Trevor Young | PR Warrior blog | Where PR meets social media meets content marketing

PR Strategy Steps for Thought Leadership

This is a guest post by corporate communication practitioner, Craig Pearce. It is an edited version of an article in a free white paper, The Holy Trinity of public relations. Download it here.

The first major step in the process of generating thought leadership content – a building block of best practice public relations – is understanding organisational business objectives and imperatives.

The second is ensuring thought leadership content operates as an integrated pillar in a cohesive communication strategy ‘whole’.

And the third is ensuring that organisational leadership supports and buys in to the thought leadership approach that professional communicators are espousing.

Without their support two things will occur:

• Budget will wither on the vine for the initiative, if indeed the vine even gets to grow
• Sufficient time from senior leadership will not be dedicated towards the thought leadership pillar.

The latter point is more of an issue than in most other forms of communication, due to senior leadership being imperative in providing at least some insights that communicators can weave their magic from. Senior leadership will also need to, at least a little, provide a personal presence for marketing purposes to help give the initiative stature and credence.

When describing thought leadership, it is hard to go past corporate communication expert Craig Badings:

“Thought Leadership is establishing a relationship with and delivering something of value to your stakeholders and customers that aligns with your brand/company value. In the process you go well beyond merely selling a product or service and establish your brand/company as the expert in that field and differentiate yourself from your competitors.”

Other salient characteristics of thought leadership include:

• Authenticity
• Uniqueness
• Value.

Thought leadership: a comms paradigm with chutzpah

Thought leadership involves providing content that is original, thought provoking but, above all in the context of business, useful for organisational target audiences and, ideally, prompts them to tell others about the value that it has provided them. Even more pedantically, these ‘others’ will either be more target audiences or influencers on target audiences.

A challenge for senior leadership will be that a large part of thought leadership involves challenging orthodoxies. There is no point in replicating information that already exists and/or has no vitality, personality or chutzpah about it.

Life is too short for vanilla; go for flavour!

This is what will engage people, not dreary corporate join-by-numbers verbiage that is clearly space filler and has no utility or fascination for organisational target audiences. Thought leadership that offers nothing new, no insights or is an excitement vacuum…is an oxymoron.

And whilst controversy is an ideal characteristic of thought leadership, the reality is that it isn’t often achievable, due to the wariness of senior leadership to gravitate too far from their comfort zone. And that’s fine. There is plenty to work with that can avoid the ‘sensationalist’ (no-go?) zone.

Steps to thought leadership content

The generation of thought leadership content and leveraging it to enhance reputation, create more positive target audience relationships and facilitate the achieving of organisational objectives – including increasing profits – entails:

1. Identifying who the employees fronting the thought leadership program are
2. Identifying topics that organisational leaders have considerable expertise in, are passionate about and/or would like to be known for discussing – primarily for business reasons but there could be personal drivers to this as well, then exploring these topics with the leaders
3. Decide which of these topics are best for the organisation to focus on and will help accentuate its differentiation, reputation and branding
4. Undertaking further research on the topics and applying creative licence to them
5. Creating a thought leadership content placement plan, with media outlets, for instance, listed and prioritised
6. Developing thought leadership content
7. Potentially involving 3^rd party alliances in content development
8. Customising thought leadership content in a manner suitable for the communication mechanisms it will be distributed through (e.g. opinion pieces for media placement; white papers for mail/email; business presentations; website/social media)
9. Distributing (e.g. directly to stakeholders) and/or placing (e.g. in media or on digital platforms) this content
10. Ensuring that as much leveraging of the content as possible occurs through a communication ‘echo chamber’, optimising its use across mediums and target audience segments
11. Analyse the program’s impact against communication and business objectives.

Advanced thought leadership methodologies

The clever public relations professional who facilitates this process will be assiduous in applying three methodologies, in particular, to gain the best possible result. The qualitative level at which these methodologies are applied constitutes the difference between an acceptable PR pro and a truly excellent one:

• Undertake research on the organisational leader before interviewing them. The intent is to gain quite an intimate understanding of their personal take on organisational objectives and passions. Talk to their PA and other people in the organisation; undertake research into presentations and media interviews they have done; conceptualise how this information fits into organisational business and marketing objectives
• Be creative in the weaving in of themes, issues, perspectives and insights that the organisational leader did not flag in his or her initial sharing of thoughts (some of which will be based on pre-interview research). The application of this creativity can add significant value to the process and elevate the thought leadership content. The excellent PR pro will be adept at extending the leader’s thoughts, or at least their direction, so the recommended value-adding seems as if it was indeed part of the initial leader’s thinking
• Challenging what the leader had to say in his or her proposed thought leadership content. This is not to refute it, but to test it, to inject it with added rigour and to round out the thinking with additional perspectives.

Applying these methodologies to the thought leadership generation process will help propel it to the highest and most impressive level possible. 

This post is an edited version of an article in a free white paper, The Holy Trinity of public relations, produced by experienced corporate communication practitioner, Craig Pearce. The white paper is available as a free download for all email subscribers to his blog, Public relations and managing reputation. The white paper provides an overview of the strategic dimensions of, and practical implementation tips on,  thought leadership, 3^rd party credibility and strategic alliances. Download the whitepaper here.

 

Challenges, Opportunities and the Future of PR

I recently participated in a series of short films produced by the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) under the banner Broadcast PR.

Below are two of four short videos I featured in. They can be found on the PRIA's blog along with interviews with several other profiled PR practitioners including Ros Weadman and Lelde McCoy.

What are the main challenges and opportunities you balance in your role or that you see in the communications profession today?

 

How do you see the PR industry developing and changing in the future?

 

Links to the original PRIA blog posts:

Part 1 - From journalist to PR professional

Part 2 - Most memorable experiences in the industry

Part 3 - Pushing the boundaries of what PR can achieve

Part 4 - The future of the PR Industry

 

Top PR Campaigns ~ a Historical Perspective {Infographic}

The public relations profession dates back to 1906 when Ivy Ledbetter Lee issued the world's first press release.

Over the years, PR has changed significantly and become more sophisticated, yet there are some principles of the discipline that have stood the test of time.

Check this infographic to top up your knowledge of PR history (click image to enlarge).

SOURCE: PR Web

Public Relations 2011: Issues, Insights and Ideas

Sydney-based strategic communications consultant and blogger, Craig Pearce, has just released a timely e-report called Public Relations 2011: Issues, Insights, Ideas.

Craig compiled and edited the report - essentially, a PR thought leadership 'e-dossier' - with the help of a disparate band of PR folk from around the globe (I'm proud to say the PR Warrior was lucky enough to be included in such esteemed company).

Contributors include academics and practicing professionals from countries such as Switzerland, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, England and Australia.

Useful and stimulating

Says Craig: "There are few, if any, e-reports of this nature that include a range of useful and stimulating information on public relations. So apart from featuring content that is passionate, intellectually engaging and useful, it’s likely Public relations 2011: issues, insights, ideas is somewhat innovative in form."

  

A quick scan of the contents will give you a good feel for what the report is all about: 

• PR education – getting the theory-practice balance right - Professor Jim Macnamara

• Critical elements public relations strategy should always consider - Paul Roberts

• Let’s talk sense about trust and CSR - Paul Seaman

• PR is second rate CSR - Craig Pearce

• Are you ready for the social revolution? - Mandi Bateson

• Internal journo and SEO expert; new ‘trust’ calisthenics for the PR pro - Judy Gombita

• How social media has added value to the PR agency business - Trevor Young (ahem, that would be me)

• Messiah or just socially inept - Dwight Whitney

• PR primer for (social) networking - Judy Gombita (Judy has interviewed Craig here)

• Is social media is helping PR become more influential as a business discipline - Craig Pearce

• Issue management: changing risks, changing expectations - Dr Tony Jaques

• To CEO or not to CEO? Crisis communication in action - Jane Jordan-Meier

• What fascinates PR students? - Catherine Sweet

• Fundamental truths of success in public relations - Craig Pearce

• The power of PR and what makes it unique - Craig Pearce

 

Available from Pearcie's blog:

 Public relations 2011: issues, insights, ideas is available free for email subscribers from Craig Pearce’s blog, Public relations and managing reputation.

According to Craig (left), content in the report will enhance PR professionals’ practical ability and strategic knowledge, expand their knowledge of the discipline’s power and jolt them with ideas and assertions.

Great job Craig!

 

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 :) 

 

TV's 'The Spin Crowd' Puts PR Back 20 Years

It's quite a feat to put a profession back 20 years but that's exactly what E!'s The Spin Crowd does for the public relations industry. Thanks guys :)

The Spin Crowd is a new 'fly on the wall' TV series based around the overly dramatic day-to-day operations of Hollywood publicity outfit, Command PR.

It's car-crash TV in the purest sense. At once strangely addictive but also seriously off-putting.

But then, Kim Kardashian is executive producer. 'Nuff said.

Enjoy the show, but please, two caveats...

If you're a business owner or marketer of a large brand, please don't think all 'PR firms' operate like this one. This is Hollywood after all!

If you're a young practitioner thinking this is what PR is all about, sorry, but the reality is waaay less glamorous! Yes, the media relations side of the PR business can include celebrities and events and 'pic opps' ...but it ain't all champagne and roses kid! (* puffs Cuban cigar *).

The Spin Crowd is about as far away from true public relations as you can get (the name of the show kinda gives that away) - these guys are entertainment publicists based in a city where image is king and substance runs a poor second. Accordingly, there is no shortage of cringeworthy moments!

That said, the show is still a lot of fun!

Foxtel has just started screening Series 1 of The Spin Crowd on E! Entertainment, Tuesdays at 10 pm.

Australia's Blogging Community Comes of Age

I've always been of the belief that Australia has very much lagged other countries in the blogging stakes, particularly the US.

Part of this could be cultural. Australians have never been great at putting themselves 'out there'. Put it down to the 'Tall Poppy Syndrome'.

But I think that's changing.

According to Nielsen Research, Australians are the heaviest users of social networking sites in the world. That statistic came out of nowhere earlier in the year and certainly changed my view of social media acceptance in this country.

While I haven't got any blogging statistics locally, gut feel tells me the space is 'maturing' as more sophisticated - indeed, semi-professional and corporate - bloggers start to establish themselves in the market.

Interestingly, just today the marketing magazine Adnews reported that Westfield Shopping Centres was "on the hunt for a $100,000 blogger".

(On this topic, why does Westfield feel the need to turn its "hunt for a blogger" initiative into a consumer competition? It's not like it's a bad idea but it does indicate Westfield considers blogging to be a bit of a novelty. Why not just try to attract the right person by recruiting via online channels and social networks and use them in an ongoing capacity...and you wouldn't need to pay them a hundred grand either. You'll end up with a better, smarter and more passionate blogger, one who really knows how to create and engage a growing community of fashion fans rather than going through the rigmarole and risk of a competition only to potentially end up with someone who loves shopping and fashion but may not add much value as a blogger...but I digress...)

In recent days, there have been a few local blogging articles/posts that have caught my eye. A sign of things to come, perhaps?

Australia's Blogging Revolution

In its September PR Report, communications conference organiser FROCOMM listed some of Australia's leading bloggers under a number of sectors including finance/business, fashion/events, style, food, wine/beer, education, parenting etc.

Here's the list:

• Craig Reardon - The E Team/Smart Company
• Fred Schebesta - Credit Card Finder 
• Carrie Choo - Daily Addict
• Matt Jordan - Imelda.com.au
• Lorraine Elliott - Not Quite Nigella
• Kylie Vowles - WineFoodHotel.com 
• Emma Stirling - The Scoop on Nutrition
• George Ujvary - The Foodologist
• Andrew Graham - Australian Wine Review
• Christie Connelly - Fig & Cherry
• Melissa Klemke - Frills in the Hills
• Neil Pierson - Our Convenant
• Ann Nolan - Babysitterdirectory.com
• Nikki Parkinson - Styling You
• Jen Dalitz - SheEO Blog
• Lara Solomon - Social Rabbit

Subscribe to the PR Report here.

Smart Company's Top 25 Business Blogs

Meanwhile, Smart Company has compiled a list of Australia's top 25 business blogs - here they are:

• 22michaels
• acidlabs
• Adspace pioneers
• Aussie Rules
• Bluewire Media
• Catalyst for Magic
• Delimiter
• Deloitte Digital Blog
• Digital Buzz Blog
• Emma Isaac's Blog
• Ideas Culture 
• Just Creative Design

• Michael Specht
• Mr MiniMovers
• mUmBRELLA
• New Retail Blog
• Pollenizer
• PR Warrior ('tis nice to be included!!)
• Problogger (Darren Rowse, pictured above)
• RedBalloon
• Start-up Blog (Steve Sammartino, pictured below)
• Tell Us Your Holden Story
• Telstra Exchange
• Trends in Living Networks
• The Pursuit of Luck 

These lists aren't exhaustive by any means but they do illustrate the beginnings of a vibrant local blogging community, which can only be a good thing.

While I wouldn't say blogging in Australia has reached hardcore mainstream acceptance just yet, I think it's definitely chipping away at the fringes and is on its way (in some sectors and industries especially).

The fact the PR industry has started to sit up and take notice of some of the more established (and emerging) bloggers, and are actively pitching them with story ideas means that some in the local blogging fraternity are starting to be recognised as key influencers in their own right.

Is this just the beginning? What are your thoughts?

FURTHER READING/VIEWING:

Valuable Insights from Melbourne's 'Power Bloggers' (videos)

Top 100 Australian Blogs

Directory of Australian Blogs (aggregated site)

 

What Celebrities Can Learn From Dannii Minogue

Can't say I ever thought I'd write a post like this, but here you go...

In one fell swoop, Dannii Minogue - sister of singing star Kylie and a recording and TV personality in her own right - has managed to change public perceptions of her 'brand'.

Unless you've been living in a cave, you'd know that Dannii and boyfriend Kris Smith have just had a child, a little boy named Ethan.

Now, Dannii has always been a bit of a publicity junkie and is no stranger to the tabloid press or women's glossies. 

We quite rightly could have expected her to do what most other celebrities seem to do after giving birth - keep the bub under wraps before emerging several weeks later in some lowbrow glossy rag. 

The story would be an exclusive, of course, complete with airbrushed photos of the couple gushing about the new addition to their family. 

Often, money has changed hands. Celebrities and their babies are popular with readers so the glossies don't mind spreading the cash to get the 'behind-the-scenes' story.

Refreshing Tweetphoto

Thus it was refreshing for Dannii and Kris to take a Tweetphoto of their happy moment and share it with the world via Twitter. No exclusives, no fashion spreads, no airbrushing.

Just an 'real-life' shot of the happy couple. Now, I don't know about you but I reckon Dannii looks the best she has like, forever! Glowing, happy, authentic...real.

By eschewing the exclusive in a women's glossy and instead sharing the special moment with her fans, Dannii's image has not only received a credibility boost but she may well have won herself a slew of extra admirers. Oh, and the rest of the media probably loves her that little bit more 'cos they got the pic the same time as everyone else.

Other celebrities - especially the B-graders - take note. You could do a lot worse than what Dannii Minogue did this week.

 
Here are a couple of comments made to the story on The Age website:

Good on you Danni - nice to see a celebrity who is just happy to share with her fans. You've gone to the top in my estimation!!

Congrats Danni and Kris......and thanks for sharing your precious moment with us....for nothing. You have certainly gone up many MANY notches for this act..

Best practice celebrity PR in action!

Something's Gotta Give!

One of the side-effects of social media has been the amplification of public suspicion (criticism?) of major companies and brands.

Here's a slide I have been using in my presentations of late. Depending on the audience, the content of this slide generally hits home pretty hard.

 
What we have is a situation whereby companies are obsessed with pushing their message out in to the marketplace.

On the other hand,people aren't that interested - ever-growing numbers of consumers do not want to be on the receiving end of inane, incessant chest-beating ads and corporate collateral materials.

Something's gotta give!

Westpac Deletes Quirky Tweet - Proves it Hasn't Got a Clue(train)

Why is it so hard for a major company - in this case, one of Australia's biggest banks - to lighten up and have a bit of fun? 

Why do large organisations find it so difficult to express their human side?

In today's social media age, this is emerging as a huge issue - the disconnect between big companies and their customers. It happens across so many fronts, but every now and then, something jumps out and screams:

"Why don't these companies get it?"

A couple of weeks ago it was Macquarie Bank. 

Today it was Westpac's turn.

It started innocently enough when this quirky 25-character message appeared on the bank's official Twitter account:

"Oh, so very over it today".

It quickly struck a chord on Twitter.

@brisbanetimes was quick off the mark and alerted Westpac's media relations team to ensure everything was alright at the bank.

According to the Times:

"Within two minutes of making that phone call at 4.26 pm, the Tweet was pulled from the site, but not before thousands saw it."

And not before a few quick tweeps managed to get a screen grab of the 'offending' tweet (below).

 (hat-tip @vlietman)
 

I don't know about you but the tweet in question represents all that is great about Twitter - it's a medium through which big companies can show their human side. 

Sure, there was the odd facetious tweet or two in reply (hey, they're a bank, what do you expect?), but by and large tweeps thought the remark was cool and were genuinely supportive of the Westpac tweeter responsible. In fact, the response from the public was overwhelmingly...

POSITIVE!

Why? Because the tweet was real. Authentic. Quirky. Out of left field. So...unexpected (from a bank, anyway).

Check some of these responses:

This story was quickly picked up by sections of the mainstream media, and several tweets commenting on the kerfuffle were from journalists. I fully expect this to be in The Age tomorrow!

Follow the tweet stream here. I've been watching this unfold in real time as I write this post. Fascinating stuff!

True Colours

Of course we're not talking a major issue here by any means but sometimes it's the small things - that get blown up into bigger things (thanks to social media) - that reveal a brand's true colours. 

Now, here's a company that could use some positive word-of-mouth buzz. (For a quick recap, click here and here). Alas, Westpac has gone out of its way to demonstrate yet again it's a company that's hopelessly out of touch. It has some real PR challenges ahead as the bank clearly doesn't understand how strategic communication works in today's hyper-connected environment.

Cluetrain Manifesto

Readers of this blog will probably know the ol' PR Warrior has a soft spot for the Cluetrain Manifesto. Indeed, I might even bang on a little about this seminal work, first published in 1999. Okay, maybe a lot :)

But check out these two Cluetrain's 95 theses and you'll understand why it's as relevant today as ever before (and that the message clearly is not getting through to the corporate sector):

#21: Companies need to lighten up and take themselves less seriously. They need to get a sense of humor.

#84: We know some people from your company. They're pretty cool online. Do you have any more like that you're hiding? Can they come out and play?

These words were penned over 10 years ago and yet they could have been written in response to today's Westpac Twitter ordeal.

P.S. Could somebody please send some copies of Cluetrain to Westpac's C-suite and media department. Thanks.

UPDATE:

Roughly four hours later, Westpac responded thus:

As Mumbrella comments:

One of the biggest perils of updating Twitter for corporate accounts is that those who take part often have access to several profiles including, usually, their own personal one. 

Some insightful comments below are worth reading (thanks guys for your input into the conversation).

Good on Westpac for responding reasonably quickly with a light-hearted tweet, although I can't help feel a lot of effort probably went into getting the tone of the above tweet right :)

Mistake or not (and let's face it, it really wasn't a big deal), the bank's knee-jerk action in deleting the tweet in the first place brought unnecessary 'heat' on the company and I maintain is consistent with a brand that is, like many large organisations, struggling to adapt to the new media age.

All this reminds me of something I heard several industry observers make mention of at a conference last year, and that was the public will give big companies something like 18 months' grace to get into social media, make mistakes and earn their stripes etc. But, if they keep cocking it up, consumers won't be as forgiving. It was an interesting observation then, and it remains quite a relevant point today, some six months later.

Interesting times ahead!