United setting the tone with PR push Wow, just wow. Hicks used the DC United website to tell the world how awesome he is. Seriously? What a load of self-aggrandizing garbage. It almost looks like he accidentally posted his annual job review or something.
I saw that. I'm hoping that it was posted there by mistake. If this sort of post is seen as an example of high standards by the DCU FO I can only say "It Takes More"
Not to start an argument, by why the vitriol over such a minor fluff piece regarding DCU's marketing/PR objectives this upcoming season?
I've don't feeling any vitriol over this & the more I think about it the less serious of a mistake it seems to be. It wasn't put on the website but it was placed on their blog. If anywhere is a place for either unprofessional stuff of fluff pieces, that would be a blog.
I can honestly say that this is the first time I've ever seen a PR department mention how awesome the PR department is.
To me its just a fluff piece. They needed a new article for the website, so they just asked him to write up something really quick.
how about spending PR and marketing dollars (which are always at a premium with a struggling enterprise) on the push to get a stadium?
I think they meant to submit that to Marketing & Public Relations Weekly Newsletter. At least, I hope they did. I think I strained my eye-muscles with the magnitude of eye-roll I performed when I saw that this morning.
Because it isn't really about their objectives, but a rundown of what their jobs entail. Do they need to be patted on the back that much? Has their really been a large number of requests from the general public to explain what they do? Or are they feeling chuffed by the constant criticisms of the front office by a core part of their fan base and overreacted by developing a series to tell us that they work really hard? To answer your question, the vitriol comes because some of us think that hubris is the biggest obstacle this organization needs to overcome before it returns to its past glories. A "puff piece" like this just tells me they have further than I ever imagined to go before they can overcome this fatal flaw. If you "need" an article for your blog or website, you need to re-examine your strategy. And "they didn't ask." He runs the teams communications department. Either he decided to tell us how great his staff is or someone above him who is incredibly concerned with ignoring the realities of criticism thought this was a good idea.
I'm sorry I really don't see what the big deal is? It's not like it's a feature length article on the brilliance and hard work of the marketing dept. It's a few paragraphs of fluffy complimentary information about what they do and how it fits into what the club is doing, and is part of a series about various sections of the FO. It actually made me a little interested to see what kinds of things they talk about. I think it's interesting to know what day to day activities FO staff are occupied with, and hopefully that's what we'll get. I actually even wanted something more concrete about the marketing dept, such as, when Davies was being signed, we did A, B, and C, as part of that process. And if the club produces it, I wouldn't expect it to be anything but complimentary. To expect otherwise is ridiculous.
That could actually be a great story - a look at the obstacles that face teams in getting big publicity or the challenges that they deal with when a story takes off. Or something about how they work with CSN to develop the TV schedule, etc. Something concrete, not just "we work hard." True, but to simply put complimentary stuff up there with no context or connection to what's going on shows a distinct lack of planning or strategy for the best use of that communications vehicle. If it's just there to talk about how great you think you are, why should I read it? Like you said, that's what we expect. Give me something unexpected, yet still complimentary.
With all due respect, I just don't see that. Reading comprehension was never really one of my strong suits, so I'm sure that plays a role here. Agreed RE: objectives...not the best word choice on my part I'm not seeing the whole patting on the back thing but rather a small "behind the scenes" segment that seems like it will entail more than just the PR dept. Granted, almost everything that comes out of Kevin Payne's mouth just grates on my soul with regards to "TRADITION...THE BRAND...OUR PLAYING STYLE" but this seems like a non-issue. I don't see how this is chest-beating.
Meh; tempest in a teacup. I didn't think it was even particularly laudatory. I think it's something of an introduction to a more visible presence of the PR team. Also, it appears to be an introduction to an on-going project - he says there will be more tomorrow. I'll grant you that it isn't particularly fascinating or informative. And it is self-publicizing which even at the best of times borders on classless. But it is the blog where one might expect to see things like this. I wouldn't say it's good. But to me it isn't bad enough to matter.
Our PR department has been very uncreative in recent years and has been a laughing stock on BS and in MLS (we win trophies). I would rather read something about new blood in the department or some new ideas they have for more team exposure.
I didn't take offense, because I see this as a basic explanation of the FO. However, I'd probably not have done the PR dept first. Let's wait and see.
You may not have liked it from the outset, but I personally think the WWT campaign was a good idea, and I think it would have been fine if they had actually, ehem, won tropies. The problem was when they didn't, it looks bad. I really don't think the PR/marketing dept bears any responsibility for that. The players and coaching staff bear that respsonsibility, as well as the person above the marketing department who could have recognized the opportunity for failure was as great as it was for success and still gave the thumbs up on the campaign. It's a failure, but I don't think it was this particular department's failure. They have others to claim.
Saw this and got a pretty good laugh about it. Have you guys seen the billboards Portland has been putting up? If anything, they are setting the standard.
GRR.. yesterday I swear i was looking through a slideshow type deal with something like 15 or so billboards, but here is a link to just three http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/timbers-plaster-town-ads-featuring-locals They did a photoshoot series with a bunch of local people and made some billboards with them.
Uh, huh ... but it's not going to work -- just the opposite. 1. The DCU PR folks are chafing because their recent campaigns have been disastrous ad they've been rightly mocked high and low in MLS circles for "We Win Trophies" and "It Takes More" and so on. 2. So the PR department decides that it needs to do a little PR for itself. Hence this post we're discussing here. 3. But a PR department that needs to do PR for itself is a PR department that is conceding that its actual work is insufficient to redeem it in the eyes of its critics. Hence the criticism (and mockery) found in this thread.
That's a good idea. It's curious and creates word of mouth. Of course I'm sure someone is running around complaining about little children with serious looks on their faces holding axes. I don't feel like my socks have been blown off though.