By the time President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney took to the debate stage on Wednesday, Oct. 3, much had been written about their extensive preparation. Romney was reportedly holed up for days with briefing books, top aides and his sparring partner, Ohio Republican Sen.

Rob Portman—while working on “zingers” that would trip up the President.

Meanwhile, Obama had been sequestered outside of Las Vegas, and was quoted joking to a volunteer in a local field office: “It’s a drag. They’re making me do my homework.”

Hmmm. A sign of things to come?

To be sure, the PR discipline of media training is getting a boost during this presidential

season, particularly as the series of debates (including the VP square-off between Republican Paul Ryan and incumbent Joe Biden on Oct. 11) gets underway. And while the stakes are up in the stratosphere for Obama and Romney, there are plenty of debate takeaways for merely mortal PR pros to incorporate in their own media training exercises for their lead-ership.

Whether it be annual

meetings, conferences, panel discussions or debates, it’s all about the messages, says Liz Miklya, vice president at Weber Shandwick. And to craft the right messages, study the audi-ence. “Listen to what is being said, and what the audience wants to hear from your leader-ship,” says Miklya.

In the case of Romney and Obama, voters have said they are most interested in both can-

Page 6 ▶

Preparation Matters: Media Training Tips From the Presidential Debate

Social MediaCorporate CommunicationsMedia Training

©2012 Access Intelligence LLC. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines of up to $100,000 for violations.

Seven Things You WillLearn in This Week’s

Issue of PR News 1. Two-thirds of B2B executives think social media is “extremely” or “very” important for stake-holder engagement. (p. 1)

2. “Backlinks” are votes of con-fidence in the quality of a blog’s content. (p. 2)

3. CEOs believe that mobile platforms will have the greatest impact in driving future rev-enues. (p. 3)

4. Yahoo!-ABC News Websites garnered the biggest audience among news sites in August 2012—60 million people. (p. 3)

5. A PR campaign for grocery chain Save-A-Lot helped grow same-store sales by 4% from 2010 to 2011. (p. 5)

6. According to PR News Presidential Debate scorecards, Romney displayed better body language than Obama. (p. 6)

7. Caterpillar has collected more than 150,000 total “likes” on its Facebook pages. (p. 7)

(DID YOU KNOW?)

October 8, 2012 prnewsonline.com Issue 39 Vol. 68 Contents▶▶How To Improve Your Blog’s Visibility 2

▶Quick Study As a Global Brand, Coke Is It 3

▶Case Study PR Propels Grocery Store Chain 4

▶Tip Sheet Risk Sensitivity Prevents Crises 8

More premium content at PR News’ Subscriber Resource Center

▶B2B Communications

Smart B2B communicators have awakened to the realiza-tion that social media commu-nications is no longer the exclu-sive domain of B2C companies, brands and organizations.

The change can be seen in results from last year’s Accenture study, “Making Social Media Pay,” which sur-veyed more than 200 North American B2B business execu-tives. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of those polled thought social media was an “extremely important” or “very important” channel for stakeholder engage-ment. The research also found that more than half of respon-dents pointed to enhanced customer interaction, improve-ment in brand perception, and

revenue generation as chief drivers for the development of a social media program.

However, the path to social media adoption hasn’t been an easy one for all B2B busi-nesses. B2B communications trailblazers have had to address questions about ROI, policies for employees, and the very public nature of dialogue on social media.

We wanted to take a pulse check to see how B2B compa-nies are evolving their social media communications pro-grams to reach both internal and external stakeholders. Our query to top communica-tors yielded responses from a diverse group of seasoned PR and marketing strategists repre-

senting interests ranging from metals and mining, medical professionals, crop protection, and equipment manufacturing.

SERGIO GIACOMODirector, Corporate Communications, Vale S.A.One of the main challenges of B2B companies on social networks is to understand the objectives and the role of each channel in interacting with stakeholders. More than gen-erating visibility and engage-ment, for us at Vale we see in it an opportunity to enhance our reputation. Therefore, we’ve determined that our ROI is based on strengthening the positive perception of the brand

Blazing a Trail to Effective Social Media Starts with a Clear Map and Clear Goals

Page 7 ▶

Frequent blogging is an essen-tial component of any effective thought leadership program. A blog gives you the chance to present your ideas and promote your business, but it doesn’t do you much good if nobody is reading it. Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to optimize your blog to make it easier for people to find and share.

Basic search engine opti-mization tactics aren’t difficult but they do take an invest-ment of time to get good results. The secret to making your blog easier for people to find is to focus on improving your relevance by optimizing your content and increasing your authority by encouraging others to link with and share your entries.

Here are some basic strate-gies to get you started in the right direction:

1. Understand Your Audience: Who are you writing this blog for? Understand your audi-ence and their background so you can write to their specific needs. Avoid using too much industry jargon if you’re writing for prospective clients who may not know much about your business. On the other hand, if your target audience is more knowledgeable, then you can skip the basic material and focus your writing on more advanced topics. Knowing your audience is the first step towards building an engaged base of readers.

2. Develop a Keyword Strategy: Keywords are essen-tially the terms that someone would type into a search engine to find your business. It’s a good idea to be as specific as possible when developing your keywords, since the more gen-eral search terms often have too many companies competing for them. As an example, “financial

planner” brings up 40,700,000 search results on Google, while “fee-only certified financial planner” brings up 255,000 results. Both terms describe the same general kind of business, but the more specific keyword faces much less competition. Google AdWords offers a great (and free) keyword tool to help you with your research.

3. Optimize Your Writing: Every blog entry should be written with one of your keywords in mind. If you’ve picked keywords that are rel-evant to your business, that shouldn’t be a problem. The keyword should be included in your title and the first para-graph of your post, and spread out two to three more times throughout the body. Avoid “stuffing” your blog post with too many instances of your keyword, which makes it sound unnatural and would actu-ally be penalized by the search engines. A good rule of thumb is to focus on a keyword den-sity of between 0.5% and 1.5%.

4. Include Images: Nothing is more boring than a blog that’s all text. People are naturally drawn to pictures and they have been proven to increase read-ership and sharing. Including an image also gives you more opportunities to include your keyword: Name the image file with the keyword and include the keyword in the “alt” tag of the HTML code (your blogging platform can help you with this). Search engines pick up on these keyword inclusions and they will help your ranking.

5. Use Social Media: All the top bloggers are very active on social media, especially Twitter. Make sure you include social sharing buttons in the header of each blog post. Every time you write a new blog entry, you should be sure to post a

link to it on your Twitter and Facebook accounts. Not only does this let your followers know that you’ve got fresh con-tent, it also makes it very easy for them to share the entry with their followers. If you come up with a really clever blog post, it might even go viral.

6. Build Backlinks: One of the ways that search engines determine the importance of a website is by how many other sites are linking to it. These are known as “backlinks,” and each link is considered a vote of confidence in the value of your content. The more important a site is that links to yours, the more valuable the vote. Build relationships with the people who manage other websites and encourage them to post links back to relevant blog entries that you write.

7. Write for Other Blogs: A great way to build backlinks is to be a guest blogger. Many blogs accept contributions from outside authors, so do a search for other blogs in your industry. Have a specific idea in place before you contact them about writing a guest post. Most of these blogs will have an “About the Author” section at the end of each entry, which is the per-fect place to include a link back to your own blog.

If incorporate these basic tips into your blog writing pro-cess, you’ll see your readership increase. The changes won’t occur instantly, but be patient and stick with the process. You’ll be glad you did. PRN

CONTACT:This article is written by Nick Pandiscio, chief operating officer at WolfCom PR. He can be reached at Nick@WolfComPR.com and blogs at WolfComPR.com/wire.

2 prnewsonline.com | 10.08.12

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▶Quick Study

Coke Still No. 1 Brand, But Tech Giants Loom Large; CEOs Say Digital Drives Revenue, with Mobile Out Front ▶ Just Like in 2011, Last Year, Coke is It: Coca-Cola remains the world’s most valu-able brand, but it is facing an increasingly strong challenge from Apple, with other tech-nology brands breathing down its neck, contends a study by Interbrand. The highlights of the branding consultancy’s annual rankings include:

• No.1Coca-Colapostedan8% uptick in value to $77.8 billion in brand worth, and was praised for combining a huge reach with innova-tive marketing and engaging shoppers.

• Appleenjoyedthebiggestsuch brand worth increase, 129%, among the top 100 brands. This surge from $33.5 billion to $76.6 billion was fuelled by the success of the iPhone and iPad, and a “set of values” and “human touch” defining its activity, says the study.

• IBMfellfromsecondtothirddespite logging an 8% expan-sion to $75.5 billion. Google took fourth, up by 26% to $69.7 billion, thanks in part to its acquisition of Motorola Mobility.

• Microsoft,theITspecialist,actually witnessed a 2% decline in its net worth, as pressure rises from com-petitors such as Apple and

Google, and gadgets like tab-lets undermine the PC sector.

• Newentrantstothelistin2012 include Pampers (No. 34), Facebook (No. 69) and Ralph Lauren (No. 91).Source: Interbrand

▶ CEOs See Digital As Driver: According to Ernst & Young’s latest CEO study, “Opportunity and Optimism: How CEOs are Embracing Digital Growth,” released in Oct. 2012, global media and entertainment CEOs expect digital revenue will be a rapidly increasing percentage of overall revenue for companies. The report finds that approxi-mately half of all the CEOs surveyed believe digital will increase their overall revenues and margins by at least 10% within the next three years. Study highlights include:

• 84%ofCEOsfeelthattherole social media plays within their companies allows them to connect with customers, while 69% say social is a tool to build audiences.

• 63%saysocialhelpswithbrand building and 50% say it serves as a distribution platform or channel, and also as a source of revenue.

• Whencomparedwithmobile-based technologies, social media gets short shrift: 79% of CEOs say tablets will

have the greatest impact, while 62% say smartphones will also be influential. Social media comes in at the bottom of the list.

• AlloftheCEOspolledbelieve mobile devices (including tablets) are the key to spurring demand for content. CEOs are especially bullish about emerging mar-

kets, where growing mobile device availability coupled with an improving wireless broadband infrastructure are creating significant opportu-nities for media companies to grow. PRN

Source: Ernst & Young

PR News’ Salary SurveyThe state of salaries, benefits, and job satisfaction for communications professionals.

Find the answers to key questions you may have about jobs, salaries and employment data within the world of public relations.

Order your copy at www.prnewsonline.com/prpress or call Client Services at 888-707-5814.

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prnewsonline.com | 10.08.12 3

Source: Nielsen

Yahoo!-ABC News Top Digital News Brand; CNN First in Time Spent

For the month of August 2012, Yahoo!-ABC News came out on top with the biggest online audience, while CNN took second but was first in time spent per person—almost 37 minutes.

Rank Site Level Unique TimeAudience Per Person[000] (hh:mm:ss)

1 Yahoo!-ABC News Web-sites

Channel 59,144 0:18:50

2 CNN Digital Network Brand 40,892 0:36:49

3 MSNBC Digital Network Channel 39,353 0:13:59

4 HPMG News Websites Channel 35,061 0:13:51

5 HuffingtonPost Channel 33,150 0:13:56

6 NYTimes.com Brand 28,503 0:18:51

7 Tribune Newspapers Brand 21,205 0:08:35

8 Fox News Digital Net-work

Brand 21,089 0:33:12

9 USATODAY.com Brand 15,076 0:09:40

10 WashingtonPost.com Brand 14,810 0:13:26

Top News brands by Unique Audience in August 2012 from total sources, in the U.S.

SUPERVALU Inc., the gro-cery and pharmacy company, serves millions of customers in neighborhoods nationwide, providing them the products and services they need through owned, licensed, franchised and affiliated stores.

Yet following the $7 billion acquisition of the Albertson’s grocery chain in 2006 that more than doubled its size, SUPERVALU experienced major growing pains, magnified by the collapse of the economy.

As a result, the company brought in a new manage-ment team in 2009, including a new CEO from retail giant Walmart. SUPERVALU needed a jumpstart, and the new man-agement team identified a retail chain within its portfolio—St. Louis-based Save-A-Lot— that had the potential to grow quickly given the poor eco-

nomic conditions.Save-A-Lot offers a limited

assortment of the most fre-quently shopped-for items, at savings of up to 40%. Because the typical Save-A-Lot store is typically only 12,000 square feet—versus 50,000 to 100,000, like typical supermarkets—the company often opens stores in urban areas where other gro-cery retailers either can’t, due to size, or won’t, due to that neighborhood’s demographics.

Despite 1,280 stores in 39 states, the Save-A-Lot brand was relatively unknown among key stakeholders. In fact, according to research Save-A-Lot was inaccurately viewed as a store that sells damaged or nearly expired goods and oper-ates in undesirable locations. “There were a lot of misconcep-tions about Save-A-Lot,” says Jeff Swanson, director, external communications, SUPERVALU. “People went into the stores looking for national brand products and were confused by the mix of private and national

brand labels.”In late 2010, SUPERVALU

announced plans to double the number of its Save-A-Lot stores over the next five years. Because Save-A-Lot operates a licensee model (similar to a franchise), not only did it need to attract more consumers, it needed to attract potential small-business owners, as well as make inroads with local, state and federal government officials to help ease the way for growth in key markets.

A secondary—but impor-tant—consideration was to establish and build the cred-ibility of SUPERVALU’s new management team, to help bol-ster business growth.

The company engaged PR agency Carmichael Lynch Spong, which had been working with the company since 2006, to develop a PR program to hit on these mul-tiple fronts. Ultimately, the campaign would succeed by combining a growth strategy for Save-A-Lot, a reputation strategy for SUPERVALU, and by fulfilling a need in society,

“which at the time was being championed by a very public person, First Lady Michelle Obama,” says Julie Batliner, managing director, Carmichael Lynch Spong. That helps.

HEALTHY DOSE OF RESEARCHFirst, the PR agency and its team of six developed the cam-paign based on insights gained from primary and secondary research, which showed that:

• Nutritionhasmoveduponthe list of what makes moms worry and has overtaken education as their third most prevalent area of concern, found a Mintel/Experian Simmons study.

• TheUSDAcategorizes“fooddeserts” as areas where a sub-stantial number of residents has low access to a grocery store. An estimated 13.6 million people in the U.S. are currently categorized as living in food deserts.

• Consumerconfidenceincompanies and brands has eroded: Just 6% believe “what

Company: SUPERVALU INC.

Agency: Carmichael Lynch Spong

Timeframe: Oct. 2010 - March 2011

▶Case Study

4 prnewsonline.com | 10.08.12

MeDIa OUTreaCH IDeaTION: 4 WaYS TO SeT YOUr BraND STOrY aparTFor its campaign to increase visibility for SUPERVALU’s Save-A-Lot grocery store chain, PR agency Carmichael Lynch Spong latched onto the idea of “food deserts” to get media’s attention. The more creative your idea, the better your media results will be, says Julie Batliner, managing director at CLS. Here’s a few tips from Batliner for honing your ideas:

1. Make sure your media strategy is solving a business chal-lenge. This may seem obvious, but it’s easy to come up with a creative idea that may not necessarily tie back to solving a busi-ness issue.

2. Tie in with a trending topic or cause. But find a way to approach the trend or cause in a brand new way. Otherwise, you won’t set your client or your brand apart.

3. Soft-sound it with your media friends. Build trustworthy rela-tionships with a few key media professionals. Test your strategy and pitch with them. Then tweak it from there.

4. Always talk to the people who pitch: Don’t come up with media relations plans in a vacuum. Get early feedback and buy-in from the media relations team.

SUPERVALU CEO Craig Herkert appears on Fox Business to announce new store openings within its Save-A-Lot grocery store chain. A focused effort to get Herkert more media face time resulted in several hits.

Stoked by Targeted Media Outreach, PR Positions Grocery Store Chain as an Oasis in the Food Desert

Image courtesy of C

armichael Lynch S

pong

Community AffairsMedia Relations Corporate Communications

prnewsonline.com | 10.08.12 5

a company says about itself.” And most feel corporate community involvement is important, found Alterian and Nielsen.

SETTING OBJECTIVESBased on that research, CLS and SUPERVALU identified the following objectives:1. Position SUPERVALU’s Save-

A-Lot division as a strategic, unique store format designed to meet a specific need— versus small stores in unde-sirable neighborhoods.

2. Increase awareness of Save-A-Lot as a national grocery retailer offering affordable, high-quality grocery offer-ings.

3. Build awareness of Save-A-Lot as an opportunity to own a small business.

4. Establish and build the cred-ibility of SUPERVALU’s new management team, with a particular focus on CEO Craig Herkert.

Strategically, CLS would start to feed information to reporters who had already been writing about access to affordable healthy food, says Jill Schmidt, senior principal, director of strategy, Carmichael Lynch Spong. “We started to plant seeds with them well in advance of the timed announcement in Feb. 2011 of opening five Save-A-Lots in Chicago,” says Schmidt. “Those relationships helped pay off down the road.”

NOT JUST DESERTSSpecifically, there were three primary strategies for the cam-paign:

▶ Identify a broad platform that resonates with both con-sumers and potential store licensees and helps differen-tiate Save-A-Lot among other retailers selling food: Because key audiences had a narrow— and often negative—view of Save-A-Lot, the agency sought to identify a food issue that

people understood, to weave into the Save-A-Lot story. Research into food trends and insight into the geographic areas in which Save-A-Lot planned to grow morphed into the “food desert” platform.

CLS then honed Save-A-Lot’s external messaging to encompass food desert language, and began seeking earned media opportunities to help reinforce that positioning. ▶ Identify third-party plat-forms and influentials with whom to partner: In July 2011, SUPERVALU entered into a partnership with First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America to open 250 new Save-A-Lot stores in areas designated as food deserts.

In October, Save-A-Lot hit the Chicago market with the opening of five new stores, announced at a joint press conference with the First Lady and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. ▶ Develop smart media rela-tions strategies to help drive the message and tell the bigger story: To ensure key audi-ences were both aware of and understood the SUPERVALU/Save-A-Lot business model, influential media were targeted to tell this story. Another critical factor was that the company’s CEO Herkert had spent minimal time speaking to media outlets. So media was targeted through a two-pronged approach: 1. Ensure media

covering the food desert story were aware of Save-A-Lot’s role in addressing the issue; this resulted in coverage on Good Morning America, The Early Show and in USA Today.

2. Offer Herkert to tell the SUPERVALU/Save-A-Lot story directly, resulting in coverage on FOX Business, CNBC and NPR.

OBJECTIVES EXCEEDEDThanks to extensive media out-reach as new Save-A-Lot stores opened, campaign objectives were exceeded. Results include:

• Thefooddesertplatformto put Save-A-Lot’s growth story into context for key stakeholders was successfully leveraged. The company now compiles a report on how many of its new stores are located within food deserts.

• 140millionmediaimpres-sions were earned, exceeding the goal by more than 16%.

• Same-storesalesgrewby4%from 2010 to 2011.

• 1.5millionmediaimpres-sions were garnered in out-lets that directly reach the potential licensee audience.

•Ofthe62newstoresthatopened in 2011, 43 were by licensee owners.

• Nearly40nationalmediaopportunities for CEO Herkert were secured.

• SUPERVALUisnowviewedas a corporation interested in

public-private partnerships as a means of meeting its overall business objectives; and it has subsequently entered into additional partnerships with the White House, including its Better Builders Challenge.

The campaign high-lights? Traveling to the White House for press around the Partnership for a Healthier America was big. “It created tremendous buzz and aware-ness for the company in a short window of time,” says Swanson.

Swanson adds that the cam-paign’s success can be attributed to not only following a PR plan, but taking opportunities during a campaign when presented and running with them. “That’s a testament to the team asking the question, ‘What if?’ fol-lowed by fleshing the idea out and then making it happen,” he says.

Sounds like a key question that all PR pros should ask. PRN

CONTACT:Jeff Swanson, jeffrey.s.swanson@supervalu.com; Jill Schmidt, jill.schmidt@clynch.com; Julie Batliner, julie.batliner@clynch.com.

Source: Department of Agriculture/Centers for Disease Control

Food Deserts a PR Oasis for SUPERVALU

Leveraging the concept of “food deserts,” Carmichael Lynch Spong and SUPERVALU promoted Save-A-Lot stores as grocery solutions in under-served communities.

6 prnewsonline.com | 10.08.12

Media Training Lessons From the Debate▶ Page 1

didates’ specific policy stands. “You just can’t throw abstract messages out there,” says Miklya. “You must get down to specifics.”

Conversely, problems arise when leaders stay slavishy on message when asked a question by a reporter or broadcaster. “They can’t go right into the message points,” says Miklya. “You have to respond to the question, and not force the message.”

When it comes to mes-saging, Miklya says to think in soundbites—what do you want to see in reporters’ articles or on video clips after the appear-ance? Attention-getting phrases or soundbites, of course.

FOLLOW THE 3 P’sFor communications coach Karen Friedman, head of Karen Friedman Enterprises, a suc-cessful speaking engagement or interview involves the 3 P’s: presence, passion and purpose. And in debate No. 1, Romney exhibited those in spades. “He was forceful, yet he wasn’t angry,” says Friedman. “For the first time to me he seemed a little more human and per-sonal, rather than aloof and stuffy.”

While audiences care about factual accuracy in public state-ments, speaker style, engage-ment and animation is even more critical to wooing them

to your side, says Friedman.

And it’s important to establish the 3 P’s from the get-go, says Friedman. “You have to come out strong in any interview or public appear-ance,” she says. “The opening sets the tone and pace for the rest of the

conversation.”

SHOW FORCEIn some situations, your leader has to be forceful to get the point across. That is where Obama fell short, says Andy Gilman, presi-dent and CEO of CommCore Consulting Group.

Using a fit-ting basketball analogy with the hoops-loving President, Gilman counted three or four instances where Obama was given lay-ups by Romney, but he passed the ball instead. Indeed, pundits were puzzled by Obama’s reluctance to bring up the 47%, Bain or Romney’s personal tax situation when opportunities presented them-selves.

DO THE STARE DOWNWhat may have been worse for Obama was his body language, which Friedman says was any-thing but presidential. “Obama looked down at his notes or at the camera,” she says. Romney, on the other hand, looked directly at the President when making his points. “Good public speaking is a mix of

body language and what comes out of your mouth,” says Friedman. “Obama failed to look directly at his opponent and say ‘you are wrong, here are the facts.’”

PUSH THE SPIN CYCLEOf course, you’d never know of either candidate’s debate shortcomings that night when listening to their communica-tions directors’ comments in the so-called “spin room” after the debate.

This is another tactic PR pros should put to work, says Gilman. Post event, always communicate the positive, put your leader in the best possible

light, re-interpret any question-able statements and deflect criticism. “With the undecided in particular, spin matters,” says Gilman.

In addition, think of social media platforms as your own spin room. Twitter reported some 10 million tweets about the debate and the issues the candidates sparred over, making it the most tweeted-about U.S. polit-ical event ever. Make sure you

use social media to reinforce your leader’s messages.

NEXT MOVESThe debate game is much like a game of chess, adds Gilman. The Democrats’ next move should be to “prepare the heck out of Joe Biden” and have him go on the attack against Ryan.

Meanwhile, Romney can’t keep his pieces in one place on the board. Gilman says that Romney’s team should create a more challenging set of facts that calls Obama’s leadership into question. “They must hit that up front in the next debate,” says Gilman.

For Miklya, the most impor-tant communications strategy for both candidates is to keep taking the public’s temperature in the days ahead, and adjust accordingly. “I tell our clients that their messages aren’t the 10 Commandments,” she says. “They need to be tweaked con-stantly to stay relevant.”

And that, my friends, is a PR checkmate. PRN

CONTACT:Liz Miklya, lmiklya@WeberShandwick.com; Karen Friedman, karen@karenfriedman.com; Andy Gilman, agilman@commcoreconsulting.com.

Debate No. 1 Scorecard(Grading 1-5, 5 the highest)

Karen Friedman,Karen Friedman Enterprises

Romney ObamaOpening—setting the tone 5 3Points—clear, crisp, concise 5 3Body language 4 2Staying on message 5 4Seizing opportunities 5 1

Total: 24 13

Comment: “Obama came across as someone who just wasn’t engaged. Why? My honest answer is, I don’t know.”

Debate No. 1 ScorecardLiz Miklya,Weber Shandwick

Romney ObamaOpening—setting the tone 4 3Points—clear, crisp, concise 4 3Body language 5 3Staying on message 4 3Seizing opportunities 4 3

Total: 21 15Comment: “Obama was doing a lot more on-the-spot thinking as he was talking, because he had slight pauses and stutters throughout all his answers. Romney, on the other hand, was smooth in his delivery, with no ‘uhs’ or ‘ums.’”

Debate No. 1 ScorecardAndy Gilman,CommCore Consulting Group

Romney ObamaOpening—setting the tone 4 2Points—clear, crisp, concise 4 3Body language 4 3Staying on message 3 3

Seizing opportunities Neither did

Total: 15 11Comment: “Romney clearly demonstrated the power of preparation. He had his script with his five points to get in, plus a couple of mini-anecdotes of people who were hurting. He was ready from the get-go.”

on the Web. The entrance of Vale on

social networks took place in a planned manner, through

the creation of a digital media team respon-sible for Web presence; the establishment of a solid strategy; the creation of

global governance; and the release of clear policies for our employees regarding the use of social media at work.

Our presence is structured around generating relevant content for our stakeholders, on building relationships through a 2.0 customer service line for real time interaction and a monitoring system that acts as a thermometer of our reputa-tion. Currently, more than 110,000 people are connected with Vale on social networks. In the past eight months, our fan base on Facebook has dou-bled its size.

Subjects such as work opportunities have opened great engagement opportuni-ties, reaching high viral rates (around 22%). In this sense, we believe that digital media are an essential part of the com-munication tools to strengthen reputation.

ROXANNE PIPITONEPublic Relations Manager, American Society of Anesthesiologists“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Maybe it is the nature of the specialty and its safety-focused physician members, but the American Society of

Anesthesiologists’ (ASA) entrance into social media communications was carefully planned and executed based on stakeholder research.

Initially, it was difficult to convince our 48,000-member scientific Society of the value of such practices, and as such, engagement was a bit “sleepy” at first

Slowly, members awoke to the idea that social media offers tremendous benefits. A strategic effort led by internal communications, and endorsed by ASA’s Committee on Communications, resulted in ASA’s presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Now touting nearly 2,500 members, more than 1,800 “likes”, greater than 3,500 fol-lowers and more than 144,000 video views, respectively, mem-bers use the platforms to stay current on Society news and events.

LinkedIn allows members worldwide to share best prac-tices and challenging cases. Contests and incentives drive participation.

Select ASA members also respond to patient anesthesia-related queries on ShareCare —the Dr. Oz-inspired patient information site. A new endeavor, members have answered more than 100 que-ries to date.

For those still social media-cautious, ASA created MyASA, a 24/7, secure and personalized member platform. The net-work features forums, accepts due payments, gives access to member profiles and more.

While our approach may be methodical, demonstrating value and persistence has paid off handsomely.

ANTHONY TRANSOUInternet Marketing Manager, SyngentaThe tactics may vary slightly, but the social media approach

in a B2B capacity closely mirrors the B2C perspec-tive. It requires a return to Communications 101: under-standing your

goals and identifying your target audience.

Two questions to keep in mind when implementing social media: Which platforms reach your target audience and how do you go about choosing the best platform as opposed to latching onto the latest social media fad? Taking these key questions into consideration has helped Syngenta reach the right audience with the right messaging.

That is not to say that your social media avenues should replace existing communica-tion methods. They are a Reader’s Digest version to your core tools, if you will. Social media should act as accessible avenues to company Web sites that provide in-depth informa-tion while creating engagement opportunities.

It is important to continu-ously monitor these opportuni-ties and respond accordingly. Following a process that makes someone accountable for a company’s engagement plays a large role in social media suc-cess.

Understanding legal requirements also falls under accountability. And, when you are working with 140 charac-ters, it is always best to confer with your legal department regarding these parameters.

KEVIN G. ESPINOSASocial Media Marketing Manager, Caterpillar Inc.At Caterpillar, we are already successfully connecting with customers through the most popular social media venues, including Facebook (with over

150,000 total “likes” for Cat pages), Twitter (with 20,000-plus followers) and YouTube (with nearly 3 million views

of Cat videos). Thus far, we’ve enjoyed success in social media with our Caterpillar and Cat Products Facebook pages and YouTube.

The differentiator is how we have integrated social media with our Customer Interaction Center (CIC). This allows us to respond to customer inquiries just as though they had called via the telephone. By taking advantage of technology, pro-cesses, and manpower, we’ve expanded our capability to be responsive to our customers.

All of this has given us insight into what people are saying about our company, products and competitors; where they are saying it; and who our key influencers are. This enables us to be where our customers are, respond to their questions or problems, have insight what our competitors, and aid our product innovation and marketing efforts. PRN

CONTACT:B2B Communications is written by Mary C. Buhay, VP, Marketing & Business Development at Gibbs & Soell. She can be reached at mbuhay@gibbs-soell.com.

prnewsonline.com | 10.08.12 7

B2B Social Media Trailblazers ▶ Page 1

editor’s Note: Learn how to make Facebook Timeline the home base of social engagement of your brand by registering for our Timeline webinar, set for Thursday, Oct. 18 (www.prnewsonline.com/webinars/2012-10-18.html).

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For the auto parts maker, it was a perfect storm. The customer service center was receiving an increase in calls about a product that seemed to be failing in an unusual way. In the dealer relations department, distributors were reporting similar problems and demanding to know what to tell angry customers.

Down the hall, a backlog of warranty claims was forming. And the legal department was just catching wind that an overseas subsidiary was facing a product liability suit and had begun recalling the product.

Viewed from above, the warning signs that a firestorm was about to erupt were obvious and everywhere. But at ground level, not one alarm was sounded. It took an enter-prising journalist to connect the dots and set off a global crisis that also ensnared some of the company’s largest cus-tomers. Why?

For one thing, managers were walled off in functional silos and blind to what was occurring elsewhere. They saw the issues immediately in front of them, but failed to recognize them as symptoms of a much larger problem or, if they did, they rationalized that pulling the alarm lever was somebody else’s responsibility. But an even bigger roadblock in this case was rooted in culture. Very simply, the company’s internal

culture was not sufficiently sensitive to risk and, more spe-cifically, to the critical interplay between how organizations deal with risks and their reputations and market valuations.

SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDSThe sad truth is that most reputational problems are self-inflicted, the result not of forces or events outside the com-pany but of action or inaction within. They occur because people make decisions without fully considering their risks, or because they fail to sense and respond to issues early on, before they have a chance to coalesce into full-blown crises. Having a well thought-out crisis plan is essential, but it only goes so far.

Developing a culture in which people at all levels are focused on managing risks and preventing crises from ever happening in the first place is even better.

Creating an effective risk-sensitive culture means fos-tering an environment in which employees instinctively look for and analyze risks to the com-pany and its reputation as part of their day-to-day work, and take those risks into account in their decision making.

In a risk-sensitive culture, employees understand the importance of acknowledging and managing risks, believe that they are integral parts of a

larger risk management system, and are motivated to actively protect their organization’s reputation and welfare.

Risk-sensitive cultures don’t just happen. Here are three keys to getting things moving in the right direction:

▶ Communicate clear expecta-tions and guidelines: Ensure that employees know what is expected of them when it comes to safeguarding reputa-tion. In a strong risk manage-ment culture, employees take ownership of their own risks and those of their colleagues. They understand clearly the process for escalating issues when necessary, and the poten-tial costs—reputational and otherwise—of not doing so.

▶ Make risk management an integral part of planning and decision making: No one likes to acknowledge that the bold new initiative they are working on could go off the rails. At a minimum, provide employees with a simple question-based framework to guide them in thinking through the risks presented by a particular deci-sion, action or policy change, and whether it should receive further scrutiny before being implemented.

Requiring managers to subject larger projects to a more comprehensive and docu-mented risk assessment process

as a condition of budget approval is a good way to be sure that risks don’t receive short shrift.

▶ Model sound risk man-agement behaviors: Train managers to serve as risk management role models by being available, approachable and supportive when potential problems surface. The focus should be on ensuring that issues are properly addressed, not on pointing fingers or cov-ering tracks.

The time to analyze what happened, why and who or what was responsible will come later. Recognize successes and use them to reinforce best prac-tices. Use failures as a chance for the organization to learn and continually refine internal systems and practices. PRN

CONTACT:Jon Goldberg is the founder and CEO of Reputation Architects Inc., a management advisory firm focused on building, protecting and restoring reputations. He is a member of Counselors Academy, a group of senior-level public relations counselors within the Public Relations Society of America. He can be reached at jon.goldberg@reputationarchitects.com.

▶Tip Sheet BY JON GOLDBERG

A Risk-Sensitive Culture Can Stave Off CrisesInternal CommunicationsEmployee RelationsCrisis Communications

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