Made to Stick: A Book Review

Hey guys! I know I said I would post about 5-Hour Energy but if you are a public relations major you should absolutely read this book!

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Dan and Chip Heath

Random House

New York

2007

291 pages

$26.00

Learning has not been this fun since The Magic School Bus was on the air. Chip and Dan Heath have struck gold with their book, “Made to Stick.” To begin, the Heath brothers use an unfair comparison of a tale of a kidney heist and a paper from a non-profit organization, challenging the reader to try and retell both tales an hour after they read it. Which one will they inevitably describe more accurately? Which one is inherently more memorable? The Heath brothers take concepts like this and break down for the audience why it was memorable and what it means to have a truly “sticky” idea. The book itself is very simple, it is broken up into six sections describing in detail each element of making your ideas stick; these elements include simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions, and tells a story.

A lot of the information and definitions given in the book are seemingly common answers. For instance, in the first chapter entitled Simple, the authors urge their audience to keep their message… well, simple. In no way do they want you to start “dumbing down” your message, they suggest “finding the core of the idea” (Heath & Heath, p. 27). In this chapter, Heath and Heath introduce “Idea Clinics.” The goal of the clinics is to help the audience learn how to make their ideas stickier using visible evidence to “model the process” (Heath & Heath, p. 37). Although the authors do say the reader can safely skip the clinics without losing the effect of the book, the clinics are good references. The second chapter, entitled Unexpected, explains that the easiest and most effective way to get someone’s attention is to change up the pattern of communication. This idea of unexpectedness is emanated in two key ideas of surprise and interest, surprise is what grabs our attention and interest is what keeps it. In this chapter the authors provide numerous ways to maintain that edge of unexpectedness.

The third chapter explains what it means to have a concrete idea. The authors many examples of concrete language, explaining that saying a car has a V-8 engine, is a concrete notion; while a high performance car, is more abstract. The main point of this chapter is proving that solid, concrete ideas are more memorable. It is about supplying you audience with ideas that have one of their five senses involved, everyone knows what the Statue of Liberty looks like, the sounds of a Beatles songs, and the taste of certain foods, so link your message to something tangible. The fourth chapter addresses credibility, where to find it, who already has it, and what to do with it. The ideas supporting the importance of this chapter are pretty self-explanatory; people will be more likely to take you seriously if you have some form of credibility. Chapters five and six talk about emotions and stories which in some cases are very closely linked. Telling stories and tapping into the pathos of your audience will make whatever vehicles you use for your message resonate with them more.

This book was truly a joy to read. The “Idea Clinics” and small exercises with this book made it almost interactive and absolutely made me feel that I actually learned. The book was structured in an easy to follow manner that flowed and logically made sense while you read it. It was not just bits and pieces of information, the authors created an engaging conversation for the readers to learn from. This leads us to the fact that the authors write in a very conversational tone, projecting to the audience that this is not meant to be a dry and unmemorable experience. Heath and Heath did not want this book to feel like their audience was in school and forced to read this text.  It is simply a book full of ‘good to know’ things that can help out anyone in communications, public relations, advertising, and marketing. The examples they use throughout the book utilize well-known companies and real stories so that the audience feels like they are a part of the conversation. However, an issue that could be raised with this book is the degree of informality. Although I personally enjoyed reading the banter and jokes, someone could see this entire book as unprofessional. Another aspect that would lead to an unprofessional perception would be the way the table of contents is set up. If one tried to navigate to a specific section of the book without previously reading the book they would be hard pressed to find Tversky and Shafir’s study on uncertainty because the table of contents reads as follows:

“Chapter 1: Simple

Commander’s Intent. THE low-fare airline. Burying the lead and the inverted pyramid. It’s the economy, stupid. Decision paralysis….”

It goes on like that for 10 more sentences. I understand that the authors are trying to be hip and edgy but it makes it hard to find things if you are not reading straight through.

            In the end, Made to Stick, is a very good book that is fun, educational, and smart. It is a quick read because of easy going tone of the authors. The only real problem I had with it was how the authors wrote the table of contents and that their book could be construed as unprofessional. But as a public relations major I strongly suggest students in business or communications read this book because it will do nothing but help you. 

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Facebook is a mudslinger?

Hey guys, sorry it has been so long since my last post, I’ll be posting another entry sometime this weekend to make up for one of them. BUT I found an article that uses the same scope that I do in this blog. The article, written by Guy Berstrom, addresses the incident that Facebook got caught hiring a PR firm to plant "unflattering stories about Google." Interestingly enough, I have not seen anything on this circulating Facebook, I only heard about it when I actually Google search “public relation scandals”

You can access the article at the link below.

http://marketing.about.com/od/crisis_communication/a/facebook-gets-caught-in-pr-scandal.htm

The article asks if hiring a firm to slander another competitor is a public relations "no-no?" Bergstrom says it is not, they just should not have been sneaky about it. And I agree, if you recall I used the GolinHarris pitch booklet as a frame of analysis for some of my previous posts. A big thing to remember about practicing public relations ethically is that there is openness and there is transparency. As I've said before openness is what you tell your audience, transparency is what your audience can find out. GolinHarris urges that we should have trust in transparency. As a firm, recognize that we live in a digital age, we leave digital footprints and being "sneaky" is no longer an option. As an avid Facebook and Google user, it does not really bother me that Facebook wants to get the edge. Just like Apple suing Samsung did not bother me.

Bergstrom suggests that Facebook fire the PR agency. I personally do not think that is necessary, a big part of public relations is image restoration. So maybe they should keep the agency on board and figure out a way to slowly but surely regain their audiences trust. But at the end of the day, this is not a huge deal. I have yet to see anyone boycott Facebook because they want to get ahead. No one was injured, no had gotten sued (at least at this moment) and if anything the big wigs at Facebook got a little embarrassed.

Tune in this weekend to read my thoughts on the 5-Hour Energy debacle. 

The Pill that Persuades

In the spirit of the “War on Women” and the recent election, I want to discuss the public relation tactics and strategies that were used to put things like birth control at the fingertips of women all over America in the first place.

Margaret Sanger, the mother of birth control, was a birth control activist, sex educator, and a nurse from the 20s to the 60s. She came from a family where her mother was pregnant 18 times, with 7 miscarriages, and died at age 50 from tuberculosis and cervical cancer when Sanger was 20 years old. And in the years following, the birth control movement became evermore prominent.

The tactics employed for this movement began with finding people to support Sanger’s cause and could reach ALL audiences. A good public relations campaign is one that can be effective in the eyes of even those who oppose you. In this particular case, Catholics were the biggest enemies of birth control. A Catholic doctor by the name of John Rock was very excited to help out with the movement and was convinced that he was the answer to getting the Vatican to change its position on birth control.

After the backing of John Rock, marketing was the next step. As I have said in previous posts, marketing and public relations need to work together to be effective. The pill was marketed as something called Enovid, a pill for menstrual disorders. Marketing and public relations had to work together to loosen the Catholic Church’s stance on birth control. Because the church said it was okay to have sex during the “safe period” of your cycle, so why is a pill that ensures a longer safe period so bad? But Pope Paul IV said no, in fact he said “Absolutely not.” And John Rock was devastated; he could not believe that his church would not allow this pill to help women everywhere. But women of the Catholic faith were defiant and soon they were half of the birth control market.

However, the pill took a turn for the worst. Women were beginning to die from the pill. But women wanted to believe so much that it couldn’t be the pill. A public relations campaign was not even necessary to save face and to keep women from buying the pill. It was literally handed out like candy. So women took upon themselves to flood hearings, got in front of every camera possible, protesting in the streets, anything to promote their cause. Their tactics and strategies were heard. Changing the way women were being viewed in the streets, in the government, and in the bedroom. The pill prompted one of the most successful public relations campaigns in the history of women’s liberation.  

Monte Rifkin

Recently, my blog posts have been pretty negative towards companies and public relation firms. Today I want to highlight a company in a positive way. Recently, Monte Rifkin, president of MJ Rifkin, agreed to let me interview him on certain aspects of what his company does and how it operates.

Rifkin owns a full service Ad agency in Chicago. So if you are wondering to yourself, advertising is not the same thing as public relations, you would be right. But what I have learned in my classes so far is that public relations, advertising, and marketing all need to work together in order to have a successful business. And MJ Rifkin’s mission statement reflects this point.

“M J Rifkin, Incorporated was developed to provide the “right arm” business services to clientele who wish to have access to the best, most current marketing resources, without spending a fortune on creating them in-house. We keep you ahead of the curve, using the latest technologies, proven performers, quality partners, and world-class service. Please take a few moments to browse our site, and we think that you’ll agree. Our goal is to make you successful…for the long run”

http://sales-tips.com/

The clientele that is typical for MJ Rifkin isn’t really typical at all. They will help you with your business no matter what it is. You can access their services at the previously cited website.

During the interview, I asked him the obvious question, what does your company do? What kind of clientele do you have… blah blah blah. But what struck me most, was how he motivates his employees.

PASSION

Rifkin’s employees are all over the country, every week Rifkin holds a teleconference that begins with how everyone is doing, what’s going on in their lives, showing that he cares about every single individual, and then discusses everyone’s agenda, and finally Rifkin gives everyone a general direction for the week.

I asked him, how to you share your passion when you’re thousands of miles away from some of your employees? He replied, “It’s really a matter of communication” he explained that it also deals with trust. “Everyone is paid really well, but they work hard.” Rifkin explained he is more of a providing manager, he gives his employees the tools they need to do their jobs and takes a step back.  

I admire this company because of their work ethic, scope, and objectives. I truly think that every firm should take the same approach to public relations and advertising because it allows the clientele to get what they want and the employees to thrive. 

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WAL * MART

Back in June of 2012, the corporate giant, WAL*MART, ran into a bit of a sticky situation. 

The article with the full story can be found at the following link: http://business.time.com/2012/06/15/wal-mart-pr-rep-poses-as-reporter-to-infiltrate-union-meeting/

Stephanie Harnett, an employee of Mercury Public Affairs (a firm that represents Wal-Mart), posed as a student reporter to "infiltrate a closed press conference held by a pro-labor group opposed to Wal-Mart’s new store." She said her name was Zoe Mitchell and was a student at the University of Southern California. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart and her employer And this is not the first time this has happened. An anonymous tipster told TIME magazine that she was in a similar situation years prior to this incident,  when she worked for Wal-Mart through a public relations agency, they asked her to sit in on anti-Wal-Mart gatherings and sentiments. And since these orders came from the public relations firm and not Wal-Mart, the tipster was under the impression that it was a common practice of the corporation.  

The big problem emerged when Harnett later appeared in her public relations role and handed out business card that had her real name, and position printed on it… a.k.a. the organization she lied to, realized she lied.

My worry is, when did lying and spying become tactics of public relations? I understand why you would want to know what your enemies are plotting.  In my studies, I have been taught that honesty, ingenuity, and creativity make the company, not stealing ideas, lying, and spying on your opponents. It does not matter that Wal-Mart denounced the incident, it happened, they have been tied to situations like this multiple times and it is probably not going away. All this does for me is discredit their head-honchos. However, I will not lie, I will still shop at their stores…. Mostly because they are incredibly convenient.

What?! You know Wal-Mart is cheap and easy! The head staff and the public relation firms associated with Wal-Mart do not directly my shopping experience.

Until next time! Have a good weekend!

Wells Fargo - Do they have a PR department?

On July 13^th 2012, Wells Fargo, the country’s largest mortgage lender, agreed to settle the charges being lead against them from 2004 to 2009. Wells Fargo was charged for implementing higher interest rates and fees on home loans exclusively for the minority community in America. Basically, Wells Fargo had created the equivalent of a racial surtax. This incident has been coined as “reverse redlining”. Back in the days of segregation, banks would refuse people of color loans for their homes. Reverse redlining is giving people of color clearance to buy homes that exceed their salary, loans they cannot afford, and interest rates they cannot pay back. This tanked many upstanding citizens’ credit scores, and created a financial set back that will be affecting the minority community for decades to come.

But what does this have to do with public relations?

An effective public relations team could have nipped this entire thing in the butt. A huge thing I have learned this year is that in a large company or organization the public relations department is most effective when they are involved with the decision making process and NOT just left to clean up after the mess has occurred. Don’t you think that maybe, just MAYBE someone could have foreseen the outrage of the public when it was released that a huge company was targeting Latinos and blacks? Was there anyone in that meeting that said, “Hey! That’s racist!”? Did anyone ask, “What if the public finds out? Are we going to be known as a racist company?”

Listen… public relation departments nation-wide have the ability to affect at least one of the following areas of a company: financial, reputation/brand equity, employees/internal publics, and public policy. Wells Fargo lost a lot of face and all four areas were impacted, they lost money because of the law suit, their reputation was damaged because of the racial discrimination, the bad publicity reflects badly on their employees and some of their employees were probably left in the dark, and lastly their public policy was damaged because it seems the company doesn’t have any respect for the public.

At the end of the day, Wells Fargo is still alive and well regardless of this incident. The public relations angle they are taking is reassuring the public that they will be more transparent, and return to their roots because after all, the company has been around for over 150 years. Eventually, this racial discrimination will be forgotten… well, maybe not entirely. But it will take a lot more than just a law suit to bring this company down. 

PETA and Pokemon

http://features.peta.org/pokemon-black-and-white-parody/

As some of you may already know. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, have decided to use Pokemon as the means to gain awareness. It is called Pokemon: Black and Blue, Gotta Free 'Em All. The game that is posted on their site opens up as follows:

As battling Pokemon grew in popularity, generations of children were growing up believing that Pokemon exist for no other reasons than to be used and abused by humans... Children learned about dominance instead of compassion. While Pokemon faced the worst abuses, children also started bullying each other... until one Pokemon decided he'd had enough...

Cue  a battered and bandaged Pikachu battling some chick that has a bottle in one hand and a bloody bat in the other. Pikachu has attacks like thunder shock and quick attack, but he also has the ability to protest and give a group hug. While his opponent, Cheren, can use shock collars, tail docking, and discipline with a bat. When Cheren is defeated, (yes I did play the game) her personal Pokemon Tepig is released and travels with you. And guess what?! A nurse gives you a chest to unlock... and what happens when it's unlocked? You get a "bonus" video... like some kind of reward... to watch... too bad the video is a reel of animals in cages, and being mistreated. It is very uncomfortable to watch.

Now what does this have to do with Public Relations? It is a form of campaigning. Public Relations is not JUST about saving face for a company, it can also work to promote the company or organization. The release of the Pokemon parody is both wonderful and terrible. It is wonderful because it brings in a HUGE audience, but it is terrible because they are taking a globally loved game and show and inadvertently making it seem like it is actually bad for the kids who grew up playing it. Personally, I like the idea of the game, the fact that it gives lots of information in support if the company, but slandering a world-wide media giant that has given countless kids education and entertainment for years for you own gain is distasteful in my opinion. But I am assuming that PETA did get all of the legal rights from Pokemon to use their trademark so there is nothing to be done about it. In the end, Pokemon is introduced to an audience it did not have, and PETA was introduced to an audience is did not have. Whether to publicity is good or bad for either  is still to be determined in the future.

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