Brad Marley

These are strange times we live in, my friends.

Not only was it short-sleeve weather in Detroit last week, but big corporations continue to try and push extra fees on their customers, believing in their greedy little heart of hearts that we are going to accept it without a fight.

When I read about Bank of America and Verizon canceling their fees, I imagine these out-of-touch ideas were born in meetings full of big-wigs who are part of the 1 percent.

In fact, the meetings probably went like this:

A portly, bespectacled man (not entirely dissimilar to this picture of Theodore Roosevelt) approaches a podium, holding a snifter of amber-colored liquid.

“Gentlemen! It has come to my attention that we are not making enough money. This travesty must surely be nipped in the bud…immediately!”

Murmurs of agreement ripple through the assembled group of executives.

“But we live in a wonderful age, my friends. An age where our customers are unaware of what they want; an era where we have complete power over the whims of our business! By installing this completely unnecessary and unwarranted fee, we will continue to be able to afford the luxuries we so rightly deserve!”

Hear, Hear!

Glasses chink together. Cigar smoke is released into the air in great relief. Backs are slapped in good humor. The man before these powerful men has given them the answer to their problems.

Vacation homes will not go unbought! Private jets will not have to go unflown!

Their prayers have been answered by their delirious leader.

Strangely missing from these proceedings is the PR person.

Had he or she been invited to this meeting, the company might have avoided the PR disaster that has taken up residence in the public forum.

Alas, they probably were not.

There has been discussion for some time now about the importance of communications professionals gaining a seat at the table with other members of the C-Suite. But when I hear about huge corporations who think they can actually get away with charging the customer more money for no good reason, I’m disheartened.

It appears they still don’t value good, strategic PR counsel.

I liken this situation to working with legal: You can get frustrated by their advice and strict adherence to guidelines, but in most cases, they know more than you do about the situation.

In a case where a company is deciding to add fees for the sake of adding fees (even if this isn’t true, it’s what the public believes) you might not like our counsel (which should be a hearty “No way in hell”), but you have to come to the realization that we’re right.

We might not know the first thing about logistics management, but we know what will and will not go over with the public.

If you listen to us, we’ll keep your organization’s reputation intact.

And that’s worth more than a measly five bucks.

Some of us who work in PR are lucky.

Our clients are large corporations with entire divisions devoted to helping us tell our story, whether it’s a fully equipped broadcast studio that we can use to record podcasts, or an editorial division that acts almost like a news department, siphoning the best stories to fill slots that will draw the most eyeballs.

If you have this machine at your disposal, it can make your job much easier.

But not everybody has this luxury. In fact, with no stats to back this up, I’d wager that most of us have to do most of the leg work ourselves. Even out-duel the major players.

Thankfully, technology makes it easier to tell our story. And if there’s one piece of tech that has the best chance to disrupt our industry in 2012, I’d put my money on Instagram.

As of January 1, 2012, there are 15 million Instagram accounts that have shared more than 400 million photos. And organizations like the Boston Celtics and General Electric have started accounts to use photos to help augment their ability to reach their audiences, so there’s something to this service.

But how can Instagram change the way we do PR in the new year?

Well, in all PR situations, you’re trying to make news. It can be as straightforward as en email pitch to a tech reporter, or conducting a major event that is geared toward a large group of automotive media.

In both cases, you’re using words to draw their interest to interview an executive or attend an event.

But what if we added a visual element?

Even with a pool of photographers at your disposal, it can take hours (sometime a day) to get the high-res pictures you want to display.

But if you have an iPhone with the Instagram app, you can snap pictures and immediately post them wherever you want, and you can even add some artistic flair with the filters. And the iPhone takes a damn good picture, so you’re not losing much in the way of resolution. You might not be the next Ansel Adams, but even the most green PR person can create something worthwhile.

[Note: Instagram is only available on the iPhone, but an app for Android is coming soon, and I can't imagine that Windows Phone would be far behind.]

And with the ability to use hashtags on Instagram to categorize your images, it isn’t difficult to reserve a hashtag for providing sneak peeks for upcoming projects, or hashtags that correspond with a specific event so that media who can’t attend can still watch the images in real time.

In no way should this replace the high-res images that a professional photographer will provide, but it can help us to “tell the story” while we’re waiting, and anything that helps us become better storytellers has to be considered.

2012 feels like the year where PR professionals who experimented with new tools in 2011 will take the next step and implement those tools in their standard PR toolkit.

If you don’t have Instagram in your regular arsenal, consider this your invitation.

Here in Detroit, we tend to get excited when we catch up with the rest of the United States.

In 1987, we thought we were entering world-class transportation territory when the Detroit People Mover opened. But nearly 25 years later, there is talk of shutting it down. A 25 cent fee-hike last month doesn’t bode well, either.

In 2011, talks of a second Detroit-to-Windsor bridge heated up, only to fizzle when — gasp! — everyone involved thought it would be more fun to argue about the pros and cons instead of actually, you know, doing something.

Maybe that’s why we are so excited to officially enter the 21st century of dining with: a food truck.

In July of this year, El Guapo Grill, the first legal food truck in Detroit, opened it’s hinged-windows to customers downtown, and all it took was 60 visits to City Hall to get the permit. (If that’s not the heart and soul of Detroit, I don’t know what is.)

The sight of a food truck prowling the streets of Detroit gives the city a legitimate big-city feel, something we’ve lacked for, well, forever.

But besides the food, what I really dig about the truck is its use of Twitter to fuel the fires of fandom.

(Before I get into my story, I’d like to point out that, for all of the talk about how one person or company should use social media to increase business, the premise is pretty simple: Please your customers.)

Last weekend I saw a tweet that said they were going to announce a new menu item for the following Monday. I was curious, so replied that they shouldn’t leave us hanging. That’s mean.

In response, I received a direct message telling me what the special would be, and they also claimed they were only telling me. Whether I was the lone recipient of the secret, or they just said that, is a moot point. Their plan worked. I couldn’t resist Korean short rib tacos, so I gathered up a few of my colleagues on Monday and we took the People Mover (I know – so ironic) to the site where the truck sits.

The taco was tremendous. But what really stood out was how they got me to buy into their special item.

They treated me like a person and shared some special information.

That’s it.

I’m sure they know by now that their food speaks for itself. But by adding a personal touch to their marketing effort, they drew in four extra customers that probably would not have come out in the cold rain.

It was so simple, yet, so effective.

One can only hope that there are more food truck permits gathering dust in the queue at City Hall, because it adds another dimension to working downtown.

But if we’re stuck with El Guapo for a few more months, I would be okay with that.

They know what they’re doing.

I am not a journalist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night take a few journalism classes in college.

And if there’s one thing I learned (besides don’t bury the lead) it was that the journalist should never become the story. It ruins credibility and undermines the publication.

Even though we have entered an era where celebrity is within everyone’s reach, I still believe that journalists have to abide by this rule. Otherwise, it can be difficult to view them as impartial observers.

A few days ago, Mashable, a popular site for social media news, fired their editor-in-chief Ben Parr, so Parr took to his own site to write his swan song to his fans, expressing his deep gratitude to Mashable for allowing him to write for their site. Complete with the obligatory Steve Jobs reference, Parr wrote that he will take his talents to a spot that is still to be determined, but he has been inspired beyond belief.

That’s all well and good for Mr. Parr, and I do hope he lands on his feet, but he is a journalist, first and foremost. And to take time to write a piece on the heels of some controversy surrounding the timing of his firing, plants him firmly in the story, not on the outside, as journalistic ethics require. Rather than letting it blow over, he purposely addressed it, knowing full well that it would become a hot topic in the social mediasphere.

What Ben Parr had was a job, and some people lose those jobs, whether it’s because they weren’t the right fit, or they got caught sleeping with the boss’s wife.

But it happens.

Reporters lose and switch jobs all the time, but they don’t announce their departures in grand fashion. One day, their byline shows up under a new banner, and you think to yourself Huh, I didn’t know Andrea Johnson now writes for Daily Cabinetry and you move on. Bringing attention to yourself merely embroils you in the story.

Like I mentioned above, we live in a society where most of us will experience some level of our 15 minutes of fame, whether we like it or not. Some for good reasons. Some for sketchy reasons. It’s how we handle the fame that shows who we are.

As a journalist, your level of fame should be decided by others, while  you sit back and let them judge. To push the needle one way or another is bad form.

Just like the stories you write about others, let us judge for ourselves how to digest the information.

When you try to become the story, you lose credibility.

Image courtesy of spotreporting.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the National Football League confirmed yesterday that Nickelback will, indeed, perform at halftime of the Detroit Lions’ annual Thanksgiving game this year.

I couldn’t be happier.

Not because I like Nickelback. Can’t stand them, actually.

But if a league as powerful as the NFL allowed itself to be swayed because of a petition signed by 50,000 people for the sole reason that they plum don’t like the band, that would set a dangerous precedent, wouldn’t it?

Sure, now it’s just Nickelback. But who’s to say that we don’t abuse this new-found power?

The web and social media have the power to advance righteous causes. Just ask the people in Egypt who rose up and did something about their situation.

Switching the halftime musical act at a football games isn’t one of them.

Sometimes, in life, you have to deal with stuff you don’t like. This is one of those times, even though this has about as much effect on our lives as how many touchdown passes Matthew Stafford throws.

Let’s just deal.

(Besides, who watches the halftime show, anyway?)