RepMan

Would Gaga go to war?

I'm flying through “Our Mothers' War”, a brilliant examination of the roles of women on the home  front and abroad during World War II.
 
Written by former New York Times reporter (and Peppercom consultant) Emily Yellin, the book shines the spotlight on a completely overlooked aspect of the Second World War: what women did and how profoundly their actions changed society. It's also an inspirational read that examines an American society that was united as one in its fight against the Axis Powers (a far cry from today's pathetic, polarized, soon-to-be second-class successors).
 
The book is chock full of fun and little known facts, such as:
 
- Betty Crocker, the ultimate role model for American housewives in the 1930s and '40s, was a fictional character. Her surname came from a General Mills executive and another employee, who thought Betty was a bright, cheerful name. Most Americans never knew she was ersatz, though, and often wrote long and compassionate letters to Betty asking for advice. In 1943 a Fortune magazine poll named her the second most famous woman in America, after First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

- Captain Ronald Reagan sent a photographer out to search war factories and plants in Southern California for attractive Rosie the Riveter types to feature in the war effort's propaganda program. At a parachute factory, the photographer stumbled across an 18-year-old housewife named Norma Jean Dougherty, who stopped him in his tracks. He asked, “Where the hell have you been hiding?” Norma Jean agreed to pose for a few photographs. Those, in turn, led to a few more. All of which led to her divorcing her husband, dying her hair blond and changing her name to Marilyn Monroe.

- While I knew all about Bob Hope and the countless shows he arranged for front line troops, I had no idea how many A-level Hollywood actresses did the same thing. Marlene Dietrich, a German born actress who was despised by Hitler and actually placed on his hit list, courageously followed Patton's army as it plowed through Europe. Carole Landis, Martha Raye. Mitzi Mayfair and Kay Francis, all A-level actresses and performers, toured North Africa and actually sang for the troops in a makeshift bunker as they were being blitzed by bombs from Nazi planes.
 
I was amazed not so much by the image and perception of women 60 years ago but, rather, by their willingness to roll up their sleeves and pitch in (especially the Hollywood stars). Betty Grable, Bette Davis, Clark Gable and Tyrone Power all did their bit. Carole Lombard died on plane flight back from selling war bonds. Jimmy Stewart served as an Air Force colonel and flew scores of bombing missions over Germany.
 
Can you picture Lady Gaga, Britney, Lindsey, Leo, Johnny, Brad or any of today's superstars not only putting themselves in harm's way but, like their predecessors, actually serving coffee and food to the troops (and cleaning their pots and pans afterwards)?  Unlike Carole Landis for example, those that have gone have not had to duck into bunkers to avoid bombing runs.
 
Yellin's book chronicles a major flash point in the evolving role of women in American society. And, as she points out December 7, 1941, was very likely the start of the feminist movement in America.
 
Our Mothers' War is a great read for women or men interested in history. But, it's an even better read for public relations and marketing executives who study image and perception. The greatest generation clearly earned its moniker. Today's sorry lot should be called the slacker generation.

So many books, so little time

In an attempt to always take the road less traveled, I thought I'd wait until mid-August to  recommend my summer reading list.

Unlike others, my list is short on fiction and long on history, biography and narrative that delivers a veritable mother lode of unexpected image and reputation insights. So, here are my top three summer reads:

- "Empire of the Summer Moon" by S.C. Gwynne It was the Comanches and not the Sioux who gave the U.S. Cavalry the greatest fits as whites literally stole away the Native Americans' country from beneath them.

And, it was Quanah Parker not Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse or Geronimo who should be remembered as the greatest Indian chief of all. Suffice it to say that Parker, who led “the finest light cavalry the world had ever seen”, was unstoppable. That is, until the U.S. Cavalry finally figured out the Comanches were helpless without their horses. How Quanah Parker was finally captured and, in an even more fascinating twist, how he later reinvented himself to become a silent film star, a confidant of Teddy Roosevelt and, literally, the toast of turn-of-the-20th century America, makes for riveting reading (especially for those politicians who find themselves in need of image repair).

- 1861 by Adam Goodheart. Think Lincoln wanted to free the slaves? Think again. Think he believed blacks were his intellectual equal? Wrong. Think there weren't countless attempts by Northern and border state Congressional leaders to keep the Southern states from bolting right up until the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter? That's three in a row.

Finally, in a real Civil Rights curveball, might the now obscure James A. Garfield have become one of our country's greatest presidents had his life not been snuffed out after only a few months in office?

'1861' provides a whole new perspective on the last months of peace leading up to the worst war in American history (while shedding new light on one of only two periods in our country's 230 years when Congress simply refused to compromise for the greater good. Quick: can you name the other time?).

- 'In the Garden of Beasts' by Erik Larson. If you liked 'The Devil in the White City', you will adore In the garden of the beasts. It chronicles the true story of U.S. Ambassador to Nazi Germany William Dodd, his wife, son and daughter as they settle into Berlin just as Adolf Hitler consolidates his power.

The story is a real page turner as Hitler, Goebbels, Goring, Hess and the other hoodlums of the Third Reich attempt to curry favor with the critically important American ambassador. Dodd will have none of it, though (hugely displeasing his direct reports in D.C. who, like their counterparts in Britain and France, turned a blind eye to one Nazi outrage after another in the name of appeasement).

The book's real breakout star, though, is Martha Dodd, who is equal parts Britney Spears, Mata Hari and Heidi Fleiss as she cavorts and sleeps with everyone from Hitler's driver and a Russian KGB agent to the head of the Gestapo and a French diplomat.

I found the parallels in 'Beast' to our current global dilemma striking since some would suggest we've turned a blind eye to foreign transgressions whenever it suited our political needs (i.e. The Diem regime in Vietnam, the shah in Iran, the early Hussein in Iraq, Qaddafi circa 2002, Pakistan for the past four decades, etc.).

I'm not sure who first said, “Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it,” but one wishes these three books had been absorbed by W., Cheney and Rummy before they entered office in 2001. Consider how different things might be today without Iraq, Afghanistan and a free-wheeling and irresponsible Wall Street. Or, for that matter, how 1861's lessons might have prevented the rise of a polarized political system that just prompted Standard & Poor's to drop our country's rating and probably kick start another recession.

Oh, well. At least, there's still another month of summer to lose oneself in a good book. Surf's up!   

What sets you apart?

I typically find myself immersed in at least one strategic client positioning each and every month. And, without exception, the CEO or lead executive will say her people are what separates the organization from its competition. They'll say such things as:

- “Our people are totally client focused.”
- “We have deeper sector knowledge than anyone else.”
Or, my personal favorite...
- “Our people are smarter.”

People are an asset but, almost without fail, they are NOT what sets an organization apart from its competition.

In her most excellent new book, 'The Art of Managing Professional Services,' Maureen Broderick  defines positioning as: “The FOUNDATION of a successful brand. It flows from all other elements of a firm's management: shared vision, values and culture. A focused positioning attracts both top talent and steadily builds a distinct brand.” I'd add two other points: a positioning MUST succinctly describe the unique end user benefit your organization ALONE can provide. And, it MUST ring true.

Here are three examples of what I consider three memorable positionings (all created by a certain strategic communications firm with which you may be familiar):

- “Disrupt your own organization before your competitors do it for you.” (for a strategy firm that helped clients figure out how to re-create their service offerings)

- “At the crossroads of the spiritual and the secular” (for a church that was equally adept at providing spiritual guidance and networking events for Wall Street executives)

- “What sets us apart from our competition is helping set clients apart from theirs.” (for a nascent PR firm run out of a squalid, one-bedroom apartment)

Every now and then, people CAN drive a firm's strategic positioning. Broderick points to law firm Skadden Arps, whose motto is, “Walking through walls for clients.” Skadden, and Skadden alone, commits to a 24-hour call return policy. Employees will not go home until every piece of client business for the day has been completed. The firm insists upon it and clients hire them for that almost maniacal commitment. They do, in fact, walk through walls for clients. That's an end user benefit and it rings true. 

Mostly, though, we run into clients who want their funky work environment to drive their positioning. Others insist upon hyping their past credentials as a differentiator, (i.e. “Our CEO is a builder of businesses.” Gee whiz.).

The single best way to arrive at a strategic positioning is to interview key internal and external constituents and ask them the same question: “What does The Befuddled Group, and the Befuddled Group alone, do best?” Qualify that answer, make sure some competitor, (e.g. Perplexed & Perplexed, Ltd.) hasn't already claimed the strategic positioning and you're off to the races. But, remember, it's a distinct end user benefit, and not the people, that set an organization apart.

What do professional services firms such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte and Peppercom have in common?

Firms ranging from Korn Ferry and Egon Zehnder to Hewitt and KPMG all have something in common. So, too, do Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte and, yes, Peppercom. What is it, you ask? Well, it turns out we're all featured in a brand new book entitled, “The Art of Managing Professional Services” by Maureen Broderick (disclosure: we're helping to publicize the book).

Broderick's tome is a veritable treasure trove of war stories from leaders of the very best run firms in the world.

In the book you'll learn the common characteristics of successful firms, how to make values stick, mastering the client management lifestyle (my kingdom for a clue as to how best to do that) and the ways in which top firms plan and budget.

There's a case study on how Korn/Ferry changed its culture on the fly. Another one focuses on Ogilvy PR's global growth strategy (bring it on, Ogilvy). And, there's a fascinating section all about two simultaneous mega-crises that shook KPMG to its very roots.

“The Art of Managing Professional Services” should be on the reading list of any public relations firm owner or executive, as well as anyone who aspires to one day lead an Edelman, Makovsky or Golin Harris. Truth be told, I wish I'd read the book when Ed and I first opened shop in his squalid, one bedroom apartment. I would have avoided many mistakes.

Author Maureen Broderick's insights were gleaned from in-depth interviews of more than 130 leaders. I can state that reading it has made me smarter and more attuned to 'what's next' and 'what could be.'  And, for any leader, regardless of the sector in which he toils, that's huge.

Now, if only Ms. Broderick could author a book entitled, “The Art of Managing the U.S. Government.” Oh well, such is the stuff of dreams.

The image sent is not necessarily the image received

I can’t remember the last time I’ve read a book that made me laugh out loud with each and every new page. Jon Stewart’s Earth: A Visitor’s guide to the Human Race is one of those rarities. Written by Stewart and his staff, the book is intended for aliens who discover our planet long after we’ve perished. It’s intended to explain to the aliens what they’ve stumbled across.

Sections include: explanations on how our society was structured, our major religions formed and our bizarre culture created. The latter is beautifully captured in what Stewart calls his FAQs, or Frequent Alien Questions. For example:

- Alien question: "The Acme company appears to have made low-quality products. How did they stay in business?"

- Stewart: "Free shipping to remote desert locations."

- Alien question: "You had the word Trump on many of your buildings. What did that word mean?"

- Stewart: "A Trump was a demon who sometimes appeared to us in quasi-human form in order to fire us from jobs we never wanted in the first place."

One of my favorite sections is entitled, ‘Corporate Identity.’ It reads: "The choice of a proper brand logo was as crucial to a corporation as a nation’s flag or a religion’s gold-thing-you-wear-on-a-chain. It had to be visually appealing, but it did not have to have anything to do with what your company did." In other words, the image being sent by countless corporations wasn’t necessarily the image received by end users.

Here are three classic examples Stewart cites:

 

What you’d expect them to sell: White babies.   

What they sold: Baby food.

 

:  

What you’d expect them to sell: Eagle traps.   

What they sold: Urine-flavored beer.

 

What you’d expect them to sell: Three-field crop rotation.

What they sold: Your own money back to you.

 

 

Loving Stewart’s suggestions so much, I decided to submit my own: 

What you’d expect them to sell: Antebellum plantations.  

What they sold: Cholesterol-laden fried chicken.

 

  

What you’d expect them to sell: Grumpy Eskimos.  

What they sold: Air travel to and from places that had no Eskimos.

 

What you’d expect them to sell: West Village bouncers.

What they sold: Floor cleaner that could probably double as rocket fuel if you Aliens ever find yourself in a pinch.

How about you Repman readers? Do you know any corporate logos that have absolutely nothing to do with explaining the type of product the company sells? I’m all ears (which, FYI to future alien readers, means "I’m welcoming readers to submit their ideas.")

 

What’s In a…?

Today's guest post is by Peppercommer Ann Barlow, President West Coast

Several years ago, Steve and I started collecting some of the wonderful names we’ve come across over our years with Peppercom.  Some sound musical, others highly descriptive, and a few just plain unfortunate (Juan Bosom comes to mind). On this last unofficial day of summer, I thought I’d look through the collection and share a few of our favorites.  Our goal is to have enough someday for a book. 

I remember beginning the collection with the name of Debjani Deb, who runs EmPower Research.  I just love the idea of starting and ending a name with the same name.  Of course, that same synchronicity worked for the parents of the other Peppercom founding partner when they named him Ed Moed.   Other names have wonderful balance, even when they don’t begin and end like Debjani’s and Ed’s name.  Newman Tang, for example.  Or Willburger Udo. Very east meets west, no?

The beauty of first names is, of course, that they imply choice.  Short of a legal solution, it’s tougher to change some of the interesting surnames we’ve encountered.   Someone sent an email a couple of weeks ago with the last name of Death.  Has a certain finality to it, no?  The head of communications for Toyota has the last name of Colon.  Unfortunate, especially with all of the, uh, crap, that company’s been through this year.  Perhaps worse, I came across a guy named Bert Wank.  I can only hope he doesn’t live in England.

But my favorites are the names that are particularly descriptive.   I was copied on an email, for example, from a woman whose last name is Walkup.  I hope she lives in an Upper East Side brownstone. We’ve done some work with a woman named Paula Paradise.  Not only heavenly, but fine alliteration, too.

One of our all-time favorites almost doesn’t seem like it can be real: Diane Light Waight.   She’s in marketing, which I guess is better than, say, law.  Or medicine.  Wonder if she boxes.

What names have you come across?  Send them our way and we’ll include them in the book.

RepMan’s Recommended Readings

Every now and then, I come across a book that alters my point of view on a subject or provides fresh thinking that stops me dead in my tracks. When those seminal events occur, I like to share what I’ve stumbled upon with others. And, in this case, all three recommended readings touch on image and reputation in some way, shape or form. So, drum roll please, here are three recommended reads for your summer pleasure:

1.)    “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins. Regardless of your religious persuasions and beliefs, you owe it to yourself to read Dawkins’ treatise on creationism vs. evolution. He explores both the Old Testament and New Testament as well as the Koran, the writings of Confucius and every other latter-day spin-off (think Joseph Smith, Sun Myung Moon, etc.) In the text, Dawkins argues very convincingly that there is no afterlife. Dawkins doesn’t see atheism as a downer however but, rather, as a reason to live a fuller, richer life and to make the most of the precious time we have here on earth. The book is also chock full of amazing quotes, such as this one from Emily Dickinson: “That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.” The book also contains a fascinating chapter on Stalin and Hitler, and the possibility that the latter’s Catholic upbringing may have planted the original anti-Semitic views in his mind.

2.)    “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. This is a MUST read for any animal lover in general and dog lover in particular. In my humble opinion, it runs rings around “Marley and Me”. The beauty of this book is that it’s written entirely from the dog’s, Enzo’s, point of view. In doing so, it provides some surprisingly insightful views on human behavior. “Art” also contains more plot twists and turns than a Formula One racing course but sadly, like Marley, ends with Enzo’s demise. Surprise, surprise, though, there’s a very cool epilogue that will leave you panting for more.

3.)    "100 Bullshit Jobs… and How to Get Them" by Stanley Bing. I love anything Bing writes. This 2006 handbook on the 100 easiest jobs in the world is a laugh out loud page turner. Bing skewers every occupation from personal publicist and media trainer to industrial psychologist and Tarot card reader. In the process, he ‘ranks’ the bullshit level of each job from 1-200 (with 200 being attained only by Donald Trump who, Bing says, cannot be topped for round-the-clock pure bullshit). In each job description, Bing provides such observations as ‘The Upside, The Downside and The Dark Side.’ In his description of someone who holds a top job at the strategic consulting firm, McKinsey, Bing’s upside is: “License to kill comes with the job” (referring to all the downsizing that McKinsey types do when they’re hired). The downside as: “People run away and hide in the AV closet when they see you coming” and the dark side as: “You are found with a chicken skewer through your neck at the client retreat in Boca.”

So, there you have it. Three totally different books with three totally different POVs that open one’s mind, make one think and cause one to laugh out loud. What more could a blogger ask for? Oh, one criticism of the Bing book, though: how did he not list medical supplies executive as one of the top 100 bullshit jobs of all time?

We really shouldn't be blaming BP, Halliburton or the government

I was whipping through Kurt Vonnegut's 'A Man Without a Country' when I was stopped in my tracks by this passage: 'We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial. And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we're hooked on.' That was written in 2005.

Man's wanton destruction of planet Earth is nearing a crescendo in the Gulf of Mexico. And, talk about an exclamation point. Wow.

We shouldn't be blaming the Gulf disaster on BP, Halliburton, Obama, Cheney, W. or anyone else. It's everyone's fault. We're the ones who chose to ignore the 1970s oil crisis. We're the ones who took so long to seek other, alternative fuel sources.

As a result, we're stuck with at least another 20 years of 'drill, baby, drill' because the alternative energy infrastructure simply isn't robust enough to handle the load.

Did you read that another deep horizon type drilling was just approved in Alaska? Since each of the major oil companies has the same exact crisis response plan (probably authored by one of the holding company PR firms, btw), maybe we'll have competing oil spills?

It could be a World Cup of Crude. I can imagine the play-by-play: Chip, the Alaskan oil spill has really picked up momentum in the past few hours. They're up to 2 million gallons spilling into the Bering Sea as we speak. I have to believe we'll begin seeing some seals and polar bears washing up on shore any minute now.'

'That's right, John. The Gulf folks must be worried. They've held the top spot for 72 days now and, sure, they've killed thousands of creatures, but this new Alaskan spill has gotten everyone's attention. This may turn out to be a real horse race. Or, should I say a real sea otter race?'

But I digress.

Image and political pundits shouldn't be opining about who did what right or wrong. That's tactical thinking. They should be talking big picture. They should be pointing the finger at the entire human race. We should be taking the image hit on this one.

Fish and wildlife die. Shorelines are destroyed and the ecosystem teeters on the brink of collapse. All because, as Vonnegut wrote, 'We're joined at the hip to the most abused, addictive and destructive drugs of all time: fossil fuels.' 

Let's give it six months

We just marked Peppercom's 14th anniversary. We didn't do anything special to mark the occasion. In fact, we didn't even mention it on the firm's intranet or bring it up at our regular staff meeting. Fourteen is one of those in-between years.

I hadn't given the 14th anniversary much thought until I read Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, 'What the dog saw.' Truth be told, it isn't a book but, rather, a compilation of Gladwell's short stories and essays. Some are quite good. Some aren't. It's illuminating, but it's certainly no 'Outliers.'

One chapter, entitled 'Late bloomers,' got my attention. In it, Gladwell attempts to explain why Picasso was successful at an early age while Cezanne didn't break through until he was well into his 50s. The author cites numerous other dichotomies as well: Keats and Byron vs. Twain and Frost, for example.

Gladwell got me thinking. Why did Ed and I become successful? After all, when we started the firm, we didn't think Peppercom would last more than six months. So, I took a quick dive into my favorite subject: me.

I jumped off to early successes at St. Francis Grammar School, but hit a serious trough in high school. Northeastern set me straight and headed me in the right direction. But, I experienced a series of career ups and downs before running into Edward Aloysius Moed and launching Peppercom at the age of 41.

Did I finally succeed because I needed to experience failure first? Did Ed succeed earlier in life because he was Picasso to my Cezanne? It's scary to think of Ed as the Picasso of PR. Does that make Jerry Schwartz the van Gogh of our field? Is Richard Edelman the Brahms of public relations?

Defining how, why and when someone succeeds fascinates me. In 'Outliers,' Gladwell addresses what he calls the '10,000 hour rule' to explain how such disparate people and groups as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and the Beatles succeeded so early in life.

Success means different things to different people. I'd be hard pressed to describe it myself. But, I'm flattered to think others believe I'm successful. More importantly, though, I'm grateful that writers like Gladwell can shed light on the subject.

You see, too many young people are too caught up with becoming a success by a certain age. The beauty of Gladwell's late bloomers chapter is its truth: lots of people find success late in life.

So, here's a note to students, interns, junior account executives and a certain master's student in history: be patient. If you're good and you're persistent and, like me, you're a little bit lucky, you WILL find success. Worst case scenario: you'll find your own version of Ed Moed. And, trust me, that's not all bad.

Building sales overnight and brands over time

That’s a pretty catchy mission statement, no? It belonged to an integrated marketing firm for whom I once worked. It’s also one of the reasons I’m not a big fan of mission or value statements. The firm in question, you see, rarely, if ever, delivered on either promise. They didn’t walk the walk.

I bring all this up because I’m reading a new book by the same title. ‘Walk the walk: The #1 Rule for Real Leaders’ by Alan Deutschman is chock full of examples showing how great leaders such as Ray Kroc of McDonald’s really did walk the walk when it came to delivering on mission and value statements. Kroc, for example, insisted from day one that cleanliness be one of his company’s core values (quality and service were the others). To walk the walk, Kroc would clean up any debris he found when visiting restaurants (one employee even remembers seeing him scraping up gum with a putty knife). Employees bought into Kroc’s value system because he lived it himself.

Southwest and Amazon are two examples of organizations that walk the walk, says Deutschman. Unlike its competitors, Southwest didn’t furlough employees when times were tough and Amazon continually posted all customer reviews, even the most negative ones. The former demonstrated Southwest’s commitment to its people; the latter showed Jeff Bezos’s commitment to Amazon’s customers.

All of which brings me back to my former employer’s mission statement. Because management was so indifferent and inattentive to walking the walk, we worker bees actually made fun of the line and would often mutter it after being fired by a client or losing out on a big new business pitch.

The beauty of walking the walk is its simplicity. Organization mission and value statements are nothing but words if the leaders aren’t delivering on the promise in visible and tangible ways. As it turned out, my former employer neither built sales overnight nor brands over time. It did, however, go belly up about five years ago.