Goldman & Associates is fortunate to have worked with clients in the automotive industry for over 15 years. We have witnessed first hand the unique challenges that face auto manufacturers, dealer groups, trade organizations and after market suppliers. The internet has created a new frontier for our automotive sector clients as it has for most everyone. And while, for the most part, the web has improved their ability to effectively communicate with customers, there are times when it has proven to be something of a challenge.

The following lesson comes from an automotive dealer out of Lincoln, Nebraska who is not a Goldman client, but who recently encountered some PR pitfalls while trying to utilize the world wide web. This is yet another example of why all organizations need to be vigilant in dealing with their internet image.

A BMW dealer put a brand new BMW M3 on eBay, without a reservation, meaning that standard auction procedures would be practiced and the highest bid would be honored. Someone wasn’t paying close enough attention to the auction listing and a bidder won the pricey car for $60K. The general manager of the BMW dealership wrote an email to the winning bidder stating that the auction was a mistake, and the car should have never been listed. The winning bidder posted the whole story (including the email) on M3 internet forums, where devout BMW afficionados congregate. AutoBlog, one of the most widely read automotive publications on the net, picked it up and it all snowballed from there. People found the manager’s picture on the company website and began posting new “enhanced” images of him all over the Internet. The manager then wrote the winning bidder again and asked him to have all of it stopped. He is now on YouTube.

Lesson #1-The web can be a cruel place. Especially when not actually required to face a person, there are some who have few qualms about exploiting your faults and making you pay dearly for mistakes.

Lesson#2-Emails can and do get out. Once you click send, you have little to no control over their final destination. When dealing with sensitive issues, better surely to calmly plan your strategy and schedule a call or a face-to-face.

Lesson#3-Things on the internet move lightening fast. This entire scenario played out in just over a week. It’s prudent to have the ability to respond with equal swiftness. Engage. Engage. Engage. Ignoring it will not make the problem go away!

Lesson#4-When things don’t go your way, sometimes it’s best to just bite the bullet and admit that you’ve lost. A small loss in revenue doesn’t seem so bad when compared with loads of bad PR that can potentially cost your business much more over time. Also, it helps to laugh at yourself. The internet offers a plethora of avenues to express your side of the story, to ask for penance when you are wrong and to redeem yourself by adopting a self effacing, but honest persona.

YouTube, the web's perennial video sharing powerhouse, recently announced the winner's of the second annual YouTube Video Awards.  (We know,  it's March of 2008 and the name for the tardy 2007 awards is just dreadful.)  The YouTube Video Award nominees were chosen from the site's "most buzz-worthy content" and categories included music, sports, comedy, instructional, short film, inspirational, commentary, creative, politics, series, eyewitness and adorable.  With names like "Harry Potter Hand Puppets," "Human Tetris," and "How to Solve a Rubiks Cube (Part One)," this year's winners are a good indication of just how much diversity there is on YouTube.  And while both the nominated and victorious videos featured the strange, funny and downright unbelievable (see "The Battle at Kruger"), they also offered some premium publicity for those involved (see "Obama Girl" or winner Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain").

In other YouTube news, CNET reports that the company has recently taken steps to make it easier for developers or anyone building a website or creating applications "to upload videos straight to YouTube; let users comment, rate and favorite the videos; and customize and control the Flash player in which the videos are played." 

This piece, recently published in The New York Times, examines the extent to which Internet companies such as Yahoo, Google and Microsoft are collecting user information to better gauge what types of advertisements to show them. It’s certainly very enlightening from a consumer standpoint, but it also touches on something that PR people are going to have to start coming to terms with, something deemed "the digital divide".

The rich troves of data at the fingertips of the biggest Internet companies are also creating a new kind of digital divide within the industry. Traditional media companies, which collect far less data about visitors to their sites, are increasingly at a disadvantage when they compete for ad dollars.

Increasingly, advertisers are less concerned with size, which has typically been measured by unique page hits, and more concerned with substance, increasingly being measured by the amount of information these web companies can learn about internet users. This, of course, allows them to better determine the habits and preferences of consumers and therefore tailor ads to specific desires. So, what does this mean for public relations other than to reinforce the perception that traditional media is losing both its ad revenue and its clout? PR can effectively use this data to do the same thing! As PR practitioners are fast becoming content providers for the web, we too can improve our aim and better target our communications to the intended audience. Better demographic information would allow us to identify those who have similar interests as those already consuming our content. If we can find a way to utilize this data, then perhaps the divide won’t seem so great.

Newspapers and internet media don’t have headline writers for nothing. It’s a specialized craft within a craft and the key to capturing the reader’s attention. In online public relations, an important tool to gaining the media’s interest is a good email subject line. Many of the same principles for headline writing apply to email subject lines. Putting some real thought into creating a compelling subject line can make the difference between an editor or reporter reading the press release or deleting the email.

To get the most bang for your email buck, first review the release. Think how to best craft the subject line to encapsulate the newsworthiness of the story idea. Writing the subject line sentence in the active tense is usually best for making a point. And a line that is provocative, counterintuitive or contrary will often get the recipient to examine it twice. It’s also a good practice to revisit the line to see if it can be edited to be more concise. While a short sentence line is preferred, it is not always possible, especially when there is a more complex point to be conveyed.

The following email subject line was key in getting the attention of a Los Angeles Times editor and subsequent news coverage for a client in the senior living industry.

Retiree Labor May be Solution to Caregiver Shortage

While not every subject line can be a work of art, it’s good to keep in mind the importance of their impact - or lack thereof.

Ordinarily it wouldn't be surprising that a HUGE and omnipresent company like Starbucks could, on any given day, land on the AP wires, and in pretty much every major daily across the country.  Earnings reports, the departure of a VIP or a large scale product change would all be acceptable justification for major coverage.  No such event occurred yesterday.  Rather, Starbucks announced that it was closing its doors for a few hours to train employees. 

Hmmm.  Insert gasp here. 

If this "story" doesn't make it painfully obvious that the media covers things of personal interest even when they are not particularly newsworthy, we can't imagine what would!  Is there another national chain that would elicit such coverage?  We have often thought that it would be amusing to make a list of weekly/monthly PR gaffes, but the hoopla surrounding the three hour closure has led us to think that we ought to create two categories, PR Gaffes and PR Gifts!  Starbucks is laughing all the way to the bank, no doubt!