Parc Entertainment - A Video Production Company - Birmingham, AL

The other night I was watching a TV show that I had recorded with my DVR. Like many of you, when the show went to a commercial break, I reached for the remote in order to fast-forward. But then, a commercial came on for Domino’s Pizza and I stopped to watch. What intrigued me about this ad was its honesty and transparency. The commercial showed focus groups, wherein customers talked negatively about the quality of Domino’s Pizza. They showed Twitter comments where internet users blasted the food chain for its poor product. But then, through sound bytes from Domino’s executives and chefs, the commercial demonstrated how the company was changing its recipe based on the feedback it received. This particular campaign is a great example of how a company listened and responded to its customers. Then, with honesty and transparency, they acknowledged their shortcomings and vowed to change things for the better. We’ll have to wait and see whether the new pizza recipe changes public opinion, but I think the company has done a good job of managing its public relations.

Our free e-newsletter is distributed every first Monday of the month. Included in each issue is the “Public Parc,” a forum for discussing different topics pertaining to sales, marketing, advertising, and branding. Subscribers to the newsletter and readers of the blog are encouraged to get involved in the discussion by posting their comments here. You can also post your thoughts on Twitter, using the hashtag #PublicParc. Here is this month’s Public Parc discussion:

In this month’s issue we posted an article about the importance of alleviating fear to pave the way for a sale. In your experiences, has there ever been a time when a particular company representative went out of his or her way to ensure that your concerns were addressed? Can you describe the situation and how the company’s efforts made you feel as a consumer?

Okay, I’ll admit it. This post will be a hard sell for the benefits of video. But you have to admit that video can grab an audience’s attention. It can raise awareness. It can move people to action. In short, video can get things done.

Look no further than musician Dave Carroll. In 2008, he and his band were on a flight from Halifax to Omaha by way of Chicago. While waiting on the tarmac, the band noticed the United Airlines ground crew throwing their instruments around. Carroll later discovered that United’s blatant disregard for other people’s property had resulted in $1200 worth of damage to his guitar.

After about a year of jumping through corporate hoops, Carroll could not get United to pay for the damages. So, being the creative person that he is, Carroll wrote a song about the experience, created a music video, and on July 6 posted it on YouTube. As of this writing the video has over 4 million views and Carroll is now officially on the map. His story has been picked up by a number of news outlets, including Fox News and BusinessWeek magazine. As a result of the video, United gave $3,000 to charity at Carroll’s request.

This is but one example of how video can be utilized to help you get noticed. Below is Carroll’s video United Breaks Guitars.

Business owners, freelancers, marketing personnel, public relations officers will at one time or another have to deal with projects and/or products that simply aren’t working right. And clients who have given their time, trust, and money, will be looking to these individuals to correct the situation. They aren’t interested in excuses. They’re interested in solutions. In a previous post I gave out some advice on how to respond to a client’s concerns. Number one on that list was “Respond Promptly,” but in this post I’d like to add one more point to that list - “Be proactive.”

Case in point: I recently signed up with iContact.com to distribute my monthly e-newsletter. A few days ago, I tried to access the site to work on my newsletters, but the site was down. It wasn’t long before an email popped up in my inbox from the CEO of iContact. The company had taken the time to write their customers and explain to everyone what was happening. That email was followed up with others that detailed what went wrong and how their team was correcting the situation. They also used their Twitter account to post real-time updates.

I was thoroughly impressed with the way iContact handled the situation. I’m certain that a potentially disastrous PR scenario was quickly diffused because they took a proactive approach and kept everyone well informed.

If you are responsible for client relations, regardless of your industry, maintaining open and ongoing lines of communication between your company and your clients will reflect positively on your brand.