A few friends have a Michigan-based public relations, social marketing and search engine optimization firm and the past ten years have been good years for their growth and volume. Recently I had dinner with Andre and Mackey; we shared work stories. Without disclosing any client names they were clamoring to share a recent project, a public-relations reputation-character case.
Andre, the granular, micro detail side of the partnership wanted to ground the discussion with a categorization of what public relations is, “the actions of a corporation, store, government, and individual, in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers.” Mackey the macro, big picture, Ivy educated, whisper thin marathoner shared a Lincoln quote, “character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Public relations, social marketing and search engine optimization firms are getting considerable business in the age of Twitter, Facebook and other social networking tools. Much of the work involves a firm’s reputation and a crusade like campaign trying to alter the way customers or the public perceive the firm. Andre said, “fixing an on line reputation without changing the underlying character, culture behavior, is the equivalent of performing bariatric surgery to a patient that continues to inhale deep fried Twinkies.”
A company’s character comes from its owners, its president and its employees. Quality products, fair pricing, outstanding service are the troika of company character. A large part of great cultures is openness, a transparency, a willingness to ask for help and promptly share a problem any problem.
The real deal, authenticity, we all look for certain traits in those we chose as friends, as suppliers as partners and as customers; those traits include truthfulness, genuine concern, factual non-emotional explanations and tangible, measurable results are the real deal.
The conversation waned for a minute while we enjoyed the meal. Mackey restarted our thoughts, “authenticity permits you to say no, not many think or write about Apple and Steve Jobs, but they had an authentic culture that said no. No flash on the I-Phone, no sales and not trying to be everything to everybody.” Saying no can lead to some positive results. Saying no permits time control, it permits you to manage your time.
If we want a great reputation start with your character, the positives you contribute to the firms’ culture. We always have to weed our own garden; it is the voice of life that calls us to learn.
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