The PR Warrior

All Aboard the Cluetrain!

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

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

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

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

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

FOR THE FULL STORY, CLICK HERE!

Content exclusive to Marketing Magazine.

Tiger Promotion Worth Every Cent to Victoria

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

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

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

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

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

 

SOURCE: Sydney Morning Herald

PHOTO: Getting Images

Renting Eyeballs & Other Media Stories

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

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

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

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

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

SOURCE: The Mumbo Report

Exactly How Much of My Advertising Dollar is Wasted?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'Movember' a Big Hairy Audacious (Marketing) Goal That Works!

  Oh, is there a moustache in there...somewhere..?

Okay. I'm a sucker for a good marketing idea. And if it's for a good cause, so much the better!

This year I have succumbed to the retro marketing charms of the Movember campaign to support awareness of men's health, specifically prostate cancer and depression.

Great cause, and the campaign, which has been running for a few years now, continues to grow MOmentum (n'yuk, n'yuk) as it edges its way from the 'cool' fringes into the mainstream proper.

If you would like to follow the progress of the PR Warrior's hairy upper lip (or even better, donate to the cause), please click here.

Word is my partner in PR crime David Park is also embarking on a similar growth path. Interesting times ahead for the firm of parkyoung!

Oh yeah, and big ups to those behind the campaign. It doesn't focus on just getting people to donate but rather, creates a talking point that involves people emotionally in the cause. Great stuff!

'Column Inches' Argument Gives Weight to Another Dilemma: the True Role of PR

I read a good blog post this week by Sarah Emerson from Millward Brown entitled 'Stop Pretending PR is Worth the Same as Advertising Space' (the comments thread is also definitely worth a look).

This blog post is not meant to be derogatory to Sarah's article. Hers is a good piece and well worth reading. Please do so :)

No, my post rant has its origins in the fact Sarah felt the need to write such a post.

Surely - now we are coming up to a decade on from the turn of the century - the whole notion of measuring editorial exposure by comparing it to equivalent advertising spend (aka AVE) is more than a little outdated? (Again Sarah, this is not having a shot at you).

I'm not going to pad this post with niceties about how significantly the PR industry has changed, or the (obvious) reasons why editorial simply cannot be compared to paid-for advertising. Life's too short. If you don't understand this by now, with all the information available at your fingertips, then perhaps you shouldn't be in marketing?

Two Different Camps

The bigger picture is less about AVEs per se and more to do with the fact the business world is spilling in to two different camps when it comes to PR - those marketers/CEOs/brand professionals who intuitively understand the true value public relations can bring to their organisation (and, accordingly, are willing to employ a range of PR techniques), and those with a blinkered 'column inches' mentality.

In my experience - and through talking to others in the industry - the people (clients) who obsess with equating advertising to editorial in almost all cases tend to also be those who think PR is all about media publicity and nothing more.

On the other hand, those companies and brands that take the time to better understand what strategic public relations is all about and how it can help drive the reputation of an organisation, these are the ones who worry less about AVEs and more about coming up with new ways to increase the intensity of brand connection with the people who matter most to their business.

DISCLOSURE: Like most PR consultants, I've been guilty in the past of compiling AVE stats at the behest of clients. With hand on heart, I pledge I will do everything in my power to never have to do it ever again! Interestingly, when doing such comparisons, we've never been able to put a price on online coverage, this is despite a large proportion of exposure these days being internet based. The mockery of AVEs continues!

Here is what the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) has to say on the matter.

University Creates Talking Point with Tweepr

You're in charge of lifting the profile of a university's Master of Business (Public Relations) course.

Part of the gig is to ensure the program's 'brand' is relevant, sits at the contemporary edge of public relations, and reaches/interacts with Australia's PR fraternity.

What do you do?

Well, if you're the Queensland University of Technology, you create a really cool app called Tweepr that covers "the thoughts and observations of Australia's most followed public relations specialists".

Tweepr has compiled a Top 100 List of Australia's top PR tweeple, and also features their live tweets.

What a fantastic idea!

A simple, timely, relevant word-of-mouth driver if ever I've seen one!

Great stuff!

Dear Laura, Here Are Some Answers for Your PR Research Report

I was asked this week by Laura, a final year PR student, if I wouldn't mind jotting down some thoughts to a series of questions she had compiled for a PR research report she was writing.

The questions - below in blue - are all relevant for today's turbulent marketing landscape, so I thought I'd share my thoughts. Love to hear others' views too!

1. What communications tools do you primarily use in your day-to-day work? (i.e. media releases, social networking sites, publicity stunts, speeches etc)

Press packs (media releases, backgrounders etc) are tools we still use on a day-to-day (as-needs) basis, but not nearly as much as we used to. 

That may be because the team (at parkyoung) tends to leverage a broad array of PR techniques to communicate with people, whereas some PR agencies prefer to focus more on media relations and therefore continue to use the tools relevant to them. 

Other tools we use include social networking sites such as Twitter plus blogs and podcasts etc; however, we tend not to use them directly for clients but rather set them up first then teach them how to use the tools for themselves. 

In promoting our company, we activity employ a full array of social media platforms and techniques - Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, podcasts etc. 

When launching the agency earlier this year, we did so via Twitter and LinkedIn and got tremendous immediate feedback. Likewise, we recruited our first employee via Twitter as well.

2. How have communications tools evolved since you started working in the industry? What trends have you noticed?

When I first started in the PR industry (20+ years ago), I primarily used media releases and press packs as well as produced lots and lots of newsletters. 

Over the past decade, a PR agency I had co-founded and managed started exploring newer channels such as street teams, events, experiential stunts etc. This differentiated us greatly from many of our competitors at the time and gave clients a much more compelling reason to use us because we took a more holistic view of the public relations discipline. 

With my new company parkyoung we are currently focusing more on social media. That said, if the need calls for it, we have no hesitation in recommending media releases/packs or face-to-face activity such as stunts and events. It all depends on the client's situation, their goals and budget. 

Based on the above, you could say the PR business has definitely evolved and become more and more complex given the number of communication channels at our disposal. 

That said, what hasn't changed over the years is the need for clear strategic thinking, clever and creative ideas, solid writing skills and the ability to provide clarity around tricky communication challenges. Of course, being able to execute tactically is also critical.

3. Is the 'death of the newspaper' as imminent as people say?

I don't think newspapers are going to die any time soon. Melbourne's Herald-Sun, for example, still attracts something like a million readers daily and is highly influential. 

That said, I saw a stat the other day, something about 24 of the world's 25 biggest newspapers have suffered readership declines in recent times. There have been plenty of other similar examples so you'd have to say this is definitely a worrying trend for newspaper proprietors. 

So while the hard-copy newspaper will undoubtedly, eventually, become something of a novelty in (many) years to come, the concept of having journalists reporting on the news will continue one way or another, just that the channels used will be more digital. This has to be the case because younger adults - the future consumers of newspapers - simply aren't getting into the hard-copy habit. 

Of course, adding to the complexity is the public is also contributing content in increasing numbers, citizen journalism as some call it. While I don't want to see newspapers die any time soon (I'm pretty 'old school' like that!), it never ceases to amaze me how senior executives of many major newspapers are not grasping the opportunities of the social web. 

They'd rather rail against new media technologies - or worse, prefer to ignore them - rather than be all-embracing and fully into the 'new world'. I would have thought newspapers' future pretty much depended on their creative and sustained use of social media channels.

4. Where do you see this moving in the future?

I'm upbeat about the future of public relations because against a backdrop of advertising noise, media fragmentation and consumer apathy, the need for pure and authentic communications has never been greater. That's where PR comes in. 

Professional PR practitioners have the ability to cut to the heart of a communications challenge or issue, and generally they're able to generate results at a fraction of the cost of your average advertising campaign. 

Those agencies and practitioners that specialise in straight media relations will become niche players as companies, brands and organisations seek more innovative and holistic solutions. Face-to-face activity, or 'live media', will become increasingly important in this socially networked age. 

It will be the PR people who understand and can join the dots of social media, as well as interlink other forms of communication such as events and traditional media, that thrive in these crowded, hyper-connected times. 

Indeed, PR people who 'get' the importance of creating and distributing genuine, relevant content to help brands earn trust and respect will start rising to the top of the communications tree. 

In their book 'Putting the Public Back in Public Relations', the authors Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge write: "The new world of public relations will focus on developing unique stories for the various groups it hopes to reach and inspire." 

I'm in complete agreement with them.

What PR People Can Learn From Miles Davis

Think of a PR and communications campaign as a jazz band.

The drums and bass represent the campaign strategy. Rock solid. Anchoring. A driving force.

Add in trumpet, sax, piano etc. These instruments help flesh out the sound. Bring it to life. These are your creative tactics. They weave in and out, adding colour, flair and movement.

Drums and bass by themselves don’t work. Absolutely critical, yes, but a bit boring and dimensionless without the ‘tactical’ instruments.

Trumpet and sax on the other hand can be very noisy, indulgent and directionless if played by themselves. However, in concert with drums and bass, they can sound magical.

Same with a great PR campaign. Strategy without the tactics won’t go anywhere. Similarly, if you’re all tactics and no strategy, the campaign will be messy and directionless.

(Also posted on parkyoung In Brands We Trust)

Playboy Magazine Parlays Marge Simpson into Publicity Gold

In the PR business, coming up with (and executing) a BIG PUBLICITY IDEA that spreads throughout the media is akin to the holy grail.

Today, with the ability of social media to explode the message even further, a clever big idea can be worth millions.

Rule #1 - take a risk!

Playboy's daring decision to turn its cover over to the matriarch of Springfield, Marge Simpson, is an awesome example of a big publicity idea in action!