Year: 2011

Why Is Storytelling Back in Vogue?

Dana PhelpsBlog, Public Relations, Trends5 Comments on Why Is Storytelling Back in Vogue?

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If you ask me, storytelling never went out of style. Perhaps calling it storytelling did, but let me tell you, it’s baaaaaaaaack.

On my way to Orlando for the PRSA International Conference, I noticed that Spirit, the Southwest Airlines magazine, features The Art of Storytelling as this month’s cover story. At the conference, master storyteller Soledad O’Brien talked about storytelling in her opening keynote. While she had several great tips (see last week’s post, Interview Tips from Soledad O’Brien), I like what she said about using stats.

Take a stat and turn it into a story, Soledad said. She gave the example of a telling a story about the homeless. The average age of people living in homeless shelters is 9 years old. That stat alone is not the story. Interview three 9 year olds living in a homeless shelter and ask them how they got there — now you have an interesting story.

The day after I returned from Orlando, I was having coffee at The Morning Times with my friend and savvy communicator, Ilina Ewen. We found ourselves talking about storytelling, and Ilina said that she’s been helping companies think about how they tell their stories (versus just saying what they do) for years.

Next week, I’ll have the opportunity to tell one of my favorite stories, Myrtle Never Threw Away Her Postcards, at the 2011 Public Relations and Marketing Seminar on November 1, hosted by NCPRSA. I’d love to have you join me as I introduce Myrtle and share what I’ve learned about promises, potential and people from 80+ postcards written over the span of 50 years.  Hope to see you there! In the meantime…. tell us a story…

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What People Aren’t Telling You About Zappos

Dana PhelpsBlog, Copy Cat, , , , , 14 Comments on What People Aren’t Telling You About Zappos

It’s a More Monday! Maybe you’ve already heard the story, and now here’s a little bit more!

I love the Zappos copy on the box *almost* as much as I love my new handbag.

Abbie Fink and I might be the only women I know who don’t like to go shopping. For me, I think it is the go part that bugs me. Sure, I like to buy things that I really like, but I don’t like to spend the time to go searching or to aimlessly browse. I realize that that makes it a bit of a mystery as to why I’m so late to the Zappos game.

Thanks to Shonali Burke for piquing my interest in Zappos when I met her recently at the PRSA International Conference where she was carrying a very stylish handbag. Shonali admitted that she too had been slow to try the online shopping extravaganza that seems to have a cult-like following. She was quite pleased — and not surprised — with the exceptional service.

Now that I have tried it, sign me up as a satisfied customer. But maybe not for the same reasons that’s resulted in Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, holding the title of media darling for quite some time now (all really great reasons, by the way). You see, I’ve heard so much about how fast it is that unless my new Kate Spade arrived in pizza delivery time, it would be hard to be impressed on that alone.

Oh, and there’s the return policy. I’m confident that if I needed it, it would have been as simple and wonderful as I’ve heard that it is. But try prying the beautiful zebra print handle from my sweaty little paws. Not gonna happen. So, yes, it arrived three days after my order. Yes, I know I can ship it back for free if I want. However, those are not the things that have made me fall handbag over heels in love with Zappos.

It’s the copy! Oh, how I love clever copy, and I don’t understand why people aren’t talking about the (apparently) super smart and creative copywriters at Zappos. Instead of the boring “here’s your shipping confirmation info” email, here’s the one I got from Zappos:

Hello Dana! Your order with Zappos.com has shipped. YAY! We’ve enclosed some tracking information, so you can follow your order to its final destination. It’s almost like being a superspy! Mission Control advises that you take a look at the top-secret information below.

Love that someone took the time to make it just a little more fun. So imagine my excitement when the box arrived, and in addition to my prized new accessory being inside, the outside was accessorized with more cute copy that reinforces one of the company’s brand messages of speedy delivery. Zappos, I was slow to come around, but I hope you’ll have room in your heart for one more fan. xoxox

What’s the best thing you’ve ordered from Zappos and what was your favorite part of the experience?

 

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Interview Tips from Soledad O’Brien

Dana PhelpsBlog, Free Advice, , , 1 Comment on Interview Tips from Soledad O’Brien

I had the pleasure of hearing Soledad O’Brien speak during the opening ceremony of the PRSA International Conference earlier this week in Orlando. In addition to sharing the thought we hear from many journalists about the importance of PR people doing their homework , she shared some advice to keep in mind when media training spokespeople. Soledad said to remember three things:

  1. Authenticity. Yes, as the PR people, it is natural for us to be focused on the message board and the desired outcome. Let’s also remember that our stories and our spokespeople must be sincere and genuine. I’ve seen in media training over the years how sincere but nervous spokespeople can revert to memorizing what seems to be a canned script which does not exude authenticity.
  2. Emotion. Every interesting story involves the display of emotion. Soledad also talked about the energy of an interviewee and how that connects to the emotion and the way the story is portrayed.
  3. Passion. Want to make Soledad (or anyone else) fall in love with your story? Communicate your passion. She said that of these three things, passion is the most important.

This is the first in a new series of posts called Free Advice Friday. If you  have a suggested topic or question you’d like to see addressed here, please leave your idea in the comments section. We also welcome comments on this post! Thank you!

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Green Thought Thursday: Going Green at the N.C. State Fair!

Josephine ButlerBlog, Sustainability,
Last year's prize pumpkin! If you want to see this year's winner, head to the fair!

I can say for certain that this past Monday’s trip to the North Carolina State Fair (with my fellow co-worker Kate) was absolutely, without a doubt the most fun I’ve ever had at the fair. Not only did we over-indulge in greasy, delicious fried food (deep-fried Oreos, anyone?), but we also rode tons of rides, met plenty of good people and had a lot of good clean (and green) fun. And now, I want to share a few tips with you on how to do the same.

Tip #1: Get your tickets early. I know it’s a little late for this year’s fair, but the early bird specials are a great way to save some green. I also recommend still purchasing advance tickets online just to save you a little time from having to wait in lines

Tip #2: Take the bus. Public transportation is a green way to get to the fair, and with all of the parking expenses and heavy traffic, you won’t regret it. It’s practically like getting VIP treatment when you surpass all of the folks hiking from their parking spots and get dropped off right in front of the entry gate!

Tip #3: Bring canned food – get in free! Today and today only is Food Lion Hunger Relief Day, benefiting the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. If you bring four cans of food, you get into the fair for free!

Tip #4: Share food. Trust me when I say there’s no need to get a tray of fried green tomatoes for your very own (if you could eat more than two, I’d be genuinely impressed)! Be sure to share your treats with friends – there will be less waste in the end.

Tip #5: Recycle, of course! Sure, a trashcan may be closer, but taking the extra 100 steps to recycle your cans and bottles will go a long way. Think of how much waste is produced every year!

We’re wishing you all a very happy and safe time at the fair this year. If you have any more fun (or green) tips to share, we’d love to hear them. After all, who doesn’t “Love A Fair?”

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Netflix: Why are people still so mad?

Josephine ButlerBlog, Marketing, , , 5 Comments on Netflix: Why are people still so mad?

It’s a More Monday! Maybe you’ve already heard the story, and now here’s a little bit more!

It was a dark and stormy night when I opened up this email from Netflix.

Doh!

And unfortunately, the story doesn’t get much better from here. In case you’ve missed it, Netflix recently announced a price increase, lost a million subscribers, announced a split between its DVDs-by-mail and online streaming (via Qwikster) services, lost even more subscribers as stocks tumbled and now, is taking it all back (except for the price increase – drat).

Even more unfortunate, most people aren’t taking things as lightly as I am. With thousands of recent additions to the instant streaming movies and TV shows library, including the company’s most recent acquisition of the rights to stream the CW shows, I am left wondering, what’s with all the hate mail, ill-fated comments and general malcontent? Why are people still so mad?

In a recent chat with Mike Allen, advertising aficionado and creative director, I received some insight. “They had the golden goose, and they killed it themselves,” he said. According to Mike, the company, which almost single-handedly put Blockbuster out of business, had one very big, very simple appeal: low cost. Now, people are leaving by the millions because they don’t want to pay the higher fees. “And not to mention they pulled this in the worst economy possible,” he added.

Kris Schindler, PR expert and social media star, agrees. “This is a great example of a company with a lot of brand loyalty that has created its own crisis,” she said. “Netflix should have been communicating all along what makes Netflix so great in the first place, focusing on the new improvements.” In that case, the price change wouldn’t have been so unexpected (and disrupting).

I couldn’t agree more.

But honestly, it’s not the price change that hurts me the most (I was halfway expecting it). What hurts the most is that it was too much, too soon, and now, I’ve got nowhere to go. Aw shucks, Netflix. Why’d you have to go and ruin something so good? I really want to break up with you, but I can’t because where else can I go to watch an entire season of Twin Peaks in just one sitting? I guess this means we’ll stick things out…for now.

Now it’s your turn. Why are you still so mad about the Netflix changes? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. We’d love to hear more on this More Monday!

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