Good branding requires companies to tell a good story. And the sign of a good story is when others start retelling it for you.

That’s what we’re attempting to do for Keystone Processors Ltd. It’s a new beef plant in Winnipeg. For now, it’s selling beef solely within the province, but it has big plans to reach premium niche markets internationally.

So what? Well, Keystone Processors is the first new beef plant in Manitoba in a generation and it also happens to be owned by Manitoba farmers. When the US shut its border to Canadian beef in 2003, Canada’s beef plants in Alberta and Ontario were swamped with local livestock. With no access to local plants, Manitoba cattle farmers were devastated. A handful of them recognized they had to change the way they did business. So they united behind a vision of marketing a new brand of Manitoba beef to the world - and to own every stage of production from farm to distribution, gate to plate.

Instead of rewarding massive multinational companies, profits will go to farmers - many of them running farms that have been in their families for generations. At the same time, the new plant could mark a turning point in the Manitoba food processing sector too, which has been shrinking in recent years.

We raise great beef here. That shouldn’t be any surprise with our clean air, wide open spaces and history of agricultural leadership. And we want Manitobans to be proud of the company and the farmers behind it.

The company has come a long way in just a few short years. Thanks to dogged determination and countless hours of hard work, the farmers’ dreams of a brighter future are becoming reality. In fact, just last week, the plant received major new funding from the federal government and the Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council.

For our part, we’ve begun telling this remarkable story wherever we can. We’ve had considerable success with media relations across Manitoba and in agricultural media across the country. Several international publications have also started following the company’s progress. These efforts are crucial as the company has to build its brand outside of our borders, but advertising is cost prohibitive to reach all the jurisdictions they need.

We’ve also been repeating the story locally, because we need Manitobans to buy in to the Keystone Processors success story first. To do this, we’ve been building a successful Facebook fan page, blogging and Tweeting all about the company. We’ve also run some small advertising campaigns, which we expect to ramp up in the months to come.

Early results have been encouraging. On a limited budget we’ve seen growth in Facebook fans, Twitter followers and, more importantly, traffic into the Keystone Processors’ online and real store to buy premium Manitoba beef.

That’s when you know the story is working: when people are buying.

Occasionally someone will ask me if we do news conferences. Yes and no, I answer. We’ll set up news conferences for clients when they’re appropriate, but those circumstances have become increasingly rare. It might still be possible to fill a room with reporters in Toronto or New York, but it’s not easy in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

It wasn’t always this way. Only a decade ago, local news conferences were much more common. Public relations people would dutifully set up rows of chairs, podiums with urns of coffee at the back of the room. Displays and demonstrations and other things of visual interest were set up and media kits full of information assembled. And the rooms would fill with radio, television and print reporters.

That was at a time when news people were more plentiful. Today, there are scarcely more than half a dozen newsrooms of any size and energy in Winnipeg. For radio, you have CBC Radio One, Radio Canada (CBC French) and CJOB, all of which are staffed with more on-air hosts than reporters. For television, there’s CBC, Global and CTV (easily the most important of the three based on ratings). There’s also CITY TV which still airs local news on its Breakfast Television broadcast. In print, there’s the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press. It’s instructive that even The Free Press, which has the largest and most active newsroom, is a tough sell to get out to news events.

All these newsrooms have been shrinking in recent years and many radio stations have given up the idea of generating their own news entirely. So there just aren’t that many reporters around to show up to a news conference.

As a result we tell our clients that the traditional news conference isn’t the way to go except in circumstances where you have intense public interest in a subject and limited time to satisfy multiple interview requests. For example, you might have a genuine crisis on your hands that is of great public interest and you need to release information to a broad audience all at once. (The police still do this on a regular basis as do many other emergency services organizations, though they characterize these events as briefings rather than the more formal ‘news conference.’) On the other hand, you may also have a visiting celebrity to whom you need to restrict access (due to his or her popularity and limited availability).

In the main, except for special events, media relations efforts in Winnipeg and Manitoba are more commonly one-on-one efforts. We tend to pitch our stories more actively and directly than we did before to individual reporters, editors, news directors and on-air hosts. There’s just too much competition for the attention of a dwindling pool of news people.

This scenario is even more pronounced outside of Winnipeg. Brandon has the Brandon Sun, CKX TV and a couple of local radio newsrooms. There are small weekly papers and rural radio stations across Manitoba who are even more strained for resources than their big city counterparts. In Saskatchewan, where we regularly reach out to both urban (Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, Prince Albert) and rural audiences, the problem is even more pronounced with even smaller newsrooms. The same goes for Northwestern Ontario where geography and a battered regional economy combine to reduce the local news pool (it’s a five hour drive from Thunder Bay to Kenora and I’d be surprised if there are even two dozen local reporters to cover the whole area).

Notwithstanding the challenge it places on our democracy where the media have long formed an ‘unofficial opposition’, it also makes our job of media relations that much more challenging.

It’s interesting to note that where traditional newsrooms have fallen away from covering some stories, hyper-local news websites have begun to pick up the slack. In Winnipeg, for example, you should check out www.ChrisD.ca. ChrisD.ca is one of many local bloggers we reach out to on behalf of clients. In fact we spend as much time using social media - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Picasa - and talking to bloggers on any particular topic as we do talking to reporters.

Get used to it. The days of multiple, large newsrooms are over.

I was just talking to an old friend of mine, Mark Rayner, who is in the beginning stages of publicizing his latest novel, Marvelous Hairy. Mark’s a great, funny writer - though under appreciated by way of sales and fame. That doesn’t matter though. He loves to write and through his books the world is a little sillier, intelligent and better.

He and I were discussing ways he could drive more interest in his book. He’s with a small publisher with a small budget. So - as often happens - much of the actual  work of publicizing the book has fallen to him, the author.

We reviewed the usual ways books are marketed: advance copies to reviewers, build buzz for distributors and book shops, pitch the media, hope for some interviews.

That’s all fine. They’re all good things to do, but unless he’s extremely lucky, he won’t break through doing only that.

We started talking about ways he can differentiate his book from all the other books coming to market this fall. Jobs like this call for creativity strategy and tactics. It will also mean targeting people other than just the regular book industry insiders. In fact, they’re a secondary audience. The primary audience is actual readers.

The trick will be how to reach those readers without relying on the traditional machinery of the industry. The answer lies partly with social media - Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube. It sounds like a terrific challenge and I wish him all the luck in the world. We’ll lend a hand wherever we can.

If you want to get noticed, your communications and PR needs to zag where everyone else is zigging.

Like most public relations firms, we’ve been incorporating social media into campaigns for a while now. Blogging is a great way to differentiate corporate websites (as long as it fits your objectives and your culture).

We’ve also been experimenting with social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. One example of our work in this area is with Keystone Processors here in Manitoba. We’ve recently established a Facebook fan page for the company and will soon begin a test-run advertising campaign on the social network to gain a larger local Winnipeg and Manitoba audience. Meanwhile, we’ve also been helping with a Twitter feed (@MBBeef).

Slowly, but surely, our audiences are growing. The more work we do integrating blogs, social networks and our other PR and marketing activities, the more  success I predict we’ll have.

Throughout this, we remained focused on delivering timely, useful and interesting information for our audiences… which is the best way to find an audience in the first place.

For companies, brands, organizations and people that ever doubted the value of social media as a powerful means of communication, the events of the last week in Iran must be an eye opening experience. Since the Iranian government has expelled almost all foreign correspondents the only news getting out of the country is being sent via social networks, namely Twitter.

What makes this particular situation different is that the content being shared on social networks is not remaining just on the social networks. Images and videos from inside Iran are being broadcast on television channels around the world – from CNN, to the BBC, to CBC.

The world is seeing the Iranian situation through the eyes of the Iranians. The news is coming from people living the event, not just reporting on it. This new free way to share information instantly around the world is forcing the Iranian government that has been accused of illegitimate actions in the past, to take notice and tread a little more carefully (witness the call for a review of some election returns by the clerics who run things there).
Some people and news outlets have called this the tipping point for Iran. Many feel that if ever Iran was going to throw off the cloak of old world thinking and reenter the world stage as a positive contributor that time is now.

Recent movements for positive change - the falling of the Berlin wall, the solidarity movement in Poland, the end of apartheid - have all come by way of people coming together, joining in the fight for change and slowly gaining the upper hand. It took communication; it took people understanding and drawing strength from their neighbours. With new technologies that enable anyone, anywhere in the world to instantly share their experiences through photos, videos or even their own voice, these movements now have the ability to do in days what used to take years.

It is hard to imagine this happening so quickly had it not been for Twitter, the killer social network with the silly name. Almost over night, a world that looked down on Iran has come to hope for it, to hope for its people. Some say that this could have all been possible without social media and they are right. Major change has happened many other times in our history without social media. However, a big contributor to the movement in Iran gaining momentum so quickly is because the people inside the country did not feel alone, they knew their messages were and are getting out and the people of the world are listening.

Many people are calling social networks a trend, and some aspects of it are trendy. There will always be a newer, hipper social network to be a part of, but social networks will always be there. The opportunities for communication that new media affords the world are just to great to ignore.

If you’re unsure how new media and social networks can benefit your business or organization, give Adam Dooley a call at 204-291-4092. We’d love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with you to discuss the potential.

One of the cool things about working with great clients like ICUC Moderation Services is that we come into contact with all sorts of new information all the time. Today’s snoo.ws blog includes an interesting post on how the value of communications executives is growing quickly these days due in large part to the increasing importance of social media.

That is no surprise to me - though I can think of a couple of former bosses who could use  some education there. With the growth of social media, there is no place to hide for companies and organizations.

Even companies that choose not to participate can be thrown in front of the public glare of crisis thanks to a viral video post. Witness the recent Dominos Pizza debacle where a couple of employees from the low end of the gene pool posted YouTube videos of themselves doing disgusting things to pizzas.

As social media makes communications so much easier, companies will need to invest more time and effort into monitoring online conversations  about their brands, as well as participating in those discussions. Often the best way to do that is to start the conversation yourself, which is why we find ourselves frequently working with out clients to create blogs and broadcast feeds (via Twitter or Facebook for example).

It takes time, money and planning, but social media is a vital tool for contemporary communicators.

Throughout his seven Tour de France victories, Lance Armstrong earned adulation from around the world. And why not? He came back from cancer and transformed himself from a middle-of-the-pack racer to the best cyclist the world has ever seen.

Not surprisingly, his success fuelled whispers of steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. Books and magazine articles have been written alleging his transgressions and several high profile legal battles have ensued. It doesn’t matter how many times he has denied the rumours. And it doesn’t matter which authority has come to his defence. People are inclined to either believe the worst or put an asterix next to his achievements.

And then along came Twitter.

And how does the micro-blog social network help him? Let me count the ways.

Armstrong has been on Twitter for several months now and has become one of the most followed people on the network. Twitter allows him to communicate instantly several times a day to his nearly half a million ‘followers.’ So when he recently crashed during a Spanish race breaking his collar bone, he was able to relay the news nearly as fast as the news networks.

I’m alive! Broken clavicle (right). Hurts like hell for now. Surgery in a couple of days. Thanks for all the well wishes.

For the past week or so he’s reported on his subsequent surgery, return to the United States and ongoing recovery. He’s also posted links to video messages and continued to promote his other main passion - fighting cancer through his Livestrong Foundation.

But where Twitter has really helped is with the drug tests. Twitter has given Armstrong a tool to broadcast to the world exactly when and where he is being visited by drug testers. You need only follow him for a few days to notice the frequency of the visits. Here are a few tweets following his March 17th test:

March 17:

Yet another “surprise” anti-doping control. 24th one. This one from the French authorities. Urine, blood, and hair! Classic..

So I’m clear - never complaining about these tests. Def part of the job. Feel targeted? Of course. But anything to prove I’m clean. Onward.

March 18:

I’m hearing from a lot of folks that there’s a lot of press clips re: my hair test/drug test yesterday and I was surprised and asking ?’s.

First off, I’m never surprised anymore. What does surprise me is that AFLD feels the need to publicly comment on confidential matters. (AFLD = the French anti-doping agency)

The Tweets about the ongoing drug tests are illuminating. Taking Armstrong at his word, they’re almost always a suprise; testers are frequently awaiting him at his home or hotel just after training rides; they come at odd times and are conducted by multiple agencies.

Reporting these events as they happen is a powerful means to rehabilitate his reputation to those who question whether he’s clean. Simply reporting after the fact that he’s been tested x times over x days by x agencies just doesn’t have the same credibility as reading about the tests as they happen.

I’ve always wanted to believe in Armstrong. His story is so good that it’s hard not to pull for him. I really hope he recovers from his current injury in time to compete at this year’s Tour de France and I hope he goes on to win for a record eighth time. If he does, and if he continues to use Twitter the way he has been, his reputation will be polished to a high gloss shine.

Twitter has lately become all the rage. It’s the tops. It’s da bomb. It’s the new black.

So what is Twitter really? Technically, it’s called a microblog, which allows users to record what they’re doing  or thinking or finding interesting in small 140 character messages. It’s also called a newsfeed in that it constantly feeds news about its users to whomever wants to receive it.

But I’ve got another definition for people who are unfamiliar with both blogging and feeds: Twitter is your own personal broadcasting outlet. You start by following a few people like your friends, family members and work colleagues. Then they’ll follow you. Voila, you have the beginning of your audience. Then you can start following other people and organizations you find interesting. Find mavens like popular bloggers or journalists or thought leaders. Follow the people they’re following.

Find other people living in your home town, province or state (you can use Twitter’s search or you might want to use Twellow for this). Look for people in the same line of work or with the same interests as you. In time, you’ll notice more and more people following you.

If all your posts are just notes about your morning breakfast and what the cat’s doing to the couch, you may not care too much about who’s following you. But if you’re running a business or interested in networking, Twitter can be your best friend. There is currently no faster (or free) way to reach such a huge targeted audience as quickly as Twitter. And as more and more people join the service, it’s becoming an increasingly robust means to target people by demographic group, interest and geographic region.

Twitter hasn’t turned a profit yet, but its owners seem confident in their plan:

Todd Dagres, founder of one of the venture capital firms backing the microblog, Spark Capital, recently told blog Innovation Economy, “We know how we’re going to do it, and we’re very confident about how we’re going to do it, and it’s not necessarily in our interest to tell people how we’re going to do it. There is a biz model that has yet to be implemented. Of course, I can’t guarantee it’s going to work.”

Speaking of Twitter: if you’re already using it (or even if you’re not), why don’t you join us for our Winnipeg Tweet-up next Tuesday, March 10 at 5 p.m. at the Confusion Corner Bar and Grill. #wpgtweetup