Public Relationships

Do clouds really have silver linings? Some PR thoughts as we stutter out of recession

2009-10-25T22:50:00.000+08:00

Hmmm. There’s an odd smell in the streets of Hong Kong. And no, it’s not stinky tofu. It is the smell of optimism and I’m cautiously inhaling. After what seems like an eternity of dark headlines, budget cuts, market “re-prioritization” and other tales of woe, we appear to be bouncing back from the recession or, if you prefer, financial tsunami.

Whether it is W, L, U, V (or pear) shaped, a recovery is inevitable. While I’m not an economist, indicators such as new business demand, increasing client spend and calls from recruiters tell me that change is afoot.

While this certainly sends my financial team into raptures of accountant joy, from a consulting perspective, I wonder what clients and agencies have really learned from the recent unpleasantness? Have we changed behaviours for the good of companies’ communications programs? Has the mantra of doing more with (even) less created positive change and delivered genuine return on investment? Or are we back where we started with lower budgets and higher expectations? Hong Kong is, after all, the land of best service, lowest price.

A straw poll of twitter followers provided some clues. One told me: “What we learned from the recession? Nothing is the same - PR is changing, and the challenge is to heard above all the noise.”

A second optimist summed it up nicely: “Recessions just speed up trends. Clients have been wanting more for less for more than 20 years. Now they want EVEN more for EVEN less. So clients need to understand how to get better value from agencies, and agencies need to work out how to deliver that value and remain profitable.”

From my POV, the recession has brought us both positives and negatives. Let’s look at this from client and agency perspectives. Firstly, the client. I’ve seen some of my clients positively change their business models in response to tougher times. In one company’s case, this meant creating teams that cross over marketing, communications and sales lines. What’s especially encouraging is that they now assess every communications activity on its ability to generate business leads. The term “demand generation” is certainly now a part of every good PR consultant’s vocabulary. Those smarter companies have also looked at refocusing their marketing programs to include social media outreach.

I’ve also seen many companies that were forced to dramatically cut their PR spend. In many cases, their agency partners shared the pain through reduced retainers, fewer projects, and an expectation that even more could be done with a smaller PR investment. I also found that in China in particular, these requests were sometimes accompanied by a similar expectation that pre-recession service levels could continue “...in the interests of the relationship.”

From an agency point of view, the pressure of the past 12 months has been enormous. Many agencies have reduced headcount, cut salaries and made other significant compromises across their businesses. We’ve had to find efficiencies where none existed before, especially challenging given the very tight margins within which most PR agencies work. Tactics have included refining business processes, empowering junior staff to take on senior responsibilities at an earlier stage in their careers, offering services for well under industry rates to acquire business, and conceding to sometimes unrealistic client demands.

The smarter agencies, though, will realize that in making these concessions they’ve become more efficient businesses. Similarly, clients will realize that agencies are, in some cases, able to provide greater service than budgeted for. I’m hoping now that things are picking up again, there will be meeting of the minds on these points. Yes, agencies can be squeezed, but agencies are businesses and need to generate profits. They also depend largely on the well-being of their staff and the siege mentality of last year is unsustainable.

As my twitter friend pointed out, doing more with less is not a new thing – it is business as usual. So from an agency side, we’ve had to tighten belts that were already very tight. Given this, is it fair for us to expect a return to the heady pre-1987 days of three martini lunch PR as we bounce out of recession? Clearly not. But I am confident of a couple of points. Firstly, that agencies coming through the other side of the recession are fundamentally better at what they do. Secondly, that those savvy clients that have reprioritized their communications programs to focus on demand generation are going to reap the returns. For those that find a balance between these two complementary realizations, perhaps that odd smell is the sweet smell of success...

- Jeremy

This article first appeared in Marketing-Interactive

Answered - Four social media questions you were afraid to ask

2009-10-07T12:51:00.001+08:00

Recently, I ate peanuts aboard a Dragon Air Airbus 33A, while sitting on the tarmac at Shanghai’s Pu Dong Airport. My “first in the queue” plane to Hong Kong had idled for three hours. As I bit into the peanut (musing on the packet’s stern warning “Caution: contents contain peanuts”), I started thinking, as one does, about social media marketing.

I’d spent the previous two weeks discussing social media and public relations with audiences in Shanghai and Beijing. As my brain began to file away the conversations, I started to doodle the questions I’d been asked on my Dragon Air napkin (“Caution: contents contain dead trees”). It seemed that four things were on the minds of the multitude of marketers (try saying that three times quickly!) I’d met with over the past couple of weeks.

In the interests of the greater good, I thought I’d try to tackle them in this column because I think they frame the necessary next steps that many companies are still struggling to take.

Question 1: Should my company get into social media?
First, you should understand what you’re trying to sell, who you want to influence, and what influences them. If the answer is, in part, social media, then that needs to be part of the marketing program. The fact is, your brand is probably already a topic of discussion across social media channels. Realize also, social media isn’t a trend, fad or buzz. It exists because Web 2.0 tools have enabled everyone to publish. Quite frankly, the people have spoken. The underlying social media principles of openness, collaboration, participation, conversation, community and real time are woven into the fabric of communication.

Question 2: OK. So I should do this. How do I start?
Start by understanding the social media landscape around your product or service offering and associated themes. This ‘mapping’ exercise will help you set priorities, strategies and tactics. Once you understand the most influential channels and influencers, then representatives from your company can start to play active and authentic roles in these communities. Their mission? To help drive conversations within the communities, and also drive discussions back to you company webpage, blog, Facebook fan page, or other ‘owned’ media channels. A great way to start is to empower your 800 number helpdesk team to play their role in online communities. Why? They are already trained to manage 1-1 discussions with your clients and prospects.

Question 3: So I’m already “there”. How do I control my message?
Sadly, you can’t. The presumption of controlling messages is a hangover from the old days of PR 1.0. Many companies in China in particular been able to exert a significant degree of control over traditional media. In social media, however, not responding to the inevitable negative comments means that they become part of the digital record forever. By having company representatives in social media communities, you can ensure you’re across relevant discussions, presenting your point of view and adding value to the community. If you can manage this, discussions will be more balanced. And by driving the discussion back to your company blog, for example, you’ll have time to offer your point of view (and improve SEO in the process).

Question 4: OK. So I have some semblance of control. How do I measure this?
Social media is infinitely more measureable than traditional media. In media relations-based PR, we’ve relied on the collective leap of faith that says an article on page 42 of Ming Pao will be read from beginning to end, absorbed, and will play a key role in a business decision. I have nothing against Ming Pao, but surely this is an output, not an outcome.

By having company representatives contributing to social media communities, you can create measurable action and demand generation. If your representatives are compelling and people click through to your web landing page for more information, to book a place at an event or buy a product, then you’ve hit the jackpot.

Web analytics tools such as Google Analytics can show you precisely where those inbound links came from. Your SEO goes up, but more importantly you can make a direct correlation between social media activity and consumer behaviour.

It all sounds deceptively simple. The reality is there are places to start and the point of entry isn’t so challenging. But this is a long-term commitment that fundamentally changes the way your company will interact with its audiences. Social media continues to take many marketing managers in Asia out of their comfort zones. Through more conversation, active participation, and handfuls of Dragon Air peanuts, this is an opportunity you, as a marketer, can’t afford to ignore.

- Jeremy

Honour amongst thieves

2009-09-10T20:44:00.004+08:00

As I put fingers to keyboard, I’m angry. I keep telling myself this shouldn’t sound like sour grapes. I keep telling myself, that in these tough times, businesses have to make tough decisions. But one thing really gets my goat. And that’s PR companies that try to win business by attempting to steal clients away on the basis of pricing alone.

Now of course price is a key component of most purchases. PR firms, like many professional services companies, may choose to be flexible with pricing to win a new client over. They also frequently struggle to secure annual increases or adjust agreed rates in a timely fashion. You’ll hear the pricing question come up most often during a competitive pitch. Especially true in North Asia where in a game called “you show me yours and I won’t show you mine”, budgets are all-too-frequently not disclosed during the critical pitch process. The agencies simply have to apply the tried and true “finger in the wind” theory of financial modelling combined with an all too common patchwork of services and tactics. If all of the planets come into alignment they’ll hit the magic number and the relationship begins.

But I digress. Pricing is undeniably important and most companies are putting considerable pressure on their suppliers to do more with less. Over the past 12 months, I’ve had everything from retainer cuts, project spends drying up, complete shifts to project only work and immediate cancellations of agreements, in spite of agreed contract terms. That’s an unfortunate business reality and agencies are typically accommodating. I guess we, in some karmic fashion, acknowledge that such concessions and acts of goodwill will be rewarded at some magical point in the future (hopefully not too far in the future).

The other key factor is relationship. Fundamentally, no relationship is perfect. PR agency / client relationships are frequently like marriages – they have their ups and downs. But what really gets my goat is when competitors come a-knocking on my “partner’s” door and sell on price alone. “We’ll provide the same service at half the price,” they whisper into all-too-willing ears. Certainly, it sounds like a compelling proposition. But is it grounded on reality – or desperation? Sure, we’re all under pressure to make our numbers. But this type of behaviour brings our industry, which already struggles with its own PR challenges, into further ill-repute.

Naturally, these approaches raise questions in our clients’ minds. Am I getting real value for money? Did my procurement team push hard enough in the original negotiation? Can the work be done for less? But these questions need to be balanced with a few from the other side of the brain. Such as…has my agency been a loyal supplier for many years? Do they continue to provide me with valuable insights? Has the account team gone above and beyond the call? My fear is that price alone has become a weapon all too frequently used in the competitive arsenal. We’re not selling fish at the market here. Long term business relationships surely count for something, even in these unsettled times.

I had a situation several years ago in Australia where a client was approached with a similar offer. It had been a challenging relationship for many reasons, but the account team persevered and was making considerable progress supporting a tough proposition in a tough media market. Then we got THE call. A competitor had offered to provide the same level of support for half the fee. While we could be flexible, we couldn’t compete to the same level. And so the hard work of two years was cast aside and we parted ways. Four years later, my former client is now working with its third agency partner as it continues on its search for the holy grail of a perfect balance of best service and lowest price.

The other consideration is the question of the greenness of the grass on the other side. While these types of approaches may sow seeds of doubt, the decision to review or change agencies can’t be taken lightly. Certainly, agencies need to continually add value and nurture their client relationships. Taking clients for granted is a cardinal sin. But next time the price question raises questions, a conversation with yourself – and your agency – is in order.

To my clients I ask that if there are nagging doubts regarding service – or pricing – have the conversation with your account team. And to the unscrupulous agencies that choose to use the price lure – may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits forever.

- Jeremy

This article appeared in the August 2009 issue of Marketing Magazine Hong Kong

The Top 10 Essential Social Media Stories This Week

2009-08-30T22:47:00.000+08:00

The Top 10 Essential Social Media Stories This Week: "

From an image editing disaster by Microsoft to Yelp’s augmented reality application to a rehab center for Internet addicts, it’s been a busy week in web news.

We were blown away by Facebook’s latest iPhone app and shocked by a new ad campaign that informs drivers of the dangers of texting while driving. Less shocking: a new study suggested that social media users are somewhat narcissistic.

In Mashable news, meanwhile, our Summer of Social Good conference was a hit…and ended on a high with an unexpected marriage proposal.

Without further ado, here are the top stories in social media this week.

1. Microsoft Apologizes for Photoshop Trainwreck – Microsoft edited an image on its Polish website, replacing a black person with a white one. An apology was issued for the mistake.

2. EASTER EGG: Yelp Is the iPhone’s First Augmented Reality App – Yelp sneakily launched an augmented reality iPhone app this week. We take it for a test run.

3. First U.S. Rehab Center for Internet Addiction Opens Its Doors – America’s first Internet addiction center opens. A sign of the times?

4. How Facebook Can Ruin Your Relationships [VIDEO] – A recent study showed that Facebook increases jealousy in relationships. Now we have video evidence.

5. STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists – are social media tools used for narcissistic ends? A new study appears to confirm it.

6. Apple Censored the Snow Leopard: Now With 100% Less Blood – Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system arrives…with the blood stains removed.

7. IT’S HERE: Facebook 3.0 for iPhone Has Arrived – Facebook’s latest iPhone app is here…and it’s awesome. We look at the unique features in this innovative new social app.

8. Texting While Driving Video: Will Graphic Imagery Change People’s Behavior? – A graphic new ad uses shock tactics to warn of the dangers of texting while driving. Will it work, asks Adam Ostrow.

9. Dual-Screen Laptops?! Yes, They’re Real (and Coming Soon) – One laptop screen not enough space for all your applications? Ben Parr clues us in on a new dual-screen laptop that provides oodles of screen real estate.

10. Don’t Want to Let Go of Your Ex? Yes, There Are Apps for That [Video] – A parody iPhone ad offers to help stalk your ex.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AndrewJohnson

Reviews: Yelp, facebook, iStockphoto

Tags: social, social media

Shock! Horror! 40% of tweets on twitter are pointless babble!

2009-08-17T12:05:00.002+08:00

Sigh. In the biggest Twitter story of the week, Pear Analytics research report concludes that 40% of tweets are - drum role - actually pointless babble. Outlets such as Computerworld, InformationWeek, Cnet and The Daily Telegraph have gleefully reported the twitter = babble story.

But, I fear they are missing the point. This study reflects analysis of 2,000 English tweets from the public timeline. This is akin to measuring a minute of radio commentary from 2,000 radio stations. Babble will feature highly, because there's a lot of babble out there.

Perhaps I'm unique in my Twitter usage, but I certainly don't spend time watching the public timeline for my news and information. Seems a rather inefficient way to use twitter if you ask me.

With tools such as TweetDeck allowing you to manage twitter searches via people, groups, or topic, there are rather easy ways to avoid the babble - and rather meaningless research reports!

Dear spammers – can we have our social media back?

2009-07-25T09:30:00.002+08:00

I’ve spent much of the past month meeting with social media monitoring companies to find a supplier that can manage searches and analysis in Asian languages. I’ve been geeking out on some of the applications, and, without the hint of apology, challenging a lot of what I’ve seen. I hope the folks I’ve met with have enjoyed the discussions.

While I’ve been quite impressed with how far Asian language buzz, sentiment and share of voice dashboards have come, the spectre of “social media marketing” raised its head in three of the discussions.

Naturally, as an inquisitive fellow, I pushed them on this point. With the innocence of a new-born lamb, I asked them precisely what they meant by “marketing” in a social media context. The response? “Seeding”. Now, for the uninitiated, “seeding” has little to do with the planting seeds in fertile soil and nourishing them to grow.

Sadly, it seems, “seeding” has a lot to do with spamming forums and blogs with often inappropriate commercial messages.

This is akin to arriving late (and uninvited) to a party that’s in full swing. Then strolling casually into the middle of an intense discussion and yelling “buy a car from Chan’s Auto Yard!” Next step is to run out of the party, never to be heard from again.

Now come on people (and seeders). Who are we kidding here? Is this behaviour acceptable in any community in which you operate? Is this “marketing”? No. It is spamming pure and simple. And what makes it worse, is that as corporates discover the genuine influence of social media discussions, they’re defaulting to these sorts of tactics and running the risk of doing their brands considerably more harm than good.

I understand the good folks that are paid to “seed” in this way are referred to as “gunners” (in traditional Chinese cheng churn meaning, literally, hired guns).

So, let’s break this down. You identify a forum like Uwants or DiscussHk as an influential channel where discussions relevant to your brand, product or service are taking place. People care enough (or, at least are passionate enough) to share their feelings and ask probing questions. Instead of joining the conversation in a meaningful way by replying to posts or establishing a contributing and helpful role within the community, you instead hire a gunner to spam inappropriate comments at this influential audience.

I can only assume that this approach is based on the assumption that at least a “key message” is “placed” in the discussion; therefore this somehow constitutes marketing success. And perhaps using the direct marketing logic, maybe a 1 or 2 percent response rate justifies the expenditure. Whereas an unsolicited email can be deleted or captured by a spam filter, the gunner’s handiwork lives on in the digital record. Ideally forum moderators or bloggers block such comments, but if they let them remain, they are nothing more than a reminder for most netizens that the offending company has no understanding of social media conventions and should be at best ignored, and, at worst, flamed.

Companies need to realize that there really is no such thing as spamming your way to social media influence. Influence is established through trusted relationships built over time. It appears that for many companies in Hong Kong, these types of relationships aren’t worth the investment required. I fear that until we reach a stage where the communities voice their objections, however, our forums are blogs destined to be the playground of these digital gate-crashers.

It does raise the question of how else to engage in these vital channels. The answer is pretty clear. Like any community, you need to understand the discussion, so spend time researching and reading. Determine which forum threads or blogs focus on topics you’re interested in. Look at the language of discussion and analyse the nature of comments and posts. Consider how you can meaningfully join the conversation – how can you add value? Can you answer a question? Point people to new information? Introduce a new topic that the community will value?

And remember, by starting down this path, you’re making a commitment to the community. Once you’re in, you should stay in. And through this, you’ll develop the relationships marketers only dreamt of a decade ago.

Finally, a call to action. For those who really value the digital communities they’ve helped build and increasingly see as a preferred place for discussion, debate and research, now is the time to take back the night. Next time you see a post that’s clearly “gunned”, make it clear that they’re not welcome in your ‘hood.

- Jeremy

Note, this article appeared in the June 2009 issue of Marketing Magazine Hong Kong

It Aint Yo' Daddy's Crisis Communications

2009-06-05T11:44:00.003+08:00

Great grand-daughters and great-grandsons of P.T. Barnum. An apology for not posting. Things have been manic. Some thoughts on crisis communications that struck me as my Marketing Magazine deadline approached. Read on, enjoy (and comment!)...

At some point in a darkened room, a wise and learned soul sat down and created the original PR crisis communications course. Much like a cherished family heirloom, this course has been handed down through the generations and across the agencies, tweaked occasionally, but it essentially says the same things.

It tells us the first 24 hours is the only 24 hours. It tells us (and misleads us slightly) that the Chinese character for crisis is a combination of the characters representing "danger" and "opportunity".

It reinforces that crises can smoulder or be sudden, that understanding the news cycle is critical. It also instructs that candour is one of the best tools in an executive's arsenal.

It is a sad reality that this document too often dusted off once a crisis has hit - or following a poorly managed crisis. The challenge is that today the dynamics of crisis have changed. Social media has turned some of the old rules on their heads. While we happily extol the virtues of social media's ability to enable business through (jargon alert) appropriate community engagement, the darker side of social media is often glossed over even ignored.

Several recent events have hopefully slapped the collective faces of companies that happily employ the "ostrich approach" to crisis management. The first relates to Domino's Pizza. This decades-old global brand reinforces an image of fresh, hot food prepared by happy, enthusiastic workers. It received a wake-up call on April 12 when two employees felt compelled to post a video to YouTube showing them performing various unsavoury acts on food products. See the video (TV news coverage here); you'll know what I mean.

What's interesting is that prior to the age of YouTube, such a thing may have been limited to a video cassette played at frat parties. But within 48 hours, the offensive video had been viewed millions of times. Domino's did many of the right things in responding - it posted its own YouTube video, and replied directly to the blogger that broke the story.

The company - and hopefully others like it - learned a lesson in how easy it is for idiots with video cameras to cause a brand considerable damage.

Another topical crisis that has raised questions over the role of social media in a crisis is the recent Swine Flu / H1N1 outbreak. Social media flavour of the month Twitter came under fire for spreading misinformation. Such was the level of incorrect tweets, that mainstream media saw it as an opportunity to quite rightly raise questions over Twitter's credibility.

On the positive side, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) has used Twitter as a force for good to spread reliable and accurate information. Its followers have grown from 2,621 (April 23) to 249,940 (June 6).

A third example of social media's ability to amplify a crisis comes from the god-mother of e-commerce, Amazon.com. In April, social media channels were full of the news that sales rankings and search results for gay and lesbian books had disappeared from Amazon's website.

Amazon did itself no favours by telling the Associated Press two days after the fact that the error had been caused by a glitch in the system. A new Twitter hashtag (#glitchmyass) and twitter user quickly appeared - symbols of the community's distain over Amazon's actions and response.

So, what to do? Traditional media channels are increasingly feeding on crises and issues that break through social media. Channels such as facebook, twitter and YouTube have become trusted sources - but their ability to misinform or mislead is as powerful as traditional media's historical ability to credibly inform and lead.

There are three fundamentals that all companies need to take on board

today:

Be vigilant: Understand the social and traditional media landscape and monitor for issues in real time. This is commonsense, but companies are still being surprised. Make sure employees' actions in social media channels are also under review.

Fish where the fish are: Ensure you have a credible presence in key social media channels in advance. Just as with mainstream media, a crisis is the worst time to make a first impression. Companies need to be part of key communities if they hope to secure support in times of crisis.

Change plans: Unlike the crisis plans of old, don't wait until the crisis to bring it out of the drawer. Crisis preparedness needs to be part of the daily communications mix - starting with something as simple as listening to the conversation that's already going on 24x7.

- Jeremy

PR versus advertising - the battle rages on

2009-05-09T15:08:00.004+08:00

I put together these words for Marketing Magazine - a new take on a perennial debate...

US merchant, religious leader, political figure and "father" of advertising, John Wanamaker, is often quoted as saying "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."

I think John would be scratching his head today - as are many communicators - when asked to justify a modern communications mix. In the past, the leap of faith that dictates that noise in the "free" media and buying ads equates to marketing success has kept many a marketeer employed. But the current global unpleasantness has put every dollar, ringgit, or renimbi under scrutiny that we haven't seen since the post dot com crash days.

Today we face CEOs who, over the past few decades, have become accustomed to measuring PR and advertising success in the same way you assess fish at a wet market - by the kilogram (of press clippings and ads). Their complimentary marketing programs floated in harmony, mysteriously above and below a magical line.

These same CEOs are now being also being asked to comprehend Facebook groups and Xiaonei pages, tweets with twitter, discussion forums and BBSs, and being told to blog until they can blog no more.

And when, as is common in these difficult times, they ask what the return on this increasingly complex investment is, all the smoke and mirrors in the world won't protect the un-informed marketing manager.

In an attempt to help our clients answer some of these questions, my company, Text 100, did some digging. Realizing that an unfortunate by-product of tougher economic times is a reduction in marketing spend, we tried to figure out the role that public relations plays in building brand value. How? By assessing the statistical relationship between media prominence (measuring prominence of mentions in unpaid media) and brand value for the 100 companies in Interbrand's 2008 Best Global Brands report.

While I'm not a statistician (and have no desire to throw gasoline on the advertising versus PR fire), the results were interesting on several levels. Overall, we found that how often a company appeared in the press accounted for over a quarter of its brand value. The survey (fact sheet here) determined that the more complex the product, the smaller the role advertising played in its brand value. Net-net, a sizable amount of brand value, particularly for high involvement industries, is tied into media coverage.

So...PR is good for complex products and makes a difference. But just how good is it? A recent Neilson AIG study concluded that advertising builds confidence in financial brands in crisis. In essence, they determined that those financial institutions that spend more on advertising will maintain more consumer confidence than those that pull back.

Not rocket science. But check out this data, buried under a sub head in the press release. "When asked what factors would increase confidence in the safety and soundness of their financial institution, respondents cited:

- Seeing regular advertising for that institution (25%)

- Receiving regular mail or e-mail offers from that institution (25%)

- Regularly seeing internet offers/advertising from that institution (21%)

- Reading positive stories in the press about that institution (44%)"

Read that last bullet again. It clearly states that reading positive stories in the press bolsters much more confidence than seeing regular advertising.

Defence exhibit number three, your honour. TNS study on brands in the digital world provided a couple of choice factoids. When asked what types of digital media have you seen being used, respondents cited dedicated websites, sponsored content, banner ads, popup ads and email as their top five. But when it came down to what people actually trusted, only manufacturers' websites appeared in to rate highly.

The ad spend went into channels that weren't trusted. Recommendations from friends and family, independent reviews in publications, expert product reviews from websites, product labels on packaging and consumer reviews from websites were Asia's most trusted channels. So, if you rightly assume that trust is a big part of purchase decisions, then channels that fall under the PR domain are the place to spend your money.

So, is it PR = good, advertising = bad? No, I don't think so. But I think in a time of greater scrutiny, any decision needs to be measured on its ability to create or boost stakeholder confidence. We're talking to the most media savvy generation in history. Advertising will always play a critical role in creating and changing perception. But if you want to create confidence and community, the PR spend seems to fall into the half not wasted.

- Jeremy

Measuring PR success

2009-04-22T14:52:00.002+08:00

The good folks at PublicAffairsAsia recently asked me some questions on PR measurement (which has always been a pet topic of mine). Here's the resulting article. My full responses follow...

How has evaluating PA (public affairs) activity changed in the last five years?

There has been a significant shift in measurement over the past five years, but it is inconsistent across companies. While some are using sophisticated tools like Biz 360 to measure output, many still rely on out dated (and discredited) techniques such as ad value equivalency. In North Asia, many still rely on character counting and the volume of clippings as opposed to more sophisticated action and message or tone oriented metrics. On the positive side, companies are increasingly not just measuring their own output, but also assessing competitors’ performance.

Is there more demand for quantifying PA work and what are the drivers behind it?

Yes. The global recession has forced companies to look very closely at their marketing spends. This means the need to demonstrate return on investment has become significant. Critically, the ability to make a connection between marketing activity and business or organizational change is vital.

The impact of the credit crunch on evaluation.

As above, there is more and more pressure for better evaluation. Ironically, this is coupled with a smaller spend. So evaluation techniques using free web tools are becoming popular. Companies are increasingly compromising holistic measurement, and looking at representative measurement of campaign success.

The role of evaluation in Asia....

Becoming more important as more sophisticated marketers come into management roles. The large global measurement companies are improving their double byte character support and this is making global best practice measurement possible in Asia. This is leading to better analysis and forcing communicators and agencies to demonstrate a better connection between their programs and the business as a whole.

The future trends behind evaluation processes....

The future is more, real-time assessment. Online dashboards will replace monthly clippings books, allowing for campaign decisions to be made in real-time (as opposed to waiting for a monthly or quarterly review). With better data and analysis will come better, more quantifiable results.

The Revolution Will Be Tweeted

2009-04-11T09:27:00.004+08:00

Some ramblings on mainstream media's newest darling, twitter. This ran in the latest issue of Marketing Magazine in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. As an aside, I find the headline especially telling as just this morning, the New York Times reports that anti-government protests in Moldova were "fueled" by twitter. Read on...

Twitter's success is testament to the social media tenant that everyone can publish. With the entire online population empowered to report, stories will increasingly break online. The new model seems to be Twitter stories leading to more in-depth analysis in traditional media channels.

These channels are also seeing Twitter as a source of content and viewer collaboration. Sky News has appointed Ruth Barnett as Twitter correspondent, and increasingly Twitter is being used by broadcast outlets such as CNN for real-time talkback (twalkback?) on topics of the day.

But when journalists themselves turn to Twitter, you have to wonder about the way in which news will be broken. Reuters editor in chief David Schlesinger in effect scooped his own company when he tweeted George Soros' Davos statement "the global economic collapse could end up being worse than the Great Depression" - ahead of posting over the traditional Reuters wire.

From a corporate perspective, there are more and more tales of Twitter-centric business and branding success. Dell, for example, is widely credited to have used Twitter with producing US$1 million in revenue over the past year and a half through sale alerts. In essence, people who signed up to follow Dell on Twitter received messages when discounted products became available from the company's Home Outlet Store.

When under attack for a bad taste advertisement that showed a cartoon calorie committing suicide, PepsiCo turned to Twitter. In response to criticism, Communications Manager Huw Gilbert, tweeted: "Huw from Pepsi here. We agree this creative is totally inappropriate; we apologise and please know it won't run again."

Twitter critics saw the post as a positive and authentic response, and were generally supportive of Pepsi's quick action.

So what does all of this mean for those of us in PR? Will Twitter go the way of the dodo? Is it bubble waiting to burst? A qualified "highly likely" to both, but the reality is, the growth and popularity of this tool and similar services such as China's fanfou, Taiwan's buboo, and Thailand's Noknok cannot be ignored.

Twitter offers companies a chance to foster conversations with their key stakeholder audiences. Whether it be journalists (who are increasingly tweeting themselves) or customers, a tweet or direct message on Twitter can help create both an instant response and a initiate lasting relationship.

Whether through 140 character Twitter pitches, real time updates from events, direct customer communications, breaking news, early alerts on issues, or growing maintaining relationships with influencers and constituents, it seems if the answer to "What are you doing?" isn't "spending time on Twitter", you're missing a trick.

Gee Whiz - Social Media!

2009-03-20T08:50:00.003+08:00

Short rant to start the day. Noticed a couple of headlines in my RSS feeds:

Microsoft Turns to Social Media to Promote Internet Explorer 8

and

International bishops seminar considers 'new media'

Is it just me, or is anyone else wondering why these are still coming out as news stories? Perhaps I’m a little close to this, but it is starting to remind me of those old Web 1.0 press release we used to write when our clients first opened their websites.

Hoping soon that the discussion can move from “gee, social media” to here’s what communication looks like – forever.

Side note, spent some time in the company of colleagues from other agencies last week. A little surprised to hear some are still keeping social media expertise in walled gardens within their businesses.

From my POV, that’s backwards looking. While specialists are good to have, all PR consultants need to be rounded communicators – and that means being able to advise with confidence on all channels – social media, traditional media, influencer, internal…

- Jeremy

It's official - PR is more powerful than advertising in building brand value

2009-03-10T08:32:00.004+08:00

From my employer Text 100 and our analytics arm, Context Analytics, a new study demonstrating the value PR plays versus advertising. Full study is here. Key findings...

Companies must closely manage what is perhaps their most valuable asset – their brand – and this study helps executives quantify the impact public relations has on their brand value
Findings reinforce that PR and communications are important and cost-effective tools that deliver real business value – often at fractions of the cost of advertising
The Media Prominence Study brand value based on Interbrand’s 2008 Best Global Brands report, show that on average 27 percent of brand value is tied to how often the brand name appears in the press
In industries that involve more research before purchases are made, public relations can account for nearly half of brand value. For example, in the computing industry, media prominence accounted for 47 percent of brand value, or 16 times that of the personal care industry.
The more complex a product is to a buyer, the more likely they are to research the product category and to look for information they can trust – from editorial content rather than advertisements.

Interesting (and very timely) stuff...

- Jeremy

5 social media suggestions (in 200 words or less)

2009-02-09T10:38:00.003+08:00

Recently had in interview with the Shanghai Business Review. They asked for five social media suggestions and gave me 200 words. My response follows - have I hit the nail on the head?

1. Understand your objective and audience

Social media isn't a “silver bullet” for communications. You need to understand your business objective, audience, and what influences them. If the answer is "social media channels" then add social media to the communications mix.

2. Understand the social media environment

Map out the social media landscape before starting to engage in these channels. You have to understand the conversations before you can join them. Remember, the internet is littered with the carcasses of dead blogs!

3. Prepare your spokespeople

Engaging in social media relations is quite unlike traditional media relations. Your social media spokespeople are unlikely to be your MD or CEO. Whoever steps into this role needs to understand the dynamics of peer media conversation.

4. Say after me “be authentic”

Social media revolves around human conversations. If you think channels such as blogs, social networks or discussion forums are places to post press releases or yell about discounted wristwatches, then go back to step two.

5. Measure, measure, measure

Social media is very measurable, with anything from share of voice, to tone, to number of posts and comments able to show success. My advice is to start small, and add new metrics as your confidence increases.

Thoughts?

- Jeremy

Hong Kong joins Charity:Water Tweetup

2009-02-03T19:49:00.004+08:00

On February 12, Hong Kong will participate in the world’s largest Tweetup for Charity:Water. We are one of more than 175 cities to support this cause. Charity:Water is "...a non-profit bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations." Videos and more info here.

Hong Kong’s Twestival will at the Yumla Bar (off the top of Pottinger Street) on Thursday February 12. Things start at 8pm and there will be live music from N™ and a DJ. More info here.

Tickets are HK$100 and include a free drink, with all proceeds going to Charity: Water. Tickets must be purchased from the Twestival charity website in advance (You need a Twitter account).

Hope to see you there!

- Jeremy

Some words on social media in China

2009-01-22T14:45:00.002+08:00

Put some thoughts together for the folks at Public Affairs Asia. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...

CHINA'S INTERNET REVOLUTION

New data has revealed that China's internet population is still soaring and, says Jeremy Woolf, this presents new challenges for public affairs and communications professionals

Woolf: China's web growth opens new opportunities

Before you go down the social media path, understand business objectives and audience dynamics

China’s world-leading internet population of 298 million shows no sign of slowing down.

With year on year growth of 41.9%, the introduction of next generation mobile technologies such as 3G will only speed up this astounding uptake. What’s encouraging is the 60.8% increase in rural areas, giving those who typically relied on mainstream media access to social media channels.

From a social media or public affairs perspective, this growth further reinforces the need for companies and government entities in China to include social media as a key part of their communications strategies.

While there are concerns about the ability to “control” messages within these channels, the reality is the control that many companies have enjoyed over mainstream media content is shrinking. It really isn’t a question of whether you should engage in social media – the reality is your brand is already part of the online conversation.

Authentic communications

It is critical that in making the move to social media relations, Chinese companies adopt ethical practices and genuinely contribute to the communities in which they want to engage. The success or failure of this engagement lies in their ability to authentically function as part of an online community.

Authenticity will be a challenge for many. One of the reasons for the astronomical growth of blogs and discussion forums/BBS in China is their ability to give a voice to people who for so long were unable to express themselves. But with this boom comes the realisation that these channels are influential and can be used to shape public opinion.

This has led to the growth of so-called astroturfing or fake grass roots movements in China. The most public expression of this practice has been the “50 Cent Army”, consisting of students who are paid a small amount of money to contradict anti-Government opinion.

The concern is this practice will potentially damage the reputation of social networks as open and trustworthy environments. I can only hope that the self-policing nature of social networks will ensure discussions remain authentic and unwanted posters are discredited.

Message not medium

Despite the inevitable enthusiasm for social media relations that the internet figures will generate, one communications fundamental remains consistent for companies seeking to grow their brands in China. That is that the message is still more important than the medium.

Only once you determine that blogs, social networks, micro-blogging and video sharing sites are influential and are where your audience ‘lives’, should you plan and engage these communities.

Before you go down the social media path, understand business objectives and audience dynamics, listen to the market, prepare yourself and your spokespeople, then participate. Evaluate. Then do it again.

Jeremy Woolf is senior vice president and Greater China director of Text 100 Public Relations

- Jeremy

Tweeting about twitter

2009-01-10T08:44:00.003+08:00

Happy new year to all. First post of 2009 focuses on the hottest thing in social media in 2008...the rise (and rise) of twitter.

Got to say like most people, when I first embarked on my twitter journey, my initial reaction was one I shared with my aged mother. "Who on earth would care what I'm doing?"

The answer's in the numbers. With more than six million twitterers, growing at an astounding rate of (according to Hubspot's State of the Twittersphere Q4 2008) between five and 10 thousand each day, people clearly do.

Checking out the RSS feeds today, a couple of stories come to light that bring the business potential of twitter into focus.

Whether Internetnews.com...

"Less altruistically, some businesses have discovered that Twitter is an effective way of communicating with consumers. Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) says Twitter has produced $1 million in revenue over the past year and a half through sale alerts. People who sign up to follow Dell on Twitter receive messages when discounted products are available the company's Home Outlet Store. They can click over to purchase the product or forward the information to others."

Or the erstwhile Financial Times...

"PepsiCo turned to Twitter this month after users began posting criticisms of a Pepsi Max advertisement, which depicted a cartoon calorie committing suicide.

Huw Gilbert, communications manager for PepsiCo International, “tweeted”, or posted a public message, in reply. “Huw from Pepsi here,” he wrote. “We agree this creative is totally inappropriate; we apologise and please know it won’t run again.”

Critics saw Mr Gilbert’s post, with one “tweeting” back: “Thank you . . . for having the guts to get on Twitter on behalf of Pepsi and give us an update on the suicide ad.”

... it appears corporations are starting to figure out the power of micro-blogging. I wonder if Asia-based companies are seeing the value (yet)? Hard to think of any solid examples in my neck of the woods of tweeting success.

Will be interesting to see if the twitter phenomenon continues its growth beyond the confines of English. Will localized micro-blogging sites like China's fanfou, Germany's 1you, Taiwan's buboo, or Thailand's Noknok maintain their share or succomb to twitter's multi-lingual global juggernaut?

If you doubted twitter's universal appeal, you have to go no further than the mircale of twittervision to see that it really is a global conversation.

- Jeremy

PR in a recession? It's déjà vu all over again

2008-12-16T14:43:00.006+08:00

Another month, another article for Marketing Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. I wrote this one a month ago the midst of reforecasting, and was a little grumpy. Is it still relevant a month on? Certainly recent events have seen China's economy continue to struggle.

I've spend most of November in China and even in the economically miraculous Middle Kingdom, all is not well in our PR bubble. While rather naively we may have expected the great wall to shelter us from the financial tsunami, it appears that the waves are building. So what to do? Talk ourselves into a recession? Duck and cover? Or do we take a long hard look at ourselves and maybe find a little ray of sunshine in all of this darkness.

To quote the great Marvin Gaye, "What's going on?" For PR, we'll see budgets remaining static or go into decline, marketing spend rationalization and global consolidation. But it's not all doom and gloom. On the plus side, there will be more project opportunities, but in the inevitable buyers market, agencies will fight for every penny.

And let's not forget the lessons from previous recessions - those companies that are serious about building a strong brand in Asia should keep their baseline corporate communications and product PR campaigns alive. Smart companies will remain visible, with clever, budget-sensitive programs that maintain presence and competitive edge. Social media programs anyone?

An interesting by product of all of this may be relief from the brutal talent war that we've been fighting since the beginning of forever. Perhaps folks will stick around with companies for longer and nurture their careers and professional development (as opposed to just their bank balances).

The downturn will certainly test the Gen Y PRs who have spent their formative PR years cushioned by prosperous times. It will be fascinating to see how these new age PR folks manage when times get tough. I'm hopeful that their instincts for innovation and collaboration will help lose some of PR baggage and create some real change.

We're also likely to see more part-time PR folks in the mix, with freelancing and contracting to become the norm in a time when headcount investment slows.

Another consideration is that the financial meltdown is occurring in (and contributing to) a time when corporate / institutional trust is at an all-time low. Consumers in China don't trust the food they're feeding their babies. Customers don't trust their banks and banks don't trust each other. Employees don't trust their employers and shareholders don't trust their investments.

These trust issues are compounded by consumers who are taking to the internet in droves to voice their concerns and demand accountability. This is forcing companies to take a long look at their CSR programs and turn them into something more than simple PR puffery. It is also forcing companies to look more closely at their supply chains and demand more accountability than ever before.

Let's also take a moment to consider the news media that are getting battered by declining advertising revenues, leading to closures and consolidation. We're entering into times of having to do even more with even less. But surely this is an opportunity for our profession to better support journalists and editors. We've got to get better at giving them what they need. If they're moving to online video content, then we must be able to provide it. If they need more contributed articles and better photography because of free-falling ad spend and headcount reductions, then give it to them!

Of course, social media needs to step up and take a bow. I sincerely hope PR decision makers and agencies use this unfortunate global opportunity to take a look at their pr programs and make some hard decisions on what tactics really are influential. Those press releases you labour over for weeks and yet only get picked up by three tier two outlets surely could be replaced by a social media engagement that takes your company directly into your most critical communities.

So, in a rather large nutshell...

1. The dominoes have started to fall. Now is the time for companies to assess their marketing channels, and agencies to assess their pipelines, people and P&Ls.

2. To quote Snap!, they (the consumers) "got the power". Corporations are talking to the most connected generations in history. It's no longer about information control, it's about community engagement.

3. The media ‘ain't what they used to be. The sands of influence are shifting. PR needs to be at the heart of this change, guiding our clients and ensuring we're doing the right thing by media old and new.

We do, indeed, live interesting times...

- Jeremy

Square Pegs and Round Holes - Blogger relations trends in Asia Pacific

2008-12-08T09:53:00.005+08:00

I had the pleasure of addressing a break out group at the recent International Public Relations Association (IPRA) World Congress in Beijing recently. Thought I'd share the speech which draws on a couple of sources, in particular Text 100's APAC Blogger Survey. Happy reading...

Remarks for panel discussion presentation, IPRA Public Relations World Congress, Beijing, China, November 14, 2008

Ladies and gentlemen. If you believe what you read (ironically on the blogosphere), it seems that in the three years since US dictionary publisher Mirriam-Webster named the word “blog” as their word of the year, blogs have fallen into decline.

All the buzz is about new platforms such as Twitter and Friendfeed which are getting the early adopters excited. But blogging is, in my mind, still a relatively immature discipline, with much room to grow.

Rumours of the death of blogging are greatly exaggerated.

That’s especially the case here in Asia, where blogging is growing. According to Universal McCann’s latest Social Media Tracker, Asia leads the way in blog writing. South Korea, Taiwan and China dominate. There are an estimated 72.82 million blogs in China. In terms of blog readership, South Korea, the Philippines and China top the table.

Numbers are good, but what does this mean for PR people in Asia? The issue today is determining relevance and influence – and these are especially critical as PR dollars come under even greater pressure in today’s tougher economic climate.

Many communicators will have sat through PowerPoint presentations underlining how brands such as Kryptonite Locks and Dell were affected by blogs. You’ve probably been regaled with the tale of how blog fuelled people power here in China pushed Starbucks from the Forbidden City.

Many practitioners admit that ‘this blog stuff' is important. Yes, they should be doing something about it. But, all too often, the discussion ends there. Nothing more than an earnest acknowledgement that ‘PR 2.0' is here (somewhere).

For some reason, PR people all too frequently go back to their cubicles and labour over another dry press release that's more likely to find a place in the deleted items of an editor's PC than on the front page. For many, the thud factor of newspaper and magazine clippings is still the only benchmark of public relations success.

You have to ask, why is it taking so long for companies in Asia in particular to go to where the people are going? Why aren’t they engaging with bloggers? Is it fear of lack of control of the message? Concerns about visibility? Worries over measurable ROI? Is it the concern that they really have nothing to add?

Or is it fear of being exposed? Blog posts such as "Anti-PR from a poorly pitched blogge r", "How To Get PR For Your Startup: Fire Your PR Company" and "The PR Roadblock On The Road To Blissful Blogging" are springing up with disturbing frequency.

It appears that in many cases, we've simply brought with us the tactics that failed to win the hearts and minds of "old" media to the blogging "new" media. We're not reading their posts. We're failing to develop relationships. We're spamming them with marketing gobbledegook. We're also assuming they work the same way as journalists.

And, as is the nature of bloggers, their response to our spam is to publish posts on offending emails from PR agencies. They're publicly naming and shaming, and (not surprisingly) they're welcoming and encouraging often painful discussion. Other bloggers are commenting, further spreading the negative discussion.

Given this reality, reluctance to engage is almost understandable (but not forgivable). Perhaps it is one of those cases where there is such a thing as bad publicity. But with people increasingly being influenced by blogs, the fear of engagement must surely be negated by a need to put your brand, product or service into the discussion.

To help make it easier for companies to understand what bloggers really wanted from PR, Text 100 in Asia Pacific gave them a chance to let us know – warts and all.

Earlier this year, we managed a survey of more than 125 technology, news and lifestyle bloggers across eight Asia Pacific countries. And while I’m a great believer in Chris Anderson’s first rule of the blogosphere, paraphrased as “…don't generalize about the blogosphere.” I’m afraid I’ll have to do a little generalizing when looking at the results.

First up, it is reassuring to discover that APAC bloggers want to hear from PR people. 84% said they welcomed PR firms or corporations to provide them with information, comments, and suggestions.

This comes as a great relief for those of us actively engaging with bloggers across Asian countries. But this finding also presents a great challenge, as the survey went on to point out that we (the PR industry) seem unable to consistently give the bloggers what they want.

While, for example, 52% of the bloggers we spoke to wanted online video, and 48% wanted charts and graphs, it appears that, instead, bloggers have been spammed with traditional press materials and other unsuitable documents. Only 34% said they wanted to receive corporate news announcements, while 75% wanted opinionated responses to blog posts.

Comments on content included: “Those who contact me should not be lost in their own jargon” and “What they talk about should be relevant to my blog”. One of the more telling quotes simply said: “Content (provided) is often unusable – stiff and corporate in style. Speak like real humans and be good listeners”.

This is commonsense but it seems PR agencies in Asia are breaking some of the cardinal rules of communication by simply not taking the time to understand their audiences. To quote one of the bloggers, “They (PR people) should be polite, civil and professional, and should not be pushy”.

Another interesting finding was that bloggers were happy to hear from anyone representing a company, as long as it was the person closest to the story. In particular, they wanted to hear from active bloggers or those prominent in the blogger community. Another point in our favour is that 69% said they preferred to hear from PR people, while 63% were happy to hear from corporate communications folks.

It’s clear – “who” doesn’t matter but how and what they talk about matters most.

This got me thinking about the Asian social media 'spokesperson of the future'. This person may not be the managing director or product manager who has traditionally spoken with mainstream media.

My advice to Asian companies looking to engage with this increasingly influential blogging audience is to determine who's already blogging within their businesses and groom these active participants to become active company representatives.

PR folks should also consider that most Asian bloggers are part-timers, with 67% of bloggers spending fewer than eight hours of each working week blogging. Knowing this, it is critical for Asia Pacific PR people to plan activities outside of normal working hours.

Invitations to traditional midday press conferences will likely go unanswered while also running the risk of being posted on as worst practice PR examples.

To summarize, here’s what they told us:

1. Know us and our blogs and target us with unique content

2. Treat us professionally and build up a long term relationship which goes far beyond dispensing news releases

3. Electronic communication is king. Understand how to use it most effectively

I think blogger and new media engagement gives us a wonderful opportunity to throw away much of the baggage that has crept into our profession. Our world is one in which email conversations, Outlook-based press release distribution lists, and media management via database have become an unfortunate (albeit pragmatic) norm. We're also not doing ourselves any favours by reinforcing the myth that the thud factor of a pile of clippings represents PR success.

This ages me terribly, but those of us who started our careers cutting out news stories with scissors didn't have the luxury of email. We read. We cultivated personal relationships with media and other influencers. The skill of the pitch was constructing a story in conversation over time - not simply spamming a manicured statement to all and sundry.

But there's a fundamental tenant that seems to be increasingly rare in our game. We're not reading enough. We're not investing enough time to understand the blogs, and more fundamentally their readers. This last point is critical as we move into an era of dialogue-based public relations.

My advice to anyone wanting to get closer to bloggers is to lock themselves in a meeting room for two days and start reading and commenting. Through the magic of RSS feeds, we can glean a greater understanding of what our influential bloggers are saying and doing. FriendFeed, Xanga, Facebook, MySpace, Zuosa and Twitter allow us to follow discussions and gain a better than ever understanding of their interests. Today, we are better armed to engage with - and understand - these people.

That’s right, people. Success doesn’t come through better understanding of tools or web applications. Tools are a means to an end - they are conduits for discussion.

There’s one fundamental that Web 2.0 technologies can't replace. PR success more than ever is about personal and community relationships with a range of audiences. Our ability to be part of discussions with a cross-section of influencers and constituents is invaluable.

We need to help our clients tell good, hype-free stories. Our ability to help our clients form relationships with influencers and their audiences are the keys to success. We need to inspire discussion and thought - not simply bludgeon with key messages and noise.

If we get it right, the opportunities for creating real change for our clients are limitless.

To quote from one of the respondents to our survey: “Bloggers are the new media; they are not to be treated like second-class journalists or expected to behave like traditional journalists. It's a whole new landscape and PR people should learn to accept it.”

- Jeremy

Who do you trust? - the redux

2008-12-06T09:43:00.006+08:00

I revisited this idea for my November column in Marketing Magazine. With added content and (to be honest) a better argument, I thought it worth another post...

I had the good fortune to share a stage recently with a senior Bloomberg editor. When the topic of social media came up, he was quite dismissive, stating "no one's ever going to make a going to make a $10 million trade based on a blog post". I had to agree, as there's certainly no denying his company's reputation for factual, impartial and timely reporting.

But perhaps times have changed. Those of us who've been looking at communications for awhile have been quick to celebrate the successes and opportunities created by social media and citizen journalism. We've also been quick to herald the "age of authenticity" - and relished the fact that "someone like us" is more influential (and trustworthy) than the 'old media' or advertising. But just as we heard the early chimes of traditional media's death knell ringing from blog post to blog post, three incidents over recent weeks have made me realize that the social media revolution is in its infancy. I also have come to appreciate that the route of social media ‘news' is one best travelled with care.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present my case...

September 24 - False text messages circulate in Hong Kong urging Bank of East Asia customers to withdraw their funds as the bank was allegedly in trouble because of its association with Lehman Brothers. These are followed up with posts to a local discussion board, and lead to a run on funds that saw around HK$2 billion in withdrawals. The police investigated and made arrests. In this case, the message was quickly circulated by SMS and fed on people's insecurity. As it was passed on from friend to friend, the BEA story gained credibility. SMS has a long history of being used in Hong Kong as an enabler of social movements and social change but in this case the motives were clearly malicious.

October 3 - A false news story is posted to CNN's citizen journalism site, iReport, stating that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had suffered a major heart attack. Though Apple was quick to deny the report, it spread throughout the blogosphere and led to a drop in shares to an 18 month low. Apple's prompt denial saw the shares bounce back quickly. The SEC is now looking into the source of the post. The fact that iReport / CNN make no guarantees about content seems to have made little difference to those who reacted to the 'news'.

October 21 - Xbox fanboys are blamed for attempting to sabotage the launch of Sony Playstation 3's ‘platform shifting' game, Little Big Planet. Their strategy? To post thousands of negative user reviews to game review site Metacritic.com. While Little Big Planet gained universal critical acclaim, scoring 9.5/10 from ‘real' reviewers on Metacritic, the thousands of fanboy posts ensured a user rating of a lowly 6.2/10.

So...what to do? Are these the ‘icebergs' that will sink the social media ‘Titanic'? Was my colleague from Bloomberg right in dismissing social media as a valid news source? Are the tools that have liberated the exchange of ideas and news failing us? Should we reject social media in favour of old media forms?

I say a no - but these examples reinforce that as information consumers we need to challenge the information we're receiving. Just because someone with a grudge, a PC or a mobile phone can publish information, doesn't mean we, the information consumers, have to blindly follow their direction.

In the Apple and Bank of East Asia cases in particular, people accepted the social media reporting on face value, and acted based on the assumption that the stories were factual. The articles were given credibility simply because they came from a reliable source - someone like them. Unlike traditional media, there wasn't an editorial function that vetted the accuracy of the statements or input. And therein lies the challenge.

In this age of authenticity, we need more than ever to treat the information we consume with a healthy grain of salt. One of the great opportunities that blogging and social networks provide is giving everyone the ability to be a publisher. Unfortunately, as these cases show, just because you can publish, doesn't always mean you should...

- Jeremy

Five social media trends to watch out for

2008-11-24T09:09:00.005+08:00

It has been awhile since I've posted. Have spent much time in China and spare time has been rare. This post is a speech I gave in Shanghai to a mix of Text 100's clients, Shanghai staff and friends. May cover some familiar ground, but thought I'd share....

...Many of us in this room have grown up professionally performing a type of public relations that has changed little over the past 100 years.

We’ve relied on the logic that our job is to get as many eyeballs as possible on our messages. We quite rightly assumed that those eyeballs equalled influence. We’ve slept well at night safe in the knowledge that our column centimetres exceed that of our competitors, our ad value equivalency was higher than the previous year, and Chinese character count was on the up. We put ourselves to sleep to the comforting thud of a big pile of press clippings.

And quietly, ever so quietly, the rug has been pulled out from under our feet.

Those things that once gave us comfort are being replaced by an entirely different truth. This truth is one that is hard to deny. People aren’t buying what we’re selling.

Those consumers who once were limited to the big three four media options of newspapers, magazines, television and radio suddenly have access to the world.

We’re living in an age of a perfect storm of business, technological and societal change. These three massive forces have combined, giving today’s consumer greater access than ever before to information.

News is shifting from being a product - today's newspaper, Web site or newscast - to becoming a service - how can you help me, even empower me? A news organization and a news Web site are no longer final destinations.

Consumers want to be empowered to make up their own minds – not be told what to think by a media they don’t trust. In fact, 70% of Americans don’t believe “all or most” media reporting.

People are going to the web in droves. The impact? Print newspaper and magazine revenues are in free fall. Even the venerable New York Times needs to sell assets. The old model doesn’t work.

I had dinner with a journalist recently. He explained that as the China correspondent covering the last US election, he racked up $30,000 in credit card bills. He was working for the New York Times which today employs thousands of journalists. The maths no longer works.

What has changed is that today people build trust in a fundamentally different way.

They increasingly distrust institutions.

They increasingly do trust their peers.

Audiences have become smaller - and they have more choices in a fragmented media landscape. Today, our informed customers aren’t happy to blindly consume what mainstream media is feeding them. Instead they want:

Participation
Openness
Conversation
Community
Connectedness
Real time

To get this, they are turning to

Social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Xiaonei, etc.)
Microblogging (Twitter, Jaiku, TaoTao, etc.)
Digital content sharing sites (YouTube, Flickr, Todou, etc.)
Shared content creation networks (Wikis, message boards and BBS like Qzone, etc.)
3-D and 2-D virtual networks (Second Life, HiPiHi)
Collaborative publishing platforms (blogs, podcasts, etc.)

This so called ‘social media’ also empowers them to pull the information they want rather than filter through what’s being pushed at them through mainstream media. Social media also empowers them to have their own voice.

One small personal example.

When I found out I was staying in this hotel, I didn’t go to their website. I knew it would be full of beautiful pictures and happy words. I instead went to tripadvisor.com. And read what people who’d stayed here said. Happy to report, that this is the 46^th best ranked hotel in Shanghai out of 888 hotels, with an average of four out of five stars. But by example I’ve demonstrated the power of social media. I wanted openness and community, and knew I wouldn’t get it from a corporate website.

It is this cynical audience that you want to purchase product or service. Ask yourself now – are you giving your audience these six virtues? If not, it’s time to take a long hard look at your communications strategy.

And you get this. We all get this intellectually. But it raises a bunch of questions for communicators. Questions over things like control of messages. Over benchmarking, measurement and ROI. Over unethical behaviour in these mediums. And the tough thing is that many of these questions don’t have solid answers because this space is so new and evolving so rapidly.

But the reality borne out by research from all over the globe is that these places are where your customers are going. Your customers live in social media. And if you’re not there too, you’ll struggle. The days of one way communication via conduits such as the media are coming to an end. The winners in the communication battle will be those willing to engage the consumer on their terms.

So, where is this battle being fought and what do you need to know? Here are five social media mega trends that you need to keep you eyes on:

1. The boom of micro-blogging

While many folks are still trying to get their heads around blogging, there’s already a new game in town. Led by US-based twitter, micro blogging is grabbing a considerable amount of attention. Put simply, twitter is a free service that allows its users to exchange micro conversations of no more than 140 characters – a bit like an interactive version of your status in Windows live messenger or QQ. Its applications are practically limitless, and twitter’s more than 3 million subscribers are a passionate, inter-connected force. One example of twitter best practice is US company Comcast who’s Comcastcares customer service twitter is demonstrating to wide audience how its solving customer concerns one tweet at time.

2. The rise (and rise) of video

With cheaper storage and bandwidth, video is rapidly replacing text as the ‘language’ of social media. Sites such as Todou, Seesmic, YouTube and 12seconds are making it easier than ever to share your thoughts and interact visually. With video clip uploading and consumption growing in every market and an estimated 349 million active Internet video users, it’s becoming clear that if you want to reach your audience, you need to have moving pictures. Text 100’s recent blogger survey concluded that 52% of Asia Pacific bloggers wanted relevant video from companies to run on their blogs. Is your spokesperson ready for the spotlight?

3. Social networks will take over the world

It’s been widely reported that social media access has surpassed searches for pornography on the Internet. People are spending more time on social networks – some estimates have it as much as two to three hours per day and Asian markets are leading in terms of participation, creating more content than any other region. But with the social network gold rush comes challenges. Will unethical practices such as astroturfing and paid for posts potentially damage the reputation of social networks as open and trustworthy environments? Time will tell, but for now you can be assured that your brand is already in a social network – whether you like it or not.

4. Blogs have become mainstream

According to Universal McCann, bloggers impact your brand reputation with 34% of bloggers worldwide posting opinions about products and brands on their blogs and 36% of netizens thinking more positively about companies that have blogs. Blogs have become an essential tool for reputation management. The key is using them to create an open and honest dialogue. Any blog that spins the truth will be found out. The blogosphere accurately reflects consumer opinion – if you’re not managing blogger relations in parallel to your media relations program, you’re missing opportunities.

5. The message is still more important than the medium

Thankfully one megatrend remains from the days of “PR 1.0”. That is that the message is still more important than the medium. Things like blogs, social networks, micro-blogging and video sharing sites are certainly where your consumer ‘lives’ and you need to participate. But participation needs to be relevant and add value to the community. You need to understand the why before the how. Before you go down the social media path, understand your business objectives, understand your audience dynamics, listen to the market, prepare yourself and your spokespeople, then participate. Evaluate. Then do it again.

Folks, these are exciting, uncertain times. But one thing’s for sure. Social media isn’t going away. It isn’t a trend waiting to be replaced by the next fad. It represents a fundamental shift in the way the world works. And it represents fantastic opportunities for those companies who genuinely want to build communities with their consumers.

- Jeremy

My first text message

2008-11-07T15:47:00.002+08:00

Do you remember where you were when you sent your first SMS? For some reason it just struck me. I was in a carpark in Singapore and a digital native co-worker chastized me for not having sent one before. She very gently took me through the process. I thought it was a bit stupid really, and something only the kids would be into. A fad really.

With more than one billion texts sent each day, perhaps I underestimated the 'fad' a little.

- Jeremy

Rogues gallery to talk media and PR in Hong Kong

2008-11-04T14:35:00.006+08:00

The who's who of Hong Kong PR folks and media will gather tonight for the latest Hong Kong PR Network shindig. I'll be running a panel discussion on "Media relations best practice in the new age of journalism" featuring such luminaries as David Croasdale, Tom Crampton and Jay Oatway. Will also be inviting questions from the floor.

Should be an interesting discussion as we tackle topics such as:

With a 24 hour news cycle and the challenge of adding local value to stories that can easily be Googled, how do you think PR people can best help Hong Kong journalists?

Many traditional media outlets are putting greater emphasis on online through blogs, web-only content and increasingly video. What types of content do you you think PR people should be creating to help meet this need?

What do you think Hong Kong journalists most want from PR agencies or inhouse specialists that they're not getting today?

What impact do you think the global financial crisis will have on journalism in Hong Kong?

Looking forward to a good turnout. If you're in Hong Kong, come along. Will be at Dublin Jacks in Lan Kwai Fong from 7pm.

- Jeremy

Twitter demistified (in 140 characters or less)

2008-10-30T20:40:00.002+08:00

Ironic (or not?) that a Lee Hopkins tweet pointed me to one of the best explanations of twitter I've seen - check this out from weaverluke.

Whew! One character spare.

Couple of must listen podcasts

2008-10-30T10:02:00.002+08:00

Spending some intimate time with my ipod of late and wanted to share two very cool podcasts updates.

The first is from Joseph Jaffe's Jaffe Juice podcast, featuring Frank Eliason from Comcastcares.

If you ever needed a business case for investing in twitter as a customer service tool, this gives it to you in spades. Great informal conversation, diving deep into a very strong case study.

Download is here

The second is from For Immediate Release and features Shel Holtz taking part in a panel discussion on the topic of Social Media: Friend or Foe? While this may sound like familiar ground, the format is what makes this one special. Shel and a group of industry experts role play a conversation with a social media averse CEO, constructing responses to common questions.

Download is here

Got to say, for those who are struggling to keep up with the buzz, or wanting to get agency or client teams involved in social media, a couple of key podcast sessions plus local Q&A would be a great place to start.

- Jeremy

The pitch is dead...long live the pitch

2008-10-17T16:14:00.002+08:00

Latest ponderings from the October issue of Marketing...hyperlinked for your reading pleasure...

There's an old joke that goes like this: "Please don't tell my mother I'm in advertising...she thinks I play piano in a whorehouse." If the vitriol currently being aimed at our profession is valid, I'm thinking we PR folks should also start tickling the ivories.

The latest wave seems to have started in October 2007 when Wired editor Chris Anderson blogged a PR blacklist. This not-so-exclusive club's members were "...Lazy flacks [who] send press releases to the Editor in Chief of Wired because they can't be bothered to find out who on my staff, if anyone, might actually be interested in what they're pitching."

Some felt Anderson was going too far - the "lazy flacks" were just doing their jobs (albeit poorly). The media community saw Anderson's list as a just response to years of poor quality PR efforts, reflecting the all-too-common email "pray and spray" approach to pitching and press release distribution.

They've also come to the conclusion that the PR person who actually reads and understands their publications and readers is the exception and not the rule. It's no wonder that Anderson and his peers are peeved. This ages me terribly, but those of us who started our careers cutting out news stories with scissors didn't have the luxury of email. We read. We cultivated personal relationships with media and other influencers. The skill of the pitch was constructing a story in conversation over time - not simply spamming a manicured statement to all and sundry.

But that's the past. Today we live in a world of a 24-hour news cycle. Time and resource poor journalists frequently prefer email or even Twitter pitches. But there's a fundamental tenant that seems to be increasingly rare in our game. We're not reading enough. We're not investing enough time to understand the media, and more fundamentally their readers. This last point is critical as we move into an era of dialogue-based public relations.

Fast forward 12 months from Anderson's blacklist and our profession is again under attack. Today, bloggers are questioning our value, and not pulling any punches.

Blog posts such as "Anti-PR from a poorly pitched blogger", "How To Get PR For Your Startup: Fire Your PR Company" and "The PR Roadblock On The Road To Blissful Blogging" are all too common. It appears we've simply brought with us the tactics that failed to win the hearts and minds of "old" media to the "new" media. We're not reading their posts. We're failing to develop relationships. We're spamming them with marketing gobbledegook. We're also assuming they work the same way as journalists.

And, as is the nature of bloggers, their response is to do more than publish a list. They're publishing offending emails. They're publicly naming and shaming, and (not surprisingly) they're welcoming and encouraging often painful discussion.

So... what to do?

For starters, I think we need to throw away much of the baggage that has crept into our profession. Our world is one in which email conversations, Outlook press distribution lists, and media management via database are the norm. We're also reinforcing the myth that the thud factor of a pile of clippings represents PR success.

We need to start reading. RSS feeds help us keep current with what our influential bloggers and journalists are saying. FriendFeed, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter mean we can follow discussions and gain a better than ever understanding of their interests. Today, we are better armed to engage with - and understand - these people.

But (and it's a big but), there's a fundamental that Web 2.0 technologies can't replace. PR success more than ever is about personal relationships with a range of audiences. Our ability to be part of discussions with a cross-section of influencers and constituents is invaluable. We need to help our clients tell good, hype-free stories. Our relationships with influencers - be they bloggers, journalists, academics, industry association heads, consumers... - and our ability to help our clients create personal relationships with these audiences are the key to success. We need to inspire discussion and thought - not simply bludgeon with key messages and noise.

If we get it right, the opportunities for creating real change for our clients are limitless. If we get it wrong, it's time to check the help wanted ads and pull out the sheet music...

- Jeremy