HROC | Get Rid of PR in a Recession…Bah Humbug!

3 January 2012 - Public Relations

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

Let’s start with the good news… it’s a New Year full of endless possibilities. You may have given up smoking or drinking, hit the gym, decided to go for that job babysitting an island in Australia where you can finally use that GCSE in biology and promised that this year’s resolution is for keeps (and at this point it may very well be).

Now for the bad news… the economy continues to walk a worryingly precarious line and predictions of a double dip loom over businesses nationwide.

The Christmas leftovers had barely been devoured before Nick Clegg (like the ghost of Christmas Future) warned that the coming year would be another tough one. And as the ringing of fireworks in the ears subsides, the overwhelming sound that can be heard is an intake of breath as businesses everywhere tighten their already strained belts.

What does this mean?

Businesses will look to make cuts and history has shown that PR is one of the first disciplines to go under the guillotine. But whilst this may be a temptation, hindsight teaches us that it is actually a big mistake.

The CIPR has shown that budgets were slashed in 2011 with more cuts to come in 2012. But cutting PR budgets or entirely removing PR reduces a company’s visibility within its core target audience. It eliminates conversations with customers and key media outlets that lead to people forgetting your brand. This makes the money already spent on PR wasted, as a gap in any strategy leads to a breakdown in communications, which will take additional funds to restore.

By embarking on PR during a recession a company is better placed to solidify a reputation as an expert in its field. A good PR strategy should transcend the practice of getting the word out. It can help define and develop reputations and, in tough times, protect your brand, articulating those values and practices central to your operating strategy and to your customers, and position you properly for future success.

With an industry standard ROI of 3:1, PR is one of the most measurable, cost effective and creative methods of communication and is essential to the success of any business within a recession.

As the cliché goes; the best defence is a good offense and the success of brands during difficult economic times will depend on their ability to be creative and flexible, seizing upon the opportunities that a recession presents and that companies with their heads in the sand will miss out on.

So, whilst the remains of your other resolutions may lie in tatters, make sure that your PR strategy is one resolution that goes the distance in 2012.

Winning!

15 December 2011 - Public Relations

PR is renowned as one of the most competitive industries and, with a slow economy, this has never been truer. With more than 4,000 PR and communications agencies in the UK, how do you make sure your voice is heard?

To get ahead in the PR game, you’ve got to think ahead and stay one step in front of the competition. Innovative thinking and going the extra mile to deliver results will help you stand out in a crowded industry. But this takes time, dedication, talented staff and requires much hard work – something that’s not for the faint hearted.

Receiving awards from a recognised body is a pivotal way for agencies to demonstrate their creativity and capabilities to both peers and perspective clients. Twisting a well- known phrase, when it comes to winning awards ‘creativity is King’. It takes hours of brainstorming and understanding both the clients and the targeted audience to create a good idea and even then it may strike at the most unusual time, like on the number 6 bus heading to Birmingham. It doesn’t matter where or when the idea comes as long as they keep coming.

Earlier this month, HROC PR was recognised for its creative achievements at the Midlands CIPR Pride awards 2011 by being nominated for awards in two categories. The PRide Awards recognise excellence and reward achievement in the PR and communications industry across the UK – so being nominated for two awards was a big accomplishment in itself.

And while others sat around intimating that they were just happy to be nominated, HROC PR had one thing on its mind – winning. After all, everyone likes a winner (don’t they Charlie Sheen) and there’s little better than finishing the year knowing that your peers appreciate all your hard work.

By the night’s end, we took home the silver award for ‘Best Campaign £10,000 and Under ’, which was a great result in the face of some stiff competition, and another addition to the HROC award collection. With the night now a blurry memory, the win leaves us on a high for the New Year and already the creative juices are flowing in the hopes of going one better next year.

Jeremy Clarkson: Panto Villain or Just Plain Villain?

7 December 2011 - Public Relations

The mass walkout of public sector workers last week has apparently not been in vain and has achieved an important goal – they highlighted the release of Jeremy Clarkson’s new book (probably not the result they were looking for).

Having been asked for his opinion of the strikes on BBC’s The One Show, Clarkson said of the strikers ‘they should be taken out and shot in front of their families’ causing a furore to erupt and leaving the BBC to once again apologise for the antics of one of its favourite sons.

But were Clarkson’s comments naively insensitive or a brilliant publicity stunt to advertise the release of his latest book?

Clarkson has built a career out of being a controversial panto villain figure and this is the latest in a long line of gaffes that have been the foundation of his career. At the beginning of the year the BBC had to apologise after Clarkson and his cronies were accused of anti-Mexican rants after referring to Mexicans as often being ‘lazy and flatulent’.

But this is all part of the character that Clarkson has developed which has made him a millionaire. The privately educated Top Gear presenter thrives off controversy and understands the value of creating a media storm. Brandwatch has already speculated that Clarkson’s publishers will be ‘rubbing their hands with delight’ over his latest antics as his comments have dominated the media surrounding the strikes. This will undoubtedly do wonders for the sale of his book (admittedly probably not with public sector employees).

Ultimately, like him or loathe him, Clarkson knows how to work the media to his advantage and this latest escapade will probably do little lasting damage to his reputation. While the BBC scramble to apologise and the strikers look to return the spotlight onto the initial issues, Clarkson will undoubtedly see in the New Year with soaring book sales.

How to write a corporate blog post

25 November 2011 - Public Relations

Blogging, short for web logging, has taken the internet by storm. Most websites you look at nowadays will incorporate some sort of blog, even if it’s just a link to a company’s Twitter page – Twitter after all is a micro blogging website. Blogs have come to be so important to what a web reader reads online, that Google has included a blog search facility so that searchers can easily search the Internet for blog posts they want to read. Similarly blog directories, such as Technorati, have been created to meet the demands of the contemporary internet user.

Unfortunately, what a lot of businesses don’t know is that there is a right way and a wrong way to blog.

There are many reasons as to why a business should have a blog , but the key benefits blogging brings to a business, are improved SEO, demonstration of thought leadership and to illustrate that the company is in the know about contemporary issues. With these in mind, below are 4 tips that will ensure you’re blogging correctly.

1. Using keywords

Thorough keyword research can mean the difference between being found and not being found by search engines on the Internet. A keyword or a key phrase is what a searcher will type into a search engine, such as Google, to find out more about it. For a business this will be the product or service that they sell. There are many tools you can use to conduct your keyword strategy, of the free ones Google keyword tool is one of the best.

Keywords should be used in the following ways in a blog post:

In the URL

As the blog title

As post headings and subheadings (H1 and H2 tags)

As image ALT text

As linking text

In bold

2. News worthy story

Just as with a press release, you must make sure your blog post has a story to tell. Your readers will only read your blog posts if they find your content is interesting and relevant to them. To do this well you need to learn to listen. ‘Listening’, or reading the conversations your audience, or the readers you want to attract to your blog, are having online – in forums and other social channels – gives you an indication of the type of content that appeals to them. You should use your blog post to discuss important contemporary issues in your industry and to illustrate your thought leadership in important topics to your readers. This not only shows your subscribers that you are aware of latest trends and innovations, but also that you’re aware of current news stories. Above all, it is important to produce content that is interesting, helpful and engaging for the reader.

3. Share-ability

If you have a story that could go viral, make sure it has the ability to. In other words, make sure you’ve allowed it be shared on other social channels by including share buttons. Add calls to actions to the end of your post to encourage your readers to take action and share or interact with you through your post. Sharing not only promotes your content, further spreading your company’s online message, but also encourages other readers and bloggers to link to your content. Inbound links are one of the most important aspects of SEO, so you want to try and promote receiving them as much as possible

4. Little and often

Also important to search engine rankings, is fresh content. This makes blogging regularly a vital activity. Search engines think that fresh content is more likely to be more relevant and so more useful to a searcher; therefore they prefer newer blog posts. Ultimately, the number and quality of inbound links will still determine to a large extent your ranking position, but publishing fresh content certainly helps.

These are the issues we regard highly when it comes to corporate blogging, what are the tips that you would suggest? Tweet them to us as @hroc_pr, we’d love to know what you think!

The 5 Golden Rules for a successful media tour

18 November 2011 - Public Relations

The media tour is a vital tool in the arsenal of any PR practitioner; helping to develop relationships with journalists and putting a face to the email signature. Whilst a good media tour can secure coverage a bad one can be professionally fatal for you and your client.

With this in mind HROC PR has come up with a list of 5 Golden Rules for surviving a media tour unscathed:

1. Don’t pre-book appointments longer than a week in advance. It’s difficult tying an editor down and booking a meeting more than a week in advance leaves you open to schedule changes and cancellations. By booking it within a week the editors schedule is more defined and it also keeps it fresh in an editor’s mind.

2. Always check when an editor is on deadline and never try to book a meeting around this. If they get the slightest hint that the magazine may be delayed hitting the press, then your meeting will be the first thing to go out the window. By checking little details like this you’re showing an appreciation for their timetable, which will curry favour with the editor.

3. Ensure you take a note pad and pen. It sounds simple but often the little details are overlooked. Failure to have such basic tools will reflect badly on you and your abilities.

4. Put all relevant material on a USB stick for the editor. The average editor’s desk is often awash with pieces of paper and by taking printed releases you will only add to the pile. Not only can you include all press releases but you can also add all relevant high res images, which can often be crucial to the success of a release. Make sure you use a client or own company branded stick, as each time they use it they will think of you.

5. Bribe editors with coffee and/or pastries. Shameless as it may seem this is possibly the most important rule of media tour club and will immediately soften an editor to your cause. Make sure you find out what they like in advance though – give a latte to a cappuccino drinker and you’re on the back foot from the off.

Ultimately, the media tour is a great way to meet an editor face to face and let them get to know you and, more importantly, know your client. Good relationships built on the back of these meetings could mean it’s plain sailing for the coming year but bad ones could leave you up a certain PR creek without a paddle.

Kim Kardashian wedding: brilliant PR stunt or career killer?

11 November 2011 - Public Relations

Kim Kardashian is/was a star on the rise following the success of the television show ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ and various spin-off shows, which have launched her into stratospheric heights of stardom.

Being all too aware of this she may have thought she was untouchable, made of Teflon perhaps, but the recent backlash against the most prominent Kardashian over her divorce announcement has left fans with a bitter taste in their mouths, and the lingering question – was this all just a PR stunt?

Far be it from me to cast aspersions on her marriage but having lasted a mere 72 days, one can rightly speculate that the decision to marry was career and not love driven. While her manager (and mother) defends her client stating she ‘didn’t earn a dime’ from the wedding, reports in the New York Post speculate that she, and the Kardashian clan, stood to make nearly $18 million dollars, which over 72 days equates to about $250,000 a day, from the marriage and ensuing promotion and television deals.

News of the divorce was met with an outpouring of contempt from fans towards Kim, with most taking to Twitter to air their views. A trending topic on the subject listing things that have lasted longer than Kardashian’s marriage became an overnight sensation, with some of the best tweets captured in a recent Yahoo! article. If you want to have a look type #thingsthatlastedlongerthankimkardashiansmarriage into Twitter.

Numerous comments have been posted on articles written about the divorce showing a turn in the tide of support for the Kardashians and anger that it was assumed the public would not see what the marriage inherently was – a PR stunt. So much so, that E! is looking to suspend re-runs of the four hour wedding special and debating the release of the latest series of ‘Kim and Kourtney take New york’, in which Kim and Kris talk about having a break (an obviously outdated decision at this point).

Whilst the normally infallible Kardashian clan has rallied around their sister in her time of need, and Kris Kardashian has appeared on a bevy of shows refuting rumours of the wedding being a PR stunt, there is no argument that the Kardashian stock is in a recession of its own.

Whatever your opinion of the wedding, there is no denying that the Kardashians made money from the affair but at what cost in the long run? In time, the loss of scores of fans and vicious tirade against the Kardashians could far outweigh their payoff. Worse still, this story contradicts the findings of our last blog surrounding Guy Fawkes and how there is no such thing as bad PR. Apparently there is….

Guy Fawkes: No such thing as bad PR

4 November 2011 - Public Relations

The yearly burning of Guy Fawkes effigies is a testament to the power of a well developed reputation, seeing as 400 years after his death the person most synonymous with the failed plot to revolutionise parliament, a disillusioned soldier and a pawn in a greater man’s plot, is celebrated with a firework extravaganza worthy of a hero’s homecoming. Despite the fact he was caught, tortured and executed, in the years following his death Fawkes’ reputation has seen a transition from villain to hero – ah the power of PR.

Fawkes’ perceived failure was successful in bringing to the forefront of the political sphere, the issue of Catholic oppression and whilst following his death Catholics were persecuted more than ever, within Catholic circles the legend of Guy Fawkes was being built.

Vilified in public but exulted in private, the years since that fateful day in 1605 has seen his overall status as villain supplanted. Modern times have seen Fawkes’ transformation to hero solidified via his home town, York, running a PR campaign in 2005 to challenge perceptions of Fawkes as a traitor. Couple that with the 2006 film V for Vendetta in which the protagonist is a revolutionary attempting to incite change within a dystopian society while dressed as Guy Fawkes, and it shows how opinion of Fawkes has changed over time.

Even today, there are protestors occupying various sites across the country sporting Guy Fawkes masks (both here and across the pond where Fawkes’ legend has little weight), in a homage to a man willing to use any means necessary to disrupt an oppressive regime and who has been considered “the only man to enter parliament with honest intentions”.

The Catholic PR machine of the 1600’s (underground as it was) turned Fawkes from hero to villain following his death by detailing his heroic exploits as a soldier in Spain and over-emphasising his part in the overall plot. Popular culture and a disillusioned section of society in turn, have taken Fawkes to their breast and subsequently moulded him once more into an agent of revolutionary change.

His legacy clearly lives on today and where original views of the gunpowder plot were that it was an unqualified failure, the result it seems, is that it was an unparalleled success for Guy Fawkes (putting aside his torture and execution), developing him a reputation that money can’t buy.

Happy Bonfire Night all!

How to change translation options for a Facebook page

28 October 2011 - Public Relations

Do you speak French, Spanish, Hebrew or Cantonese; or does your Facebook business page have a lot of fans that do? If so, you can take advantage of the Facebook translation command, which lets users translate the posts of a Facebook page into the language you speak.

As a page administrator, allowing your posts to be translated is extremely valuable as it means that you can now engage with more of your Facebook community, growing and strengthening your brand’s international reach. The barriers to global communication are slowly being broken down.

In order to manage translation for your Facebook page, follow the steps below:

1. Go to your Facebook page

2. Click on the “edit page” button in the top right hand corner

3. Click on the “your settings” tab from the list on the left hand side and scroll over to the translation box

By default all pages are selected to allow machine and community translation. Though not always 100% accurate, the former is what most brands will want to opt for at the very least, as it gives their Facebook community an on demand solution to a potential communication obstacle. Admin must keep in mind that if they’ve allowed the community to post translations they should moderate the translation submissions just in case a user decides to post objectionable or spam content. The benefit of allowing the community to post their translation is that often it will be more accurate, and if this receives approval from other users, will replace the machine translation.

Until now, many brands have created different pages for each country they are operational in and assigned a local team to translate the primary page’s updates and manage the local page. This new translation feature will reduce the need to do this.

If the translation tool becomes available to a wider language audience, as well as becoming a feature on Facebook ads, international fans of a brand will be able to better understand messages and interact with a brand more, allowing status to appear more often in their newsfeeds. Ultimately, this could help improve a business’s ROI from its Facebook marketing.

What Facebook’s recent updates mean for Facebook marketers

21 October 2011 - Public Relations

Until now, Facebook marketers have made acquiring “likes” the main focus of their Facebook marketing strategy. The number of likes determined your success as a Facebook marketer but not the quality of your interaction with your community – not anymore! Simply attracting a “like” from a fan will no longer guarantee your message will reach your fans on their newsfeed.

In an ever evolving effort to keep its users hooked, Facebook intends to present only the most interesting and relevant content to its users. The best way to do so is by measuring the engagement between a page and its messages to its fans.

This means in order to make your way into users’ newsfeeds you need to publish engaging, thought provoking messages that will compel your community to want to interact and associate with your messages. If you’re thinking “Well, it’s ok I’ll just post more often, one of my posts is bound to appear in newsfeed, right?” Then I’m afraid you’re wrong – very very wrong!

Facebook users can choose to unsubscribe from your updates and unmark particular posts as a top story, so if you don’t keep your community excited about you, I’m afraid editing you out of their feeds is just simply a click away. Over time, Facebook will monitor a user’s newsfeed in order to provide them with exactly what they want to see, so if your posts are often unmarked as top stories and your fans have unsubscribed from your posts, soon all you’ll become is a page people used to like. Considering the average user is connected to 80 pages, groups and events, that’s hardly an inspiring thought.

To help Facebook marketers, a feature called Sponsored Stories has also been introduced. Similar to how Facebook’s Ticker is a twin to Twitter’s Timeline, Sponsored Stories is Zuckerberg’s clone of Twitter’s Promoted Tweets. Sponsored Stories gives Facebook marketers the chance to turn their more popular posts into an advert and capitalise on the interactions their community have had with the message and the brand.

Any true social media marketer understands the power of recommendations. 91% of users will most likely buy a product based on a recommendation, as they trust the opinion of fellow consumers – a brand will always recommend their own products, whereas fellow users are likely to share their frustrations and satisfactions with the product/brand/service. The more users that recommend a product/brand or service, the more likely it is that someone else considering a purchase will read the message and be influenced to follow suit.

This principle makes the blogging and forum communities for online brand reputation management crucial. So if many of your Facebook fans like, check-in, or now (thanks to Facebook gestures) are reading, listening or watching a particular post, you can turn this into a Facebook ad and compel users in your fan’s networks to do the same. Your online community are some of your best endorsers, let them help you grow your network and online influence.

Eating Right Can Save The Planet (No seriously it’s True)

14 October 2011 - Public Relations

At the HROC offices when we are not on the phones arranging meetings, speaking to journalists or writing releases, we are usually chomping on some form of food. Whether it’s Hazel’s cakes or sweets from one of Katy’s many holidays, we can’t help snacking away. However, little did we know that with each mouthful we might be helping to save the planet – one chew at a time.

The WWF (formerly World Wildlife Fund) has developed an eating plan that can help you avoid foods that have a detrimental impact on the earth (whilst keeping you healthy). By making little dietary changes such as avoiding soya and palm oil (used in many processed foods), which are decimating areas of South America and South-East Asia, eaters can do their little part to help the environment.

The plan has five simple principles at heart:

1. Eat more plants. When it comes to vegetables and fruit, the campaign urges us to buy seasonal and local.

2. Waste less food. Shockingly, up to 30% of the food we buy is thrown away. Install a waste disposal unit and you can reduce the amount of food waste that makes it to landfill sites. (Warning! Shameless client link following) Check out the Moores Kitchen range at www.moores.co.uk which have a number of sustainability features and can include integrated waste disposal units.

3. Eat less meat. A nourishing meal doesn’t have to have meat at its centre. Change your mindset and start thinking of meat as a complement to vegetables.

4. Eat less processed foods. These tend to be produced using a lot of precious resources, plus they contain high levels of fat, salt and sugar.

5. Buy sustainable foods. Certification schemes ensure what you buy comes from well-managed and sustainable sources. For example, seek out fish certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

In the words of the wise Alexander Orlov: “Simples!”. With food accounting for more than 30% of our greenhouse emissions, eating right could go a long way to helping reach the carbon emissions targets for 2020 set out by the UK Climate Change Act of 2008.

For more information on how your eating habits can save the planet and for WWF’s comprehensive 2020 eating guide log onto www.wwf.org.uk/livewell2020.