Great expectations

If I had a pound for every time we have had to explain to a client that it isn’t appropriate to ring journalists to check that they have got the latest news release, or that although their news may be of interest to the trade media, the FT, Guardian or Independent really are not going to get excited, I would be rich indeed. Pestering the press is perhaps the biggest faux pas in media relations, but some seem to think coverage is achieved by hammering the message home over and over again. Fair enough to remind a journalist if you know them well and know the news is genuinely going to be of interest. But if I only had another pound for every time I saw a journalist complain on Twitter about PRs calling them about irrelevant or unimportant stories….……..

Part of the job of any good PR, especially in the B2B tech industry, is advising clients what not to do and managing expectations. It is something our clients respect us for. Admittedly, we have had clients jump ship, wowed by promises of endless coverage in the Guardian or the like, only to find that- unsurprisingly- the new agency couldn’t deliver. And I am proud to say that we’ve had ex-clients come back when they realise the error of their ways and that a fantastic article in the right industry publication is worth a thousand times more than a sentence in the wrong one.

‘Managing expectations’ is not negativity and not because we aren’t good at what we do and capable of getting the best coverage, it is purely and simply an attempt to focus on what is achievable. And in fact, for many, good coverage in the right trade magazines and sites that are read by decision makers is worth far more than a mere mention in the FT.

Of course, for the right topical stories, there are always good opportunities. The two areas I primarily work in, mobile comms and info security, are big issues and will on occasion have national media interest.

We often ask clients to take a look at the type of topics covered in the FT and other target media so we can help them to focus on generating relevant, topical and interesting content. Getting the best coverage is all about delivering the right content for the appropriate readership.

Like everything in life, one size doesn’t fit all in PR. While the update to a client’s software in all its technical glory may be of great interest to some media, to others it holds zero appeal. But if it is in response to a new highly dangerous Trojan that could wreak havoc, then it will of course have wider appeal. Target everything.

When I joined PRPR as a novice almost fresh from university, one of the first journalists I spoke to told me I was lucky because everyone at PRPR knew what they were doing and that he and other journalists respected the company for not time-wasting, for contacting with relevant information and having the right answers. That fact I am still with the company 16 years later shows he was correct and I am sure this is the reason PRPR has been recommended to companies time and time again by journalists.

Allie

The White Hat Rally- one Olympic race not to miss

Calling all Infosec adventurers!

This year, PRPR has the pleasure of working with White Hat Rally to promote its annual charity driving event in aid of children’s charity, Barnardo’s. Now, we wouldn’t normally condone shameless plugging in a blog, but this is for a good cause, so we think it’s ok!

22 teams from the infosecurity industry have already signed up to take part and pledged to raise at least £1,000 each for Barnardo’s in the “Chariots on Fire” Olympic-themed event that will see teams driving from Market Harborough to Milton Keynes over and action-packed three days in June. And we’re encouraging more to do the same! If you work in the infosecurity industry and are a petrol head or an adventure seeker- this is the perfect opportunity to have an exciting time and help children across the UK. There is still plenty of time for new teams to sign up to take part in the event, which runs from June 22nd to 24th 2012.

It will be a lot of fun with some great activities planned including off-road rally driving, a HGV challenge and even a double decker bus and skid pan experience!

There are three ways you can help: 1) sign up a team from your company; 2) make a donation; and 3) sponsor the event.

Visit www.whitehatrally.org to see how you could make a difference.

White space in action

Over the years that I have been in tech PR – more years than I care to remember – I have been genuinely excited about many new technologies. But I have to say that white space is up there with best and I believe it will have a major impact on communications in the next 10 years.

The Cambridge White Space Consortium (Adaptrum Inc., Alcatel-Lucent, Arqiva, BBC, BSkyB, BT, Cambridge Consultants, CRFS, CSR plc., Digital TV Group (DTG), Microsoft Corp, Neul, Nokia, Samsung, Spectrum Bridge Inc., The Technology Partnership plc. (TTP) and Virgin Media) trials came to an end last week. As PR for TTP and Cambridge Wireless, who hosted the event, I was lucky enough to attend the review at Duxford Air Museum where the results of ten month’s of white space tests in rural and urban areas were presented to regulators, legislators and industry executives from around the world.

It was clear that the trials had been a success in proving that television white spaces can work in multiple use cases and achieve wide area coverage, delivering affordable rural broadband and a new generation of M2M applications from smart metering to traffic control.

The presentation by Richard Walker from TTP emphasised the low cost of deployment in rural areas and highlighted the impressive economic potential for white space technology. The biggest hurdle is to make sure regulators around the world recognise the potential of white space that could change our lives in much the same way as wifi has.

TTP believes that white space technology could help drive the UK economy forward by providing high performance rural broadband for up to 2million ‘un-served’ premises across the country. With research suggesting that every 10 percent increase in broadband penetration could increase GDP by 1 percent, this could mean well over £10billion per year for the UK economy.

As UK Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said of the consortium trials: “I find the idea of using white space devices to deliver broadband to rural communities, or to expand the range and quality of urban Wi-Fi hotspots, exciting. This can form a significant contribution to our thinking as we consider how to maximise the value of the spectrum below 1GHz.”

Who knows what the future holds: Let’s just say ‘watch this white space’

Another Infosec

As I queued up outside Earl’s Court at 9.30 to get into Infosecurity Europe 2012, I tried to remember how many Infosecs I have been to. It certainly runs into double figures. And sad though it may seem, I was once again looking forward to it. Competition aside, the security industry is a pretty close knit community and it is a great opportunity to meet up with clients, journalists, PRs and other industry folk. The show floor looked pretty full with very few ‘sitting’ areas and the press office was once again buzzing. Many of the IT security press have been going to Infosec for as long as me so always good to catch up without pestering – heaven forbid!

Unlike some other years, there was no overriding theme at this year’s show as far as I could make out and from comments from the press office. Quite a few exhibitors were offering their own ‘solution’ to BOYD – or Bring Your Own Device – while virtual security played heavily. Our own client WatchGuard was talking about its own virtual XTM and XCS products due to be launched in a few weeks. Signify was also reporting brisk interest in its token and tokenless 2FA hosted solutions – dispelling the claims by some of the other vendors that tokens are on the way out.

Finally, cloud security was for the second or third year running clearly still on the agenda. The immaturity of cloud security was highlighted by the discovery of Dirty Disks by our client Context. Check out: Dirty Disks blog

With over 10,000 unique visitors, it is clear that the Infosec industry is pretty healthy.

See you next year!

Changing face of PR

Social media, digital PR, online PR, whatever you want to call it has become an important focus for many businesses over the last few years. As a result, a whole host of companies have sprung up to jump on the bandwagon and offer a range of new and exciting PR services. They talk about social media as if it were a black art that only social media gurus can master; and strike the fear of god into businesses that are failing to engage with their audiences online.

But is it really so different from what PR people have always done?

PR has always been about identifying who you need to engage with and ensuring the right message is delivered to these audiences in the right way. But the way we do this has changed. In the old days, it was all about getting in print. This, more often than not, meant telephone calls to editors, press conferences and lunches, along with writing clear and concise news releases that were printed, stuffed and posted out – or perhaps faxed if appropriate. Media lists came from a big book rather than an online database and it was all about establishing relationships and knowing journalist likes and dislikes.

Technology changed things and, as an industry, PR was quick to embrace the wonders of email. At first, only a few journalists wanted press releases that way and again it was important to know who they were. And then from the late 80s there were newsgroups and CIX conferences – that provided another way to communicate with the press.

Now we are in the middle of the social media revolution and this new world of immediate 24/7 news and information and user generated content is changing the way we do business. Social media is certainly providing new and exciting opportunities to talk journalists and, just like before, PR has had to adapt the way it communicates. Some journalists, for example, like to be pitched via Twitter – challenging PRs to manage to get the message across in 140 characters or less. And there are even some journalists that are exclusively sourcing story ideas through Twitter.

But it’s not just about journalists – a whole new media has sprung up. Key influencers online could be anyone and a respected and well read blogger, for example, must be given as much importance. Of course, the way you approach this new audience is different from a traditional journalist; but it’s not rocket science. Adapt your content and your tone for each and everyone – it’s what we do best, being social and communicating to people in the right way. It is just that now there are more people and more variables.

Digital PR does mean some blurring of the lines between what is the job of the marketing department and what is PR, as often it means communicating directly with the end user – delivering news and other content through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media forums.

The lines are also blurred between digital and traditional PR. In our 24/7 news culture, many publications have regularly updated online news sites, and some such industry icons such as Computer Weekly no longer publish in hardcopy – so where do these sit? PR is still communicating with the same journalists, in the same way. It just needs to be quicker, more dynamic and more proactive. As soon as news is out online we need to be monitoring for opportunities to comment where appropriate.

Basically, most PR companies have been quietly going digital for years, but we also recognise the important role traditional PR has to play for most companies. The problem is that now, all too often, companies are jumping too far onto the digital bandwagon simply because they have bought into the hype and think they should be doing it without proper analysis of how it will actually benefit their brand. Take Facebook; for an FMCG it can work well, but for an enterprise IT security vendor, for example, it may well just mean a lot of effort for very little return. And for social media to be effective, it does need a lot of human effort.

By using a specialist digital agency that has no traditional PR experience, the danger is that it is not properly integrated with media communications. In fact, it’s hard to see how you actually can separate the two and sometimes it only serves to shift the focus so far that traditional PR is neglected – a serious mistake for most businesses. In times when money is tighter than ever, it’s essential to focus on what gives you the most bang for your buck.
Of course there are some types of business – those that rely solely on driving people to their sites to buy – where digital has a bigger role to play; and for these, yes, a digital agency can do wonderful things. But for most, what is needed is an integrated approach that takes the overall corporate strategy, examines each and every target audience, identifies how best to get the message across and where to do it which any PR agency worth its salt will consider and plan PR as a whole around these points.

An integrated approach also means getting the most of all content. If you want to speak to CEOs of financial services companies for example, you can’t beat an informative traditional by-lined opinion piece in the FT or The Banker to give credibility; and no amount of tweets, re-tweets and blog discussions can replace that. However, once you have the piece published, it is likely it will also be online, so Twitter and LinkedIn can then help to spread the word further, ensuring that even those in your target audience that don’t read the publication are aware of it and can simply click on a link to see it.

All that is needed to get it right is to integrate knowledge of what will work in digital media for each client. Companies need to look for skilled a PR professionals that can focus on how best to reach the target audience, understand their company and their product, who they should be communicating to get the right message out and how best to do engage them. Put simply, if you don’t know who you should be talking to in digital media, it doesn’t matter how many Twitter followers or LinkedIn connections you have, the campaign will fail.

Just like when we got email and then when publications first went online, technology and the new breed of user generated content is taking PR to a new place and agencies need to adapt the way they do things. But never forget that, central to all of it, the core competencies of PR remain the same – without these, all you will do is waste energy creating a lot of shallow online noise without anything credible to back it up.

The future of Blanco Space!

Enjoying a good holiday break on the South Coast of Spain in the largely unspoiled Costa del la Luz I could not help checking out the news on the trusty BBC World Service. Sadly it prompted me to realise my age when I heard that the World Wide Web was 20 years old. I remember Ray Anderson of our then client IXI (now with Bango) attending the first World Wide Web conference and getting very excited. The rest is history of course – but 20 years of it has just flown past.

I like to think that we at PRPR have played a small part in spreading the world from the early IXI days to the recent work with clients such as Wapple – delivering the power of the web to mobile. But out in the middle of nowhere in the Spanish countryside also highlights the fact that the web still does not reach everyone. Fortunately, the Dutch owners of our villa have installed fixed internet access. It appears that they spend time out here working that certainly has its attractions. But this is unusual.

Far closer to home, broadband in rural areas still has a long way to go. That is why we are delighted to be working with new client TTP in Cambridge that is working on the use of so-called white space for providing rural broadband services. White space is the bits of unused spectrum in the TV and radio bands that are being freed for other uses – if the technology challenges can be solved. With a range of some 10km, white space may well provide a cost effective solution to make the www reach parts other technologies can’t reach (at least cost effectively).

That reminds me; I must go and get another cold beer.
Back soon.
Pedro @prpr

A look at the Future of Wireless

A guest blog by Laura-Jane Hughes (16)

As part of my week’s work experience at PRPR I attended the second day of the Future of Wireless International Conference organised by Cambridge Wireless. The main topic was Networks under Stress, and there were many companies who had a great deal to say about it.

Personally, my favourite speaker was Dr Tapani Ryhänen, who is the laboratory director for the Nokia Research Centre. I found his talk most interesting because it focused on new mobile phone technology that was really astounding, such as a phone that is flexible and can be turned into a bracelet, and how they are working to create a phone battery that you can bend. It felt like something out of a science fiction movie! Other than the many different speakers, there were also stands inside a marquee where you could find out about the many different companies.

Even though the sun was not shining, everyone seemed to enjoy networking and discussing the array of new products and wireless technologies. The overall message seemed to be that with the amount of new wireless devices available the network is becoming clogged up, so we must resort to something new – some called this using ‘good pipes’ not ‘bad pipes’.

What I found made the whole event better was the location – St John’s College in Cambridge. Surrounding the marquee were beautiful university buildings and small rivers complete with students punting, making the atmosphere much brighter despite the rain. I spent the morning listening to speakers from the BBC and Nokia. The BBC speaker was talking about a ‘dual screen experience’ where you can watch television with another screen such as a smartphone or tablet.

After the first speakers the audience gathered in the marquee for refreshments and to browse the stands. Some of the displays were remarkable, like one that included a robot that could draw graphs of the temperature on a large sheet of paper. This shows that in the future technology is going to be very amazing; even more than it is now. After the break everyone rushed back into the next talk that sparked more conversations between the largely male-dominated audiences.

After lunch, everybody flocked back to the auditorium where the last three speakers enlightened us with their views on the conference topic, ‘Networks under Stress’ in their individual, inspiring ways, summarizing the conference brilliantly. At the end of the day I’m sure that everyone who attended left feeling much more knowledgeable and happy to have met many other technical companies as they shared their views on what is going on in the wireless world. None of it could have been done without Soraya Jones who is the CEO of Cambridge Wireless, and her team, who made the conference excellent for everyone.

The church of PR

We’ve all no doubt experienced those clients who have claimed not to see an upturn in sales or increased ROI on a specific media hit or piece of coverage. I’ve even seen some PRs recently state that they won’t work with clients like this because they obviously don’t believe in what we do. Got me thinking- if PR is a ‘faith’ and something to be believed in, then aren’t we the preachers whose responsibility it is to provide a catechism for clients? Especially nowadays when every role in the marketplace ecosystem is constantly being evaluated and all employees are under pressure to justify their existences; are we so brazen to think PR should be accepted purely on blind faith alone? Of course not.

So, just how can we rescue the situation when clients have a crisis of faith?

You can attempt to prove it. Methods like calculating the advertising value equivalent (AVE) can work for clients who like bottom line figures to present to their boards. There are obvious problems, since the added value of the independence of PR over something paid for is invariably a figure plucked from the air. And readership of a publication doesn’t necessarily indicate its overall influence over the target market. Today, it is seen by many in the industry as out-dated, but nonetheless can serve as a useful exercise, particularly if in a direct comparison to an organisation’s ad spend, but it shouldn’t be solely relied upon.

Some may just need to be reminded that PR is not a direct sales function. In its simplest form, PR is about reputation building and management- supporting a brand and its credibility over time. It’s not a quick sell and involves intangibles that are impossible to quantify. After all, you can’t put a figure on the value of someone instinctively trusting a brand over another due to what they have read or seen in the press; the company, and indeed the new customer themselves, may never know PR was in part responsible for the sale.

Suggest a meeting with sales. While PR is not a direct sell, we have had much success with establishing good relationships with our clients’ sales teams or leaders. Allow them to become PR missionaries by making sure they are aware of your efforts and encourage them to direct prospective customers to recent media coverage. We’ve even helped clients include a clause in their new business contracts that covers PR to help with obtaining case studies and contract win stories where appropriate.

Remember that even with religion there is an end result in mind, and the same has to go for PR. The overall objective in most cases is to grow business. When that happens, it may not be possible to directly link or ‘prove’ an increase in sales or a higher customer retention rate in relation to PR; but you believe in PR, have implemented a good campaign and sales have gone up, so it must have played its part.

And a final thought- as long as you’ve been clear from the start that PR is a slow burn, set and delivered tangible objectives and, importantly, feel happy and confident in the work you’ve done- don’t beat yourself up if a there are still those clients who debunk. They’ll probably be back one day when sales drop!

Wireless networks under stress

The phenomenal growth in smartphones, tablets and other data-rich devices is driving up demand for mobile broadband services and putting our wireless networks under increasing stress and posing challenges for everyone in the wireless value chain. So the PRPR breakfast briefing hosted by Cambridge Wireless and Qualcomm with additional panel members from Alcatel, Neul/Ofcom and Bango was always going to be interesting. And it didn’t disappoint. I have always liked the round table format and it was clear that the journalists and all the participants enjoyed a fascinating, interactive debate on the challenges and the solutions.

One interesting point of discussion was that unlike most supply and demand scenarios, there is no willingness by users to fund their mobile data habits and it appears operators are in no rush to be the first to significantly increase data pricing. William Webb, from the Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board and CTO of Neul suggested, that while new technologies are emerging such as LTE and Femtocells, it is not a given that all demand has to be met. And I totally agree. He was quick to point out that: “Congestion happens in many other areas – on our roads for example – and either congestion or price rationing is likely to be necessary otherwise demand for a ‘free’ resource will become unbounded.”

So what about the Big ‘Wireless’ Society?

It was agreed that the only way that the forecast demand for wireless broadband can be met is to bring independent cells into a consolidated network; effectively a way of selling capacity ‘micro-generation’ into a large telecoms network. As consumers, we simply want seamless broadband connectivity – but who will deliver this? Will it be the current operators or will companies like Facebook and Google provide the front end to ubiquitous mobile broadband.

The breakfast briefing was a pre-cursor to the third Future of Wireless International Conference from 27 – 28 June organised by Cambridge Wireless with speakers from major industry players including Qualcomm, BBC, Broadcom, Deutsche Telekom, Huawei, Iridium, Nokia, Microsoft, Ofcom, Reliance and Three.

It’s good to talk. 60,000 visitors hit Barcelona for Mobile World Congress 2011

The GSMA reports that over 60,000 visitors from 200 countries attended this week’s GSMA – 10,000 more than last year. So good news for the industry and having just returned from a couple of days with the great and good of the mobile world, I can confirm that Barcelona was certainly buzzing.

And there was plenty to see and hear. The general opinion seemed to be that Android was everywhere but some of the other highlights included the first 3D phone, a clutch of new tablets to line up against the iPad and the prospect of Nokia and Microsoft working together.

Another hot topic was in-car mobile and our client RealVNC attracted a lot of attention for its VNC Mobile Solution for Automotive. And 15 minutes walk away in the App Planet , despite the domination of a large Blackberry presence, our client Adfonic also had a busy and successful week, reflecting the growing interest in mobile advertising.

With meetings and networking happening all around, hats off to the organisers for making sure you could always get a mobile connection. But of course there was one company missing. Despite winning the GSMA Best Mobile Device being awarded to the iPhone – an Apple stand was nowhere to be seen.