Where Will You Find Your Next Generation of Workers in U.S.?

As many as one half million jobs go unfilled in manufacturing today because of the lack of qualified applicants, according to some studies. The lack of qualified applicants will be exasperated by the reshoring movement, which according to a recent report in Modern Metals magazine, will generate anywhere from one million to six million new U.S. manufacturing jobs. Add to the mix the statistic that about 75% of the industrial labor force will retire in the next 20 years and you begin to see the challenge for our economy, particularly our education system.

The Modern Metals report mentioned another challenge in the outdated and unappealing stereotypes that keep talented students, their parents, teachers and counselors from considering industrial work as a viable career option. Another need according to Modern Metals is to provide the education and training these students will need to develop their skills.

Much has been written about the programs set up by various industry groups and the government at all levels to train workers. We applaud those efforts, but more is needed. With this in mind, consider what you can do locally to ensure a steady supply of qualified job applicants.

NM Marketing works with many manufacturing companies, specializing in trade show exhibit services, public relations, B2B advertising, and much more. Learn more about how we can help you today at NM Marketing.

Is Funville the Right Place for Disaster Info?

The January 13 accident of the 4200-passenger Costa Concordia cruise ship is worldwide news and a public relations black eye for the ship’s owner, Carnival Corporation.

As this is being written a few days after the incident, the grounding and capsizing of the giant vessel seems to be a case of severe human error. According to many news reports, Captain Francesco Schettino deliberately steered off course so that he could show off the ship to residents on the island of Giglio, Italy, home of the giant ship’s headwaiter. After ripping a hole in hull of the $450-million vessel, the captain fled the ship before many of the passengers.

While it’s hard to anticipate a ship’s captain going rogue, it seems that an appropriate crisis communications plan should be in place, regardless of the cause of the crisis.
Of course, Carnival has a communications plan in place, using time-tested crisis communications procedures for getting out as much info as quickly as possible. However, there seems to be a significant disconnect between the messages and the way many of them are delivered.

Despite having numerous promotional messages, banner flashes and other catchy elements on the homepage of their website, there is nothing directing readers to more information about the Costa Concordia.

If you search, you can finally find the information on the blog page, called Funville. I’m sure the irony is apparent to many website users.

Facebook, Twitter and a company’s website are all valuable means of quickly communicating with customers. However, cruise lines are in the business of selling fun. The bright colors and promotional messages that dominate the Carnival Cruise website certainly send mixed signals when dealing with a serious topic such as passenger safety.

A more appropriate crisis communications response might be to set up a temporary landing page for information about the incident. That would be a service to travelers, families and other interested parties. It would make the information easier for them to find while separating the promotional content for customers who weren’t concerned about the Costa Concordia.

That would be a better plan, because I think we’d all agree this doesn’t look like Funville.

PR Push Could Have Prevented Recent TSA Uproar

Here's a bit of encouraging news from the Transportation Security Administration: body cavity searches are not yet in the cards.

As the nation gripes about aggressive airport pat-downs and embarrassing full body scans, TSA Administrator John Pistole told reporters last week at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast meeting there are no plans for body cavity searches. A sigh of relief rose from the audience.

The media though are delighting over reports of kids and nuns being groped by screeners. Slow news week, indeed?

The TSA did a lousy PR job in informing airline passengers about impending aggressive security measures, which are a response to last year's attempted Christmas Day bombing of a plane over Detroit. The Administration should have kicked off a national educational campaign to warn travelers of the prospect of pat-downs well before the full body scanners went into use.

Bankrolled by federal stimulus money, the scanners are now in place at 68 airports up from 19 last January. Many more are coming.

Pistole is all over the media map these days, explaining the need for security. While he admitted that pat-downs and scans are very uncomfortable and invasive, he calls them necessary security measures.

On CNN's "State of the Union," Pistole said: "If we are to detect terrorists, who have again proven innovative and creative in their design and implementation of bombs that are going to blow up airplanes and kill people, then we have to do something that prevents that."

The administrator also says a tiny handful of the traveling public get the pat-down treatment. That's not what we see on TV.

As for the scanners that produce a naked image, Pistole should have made the PR pitch that screeners reviewing the image sit at another location. They see neither the face of the person being screened nor are told of his/her identity.

Pistole's media tour is welcome, but it should have happened months ago to avoid the perfect storm of holiday travel and widespread screening.

What’s an Idea Worth?

The old saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” is equally applicable to communications programs by substituting the word “value” for “beauty.” While there are many metrics to measure the ultimate results of an advertising, marketing or public relations campaign, there is often a gray area at the start of any client agency/relationship when discussing appropriate compensation for the creation of the program.

Often, this occurs because it’s hard to figure out what an idea is worth. A marketing campaign deals with abstract concepts, nuanced claims and creative impressions. The genius of a good marketing program is blending these elements in a way that attracts the customer’s attention and effectively communicates your solution to a problem. The end result may only be an arresting headline, striking visual and a few lines of crisp copy.

This may lead some purchasers of marketing services to jump to the wrong conclusion about the cost of creative marketing elements. The purchaser may think, “How long could it take to write a few words for a headline and a paragraph of copy.” Manufacturing organizations are probably more prone to this reasoning because they deal with specific units of production and can accurately track costs of materials, labor and machine operating expenses.

Some similar elements are present in the final development of an ad, brochure, website or similar materials. You can measure the amount of time it takes to find or create artwork, lay out the design and complete production.

What can’t be measured is the industry knowledge, intellectual capital and imagination that helps clients achieve marketing success. These factors are the most important considerations when choosing a marketing partner and putting a value on their work. Establishing a business relationship that capitalizes on the intangible skills of the marketing communications company will be rewarding for both the client and the agency.

To learn more about our industry experience and the ideas we bring to B2B clients, call us at 847.657.6011 or e-mail us.