May debates!

I can’t even begin to tell you my glee at the power of public voice and two-way communications in getting Elizabeth May of the Green Party into the leaders’ debates.

The website PR Ethics defines two-way communications:

James Grunig, one of the leading public relations scholars in the world, proposes his model of two-way, symmetrical communication as the best way to achieve ethical decisions. He bases his theory on the following assumptions:

• Collaboration, working jointly with others, is a key value in ethical decisions.
• The process of dialogue with different people allows for both listening and arguing.
• Not everyone will get what they want, but dialogue will lead to the most ethical outcome.

This approach requires the public relations practitioner to balance their role as advocate for their client with their role as social conscience.

The Green Party  launched a great social media campaign on September 7th, including blogs, You Tube posts, and a Facebook site dedicated to the topic which enlisted 6,084 members in a matter of days. My son, an avid Green canvasser, received an email with links to an online petition. Today’s Globe and Mail and several Canwest papers ran editorials asking what the big deal is. Canadians mobilized to be heard.

This morning first Jack Layton, then Stephen Harper and finally the network media consortium gave into public pressure. In 2007, public opinion polls showed 77% of Canadians favoured Green party inclusion  in  debates.

Does two-way communication in PR work? You bet. And my glee arises from the fact that good PR allows citizens a voice in their communities and the opportunity to shape their future.

In fact, I’d bet my APR on it. Thanks James Grunig.

Washed out with the Tide

As a fellow itcher who recently bought Tide detergent, I was interested to see Darren Barefoot’s post regarding Procter and Gamble’s lack of response to complaints on their microsite. Essentially, a reader commented on Tide’s message board:

“Has anyone else experienced itching afte using 2X Ultra Tide Mountain Spring scent ? I never had an allergic reaction to anthing, but it seems I developed this generalized itch after I started using this product…”

This was back in on December 24th. Another reader added to the comment in May, followed by another 17 over the summer. Finally, on August 27th, after Darren’s post, a member of Tide’s marketing team posted a response. Where the heck were they?

Key rules in public relations are research, two-way communications and timely response. Here is my unsolicited advice to the folks at Procter and Gamble:

• If you are going to use any form of communication with your customers, learn how to use it properly; not just the technology but the rules of engagement.
• Ensure you have a team member assigned to regularly monitor its progress.
• Never – ever – put yourselves out there if you don’t want to hear the bad news along with the good.
• Respond quickly. It’s not only good manners, but it shows you care about your customers. Which of course you do, right?
• Report back on what you are doing to correct the problem.

I’ll be expecting to hear about the new itchless Tide by mid-September. And by the way, I threw mine out.

PS While adding my links for the above I noticed that Tide has another 69 posts bidding them goodbye on another thread. I think P&G has a bigger PR problem than I thought. Time to monitor their message board, me thinks.