Messaging 101 Washington Public Ports Association December 6, 2006 Rita Brogan, CEO PRR, Inc'

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Messaging 101 Washington Public Ports
AssociationDecember 6, 2006Rita Brogan,
CEOPRR, Inc.
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First, Some Math

• Perception Reality
• Communication Messaging x Delivery
• More information ? Good Information

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Why prepare messaging?

• Program roll-out
• Brand implementation
• Policy framework
• Reputation management
• Increase effectiveness
• Crisis management
• That which hits the fan is not always evenly
  distributed.

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What messaging provides

• Consistency
• Clarity and focus
• Framing
• Shared vision
• Support for strategy
• Self-enlightenment

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Messaging Principles

• Take the initiative do not wait until you are
  on the defensive
• Seek agreement do not try to convince people
  they are wrong give them a reason to do what you
  want them to do
• Emphasize outcomes do not lose sight of your
  long-term objectives
• Maintain credibility do not say anything that
  you know is not true do not make promises you
  cannot keep
• Enhance legitimacy act as you want others to
  act

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Messaging Architecture

• Step One Objective
• Step Two Elevator Speech
• Step Three Supporting messages
• Step Four Proofs

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• But will they notice?
• When it comes to message development, you have
  stiff competition

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People already have a lot on their minds

• Health
• Money
• Relationships
• Family
• Education
• Job
• Home

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Along with the stuffthey cant control

• World Hunger
• Terrorism
• Inflation
• HIV/Aids
• Volcanoes

• Cancer
• Hurricanes
• Tsunami
• War
• Pandemic Flu

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And they have lost faith in

• Religious leaders
• Financial managers
• Employers
• Day care providers
• Elderly care providers
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Government leaders
• NASA
• Stock market

• Martha Stewart
• Tall buildings
• A solid planet
• Social Security
• Safe water
• Carbs
• Police
• Pit bulls
• Relationships

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And the competitiongot to them first

• They already get
• 2,000 3,000 messages a day
• (before you even start)

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Andthe competition is rich

• Windows 95
• Lucent Technologies
• Intel
• Saturn
• NutraSweet

• 139,000,000
• 75,000,000
• 47,000,000
• 31,000,000
• 25,000,000

2005 Annual Advertising Budgets
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And you dont get much time

• You have 3-5 seconds to catch
• someones attention

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Your messaging needs

• Focus
• Impact
• Memorability
• Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy
• Content that meets your audiences needs/wants
• If you dont know where you are going, any road
  will get you there. - Alice
  in Wonderland

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We are motivated by our unsatisfied needs
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Messaging Architecture
OBJECTIVE
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The Elevator Speech

• For Branding
• Who are we?
• What do we do?
• Who do we do it for?
• What makes us unique?
• What benefits do we offer?

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Elevator Speech

• For crisis management
• Define situation, including your role
• Say what you are doing to fix it
• Explain benefits/what you are doing to prevent it
  from happening again

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People want to know about benefitsNOT features
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BENEFITS NOT FEATURES
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BENEFITS NOT FEATURES
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BENEFITS NOT FEATURES
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BENEFITS NOT FEATURES
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There are really only two news stories

• Oh the wonder
• Oh the shame

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Recent Example Alexander Litvinenko British
Airways

• (British Airways) has taken the three B767s out
  of service to enable forensic examination to be
  carried out. The initial results of the forensic
  tests, which was confirmed late this afternoon,
  has shown very low traces of a radioactive
  substance onboard two of the three aircraft.
• M1 British Airways has been advised that this
  investigation is confined solely to these three
  B767 aircraft, which will remain out of service
  until further notice.
• M2 British Airways understands that from
  advice it has been given that the risk to public
  health is low.
• M3 The airline is in the process of making
  contact with customers who have travelled on
  flights operated by these aircraft, which operate
  within Europe.

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King County Vaccine Drill

• Emergency preparedness gets a boost as hundreds
  are vaccinated for seasonal flu. Drill focused on
  increasing ability to vaccinate a large number of
  people quickly (on) Saturday
• M 1 In a public health emergency, people may
  need medication or vaccine that could save their
  lives, and we need to be ready to help them,
  said King County Executive Ron Sims.
• M 2 This is one more example of our
  countys ongoing commitment to readiness for
  disasters
• M 3 Emergency preparedness is one of Public
  Healths core responsibilities, and this drill
  advances our capacity to answer the call when
  people will need us most.

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Elevated lead levels found in water samples
collected last spring

• Results from XXXs Public Schools' ongoing water
  testing program show that lead levels in some of
  the water samples collected last spring are
  higher than School Board-mandated standards of 10
  parts per billion for lead content. XXXs
  standard for lead is among the toughest in school
  districts nationwide - half of that allowed under
  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
• Testing is underway to identify the cause of
  these results. In the meantime, the district will
  tape off the affected water fountains and put
  signs on sinks . The district will also provide
  bottled water as necessary to assure students and
  staff have access to safe water.
• The school district normally tests water every
  three years and was scheduled to routinely take
  water samples at these 35 schools in 2007. But
  because the district had already collected water
  samples during testing for arsenic in spring
  2006, a decision was made to obtain results for
  lead as a way to get early results and reduce
  costs.

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Whats wrong with this picture?

• Audience participation

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Messaging challenges

• Were usually too close to the issue
• It is easy to misgauge the interest level of the
  audience
• Too much information
• Not the right information
• Its hard to get everyone on the same page

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Timely messaging is critical

• Delay hurts credibility.
• Just because you say nothing, does not mean
  nothing will be said (and saying nothing can
  speak louder than words).
• Its the right thing to do.

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Your message is your promise.

• You must live it consistently through your words
  and images and action.
• That is how you build a powerful message.

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• Thank you!
• Rita Brogan
• PRR
• www.prrbiz.com

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BENEFITS NOT FEATURES
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BENEFITS NOT FEATURES
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BENEFITS NOT FEATURES
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BENEFITS NOT FEATURES