Canuckflack

Excerpt from “A Week on the Set with the Wal-Mart Smiley,” from McSweeney’s:

Saturday, May 8, 2004, 5:22 a.m.
Know what my sister does for a living? Spelling tests. When Timmy gets nineteen out of twenty, she goes on top of the paper. She is the mark of accomplishment. And what do I represent? A store that found a John Cougar Mellencamp album cover too provocative. (You’re next, Hornsby.) What else? Lemonade-stand wages. A corporation that prices independent retailers out of existence and rewards complicit communities with a couple of jungle gyms. I know I should try to laugh all this off, but I can’t. All I can do is smile.

Then I come home and write in this stupid journal. Did I mention I have to hold the pen in an eye socket?

McSweeney’s has just begun mailing the new print run, and DesignObserver has some nice things to say about No. 13:

The 264-page hard cover book is bound with a giant, folded, comic-festooned dustjacket (“an enormous dust jacket that does much more than guard against dust,” as it says on the website). It took me right back to the way the Sunday paper used to arrive on my childhood doorstep, and it conjured up that same sense of excitement.

The latest PR Strategist examines the challenges facing firms and pros specializing in health care PR. There is specific advice for pulling together a health care PR team:

In lieu of the dream team of generalists pulling in specialists as needed, the best firms today establish teams of specialists with a generalist at the helm. The team leader, who must also be an astute manager, will cull the right people with the right talent and put them to work …

For example, if you were putting together a team for a product that treats rare disorders, like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Huntington’s Disease, you might tap into an issues-management specialist for availability, compassionate use and pricing issues, an advocacy/professional-relations specialist to work closely with the patient and neurology community, a science writer to help demystify the mechanism of action (MOA) of the drug and how it works in the body, and so on.

The leader who cannot orchestrate his or her team (often strong practitioners in their own right) will align the wrong people with the wrong skill sets with complex client business.

If you have access to a media database, the May issue of Pharmaceutical Executive deals with the practical challenges of health care PR, including articles on:

Surveying the messaging landscape

The art of advertorials

Press releases and the FDA

But what are the competencies of a successful health care PR pro? See after the jump.
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We know the general public lies to us: during focus groups, in-store sampling, telephone polling, door-to-door canvassing, and in every other form of public opinion research.

Marginal Revolution has been thumbing through (what we consider) an old university text, and unearthed an excerpt from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s public opinion theory that might shed some light. Here’s his comment:

This is an interesting public opinion theory. It assumes that aggregate public opinion has two components - a selfish and biased component and a component that produces the “right” public policy. The difference between the optimal policy and the median voter’s policy is due not to ignorance or systemic error, but to selfish desires that undermine the provision of public goods.

Ideally, public opinion research would prompt decisions that favour the “right” public policy. Unfortunately, the clients actually paying for the research frequently get in the way. As do genpop participants who lie about their motivations, goals, influencers, favoured goods and preferred policies.

As Slate told us in October:

“The correlation between stated intent and actual behavior is usually low and negative,” writes Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman in his influential book How Customers Think. After all, he notes, 80 percent of new products or services fail within six months when they’ve been vetted through focus groups.

That would explain how Coca-Cola thinks C2 will be a success.

Oh - and if you’ve drunk the POR Kool-Aid and are insufficiently cautious about extrapolating POR results, all those anomalies can be explained through sampling errors, measurement errors, margins of error, coverage error and non-response error. Here’s a short primer.

Avril Lavigne’s got a new album out, don’t you know? Her publicity tour hasn’t suffered from the mud she’s been slinging at Hillary and Britney.

It has also benefited from the unusual synergy in activities undertaken by her record company, her promotional street team, and her rabid fans. Nettwerk, the record company, concentrates on the usual promotions and Back Bone, her fan club. Team Avril, the street team, seems to focus solely on net-based promotions.

Avrilbandaids, however, is a 20,000-strong fan club that grew out of Yahoo Groups. The Globe and Mail tells us:

Avrilbandaids is seen as so vital a promotional vehicle that Team Avril lists Avrilbandaids as an important link for Team Avril members to use. … Team Avril only gets about a quarter of the number of site visitors that Avrilbandaids gets.

Indeed, the visually sparse Team Avril site almost feels like an admission by Arista/BMG and Nettwerk that it can’t find someone to administer the street-team duties with quite the same vitality as independent fan clubs. Meanwhile, BMG and Nettwerk are also co-operating more with Avrilbandaids, by providing the signed CDs and posters for the club’s contests.

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The Hill Times, Canada’s answer to Roll Call, has run several articles on the backroom machinery supporting the major campaigns. There’s a look at the war rooms and the wagonmasters.

How do the Canadian war rooms work in action? Look after the jump.

In other news, one Winnipeg candidate has created an ad to run before the showings of Shrek 2 in a local multiplex. I know the campaigns want to reach out to the youth vote - but Shrek 2?
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A history of strong business relationships and good governance tactics can help international companies seeking cross-listing in US markets to overcome investors’ concerns about lax regulatory supervision at home, says Harvard Prof. Jordan Siegel.

His research into the performance of Mexican companies during and after the financial crisis of the mid-1990s suggests that international firms can win the confidence of US analysts, financiers and bankers.

The evidence … would suggest that investors should place greater trust in those cross-listed firms that have built up a reputation for good governance through bad economic times. Firms with reputational assets have a strong positive incentive to continue to live up to those reputations.

Firms with reputational assets are able to secure privileged access to outside finance as a result of their reputation. They may also enjoy other market benefits from their reputation as well (such as with customers and business partners).

However, Siegel’s research also shows that cross-listed firms can be pillaged by less reputable international partners. In some cases, roadshows fail because management doesn’t understand the depth of information regularly expected by international investors. In China, public relations firms have built a thriving practice by providing basic investor relations advice to Chinese firms looking for international investors:
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Eric Idle, of Monty Python fame, has recorded a remarkable and profane song about FCC censorship. I heartily recommend it.

FCCSong Download

Thanks to Doc Searls for the pointer.

Three excellent caricatures of the generic campaign candidate, reporter and flack in today’s National Post - written by Sri Agrell, illustrated by Kagan McLeod.

Candidate: “Stain resistant, sweat-proof, button-down shirts with sleeves that can be rolled casually to give off an easy-going vibe.” In case you’re wondering, this is Flat Mark. Strange campaign tool, isn’t it?

Flack: “Case of beer to bribe young people to attend rallies”

Reporter: “Diary in which to record overtime hours for which you will never be paid.”

The Prime Minister’s gone and done it. Canada’s going to have an election on June 28. Somehow, he and his fellow politicians will reach out to nearly 30 million Canadians spread across the second largest country in the world - and only spend about $40 million.

Sure, that doesn’t count the costs of the actual election mechanics, or the costs to be tallied up by the media. Did you know a Canadian network has borrowed one of ABC’s now-ubiquitous wired buses? (It actually broke down yesterday. On the first day of the election.) Even CPAC, the public access politics channel, has a bus.

Several outlets are trying out blogs, including the CBC (it reads like a college road trip journal). The Globe and Mail is promising to have reporter’s blogs. (When? The campaign’s into its second day)

In the interests of free and open democracy, I’ve prepared some helpful hints for those thrifty Canadian politicians looking to save a few dollars on the campaign trail:

Chris Lehane has some advice on how to conduct and deploy effective opposition research during an election campaign. It’s all in the latest edition of Atlantic Monthly, where Joshua Green looks at oppo research in general.

Lehane’s advice is after the jump.
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Jim Horton’s been running a series of dispatches chronicling his work with a client in crisis mode. A little snippet in Fortune only reinforces his observations.

There is a quiet period before a bad story appears. In that time, clients work to prevent the story from happening. (They can’t). They ask an agency to tell them what to do. (The agency tries to prepare them for the worst.) Eventually the story comes and expectancy is rewarded by the force of an awful report. By then, however, the client and the agency will have feared the worst, and the story might not seem as bad as it is. But, it might be worse, and it is hard to tell until feedback comes from customers, employees and others. (Here, and other days)

Fortune ran a 6000+ word piece on executive suite troubles at Coca-Cola this week, and it is obvious that the PR staff knew the article was coming.

How obvious? In discussing Douglas Daft, who “would come to be called Coke’s ‘accidental CEO,’” the reporter notes an exchange with the PR staff:

(A company spokeswoman said Daft wouldn’t be made available for interviews because “you have to understand, we’re trying to do as little damage as possible. We’re trying not to blow the place up.”)

Ouch.

If the claims being made by the Simon Property Group are true, there are some signficant experiential marketing opportunities being missed across the United States. Simon is involved in 247 shopping malls across 37 states, and is making some pretty hefty claims as the result of its new Arbitron “Simon Malls Shopper Profile“. This from the press release:

Americans are five times more likely to visit a Simon Mall than to attend a ticketed sporting event, including Major League baseball, NFL football, NBA basketball, NHL hockey, NASCAR, Major League soccer, NCAA events, major tennis events and the PGA combined.

There are some other startling claims, that should probably be taken with a grain of salt:

Simon’s one-month reach exceeds national newspaper weekly reach.

Simon’s net reach is comparable to, or exceeds, major weekly national magazines.

Of course, some of the results do seem self-evident:

Teens and 18-24 year olds are more likely to make their purchasing decisions while at the mall while older shoppers tend to decide before they get to the mall. (see So Your Daughter’s a Mall Rat)

72% of Simon M1s distinctly recall seeing mall advertising in the corridors.

75% of Simon M1s are aware of audio in the corridors and walkways and awareness of signage is high.

Four out of five Simon Shoppers would find a kiosk with sales and promotional literature to be useful.

Am I the only one that finds something funny about the marketing agreement between American Idol and Pop Tarts?

I always thought Kylie Minogue or Christina Aguilera were pop tarts. Here’s one definition of tart. And here’s an even worse definition of pop tarts.

Lengthy interview with Nick Denton, of Gawker, Wonkette, Fleshbot and Defamer fame on PRWeek.com today.

Q. What is the biggest impact citizen journalism will have on the public relations practice? - SR, New York

A. Blogs provide a filter between PR professionals and journalists. Reporters have been increasingly overwhelmed by pitches. They don’t open their emails or answer the phone a lot of the time. Some of the more savvy journalists are looking at the web as a filter. Smart PR professionals need to start looking at indirect ways to reach reporters and subtle pitches to weblogs or the creation of weblogs for a specific campaign. That’s a good way for PR professionals to get an idea out there in the hopes that it will get to influential reporters.

Thanks to Romensko for the pointer.

Interesting analogy from the May edition of Computers in Libraries:

Good promotion is like Chinese food. When it’s done right, it’s slightly enticing and pleasantly satisfying. And shortly after it’s finished, you want to go back for a little bit more. Creating good promotion can be like preparing Chinese food. You may or may not have all the right tools and skills. If not, then you probably want to order out to get it. But you’ll choose your vendor carefully, to be sure that you’ll get just the right flavor combination that you’re looking for.

Proctor & Gamble isn’t exactly wet behind the ears when it comes to developing and marketing consumer goods. Fortune discusses how CEO A.G. Lafley “has kicked up the good ideas at the stodgy Midwestern giant“. (sub. req.)

Warning: When Lafley talks about what he’s done to make P&G more innovative, you need a weed-whacker to cut through the cliches. “The consumer is boss,” Lafley says constantly–that is, when he’s not talking about “reframing the brands” (defining P&G’s brands more broadly); “connect and develop” (reaching outside for ideas); and “360-degree innovation” (differentiating products not just by formulation but also by design).

“There is a lot of jargon,” Lafley admits, smiling. “But we have to find things that are simple for 100,000 people to understand. And more than half my organization doesn’t have English as a first language. So it’s intentional.” And apparently it works …

More ideas after the jump.
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Proctor & Gamble isn’t exactly wet behind the ears when it comes to developing and marketing consumer goods. Fortune discusses how CEO A.G. Lafley “has kicked up the good ideas at the stodgy Midwestern giant“. (sub. req.)

Warning: When Lafley talks about what he’s done to make P&G more innovative, you need a weed-whacker to cut through the cliches. “The consumer is boss,” Lafley says constantly–that is, when he’s not talking about “reframing the brands” (defining P&G’s brands more broadly); “connect and develop” (reaching outside for ideas); and “360-degree innovation” (differentiating products not just by formulation but also by design).

“There is a lot of jargon,” Lafley admits, smiling. “But we have to find things that are simple for 100,000 people to understand. And more than half my organization doesn’t have English as a first language. So it’s intentional.” And apparently it works …

More ideas after the jump.
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A California company, Coravue, has added personalized RSS to their online Customer Relationship Management program. Contentious has some valid doubts about the tracking features the company is touting.

It’s about bloody time. The NASA Engineering and Safety Center, created in the wake of the Columbia crash, has released the results of its first studies, and has also commented on the engineering culture prevalent at NASA.

Along with four technical reports, the NESC produced a four-page newsletter summarizing the technical activities and some lessons learned. The biggest lesson, [NESC Director Ralph] Roe said, is to curb the practice of “PowerPoint engineering.”

The Columbia report chided NASA engineers for their reliance on bulleted presentations. In the four studies, the inspectors came to agree that PowerPoint slides are not a good tool for providing substantive documentation of results. “We think it’s important to go back to the basics,” Roe said. “We’re making it a point with the agency that engineering organizations need to go back to writing engineering reports.”

As the blogosphere expands, it’s evident that bloging communities of interest or practice are developing around common themes, interests and professions. Richard McDermott has identified six tips to keep communities of practice vibrant: these are easily adaptable to blogging communities. The list follows, more details are available after the jump.

Clear purpose

Active leadership

Critical mass of engaged members

Sense of accomplishment

High management expectations

Real time participation

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Typographica has run a design nugget that hits upon a pet peeve of mine: the tendency of graphic designers and ad agencies to run with tried, true and often boring formats and designs.

Their interview with Phil Martin, the designer of a number of fresh variations on older typefaces, prompted this comment about a favoured client.

… “It’s too Hot to cook” is as nice a design as I have ever done. It was an ad I did for Dallas Power & Light. Oh, what memories. Every time I had a new face ready, it would become the look of my next DP&L ad. It gave Martin Studios a city-wide showing of a look you could get only by hiring Martin Studios …

[There’s] somebody else to thank for helping me become a type designer: Ray Ward, the DP&L company spokesman and ad man, gave me free range to give the ads any look I chose. [One of Martin’s sample books] shows ten DP&L graphics!

I admit many corporate communicators may not have the leeway to allow this sort of creative input. Branding guides and corporate messaging are an important part of defining and sustaining a corporate identity. Graphic designers, however, are still an important part of the creative process - and if they don’t volunteer new ideas on an old theme, should be pushed and prodded to earn their creative premium.

Otherwise, I can use the corporate PowerPoint template and Photoshop to set up my new ad.

Despite being in Jordan, Colin Powell was booked for two double-ender interviews this weekend: the first with Tim Russert, and the second with Fox TV.

When the Russert/NBC interview went long, one of Powell’s aides ended the interview by ordering the camera to shift view to some nearby trees.

“You’re off,” State Department press aide Emily Miller was heard saying. “I am not off,” Powell insisted. “No, they can’t use it, they’re editing it,” Miller said. “He’s still asking the questions,” Powell said.

Miller, a onetime NBC staffer who recently worked for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, also told Powell: “He was going to go for another five minutes.”(Kurtz in the WPost)

Eventually, Powell had aide move the camera back into focus and finished his interview. Russert ran the entire interview, including the interruption.

A useful lesson for public relations folk: while you may have negotiated the terms of the interview, you always have to be flexible - especially when your spokesperson is actually on camera.

What’s a double-ender, or satellite, interview? Here’s one resource from WPNT Chicago.

Boeing is claiming that its satellite-based in-air broadband service, Connexion by Boeing, will be available in 50 aircraft by the end of 2004, and 150 by the end of 2005. Deals are already in place with Lufthansa, All-Nippon, SAS and JAL, and are being negotiatied with others

With rates from $9.95 for three hours’ access to $29.95 a flight, it’s a market estimated to reach $2b a year by 2014. The irony? The first flight is being conducted today - on a Lufthansa Airbus A340.

I had the opportunity to conduct an imaginary interview with Dan Aykroyd, the Canadian actor, about the expansion of the blogosphere. The questions are real: the answers are taken from Aykroyd’s movies. Footnotes are at the bottom.

Q: The media environment has experienced fundamental change since you first appeared on Saturday Night Live in the 70s. Consumers and corporations have embraced the technological and cultural implications of innovations like satellite TV, cable and the WWW. Now, we’re grappling with how thin and rich media apps may change our world. What are your thoughts?

A: [It’s] part of the same system that NASA used when they faked the Apollo moon landings. Yeah, the astronauts broadcast around the world from a soundstage at Norton Airforce Base in San Bernadino, California. So it worked for them, shouldn’t give us too many problems. (1)

Q: Corporate communicators are increasingly interested in how blogging can help them reach out to their stakeholder groups. Still, they have problems securing buy-in from senior management, and hold nagging concerns about shifting from a comfortable communication system based in hierarchy and control to an evolving system that depends upon transparency and responsiveness by all participants. Do you think these “growing pains” will continue?

A: You know, it just occurred to me, we haven’t had a completely successful test of this equipment. No sense worrying about it now. (2)

Q: Well, it’s becoming evident that blog technology will have to find a common ground if it is to crossover into mainstream acceptance. There are a number of independent delivery standards, and several different publishing platforms. Do you think the general public is ready to embrace, or even understand, an environment like this?

A: No! Nobody ever made them like this! The architect was either a certified genius or an aesthetic wacko! (2)

Q: Do you think the blogging community will be able to guide the technology to a workable and publicly palatable solution, or will commercial pressures force the technical specialists to find an acceptable, but average, consumer application?

A: I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities. We didn’t have to produce anything! You’ve never been out of college. You don’t know what it’s like out there. I’ve worked in the private sector. They expect results. (2)

Q: But how are we supposed to find that one magical app – the one that allows expands the blogging universe to welcome corporate, community and personal bloggers with lesser levels of technical expertise? I suppose the new Blogger is one tool – especially if combined with the new Gmail service – but there always seem to be concerns about security and control. Even Google found that Orkut had been hacked. Have you found security a challenge?

A: Well … I broke it with this … Drogen’s Decoder Wheel … I found it in a box of, uh … Lucky Charms. (3)

Q: Now that Google is going public, they will have the resources to pursue people who crack their security measures or criticize their privacy policies. Doesn’t this worry you?

A: No, they don’t got my address, I falsified my renewal. I put down 1060 West Addison. (4)

Q: Hmm. Let’s get back on track. I still think real public acceptance of the blogosphere will only come if there is a concerted effort by bloggers and technical experts from across the blogging community to popularize the technology and develop practical applications.

A: Well… I got a few leads … I got some phone numbers but… I mean… how many of them wrote or visited you, huh? (4)

Q: You know, I think you’re not really much of an expert in this area.

A: I was going to do your family a favor and hookup the Disney Channel for free. Well, forget it. (3)

Q: Many journalists continue to argue that blogs are not a challenge to their methods, and do not pose a threat to their institutions. They seem to be clinging to their traditions and their professional biases, in the face of obvious change and evolution in popular communication. What do you think?

A: I remember Revelation 7:12. “And I looked, as he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became as black as sackcloth. And the moon became as blood.”

Every ancient religion has its own myth about the end of the world. (2)

Q: You know, it’s probably not a good career move to mock the media so brutally.

A: For once I’m completely in agreement … Do you know what those things can do? Suck the paint off your house and give your family a permanent orange afro. (3)

Q: Thank you for your time, Dan.

A: You’re welcome … you ignorant slut.

(1) Sneakers
(2) Ghostbusters
(3) Spies Like Us
(4) Blues Brothers

David Akin points out that just-released Comscore research shows Canadians like to search - a lot - and are positively addicted to Google.

85 per cent of Canadians use a search engine at least once a month, compared to 73 per cent of American Web surfers … Google handles 62 per cent of search queries originating in Canada. Google handles just 35 per cent of queries in the U.S. …

Canadians search more often, too. Canucks perform an average of 40 searches a month, compared to the Yankee average of 35 searches a month.

I wonder why we stick to Google? Maybe it’s the clean, unfettered and relatively unsophisticated look. Maybe we appreciate the soft sell of the discrete text ads. Or maybe we Canadians are attracted to Google’s wry and self-deprecating sense of humour.

It’s going to be 27 degrees (C) in Ottawa today, with the chance of rain. An alert retailer would know to move the umbrella stand to the front of the store, to display the ice cream bars more prominently, and to highlight the selection of iced drinks.

In department stores fans will likely move quickly, as might raincoats - but not those leftover winter parkas.

In Britain, the Met Office is working with the British Retail Council to tailor its forecasting services to meet the needs of retailers.

Iris, an interactive web-based weather solution, is designed to serve the needs of retailers and the whole retail supply chain. The programme gives weather information up to 10 days in advance. Its users can incorporate their own thresholds to highlight when consumer demand is likely to increase or decrease for their particular products.

Another weather sensitivity analysis (WSA) service from the Met Office is designed to integrate with companies’ sales forecasts. This can lead to improvements in demand predictions and, in turn, better on-shelf availability and less wastage.

The Met Office claims Safeway has achieved an annual benefit equating to £4.8m from its weather services. One ice-cream promotion by the supermarket sold as much of the promoted brand in one week as it usually does in an entire year.

“It is very much about the timing of promotional ability,” says [the BRC spokesman]. “It is also about the timing of information, so if it is going to be a wet weekend and a low footfall is expected, a retailer could hold off on advertising.”

Some retailers point out that seasonal items like fans or sweaters are hard to speed through the supply chain in response to weather forecasts, but grocery stores see a real need:

Tesco buyers use long-range forecasts to adjust stock levels. Before the snowy spell earlier this year, it stocked up on soup, vegetables and tinned products. “The important thing for us is that we have the right products in-store,” says a spokesman. “The weather charts are of huge importance to the business,” says the spokesman. “It’s no good having lots of lettuce in a cold snap, but in a hot spell, salads and strawberries are in demand.”

Full story in In-Store Marketing (sub. req.)

Case study on how Safeway grocery stores in Britain use weather forecasting. (.pdf)

We believe that garment and other manufacturing workers around the world deserve better than the reality that many unfortunately face. We recognize and embrace our duty to take a leadership role.

And so opens the Gap Inc. 2003 social responsibility report. The company is being upfront about the realities in their factories overseas - that workers face unreasonable and sometimes unsafe work conditions, lengthy work days, and may be underage.

Few factories, if any, are in full compliance all of the time. If they were, we wouldn’t need a code or the extensive resources we devote to monitoring. When we find problems, we work with management to try to resolve them as quickly as possible. We will stay with a manufacturer as long as we believe it is committed to making ongoing improvements.

The Gap knows there is a problem, and they have addressed it head on. They will still be criticized for sponsoring unsatisfactory work conditions and they will be castigated for not doing more to help foreign workers, but this report clearly communicates the Gap’s position, their goals and their action plan. Because they have communicated openly and broadly about the problems they face with their contractors, the Gap will likely not be harangued by visceral public reaction into immediate and drastic change, and their brand will not be demonized.

Similar advice is being offered in the WSJ by a range of experienced communicators on a different issue - the photos of abuse in Iraq. (sub. req.) There are several opinions presented, here is Howard Rubenstein’s:

From the very beginning, I would have released the photos all at one time. This is like slow water torture. If you don´t put all the bad news out all at once during a crisis, there is a `drip, drip´ effect that keeps the story alive.

In politics they spend too much time on how to spin a story instead of asking right up front, What is the right thing to do? ‘I would also advise them not to pass the buck down the totem pole. Find out who is ultimately responsible for what has happened.

I think they should be highlighting the good things out there, such as the heroics of our armed servicemen. They could even spend a lot more time showing the rebuilding of Iraq. Even the human-interest stories of our soldiers, who have done good things, should be played up.

If there is any effort to cover up or soft-pedal, that will be explosive in nature. There is so much scrutiny and such global communications today that only the truth will work. We don´t need spin doctors, we need factual, open discussions.

Buried deep in a NYT feature on New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson this past weekend was this nugget (reg. req.):

As the day was winding down, Richardson sat in the front of his S.U.V., munching on chicharrones and harrassing one of his media people for proposing a photo op on a lake he, rather unpopularly, ordered partially drained. ‘’Forget it,'’ the governor barked. ‘’They hate me out there.'’ Then he looked at me and rolled his eyes. ‘’This is my communications staff. This is positive image-building. I can’t wait for the next big idea.'’

When it comes to the media, no one is shrewder in the Democratic Party than Richardson. In the end, that may be his biggest contribution to the 2004 election. The role of convention chairman is largely as talking head, master of ceremonies and (if need be) one-man rapid-response team, and this role is ideal for both Richardson and the party. Compared with the Republicans, who run a well-oiled media machine, the Democrats are disastrously bad at P.R. They’re dull. Defensive. Chaotic.

Richardson, on the other hand, is the Democratic answer to John McCain. He says pretty much what he’s thinking. Candor for him is both schtick and real. Several times a day, he beckons his assistant to come over and touch up his makeup in order to make him camera-ready; his press people carry extra foundation in their bags. They estimate that he gets three requests from the national news media per day, as well as one from the Spanish-language media.

Speaking of “body men,” maybe you missed the NYT article on Kerry’s “Chief of Stuff,” Marvin Nicholson. The Taipei Times has reprinted it, so you don’t have to register with the NYT.

And here’s an article about the body man for Gray Davis - when he was Lieutenant Governor of California.

Want that SoHo post-industrial feel, but just don’t want to go to the bother of moving to NYC? Are you craving some exposed brick, metal sheathing and iron girderwork, but still want to be close to the new Sam’s Club? Don’t want to have to walk past a wino to pick up your latte?

Well, the Iron Works Lofts may be for you. Too bad they’re in a suburban development thirty minutes outside Denver. As the architects tell us: “Iron Works Lofts brings the excitement, flexibility and vitality of contemporary urban loft living into a single family detached home context. ”

Mmmm. Kay.

Writing in Metropolis, Karrie Jacobs discusses how abruptly the idealized world of design can meet the realities of commercial development. Lofts have traditionally represented the repurposing of a space, the gradual revitalization of a building and a neighbourhood. These social and cultural values can’t really be reflected in new suburban development - which leaves a disquieting feeling when you see buildings like these in such a idiosyncratic setting.

Recently I caught up with Dean Thedos, self-described “head of crazy-idea development” for Cornerstone Homes. He’s the brains behind Ironworks Lofts. He says the goal was to make a less “exclusionary” version of the urban loft. The loft, he says, “has been in locations that have been fairly inhospitable except to a small segment of the population.” He’s talking about cities.

“It’s hard to go shopping for groceries,” Thedos argues. “It’s hard to have friends visit and park their cars. You make a lot of trade-offs. Why can’t we evolve this into a form that’s more accessible? Let’s morph it into something that anybody who wants to can live in and not have to trade off their garage and fenceable yard in a location where shopping is proximate and there are multiple bedrooms for children.” …

The lesson here is that when you argue for stylistic change and that change eventually comes, it turns out that style is beside the point. The New Urbanists, for example, used bungalow style to sell their antisprawl principles. As a result the bungalow has become popular among conventional developers, who somehow missed the part about principle. Likewise, as commercial builders embrace a loft aesthetic, the fact that lofts were a way of reviving disused urban neighborhoods falls by the wayside. So here’s a tip from the Uncool Hunter’s Manual: the point where style is pried loose from any semblance of meaning is a good place to seek out the uncool.

And you know this is all the fault of thirtysomething. All those ferns, exposed ducts and brick walls.

(look here for more Karrie Jacobs articles on urban design)

The Monogram Group is a small ad/design agency working out of Chicago. The Tribune spoke with Scott Markman, the founder and president, about the peaks and valleys of running a B2B firm. (free sub. req.)

He makes the point that professional marketing help is absolutely essential, even for a small firm like his:

… By last fall, I realized we had to take a drastically different approach to generating leads. We were left with too many small clients with non-recurring needs; even if the client loved our work, once the project was completed we had to source a new client.

We could no longer survive just on what came over the transom.

The small business brought on a consultant who specialized in sales and marketing advice to professional-services firms. The advice?