By: Laura R. Vandiver, Director of Research

@LauraVandiver

Innovative. That word is all around us these days. It’s often used to describe the latest tech gadget, a new or improved process for completing a task, or sometimes to describe a “think-outside-of-the-box” quality in a person. In the PR world, we often have clients approach us with products or processes that they deem to be “innovative”- but what does that really mean? The core issue for PR professionals in the sphere of innovation is not coming up with the innovative idea itself, but how to communicate about it in a way that influences the targeted audience to adopt it.

As a social scientist, I often start my thinking about these concepts at theory. Diffusion of Innovations, a classic social science text by Everett M. Rogers, is a great place to start when contemplating how an innovation diffuses from a single idea to a product or process that is fully accepted and integrated into our society. But what qualifies as an innovation? Everett defines it as “an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption.”  So, if a client approaches you and wants help talking about an innovative idea or process they had developed, the first step would be to determine if it was truly an innovation. Does it improve on an existing design? Does it do something new? This step involves a competitive analysis of similar products/ ideas that already exist in the marketplace.

Then the task becomes how to effectively communicate about the innovation. There are several aspects of how innovations diffuse through a population that can help when you’re writing key messages or setting up promotional events. Rodgers outlines the following characteristics of innovations:

• Relative advantage- is the innovation better than the idea before it?
• Compatibility- how consistent is the innovation with the value system and culture in which it is introduced?
• Complexity- is the innovation easy to use and understand?
• Trialability- can the innovation be experimented with on a trial basis?
• Observability- how easy is it for other people to see the results of the innovation for themselves?

When promoting an innovation for a client, it is important to try to encapsulate these ideas into the messaging in order for the innovation’s introduction to have the best chance at success. Discuss how the innovation will improve a product or process. Talk about the ease of use. Set up events where the target audience can test the innovation for themselves.

But perhaps the most important thing to remember about innovations is that they don’t occur in a social vacuum.  In fact, the very process of how people adopt new innovations relies on social and communications structures. Social networks are vital to the success of an innovation, so identifying early adopters and encouraging them to discuss the innovation with their friends, family and co-workers is extremely important.

Finally, while you may do all the right things to get an innovation noticed for your client, it is extremely difficult to get a new idea adopted. Sometimes the “Goldilocks” effect gets in the way, as the innovation needs to be introduced at just the right time- and in just the right way- to reach its full potential.

Need help talking about your innovative idea? Our skilled communicators can help. Contact us at www.vandivergroup.com or call us at 314-991-4641.

Citations: Rogers, Everett M. Diffusion of Innovations, Fifth Edition. Free Press, 2003.

This is a question that will sound very familiar to those of us who have decided to pursue a career in public relations. For some reason, the general public has no idea what exactly PR is, or when you say you work in PR they say, “Oh, so you do marketing and advertising?”

The answer is all of these things are related, but PR, marketing and advertising are three separate but interrelated areas of communication. While all of these areas share the same goals of promoting a company or organization in a positive and relevant light, PR often has more credibility.

The Public Relations Society of America defines the management of public relations as, “Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes and issues that might impact, for good or ill, the operations and plans of the organization.” PR is more about third-party validation, while marketing and advertising are promoted from within a company and often lack the credibility of public relations.

The next question that usually follows is “So, what do you do on a daily basis?” Since the answer “Everything” does not usually satisfy the curious, PR professionals often get stuck trying to explain how they built a huge media list, pitched reporters, and landed a coveted spot on the front page of the local newspaper. Or, how a client crisis popped up, and the whole team was brainstorming key messages and media training the client’s CEO.

The result of  all of this explaining is a blank stare, more often than not. Why is this? Perhaps, as one of my colleagues says, because if we do our job right, people do not know we exist. Exactly. This is why it is difficult for people to understand the role of PR, because no one sees what goes on behind the scenes. Someone may say, “Wow, that CEO really addressed their current crisis well in that press conference.” Or, “I just read about this great new product and awesome social media contest on the cover of the USA Today.” But they don’t fully realize the professionals behind the scenes making those things happen.

Next time you find yourself saying these things, remember the men and women behind the curtain making a successful, entertaining and thriving career out of public relations.

When you need a skilled professional to help navigate your company’s communication issues, call The Vandiver Group at (314) 991-4641 or visit our website at www.vandivergroup.com.

Communications is an essential piece of the puzzle within every business.  With 24/7 media inquiries, requests for interviews and the looming fear of an unexpected crisis, it is essential that all companies have a communications plan in place. The key to survival in the world of communications may be kept in General Sun Tzu’s famous book, The Art of War. The 2,500-year-old masterpiece offers detailed advice and tactics in the politics of war that could be valuable to communicators today.

One chapter of this famous book describes the importance of laying out a plan before a battle is fought. This is the same in communications; a public relations plan must be laid out before it is needed. Anticipate events that could happen- in essence, find trouble before it finds you- and make a plan to resolve these possible events. Always have a crisis team in place with clearly defined roles and make sure to plan for the worst. General Sun Tzu says, “As water has no constant form, there are in warfare, no constant conditions.” The same thing is true in communications; no two crises are the same.

After you have a plan in place, the next thing to remember is to implement your plan effectively. Always strive to communicate effectively internally and externally. Make sure messages are coming from an authority figure, identify a spokesperson, and keep you team ready to go in the event of a crisis. “Mastering speed is the essence of war.” Similarly, speed in response to a crisis is a key in mastering the art of communications.

Finally, it is important to remember to remain a true student of strategy. Good leaders “…[know] the disastrous effects of a long war [and] can realize the supreme importance of rapidly bringing it to a close.” As communicators, we are always learning, but we have to remember to use past experiences to help influence our strategy.

The next time you need help fighting your communication war, call The Vandiver Group, Inc. at (314)991-4641 or visit our website at www.vandivergroup.com.

In the world of reputation and image management, the National Football League seems to be the latest organization in the hot seat. More and more players are suffering from life-threatening concussions and are coming forward to blame the NFL for negligence in protecting its players. There were also recent headlines about  NFL teams asking potential draft picks inappropriate questions about their sexual orientation during the league’s draft combine, essentially the hiring process. Despite these issues, the public doesn’t seem all too interested in boycotting the NFL for its indiscretions.  And the NFL doesn’t seem too concerned about any of this, either. This begs a question: if an organization is having trouble maintaining their image, but no one is really upset about it, is it still an issue?

The NFL claims that inappropriate questions asked to potential draft picks were not part of the formal interview process, and the NFL has launched an investigation into this issue. Even if the public does not seem extremely concerned about this story, think about if this happened in any other high-profile organization. So why does the NFL seem to be let off the hook?

In the end, is the NFL brand totally iron-clad? Legions of fans may feel like they don’t really have a choice but to support the NFL or else risk delaying or canceling game schedules if they boycott. The NFL has tried to push a more positive image by supporting various charitable causes (pink gloves and shoes on football stars for breast cancer awareness, for one) so fans may feel the good they do outweighs the bad. The brand is already so popular, it will take a lot to tarnish its image. This is an interesting paradox in the world or PR, so I guess we will have to see what happens.

The next time you need help managing your company’s reputation, call The Vandiver Group, Inc. at (314) 991-4641 www.vandivergroup.com.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @VandiverGroup!

By: Patty Olsen, Sr. Account Executive

Spring time makes most of us think about flowers, Mother’s Day (um…hint) and getting outside to enjoy the weather.  But spring time in my world means receiving lots of resumes from new graduates and others looking for a fresh start. When you see as many resumes as I do, you start to pick up on what people do well, and what people do terribly, terribly wrong. Here are a few suggestions to keep your resume moving forward to the next step – an interview!

• Personalize – Be sure to do your research and find out who is on the receiving end of your resume.  Everyone likes to see an email with their name. Be mindful to ask about the correct spelling.
• One at a time – We all like efficiency. But sending out your resume as an e-mail blast is completely inappropriate.  Again, this goes back to my first point about adding that personal touch.
• Review, Review, Review – Read your resume and email out loud. It’s easy to catch mistakes when you hear what others are reading.

Congratulations to all the 2013 graduates, and good luck with your job hunt!

By Guest Columnist Gary W. Vandiver,

Expert Project Management, LLC

To Figure Out How to Get Where You’re Going, You Have to Know Where You Are– One of our guides, Abraham,  taught us about the importance of planning, communication and trust.  Calling Abraham a guide is using the term somewhat loosely, as it turns out.  He took us on a long ride to our first fishing spot, which was unproductive.  During the 5 ½ hours before lunch we fished for about two hours. The rest of the time we were riding up and down the river looking for places to fish.  On this particular day, the guides were going to prepare fresh fish for us on shore. When it was time to head for the meeting spot, Abraham would head in one direction, stop, look around, and head off again sometimes in a different direction.  We had a very detailed tour of the river.  Eventually, he stopped and started making calls on the radio. When he finally got a response, the conversation went on for quite a while.  At one point I heard him say the word “confuso” which apparently meant he was confused and didn’t know where he was.  That was confirmed shortly thereafter, when we again headed in one direction for a few minutes, then stopped, turned around and headed in the other direction.  This time we found the other boats and the rest of our fishing party.  As it turned out, we weren’t more than a couple of hundred yards away.  We later learned that Abraham wanted to take us to a hidden lake, but ran out of time–poor planning. Since he spoke no English and we no Portuguese, communication was ineffective.  Without communication, we had no trust in our leader. This led to dissension in the ranks and poor results.

Challenge – After an unproductive day of fishing with Abraham we challenged Catfish, our guide the next day, to take us where we would have an opportunity to catch fish. We started the day with enthusiasm and trust in our new leader. The communication was much better and Catfish understood what we needed to meet the day’s challenge. He took us to a spot where we encountered a large disturbance in the water.  With his guidance we cast into the area and soon Larry hooked a large bass. Catfish provided the guidance to help make the most of this opportunity, which ended in Larry landing the fish.  That was just one of many opportunities we encountered that day. Those challenges were overcome through dedication to resolving those challenges, and trust in our leader to provide the guidance and the tools we needed to meet them.

The moral of the story–pay attention every day and you will find leadership lessons in everything you do. If you don’t pay attention, they may find you.

Gary Vandiver is Founder of Expert Project Management, LLC.  gvandvr@earthlink.net

By Guest Columnist Gary W. Vandiver,

Expert Project Management, LLC

Part I

Lessons in leadership are all around us. If you stay in the present you can see them in almost everything you do.  If your mind is wandering you may learn a lesson the hard way.

My good friend Larry and I recently went on a fishing trip in Brazil on the Rio Negro River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. There were leadership lessons every day; some while we were in the present and some that slapped us in the face. These lessons began well before we set foot in Brazil. These are a few of the lessons that aren’t new but were reinforced on this trip.

Prepare for the unexpected. It has become a necessity to have a mobile phone when traveling to stay connected to your job, your family and changes in travel arrangements.  The day before leaving, I noticed that my phone was losing its charge in only a few hours. It’s difficult to communicate with a dead battery and opportunities to charge in transit are sparse, especially when in a foreign country. Fortunately, I was able to get a new phone the evening before leaving, but it was less than 12 hours before my flight. I knew I would have a way to keep the phone charged at my final destination, but neglected to take along my plug adapter. Therefore, I had to conserve the battery to assure I would have power when I needed it.

Good communication and preparation can prevent a possible emergency. While returning from fishing on the first afternoon Larry decided to retrieve his camera from the storage compartment to take a picture in a narrow area of the river. We were moving very slowly. As he was sitting back down he had the camera in his hand and was bracing himself on the side of the boat which was wet from the rain. As he put his hand down to brace himself on the side of the boat, he slipped and dropped the camera into the water. It was his wife’s camera.. As we watched the red camera case drifting behind the boat, we yelled to our guide to turn the boat around so we could retrieve it.  Unfortunately, he only spoke a little English and understood too late what Larry wanted.  We watched the camera sink. For some unknown reason they don’t use fishing nets when you are fishing for Peacock Bass.  Had there been a net in the boat, or if Larry’s hand hadn’t slipped–he might still have his wife’s camera.

Crisis Communications – Obviously when you lose your wife’s camera, a key skill to draw upon is your training in crisis communications.  In this case there was plenty of time to prepare.  We knew the crisis was coming, but wouldn’t hit until Larry arrived home. One key to crisis communications is to remain calm and not to panic.  Larry had seven days to prepare for the crisis.  He had to understand the causes of the crisis, be able to explain the situation in clear terms and be prepared to answer any questions that might arise.  As it turned out, Larry’s crisis hit a little early because his plane was delayed on his return, and he had to call home.  When she asked if he got any good pictures,  he launched into crisis mode quickly. This was similar to an “ambush” interview.  Before you reach a crisis, you need to think clearly and be sure to get your messages and points across, no matter what the questions may be.

By: Laura Vandiver, Director of Research

I recently had the pleasure of conducting a research project with high school students throughout the state of Missouri. I visited both rural and urban schools, and had the chance to ask these kids about social media and how they use it. While some of their responses may have reflected regional differences in social media use, overall their reaction to social media platforms- and how they use them- were strikingly similar. Basically, they aren’t on Facebook. Their moms are.

“Wait, you’re not on Facebook?” I asked.

“No! Facebook is for old people. And for like, people who are lost and trying to find people. It’s not for us,” said one high school senior. “But it’s ok for you.”

It’s ok for me? Thanks, kid. Perhaps I’ll go eat some fiber now.

But back to the point at hand- what are they using when it comes to social media platforms? Overwhelmingly, it came down to Twitter and Instagram. They enjoy looking at their friend’s pictures and status updates. They organize and document their lives into short sound bites and still photographs. They love “Instagram Famous” people. If you have no idea what that means, don’t worry. Neither did I.  In order to reach the realms of “Instagram Famous” status, you just have to amass a large number of followers on Instagram. You don‘t even have to be a celebrity, in the technical sense anyway. But clearly, teenagers find other teenagers to be influentials, especially when they post interesting pictures and 140–character updates about what they had for lunch.

Now, as a PR professional, what can we take from this? It’s not just about what kids are into right now when it comes to social media. It’s about looking at the broader trends in social media, and how these kids will interact with products and product marketing in the future. The social media leaders right now are all about photo-sharing. Instagram and Pinterest are both driven by pictures and graphics, and now Facebook is trying to update its Timeline feature to be more image-savvy. As an industry, we need to follow how kids interact with images and what leads them to share those images with their friends. Because ultimately, our main job as PR professionals is to help influence the influencers. We don’t want to be your mom on Facebook. We want to be Instagram Famous.

Need help seeing what’s around the corner in social media? We can help with that. Call us at 314-991-4641 or visit our website at www.vandivergroup.com to learn more about how we stay ahead of the social media curve.