External Communications

Social Media – Another Case of ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, Evaluation, External Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media and tagged , , , , , , .

Oooh, ooh! Look! It’s new! It’s exciting! I’ve got to have one! What if everyone else has one and I don’t?

Yes, it’s Shiny Object Syndrome again. Further proof that the communications/marketing world is in danger of drowning – despite the stuff it’s drowning in being so incredibly, indescribably shallow.

Today, gentle communicatorists, the Shiny Object of our Syndrome is apps. iPhone Apps in particular, but please take it to mean any app that can be downloaded or installed on your device of choice.

There I was, ghosting around the net (I think that’s a splendid term and perfectly describes the squillions of people, moving around the netosphere at any one time, leaving no trace save for a record of their IP address and clickety proclivities – both bits of information that are of no use at all to the ‘social media marketer’), and I found someone pleading for an answer to the question:

“How are you using iPhone Apps in your marketing and PR plans?”

Virals, anyone? (ie a useless waste of money that achieves little cut through and no tangible ROI.) Luckily, in amongst the ‘social media marketing experts’, who were gushing about how the design and production of bespoke branded iPhone Apps  represents the future of marketing and communications (or, at least, will keep them employed when Twitter and FaceBook inevitably turn to dust in their hands), there were one or two brave souls who simply said ‘what’s the point?’ Just another fad in the making and one that our experience should tell us is likely to be simply an expensive chimaera.

As ideas go – well, you cannot polish a turd. Seemingly, however, you CAN roll it in glitter.

Oh – and virals. As if further proof were needed of what an incredible waste of time, effort, technology and budget they are, have a look at this:

http://newteevee.com/2009/08/11/the-megawoosh-waterslide-viral-how-it-was-really-done/

Great film. Turns out it’s a ‘carefully crafted viral ad for Microsoft’s Office suite’. So carefully crafted, in fact, that the result is promotionally homeopathic. The brand message has been diluted so much that it is no longer there.

How can anyone see any value in this? Or is it that the executives who commissioned it have a particularly bad case of SOS?

The Bog of Social Networks – Mayhem in a PC

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, External Communications, Marketing, Social Media and tagged , , , , , , .

Right. Dig out your very best tweed. Ratchet your age up (or down) to about 60-ish. A moustache is optional (especially for the ladies) but, if you’re wearing one, make it big. And bushy. It would help if you were red in the face, and if you could get various bits of you to quiver in outrage, then so much the better. Middle-class and middle-England is what we’re aiming at here – driven slightly demented by the combined forces of change and the Daily Mail. Splutter a bit and do it in the ver’, ver’ finest cut-crystal accent that you can muster. You are as bemused as Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave and as angry as John Malkovich in Burn After Reading. Ready? Go!

“Social networks are bogs filled with people who are there to befriend one another, tell their stories, or voice their complaints. For those who want others to know all about them or who have unrevealed grievances about life, these are wonderful online destinations. They are a good place to leave messages for friends, propose marriage, and post the scores from the local high school football team. They are not a place where an advertiser can focus on a single group with a message aimed at those people, because no one knows exactly who those people are. For a company trying to sell products or services, Facebook is mayhem in a PC. What the advertiser wants is traditional, orderly content. “

 I love a good rant. But, you know what, I love a good rant even more when it makes absolute sense and is completely on the button.

Altogether now. “Harrrumph!”

Social Media – The Twitter Crack’d 3

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, External Communications, Social Media and tagged , , , , , , , , .

Some more research into Twitter and its usage patterns. It’s still not looking compelling, I’m afraid.

http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/

Over-Confidence or The Dawn of a New Era?

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, Crisis Management, External Communications, Public Relations and tagged , , .

I’m really not clever enough for this, but here we go anyway:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/10/peter-mandelson-interview-decca-aitkenhead

Massive mistake? Brilliant piece of rehab PR? Signal to the country (or those who think about it, anyway) that there’s a new prime minister in town?  Advance warning to the lefty faithful?

What was this all about? Mr Mandelson comes across as a pantomime villain (or pantomime dame). The references to his ‘aides’ and the notes and glances passed between them could be directly from an airport novel, or an American drama (series 2, episode 12). What were they/he/who thinking on this one?

Peter Mandelson is running the country, people. Unelected, unlooked-for and unasked-for. He is the most powerful man in the country, and – as far as I can see, to show us all how easy it’s been and how established his powerbase is – he gives an interview in which he comes across as camper than the Childcatcher outta Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It’s Paul O’Grady, but more sinister.

And the real worry about all of this? The fact that a ‘serious’ paper like Teh Grauniad publishes speculation that Pete might end up as Prime Minister. He’s a spin doctor, for God’s sake. He’s one of us. He’s a communications practitioner.

Actually, that’s not the real worry. The real worry, for me anyway, is that I’ve spent my career believing that things would be run better if comms practitioners were at the top table – and possibly, maybe, in charge. Now, it appears that a comms practitioner might achieve that goal – and might, actually, be in charge.

And guess what – I think it might be a good thing – but as I said at the beginning – I’m not really clever enough for this.

Social Media – A New Dotcom Bubble, As If Proof Were Needed

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, External Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media and tagged , , , , , , , .

ITV sell Friends Reunited for £145m less than they paid for it. DC Thomson buy it, announce that they plan to make a dating site for the over-50s out of it.

As a service for the hard-of-thinking, in simple terms, this is what it means. ITV paid over £150m for Friends Reunited because they thought they could ‘monetise’ it (to press a curennt buzzword into service). They couldn’t. DC Thomson, being slightly smarter AND with the benefit of some years extra intel, realise that they’ll not be able to sell it as a marketing/advertising opportunity, so look at the ways they can make money from the users of the site. Who happen to be over 50 and – let’s face it – looking for something.

This – and eBay’s experience with Skype (OK, not technically a social network, but reliant on users parting with cash to communicate with each other) – really underlines where we are with social media as a marketing tool. Nowhere. Marketing activity through social media delivers no tangible value – certainly nothing that translates into noticeable uplift in revenues. The ITV/Friends Reunited debacle just shows how futile it is to try and ‘monetise’ – get a sensible, serious and stable revenue stream out of – a social medium.

It is an object lesson. Do not do it.

Oh, I hear you say, but I have no intention of buying placebebo.com and trying to monetise it. No, my social media marketing strategies involve using existing social media channels, and require no investment from me.

Wrong. Every hour you, or your people, spend monitoring Twitter or creating groups on Facebook is time, effort and opportunity cost that would be better dedicated elsewhere.

(Oh, yeah – Twitter – becoming the province of the middle-aged and older. Young people moving away, new research says so. Google it.)

Social Media – The Twitter Crack’d 2

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, External Communications, Public Relations, Social Media and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

Those avid followers of my blog (thanks, both of you), with a decent memory, may remember a post back in June which highlighted – actually, that’s a bit grand – which focused on a piece of research done by the Harvard Business School into Twitter’s usage patterns. It seemed to show that the bulk of tweets come from a hardcore of twitterers (95:10 was the ratio, I think) and that average numbers of tweets during the lifetime of a twitterer is one.

This kinda leads us to believe that Twitter’s not really the massive phenomenon that other media – and the rash of ‘social media experts’ that has infected the face of the internet – would have you believe and – thus – it’s a bit rubbish as a marketing tool. As I’ve often said, don’t ignore social media – you’d be foolish to do so – but bear in mind that there are countless other things that you should do first (from a comms and marketing point of view).

Anyway, here’s another nail in the coffin piece of research that would seem to lead us to similar conclusions, although for different reasons. Enjoy:

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007208

When Is the Right Time To Say No?

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, External Communications, Public Relations.

Here’s a question from someone searching for some b2c/b2b communications advice. Have a read, have a think.

I shall be asking questions.

How does one go about promoting a ‘healthy’ wine made from pomegranates (http://www.rimonwinery.co.uk) in the UK?

 A friend of mine is importing a new kind of wine made entirely from pomegranates. There are three types: dry red, desert and ‘port-style’. The challenge is to define the market and work out a PR and marketing plan, as well as develop the look and feel of the brand. It is purported to have health benefits over and above red wine made from grapes. Apparently it has three times the antioxidants plus other health properties. A difficult challenge seeing how alcohol and health don’t really mix. The other issue is with price point (£20–£26) although the desert wine is being sold in Waitrose for £14.99. Other facts: the wine as a high alcoholic content; 100% sugar free; usable as a mixer for cocktails; produced in a family winery in Galilee, Israel. Thoughts and tips would be highly appreciated!

(Obviously, the ‘friend’ mentioned here is a friend of the questioner, not a friend of mine. Although, if it HAD been a friend of mine, my response would have been the same.)

The question to you, gentle readers, is what would you do? There’s probably some budget and some money to be made from this. What advice would you give?

For what it’s worth, here’s mine:

“DO NOT attempt to promote this on a health platform. Alcohol consumption is not healthy, and you will fall foul of the drinks industry’s self-regulatory code and its regulating body, The Portman Group. Hell, you might as well go the whole nine yards and suggest that it improves your sex life as well.

First, in the nicest possible way, address the product’s limitations. It’s niche and is never going to be mass market. It’s expensive. It’s not an everyday drink. It’s made from something that a) people are only just accepting as a viable alternative to cranberry juice and b) is in no way, shape, or form associated with wine.

Then, what are the product’s unique selling points and attractors? It’s unique. It’s unusual. It’s ‘limited edition’. It’s from Israel.

(BTW – what does it taste like? Be honest with yourself. If its taste is even slightly an ‘acquired’ one, then stick that fact in both the ‘limitation’ and in the ‘USP’ column.)

What’s the personality of the product – and the personality of the product’s manunfacturers – is it fun? Is it serious? Is it young? Is it upmarket or is it down with the kids? This will determine your ‘tone of voice’ for all communication/marketing activity.

Once you’ve reconciled the limitations and the USPs – who’s your target audience? Who, given everything you’ve thought about the product and its tone of voice, are the people who are going to, or might (at least), consume this drink?

Then:

Press release to all drinks correspondents on media aimed at your target audience (eg if it’s housewives, then the Daily Mail, if it’s young guys, then Zoo and Nuts, if it’s ‘girls’ night out’, then Grazia and Now etc etc) – information about the product, how it can be enjoyed, where you can buy it, how much it costs. Offer samples.

Hold a tasting for your chosen drinks correspondents – get a mixologist to do some cocktails for them. Have the recipes available for them to take away, with samples of the product.

Build a consumer-facing website – feature the URL on all your marketing/PR collateral. Start a group on FaceBook (it doesn’t cost anything except time.) Your website should have – at the least – pictures, cocktail recipes, and some background information and, most importantly, a feedback mechanism. Act on feedback.

Target the Jewish community – fiercely loyal to Israeli products, they are great ambassadors for any brand
 

And get a couple of sales guys to go out, with the product, and try and get it into some ‘style bars’ (ideally Boujis, Mahiki and the Met, but this may be aiming too high) – you need bright young things to be seen to be drinking it.

There’s a loads and loads of stuff that you could do – it’s all dependent on time and budget.

Personally, I don’t think it will ever rise above the level of niche product, and I think, outside of the Israeli/Jewish community, you’re not looking at a big success. Sorry.

So be wary of PR people who promise the earth at a cost. You may well be buying nothing more than smoke and mirrors.”

What would you have done? Told the guy that there is, really, very little chance of pomegranate wine become the next Bailey’s – or taken the money for as long as it lasted?

It’s Not What You Say – It’s The Way That You Say It

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, External Communications, Public Relations and tagged , , .

Bit of a rant, I’m afraid.

I think I’ve already stated on this blog that I’m something of a fan of what I would term PR stunts – bit fluffy, bit wheeey, bit whoooar – but, actually quite effective while they last. I think I mentioned Aleksandr the Meerkat from comparethemeerkat.com (a search engine dedicated to meerkat paraphernalia and accessories, as far as I can see) as a particular example of how something fairly silly and with low relevance to anything and with an undeniably ‘cheap’ feel to it can be extremely successful and tap into the zeitgeist. Simples! (And cross all sorts of media divides – digital, print, experiential, broadcast etc etc  etc.)

Anyway – peeping out from under my stone the other day I came across another one – you probably all know about this, but anyway – it was the absolutkindness.com campaign, ‘Give Kindness Not Cash!’, on behalf of Absolut Vodka. I only read a case history, but I quite liked the idea of giving smiles, hugs or high-fives in exchange for food, drink, whatever. I don’t know whether it was a success – but it deserved to be – it had legs, it had digital, it had experiential and it had the possibility of print as well. Hooray for whoever it was who came up with it. Silly, yes, foolish, perhaps, short-lived, most definitely – but attention-grabbing and thought-provoking.

So why did some clown let the Absolut head of marketing ruin it with this quotation: “We wanted to put a smile on people’s faces. Absolut is more than just a vodka, it’s a way of life, and this seemed like a good way to communicate that attitude to people.”

Aaaaaaaaaagh. It reminds me of something I might have written when I was young and stupid. No, Absolut marketing and PR bunnies, Absolut is not more than just a vodka. It is actually, quite plainly, just a vodka. Nothing wrong with that, and I’m sure it’s very nice, but it’s just a vodka. It most certainly is not a way of life – that would be a worry – but luckily, most of those who see spirits as a way of life cannot actually afford them, which is why they drink Special Brew.

(Also, and it’s a side issue – ‘a good way to communicate that attitude’ – well, is it an attitude, or a way of life? Make up your minds, guys.)

This is a plea – and an object lesson, perhaps – never give your spokespeople words, or allow them to use words, that will jar with, or patronise, or offput your audience. The quotation above runs the risk of achieving all of those things – I’m not stupid, and therefore I don’t presume that anyone else is.

‘We wanted to put a smile on people’s faces. – your choice of Absolut Vodka says something about you – and this was a great way of communicating that something to people.’

See where I’m coming from?

New Uses for Social Media – Part 7,523

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, External Communications, Public Relations, Social Media and tagged , , , , , , .

Is it just me or are the attempts to get some real use (and thus value/benefit) out of social media getting more desperate by the day?

Today’s was a facility for the Jewish community to Tweet prayers and have them then – I presume – printed out, folded up and stuck in the cracks in the Wailing Wall. Which is great – a genuine service and all credit to the ‘young man from Tel-Aviv’ who’s responsible.

A great use of Twitter, thereby providing a little more grist for the social media justification mill. Yes, social networks, they get everywhere. In every walk of life. Social networks – they are your daddy.

Only, only – would it be as easy to email ‘the young man in Tel-Aviv’ and get him to print that out? Or, in fact, if you’ve got a friend in Tel-Aviv or Jerusalem, you could email them. Or text them. Or fax them. Or – how about this – you could ‘phone them up and get them to write it down.

It’s a great idea, it genuinely is and it’s a real service. It just doesn’t need Twitter. Or FaceSpace, or MyBook.

Other uses for social media today – publicising Aleksandr the Meerkat (if you’ve been in a hole in the ground for the last six months, this is the eponymous Aleksandr the Meerkat from comparethemeerkat.com, which is a sort of search engine for meerkat-related paraphernalia. I think).

I like Aleksandr – simples! – and he reminds me of a lot of people I work with, but, let’s face it – sorry Alex mate – he’s a fluffy PR stunt. A very, very good one, but a fluffy PR stunt nonetheless – here today and gone tomorrow.

And therefore an absolutely perfect fit for the social media phenomenon.

‘Tis The Season to be Silly

Posted on by in Communications Strategy, External Communications, Public Relations and tagged , , , .

Just a reminder to all that the Silly Season is here and – if you’re not already carping the diem – it’s time to dust off all those rubbish stories that would never make the cut in a million years normally, and get them out there! There’s acres of  gaping media void to be filled and we, the few, have a duty to fill it.

This morning – and OK, it was one of those terrible free papers (but somehow so much closer to the zeitgeist than your average broadsheet, d’you not think?) – there was a story (‘story’) about someone on holiday in Great Yarmouth (I think, could have been Skegness – it doesn’t matter – seaside town anyway) sending a postcard to someone at home in the West Country. On looking at the photo, a view of the seafront, taken over a decade ago, the recipient discovered it included images of her and her daughters, sat on a park bench! What are the chances! Cue much mumbling in astonishment and small-world commentary.

(The fact that the person sending the card sent it because they knew the recipient was a fan of the seaside town, and had visited, at peak season, many years on the trot, and that she and her daughters often sat on the same bench, does actually reduce the chances considerably, but never let logic get in the way of a good story.)

Yes – the silly season’s here. I even read a story about some guy – Peter, I think – who’s managed to become the most powerful man in the country, without going through the boring rigmarole of being elected, or with any form of public consent or (indeed) knowledge at all!

Amazing the old nonsense that gets printed.