Press Releases

The Coming Privacy Reckoning

ScottR / Advertising, Agency News, Bad Moves, Branding, Client News, Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Press Releases, Public Relations / #marketing, ccpa, privacy /

November 26, 2019

There is a disturbance in the Force of the marketing world. Have you felt it? The brand-spankin’ new CA Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020 and many organizations are going to have to get IT, legal AND marketing in the same room and working together to manage it.

So you know, The CCPA is a law meant to enhance privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California. The bill was passed by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Jerry Brown, Governor of California, on June 28, 2018, to amend Part 4 of Division 3 of the California Civil Code. Officially called AB-375, the act was introduced by Ed Chau, member of the California State Assembly, and State Senator Robert Hertzberg.

The intentions of the Act are to provide California residents with the right to:

Know what personal data is being collected about them.
Know whether their personal data is sold or disclosed and to whom.
Say no to the sale of personal data.
Access their personal data.
Request a business delete any personal information about a consumer collected from that consumer.
Not be discriminated against for exercising their privacy rights.

The CCPA applies to any business, including any for-profit entity that collects consumers’ personal data, which does business in California, and satisfies at least one of the following thresholds:

Has annual gross revenues in excess of $25 million;
Possesses the personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices;
Earns more than half of its annual revenue from selling consumers’ personal information.

And a quick note: Organizations are required to “implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices” in protecting consumer data. (This is where you need your friends in IT, and probably a big box of donuts)

Why should you care? Well, because a fine up to $7,500 for each intentional violation and $2,500 for each unintentional violation can be imposed. And California LOVES to fine its friends in the business community. Well, what should we do, Scott?

Fear not, here are Scott’s Privacy Tips for Super Nosy Marketers (yeah, it’s probably you):

Don’t be creepy—If you are collecting data and you realize you probably shouldn’t have it, destroy it and stop collecting that data.
Attract your audience, don’t interrupt them—No one ever gets in trouble for giving people what they want and drawing them nearer to it. That’s called marketing.
Remember the importance of brand messaging—If your message is all about YOU, they probably don’t care. And if you confuse, you will lose.
PR provides great visibility for messaging and ZERO privacy concerns—PR is about to become VERY popular…again. 🙂Empathy solves most privacy problems – if YOU don’t want it, neither do they. We know the storm is coming, first to California, then to the rest of the USA courtesy of other states and finally Congress. And we know that ensuring privacy isn’t just marketing’s job, but we are probably the cause of 90 percent of the violations so we should be the solution.

We don’t HAVE to be this awful thing that has to be regulated by the gov’t — we can be better than this — we should and we must.

Scott Robertson is a GDPR/CCPA privacy expert and can answer your questions and help you get your company into compliance!

What Gives YOU the Right?

ScottR / Advertising, Agency News, Branding, Client News, Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Press Releases, Privacy, Public Relations, Social Media /

September 23, 2019

Before you send anything to anyone human to human, you need to have permission. That’s just good manners, right? As a society, we’re pretty good at this behavior one on one. But when the sales and/or marketing dept gets involved, that’s not always the case. In fact, it rarely is.

As I say often, if marketing & communications is the business of building long lasting relationships with our target audiences, then one SURE FIRE way to destroy those relationships is to mess up on privacy and consent.

Marketing as a profession has an extremely poor track record re: privacy under the all-too-common mindset that if a little bit of marketing is good, then a whole bunch MUST be better. And of course, this isn’t true at all.

And a lot of times, we just don’t have time to stop and think about the audience in any way on our way to sell them something. Case in point, I made the mistake of buying some guitar strings from Musician’s Friend recently. Since that time, they have increased their e-mails from one every few days to one or two every single day. Come on, man. Turn OFF the automation and use that noodle resting on your shoulders just a little bit OR…I will block your company both in future sales and future e-mails…forever. I want to like you. Don’t be an idiot and wreck it. You’re not gonna sell me more stuff because you send me more e-mails.

That’s what’s at stake every time we make the decision to communicate — absolutely everything. The entire relationship (we’ve worked for SO many years to build up) is in jeopardy every single time—and yet we put software in charge of it. When’s the last time YOU built a meaning relationship with software? Thought so.

With all of this in mind, here’s just a few tips to get privacy right.

Think before you communicate. Use that E word — empathy. Do they want to receive this now? Why? Would you? Empathy is VERY powerful stuff when used correctly.
Make the message in your communications useful to THEM — people like things that are helpful useful and appear to be about them more than about selling some more stuff.
Know the privacy laws — CAN-SPAM and GDPR are important but new privacy laws are coming from states and also at the federal level that will make “consent to communicate” language very important. Make sure your opt outs are being managed appropriately because there are legal and relationship penalties for getting this stuff wrong.

In marketing, we don’t automatically just have the right to communicate to the world. We must earn that right and we must ask for permission—and our stuff has to be GREAT once permission is given. Remember, we aren’t in the “let’s just sell you now” business, we are supposed to be in the long-term relationship business. And THAT business requires creativity, patience and discipline.

Scott Robertson interviewed for Medium piece about Branding

ScottR / Advertising, Bad Moves, Branding, Client News, Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Press Releases, Privacy, Public Relations /

July 22, 2019

It was my pleasure to be interviewed by Chaya Weiner for this Medium piece called 5 Things You Need to Build a Trusted And Beloved Brand!

https://medium.com/authority-magazine/5-things-you-need-to-do-build-a-trusted-and-beloved-brand-with-scott-robertson-and-chaya-weiner-f83ddf998ca

So Much MORE than Brand Awareness

ScottR / Agency News, Client News, Communications, Journalism, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media /

March 15, 2019

I always wanted to go into advertising. I was a musician who could easily write catchy radio jingles and produce the music to go along with them, so I thought that’s probably how it would go. But a funny thing happened on my way to the ad agency, advertising kinda stopped working. 🙁

And you see, I’m a big fan of things actually working, not just looking or feeling like they do. The appearance of marketing-looking work is NOT marketing in my opinion. The RESULTS are. And the thing that works the best for me (and my clients) is public relations. Good old PR.

PR is a tough one to describe in 2019 mainly because there has been quite a blurring of marketing disciplines in the digital age. But, here’s a really good way to keep it straight. PR is fundamentally about trust and credibility. And no other marketing arrow is gonna give you that. Not advertising, not promotions, not events, not social media —only PR.

And we live in a world where trust and credibility are at all-time lows, but somehow no one in the entire marketing profession wants to talk about that. Because marketing is actually the villain in that story.

Smoke, exaggerations, hype and just outright lies are the tools of some marketers, and we as consumers (both b2b and b2c) have learned from a very early age that they are NOT to be trusted. If trust is the goal, none of these paths will get you there. They won’t.

Now, some people (even PR people) will say PR’s primary role is “brand awareness”and “we don’t want to be measured by sales and things we cannot control.” LOL. Ok. Brand awareness is good, but the real treasure we’re seeking is trust and credibility. Because without those things, you aren’t selling a darn thing to anyone.

PR looks for credible and trustworthy messengers (media, analysts, influencers) to take our clients’ messages to their audiences and somehow transfer that trust to us. That’s the whole game right there. And it REALLY works. One of my clients recently SOLD OUT of two complete runs of a very cool product simply because we put the gadget on TV, radio, online and lots of credible people were saying “Wow, this is super cool — you have to have this.” …And so they did.

Now I love advertising. I love the control, the power, the creativity — everything about it. Except the fact that it just doesn’t deliver very much value except in a supporting role. The star of the marketing show in the trust-free world of today must be PR.

And we are SO much more than simple brand awareness. We do something that simply cannot be done in any other way. We systematically EARN trust and credibility for brands, which leads to sales and growth and all of the good stuff. And maybe, done in this way, marketing doesn’t have to be such a villain after all?

Give Me Something To Believe In

ScottR / Advertising, Branding, Client News, Communications, Journalism, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media / #advertising, #publicrelations, #socialmedia /

January 15, 2019

Did you know that nearly half of all Internet traffic today is fake? Studies generally suggest that, year after year, less than 60 percent of web traffic is human; some years, according to some researchers, a healthy majority of it is bot.

What’s a bot? Well, it’s a software program designed to do one very specific thing—impersonate a human being. Some are so sophisticated in their multi-level behaviors, they can fool the software designed to find and filter out the bots, which is kinda like bot on bot crime. And this is all done to inflate audience numbers so sites can charge more for advertising — oh you knew the money was gonna be a part of this somewhere, didn’t you?

Now in the glorious profession of marketing and communications, we’re all about reaching and building relationships with people. We have no interest in bots. And we have no interest in bots acting like people. We’d just like the people, thank you.

Heres a good stat from Facebook for you. FB claimed that 75 million people watched at least a minute of Facebook Watch videos every day — though, as Facebook admitted, the 60 seconds in that one minute didn’t need to be watched consecutively. Real videos, real people, fake minutes. Because people do not watch portions of a minute of videos and add them up. It kinda messes up the story, you know?

Traffic isn’t the only fake thing out there. Instagram this week reported more fake followers, fake profiles and fake metrics. Twitter shut down more than one million fake accounts designed to fake follow real brands and people. Sheesh!

Today in marketing we have more data and more metrics than at any time in my career, yet I trust those metrics much less. Mainly because of all of the fake traffic and the bots. So how do we REACH actual people in 2019 and beyond?

1. Make YOUR message all about THEM — I don’t know about bots, but people are REALLY into themselves and the stuff that’s going on with them, their needs, wants, desires, dreams. etc.
2. Help THEM get what THEY want — Again, the nuances of marketing these days should be about connecting the hero (your customers) with the things they need.
3. Get someone else (besides you) to carry the message — the media or influencers are a great place to start. When you find a channel that your audience trusts, see if you can get them to tell your story.

And yes, I’ve just described modern public relations. Great message, great delivery, great measurement. Repeat as needed until you retire or the bots take over everything and enslave our race. After walking the halls of CES, don’t worry, it’s coming. We had a good run. 🙂

The real people are out there and they WANT to connect with brands and believe in brands–for their reasons, probably not ours. And WE want to believe we’re reaching them. Maybe just maybe there’s something real out there after all.

Unfinished Houses

ScottR / Bad Moves, Branding, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media /

August 13, 2018

Here in lovely and scenic Orange County, Calif., new home construction is at an all-time high. Which is exactly what you want to see when there aren’t enough schools, restaurants, infrastructure and even water to support the new people pouring into the area. (a story for another time). But as you’re driving by some of these massive developments, you see something interesting — a whole lot of unfinished houses.Don’t worry, they’ll be finished soon enough and new people will join us on the freeways and in line at the grocery stores. Yay!

When I look at the world of marketing, (all of the ads, websites, e-mails, sponsored posts, etc.) I see a ton of unfinished houses out there. Companies/organizations settling for poorly done, self-directed messaging with no compelling story or ability to attract the interest of an audience. Yet…they are still marketing. Still a part of the noise level. Almost every website I see either isn’t clear or isn’t very strong. And I think the problem here is that a lot of digital marketers and techno-savvy web firms who construct a lot of today’s marketing tools and tactics don’t have the first clue what messaging really is and why we spend so much time on it. There is no substitute for an actual education in marketing & communications.

It’s there you learn that messaging is not a punchline and it’s not something you “get” from the client. Messaging is the absolute core of any communications effort and must be viewed that way. When I find a company at a trade show and ask them “what is the emotional core of this brand?” and they can’t answer, yet they have a website, catchy name, full product line, corp ID materials and maybe even a mission statement (gag), I know that they’ve spent a bunch of time building decks, skylights and fancy sun porches on houses with NO foundation. So…they will probably collapse.

No matter how much marketing changes, this will ALWAYS be true. Sender. Receiver. Message. Boom! That’s the communications model you were taught in junior high and if you’re smart you need to still be using it. Truthfully, not enough people are using it. They get SO caught up in the various ways we’re going to communicate through influencer marketing, sales funnel optimization, marketing automation, etc. (insert BS buzzwords here) that they’ve missed the very simple point. Have. a. Message.

And make that message about who? That’s right, all about them. Count the number of personal pronouns in your current messaging. If the number of “we” and “us” outnumbers the “you” and “your” start over. No one cares about you, your company, your WHY WE DO THIS statement, your mission statement and any other bunch of personal branding marketing B.S. that’s been made up and thrown at you during your career. They only care about themselves. Better said, WE only care about OURSELVES. And it’s not a character flaw, it’s biology. I think it comes from our survival instinct. Yes, I’m sorry there’s a velociraptor chowing down on YOU, but let’s get back to ME. When push comes to shove, we are self-centered creatures.

The first step to making this whole thing called marketing better is having something to say…to them…about them. And if you’re super clever, you can find a way to intersect your message with the internal perceptions that our audiences either believe to be true about themselves or desperately want/need to be true. Doing this is called neuromarketing, but that’s a really fancy term for giving people EXACTLY what they want and need to hear at the deepest level. My company transforms ordinary businesses into extraordinary ones and we always start by fixing the message. Because you don’t want an unfinished house in a very crowded neighborhood.

Uncommon Sense

ScottR / Branding, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media /

July 17, 2018

There was a time when I believed in common sense. I thought that people grew up, became educated and while making a mistake here and there along the way, generally got things right. But I was wrong.

Sense (as in “that makes sense, so yes”) isn’t “common” at all in our world today. We don’t all share a common viewpoint that says when X happens, Y is the correct course. There are exceptions of course — things like traffic laws, paying taxes and watching videos of cool-looking dogs. But I’ve learned that things that make sense to me might ONLY make sense to me and that you cannot assume the power of common sense will take over and guide people. It won’t and baby, I can prove it. How much time do you have?

For example, in marketing here are three things that don’t make sense, but really should (to me at least):

Brand Messaging — Should always be 100 percent about the audience, their needs, wants, desires. But thousands of companies fail at this and thus their marketing efforts will be somewhat less effective and wasted. We work hard to fix this problem with every new client we take on, but that’s a pretty limited reach.
Privacy — Should be defended vigorously by the marketing dept. since we are supposed to be in the “let’s build a relationship” business—and yet marketing fights back on privacy looking for new and inventive ways to be creepy and invasive. So much so, that governments have now gotten involved in creating new privacy laws that draw the edges of the sandbox for marketing. (Yay?) And yet…even under the threat of fines and non-compliance, marketing will foolishly communicate WITHOUT consent, destroying any chance of a relationship which is both short-sighted and dumb.
Ongoing Stupidity — From Henry J. at Gibson blaming his customers for not wanting new “technologically advanced” guitars to United Airlines’ massive mishandling of crisis after crisis you just have to wonder — who is running these programs? All of the things I cover on the Winning and Losing segment of my weekly radio show are EASILY avoidable with just like a little bit of thinking being applied PRIOR to the execution. And yet, it’s like a big corporate game of Who Can Sink Lower, Faster with the next company up saying, “Ha, that was good. …Hold my beer!”

So if sense isn’t as “common” as we thought, then how do we manage communications? Here’s everything you will ever need to know from a 25-year MarCom veteran. First, begin with empathy for your audience. Second, trust your audience to behave (they will when the message is right for them). Third, don’t step in it. (and if you do, then really apologize for it and move on). Instead of a laundry list of tactics, timelines, marketing automation, A.I. and whatever else you’ve got, this is what your marketing plan should look like. Are we considering them? Do we really trust them? And when presented with the opportunity to do something really dumb that will create work for the PR dept, let’s just not.

Marketing and communications should be pretty simple. We listen, we respond and we do our best to earn our very small place in someone’s very busy life. If nothing else, maybe we could at least have this in common?

GDPR: The Consumer Strikes Back

ScottR / Agency News, Branding, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media /

June 18, 2018

Data. Like most things in life it can be used for good and it can be used for evil, depending on the user. Here in the digital age, data just seems to fall out of the sky into marketers’ waiting little hands. But, data always comes at a price, and I’m not talking about the cost of buying of an e-mail list.

Case in point — the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) enacted by our friends across the pond in the EU/UK. The rules state that if you run a website that COULD be accessed by citizens of these regions, then these new laws apply to you. It’s basically a digital bill of rights for EU/UK consumers in the wake of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal (among others) that govern how consumer data can be collected, used and stored. And the fines are BIG — $25 million Euro to start. See, that gets everyone’s attention very quickly.

Here’s my main point — the day before GDPR went into effect, I received no fewer than 15 privacy policy revamp e-mails from the many vendors with whom I regularly interact. And my question is — why did it take a government regulation from a region where I don’t even live to get these companies to realize they should be more careful with my data? The message sent loud and clear is — “Oh, hey, NOW we care — your privacy is SO important to us (from the people who brought you “your call is so important to us”) and NOW, man we are going to do better by golly! (Insert eye roll here).

Facebook’s new apology tour ads even say that — Hey, we’re going to do better. And you can almost hear people saying — Yeah, well why didn’t you do better before the government told you to do better? Are you sorry or are you just sorry you got caught.

To me, the problem is a lack of empathy at the organizational level. Marketing departments lack the ability to act like actual human people and realize that their super-creepy retargeting, list buying, info collecting tendencies MAY not be in the best interests of the audiences they are trying to reach.

When you begin your communications program with empathy, trust and respect of your audience, you really don’t need any government to tell you what is right and wrong anymore. Give it a try and see what you think.

GREAT communications efforts begin with EMPATHY!

New, Meaning-Free Marketing

ScottR / Branding, Client News, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media /

April 13, 2018

If a tree falls in the woods and there’s no one around to hear it, did it make a sound? That’s the classic and fairly famous philosophical question and the second most famous “in the woods” question (the first involves the preferred restroom of bears). But in marketing here’s the thing — if YOU receive a targeted marketing message from a sender and don’t understand it, then WHY on earth was it sent out? Why indeed!

Here are a few examples of meaningless marketing that companies create and inflict on audiences:

Vision/Mission Statements — These went out with pleated pants in the 90’s yet some companies and old-school marketing firms still create them. Here’s a quick tip – No one cares about your mission, they ONLY care about their own needs and how your thing might possibly help them get closer to their thing. Don’t have a mission statement unless you take out all of the “we” and “us” pronouns and substitute for “our customers” “our audience,” etc. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) should be ALL about them or it’s 100 percent worthless.

CEO Quotes in Press Releases — Man, there are words strung together where the quote should be, but I challenge you to find any meaning. Words like “upward trajectory” and “synergies” are used, but unless you’re trying to set up the perfect card in Buzzword Bingo, just speak like a human would and try to deliver an opinion or unique thought that could really only appear in a quote. Or, better yet — leave it out because if your quote sucks, then reporters will definitely be happy to handle this part for you.

Marketing Sounding Language — For this, I include cutesy words that all start with the same letter and end up saying nothing or just those dumb words and phrases that can only come from marketing like “disruption” and “turnkey solution” (FYI — NEVER use solution — it’s trite). Really anything that SOUNDS like it was written by the marketing or PR department should be closely reviewed and promptly canned. Instead, let’s SOUND like humans. Novel I realize, but give it a try. And for your futher reading enjoyment, here’s a list from Spin Sucks of PR and Marketing Buzzwords that need to die. https://spinsucks.com/social-media/big-question-pr-buzzwords-must-die/

And here’s the main point — Marketing is about trust and relationships—and every single time you hit send to a single person or en masse on behalf of an organization, you’re at risk of damaging or ending that relationship. (Yes, it should be pretty scary every time). The good news is that you also could build and strengthen those relationships and create new ones. But it’s all in the choices made before it’s sent. So make it clear and make it great (for them). Then your audience will keep riding along with YOUR brand for a little while longer!

Collateral Brand Damage

ScottR / Advertising, Branding, Client News, Marketing, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media /

February 14, 2018

In wartime, when an army crosses a strategic position such as a bridge, often the order is given to blow the bridge up behind the advancing forces so the enemy cannot follow. But what about the people who also needed that bridge or even those who might get caught in the dangerous blast? This is known as “collateral damage” and no matter what it is (lives destroyed or lost) it’s justified by the accomplishment of the military objective.

In other words, “that’s not my problem.” or “we don’t really care about that.”

But brands sometimes have this same thinking in place in the ongoing quest for sales, conversions or any other term that means “money coming in.” Some companies are happy to sacrifice long-term relationships for short-term money—and that’s just not good.

If RobertsonComm branding rule #1 is “Everything Counts” then #2 surely is “Think Things Through.” I’m telling you, it doesn’t happen as often as it should and that’s why so many companies place their faith and their brands in the hands of horrible tactics like:

Telemarketing—Don’t EVER let your brand be associated with the almost always negative emotions encountered on telemarketing calls. No one wants them and they WILL remember you long after they’ve hung up in anger.
Re-targeted Online Advertising—TRUST your buyer and seriously, back off because the FTC is coming.
Banner ads — especially ones on your site that block the viewer from seeing content so they can sign up for your e-news and get 10 percent off. Just stop it!
Chat Bots—If it’s not important enough for YOU to actually be there, why should the customer participate in the conversation?
Sponsored Posts—No one is logging into THEIR social worlds looking for YOUR promotion. Learn it.
Marketing Automation—Instead of sending more stuff, more frequently and making it easier on YOU — why don’t you create something that ATTRACTS them to YOU. I know, it’s novel thinking, but try it.

Your brand is your most valuable and most important business asset. Every time a potential client, customer or audience member encounters it, try to make it a pleasant experience for them. Remember, we are supposed to be in the LONG-TERM relationship business and that means trusting your audience to make the right call without so much prodding.

If you are truly great at what you offer, whether it be a product, service or just a cause, then they will find you and they will behave like you want them to.

So let’s end the vicious cycle of collateral brand damage and think everything we do ALL the way through. Just remember, if they would’ve done that in Jurassic Park, everyone would’ve lived. (but it wouldn’t have been a very good movie I guess) Think about it.

Key Speakers At The U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Aviation Summit

United Breaks Guitars and People

ScottR / Advertising, Bad Moves, Branding, Communications, Press Releases /

December 10, 2017

Once upon a time in corporate and industrial communications, there was a wise guru who helped tell the company just what to say using the power of flowery and poofy language that almost made the company’s rather poor behavior disappear. Sometimes called a “doctor” of spin, this individual made a good living on a mountain of half-truths and sometimes pure lies. That was then, people. Today, we have a U.S. President who communicates using ALL CAPS on Twitter and THAT’s the channel where you’re gonna hear the news. Raw, hard and unfiltered like a rolled cigarette in an old Western.

And if you lack the tolerance for the dead-honest truth, it’s gonna hit you like one as you double over coughing. We are now (and have been for some time) in the anti-spin zone. Case in point, United Airlines, who has really been doing its best to unseat anyone else in the worst brand disasters of 2017 stories.

After its security forcibly removed a paying passenger so that one of its employees could make a flight, its CEO, who PRWeek recently named “Communicator of the Year” said this — “This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accomodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.” Re-accommodate? Yeah, no. We all SAW the videos.

That was nothing short of full-blown assault..with blood pouring down the victim at the end. There comes a time when you must use those awesome “Communicator of the Year” skills and actually communicate. Maybe something like: “We were truly horrified to see this and Holy Good God this just isn’t us! Some people in Chicago clearly acted unilaterally and those people are going to be seeking new employment by the time I hit send on this.”

Ok, legal won’t let you send that — Then try to — Talk. Like. An. Actual. Person. Here’s the lesson and moral of the story — Stop spinning things and just talk. When you try to sound all “professional” and “smooth” you can end up sounding like a cold, uncaring robot (like United did during the recent leggings scandal) and those probably aren’t the “optics” you’re gunning for. Just like company press releases that brag about having a “robust b2b end-to-end solution.” You don’t have one.

And even if you did, NO ONE knows what that is or what it means to them. Business communications and business communicators need to take a hard lesson from President Donald J. Trump.

Zero spin directly from him and it’s at least 50 percent likely to offend someone. But…that’s where we are. That’s what we’re called to do.

(VIDEO) Everybody Wants to Be on Page One (Why SEO Matters)

ScottR / Branding, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media /

September 21, 2017

RobertsonComm CEO Scott Robertson in action!

(AUDIO) May the Best Brand Win on Entertalk Radio: Episode 55: What You Know For Sure That Just Ain’t So

ScottR / Branding, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media /

June 19, 2017

Enjoy!

Episode 55: What You Know For Sure That Just Ain’t So

(AUDIO) May the Best Brand Win on Entertalk Radio: Episode 46: INSERT Content Here

ScottR / Advertising, Client News, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases, Social Media /

March 27, 2017

Enjoy!

03/24/17 Episode 46: Insert Content Here

(AUDIO) May the Best Brand Win on Entertalk Radio — Episode 37: Being Different

ScottR / Bad Moves, Branding, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases /

December 12, 2016

Enjoy!

12/09/16 Episode 37: Being Different

AUDIO: 04/08/16 Episode 7: Changing Communications

ScottR / Branding, Communications, Press Releases, Public Relations, Social Media /

December 11, 2016

Tune in to the latest episode of “May the Best Brand Win” featuring RobertsonComm CEO Scott Robertson.

Buzzwords and BS

ScottR / Branding, Communications, Press Releases /

December 7, 2016

Have you ever read a mission statement or company/product description and said to yourself, “what does that even mean?” If so, you’ve probably been “buzzed” by some industry buzzwords, jargon and marketing-type language and other BS. I like to call this stuff “the appearance of marketing” because it kinda sounds good for a second, but then you go, “…wait, I didn’t really get anything out of that.” It’s like the Chinese food of communications — leaves your mind hungry about 30 minutes later. Why do we create and use buzzwords? Well, I’m not a psychologist, but I think it’s because we want to include and also exclude people. nike air max 2017 goedkoop We all have those groups of friends where we share a lexicon of what things mean and more importantly what they mean to us. And in those circles, all of the inside references work really well and they help everyone feel included as a part of the group. But in corporate communications, where the objective to reach a larger audience, our “inside baseball” jargon works against us. nike pas cher 2017 It makes short sentences into longer ones and longer ones into impossibly long ones. I’m including a list of Inc. timberland femme Magazine’s Terrible Buzzwords that they’re seeing out there, but we all encounter and dislike not understanding what is going on. It makes us feel excluded and we move on from that message to another one — or a lost episode of SpongeBob Squarepants — a happy little sponge who uses zero buzzwords. Marketing people seem to love buzzwords and BS. Clever little uses of words with similar alliteration make us feel smarter. But we are not. Listen up. asics gel pas cher Marketing’s job is to get the message arrow from the sender to the receiver. Your “cleverness” could easily interrupt this. So follow these quick tips

Say it in fewer words — always a great exercise
Say it using active voice verbs — passive voice ones frighten and confuse people.
Say it with no buzzwords. A good writer can ALWAYS get rid of those.
Say it and dial back the hype knob. nike air max thea We know you’re excited, but please get it under control.
Say it and test to make sure actual humans know what you said. If people can’t spit it back to you, try again.

I dream of a business world where we all have the emotional stability to move past buzzwords and toward actual marketing and communications.

May the Best Brand Win on Entertalk Radio. Episode 31: Twisted Communications

ScottR / Branding, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases /
October 24, 2016

Enjoy!

10/21/16 Episode 31: Twisted Communications

May The Best Brand Win on EnterTalk Radio. Episode 30: A Failure to Communicate

ScottR / Advertising, Communications, Marketing, Press Releases /
October 17, 2016

Enjoy!

10/14/16 Episode 30: A Failure to Communicate

Who Recalled My Cheese?

ScottR / Bad Moves, Communications, Press Releases, Public Relations /
December 7, 2015

Recently, Kraft issued a warning about some Kraft Singles cheese slices that could put consumers at risk of choking. asics pulse soldes As many news outlets have reported “the company announced a voluntary recall affecting 36,000 cases of American cheese slices sold in 3-lb. and 4-lb. boxes.” Ok first, who is buying cheese in 3-4 POUND boxes? Good Lord, that is a lot of cheese. Cheese isn’t exactly a “stock-up” food because it goes bad. nike internationalist Like you don’t hear anyone bragging — “hey, come check out my massive collection of milk” pretty much for the exact same reason. But I digress. What I want to talk about is why the company would recall 36,000 cases of cheese based on 10 complaints and reports of at least three people “choking” on a remaining piece of plastic film that sticks to the cheese even after you rip off the first plastic apparently. What sort of devil cheese is this that can defy mankind’s ability to rip off the wrapper and consume it? So quick math test — what is 36,000 divided by 13? The answer – not nearly enough to warrant an entire communications program when the solution is simply — “hey open your eyes and make sure you’re not putting plastic in your mouth.” I wish I had this assignment for Kraft — “Scott, we need to inform people about the potential dangers of our cheese.” Man, I could have fun with that. Here’s the point, and I’m speaking to Kraft and everyone else within the sound of my digital voice. asics gel lyte Handle this differently please. Make sure the problem is larger than a rounding error prior to taking action and then take action appropriately and not like it’s some sort of actual crisis. bottes ugg pas cher I saw this silly report on CBS, CNN, The LA Times, USA TODAY, NBC, MSNBC, US News & World Report, The Chicago Tribune, AOL and Time Magazine just to name a few. Really, national news media? Really? Although it did make me WANT to have some cheese so maybe there’s something to that reach and frequency stuff.

Robertson Communications Corp. Celebrates Three Years of Providing Public Relations, Branding and Marketing Services to Music, Audio and Tech Clients

ScottR / Agency News, Press Releases, Public Relations /
December 5, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Scott Robertson, APR 949-766-6789 RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CALIF., March 5, 2015 – Today, Robertson Communications Corp, a full-service public relations and branding firm specializing in helping some of the best music/audio, technology and non-profit association clients win in the marketplace through stronger communications, today celebrated its third anniversary. adidas ultra boost The company grew in 2015, being selected by clients including Hal Leonard Corp., Rock ’N’ Roll Fantasy Camp, VocoPro, Angel Musical Instruments and Wood Violins. Asics gel nimbus pas cher Robertson Communications continues to provide counsel, strategy and implementation of programs to increase sales, build market share and strengthen corporate reputations. nike tn 2017 “It’s been a very exciting and great ride so far,” said Scott Robertson, CEO, Robertson Communications.

E. Lombardo Guitars Picks Robertson Communications Corp. to Lead Rebranding Effort

ScottR / Agency News, Press Releases /
December 7, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New York, NY, Jan. 13, 2013 — E. Lombardo Guitars, an emerging guitar maker, announced today that it has selected Robertson Communications Corp. nike air max 90 to lead the company’s rebranding efforts in 2014. nike air max 90 Featuring unique, quality custom guitars made by master luthier Ernie Lombardo, student of Tom Doyle, Les Paul’s luthier and engineer for over 30 years, E. adidas original Lombardo Guitars is planning to expand its business and marketing push. Robertson Communications will provide branding, PR and marketing services for the two-year-old music company. “Truly great branding involves passion and Ernie Lombardo has a surplus to share,” said Scott Robertson, president/founder, Robertson Communications Corp. chaussure timberland pas cher “We look forward to unlocking that passion and using it to fuel the creation of the E. Nike Pour Homme Lombardo Guitars brand story this year.” About Robertson Communications Corp. Robertson Communications is a new digital public relations agency based in Orange County, Calif., which specializes in helping some of the best music/sound, technology and consumer companies in the world win in the marketplace through superior PR and marketing communications.

Robertson Communications Corp. Celebrates Second Anniversary

ScottR / Agency News, Press Releases /
December 5, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif, March 5, 2014 – Robertson Communications Corp, a strategic public relations/branding and marketing firm located in Orange County today celebrates its second anniversary. The company continued to grow in 2013 doing work for Supermegaultragroovy/Capo, NTI Corporation, E. Lombardo Guitars, Klein Financial Advisors and the Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA). bottes timberland pas cher The agency continued its pro-bono work for non-profit organizations including Guitars in the Classroom, the Mission Viejo Christian School and the SMART Foundation. chaussure timberland homme “It’s a beautiful thing when a career, a dream and passion come together,” said Scott Robertson, CEO, Robertson Communications Corp. “I feel very fortunate to be able to work on my clients’ branding and communications issues and do our unique kind of creative, interesting work that drives sales and business outcomes.” About Robertson Communications Corp. Robertson Communications Corp. nike air max 90 is a strategic public relations/branding and marketing agency based in Orange County, Calif. Adidas NMD pour homme with the goal of helping the best music/sound, technology as well as B2B and consumer companies in the world win in the marketplace through superior communications.

Robertson Communications Corp Signs Maker of Apple Design Award-Winning Music App

ScottR / Agency News, Press Releases, Uncategorized /
December 24, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Robertson Communications Corp Signs Maker of Apple Design Award-Winning Music App Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. adidas zx flux June 24, 2013 — Robertson Communications Corp. today announced that SuperMegaUltraGroovy Inc, developer of world-class audio applications including the Apple Design Award winning app, Capo, has become the growing agency’s latest client. air jordan future Robertson Communications will manage branding and strategic public relations work for the developer’s line of audio apps including Capo (http://capoapp.com) which helps musicians learn the music in their iTunes libraries more easily by slowing the tracks down without affecting pitch. “SuperMegaUltraGroovy’s apps are extremely creative, useful and solve many problems for musicians and audiophiles,” said Scott Robertson, president, Robertson Communications Corp. “We look forward to working with the company to hone its brand and connect its amazing apps with musicians of all skill levels around the world.” About SuperMegaUltraGroovy Inc. SuperMegaUltraGroovy Inc. is a world-class software developer that uses top-notch design with cutting-edge research to create world-class audio applications which include Capo, FuzzMeasure and TapeDeck. For more information about the company, interested parties should visit www.supermegaultragroovy.com About Robertson Communications Corp. Robertson Communications Corp. bottes timberland pas cher is a strategic public relations/branding and marketing agency based in Orange County, Calif. adidas zx 500 with the goal of helping the best music/sound, technology as well as B2B and consumer companies in the world get their unfair share of attention and win in the marketplace through superior communications.

Professionals In Human Resources Association Taps Robertson Communications Corp. for Conference Work

ScottR / Agency News, Press Releases /
December 11, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. June 11, 2013 — The Professionals In Human Resources Association (PIHRA) announced today that it has hired Robertson Communications to manage public relations for its upcoming California HR Conference, which will be held Aug. nike roshe run 26-28 in Anaheim Calif. nike air max soldes The California HR Conference is the second-largest HR gathering in the United States with more than 3,200 expected attendees. chaussure timberland homme Robertson Communications will handle strategic public relations work to communicate the show’s new brand and increase registration. nike air force 1 “The human resources field is dealing with a lot of difficult and confusing changes right now,” said Scott Robertson, president, Robertson Communications Corp. “PIHRA’s HR Conference has a great story to tell which includes a lot of value for California HR professionals and we’re excited to work with them to spread the word about it.” About Robertson Communications Robertson Communications Corp. is a strategic public relations/branding and marketing agency based in Orange County, Calif. with the goal of helping the best music/sound, technology as well as B2B and consumer companies in the world get their unfair share of attention and win in the marketplace through superior communications. For more information, visit www.robertsoncomm.com or call 949-766-6789. About PIHRA The Professionals In Human Resources Association (PIHRA) is dedicated to the continuous enhancement of human resources through networking, learning, and advocacy. We serve the human resources industry with 16 locations in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura.

NTI Corp Selects Robertson Communications to Launch New File Sharing Service

ScottR / Agency News, Client News, Press Releases, Uncategorized /
December 5, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. nike air huarache September 5, 2013 — NTI Corp, the Irvine-based digital media and data storage management software developer, has engaged Robertson Communications to launch the company’s new file sharing service later this month. adidas zx 500 NTI, best known for its popular “NTI CD Maker” application, is now venturing into subscription based software models for some of its new services. Robertson Communications will handle strategic public relations work to build the new service’s brand and attract new users. timberland earthkeepers bottes “NTI is a proven innovator and its new service will certainly add to that reputation,” said Scott Robertson, president, Robertson Communications Corp. asics kinsei “In a crowded and sometimes confusing category such as this, our brand of public relations will prove to be a useful educator for all audiences.” About Robertson Communications Robertson Communications Corp. is a strategic public relations/branding and marketing agency based in Orange County, Calif. louboutin paris with the goal of helping the best music/sound, technology as well as B2B and consumer companies in the world get their unfair share of attention and win in the marketplace through superior communications.