Many of the PilmerPR blog entries on GreenPR have made reference to the irresponsible practice of Greenwashing by some corporations. Regretfully, it isn’t only large companies and politicians who try to spin their dirty laundry to appear smashing white, while never using detergent.

A recent CNN article announced NASA’s transparency problems when it comes to Global Warming research. While the space agency’s policies have been “hailed for openness by the U.S. Government Accountability Office,” the news of NASA’s press office allegedly “mischaracterizing” the organization’s own global warming studies for political purposes is disturbing.

Transparency is about trust. If NASA, the U.S. government, or any company or individual wishes to earn our trust, there is no room for covering up information that could alter the important decisions facing us as a nation.

It’s time to do the right thing. It’s time for true Corporate Social Responsibility. It’s time for a return to true TRANSPARENCY.

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This week, PilmerPR’s public relations work for ElectraTherm was submitted for a possible award from a major PR association. We think our chances are good, but are humble enough to know that there is a lot of great PR work going on out there by our peers and competitors.  

We like our chances because PilmerPR has done a two year deep dive into the world of Green PR, Corporate Social Responsibility, Cleantech, and Environmental Sustainability. We know how to avoid greenwashing and have turned down offers to represent companies who appear to be more “show than go”, more marketing hype than Green. ElectraTherm is the real deal. Their award winning product converts waste heat from industrial sources into electricity without any other fuel and without any emissions. Cool! This is not some “Back to the Future” Flux Capacitor thing coming in fifty years. The ElectraTherm Green Machine is in commercial power production at SMU, home of one of countries leading Geothermal Labs in the U.S., and that’s not a coincidence. 

So far, and we’re just getting started, PilmerPR has garnered 26 feature articles and a feature on Free to Be Green on Dallas Channel 33 , reaching more than 36.8 million individuals, and accumulating approximately $1,127,700 in alternative advertising value. The SEO portion of our public relations plan yielded 10,000 website hits in a two week period. Here’s what the client says about our work: 

“ElectraTherm’s requirements for driving awareness about our new products to key publics have been exceeded by PilmerPR. The press relations campaign driven by PilmerPR around the launch of our new ElectraTherm Green Machine has brought new top tier investors and customers to our door. It has created a foundation for building major press momentum going forward. PilmerPR has assisted greatly in driving publicity that has moved the needle for our strategic objectives.” Bill Olson – Vice President, Business Development at ElectraTherm 

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PilmerPR is pleased to report today that two of our Utah clients, AdvancedMD and Seastone, have been named to the 2008 Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Companies. Web-based Software Leader AdvancedMD Ranked No. 44 in the Top 100 Software Companies, while the Gift Card Packaging pioneers at Seastone Rank No. 11 Among Inc. Top 100 Consumer Products Companies in America. Working for years on customized publicity packages for these exceptional companies has been very fulfilling.  

Each of these companies exhibits qualities that ensure good public relations outcomes. They… 

…Listen to new ideas

…Recognize PR as a strategic tool

…Make consistent investment in public relations

…Display resiliency amid uncertainty

Of course another key is that they are the real deal, leaders in their fields of expertise. Whether in cleantech or gift card packaging, companies that succeed in PR are usually companies that lead the field. Congrats AdvancedMD and Seastone.

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Last week I flew to the Big Island of Hawaii to do public relations support for Certiport PATHWAYS conference.  Certiport is a global company certifying digital literacy skills and computer desktop proficiency in more that 120 countries. The annual PATHWAYS event attracted more than 200 dignitaries from media, education, government, and the private sector from every continent. 44 students competed here in the Finals for the Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office, sponsored by Certiport. Thailand came away the winners in both Excel and Word categories. Germany won the IC3 World Cup for digital literacy. Peru garnered the Inspriation Award for Digital Literacy.

The great thing about this event is the phenomenal focus on advancing digital literacy around the globe. Why digital literacy? Most jobs worth having require computer and Internet skills. Previously marginalized countries are finding a level field with much larger competing countries by helping their populations get skilled up. Nations no longer compete just within their own boundaries. It’s a global market place. And, digitally literate populations will garner the best jobs and life opportunities.  Certiport PATHWAYS is helping advance and distinguish countries, one person at a time.

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Reading an article on Wal-Mart’s “sustainability” progress report reminded me of the concerns some companies have expressed about claiming to be Green “to early”. While I’m a huge proponent of avoiding the perception of greenwashing, the Wal-Mart approach makes sense for Green PR. Announce sustainable Green objectives, and then announce measurable organizational progress against the objectives. This builds credibility and goodwill, while appropriately publicizing your efforts in sustainability. Remember to invest more in actually “being” Green than in marketing Green. You may want to consult a professional communicator to achieve the right balance between “talking” and “doing” sustainability. 

In recent discussions with a terrific Green leader, Portland based New Seasons Market, Marketing Director Helen Neville spoke about the fact that its “hard to be Green”, I mean really Green. Helen’s point reiterated by others is that we are all implementing sustainability on a “learn as you go” basis. People will make allowance for imperfection as long as progress is being made. Imperfection in Green is not by itself a reason not to publicize legitimate efforts, but actions speak loudly.

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In past entries we have spoken of “real deal” Green PR vs. Greenwashing. Our research presented to public relations professionals on the subject shows a 400 percent increase in press stories around green and social responsibility in the past three years.  This trend will continue to grow.

An example of this type of story follows in this request to PilmerPR for a CSR oriented company: 

“Corporate Social Responsibility – XYZ magazine is looking to speak to corporations that have recently instituted a CSR program and is willing to speak about the reasons for doing so and give full details of the program, including how the company is engaging its employee base to get involved.” 

When considering future public relations strategies, corporate leaders will do well to “seize the day” with real deal sustainable processes and strategies. The press wants to cover the good news, and they will spotlight negligence for companies treating these areas lightly.  

CSR strategies should be articulated on the company website and appropriate press outreach with successes has the potential for depositing serious goodwill into the goodwill piggy bank against which to draw when public perception may turn negative.

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Staying on message is a key skill for effective public relations. When speaking to the media, corporate spokespersons should have clear, concise messages (no more than 3-5) that are repeated throughout the interview. Restating the messages increases the chance they will end up in print and not on the cutting room floor.  

Here’s a good example from one of my former Novell executive clients, now heading up Canopy Ventures. This appeared in the Provo Daily Herald.

   “We’ll be investing between $1 million and $5 million per company to help them get their product to market, improve channels of distribution, and reach global markets,” Heinz said. “There are three factors we look at before investing — people, technology and marketplace. Do the prospective companies have a successful track record? Is the technology disruptive? Does it cause changes in buying behavior or ways of doing things? What is the anticipated size of the market? Does the technology have the opportunity to dramatically grow and will the market support that growth?”   

You can bet your bottom dollar that Ron did not wing this interview. Having worked with him while in PR at Novell, I know he prepares well so that statements like this come across as genuine and smooth as glass. Thanks for the example of good spokesperson training, Ron.

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We just returned from a great PRSA Public Relations Conference in Portland, Oregon. We’ll be rolling out some PR strategies and tips over the coming weeks from that conference in the areas of Green PR, SEM / SEO (Search Engine Marketing & Search Engine Optimization), as well as Generational Marketing. Coming from the explosion of green and floral display of Spring in Oregon, I was encouraged to read that eight western states are now allied against the importation of 20,000 tons of nuclear waste from Italy to Utah. Why was I encouraged? Because I live in Utah and want it to step up as an environmental leader, not another greenwashing contestant.  

Utah’s public and indeed, world image will be greatly influenced in coming years by current battles being waged over Energy Solutions importation of foreign nuclear waste, as well as declining air quality (Salt Lake & Logan now in top 10 worst air quality by the American Lung Association). Governor Huntsman, Larry Miller (owner of Energy Solutions Arena and top seller of polluting automobiles in the state), along with mayors Utah Valley, where only a small fraction of citizens even recycle, should be fully awake now to the Public Relations and Tourism risk/opportunity associated with environmental protection in Utah.  

Lehi and West Valley City now require recycling.  I’m hopeful others are now listening?

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This past weekend I was excited to support my son’s first go at the Salt Lake City Marathon. He was pleased with the outcome as part of his long term objective to run a full marathon later this year. To prepare, he sought advice from successful runners, invested in great shoes, and trained for months. The positive outcome was predictable and satisfying as you can see from the smile on his face.  

That same smile has appeared on the face of clients following PilmerPR counsel regarding “sustained” public relations strategies. While some new startups think to dominate their category with a single press announcement, clients like Certiport, Seastone, AdvancedMD among others have seen repeated excellent press coverage of their news due to long term commitment to turn of the PR volume. Whether working on Eco PR or SEO PR, the principle of Endurance is the same. 

Something to think about if you want your company to dominate.

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As a marketer and public relations professional over the past decade, I’ve watched the Internet play an increasing role in corporate marketing strategies. When the World Wide Web and HTML had its coming out party around 1994, I created my first web page and learned what the slow, dial up Web of the day couldn’t do. In contrast, Web 2.0 media have now increased the importance of integrating the Internet into all marketing and PR. Blogs are an excellent example of this.  

In our own business, a 2007 redesign and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of the PilmerPR website has increased our monthly web traffic seven fold and increased the number of RFP’s coming to our door. The second most visited page on our website is our self hosted Blog. Although self hosting a Blog may not avail one of certain visibility advantages of other hosted sites, the SEO benefits of attaching your Blog to your company website increases Link Backs to the website, hence improving organic search engine rankings for your company.  

Of course the content must be compelling and helpful if you want return visitors.  Give me a call and I’ll share other ideas to make sure your Blog drives traffic to your website, including key word optimization. 

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