Media Disc

As I posted previously from “Made to Stick,” concreteness strips a message of abstract elements. It gives the audience tangible elements that are easily understood. In chapter four of “Made to Stick,” the Heath brothers explain how a message must also have credibility to become “sticky.”

Credibility stems from how people believe ideas. Honest and truthful message sources garner better credibility than messages built on celebrity status. If a genuinely good idea originates from a questionable source, then the idea may be dismissed prematurely. At the same time, a false idea from a credible source may be taken for truth.

Communicators rely on their message’s credibility for maximum effectiveness. “Made to Stick” outlines several ways to produce credible messages. One way is create an anti-authority. The book’s example of an anti-authority is Pam Laffin, a smoker with emphysema. Laffin’s involvement in an anti-smoking campaign gave the campaign credibility, because audiences saw smoking’s effects on one ill individual.

Another way to give messages credibility is to provide details. Vague messages will be dismissed earlier than messages with details, even if the details are irrelevant. Messages can also ask the audiences to test a claim found within the message. The Heath Brothers say, “Testable credentials can provide an enormous credibility boost, since they essentially allow your audience members to ‘try before they buy.’”

An example of message lacking credibility is a 1998 drug advertisement by a Partnership for a Drug-Free America. PDFA created the famous “This is Your Brain on Drugs” ad in the 1980s. Ten years later, PDFA updated the campaign. Their newer version of the ad can be found here.

In the 1990s ad, Rachael Leigh Cook holds an egg (symbolizing your brain) and a frying pan (symbolizing heroin). Cook then smashes the egg with the frying pan, proclaiming, “This is your brain after snorting heroin.” She then unleashes full-blown frying pan fury, smashing plates, lights and glasses. The ad tries to connect Cook’s fit of rage with heroin’s pitfalls.

In no aspect is this ad credible. It shows nothing that resembles actual heroin use. PDFA bypasses any sign of wit or cleverness; instead, PDFA uses semi-celebrity Rachael Leigh Cook breaking glassware to demonstrate heroin’s effects.

To make this ad more credible, PDFA may have employed an anti-authority figure, such as a recovering heroin addict. This method would elevate the message’s emotional appeal, instead of using frightening tactics. Or PDFA should have supplied details on heroin use to reach their audiences. A concrete fact has more credibility than a vague fit of rage.

By relying on a celebrity to communicate its message, PDFA’s ad seems silly instead of credible.

In my public relations writing class, we are reading the highly regarded book “Made to Stick” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. In “Made to Stick,” the Heath brothers outline and develop six categories to make ideas “sticky.” In chapter three, the book concentrates on the element “Concreteness.”

Put simply, a concrete idea is barren of abstract elements. The Heaths say, “If you can examine something with your senses, it’s concrete.” Concreteness provides messages with tangible elements; people can connect with an idea on a basic level. Anyone can grasp a concrete idea and remember its core message.

On the other hand, abstract ideas require prior knowledge and understanding. The Heaths say the “difference between an expert and a novice is the ability to think abstractly.” Experts can communicate abstractly but forget the needs of novices. Therefore, concrete ideas are more easily understood for everyone. Concrete communication improves coordination between groups of people with different levels of expertise.

The following sentence from the 2007 Disney shareholder letter is an example of abstract language: “We live in a challenging and dynamic environment and feel it is imperative to apply operational and financial discipline and to manage costs carefully.” As the sentence currently reads, can anyone derive concrete information from it?

To improve this sentence, the unnecessary abstraction and redundancy must be removed. For the redundancy side, “challenging” and “dynamic” serve the same purpose, as do “manage costs and “financial discipline.” Also, I suggest splitting the sentence apart for distinction between the ideas.

Thus, my improved form for the shareholder letter: Our inventive methods have allowed us to thrive for more than 80 years in an ever-changing environment. However, we must pursue our creative endeavors with our Company’s operations and budget in mind.

According to the Accenture Web site, “Accenture is a global management consulting firm, technology services and outsourcing company, committed to delivering innovation.” Accenture consults companies in many industries, including aerospace, banking, communications and energy. By my count, Accenture consults for 24 industries, and the full list can be found at Accenture’s Web site.

Accenture must direct and maintain its plethora of divisions and personnel. This widespread nature of the 24 divisions plays into Accenture’s blogs as well. Accenture maintains eight blogs from its main blog page. In addition to a primary Accenture business blog, the blogs are split into three categories, including Careers, Communications and Hi Tech and Technology. Accenture uses a variety of writers to keep the content varied and updated.

The following a review of Accenture’s blog for the Fortune 500 business blogging wiki. I will review the Accenture blog in eight areas and try to encompass all the sub-blogs into this review as well.

Ease of Finding: 9. The Accenture home page links to the corporate blogs from the sidebar, Inside Accenture.com, and from the top menu bar, “Research & Insights.” So far, so good.

As for search engines, Google and Yahoo each list the Accenture blogs at the top of the results for “Accenture blogs” or “Accenture corporate blog.” However, neither of the search engine queries link to the main blog home page; instead they link to sub-categories within the Accenture blog hierarchy. I wish Accenture would be able to link to the main page for the top result, but, either way, the search engines bring the web surfer to the right place.

Frequency: 6. Depending on the sub-blog within the Accenture blogs, the frequency of updates varies. The personal blogs maintained by Andy Zimmerman, Kristen Ediger and Ed Gottsman feature more updates than the blogs that several people oversaw. These single-author blogs tend to be updated at least once a week, and often the authors blog frequently about current topics. However, the entire Careers section of the blogs lacks much content. On the whole, most of the Accenture blogs are updated at least on a monthly basis.

Engaging Writing: 9. I enjoy Accenture’s use of different writers and topics in its blogs. The content on the blogs seems clear, concise and easy to read. Each writer brings new a new idea to the table, and Accenture gives freedom to its bloggers. Ed Gottsman writes about police cameras and Twitter. Many writers in the Careers blog wished their readers a happy new year. Kristen Ediger, a consulting analyst, keeps a video blog, so her readers can follow her travels. These posts keep the tone personal and fend off any corporate rhetoric.

Relevant: 8. Accenture has a varied amount of readers. The company does not cater to one specific industry. Therefore, each reader of Accenture blogs may find only a quarter or less of the material relevant for their needs. But due to the organization of the blogs, readers can locate what they want and go from there. Also, some of the blog posts reflect just the thoughts and opinions of Accenture employees. Are these posts directly relevant to Accenture readers? Maybe not, but they give Accenture a personal face when reading about the company.

Focused: 9. All together, the Accenture blogs jump topics post to post. But I don’t have the feeling Accenture aims for one overall message, at least not directed toward me. At the top of each sub-blog, there is a description of what the reader will find in that blog.

For example, Ed Gottsman’s blog is described as the following: “A weblog is an online, semi-personal journal offering the opinion and commentary of the author on conversations and stories that appear elsewhere on the Web, along with links to relevant websites and articles.”

On the other hand, the main company blog on High Performance Business brings “you our latest research findings, insights and experiences on accelerating high performance from a host of company leaders.”

From there, the blogs all fit under their corresponding heading. As long as readers find the blog they seek, Accenture keeps the content focused.

Honesty: 9. Right from the blogging home page, Accenture states: “The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect the position of Accenture on these subjects.” The company lets its writers write without micromanaging the content; this action automatically makes Accenture more credible.

Social Interaction Design: 8. Anyone can comment on the Accenture blogs given they input a valid e-mail address and a name. Accenture is interested in using new Web 2.0 tools like video blogging.

On another, slightly related note, Accenture has a Twitter account.

Responsiveness: 3. Accenture’s responsiveness is completely dependent on the author of the article. Sometimes it’s a quick response, other times it’s a slow response. Many times, there is no response at all.

Accenture’s blog receive a score out of 61 out of 80. Overall, the main problem of the Accenture blogs is the often sluggish responses to comments. Other than this, Accenture maintains a high-quality blog.

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty emphasizes a woman’s inner beauty. The campaign succeeds on both a public relations and advertising level. The campaign uses “real women” models and authentic photos. For the four years, Dove has harped upon its genuine interest in women’s self-esteem. Dove has even produced videos like “Onslaught” and “Evolution” that demonstrate the unnatural depictions of women in the media.

However, in The New Yorker magazine last week one of Dove’s touch-up artists, Pascal Dangin, expressed his involvement in the Pro-Age portion of the Campaign for Real Beauty. “Do you know how much retouching was on that?” Dangin said. “But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone’s skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive.”

(Pascal Dangin photo courtesy of The New Yorker magazine)

In the same article, Dangin’s work is characterized by a “whiff of black magic” and it’s “not often discussed outside of [fashion circles].” Could the Dove photographs be phonies?

Dove representatives immediately responded that the photos were not retouched beyond basic color correction and dust removal. The photographer and Dangin himself joined Dove by saying that the photographs were authentic. Dangin said his quote was taken out of context.

So, where is the controversy? Dangin and Dove both refute the fact the photos were retouched beyond basic, ethical changes. However, from the beginning of the campaign, Dove has maintained that its photos are not retouched. Dove promised models in the Pro-Age campaign that their photos were not retouched. Wendy Katzman, one of the models, told Advertising Age magazine, “We asked and were explicitly told that none of our [Dove Pro-Age] photos were retouched. I just heard about The New Yorker article last night and was pretty upset about it!”

Despite the minor changes, Dove maintained from the beginning that it did not change the photographs. These inconsistent statements led to Dove’s seemingly contradictory behavior. Will Dove lose some of its brand power from this latest controversy? Does this issue even matter? Let me know your thoughts.

In 2005, blogger Jeff Jarvis wrote a series titled “Dell Hell” on his blog, BuzzMachine. Jarvis has years of experience in dealing with Dell computers, and one day he decided to share his misfortunate experiences with the world. On BuzzMachine, Jarivs ridiculed Dell over its inadequate customer service. Soon, the BuzzMachine was generating 5,000 hits per day, and Jarvis’ story began to unravel Dell’s image of positive customer service.

Since then, Dell has tried to rebuild its image by engaging in the blogosphere and communicating directly with its stakeholders. Dell maintains a corporate blog called Direct2Dell, which promotes on new Dell products, services and customers. Direct2Dell focuses on positive aspects of Dell’s image and brand. At the same time, Dell just launched a social networking site, called Your Blog. On Your Blog, customers can engage in discussions about technology and Dell. On the Ideastorm section of Your Blog, Dell promotes users to share their ideas about making Dell products better.

Despite its venture into two-way communication, Dell cannot overcome its customer service woes; however, this time, the blame lies entirely on Dell’s shoulders.

Look at this latest blunder, discovered only a few days ago by Jake Gordon. Dell released its new laptop, the Vostro 1310, with misaligned keys. The whole bottom row of letters is shifted one key to the right. The QWERTY keyboard has been the main keyboard in use for years; a sudden change in keyboard layout does not translate to happy consumers.

(Photo of faulty keyboard courtesy of Jake Gordon)

As expected, Dell is replacing all of the faulty laptops (and the manufacturing error affects every Vostro 1310 in Europe). However, the corporate Dell blog doesn’t even mention the error. A search in Direct2Dell for “Vostro 1310” returns one result, which promotes the laptop’s features. A similar search on Your Blog returns nothing.

So why did Dell engage in the blogosphere and then neglect its use for crises? Does Dell want information about its goof to reach consumers from third-parties? New owners of Vostro 1310s cannot even learn of the error from Dell’s blogs. Instead of managing the crisis itself, Dell is passing along its responsibilities to the blogosphere.

Unfortunately for Dell, the blogosphere has created thousands of potential writers like Jeff Jarvis.

Trent Reznor, lead singer of Nine Inch Nails, has formed the foundation of a successful musician in a post-peer-to-peer world. Along with Radiohead, Reznor is the first musician to truly generate record profits and please a massive fan base.

By challenging the conventional formula of the music industry, Reznor has succeeded independently while the major record companies flail for steady profit.

(Trent Reznor photo courtesy of Nine Inch Nails’ Web site)

In early March, Nine Inch Nails released an album of instrumentals, called Ghosts I-IV. Fans could download the first quarter of the two-hour album for free from various peer-to-peer networks or the band’s Web site. However, Reznor gave people the option to purchase the full album in digital form for $5 or physical form for $10. Additionally, 2,500 limited-edition copies of the album sold for up to $300.

In the first week of sales, Reznor recorded revenue of $1,619,420. That is one week of sales, for an album that is partially free. Not only did Nine Inch Nails fans appreciate the new music, they appreciated it so much they paid millions for it.

This brings us to May 5. Yesterday, Reznor released another album, called The Slip, completely for free. On Nine Inch Nails’ Web site, Reznor wrote, “Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one’s on me.” The Slip can be downloaded in both MP3 and CD-quality formats, which include artwork in PDF form. Only a valid e-mail address is required for download.

The result? More pleased fans, more gathered e-mail address and more publicity. Simultaneously, Nine Inch Nails announced its upcoming tour. The free album will certainly generate more concert revenue, especially because fans can hear the music without a down payment.

Reznor and Nine Inch Nails are creating a healthy – and profitable – relationship between the music and the fan base. People want new music without paying for CDs, but they also want to support their favorite bands. Reznor caters to both needs. Can other bands replicate this relationship and learn from Reznor’s success?

In a traditional sense, Pitchfork Media would never become a dominant force in the music world. The music Web site headlines “indie” bands that don’t have a record label. Pitchfork often employs a pretentious, self-important writing style. Pitchfork writers sometimes emphasize personal wittiness over genuine criticism. Even the Onion parodied Pitchfork’s music elitism, mocking the Web site’s rating scale.

So how did Pitchfork acquire the power to fill concert venues and generate massive CD sales for independent bands? Even Wired wrote about the “Pitchfork Effect.” Pitchfork can shake the music world, as it has the power make or break an artist with its music reviews.

(Photo of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah courtesy of the band’s Web site)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah owes its entire success to Pitchfork. Before Pitchfork, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was a small New York band fighting for a record contract. Soon after Pitchfork’s first review of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, David Bowie attended one of their concerts. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah sold out of self-produced albums immediately. The band’s success took off, while the remainder of the Internet finally noticed.

In addition to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Pitchfork launched musical acts like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene. Pitchfork respectively gave albums by these artists a 9.7 and 9.2, respectively. Before the reviews, a music critic would be an anomaly to have heard of these artists.

How did this happen? Despite criticisms of the Web site’s writing and overall demeanor, Pitchfork represents the future of niche news. Pitchfork’s boldness gives it credibility and authority. A reader knows exactly how Pitchfork feels about a musician.

Additionally, Pitchfork reviews five albums every weekday. The workers at Pitchfork listen to an abundance of music. Reviewers build a solid knowledge of music just through experience. And, above all, Pitchfork’s writing is often hilarious. Publications like Blender or Spin aspire to be as quirky and fun as Pitchfork, but they seem watered-down in comparison.

I doubt Pitchfork originally thought it would ever have the ability to highlight or kill careers. Regardless of its intentions, Pitchfork is the new heavyweight music critic around.

Good luck, Rolling Stone.

Over the last six years, the war between music-downloading consumers and the Recording Industry Association of America has become a stalemate. The RIAA threatens to sue consumers to ward off illegal downloading, but illegal music downloads still outnumber legal downloads by a 40-1 ratio.

Apparently, the RIAA is not reaching its publics about illegal downloads, despite its staunch stance against pirating. People continue to illegally download regardless of facing a potential lawsuit.

I blame this negative attitude toward the RIAA due to its mishandling of the illegal downloads. Just look at this case of the RIAA suing Tanya Andersen, a single mom living in Portland.

(Photo of Tanya Andersen courtesy of BusinessWeek)

Four years ago, Andersen and the RIAA began a bitter battle over illegal downloading. The industry group said that Andersen had to pay them about $4,000 dollars, or she would go bankrupt from court fees. Andersen contended that she never downloaded illegally. Eventually, the RIAA dropped the lawsuit due to lack of evidence.

Anderson fought the RIAA for three years; now, she putting legal pressure on them. She has filed a lawsuit against the RIAA for conspiracy laws and invasion of personal privacy. Her confrontation with the RIAA has produced a number of problems for the trade industry group, including that fact that the RIAA may have misidentified illegal music consumers up to 20 percent of the time.

For this case involving Andersen, the RIAA or the record labels wished not to comment. Why the secrecy? Why the rejection of journalists? By neglecting to respond to people, the RIAA is engaging in only one-way communication with its publics. To make matters worse, the RIAA forces its message of “piracy is bad news” upon people without any room for discussion.

To earn respect among people, the RIAA must steer away from guilt-tripping people and engage in more earnest arguments. Until then, people will continue abuse digital piracy and bypass buying music.

Last weekend, our class conducted a 48-hour Twitter experiment. From Thursday to Saturday, each person in my class of 13 people posted to Twitter a minimum of five times. The micro-blogs accumulated, and our public relations class was highly connected for 48 hours. We all knew the published details of everyone else.

From this experiment, we were supposed to learn the real-time value of Twitter. As a micro-blog of 140 characters, Twitter is constantly updated and personal. I learned when people went to bed, what homework they worked one, and which movies they watched. Some classmates would update every few hours; others, like me, updated two or three times per day.

I remain unconvinced that Twitter will work for me. First of all, I have to want to read about the details of everyone else’s lives; I need to care. I try to be connected with my friends in the digital world; however, I strive to be not too connected.

Granted, sometimes the micro-blogs warranted my response. They truly sparked my interest. However, I wonder how much time I would accrue “Twittering” if I became attached to the social site.

Nonetheless, I see the potential of Twitter for the use of companies and public organizations. It provides organizations with an instant message that is viewable by all of its “followers.” The followers can then reply to the organization immediately, which is instant feedback for companies. Additionally, the organization’s publics receive an inside-look at the company. Thus, Twitter is more personal than a corporate Web site or email update. This fact gives companies an advantage when building brand identity or consumer credibility.

No one knows how to promote music anymore. Fifteen years ago, the record industry had music promotion figured out. Artists like Sugar Ray, Linkin Park, and Usher sold millions of records. Music fans—young and old alike—eagerly bought compact discs. Then Napster happened, and the digital music revolution began.

The fallout after Napster led the recording industry astray. Albums sales declined. People now found new music online, using peer-to-peer networks and Web sites like Myspace.com. Recently, musicians have experimented with different manners of releasing and promoting albums, both in physical and digital form.

On March 25, Jack White’s band, The Raconteurs, unexpectedly released “The Consolers of the Lonely” across every distribution channel.

But how is the release of “Consolers of the Lonely” different from other music releases? The Raconteurs did not use any promotion for “Consolers of the Lonely.” Instead, the band depended solely on the mass distribution of a press release on March 18—only one week before the album’s release.

The band gave music news sites and blogs an opportunity to break the sudden news to the public. On March 18, popular news site Pitchfork Media made its headlining story about The Raconteurs, running the story with the press release verbatim. Other music news sites and blogs did the same.

Since its release, the album’s single peaked at 35 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Charts. The single, “Salute Your Solution,” has stayed on the charts for every week since its release. Furthermore, the album has stayed within the Top 10 on Amazon.com’s New Releases chart since its release.

For Jack White and The Raconteurs, this indirect approach to public relations and marketing worked. In many cases, the public read The Raconteur’s main message verbatim. Intrigued fans then acted upon the news and purchased the album.

Jack White’s famousness certainly lends credibility to the album’s release. He didn’t need to use promotional tactics to incite the public’s interest. But can this cost-friendly approach to marketing work for other bands? Will other bands follow The Raconteurs’ lead and release albums that lack traditional promotion?