The PR Warrior

Government 'Spin' Story Leaves PR Warrior With a Heavy Heart

I read with interest a feature article in The Sunday Age this week titled 'Calling The Tune' in which the author Tom Hyland examines how "governments and their PR machines are so intertwined it's hard for journalists to tell where the spins stars and ends".

When I say I read the article with interest, I should also add I did so with a heavy heart.

Why so morose PR Warrior?

Firstly, there is this obsession by the media that PR is all about them. In many journalists' minds, PR's sole existence as a profession is to pitch stories to the media. Yuh.

Secondly, there is this firmly held belief by some sections of the media (not all) that PR is some sort of 'black art'...spin, as they love to say. Yuh x2.

(Hyland writes as much in his article: "The PR state incorporates public relations - spin - as an essential part of government..."). For more of my thoughts on the issue of spin, please check out this post on MarketingMag.com.au - 'Shock, Horror! Public Relations is...Anti-Spin!'.

Unfortunately, this view reinforces within business and the community generally the stereotypical image of a devious PR suit whose main purpose is to deceive the media in some sort of cat-and-mouse game.

The reality, of course, is nothing like that. Not in 'true' PR practice anyway.

The thing is, those involved in controlling political agendas and manipulating the image of government ministers et al aren't really public relations practitioners. They're media advisers, and generally ex-journalists (nothing wrong with ex-journos by the way, I'm one!). There's a massive difference to what they do on a day-to-day basis and what a PR practitioner does (I'm speaking generally here, as no doubt there is some cross-over of sorts). The nature of the political gig is quite combative, essentially it's one big game where the two parties - politicians and their advisers, and the media - square off on a daily basis (read 'Calling The Tune' and you'll see what I mean).

Unfortunately, some senior executives within major companies and organisations see this behaviour and and think it's de rigueur. To them it's a game too. All macho huff and puff, us against them sort of stuff. These are seemingly intelligent people who for some reason don't seem to grasp the underlying basics of smart strategic PR. Maybe this is because they follow the media so closely and therefore think PR is all about column inches and putting a 'spin' on things. It's old school thinking, and has been for years. If senior executives took the time to understand the discipline of strategic public relations, they would become a far more useful and potent resource for their organisation. Ditto the politicians. 

'True' PR is about open and honest, proactive, two-way communication. It's about engendering relationships with the people who matter most to your business, organisation, cause or issue. The media might be among your constituents, or they may not. But you can be certain, they won't be the only one.

As I've said a million times, yes, media relations is part of the PR mix. Often it is a critical part of the equation. Other times, it's not. And by 'media relations', I'm not saying it's spin or deception. True media relations is exactly that - helping companies and organisations to build a mutually respectful relationships with the media. You can't do that by being combative or deceitful!

If there's one thing the advent of social media has taught us, it's that old school thinking and outdated media-focused PR is becoming less and less relevant as power shifts into the hands of the people, and smart companies and organisations (and politicians and community leaders) start taking advantage of new media tools to communicate directly with their constituents.

The sands are shifting people. Smart PR practitioners get this. I'd be identifying them in your organisation and giving them a bigger say in your business.

Silly Season Socialising Makes the Picture Clearer

‘Tis the silly season of course and in recent weeks I’ve had the opportunity to catch up with plenty of people across media and marketing, public relations, social media and business generally.

Of the many (sometimes ‘lubricated’) chats I’ve had, one thing keeps coming up in conversation: what next for marketing, PR and social media? (Let’s face it, it’s a pretty broad subject but the over-arching theme is the same in that people are trying to make sense of a dynamically ever-changing communications environment).

Now, obviously the topic is always going to skew that way given the types of people I’ve been hanging out with, but even with business entrepreneurs and corporate types, there is still a lot of interest in marketing, communications and the evolving media landscape.

FOR THE FULL STORY, CLICK HERE:

Content exclusive to Marketing Magazine.

 

PR to Face the Best and Worst of Times in 2010 and Beyond

I WROTE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE FOR MARKETING MAGAZINE'S JUST-RELEASED '2010 MEDIA SURVIVAL GUIDE'.

The annual guide is a bumper read, and provides a range of insights and commentary from experts across public relations, events and experiential, print media, TV/radio, mobile, web and social media.

Featured writers in the section on social media include Laurel Papworth, Gavin Heaton and Stephen Collins.

Okay, on with the article...

In his classic novel The Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” - he could have been referring to the public relations industry in Australia from 2010 onwards.

A seismic shift is occurring in the way people communicate, connect and collaborate with each other.

Seeing as though PR is all about communication, connection and collaboration, it would be safe to assume the emergence of social media is going to have a significant bearing on public relations and allied fields, if it isn’t already.

Is this the best of times?

Absolutely! The art and science of strategic brand communication continues to become a lot more direct, in your face and interactive - while at the same time, thanks to technology, it’s becoming even more complex and counter-intuitive to what many people in the industry are used to.

All this, of course, spells opportunity for PR practitioners able to fully understand the new media landscape and what it means for companies and brands.

To be fully conversant with social as well as broadcast and print media will be a valuable skill. Companies and organisations will be depending heavily on communication experts who can ‘join the dots’ across the various channels, as well as understand the nuances of each.

Creating hooks, stories, content and ideas that resonate with the public has always been a key strength of PR. In the past much of that work was directed towards the media in the hope they’d pick up a story and help spread the word, and this continues to be an important part of PR.

Today and in the future, however, the opportunity is for companies to take their brand story and converse directly with consumers and other stakeholders.

The worst of times?

If you practise PR but you don’t understand the social media space, you run the risk of being marginalized as companies, brands and organisations seek integration of their brand story across the internet, traditional print and broadcast media, and face-to-face via roadshows, events, sponsored-properties and experiential promotions.

Do blogs, podcasts, Twitter, Facebook et al spell the death of media publicity, the ‘bread and butter’ of PR practice? No, but experience from overseas tells us clearly that they’ve certainly shaken up things.

So what will the public relations industry look like in years to come?

The continued fragmentation of communications will mean one thing for the PR industry: increased specialisation.

On the strategy front, the new masters of the PR universe will be those who not only ‘get’ social media and all it stands for but also understand how it fits with the other ‘pieces of the communication pie’ i.e. traditional media and ‘live’ media (i.e. events, experiential marketing, sponsorship etc).

These experts will be adept at seeing the bigger picture. They will understand intuitively the messaging, the brand story (hooks, angles and ideas), potential issues – and devise programs that resonate with consumers (and other stakeholders).

In terms of tactical specialists, there are three core areas of PR that will be crying out for seasoned experts (N.B. for the purposes of this overview, I’m not talking vertical industry specialties or covering ‘high end’ functions such as investor or government relations):

• Media relations professionals – as budget cuts to newsrooms continue, content for stories is going to have to come from somewhere and those best positioned are savvy media relations experts (potential exists for more journalists to ‘cross the line’ into PR as the traditional media jobs dry up).

• Social media professionals/online content creators and marketers – as companies try to come to terms with the ever-changing media landscape, PR professionals who immerse themselves in the social media space with a view of better understanding it will be the winners overall. Just because you’re a good publicist doesn’t necessarily mean your skills will cross over into social media, as dealing with bloggers, for example, is not the same as dealing with journalists.

• Experiential promotion and events experts – the need will be for operatives who understand both traditional and social media and are able to incorporate an integrated message across event-based activities as well as create brand-sponsored properties that can be leveraged across a variety of mediums.

Brands that truly ‘get’ PR will be able to use it to lay a foundation for their entire marketing communication effort over time.

 

Will Twitter Become the 'Pulse of the Planet'?

I just devoured a fascinating article in Wired Magazine (here's the online version). It's a great read if you're interested in the evolution of Twitter. 

"Twitter's founders created a simple messaging service.

Its users turned it into something huge.

So the question now:    Who's in charge?"

Titled 'Mob Rule! How Users Took Over Twitter', the article looks at the challenges Twitter faces as it works towards achieving its rather immodest ambition - according to author Steven Levy, in an internal strategy document that was leaked to TechCrunch by a hacker earlier this year, the company professed that if Twitter had a billion users, it would be "the pulse of the planet." 

Indeed! 

In the meantime, Twitter needs to fend off attempts by the likes of Google and Facebook which have "the potential to blunt Twitter's uniqueness by commoditizing short bursts of information". 

Crucially, the company also needs to negotiate its way around the diehard Twitter community that is not always enamoured with the changes founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone have been employing.

Twitter is the source of immense fascination. 

How it pans out - whether Williams and Stone can hit their magical billion users, whether the company is bought by a larger player and reduced to bit part status, or it simply runs out of juice and crumbles under the weight of massive expectation - one thing is for sure: it's going to be one hell of a ride, and one that PR and communication professionals will need to keep an eye on.

*** Illustration: Christoph Niemann

If You Don’t Stand for Something, You Are Nothing!

Too many times in the PR business we're asked to promote a company but sometimes it's difficult to get to the heart of the business to extend the conversation in to the marketplace over and above its products.

Sure, the company might have good products or services - hell, they might even be newsworthy in their own right! - but what else stands the company apart from its competitors? 

As author David Meerman Scott writes in his must-read book World Wide Rave:

"Nobody cares about your products (except you)."

To keep the brand story going, you need other things to talk about. Topics of substance that not only can be pitched to the media but are also worthy of blog posts, YouTube videos, podcasts, LinkedIn updates and Twitter talk. 

The creation and distribution of relevant, interesting, timely and compelling content will help set your brand apart from its competitors. But first, you need to understand what your brand stands for, and what are your 'spheres of conversation'.

You may even be so bold as to create a manifesto like Rentoid has done.

Rentoid gets it. Do you?

the rentoid.com manifesto

View more presentations from sammartino.

How (and Why) I Squeeze Posterous Into My Day!

I'm declaring my love right here, right now, for Posterous. Just sayin'.

While I'm not generally prone to making sweeping statements about 'the next big thing' when it comes to new media, I reckon Posterous has a pretty bright future.

I'm reasonably active on Posterous (interestingly, I didn't really have as slow a start with it as I did with Twitter).

Given I blog regularly here (obviously!), here and here, I tweet quite often and regularly update my LinkedIn page (and to a much lesser extent Facebook) - do I need Posterous in my life right now?

I guess I don't. Not really. But as someone who is constantly immersed in social media as part of their day-to-day gig as a public relations consultant, I signed up with Posterous in the first instance to see what the fuss was all about and to ascertain if the platform had any relevance for my clients (or could be used in my talks or presentations).

And you know what? Now I'm hooked.

Posterous fits neatly between blogging and tweeting. End of story.

Sometimes I have relevant relevant information or stories to share - I've just checked out an interesting video or seen a great photo or image. I could tweet about it but it may get a bit lost in the Twitter stream, and damn it, sometimes 140 characters just isn't enough!

But maybe it's not worth going to the trouble of blogging. 

A-ha! Posterous!

Super-quick to post (just email to Posterous) and voila, within seconds it's online!

I've also set up Posterous so it automatically sends a link of my new post immediately to Twitter, so you get the benefit of additional exposure for your post. It can do likewise with a growing number of social media platforms.

This halfway measure between blog and Twitter makes Posterous a handy addition to the two social media 'bookends'.

The applications for Posterous from a communications perspective are endless.

It is great for events such as conferences where speakers and participants can build on, and bring to life, the content presented - for example, check out Marketing Now.

Or small businesses where people want to promote their brand but don't want the hassle of a blog or the demands of Twitter. 

And perfect for community groups and not-for-profit organisations where you need to get news (and videos and images) out fast in chunks bigger than 140 characters.

Check it out. You might be surprised!

See, I'm not the only one who thinks this way :) ... Damien Basile loves his Posterous as well!
 

All Aboard the Cluetrain!

Psssssst! I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

Well, it’s not exactly a ‘secret’ secret, but it appears to me there are many, many people in marketing, PR and communications – in fact, in business generally – who are unaware of what I’m about to tell you.

I’ve been giving a lot of talks and presentations lately on social media and the effect it’s having on companies and brands from a PR and marketing perspective. I tend to focus a fair bit on the attitude required to participate effectively on the social web, including banging on about social media being as much about a ‘state of mind’ as it is about technology.

One thing I emphasise early in my talks is that this ‘new economy’ thinking hasn’t exactly snuck up on us because 10 years ago (yes – 10!) a very important book laid it all out for us in the shape of 95 theses (don’t worry, these ‘theses’ are only one to two sentences only – less is definitely more!).

The book in question is called The Cluetrain Manifesto and if you’re in marketing and haven’t read it, I suggest (cajole, recommend, urge?) that you do so. Today!

FOR THE FULL STORY, CLICK HERE!

Content exclusive to Marketing Magazine.

Tiger Promotion Worth Every Cent to Victoria

Governments are not noted for their wise use of the public purse, but in the case of the Victorian State Government, its decision to spend $3 million bringing Tiger Woods to Melbourne for the 2009 JBWere Australian Masters golf tournament has been a terrific promotional investment.

Check out the photo below - that's Tiger in the green shirt and white cap, besieged by fans and the media as he hits the fairway at Kingston Heath for a pre-tournament hit-up.

The buzz in Melbourne has been absolutely crazy. The media, as one would expect, is salivating at a the slightest glimpse of the Tiger; the public - even those not remotely interested in golf - have also been gripped by Tigermania.

The PR lesson? Celebrity marketing can be an incredibly effective strategy when the right person is engaged, and then leveraged properly.

Tiger Woods ticks every box. Three million dollars might seem like a lot of cash but for the Melbourne 'brand', it's money well spent as his appearance at the Masters strongly reinforces the city's reputation as a host of world-class major sports events.

 

SOURCE: Sydney Morning Herald

PHOTO: Getting Images

Renting Eyeballs & Other Media Stories

Loved this 'fireside chat' between Tim Burrowes of Mumbrella and James Tuckerman, founder of Anthill Magazine.

James gives a great analogy that media companies own sets of eyeballs which they then 'rent' to marketers.

Marketers, in turn, treat those eyeballs the same way as people treat a car rental - i.e. with very little respect.

Smart marketers today can create content and attract eyeballs of their own, much to the chagrin of the media proprietors, and this is something, James says, that would be much better for consumers and marketers.

"I think I'd be quite cranky right now if I owned the eyeballs for a really long period of time and somebody suddenly discovered that they could create their own little satellite media companies," James says, before stretching the analogy into planets with eyeball overlords!

SOURCE: The Mumbo Report

Exactly How Much of My Advertising Dollar is Wasted?

"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the problem is I do not know which half"- Lord Leverhulme 1851-1925, British founder of Unilever and philanthropist.

I'm not exactly sure when the good Lord uttered those famous words, but given he died in 1925, you can assume he said it eons ago, and it's a quote many, many marketers have bandied around since.

Okay, so if 50% of the founder of Unilever's advertising was wasted way back when, at a time when people had little or no distractions and advertising was an acceptable part of life (as it was for decades to come), what do you suppose the figure would be today?

Now, more than ever, traditional paid-for advertising is being questioned as a cost-effective method of communication. A quick recap:

• Consumers today have more choices (read: distractions) than ever before - between the internet, video games, social networking, iPods and gazillions of cable TV channels, time for traditional media outlets has shrunk considerably. Younger adults, for example, aren't in the habit of reading hard-copy newspapers and they don't watch television anywhere near as religiously as people used to, and therefore they are not being exposed to expensive paid-for advertising.

• Whereas once upon a time people blindly soaked up advertising messages without question ("aaah, the good old days..."), today they're way too marketing savvy, not to mention information-overloaded and time-poor. People's ability to block out advertising messages is finely tuned and highly effective.

• Trust in business is at all time lows, with some 74 per cent of Australians trusting business less this year than last, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. Crucially, 87 per cent of Australians would refuse to buy from a company they did not trust, while 93 per cent said they chose to buy products or services from companies they trusted.

• The rise and rise of social media has led to an increase in peer-to-peer influence. We have always been more open to recommendations from peers (positively or negatively), but social media has just brought a whole new dimension to word-of-mouth, so much so that it's now a far greater influencer in the buying process than advertising. 

All of the above comes in to play before we even raise the issue of low standards in advertising. It doesn't take Einstein to realise the majority of advertising in this country is particularly cringeworthy, irrelevant, indeed, often just plain disrespectful to the intelligence of the populace.

So my question, given we were starting off a base of 50 per cent of advertising is wasted (according to the Levermeister), and factoring in the myriad factors above: 

How much of the advertising dollar is actually wasted in Australia?

A second question is: If there is so much wastage, how come many marketers are still blindly throwing money against the wall by producing (and then buying media time/space) for mediocre advertising that simply doesn't work hard enough? 

I know there has been a seismic shift in the way marketing dollars are spent, with some local marketers doing some really interesting, creative and relevant stuff. But you still see evidence daily of gross wastage of money that's been flung at traditional advertising when, with a little foresight and nous, marketers could have diverted some (not all, this is not about doing away with advertising per se) of the budget towards more meaningful, relevant and cost-effective communication activities - activities that connect with people, build trust and respect. Do that, and you just might find your advertising will work much harder than ever before.