PR-Hamster

The Crisis Communications Starter Kit

Jasper — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:53:59 +0200

When it comes to a crisis, you want to keep things simple. Really simple. In a crisis situation there is enough confusion already and unless you have been through countless simulations and trainings, getting your act together to do the basics right is noble enough an aspiration already. So I asked myself, what are the absolute basics when it comes to crisis management?

Back to basics

I came across a very simple but effective crisis plan developed by Eric Dezenhall, the author of Nail 'Em. In the book, he goes into great detail about the different types of crises and how to respond to them. He's actually relatively skeptical of the classic PR approach of constant, open communications, which makes the book all the more interesting if you work in the industry yourself. At the end of the book, he condenses all this knowledge into 3 questions:

What do we know?
What don't we know?
What can we communicate?

While this might seem overly simple, getting a straight answer to these questions in the middle of a crisis is challenging enough for most companies. In fact, any company that does not go through at least some kind of crisis preparation stands little chance of putting together a decent response in time.

Crisis preparation

Ideally, you prepare for a crisis by identifying all the scenarios that your company might encounter, then draw up basic response plans accordingly and go through the most likely eventualities through live exercises. Simulations make each team member familiar with their role in a crisis and are really the only way to ensure a decent communicative response when things go wrong.

In reality, not all companies have up-to-date crisis plans and very few go through proper live simulations. However, you should at least cover the bare minimum in crisis preparation:

Knowing the three questions you will need to answer in any crisis (that goes for the entire team!)
A crisis contact list, including private phone numbers. A crisis does not take weekends and christmas into account.
Asking yoursef, at least once, "what constitutes a crisis for our company?" The airline industry knows exacty what a crisis looks like, but it might not be so easy for a small service provider. You need to know when it is time to switch to "crisis mode".

Starter Kit

To make sure you have at least the absolute basics prepared, I have developed a three-sheet starter kit for crisis situations. I intentionally kept them as plain as possible, with a clear and easily readable font. Next to the three questions and crisis contacts it also contains a log sheet to record events and inquires over the course of the crisis. This helps you get an overview of the situation while at the same provides a record of events for later evaluation and review. The log sheet is often forgotten but an absolute must-have in a crisis.



Three questions	Crisis contact sheet	Log sheet

Downoads

International A4 - pdf

International A4 - doc

Next Steps

The most common mistake is simply not to prepare for a crisis at all: no crisis contacts, no plan, and not recognizing a crisis for what it is once it hits you. This basic plan should cover these areas at least. In second place is the preparation for a crisis on paper only. You need to run simulations in order to really safeguard yourselves.

Finally, there is much more to a crisis than issuing a simple statement. You need to inform your employees at the right time (ideally before the media), coordinate with your legal team and use the appropriate language and tone for a crisis response (e.g. demonstrating honesty and compassion). Take the time to familiarize yourself with the art of crisis management. Apart from books on the subject, there are blogs that specialize in crisis comms. For example, Brad Philips from Mr. Media Training publishes tips on how to talk to the media and the public in times of crisis. His blog includes real-life examples such as the response of San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane and Fire Chief Dennis Haag after a gas pipeline exploded in the area and great posts like Seven Rules to Remember when a Crisis Strikes. Jim Lukaszewski's Crisis Guru Blog was dormant for a while, but seems to have been revided this March and there are plenty of great tips to be found in the archive as well.

Social Media Guidelines for EU institutions?

Katrin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 10:12:00 +0100

Last week in the European Parliament, Spanish MEP Francisco Sosa Wagner raised a parliamentary question with the Commission about the EU institutions' use of social media and the need to incorporate social media into the EU communication mix.

Apparently, the question was triggered by the 'leak' of an important piece of information by the President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, through his personal Twitter account hours before the news were due to go public.

Mr. Van Rompuy announced an "Agreement in principle on the Pact for the Euro," the so-called competitiveness pact.

MEP Wagner demands a proper social media code of conduct for the European institutions, as the importance of social networks, especially Twitter, rises in today's society and obviously reached the highest ranks of EU politics.

Wagner is pushing for a 'data protection resolution' for quite some time now, a resolution he claims is needed to ensure the role of social media as a tool of civil liberty and democratic values such as free expression, access to information and respect for privacy. Fair enough. How such a regulation could look like, no one knows yet. But the European institutions eventually have to acknowledge social media channels as integral part of their (political) communication mix.

The Commission has to respond within six weeks. I'll keep you posted.

Hold on just a little longer

Jasper — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:14:49 +0100

This month I left Berlin and moved back to the Netherlands to start a job at Hill & Knowlton Amsterdam. I knew the move would temporarily affect the hamster blog, but I was surprised to see it has already been over a month since the last post was published - and I'm not even fully settled yet.

I'm afraid things will remain a bit chaotic for a while during which the hamster is unlikely to get the attention it deserves. So hold on just a little longer. I will be working on a fresh post about crisis communications in the meantime.

Thanks!

Jasper

A Short Guide to Public Affairs in Brussels

Katrin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:41:19 +0100

Lobbyists are often publicly discredited as being manipulative or dishonest – a negative connotation conjured up by some of the lobbyists themselves which may be the reason for doors being shut before you even have the chance to knock.

Brussels: Lobbyists welcome!

Not so in the Brussels village however. It seems lobbyist make up the second largest group of residents here (after politicians obviously). Depending on the definition, there are between six and fifteen thousand lobbyists and more than 2.500 lobbying organisations stationed in the EU's political capital.

Indeed, EU institutions seem to like being lobbied and they seek expert insight and knowledge for three main reasons. Firstly, officials need information, data and special insights. MEPs and EU Commissioners depend heavily on the (technical) expertise of others. Secondly, for reasons of legitimacy, EU officials have to ensure all voices and views are taken into account. Thirdly, EU officials need to gather support for their proposals at European and national levels and allowing organisations to lobby can create valuable buy-in. Plus, interest groups are the perfect platform for MEPs and Commissioners to establish their own ‘branding’.

European Commission, main meeting room; Photo by JLogan via Wikimedia Commons

How to lobby in Brussels successfully

EU decision-making is an awfully complex, multi-level, and multi-actor process. Different EU institutions need different information, speak different ‘languages’, and have an ever changing pool of friends and contacts for intelligence gathering and campaigning. There are various ways of lobbying the different institutions (information, legitimacy, and support) and different points of access to the process. Moreover, there are certain methods and ‘codes of conduct’ you should keep in mind when making your way around the European capital:

		Networks and alliances are key. Join existing information networks and interest groups, or create new ones. Establish personal contacts and use your national European contacts - they are your best chance of getting your foot in the door.
		Support the cause. When approaching EU officials, make sure you highlight your commitment to the project of European integration and your interest in the wealth of all European citizens. Show the added value for European citizens of your position (or the negative consequences of competitors’ positions).
		Compromise. With 27 countries and multiplle institutions at the table, compromises are the rule of the game. Constructive criticism instead of pure opposition is the ‘EU way’.
		Be empathic. Brussels’ culture is one of a sympathetic political nature. There are 27 different cultures and languages and many different ways of communicating with and approaching different actors. Successful lobbyists need to cultivate political skills but also require a great deal of empathy and ‘Fingerspitzengefühl’, which is why in many cases women prove to be the better lobbyists ;).
		Be patient. Be prepared to play the waiting game. Give, don’t just take. You have to think not only one step but at least three steps ahead. EU politics is a long-term effort.
		Get in early. I know, this last one is quite obvious, but it won’t hurt to hear it again: The early bird catches the worm!

Everybody lobbies in one way or the other. It’s not a question of if but how. To succeed on the EU level you need to understand the complexity of the European political system, recognise the importance of its procedural opportunities and truly acknowedge the differences in language, nationality, and culture.

Social Bookmarks for PR Pros

Jasper — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:37:53 +0100

In the last post, I mentioned the competition: 5 websites that give the little hamster headaches. However, I forgot one major force: social bookmarking sites. I turn to PR Hamster to browse new tools and blogs while I use social bookmarking to gather specific posts. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find an active social bookmarking group or user curating all the really good PR stuff. Thus, we started a new PR group on Diigo ourselves!

Professional Public Relations - A Diigo PR Group

Like many other social bookmarking sites, Diigo enables you to save and organize any interesting websites that you might stumble across in an online archive. You can tag, annotate, highlight and share it with others. All-in-all, it's a smooth and versatile bookmarking tool. But to make the whole curating experience even more effective, we decided to start a new group on Diigo with the help of PR-pro Petya, from Higher & Higher. We will use this group to collect all the really great PR articles out there to build a true source for communications intelligence.

Join us!

This thing won't work with just the two of us and we invite all PR professionals out there to join the fun. Share your bookmarks and stay informed!

To keep things clean, we have established a few ground rules:

Only public relations and communications professionals can join.
High-quality PR-related content only. We focus on insights rather than news, and on communications rather than "anything with the word twitter and iPad in it".
No spamming - that includes excessively promoting your own website or clients

I hope to see you on Diigo soon!

5 PR Sites I Don't Want You to Know About

Jasper — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:01:48 +0100

These 5 competitors of the PR Hamster directory make your life easier and mine harder. So don't visit them, and don't share this post on twitter. Ever.

Online PR.com

This website does exactly what I do: collect links to PR websites. The PR Hamster comes with a slightly more modern design but James Horton has been maintaining the site since 1997 and it ranks top 3 for the keyword "public relations" on Google, right next to Wikipedia! (at least from where I'm surfing).

PR Channel Dashboard

Though out-of-date and obviously incomplete, the PR Channel's Dashboard is a simple and elegant solution for browsing a broad range of PR resources. Rather than linking to blogs or tools, PR Channel directs directly to specific posts which are sorted in a simple but effective interface. I know at least one little hamster that would sleep better if the site didn't have such a decent Google page rank too.

BeFrame PR Frame

This Firefox add-on gives you a toolbar full of PR resources. It contains lists of monitoring tools, PR awards and newswires and a built-in search bar for the social media monitoring service Social Mention. Most importantly: the bar updates itself automatically! This one offers some good value for PR pros and naturally scares the hamster a little bit.

However, I did notice that the automatic updates haven't been showing up for a while. Also, I found more PR Awards and made a super high-tech PR awards calendar out of it! Finally, installing a toolbar in your browser is a tad invasive. Nevertheless, I might still offer all the PR Hamster links as a bookmark package someday just to be safe...

PostRank

Not only are their lists of public relations blogs continuously updated according to a sophisticated 'PostRank', but you can filter individual blog posts according to their score, regardless of the blog they were published on. It's really quite a cool system. At the same time, it is also a rather confusing site, starting with the four sub-sites presented on the main home page, down to the system of rankings, lists and followers that takes a Phd in computer science to understand. The fact that there are different lists for "public relations" and "PR" doesn't help either. I doubt if this confusion is so great that people will bookmark PR Hamster instead however, so my main hope is that you never find out about this website.

PR.AllTop.com

AllTop has a huge collection of PR blogs, making it a direct competitor to PR Hamster. I like to think that the short description with each link makes the PR Hamster a little more user friendly than most link portals. At AllTop however, they chose to display the last 5 post titles to help you assess a blog. This method works great: it is simple, informative and always up to date. I'm especially jealous of the "Most Popular Stories" widget at the top of the page.

I have been searching for a better way to display information about the links we offer for a while now. For example, we could add ratings, comments or tags. I haven't found the right solution yet I'm afraid. Until I do, I will have to rely on the story that a little kitten hamster is drowned every time someone visits pr.alltop.com!

(Please ignore these sharing buttons below. I have no idea who put them there. Instead, visit this awesome collection of public relations tools.)

Step-by-step PR Concepts with SmartChart

Jasper — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:12:58 +0100

Previously, I talked about the importance of a solid conceptional process when setting up a PR campaign, to make sure your communicative measures are integrated, coherent and consistent. Right after that, I stumbled across a great tool for this: SmartChart.

SmartChart 3.0 is a step by step guide to formulating a public relations strategy. It was originally developed for non-profit organisations by Spitfire Strategies and the Communications Leadership Institute, but it can serve as a guidance for anyone developing a communications concept. SmartChart concept features six major strategic decision sections:

Program Decisions (Broad Goal, Objective, Decision Maker)
Context (Internal and External Scans and Position)
Strategic Choices (Audience, Readiness, Core Concerns, Theme, Message and Messenger)
Communications Activities (Tactics, Timeline, Assignments and Budget)
Measurements of Success
Final Reality Check

You can create a login at SmartChart.org and go through the steps online, or download the pdf for print.

The Four Elements of a PR Campaign

Jasper — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:35:32 +0100

Many blogs, magazines and books write about the different strategies and approaches used in PR, such as media relations, crisis communications or public affairs. Yet few pay attention to the underlying psychology that influences how people respond to these events. It seems that in the intervening century since PR became a distinct field, the psychological functions of a comprehensive public relations strategy have remained a mystery.

This is where we can build on the knowledge gathered in the field of advertising, adapting it for communications along the way. A great explanation of the psychological processes at work in advertising is found in the “Advertising and the mind of the consumer: what works, what doesn't and why” by Max Sutherland and Alice K. Sylvester.

The four elements of an ad

The book carefully describes how TV and print advertising functions and how to measure its results. One of the most interesting insights is the dissection of an advertisement along the following lines: according to the authors, there are four elements involved in positioning a brand in a consumer's mind through the medium of advertising: ad execution, product category, brand and message.

Interestingly, a consumer rarely remembers and associates all four elements, making it harder to get your message across. The authors note that failure to associate the (correct) brand name with a particular advertisement is especially common. The solution to this problem is to integrate the four elements as much as possible.

Example

Let’s say you use an ad featuring a cartoon monkey to get noticed. The monkey is lifting a heavy barbell while eating a candy bar clearly labeled “monkeybar”. This ad will (hopefully) work because all elements are integrated: the monkey relates to the product “monkeybar”. At the same time the message “fun & energetic” comes through the monkey and the big barbell it lifts. That barbell itself is another hint at the brand name (monkeybar). Note that this integration would not work for a candy bar called “ChocoTiger”. Thus, this almost childish integration of product, ad execution and message, greatly increases the chances of getting the message across for your brand.


Samusocial: "The longer you live on the street, the harder it is to get off it". The message is completely integrated into the ad. It's hard to imagine this ad for any other cause or brand.		Wonderbra: "friend requests". It's a funny and appealing ad, but what if it had said "Victoria's Secret", "Harvard University" or "Heineken" at the bottom? If an ad works just as well with another brand, this is a hint that integration might be lacking and the audience might not remember what the ad was for even after seeing it multiple times.

For a deeper understanding of how ads work, definitely give this book a try. You will find more on the elements of an advertisement in chapter 26.

Elements of a PR campaign

Can this knowledge be applied to a PR campaign? I think so. Let’s take a look at the four elements from a public relations perspective:

Issue ("product category")
e.g. the consumer recognizes an event or newspaper article concerning environmental awareness
Strategy and Measures ("ad execution")
How and through what medium do you deliver your message? Do you organize an event? Do you try to get into the newspapers through a press release or is consistent communications through your website and social media the fitting choice?
Brand or Organisation
e.g., the consumer sees the article/event/website is tied to FoodCompanyInc.
Message
e.g. the consumer notices that FoodCompanyInc. uses environmentally friendly methods to grow or produce its products.

In contrast to advertisments, the “execution” of a PR campaign is more flexible but also harder to control. We would have a hard time trying to get an article about a monkey with a “monkeybar” on the cover of the New York Times. Nevertheless, the same lesson applies: the more integrated your campaign, the higher its chances of success.

Example

If you represent Toyota and want to promote their hybrid car, an effective PR measure could be to organize a race based on fuel efficiency and put a big fat Japanese name on it. A car company organizing a racing event may seem like an obvious and unimaginative choice, but in terms of integration, it makes perfect sense. People are likely to remember the event was for “a car company”. Giving the race a Japanese-sounding name would make it less likely for the audience to associate it with the wrong brand name, e.g. “I think it was Mercedes, or BMW, I don’t quite remember”.

In addition to integration, make sure your message is also coherent in relation to your corporate identity. Apart from better association, this makes it also more likely that the message is accepted.

Example

Lack of coherency and integration would be two arguments against the “eco marathon” organized by Shell: it is hard to associate an event involving cars and solar power with the oil giant Shell. Also, the message of saving fuel for the environment goes against our image of shell as an oil company. That does not mean Shell cannot position itself as environmentally friendly, but they would have a bigger chance of success if they could build on existing elements, e.g. promoting a cleaner form of petrol.

Finally, make sure you are consistent in your positioning and do not shift your message from left to right. You might be getting tired of repeated the same thing over and over, the audience has hardly noticed it.

Integrated, coherent, consistent

In conclusion, the chances of getting your message across are greatly improved using integrated campaigns that are coherent with existing believes about your organization or issue and when you remain consistent in your messages and positioning.

This is why it is important to stick to a good conceptional process when setting up a PR campaign, one that moves from the position of your brand, to the right message and delivery strategy, to the individual campaign measures. All too often, the process is reversed and people start with the measures only to think about the message and the positioning later. For example, someone might see there is an upcoming solar race and decide to issue a press release (measure), which inevitably says “we sponsor the solar competition” (message). This way, they hope the company appears environmentally friendly (positioning), without ever asking if this fits the companies' profile. Was environmentally friendliness a key part of the company's positioning already or did it become the message just because the event happened to be in town? A process like this leads to inconsistent and badly integrated campaigns that are, as the advertising world teaches us, most likely a waste of resources: the message will simply not stick.

NewsBasis & The Reversed Pitch

Jasper — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:22:25 +0100

In recent years, the so called news request seems to have gained popularity: instead of sending a news release out to editors hoping it'll interest them, you identify reporters that are specifically looking for information you might be able to supply. Editors and journalist can place requests for quotes or information on an online forum, thus giving companies with the relevant information or contacts the chance to jump in (e.g. "I am writing a story about the financial situation in Spain, does anyone have banking contacts who could provide me with a quote on Spanish bonds?"). The system prevents journalists from receiving endless streams of irrelevant press releases and gives companies the chance to build up lasting relationships with the media.

There are several websites which liaise between journalists and PR professionals in this way, including Help a Reporter Out (HARO), PRNewswire's ProfNet and media databases such as MyPRGenie and FeaturesExec. The latest website specializing in this wonderful media relations concept is NewsBasis.

NewsBasis Features

Based on an interface that resembles a stripped-down version of facebook, NewsBasis lets you scroll through requests for information posted by journalists to see if you might be able to provide a relevant repsonse. You can filter journalists' queries according to keywords. Someone working in a PR Agency specializing on the financial sector might do themselves (and the media) a favour by setting up an alert for any queries mentioning banks, bonds, financial reform etc.

Companies can also send press releases through NewsBasis, though the platform did us all a favour by changing the wording to what it really is: "Pitching a Story Idea". Journalists can browse through these news releases or story ideas and contact you for more information.

In many respects, NewsBasis is nothing more than a simple forum with a search function. The strength of the platform is the idea and the user interface: it constantly reaffirms the idea of reporters and PRs helping each out with information rather than companies just firing off press releases by the dozen. The idea is not new, yet it is still highly underrated in my opinion. I think, and I hope, the journalist query or "reversed pitch" will play a bigger role in the future at the expense of the often irrelevant traditional press release.

Darryl Siry, one of the two founders, told us he plans to expand the platform to include a full range of PR services focusing on the interaction between communication professionals and media. We don't have any specifics yet, but we'll keep an ear out for any developments.

10 Forbidden Words in a Press Release

Jasper — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:51:52 +0100

Sometimes I come across great German or Dutch blog posts and I think it's a pitty that so many people won't be able to enjoy them.*

But that's about to change! Last week, I spotted this great article written for the Dutch blog Coopr by Marie Louise van Dorp. She was kind enough to share the English version with our readers at pr-hamster. So here is our first guest post. Enjoy!

*On a similar note, I can only imagine how much great Japanese/Spanish/French etc. content I'm missing out on...

Coopr is a hybrid PR agency in the Netherlands, founded by Dutch PR pros Jody Koehler and Jos Govaart. When these guys started, they where committed to writing one blogpost every day of the week. And they succeeded! When I joint Coopr last year they had some interesting formats on their blog that also made things a bit easier for them. One of the formats is called ‘The PR-Wall of complaint’. In these posts we ask a journalist to answer 15 questions about their relationship with PR pros and the PR industry. What do they hate? What can PR pros improve in their daily activities? One of the questions is: ‘What words do you hate when reading a press release?’ Here are the top 10 most hated words by Dutch journalists. Be sure to use them wisely!

Top 10 most hated words in a press release

Unique
Innovative
First
Successful
Exclusive
Spectacular
Market leader
Experience
Solution
Suggestion

5 golden tips

After reading all the answers I also spotted 5 golden tips that could help a PR pro out. Here you go!

Try to be personal in your pitchmail. For example: start your mail with ‘Hi Jack’, journalists who know you will appreciate that.
You have to know the structure of the medium and what the editors are writing about. Use this information to improve your media relations.
It’s very important to know everything about your media list. You can also learn a lot about your media list through out of office replies or press releases that don’t reach the journalist.
Be active on social media! Can the journalist contact you via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn?
Can you say No to your client when they want you to send out a very bad press release? One with no news what-so-ever! Do it when you have to do it and help the journalist out.

Can you add to the list of words of golden tips? What forbidden word or advice can you share here at PR-Hamster.com?

Marie Louise van Dorp, Coopr.

PR on the Go - iPhone Apps for PR Pros

Katrin — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 11:00:55 +0100

The more communication takes place online, the more important it is for PR professionals to be available and ready to react around the clock. Your iPhone (and any other smartphone) can help you stay on track while you're on the go and accomplish some of your daily tasks even more efficiently: scan your media monitoring during your commute to the office every morning, edit your presentation, or make a restaurant booking for your client meeting that night. Apps can do all this and a little bit more.

I chose three typical scenarios to point out where apps can make the life of a PR pro a little easier.

1) On Your Way to Work:

						NewsRack ($4.99) RSS news feeds reader with a beautiful interface (cover flow). Import your subscription lists, twitter feeds and delicio.us bookmarks, add new lists or change existing ones in the app itself. Read an article with the built in browser or safari, send it via Mail or Twitter or safe it as a file.
						Say What? (Free) Scans Twitter, Digg, blogs and forums for key words and provides a solid overview.
						TweetDeck (Free) Connects Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Foursquare, GoogleBuzz and LinkedIn. You can read, reply and send updates right from the app.
						Adobe Photoshop Express (Free) Very simple and quick tool to crop, rotate, change colour, and apply some nice effects and features to your photos.
						With WordPress (Free) you can write posts, add photos, check spelling and create links; moderate, edit, or reply to comments.
						Pixelpipe (Free) Upload photos and videos from your iPhone to any social network, blog or photo service.
						Recorder ($0.99) Records memos, as well as incoming and outgoing calls (on additional charge per minute).
						With iAnnotate ($9.99) you can read and annotate pdf files, insert comments, highlights, diagrams and forms.

2) Team Collaboration:

						Evernote (Free) Create text notes, snap shots and voice recordings at any time.
						reQuall (Free) Type in any note and reQuall transcribes it into a to-do, calendar event, or note. A simple to-do list is turned into real fun with some handy features, such as phone numbers auto-link and automatic reminder and one-touch share with your colleagues.
						Maptini ($4.99) Build mind maps in real-time collaboration.
						Mover (Free) sends contacts, photos and files to other iPhones on the same WiFi network.
						TeamViewer (Free for non-commercial users) gives you remote access to your computer and allows you to share your desktop with others. Ideal for online presentations and collaboration.
						Dropbox (Free) Upload, store, sync and download files and share links to your files with others.
						Print n Share ($8.99) lets you print all types of files directly to all WiFi printers.

3) In a Client Meeting:

						Tungle (Free) connects to all your calendars (e.g. iCal, Outlook, Google Calendar), check and share your availability, propose times and arrange meetings.
						Business Card Reader ($5.99) Business cards aren't dead yet. Take a picture of the card and the BCR reads and puts the details in your address register.
						Conference Call (Free app, 100 free minutes a month) Launch conference calls by scheduling outbound phone calls to participants at the arranged time.
						Keypoint ($1.99) Create presentations on the go. Choose from 10 different themes, add and edit slides, play, export and share your new presentation.
						Keynote Remote ($0.99) Control your Keynote slide presentation on your Mac from your iPhone.
						Jibbigo ($24.99) is a real-time translator as you speak into your phone (English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Philipino, Iraqi Arabic).
						Urbanspoon (Free) covers cities in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.

PR Blog Spotlight: PR at Sunrise

Jasper — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 10:24:26 +0100

"Wake up to random thoughts and musings on PR and digital communications"

http://worob.com/

The Author

Andrew Worob, 27

New York

Blogger, Manager of Digital Communications at Ruder Finn, Inc.

Graduated from West Virginia University in 2005 with a B.S. in Journalism with a focus on News-Editorial

What is your favorite non-PR blog?

"Not sure if this counts as a "blog" but WVSports.com"

If you didn't blog about PR, what would you write about?

"West Virginia University sports or 80s/90s music"

Andrew recommends:

The blog of Canadian digital marketer Danny Brown. A wonderfully designed hub on social media, PR and online marketing.

The Blog

Even though Andrew focuses on digital communications in his work and aims for a "broad view" with his blog, PR at Sunrise is still very much focused on the core areas of Public Relations. No words are wasted on social media tools or new trends without taking into account the communicative aspects. The blog treats PR as a discipline of managing reputations, rather than limiting itself to advertising, viral marketing and the entire "look-at-me" side of PR.

Andrew intends to keep the middle-ground between a practical and a theoretical approach to PR. However, given the blog's focus on upcoming PR professionals and students and frequent PR tips from recent guest authors, PR at Sunrise gravitates more towards the practical side of our quadrant. A comparable blog that seems to occupy the same quadrant is Piaras Kelly PR.

What sets your blog apart from all the other PR blogs out there?

"I provide personal insights from my experiences on the 'traditional' PR side, as well as from my time working on digital initiatives. In addition, I try to not only post articles that are considered ultra-serious and balance this out by writing fun/humorous ones as well. The bottom line is that I try to offer great information for PR pros/students of all levels."

A Year of PR Case Studies

Jasper — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 19:54:59 +0100

What is a truly good PR case study? Although most people can name a few examples of bad PR, it seems much harder to identify the ones that are doing a good job. A good PR strategy based on tranparant and open communications does not necessarily stand out. Would we really have known about Nestle's facebook page if it wasn't for a few misplaced comments from the PR reps?

In an effort to paint a more balanced picture, I collected a list of case studies, mostly based on blog posts from the last year. Some are notorious for their failure (Nestle, Eurostar), some are wonderfully inspiring (IKEA, KLM), and some the topic of much debate (Toyota, Alaska Airlines, the Tea Party). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to include as many positive examples as I would have liked. Moreover, the positive examples and surprising campaigns tend to lie more in the realm of advertising than traditional PR. Neverthless, I hope these cases inspire you to think of good PR strategies and fuel the discussion about what makes a good communications strategy in the first place.

Alaska Airlines

BusinessInsider.com: After Diaper Incident, Alaska Airlines Has A Major PR Debacle On Its Hand
“Ironically, Alaska Airlines has the highest rating for customer service on JD Power. But all anyone will remember is: Alaska Airlines Hates Families.”

Apple

Geek.com: Opinion: Why Apple's PR Sucks.
"Working in Apple’s PR team is both a dream job and easy money: All you have to do is not return calls from the press and respond with the same “no comment” one-liner to email inquires.
PR Warrior: Apples Blog Play With Secrecy Strategy
"It's a risky strategy and one that only a company like Apple, which consistently exceeds expectations with its products, can get away with."
Harvard Business Review: The Steve Jobs Theory of Customer Relations
"What happens when the CEO of a major corporation decides to deal directly with customers? Not large customers, but ordinary ones."
PR Strategy and Application: Greening Apple and Greenpeace Likes It
"Instructive churn is when companies learn from stakeholder criticism by internalizing the criticism and making positive changes. In essence a negative becomes a positive. Two recent developments highlight Greenpeace and Apple being linking in instructive churn."

BP

PR Disasters.com: BPs Gulf PR Disaster: Give Them a Break!
"So I ask you all; where is our balance, our perspective, our compassion to support all concerned in the midst of this horrible environmental catastrophe? Where’s our willingness to give everyone involved (yes, even BP) a break?"
Slate.com: Oil Slick. How BP Is Handling Its PR Disaster
"BP faces two crises. The first is stopping the spillage of 200,000 gallons of oil a day in the Gulf of Mexico. The other is convincing people it's trying to stop the spillage of 200,000 gallons of oil a day in the Gulf of Mexico."
Time.com: Can BP Ever Rebuild Its Reputation?
"BP had a public nightmare on its hands the moment the rig blew up on April 20. Since then, say experts, the company has exacerbated its situation with critical missteps that could affect it for years to come."
PR-Squared.com: BP - From Natural Disaster to PR Disaster
"If BP whole-heartedly, sincerely and adequately commits itself to the clean-up, and we (fingers crossed) avoid irreparable environmental and economic damage, over the long-term, the company could wind up reaping some good press out of this horrific event."
Advertising Age: BP Struggles to hit Right Note in Response to Oil Spill
"If it appears that the company is following Toyota's crisis playbook, Mr. Loeb said people shouldn't be too surprised by that. He said BP, much like Toyota, is a very centralized company, which tends to result in a non-efficient and non-comprehensive decision-making process when a crisis strikes."

Eurostar

TechCrunch: As hundreds of Eurostar passengers languish, Eurostar ignores Twitter
“Baby has run out of diapers. How hard is it to get us these things? We can *see* stores from here… Still outside of Eurotunnel. Another baby has run out of food, the mother is asking for help. Is this a 1st world country?”

Ford Focus

Becky-Johns.com: PR Pitches Have Changed Completely
“This week, the company launched public, personalized video pitches to influential industry reporters for the Ford Focus Global Test Drive campaign. They’re fantastic.”
SocialMediaExplorer.com: Ford One-Ups Itself With Global Focus Launch
“What Ford is doing is yet another trump card to out-do the last awesome thing they did. With the Fiesta Movement and Facebook-centric launch of the Explorer, Ford created a new way of communicating with its customers and showed the world how to do social media on scale. “

Försäkringskassan - 100 old things for 100 new ideas

Ikea - Facebook Showroom

(Forsman & Bodenfors picked up a BeesFeed Award for the work)

InnocentMarketing

Higher & Higher: Innocent marketing: The Big Knit 2010 campaign
“As part of the campaign, Innocent creates the Big Knit Hat Tag on Facebookwhich provokes all the Innocent fans to interact with the little sweet hat and to take funny photos with it.”

KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines )

KLM.com: KLM Surprise
Smartdatacollective.com - KLM Surprise: Is it Social CRM?
"For customers checking in using Foursquare at one of KLM’s venues at Amsterdam Schipol Airport, KLM employees collect information from their Social Media accounts like Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare, select an individual gift for select customers, locate them in the airport terminal and deliver surprise gift to them and share this information on KLM’s Facebook page and Twitter account"

Marie Claire

The PR Coach: Marie Claire Stumbling Badly
"There is also another fundamental issue at stake. It’s the challenge of “old” journalism merging into “new” online form. The best online media, including popular news sites like The Huffington Post, Gawker and some blogs still have rigorous journalistic principles and strong editorial oversight. Others? Not so much."

Public Relations Out Loud: Weighing in on Marie Claires PR Disaster
"By simply acknowledging the harm done by Maura Kelly’s post and issuing a formal apology, Marie Claire could have salvaged its reputation. But that apology will never come, although readers are still waiting."

PR Couture.com: Marie Claires Twitter Stratefz and Fashion PR Pitch Tips
"PR Couture was lucky enough to get some time with Senior Web Editor Ashley Parrish and Web Associate Diana Vilibert to learn more about Marie Claire’s Twitter Strategy as well as some Marie Claire pitching tips for fashion PR’s on Twitter. "

Nestle

prdisasters.com: Five lessons from Nestle’s Facebook PR disaster
“Nestle’s Facebook tone of voice is all wrong; it’s at times scolding and a bit sarcastic - that doesn’t foster positive Web2.0 PR”
news.cnet.com: Nestle mess shows sticky side of Facebook pages
“But this is the first time that we've seen such a massive blow-up in the comments of a Facebook fan page. Right now, the Facebook page is one of the hottest digital marketing tools out there, and brands hearing about the Nestle debacle are also seeing the downsides of operating such a public forum to welcome consumer comments.”
Facebook.com: Nestle fan page
At the time of publishign this, the last thread was still: “To repeat: we welcome your comments, but please don't post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic - they will be deleted.”

oneDrop Foundation, Canada

Bees Awards: OneDrop Foundation, Canada
"Guy Laliberté, became Canada’s first private astronaut and went into space to raise awareness of water-related issues and build notoriety for One Drop Foundation."

Starbucks

MDIA 1001:Starbuck's Secret of Success - Without Advertising
"The marketing strategy of Starbucks focuses on PR rather than advertising. Emphasis is on people and experience, instead of the one-way hard-sell advertising.
Pierce Mattie PR: Will Starbuck's PR Strategy Be a Success?
"However, as our economy continues to decline they are having to reconsider this position by rebranding themselves as an 'affordable luxury.' "
Paul Seaman's Online Review: Starbucks' PR Tweets Stink
"This little example highlights how Twitter’s supposedly personal format is a public trap waiting to snare the unwary. According to Kellaway, Lavatorygate raises three more important questions:"
Piaras Kelly PR: There's a lot to learn from Starbucks
"There’s a lot of buzz around word-of-mouth marketing, but instead of making a great product or service which consumers will instinctively talk about, people seem more inclined to throw money on PR and advertising even if they have nothing to talk about."
PRimo: Starbucks' Frappuccino vs McDonald's Frappe
"In the end, the two companies are really only fighting over a small audience that is indecisive. I feel that for the most part Starbucks fans are incredibly loyal regardless of the price because they want the options and the quality of the coffee. "

Tea Party / Sarah Palin

BusinessGrow.com: Social Media Was the Engine for Americas Tea Party Revolution
"The real catalyst came from coverage by the traditional media. News programs on the Fox Network and articles in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal fueled interest in rallies."
InkHouse: What PR Can Learn From the Tea Party
"The Tea Party just understood a fundamental PR principle – controversy breeds interest."
The Sunday Times: Sarah Palin's PR Disaster
"And by turning her family into the cast of America's favourite soap opera, she's destroyed her credibility both as a mother and as any sort of political brain."
Hotair.com: Sarah Palin is a PR Genius Says...
"Sarah Palin raises money and endorses candidates around the country: she’s darned good at what she does. And one of the things she does is cut the media out of the loop, making them mainly irrelevant to her activism and base-building:"
ReputationManagementFor.com: Sarah Palin, Tea Party Ambitions and More!
"Palin has been clawing her way out of bad press, planning out her candidacy after resigning as governor. She has penned a book and is now a political commentator on FoxNews and the stage was set at the Tea Party Convention when she said…"

Toyota

Green Banana: Toyata, Public Relations and Product Recalls
"Meanwhile the media are reporting individual customer cases of problems in a “we told them so” manner, after calling for viewers and readers to contact them with their stories (which seem to be then accepted at face value). Many of these are probably unrelated to the actual issue, but each needs the PR team to investigate and respond."
Gable PR: Beyond Crisis PR. Can Toyota Change its DNA?
"The problem from a PR standpoint wasn’t just obfuscation and a pattern of not dealing with the issues in a forthright manner. As I noted in the same interview, the issues go into the heart and soul of the corporation. What does Toyota stand for? What are its values?"
MediaBistro: Toyota PR VP Pre-Recall: ‘We Are Not Protecting Our Customers By Keeping This Quiet’
"Just a few weeks ago Toyota was on the offensive, asking ABC News for a retraction and apology regarding its faulty reporting on the recall. Now, the company is back on the defensive."

Unicef

Higher & higher: A bottle of dirty water, please
“During the campaign, people were offered to buy a bottle of infected and dirty water – which actually is the water that other people have to drink because they have no choice. Throughout the campaign vending machines across Manhattan provided the bottles with dirty water for $1. “

Misc.

New York Times on Toyota, BP, Goldman Sachs
"People are reasonable. They know companies make mistakes, and people will forgive an honest mistake. They will not forgive a dishonest cover-up."
The PrCoach.com: The right and wrong ways to recall a product
Cases: Tropical Nut & Fruit of Charlotte, NC and Liz Lovely Inc.
Forbes.com: This Year's Most Creative Advertising
"P&G reaped 1.2 billion earned media impressions from the campaign, and Old Spice soared to the No. 1 spot in the U.S. male body wash and deodorant category. The insight that made it possible? Women, not men, do most male grooming purchasing."
PR Conversations: PR Crisis Case Studies In Real Time
"Crisis case studies in real time seem little different to those that have been carefully crafted for retelling in the textbooks. There is little evidence of the public relations profession reflecting or considering how cases could be handled differently in a post-modernist, complex and chaotic world"
[update 20/12/2010] Wall Street Journal: Public Relations Learned the Hard Way
Different views on the PR of BP, Apple, Toyota, HP, Facebook, and Johnson & Johnson

PR Awards Calendar 2011

Jasper — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:50:34 +0100

This coming year, trade organizations and companies in Europe and the US will give away over 2,100 awards for Public Relations campaigns and related work. The Communicator Awards alone feature over 550 categories, including some rather specific examples such as "Hospital (over 200 beds)" and "Hospital (under 200 beds)" in the discipline "Video". The Mercury Awards contains 342 categories and the portal PR News Online organizes 6 different awards programs with a total of 225 categories. There is a good reason for this generosity: assuming there is an average of three contestants for each category, we estimated total earnings from entry fees alone will be around 1.6 million dollars.

At the same time, the award programs are a great opportunity to look back on all the PR work we have done in the past year and share our successes with both clients and competitors. Our PR Awards Calendar 2011 should help you select potential PR awards to compete in and keep an eye on the entry deadlines.

This post will be updated throughout the year as more data becomes available, so make sure to bookmark it!

	Communicator Awards >550 cats \| $85-340
	Organized by the by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, the award covers 6 disciplines including "Interactive", "Integrated Campaign", "Marketing", and "Print". The category Interactive alone contains 195 sub-categories. The Print category covers over 180 categories, including 8 for Public Relations, 8 for Corporate Identity, 5 for best Media Kit and 30 for Marketing and Promotion.

	SABRE Awards - US 89 cats \| $280-300 ($40 late fee) \| US
	In the US, 35 Gold Awards will be given away this year, and another 26 Silver Awards for the best work in specific categories. The 26 Bronze Awards focus on excellence in a PR product, highlighting specific content. The early deadline was December 2010, but for a $40 late fee you get another chance to enter before 31 January 2011.

	Clio Awards 85 cats (10 for PR) \| $375-1000
	The Clios cover 17 disciplines. The Public Relations discipline features 10 awards, including for Brand Development, Crisis & Issues Management, and Public Affairs. In addition there is one award for the best Integrated Campaign, and several for best Design.

	Gold Quill Awards 33 cats \| $ 225-325
	Features 27 categories in 3 divisions: Communication Management, Communication Skills and Communication Creative. Call for entries available in English, French, Russian and Spanish.

	SABRE Awards - EMEA 102 cats \| € 175-225 \| Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA)
	The EMEA SABRE awards cover 18 region-specific categories, in addition to 29 awards for practice areas such as marcomms, media relations or digital and another 26 for sectoral categories such as healthcare. Moreover, there are 25 Bronze Awards for great content (e.g. blog, advertising, digital internal product) and 6 Iron Awards for PR management.

	Intermedia World Media Festival 66 cats \| € 345/$480
	Based in Hamburg, Germany, the "Festival for new media" places a heavy emphasis on audio-visual comms. Relevant categories include Advertising (14 subs) Corporate Comms (9), Internal Comms (9) and Public Relations (34).

	PRSA Health Academy Awards 2 awards \| free - $100 \| US
	Recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the field of health care public relations and changed the practice of public relations in America

	PRSA Silver Anvil Awards 59 cats \| $295-395 \| US
	Honors outstanding public relations programs across 16 disciplines, including Community Relations, Reputation/Brand Management, Events and Public Affairs.

	CIPR Excellence Awards 27 cats \| £100-240 \| UK
	PR awards of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, covering 27 categories including 17 for campaigns, 5 special awards (e.g. best publication, website or event), 2 individual and 3 team awards). Regular closing date: Monday 28 February 2011. Late entries will be accepted until Friday 4 March 2011.

	The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 55 cats relevant to PR \| € 360- €468
	The international advertising and PR festival covers 12 main categories, including the "Press Lions" (35 sub categories) and the "PR Lions" (20 categories).

	PRSA Bronze Anvil Awards 63 cats \| $175-275 \| US
	Awards outstanding PR tactics (defined as "the individual components of a campaign") in categories such as Media Relations, Websites, Television and Brochures and Magazines.

	EACA Care Awards 6 cats \| €300
	Award for using social marketing to promote corporate social responsibility efforts. The 6 categories cover NGOs, government bodies, local authorities, pubic and private sector businesses, corporate governance and "people-to-people activites". The jury panel consists of members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

	Hermes Creative Awards 144 cats \| $60-125 \| US
	An award for individuals or organizations that produced especially creative marketing or communication materials. Disciplines include Advertising (16 categories), Publications (10), Marketing Collateral/Branding (10), Writing (12), Integrated Marketing campaign (7), PR/Communications (11) and Media Relations (8).

	IPRA Golden World Awards 30 cats \| £220-280
	The International Public Relations Association's award for the best PR programs. Categories are fairly standard and include best International PR Campaign, Launch of new product or service, Small budget and Online Crisis Communications.

	Platinum PR Award 39 cats \| $300 \| US-focused
	PR News' award for the "most outstanding communications initiatives and programs" in the PR arena. Categories include "Crisis", "Digital","Green", "Press Release" and "Firm of the year".

International Business Awards (Stevies)
30 cats relevant to PR | $225-325

Better known as the "Stevies", the award includes the discipline "Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations", which features categories such as Public Relations Agency of the Year (for 6 regions), Communications Campaign of the Year (13 sub-categories) and Communications Executive of the Year. In addition, there are creative and advertising awards. This year's awards ceremony takes place in Abu Dhabi.

	PR News Online: Top Places to Work in PR 3 cats \| $199 \| US-focused
	PR News' selection of the best corporate, agency and non-profit communications department to work for.

	WebAwards 96 cats \| $ 225
	Award by the Web Marketing Association for the best website in 96 industries, including "Best Public Relations Website".

	WPPD Cream Awards 8 cats \| WPP companies only
	This WPP-only award covers 8 disciplines, including Design & Branding, Media and Public Relations.

	PRSA Educators Academy Awards 1 award \| no entry fee \| PRSA members only
	The PRSA's recognition for outstanding contributions to the advancement of public relations education on the part of public relations professionals.

	AMEC Awards 13 cats \| £ 90-200
	The International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication offers awards for the "Best Use of Communication Measurement" in 11 categories, and 2 additional awards for contestants picked from the night's winners.

	PRSA Individual Awards 5 cats \| no entry fee \| PRSA members only
	For professionals who made a significant positive contribution to the public relations industry.

	PR News Online Digital PR Awards 50 cats \| $300 \| US-focused
	Categories include SEO, Intranet, Mail Newsletter and Best Blog.

			Asia Pacific PR Awards 23 cats \| entry: $160-185 \| Asia-Pacific
			23 PR-related awards covering everything from internal and external comms, to marketing, and sector-specific topics such as the "Healthcare Ethical Campaign of the Year".

	PR News Online: Non-Profit PR Awards 33 cats \| $300 \| US-focused
	A total of 33 awards to honor NGOs, government and educational institutions, including in the categories "Campaigns", "Publications", "Best Blog" and "Small Budget".

	Forrester Groundswell Awards 23 cats \| no entry fee
	The research firm awards the best contestants in the disciplines B2C and B2B (US & International). The four disciplines are divided into the categories "Listening", "Talking", "Energizing", "Supporting", "Embracing", "Social Impact" and "Mobile Application".

	PR News Online: 15 to Watch 49 awards\| $249 \| US-focused
	Contrary to its name, this award covers 49 awards. There are 19 categories for PR professionals under 30, including blogger, crisis manager and media relations professional of the year. In addition, 15 awards are granted to young professionals at PR agencies, and an equal number to those under 30 who did promising work on the corporate or non-profit side.

	PR News Online: PR People Awards 35 cats \| $300 \| US-focused
	PR News' awards for PR professionals in categories such as "Email Communicator", "PR Blogger", "Speechwriter" and "Lemonade Maker" of the year.

	European Public Affairs Awards 10 cats \| no entry fee \| EU only
	Organized by the British Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd., these EU-focused awards covers categories such as Campaign, Public Affairs Professional and Rising Star of the year.

	Some Comms Awards 14 cats \| no entry fee \| UK
	The best in UK social media communications across 14 categories, organized by event management agency Don't Panic.

	European Excellence Awards 58 cats \| €240 \| Europe
	Categories include Agency of the Year, 16 awards for sectors such as Energy and Transport, 14 categories for communications, including Crisis Comms and Public Affairs, as well as 10 categories for corporate media. Organized by the European Corporate Communications Magazine.

	PR Week Awards 29 cats \|£260 \| UK
	Disciplines include specalist/technique categories (e.g. Research, Issues Management), Product & Promotion (Healthcare, MarComms), Corporate, and several awards for individuals and agencies.

	MEPRA Awards 14 cats \| $190 \| Middle East
	The PR award by the Middle East Public Relations Association.

	Mercury Excellence Awards 342 cats \| $240-310
	An international award for professional communications, covering over 350 categories. Categories are divided according the specific communication measures and sectors, including such detailed fields as "best automobile publication" and "Best Commemorative Book". There are 55 categories on Annual Reports alone.

	Econsultancy Innovation Awards 21 cats \| no entry fee
	21 Awards for innovation by individuals or organizations, including for innovation in Online PR, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Digital Agency. The awards take place entirely online.

	The Bulldog Awards 100 cats \| $295
	In addition to "Best Campaign of the Year" Bulldog Reporter awards 3 prizes in 33 categories, including "Best Campaing under $10,000", "Crisis Comms" and "Best Health, Medicine & Fitness Campaign"

	PR News Online: Legal PR Awards 19 cats \| $290 \| US-focused
	An award especially for legal communications, open to individuals and teams at law firms, PR firms and government agencies

	The Bees Awards 16 cats \| $200
	International social media award for communications and marketing professionals. Categories include Best 140 Character Message, Best Use of Media Press Room and Best Campaign.

Requests for updates or changes may be made in the comments, or by contacting us at mail@pr-hamster.com. PR Awards can also be suggested directly to our PR Awards directory.

Updates

2010/12/22 - Updated legend

2010/12/24 - Updated deadline for MEPRA awards

2010/01/04 - Added the WebAwards

2010/01/16 - Added the CIPR Excellence Awards

2011/02/06 - Added the EACA Care Awards

PressKing: Three Tools, One Winner

Jasper — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:00:19 +0100

Last week, we added the brand new public relations tool PressKing to our directory of media relations tools. It provides press release distribution, online media monitoring and web analytics in a single platform. PressKind targets small and medium enterprises, and strives to be the most user-friendly and affordable PR tool of its kind.

Pricing

There is a free trial version, but a basic account with all features comes at $39 per month. This gets you 6 press release distributions per year, monitoring based on up to 5 key words, full access to their media database in addition to continuous monitoring and web analytics. The "King" ($79 p/m) is similar but allows more key words for the monitoring and let's you send 12 press releases per year. With the "Emperor" ($299 p/m) version, you can send 5 releases per month.

Features

Press release distribution & editorial contacts

You can create a press release through a straight-forward 3-step procedure, distributing it through social media channels and search engines. PressKing comes with a build-in media database of 200,000 contacts (including 80,000 US contacts), divided into 42 topics such as sports, politics and business. You do not see the details for each contact but rather select a category of editors that will serve as recipients. Here you will have to trust PressKing's selection of editors before you send out your release. PressKing CEO Charles Mignot explained that this is to prevent spam, as all distributions are approved by PressKing before they are send out and this way, clients cannot export a contact list and send out badly targeted press material themselves. Given recent spamming problems at other media management services, this might be a wise decision. The only real problem is that those who also have their own list of selected editorial contacts have no way of knowing if these people will also receive the release through PressKing, therefore running the risk of sending someone the same release twice.

You also have the option to add your own custom contacts, enabling you to send a professional targeted news release. Afterwards, you can retrieve a distribution report to see how many people clicked on and opened your press release. This function also gives you the full contact details for those people (name, outlet name, email).

Monitoring

PressKing offers simple online monitoring covering blogs, online news sites and social networks (such as twitter), based on a set of pre-defined keywords. Results are displayed as a chronological list and can be filtered by date, language and source type. Unfortunately, this is where it ends. There is no option to analyze the data - e.g. by sentiment or according to certain influencers, or to flag certain items for team members to follow up on. It might be better than a simple Google Alert, as it saves your monitoring history and results can be filtered according to language and source type. In the end, it is not something I would pay a lot for.

Website analytics

This feature shows key statistics for your website, based on third party services, such as Alexa PageRank, Google PageRank and the number of backlinks counted by Google. It also gives you basic data for your facebook fan page and twitter account, including number of followers and mentions. It's a nice gadget, but offers no real value when you consider that one can get even more data from a (free) Google Analytics account.

Conclusion

PressKing is not a revolutionary service. The monitoring tool offers neither real insights nor does it let me manage my social media accounts within the platform, and the analytics feature is also rather weak. Nevertheless, the platform has a few things going for it. It is very easy-to-use, with an elegantly designed and straight-forward interface. Moreover, it offers three basic PR tools in one place for a reasonable price. Its biggest strength certainly lies with its press release distributions: the inclusive media database is great and the ease with which you can add your own contacts and send out slick press releases is impressive. If you plan to send out exactly 6 releases this year you will end up paying $79 per release. That's a pretty good deal, especially if you include the editorial contacts.

The service is just one week old and went through nine months of development before launch. CEO Charles Mignot noted that collaboration features might also be added in the coming months, such as flagging a certain blog post or tweet for follow-up with team members. This would make for a great improvement for the monitoring tools. Until then, the press release service seems the only reason to join PressKing - and a very good one at that.

PR-Hamster

The Crisis Communications Starter Kit

Back to basics

Crisis preparation

Starter Kit

Downoads

Next Steps

Social Media Guidelines for EU institutions?

Hold on just a little longer

A Short Guide to Public Affairs in Brussels

Brussels: Lobbyists welcome!

How to lobby in Brussels successfully

Social Bookmarks for PR Pros

Professional Public Relations - A Diigo PR Group

Join us!

5 PR Sites I Don't Want You to Know About

Online PR.com

PR Channel Dashboard

BeFrame PR Frame

PostRank

PR.AllTop.com

Step-by-step PR Concepts with SmartChart

The Four Elements of a PR Campaign

The four elements of an ad

Elements of a PR campaign

Integrated, coherent, consistent

NewsBasis & The Reversed Pitch

NewsBasis Features

10 Forbidden Words in a Press Release

Top 10 most hated words in a press release

5 golden tips

PR on the Go - iPhone Apps for PR Pros

1) On Your Way to Work:

2) Team Collaboration:

3) In a Client Meeting:

PR Blog Spotlight: PR at Sunrise

http://worob.com/

The Author

Andrew recommends:

The Blog

Recent posts:

One of Andrew's favorites:

Top 10 Signs You Are The Official Social Media Nerd Of Your Company

A Year of PR Case Studies

Alaska Airlines

Apple

BP

Eurostar

Ford Focus

Försäkringskassan - 100 old things for 100 new ideas

Ikea - Facebook Showroom

InnocentMarketing

KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines )

Marie Claire

Nestle

oneDrop Foundation, Canada

Starbucks

Tea Party / Sarah Palin

Toyota

Unicef

Misc.

PR Awards Calendar 2011

PressKing: Three Tools, One Winner

Pricing

Features

Press release distribution & editorial contacts

Monitoring

Website analytics

Conclusion