We saw in the news this week that Weight Watchers is taking action through an effective campaign that will match dollars for pounds lost to be given to charities such as Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger. The program is called Lose for Good. This campaign is such a great idea for two major reasons – people that want to lose weight but also enjoy giving back to people less fortunate will have another reason to join Weight Watchers, so their membership numbers should increase. The other reason is it puts Weight Watchers in a positive light as they give funds to charity.

Locally we have seen this through organizations such as the United Way when they encourage companies to have their employees volunteer in the community. Receiving news coverage for your company doing a clean-up day or volunteering in a soup kitchen shows your organization is committed to its community and that it offers a fulfilling experience for its employees. This is also an inexpensive way to boost your image because the only cost is man hours, and not extra budgeted funds.

So start by looking around your community to see where your organization can help, and possibly get some great PR. Volunteering or giving to a good cause will not only make you feel good, but will also make your company look good.

Avoid the instinct to hide or cover up bad news; it will not go unnoticed. Attempts to hide things from customers, employees, stockholders and the media usually backfire. This will make you look suspicious and guilty, likely resulting in a more sensational story. Give straight-forward facts to the reporter. If they have to dig for information, the story will linger in the press as more details surface over time.

Also, avoid trying to play-down or disguise bad news by combining it with good news. This obvious attempt at “spin” will only insult your audience. Instead, end the news release with a positive statement on how the organization is taking action to resolve the negative situation. After you release the bad news, follow up with the media at a later date to give them updates on what steps have been taken and the positive results that have occurred.

And that’s my point. Good for Google.

Google is arguably the best brand name on the internet and whenever it does something, everyone seems to listen. It just oozes publicity with every application it introduces. In fact, we’re talking about 784,000 hits (on Google, of course) for a web browser that has only been available a day or two. We should mention that an overwhelming majority of that press came without Google spending a dime. When Google makes a move, it’s news.

Getting your message out is a key component to any marketing campaign and Google seems to have that part down – granted, they’re like the Department of Transportation for the Information Superhighway.

Like Google and Apple and all those other buzz-worthy companies out there, the more you can get your message spreading, the better. That’s the theory behind this whole viral marketing concept.

While we’re impressed with the spread of Google’s message this week, we’re not convinced on their choice of product. Another big rule of marketing is knowing your target market and your competition. In this case, Windows users (the operating system currently supported by Chrome) mostly default to the Goliath standby Internet Explorer. IE has a firm grip on 70-percent of Window’s users. Every new computer comes with IE installed and that seems just fine to a majority of users. Mozilla’s Firefox has 20 percent of the market, which is quite a way off pace for the No. 2 browser. We just think this is a tough market to break into.

It remains to be seen how many will jump ship from one browser to another – but if a lot of folks start choosing Chrome, I’m sure we’ll hear about it.

A great way to stay in touch is to grow some form of opt-in database of email addresses or phone numbers. There are services that do a lot of the work for you at reasonable costs.

The problem that most people have is getting that database of contacts together. We all know we can’t just spam away these days – you need to reach out to people that agreed to be contacted.

Obviously, offering deals or coupons is a good way of doing so. There are many people that would like to be in your “preferred customer” program. There’s also the good ole “win a free lunch for your office” business card drop.

Last week, you’ve got to hand it to Barack Obama (we’re not going all political on you). The Democratic Presidential nominee built up his database of contacts by offering people the chance to be the first to know who his running mate would be by signing up to receive a text message. A member of the PR Etc. team even got that message in the middle of the night.

So what does this all have to do with marketing?

Mr. Obama now has a great big list of his supporters – and you can bet that the first text message won’t be their last, especially when November 4th rolls around.

So how does a company come back after such a scare? We’re excited to see how the potato industry is going to do with the launch of a new campaign aimed at getting the word out about the nutritious value of potatoes. While the potato industry never suffered a major illness outbreak, they did suffer through the Atkins diet fad. As people got rid of carbs, they threw out their potatoes. So now the potato industry has re-grouped and will work to refine its image as a healthy, affordable vegetable.

In the world of PR, we learn three things when it comes to a crisis such as this: first, admit you made a mistake; next, say you’re sorry; and third, say how you’re going to fix it. And if your company can follow through on all the promises of each solution to the problem, over time your company can enjoy its comeback, just like we hope our potato folks will be doing.

Feedback helps you understand your public’s attitude and disposition, which is critical to how you will shape and present your message. Gone are the days when companies could gather feedback through the privacy of their websites or customer service departments. The blogs and social media of the internet have opened an entirely new avenue to submit and gather feedback about your organization. Monitoring blogs allows you to address public attitudes and opinions as they arise.

Sometimes blogs can be seen as nuisances, especially when they trash your company. You shouldn’t get discouraged with negative feedback. Instead, look at it as an opportunity to become engaged in the discussion by correction misinformation or answering questions. Also to counter negative blogs or online discussions, organizations can start their own blogs or create feedback forums. While you want to pay attention to submitted feedback, don’t let a few criticisms completely change your campaign’s direction.

How your customers are treated via phone or in person can make the difference between a purchase and a bad experience that is shared with others, resulting in lost sales. There are just too many choices for products and services, and with the advent of the Internet, now we can purchase almost anything online and bypass human beings overall. Many businesses spend so much time developing a product, and so much money in marketing and sales, they often overlook one of the easiest attributes to earn a customer’s business: customer service.

So how good is your customer service and how can you improve it? Invest some time and effort into a “secret shopper.” Contact people that you might know from networking and provide them with a checklist of what they should look for when purchasing from your organization. Some of these items might include whether the phone was answered in a timely manner and if questions were handled in a professional, courteous and/or friendly manner. Were returns or problems solved to the “customer’s” satisfaction? Was the shopping environment clean and inviting?

As we wind down another summer and celebrate Labor Day, take the time to invest in your customer service so that your customers continue to invest in you, and your products and services.

Making connections with popular trends gives your story a better chance of being told. It gives the media a better reason to cover it if it relates to another popular trend. So how can you do this with your own company story? Read the most popular news sites every day to see what people are talking about. Most news sites have a section labeled “most popular.” Does your story have a “green” tie-in, or another popular trend? Of course, it’s a bad idea to try to connect two subjects that have nothing to do with each other and therefore makes no sense to your audience. But it just might happen that your company story somehow relates to the amazing phenomenon of Miley Cyrus or the iPhone. So get online and see what trend your business falls into – or maybe even start your own.

To demonstrate your value and worth within the organization, show measurable results of your work. If you have the resources, this can be done by surveying public awareness of the organization, recording attendance at special events or monitoring hits on its website. Also, develop and foster a trusting relationship between the upper management and PR department. This relationship will be critical if any crises or controversy arises that deals with your organization.

Each organization has completely different scenarios which it defines as a crisis – from a product recall to endangerment of life to a public company’s negative earnings report. While most crises are unexpected, senior management and trusted communications advisors can outline potential negative situations and communication strategies to deal with them.

Each strategy should:

* Prioritize audiences for communications. In some situations, the general public should be informed immediately; in other cases, vendors or customers should be the first to know.
* Define a response strategy. Will you be proactive? Reactive? Preemptive?
* Identify an internal management team – and one leader – for each scenario. Obviously, when a crisis occurs, present business must continue so not everyone can take his/her eye off the daily activities.
* Create an informational form to ensure members of the crisis team have the ability to track activities and avoid doubling resources on efforts.
* Perform a crisis simulation walk-through to determine where communications problems may arise and/or more organization is necessary.

Keep in mind that these initial strategy measures won’t meet all the needs of your crisis, but they can help you more effectively manage the business through it.