don't hold back

GUEST BLOGGER - Virginia Scripps, President/Founder of Press Kitchen shares her insights on social media. Press Kitchen was Epoch's first PR company. They did a great job for us but we changed our approach to PR so we parted ways a couple years back. 

I'm thankful for Virginia's contribution not only because PR is the original earned media industry providing a new perspective for this blog but also to show the importance of maintaining past working relationships. You never know when you need  a guest blogger in the midst of a very hectic week. 

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Are you a brand? Should you be?

Long before blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking, Digg-ing or any of the other new ‘ings’ that keep us from doing our work were invented, commercial directors were brands in and of themselves.

Producers have been the brand builders behind the scenes. These often-colorful personalities appeared at a public level only on conference panels, on the AICP board, in the occasional trade article quote or – if they had good publicists –profile story. Influential producers have long been Google-able, but the rise of blogs such as this one have cast a much wider net for their personal brands. The daily hits Jerry gets on this blog are in the hundreds. But if you look at the industry clout of the typical producerposts.com reader, Jerry’s role as a thought leader is substantial – whether he admits it or not!

People in the business who have much-trafficked blogs, Twitter feeds or Facebook pages have become brands. And that extends to the ad agency Twitter-ers whose feeds I follow because they made me spit soup onto my keyboard with a hideously tasteless joke or had the cojones to say something no one else dared. For instance, I started following grokstar when he pronounced, on the Boards09 Twitter feed, “advertising isn't broken, agencies are. Stop doing the same old shit in all the new places!” The more unfiltered the message, the more people will wonder what you’re going to do for an encore.

Not everyone is comfortable with the public nature of social media. Many of my clients vehemently refuse to “join the conversation” on Twitter and shy away from blogging. Some brands’ feel their cachet depends on remaining stealth. I understand, because my brand is that way. On my company blog, I post “fresh” client news, along with cool photos (currently, a pumpkin carved into an exceptional likeness of Yoda). I stopped making personal blog entries for two reasons: my company is about my clients’ visibility, not my own; and as much as I’d love to display a devil-may-care attitude, my honest insights are likely to piss off either clients or press. Blog entries that gloss over the truth are not an option. That type of whitewashing is counter to the very soul of social media.

What about you? Would a blog or feisty Twitter feed fortify your brand? Examples of the magnetism of unadorned honesty are everywhere – like Jon Favreau’s obedience to Vince Vaughn’s blunt tutelage in Swingers, or, our nation tuning in to see Obama shooting the s&*t on late night TV. If you are willing to get real, social media may help your brand inspire this kind of devotion.

Although I failed to practice what I preach and become a blogger (for my business, anyway), I’d be glad to share my uncensored opinions with you at a party some time. I trust you’ll be too tipsy to quote me…

Virginia Scripps is the founder & President of Press Kitchen PR, www.presskitchen.com, where she represents production companies and others in entertainment. A former copywriter, she has a masters in film from Columbia University. She is also a mom, an author, a skier and a Mad Men-aholic.