Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

I receive a newsletter every morning about the economy from an analyst at Bear Sterns, now JP Morgan. It’s one I actually enjoy reading.

However, this morning my newsletter came with a big surprise… apparently, Andrew Graham’s out of the office this week, and some staffer sent a notification that he’d be gone for the week to everyone on the list. And…

Instead of blind copying everyone, they copied everyone, and I now have personal, private emails for everyone else who gets his email newsletters.

I’m pretty sure that staffer is getting their head handed to them on a plate right about now.

I have the integrity to delete the note and the email addresses associated with it. But can I trust everyone else on the list to do the same?

So a little lesson to all marketers - our email addresses should be protected as fiercely as our phone numbers, home addresses, etc… THINK before you send a mass email of any kind. Are you protecting the rights of everyone on the list?

I’m afraid that I keep reading more marketers are adopting email as a communications vehicle in this economy, and I believe we’re going to see a lot more of this kind of mistake. I have a separate email address for my newsletters, and recommend you do the same. It might just help to protect you in cases like this.

A second peanut plant (this one in Texas) run by the Peanut Corporation of America has just shut down operations as a result of government pressure over the salmonella scare.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today that the number of cases linked to the current peanut product outbreak has reached 600, and said that as many as eight people may have died as a result.

At the same time, sales of jars of peanut butter- which are not affected in this recall - have slid 22% in four weeks. As I mentioned on Sunday in my Stopping Spreading Fear… post, food producers - in the face of consumer hysteria - are relegated to buying print and PPC ads to fight the hype and hyperbole that have surrounded the lack of information in this case. They just aren’t ready to move fast enough - this time.

I can only take heart in the hope that this (lack of) response to a major food / health issue will never happen again. With government coordination, and soon-to-come business participation, we’ll have the facts (FACTS! Not conjecture… or silence…) available as they unfold next time.

The systems are available. People are using them. Businesses and the associations who represent them are just going to have to get them implemented NOW, in preparation for next time.

Sign me up for some of that.

In her blog yesterday, pharma marketer Ellen Hoenig-Carlson elaborated on my peanut butter post and said:

“Yet…what I also find interesting is that the US GOVERNMENT seized the moment during this crisis to launch a social media collaboration…”

Food and pharma are highly regulated, especially around health claims. Few companies (Johnson & Johnson is a notable exception) have leveraged social media to interact with consumers.

I find it rather ironic that the very government entities who regulate business communications are providing the majority of peanut recall information in the social media realm.

The CDC has a little site up complete with blog links, video links, e-health cards you can send to friends (!?!), RSS feeds, podcasts and even a link to their mobile web site. And, to fly the flag for safety, you can even put little badges (code provided) on your site.

I love the garbage can - proud to have thrown away products! But hey… if it gets people motivated, so be it!

As Ellen noted:

“WOW! Government actively using and exploring social media, twitter and the like, before private business…

Who would have thunk…

Attention industry and marketers alike…are you ready?”

Perhaps with the government leading the way, they will be able to speak more freely, especially when and where we need them to the most.

I have had a morning full of meetings, and (in a dangerous move) am drinking my second cup of coffee this morning. I am way early (almost an hour) for a meeting with my friend Katherine, at Albina Press in Portland. I thought I’d get here early and take advantage of their free wifi and work.

Once comfortably installed at a table, I rocketed through email, answered a couple of direct messages (DM) on Twitter, retweeted (RT) one, and posted this:

Not one minute later, my phone rings, and it’s Katherine. “We are meeting at 10:30, aren’t we?” She saw my Tweet and hoped she wasn’t late.

Talk about immediacy of conversations…

With the new administration in Washington comes a hope I can feel and see with my own eyes.

1. One of my favorite positions on the Obama team is that of Director of New Media, headed by Macon Phillips.
2. He’s one of the new contributors to the Whitehouse.gov blog  - which is (according to Macon) about Communication, Transparency, and Participation - after all, “Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration’s online programs will put citizens first.”
3. According to the contact form (!) on the site, “President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history.”

My tiny nit is that you can’t comment on the blog posts, but throughout the Whitehouse.gov site, there are statements that lead me to believe we’ll be able to participate online for the Obama administration to see that participatory government (voting often on issues, expressing our feelings, opinions and fears) will be just what this country needs to “get back to leading.”

Yes, we can!