The SMR template is designed to present various types of communication about the brand. It can be used to direct the journalist and help them to access the information quicker but most of all it is a very important consumer tool. It makes it easier for the public to share and spot interesting information in their social networking communities. SMR gives brands the opportunity to communicate direct with the consumer, which will encourage further promotion of the brands amongst the consumers in their forums.
According to a new 2010 Cone’s report sixty-three percent of a new media users are more aware of the brand if they can interact with it on the social networking sites. The majority of them express their positive attitude and are willing to share information about the company if there is interaction between them and brand. In the end the interaction will lead to the most desirable outcome, which is increased sales. Fifty-nine percent of participants express their willingness to purchase a product after good online dialogue with the company that produces it.
I have just bumped into an article in PR Week about the state of the Press Release. I have read the introduction to the article: 'With the changing media landscape, today's press release has evolved into a virtual Swiss army knife of communications tools that can address a myriad of marketing challenges.'
I wanted to read more but unfortunately I do not have an access to Business Wire - the source of the report. As a result I can not tell you what Vice President of New Media Monika Maeckle thinks about the state of the press releases. What I can share with you is the results of my own research about the future of the social media news release.
Corporations are struggling to build trust among all of their stakeholders in the middle of the global economic crisis. The panel of speakers, which includes Paul Bergevin (VP, Sales and Marketing Group & General Manager, Global Communications Group, Intel Corporation), Peter Diamandis (President, Chairman & CEO, X PRIZE Foundation), Richard Edelman (President & CEO, Edelman Public Relations) and Frank Shaw (Corporate VP of Corporate Communications, Microsoft) have spoke out on the most current trends and strategies for managing corporate reputation and sharpening stakeholder engagement.
The event ‘What the Public Believes’ was a part of The Churchill Club, the premier business and technology forum on the 1st of March 2011.
Market competition today has changed and providing great quality products or services is no longer enough to maintain a successful business. There is a huge demand from customers to government agencies for companies to take on corporate responsibility. Stakeholders are expecting companies take responsibility for their impact on the environment and society. The companies that ignore environmental and social issues may limit the value of their business through loss of opportunities.
The companies can embrace sustainability through philanthropy, as part of a risk management strategy, or by integrating sustainable practices into the business model itself. It is important to realize that it is not always easy to integrate sustainability initiatives. Challenges include dealing with increased transparency, measuring results in an efficient manner, including sustainability into decision-making and business processes and retaining momentum.
This is a video in which Stephen Howard, CEO of Business in the Community, talking about his views on sustainability and what businesses needs to do to ensure an enduring and profitable future. The movie was recorded as a part of a nine day debate ‘Start Summit’ that took place in September 2010 in the London’s Lancaster House. This is an initiative established by HRH The Prince of Wales, which together with partner IBM, aimed to show what a sustainable future for business might look like.
US President Barack Obama has announced his intention to stand for the 2012 re-election bid.
Barac Obama, re-election campaign
The campaign starts with a video that Mr Obama's teamreleased on his official websiteand sent an e-mail to supporters announcing his plans. Mr Obama does not appear in the video, posted on YouTube and the campaign website. The supporters look back to the 2008 campaign and talk of their hopes for 2012. The individual voters talk about what they can do to help their man - ending in the slogan "it begins with us." The president has an online network of millions of Americans and his web campaign was widely seen as a key plank of his election success in 2008.
Mr Obama's re-election campaign is reportedly seeking to raise as much as $1bn (£620m), an increase on the $750m raised for the 2008 campaign.
It is a good time to remind us how his campaign looked back in 2008 and which PR activities helped him to be successful.
We think nowadays that using the internet, searching and connecting with people via the web is cost free. The BBC documentary ‘The Virtual Revolution’ shows that sharing private information online is very valuable. The programme demonstrates that by using even basic search engines like Google, we create a huge database about ourselves every day. The web stores an enormous amount of information about our private lives such as where we live, what we like, where we go to school and do our shopping. We give out this kind of information routinely, every single day for free and it is happening on a enormous scale across the world. As a result we are changing into an online product that is traced and targeted by the advertisement, which is created and tailored to fit our preferences. We are judged and scanned while surfing on the internet. ‘Cookies’ are now a reflection of who we are and what we are portraying about ourselves via our facebook profiles.
The truth is that we are using the web for free, but the information about us is highly priced. We are exchanging our life for the convenience of using web. We exist on the web as a number that can be matched to our computer. We can be traced and indentified by this number using the information that we place online.
This great documentary programme did not stop me for using internet, but it will make me think twice before I put any private information into the Google search box.
‘The Virtual Revolution’ BBC, Episode 3 Part 1 (see more on YouTube).
J.E.Gruning in the book ‘Excellence in Public Relations and communication management’ wrote: ‘Excellent public relations needs the media less than poor public relations does’. Further in book author describes that the public uses mass media mainly to get attention when making issues out of a problem. In order to get attention they stage protests, marches and strikes.
He is not the only one claiming that media strategy is not the most important and essential element in leading a successful Public Relations campaign. Gruning quoted Steven L. Vibbert from the meeting of International Communication Association, who said that the media plays an active role only in two of the four stages through which issues progress. The media polarizes two sides of the issue and forces people to identify with one of the sides. The first two stages ‘definition’ and ‘legitimating’ generally take place without media engagement.
When thinking about media usage in any NGOs campaign, public relations practitioners have to remember that media do not play the most important role. Sean Kidney during his lecture at the University of Westminster pointed out that the media helps to build the climate and atmosphere around the issue, but very rarely they help to combat the problem. He admits that according to his experience and knowledge very few people change their behaviour because of media. Media coverage aims to get people’s attention and build solid foundation under the behaviour change, but the overall strategy has to be focused on something more than just getting media coverage.
Sociologist, Dr Reiner Grundmann, talks about his research into the media's reporting of climate change:
According to the book ‘Public Relations Cases’ by Hendrix and Hayes, there are two types of objectives that are used in Public Relations programmes. The first of them are called ‘output objectives’, which include the work that was produced and distributed, for example the number of press releases that have been sent or presentations that took place. The second is ‘impact objectives’, which can be further divided into three groups, informational, attitudinal, and behavioural.
All of them are significant from a public relations point of view, but it does depend on what the aim of the campaign is, making some of them more important than the others. Sean Kidney, chairman and co-founder of the Climate Bonds Initiative pointed out during his lecture at the University of Westminster, that when Public Relations officers communicate about climate change issues or any other NGO’s cases the attitudinal objectives, which aim to modify the way the audience feels about the issue are not sufficient. In these cases the most desired outcome is behaviour change.
Public relations practitioners when fighting for a better environment should not only aim to make people think that recycling is good and necessary, they have to try and convince the public to start recycling. It is not good enough that society knows that they should not waste food, the campaign has to stop people from throwing food away and teach them how to use leftovers. This is one of the crucial things that public relations officers working for NGO’s and charities have to remember. Of course, every case and issue is different, but by making people think about something, we’re not necessarily changing the world.
The webcast is address to the Public Relations agency’s current and prospective clients. It’s designed to introduce clients to certain key aspects of social media and try to explain to them how the agency will be using social media and what the benefits are, as well as the negatives of the social media platform for clients and their businesses.
The movie has been created as a part of the a assessment for the MA Public Relations course at the University of Westminster. It has been created for educational purposes and the agency’s name and spokes person’s title has been created for the purpose of the movie.
‘Spin has become the ubiquitous term for public relations tactics.’ wrote David Miller and William Dinan in their book 'A Century of Spin: How Public Relations Became the Cutting Edge of Corporate Power' (2007). The current Public Relations industry is trying to drift from this opinion and blur the image of Public Relations being spinning and lying to the public. It is not easy to stop the stereotype that have grown since the first practitioners such as Edward Bernes and Basil Clarke.
Image by Jens Lumm
What makes it even harder is that current practitioners are admitting that lying is a part of the business. One of Britain’s most famous Public Relations practitioners Max Clifford often acknowledged that he lies on behalf of his clients. He happily admits: ‘I’ve been telling lies on behalf of people, businessmen, politicians and countries for 40 years. It shouldn’t be necessary, but it is. I’d rather be honest, but I cannot be all the time... All PROs at all levels lie through their teeth.’ Many practitioners are devastated by his words and are trying to challenge him in public debates. In 1994 he debated with Quentin Bell about the transparency of the industry and in February 2007 Clifford took part in the PRWeek debate ‘PR has a duty to tell the truth’, against morally and ethically strong personalities from the Public Relations industry such as Peter Crumpler. Max Clifford won the vote at the end of both debates.
After the debate Peter Crumpler said that he was ‘dismayed and disappointed’ by the result and that this is a bad sign for the future of the industry. His opinion was supported by Simon Cohen, founder of ethical PR agency Global Tolerance.
At the same time, there are some positive voices behind Max Clifford openly expressing his actions. Daniel Rogers’ opinion of the debate that took place in 2007 was: ‘The fact that PR people admit they need to lie occasionally is a sign of growing honesty and confidence in what they do’.
He admitted that by having a debate on ethics in Public Relations, ,the industry showed evidence of a new maturity. Rogers found optimism in Public Relations people admitting they needed to lie occasionally, which made it different from spinning, when practitioners tried to hide the truth .
NfpSynergy by publishing its new survey, questions one of the most effective and quickest methods of bringing attention to an organisation’s cause, which is celebrity endorsement. The research shows that only one in five young people aged 11-25 would support a charity because a celebrity happened to endorse it. Furthermore, the number of people supporting charities because of the person representing it decreased with age. Two of the most ideal celebrities to support an organisation’s cause are Stephen Fry and David Tennant.
As the ‘Celebrity Endorsement and support for charities’ survey shows it is not enough to put a ‘face’ to a charity’s cause in order to get funds. A celebrity’s popularity changes quickly and today’s ‘in’ celebrity might quickly become liability. That is why when deciding to use a celebrity for a campaign it is essential to select the person carefully.
The demand for celebrity endorsement will not pass, even though there is proof that it is not as profitable as people think. After the survey was been published, PRWeek at the begging of February revealed that Cancer Research UK is seeking an agency to launch a celebrity campaign, while Save The Children appointed House PR for a brief that includes celebrity engagement. The question is why celebrity endorsement is so popular within charities? The answer is obvious, we are live within a celebrity culture. Charities have had to become more commercial, because society has become more commercially orientated and as a result the charities have had to adapt to this.
What to look for when choosing a celebruty for your cause:
The terms stakeholder and public are often difficult to distinguish. Depending on what type of literature you reach for, they have different interpretations. Stakeholders have been identified more often in the business literature according to their relationships with organizations. Public on the other hand has more presence in the public relations and other mass media literature.
One of the definitions of a stakeholder given by R.E. Freeman in ‘Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach’ says that a stakeholder is “any group or individual who is affected by or can affect the achievement of an organization’s objectives.” He describes it in the wide sense of a stakeholder. In the narrow sense of a stakeholder he means “any identifiable group or individual on which the organization is dependent for its continued survival.” Later this definition has been expanded to include groups who have interests in the corporation, regardless of the corporation’s interest in them. In simple words, stakeholders include everyone who has an interest in the organisation such as employees, customers, shareholders, communities and suppliers.
The term ‘public’ on the other hand has been related to the recipients of messages from organizations. The term ‘public’ can be understood as an audience that has become segmented into more homogeneous subsets that help communicators choose appropriate channels in order to reach them. James Grunig in ‘Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management’ has differentiated the terms ‘stakeholder’ and ‘public’ in the following way: organizations choose stakeholders by their marketing strategies, recruiting, and investment plans, but the public arise on their own choice and choose the organization.
Even though the definitions and names can be confusing for Public Relations practitioners it is the most important to understand to whom, why and when the message should be communicated. Successful campaigns must also consider how messages will be interpreted by its receivers.
There is no simple set of rules that will manage to solve every crisis. The worst thing for the public during a crisis is not knowing. That is why social media is becoming a more popular tool in order to keep people informed during a crisis. Social media allows issues to be identified and managed extremely quickly online, as well as allowing for quick and direct interaction with all stakeholders providing information about the current situation.
During the Icelandic volcano eruption in April 2010 two brands within the same company (SkyTeam) Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines showed radically different approaches to using social media during this travel industry crisis.
KLM showed an effort to keep its customers updated. The information pages were constantly modified, with clear information on the options available to stranded passengers. There were some problems with changing the booking but in a crisis of that scale it is forgivable. The most impressive thing was KLM’s outreach through social media, primarily Twitter and a Facebook.
On the 20th of April 2010 KLM published on its facebook profile a video from KLM’s CEO & President Peter Hartman with a message to customers.
Here you can watch the message (source Youtube):
The company did not stop at that. The wall on facebook was constantly updated with the latest news and even opportunities to rebook flights through facebook.
The company added a Question & Answer tab to the Facebook page in order to take more inquiries and make the communication process quicker.
KLM was highly involved on Twitted by posting news about the situation, re-booking trips, information and links as to where passengers could get more detailed information. As a result KLM’s response was favourable. There were lots of comments appreciating the company’s efforts. The reputation of the company had risen and people got to know that in a crisis they are not alone.
Air France completely ignored the social media communication channels, which surprised its customers. The company posted a few notes on its facebook profile but the information was very poor and general.
There were no posts being Twitted and the company did not reply to any comments. It was very clear that The Air France was not interested in using social media. What was even worse, the official Air France web site was rarely updated and contained very little information about how to rebook or get a refund. No information and poor communication resulted in call centres becoming over run with the amount of telephone inquiries. The company lost its good reputation and many clients were disappointment with the poor performance while dealing with the crisis, especially comparing it with KLM’s effort.
When a crisis hits it is important to have a plan in place and a way to deal with complaints. A well established presence in social media as shown in the example above can make it easier to handle the crisis and talk to stakeholders. Without social media presence it is more difficult to take part in dialogue. In order to provide customers with the best possible service during a crisis, it is essential to engage them through social media platforms beforehand, that way they know that this is the place to go when they need information about the situation.
Social media is a powerful platform and can be a great tool to approach customers while facing a crisis. Many corporations and government bodies have found social media tools to be a great way to communicate quickly and regularly with the audience.
The word ‘crisis’ in Chinese is written by using two symbols in which one means ‘danger’ and second ‘opportunity’. As Pam Williams, our core teacher at the University of Westminster said that every crisis that a company faces is a threat, but at the same time it can be an opportunity to show the power of the PR department. If the company handles the crisis well, it can help it to strengthen its image, but most of all it shows the value of PR. It might be a chance to raise the profile and status of the PR practitioners within the company.
The question is, is it a price worth paying to potentially damage to the reputation of a company? Even if the company will handle the crisis the financial health of the company might suffer and the market value of the company might drop.
In order to manage the crisis prevention, planning, testing, evaluation and maintenance to mitigate and minimize the consequences are required. The only good way to fight the crisis is to be prepared for it and have a plan that can be put in place straight away. The plan should be short, to the point and contain information, stating what every member of the team has to do. The first hours after a crisis breaks are crucial, working with speed and efficiency is essential at this point, and the plan should indicate how quickly each function should be performed.
More about using social media during crisis management in next post.
During the movie ‘War Spin’ described in the previous post, one of the PR tactics used by the military in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was to embed the journalists in with the Coalition forces. The aim was to provide the media with a detailed and interesting view of the war for their audience.
It was also the easiest way for military to control the information and show the public what they would like them to see. By putting them with coalition forces the media were under their control. Independent journalists tended to be more suspicious, attempting to find information the army did not want publicised and embedding them proved to be a useful technique. In the movie, BBC journalists who were travelling with the coalition forces through the Iraq war zone said that it was very hard to stay objective about the military action while you being protected and feed by the soldiers. Essentially the journalists lives depended on the soldiers. As a result, getting the journalists closer to the military work and allowing them to join the forces helped to control the messages spread by the media.
At the end of the documentary there is a very importance sentence that embedding the journalists allowed the military to maximize imagery, whilst providing minimal insight. The images from the field are powerful and very desirable by viewers but show a very subjective point of view. They do not have any great factual value and would be better compared to a Hollywood production, then the work of a journalist. The images from war aim to shock, provoke emotions and mainly take the audience’s attention from the negative side of war.
A recent war that we had coverage of almost every day was the Iraq war. During our class at the University of Westminster we watched the movie titled ‘War Spin’, which is a part of a series called ‘Correspondent’ broadcast by the BBC and it shows what war looks like from a media relation point of view. This documentary helped me to understand how much PR is involved in war and how the military allows viewers to see only what they want to present.
The main thought taken from this movie is that the main PR strategy during the Iraq war and other conflicts was to control the source of information. The programme shows how the military manipulates the mainstream media using a few different techniques. One of the techniques during the Iraq war was to placed the journalists in the Central Command Centre in the building far away from the field of war and provide them with an army representative who would supply them with a series of unremarkable facts and information. The main idea behind this action is to limit the facts and context about the war by carefully controlling the topics which were chosen by military. This allowed military to deliver news to journalists on a daily basis in order to keep them interested. As a result the media shows what military wants them to show and stopped uncomfortable information and comments being revealed by different sources to the broadcaster.
The movie showed the importance and power of PR during a war. It demonstrates how spin is used in various ways during times of war and how hard journalists have to work during a military conflict in order to get the information that is carefully protected.
For more about media reporting during the Iraq war see: Iraq media section.
To see more about the manipulating the media during war:
It's my first post and what's more it's my first ever blog. I have never done this before and feel like a virgin in the blogosphere.
I will start with something very simple. Maybe some of you are in the same position that I am and have just started their blog adventure. In the beginning of every journey it is good to have a guide. I am lucky and I have one, so to not be too selfish I will share.
During our New Media class at the University of Westminister we thought through blogging and after a few quick hints we found out what we should know about it.
I will share 5 tops tips from today's class that all us bloggers should know and remember.
1. Find your style, show your character.
2. Do not forget about SEO. What is that? Check the presentation below.
3. Have a RRS feed, it will makes your readers life easier.
4. Think who is going to read your blog.
5. Keep you readers interested, update your blog regularly.
For more information about blogging, dos and donts and other tips for successful blogging, take a look at this presentation:
