2011 held countless displays of public relations that enhanced and hurt the reputations of people and organizations everywhere. In fact, there are plenty that could comprise a good year-in-review list. However, when I look back at 2011 through the PR missteps lens, I assess the damage not based on the nature of events themselves, but on how those events made me feel. The question I ask myself is “which events stirred the worst feelings within me?”

By far, the most disturbing 2011 event for me was the Japan earthquake, tsunami and resulting nuclear disaster that spurred massive leaks of radiation. While the crisis led to yet another change in Japan’s leadership (the governing Democratic Party elected Yoshihiko Noda as the new prime minister in August -  the sixth person to hold the post in five years), that change led to no better handling of the situation as the tragic events unfolded.

What I remember most is the anger that bubbled up as Tokyo Electric and the Japanese government created as much mystery as possible around the amount of radiation being let off by the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant – the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. I’m still haunted by the matter-of-fact statements made by plant workers, bidding goodbye to their families for at least “many months,” to contain the toxicity emanating from the bedeviled reactors. To this day, I can’t recall any reports of what ever became of those unfortunate souls. Did any of them make it back out of the reactor facilities?

And then, there’s the kicker. Japan’s emperor Akihito comes out of the woodwork to comfort a lost and terrified nation. The emperor’s speech was his first-ever televised address and it was the first time any Japanese emperor has given a speech directly to the people on television during a national crisis. I wonder if the emperor realized what an irreversible PR nightmare was in progress. Did he sense that the trust and confidence of an entire people in its government was at stake? Was he somehow trying to bridge the gap between the Japanese government’s need to save face with the world by minimizing the appearance of chaos and the need to be honest and transparent with the Japanese people when they needed it most?

For many Japanese, the crisis brought with it a wave of doubt as to whether or not their government, an institution that has enjoyed a trust not seen in the U.S. for decades, was telling the truth about the realities of the disaster and the harm it was doing to people. When the government says that, on one hand, everything is just fine at the plant, but on the other hand, seal yourselves inside your homes and try not to breathe the air from outside, even the most loyal Japanese nationals began to lose trust.

This was a chilling reminder to me that as a PR practitioner, trustworthiness and transparency are my most valuable assets. Failing to communicate or waiting too long to communicate during a crisis can strip people of the calm they desperately need during that time. And it’s one of the things people tend to remember when the crisis is over or subsides. If Japanese citizens continue to lose trust in the government’s truthfulness or competence, then Tokyo will face another crisis, this one of its own making. Once that trust is gone, saving face will be out of the question.

Well friends, it’s that time of year. The time when we’re supposed to take a long, hard look at ourselves in the mirror and ask, “How can I be a better me?”

If you haven’t already, chances are you’re finalizing your list of New Year’s resolutions. You know, go to the gym more, get organized, eat healthier, stick to a tighter budget, stress less …

Which got me thinking. Now is also the perfect time of year for organizations to really think about improvements they can make when it comes to their advertising plans. I’m not talking about an entire overhaul here, just some simple suggestions. Minor tweaks, if you will.

1. Be more social. Launch a new blog or a new Twitter feed in support of a specific product or service. Really go after that niche audience. A very specific blog or Twitter feed is a great way to differentiate yourself without the worry that it might undermine your existing marketing efforts.
2. Help others. Build a contest tab on your Facebook page to benefit charity. Ask your followers to vote on a charity, or perhaps recommend their own, and then make a donation to the most popular choice. It helps you build Facebook traffic, generates some viral buzz around your brand and makes life better for those around you.
3. Be more eco-friendly. There are lots of ways to make your organization green, but what about your advertising? We say, save a tree and try digital if you haven’t already. Scrap that brochure for a QR code. Or turn that annual report into a microsite. It’s the perfect way to test the effectiveness of a new media and help the environment at the same time.
4. Push yourself. Let’s face it, at one time or another, every client has been presented with more than one creative concept at a time. If your concepts tend to gravitate toward more conservative ideas, 2012 is your chance to try being a little bolder. I’d venture to say that the more creative the concept, the more it resonates with your audience. And the more attention-grabbing and memorable it is, the better your return on investment. Thus, what you might tend to view as a “risky” choice, in actuality is the “safe” one.
5. Look to the future, not to the past. If 2011 was a great year for you, “Congratulations!” If not, there’s nothing you can do about it now. It’s a new year, which means a new beginning. Figure out what worked and what didn’t. Learn from your mistakes and move on.

Now that we’ve got some ideas out on the table, here are some tips to help you follow through.

First off, commit yourself to trying just one to start. Then, make a plan on how you’re going to achieve it … and tell someone. That’s right, stick your head outside of your office right now and yell, “Attention everyone! I am going to (insert New Year’s resolution here). Ok, maybe not, but you get the idea. Not only can colleagues hold you accountable (oftentimes with just the right amount of good-natured peer pressure), they can also be there with a little positive encouragement when you need it most.

Have any other advertising New Year’s resolution ideas? We’d love to hear them.

The Federal Trade Commission recently issued proposed changes to their “Green Guides,” an announcement that’s created buzz in both marketing and legal circles recently. If you haven’t been following, Green Guides are the FTC’s guidelines to, in their words, help marketers avoid misleading consumers with unfair or deceptive claims.

Many in our industry are watching this process as a first step in cracking down on “greenwashing” –deceptive marketing or PR spin meant to portray a company as being environmentally friendly. The phrase was actually coined in response to those hotel cards asking us to reuse our towels and sheets for the duration of our stay to lessen the environmental impact of doing laundry. However, there are certainly plenty more egregious examples commonplace in the work our industry produces today.

I wouldn’t recommend we pin all our hopes on the FTC swooping in to save the day and clean up the practice of greenwashing, though. Their Green Guides review has been ongoing since 2007 and it appears it still has a way to go.

I don’t know that marketers really need to wait on guidance from the FTC here. If we as marketers are doing our jobs right, we should already be in compliance with whatever their directive is likely to be. We should already be working to a higher standard than “avoid misleading consumers with unfair or deceptive claims.”

That standard should be “advertising with integrity.” We, as an agency, owe you forthright consultation on plainspoken and genuine communication with your consumers. You owe your consumers authenticity, trustworthiness and promises delivered. If we all market under the belief that our name and our reputation are our most prized possessions, the FTC’s guidelines really shouldn’t have any significant bearing on our marketing practices.

What do you think? Does striving for higher ground in marketing practices cover FTC Green Guides compliance? Any particularly absurd instances of greenwashing you’d like to share? We’d love you to join the conversation.

’Tis the season for holiday greetings. So it’s only natural for companies and organizations to wonder if it’s appropriate to send their wishes to an Inbox as opposed to an old-fashioned mailbox.

Wondering what to do for next year? (It’s never too early to start planning, although October is when you really need to hit the ground running.) A lot of it is pure preference. But if you’re still on the fence, here are some things to consider.

1. Who is your audience? Even as the number of grandmas and grandpas receiving iPads as gifts is increasing, email probably isn’t the best way to reach senior citizens. On the other hand, if your target audience is tech savvy and glued to their smart phone, email blasts make perfect sense.
2. What seems most fitting for your company? Obviously, if you’re a printer, or if your communications rely heavily on direct mail the rest of the year, traditional cards are probably the way to go.
3. Do you have a thorough email address database? If so, email blasts can be an inexpensive alternative to printing and shipping a traditional holiday card.
4. What’s your motive? Are you looking to do something different and fun? Are you going to link your email blast to a website? This year, our agency did its first email blast/interactive holiday microsite and the results have been very positive. Not only is it a lot of fun, we’ve attracted people who might not have normally visited our website thanks to its viral nature.

Take a poll. How many traditional cards and how many email cards have you received? We’d be interested to hear. Also, do you have thoughts one way or another? Let us know.

It is no secret that mobile commerce is exploding. Just look at the numbers for the kickoff of holiday shopping this year – Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

• comScore: U.S. online sales for Cyber Monday amounted to $1.25 billion. An increase of 22% compared to 2010.
• IBM: 33% increase in Cyber Monday online spending from 2010 to 2011. In that same survey, IBM found that 10.8% of people used a mobile device to visit a retailer’s site.
• Monetate: While desktop computers still accounted for the majority of website visits from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, the number of website visits decreased from 2010 by about 7 percentage points. Mobile devices and tablets saw an increase of about 7 percentage points.

The record-setting amount of money spent on Cyber Monday, along with increased use of mobile devices during the Thanksgiving weekend, are further evidence of mobile device market share growth in 2011.

We saw this trend coming. The thought of statistics like these was the impetus for the mobile-friendly site for high-stakes retail brand La-Z-Boy. The key features of their website could have been more easily accessible on mobile devices. So in our redesign, we pulled forward the aspects of the site most useful to mobile users, including a store locator and product search and share functionality. Copy was optimized for ideal mobile viewing.

It’s fair to say we don’t see these trends reversing anytime soon. In the U.S., 90 million people own smart phones. And 79% of mobile Internet users have used a smart phone to help with their shopping (Google/IPSOS Reid 2011). Plus, there’s going to be a 272% increase in the number of tablets shipped this year over 2010 (IHS). That’s right, I said 272%.

What does this all mean? As more and more people transition to smart phones and the demand for tablets increases, the utmost consideration should be given to optimizing your site for on-the-go digital consumption.

Having a mobile-friendly website is an essential step in connecting with customers. Your potential customers will move along to your competitor’s site if your site is difficult to view, takes a long time to load or does not load properly in their mobile browser. A mobile-friendly website needs to follow the rule of “less is more,” aiding potential customers in ways such as finding a retailer, comparing prices or reading reviews.

Have you noticed an increase in traffic to your website from mobile sources? How often do you turn to a mobile device to access the Internet? Did you use a smart phone or tablet to make a purchase Black Friday or Cyber Monday? We’d love to read your thoughts – share them in the comments section below.