Elastic Thought

Does Humor Belong in PR?

 Humor, parody and satire have been around since classic Greek literature.  It permeates music, politics, movies and popular culture.  And as of late, it's now made it's way into one of the last bastions of non-satirical holdouts--the mainstream news media.

Saturday Night Live has 30+ years of background in this.  The've poked fun at everything from presidents to popular culture and their Weekend Update has been the satirical news of record.  The Onion took a further step at creating new humorous antidotes, stories and otherwise and placing them out as a news media outlet (print, video, online, blog) like any other.

Then came the popularity of shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report .  The Daily Show taking what was started with Weekend Update and expanding to new audiences and The Colbert Report taking on the political blow-hard pundits who are gaining in popularity as of late.

But the traditional news media continued to stand firm.  They did not even acknowledge the other avenues existed.  The news was paramount.  And important.  Important enough that humor, parody and satire had no place.  And those that delivered the news?  Just as important.  There were no humorous angles to Dan Rather or Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow.

And thus, public relations as an industry followed suit.

But things are changing now.  I'm sure there is no one instance that was the tipping point, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was the Daily Show.  An IU study found the Daily Show with Jon Stewart to be as substantive as network news.  A Rasmussen Report showed 32% of adults ages 30-39 believe that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are capable of replacing traditional new outlets.  And nearly one-third of younger Americans see Colbert and Stewart as true alternatives to traditional news outlets.

That's a big impact.  So how did traditional news outlets respond?  They started slowly.  They played clips on their shows (well, the cable news guys did--they have a lot of time to fill) to get a laugh, to prove a point that fit their political agenda, or attacked the satirical shows in retribution.

But then Brian Williams from 'NBC Nightly News' started showing up as a repeat guest on The Daily Show.  It was humorous, genuine, and a reach to cross into the audiences that watch the program.

But last night was a new milestone in my opinion.  If you haven't seen the piece on Chatroulette, you must go now and watch it.  (I'll wait). Did you count the media personalities in that piece?  At least 5.  All 3 major new network anchorpersons (ABC,CBS, NBC) as well as some cable news for good measure-- MSNBC and Fox Business.  And they weren't just mocking the video roulette site.  They were poking fun of themselves.  They were poking fun of their industry.  And they were doing it on The Daily Show's terms.

They showed that the news doesn't have to always take itself so seriously.

Why?  Well, for one, to get viewers.  But it's more than that.  It's an attempt to show that they are human.  They are endearing themselves to their audience, or better yet, a new potential one.

And they did it through humor and self-deprecation.

So, if you made it with me this far into a long blog post, my question is this: why hasn't the Public Relations Industry followed suit?  Why have they continued to act as if they are above the fray?  Why have they insisted that the news is more important than any humor based program you can think up.  (And by news, I mean EVERY press release every written for any client need--big or small)  Why would they not follow the actual media they are working with?

This is not an indemnification of the industry as a whole, only to say this: lighten up, you may just actually be more effective as an agency/industry if you do.

We have found at Elasticity that humor, parody, and the lighter side of human nature have phenomenal appeal.  Stories are placed more frequently.  Programs take off and go "viral" with greater frequency, and we're able to break through the clutter.  We're able to endear our clients to their audiences.

Another example we talked about this week.  Ole' Miss is replacing their beloved Col. Reb with a new mascot.  The story is that Admiral Ackbar is a leading contender.  We all heard this story and it took off like wildfire.  Do you think you would have heard about this story had they been thinking about replacing their mascot with a bear, or an eagle?  (though it may have been picked up by Colbert since he hates bears)

This is a highly controversial topic right now, and those who practice this type of communications are not taken serious.  But it is catching on.  There are more and more every day that see this.  And in time, the larger agencies may just play ball on our terms, much like the major news networks participated in Chatroulette.

Now, this is not to say that the news is all humorous, nor to say that no news is actually legitimate.  Only to say that humor often times breaks through clutter and the news media is starting to catch on.  You don't' have to be 100% serious 100% of the time.  Having a "human" face often times endears you to your audience.

And isn't that what "public relations" is all about?  Endearing yourself to your audience?

Elastic Marketing - It's more than you think

 We've all heard what is wrong with marketing and advertising.  From what I gather at most conferences, blog posts, and industry quips, it needs to be more interactive.  It needs to be engaging.  I think they also say it needs to be more social, and a few other things I can't remember now.  It all jumbles together at this point.  What's funny is that you never hear someone actually say that it just needs to be good.

And it needs to be found.  There are so many ways for people to bury communications methods these days that the big industry money maker this year is going to be promoting promotions.  Really, it is.  Advertising for advertisements….  Really.

So look out for the great new buzz terms: "viral seeding" along with "tradigital" and "increasing visibility of your program."  While they seem rational enough terms (well, except for tradigital), make sure they aren't adding to the budget to push something that won't fly in the first place.

Now, we get asked a lot about Elastic Marketing.  As an agency, we're often dubbed a "hybrid" agency that sits somewhere in the middle of a Ven diagram with overlapping circles of advertising, PR, and social media (and I guess digital gets thrown in there too).  And we do our fair share of ridiculing the status quo in our pitches, so it's only fair that we share what it is we do a little more here online.

A recent client was ecstatic when he "figured it out."  He said we were "like an episodic, story-based sitcom" that "played itself out online and offline."  And I have to say, that's pretty accurate in some measures.  In a way, it's a more modern version of the soap opera.

I may have to explain that a bit here.  Wikipedia defines a soap opera as "an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio.  The name 'soap opera' stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Lever Brothers as sponsors and producers."

Now, we're not into dramatic fiction, and we certainly aren't television producers.  What we do is episodic, but those "episodes" aren't necessarily in chronological order and most likely play out on a multitude of channels.  Rather, our storyline is something that organically plays to a specific cause.  Say, for example, bringing the mustache back into popular culture.  That may include blog outreach, traditional PR, event marketing, and advertising.  And it's not something that goes away after a short run on TV.  This particular example has been going on for over 4 years.

So does your company want to change the status quo?  It may be something as simple as getting people to eat more potatoes.  It may be getting you to understand and appreciate rail liquor.  Hell, it may be to grow a luxurious mullet.  Whatever it is, there are a series of episodic events online and offline that can better get your program goals into the popular vernacular.  To actually get people to care about what it is you are doing.

And that is where Elastic Marketing comes into play.  We get that snowball rolling downhill.  We get the mullet talked about and have it show up where audiences actually care to hear about it.  People start talking more about potatoes and celebrating rail liquor.  And not because we virally seeded the campaign, but because people actually sought it out and cared to listen.  That's Elastic Marketing.

(none of the above examples relate to any past or current client we are actively working with.  any resemblance to anybody in any close approximation with mullets, rail liquor and potatoes is purely coincidental.  and if you know of anyone in any close approximation to monkeys, mullets, mustaches, Mr. T or wee people, please contact us immediately)