So I wake up this morning and take a look at the front page of the Des Moines Register. Headline: $565 Million Slashed from State Budget. That’s on the heels of the Iowa Film Office’s “Free Money Buffett” story that doesn’t seem close to dying. Then I think back to the Iowa Department of Economic Development’s brilliant move this spring to export Iowa PR jobs designed to create more jobs in Iowa, and I think to myself … “Golly Guv, how do you keep getting caught flat-footed on these stories?”
From strictly a communications perspective (and there are plenty of other perspectives we could take), the governor’s office is doing a terrible job of managing their message. It looks like they’ve probably dusted off the old crisis management PR plan playbook. Problem is, if it was written more than a year ago, it’s outdated.
The rules of PR are a lot different today than they were even just a year ago. Using old PR tactics dependent on news releases, press conferences and traditional media leave you chasing the story instead of driving it. That’s exactly what’s happening to the Guv.
Traditional media has boundaries … ink and paper … or, time in a 30-minute newscast. But news stories don’t usually start there anymore. They bubble in an undercurrent of blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc. Used the right way, these tools allow you to be transparent and authentic in your message – and let you connect and interact more closely – and directly – with your audience.
Even the Guv’s Twitter account – with almost a thousand followers, but only 80 people that he’s following, sends the message that “I want to talk, but I don’t want to listen.” Guv, you need a new PR game that uses social media as an effective two-way communications tool if you don’t want to keep chasing your stories. And if you need help, we know some people who know a little bit about this.
Author: AdMavericks
www.lessingflynn.com
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
At the risk of disagreeing with my wonderful friends at Lessing Flynn, I want to point out that NOTHING the governor did (or even his office) caused any of these situations. Yes, he is responsible, ultimately, but I believe he’s been rather decisive and a leader in both the budget shortfall and the film office thing. He made nearly immediate moves on both. As tough as those decisions were, he did not dilly-dally.
I also tend to disagree in this situation about social media. Yes, he could be following a few more people on Twitter…but the mainstream media has the edge in this situation. A news conference covered by outlets across the state gives information pretty quickly. When it’s coming straight out of the governor’s mouth, you don’t necessarily need to Tweet it, because it will almost immediately make it to Twitter.
I have been impressed by the speed at which the film office audit was made public. That is fairly unusual as well.
Anyone who thinks the Big Lug is a shrinking violet has never been around when some governor from another state tries to change their caucus date before Iowa’s.
It’s convenient to blame him for all of our state’s many ills, but the truth is, Iowa is in a much better position than most other states, our credit rating is sterling, and for the most part, we have well-meaning and altruistic public servants in elected office.