Who does Microsoft think they are?

Apple? Or some other company whose customers care about it?

While hundreds of millions of people use Microsoft products, and many are happy with those products, few if any relate to Microsoft as an institution they are fond of or care about, or whose products they are excited about.

Microsoft's ineptitude at garnering that kind of relationship with its users is laid out plain in the forced premise and execution of this video.

Why would anyone have a party around the launch of a new Microsoft O/S? I guess it demonstrates Microsoft's confidence that Windows 7 will actually work well out of the box. That would be something to celebrate.

To Sue or Not: A P.R. Decision?

Several major tobacco companies have filed suit to overturn new advertising limitations imposed by Congress on First Amendment grounds.

This raises the question of why they didn't sue to overturn the ban on broadcast advertising imposed in 1970. My take is that they realized it would be bad p.r., and they felt they could direct their marketing dollars to other media and not suffer any loss of impact.

So why have they filed now? I think they realize they have lost the p.r. battle anyhow, and thus fighting for their rights now won't hurt.

I'm not an attorney, but I believe the 1970 broadcast ban as well as the new ban on outdoor advertising and sports sponsorships do violate the First Amendment and big tobacco will win this case. While I think it appropriate to require warning messages on these products and their advertising, I don't see how you can by law limit the speech of someone selling a legal product.

I do not expect to see a return to broadcast advertising only because those media would face a firestorm of criticism.

Radio Waves

An article in today's Denver Post reports on the first week of Arbitron ratings based on people meters. If future results follow this week's trend, it will turn the local radio ad business on its ear as the ratings are significantly different from those collected by the traditional diary method.

The theory is that the meters are more accurate because they don't require manual entry from memory by the participant. However, there are technical challenges to capturing the data that make some question its accuracy. And if the participant ever fails to wear or carry the device, it can be less accurate than a diary.

Interestingly, in Denver and other markets, the meters show improved ratings for Spanish-language stations when it has been suspected they under-report ethnic stations. So is the reporting problem only for black audience stations?

The devices also report that people listen for shorter periods of time than previously thought, however the device turns off if a single station is played for more than an hour. Go figure!

All of this is not good news for the radio business. Despite its challenges, print media have a proven, audited method of counting circulation. Yes, they like to claim readership, which is their own made-up estimate of "pass-along," but circulation is a fair method to compare those media and their ad rates. Even online media have more reliable ways to count viewers than broadcast; but whether various forms of online advertising are promotionally effective is unproven.

What radio has done well historically, and needs to do more than ever, is sell on its qualitative benefits -- that it is an effective ad medium because its listenership is segmentable, involved, and hears and responds to advertisers' messages.

Marriott Comes to Its Own Rescue

Marriott International has convinced a franchisee's attorneys to withdraw their offensive defense in the case cited here, and offered an apology.

People Assume

Many liberals assumed Barack Obama was very progressive and would govern from the far left because they interpreted his call to "change" in their own terms. When Obama proves himself to be the pragmatic compromiser (that's what he meant by "change") his words clearly indicated he would be, they feel betrayed.

Many shoppers at Whole Foods assume that because the chain promotes organic, sustainable and local foods, and a lot of the staff looks cool, that its management is politically on the left. The fact that Whole Foods is a capitalist success story, built on aggressive competition and acquisition of every formidable foe, notwithstanding, they feel betrayed when its CEO proves to be an Ayn Rand disciple.

They assume that anyone who adopts the ethic born of the hippie era shares their world view. They are shocked that someone might believe in protecting the environment from a conservative political point of view, or might be "liberal" on one issue and "conservative" on another. Knee-jerk reactions from either end of the spectrum are typical but not helpful.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal opposing Obama's approach to health care reform has angered many of his customers, some of whom are organizing to boycott the store. The fact that he presented the piece under the company banner is either very courageous or very foolish, and it was certain to bring such as reaction, whether fairly or not.

Lawyers May Win, Client Already Lost

A woman is raped at gunpoint in the garage of the Stamford, CT Marriott hotel, in front of her children, and sues the hotel for "more than $15,000."

The hotel's response is that in effect, it's the victim's fault, and not theirs:

"(The victim) failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities."

As incendiary as that statement is, it's also possible the hotel is not at fault. The victim claims the attacker had been seen lurking around the hotel. Whether she can prove negligence is an open matter.

However, the legal response to her suit has likely caused this Marriott and the Marriott chain more in lost business than a settlement would have, both because the response will offend many customers, and it caused the unsettling incident itself to be retold in newspapers and online.

There are good reasons why Marriott might not want to settle, but from a public relations POV they should have defended only on the point that the victim can't prove negligence.

Brand Name Day

My father was a one-man public relations shop in Manhattan back when that was more common than agencies. He was the first p.r. practitioner to be president of the Advertising Club of New York.

A few times a year he would take me to the Friday Brand Name Day luncheons which he often mc'd, and I was in heaven.

By the time I was in high school, I could join conversations with his fellow members. I had a "Graduate" moments when one of them said I should go into marketing. No, I thought. I want to be a radio d.j.; I'm going to be an artíste!

Whether by birth or observation, I did get the marketing bug. I was publicity director for my college FM station and sold ads on the station that played only to dorms, and I've been a sales and marketing guy ever since.

Tone-Deaf in the Ivory Tower

I grew up in a union-friendly family. Two of my aunts were members of the ILGWU. I can still hum the "look for the union label" song. That said, I am a globalist, so have never been a strict "buy American" consumer.

I find it incredible that J.C. Penney issued a product that says "American Made" when it is not made in America. But they did. And here was their response when challenged:

You indicate that there was a shirt that depicted the slogan “American Made.” This type of slogan is referring to the actual person wearing the shirt and not to the manufacturing of the merchandise.

Sometimes, I wonder if people in the public eye are listening to themselves.

Ten Years

Today is ten years since my father, Milt Riback, died. Here is a remembrance from a long-time client who became a close friend, sent a few days after:

I've been remembering the first time he and I met in 1964 (!) when I managed to get [my company] to pay for a return visit to NY (we'd been transferred [to California] the preceding February) to get pictures of its products in use at the NY World's Fair AND to hire a PR rep. Fortunately, I'd been given Milt's name and address by my boss (no idea how he came by them), as I hadn't the vaguest idea of how to interview PR people-or where one found them. After five minutes with Milt in the office at [50 E.] 42nd Street, I knew I needn't bother searching further. It wasn't so much that he exuded professional competence, which he did, but that the professionalism couldn't hide the mentshlikhkayt that permeated his being.

Ms. Hoffman Regrets

Is all publicity good publicity?

The age-old question asked again by agent Kristin Nelson in response to an author's meltdown over a negative review.

My answer: No.

Ironically, the review wasn't that negative. It pointed out flaws in the novel and apparently gave away more of the plot than the author cared to see. The author responded with a series of Twitter blasts ("Now any idiot can be a critic...") and urged readers to write or call the reviewer with their opinions. She handily provided the reviewer's email address and telephone number.

So after this blew up in the author's face like so many Soupy Sales cream pies, she issued this apology (emphasis mine):

I feel this whole situation has been completely blown out of proportion. Of course I was dismayed by Roberta Silman’s review which gave away the plot of the novel, and in the heat of the moment I responded strongly and I wish I hadn’t. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. Reviewers are entitled to their opinions and that’s the name of the game in publishing. I hope my readers understand that I didn’t mean to hurt anyone and I’m truly sorry if I did.

Actually, it hasn't been blown out of proportion. What was out of proportion was the author's response. And the ol' "I'm sorry if I offended anyone" is so weak. Someone who was "truly sorry" would have written, "People were right to be offended by what I did."

Matthew Shaer in the Christian Science Monitor chalks it up to "Web 2.0 inexperience." That may be, but if so there is no excuse. An author is a public figure and theoretically a professional communicator. Better figure out how to use them tools before you get started.