The Right Thing
I’ve reread Bob Garfields article “Suffer in Silence” a few times since it was posted.
Short version: Garfield’s piece is a call to brands, cautioning them to restrain from inserting themselves into news stories about the tragedy at Sandy Hook elementary school.
Within the piece, he offers examples of a few brands that have hijacked other tragedies, to garner press for themselves.
The following is one of the comments posted in response to Garfield’s piece:
“Let’s take a break and focus on the people who do good deeds, maybe just for a week or so, if we can, please.”
Rather than reading more examples of brands doing the wrong thing, the commenter wanted stories of brands doing the right thing.
Those good deeds? They’re often paired with tight lips. If actions are taken to help others, they go unpublicized.
The brands/individuals act on their own, because it is the right thing to do, not because they’ll get a spread in People magazine.
And you know what? The brands/individuals keeping their mouths shut end up with stronger consumer relationships than do the ones taking out full-page ads in the New York Times, to share how wonderful they are. There’s a special respect given to those willing to help without guaranteed recognition in return.
For 2013 (and for however long the Mayans continue to be wrong about the end of the world…): If you decide to take action, do as Garfield suggested, and “Please, not a word.” If you want to send supplies, money, books, whatever it is, do it, but restrain from sending out a press release. Do it because it is the right thing to do, and not because it is the thing that will garner you a ton of good press.
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
A small and strong article.
And since the word “Mayans” is mentioned: the industry seems to have tried it’s best to sell the “disaster product”.
No wonder that the world didn’t end today, but it’s already mentioned that there was a miscalculation and that the end will happen on January 2013, or May, (or whenever! :-).
The reason we trust brands isn’t because of the restraint or whatever that they showed in Sandy Hook, it’s because of their character before that.
I agree with Chris on this one. A brand is like someone we have come to know well and like. We don’t usually abandon them for a misstep, for we all make mistakes at times.
Thank you for making this point.
I agree.
Best wishes, Roger.
This reminds me why there’s magic in an anonymous gift. It turns everyone in your orbit into the possible source of comfort.
As a fan of SEO, I use keyword ranking checker to monitor the effectiveness of my website. It completely changes how I track keyword rankings and plan out my content. NinjaReports supports me in making data-driven decisions to maintain my lead in the search results by providing accurate and current data.
Students these days are suffering from depression and anxiety because of academic pressure so I designed a website to help them in taking online classes with take my online class US. It is the most feasible website for the students who are looking for an affordable online class helping sites.
Imarkplace best ecommerce website. We offer a seamless blend of quality products, unparalleled customer service, and secure transactions. With a user-friendly interface and a wide array of offerings, we cater to all your needs. Elevate your online shopping experience with us today!