Online PR: News and Views from ://CORPORACT

Online PR Mess-Ups

Econsultancy have published some good examples of online PR catastrophes.

Good one from Ryanair.  After a blogger spotted an error in the airline's online booking process, staff from the airline left several insulting comments in response to the post. To make matters worse, the episode was publicised around the web.  Then to really rile the online community, the company issued a statement staying that its policy was "not to waste time and energy in corresponding with idiot bloggers"

Interesting that a company specialising in low cost, high volume business activity doesn't see the benefits of engaging with low cost, high volume methods of communication.

Law Intervenes to halt PR for Online Gaming Operators

I was interested to read that Washington-based news distribution company PRWeb has been prevented from issuing press releases concerning online gambling by the Washington State Online Gambling Commission, forcing them to stop distributing online gambling news as it is in conflict with the States’ gaming laws.  As the company is located in Washington State, it is required to comply with State laws.
The news effectively means a loss to PRWeb of nearly 5 per cent of their total business and leaves their gaming clients looking for another way to distribute their news across the net. 

The end of the online gaming boom has long been predicted, and the advisors and services supporting the sector are the very people who must have been worrying for sometime about their revenue streams drying up if the law intervenes.

However, this move is hardly going impinge on the gaming operators.  They won’t suffer in any way.  Criminalising online gaming is probably a practical impossibility too as operators are likely to be based offshore, beyond the reach of U.S. law. 

Online PR: Social Media Guidelines

Useful reference from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.  The Institute has updated its social media guidelines to take into account updated legal issues, consumer protection from the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and information from the Advertising Standards Authority.

Although some areas go beyond social media, any practice used online that is deemed unfair, misleading or aggressive will fall under these rules.

The guidelines first published in 2007 are aimed at providing best practice advice to communications professionals and raise awareness of the issues and implications of social media.

Visit http://www.cipr.co.uk/socialmedia/

Citizen Journalism or Factory Farming ?

The BBC has reported that its interactive newsroom received more user generated images of snow scenes than any other news story.  A whopping 43,000 photos were delivered electronically via mobile phones and other means in the last few days.

The huge volume of user generated content coming from Mumbai on places like Twitter and other networks highlights the increasing dilution of the mainstream media. 

Gone are the days when it was a journalist, photographer or cameraman who was on the scene and first to capture the first news picture story.  Now it is every man to his own.  Armed with his own technology -  mobile, video, camera – it is the citizen who is marching out to be first deliver on-the-spot action and picture exclusives to broadcasters and news editors.

The appeal from the celebrity-culture users’ perspective is that, for the cost of a phone call or text, they can see their name and news on national TV.  Fame at last (without the fortune).

From the media’s side, newsrooms are actively encouraging citizen journalism.  A picture exclusive will still sell papers or increase viewers and if they can get the (usually free) material before their competitors there is a commercial advantage.  In spite of having to trawl through thousands of images (video clips, text and email messages), the BBC were still saying last night that they wanted more.  And, to entice the punters, some fairly dreadful, poor quality, video clips were shown (“yes, we do broadcast your material” - however dull it is).  It seems anything goes. 

The news media arena is changing all the time and impacting on traditional processes.  Citizen journalism is undoubtedly contributing to the perception of value.  With so many images circulating, and with more and more people thinking they are the professional, the value of photographs is diminishing all the time.  After all, if you don’t need to pay for your news material or send your news team to cover stories, you don’t need quality staff on the ground. 

There are talented people being shown the door throughout the media world at the moment - the kind of people who have the experience to produce top rate quality images and footage of news stories in difficult circumstances.  So where do they go?  Probably to the interactive newsrooms where it seems the people who have jobs are those who are being employed as production line factory workers who sift through the glut of mediocre user generated content on anything and everything.

Is the promotion and processing of user generated content on this scale ethical or is it like supporting the development of a factory farm – lure them in, pile them high, sell them at any price and don’t worry about the consequences?

Online PR is right for this climate

Unsurprisingly, the internet, which emerged this year as a leading source for campaign news, has now surpassed all other media except television as an outlet for national and international news, according to Pew Research.

Newspapers are in crisis, with a greater number of us now getting news about national and international issues from the internet  (currently 40%) they are seeking ways to cut costs (and people).  Advertising revenues and circulations are falling and younger readers are abandoning newspapers altogether.

In spite of digital research company eMarketer recently cutting its projections for UK online ad spend,  according to online analysts, the good news is that online seems to be doing better than traditional marketing channels.

In May 2008, eMarketer predicted ad spend in the UK would grow by 27.1% in 2008 to £3.36bn and by 17.2% in 2009 to £3.93bn.  It has now lowered this prediction to £3.34bn and £3.58bn respectively, in response to the gloomy economic climate.

In anticipation of the rippling effect of the global financial meltdown hitting all sectors hard, the challenge for businesses is how to continue to promote themselves efficiently.

PR's have a real opportunity to embrace online PR in a much bigger way by using innovative techniques to promote brands online and market niches that can serve as cost-effective channels of communication.  Online presence should be an integral part of all PR plans for 2009.

Online PR: Better Recall for Visual Messages than Text

 There is 166% better recall for visual messages than audio or text.#

Rich media messages using movement, audio or video in an innovative way engage the viewer immediately providing a compelling brand experience unmatched by static messages.  Creative animated messages that are high impact can be used as tactical additions to online PR campaigns, or used as part of a wider communications strategy or viral marketing programme.

All successful viral campaigns rely on compelling content which resonates with a viewer who then passes it along to family, friends or colleagues. Word of mouth promotion is fast and influential and a powerful, creative message can go on to reach thousands of people.

Think of the viral launch success stories like Hotmail and more recently YouTube.  YouTube has boomed from a startup viral video site to a Web phenomenon, a virtual library of cultural highlights and amateur video clips uploaded by anybody with a digital camera and a bit of time on their hands

Today it is estimated that over 100 million clips are viewed on YouTube every day. 

A simple seasonal message can brighten up the dullest winter day.

Click here or on the image (above) to view ://CORPORACT's seasonal greeting.  Then pass it on...

#Source: TV matters, University of Manchester

Online PR Benchmarking Report

Thank you e-Consultancy for your excellent benchmarking report on Online PR released yesterday. It was interesting to note the disparity between companies and agencies on the definition of Online PR and its related services.

Online PR continues to be a developing service and its definition, services, solutions, ownership and definitions will inevitably vary depending on the communications professional or organisation presenting its case.  

In order for it to be effective and diverse, online PR services should be supported by a specialist agency or qualified workforce offering a mixed skill set.  A blend of communications and technology skills is a pre-requisite for today’s communications professionals.  More people are needed in this space.

Traditional methods and people generally don’t fit a ‘new’ media. By using online PR as a proactive approach to marketing and integrating traditional methods with new e-strategies and technologies, you will get successful, measurable and efficient campaigns that build brand equity, increase online visibility and drive visitors to websites. 

On the question of ROI, the benefit of technology is that campaigns can be monitored, very results-driven and focused around solid deliverables and quantifiable standards of success.  For years, many PR agencies have sold services that lack defined deliverables, yet in this technological world, so it is interesting to note from this report how important this is in the online arena.

Online Public Relations services will continue to develop as new ideas and technologies advance, while traditional PR skills and techniques will become increasingly irrelevant. 

Ultimately public relations will only be online and a new breed of communications professional will emerge. However, if the PR industry wants to take ownership of this service and not lose out to digital agencies it needs to look long and hard at its own service proposition.

Who grabs the largest slice of this rising cake will depend on who offers the most relevant skills, knowledge and clearly defined and measurable services.

Online PR Blog: Shorthand Comes of Age

The current preoccupation with developing new ways of communicating with one another has meant that good traditional skills are often overlooked.

It is interesting to note that according to a recent survey by the NCTJ (National Council for the Training of Journalists), 64 per cent of newspaper editors consider shorthand to be an "extremely important" core skill for a journalist to possess in this era of fast-breaking rolling online news.

I'd be interested to know how many online editors could read the following:

Online PR: Always Read the Small Print

A word of warning to those who don’t read the small print when they click to agree online terms.

The welcome VAT reduction to 15 per cent was a nice carrot.  But watch out for the stick.  Gordon Brown certainly has got to take some.  His "secret" tax plan to re-fill what Conservatives describe as the “large black hole” in public finances seems to have mistakenly been revealed online in the small print. 

A legal document set out before Parliament and signed by Stephen Timms, a junior Treasury Minister, states that although the rate of value added tax will revert to 17.5 per cent it will subsequently increased to 18.5 per cent in 2011.

By reading this small print you agree to a promotional discount on the online services of award winning corporate comms company, ://CORPORACT for a five year term at whatever rate they deem appropriate for your level of income.  The promotion may be withdrawn at any time during this period and fees may increase to above their current rate in year two.

Online PR Blog: Converging Marketing & PR Services

The public relations industry has always sold itself on the fact that public relations offered a third party legitimacy that advertising never had because it secured exposure for brands in credible third-party outlets such as traditional media.

With advertising revenues falling faster than expected there are increased pressures on newspapers and broadcasters.  This week has seen across the country, newspapers and broadcasters laying off staff.  Analysts predict there is worse to come. 

These cut backs will mean there will be a growing reliance by traditional media on news agency and PR material; material that is often published unchecked, undermining independent journalism and the third party legitimacy that PR has traditionally promoted.

In spite of the threat this poses to the “reputation” of the public relations professional, there may be a few PR people out there who would gleefully clap their hands at this prospect. 

However, with marketing budgets being scrutinized there are a lot of advertising and web people looking to develop their diminishing roles. 

In this business climate and with public relations moving into the online area, the convergence of traditional and social media in PR could mean the convergence of online marketing budgets and consolidation of services into one digital proposition.