Avenue A/Razorfish Speaks to ‘Cutting Edge’ of Corporate Intranet Trends
O C T . M O N T H L Y E V E N T S E P T . Q U A R T E R L Y E V E N T
On September 21, 2004 NJ/IABC host-ed an all day seminar at HeadquartersPlaza Hotel in Morristown, NJ. Nearly40 people participated—and left re-energized for the task of writing andmeasuring communications withintheir respective organizations.
Write to the PointThe morning session featured AlisonDavis, President of Davis & Company,who led an interactive discussion on“Writing to the Point” to engagetoday’s “Reluctant Reader.” Key to herpresentation was the notion that read-ers are egocentric: “We want to knowhow the material relates to me—howcan it help me do things better and bemore successful?” Davis says. She askswriters, “Will the reader tear your arti-cle out and hang it up?” Davis traced the roots of such “refrig-erator journalism” to standards set fornewspapers in the early 1980s. Thedebut of USA Today made short,snappy, reader-oriented copy thenorm. Davis emphasized some fastways to get a reader’s attention: usevisuals, controversy, quick-hit statis-tics, personal stories, and “how-to”advice to hook your audiences. Balancing between too much and toolittle information is also key. Davispointed out that everyone is a ‘writer.’“If the action is missing, readers willcreate the action in their mind as theyread, conveying their own version tothe next person,” she warns.
The ‘Beat’ of the DecadesKeynote speaker GeorgeTaber, President andPublisher, NJ Biz –Business News NewJersey, captivated the
audience over lunch with a livelyoverview of his 40 years in journalism.Taber spoke to the changes he’s wit-nessed in the industry: new technolo-gies; a proliferation of media outlets;use of the Internet; a more mixedquality within the journalism field; anda polarized America. Taber added that there is a fine linebetween analysis and opinion. “Howmuch the journalist wants somethingto be true affects the way a messageis crafted and phrased,” he noted. “Asjournalists, I hope we have a systemwhere we challenge each other.”
Point to Results Anthony Storzieri, AvayaCommunications, moderated an after-noon discussion featuring experts incommunication measurement. Thefollowing panelists shared insights: Mike Bennett, Director, InternalCommunications, Honeywell, dis-cussed how Honeywell uses measure-ment to drive employee engagementin two fundamental ways: By upgrad-ing the quality of internal communica-tions, and by changing theenvironment to make Honeywell abetter place to work.
Wayne Bullock, Senior Vice Presidentof Research at Delahaye, shared thatmisconceptions in role and value arethe single biggest detriment to PRefforts. PR practitioners must measureoutputs and outcomes against a pre-determined set of objectives: targetingaudience, ends and timeframe. Dirk Herrmann, President, Murray,shared a success story with an ongo-ing external communications initiativedeveloped for a client, ADT. He notedthe biggest problem faced in corpo-rate communications: Measurement isoften viewed as ‘nice to have’ insteadof as a necessary part of ongoingbusiness strategy. Alison Davis spelled out a list of“what people do wrong” in measuringcommunications efforts: not measur-ing at all; measuring too little too late;engaging in ‘one size fits all’ measur-ing; ‘kitchen sink’ measuring (whereyou measure everything so nothing isactionable), and ‘big tent,’ or census,measuring. Gary Radford Ph.D., Professor ofCommunication Studies at FairleighDickinson, claimed that research is aform of communication in and ofitself—a way of getting a desiredresponse from an audience, then con-vincing them that they should haveconfidence in the results.
As an intranet manager, what shouldyou be on the lookout for? How canyou derive greater business valuefrom your corporate site? What pitfallsshould you avoid?
Todd Thiessen, a ClientManager and Strategistin the New York Office ofAvenue A/Razorfiish,addressed these topics—and more—at a dinnergathering of NJ/IABCmembers and guests on
October 27 in Morristown. AvenueA/Razorfiish is the largest independ-ent interactive agency, with officeslocated in major markets across thecountry.Todd described the “holistic” approachthat his firm uses in developing aclient’s intranet site: “The key ques-tion is, ‘what is your business strategyand what are you trying to arrive atwith your intranet?’” he asked. Heurged corporate communicators toexplore these issues up front, beforejumping into the development anddesign phase.
Intranet vs. InternetTodd noted the irony of many cor-porations devoting time and money toInternet development, while puttingmuch less resources into theirintranets. Yet intranets typically con-tain 10 to 100 times more informationthan public sites—and companies withthe best and fastest data clearly havea competitive edge. “Research proves
that most consumers have only a single or limited interaction with anycompany’s site,” Todd said. Comparethat to an intranet, which is embeddedinto your employees’ daily workflow.
“The workforce has a vested interestin how the intranet is set up andfunctions,” Todd claimed. Because ofthis, Todd advised his audience topromote a similar developmentprocess for their internal and externalsites. “There is a need to create pro-totypes and use employee focusgroups for feedback on your compa-nies’ intranets,” he said. Todd noted that the three most common barriers to employees usingtheir intranet sites are poor searchfunctionality, stale content and thelack of consistent navigation.“Google has raised the bar on searchengines,” he claimed. “Employeesexpect to be able to find what they arelooking for. Real-time informationdelivery has also become a priority. Ifthe little things aren’t there—if, for
example, an employee directory isn’tup to date—it signals that employeescan’t trust any of the information ontheir corporate site.”
Common PitfallsTodd also cautioned communicatorsabout these common intranet pitfalls:Blaming technology. “Technology israrely the problem when employeesdon’t gravitate toward using anintranet,” Todd says. “It’s much morelikely that appropriate governance isnot in place or there has been littlechange management built into thephase-in of your site. A lot of behav-ioral changes are needed in order forpeople to alter how they work.”Performing vendor and/or productevaluations before assessing businessrequirements. This can easily lead toover-hyped expectations and under-scoped costs.Receiving little executive support.“The intranet explosion is a middle-class revolution, with younger, moretechnologically-savvy employees lead-ing the way to new functionalities,”Todd. “The collaboration chain is onlyas good as its weakest link.”Marketing a site poorly. “You have tocommunicate and manage expecta-tions of what your intranet can andcannot do,” Todd concluded.“Training, support and marketing therollout of each new phase is vital.”
Vis i t www.nj iabc .com
How is Your Intranet Weighted?
There are three major functions of intranets:Process facilitation, or “nuts and bolts” tasks that can be performed electronically, such as enrolling in a benefits plan or performing other self-service functions.Asset Management, which refers to the digital asset management of tons ofinformation that can go into databases to be archived, searched and used.Collaboration, or using technology to connect people in ways that transcendtime and location—web conferencing, blogs, joint editing, and the like.Every intranet is weighted differently. Communicators should think about allthree functions and how they interact, realizing that the easier and friendlieryou make your site, the more employees will keep turning to it.
“An intranet is embedded into youremployees’ daily workflow… The workforce has a vested interest in how it is set up and functions.”
Writing and MeasurementThe Business of Communications
Mike: “We measureeverything we pro-duce…as a barometerof corporate cultureand brand strength.”
Wayne: “PR can nolonger hide behind its‘art and craft,’ butmust demonstrateaccountability.”
Dirk: “Measuringcommunicationsseems more obscurethan measuringmarketing.”
Alison: “Communicators courtfailure when they don’t com-municate the results of theirresearch or the changes madebased on employee input.”
Gary: “Researchadds credibilityto concepts.”
Delivering Tools ... Measuring SuccessRecently, communicators and marketers have seen their corpora-tions reducing costs to keep bottom lines healthy. While there issome economic recovery, we continue to find ourselves competingfor limited resources. To get a piece of those resources, today’s successful communica-tor needs to demonstrate skills in several areas, and demonstratemeasurable results. Your insights help your company develop a
growth approach to gain competitive advantage. Your communications help targetappropriate investments to achieve growth. You measure the success of your initiatives. And, at the end of the day, you should have helped your companyimprove its structure and processes to make productivity gains. The NJ/IABC provides a valuable forum to learn how other communicators andmarketers handle the various aspects of today’s changing environment. Ourevents this year have focused not only on the basics but on measurable results. We will continue to deliver meaningful seminars that provide implementable solutions for our members’ workplaces. We are currently planning our 2005 calendar and welcome your input on suggested topics. Please e-mail me at [email protected] with your suggestions.Best regards,Andrew Miller
Linking CorporateCommunicators, Faculty and StudentsGary P. Radford, Ph.D., Professor ofCommunication Studies at FairleighDickinson University (FDU) in Madison,NJ and Director of FDU’s Master ofArts program in Corporate andOrganizational Communication, wasinvited to the NJ/IABC Board ofDirectors in October. In this role, Garywill work to foster links between aca-demia and corporate communicatorsin businesses throughout the state.“One of our strategic goals is toestablish closer connections with col-leges and universities and help stu-dents make entries into the businessworld, be it through mentoring pro-grams, internships or other jobopportunities,” says Andrew Miller,President, NJ/IABC. “We are extremelypleased to have a person of Gary’sprofessional caliber join our Board tolead this effort.”For a list of the NJ/IABC Board pleasesee our website at www.njiabc.com.Anyone interested in a Board position for the 2005 calendar year should contact Andrew Miller, [email protected]
E N T E R T H E H O L I D A Y S
www.njiabc.comfor more info!PR Newswire (PRN) is proud to sponsorthe NJ/IABC IRIS Awards. PR Newswire’saffinity program will provide IABCmembers who are NOT already mem-bers of PR Newswire with the following:
n Free membership for a year. n 5% discount on all domestic newsline
press releases for the first year. n One Company logo stored on
NewsCom at no charge for a year. n$500 discount on ProfNet for the
first year. n Three months free on Online
MediAtlas when member signs up for a one-year subscription.
A W A R D S T I D B I T S
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Writing Memos: 3 Tips on Keeping It Short*
Eliminate useless words. One studyshowed that the average business let-ter contains an average of 15 uselesswords. Examples: “please be advised,”“we wish to draw attention,” and “I have before me your letter.” Ugh.Pretend your next memo must be sentas a telegram you have to pay for.Make every word count.Know how long a memo should be:long enough to make the point beclear to the reader. Charles Colsonwrote one of the shortest memos onrecord to John Dean in the WhiteHouse during the Watergate scandal. It read: “Now what the hell do I do?”*From “communication tips,” 1101 King Street,Suite 110, Alexandria, VA 22314
Special Thanks to Chris Faust andSandy Charet for their work towardsNJ/IABC receiving an IABC US District 1grant of $1,000, to be used forincreasing membership.
F a l l 2 0 0 4
Bear-ing with the holidaysPease join fellow communications at the annual Inter-Association HolidayNetworking Party co-sponsored by NJ/IABC, PRSA-NJ, the Business MarketingAssociation of NJ, Marketing Executives Networking Group, the NJ AdClub andMedia Communications Association International on Wednesday, December 8at the Hanover Marriott, Hanover Ballroom (1401 Route 10 East, Whippany).This gathering puts the best communicators at their best by helping others—donating new,unwrapped Teddy Bears for distribution to various hospitals and social agencies. (Or, if you’d pre-fer, you can make out a check for $10.) Bears will also be available for purchase at the party.Pricing is $40; students $25. Watch for e-mails with registration information.
Bah! HumBLOG!!!OK—so you’ve never used a blog or don’t even know what one is. Now youhave the chance to get in the spirit (and look technologically “cool!”) by unwrap-ping a new gift from NJ/IABC: our very own blog for members and professionalcommunicators. You can use the blog to:n Learn about current/upcoming chapter activities.n Communicate about current issues affecting your organization.n Network virtually with your peers. Participation is fun, fast and free. So, if you’ve been too rooted to the past ortoo preoccupied with the present to see what the blog craze is all about, log onat http://www.njiabc.blogspot.com. It will help you see the future of new commu-nication channels!
IRIS Awards RecognitionA hundred and nine entries are in and judging is underway for the 2004NJ/IABC IRIS Awards Program, recognizing excellence in communications. Will YOUR program, publication or design stand out? Will you be called to thepodium in recognition of your efforts? Come to celebrate and view the 2004 IRIS Award winners—and to honor oneperson as our NJ/IABC 2004 “Communicator of the Year.” This communica-tions professional was nominated by his or her peers for personifying excel-lence in business communications in New Jersey and for consistently displayingexpertise and professionalism in the delivery of information. There will be great food, even better company and surprises galore at theannual IRIS Awards Ceremony, held January 27, 2005 at Headquarters PlazaHotel, Morristown. Watch for more information and registration details.
