Simon Cowell attempts PR stunt to shift negative media coverage

Yet another regret for BP to add to the list

July 7, 2010 By Matthew Gain 1 Comment

Can you believe this? BP actually endorsed a board game in the 70s about offshore oil drilling, which included the potential of oil spills. Ahh the irony.

There has been a lot of PR commenting on the disaster and providing thoughts on how BP should be managing its communication. I have decided to steer clear of the discussion. In my opinion BP’s issue is that there is a hole in the ocean floor spewing forth oil. Until that is fixed no matter how good the thinking or the strategy, the communication is going to be insufficient.

Shame the engineers responsible for the spill didn’t spend some more time with this game learning how to avoid such disasters…

Via Geekosystem.

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Filed Under: PR, Professional Posts Tagged With: Board Game, BP, Oil Spill, PR, Regret

Forget #PRFail, what about #Journofail?

May 17, 2010 By Matthew Gain 20 Comments

Image by Greekadman - http://bit.ly/aqw05t

The title of this post was a bit of a link bait exercise, I don’t advocate the use of a #journofail hash tag, but I do think those of us in the PR industry need to end our fear of criticising journalists.

Tiffany Farrington, an Australian PR veteran and someone I respect a lot, recently published a post listing things that PRs dislike about journalists. The post contained a collection of anonymous irks PR people had sent in and was a good read. The post was not a rant, came on the back of a post which asked journalists what they disliked about PRs and was created with the desire of creating harmony amongst the community of PRs and journalists.

I loved the post and left a comment stating:

Thanks Tiff, refreshing to see the PRs’ side of this story told.

Whilst we may not work for the same side, our industries are undeniably intertwined. Over the years I have learnt lots about what to do and what not to do by paying attention to journalists in their articles, blog posts and presentations about how PRs should interact with them.

I hope journalists can benefit in a similar way from this post.

Frustratingly however, this was the only comment from someone in the PR industry on the post. Based on her high profile I assume Tiff’s blog is well visited, the blog was linked to from Mumbrella driving even more traffic, there were journalists that commented on it, so surely PRs were also reading it. Why then had none of my colleagues felt compelled to comment? My only assumption is that PR people are so concerned about the implications of criticising a journalist that it kept them silent.

The non willingness of my colleagues to speak up is not healthy in my mind. As I stated in my comment on Tiffany’s blog, whilst we have different drivers and objectives in our roles, the PR and journalism industries across many sectors (note I am not saying all) are undeniably intertwined. If those of us on the PR side are too scared to provide constructive criticism on how our industries can work better together then we rightly deserve to be treated in a subservient manner by journalists and continue to be frustrated by their actions.

I am not suggesting that en mass PRs should start airing their gripes with their journalist contacts, but when we experience mistakes, or poor practice (and this does happen), these should be addressed in a constructive manner. If we don’t, we risk a gap forming between our industries and a growing frustration on both sides.

In this spirit, my advice to journalists is to keep the mistakes us PR people make in perspective. PR agencies on the whole are filled with really smart, passionate and hard working people. PRs, like you, often work long hours in stressful environments with many demands. Sometimes this results in mistakes that frustrate you. Rather than launching into a tirade on Twitter, or elsewhere, when this happens, why not contact the person in question, or one of their colleagues you have a relationship with. Outline why their actions are causing you frustration and how they can avoid doing that again. I know you’re busy, we all are, but you might be surprised at how this small investment saves wasted time down the track and may even help you better achieve your objectives.

Of course I realise that in many cases what I am advocating above is the norm and there are countless examples of good relationships built on mutual respect between the PR and journalism industries. I am simply writing this post in the hope that we can increase these types of relationships and decrease the negatives ones.

I’d love to hear from PRs or journalists on reactions to this post.

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Filed Under: Media, PR, Professional Posts Tagged With: #journofail, #PRFail, Australia, Digital PR, journalism, journalist, PR, PRs, Public Relations, vs

What is Web 3.0 and how will it impact PR?

May 12, 2010 By Matthew Gain 9 Comments

If like me you have heard the term Web 3.0 and the semantic web, but aren’t really sure what it means then watch the video I have embedded below. It is around 15 minutes, but is well worth the time investment. If you can’t spare the time I have attempted a summary below it.

The mini doco is by Kate Ray, a NYU Psychology and Journalism major student. It is incredibly interesting and got me thinking about the impact of Web 3.0 on the PR industry.

As I note below, the impact and potential of the semantic web is difficult for even the experts in the field to get their head around, so this post is a fairly large act of hubris by me, but hopefully it is a conversation starter. I would love to hear your thoughts as well, even if they are to tell me I don’t have a clue.

Web 3.0 from Kate Ray on Vimeo.

My summation/major take outs:

It has never been easier to create content for the web. Every single Tweet is a new page that is created for the web. A pretty scary concept when you consider how often some people tweet. The outcome is that Google and the current tools we use to navigate and sort information on the web will soon no longer be able to cope.
The rise in choice and access to information is confronting for people. People want simplicity, not more access to choice.
The semantic web creates relationships between separate pieces of data to provide context and meaning. For example the semantic web may know that a CD review of Kanye West despite being given a five star rating by the reviewer may be of no interest to me because I have previously posted on Twitter how I dislike Kanye.
The majority of thinking is that ontologies (a sort of agreed system for labeling the web) are required for the semantic web to work. I personally can’t see how it will work otherwise, but also think any labeling system will have many issues and flaws.
Even the experts in this field have trouble imagining what is possible in terms of applications for the semantic web.

Watching this I tried to think about the impact web 3.0 will have on the PR industry.

The old way of doing business where managers look after the media in a given market will become redundant. How people make decisions or are impacted by influence will become more personalised than ever. The information people receive will be more about their past interactions, others they engage with online and the products they purchase and less about where they live.
The prioritisation of media will become more difficult than ever. In a world where information will be delivered in a niche manner on demand, the old PR economies of reach and influence matter considerably less.
PR and customer service will move closer together. As the importance of mass media declines and the importance of the individual rises, the separation between journalist and everyday individual will become pointless.
Everybody will become a company spokesperson. Building on the point above it will be impossible for traditional spokespeople to devote time to the growing number of on the record statements required. Rather corporate affairs and PR departments will need to train the entire organisation for influencer engagements.
The tools for monitoring sentiment will be dizzyingly complicated. Monitoring your PR reputation simply by looking at the major news outlets outlets will seem archaic (if it isn’t already). Instead, PR departments will employ specially trained analysers to make sense of the wealth of data required to understand the public sentiment towards an organisation.
PR will be even more important to an organisation. When everybody’s opinion matters, PR will be a paramount consideration in every decision a business makes.

You could argue the above points are where PR is headed now whilst we are still getting to grips with Web 2.0. Irrespective, I would love your thoughts on how you think the semantic web will impact PR. Do you agree? Am I way off the mark? What other impacts will Web 3.0 have on how organisations do PR?

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If you enjoyed this post why not subscribe to my blog via RSS or email by following this link. Also whilst you're at it why not follow me on Twitter.

Filed Under: PR, Professional Posts, Technology, Web stuff Tagged With: impact of web 3.0, kate ray, NYU, PR, PR implications, Public Relations, semantic web, web 3.0

Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

April 28, 2010 By Matthew Gain 11 Comments

UK PR Week, in conjunction with Diffusion PR, last month released a report on the integration of digital into the PR mix, titled PRWeek/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide. I missed the report when it came out, but have now reviewed and think the findings are worth sharing.

Having worked in both the UK and Australia I believe the markets are fairly similar in the way organisations approach PR and marketing. Of course the budgets here in Australia are much smaller, but generally the way PR is done in the UK and here is similar, so the report and its findings I believe are also relevant for Australia.

Report methodology:

According to PR Week:

a landmark PRWeek survey of 128 clients, drawn from across in-house comms, marketing and digital departments, reveals exactly how organisations are grappling with the challenge of integrating social media into their existing operations.

Key report findings:

To what extent have you embraced social media and digital PR?

to what extend have you embraced social media Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

To what extent have you embraced social media and digital PR?

Findings - more than 60% of those surveyed stated that social media and digital PR is being used either as an element of most campaigns or a core part of comms strategy. However, roughly 40% use it on an ad hoc basis or not at all.

My view – this result was not surprising for me based on the work I do with my clients. However, I would argue it is those organisations that have integrated social media and digital PR as a core component of their work that are getting the best results. Like any marketing discipline, social media digital PR works best when it is a continuous program, not something that is turned on and off.

With which external agencies do you work on social media?

which external agencies do you work on with social media Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

With which external agencies do you work on social media?

Findings - 43% do not use an agency, 39% use a PR agency, 29% a digital agency whilst only 8% use a dedicated social media agency.

My view – I was surprised to see such a high number of practitioners responding that responsibility for social media was managed solely inhouse. Not that I am suggesting those inhouse are not suited to social media, quite the contrary in many respects. To me this highlights an unwillingness by client organisations to adequately invest in external social media expertise.

In the traditional space even the best in-house marketing practitioners utilise the support of agencies to deliver their results, why should it be different for social media? Assuming the agency gets it, I think in-house marketing people should be investing a good portion of their budget to extend activities in the social media space (disclaimer – I lead a team of digital PR people at a PR agency).

Where does ownership of social media sit within your organisation?

Who owns social media in your organisation?

Findings – 36% marketing team, 34% PR and comms team, 17% cross departmental responsibility, 7% yet to be decided, 3% dedicated social media team, 2% IT department

My view – social media is about engaging in a two way conversation with an organisation’s customers and public. Whilst there are multiple departments that talk to an organisation’s target market, there has traditionally only been one that has engaged in a two way dialogue – the communications department. As such, it is my belief that the communications department/PR team is best placed to develop strategy and lead direction for social media.

What do you see as the key barriers preventing social media adoption in your organisation?

barriers to social media adoption Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

What do you see as the key barriers to social media adoption within your organisation?

Findings – 45% inability to demonstrate clear ROI, 40% lack of digital knowledge and understanding, 38% lack of resources and budgets

My view – it is not surprising to me that the top two barriers are a lack of clear ROI and a lack of digital knowledge. When people don’t understand something they typically won’t find a value in it. Fix the lack of education and the clear ROI barrier will be lowered, as will the barrier of budget and lack of resources.

How satisfied are you with your current lead agency’s social media and digital PR abilities?

how satisfied are you with your lead pr agency Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

How satisfied are you with your lead PR agency's social media capabilities?

Findings – 19% very satisfied, 32% moderately satisfied, 15% very or moderately dissatisfied, 34% unsure.

My view – these results should be concerning for PR agencies. To me it highlights the fact that there are some, but too few PR practitioners with digital PR skills. Everyone involved in PR should be educating themselves in digital PR and agencies should be investing to ensure everyone has a basic understanding.

I have posted below some more graphics from the report.

What do you think about the report’s findings, are they surprising? Do you agree with my opinions? I would love to hear from you in the comment box.

Filed Under: Advertising/Marketing, PR, Professional Posts, social media Tagged With: digital, Digital PR, marketing, PR, pr week, Public Relations, social media

Tips to improve your personal search engine footprint

April 27, 2010 By Matthew Gain 5 Comments

I wrote the following post for Media Asia.

The ten blue links displayed when you type your company name into a search engine, not your company’s homepage, is where most people first interact with your brand. What they see on that results page, be it positive or negative, will have a lasting impact.

In the same vein, what is displayed when someone types your name into a search engine should be compared with the front page of your CV. If nothing comes up, what does that say about you? Or even worse, if the only things that come up are photos of your drunken exploits from five years ago, then your search engine footprint needs some serious attention.

Below I have outlined seven quick tips to help improve your search persona and ensure your search engine CV presents the right image.

1. Blog. Having a good blog habit is one of the simplest ways to ensure you control your personal online brand, but simply setting up a free account on WordPress.com is not enough. You need to generate content, ideally lots of content. The more posts you write the more content a search engine will have to index, and the more content others will be able to link to; both of which positively impact what appears when your name is searched.

2. Tweet. A step down in effort from blogging is Twitter. The major search engines rank Twitter high in their results and are now including Tweets as part of their real-time results. Aided by the 140 character limit, there is an incredibly low barrier for entry into the world of Twitter, so set up an account and add your Tweets to the 50 million odd tweets that are created each day.

3. Use your name. If you want to be found on the web, make sure you are optimising for how people are most likely to search for you, with your name. If available, purchase the URL for your name. Also, ensure your Twitter handle is your name and customise your Facebook and LinkedIn URLs to include your name. Of course this will be more effective for people with a unique name as opposed to all the Bob Smiths or Li Chens out there.

4. Understand how people search. Use the Google AdWords Keyword tool to understand how people search for your skill set. Put in the word that you think best represents what you want to be known for. For example a search on ‘PR’ shows that ‘communications’ is also a highly searched word. Armed with the knowledge of what people are searching for, use the terms in the content you create for your blog and also use them in your online profiles or bios to help align you with your chosen industry.

5. Be everywhere. When it comes to optimising for search engines, the more online presences you have the better. The popular social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, like Twitter, are featured high in searches for peoples’ name. As such, make sure you have a presence in the social networks that are most important in your market and to your industry. Also make sure you have personalised your URL. Learn how to do it for Facebook here and LinkedIn here.

6. Tag your images. Ensure that images you want to be found of you, perhaps the one of you accepting an award at the Cannes PR Lions ceremony, are tagged with your name and industry and uploaded on a photo sharing site like Flickr, so search engines can easily index your picture.

7. Remove the bad stuff. Just as easily as search engines find the good stuff, they will also return the bad stuff. If there are images of you that you wouldn’t want people to see, delete them. Also think very carefully before you post content to the web. Simply think, “Am I happy with this piece of content representing me to potential employers or clients?” and if you aren’t comfortable, don’t post it.

These are but a small sample of tips for improving your personal search rankings. If you have any others, why not add them in the comment box?

This post of a series of posts I am making on SEO tips to improve your personal search brands. Other posts you can view are:

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Filed Under: Advertising/Marketing, Personal Brand SEO, PR, Professional Posts, SEO, social media Tagged With: Advice, Australia, CV, Digital PR, Job, Personal Brand, PR, Resume, Search, SEO, Tips

Video interview from the Frocomm 3rd Annual New Media Summit

March 19, 2010 By Matthew Gain 2 Comments

Above is a video that was recorded at the Frocomm 2010 New Media Summit, featuring myself, Brian Geisen (Ogilvy) and Monty Hamilton from UBank.

The content is loosely focussed on advice and future direction of social media.

It is always difficult watching yourself on video. Not entirely sure why I can’t keep my hands still.

Check the original post from Samuel Andruszkiewicz on the Telstra blog.

Posted via web from Matthew Gain’s posterous

Presentation at the bottom of this post.

Yesterday I was invited to speak at Frocomm’s 3rd Annual New Media Summit hosted in Sydney. The event was attended by around 150 mainly PR professionals from across a range of industries in Australia and featured other speakers including, David Quilty of Telstra, Paul Borrud of Facebook and industry colleagues of mine Brian Geisen of Ogilvy PR and Dan Young Burson Marsteller. See the full list of speakers here.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to see all the presentations due to work commitments that kept me in the office, but those I did were very interesting, particularly David Quilty’s presentation on how Tesltra the telecom giant is embracing social media practices right across the organisation.

During the day two panel session, which I sat on with Brian Geisen, David Quilty and Monty Hamilton from UBank, questions followed the general themes of justifying social media to the boss, understanding and qualifying measurement through to how social media can be integrated into the general PR and marketing mix.

Having worked in this industry for a little while now it was refreshing to see, based on the questions being asked, that there is now a general realisation within organisations that social media isn’t a fad and that it represents a fundamental shift in the way we need to conduct business. The audience was keen to learn how they can start embracing and undertaking more social work and it was evident whenever practical advice was being provided that frantic notes were being scribbled.

In addition to the panel session, I also presented a half hour session on building communities in Facebook, which I have posted below (For those reading in a reader, or via email check it out here). I created this presentation in an attempt to provide a platform for PR people to justify a presence in Facebook for their organisation and also to act as a roadmap of sorts for building out a Facebook campaign. I hope it fulfils these objectives.

I would love any and all feedback on this presentation. How do you think it could be improved? Have I left any important components out that you think need to be added?

Building Communities in Facebook

View more presentations from Matthew Gain.

Finally, thanks to Glen Frost for the opportunity to speak at the conference.

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