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This week's spotlight: Ann Wool, Senior Vice President and Director, Ketchum Sports Network
"March Madness is one of the real jewel properties in media," says Ann Wool, who joined Ketchum in 2001 to found its sports marketing specialty, Ketchum Sports Network, where she works to develop strategies that leverage client sports and sponsorship investments in everything from NASCAR to the Olympics and beyond. "There are several things that make March Madness so special and give it such a compelling hook. Among them are dynasty teams. Then there's also always the potential for a real Cinderella story to emerge, like last year's George Mason run. In that way, it's like the Olympics: We're watching for new stars to emerge."
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Also similar to the Olympics: "The tournament takes place over several weeks. It's not a one-shot event. That allows real people and characters to emerge over time. We get to hear and watch their great stories, how they got to this level and what they had to overcome. People are moved by that. They love it," says Wool, who has developed and directed multinational programs for Olympic sponsors such as Lenovo, UPS and Visa since the 1992 Barcelona Games.
"But what really sets March Madness apart is how personally engaged people become with it," Wool says. "The depth of involvement is astonishing. It includes the brackets, the water cooler activity, the office pools, the face painting of fans and the die-hard allegiance to alma maters. It all adds up to an exciting event with plenty of lessons for those of us in this field." Read on for specifics -- plus Wool's take on next year's China Olympics, her tips (and taboos) for working with a government-controlled press corps, and her hard-won career advice:
What can PR learn from March Madness?
Well the first thing I'd have to mention is that CBS owns the tournament all the way. You have that in other sports, and they've done a phenomenal job in co-owning the tournament. The challenge for those of us in this business is this: If you're trying to sell a broadcast story and you have a great, fun promotion or event -- well, this is such a strong CBS property that it'll be hard to book that story outside of the CBS or Viacom family. But, CBS still gives you plenty to choose from.
Aside from that, one area we can learn from is the online streaming of the tournament. That has been a pioneering move for sports. It has put this tournament into another bracket, if you will, of reaching viewers and tapping into fans in a new way. The lesson for PR lies in the importance of using new media to reach out to your publics. When they first started doing this, it showed there was clearly an audience out there. It also showed that you don't need to be charging people to access this content. A network, for example, can make money just by drawing eyeballs to the site and by selling advertising and conducting promotions.
An example is Pontiac, which is sponsoring the tournament this year on YouTube. You can get a log-on to watch the tournament on YouTube. So "new media" and online video or streaming is at a whole new level now. The crowd surrounding this [tournament] phenomenon is largely a young, male audience that is very media savvy -- and very large in numbers. So this is a great example of tapping into new technologies to reach a desirable demographic in a very smart way while pushing the envelope.
Are your picks still in the running?
My take had to be the Tar Heels [North Carolina lost to Georgetown in the NCAA East Regional finals on Sunday]. As you can tell by my accent, I wasn't born and raised here. But a colleague is true "Carolina Blue" and my kids have gifts from her visits. So the team is an inside thing here.
Let's switch to your work for sponsors of the 2008 China Olympics -- how do you "do" media relations in a state-run media environment? What are the rules?
It is such a fascinating country from a media relations standpoint. It's still a communist country, and the protocols aren't what you'd necessarily expect anywhere else. Luckily, we have a very good network of office in mainland and Greater China. They help make us smart when we counsel clients from outside China. What I can share with you about what we have learned comes from them.
For starters, the media there is controlled -- not the PR. The media is aware of government limitations. But the PR programs we do in China really aren't dissimilar to what we do elsewhere. We're not going to be doing anything too risky, political or controversial there or anywhere. We just don't do those kinds of campaigns, 99% of the time. So we really treat PR inside China the same as elsewhere.
That said, over the past decade or 20 years, the consumer in China has become far more sophisticated. They are looking to get useful information from the brands they purchase, and they are critical of brands that don't live up to their expectations.
How do Chinese consumers voice that criticism?
Well, a huge amount of population is not online. There is a huge digital divide there. Sophisticated consumers in major cities are giving feedback online, sure. But others are giving verbal feedback, and a huge part of population not even touched, frankly, by PR. Much of this has to do with the sheer size of the country. There are something like over 100 cities in China with million-plus populations.
As a result, the cities are categorized into tiers. Tier one includes cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai. Tier five and six cities are very rural. Unlike in America where you do marketing by region -- there you do it by tiers, which are largely geographic, but also socioeconomic. Big brands are marketing in tier one, two and three markets. That's where you get the consumer feedback, in various ways.
How does that translate into strategic counsel for multinational brands entering China?
Those markets are also where things like corporate responsibility are becoming increasingly important. The Chinese in these markets want brands to do right by the consumers. Instead of having companies dropping in and running away with the money, they want multinational brands to become part of and contribute to the community. Another way to look at is that the media there isn't interested if your story, announcement or news doesn't have a local hook. In that way, it's no different than here. So strategically, we're counseling clients to become engaged locally.
Another thing you must know about the China market is that the government opened up a vigorous journalist visa rule. As a reporter, you could get a visa to the big cities, fine. But it was hard to come by visas enabling you to travel around the country. They are removing that. Reporters will be allowed to travel around the country to get more news from the interior. This was such a big move, and it was predicated by the Olympics. There has been discussion that they'll revert back in September 2008 after the Olympics. But our colleagues say they might have difficulty reversing that once they've opened the floodgates.
What PR, marketing or branding tips come out of that for our readers?
One, it's not so different there when it comes to practicing PR and engaging with consumers. They largely want the same things as here. Two, the local relevance must be there when you're working on PR campaigns or with the media there. Three, your brand objective must be to be compatible with the culture. Four, there can be no "carpet-bagging" -- working in China has to be part of a long-term strategy, and not something where you're in and out. Five, you have to be very sensitive to things that may be taboo.
Another thing that comes out of this -- particularly, the opening of the country to the media -- is that companies who think they might be tucked away and hidden in China, aren't so tucked away any more. The media now has more access, and that will only increase in the year leading up to the Olympics. Things like the Nike factory story will come out if they're there to be found. If there's anything going on in China that your client doesn't want the outside world to see -- now is the time to address those things from an issues management perspective.
What are some examples of taboo practices -- what shouldn't you do in China?
National pride and cultural symbolism are very important in China. An example would be the stone lions and dragons. These things have a lot of deep meaning there. There have been public incidents of commercials being pulled because of insulting use of imagery. In one commercial, a Chinese stone lion was bowing to an SUV. That was insulting because it was a Chinese symbol bowing to a Japanese symbol [the SUV company was Japanese]. Another example is something I heard just last week. Nike created a commercial where an athlete was slaying a dragon. That's insulting because the dragon is the highest symbol of the emperor in China.
So the lesson is that you have to be very sensitive with how you play around with language and even visual elements. Things we might chuckle about or use to in "irreverent" types of campaigns here won't work there.
How is the U.S. media preparing for the Olympics -- what does that mean for readers?
I was talking to a good friend with the U.S. Olympic Committee and asked how many non-accredited media from the U.S. would be in Beijing. He said around 500. Unlike the 600 or so U.S.-based accredited media, these are media who are not there to cover the actual Olympic Games. They don't cover the field of play, and don't have the credentials necessary to get into the sporting events. That means they'll be looking at things like how the Chinese live, eat and travel. They'll be looking at the government and economic impact of the Olympics. They'll be looking into the one-child law and rooting out unique stories about the country.
So, this is a great opportunity for any company in China that wants to have more global recognition. In other words, now is the time to start thinking about how you fit into these stories and reaching out to foreign media.
OK, but how does that translate to advice for our stateside PR readers?
If you think there's that many non-accredited media are coming from the U.S., how many are coming from worldwide? About 7,000 or so? If you're a PR person and thinking of telling your stories and building media lists during that time -- you really have to start now to find a peg that's relevant. Help reporters find those stories early. In August, we'll be one year out -- and that will be the beginning of the push.
What does all this mean to readers who don't have a China peg?
Summer of 2008 will be an interesting time. Before that, you'll see considerable media build-up leading to the biggest Olympics in recent history. Plus, you've got an election coming up.
The take-away for PR people is this: It will be a very hard time for non-related PR to be heard. Column inches and airtime will be taken up with political candidates in local markets. On the business pages, China-related stories will dominate. So, the news hole is going to be limited. Start prepping for that now. Look at your calendar now and be strategic about your news and announcements in the future. Figure out how and if you're relevant now, and then fit in where you can. Try to be crafty and find your way into that news hole with a relevant peg. This will be a time where creativity will be a PR person's best asset. If you can't find a way in, then hold it if you can.
What do you love most about your job?
My team -- they're the best. They make us look smart all the time. I also love the field of sports. Specifically, this department focuses on various sports properties and how they can tell a story for a brand through sponsorship relationships. That involves understanding fan bases and the sports media. It includes involvement with fantastic teams and sports ranging from tennis to golf, and lets us work with organizations like NASCAR, the Olympics, the NFL and all of our clients. We have a lot of fun with our subject matter. Plus, I love the global work. That's why I love working on the Olympics.
What do you love least about your job?
I would have to say doing financials. It's not so bad right now because business is good. Overall, I see myself as a business-minded person, a communicator, a manager and a creative person -- you have to be all of those in this line of work. But my least favorite area certainly is the hard numbers. That's the Achilles heel for many communicators. We might know how to "do financials" -- but that doesn't necessarily mean we like it.
What's your advice for enjoying a sustainable, exciting career?
After some 20 years at this, I would say it comes down to this: Pick something and get really good at it. You can't do a little of this and a little of that. Put a stake in the ground and have an identity as being an expert in something so people come to you and think of you first just for that. That's my big career tip. Others may be generalists, but specializing is the best way to stand out from the crowd.
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