Moving on…

Posted on October 18, 2011 by

Six years ago I entered the doors of Millbank Tower to be greeted by a cacophony of people talking loudly on phones, blaring TV screens, and iMacs aplenty. I remember thinking, ‘wow so this is what a PR agency is like.’

Within a week I’d been lemonpartied (I’m not linking to that), told I’d never ‘make it’ at the agency due to being an Arsenal fan (thanks Nick) and got pissed with the CEO who warned me about the then marketing manager scaring new recruits with requests to ‘nosh him off’ (anyone who worked at LEWIS pre-2007 will know who I mean). Thanks Chris.

I knew then I’d have lots of fun and learn a lot about the industry. And that’s exactly what happened. From the infamous LMC parties to countless nights at the Muppet, the last six years have been a blast. I’ve also managed to learn one to two things about this thing the kids are calling social media, work with some brilliant characters and on some great (not too mention challenging) clients.

However as they say all good things come to an end and from next week I’ll be joining Ogilvy’s 360 digital influence team. For some time, I’ve admired Ogilvy’s approach to social marketing; from creating a blogger outreach code of ethics to some very smart thinking around influencer marketing. So at a time when there’s a lot of talk about how social media is bringing a convergence of marketing disciplines (my own thoughts on the matter here) the opportunity to work right at the heart of this was just too good to pass up.

I’m told the ethos for my new team is fun, fame and fortune so looks like I’m going to be doing a lot more schmoozing, helping the agency pick up more of these and making a ton of cash in the process. I just hope they also feed my Mac addiction.

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Linc up live

Posted on September 13, 2011 by

I had the pleasure of in Lincoln last week where the good people of Linc Up Live invited me to speak about the intersection between social media and business (yeah I know a well trodden path). I decided to pick up on the topic of influencer relations which is very much a hot topic particular with the likes of Klout and PeerIndex getting so many column inches.

You can view my ppt from the day here.

The highlights of the day though were the other brilliant speakers. Maz Nadjm kicked things off with an insightful view on social commerce. It is fascinating to see some of things companies are doing to harness the power of social.

Joanne Jacobs (who you should definitely follow if you work in PR) gave a ‘pull no punches’ talk on the art of linking in the context of influencer tools (like Klout and PeerIndex). This was based on an experiment she conducting on whether the scores could be games (spoiler alert – they can). You can view her presentation here.

Last but certainly not least was Kate Day from the Telegraph who gave an overview of how modern newsrooms use social networks. The fact that her desk was plonked right in the middle of the newsroom where the editor used to sit says a lot about the value the Telegraph places on uses social media to report and tell stories.

All in all it was a very informative day. A special mention to Glenn Le Santo, Celia Lacy, Andy Clayton and Tim Downing (who I promised a beer but shamelessly forgot to get it) for organising a top day.

Looking forward to the next one already.

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You say potato, I say potarto – how much does diversity play within your search marketing?

Posted on March 17, 2011 by

One of the benefits of social media is that it has forced marketers to focus more on building and nurturing communities rather than the spray and pray, one size fits one model that has defined the industry for decades.

But how much of a role does diversity play when it comes to really understanding the different communities marketers seek to engage with? And what how much should search marketers get to know or exploit colloquiums when optimising keywords?

Search is a particularly hot topic for PR professionals now. Perhaps not quite as sexy as social media but many in the industry are starting to realise that search is very much interlinked (excuse the pun) with its more glamourous cousin in helping a marketing campaign meet its objectives.  They might be late to the party but PR pros are starting to wake to the importance search engines play in communicating a message. While they might not have the technical skills of SEO marketers, PR brings a certain advantage when it comes to relationship building but also in the form of keyword research and understanding what audiences are actually looking for when they ‘Google’ something.

Added to this is the rise in social search. This is where recommendations from your friends show up in your search results. You type ‘football boots’ into Google and within the search results that come back you’re alerted to the fact that your brother-in-law who had a trial at the Emirates recently ‘liked’ the latest Nike boots on Facebook. As a consumer, you want to know personal recommendations before making buying decisions. And as a marketer, you can finally get some of the coveted ROI that your finance director has been hounding you for.

As a web evolves to fit around our lives having a social elements to marketing campaigns will become the rule rather than the exception. Having a diverse campaign team that is not only able to tap into local lingo and jargon but is also astute enough to spot and capitalise on opportunities in the mainstream media that drive search trends is worth its weight in gold.

 

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What is influence?

Posted on February 7, 2011 by

What is influence and how do you measure it? It’s the eternal question that PR and marketing types constantly ask themselves. A case in point comes from the guys at the Brass who’ve created a Twitter influence measurement tool not too dissimilar to our own Chatterscope and are experimenting with it as part of Social Media Week London (#SMWLdn)

For those whom social media is very much part of their day job, measuring influence from an analytical standpoint is, has been and will continue to be a challenge. And that’s because it’s inherently not something that can be measured. Influence on someone else comes down to the sum of a person’s right and left-brained take on things. Of course, we can track specific metrics on campaigns (and this is where PR professionals need to embrace analytics) but it’s important to place as much weight on the irrational, fuzzy, element in campaigns as well.

My approach on how PR and social media people can report on or track influence for clients comes down to balance. Companies and brands should have a pretty good idea of what influence they wield offline and then seek to replicate this online. The two should exist in tandem otherwise you end up with a well-known brand name that gets exploited online or more commonly an online sensation that gets forgotten about when next week’s hype comes along.

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Social search is cool. But what does it mean for traditional PR?

Posted on October 25, 2010 by

I was reading a very interesting post from Altimeter Group’s Charlene Li about the new developments from Bing and it’s integration with Facebook search. As the web continues to dominate every facet of life, having the knowledge and ability to manipulate social networks to communicate a client’s message is an ongoing debate within the PR community.

I’ve long argued that social media is good for PR because it allows us to bring an element of science to what has traditionally been viewed as a ‘fluffy’ profession. Traditional PR purists would argue that PR is fundamentally about relationships which by their very nature can’t be measured and often hark back to the days when a strategic booze-fuelled lunch with an editor would guarentee a client coverage. While the times have moved on from then, I do think there is a danger that in a world of metrics, we lose sight of the importance of relationships. This is where the social media idealists often clash with the social media sceptics.

Social search, however, changes this by bringing together the best of both worlds. Seeing what friends or colleagues find interesting or helpful will always form the basis of our buying decisions. Being able to transfer that offline relationship online in a way that can be measured has now become the holy grail for the PR community.

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Can the PR industry handle an inconvenient truth?

Posted on September 30, 2010 by

Those active on the UK PR Twitter scene will have noticed this morning’s launch of a Media Spamming Charter, the latest episode in the ongoing discussion about the relationship between PR practitioners and journalists. The debate is one that has raged for as long as I’ve been in the industry andshows no sign of abating. There’s hardly a week that goes by without a rant about poorly-targeted pitches or the overuse of the #PRFAIL hashtag. As someone who started off my PR career within a professional body, I recognise the need for a collaborative approach to improve and maintain standards within any industry and as such applaud the CIPR, PRCA,IRS and NUJ for taking a stance on what is a serious problem for the reputation of PROs.

However, questions will always remain on how serious the Charter will be taken by clients and those most guilty of spamming. Many have long argued that self-regulation is the answer, and in my time I’ve called for ‘naming and shaming.’ I’ve since mellowed on that front - maybe because I’m getting old - but the argument will carry on unless something drastic changes.

It remains to be seen whether simply having a charter actually goes far enough as I’m sure some will probably just view it as an overly-bureaucratic exercise that carries little weight. But at least it’s a step in the right direction, particularly as the lines between PR and other marketing disciplines blur and we become exposed (albeit not binded) to other codes of practice. Plus it beats naming and shaming.

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Suffering from app overload? There’s a Jag for that

Posted on August 4, 2010 by


Everyone’s getting into the application game it appears. Who can blame them? Apps, as they are fondly called now, have turned the humble phone into so much more than a device for just calling people. They are the main reason why sales of the iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and other smart phones have been nothing short of astronomical over last year.

However, at what point do apps move on from helping you with everyday tasks to defining who you are? According to Jaguar, an app isn’t about helping you with a specific task but more an extension of your lifestyle. From just looking at the company’s recently launched app called Driven Intelligence, Jaguar customers are avid cricket fans, interested in stocks and shares and read the Telegraph. Interestingly there’s no functionality within the app that you can’t get from other existing apps. The iPhone already comes preloaded with a stocks and shares app and there are hundreds of applications that provide news and sports updates.

But that isn’t the point. Driven Intelligence is a prime example of how media organisations are working with brands to ‘add value’ for readers. The app developed in association with the Telegraph is another way of getting content into the hands of readers but more importantly readers with financial clout. With the debate about how newspapers address declining readerships and advertising revenues, this model represents the future of how advertisers could collaborate with newspapers. And with the chance to win tickets to a cricket match for just downloading the app, they might just have a hit on their hands

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ITV’S World Cup Ronal-doh!!!

Posted on May 24, 2010 by

Picture the scene. You spend in the region of £1.5 million on an advertising campaign. You’ve seeded the ad across the web and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. You pick one of the most coveted slots on TV for it to make its debut to the world. Not just the champions league final but the first champions league final to be held on a Saturday night.

And what happens? The broadcasting channel erroneously cuts the end of the add off and your brand gets no mention whatsoever.

Everton fans might remember a similar faux pax during last year’s FA cup competition when having watched close to 120 minutes of football against their bitter rivals, they were suddenly treated to an advert to buy a popular mint brand as their team scored. Oh dear.

But is it really that bad for the brand? I’m sure the ITV chiefs will be scampering around on how to make amends to Nike. However in an age where everything on that happens on TV is scrutinized to the nth degree through the online backchannel, perhaps a ‘cock up’ of such proportions helps generate further buzz. The story would have been different 20 years ago when there was no Facebook or Twitter and everyone only had five channels to chose for. These days such things create a certain level notoriety that attract people’s attention particularly with the sheer amount of information that many are faced with. Perhaps ITV’s defence should be: “We intentionally cut the end off to create a bit of intrigue” Then again, maybe not.

Just to show there’s no hard feelings toward ITV, we’ll help in what way we can and post the clip here. Nike must be loving all this.

[Cross posted on LEWIS 360]

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First rule of online PR – What goes online stays online

Posted on May 12, 2010 by

Last night, we held another of one of our digital dinners. Sessions in which we invite clients and journalists for a bite to eat, a few glasses of wine and an informal discussion on the some of the latest trends within the social media and digital PR fields. Understandably given the adoption and amount of press coverage received by Facebook, Twitter and more recently Foursquare, many in the room were well versed in the potential such networks can offer marketing and comms programs.

Personally for me, it was interesting to hear the views around the table about the different approaches being taken to integrating social media within crisis communications. After picking apart the bones of crises suffered by Eurostar and Toyota, the question arose about how much of a lasting impact do social media crisis really have on the customer psyche.

This is an interesting point for any PRs in charge of managing a client’s online reputation. In the days of print, the old adage was, ‘today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s fish and chips wrapper’. So what if a client has a barrage of negative comments on twitter one day? With the sheer overload of information that customers face, the chances are someone else’s crisis will come along tomorrow and your clients will be forgotten right? Well not quite. Unfortunately, the internet is very much like stag parties. What goes on there, stays there.

As far as online reputations are concerned, this means having to put out more of the good things your client does to outweigh the negatives. The bigger the crisis, the harder it is to foster a positive image over the long term.

That said, we all agreed sometimes an online crisis isn’t always the end of the world as when handled well, they can be transformed into trust building opportunities. The key however is handling them well in the first place.

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Bringing a new meaning to the phrase – ‘checking in online’

Posted on May 4, 2010 by

For those of you unlucky enough to be one of my friends on Foursquare, you’ll know that I’ve just spent the last three weeks traipsing around Thailand and Vietnam. You’ll know this from the number of times I ‘checked-in’ to various restaurants, hotels and cafes that I visited along the way.

Aside from being a geek with such things, my main reason for doing so was to gauge the level of location-based networking that goes on in various parts of the world. Based on my very small, unscientific experiment and the fact that I was able to become the mayor of some very popular places with only a couple of checkins, shows there’s a still some way to go.
The potential that sites such as Foursquare can bring to the travel industry is huge both in terms of extra revenue but also in helping boost the ‘word of mouth’ recommendations that the industry relies heavily upon. While there are some that appear to understand what social media channels can do (hat tip to Four Seasons Bangkok in providing updates on the red shirt protests mixed in with reasons to visit the hotel), I found that many of the main local attractions and venues had virtually no social media presence whatsoever. This is merely an observation rather than a criticism as local-based social networking sites like Foursquare are still in their infancy. However amongst the smaller (and very often one-man band) tour and excursion operators, the spirit if not the tools of social media was rife. Everyone who approached me, ranging from those offering day city tours to week long excursions, had a notebook with hand written ‘references’ from other Brits (weirdly all from Manchester) saying how wonderful they found their trips, how safe they were etc. Now I’m pretty sure not all the ‘references’ were genuine and certainly not all filled me with enough confidence to go on them but it’s kind of world of mouth marketing that consumers are increasingly responding to.

Looking through PR eyes, the travel sector is blessed in terms of the visually appealing content it has at its disposal. And on the back of the economic hits the travel industry has taken from incidents such as the volanic ash cloud, many within the sector perhaps have no choice but to look at how social media can offer a fresh approach to attracting and servicing customers. Who knows, it might be that in a few years, online check ins won’t just be the preserve of the airlines

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