The Big Hit: The Houston Chronicle for Samsung

By Robyn Kratzer, Vice President, Houston

Edelman client Samsung had been embroiled in U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) litigation with Apple in two cases. In the first case ITC issued Samsung an exclusion order, noting that Apple had infringed on one of Samsung’s FRAND-encumbered SEPs that enables devices to operate on 3G mobile networks. In the second case, which was set to be determined Thursday, August 1, Apple was arguing that Samsung was infringing on patents covering unique functional aspects of its mobile devices or their physical designs (essentially rounded rectangular devices). Additionally, the Obama administration had the option to veto either ruling on Friday, August 2.

Confronted by the imminent decision from the ITC on August 1, Samsung lobbyists asked Edelman to provide strategic political “air cover” in Texas and New Jersey where several members of Congress supported Samsung. The Edelman D.C. team decided it would reach out to the Network for assistance in placing third party op-eds in key regional papers in these states, one of which was Houston. An op-ed highlighting the potential negative impact the case might have on the Texas economy was drafted and bylined by signatory, Carroll G. Robinson, a Houston area attorney and trustee of the Houston Community College System. 

Key messages for client included that: 

• Samsung had announced plans to invest $4 billion in the expansion of the company’s manufacturing plants in Austin, marking the largest foreign investment ever made in the State of Texas. Additionally, the prospect of court-ordered injunctions on high-tech products could potentially disrupt the free flow of commerce and negatively impact the Texas economy and job creation.
• Injunctions, if allowed, could have a chilling effect on companies’ decisions to invest in the U.S. and local state economies.
• An import ban could remove products that are essential to market competition.

Challenges

Due to the imminent ruling on August 1 and the potential Obama administration veto on either ruling on Friday, August 2, the placement of a third-party op-ed became critical and time sensitive. Edelman D.C. contacted the Houston office on July 26. The bylined op-ed was pitched to Houston Chronicle editorial page editor, Jeff Cohen, and the pitch, coordination and placement of the op-ed occurred within three business days. Coverage was posted online at Chron.com on July 30 and in the hard copy of the paper the next morning, July 31. Coverage can be found here. 

Digital Insight: Embracing the Change in User Behavior

By Amanda Nguyen, Account Executive, Digital West

Last week, the Seattle Interactive Conference brought in an array of technology experts, brands and creative types to share their thoughts on the evolving digital landscape. “Change” was the resounding theme that echoed throughout the conference, emphasizing the shift in user behavior, as well as the importance of brand flexibility and transparency. Below are five key trends from the sessions:

1. Evolving Platforms

As technology evolves, brands must be flexible and willing to adapt. Tim Keck, cofounder of The Onion, spoke about platform shifts and how it relates to traditional print newspapers. The Onion, widely known for its satirical and confrontational content, may need to consider adjusting its approach since becoming digital. The new generation of online readers is less familiar with The Onion’s play on AP-style writing, and as a result, jokes are losing their relevance. Digital opens up a very public dialogue with readers who expect a two-way conversation.   

2. The Cluttered Landscape

We are constantly bombarded with information from multiple touch points. This is impacting how news is gathered and delivered. In the “Technology, Journalism and Business” panel, journalists asked PR professionals to consider the clutter they deal with when pitching stories. Kelly Clay, who blogs at Forbes, mentioned she preferred pitches via Twitter over email. Through social, she feels the story is more directed and tailored for her, due to the character limit and timeliness of the platform. 

3. Revenue Models

Both publications and artists spoke to the challenges of traditional ad revenue models. Jack Conte of the band Pamplemoose brought up crowd-funding platforms like Patreon as a fresh way for musicians to approach monetizing their craft. It is not just artists who are thinking outside of the box—GeekWire journalist John Cook spoke about sponsorships as an additional means of bringing in revenue. We will need to continue to put forward creative and diverse solutions for our clients. 

4. Transparency

In a “share all” era, transparency is becoming more of a hot topic for brands. In the “Shopping Inside a Mashup” panel, Susan Livingston, executive coordinator of Whole Foods emphasized the importance of clear messaging in customer loyalty programs. It is imperative that brands communicate how they are using and storing the consumer data they collect. Consumers are become savvier and want more control over privacy. 

5. First Impressions

In a morning keynote, Sanaz Ahari of Google explained the shift in user viewability complicates advertising penetration. For example, 77 percent of TV viewers use another device while they watch their television program. Ahari suggests using data-driven insights to find where the audience is spending most of its time, what interests are pushing the attention there, and how the brand can connect with its audience on that level. Then, create a two-way dialogue within the advertising so that the audience feels a part of the conversation and not simply bombarded with information.

New Formats, New Stories, But Journalism Remains Crucial in Digital Era

By, Marcus Kabel, Vice President, Atlanta

This article originally appeared on Edelman.com.

It’s natural to look across the media industry and wonder if the digital upheaval of legacy formats will leave anything standing. The core mission of storytelling itself is morphing, whether by requiring new elements like video and interactives, integrating the audience through social media or using analytics to get a better understanding on impact. As a former journalist who spent 20+ years in newsrooms at Reuters and the AP, I wonder sometimes if journalism itself is headed for retirement in a new era of something more direct, crowd-sourced and visceral.

But then I look at the people and skillsets that are populating this digital and mobile landscape and realize that journalism remains highly relevant. Many of the high-profile leaders of purely digital enterprises come from old-school newsrooms. Even before Katie Couric swapped broadcast TV for Yahoo!, Buzzfeed recently hired Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Schoofs, who had been at The Wall Street Journal and then ProPublica, to head a new investigative unit. Others who came up through the new media world took on legacy titles and positions at long-established media institutions in order to better transmit their messages to the world. I’m thinking here of Glenn Greenwald, and I’ll come back to him in a moment. So while the shape and feel of digital stories may be different, the ability to draft and present a compelling tale based on reportable facts is more necessary – and gets more attention – than ever. In other words, the jobs are changing, but the journalism remains.

Last month alone saw Jim Roberts, who spent 26 years at the New York Times before a stint at Reuters Digital, move to Mashable as executive editor and chief content officer with a brief to help it expand coverage. Twitter also got the urge for a stronger journalism side and hired NBC News chief digital officer Vivian Schiller as its head of news. More recently came word that the new, as-yet unnamed digital media venture of billionaire Pierre Omidyar has hired Eric Bates, the former executive editor of Rolling Stone, to bolster ranks that already include political journalist Dan Froomkin, who spent 12 years at The Washington Post before leading The Huffington Posts’s D.C. coverage.

Omidyar’s venture, of course, first made headlines last month by hiring NSA reporter Glenn Greenwald away from The Guardian. Greenwald’s saga is an interesting illustration of the relevance of journalism from another angle. He started as a blogger with no formal journalism training, back when “citizen-journalist” was the nicest thing that professional media would say about this new breed of digital correspondent. His national security coverage won him a spot at Salon.com as a contributing writer and then an appointment The Guardian as columnist – an old-world title if there ever was one. The Guardian’s global reach and credibility as a news source helped Greenwald spread the word of the NSA material provided by contractor Edward Snowden. Greenwald’s story harkens back to the days before graduate degrees became the norm in journalism, when people came to the craft from all backgrounds (Greenwald was previously a lawyer) and learned it by doing.

In the digital era, Greewald’s professional success across platforms from paper to smart phones underscores my contention: The journalist’s core storytelling toolkit is still in demand. The growing movement of experienced journalists from traditional newsrooms to digital ventures just adds more proof that even if the media are changing, the journalism remains.

Building Reputation on the Racetrack and Beyond

By Janna Hughes, Account Supervisor, Edelman Houston

World class open-wheel racing made a pit stop in the state of Texas in Q4 of this year with the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston and the second annual Formula One United States Grand Prix in Austin. With the help of Edelman, client Shell Oil Co. leveraged both Grand Prix events to achieve widespread business, brand and reputation benefit.

As part of Shell’s corporate sponsorship of the events and close technical alliances with partners like Formula One and IndyCar, the organization was able to create a centerpiece initiative – a scalable, branded experiential area – called the ‘Shell Mobility Experience’ to educate invited stakeholders, racing fans and general consumers about innovation and technology for road transport. The Shell

Mobility Experience was also created with the goal to increase brand awareness and positive reputation of the organization by showcasing Shell products in use in the motorsports environment.
Below are a couple of key, successful tactics that Shell and partners executed as part of the Grand Prix events, which can be adapted for future client initiatives involving sponsorships:

Corporate Storytelling: In its infancy, racing pioneered ways for cars to move faster, longer and more safely, which new automakers inexpensively adapted for street vehicles. Today, motorists use decades of race-inspired technology such as engine-cleaning fuel additives and advanced lubricants for better performance on the road.

Shell understood that Grand Prix events offered outstanding visual examples of Shell’s innovation and competitive edge on the track and on the road through the lens of motorsports. The Shell Mobility Experience at the track served as an essential platform for storytelling starting with interactive displays, live demonstrations and a simulated lab with real tools (e.g., engine valves) and Shell scientists who could speak to performance and future of fuels, further helping consumers see the connection between the racetrack to the road. Storytelling was also accomplished through the creation of historical timelines that were displayed through the event and used in online channels to highlight examples like Shell’s long-standing technical alliance with partners such as Scuderia Ferrari - dating back 60 years - and background on Shell’s successful US Eco-Marathon events.

Partnerships at Work: This goes without saying, but worth reinforcing that partnerships require close collaboration throughout every step of the relationship in order to achieve a successful outcome for all parties involved. 

Grand Prix race organizers and Shell worked as one cohesive unit; holding multiple weekly meetings and closely collaborating to develop joint communications materials. Motorsports events also provided an advantage for Shell to build credibility and forge relationships with customers, such as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Tours of the Shell Mobility Experience were scheduled around the events to help customers get an in-depth look at Shell’s positioning in the motorsports space.

Digital is Key: It was a no brainer for Shell to execute a social media strategy around Grand Prix events. With the help of Edelman Digital, pre-event, during and post-event strategy was deployed to educate consumers not only about the events, but Shell’s role in motorsports. An eight-week content calendar was formed by Edelman Digital to frequently communicate event updates and Shell motorsports content to the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram communities. Real-time content was also posted to these channels during the events to drive education and help remote fans feel like they were part of the events. In addition, geo-targeted posts were developed, along with customized hashtags, to entice fans to talk about the Shell experience for a chance to win special consumer experiences at the track.  

Hometown Always Wins: The Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston event was found to be a more effective platform for stakeholder engagement and partners largely due to the close proximity of the event to Shell US headquarters. The location offered Shell the opportunity to create activities beyond the racetrack to engage key stakeholders and partners, including a Proclamation ceremony with the Mayor of Houston to kick off race weekend. Shell held multiple pre-event business engagements, such as an Alternative Energy forum for stakeholders and a Lubricants luncheon with global Shell leaders to communicate key business messages to media and customers (OEMs) using the Grand Prix event as a backdrop for these activities. 

For an inside look at the event, check out the below footage of the Shell Mobility Experience in Austin:

The Holidays are a Time for Sharing. Content.

By Spike Jones, Senior Vice President, Managing Director – Southwest Digital

Alas, the holidays are upon us once again. Quicker than you can say, “How did that happen?” we are bombarded with brands promising huge sales, deep discounts and unlimited supplies of the latest and greatest. Just like every year, they’re blowing up all types of media – from traditional to social – trying to spread their message and hoping, praying, that consumers will listen.

But what’s even better than someone responding to your content? Someone responding and then sharing it. It’s not an easy chestnut to crack, but if you stick to three buckets when creating content, the probability it will be shared will increase exponentially.

What are the top three reasons people share content online? In descending order:

1. It feeds their ego. Think about it. Social media is fueled by people pointing out how awesome they are. Look at the hotel where I’m staying. Look where I’m traveling. Look at this nice meal I’m eating or this glass of wine in this fancy bar. Foursquare. Instagram. Facebook. Twitter. Stop and take a look at your feed and you’ll see post after post of people trying to convince the rest of us how incredible their life is. Instead of trying to fight that fact, embrace it. Why not create pieces of content that make your customers look awesome? Something as simple as calling them out in a tweet or Facebook post (or retweeting them) makes them feel important… and they will naturally want to share the attention they received. Want to supersize it? Make a video about them and their passions with your brand being the sponsor.
2. It’s information. And not just any information. People tend to share information that is either brand spankin’ new or very freakin’ complicated (and explain it). We’re talking about new products. Upgrades. Game changers. Life hacks. Why not create content around this idea and give it to your biggest fans first? Not only will they feel special that you shared it with them first (read: feeds their egos), but they won’t be able to wait to share it in their social circles. 
3. It gets an emotional response. And yes, humor is great. But it’s hit-or-miss. In particular, people share content that enrages them (as a general rule, let’s stay away from that one) or delights them. I’m a huge fan of surprise and delights. What better time of year to activate a random act of kindness campaign for your customers on social. Or even better – enlist some of your fans to pay it forward and allow them to become the ones doing the surprising and delighting. 

To make it easy to remember, I think of ego, info and emo. Anytime our team is creating content for a client, we make sure at least one of these buckets is filled. If we can fill two or three of the buckets with one piece of content, that’s even better. Brands have to fight the instinct to talk about themselves and flip the spotlight to shine on their customers. When they do this, amazing things will happen.

More on word-of-mouth marketing and consumers’ instinct to share content can be found here. 

 

Huh? What’s that you said?

By Helen Vollmer, President, Edelman Southwest

In our world of icons, infographics and emoticons, man is still looking for better, smarter ways of effectively communicating universally. While I acknowledge (and embrace) that visual communications is now a bellwether in quickly getting an audience’s attention, a recent study from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands got my attention.

It turns out, according to researchers, that ‘huh’ is one of the world’s most universally understood words.  That’s right—this monosyllable that I spent years getting my children not to say in response to a question, works as well in Mandarin as it does in Dutch.  It’s as easily understood on the aboriginal plains in Australia as it is the geothermal pools in Iceland. 

These linguists looked at other words as well, but only ‘huh’ is found in languages that have little to nothing else in common.  Contrary to what my ninth grade English teacher Ms. Seaholm taught me, it appears that language is not a matter of inborn structure (and sentence diagrams), but is instead rooted primarily in social interaction.

Managing common understanding as we talk, confirm and check with others is really the job of words.  So while a picture may well be worth a thousand words these days in getting a conversation started, it is stringing simple syllables together that allows us to engage the world around us and get things done.