It seems incredible that the PR institutions are so slow when their members' interests are obviously at stake.
It seems like negligence.
Why are they not involved in this debate:
I think that PR-firms editing in a community space is deeply unethical, and that clients should put very firm pressure on their PR firms to not embarrass them in this way.
It is part of a very important post in Constantin Basturea’s weblog. This is much bigger than a spat between the PR industry and Wikipedia. It is about the ability of a PR practitioner to represent an organisation. It is not about in-house/agency differences it is about practitioners.
I realise that organisations like PRSA, CIPR, IABC and the rest are big lumbering giants of bebureaucracynd that it takes time to formulate policy and get consensus.
In the new world order for PR that is not good enough. There is a need to use social media to get concensus and for fleet footed responses otherwise events will overtake us.
This kerfuffle is two weeks old and there seems to be no visible stiring among the great and the good. This is going to cost PR practitioners a lot of money, not to mention angst. It will have legal consequences and provide precedentor many other PR activities including the ability to issue statements and news.
It is time that there was a rapid deployment force in the institutions to look at such matters.
Are these institutions monitoring the web and social media? Are they considering the implication for their members? Have they realised that the pace of change in communication is quite rapid. Do they know that a week in cyberspace is a very long time.
Six months is an eternity.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
The Social Media bubble
Robb Hecht explores the question "When will the social media bubble burst?" in his blog today.
It is well argued and has contributions from a range of sources.
But, for those of us who lived (painfully) through the collapse of the last 'bubble' - the web bubble, the hardest thing to do was to tell people the facts about what had happened. The expansion, explosion of the web and web applications did not 'burst'. It kept growing and growing and growing.
Sure the get rich quick merchants go burned.
Just like the 'lets put advertising online' brigade will get burned.
Just like the 'it is all paid for by advertising' brigade will get burned but social media will continue.
For fun, you can bet on the outcomes at BizPredict.
What will make sense is the model that builds relationships of value and we are prepared to pay for that.
More of which later.
It is well argued and has contributions from a range of sources.
But, for those of us who lived (painfully) through the collapse of the last 'bubble' - the web bubble, the hardest thing to do was to tell people the facts about what had happened. The expansion, explosion of the web and web applications did not 'burst'. It kept growing and growing and growing.
Sure the get rich quick merchants go burned.
Just like the 'lets put advertising online' brigade will get burned.
Just like the 'it is all paid for by advertising' brigade will get burned but social media will continue.
For fun, you can bet on the outcomes at BizPredict.
What will make sense is the model that builds relationships of value and we are prepared to pay for that.
More of which later.
Resistance is futile
One of my heros is BL Ochman and her comment about acceptance of new media at corporate HQ is right (later today I will post further on this) . She goes back to a post by Jerry Bowles, "Why CEOs Are Afraid of Social Media" and extends the fact that most leaders do not want to operate their organizations as experiments in democracy or collective intelligence.
Resistance also is futile. Look at Dell. They ignored the great hue and cry about their customer service for years. Meanwhile, the online commentary grew to a tsunami. When Dell finally launched a blog, they still tried to play by the old rules and push their message out while ignoring the elephant in the room.
A week or so later, when the Dell battery recall was mounted, the company already had a way to communicate with customers, and that forum made it clear that they were trying. Looking back, I'm sure they're wondering why they were so afraid of customers.PR transparency
Perhaps what we are seeing at last is the enforced transparency that comes from the semantic web.
This was a conclusion we came to in 1999 at the CIPR Internet Commission. (It would be soooo useful if the papers were published by the CIPR - its site needs an archive capability. Perhaps we should introduce them to Google which is said to be building a global archive) .
Andrew Lark has a post on the subject of trasnparency and 'green policies and notes: What is going on here is interesting. Recognizing the very tangible commercial advantage of messaging green, companies like Sun, GE and Dell are moving beyond messaging as hyperbole and into making the message very real. The stand to gain from the mantra of "live the message and prosper".
This was a conclusion we came to in 1999 at the CIPR Internet Commission. (It would be soooo useful if the papers were published by the CIPR - its site needs an archive capability. Perhaps we should introduce them to Google which is said to be building a global archive) .
Andrew Lark has a post on the subject of trasnparency and 'green policies and notes: What is going on here is interesting. Recognizing the very tangible commercial advantage of messaging green, companies like Sun, GE and Dell are moving beyond messaging as hyperbole and into making the message very real. The stand to gain from the mantra of "live the message and prosper".
Chime does well
Chime Communications PLC said its first half year pretax profit rose 62 % to £5.4 million from £3.3 million a year ago.
Operating profit increased 65% to £6.1 million and margins continued to improve to 15.8% from 13.3%.
Chime chairman Lord Bell said the results were 'very encouraging' adding that the company is 'positive about the outcome for the full year'.
The Chime companies are:
Bell Pottinger (which includes several Bell Pottinger and Good Relations companies, Harvard, Insight, Resonate, Ozone, De Facto,The SMART Company, MMK, Rare and Traffic); the UK's leading research and consultation group (Opinion Leader Research and Ledbury Research) and now with VCCP, one of the fastest growing advertising and marketing services groups in the UK, including specialist agencies in financial services (Teamspirit) and property marketing (TTA).
Operating profit increased 65% to £6.1 million and margins continued to improve to 15.8% from 13.3%.
Chime chairman Lord Bell said the results were 'very encouraging' adding that the company is 'positive about the outcome for the full year'.
The Chime companies are:
Bell Pottinger (which includes several Bell Pottinger and Good Relations companies, Harvard, Insight, Resonate, Ozone, De Facto,The SMART Company, MMK, Rare and Traffic); the UK's leading research and consultation group (Opinion Leader Research and Ledbury Research) and now with VCCP, one of the fastest growing advertising and marketing services groups in the UK, including specialist agencies in financial services (Teamspirit) and property marketing (TTA).
Intelectual Property advice - and podcast
Own It offers free intellectual property advice for London's creative people.
It offers a range of services, from basic to specialist support, through online and face-to face seminars, workshops and, where appropriate, surgeries with intellectual property lawyers. They work with a network of IP advisors including lawyers and specialists at various trade associations associated with the creative industries in the UK.
Own It likes to keep with the times, and so that everyone, no matter of location, can benefit from Own It’s free intellectual property advice, they’ve created podcasts from some of our free events.
It offers a range of services, from basic to specialist support, through online and face-to face seminars, workshops and, where appropriate, surgeries with intellectual property lawyers. They work with a network of IP advisors including lawyers and specialists at various trade associations associated with the creative industries in the UK.
Own It likes to keep with the times, and so that everyone, no matter of location, can benefit from Own It’s free intellectual property advice, they’ve created podcasts from some of our free events.
Cancer Research benefit from podcast
We are seeing many PR applications for new media. It is an area of practice that grows by the minute.
N-E-Life reported another such event.
N-E-Life reported another such event.
Number one breakfast presenter of North East radio station Metro Radio, Tony Horne, is tuning into the i-pod generation with the launch of a unique series of podcasts dedicated to a selection of real-life topics and high-profile sporting events.
Launched on 7 September the podcast kicked off with exclusive coverage of Cancer Research pioneer Findlay Young’s Great World Run.Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Corporate assets need PR maintenance
I have argued elsewhere that hyperlinks are corporate assets (and should be on the ballance sheet).
Working from the Steve Rubel test, "Wikipedia articles on the top 100 advertisers in the U.S. are consistently among the most highly ranked pages in Google on direct searches." would suggest that keeping you organisations' Wikipedia entry up todate is a pretty good idea.
I know, you do that every month anyway - don't you.
Working from the Steve Rubel test, "Wikipedia articles on the top 100 advertisers in the U.S. are consistently among the most highly ranked pages in Google on direct searches." would suggest that keeping you organisations' Wikipedia entry up todate is a pretty good idea.
I know, you do that every month anyway - don't you.
Broadband via satellite
While is seems good for rail passengers that they will be able to access broadband connections via satellite under plans published today by media watchdog Ofcom, it is not the big application.
So what about ships, ferries, coaches, buses, cars and events? In fact any location that wants access on a moving platform or at a temporary location could benefit.
For people in PR who organise days out and events this could be useful.
The regulator is making a new type of spectrum licence available that will allow train operating companies to install "satellite earth stations" on trains.
Some operating companies already offer wireless broadband access through trackside terminals, but this is not always reliable.
So what about ships, ferries, coaches, buses, cars and events? In fact any location that wants access on a moving platform or at a temporary location could benefit.
For people in PR who organise days out and events this could be useful.
Getting with it - are we competent?
Robbin Goodman, Executive Vice President and Partner, Makovsky and Company. Goodman argues a strong case for corporate blogging as an emerging public relations and business tool in a paper at the Institute for Public Relations.
But the case that she makes stands in stark contrast with the other thrust of her paper - which provides the most complete published review of findings from the Makovsky 2006 State of Corporate Blogging Survey. That study - a nationwide telephone survey of 150 senior executives (directors and above) of Fortune 1000 companies - was conducted for Makovsky by Harris Interactive.
"Who will admit that in 1996 they questioned - even doubted - the power of the Internet to transform the way business everywhere would be conducted?" Goodman writes. "Despite evidence of another major shift taking place, many senior executives seem determined to doubt the Internet's power to alter business communications."
Oh... yes and what about the communications sectors like Public Relations. Did they see the web coming? This time it is dimensions bigger. The PR job is to show corporate leaders how big, pervasive and structurally different and to point up the dangers and opportunities of disintermediation.This is, of course consultancy. are we good enough at it yet?
Scream Marketers on-line screeching about reach
In terms of ad network reach, according to comScore data, the re-launched vcmedia network is now second only to Advertising.com in the UK but ahead of players including 24/7 Real Media and Burst Media.
The report in e-consultancy says:
Meantime, Burst Media this week shook the stock market because it did not think it would hit its financial targets.
I just have a feeling that this form of on-line advertising is getting less effective. It is based on the 'scream marketing' model and is a turn off.
The report in e-consultancy says:
ValueClick announced today that it has completed the integration of its vcmedia and Fastclick online advertising networks, creating a network with 59% reach among UK internet users.
The announcement, which follows the purchase of the US network Fastclick a year ago, is significant because it demonstrates the increasing competition in the ad networks space and the importance of reach as a selling point for the major players.
Meantime, Burst Media this week shook the stock market because it did not think it would hit its financial targets.
I just have a feeling that this form of on-line advertising is getting less effective. It is based on the 'scream marketing' model and is a turn off.
The growth of user generated content
User-generated content (UGC) has increased dramatically in the UK over the last year, according to research by comScore and reported in e-consultancy.
I am not sure about collective inteligence but that is a lot of extra eyeballs and shows how much PR has to do to stay with the media that is really beginning to count and be part of user generated content.
The firm found Wikipedia to be the top UGC property, and the sixteenth most popular site overall with 6.5m visitors in July 2006, up 253% from a year earlier.
Other UGC sites that have moved into the top 50 in the UK include MySpace.com (up 467% to 5.2m visitors), Piczo.com (up 393% to 4m), YouTube.com (3.9m visitors), and Bebo.com (up 328% to 3.9m).
"Web 2.0 is clearly architected for participation, as it attempts to harness the collective intelligence of Web users," commented Bob Ivins, MD of comScore Europe.
I am not sure about collective inteligence but that is a lot of extra eyeballs and shows how much PR has to do to stay with the media that is really beginning to count and be part of user generated content.
IBM in SecondLife
Philippe Borremans has posted about an IBM meeting in SecondLife
IBM has an island on SecondLife - the 3D online virtual world - and will use it to foster collaboration between employees, ex-employees and industry colleagues.
As he says: "Good attitude when it comes down to testing new ways to collaborate and communicate."
Cool idea huh!
IBM has an island on SecondLife - the 3D online virtual world - and will use it to foster collaboration between employees, ex-employees and industry colleagues.
As he says: "Good attitude when it comes down to testing new ways to collaborate and communicate."
Cool idea huh!
PR accused of mass human rights violation cover-up
According to Kolawole Olaniyan, Amnesty International's Africa Programme Director, a cover up of mass human rights violations among the poorest people in Zimbabwe is a public relations practice.
I take offense.
His comments, published in ZimbabweJournalist.com and Reuters are a direct attack on the work of Sarah Green, Eulette Ewart, Neil Durkin and Steve Ballinger who are all practicing public relations employees of Amnesty International and whose profession, this statement infers, can be directed towards human rights violations.
A sad state of affairs that Amnesty should employ such people unless Kolawole Olaniyan mistakes public relations for state propaganda. If so one might expect a public apology to his colleagues and my profession.
I take offense.
His comments, published in ZimbabweJournalist.com and Reuters are a direct attack on the work of Sarah Green, Eulette Ewart, Neil Durkin and Steve Ballinger who are all practicing public relations employees of Amnesty International and whose profession, this statement infers, can be directed towards human rights violations.
A sad state of affairs that Amnesty should employ such people unless Kolawole Olaniyan mistakes public relations for state propaganda. If so one might expect a public apology to his colleagues and my profession.
Financial Dynamics acquired by a consulting company
The FT reports "Financial Dynamics, one of the top financial public relations companies, is being bought for an initial $260m in cash and shares by FTI Consulting, a US consulting and investigations company."
The FT says: "It is also the first time a financial PR firm has been acquired by a consulting company, rather than a media or marketing group."
This does not say a great deal for the media groups who own "Public Relations Consultancies".
It does reflect conversations with CEO's of PR firms owned by advertising dominated groups who are frustrated at the 'in yer face' publicity pitches they are routinely asked to provide.
The FT says: "It is also the first time a financial PR firm has been acquired by a consulting company, rather than a media or marketing group."
This does not say a great deal for the media groups who own "Public Relations Consultancies".
It does reflect conversations with CEO's of PR firms owned by advertising dominated groups who are frustrated at the 'in yer face' publicity pitches they are routinely asked to provide.
New Media Conference in Edinburgh
Blogs, podcasts and RSS newsfeeds create both opportunities and threats that communications professionals simply cannot ignore. The
This conference will consider how practitioners can adapt to ensure they continue to communicate with target audiences who are becoming increasingly selective. Presentations will be given by a roster of highly renowned international speakers who are experts in their fields and are at the cutting edge of these new communications practices.
The event is being supported by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Scotland offering a discount to CIPR members. Delegate tickets are £145 + Vat for CIPR Members and £185 + Vat for non-members.
For further information or to book your tickets please contact Nicky Wake at Don’t Panic on 01706 828855 or by e-mail nicky@dontpanicprojects.com
Tickets can also be booked on line at -
www.dontpanicprojects.com/booking.htm
Podcasting, a PR tool
THE City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has become the first major ensemble in the world to launch a regular podcast.
The free 30-minute monthly download includes the latest CBSO news, interviews and discussions with musicians and conductors as well as music clips.
The report in the Manchester Evening News shows how podcasting can be used in public relations to help promote and build communities online. Well done City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Soccer podcast launched
The Times has announced that kicking off from next Monday, TheGame will make its first appearance as an online show in the shape of The Game Podcast – presented by Danny Kelly.
Each week, the show will bring news, chat, debates and interviews with top football players and managers, starting with an exclusive interview with Michael Owen, the England and Newcastle star.
No doubt a target for some PR interaction, this is also an example of how podcasts (and associated blogs) offer a channel for communicators.
RSS a PR technique
Offering content to web masters and social media editors has always been a useful tactic for PR practice. Vasrue.com is launching a directory for articles with free RSS news feeds, travel portal design refresh, a travel blog and a newsletter. It is an example of how technologies like RSS can be used to deploy PR services and is reported in Internet Travel News.
In an effort to support other webmasters, Vasrue.com is offering its original articles through RSS news feed free of charge. Now newspapers, ezines, magazines and independent websites can effortlessly integrate fresh, captivating content from the Internet portal in no time. Each article is available for PDF download, RSS feed or browser printing.
In an effort to support other webmasters, Vasrue.com is offering its original articles through RSS news feed free of charge. Now newspapers, ezines, magazines and independent websites can effortlessly integrate fresh, captivating content from the Internet portal in no time. Each article is available for PDF download, RSS feed or browser printing.
The mobile platform for PR communication
The increasing functionality of cell phones is an area of interest to Public Relations as this platform for communication increases the range of communications channels available for adoption for public relations practice.
A study reported in Cellular News has found that location aware services will prove increasingly popular with 3G phone users. This interest in global positioning technology was one of the findings in the 2005/2006 National Technology Readiness Survey (NTRS) released last week. The annual survey also found that besides voice calls, the current most commonly used features on cell phones include text messaging, web surfing, email and picture messaging.
Survey respondents also reported an interest in Bluetooth technology that allows users to connect their cell phones to other devices without wires. Broadband internet access and MP3 uploading were high on the list of most desired features.
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