Insulating Your Business Against a Social Media Meltdown

Though it may seem far-fetched in an age of always-on communication, your organization’s digital properties, like your website or Twitter handle, can be taken offline by accident or interference. Here are three examples from 2011:

• In September, a group of hackers gained control of NBC’s popular Twitter account @NBCNews, and began broadcasting false news reports that included an airplane crash in Manhattan.
• In August, the British Prime Minister mused aloud about whether it was right for the government to shut down social media, which were perceived as being an organizational tool for rioters in London.
• And in January the Egyptian government turned off access to the Internet in Egypt altogether in an attempt to halt the protests in Tahrir Square that eventually felled the regime.

While no-one expects their own organization to experience this, a significant disruption to your business in any variety of guises can strike at any time, without notice. Are you prepared and ready to respond if your company’s Twitter account is compromised? Read more »

Social Business Planning: Edelman leading the way

I haven’t always worked with Edelman. I started in 2007 when my partner, Patti Schom-Moffatt, and I sold a controlling interest in our firm to Dan and Richard Edelman. There were plenty of reasons why, but one of the most compelling was access to better, smarter, more sophisticated thinking from a broad, diverse group of people from around the world.

Which brings me to the point of this post. David Armano of Edelman Digital and Mike Kuczowski of Edelman Consulting have led the charge on this recent piece: Social Business Planning: Building an Intelligent Business and Connected Brand. This is incredibly smart, sophisticated thinking at a level that I’m not seeing from any of our competitors in the marketplace. This is the type of thinking that C-suite executives expect and demand from their people and agencies, and the type of thinking that will help them better understand how social media tools impact their business and strategy. And I’m very happy that Edelman is able to deliver it.

Digital Digest #56: What does 2011 mean for 2012?

Digital Digest: What Edelman Canada is reading in digital marketing, technology and strategy. Fresh links served up Fridays.

“Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards,” quipped the novelist Aldous Huxley. As we reach the end of a complex and media-saturated 2011, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by a seeming over-abundance of the latest and greatest. But what happened this year that will have a truly long-term impact, and what was merely a flash in the pan?

To help you make sense of it all, this week’s edition of Edelman Canada’s Digital Digest, the last for this Calendar year, looks at the major events and trends that shaped 2011, and how they’ll continue to influence organizations and consumers in 2012. Read more »

Behind the Scenes @EdelmanVAN Christmas

Happens every year at every agency: to christmas/holiday card or not to christmas/holiday card.

This year in Vancouver, we said yes to the card, but with a twist. No off the shelf card would do. No, we would create something from scratch that each and everyone of us could have a hand in putting together. The result is this behind-the-scenes look at how the card was put together: the design from our own Leigh Peterson, a Linocut from our own Nathan Gowsell, creative, video and production work from Kevin Broome, Bill Hayley and Lawrence Wang, and card-making from the rest of us. Enjoy the show.

Edelman Achieves Elite 8

Recently we posted about how Edelman Canada was recognized as one of the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in Canada.  I had the honour of attending the awards gala in November, and not only did we make the top 50, we were chosen as one of the “Elite 8” in the Communication category!  Check out this video below the jump for a sneak peek at our amazing culture – and see why Edelman Canada is a “totally cool company!” Read more »

Digital Digest #55: Fly With #NewTwitter

Digital Digest: What Edelman Canada is reading in digital marketing, technology and strategy. Fresh links served up Fridays.

On Thursday Twitter announced a major update to its product, and launched brand pages with a select group of 21 companies, charities and individuals. This isn’t the first time the world’s third largest social network has announced an evolving mission: it’s tagline has been updated three times since 2006 (“What’s happening?”) through last week (“Follow your interests”) and today (“Yours to discover”). But the move shows a substantial change in mentality at Twitter, driven by CEO Dick Costolo who wants Twitter to “make A LOT of money” by trading access to its audience for brand dollars, as Facebook has been doing for years and news media did before them.

So how can PR professionals and marketers work with Twitter’s new tools to run more successful programs online? This week’s edition of Edelman Canada’s Digital Digest presents six links to help you fly with #NewTwitter, including three views from Twitter and three views from third parties on the implications for marketing and communications. Read more »

My Week with Richard Edelman: A Crash Course in Inspiration

Last week, I had the privilege of acting as Richard Edelman’s chief of staff, based in New York.  With his permanent chief of staff currently on maternity leave, Richard has chosen to have one senior representative from each of the “BRICC” countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China…and Canada – act in this capacity, on a rotating basis.  While I’ve worked for Edelman for almost 10 years, and over the years, have had several opportunities to interact with Richard directly, I’ve never literally worked by his side – until now.  Read more »

Learning From Our Clients, Edelman Launches Maternity Buddy Program

Agency life is demanding. The work doesn’t fall from the sky in neat 7.5-hour packages, as a colleague often says. There are weekend conference calls, issues that arise just as you are about to step out the door, projects that are finished in three-day marathons. For parents, it’s a tricky juggling act, particularly if your kids expect to eat three meals a day, to get picked up from day care before the doors are locked, and that you procure Bristol board for tomorrow’s project on a moment’s notice. Read more »

Digital Digest #54: Earning and Maintaining Trust

Digital Digest: What Edelman Canada is reading in digital marketing, technology and strategy. Fresh links served up Fridays.

“There’s trust that the product will be excellent, and then there’s trust in the company,” said Jim Godfrey, Vice President, Public Affairs EMEA, Starbucks, in a recent interview with Edelman (Starbucks is a client). Trust is now an essential line of business that grants companies their license to operate and insulates against reputational damage according to the 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer (the 2012 findings are due in the New Year). But in a challenging economy many companies can feel pressure to focus on pumping out their core product in the most cost efficient way possible, jettisoning the good behaviours and responsible practices that are fundamental to earning and maintaining that license to operate.

But companies must deliver on their promises to customers by getting the core products and experiences right “in times of economic sunshine or rain,” said Godfrey. That’s why this week’s edition of Edelman Canada’s Digital Digest looks at six ways to build trust, or forfeit it, from the respect you show your stakeholders, to how you safeguard your customers’ data, to how you comply with regulation. Read more »

World AIDS Day—a lot has changed in 19 years

Today, December 1, is World AIDS Day. Edelman Vancouver has been working with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS for 19 years. Yep . . . 19 years. A client-agency relationship knocking on two decades is virtually unheard of in our business – and I consider it one of our proudest accomplishments in Edelman Vancouver’s 29-year history. This is a relationship built on trust, excellent client service, a passion for the client’s business, and a belief that the researchers at the Centre are helping to change the world. The Centre’s Dr. Julio Montaner is one of the world’s foremost minds in this field and his work has helped turn HIV/AIDS from a death sentence to a manageable, treatable disease (Globe and Mail reporter @rodmickleburgh tweeted today that Montaner should be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. I would add my vote if asked). It’s been an honour to play a small role in Montaner’s and the Centre’s success. After 19 years, today seemed a natural day to say thanks.