In the PR world, Southwest Airlines’ Paula Berg is a recognized as a communications trailblazer in the emerging media world. While she doesn’t call herself an emerging media guru, she is. Many companies are still pondering how to engage in emerging media, but Southwest Airlines is fully on board and has been for years. We were fortunate to have Paula speak to clients and Linhart PR friends after she gave a packed-house speech to PRSA Colorado this week.
Here are some key insights we learned:
- Channels matter: Identify what channels are important for driving your business and its reputation. Sure, 200 million people are using Facebook, but if your audiences are not, there’s no rush to be the next company or brand to build Facebook fans. However, whatever your target audiences are using, get involved now so you have trusted relationships established before a crisis hits and can use those channels effectively when the you-know-what hits the fan.
- Staffing matters: We know the information cycle is 24/7 and has been for years. So as you are considering reallocating or allocating resources to connect with key stakeholders via emerging media channels, remember that it’s not a 9-5 job. Allocate staffing resources accordingly.
- Corporate culture matters: As one of the world’s most respected companies with a legendary culture, Southwest can show people what’s behind the ‘corporate curtain’ without a constant concern about what employees might say, write or videotape and post. If you have thousands of employees and corporate culture isn’t a top priority, perhaps spending resources on employee engagement would be a better choice than diving into emerging media.
Josh Ward, a member of the American Marketing Association’s Austin chapter, wrote 10 things he learned from Paula during a recent visit. I also included below an interview SearchEngineWorld did with Paula at last year’s Blog World Expo.
Tags: blogs, digital media, Emerging media, Paula Berg, social media, Southwest Airlines