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!

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New Book Shows Depth of Australia's PR Industry

A very good friend of mine recently released a book that looks at the public relations gurus who built the PR industry in Australia.

It's a must-read if you work in the industry. If you're interested in the sphere of public relations and its effect on the media and the community in general, grab yourself a copy (you can purchase it directly from Nuhouse Press).

The book, called PRide and PRejudice: Conversations with Australia's Public Relations Legends, was written by Karen Morath, herself a highly experienced and talented communications practitioner.

It includes chapters devoted to a range of PR legends, including: 

• Noel Turnbull, the bolshy contrarian
  
• David Potts, the gentleman professor
  
• Peter Mahon, the business strategist
  
• Lesley Brydon, the truth teller
  
• Harry Smith and Alan Chipp, the dynamic duo 
  
• Peter Lazar and Richard Lazar, the dynasty makers 
  
• John Connolly, the global enigma

Apart from conversations with the legends themselves, Karen also covers perceptions and misconceptions of the profession and explores PR from the perspective of truth and trust.

From busting strikes through to introducing healthy bread and educating the public on the benefits of fluoridated water, these communication professionals set the foundations for an industry that continues to grow today as companies, brands and organisations recognise the power of PR.

Read This, Get Personality

I've been reading *Personality Not Included in chunks over the past month or so. 

The book, by PR consultant and prominent blogger Rohit Bhargava, is worth a look if, like me, you enjoy reading marketing books that are relevant and written with energy by authors who don't take themselves too seriously.

*Personality Not Included explores the theme of the 'faceless corporation' and looks at how many of today's companies lack authenticity and personality. 

It's up to date and is littered with short, sharp examples (from the relatively obscure i.e. Sister Hazel, Personality Hotels, Timbuk2) through to the more bigger names (ING Direct, Virgin etc) which help provide colour and context.

Check out the following presentation (sourced from Servant Of Chaos - thanks Gavin) which details step-by-step how Rohit got his book published.

The Making Of Personality Not Included

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: personalitynotincluded pni)

Word of Mouth Momentum Propels Teen Vampire Scribe into Tipping Point Territory

I noticed in the weekend papers that four books penned by Stephenie Meyer occupied the top four spots on the list of Australia's best-selling books (confirmed here, so I wasn't dreaming).

I'm sorry, who?

Now, I shouldn't play dumb here 'cos I live with a couple of recently converted Meyer devotees so I do know a bit about her. Rather, I'm echoing the thoughts of many Australians (I took a straw poll of six people to confirm this - how's that for robust research?). 

For those unaware of Meyer, she's written a series of books - a teen vampire love saga, if you will - which has obviously struck a chord not just with teenagers but adults as well, a la Harry Potter given her massive popularity.

In what is testament to the power of consumer-generated word-of-mouth (with some help from PR activity, a web presence including MySpace and the odd retailer promotion etc), Stephenie Meyer has seemingly rocketed out of nowhere and is now blitzing it with her Twilight series - Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

I say seemingly because all of a sudden Meyer is 'everywhere' and selling books by the truckload. Now, obviously she's been around for ages (she's written five books and you can't do that overnight!) but, to me, this rapid trajectory is the stuff of TIPPING POINT.

In doing a little subsequent research, I discovered this is indeed the case, as illustrated by online monitoring service Hitwise (although they refer to an 'inverse' tipping point when it comes to Meyer).

Further reinforcing the word-of-mouth theory is the large number of fan-based websites that have sprung up in Meyer's honour, a sure sign of grassroots support (a necessary driver for word-of-mouth), not to mention the fact she's got over 83,300 friends on her MySpace page.

Now that Twilight is heading for the movie screens, maybe Stephenie Meyer will indeed become the next JK Rowling as predicted.