Gracie Communications

by Lisa Sirkin Vielee

For the past few weeks, much of the news has been focused on the fiscal cliff. As we inched closer to the pending financial doomsday and waited while politicians worked more on their sound bites than a compromise, the news media tried to explain what life at the bottom would look like for the ubiquitous middle American.

While many reporters focused on the tax ramifications, the story that seemed to develop the most legs revolved around a basic household staple – milk. Three days before the fiscal lawmaking deadline, the Wall Street Journal published “How the Dairy Cliff will ‘Cream’ Consumers.”  The story really churned after that. A search for “dairy crisis” on Google produced more than 10,000 articles and more than 15 million web results.

Why did milk become the story? I have a couple of theories.

1. The cost of a gallon of milk is easier to understand than the possible percentage increase in taxes. If you follow the Journal of Pediatrics recommendations, one child will drink a gallon of milk in one week. If you have 6 kids like I do, it is a gallon in a day and a half. Add it up, and it gets expensive. And that’s my point: You CAN add it up. Tax code, on the other hand, is extremely cumbersome and difficult to understand. Put two tax attorneys in the same room and they’d get two different answers.

2. Milk is also part of the collective conscious. It is hard to picture the $1,000 or more you are going to pay a year in increased payroll tax. On the other hand, if you close your eyes right now, you probably not only can picture a glass of milk, you can taste it. Americans grew up hankering for a hunk of cheese.

Hoosiers love their Dairy Barn at the Indiana State Fair.  And who among us lactose-tolerant folks don’t love milk and cookies? Don’t mess with our milk.

The bottom line: Milk made the fiscal cliff accessible and that’s when middle America really started paying attention.  Dairy was such a great hook, news outlets continue to “milk” the story.  Robert Ford, a contributor to Forbes.com included the words, “dairy cliff,” more than a week later in a recent headline about the new payroll tax implications.

The lesson here for public relations practitioners? Find a memorable, easy way to relate your story to your audience. It is easy to get stuck in the big picture and worry about trying to explain the huge ramifications.  It’s harder to figure out what your glass of milk will be to make the story resonate – but it is worth the effort.

Our first frost of the season, and I’m already looking back at the long, hot summer of 2012! This summer I faced my own “inconvenient truth”: I am a wader, not a jumper. No matter how hot it was, not matter how much better I knew I would feel once I got in the pool, I couldn’t jump in.

You probably have a client or two who is a wader. They love the idea of social media, mobile apps or some other new tool, but they’re just not going to jump in. What can you do if you are dealing with a client who is a wader?

1. Don’t push them in. Just like people really hate being pushed into a cold pool, a client doesn’t want to be “pushed” into trying something just because you say, “C’mon on in, the water’s fine.”

2. Show them other swimmers. Give them examples of how social media worked. And if you can show them how it worked within their industry that’s even better. If your client is a small nonprofit, don’t show them how some big, corporate entity with a million-dollar budget and a huge marketing department added 10K followers in a week. Show them how a non-profit with 10 full-time people built excitement for their annual walkathon using social media.

3. Key an eye on the lifeguard. Look what happened to JCPenney’s when they listened to the “experts” and not their customers.

4. Encourage them to get their feet wet. Let them start with a blog a week, a post a day, one photo on Instagram…you get the idea.  As they begin to feel comfortable, suggest how they can increase their social media presence.

5. Show them the progress they’re making.  Their initial focus will be on how many likes, followers or mentions. Take the time to educate your client about the variety of social media metrics tools that can help capture their true success.

Some clients are always going to be waders. They may have a large organization, management or staff that is reluctant to change or other priorities competing for the same dollars and time. As you work with your client—and listen to their concerns (a Gracie specialty!) – you create trust and build a great foundation for a long-term relationship with your client.

 (Photo from www.daytonachamber.com)

My 17-year-old daughter just called me from her U.S. History class to ask for a ride home. Her teacher – who will remain nameless since I want him/her to keep a job – allowed her to call as long as she told me that she loved me in front of the whole class. Which she did. Twice.

I think letting her call from class was a wise communication move on the teacher’s part. (more…)

Last week, I had a client, who wants to be better known in the market, pass on a sponsorship opportunity because they didn’t think they would get a whole lot of media mileage out of it. The sponsorship meant getting access to eight key companies, working in partnership with a major university and a handful of influential state and local agencies, and being included in a wide swath of social media strategies. But the client was right – they most likely were not going to get a major media mention from it. (more…)

I was on vacation last week, which meant I had plenty of time to catch up on all the books I’ve been meaning to read. One of them, “How the Irish Saved Civilization” by Thomas Cahill, has been on my To Read list for five years. Since the rest of the book deals with how the seemingly uncivilized Irish preserved great literature and history after the fall of the Roman Empire, I was surprised to read a passage that dealt with marketing and public relations. (more…)

At lunch with a prospective client last week, I was asked if I was a publicist. I inwardly recoiled at the term. Then I decided I’d better make sure I understood his definition of publicist before I answered. (more…)

I have been reading a lot about patience lately. In this hyper-connected, 24-hour news cycle world, it seems patience is becoming a virtue rarely practiced. Yet countless business coaches continue to emphasize the importance of time and perseverance. I couldn’t agree more. (more…)