The PR Wire

2010-05-04T22:58:00.003+01:00

My last post for this digital media and PR class will reflect on my use of Twitter and its use in a recent public relations campaign.

Upon logging onto Twitter today, I learned that today is official Star Wars day, so for all you Jedi’s out there I take great pleasure in saying May the fourth be with you!

Last year I set up a Twitter account under the name lifeofPRstudent, initially I used it to keep abreast of the latest developments with the CIPR Scotland board elections and since then my main use of Twitter has been to publicise my blog. This has been successful to a certain extent, as I mentioned in my Google analytics post that a few Twitter followers visited my blog.

One feature of Twitter that I really like is the ability it gives to share information, I created various ‘lists’ on my account which allowed me to group followers into PR people, classmates, and other friends. This has been great for keeping up to date with what the rest of the PREP 67 class are blogging about. However my overall my use of Twitter has been fairly minimal, since creating my account I haven’t had the urge to tell my followers (the vast majority of whom I don’t actually know) what I’m up to every hour of the day. Maybe if I had one of these ‘Smartphone’s’ that allow users to access mobile internet at a far greater speed than my rusty Sony Ericsson I’d be more inclined to tweet on a regular basis.

Twitter is an excellent way of keeping up to date with the latest news in different topics, I’ve followed a lot of the election coverage on Twitter- I can go to the Labour, Conservative or Lib Dems page and find out where each of the candidates are going to be on that day.

A recent example that highlights the use of Twitter in PR campaigns is the ‘shoe hunter’ campaign which has recently been launched by designer Jimmy Choo. The campaign will see a pair of trainers from the new Jimmy Choo range 'check in' online at fashionable hot spots around London by sending real-time updates via Twitter.

Brand enthusiasts will then have several minutes to track them down and get to the location in order to win the shoes in their size. As I mentioned in my social network fever blog, it is becoming increasingly popular for companies to use sites like Twitter to create a buzz around a product and generate word of mouth.

The concept was created in conjunction with social media agency FreshNetworks and is the first time Jimmy Choo has employed social media to engage with its audience online and offline simultaneously.

Well guys, as this is my last post as part of the digital PR module, I’d like to thank all my followers for their comments over the last ten weeks. I hope you found my posts interesting and relevant.

One love.

Google Analytics

2010-05-04T20:59:00.005+01:00

During the last few weeks I’ve been using Goggle analytics in an attempt to learn more about how people are using my blog. To be honest I had great difficulty installing Google analytics, so my findings are considerably lower than they would have been if I had gotten to grips with it earlier.

Did anyone else find installing Google analytics a challenge? I had to resort to following some YouTube tutorial videos to help me get the programme running successfully. As you can see from my hit counter (which stands as 267 at the point of publishing) my blog hasn’t been hugely popular.

I enjoyed limited success from promoting my blog on social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, my blog received 36 and 18 visits from these websites respectively. It is not surprising that most of my visits came from PREP 67 classmates, with more than 80% of hits from the U.K. However Google analytics did inform me that I had some views from further afield, in countries like Bahrain, America and Canada.

So, what did I learn from Google analytics? I would say the main lesson is that it’s pretty tough to set up properly! However, I can definitely see why it would be beneficial for organizations to have, it allows then to see where their internet traffic is coming from which allows for easy distinction of publics. Google analytics tells us much more about the use of our blogs than a typical hit counter and the fact that Google analytics is free is also a major benefit.

I came across an article in Mashable that reveals Googles plans to open a full application gallery for its Google Analytics services. This will also users to analyse their internet traffic for specific elements of their campaign such as SEO, site auditing, content management and email martketing.

Obama Chats to the PR wire

2010-05-01T22:47:00.001+01:00

PR expert Panel and Networking event

2010-04-19T11:41:00.005+01:00

Canapé Craig Fergusson pulled off a great evening on Thursday and I would like to thank him for all the effort he put in to ensuring the night was a huge success!

The purpose of this blog is to talk about Craig McGill’s presentation on Digital Media and Brand Development. Craig delivered his presentation from a Scottish perspective which I found quite refreshing as most of our course text book examples focus on the role of social media from a broader U.K or American scope.

Loads of the stuff Craig covered is very relevant to our up-coming report for PREP 67...here’s a link to the slide show for those who missed it

The presentation delivered some astounding statistics that really drove home the fact that Scotland is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to being digitally ‘savvy.’ For example did you know that out of the 13 newspapers in Scotland only 4 have dedicated online staff? AND none of Scotland’s six radio stations have any online staff!

This news is quite frightening when Mashable-the world’s most visited social media news site was actually created in Scotland! As the next generation of PR professionals we can play a part in shaping the digital future of the industry...

As Craig quite rightly said ‘You can’t think Scottish because you serve the globe’. The internet is most peoples first point of call when they want to find out about something new, when searching for your brand/company they don’t want to find ‘we can’t ship there’ or ‘we don’t do online’ as they will simply go elsewhere. Today companies are more than bricks and mortar and a decent corporate site should represent an investment similar to the impact on reputation that a good headquarters has.

I think Craig’s company, Contently Managed has a great website and some of the stuff on their could definitely be of benefit come report-writing time! Check it out and let me know what you think...

I’m keen to get some more feedback about Thursday''s event, who was your favourite speaker? How did you enjoy the networking event? Was there enough wine....? :)

The Social Network Fever

2010-04-13T20:53:00.010+01:00

My PREP67 class mates have had the mid-semester break to reflect on group A’s presentation about ‘The use of Social Network Sites in PR Campaigns’. What did the audience think? Despite our technical difficulties I reckon we did pretty well!

Talking for an hour did seem like a daunting task, however once myself, Gigha, Kathyrn and Kirsten got into it we soon discovered that we could talk for ages about the topic.

It is clear from our presentation that social media is being used as an effective communicative tool in PR campaigns. My fifteen minute slot in the presentation looked at how a boutique PR agency in London has successfully integrated social media into a campaign...

The name Fever PR may not mean anything to you, but you’ll definitely heard of their clients (Warner Brother, Mercedes Benz, Swatch Watches and Toshiba) to name a few.

In 2009 Fever were given the task of launching the Friends 15th anniversary DVD box set. Although the team knew that everyone loved Friends they realised that many people thought it had nothing new to offer since the show’s last episode was aired in 2004 and since then there’s been endless repeats (and a terrible spin off show with Matt Le Blanc!) Fever came up with the idea of the central perk pop-up which would see the shows iconic cafe return to London’s cosmopolitan area of Soho for two weeks.

Fever created Facebook fan pages for the pop-up cafe, which generated a huge amount of interest and led to queues outside the cafe each day. Facebook was instrumental in the campaign as it was effectively used as a platform to create a buzz about the cafe. This word-of-mouth coverage was achieved at a relatively low cost and highlights how influential social media sites can be.

Fever also hired Gunther from Friends to serve coffees which went down well with customers. The central perk pop-up concept received a great deal of national press coverage including an article in The Guardian, and T.V coverage on the BBC and Sky News. The pop-up cafe was also one of the top ten tweeted about topics in the opening week of business as it was mentioned by more than 13,000 users.

Many of the guests who pulled up a pew on the iconic cafe sofas bought the DVD box set which was one of the biggest selling titles at Christmas.

The recurring theme throughout our presentation was the use of social media to publicise campaign events. Social media are an ideal platform for this due to the number of people who use sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. What’s more is that this publicity can be generated cheaply through the successful adoption of social media as part of an integrated PR campaign.

Has anyone spotted another PR campaign that used social media well? Or maybe one that hasn’t? I bet there are a few good examples of companies that have ‘dived in’ and used social media because it seems like the fashionable thing to do...

Is Tiger out of the Woods?

2010-04-13T17:24:00.003+01:00

Last week Tiger Woods made his return to golf at the US Masters, five months after sordid allegations surrounding his personal life rocked the sporting and celebrity gossip world.

The rumour mill was in full swing (pun fully intended) about the extent of Tiger’s numerous extra-marital affairs, allegations that Swedish super model wife, Elin Nordegren attacked the world’s number one golfer with a club after finding out the extent of his cheating forced Tiger to take a self imposed hiatus from the game and sparked some hilarious re-constructive videos about how the supposed attack played out.

The media came up with the name ‘Cheetah Woods’ and generally had a field day spilling the beans on the string of affairs he had with numerous women over the last five years. Tiger admitted himself to a sex-addiction rehab clinic to address what he described as ‘inappropriate transgressions’.

Tiger’s clean-cut, family man image was shot to pieces and many of his biggest sponsors like Gatorade and AT&T cut their multi-million dollar ties with the fourteen time major winner. This public move by some of his endorsers dealt a big blow to Tiger 'the brand', however his biggest sponsor, Nike stood by their man and released a controversial advert on the eve of the Masters featuring the voice of Wood’s deceased father, Earl.

The professional golf world was split in their support for their colleague. European tour veteran Jasper Parnevik publically condemned Tiger’s behaviour while American John Daly backed Wood’s after he faced such criticisms.

During his break from the game Tiger made two announcements, the first was a public apology in front of a select number of journalists and the second was to reveal his intentions to play at Augusta. At the first conference no questions were allowed from the media and he avoided any questions about his private life at the second. Tiger did mention that he would appreciate some cheers from the Augusta galleries during the tournament, and the golfing world waited with baited breath to see and hear what reaction he got...

Tiger walked onto the first tee at Augusta on Thursday to a rapturous applaud from the crowd, as they seemed to have granted the man who built golf as a global brand a second chance. He showed flashes of brilliance throughout the four day tournament as well as some wild hooked drives and too many missed putts. He finished in fourth position (much to my annoyance because I had £20 on him to finish in the top three at 6/1) which was not enough to secure a fairy-tale win upon his return to the game.

The Tiger Woods story is a fascinating one in that he has been exposed as one of the biggest serial celebrity cheaters in recent times, yet upon his return golfers fans seem to be, on the whole, united in their support for him. I accept that this has not been an easy ride for Tiger (again pun fully intended) however he seems to have emerged from this fiasco safely on the other side. The media storm that brewed has turned into more of a slight-breeze, and although only yesterday an article appeared in the Scottish Sun about ANOTHER affair, it seems that golfing fans are willing to forgive and forget...

Catholic Church in Global Crisis

2010-03-27T15:50:00.003Z

The global child abuse allegations surrounding Catholic Church priests literally landed at Pope Benedict’s front door yesterday.

A group of victims appeared on Italian television to claim that two dozen priests had abused children at a school for the deaf for decades. Former pupils at the school spoke on a live broadcast on RAI, an Italian state television channel.

The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) had appealed to Benedict to take action while in his previous role as Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the office charged with disciplining clergy.

It seems that the lid is about to blow on global child abuse claims in the Catholic Church, as new allegations are propelled into the media spotlight on a daily basis. This is highlighted by the fact that 5 of last week’s most read timesonline.co.uk articles were concerned with the Church’s child abuse allegations.

The Catholic Church’s response to this crisis has been terrible to say the least. There has been a distinct lack of response from official spokespeople which has allowed the media frenzy to escalate out of control. It has emerged that in the past the Catholic Church has tried to keep claims of child abuse ‘hush hush’ by paying off victims large sums of money. One such example was seen recently in Ireland where one woman was paid £45,000 only on condition that she never reveals details of her allegations. Furthermore, to date only a small proportion of the priests to be accused of abuse have faced legal proceedings as Benedict and his predecessor John Paul II have continually ordered those in question to a life of ‘prayer and penitence’.

The actions of the Italian victims seems to have provided the drastic wake up call the Catholic Church needed to address their problems as it was announced a global inquiry over the cover-up of child sex abuse scandals in the Church will be carried out. The sheer scale of the job at hand was reflected in the news that the inquiry is estimated to cost more than £40 million and five years to complete.

The Catholic Church and the brand it represents have been rocked to the core by the recent wave of sex abuse claims. From a PR perspective, the church’s passive strategy has left a lot to be desired. It has taken immense pressure from the public and the media for this inquiry to be announced, but how relevant will the investigation be? My worry is that the church will merely scratch at the surface of this problem and fail to go into any great detail as to provide answers.

The inquiry is expected to cost around £40 million, but is a figure nearer £100 or £200 million what’s needed to fully investigate the sex abuse claims that have manifested in the Catholic Church?

Digital Government

2010-03-23T12:00:00.000Z

Yesterday Gordon Brown announced plans to provide super-fast broadband for every home by 2020. The Prime Minister says this move will dramatically cut public spending and create around 250,000 jobs.

The proposal coincided with the launch of the "MyGov’ initiative that aims to give everyone in the U.K a personalised online dashboard. This will allow members of the public to access all public services in one place- from paying council tax to making a doctor’s appointment.

In today’s class we discussed how organisations are using digital media into campaign plans. Surely the government will have on hell of a job trying to convince people of the need for a ‘paperless society’, especially as only one third of the country’s population currently has broadband connection.

Despite Labour promising that the plans will create new jobs, critics (mainly the Conservatives) have already warned the digitalization of the public sector could also cause the closure of job centres and other physical offices that deal with tax, passports and housing benefits.

I think it’s a lovely idea that everyone could log on to their ‘Govbook’ page and do everything from the comfort of their own home. What’s not so lovely are the rumours that Labour are planning to impose a broadband council tax to help pay for the scheme-we’ve not got it ,yet already Alasdair Darling is dreaming up ways of making the public pay!

What other whoppers will be unveiled in tomorrow’s budget?

Nestle: A social media crisis?

2010-03-22T10:27:00.000Z

This week Nestle, one of the U.K’s leading confectionary manufacturers has come under intense criticism from hot-tempered tweeters and furious Facebookers.

Environmental protection activists Greenpeace alleged that Nestle purchased palm oil from Sinar Mas, an Indonesian company accused of illegal deforestation of rainforests. Greenpeace have posted a video titled ‘Give the Orang-Utan a Break’on their homepage.

The rumours outraged members of the public, who have responded by posting critical comments on Nestles Twitter and official Facebook site. On Thursday of last week, Nestle was on of the top ten tweeted about topics, with thousands of people statuses containing a link to the Greenpeace video and the message ‘Stop Nestle buying palm oil from companies that destroy the rainforests.’ On Friday and article in prweek.com commented that the situation was quickly becoming a ‘major social media fail’. Nestle's Facebook page has been bombarded with comments that describe their ethics as 'disgraceful' while others call for mass boycotts of Nestle products.

This latest viral campaign has had an adverse effect on Nestles share prices which dropped over the weekend. What can Nestle do to fight back and regain confidence in the market? Digital media experts suggest they should address the key issues of this criticism and post a video on YouTube in response to the Greenpeace video.

It will be very interesting to see if this negative publicity damages Nestles Easter egg sales in the run-up to what is arguably, the confectionary industry’s most profitable season...

Making a PR Drama out of a crisis

2010-03-11T16:49:00.000Z

Steven Purcell, the former Glasgow City Council leader resigned last week amid rumours of alcohol and drug abuse, could have possibly returned to politics in the future, had his departure not been handled badly by so called ‘PR gurus’.

Purcell, who was once touted as a future First Minister candidate ignored the advice from fellow councillors to come clean (excuse the pun) about his vices and thus not closing the door on a political comeback sometime in the future. Instead the 37 year-old enlisted the help of Glasgow-based PR firm Media House to handle the situation.

It was his decision to hire one of the major players in Scotland’s media scene that inevitably alerted the press to the fact that there was more to the story that met the eye. It was widely reported throughout the week that Jack Irvine, executive chief of Media House refused a number of draft resignation proposals from Glasgow City Council that referred to Purcell’s ‘chemical dependency’ and recommended stating a ‘leave of absence on medical advice’.

Irvine’s attempt to hoax the media into believing Purcell’s problems were limited to stress and exhaustion was foolish and failed to take into consideration the rumours that were already circulation on the internet. Political blogger Guido Fawkes’ order-order website was rife with conspiracies surrounding Purcell’s departure and it seemed that for every rumour Jack Irvine and co. tried to mask another five were leaked to the press or released online. The most severe example of these being that Purcell apparently tried to commit suicide while in a rehab clinic. This crisis highlights the fact that PR firms can do their utmost to limit traditional media speculation but the same cannot be applied to the internet.

In my opinion the public deserved to know the details surrounding Purcell’s resignation. At the end of the day, this guy earned £60,000 a year, was in charge of 30,000 staff and a budget of £2 billion. Surely the Glasgow tax payers have a right to know he also had a class A drug habit?

It seems to be the end of the line for Purcell...

David Meerman Scott-rewriting the PR rulebook

2010-03-04T17:45:00.000Z

David Meerman Scott is an author, blogger, strategist and keynote conference speaker. I first came across his name whilst doing my dissertation literature review and googled him to see what popped up. Curiosity led me to his Twitter page and it was there I came across this interesting video interview in which he talks about the role of social media in PR. The interview relates to Scott's book The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Albeit his views focus on American perspectives, nonetheless Scott makes some interesting points about how practitioners can use social media as an effective PR tool. Scott also talks about the role of press releases and common mistakes PR organizations often make when using social media.

At some points it’s hard to take the interviewer’s cheesy style seriously due to his excessive brown nosing. The video is still definitely worth a look however I would recommend sacking it off at the 18 minute mark because Scott starts talking about Return on Investments and other marketing- related topics.

On a lighter note Scott reminisces about when he first started blogging and how he went from his mother being his only follower to now having over 37,000 subscribers! Although no one in PREP67 is likely to gain that much interest a certain female class member is gathering quite a large number of fans on http://www.hottweeters.com/...

Better late than never!

2010-03-04T16:05:00.000Z

Sorry it took me ages to get this blog up and running! Watch this space for exciting news about digital media and PR...