KBSF: I've known you for a while, but why don't you give us the McGinnis elevator pitch?
MM: I’m a member of the Dell global corporate communications team working specifically with our Enterprise Products group handling servers, virtualization and related technologies. During the past 18 years in PR and marcom I have helped companies with business and executive communications, innovative technology disclosure, crisis management, media training and global brand management. I’ve had a varied career with a lot of fantastic experiences like serving as the host for press conferences with bands like Wilco, Franz Ferdinand, Gomez and The Decemberists; working the local TV news for the Boy Scouts; throwing a massive grand-opening event for AMD’s new chip fab in Dresden for journalists from dozens of countries; hosting journalists following the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team at the Giro d’Italia; and working through an earthquake in San Jose, CA to get ready for a software product launch. My work has spanned consumer electronics, Internet commerce, non-profit advocacy, search engine marketing, semiconductors, software, sports and entertainment. I’ve worked with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies alike.
Before joining Dell, I was a senior vice president at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide in Austin, TX and London. Previously I worked for a boutique agency in Portland, Ore, called Armstrong Kendall. I have a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Wittenberg University and have completed postgraduate coursework in business administration at The Ohio State University. When I’m not at work, I’m either playing with my two kids or have my nose stuck in a wine glass.
KBSF: Dell is known for its social media PR, how did it change your role in comparison to other roles you've done before?
MM: Dell has one of the largest ecommerce websites in the world, so it’s fairly natural for the company to have a keen focus on engaging customers with social media. The three things that have changed most for me since joining Dell are:
1) adding new audiences to my Twitter conversations
2) shifting my blogging content
3) taking more care in optimizing search terms to help people find what they want on Dell properties.
My Twitter usage has shifted from mostly interacting with journalists and friends to communicating more with people working in IT. Social media for me is now not just about media relations, but is also about customer relations. I keep columns in TweetDeck devoted to specific search terms so I know what people on Twitter are saying about particular technologies. It’s a great way to stay abreast of industry trends and to answer questions people have about Dell.
I rarely, if ever, blog on personal topics any more. I just don’t have time for it and have let previously used online properties die. I now blog fairly regularly on my business interests in enterprise computing on the Dell blog Inside Enterprise IT. This means my blog posts have fewer rambling rants about music and wine and a more considered approach to word selection. I have run afoul of the Dell blog *** police on more than one occasion. You wouldn’t believe some of the words I’m not allowed to use.
Companies can have the best intentions of helping people find what they want online, but if they don’t optimize key words for search engines, they aren’t helping anyone. Before coming to Dell I’ve spend time noodling on website copy to try and increase traffic, but it was more of an academic pursuit than the approach I take now. Now I’m more interested in making sure the topics that the IT professionals that use Dell products like are covered in the content I put online. If it’s not pertinent to my audience, why write it? If I write it, it better be easily found by a search engine.
KBSF:What are your favourite social media services?
MM: I’m a big fan of Blip.fm for two reasons. One, it’s a great way to share songs with anyone following me on Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook all at the same time and two it’s also the only music service not blocked by Dell firewalls. It’s not all that useful for business, but damn its fun. My most used social media service is Twitter. That is where I interact most with Dell’s audience. I check in on LinkedIn and Facebook sporadically. I rarely use video sites except as a way to offer more access to vLogs.
KBSF: Who do you most admire from a PR perspective?
MM: So many fantastic PR pros work their craft behind the scenes, so it’s hard to know who the people are that do the great work. I’ve had the privilege to work with many outstanding PR people who have inspired my work and have made a difference for the audiences they serve. One person in particular is Alison O’Brien at Waggener Edstrom. Alison is one of the most connected PR pros I have ever known. She knows every tiny detail about the most influential journalists in the world and they all have her on their speed dial. She not only knows more about a wide variety of technologies than most engineers, but she can also spin a yarn as well as a novelist. When Alison is on the case, the story isn’t just eloquent, but it has substance that matters to the readers.
KBSF: Aside from Dell, what is the brand that you most admire?
MM: Two brands come to mind immediately. The first is Dom Pérignon. This champagne brand has represented the pinnacle of quality, elegance and prestige since its early days in the 1920s. Moët et Chandon has successfully protected the brand image year-after-year despite fierce competition, turmoil of war, ravages of weather and tumultuous economic conditions. The name Dom is synonymous for excellence among lovers celebrating marriage, F1 divers toasting victory, wine aficionados and people who have never tasted the toasted honeycomb and lemon kissed magnificence alike. Is it the best champagne on the market? Probably not. Is it the best known, and widely revered? Yep. I don’t know the inner workings of their marketing machine, but I’m willing to bet they owe a lot of success to persistent word of mouth marketing based on consistent products. Well done.
The second brand I admire is Toyota Prius. The car company has lots of models and not all of them are fuel efficient, however, the Prius has created a halo effect of “greenness” for the entire company. Toyota has had a single-minded focus on promoting this car as the vehicle for anyone who cares about the earth. Its styling, its instrumentation and yes, its fuel economy all tell the world that its owner really gives a *** about the environment. Toyota knows it has a fantastic brand in the Prius and it markets it well. Despite (or maybe because of) a massive dip in sales in the past several months brought about by a confluence of an economic meltdown and declining fuel prices, Toyota continues to market the Prius as the most eco-friendly car on the road. It is getting ready to kick-off a multi-faceted ad and social media campaign led by Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles called “Harmony Between Man, Nature and Machine.” They have a lot of creative ideas for transforming bus stops into urban oasis’s with flowers that turn into fans and social media engagement on Facebook, Twitter and HowStuffWorks. I’m excited to watch this campaign play out.
KBSF: Is there any product or service that you want to promote to a bunch of Brit PR people?
MM: If you don’t have a mini digital video camera, go get one and keep it with you all the time. It’s a great way to capture on-the-spot footage for vLogs or to gather fantastic blackmail material of your mates after a few too many. I recently picked up the new Flip Ultra HD and am pretty happy with it. Of course every Brit PR person should have a new Dell Adamo, the hottest laptop on the planet, to write your blog and post your videos.
KBSF: Kittens, babies, sunsets or flowers?
MM: One look at my Facebook page will tell you I prefer pictures of babies at sunset with flowers in their hair, stroking kittens.
If you want to follow the trail that Matt has blazed drop me a line explaining why people will want to read about you.
