| 10 Tips for Smart Grid Media Relations from the Wright Brothers (Part 2 of 2) |
| Written by Nancy Broe | |||
| Monday, 21 June 2010 08:31 | |||
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Part 2 continues through the 10 Tips for Smart Grid Media Relations starting with Number 6. Click here to read Part 1 and steps Number 1 through 5. 6. Consider the general public a key audience even if they are not your sales prospects.When you are selling a transformative technology -- as the Wright Brothers were and as smart grid entrepreneurs are-- your target audience is much more than those who will actually sign contracts for your product. While advertising and marketing dollars may best be allocated directly toward prospective customers, media relations play an important role in building acceptance, demand, and enthusiasm for the benefits of the transformed society your product promises. Neglecting to communicate with smart grid end users has already provided early evidence of the need for individual vendors as well as the electric industry at large, to engage the hearts and minds of John Q. Public. 7. Don’t overlook the positive power of local pride in the press. The story below came about when Bishop Wright disseminated the news in his hometown after receiving a telegram from Orville and Wilbur about their successful flight. Another example of the family media savvy.
8. Build Relationships to Build Commercial Viability of Your Solution
The paper every smart grid entrepreneur longs to see: the first big sale. This $25,000 order from the U.S. Government came in 1908, years after the first successful flight. 9. When you have a visionary CEO, let him or her speak! "For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money if not my life." In an equally personal note to the Smithsonian Institution in 1899, Wilbur pled his case for collaboration, noting: “I am an enthusiast, but not a crank in the sense that I have some pet theories as to the proper construction of a flying machine. I wish to avail myself of all that is already known and then if possible add my mite to help on the future worker who will attain final success.” Wilbur’s advocacy supported their early goals of establishing legitimacy and obtaining funding and over the years extending their commercial operations through overseas licensing and manufacture of Wright flyers. 10. A Solid Media Relations Foundation Helps Your Brand Endure Note, however, that by the time this shocking accident occurred – a propeller falling off and the plane dramatically pitching to earth before a “great crowd” -- the reputation of the Wright brothers was already strong and positive. The headline, for example, presumes readers need no explanation as to who “Wright” is. Most importantly, the tone of the coverage is positive, sympathetic even. The public was rooting for Wright’s recovery. The Wright brand had their share of crisis communications situations. Yet their reputation endured—not due to some slick trick of publicity, but due to careful building of a brand built on substantive excellence.
Today, smart grid entrepreneurs and utilities must do more to allay consumer concerns or even outright fear of the smart grid and to present its benefits. The Wrights’ commitment to their brand included commitment to their field, to extending the public embrace of both. Their media relations were no “spin” process, but a reflection of their goals, intrinsic to their core brand. Ironically, the Wrights are often criticized as having been poor marketers, too circumspect and private in their media dealings. In fact, the way they built their brand shows a steady prudence that transcended mere hype. Because the Wright Brothers had presented the science behind their solution in a way that consumers could grasp, because they had allowed the public to dream with them and to appreciate the benefits of their offering, because they had made it a priority to develop an excellent product and to protect that product before seeking publicity, and because they had cultivated relationships with their key audiences (business, government, scientific, international, and consumer) the Wright Brothers brand both endured and triumphed. In the years ahead, Wright Aircraft took many corporate forms. The vision and messaging that had been so strongly guided by Wilbur changed over the years and particularly after his untimely death by illness in 1912. Orville sold the Wright Company in 1915. Later, he came on as technical advisor to a new firm, the Dayton Wright Airplane Company. Orville prospered from the sale of his patents (to the Wright Company) and of his companies. He shaped the brand in a manner reflective of his personality and vision, and remained an advocate, advisor, and elder statesman of aviation until his death in 1948 at age 77. For more on the Wright Brothers:
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When the Wrights finally made their debut in a non-sales-related flight, it was a spectacular media event. On September 29, 1909, before a crowd said to be one million, Wilbur flew around the Statue of Liberty, zipping under her arms and buzzing the Lusitania in the harbor. Over the course of the next four days, Wilbur flew over Manhattan and battleships in the harbor. After this week, Wilbur never flew for a public exhibition again. This single, well chosen, spectacular display of aviation had a deep and lasting impact on their brand and flying history. One spectator that week, for example, was a teen named Juan Trippe, who was inspired to become a pilot. He went on to found Pan American airways and to successfully promote international air travel to the public. Read more on the New York flights at 
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