Public Relations and Public Affairs in Indianapolis

2011-07-08T10:26:00.000-04:00

IMS should thank social media

2011-05-05T14:28:00.001-04:00

Backlash against Donald Trump's withdrawal from driving the pace car at this year's Indianapolis 500 started immediately. How can the Indianapolis Motor Speedway be pushed around by a few thousand Facebook users?

The campaign that was started by Michael Wallack on Facebook and that spread to mainstream media may have been unlikely in that it was based in Indianapolis. Nevertheless, it was a clear and relatively innocuous demonstration of how social media can work.

The truth is that the posts and the tweets and the blogs saved the Speedway from itself. Just today, Rasmussen Reports published a poll that said only 15 percent of Americans believe Donald Trump is seriously running for president. Only 28 percent have a favorable opinion of Trump and 43 percent have a very unfavorable opinion of the New York real estate developer.

Having Trump withdraw (as if it was voluntary) is a minor black eye today, but what if the suits at IMS and Chevy and IZOD were oblivious to the strong and building popular opposition to the tacky choice of Trump as pace car driver? Would they have preferred seeing thousands of black flags saying "Bump Trump" displayed during the parade laps at the race?

Yes, it's unprecedented for the public to exercise its power in removing an unpopular choice as pace car driver. It would have been just as unprecedented for thousands of race fans to shout their disapproval on race day.

Social media is not an alien, negative force. It is the voice of the consumer, the voter, the student, the taxpayer. Social media should be seen as a gift to companies and institutions that depend on good will for their success.

First say, "Nice to meet you."

2010-11-02T12:50:00.001-04:00

Your General Assembly directory now is obsolete. New faces will be gathering later this month in the Statehouse for Organization Day.

Many sources will offer you new directories with names and faces and contact information so you can get to know the 2011-12 cast of Indiana lawmakers.

Whether the new members will get to know you and your issues, however, will be up to you. We at Executive Media believe in leaving the lobbying to the lobbyists. We're a public relations agency with a focus on public affairs. Our mission is to help equip you to make efficient, positive and clear contact with representatives and senators. Our office location in downtown Indianapolis, a couple of blocks from the Statehouse, reflects our interest.

That’s why we suggest you look at your brochures, your white papers and your websites now to make sure they reflect your messages for the coming legislative session. For the new legislators, it’s a chance to make a strong first impression. For veterans, it’s an opportunity to reintroduce yourselves with current information.

We can help. Guy Johnson and I write and edit with decades of background in working with public issues. We’re ready to help make your agenda sound loud and clear.

Send me an email or give us a call at (317) 231-7000 ext. 203. We’re ready to help you walk confidently into a new world.

David Dawson

The four strategies of the 2010 Political Game Plan

2010-10-27T11:06:00.001-04:00

The 2010 election campaign stands apart for a number of reasons, including its complete reversal of the "Yes We Can" atmosphere of the presidential election just two years ago and the grassroots phenomenon of the tea parties, which have worked through, but not necessarily with, the Republicans.

From a communications perspective, this campaign season has featured strategies that run against the grain of convention. In a week, we'll know more about whether these approaches worked. For now, it's worthwhile to note what's going on:

1. These politics are not local. Christopher Hitchens, in a great commentary in Slate about why a life in electoral politics means sinking into provincialism, used the phrase, "All politics is yokel." This year, most Republican candidates (and some Democrats) are running against President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, attacking their opponents mainly for association with the president and the speaker.

2. Whatever it is, you should have been against it. This off-year election has been compared to the 1994 Republican wave, but that campaign was bannered by Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America." This year, the establishment Republican attempt to renew the approach with a bloated, vague policy list was trampled under tea party work boots. Instead of advocacy, Republicans chose to mislead voters about Democrats' positions on health car reform and Democrats chose to mislead voters on Republicans' interest in replacing the income tax with a value-added tax.

3. Everyone has a dirty little secret. Let's share. With the ranks of incumbents deleted by retirements and primary defeats, opposition research now consists of embarrassing things about a candidate's college days, family life, business career, supporters and driving records.

4. What the little guy needs is to be represented by the rich. Whether it's from campaign finance reform or the Supreme Court's invalidation of limits on corporate political activity, big-time money is now often represented by fabulously wealthy candidates from California to New England to Florida who will spend anything to get elected. They should read their Hitchens.

We'll know on Election Day whether local voters can be motivated by a national campaign focused on opposition rather than ideas. It may be that dirty laundry and overwhelming budgets bring out numbers. If these strategies work, it'll mean a new and bleaker conventional wisdom.

Social media takes over the news of mortality

2010-09-02T16:23:00.000-04:00

What Craigslist did to classified ads is like what Facebook is doing to newspaper obituaries.

Not many years ago, newspapers realized that space devoted to free obituaries could become a revenue source from survivors who believed the lives of their deceased loved ones deserved special treatment.

Many local newspapers adopted policies close to that of The Indianapolis Star. The Star will print a basic obituary notice – the deceased's name, age, city of residence and facts about visitation and services – for free. More detailed, custom obituaries are treated like ads. The Star works with funeral homes, who include the obituaries in the funeral charges. Costs run into hundreds of dollars.

Today, newspapers earn good money running long obituaries. Lots of folks my age turn to the obituary page – printed or online – every morning to learn if someone they knew passed away.

That will change.

Of course, many obituaries now are posted on funeral home websites, which can substitute for newspaper publication and provide the opportunity for friends to post their memories.

In recent months, I learned of some deaths important to me on Facebook. Using Facebook to inform a network of friends about someone's death makes perfect sense. Those are the persons who care. Facebook also will memorialize a deceased member's Facebook page, removing private information but leaving the member's wall open.

Social media has not become so pervasive that public figures and those whose circles of acquaintances are not entirely digital will dispense with newspaper obituaries. Considering the cost of telling the story a deceased deserves in a newspaper, however, that day is coming.

Outcomes matter

2010-07-31T06:29:00.000-04:00

Measure outcomes, not column inches
When we ask clients for their communications goals, the answers usually are along these lines:

“We want potential customers to know our brand and like it.”
“It’s crucial that our stakeholders understand what we’re trying to do.”
“Our voice must be heard clearly by the decision makers.”

Rarely does a client say, “I want to be included in 12 news stories that have 400,000 impressions and run a total of 78 column inches.” In those rare instances, the specifications usually have been set by the client’s own in-house advisers, who may know little about public relations.

Yet, the concept of Advertising Value Equivalents (AVE) – estimating the value of space and air time if they had been bought as ads – often is offered by agencies as proof of their public-relations successes.

We’ve always thought AVE is a poor measure because it says nothing about quality and message. The same problem exists with clipping counts and general-market impressions. True, they can make the client feel good about herself, but they give no indication of the quality of her relations with the public. PR work should move a client toward his goal, not just the agency's goal.

Now AVE may be going away. The recent European Summit on Measurement, convened by several international public relations organizations, issued a Declaration on Measurement Principles. The declaration stresses goals and outcomes as the keys to measurement. You can download it here.

While measurement standards proceeding from these principles are still in the works, buyers of public relations services should heed these strong statements in the principles themselves:

“Overall clip counts and general impressions are usually meaningless.” If you’re counting, you should count only those impressions among the target audience or stakeholder and you should assess the quality of the coverage.
“AVEs do not measure the value of public relations and do not inform future activity; they measure the cost of media space and are rejected as a concept to value public relations.” Useful comparisons must include quality and the amount of coverage that is relevant.

In truth, the measurement function of public relations should be holistic, long-term and analytical. It can be expensive, but it’s the only way to know if you’re succeeding.

At Executive Media, we’re more interested in persuading our audiences than in spinning our clients.

Lining the wrong pockets?

2010-07-13T22:55:00.001-04:00

The only rational argument that supports the plan to pay the Indiana Pacers $10 million a year to stay in Indianapolis and operate Conseco Fieldhouse is that it's a wise investment in second-level economic development. The primary level – the Pacers organization itself – will never generate enough revenue for the city to break even.

The tangible economic activity surrounding the team and the less-tangible status of having a National Basketball Association team are supposed to tip the payback scale.

A key assumption of that argument is that the NBA gives the city valuable status. City leaders making that argument discount the estimate made last winter by Commissioner David Stern that NBA teams collectively would lose $400 million this year. They also assume that a new NBA collective bargaining agreement will fix both the money drain and the lack of team identification that seems to allow players (see Chris Paul) to announce aspirations to play for some other outfit.

Perhaps most threatening is the devaluation of teams such as the Pacers by the talent-stacking move made last week by LeBron James and Chris Bosh in joining Dwayne Wade in Miami. For the next couple of years, who will pay for tickets at Conseco unless the Heat is coming to town? If the same holds true in cities such as Charlotte and Oklahoma City, what will be the value of the NBA? The league could become a dozen or so versions of the Washington Generals, waiting for Globetrotter-style trouncings at the hands of the Heat or the Lakers or a few other teams to sell tickets.

The NBA made a calculated decision to market individual stars rather than teams. That decision may destroy the league, or at least make the decision-makers in Indianapolis wish they'd decided to subsidize players rather than owners. That, of course, would be silly.

Thoughts for Randy Bernard

2010-06-01T14:13:00.001-04:00

The new boss of the Indycar racing series, Randy Bernard, got to see the track and the race nearly at its best at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Hot but not unbearable, a good race but not necessarily a classic, a big crowd but probably not the biggest. Good enough to understand the tradition but still showing some room for improvement.

In our section in the Northwest Vista, we had spectators from Indianapolis, Boston, New York, Minnesota, Holland (the wooden shoe types, not the Michigan types) and Ohio. From their collective experiences, here are some suggestions to throw Bernard's way:

1. Spend some money on the museum. A first-time visitor sees many cool old cars and, given enough time, can figure out how design of chassis and engines evolved, if not why. Surprisingly, there's not a lot of easy information about the track itself, which is the star of the show. The video presentation is a recitation of historical facts, but never really transmits the excitement of the race. The museum needs interactive exhibits, cutaways of engines and chassis, a modern-day multimedia presentation, more explanation of technology and some reference to the future. Tradition is not enough.

2. Make every driver into a star. I understand it took decades just to have introductions of the drivers, but introducing them row by row throws away the opportunity for the newcomers to learn about each one. There's so much time between arrival at the track and the start of the race that the driver introductions can be more detailed. I'd rather hear a Townsend Bell talk about how he got to Indy than hear some ex-football player publicly display his lack of familiarity with the sport. The IRL has taken positive steps by bringing the whole group of drivers to national media centers, but only Danica and Helio have reached rock-star status.

3. Compress the accumulated traditions. Give Florence Henderson a lifetime pass and a seat in the Hulman Suite, but no singing duties. Do one really stirring tribute to the military, not several weak ones. (Personally, my jaw dropped when the benediction mentioned Izod, but I guess a deal is a deal.)

4. Put some pre-race entertainment in the corners. The video screens are great, but a couple of hours in the grandstand prior to the race would go faster with the kinds of shows they use at NBA halftimes. The acts could rotate around the tracks. Sort of like the Macy's parade in New York.

5. Develop more American drivers. I know everybody has said this for 20 years and efforts have been made, but it continues to be an important priority.

6. Explain stuff. People in our section didn't understand the scoring displays for about 60 laps. If you are working to attract a new audience, you have to expect some of your audience is new and they don't always buy programs.

7. Put humanity first. When Dave Calabro was calling on the crowd to cheer Dario's victory, everybody on the north end of the track was holding their breath waiting to see movement from Mike Conway. How that horrific crash could have been ignored defies explanation.

8. Figure out exit traffic control. In recent years, law enforcement has become much more active in closing lanes and funneling traffic flow. So far the result seems to us to be more gridlock. Spectators should know what streets are going to be closed or redirected so that they understand why they're being sent south when they want to go north.

These are just a few thoughts. I'm sure Bernard has his own observations as well. So far, I think he's going in the right direction.

Mayor Ballard learns to love CYA politics

2010-03-11T12:48:00.000-05:00

"Utilities were created for a reason – a lot of that is to take politics out of decisions," (Indianapolis Mayor) Ballard said Wednesday, quoted in the Indianapolis Star. "When it comes to an election, (politicians) say, 'I'm going to stand up and protect ratepayers,' when infrastructure is decaying underneath."

That perspective may look correct enough to an officeholder facing re-election for him to turn his back on the populism that put him in office. That's exactly what he's doing in proposing to sell the Indianapolis water and sewer systems to Citizens Energy, an independent public trust.

Historically, Ballard's view is myopic. Privately owned utilities developed because they could raise capital, build systems and operate them at a time when governments did not have resources to do the job. Many were regulated locally until their operations spanned municipal boundaries, leading to control over rates and investments by appointed commissioners at the state level. The Mayor is correct in that having regulation vested in a state commission allows politicians to rail against utility rates without accountability for the amount and quality of planned investments.

While that situation is convenient for the office-holder, it may not be preferred by the voters. If you asked a water and sewer customer in Marion County about whether he or she would like a voice in when and how Indianapolis spends $4 billion for infrastructure improvements, I'd bet most would opt for accountability.

Sell the utilities to ourselves and make money?

2010-03-10T09:15:00.000-05:00

Milo Minderbinder must be an advisor to Mayor Greg Ballard. Milo was the parody of a war profiteer in Joseph Heller's "Catch-22." He's the only person I can imagine who would be as excited as Ballard about a plan in which the citizens of Indianapolis will sell the city's sewer and water systems to themselves and then pay for lots of infrastructure improvements through utility bills, perhaps the most regressive form of revenue.

That is the bottom line of Ballard's plan to sell the Indianapolis water and sewer utilities to Citizens Energy Group, which now provides natural gas and chilled water in the city, for $1.9 billion. Out of that, the city would net only $425 million. The rest would go to pay off existing sewer and water debt.

He points to that $425 million as a capital windfall for city infrastructure. The administration also claims economies in larger-scale capital projects and combined administrative functions. Citizens Energy would be responsible for making the $4 billion in water and sewer improvements needed in the next 15 years.

If we were selling our utilities to a Trans-Mongolian syndicate, as Governor Daniels might, Indianapolis would at least be getting new cash from somewhere else. The Ballard plan – sounding like something Milo might push – has us buying the utilities from ourselves. That's because Citizens Energy is a public trust owned by the people of Marion County.

How will Citizens Energy recover that $1.9 billion? From its customers. How would Citizens Energy recover the $4 billion for infrastructure improvements? From its customers.

How is this different from the current situation? If the city kept the utilities and made the improvements, it would have to pay debt through utility rates. However, this deal apparently will add $425 million to the debt that needs to be repaid.

If the city spent $425 million on infrastructure without this sell-off, it would have to find another way to pay for it. Since the taxpayers have made it clear that they don't want higher taxes, finding the revenue would be difficult.

The Mayor's answer is to add it to water and sewer bills, which are even less progressive than property taxes.If this makes sense, I should have been a bond lawyer.

Roadster Redux - The Toyota Lesson

2010-02-05T12:27:00.000-05:00

Last summer I submitted a simple idea that everyone ought to drive a car like my 1973 MGB.

I argued at the time that universal ownership of this class of car would lead to a number of good outcomes:

Drivers would learn how cars work and would, of necessity, learn how to perform simple repairs.
Using 35-year-old steel accomplishes the goal of recycling without the middlemen.
The average trip would become shorter, partially because of the noise and discomfort.
Texting and other dangerous distractions would disappear as drivers focused on operating manual transmissions.

I left an important issue out of that analysis: the reliability of mechanical linkage.

The problems that appear to be blowing up the once-solid reputation of Toyota Motors are electronic. The electronically governed throttle in eight Toyota models may be failing, leading to uncontrollable acceleration. Electronic brake controllers in the hybrid Prius may be responding slowly in bumpy conditions.

Neither catastrophe could happen in my MG. Unless I turn on the lights, the only critical electric component of that car is the fuel gauge. And that works. Now.

When I press the accelerator, it pulls a cable that is directly attached to the throttle on the carburetors. There is a strong and simple return spring that closes the throttle when the cable goes slack. When I press the brake, the linkage pushes a piston inside an hydraulic cylinder that creates pressure through the hydraulic lines to each wheel, where a caliper or shoe creates friction to slow the car.

Yes, the MG fails to automatically adjust fuel mixture for optimum emissions. There is a manual choke, but I recognize it's not as clean. Yes, there is no power boost to the braking system. However, the car is light enough for foot pressure to stop it, much like Fred Flintstone's car.

Nevertheless, it goes. And stops. Isn't that all we really need?

Can the Star and the Standard both be right?

2009-10-28T12:33:00.003-04:00

Earlier this month, the London Evening Standard, a leading newspaper in Great Britain, broke with tradition and began free distribution of its daily product. The paper more than doubled its daily distribution to 600,000, counting on the increased circulation to boost advertising revenue.

Meanwhile, in a recent presentation, Indianapolis Star Editor and Vice President Dennis R. Ryerson said his newspaper has stopped counting on advertisers to carry their traditional share of operating costs. He said the paper will institute changes to induce readers to buy the print product. He described the new direction for the Star as a "daily newsmagazine." The professional reporting, writing and editing of the product, he said, had to be supported by circulation revenue.

Both of these moves come as a response to the failure of advertisers to value online publications, at least those that are produced by traditional print newspapers. Both companies also are responding to the unsolved problem of free, unregulated online duplication of news produced by their employees.

The Evening Standard's Russian owner, Alexander Lebdenev, seems to believe flooding the market with a free quality product will make his product indispensable to advertisers. Since the change, one other free newspaper in London has shut down.

The Star's Gannett ownership seems to believe that advertisers, with many options, will never again foot the bill for news operations. A good, local news product, they are saying, should be a marketable item.

There are differences between the U.S. and British television systems, which alter the calculations, but it's hard to imagine that both of these moves can be right at the same time. If London is wrong, the Evening Standard will flame out. If Indianapolis is wrong, the Star will start spiraling into a smaller and smaller niche. Let's hope at least one of them has found the answer.

Save the knuckleheads

2009-10-08T12:53:00.002-04:00

Driving back from Kokomo on Wednesday, I saw a driver almost knucklehead himself into a bad accident. We were stopped at a traffic light at a complex intersection. When crossing cars appeared to stop, he drove into the intersection with an assumption our light was turning green. He got to the middle before he realized a left-turning car was about to plow into him. How could he be so oblivious?

He was talking on the cell phone at his ear.

Heading south near Butler University last week, I stopped for a 4-way stop sign and let a car cross in front of mine. Then I started up to take my turn. The driver behind the first car paused and then barreled into the intersection in front of me. I thought she just was being too aggressive.

Then I saw she had a phone at her left ear. Perhaps she didn't see me at all.

On Monday, I waited for a crosswalk signal and started walking across Illinois Street at Ohio Street. A man driving an SUV made a right turn that forced me to push myself off his car door to get out of his way.

He had a cell phone at his right ear.

Six states now ban use of handheld cell phones by drivers. Eighteen states ban texting by drivers. Indiana's ban, passed this year, applies only to drivers under 18. It did not apply to the three distracted drivers above.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been following the issue of distracted driving for some time. It estimates that more than 5,870 traffic fatalities and more than 515,000 injuries last year were caused by distracted driving. See the findings here.

State Rep. Vanessa Summers of Indianapolis has introduced a bill to ban the use of hand-held mobile telephones by all drivers (except in emergencies) for the past eight years.

Help her pass that bill this year. Save the knuckleheads.

Guest entry from Bristol Editor

2009-10-01T15:31:00.000-04:00

I could not say this better than Bristol Editor.