Author Archive
LifeChurch.tv and Satan – Counterpoint!
Posted by: | CommentsThis is a guest post by Kirk Longhofer who blogs at Technopraxis.
By now, just about everyone in the church marketing world has seen the new billboard campaign from Lifechurch.tv. Our esteemed host posted on them earlier today. Props to Cory for allowing me disagree, sort of.
Cory and I are in agreement on a few things! I agree that if I saw these billboards, I would run home and check the URL. I’m sure any other marketer, holy or heathen would, too! Anybody who’s heard of Lifechurch probably would.
My question is this. Would someone in OKC who’s not in tune with what the cool churches are be that interested? What about someone in Las Vegas who’s never heard of LifeChurch. Will it penetrate the post-modern, “not terribly interested in church” brain?
I’m not so sure. I think stories are more effective than gimmick. I’ve got a few more thoughts and an example over at Technopraxis.
LifeChurch will certainly get a lot of buzz out of the campaign. no question. But will the buzz resonate with people who haven’t thought about going to church recently? Or will it just buzz with church folks, many of whom have hotbutton reactions to the mere mention of LifeChurch?
Only time will tell. I hope they are overrun with new folks! More than that, I hope they share the results of the campaign down the road.
Kirk Longhofer blogs at TechnoPraxis.
Crisis Management: When Bad Things Happen
Posted by: | CommentsThis is guest post on crisis management written by Kirk Longhofer who blogs at TechnoPraxis.
Dealing with bad news is a tough nut for a professional communicator. In the best possible situation, it’s painful. But bad news rarely presents itself in a convenient way.It’s generally wrapped up in emotion. It can lead to panic individually and as an organization. Leadership in the organization may want to hold the bad news tightly. Or respond slowly. Or only admit what they have to.
That, unfortunately is exactly the WRONG response.
We live in a blog-driven, instant publishing world. If one person knows, your bad news can be worldwide in a matter of hours, maybe even minutes. Quick, decisive and full disclosure response is critically important.
Put another way, when you have bad news, get it out now. Get it out wide. And most importantly, get it out FIRST.
Mark Ostreicher at Youth Specialties had to deal with that kind of situation last week. I won’t go into all the details. Suffice to say that some material in a book published by YS contained some racially offensive material. It got past the editing process and has been widely distributed for the past few months. Marko responded to the issue on his blog on Friday. It’s a great example of how to handle bad news.
Let’s break down Marko’s response. He opens with a very humble and transparent statement. “We really screwed up, big time.” Acknowledge the issue. Up front. No equivocation. And he apologizes, clearly and without reservation.
He goes on to describe, in detail, exactly the offense that occurred. He resists the temptation to hide behind a lack of ill intent… “intentional or not – that is not at issue here.” He then digs deeper and points out the potential systemic issues that led to the specific issue. He commits to addressing them, both personally and as an organization.
Then, and only then, Marko outlines what YS has done already, and what they will do shortly to correct the mistake and to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Marko had direct and extensive discussion with the person who brought the complaint. He wanted to make sure he understood the full nature of the issue.
And now, they are apologizing publicly. By E-mail, on Marko’s personal blog, and on the web. Marko is even providing his personal E-mail and phone number with an amazing and sincere offer to talk personally with anyone offended. How many corporate executives have you ever seen publish their contact details in the wake of, say, a peanut butter recall?
Does it make a difference? Marko posted at 8:00pm on Friday night. By noon Saturday, there were nearly two dozen comments on his post. All were appreciative of the apology. Several contained suggestions on additional actions that YS could take.
When the news is bad, get it out now. Get it out wide, and get it out first.
Kirk Longhofer blogs at TechnoPraxis.
