Campbell, Harrington & Brear

August 24th, 2012
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

Who would have ever thought bad times would befall Pennsylvania State University.  Not in anyone’s wildest dreams did anyone ever think anything could tarnish the reputation of the squeaky clean, bucolic  institution known for a good, solid college education at a school that demanded its athletes be students first and football players second.  No one could imagine an unhappy day in Happy Valley.

Then in one brief moment the whole world fell apart.  The polished national image of a well-known institution of higher education shattered.

This brief post is not about what happened leading up to the public knowledge of the Sandusky affair, but rather addresses how an institution should respond to a situation like this and how to prepare a proper path out of chaos.

I am sure many of you are following this horrible event.  How can you not? It is reported daily in newspapers, TV, radio, on the Internet, blogs, you name it. It is important to understand the ramifications and processes necessary to grapple with a catastrophic event like this.

Since the revelation of the Sandusky affair I have seen Penn State make one bad mistake after another.  They are providing a classic example of what not to do in crisis management.

I don’t know who has been advising their board or administration concerning the Sandusky incident, but observing their initial reactions, they have it all wrong.

It is my professional opinion that the university is way behind the eight ball on this and needs to get ahead of the curve immediately.  They have lost a lot of ground and continue to lose a lot of ground in the court of public opinion.  In fact, I am sure they will become a famous case study on crisis mismanagement to be studied for the next 50 years.

Obviously, this is a horrible and painful situation for all involved.  There is no “good” in any of this.  And, in fact, it will get worse. That is as inevitable as the sun rising each day.  So the question now is how does the school manage the situation and prepare a process to move forward.

This does not mean put a spin on it.  On the contrary, the worst thing the university – or any business for that matter – could do is try to put a public relations spin on it.  Unfortunately, it appears this is Penn State’s present tactic, which is why they are in so much more trouble today.

So why don’t they do the right thing?  Mostly because of bad human traits. Arrogance; insular, myopic thinking; denial; and our society’s ever-growing reluctance to take responsibility are keeping the institution from doing the right things.  Also, there is always the misguided impulse for a board and its administration to want to “protect” the institution.

There is an old saw in public relations field that states, “if you have to take a bath in public, get clean the first time.”  That is the gold standard.  It’s the same thing your third grade teacher and your parents taught you: “Tell the truth.”

Here is the reality:  Penn State, upon learning of a reported incident of sexual assault to a minor, did nothing about it, allowing a sexual predator to continue to abuse young boys for another 12-plus years.

That’s the story, plain and simple.  That’s not the story the board, administration and alumni see at the moment.  It is, however, the story the rest of the world sees.

Penn State must accept this point in toto.  No partial acceptance allowed.  No “well-this-isn’t-entirely-true” statements or discussions.  The truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth is what is necessary.  Their inability to grasp this is keeping them from any possible recovery.

Extenuating circumstances don’t count.  “How and what you say now could affect your position later in court” doesn’t count.  How the alumni will react doesn’t count.  The lifelong, stellar career of Joe Paterno doesn’t count.  “He said, she said” doesn’t count.  “We can’t punish the football team, it wasn’t their fault,” doesn’t count.  What does count is a complete Clorox® scrub-down of the entire institution.

Know this:  What has been done can never be undone.  What has happened, happened.  The University is stained forever.  Forever.  Pennsylvania State University will never have the sterling reputation it once had.  Never.  Sixty years from now people will say, “Oh yes, Penn State, they had that horrible pedophilia incident years ago.”   It may not have the negative impact on admissions and in other circles of the school 60 years from now, but that storyline is never going away.

It seems – and whether it is truth or fiction doesn’t matter, perception is everything – Penn State University has not come to grips with the reality of this situation.  This school’s after-the-fact poor decision-making, lack of decisive measures, and inability to act swiftly has made a horrible situation worse and continues to make it worse.  The hole is going to get deeper, but there is no reason for the university to be doing the spadework.

Incredibly, though 17 months have passed since the Patriot News broke the story and the public became aware of this event, the board of directors and administration are still debating what actions to take.   That is deplorable.  Discussion should have stopped after the first month. It is unconscionable that they have not initiated a precise, succinct action plan. Presently, the university has an image of an institution out of control and an image that is reinforced daily.

If Penn State thinks it has reached rock bottom, they have no idea what the bottom is really going to look like.  They are nowhere near rock bottom and in fact are presently poised on a very tall cliff, which they will soon fall off.  Penn State has only witnessed the tip of the iceberg.  Over the next five to 10 years there will be criminal proceedings and civil law suits, we will repeatedly see snippets of the Bob Costas interview with Sandusky, and every nationally televised broadcast of a Penn State football game will have announcers talking about the inability to recruit due to the Sandusky pedophilia affair, just to give you a small picture of what is in store for the school.

So, what needs to be done?

Cold, hard, very unpleasant, unwanted decisions have to be made if an institution – a business, a person – is ever going to “survive” a catastrophic event of this magnitude.

Speed is critical.  In the case of Penn State, already the perception of the public is the school has acted too slowly.  Which translates into the institution doesn’t get it.  Which means the university hasn’t learned its lesson.

“Recovery” starts from the top.  Those members of the board who still talk about Joe Pa as a part of the institution, who claim to represent the alumni and want the institution to stay the same, who want to fight the NCAA, who disagree with the Freeh Commission, need to turn in their resignations immediately.  That Penn State University is gone.  Over, done, finished.  There is no half-way here.  There must be a totally new beginning.  Not a single crumb swept under the carpet.

The administration, staff, et al., must be culled, and anyone who had the slightest knowledge or whisper of Sandusky’s behavior or was culpable in the cover-up needs to be fired.   The public must see the school taking strong action immediately or there will be no credibility in any of the school’s communications.

The school must begin building a foundation for a new institution; work hard at being a better institution of higher learning; execute and publicize many of the positive – non-sports related – things about the institution; and institute community outreach initiatives … all of which will begin to build a positive brand.

And finally, the Board Chair needs to offer a “real” public apology and state in the strongest terms the institution’s commitment to getting to the bottom of everything.  That mea culpa needs to be published in full page ads in every newspaper in the state of Pennsylvania, as well as the top national newspapers, and it must run for at least one week.  The Board Chair must follow up within a few days of the apology with strong actions, some previously outlined in his/her plan.  The Chair should go on TV, on radio talk shows, meet with alumni across the country outlining the action plan (not asking for their opinion, but telling them what is going to occur) – and not just once, but for years modifying the message from what the university is going to do to what the new Penn State looks like and acts like.

This is all gutsy stuff.  In a situation like this there is no time for pleasantries, for long debates on various opinions, or discussions about what can be salvaged.  This is a time for strong leadership, really strong leadership.

The interesting aspect of situations like this is they all organically lead to the same inevitable conclusion.  It really doesn’t matter if you believe a thing I have written, or whether Penn State’s board is willing to initiate decisive moves, or whether the alumni like it or not: The ultimate outcome will be exactly what I have described.  I have been there, seen it and done it.  The school will be forced by the courts, by public opinion, by sanctions and by the laws of nature to come clean and raise a new entity.  It’s inevitable, so the school should step up now and take the reins of its destiny rather than being flogged to the inevitable result.   Be the architects of the new beginning and get credit for it.  Take the opportunity to rebuild an even better university.

My credentials for writing this post:

41 years in marketing, advertising and public relations.

36 years president and owner of Campbell, Harrington & Brear Advertising Agency.

20 years a member of a Pennsylvania college Board of Directors.

Crisis management expertise and experience.

Filed in CHBlog - one response

April 19th, 2012
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

“Help! I’m advertising in yellow books and I can’t stop myself!”

That, in a nutshell, was a company’s call for help. For years, yellow book advertising had consumed this company’s marketing budget. And for years that made sense.

Then again, the company was founded in 1972. Here it was 2010, yet the company was still spending tens of thousands of dollars annually on an antiquated medium that’s essentially untrackable. (Yes, the days of the yellow books are over.  When was the last time you used one of the directories?  Heck, people under 35 never use them and those older use them very rarely. Today’s shoppers use their smartphone or computer.)

So the company came to us for guidance into this new digital world. And we explained how those yellow dollars could produce much more green using web-based marketing.

Unfortunately for this particular company, their present website was a manufacturer’s site reskinned for their own company’s use … very little branding and almost no SEO.

So the time had come for this local company to rethink its marketing strategies and step into the modern world of online marketing … a very efficient and effective tool.

Our Plan

By reducing the company’s yellow book commitment to the barest minimum (the client couldn’t go cold turkey), we were able to redeploy dollars into the creation of a new website – which launched in early 2011.  We also developed a web promotion strategy with trackable Search Engine Optimization and strategically designed, measurable pay-per-click campaigns (the first of which launched October of 2011).

We created a new website that is user-friendly and informative with multiple ways of contacting the client for pricing or service. And since the site is content managed, it’s easy to update the content frequently, which improves search engine visibility and allows the client to keep promotional offerings fresh.

Ongoing site maintenance, keyword research, the addition of fresh content and other search optimization techniques by CH&B has enabled our web-based strategy to succeed.

The site’s performance was boosted by a well-targeted pay-per-click campaign which benefited the organic performance of the site as well.

Compared to October of 2011, February of 2012 showed:

• an increase of 125.7% in average time spent on the website
• an increase of 41.7% in pages viewed per visit
• an increase of 5.4% in percent of visitors produced by organic search
• a drop in the bounce rate of 11.2%
• 54 calls were generated in one month via the mobile component of the pay-per-click campaign

Meanwhile, each month, the number of customers contacting the company via the website to make purchases, schedule appointments or ask questions increases. And our Search Engine Marketing techniques have turned the Special Offers page into the most frequently visited page on the site.  A harbinger of future sales results.

“We have been able to position this brand in a way that’s distinct from the manufacturer’s brand, while showcasing the company’s expertise and uniqueness in the marketplace,” says Angela Wenner, Campbell, Harrington & Brear account executive. “A lot of people claim expertise in web-based marketing, but the proof is in the data.”

Why continue to throw your money away in yellow book advertising when you can track and acquire real results in a web-based strategy?

Filed in CHBlog - one response

August 9th, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

Now we are down to the final chapter … if “advertising” in the phone directories is not the way to go what should you do?

Here are the steps to a better advertising approach while spending your companies money more effectively and efficiently.

1. Drop all of your phonebook directory advertising.  All of it.
2. Do not enter into the phone directory company’s new on-line services.
3. Take your existing directory commitment budget and put it all on red in Vegas.  Just kidding.
4. Take your existing directory commitment budget and develop a strategic new media plan of your own that includes a well thought out website, a social media component, e-blast marketing, and support it with a strong SEO program and possibly an SEM program.
5. It must start with a strategic plan first.
6. It must be supported by a strong SEO commitment.
7. Everything must be executed by well qualified, new media experts with at least five solid years of experience.  Find a good company, they are out there.  Try 717-846-2947.
8. If you can’t do it all in one year, build it over a number of years.  Website with SEO first.
9. Embrace your program and commit time to it.  It will pay off with business results much better than your yellow page advertising ever did.

The good news is by reassigning your phone directory dollars you can move into the new interactive media world without additional expense.

THE END.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: For the record.  Over the past thirty-four years or so, none of the companies who followed our recommendation to drop yellow page advertising ever went out of business.  Nor did they lose business.  They all survived and in many cases flourished because they put those phone directory promotional dollars into alternate media that really did advance their business.

Filed in CHB Posts, CHBlog, Say No to Yellow Page Ads, The Know-How Exchange - 0 comments

July 19th, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

Over a year ago, I wrote an article called Beware The Digital Age.  I felt there was so much material written about the good news side of new media – and there is a good side – that people needed to be made aware of the negative side and all the many hidden traps that accompany this new advertising medium.

The major warning I wrote was, “… they are dying industries.  Industries who have felt it coming for years but are now at the Pearly Gates.  For newspapers, the Yellow Pages, many printers, and some publishers, it’s over.  The big danger to you is they are quickly reinventing themselves and now marketing themselves as experts in fields they know nothing about.  Newspapers are web developers, web advertisers, your digital expert source.  Yellow Pages is selling SEO and SEM services.   Even printers are entering the SEO, SEM business.  Desperate industries do desperate things.  They know nothing about these things.  Avoid being a victim in their decline.” Continue reading “Part IV: Resist! Don’t Be Assimilated into the NEW On-line Directory Companies’ Programs.” »

Filed in CHB Posts, CHBlog, Say No to Yellow Page Ads, The Know-How Exchange - 0 comments

July 18th, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

When New York Wire Company spun off its consumer insect screening line last year, it also sold the New York Wire brand name and its unicorn logo.

The company was now free to specialize in its true competencies: the design and production of engineered industrial open mesh and light wire material for a strong group of core customers – as well as for a yet-unknown, untapped universe of potential customers.

Continue reading “Making Marketing Mesh for a Re-Wired Company” »

Filed in CHB Posts, CHBlog, The Know-How Exchange - 0 comments

July 5th, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

Okay, so I am now assuming that you, after reading the first two blog posts, believe paying out your hard earned cash for yellow directory advertising is a total waste. If you don’t believe that, you need to reread the first two installments on this topic or go back to reading about unicorns and their rainbow poo.

Yellow directory advertising is over. Permanently.

So what’s a person to do? Simple, next time, tell your yellow directory rep you are out all together.

Now, I know you are probably thinking: “Okay it’s over for phone directories, but I will just slash the budget by 50% or 75% or 90% this year.” Kinda ease your way out of yellow advertising.

Continue reading “Part III: Saying Goodbye Is Never Easy … What Do You Mean I Can’t Cut Back?” »

Filed in CHB Posts, CHBlog, Say No to Yellow Page Ads, The Know-How Exchange - 0 comments

June 27th, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

In today’s sales marketing and promotion world, your company’s website is your brand’s mothership, the living, pulsating heart of what is, hopefully, a contemporary media strategy.

Your blog; email blasts; social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In; phone apps; PURLs; QR codes; whatever … are just a few of the many new media tools that when working together will shape your brand, while directing traffic to your website.  It is the interaction and linkage of these multimedia components that creates the SEO octane that lifts your company closer to the top of Page One on search engines, which strengthens your brand, enhances your image, increases sales, grows revenue …

That’s just a tiny slice of the new media market today.  In many ways, the market is so brand new and so difficult to understand due to its constant evolution that few people have any real knowledge about it, much less a real understanding of how these new tools can help build their business. Continue reading “CH&B Interactive Media Seminars: Simplifying and Clarifying New Media” »

Filed in CHB Posts, CHBlog, Self Promotion, The Know-How Exchange - 0 comments

June 21st, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

There was a time in a world long, long ago when yellow telephone directories may have had reason to exist.  That day is way gone.

Back then, if you were a local retailer, all your advertising dollars were in the Yellow Pages except for some local media advertising that directed consumers to your Yellow Pages ads…and, well, that may have worked 40-plus years ago.  It won’t work in today’s world.

Let’s get one thing straight from the beginning:  The phone directories are directories and nothing more.  Period.  No matter what sweet talk the sales rep fed you, they have never been an advertising vehicle.  They are, first and foremost, a book people go to for phone numbers. People do not do their “shopping” in the phonebook as their reps would like you to believe.  It is a book that lays there until someone picks it up to look up a phone number and then calls it.  And that habit has totally changed.

The medium of choice now is on-line phone number searching on Google, Yahoo or Bing.

Continue reading “Part II: The Case for Leaving Yellow Page Advertising.” »

Filed in CHB Posts, CHBlog, Say No to Yellow Page Ads, The Know-How Exchange - 0 comments

June 9th, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

For 34 years we have counseled our clients on whether they should be in the two phone directories – Yellow Pages and Yellow Book – and, if so, to what extent: i.e., how big an ad, how many pages of ads, and how many books they should be in.

Sometimes, we have advised clients to increase their stake in the directories. Many more times we have advised them to reduce their exposure, or eliminate it all together from their “advertising” mix.

Some clients accepted our advice, many more agreed with our assumptions but didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to step away from the phone directory punchbowl.

Continue reading “Part I: In Yellow Pages? You Shouldn’t Be.” »

Filed in CHB Posts, CHBlog, Say No to Yellow Page Ads, The Know-How Exchange - 0 comments

keep looking »