Tag Archives: Peppercom

Jun 24

It’s time to stand-up for the power of comedy

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Peppercommers Brendan Mullin and Doug Feingold made their stand-up comedy debuts this past Thursday night at the New York Comedy Club.

June 24 - Brendan Mullin

This alone would warrant a blog since it takes some serious intestinal fortitude to perform stand-up. But, in so doing, Brendan and Doug were also completing the third part of our most unique management training program.

You see, we include stand-up comedy training as part of our Peppercom State management development program. We contract with Clayton Fletcher, a professional comedian, and train each and every level of our organization.

In addition to learning the four distinct types of comedy, our employees are given tips on how to better project their voice, 'read' the non-verbals of an audience and grasp the nuances of pacing and timing. After each 'performs' five minutes of original material in front of their peers, our employees later sit down with our strategy consultant who reviews a videotape of their stand-up to point out areas of improvement.

Our various comedy workshops have been terrific for the individuals involved and absolutely awesome for overall team building and morale enhancement.

Brendan and Doug took the final steps last week by performing live in front of at least 80 people.

Other agencies may be a little stronger in speechwriting or CSR. And The Holmes Report may have named a larger firm for having the best workplace in the industry. But, no one, and I mean, no one, better understands the strategic, competitive advantages of comedy than little, old Peppercom.

Stand-up comedy training isn't right for every organization. In fact, I can think of a few PR firms whose owners would never, ever buy into anything so 'radical' as stand-up comedy training. But, it works for us. And, while The Holmes Report may ignore the trend, Ad Age certainly hasn't (Download AdAge Comedy Article). 

We live in an era in which nearly every kind of business finds itself unable to afford pay increases or bonuses. By partnering with a stand-up comedian like Clayton, however, we've paid a little, but gained a lot. It's high time other business leaders stand up and take note of comedy's strategic role in business.

Did you miss the live show? Download Brendan Mullin's Stand Up Video.

Jun 23

I highly recommend it

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Public relations is in the midst of unprecedented change. Traditional media relations, while still important, has been equaled, if not surpassed by social media. Indeed, we’re seeing more and more clients ask about word-of-mouth. How does one inspire, motivate and encourage a prospective or current customer to ‘recommend’ an organization’s product or service to a peer? The answer  to that single question contains the key to the future of marketing communications.

June 23 - socialmedia  

Like many forward-looking organizations, we’re grappling with how one goes about ‘encouraging’ or ‘enabling’ recommendations. We don’t know the full answer, but we have some ideas. In the spirit of openness and transparency, we’d like to get your perspective as well.

So, if you don’t mind, click the survey link below and let me know what you think. I promise to share the findings in a future blog that, I hope, you’ll highly recommend to others.

Check out the survey here.

Jun 04

Allowing PR firms to advertise is like handing a loaded gun to a child

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June 4 - mad_men I hate almost all forms of advertising. But, having perused the brand, spanking new monthly version of PR Week and seen some of the print ads from PR firms, I must say we are especially inept at the dying art form.

Advertising, on the rare occasion when and where it makes sense, should strike a connection between the brand and the consumer. It should make me want to experience the 'product' being hyped by convincing me I need it in my world. Most ads suck because creative directors are more concerned with impressing other creative directors and winning awards than in selling their clients' services.

That same myopic approach holds true in spades for the PR firms who advertise. With one notable exception, the ads in the new PR Week are all inward-facing, boast about the agency, its people or its acumen and do absolutely nothing to connect with the pain that's keeping corporate clients up at night. Here are some examples (with the names excised to protect the guilty):

  • 'HTML. Spanish. Twitter. Mandarin. Newspeak. JavaScript. Slang. Layman's terms. Plain English. Jargon. Word-of-mouth. Arabic. We speak your language.' (Note from Rep: You damn well better speak the client's language.)
  • 'You come to us for perspective. So here's some. With eight agencies, several core disciplines, but one shared focus, XYZ has the ability to see what others can't – yada, yada, yada.' (Ho hum. So can every other agency. Next.)
  • 'Mission Statement: Our mission is not to be the best agency in America, but the best agency to work for (cite awards). If we are the best place to work, we will retain the best people (cite retention rate). If we have the best people, we will attract the best clients (insert client list). With the best people and clients, how can be not be the best agency in America? (Cite awards). Mission accomplished.' (My, aren't we a bit self-centered? And, btw, what image comes immediately to mind when one sees the phrase ‘Mission Accomplished’? Think aircraft carrier and a former president.)

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Jul 02

Let’s go, on with the show!

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I must admit to loving Consultant Robb High’s lengthy list of agency marketing mistakes. His latestSpeech
missive homes in on the need for strong agency ‘performers’ in new business pitches.

Robb writes, and I agree, that 90 percent of all new business decisions come down to chemistry. You either ‘connect’ with the prospect or, as Peppercom’s Deb Brown likes to say, ‘…pack up your tent and go home.’

High suggests that top agency pitch people should enroll in acting classes to improve their skills. He’s absolutely right. Having taken two Upright Citizens Brigade improvisation workshops and a week long American Comedy Institute course, I can tell you the training makes a huge, if subtle, difference.

Improv teaches one to react spontaneously to word and phrase prompts and work as a team to help one another construct a skit. Stand-up comedy trains one in pacing, eye contact, reading non-verbals and interacting with hostile or passive audiences (give me a hostile audience anytime, btw. There’s nothing worse than staring at a roomful of blank stares).

All that said, I do disagree with High’s assertion that only the ‘A’ team should attend new business pitches. Such a strategy leads to the classic big agency bait-and-switch complaint we hear so often from disgruntled prospects (i.e. ‘We were pitched by the stars, but ended up getting 22-year-old juniors working on our business.’). The far better course of action is to enroll agency fast trackers in acting, improv and comedy classes.

The deeper the talent pool, the more flexibility senior management has in selecting the best pitch team. And, who knows, maybe there’s a budding Marlon Brando or Eva Marie Saint somewhere within your agency. All they (and you) need is to recognize the enormous personal, professional and organizational benefits of acting classes. Now then, has anyone seen my make-up case?

Jun 10

In this case, ignorance is anything but bliss

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I’m amazed at the number of resumes pouring in from recent college grads or students on SummerJobs vacation.

They’re hungry for jobs and have decided that, after some cursory research, Peppercom would be the ideal match for their talents, energy and aspirations.

That may be, but these college kids are a day late and a dollar short. Most, if not all, businesses finalized their Summer intern and junior hires months ago. We were all set in April.

I’m not sure why so many students and graduates continue to make this very basic mistake every year. It could be apathy on their part, poor guidance by their parents and professors, or some other combination of reasons.

Whatever the cause, the end result is the same. They find few, if any, job opportunities.

Job market ignorance sends a strong, subliminal message to prospective employers: we wonder how prepared these students are for the real world? If they don’t take the time and initiative to learn how and when most firms begin their interview process for Summer/full-time employment, how likely are they to hit the ground running?

So, here’s an assignment for next Spring’s graduating class: start your job research now. Narrow your employers’ list by the Fall. Schedule interviews over the Winter holidays and push hard for a commitment by Spring. Demonstrating knowledge of the hiring process is a small, but important, part of shaping your own image and ensuring a successful job search.

May 13

A market research company that doesn’t do market research

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I love irony. The thicker, the better. How rich, then, is this voice mail?
Phone_call_2

“Hey Melissa, this is xxxxxxx xxxx calling from xxxxxxxxxxx. Um, I had been speaking with Dandy, and uh, I had been speaking with Steve Cody before he left Peppercom, um, regarding market research with you guys. So when you have a moment if you could give me a call at xxx-xxx-xxxx. If you want to check us out online before you call we’re at xxxxxxxxxxx.com. Thanks, Melissa.”

This poor guy not only believes that ‘…Steve Cody no longer works for Peppercom, but he’s also trying to pitch his market research company’s services to our very own Melissa Vigue. Ouch!

No need to expound on the damage a market researcher who doesn’t do market research can wreak on a market research company’s image and reputation (and, try saying that line three times fast).

Apr 23

Don’t look back. Someone may be gaining

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A recent PR News-Peppercom survey of 500 communicators showed that two-thirds were concerned theyLooking
were parallel to, or behind, their competitors when it came to digital communications.

The finding is scary in a number of ways. It tells me that communicators are either unable to convince their management to make a strategic digital spend or they simply don’t care. While the latter statement may sound glib and superficial, it may also be true. I suspect there’s more than one Fortune 500 marketing executive who simply doesn’t want to worry about digital communications. He or she isn’t comfortable with the new, Web 2.0 world, finds it impossible to control and nearly impossible to explain to the C-suite. So, why not let the next shift worry about it?

If, however, the survey finding indicates an inability on the part of marketers to ‘sell’ digital to the c-suite, then I suggest a competitive audit is exactly the way to do so. Most CEOs move like greased lightning when shown clear evidence of a competitor’s strategic maneuvering. And, what better way to get Avis to move, for example, than by showing the CEO what Hertz is doing in Web 2.0?

Digital is not only a game changer that’s here to stay, it’s a game changer that can help you stay ahead of your competition.

Apr 16

Matt Waters run deep

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Hats off to Matthew O. Waters of Doylestown, Pa. Matt read my blog about the dearth of hand-writtenLetter
letters from Gen X and Gen Y job seekers and, yes Virginia, sent me a lengthy, handwritten note with his resume.

Good for you, Matt. You’ve not only differentiated yourself, you’ve gotten a blog written about your iconoclastic ways.

Matt’s a University of Vermont graduate who’s seen me speak and visited Peppercom’s office in Manhattan. That arguably gives him an advantage over, say, your average Drew University student. But, Matt took his game to a new level by writing to me about himself, his grandfather and his desire to work for Peppercom. His approach would have been commonplace in 1978. In 2008, it’s downright revolutionary.

So, Matt, rest assured I will not only forward your materials to the appropriate people, I will also guarantee an interview if you can make your way to the Big Apple. After that, though, it’s up to you.

It’s nice to know people like Matthew O. Waters do exist. They do listen. And, they do do the right things to differentiate themselves and begin building their own brands. It’s enough to make a jaded, middle-aged blogger stop and smell the roses.

Apr 09

Sorry, dawg, but you just don’t have what it takes

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We’re holding ‘American Idol’ type auditions for the new voiceover introduction of our Repchatter podcast.

How cool is that? To select just the right voice, we’ve asked interested employees to ‘perform’ in front of four judges.

They’ll read a prepared script (or, one of their own choosing if they prefer) and we’ll evaluate them on originality, performance and, naturally, their voice. Oh, and the winner will receive a $100 gift certificate.

I never could have done this at my previous workplaces. They simply wouldn’t have permitted it. Nor could I see it being done at many workplaces I’ve come into contact with recently. Most take themselves way, way too seriously. Peppercom, on the other hand, has always espoused a ‘work hard, play hard’ ethic and the auditions are a pure play hard example.

So, the next time our vast listening audience of four downloads Repchatter, they’ll hear a brand, new intro delivered by an employee who just pocketed a cool $100 for muttering a few sentences. It’s good work if you can get it. And, it’s good to be in an environment where this stuff happens.

Mar 27

1.67 pennies for your thoughts

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The U.S. Mint recently admitted that it now costs 1.67 cents to produce a single penny. They say penniesPenny_2
now are 97.5 percent zinc with thin copper plating and admit that the value of the metal exceeds the coin’s face value! To borrow Peppercom’s Deb Brown’s favorite expression, ‘you simply can’t make this stuff up.’

So, in a period of tremendous economic uncertainty, market flux and job loss, our country is deficit-spending to create coins that no one wants or uses. What’s wrong with this picture? A penny for your thoughts. Make that 1.67 pennies for your thoughts.

I’m surprised I haven’t read more news stories about this farce. I’m also surprised McCain, Hill or Barry haven’t jumped on the issue to position it as yet another example of big government waste. God knows Clinton and Obama need something right now to distract negative stories.

If I were running the show, I’d tell the U.S. Mint management team we’ll be deducting an extra .67 cents from their annual salaries for every new penny they make. That should get their attention. I’d also enroll them in an Economics 101 class ASAP.

Whoever’s running the U.S. Mint is one bad penny. One might even call them cents less.

Thanks to Deb Brown for the idea.