Airing Out Coke’s Dirty Laundry

Everyone loves controversy. It’s true. We especially love when a big powerhouse gets caught with their pants down (Enron, anyone?). Investigative journalism is usually at the heart of all revelations, and then it’s only a matter of time before the media runs with it. These days, when most of the media is online, news spreads like wildfire. Blogs are a major tool in fanning the flame.

Exhibit A: Coca Cola’s fake “Zero Movement” blog, a sorry attempt at underground marketing for their newest innovation, Coke Zero, is discovered to be one big Coca-Cola-owned advertisement. Perhaps if the execution had been better, they might have gotten away with it. But, tragically, as one blogger put it, “how does a fictional male blogger whining about chick flicks help sell a diet cola product?” Good question.

In response to this revelation, a slew of angry anti-Coca-Cola blogs added their name to the list already in existence. Most notably, “The Zero Movement Sucks” blog took quite a stab at the conglomerate, providing links to a number of blogs responding to Coke’s human rights scandals just a year earlier. In 2005, “egregious actions” by Coca-Cola were unearthed in both India and Columbia: high pesticide levels in soft drinks and poor labor practices (leading to dozens of innocent union deaths), respectively.

This is a perfect example of how the blogging community makes a huge impact on big business, or any business for that matter. Blogs facilitate dialogue and lots of it, good or bad. Simply by clicking on link after link, I was led to the “Killer Coke” site, outlining the gross human rights violations in Columbia, as well as “The India Resource Center,” a site centered on the malpractice of Coca-Cola companies in India. Extremely informative, the site led me to press releases from the University of Michigan regarding its temporary probation and the subsequent full-blown suspension of business dealings with the Coca-Cola Company. In addition to the loss of business partnerships, blogs like “The Zero Movement Sucks” and “The India Resource Center” sparked major advocacy campaigns, protests and rallies in India.

If all publicity is good publicity, then why was there such a poor response to the Coke Zero campaign? Could it still be the aftermath of those abominable episodes in Colombia and India? After all, blogs created in response to the Coke Zero debacle made sure to mention Coke’s previous violations abroad. Someone simply Googling Coca-Cola would most likely find at least one of these less-than-glowing reviews of the company.

I guess some free publicity really is bad for business.

Return to the roots

An “Avatar” is a term commonly used today, especially in the blogging world but unfortunately, rarely understood. These visual representations of internet gamers, bloggers, and IM screen names have a history deep-rooted in ancient religion and highly significant to the spirituality of many. Surprised? So was I, and I doubt most bloggers and internet users with their own avatar know the significance of the concept behind those cute little cartoon characters.

Ask an avid blogger what an avatar is and he might describe a three-dimensional cartoon character he thinks represents himself, or a simple, two-dimensional picture that he see’s as an embodiment of his character. What he most likely will NOT say is that an Avatar, according to the Hindu faith and the Sanskrit terminology, means “the decent of God” or “incarnation.” Indian’s ancient Vedas, the oldest spiritual text known to man, describes an Avatar as an

“Incarnation of Godhead [that] descends from the kingdom of God for [creating and maintaining] the material manifestation…when they descend to the material creation, they assume the name Avatara.”
– Chaitanya-caritamrita 2.20.263-264

A personal form of God descending to Earth from the spiritual realm, an incarnation, this is the actual religious meaning of an Avatara. It is also said, according to The Avatar Site (http://www.avatara.org/essay.html), that although Avatars may appear in different forms at different circumstances, they have one supreme purpose, “to reveal the Absolute Truth in this world and arouse a love of God everywhere.”

This is a perfect example of how today’s communication, particularly in the blogosphere, have taken a culturally significant element to a select group of people and appropriated it to the masses. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but what does it mean to those of the Hindu faith, to have millions of people using avatars according to their own 21st century understanding? A cartoon character that can wink and wave is a far cry from a personal form of God descending to Earth to reveal “the Absolute Truth.” Given this information, it’s important to remember that everything has an origin; everything started somewhere; and sometimes, things have layers of meaning. If we pay attention to these deeper meanings behind the most seemingly frivolous of things, we can foster a deeper understanding of those around us, even if we’re separated by a few thousand miles and a computer screen.

Emerging Communication Technology

With corporate communications dramatically shifting to online media the past couple of years, new technology applications have emerged in its wake to better accommodate this change. Some examples include RSS feeds, avatars, “Technorati tags,” “tag clouds,” “quotables,” “iFrames” and podcasts, just to name a few. Not surprisingly, public relations practitioners that haven’t been bit by the tech-savvy bug find themselves severely out of the loop, resulting in the lack of potential exposure for clients.

I began this post as an informative piece focusing on the new and emerging technologies being applied to blogs and online press releases. But the more I delved into this type of research, the murkier the waters and the more frustrated I became. I quickly discovered that my vocabulary and knowledge is severely lacking; terms and concepts such as the above-mentioned “tag-clouds” and “iFrames” were completely over my head. Isn’t my generation supposed to be in-the-know and leading the way in these emerging technologies and their application to corporate communication?

Perhaps a more pressing question is, what are the implications not only for the communications field, but how we, as people, interact with one another? Call me old-fashioned, but isn’t there something to be said for dealing with a real person versus an…avatar? Or, check out http://www.current.com/. This site dubs itself “the next generation of user generation,” a social news network completely run by the public. Anyone can contribute information about any topic under the sun through link postings, webcam videos, etc. Littered with unpredictable content, it makes me wonder whatever happened to looking up the daily headlines from the New York Times online.
I’m leaving this open-ended because quite frankly, I need some direction. How tech-savvy am I expected to be in this business?

PR Monster?

Perhaps the most convenient way to get connected and educated about all the ins and outs of the growing trends in online communication is PRWeb.com (www.prweb,com), a press release news wire that, according to its website, “grab(s) attention, build(s) traffic and boost(s) business.” It is also the “recognized leader in online news and press release distribution, serving over 40,000 customers worldwide.” Public relations professionals can submit a press release for their client, add a myriad of tech-savvy and attention-grabbing features and view an online tutorial for free.

Before I logged on to this site, I must admit I had no clue as to what a “tech cloud” or a “technorati tag” was. Now it all makes sense…well, mostly. In addition to beefing up my tech-vocabulary, I now see the parallels between press-release news wires like PRWeb and popular networking sites for job and resume posting, such as Monster.com, that have been around for several years. Not exactly a new concept, but it’s definitely new in terms of its application to public relations. In fact, it makes e-mail pitches look downright archaic.

Media Relations Strategies: Tips from the Pros

We’ve established that blogging is an effective tool for PR and all other aspects of business communication. My last post even highlighted the role blogs are playing in censored countries to give the silenced a voice and encourage activism for positive change. Today I’m focusing on the oh-so-tangled web of online communication sources. In other words, the interrelationship between online journalists, corporate communications and public relations professionals, and the blogging community continues to prove mutually beneficial for all parties involved. For example, if a PR professional desires to establish and maintain effective media relations skills, most journalists have no problem telling what they look for…in their blogs of course.

I first ventured to Allbusiness.com (www.allbusiness.com), “expert advice from business bloggers,” and gathered advice from Nettie Hartsock, an e-business journalist and “PR marathoner,” as well as the business advisor for the blog Professional PR. Some of her advice for PR professionals trying to establish solid pitches for their clients includes:

Get over the taboo of calling a journalist. While most now prefer pitches by e-mail, a follow-up phone call is advisable. Also, the subject line must be compelling and to the point.

“Press releases are not meant to be tricky.” Enough with the unneeded extravagance. Press releases need to be “plain-spoken and clear with a good news hook.”

Build your “outreach lists” every year.

Don’t forget the freelancers! If you do, well, it’s your loss. Some are exceptional writers who contribute to the likes of Fortune and Fast Company, if you read a great article and the author isn’t mentioned in the masthead, they’re freelance.

To close, the Bad Pitch Blog featured a great reference from a technology blog called Valleywag. In this particular post, several tech reporters offered their two-cents to PR professionals. Dan Clark of the Wall Street Journal says “Don’t be shy about pitching a story that may have nothing to do with one of your clients, but you just think is an interesting story that we’re missing…that’s a good way to build a relationship with a reporter.”

Mike Mashick of Techdirt agrees, “Point me to stories that have something interesting we can stake an opinion on.”

“Be rare, relevant and short,” says Andreas Kluth of The Economist.

Kevin Maney of USA Today says “I work best in relationships.” He goes on to say that he’d rather have one individual to turn to per agency, not four, five or six different people.

And Mike Arrington of TechCrunch puts it bluntly, “I’ll make time for people who will help me be successful in the future. It’s that simple.”

So it is.