How to do PR in 2008

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Shel Holtz has a great story that illustrates how really savvy PRs should be operating in today’s always connected society. It’s about a US magazine (MAD) and a big electronics retail chain (Circuit City). The magazine ran a spoof Circuit City ad (sort of sub-Private Eye style) and an executive at Circuit City took umbrage and order the mag to be cleared from the shelves and destroyed.

As you’d expect in today’s citizen journalist world the offending email was leaked and published in the blogosphere (on Consumerist). The story then took off and received 114 comments, an amazing 1935 Diggs (with a further 165 comments) and was picked up by AP.

But, this is where it gets really good. Instead of acting like a big, old, dumb corporate Jim Babb, a savvy PR in Circuit City’s corporate communications department sent a witty email that: a) Admitted the mistake; b) Tried to put it right; and c) Apologised.

The result was acclaim from The Consumerist and the apology received 63 comments – almost universally positive.

Shel quite rightly points out that the mistake should never have been made in the first place. It’s essential that potential reputation issues are run past the experts (i.e. the public relations people) and that every manager and indeed employee has a basic grasp of when they might need to take counsel.

The story illustrates how word of mouth marketing can be negative as well as positive, so it pays to get expert advice to help you manage it.

The truth about working for an agency

Have you ever thought about starting a career in marketing and wondered what it’s like to work in an agency? Well, here is a short and amusing video which gives you a flavour for what it’s really like.

Enjoy.

The newspaper that published spoof news releases

Blogging minister Tom Harris has an amusing story from his days as a student journalist on a local Scottish newspaper. The rival newspaper, in the same town, had even fewer staff and less time to re-write or check news releases submitted to it. So the enterprising hacks at Tom’s paper invented a fake local charity and wrote weekly spoof news releases, which would duly be printed in their rival paper, despite the fact that anyone reading them should have spotted the numerous clues that it was a spoof.

More Introductions… (Sam Oakley this time.)

I must have started blogging about three years ago, I think mainly as a way of passing the time during a particularly slow period at North Yorkshire County Council. The first person to comment on my blog was a guy called Stuart Bruce, and since then we’ve disagreed on almost everything – He thought Yorkshire should have a regional assembly, I thought it shouldn’t (1 -0 to me.) He thought Tom Murray should win in the local elections, I thought it should be Alan Lamb (1 – 1 dammit!) He thought Alan Johnson would make a great Labour deputy leader, I thought my dog would do better (it’s a long story but, bizarrely, 2 -1 to me.)

In fact it’s taken a while for us to find something we agree on, but the fact that I should come and work for him seems to have provided us with the common ground we were looking for, and since then we’ve actually found that we agree on a lot more than we originally thought. Namely, that good PR comes from a genuine desire to converse, that David Cameron would be a better PM than Gordon is (publicly, he still denies this but deep down… well maybe I’ll convince him one day,) and perhaps most importantly, that the web’s second coming will irrevocably shift the goal posts for traditional PR.

In all seriousness, I’m delighted to have joined Wolfstar, they’re a great group of people to be around and the business has genuinely exciting prospects. Right – I’ve got 2000 blog posts read so best get on.  You’ll be hearing more from me soon, so I hope you’ll allow me to get away with this being short.

Don’t blame the PR intern - ever

So many things I could say about this story on Gawker about a US PR firm impersonating a rabbi to post fake blog comments. But let’s keep it quick with three simple rules.

1. Don’t ever blame the intern. They are working on your time, on your clients. It’s up to you to supervise them and make sure it’s done right. If they screw up, then it is really your firm that has screwed up. Someone should have been mentoring them properly. They are there to learn and gain experience, not just do work for you.
2. Don’’t fake it on the internet – ever. Firstly, because it’s wrong. Secondly, because you’re likely to get caught. Thirdly, in the UK at least it is illegal thanks to the new Consumer Protection Regulations – you can go to jail.
3. If you do get it wrong then admit it, apologise, learn and don’t do it again.

Thanks to Stephen Davies for the link.

Claire joins Wolfstar for work experience

Hi. My name is Claire Field, and today is my first day of work experience at Wolfstar. I graduated last year with a MA (Hons) from the University of St Andrews, where I read International Relations – Social Anthropology, but also took additional modules in Economics, English and Italian in my pre-Hons years because of how the Scottish system works – and no, I can’t speak Italian – non mi piace l’italiano (I don’t like the Italian language) is the extent of my recollections. I’m also highly skilled in butchering other languages – they’re not my strong point!

Despite attending university in Scotland, I’m actually a Yorkshire girl hailing from the liquorice-famous town of Pontefract, about 10 miles from Leeds; pre-uni I made the most of the Leeds nightlife and shops, but also its creative offerings. I was lucky enough to snag the last place on the Galaxy Radio Academy from thousands of applicants, and spent four months learning all about commercial radio broadcasting, even gaining a NCFE diploma from it.

This sparked off my interest in radio; I was delighted in my second year at St Andrews when student radio station STAR was set up. I immediately signed up, and began presenting my own twice-weekly show – ‘The Schnitzel with Noodles Show’ – which was fabulous because I got to pollute the airwaves with my ramblings and eclectic music taste! I was also on the committee, holding the position of Head of Community Relations, where I set up work experience for local pupils and promoted the station as a community, not a university, project.

I’m happier when I get to be creative and I’m pleased to be given the opportunity to work with Wolfstar to learn more about the PR world – social media especially – as my dissertation explored the issues arising from the use of social media within modern society, using Facebook as my ethnographic site. I find the rise of the Network Society absolutely fascinating, and have always had an interest in the fast-pace and sheer magnitude of the Internet. I’ve even dabbled in website creation myself – my first site was the now defunct Claire’s Cabin, which had episode guides of popular TV shows of the late ‘90’s – this spun-off a second site dedicated to the Harry Potter books.

Wherever I end up in my career, I know my forthcoming time at Wolfstar is going to be both a fabulous, and beneficial, experience!

Nat joins Wolfstar for work experience

Hiya! My name is Natalie Smith and today’s my first day of work experience here at Wolfstar. I’ve recently completed my first year on the BA(Hons) Public Relations course at Leeds Metropolitan University and am nervously anticipating exam results! (five days and counting, fingers crossed please guys!)

I’m originally from a nice little village in East Yorkshire called Swanland (No, I do NOT live in Hull, thank you!) which, contrary to the name, unfortunately no longer has any swans living in it!

I moved to Leeds in 2006 to begin a film production course at the Met, but after the first semester it became clear how badly run the course was, and how unmotivated I was to continue the course as a result. However, as my parents were kindly obliging to pay for my education, I agreed to finish the year to gain a certificate of higher education, so I guess it wasn’t a complete waste of a year!

I realised that although I am a creative person, I’m not cut out for the monotony of life behind a camera, or sat in an editing suite 18 hours a day. So why choose PR? Well the idea actually came from my mum, who’d secretly been researching other courses for me, apparently “just for fun”. My answer to this suggestion was quite honestly “But what exactly is PR?”

After researching companies and the course, I spent two days with the in house PR team at Arla Foods which convinced me that this was the route I wanted to take and showed me what PR was all about. I loved it and immediately sent off my application to start the transfer process!

After completing the first year of the course I really believe that I’ve made the right decision and that PR is perfectly suited to my personality. I’ve almost shocked myself by the amount of motivation I’ve had- my house mates still look confused to see me getting up in the morning for lectures! I’m really looking forward to starting my second year, although it’ll be weird not being a fresher for the third year!

Being a poor student (edging nearer to my overdraft limit by the second..) I’ve decided to stay put in Leeds for the summer as jobs are a bit scarce at home! So it’s a life of job hunting for me at the moment!

Working with the Wolfstar team is a great opportunity to help introduce me to the growing world of social media and WOM marketing, I can’t wait to get involved and see what it’s all about!

Becky joins Wolfstar on work experience

Hello everyone! My name is Becky, and I have just started on work placement here at Wolfstar. I graduated last July from Leeds University with a degree in English and Philosophy, and I have spent the last ten months gaining work experience and trying to get the hang of this being-a-grown-up thing!

I have always had a keen interest in media, and since joining City Sound hospital radio at Leeds General Infirmary three years ago, I have specifically developed an interest in radio. I have my own weekly show at City Sound, and I really enjoy the creative freedom I have to write, produce and deliver my own show.

I have previously worked for the commercial radio station The Pulse as a weekend events assistant, helping to raise awareness and promote the brand image of the station. I have also been on work placement at Yorkshire Radio, BBC Radio Kent, and more recently Virgin Radio. During my time at these stations I developed an interest in PR, and hence I am exploring this interest here at Wolfstar.

Wolfstar has given me a fantastic opportunity to work alongside the team and gain knowledge and experience of PR and Social Media. All in all, I’m very excited to be here and have the opportunity to learn about the PR and Social Media industry and maybe they can learn a little something about radio from me!

PR tips for start-ups

Sparked by an article by Brain Solis on TechCrunch entitled “PR Secrets for Startups” there’s quite a healthy debate going on at the moment about if start-ups, more specifically web 2.0 start-ups, need professional public relations support. My personal answer to the question is …. it depends. Start-ups certainly do need professional PR and marketing advice, but how much and how it is delivered depends on each individual company.

I’ve helped really small start-ups, funded by the founders on a shoestring, by turning down the limited budget they’ve offered me and providing a one day workshop for a lot less so that they can do some things themselves. But for many this isn’t going to be a practical option, because the CEO and founders are never going to be experts and have a lot of other things to do and it’s impossible to do them all well yourself.

Ironically one of the best posts about why Web 2.0 start-ups need PR is by Loic Le Meur, in his post arguing that they don’t! Many of the PR tips that Loic offers are exactly what a professional PR person would do/say/advise.

Not a secret #1
who cares about stories, you can get traction and users if you have a good product

No **** Sherlock. Any competent PR person would tell you that it’s the product that matters - you can’t polish a turd. And of course the users/customers/community comes first, just as any good PR person would advise you.

Not a secret #2
Do not pick a PR person, be the spokesperson of the company

Loic thinks the best person to represent your company, is you - the CEO. And he’s right, which is why he cites Steve Jobs and Richard Branson as his best known examples. But guess what, behind both Jobs and Branson you have good PR people. Loic advises “Get training”, now who do you think should deliver PR training? Hint - see my reference to workshops at the start of this post.

Not a secret #3
Participation is NOT marketing

Well perhaps it’s not marketing, but participation in a community is exactly what public relations is and always has been. Don’t fall into the trap of equating PR with just doing media relations and targeting journalists, that is a tiny part of what your PR consultancy should be doing for you.

Not a secret #4
There are no “targets” either, we’re just people, not an audience!

“Just throw yourself and your product in the conversation and you will see who shows up, who is interested or not in what you are doing.”

But who’s going to do the throwing, and more importantly the listening and responding to the conversation? That’s just one area where your PR agency can help.

Not a secret #5
Who cares about the launch day and date.

Not entirely clear what Loic is on about here, other than perhaps trying to say that timing is everything. PR isn’t a science or an art, but both. This means that sometimes doing the wrong thing works and doing the right thing doesn’t. But that means experience, expertise and professionalism are even more important, just so you can increase your chances of things going right. You can lose battles, but still win the war (with the right support).

Not a secret #6
Do not see bloggers and journalists as target either, they will ignore you

“Take bloggers. Everybody tries to pitch Scoble and Arrington. They are tired of the same formatted boring pitches that come to them exactly the same.”

Exactly, which is why 99.9% of the time they would be the wrong people to pitch, even if they are “friends”. You simply need to have conversations with people who are interested in what you’re talking about. That means far more listening than talking. That’s what a good PR consultancy will do.

Not a secret #7
Do not measure success and traffic from PR

“Do not be obsessed by numbers and results, it is long term relationships that matter.”

No s**t Sherlock. There’s a hint in the name that public relations is about relationships.

Others weighing in on the debate are Shel Holtz (who explains PR is so much more than just pitching stories), and Stowe Boyd (who half agrees with Loic, but still thinks most start-ups need PR).

UPDATE: Tom Murphy talks sense (as usual), Robert Scoble jumps in to show he still doesn’t know what PR is (why is it that when Scoble talks sense, he talks a lot of sense, when he doesn’t - well you go figure, maybe we should all stick to what we’re good at), Todd Defren looks at targeting.

 

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