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Blockbuster Flier

I was at the mall with my wife and son, shopping for some clothes for the little one. I had a gift card and remembered that I needed new cologne – so I went to check out the scents while my wife went looking for makeup, shoes, gifts for friends, toddler socks, and, well, you get the picture.

I hate the cologne section, because there’s always someone pushing you to smell nasty fragrances. My sinuses are bad as it is, so once I smell two or three, I can’t distinguish between anything after that. And the coffee beans don’t help. The first sales person I came across (who I desperately tried to avoid) wafted a new smell strip in front of me every five seconds until I escaped to the next counter.

The next sales lady began by asking whether I was looking for a gift or something for myself. Once she established that I was all about personal preference, she asked if I was looking to replace something or whether I wanted something new. I told her I needed something new and she followed up by asking what my favorite and least favorite past colognes were and why.

By asking questions – the right questions – she made me more comfortable, she learned about what I was looking to buy before she ever tried to sell me on anything (or everything as the firstone was doing) and she showed that she cared about my interests as much as she did her own.

She learned that I like lighter, but distinctive colognes that have some staying power: John Varvatos, Vera Wang for Men, Calvin Klein, Eternity for Men, Drakkar (way back in the day, before even the rumors about its power over women). And she learned that I don’t like the loud, nose burning scents like Obsession. Then she introduced me to three Burberry colognes.

Look at the “smell strip” she handed to me. It wasn’t a small piece of paper, or even a cleverly designed piece of paper. It was a neatly tied bow in the fabric that Burberry is so well known for. Talk about great branding. Look how it stands out in relation to the others that were offered to me. And the image matched the corporate brand identity. The cologne bottle was also wrapped in fabric and the smell is different, interesting. It’s not overpowering, but it stands alone and makes a statement.

Needless to say, I bought it. And I’m blogging about it.

How do you make your company’s products or services stand out? Have you thought about all of the ways that you can distinguish it from the competition? How to make it look, feel and actually be more valuable?

In 1947, Allport and Postman theorized that:

1. people exert effort to find meaning in things and events and
2. when faced with a situation that is both ambiguous and important, people retell related rumors to create meaning.

Importance and ambiguity are the keys to whether or not a rumor is actively spread. Further, Allport and Postman determined that as rumors are spread, they are:

a. leveled or shortened and made more precise
b. sharpened, resulting in details being cut out
c. assimilated, or made more interesting to those with whom the rumor is shared

Here is a scenario showcasing those principles in action.

Recently, a student carrying a rifle and wearing a Fred Flinstone mask at St. John’s University in Queens was subdued by another student and a security officer. The school immediately went on lockdown and text messages were sent to students’ cell phones. Apparently, the text message went out while the struggle was still underway, because the student helping to hold down the gunman felt his phone vibrate during the incident.

According to the New York Times article, the school went into lockdown and one student in a classroom “said he received 50 messages during that period, from friends who reported rumors: a hostage situation; a second and even a third suspect; gunmen wearing masks depicting Bill Clinton and George Bush.”

There were no hostages. There were no other gunmen or suspects. And, it doesn’t appear as though anyone was actually masquerading around in presidential masks. In a crisis situation, rumors are inevitable, but do not have to spiral out of control or go unchecked.

Here is another example.

On September 11, 2001, I was working in downtown Houston and I received several frantic calls from family who said that they had heard Houston refineries, chemical plants, and oil company headquarters were targets and they urged me to leave work. Today, we know that Houston was not a target, but two big cities had been hit, there was not a clear understanding of the situation, and someone close to them was working in a major metropolitan area that has strong international presences in middle eastern countries, typically recognized as the breeding grounds for terrorists. So it is not surprising that such a rumor would be given credence, or even be built up, by those near and dear to me.

The grapevine is a fast moving channel and a force to be reckoned with, whether at a university, among friends, or in the workplace. The reality is that it can be a damaging influence and it can be a helpful resource.

In an environment of high change, which by definition is also an environment of high anxiety, where there is not enough information to generate a complete and accurate sense of context, people will fill in the blanks with whatever information fits their personal and social needs, interests, and contextual perspectives. Often, the blanks in the information pool will be filled with content reflective of the worst case scenario and/or that makes for a more salacious story.

In a recent article by John Doorley and Helio Fred Garcia in the Public Relations Society of America’s The Strategist magazine, “To control a rumor, one must either diminish the importance assigned to the rumor if true, or eliminate the ambiguity around the factual basis of the rumor, or both.”

The article is an edited excerpt from their book “Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communications.”

In the piece, they highlight a quantitative formula, developed by Allport and Postman, that helps determine the intensity of a rumor and its potential impact:

R ~ i x a

Stated otherwise, “the amount of rumor in circulation (R) will vary with the importance of the subject to the individuals concerned (i) times the ambiguity of the evidence pertaining to the topic at issue (a).”

If there is either no ambiguity or no importance, then a rumor will not continue. If you can reduce one or both at all, the power of the rumor will be significantly diminished.

Doorley and Garcia also indicate that speed in addressing rumors is key to shortening their lifespan and tempering their impact.

Additionally, the rumor mill is a lot less powerful in organizations that are transparent and proactive in their communications, those where front-line supervisors are informed – because employees trust those closest to them in an organization – and those that create two-way dialogue and feedback channels. During a crisis or in a high-change environment, employees need much more regular information and more personal, face-to-face communications.

I’ve seen companies manage the rumor mill well, and I’ve seen executives discount the influence and validity of the grapevine, to their detriment. I’d like to hear about some of the best and worst scenarios you have seen on the rumor mill front. Tell me about your crisis management experiences. I know there are a lot of interesting stories out there.

To keep your business up to date, it’s important to be familiar with the latest social media marketing techniques. This includes Facebook, which is no longer just for young adults and college kids.  With so many people currently on Facebook and those joining everyday, it’s easy to see how this can add tremendous help in getting your brand in front of clients and potential clients. And more and more of those joining are using it for business purposes over personal use.

For those new to Facebook, it can at first be a little overwhelming, time consuming and the applications a little strange. But just like many other aspects of how you do business, keep it professional. You can just as easily deny or ignore the apps you are not interested in or would serve no business value.  By all means enjoy what it has to offer and take advantage of being able to have another way of getting your company name out there. But it is representing your company name and people will view it this way.

One of the most attractive features Facebook might have to offer, especially with people not wanting to spend their dollars, is its FREE. So whether you feel it is right or wrong for your company, you can try it out at no cost and see how using it can get you connected. If you are interested in putting a few bucks into it, the site even offers target placement ads for low cost that can be viewed by very specific audiences you want your brand to be in front of while using Facebook.

Not only raise visibility for your brand but also build relationships and connect with prospects and customers that otherwise may have been impossible or much more time consuming and costly. The more you show involvement in what your clients are interested in, the more credibility you’re building for your services and showing your company can meet their needs.

Getting involved in using Facebook, and/or other social networking sites, also allows you to see what your competitors are doing. Are they getting involved as well? What are they doing to maintain their clients and connect with new ones?  Make sure your brand is staying in front of prospects and show them your company just may be exactly who they are looking to do business with.

Not sure how to get started or don’t know how to integrate a sufficient social marketing strategy? BrightBox would be more than happy to help your company get started and advise the best strategy for your business.