An Overview of CLA 2012

Branding, working with the media, emergency communications, social

media, and much more

What will we talk about today?

• Branding• Emergency communications• Working with the media• Managing large amounts of content

Branding

An incomplete recapMicheal J. Brown

Targeted Insights LLC

Elements are not the Brand

• Logos, seals, and crests• Slogans• Color pallet• Style guidelines• Not what you say about yourself

Branding is…

Branding is keeping a promise.

Are you doing what you say you will do?

Branding is action applied to your mission.

Branding is repetition.

Branding is…

• Building trust over time that you will fulfill your unique promise(s).

• Shaping and reinforcing perceptions.• Communicating unique messages.• Creating dialogue not monologue.• Orchestrating anticipated experiences.

Branding is important because…

• It facilitates mutual partnerships.• It stimulates compelling responses.• It differentiates you from all others.• It creates enduring attachments.• Emotional• Sometimes intellectual• For Christian organizations - spiritual

McDonald’s Taste Test

The Pepsi Challenge

Disaster Messaging

Carter Wade – Masterworks

Disaster Messaging

• The question is not “if” a disaster will strike, but “when”.

• Natural disasters• Affects you• Affects your community

• Moral failures• Death and succession• Political and cultural issues

Disaster Messaging

• Determine whether or not to respond.• Who to communicate to.• Communicate through which channels.• How to measure success – fundraising and

volunteer response rate.• Without preparation:• Response will be slow.• Response might be inaccurate.• Response might not reach the right audience.

Determine whether to respond

• “Any event or situation that could materially influence the perception or reputation of The Salvation Army, and or the people we serve.”

• Organization disaster• Communicate internally, externally, or both?

• Community disaster• Does this fit with our mission?• How is our plea/request different from anyone else’s?

Does it need to be different or can you pool communications channels?

Who to communicate to

• Plan for internal disasters/emergencies first.• Begin with either the most likely disaster to

occur or the most complicated to communicate.• Knowing your audience will help you determine

which communication channels to use.• Know local contacts ahead of time.• Refer all media inquiries to a trained

spokesperson.

If you are raising funds for a disaster…

• You must respond within the first 4 days.• Tsunami relief by day:• 1 = $500,000• 2 = $2.7M• 3 = $3.0M• 4 = $2.2M• 5 = $1.2M• 6 – 8 = $500,000

• The mores specific the “ask” the more likely the response.

Working With the Media

Person X – Alliance Defense Fund

Interacting With the Media

The 3 cycles of media interaction1. Don’t talk to anyone about anything.2. Talk to everyone about everything.3. Talk to the right people about something.

Interacting With the Media

• The goal of interacting with the media is to further your mission or motivate people to action that furthers your mission.

• Engaging with the media in non-mission conversations creates mission-drift and dilutes your brand.

• Staying on-mission helps you determine whether to respond.

Interacting With the Media

• Media interviews are about the mission, not fame or becoming “the expert”.

• Expertise will develop naturally.• Stick to your points and repeat them in

different words to reinforce them.• You might not have a position because you

have a position. Answer off-topic questions with one sentence, then get back on topic.

Interacting With the Media

Effective messages• What can I say that will appeal to the shared

values of many people?• Repetition to overcome shrinking attention

spans.• Do not start with the details. Start with the big

picture.• You have 10 seconds to make your sound bite.

Interacting With the Media

• The media is not the enemy if you give them mission-focused information.

• The media can’t fully inform the masses. Help point the media to other resources.

Content Strategy forLarge Web Sites

Person X from 5Q

Content Is an Asset

• Content is both online and offline.• You must have a plan for its creation, delivery,

and maintenance (review, update, delete).• Every page should do some sort of work so

your employees and volunteers don’t have to.

Content Strategy

1. Discover your audience. 2. Scope – where is your content? Books, MP3s,

brochures, brains, etc.3. Prioritize. Attention drops off the more people

have to read. People read in a Z.4. Deliver. People get 70% of the information they

need in the first 50% of the content. 20% in 25% and 10% in 25%

5. Sustain / keep it fresh.

Wrap-up

25

What did we talk about today?

• Branding• Emergency communications• Working with the media• Managing large amounts of content

What’s up next?

• I will be tweeting from General Assembly and autorepeating on Facebook.

• Look for #EPC32 not #GA32.• We will resume in August.• Let me know what you want to talk about.