes.

11. Kendra Schultz, PRIME 3 — @kendraschultz

One huge marketing tactic that attains a lot of followers on Twitter or fans on Facebook, are giveaways. Whether it’s for a free cupcake, free web-hosting for a year, free Mac book (or whatever product/service your company provides), creating a contest where fans/followers must tweet about your company in order for a chance to win something free not only expands your brand awareness via hundreds-thousands of people’s Twitter or Facebook accounts to their fans/followers, but it also keeps these followers listening to what you have to say moving forward.

12. Marisa Puthoff, Edelman — @MarisaGPuthoff

Become familiar with Google Place Pages for local businesses. Google now provides in-depth information when available for local businesses and places, offering information from customer reviews, to menus and selection notes, to basic information like store hours and an image of the location. You can visit the local business center page to make sure your business is represented with up-to-date information and to receive insights for how local users are finding your business’ listing. Other sites like Yellowpages.com and Superpages.com allow businesses to post free listings under industry headings that are searchable to consumers. You can also promote your listings on these free sites through your social media tools.

13. Branda Christensen, Stellar Public Relations — @brendachrist

Be a name dropper — find out the most INFLUENTIAL influencer in your arena and impress them with your brand. Once you've won them over, shout it from the Twitter rooftops — employ Twitter lists and tweet like mad. It takes a human machine, but the branding will put you over the top.

14. Nick Lawhead, Desautel Hege Communications — @nlawhead

Internet users are already talking about your product, service or industry with their social networks on Twitter. An active role in this conversation positions your company as an expert on the topic — whether you’re selling vacuums or writing services. Twitter allows small business and consumer to connect and interact directly. Use www.search.twitter.com to find conversations about your industry or product using key words — then answer the questions your consumers have! Resolve the issues! Retweet the glowing reviews! All of this adds up to you participating in the social conversation.

15. Sally Falkow, PRESSfeed — @sallyfalkow

Use our free news optimizing toolbar to help you to make your content more visible and get it found in search engines and social sites. It has instructions and tools you can use to improve your online visibility. http://www.press-feed.com/toolbar.

16. Menachem Wecker, George Washington Today — @GWToday

Social media tools are created for gregariouscommunity-building, and nobody likes the self-infatuated person at the bar who cannot stop talking about her/himself. Social media users should have to affirm a Hippocratic cyber-oath; first and foremost listen and understand the needs and pulse of the community, and only then start to think about how you can be of use to fellow members, and how they can be helpful to you. (And in case there is any confusion, turning your Twitter feed into an RSS feed of your news releases violates "do no harm.")

17. Katie Elliott, Quinn and Co — @Quinnandco

Create a list of staff, clients, client-related people, and journalists on Twitter. This helps with generating #Follow Fridays and keeping up to speed on client efforts. Send personalized direct messages to people when they follow you. It’s rare, and it helps you stand out from the crowd. We currently send an automated DM to all followers, but I follow up with a personalized message later.

18. Jessica Nunez, Nunez PR Group — @NunezPR

Create brand ambassadors by hosting free events and providing special coupons and offers especially for your Facebook fans or the readers of your blog. This a fun way to show customer appreciation and show customers the value for them to interact with your brand online. When a customer posts positive comments to your Facebook page, blog or other social networking site, send them a coupon, discount, or even something as simple as a branded tchotchke. Consumers like to know that companies are listening to them and they love to be acknowledged for it.

19. Carin Galletta, Ink Foundry — @InkFoundry

One of the items that we find missing from most small business marketing plans is analytics. A free tool for tracking site traffic isGoogle Analytics. Before any business can access a guerrilla marketing tactic they need to understand their baseline to gauge whether or not the effort is working. Analytics is free and easy - there is a great tutorial on the Google site and a bunch of YouTube "how to" videos that can help a small business owner understand how to use it.

20. Duane B. Thomas, EdYouCation — @Edyoucation

You can gain great value from volunteering your small business for a University class as a “working-study.”

21. Katja Presnal, Collective Bias — @katjapresnal

Always remember to engage your retail location customers in the conversation also on Twitter by displaying your twitter account proudly in your location — as simple as “Follow us on Twitter” and your Twitter handle printed in a piece of paper will do the trick. Same goes for online businesses; remember to make your Twitter account visible for your customers.

22. Chris Brown, Marketing Resources & Results — @chrisbrown330

A twitter handle or screen name is one of the most important aspects and something that is in short supply. Get yours now!

23. Marisa Puthoff, Edelman — @MarisaGPuthoff

Post local events on MeetUp.com. If your business is hosting an event or summit, post the information publicly on MeetUp, where users can browse for local meet-ups in a number of categories, both formal and just-for-fun.

24. Marie Domingo, PR Professional — @MarieDomingo

Anything you share on Twitter must be authentic and should sound like your voice as opposed to and advertisement. The best Tweets have a call to action, or a link that includes an interesting Twitpic (photo), website (content). The objective is to have engaging conversations, not to drive more followers. Followers follow interesting dialogs.

25. Andrea Rizk, Rizk Public Relations — @andreahrizk

Do not follow more people than are following you on Twitter. Have a bio that is informational but shows personality.

26. Jennifer Batchelor, brpr — @brprmiami

We use Twitter to allow “backstage access” and a behind-the-scenes view to show, rather than tell, our followers and prospective clients what it is that we do so well and how it is that we put it all together for our branding efforts. This includes everything from photo shoots and runway shows, to exclusive interviews with our designers, editors, and publishers. We take it one step further by re-tweeting interesting articles as they relate to our industries, which in itself gives great tips to our readers, and also positions us as experts in our concentrations; however, we very rarely use our Twitter feed to directly promote our clients. They each have their own Twitter accounts (created and managed by us) which we use to shout each other out from time to time, and otherwise operate independently of each other.

27. Kent Lewis, Anvil Media, Inc. — @kentjlewis

I manage a host of profiles, so I can more accurately and effectively target audiences based on interest or point of initial contact. I syndicate my primary profiles to Facebook and my professional profile to LinkedIn, to extend the reach and value of my tweets. I utilize HootSuite, TweetDeck, TweetBeep and Ping.FM to streamline research, monitoring and tracking. From Twitter, I’ve been able to generate prospective clients, partnerships, volunteers, sponsors and speaking engagements.

28. C. Renzi Stone, Saxum PR — @renzistone33

Think before you post — only post what you would say at a cocktail party in front of a room of strangers. Ask yourself before posting, is this relevant? Sell thought leadership, not services or products.

29. Dee Stewart, DeeGospel PR — @DeeGospel

Use words in your profile that will attract your ideal client to you. Treat each tweet received and given as if they’re love notes. Use Ping.fm to cross promote your tweets through all your other SMS platforms (Facebook, Brightkite, etc,) and have DMs sync to your Smartphone so that you'll be available to nurture your relationships and respond as soon as they need you.

30. Marisa Puthoff, Edelman — @MarisaGPuthoff

Look out for opportunities to “trend” locally on Twitter. Twitter just launched an initial version of local trends, which will allow local brands the opportunity to run coupons through Twitter, or other campaigns that can drive discussion on Twitter and “trend” for that area.

31. Jonnice Slaughter, Chatterbox Publicity — @chatterboxpr

One of the most unique ways that I’ve benefited from Twitter in recent months is by saving my clients money. I scheduled an editorial visit for one of my clients to host a lunch and to do a presentation at a popular national magazine. To cut the cost, I sent out a tweet to other professionals who represented a local restaurant that might be interested in co-sponsoring the lunch. I used several key hash tags, retweeted a few times, and within 2 business days, I received a bite from a family-owned Italian restaurant. They agreed to comp half the value of their catering for the opportunity. My client was thrilled that I was able to save them money and found a credible restaurant willing to deliver more than pizza, sodas and sandwiches.

32. Trip Kucera, LogMeIn, Inc. — @LogMeInNews

We first started using Twitter early last year when we noticed that many of our users were posting unsolicited “Tweets” about LogMeIn. They would post things like “I love LogMeIn” or “LogMeIn saved my bacon today”. We knew we had to start engaging with our users, and the results have been great so far. Today we use the Twitter channel to really keep our users in the know by Tweeting exclusive product sales, answering product questions and sharing news as well as best practices and helpful tips for remote working.

33. Samantha McGarry, Gomez — @Gomez_Inc

Follow key reporters on Twitter to get a better sense of their personality and interests. Don’t be afraid to pitch reporters — as long as your pitch is timely and on topic. Ask questions and get real-time feedback. Share useful information (plus your own perspective/personality.) Be an active part of the dialogue.

34. Lisa Bongiovanni, Webroot Software, Inc. — @webroot

Through Twitter, we realized that many of the conversations about us were complaints about customer service wait times or issues with the product. We began reaching out to these people and changed their negative tweets into positive product affirmations. Recently, we created a second Twitter account solely for customer service. This provides our users an alternative to waiting on the phone, especially when they have easy to answer questions. By using Twitter to interact with customers, we have inserted our brand into the conversation and help shape customer attitudes towards our company and products rather than just sitting by and observing the conversation surrounding our brand.

35. Kwesi Robertson, MM2 Public Relations — @kwesirobertson

When monitoring a particular brand or client — Twitter’s search feature allows me to scan real-time feedback. Some innovative Twitter-supplemental services like Topsy have made the experience even more innovative.

36. Dick Knapinski, Experimental Aircraft Association — @eaaupdate

We use Twitter tips to discuss government issues to which our 160,000 EAA members can react, such as the FAA requesting comments to an aviation rule change; Aviation community building, such as a link to EAA members doing something cool or some new innovation in the flying world; and to generally build excitement for our association and its activities and programs. Use Twitter to respond to issues that are important to your followers!

37. Carin Galletta, Ink Foundry — @InkFoundry

If you plan to distribute offers via Twitter and send out informational tweets, set up two accounts. And define what each account will be doing in the profile and through periodic tweets: One will only send offers and the other will provide category information, general "behind the scenes" info on your company, etc. You can use the second account, however, to drive traffic/interest to the offer account — but do it sparingly. Many people don't want relentless sales offers coming through. For the "offer" account, create offers that are specific just for the channel you are distributing them on. If you have a link back to a page, make sure the page addresses the offer immediately, don't make people search through your site for it. Make it special — only offer it to your Twitter followers, Facebook Fans, etc. This will increase conversions!

38. Kwesi Robertson, MM2 Public Relations — @kwesirobertson

When targeting selected media or bloggers with a pitch letter or press release, be creative and find them on Twitter. Instead of a traditional letter or press release, create a social media news release/media advisory that gives a more vibrant perspective of your company’s story and personally address them on Twitter.

39. Marisa Puthoff, Edelman — @MarisaGPuthoff

Look to “linkshare” with other local businesses. Work to build partnerships with other local businesses, who would agree to post a link to your site in exchange for promotion on your own.

40. Cindy Kurman, Kurman Communications, Inc. — @kurmanstaff

I've secured business via Twitter. It's been an awesome tool in reaching out. Recently, we saw a tweet from probably the most followed pr person on Twitter, and she was looking for someone to help her with a new product launch. It was an industry in which we are well known for: restaurant/food/hospitality. I responded, she responded. We tweeted. We talked. She hired us! We are also getting business through Facebook. All of our social networking sites are networked so my tweets appear multiple places.

41. McKenzie Coco, FSC Inter@ctive — @fscNOLA

Test your messaging. Social media and online marketing is the PERFECT place to test your outreach plan to observe the impact. Online is measurable. Is it A, B or C that people respond to and is the response what you wanted? Before moving into a big PR or marketing push with a huge expense, test the waters in a free space.

42. Merredith Branscombe, The Hoffman Agency — @Merredith

Offer real value. I have hunted down and offered sources and links/articles for journalists even when it doesn’t immediately benefit my clients.

43. Aaron Endré Quiñones, Bhava Communications — @AaronEndre

From our personal accounts, our employees retweet agency and client tweets and add further value — and personality — by offering reactions, personal opinions, anecdotes and humor.

44. Katie Elliott, Quinn and Co — @Quinnandco

The most important way for small business owners to market their products and services for free is to track, monitor, and engage in conversations about your product or area of expertise on Twitter. For example, if your business makes wedding cakes in Wisconsin, you can monitor tweets from brides, wedding planners and other vendors in that area. You can set up alerts for people who include the words "engaged" or "wedding planning" in their tweets, and@reply with a “congratulations!” This is most effective when you engage and are genuine with people, as opposed to sending a generic message marketing your product.

45. Elisa Lippincott,TippingPoint — @tippingpoint1

The easiest way to monitor for Tweets related to our business is by using TweetDeck to set up search terms based on your business. If your business has a Facebook page or account, you can also set that up as a column, so that you can see if anyone posts to your page. We’ve secured several sales leads based on Tweets we’ve seen from setting up various search terms. Someone once Tweeted that their network was infected with a virus and they needed help. We were able to look at the person’s profile, figure out who they were and get our appropriate sales person on it. TweetDeck is free, and there’s even an iPhone version

46. Merredith Branscombe, The Hoffman Agency — @Merredith

Keep your Twitter lists clean. I periodically use TwitCleaner to weed out feeds and MLMers in disguise, so that I know I have real people.

47. Jenn Riggle, CRT/Tanaka — @Riggrl

On using Twitter for the first time: Like exercise, walking your dog and drinking water, it takes time to add anything new to your already busy schedule. That’s why it’s important to make a concerted effort to tweet at least three times a day during the week. Add extra value to your tweets by using hashtags (a word preceded by a #). It’s a little bit like using a zip code because it directs your tweet to people who are interested in a particular topic.

48. McKenzie Coco, FSC Inter@ctive — @fscNOLA

Online marketing and social media is real — no frills. Take the budget from a direct mail piece or TV spot with the media and put it back in your pocket. Or maybe you didn’t have a budget to begin with — develop a plan and strategy (very important) and try going “au natural” with a flip cam video posted to You Tube, linking to Facebook, and then Tweet out the link. Then do it every week for 16 weeks and measure responses, traffic to the website, and whatever your actionable goal was to be accomplished.

This article is from Linsey Knerl of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Want a Company to Hear You? Talk to Their “People.”

Linsey Knerl — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:24:27 +0000

Many of you were already following my recent credit card turmoil, where I was blacklisted from using my own card. When talks with the regular customer service/fraud department left me unfulfilled and wanting to switch credit cards, I got a little creative in my communication efforts. I enlisted the PR department.

What is PR? Public relations companies may be internal to a large company, but usually there is some kind of outside entity representing a corporation's interests, looking out for any negative attention, and working very hard to get the good word out. Since perception is their business, they are usually very interested in any rumblings concerning their client, especially when those rumblings involve a bad experience.

How do you reach a PR contact? Sometimes it's easier than you think. You can start by going to the company's website, searching for a contact page, which may list a separate number or name for media inquiries or press. If you don't find one easily available, I would try looking for a site map. This will bring up all possible links on the website, and sometimes PR contacts are listed. If all of this doesn't work, I start googling for the company's name and “press release.” I follow any links within the last month (because PR reps change all the time), and read to the bottom of the press release, where there is usually a contact name and number. This is the person I want to talk to.

What do you say? You can start by introducing yourself. Don't say that you are just a guy that buys dish soap. Tell them who you are, how influential you are among your circle (not in a pompous way, mind you), and why your recent experience with the client has left you frustrated. You can say that you would love to know how your issue will be resolved, and that you're confident the PR rep can help get your complaint to the right person. Don't be arrogant, don't be demanding. Understand that the PR rep is doing a job, that they don't control how the company does business, and that they want you to be happy. Then sit back and wait.

What happens next? If the PR rep is doing their job (and you haven't been unreasonable in your feedback), they will address the matter. It may take some time for them to do some back-and-forth with the company. Eventually, someone will get back to you.

What if you don't get any results? This does happen. I haven't had it happen to me personally (although I've only had to resort to enlisting the PR rep once or twice, as of late.) If you don't get results, you can try looking for another PR company. Sometimes they switch reps, companies, or go through a period of transition. They may have simply dropped the ball. They may have deemed your complaint unimportant. If you feel that you've been wronged, however, don't give up. (Paul has some great tips for going straight to the top: The CEO.)

I can say that I've known some fabulous PR people who would go to the ends of the earth to straighten out a misunderstanding with a client. They want all to be well in their world, and their job depends on it. Treat them with dignity, the way you would want to be treated, and let them know your qualms. Not enough of them get this kind of feedback for free – they might be thankful to have it.

This article is from Linsey Knerl of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The Letter Always Wins

Maggie Wells — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:11:45 +0000

Somehow among our many ways to contact a company and complain about products: email, toll free numbers, in person—the old fashioned letter still seems to be the squeaky wheel getting the oil.

Case in point. This week Smucker’s Jam agreed to replace two of my grandmother’s Pineapple Jams that she ordered. She talked to them on the phone and they apologized that the shoddy packaging caused the glass to break. But it was her letter that got her two free bottle replacements. (I’m not sure why they even make pineapple jam but grandma digs it and hardly anyone seems to stock it).

The husband thinks all products made now should be made just like they were made sixty years ago. He holds companies—especially old companies to high standards. But he’s also a cheap bastard that predictably buys the same brand over and over again. He’s bought the same model of New Balance running shoes four times and they’ve all worn and cracked in the exact same place. He called and complained a few times, but his last letter earned him a pair of new New Balance shoes free.

Okay. Two is a coincidence. But we’ll go with three being a rule of thumb. Playtex replaced not one but two nursing bras I had because the stitching around the underwire came undone and nearly poked my son in the eye (it did poke him in the back before I realized what was happening). I called their toll free number and they apologized but I got two free ones after my letter was sent.

I have to credit my husband with all this. I am a product of our throw away culture and am apt to give up on a company or product and just move on, but Julian is another story. He insists that things should be of good quality and when things break down he believes it’s good for companies to be held accountable to his standard. I tend to believe that all wear and tear is my fault and so I should eat all cost. He, on the other hand, believes that a good product holds up with wear and tear. From the lowly toothbrush to my Toyota Corolla, he makes the inquiries, writes the letters, gets the answers—and many replacements, coupons and rebates along with it. I can’t complain.

I’m not sure where he gets the extra energy to write the letters ---always pleasant and detailed and not rants—but I appreciate that we have at least one family member crazy enough to believe that good companies should stand behind their products. ANd I shouldn't doubt him. His letters always deliver.

I’d tell you the stuff he got from Apple but I don’t want to jinx it.

This article is from Maggie Wells of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The Student Who Created a PR Nightmare Via Wikipedia

Paul Michael — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:31:25 +0000

Virgil Griffith is someone I am proud to look up to. In a moment of inspiration, he created a program called Wikipedia Scanner that lets you know who has been editing articles on Wikipedia and what they've been removing. Not surprisingly, the revelations have left many giant corporations and even the White House staff in a tailspin. For those of you that know me and my "power to the people" philosophy, this is definitely 1-0 to the little guys. (See also: It's a Jungle Out There: Spotting Fake Reviews)

In a story by the MaltaStar, we learn just what prompted Virgil to act and the resulting chaos that ensued. He had "heard about Congressmen being caught for white-washing their Wikipedia pages." (Why am I not surprised that a politician would do such a thing?) But then it hit Virgil that maybe there was a way to discover who had being doing edits in Wikipedia, and what they had done.

The result is a laundry list of changes that makes Wikipedia look like an agent of propaganda and a completely unreliable tool. You can see more of the list of revelations at the MaltaStar, but some of my favorite edits include...

Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate

In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that "Iraq was involved in 9/11"

Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article

Scientology removes criticism and negatives article from Scientology page

Dog breeding association deletes whole paragraphs about fatal attacks by dogs on humans

Fox News removes all controversial topics against the network from the Fox News page

Walmart removes criticism of outsourcing work. The retailer also changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce

Someone at Reuters calls Bush "a mass murderer"

Coca Cola removes negative content about its effects

US University adds the "prestigious" adjective to its page

Why is this important? Why should we care? Well, to many Wikipedia is a source of legitimate information. I'm not even sure how many people realize that Wikipedia can be edited by general users. Yup, anyone can write and submit an article. Comforting thought. But once again, this shows the two-faced nature of so many corporations. The X-Files was famous for saying "The Truth Is Out There" but these days, finding that truth is getting harder and harder.

For those of you who'd like to see the darker side of many corporations for yourselves, I highly recommend a documentary called "The Corporation" by Mikela J. Mikael.

The Corporation

It's available from most stores including the ever-reliable Amazon and probably your local library. I doubt we can lift the fog from these billion-dollar companies, but maybe we can all help other people see that the fog exists at all.

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: