Euro Crisis Part 2

17 May 2012 - Public Relations

Against a backdrop of continued economic misery, rising unemployment and some extremely unnerving goings on in Greece and France in the past week, William Hague managed to single handedly infuriate the vast majority of business owners by telling them to stop complaining about the economy and work harder.

Brilliant. We hadn’t thought of this ourselves, so thanks for pointing it out.

Yet another media relations disaster for the coalition which currently seems to be reeling from one PR mess to another on a daily basis. The response from the business community has, not surprisingly, been one of fury, with David Cameron now holding talks with business leaders at Number 10 in a bid to “address the potentially damaging divide between the private sector and Government.”

Meanwhile, in other news, Rebekah Brooks has been charged with conspiracy to prevent the course of justice, once again dragging David Cameron into the spotlight given his relationship with Brooks and of course his former communications advisor Andy Coulson – see our previous blog “when a spokesperson needs a spokesperson”.

All we need now is for Greece to leave the Euro and the mess will be complete for this week. But hey, let’s not make a Drachma out of a crisis.

Euro Crisis Part 1

17 May 2012 - Public Relations

With just over a month to go until Euro 2012 kicks off, you can’t help but wonder whether the FA has scored a spectacular public relations own goal in appointing Roy Hodgson as England manager.

With many England fans eagerly anticipating the forthcoming tournament, the calls from the general public to make Harry Redknapp the England boss and to lead the charge into the Euro’s are still ringing in many ears. The FA must have its own reasons for appointing Hodgson but the backlash should England crash out of the tournament early might be painful to watch.

Essentially, England either has to win the whole thing or at the very least reach the quarter finals and do us proud, for it to be seen as anything but a failure. Typically, fans and the nation will initially blame the players, then the manager and then in turn, and ultimately, the FA for appointing the manager in the first place.

From a public relations perspective, had the FA chosen Redknapp they couldn’t lose. If England went on to do well or even win the tournament, the FA would have been seen to have made the right appointment and they, and Redknapp, would be heroes. If the squad didn’t do so well with Redknapp in charge, they could have shrugged their collective shoulders and said: “well, you wanted him” and the media would have very little to go on given that most of them backed him or at least fuelled the speculation that Redknapp would take charge.

Like the rest of the country, we’ll be cheering the team on in June, let’s hope that they do well and the FA don’t spend the rest of July with tin hats on, in the trenches, under a media barrage of “told you so”.

HROC | PR | That must be a PR stunt… right?

10 May 2012 - Hroc, Public Relations

Working in PR, it’s a phrase we hear on a regular basis. Spotting the sometimes blatant attempts to capitalise on publicity from a stunt is one of our favourite pastimes. Okay, so it’s not really, but we do love a good old PR stunt!

And we’re not talking about Z-list-celebs-skirt-blows-up-in-a-gust-of-wind-Marilyn-stylee stunt at the Soap Awards. We’re talking about the strategic campaigns that have been precisely planned and executed by the talented PR staff working behind the scenes.

Our favourites of the year so far have been the Tropicana sun installation in Trafalgar Square, which banished the winter blues briefly for Londoners up early enough to enjoy it in all its glory.

Then there’s the Castlemaine XXXX island that has been leased by the Australian brewery, who are now asking members of the public to decide how the island should be developed (the research trip alone would have been worth the potential ridicule from colleagues for suggesting such an outlandish idea).

The Anton Berg Generous Store also caught our eye (and made us a little peckish as an office of chocolate lovers) as the world’s first chocolate store where you could only pay with a promise of a good deed rather than money. Backed up by signing into Facebook and contacting the person you promise to do the good deed for, the video has so far racked up an impressive 70,000 plus hits on YouTube.

And we can’t talk about great stunts without mentioning HROC’s recent choice as campaign of the week, featuring a seemingly innocuous button placed in a sleepy town in Belgium.

Celebrating the launch of a new TV channel TNT designed to bring some ‘drama’ to local television, when the ‘push this button for drama’ button is pushed all hell breaks loose with a series of comedy antics unfolding too numerous to mention, catching the unaware pusher completely off guard. So far the video has amassed an immense 30,000,000 plus views showing what a little creative thinking can accomplish.

Seemingly, the age of the PR stunt appears to not only be alive and well, but is also a successful means of getting across your message to a wider audience in a memorable way. You only have to search #prstunt on Twitter to find more great examples.

Stunt activity is a fun and fast way of gaining awareness, editorial coverage and buzz about a product or brand. With the use of social media; news of stunt activity can spread like wildfire, meaning talkability can sky rocket while ROI can be easily monitored qualitively e.g. how may people are engaging with it, who is tweeting/Facebooking about it? Hopefully, if the campaign has been well planned, it will reach its target audience and more.

HROC’s most recent stunt took place at the Ideal Home Show for our client Geberit AquaClean – a state of the art WC that cleans you with water and includes a model that dries you also. The product range was launched at the show last year and, with no ‘new’ models to speak of, our brief was to re-ignite interest in the product and generate activity to create a buzz and additional footfall/interest in the stand.

Thus, the ‘Jubiloo’ was born (get it? Jubilee and loo… I’m wasted in PR). The theme explored the notion of the Geberit Aquaclean as a throne befitting Her Majesty herself. With that in mind, we drafted in the UK’s most qualified Queen impersonator to meet her loyal subjects, which tied in perfectly given that the HRH Prince of Wales officially opened the show (coincidence… I think not!). Throughout the event the Queen and the Jubiloo caused quite a stir with more than a few having to double-take.

Of course, stunts don’t always go according to plan and there are some horrible examples of stunts going wrong (we’re too kind to name any of them). Whilst the right stunt can make a brand, a wrong stunt can easily break a brand too, so it’s important that you have the right team behind the idea to plan it as precisely as possible.

But in the end, remember: ‘there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about’ (Oscar Wilde).

Don’t get bogged down in blog town!

27 April 2012 - Public Relations

With reports recently surfacing that more companies are turning their backs on blogs, in favour of Facebook and Twitter for their ability to quickly relay messages to core markets and worldwide audiences – HROC PR looks at the likely reasons companies are dropping blogs, why it’s a bad idea and how not to get bogged down in blog town!

Why are companies giving blogs the cold shoulder?

Reports have indicated that one of the main causes for companies not wanting to maintain a regular blog is the perception (misguided as it is) that blogging is a lengthy process, involving finding an appropriate subject, researching it extensively and then writing a blog about it. Most companies don’t want to give up that much of an employee’s time for something they have little ability to quantify.

With the emergence of Twitter so too came micro blogging – the ability to blog without the fuss of writing a full post. This is great in theory and can be used as a quick hit way to target key demographics without taking too much time. So it’s understandable that companies are favouring Twitter and other social media channels over blogs, right? Er, wrong!

Twitter and Facebook may be the premier forms of engaging through social media, but the problem with these platforms is distinguishing a single voice or opinion against a sea of noise – and sometimes with the extra challenge of doing so with a limited number of characters.

By having a blog to fall back on, you have three ways of having your opinion heard (throw YouTube into the mix and you have four), which not only results in establishing yourself within the framework of a conversation but also drives traffic to your site.

But blogging does not have to be long winded – in fact, the average blog reader only stays on page for an average 96 seconds, so it’s better that your blog is concise and shows a succinct argument that in some way asserts a positive opinion of your company to the reader.

Why Blog?

Where blogs differ from other social media channels is that they have the unique advantage of positioning a company at the forefront of an issue within their field.

The blogs you will find on our website are about creative, digital, PR and advertising issues because it’s what we know and do day in day out. By having an engaging opinion on something you stand out from the crowd and blogs allow you to convey this better, and in more detail, than some other channels.

Twitter and Facebook are great for quick messages but should always link back to a blog, website or some other anchor, and be used as a secondary method of spreading news as opposed to the primary.

Don’t get me wrong, blogs are not easy to maintain. We do it for a number of our clients and it can be hard work, but one of the primary reasons that companies cease blogging is because they underestimate the time blogs do take and set unrealistic blogging calendars, whilst overthinking their posts.

A blog post once or twice a month is more than enough to get you noticed by search engines along with your key audience and the sooner you realise you are not writing ‘War and Peace’ the better your ability to blog will be.

Blogging helps SEO

It’s true!

The more a company can update their blogs, the more search engines will take note of the constantly updated content and rank you higher in searches.

By effectively using Twitter and Facebook to promote blogs you can help build the mentions of your company on search engines but this alone is not enough.

Once the post is written and uploaded you need to spend some time developing relations with the blogging community by commenting on other articles that relate to your subject matter. This is in the hope that those you comment on will then link to your blog (if they like the content) and help promote it. This link building is one of the most important aspects of increasing SEO and fundamental to good blogging – more links equals more mentions which in turn equals better rankings.

Better search engine rankings can mean the difference between page one of Google and page two – incidentally, studies have shown that 94% of internet searches click a first page result with less than 6% making it to the second page. Something to consider before you pull the plug on your blog!

Final thoughts (in the guise of Jerry Springer)

Blogging is a vital (and mostly free) tool for companies to assert their position on key industry issues, share news stories about their company (in particular growth etc) and generally raise awareness.

Blogs should be over 250 words and less than 1000 words (250 to register as new content with search engines and less than 1000 so readers don’t doze off mid way through).  While the temptation is to use Facebook and Twitter only, by eliminating blogs you lose the use of one of the most influential platforms for generating awareness of your company…effectively cutting off your corporate nose off to spite your face.

Take care of yourself and each other!

HROC wins a Golden Hedgehog

13 April 2012 - Public Relations

HROC PR is celebrating after winning a Golden Hedgehog Award for Best Use Of Research for its Dirty Cash campaign.

The inaugural awards, in association with leading media analysis website PR Moment, celebrate the best and brightest talent within the PR community. Split into two regions, the award events were attended by more than 400 representatives from some of the best PR agencies in the country.

The award, which was for the Midlands, Wales and the South region, follows another trophy win for Best Campaign £10,000 and Under at the CIPR Pride Awards in December 2011, along with numerous other nominations.

Steve Sherran, Managing Director of HROC PR, comments; “To be recognised by our peers is a great honor and we are extremely proud of our Dirty Cash campaign.

“The campaign shows what can be achieved by some creative thinking around a low interest category and is also a credit to the talented team behind the scenes of HROC PR, who pride themselves on getting under the skin of every client and building great campaigns on their solid foundation of knowledge.

“We look forward to winning more Golden Hedgehog awards over the coming years.”

The campaign achieved an ROI of 450:1 for client BioCote and gained extensive media coverage in the UK and internationally, including features on CNN and NBC. The extent of the coverage firmly solidified BioCote’s reputation as leaders in the anti-microbial field.

Facebook changes for business pages – what you need to know!

23 March 2012 - Public Relations

For some time now Facebook has been notifying us that on 30^th March all pages will be redesigned to replicate the new timeline look currently being rolled out onto personal profiles.

Rather than waiting for the changes to be implemented and learning how to reuse your page’s features, we’ve listed some of the confirmed changes so that you can prepare for them beforehand. 

Here are 4 changes to look out for:

1. Cover photo

Say goodbye to the picture row on your page, a cover photo will now replace this. If you haven’t seen it yet on anyone’s profile page, it’s basically a header banner that spans the top of your page. To make sure your cover photo stands out, all profile pictures will be now be resized to 180 px by 180 px – significantly smaller than it used to be. Before you get too excited about the marketing opportunities the new cover photo feature provides, there are a few restrictions you’ll need to know about:

• Your cover photo is prohibited from displaying any promotional sales messages such as “40% discount” or “download it from our website”. Neither may a cover photo make use of any calls to actions such as “call us for a quote!”

• Facebook has also stressed that cover photos may not cite any of Facebook’s features such as “like” or “share”

• Cover photos have also been explicitly banned from displaying any information Facebook deems appropriate for the “About us” tab. This includes contact information such as a website address, postal address and email address

• Facebook also makes clear that all cover photos must be unique and so any activity incentivising or encouraging fans to upload your cover photo to their profiles is strictly prohibited

For a great example of what a business cover photo should look like, take a look at Macy’s Facebook page.

2. Pinned posts

The new ‘pinned posts’ feature enables you to highlight a story and expand it so that it extends across your business page. To do this, click the star icon on the top right hand side of your post. You can now also pin posts to the top of your timeline to ensure that your message will be on display in a prominent position for a week. So, if you have a message you don’t want anyone to miss – the launch of a new website or product, a promotion, or even an event that you’ll be attending and want your fans to know about – this feature will be a welcome change for you.

3. Milestones

The whole rationale behind timeline is storytelling, so to support this endeavour businesses are encouraged to share the big events that have happened in the life of the brand by creating milestones. From inception to product launches, milestones let you share your story with your fans allowing them to feel more part of the brand family.

4. Facebook messages

A long overdue change that Facebook has announced is the ability for Facebook pages to message its individual fans privately. Though this facility is enabled by default, through the admin dashboard it can be turned off. Previously, admins would have to message fans through their personal accounts to address any issues but that will all be changing, meaning that admins will be able to keep their privacy. However, there is an important restriction to this: fans can only initiate messages, a page can only respond once it has been messaged.

We’re excited to see the value these changes will bring to Facebook communities and look forward to seeing how brands will use these to strengthen their online presence. Have you started to use timeline for your business page? What benefits or challenges have you faced because of it? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @hroc_pr.

Twitter for business – what’s the point?

29 February 2012 - Public Relations

“What’s the point of using Twitter for my business? What value will I get and what’s the ROI?” Find yourself asking these, if not similar questions? Here are a few answers from us:

Every day millions of tweeple – that’s people who tweet to non tweeters –  use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with one another. On average there are 140 million tweets posted daily by Twitter’s 500 million user data base. Twitter is just another communications channel available to your business, but one crucial aspect distinguishes it: its real time nature. Twitter breaks news faster than any other media channel, which means that your business can instantly communicate your message to your audience and, potentially, virally distribute it to reach your prospective consumers who were previously inaccessible to you.

Twitter can open many doors for your business. Connecting and collaborating with influential users and valuable industry connections, to spread the word about your business, can help your brand’s online visibility skyrocket. This, if used in conjunction with promotions, can help you tap into a prospective consumer base that is ready to make purchasing decisions.

The beauty of social media channels like Twitter, which differentiate them from traditional communications channels, is they allow two-way conversations. Using this functionality to augment customer services teams and acquire feedback from their customers, will not only support the management of your brand’s online reputation by addressing dissatisfactions directly, but can also promote your business’ internal product development initiatives.

An often overlooked but vital consideration is that Twitter will future proof your business for the consumers of tomorrow. All your followers are potential customers and, if not today then in the future, will have to make definitive buying decisions about products or services in your industry. If your brand has a credible and renowned presence online and has already established a relationship with them, they are most likely to have you in the forefront of their minds when it comes to buying. Consider developing an app or a quirky viral video to engage your younger audiences. Remember, they may not be interested in your product yet, but they will share some common interests with you. Use your creativity to tap into this and you’ll stay memorable for them and will see the fruits of your labour ripen in the future .

Many brands have ventured into using social media as part of their PR or marketing strategy but most fail because they forget an essential step of successful social media strategy: building relationships. A fresh and interesting personality will attract followers but Twitter is much more than just a numbers game. The number of followers your brand has is important, but the real value lies in the quality of your followers and the strength of your relationship with them. Only by respecting and nurturing this relationship can your business begin to determine any ROI.

By sharing remarkable content that educates, solves problems, entertains, informs and promotes interaction with your followers, a brand can demonstrate thought leadership and industry knowledge, which increases trust, confidence and the credibility of a business in the eyes of a consumer. Trust in the brand will lead to brand allegiance and from that you may get a lead conversion in the future. It’s not a quick sales generation platform but what it can leave you with is a devoted and satisfied customer base full of loyal brand evangelists, ready to recommend your products to their network.

There is no better time to start building these relationships than through a recession. It’s a well known fact that consumers are more likely to buy from a company that has been recommended to them by a trusted source than one that has not been. Budgets are slim for everyone and buying decisions can be influenced by word of mouth recommendations, so acquiring positive user generated content is priceless for all businesses; the more objective reviews about your products, the more confidence potential customers will have in your brand, and the more likely they are to buy from you. This makes developing relationships with your online customer base and transforming them into vocal brand advocates an indispensible asset for your PR and marketing strategy.

How are you using Twitter for your business? Tell us in the comments below, or tweet us @hroc_pr.

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.