It's people, not perks, that matter

Great blog post here from Mashable about 8 ways to keep employees - and thankfully it echoes much of what we say in the lecture and tutorials about employee ownership, two-way comms and the 'we' stories.

Point 8 is perhaps the most interesting: there is no one recipe for a successful company culture. Apple are highly secretive, Google all about the perks, yet each are successful in their own unique way. So every company deserves a different approach, depending on who and what they are - see the lecture for more on that.

Smartwatch watch

This is just a short video about smartwatches that may help with your assignments - comparing brands and some predictions for the future, and you get to see this year's smartwatches in action. More interestingly as marketers, it will be interesting to see what apps develop over time for us to use to market other products - but for now we thought this might be useful for the PRiDA assignment.

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1222459/tech-report-brands-need-know-wearable-technology?dcmp=emc-conmarketingdailybulletin&bulletin=marketingdaily 

P.S. Sorry I can't embed this one, not on youtube!

Mind blowing...

First a quick welcome to the new PRiDA students for this year...welcome to the module and this blog, I hope it proves interesting, useful and inspiring.

And we hit the ground running with an excellent example of crisis management and 'activism' from this week's news. Asda and Tesco have both issued apologies and withdrawn similar 'Mental Patient' and 'Psycho Ward' Halloween costumes after a furore about the portrayal of people with mental health issues.

Failing to consider each and every aspect of their value chain in the context of modern (and much more open) attitudes to mental health, both supermarkets missed the PR timebomb that was ticking in their aisles.

While both supermarkets were quick to respond with abject apologies and sizeable donations to the mental health charity, Mind, this was an exercise in damage limitation as the 'unacceptable error' was broadcast on TV news, radio news, newspapers and, of course, the internet. A better PR approach would have been to spot the issue before the products even got to the shelves, emphasising how PR should be embedded at every level of an organisation.

Meanwhile Mind have made the most of the supermarkets' blunder: with credible, qualified speakers on news broadcasts across the UK, great quotes in news articles, and the support of well-known public figures affected by mental health issues themselves. Stan Collymore, Alistair Campbell and others tweeted and issued statements - and every communication serves to reduce the stigma of mental health a step further.

Even better, ordinary people who are affected by mental health issues took to twitter and published photos of them looking, well, ordinary, with hashtag 'my #mentalhealth outfit for the day'. 

Effectively 'newsjacking' Asda and Tesco's mistake, Mind have snowballed national outcry at such insensitivity to mental heath to promote their agenda and raise awareness of the continuing stigma and misperceptions of mental health. For little or no cost, the charity has 'earned' millions of pounds worth of column inches and the airwaves, and a significant chunk of the twittersphere, to help achieve their overall aim of destigmatising mental health. And that, my friends, is the beauty of PR.

Public Relations: the champion or slayer of democracy?

Has PR 'revived' democracy?

On PRiDA we talk a great deal about the role of social media in promoting democracy: stimulating public lobbying, raising awareness of issues and being the driving force behind much of the Arab Spring - eventually leading to some governments blocking Facebook and Twitter.

However this article by Kent (2013) (if you have UWE access) argues that PR practitioners fail to use these media to promote dialogue and democracy, and indeed their overuse of one-way comms could be stifling democracy. Kent claims that "connectivity to our "friends" on social media comes at the expense of isolation from our fellow human beings who live next door or down the hall".

Interestingly, Emily Bell on Radio 4 this week would argue the opposite.

I also argue that PR practioners even actively undermine democracy with private lobbying - using money and connections to have a quiet word in the ear of influential politicians... So obviously, social media are tools that could be used better by many mainstream practitioners, but charities and campaigning organisations may be much better at using social media for public lobbying and rebalancing the influence of the people with power and money - for instance campaigners such as Surfers Against Sewage using Facebook and this app.
So while social media may be great for the voice of the people, PR practioners could often be accused of doing the opposite, according to Kent.

Tip of the fatberg

This is the 'fatberg': a 15 tonne mass of fat, sewage, wet wipes and toilet paper that threatened to back up toilets, spill into streets and release the stench of raw sewage into the streets of London during the hottest August in 9 years. The story could have been framed as one of inadequate sewage systems, lack of upkeep, and stinky summer disaster, yet Thames Water turned this potential crisis into a summer sewage opportunity.

Instead of waiting for the press to report how they were struggling to deal with the fatberg, Thames Water turned the fat tide and proactively reported on how their employees were working around the clock, in horrific conditions, to blast the berg away. They named the key sewage workers who worked all hours to remove the blockage, giving a human face to this disgusting story. And, coming as it did in the 'silly season' of August when there is little 'real' news, they took the opportunity to highlight the issue of the indisposable waste that people thoughtlessly flush away, and so use the horrific footage and pictures to try and discourage people from doing the same in future. Great example of turning a crisis into an opportunity.

P-estaurant review

Great example of PR by Rentokil here, creating a pop up restaurant in Cheapside, London - serving up 'pests'. Whether its  mealworms, ants or crickets, they've managed to serve them up in a burger - and there's even an option including London's most famous pests - pigeon burgers.

With coverage in the Independent, Daily Star, Daily Express, the Sun and Metro, a great example of how a gross human interest story can make the most of the news gap in August's annual 'silly season'.

PR Job Opportunities with Grayling

Two Job Opportunities with Grayling - please contact them direct at addresses below if you are interested

 

Client Executive (Bristol) - You will be part of a dynamic team, established as one of the most successful PR consultancies in the South West. You will be working for a diverse range of clients across the public sector, consumer and business to business environments. The role will suit a recent graduate preferably with some experience of working within an agency environment. The ideal candidate will be driven, enthusiastic and have a genuine interest in the industry and digital and social media. Experience of engaging proactively with media, effective time management and good organisational skills are a must. It’s a fast-moving and entrepreneurial environment in which the right candidate will thrive and develop. Click here to view the full job spec. If you are interested, please contact Nasima.hussain@grayling.com for more details.

 

Client Executive (London) - The technology team (within the Corporate & Financial practice) is seeking an Account Executive to work on a number of key technology clients. The ideal candidate will be driven, enthusiastic and have a genuine interest in technology; a self-starter with experience of working on technology clients, ideally gained within an agency environment. Experience of engaging proactively with media, reporting to clients and good organisational skills are a must. The candidate will also be expected to play an active role in the new business process, and have a passion and knowledge of integrated digital campaigns. If you are interested, please contact Hannah Williams, Director, Hannah.williams@grayling.com for more details.

Why I love marketing

I don't know whether much of what Rory Sutherland says here is scary or inspiring, but it's why I love marketing.

PESTer for better PR ideas

Great example of how keeping an eye on the what's going on in the wider world can spark creative PR ideas: Ogilvy, on behalf of Scrabble, spot that smartphones reduce literacy (yes, I'm looking at you people who send me emails without punctuation) - and offer free WiFi to those who can make 7-letter passwords on a Scrabble board on their phones. In 2 weeks, more than 6,000 words played, 110,000 minutes of WiFi given away and lots of coverage across blogs and tech sites.

Job Opportunity: Marketing Assistant in Bristol

This is a job opportunity for a good graduate in Bristol with Dycem, who manufacture non-slip materials and anti-contamination equipment across a variety of sectors. Please contact them direct for more information and to apply - I have no more info as this came through a contact.

Details:

Responsible to

Non-Slip Business Unit Manager & New Business Development Manager.

Purpose of Job

To use all forms of media and communication to build, maintain and manage Dycem’s reputation. To communicate key messages to defined target audiences in order to establish and maintain goodwill and understanding between Dycem and its customers.

Responsibilities

·       PR

o   Plan, develop and implement PR strategies.

o   Research and prepare press releases and articles.

o   Prepare content for newsletters and other external and internal communications.

o   Ensure news shared with targeted media, distributors and end users via direct mail, e-newsletters and the website.

o   Analyse and evaluate success of all communications.

o   Proof-read all communications.

o   Layout newsletters, bulletins & corporate documents using existing templates and guidelines.

o   Organise and attend exhibitions and events worldwide.

o   Arrange photo shoots as necessary.

o   Ensure distributors have the latest images for catalogues etc and provide them with PR support.

o   Assist with the content and set-up of brochures and adverts, instructing and liaising with external agencies such as graphic designers as required.

o   Develop media and end user leads through web sources such as LinkedIn.

o   Record PR activity, capture press cuts and leads gained. Circulate leads as appropriate.

·       Website & Social Media

o   Up-load articles and brochures to the Content Management section of the website.

o   Review copy and content of the Non-Slip section of the website.

o   Ensure that all communications via Social Media adhere to Dycem’s policy and are relevant, appropriate and timely.

·       Other

o   Attend weekly meetings and produce the minutes.

o   Promotional goods

o   Handle routine enquiries from media or refer to appropriate colleague.

o   Ad hoc tasks required for preparation of events/exhibitions.

o   Work with other departments and external suppliers as required to support departmental and organisational objectives.

o   Travel to exhibitions within Europe and possibly internationally.

o   Data base input and record management.

Assessment Criteria	Essential	Desirable
Qualifications/Training	Educated to degree level	Full UK driving licence
Experience	Work experience in a team environment. Databases, manipulating data. Working to deadlines.	Database mailings. Working in small teams. Work experience within a marketing/PR environment
Knowledge	Social media, web Word, Powerpoint, Excel	Design & desktop publishing software eg Quark, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator.
Skills	Excellent written communication skills, ability to write for specific “audiences”. Excellent communicator who immediately starts relationship building process with all stakeholders. Creative, eye for design Good organisational and planning skills. The persistence to see a project through to completion. Commitment, drive, enthusiasm, self starter. Willing to learn.	Language(s)

                                                      

Has the Easter bunny been to your street?

Nice PR idea from Tesco here - using Google maps to create an Easter Egg Hunt around your local area. Good example of using digital media advances to create interactive and two way comms - you can leave eggs for your friends too...

Thanks to @PRexamples on twitter - good ones to follow for, well, PR examples. Read their review of the Tesco Egg Hunt here.

The building blocks of a great campaign

Steve Grout was outraged that the famous Lego brand, that he grew up with and bought for his children, was being promoted just 'millimetres' away from the infamous page 3 images of topless women in The Sun newspaper as part of a Sun-Lego promotional partnership.

So, he created a great photo opp with a topless lego figure (pictured), used media relations, created an online petition directed at Lego, collected 12,000 signatures through social media - and Lego have just announced they are ending the partnership (apparently a 'natural' end but the timing seems interesting).

This is part of a campaign that is gathering momentum and which is likely to end in removal of this so called 'British Institution' from page 3 of the newspaper.

Steve Grout is just a dad - an ordinary citizen outraged at the continued use of topless models in the Sun, and he found a way to leverage change through public lobbying of Lego, one of the Sun's key partners.

Meanwhile Lego perhaps realised the impact of their partner's brand on their own in a relationship similar to the sponsorship relationship and Image Transfer Potential: as page 3 of The Sun goes down Lego would hardly want to bask in the dying rays.

Shake your tutu

English National Ballet have hijacked the harlem shake to make their own video that is going viral - great example of using opposites (shake versus pirouettes) to promote your brand and riding a viral wave.

The write way into a PR career

So what do PR employers want from PR graduates? Their skills in dealing with social media? Their digital native outlook on digital media? No, the old fashioned skills are still the most important.

When asked which skills were most important for a graduating PR student, an overwhelming 86% of the 113 respondents chose "good writing skills", with "good communication skills" following at 33% and "social media" coming in at no.3 with only 21%. This is all from a paper from Paskin soon to be published in Public Relations Review (accessible via UWE library if a student).

When ranking 23 possible options, traditional skills such as knowing how to plan/evaluate campaigns, and think strategically and write well, occupied 12 of the top 13 spaces. So, if you're considering a career in PR it's worth building up your writing skills - read more, write more, start a blog, go on writing courses.

Newsjacking

Newsjacking. I can't believe I hadn't heard this word until the Superbowl power outage - but it's great.

When the lights went out at the Mercedes-Benz sponsored MBUSA stadium for the US's biggest sporting event of the year, Audi tweeted "Sending some LEDs to the @MBUSA Superdome right now...". Brilliant. A controversial 'burn' directed to their competitor's biggest night of the year garnering over 10,000 retweets.

Meanwhile Oreos were on the ball with a near instant Facebook update with this image: winning over 20,000 likes... Oreo are pretty good on Facebook.

Hijacking news events and riding the publicity wave is a core PR skill, for B2C, B2B and corporations - and it's so much FUN. Whether it's these funny takes on national (or competitor) events, or more serious use of events to remind people of your brand, the newsworthiness of your story gets a boost from the free publicity wave - effectively hijacking someone else's news. And social media is the perfect medium, making this a relatively new skill where the fastest responses are the winners. So, ear to the ground everyone - who's news can you steal?

See the hubspot site for more examples.

Findus find themselves in the 1980s

Findus seems to be a brand stuck in a time warp - their products, their packaging and their crisis management strategies seem to have changed little since the 1980s.

Great article on The Drum about how media have moved on while Findus' methods of dealing with crisis have not. Where once a brand could weather the storm and wait for the waves of negative publicity to die away, now social media fuel ever enlarging ripples of rumour, rage and recriminations.

Here is Findus' response:

"We understand this is a very sensitive subject for consumers and we would like to reassure you we have reacted immediately. We do not believe this to be a food safety issue. We are confident that we have fully resolved this supply chain issue.”

Findus were aware of the issue in their supply chain for days before it became a crisis for them in the media (python crisis), while Tesco had much less time to react (cobra crisis) yet Tesco responded rapidly and proactively.  Findus almost blame consumers for being 'sensitive' by implying that they do not share the concerns, and fail to state what they are DOING about the issue. Contrast this with Tesco's apology, published in national newspapers at great expense. Note their acceptance of responsibility - while still fairly implicating the supply chain - and their explicit promise of action. Note how they invite two-way dialogue in person, in store. Tesco went on to set up a Facebook page and continue to create dialogue. This is crisis management in the modern age.

Boeing and B2B - trust, risk and reputation

The charred remains of a Dreamliner lithium ion battery

As the new Dreamliner aeroplane is grounded around the world, Boeing face the task of rebuilding the brand's reputation amongst airlines and passengers, assuring both that the Dreamliner (Boeing 787) is a safe and viable alternative to well established Airbus A350.

After problems with burnt out lithium batteries during routine flights, airlines around the world began to ground their Dreamliner fleets, until the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration took the decision to ground ALL Dreamliners around the globe. The Dreamliner is the world's most fuel efficient airliner - a mid-size aeroplane carrying 210-290 passengers and designed to compete with Airbus A350.

Boeing convinced 57 B2B customers that they could trust the brand to deliver a safe and efficient flying experience that kept passengers, regulators and the their accounts departments happy. However that trust is on the line as airlines replace burnt out batteries, face public scrutiny and lose sections of their fleet for perhaps weeks - with ongoing scepticism of the plane by future passengers who may fear flying in them. A great example to support the B2B lecture on this module - and to watch for how Boeing handle this crisis. Would you risk millions on a Dreamliner? What do Boeing need to do claw back the trust these batteries have burnt out?

Polar opposites?

You may have seen the ads on TV, or perhaps shared a link on Facebook or tweeted about it, as Coca-Cola and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) unite for a campaign to combat climate change. The Arctic Home initiative encourages consumers to use and waste less energy (reducing carbon dioxide emissions) - and to donate money to the WWF to fund climate change research and initiatives.

From a PR point of view the WWF are clearly getting extra coverage financed and crafted by the excellent marketing minds at Coca-Cola - and Coca-Cola are building on the polar bear that became a perhaps unexpected emblem of their brand through their 1993 Christmas ads and later campaigns. The polar bears have recently resurfaced in new wintry commercials, and even a short film directed by Ridley Scott.

It's unclear whether this film was designed to set up the WWF campaign, or if the WWF collaboration and the film were designed to counteract the backfiring of the iconic polar bear imagery. Last October, the Center for Science in the Public Interest collaborated with animators and musicians to create a film about 'The Real Bears' - polar bears who drink sugary drinks and suffer the effects...weight gain, diabetes, tooth decay... The two bears in bed are particularly sad but perhaps the chainsaw amputation is overkill. In the US, sugary drinks are the main source of calories in most Americans' diets, and the soft drink manufacturers are seen as key culprits in the US obesity epidemic.

Furthermore, Coca-Cola is embroiled in a debate about their latest ad, which sought to tackle this thorny issue and the role of sugary drinks, by highlighting their low calorie alternatives, smaller portions and clear food labelling. 

And now they are supporting a charity and the fluffy polar bears with CSR on a topic that seems little related to their core business... And it is perhaps a surprise that the WWF would risk their own image being linked to such a brand, that is in no way universally loved, despite their deep pockets. Is this perhaps a defensive move, well away from controversial brand issues for Coca-Cola? Seemingly talking about the polar opposite to what everyone else is talking about when it comes to Coca-Cola?

Facebook 'fans' are fickle creatures...

Most brands are terrible at using social media: they celebrate their 'likes' and tweets and mentions, and then they abandon their consumer to the competition... Lithium, a social media marketing agency, have published 6 'dos' of social media that PR students may find pretty useful.

For instance, just 98% of Facebook 'fans' never return to the brand page a second time - why aren't brands using their contacts to lure them back again and again to build genuine relationships? Only 0.5% of fans mention the brand they like on Facebook - so is Facebook really that useful to brands? 61% of fans only 'fanned' to get the coupon or offer...its cunning and cold hearted and completely understandable. Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru summarises it neatly, that selling on Facebook is like "trying to sell stuff to people while they're hanging out with their friends at the bar".

Lithium have done just what we recommend in the B2B lecture and created white papers on 6 key topics, including 'Why Facebook shouldn't be the centre of your social strategy' - some of these may be pretty useful for this module and in future careers.

Another example is their white paper on 'Nailing social media marketing ROI': (only) 42% of marketers want to demonstrate the value for money of their social media strategy - only 4% think they do it well.

Have a look at the website and see whether you're a fan...

Has AVE had its day?

Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) has long been the industry standard for measuring PR, despite extensive academic rejection and criticism by more experienced practitioners, culminating in an explicit call to oust AVE at a European Summit of PR practitioners on Barcelona in 2010. Yet, AVE continues to permeate practice.

AVE simply measures the value of the space that PR occupies in media, traditional or new, calculating it in terms of what would have been paid for that space if it were advertising. Some agencies combine this with a spurious calculation of what the 'added' value is given that the article is more credible as 'earned' space, written by a journalist or blogger say, rather than 'paid for' space. But, as the Barcelona summit concluded, all this measures is the cost of media space, not the value of PR, and it does little to inform future activity.

Tom Watson's article, in press for Public Relations Review, sums this all up neatly, in an easy to read history of the 'orphan metric' that will really help support this module. You will need to access it via UWE library if you have access to it, but if you're not affiliated to a uni probably not worth the price as it's pretty simple.

Is this the new global democracy?

A key theme of this module is the transformative power of the internet: on reputation management, crisis management, and on public affairs. Where once private lobbyists held sway in the corridors of power in democracies around the world through financial clout and personal connections, the internet now hands power back to the people.

Avaaz are an activist group that exists almost entirely in the virtual ether of the internet, spanning international borders and lobbying at the highest levels for global change. At just 5 years old, the organisation claims to be a 'roots up' consulting its tens of thousands of members around the world about issues to campaign on. The organisation targets government policy around the world, whether targeting governments direct about issues within their own countries, or influential outsider governments and international parliaments such as the EU to pressure others.

Issues may concern government policy for their own citizens, such as Uganda's anti-gay laws, or India's ongoing failure to address abuse of women. They also impact on some of the world's largest corporations, targeting companies such as Shell by pressuring the Nigerian government to impose a legitimate $5 billion fine on the oil giant for the 2011 Bonga oil spill when 40,000 barrels of oil leaked into the Atlantic Ocean.

With  'people power' now spanning borders from smartphones, tablets and laptops around the globe through organisations such as Avaaz, governments and corporations may no longer be able to ignore upstart action groups. This is a fundamental shift in power towards the little guys requiring fundamental changes in practice and policy by governments and corporations around the globe.