PR nowandthen

Are Maclaren losing the online reputation battle?

Pushchair manufacturer Maclaren announced yesterday that it was recalling some of its models in the US over fears of little fingers getting trapped and injured in the hinges.  Potentially hugely damaging to its reputation: it's one of the most important purchases a parent makes, as of this morning, it's looking like Maclaren are struggling to win the PR battle.  Firstly they're only recalling products in the US which has led to comments like this one popping up all over the internet:

 

It may well be that there is a valid reason for it (they vaguely try to answer it in the guardian piece) but if so, they're not getting the message across.

Secondly their PR response appears to be woefully inadequate. There is an overlay on the home page of the site explaining the recall and a 'click here for more information' but you are then taken to a general news page (below) rather than straight to the information, meaning you have to click again to see details.  That page does have a FAQ but again it's a bit woolly about why they are recalling in the US and not the UK.

 
 

Thirdly it's hard to see them doing much proactive outreach.  The twitterverse is full of chatter about the recall and yet their own twitter feed appears to be broken? Oh dear Maclaren, come on.  You've got to move now, not in 2 hours or 12 hours or 24 hours.  The clock is ticking.....

Where does PR sit with social media?

Often I find debates curated on twitter fairly dull. Lots of posts all about the same thing flooding your twitter stream and adding nothing but the other day there was a really interesting one set up by hashtagsocialmedia.  Todd Defren moderated a conversation about the role of PRs within social media.  He covered topics such as where does social media belong within a corporate environment,what should a PR plan integrated with social media look like plus the relationship between PR, social media and SEO.

Many people suggest that the PR team within an organisation are not the right people to look after social  media because PR = spin whereas social media = transparency.  I'd completely disagree with that.  Having worked with digital agencies, SEO agencies and PR agencies, I'd say that PR people are the most natural to look after social media because they are familiar with building relationships, generating that 'talkability' factor and starting conversations.  The irony is however that at the moment PR agencies are the least well equipped to be able to handle social media effectively since, with a few notable exceptions, they're lagging behind in their understanding of the online environment.  They need to change that...and quickly.

You can see some of the twitter responses to Todd Defren's questions on the righthand side of the page here (although this page may well change in the future).

The learning curve

It was interesting to read Will McInnes' latest post Social Media Market Hots Up - these guys are better placed than most to ponder on how the market has changed over the last few years.

For me it reminds me of web development 15 or so years ago.  Clients were largely unsophisticated in their buying of digital.  There was no such thing as a web strategy, very few digital marketing professionals and a big rush to get a website with no understanding of why, what it was for, or how it would help the business.  Fast forward and they are much clearer in their briefing, sophisticated in their understanding and therefore their expectation are quite rightly greater.

In social media land clients seem to be falling into one of three camps:

1. Those who are ignoring it all in the hope it just goes away.
2. Those who believe they should be 'doing' social media but who don't want to know that it's anything other than a Facebook page (the rest of it is too messy, tricky, hard to put in a box)
3. Those who understand that social media is fundamentally changing what customers expect from and have taken steps to ensure that this feeds into all areas of their business (either because they are a young flexible company or because someone at board level actually gets it).

Right now I'd say that most are in camp 2 but give it a couple of years and, like web development, they will have moved up that curve and that will be a good thing for everyone.

In the meantime, this great post from Mike Arauz kind of sums up where I'm at.

And let's not forget that this approach is still very much out there....

dilbert.com

A Slice of the Social Media Pie

There is so much chatter about who should deliver social media for their clients.  Pretty much every day I speak to agencies who are battling a landgrab and clients who are, well, frankly just confused. 

Econsultancy's online PR Industry Benchmarking report completed at the end of last year demonstrated that clients are unsure where this part of their comms strategy sits within their agency roster (and internally, but that's another blog post). 

51% of clients reported using a PR agency to deliver social media, while 29% used their search marketing agencies and 22% their web development agencies. 

This debate shows no sign of being resolved any time soon. If anything the waters are becoming more muddied.  Having worked as a freelancer with all three of these different types of agency, my honest response would be that PR agencies (or 'pure' social media agencies) are best placed to deliver social media engagement, they already inhabit a world of stories and conversations.  They understand about connecting with influencers and developing ideas designed to initiate debate.  They're also already plugged into the client with this remit. 

BUT the biggest irony is that, while PR agencies might be the most natural people to deliver social (with a few great exceptions) they are currently the least well equipped to deal with it.  Lots are catching up but an equal number are living in blissful ignorance.

Photo by Daniel Greene

What's makes a social media expert?

'nuff said.

5 ways to jump into online PR

Quite a few times over the last month I've been asked about how you 'do' online PR, or how you make a start.  There are many people much more qualified than me to do justice to that question but for now, here are my 5 starter tips.

1. Set up google alerts for relevant terms (your own and client specific).
2. Get into the habit of checking these and when you find a blog of particular interest, subscribe via an RSS reader.  I use Feedly but there are many others.
3. If you're not already, get onto Twitter; important for three reasons, firstly because you need to use it to be able to explain to clients how it works, secondly because it's a great way to pick up on the latest developments in the world of online PR and thirdly because many journalists use it as a way to find stories.
4. Set aside time to research the online environment for each of your clients because it will be different depending on sector.
5. Play around with some of the free online monitoring tools, set up profiles for each of your clients.

But most importantly don't get so carried away with the great technology and tools that you forget about objectives.  Just because it's online, doesn't mean you should lose sight of what you're trying to achieve.

Who's Tweeting?

Yesterday I asked a question on Twitter about whether people felt it was right for PRs to ghost tweet for their clients. 

Becky McMichael captured and commented on some of the initial responses and 24 hours later I'm finally getting round to blogging my own thoughts on the matter.

The reason I asked the question in the first place was because I'd heard about an agency that had just set up and is planning to run, seven separate Twitter accounts on behalf of a client.  I won't go into the specific circumstances here but it set off alarm bells ringing in my head.  Client is (apparently) happy as they have been able to tick a box - Twitter - check.  PR agency happy - revenue stream, foot through the social media door for this particular client but I can't help but wonder what the outcome will be.  To be fair I don't know whether they have carefully considered all the implications, whether they've set up a strategy to deal with potential customer service issues, thought about how they will deal with specific questions, whether they will be overt that it's them and not company employees tweeting etc (truth is I suspect they've probably half considered some of this stuff and then just thought they'd do it anyway).

So here's my view.  I don't think it's categorically wrong for people other than the client themselves to Tweet but I do have some specific concerns. 

1. I think it's probably fairly straightforward with a smaller client who won't attract customer service issues and about who there wouldn't necessarily be an expectation that they have the resources to do it in house but for a larger brand or B2C business - the potential for getting into a sticky mess is far greater.
2. When the account is new and doesn't have a large number of followers, I'm sure it's feasible to say we'll tweet 3 times a day on each account (yes in the example above they are apparently being that specific) but it's nonsense to think you can be that prescriptive with Twitter.  Irony is that if they want it to be successful they're going to have to enter into conversations, be interesting, respond, engage.  But in doing so, they could easily get out of their depth.  Yet if they keep it bland it's not worth doing in the first place.
3. Quite a few responses on Twitter suggested that it's no different to writing other material for clients, releases, marketing copy etc.  But on this I disagree, that kind of communication is very different to Twitter which is about a conversation between two or more people,  it's not about pushing a prescribed message out there (even if from time to time brand info, special offers or whatever, are - transparently- shared).
4. If we believe that social media engagement can have real benefits for clients then shouldn't we be helping clients to learn how to do it themselves? Of course it's not always realistic to expect them to go from having never used Twitter to running seven separate accounts and they might have resource issues but they're never going to fully embrace social media if we don't help them to make a start on the journey.  It's like never teaching your child how to feed themselves because it's easier, faster and less messy just to do it for them.

I think that everyone accepts that pretending to be the client is wrong, but this issue is about much more than that and while some PR agencies understand all the implications completely, I fear that many more don't and the consequences of that will reflect on the industry as a whole.

Twitter bird http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthamm/3631563041/

A wild social media ride*

A trip to London on the same day as the tube strike was not looking promising.
Although delighted to be going to see the good people of econsultancy, particularly the uber talented
Michelle Goodall, the prospect of fighting my way through masses of peed off Londoners was not something to relish.

And then, thanks to Twitter, my day took an unexpected turn...

.....keen biker and digital man (not simultaneously) Paul_Clarke, came up with an inspired 'social experiment'.  Use the power of Twitter to give a helping hand to those in need of transport in London aka #tweetbike.

Next minute I am speeding along Euston road leaving tourists and pigeons in my wake. 

Truly a Knight on a Shiny Bike and an example of why I love my social networks, (gushy I know, but it's true).  It demonstrates the true power of social media - people, connections and trust. Five years ago I would never have got a lift on a motorbike from a complete stranger for nothing.  I wouldn't have been involved in organising a massive charity event with loads of people I'd never met from hundreds of cities across the globe and I wouldn't know any of the great people I do now.

Awesome.

Just don't tell my mum about the bike thing.

*NB very pleased with my self discipline for avoiding the 'I got a great ride in London' gag.

 

11/06/09 UPDATE: the BBC covered the story today

Into the Twitterverse

After the incredibly useful and much reproduced Conversation Prism, PR superstar Brian Solis unveils the Twitterverse - a graphical representation of Twitter's world divided up by the functions of some of the key apps.  Very neat and bound to be included in many a pitch document.

By Brian Solis and Jess3

A larger version available here.

It's not all bad

Us Now should be required viewing for cynics (and I count myself in that).  It's so easy these days to believe what we read about how bad everything and everyone is, how we're all fighting amongst ourselves and darkness is around every corner. I have kids. Which means it's inevitable that I am even more sensitive to how bleak things have become.

And then something comes along that restores your faith, lifts your soul and makes you remember that for all the bad folk, there are many more good folk.

Us Now reminds us that social networks have the power to bring out the best in people. Of course it's not all cookies and cream - it's important not to be naive but hey there are lots of good people out there and social networks have made it easier to find them. They interest you and challenge you, they know stuff that you want to know, they help people they've never even met.

At the beginning of the film they mention mumsnet, a site that is very close to my heart.  It was probably the first social network I joined.  In 2001 with a newborn that wouldn't stop crying, this forum was, without exaggeration, an place of immense refuge.  I talked to amazing people, had challenging and at times, difficult conversations, witnessed horrendous trauma and stunning intelligence and wit.  It helped me diagnose a (not life threatening but severely debilitating) condition in my second child - when the medical profession had dismissed me.  Of course, that kind of support network isn't particularly new but the internet has made it so much easier.

So despite the horrible stories, Us Now reminds us to lift our head from the gloom.  Watch it and glow.

Us Now from Banyak Films on Vimeo.