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

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.

Careless tweeter

This week saw the sudden sacking of PR firm Redner Group by its biggest client Take Two after Redner tweeted about awful reviews of the new game “Duke Nukem Forever” saying…….

“…too many went too far with their reviews. We r reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn’t based on today’s venom.”

Ouch

This was immediately seen to mean that reviews would only be given to those that write nice things in future. And on the face of it, yes it really does read like that. However, when you actually look at some of the rude, badly written and no doubt biased ‘reviews’, it is easy to see what the tweet may have been supposed to mean. Basically, that they wouldn’t be giving review copies out to just anyone who asked; in future they would go to genuine, independent, unbiased reviewers who could write a proper constructive review. A totally different proposition to how it came across.

The trouble with tweets is that it is hard to get more complex thoughts across and therefore they’re sometimes easily misunderstood. It is also all too easy to tweet without really checking or examining the way what you have written could be taken. I am sure if I go through my history of tweeting there are a few tweets that could be taken in many different ways. But as long as they are my views, people are welcome to take them how they want. However, Redner’s tweet sounded like it was speaking for Take Two and therefore – despite the fact that if they meant it in the way I think they did they were perhaps absolutely right to say what they did – Take Two really had no choice but to sack them.

It’s a terrible shame, but an important lesson for those of us in PR. Always check and recheck and think before you post anything in the capacity as a spokesperson for your clients or indeed your own company.

While it takes a second to tweet, it can’t be taken back once it’s out there and your mistakes are likely to spread far faster than your triumphs.

A blog off at prpr

prpr ran an internal competition to come up with a new name for this blog. Madalene Whitson from our consumer team was the very worthy winner and as you can see we have now re-launched and rebranded the blog as we blog @ prpr

Pictured below is Madalene taking a quick break from organising a big press launch for our client EUClaim to receive her prize from colleague Allie Andrews’ wine cellar.

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.

CES 2010

Well, 2011 got off to a hectic start when PRPR flew to sunny Las Vegas with a gang of techy journalists to visit the Consumer Electronics Show – the World’s Biggest Electronics Trade Show! I know, I know, it’s a tough job but someone has to do it!

Although this is the seventh year in succession that PRPR has supported the CEA with its UK pr the show is till overwhelming.

See below some incredible facts:-
•The exhibit space at CES covers more than 1.5 million net square feet – that’s equivalent to more than 31 football fields.

•Early attendance figures indicate more than 140,000 industry professionals attended the show – 2.5 times the number of slot machines on the Las Vegas Strip.

•More than 30,000 attendees came from outside the United States – 1.5 times the number of daily visitors to the Louvre in Paris.

•2,700 global technology companies unveiled state-of-the art consumer technology products

•By attending the CES, visitors avoided running up over 700 million miles of business travel – enough to travel from the earth to the sun seven times.

•The International CES recycles 122 tons of waste, more than the weight of copper used in the Statue of Liberty.

• 14,681 cups of coffee are sold at CES – that ‘s enough to provide one person with coffee for 13 years!

•It takes 130,000 man hours to put on CES – you’d need over 16,000 people to produce it in one day

•A person walking the carpeted length of the full CES show floor would clock up a half a marathon, more than 13 miles!

Sound like fun? Well, we’ll be doing it all again next January, so here’s a date for your diary – 10 – 13 January 2012.

Hope to see you there!