The PR Warrior

What Can Internal Communications Learn From Marketing and PR?

I'm really looking forward to facilitating a 'Be Heard' session this week for the Victorian chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.

The session is titled 'What Can Internal Communications Learn From Marketing and PR'.

(The title is a bit of a misnomer because internal comms is part of the public relations discipline, but essentially what we're talking about is consumer-facing marketing PR and communications).

However, I'd like to kick off the conversation in advance with some thought-starters.

Essentially there will be two general streams of thought I'd like to explore at the event:

Firstly, we seem to forget sometimes that employees and internal stakeholders are still consumers.

• Who ever said internal communications needed to be bland?
• Why can't we add the same 'wow' elements to internal communications that we do (or attempt to) in marketing PR campaigns?
• How can we increase levels of buzz internally by incorporating word-of-mouth marketing techniques generally reserved for consumer campaigns?
• How can we inject more personality and openness into our internal communications?

Secondly, social media is changing forever the way we communicate, connect and collaborate with each other.

• Has your organisation integrated social media into its external marketing communications?
• Is your organisation changing its mindset (and culture) in an effort to become a more 'social' enterprise, and is this influencing your internal communications?
• How can we take the learnings from external-facing social media efforts and incorporate them into our internal comms?

These will be some of the questions I'll be posing on Thursday night with a view to sparking conversation around the broader topic of what internal communications can learn from marcomms - and vice versa.

I look forward to seeing you there!

EVENT DETAILS:

Details re the IABC 'What Can Internal Communications Learn From Marketing and PR' event are as follows:

Date/time: Thursday, 24th February, 6pm - 7:30pm

Venue: Mercure Hotel, 13 Spring Street, Melbourne 

Cost: Members $30 Non-Members $60  

BOOK HERE.

Corporate members contact events@iabc.com.au to register. Wine, cheese, tea and coffee will be provided.

The organisers are anticipating a solid stream of tweets from the session - if you can't attend, please feel free to follow the conversation on Twitter (#IABCVIC) and engage with participants throughout the evening.

The PR Warrior Goes Global (Video Interview)

I caught up with one of Australia's up-and-coming young PR stars Jamie Garantziotis (@JGarant) the other day to record a piece for US-based PublicRelationsTV, an initiative by another emerging young gun, Harrison Kratz.

(What's with all this young PR talent? Hmmm. Maybe the PR Warrior's black balaclava is starting to show a bit of grey?).

Jamie G and I spent some quality time shooting the breeze ("Shooting the fish" - spoken by Mel Gibson in which film rock stars?) about all things PR and social media. The results may well astound you (or not)!

Anyway, here for your instant global gratification is THE interview ... in two parts 'cos I tend to ramble on a bit :)

Check out the Kratzman's PublicRelationsTV YouTube channel here.

I recommend Harrison's interview with Deirdre Breakenridge (part one, part two). Deirdre has written a couple of great books (including 'Putting the Public Back in Public Relations' with Brian Solis) - check it out!

Oh ... if you want to keep up with the PR Warrior's stream of awesomeness (or mawkishness, depends on how you look at it!) - please subscribe via RSS on this blog or, for a broader take on PR Warriordom, you might want to consider liking the Facebook page :) 

 

The State of Trust in Australia (Survey Results)

In February 2009 I wrote a post entitled: Corporate Australia Cops a 'Bloody Nose' in Edelman's Latest Trust Findings.

I've referred to Edelman's Trust Barometer survey countless times over the years in blog posts, tweets and various presentations. Today, I work for Edelman Australia so it's pretty cool to be on the 'inside' for a change!

The 2011 survey was launched in Sydney on Monday. A few bullet-points of findings that jumped out at me (along with some commentary from my good self) include:

2011 Australian Edelman Trust Barometer

View more presentations from Matthew Gain.

• Trust in government has increased by 11 per cent from the previous 12 months (note this is the institution of government, not any particular government) - this could be due to the fact Australia came through the global financial crisis relatively unscathed and that the world didn't fall in, thus reaffirming the public's faith.

• Non-government organisations (NGOs) remain the most trusted institutions in Australia - partnering with the nonprofit sector continues to provide companies with effective means to enhance their trust with the public.

• Trust in the media continues to remain around the 30 per cent mark - to the cynical among us, that means 70 per cent of people survey distrusted the media.

• In terms of spokespeople, a majority of people trust an independent academic or expert (69 per cent) or a technical expert from within the company (67 per cent) - is your organisation taking full advantage of your inhouse specialists or 'friends of the firm' who happen to also be relevant experts? 

• The CEO has made a comeback in the trust stakes after being in the doldrums for the past couple of years - this shows people look to company leaders in times of crisis (further reading on this point here).

• After 'online search engine', a large number of people surveyed sourced information about a company via 'online news sources' and the company's website - this provides a fantastic opportunity for brands to be more active online generally (and the social web in particular) - to ensure their online presence is content rich and 'socially friendly' rather than bland and static (as many corporate websites are).

 

View the Trust Barometer executive summary.

More about the research methodology.

Additional media coverage - further reading.

Servant of Chaos (Gavin Heaton) has also written a good piece here.

 

Ambush Marketing Stunt of the Year?

I loved this ambush marketing stunt yesterday by personal lubricant brand KY Jelly.

Someone cheekily parked a promotional car plastered with KY advertising in front of the Melbourne home of cricket legend Shane Warne where he's been entertaining British celebrity actress, Liz Hurley.

Separately Warne and Hurley are popular targets of the paparazzi. Put them together in a 'love shack' and the whole shebang becomes a media circus.

The KY stunt was simple, opportunistic, cheeky, relevant and effective (from a media perspective at least). 

Okay, it wasn't rocket science (the best ideas often aren't) but you'd have to say the return on investment was pretty good!

The KY brand cracked another mention here.

Pic Source: Herald Sun

Why PR is a Threat to Digital and Creative Agencies

DISCLOSURE: I work with Edelman Australia as its Director of Strategy + Innovation

I've only been with Edelman for a short period, having merged my previous consulting business parkyoung into the firm's Melbourne office some 10 weeks ago. However, I was interested (and heartened) to see this piece in the bible of America's advertising industry - Advertising Age.

The headline says it all: Edelman is No. 7 on the Ad Age Agency A List.

According to Ad Age:

The frenzy over the social-media sphere has created a debate over who should "own" the space -- digital shops, traditional shops or the marketer itself. Ironically, what tends to get lost in the noise over tools and ownership is the focus on conversation. But it's just that focus that has put PR giant Edelman in the center of the action.

Edelman's competitive set has been broadened as companies seek a more digitally based, authentic, two-way conversational approach to marketing. So much so in fact that it wasn't unusual last year for an exec at a creative or digital shop to say they were concerned about losing business to Edelman because of its capabilities and approach.

Over the years I have actively promoted the fact public relations should sit at the heart of a brand's overall communications effort. I've blogged and tweeted about it constantly (some would say ad nauseum!) and included my theories in numerous presentations.

Strategic public relations well executed can be incredibly effective in helping to build a trusted brand from a holistic multi-stakeholder perspective. Importantly in today's hyper-connected environment, PR is becoming important in reaching out to a brand's 'publics' and creating cost-efficient content that gets people talking about - and interacting with - a company or organisation. 

That's why it gladdens the PR Warrior's heart to see public relations and communications being applied in intelligent fashion by my peers at Edelman as well as others in major PR firms and smaller independent shops - and, importantly, being recognised for it.

Here are some points Edelman Global CEO Richard Edelman makes in the video interview above:

• "I think we're more centre stage in the communications mix."
• "The line is evaporating between brand and corporate reputation."
• "We (Edelman) have gone from classic 'small box' media relations to define public relations really as public engagement...we are able to manage a stakeholder universe".

Is having a PR company represented in the Ad Age Agency 'A List' a sign of things to come?

I'm thinking maybe it is - PR firms have always been about relationships, two-way dialogue and bringing brands to life with relevant stories, content and event-based experiential style activity. 

And guess what?

Much of marketing today is about relationships, two-way dialogue and bringing brands to life with relevant stories, content and event-based experiential style activity.

Add into the mix that the good PR firms have developed digital credentials that rival the major ad agencies (and even some digital outfits) and you have a profession that finally is coming into its own and starting to become recognised for the value it brings to the marketing table.

Interesting times ahead!

FURTHER READING: Here's the full Ad Age A List Agency List