The Age of Content Is Here (Again)

 Content marketing is not new.  

That's the conclusion from day one of Sydney's Content Marketing World Conference where communicators explored the topic from Australian and US perspectives.  

Yes although the term may be recent, content marketing has been around since we were cave dwellers. The fact is we have always shared information with others - passing along knowledge, helping out and warning of danger.

But today organizations face an urgency to provide content to customers, citizens or clients at a time when they are less inclined than ever to pay attention.  Unless you provide something that entertains or informs people about issues they need to know or care about, your message blurs into the background noise of life. 

That's because:

• All of us suffer information overload.  Too many people want our attention and often for their reasons not ours.
• Traditional media models are broke.  They are being pushed aside by new communication platforms which arrive with ever faster speed and can be so very distracting.
• People now openly mistrust brands, governments and other sources of traditional information unless they have a positive relationship with them.

So if you want attention, you - or someone you trust - must provide information that genuinely helps your audience, when they need your information not when you choose to deliver it. 

Content marketing may not be new but it can be challenging particularity for old school organizations wedded to blasting messages to their communities. 

See earlier post. 

Leave The Boss Behind When It Comes To PR

The CEO or Minister should be the last person speaking publicly for your organisation. 

That's if you believe the results of the Edelman Trust Barometer 2013.  

Australian results show only 41% of people find the CEO (or equivalent) credible as a spokesperson. And government officials rank only marginally higher.

Yet most PRs reflexively put forward their top leaders when it comes to communications.  That may be counter productive because less than half the people trust them, and even that level of trust is down 8% on 2012 results.

So if the CEO lacks the credibility who could be your communications champions?

Topping the list are academics or experts. 74% of people would believe them. Followed by:

• A technical expert from your organisation (71%)
• A person like yourself (62% and up 31 points from 2012)

• A representative from a non government organisation (62%) 

• A financial or industry analyst (57%)

• A regular employee (51%)

• A government official or regulator (47%)

... and sitting at the very bottom of the trust totem is the CEO (41%).  

It goes against conventional wisdom for anyone but the CEO to speak on behalf of your organisation. But if your communications struggle to cut through, it may be time to consider someone who enjoys more public respect.  

   

Media Beats Out Social in Trust Ratings

We previously reported the Edelman Trust Barometer 2013 which surveys the institutions and individuals people trust.  

Edelman asked 1200 Australians about their confidence levels in media, government, not for profits and business. 

Well ... the latest results for traditional media are surprising and seem to go against prevailing wisdom. For example:

• 83% of the general public trust TV or trust it a great deal
• 78% trust newspapers and radio, with both enjoying exactly the same trust levels
• 75% trust magazines
• 64% trust corporate communications

But levels of trust for social media are way, way below traditional media: 

• 41% of the general public trust Youtube and content sharing or trust it a great deal
• 40%  trust blogs
• 38% trust microblogs like Twitter

 And while crazies of all sorts have invaded the web confidence levels in it as a source of information remain high:

• 78% of the general public trust search engines or trust them a great deal
• 71% trust news/RSS on the web

 So Aussie communicators ....don't trash your media releases just yet.

  
 

Sharing Stories and Knowledge On The Web

This video offers insights into how we share knowledge and information on the web.

Watch Harvard scholar David Weinberger explain.

Survey Shows Government Communicators Likely To Struggle

Each year the powerhouse American PR company,Edelman, surveys what institutions and individuals people trust.  

As part of its 2012 global efforts Edelman asked 1200 Australians about their confidence levels in media, government, not for profits and business. 

Some of the findings suggest people working in government communications are likely to struggle in the coming 12 months because:

• 60% of Australians do not trust government to tell the truth.
• Only 13% of the public believe government communicates honestly and frequently.
• In the last three years trust in government has fluctuated but trust in media, not for profits and business has steadily increased.
• At the same time traditional media - which some pundits say is dying - has enjoyed an increase in trust up from 23% in 2011 to 32% in 2012.

The survey also reports 56% of Australians need to be exposed to information 3 to 5 times to believe it is true. Yet many public sector campaigns are short lived or even still born because Ministers and staffs are continually shifting the PR focus to meet the latest crisis. 
 

AUSTRALIA: 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer Data by Edelman

Your Boss Needs To Be PR Savvy

Ever wished your boss knew more about PR?

A CEO who "gets" the value of communications is priceless. But to date there has been little opportunity for them to learn the how to of PR.  

Well thank goodness someone is finally doing something about it.

This year the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is partnering with leading US universities to introduce public relations and reputation management into MBA courses. 

Great initiative.  Are there any Australian university doing something similar for senior managers?

Get Good PR By Thinking Like An App

17.4 million smart devices were activated on Christmas Day
along with 328 million app downloads (Flurry).

Australians downloaded 32 million apps for their smartphones and tablet computers between Christmas Day and New Years Eve 2012. (Flurry Blog)

During the same period  1.76 billion applications were downloaded worldwide: a staggering amount in just seven days.

Apps have become the new power tool of PR and marketing since Apple began the first standardised app  service in July 2008.

Wikipedia reports:

• The Apple Store stocks 650 000 apps with 30 billion downloaded since 2008.
•  Last October Google Play had around 700 000 Android apps and an estimated 25 billion downloads.
• The Microsoft Windows Phone Store has over 120 000 apps.

Apps have become part of our everyday lives.  They provide news and entertainment, connect us to others, help us bank and budget, improve our productivity and make it easy for us to buy, bet, follow our heroes and manage our diaries. 

Apps are so commonplace we no longer stop to consider the technical wonder behind those little icons patiently waiting to be pressed into service on our mobile screens.  

But while the technology is relatively new, apps work on a proven PR formula:

• Give people information they need or want when they want it.
• Make it easy to understand.
• Ensure information is easy to access and remains timely and relevant.
• Remove barriers and make the content easy to share.
• Deliver that information at the point of personal need. 

The communication simplicity of the app surely must offer lessons in the rest of our PR lives.

   

Worst Media Interview Ever?

Last week CNN's Piers Morgan interviewed radio host Alex Jones about gun control in the US following the Connecticut school massacre.

During the interview Jones flipped out with a mixture of emotion and anger.  Decent gun owners across America must have squirmed at seeing their cause so ineptly presented by  Jones. Elsewhere in the world viewers must have asked "are these people for real?"

From a PR perspective you can bet media trainers everywhere will use this as a what not to do example for years to come. 

Journalism Goes Visual

My last post talked about how journalism is becoming more data-based.

This goes hand in hand with the need to present data-driven stories as visually and simply as possible so people can come to terms with complex issues.

In line with this, this week the US- based Boston Globe is recruiting for a data visualization and graphics journalist to create multimedia infographics, data-driven visual explanations, and interactive maps and charts for its print and online publications. 

At present the Globe's graphic department creates both print and online graphics but this new  job will focus online initially.

The paper is looking for an infographic artist with strong curiosity, journalistic integrity, and creativity to contribute visual explanations to its journalism efforts.

Could this area be a growth opportunity in Australian journalism in future? 

The Journalism Trend PR People Must Know

2013 will be the year data dominates journalism and  impacts on how PR professionals work.

This trend will affect us. Journalists will either be a key audience, or remain a critical channel to reach key audiences, in many of our campaigns this year. 

Big Data

Since the mid 1990s journalists have gone online to research stories.  Now there is so much  personal, organisational or issue-related information online, the next step will be mining deeper than ever before into this rich content, to arrive at fresh narratives or strengthen existing stories. 

Increasingly numbers will tell stories.

Reporters now have the tools to sift through mountains of information which previously would warn off even the keenest investigator. Google Fusion Tables, Tableau, datawrapper and other software allow data to be rapidly crunched, collated, analysed and presented.

So expect two things:

• PDFs are where data goes to die. Journalists will increasingly demand you present  data in easily accessible formats.  Releasing information in PDF may you look out of date, unhelpful, suspicious or all three.  
• And beware.  Reporters may now know more about your issues than you think so be prepared when they call in search of a story.

Watch The Guardian's Simon Rogers for more Big Data insights.

Presentation

Another data-driven change in 2013 will be drop and drag software that lets journalists combine text, imagery, video, audio, infographics, hot spots, apps and buttons into a single story package which can be quickly embedded into a news site. And which consumers can navigate when, how and in the detail they need from a story.

A software package called Storyplanet plans a public launch this year.  Reporters and photographers can use its grid-like architecture to build interactive and visually captivating packets of content for a quick upload to their websites. Read more....

So expect journalists to tell their stories using even more multimedia than they do now.  And don't be surprised if the the new presentation tools create more demands on us to offer up more than documents and someone to interview. 

IABC Directions For 2013

I'm a member of the Canberra Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). A global reaching organisation, IABC helps communicators develop their careers and businesses.

Watch as President Kerbey Meyers and CEO Chris Sorek share IABC's plans for 2013.

Tweeting Election Day in the US

Video courtesy of CNN

Changing PR Economy Demands New Skills

The changing pr economy from Bob Crawshaw

Social Media Tactics From Obama and Romney

Watch out Wednesday! 

That's when the US Presidential race is finally over after a year of intense campaigning.  And, when there will be a vast outpouring of analysis on how the successful candidate used social media to support his bid.  

Both the Romney and Obama teams have extensively used social media to engage Americans through Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other platforms. Early on they took heed of research showing social media users are more politically active, more issues-oriented, better connected and contribute more money than non-users.  

At least that's the view of David Almacy who spoke on social media in the US Election at the recent PRSA Conference. Almacy a senior executive of Edelman PR and a member of the Republican digital media team at the party's Convention in August, gave an engaging presentation, particularly for the few non-Americans in the audience. 

He believes both parties have used online channels to push out information, take the pulse of voter sentiment and draw people to candidate websites where they are invited to volunteer their time and money. 

What's missing of course is talk about engaging in real dialogue.  It seems minor candidates are more likely to engage in two way conversations than the two major parties, who remained focused on pushing out messages on an almost industrial scale, in the hope of avoiding journalistic filters.

Almacy also noted those participating in social media do not necessarily increase their political knowledge because most of the chatter has amplified traditional media coverage of events and issues.

An August article on the impact of social media on elections in the US publication The Atlantic reached similar conclusions.

Four Ways To Drive Content Marketing

Recently I heard US content guru Lee Odden talk about the power of content marketing.  Lee is the author of 29 Content Marketing Secrets.

The conversation was timely.  Today there are over seven billion connected devices and the number grows each day. A few weeks ago Facebook hit the one billion user mark.  Five years ago could you have imagined so many people communicating from a single grid?

In this age of connectivity we create, consume, publish, interact and transact at will.  

But what exactly do we communicate?  Is there quality in our conversations?

The answer is simple - if your social media horizons are personal.  You share the details of daily life with friends and family.  But a government, business or not for profit can't and won't do that.  Nor can they afford to fall into the trap of using social media as an electronic brochure simply blasting out their stuff. One way, self-centred conversations quickly become tiresome.

You can achieve far more if the content in your social media dialogue is grounded around a few essential basics such as: 

• Your audience and their ambition, goals, needs and problems.
• Stories of people who benefit or are impacted by what you do and stories of frontline staff interacting with others.
• Your commitment to respond and interact, share information and cop criticism along with compliments
• Communicating with passion and energy - the qualities which will really make you stand out and stand for something. 

This mirrors our real world conversations that add value to our lives so craft content along these lines and you're bound to succeed.

Three PR Lessons from San Francisco

My recent visit to San Francisco for this year's Public Relations Society of America's International Conference was an eye-opener. 

Just as the Bay City led  the 60s with its flower power movement, the convention showed it remains a powerhouse of new ideas.

When 3000 PR-types from across the globe gather, you're bound to meet interesting people and discover good ideas. It's always a buzz tapping into the energy of PRs from all over the world. Akin to having communications jumper leads (or booster cables as Americans call them) wired up to your brain.  

This particular conference  revealed insights and emphasised three themes:  

• Social media is now baked into every significant piece of marketing and communication.  PRs must be able to strategise, deliver, integrate and evaluate a social media program.  If you can't, then you stamp a sign on your forehead which shouts you have no future in the industry. Bosses expect you to be as adept as social media as you are at writing media releases or staging events. And, there can be no excuses when we are all surrounded by free advice, tips and techniques on the web and PRs willing to share their experiences.

• A social media crisis can hit at  tweet-speed. And just as quickly it can pass by leaving a trail of busted reputations and broken staff. The risks of doing nothing are too great in a world of instant dialogue. The PR professional is expected to respond quickly which puts a premium on crisis communications skills.  Once the province of specialist communicators, managing crisis communications has now moved to the front row of PR competencies.  

• Social media is introducing a new era of transparency.  The citizen, customer or client is king and queen and can and will vent frequently and fully.  The social media spotlight penetrates like a miner's lamp further and faster into the back offices and factory floors of government and business. Everyone needs to adapt.  That means HR as well as PR, and also count in the folks in finance, production, distribution and R&D.

If you're not using social media and using it effectively, be confident your competitors are -  to out-organise, out-sell, out-strategise or out-think you. 

While our core business objectives may not have changed, San Fransisco shows the communications landscape around them certainly has. We are going to have to do more in less time.

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Talking To Politicans Cost Money

The intersection between money and communications is well known. Those with the dollars have far more communications options than the rest of us.

This is particularly true in political communications, and why fund raising is such an important part in US elections.

In coming days US Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Vice Presidential hopeful Paul Ryan are in Connecticut looking for cash.

They will appear at party fundraisers with hefty price tags. For example the Hartford Courant newspaper reports local Republican supporters will pay $10 000 per person for a round table discussion with Ryan. Attending a reception for him will cost $1000 while a photo with the Vice Presidential nominee will set you back $5 000.

The costs for engaging with the Vice President are similar.

So if you need to talk to the top pollies ahead of the US election, your best chance is to grab the cheque book, start up the limo and head for the mansions where the well heeled gather.

The Ultimate Trade Show

Marketers instinctively know the power of events to introduce and promote brands.

The 2012 Antique Fair in Paris ranks among the world's most high end events.

Held in the Grande Palais, exhibitors such as Cartier and Bulgari have transformed this iconic Parisian building into a temple for luxury lines.

High end fashion mix with exquisite jewelry - and that's just what the visitors are wearing. On display are precious stones, antique objects d'art and paintings by famous artists.

The event planning and attention to detail are meticulous. The exhibition area is covered by designer carpet and display stands are architectural pieces in their own right.

The Paris show ranks as one if the world's great events where luxury brands meet the international jet set. But the principles of good planning, clever layout and stylish presentation could apply anywhere.

Ironing Pants And Human Rights

You meet a lot of people while ironing pants.

On a recent visit to Geneva I was pressing clothes in a hotel ironing room and sharing iron boards - so to speak - with Hussien from Bahrain.

Hussien was in Geneva as part of a delegation to address the United Nations Human Rights Commission. He passionately outlined his hopes for more democracy and personal liberties in the Gulf States.

Rights we take for granted in the West, including the right to communicate about anything anytime, are not always available in other parts of the world.

I wished Hussein well for his presentation to the world body. And reflected that his presentation would be far more important than any I have ever made in my career.

Sometimes we all need wake up calls to remind us what's really important in life.

Marketing Lessons From A Shopping Trolley

A COSTCO store recently opened in Canberra and already has established a loyal customer following.  Locally COSTCO is reinventing grocery shopping like Macdonalds reinvented fast food and The Body Shop redefined buying soap. 

COSTCO at Canberra Airport resembles a factory more than a traditional retail.   Bulk goods are stacked on industrial pallets and there are no signs to guide shoppers.  A first time visitor can easily get lost navigating the wide, unmarked aisles. COSTCO never advertises and apart from a burst of pre- opening publicity, the store never makes the Canberra media.   In fact the whole COSTCO approach to marketing seems counter intuitive.

Yet while Australian stores watch online sales erode profits, Canbera shoppers head to COSTCO for necessities, lifestyle products and the occasional luxury item. And they gladly pay annual fees to do so.

A recent CNBC TV report investigated COSTCO's global marketing which attracts three million customers each day.  The 28 minute program showed consistency, value and surprise play key roles in COSTCO's success. 

COSTCO routinely delivers prices shoppers are willing to pay.  Enormous attention to detail goes into the selection and testing of products and the chain regualry springs a surprise on the shopper.  While most lines revolve around staples (globally COSTCO's meat sales top $4.5 billion each year and toliet paper is a #1 seller) from time to time high- end watches, jewellery and other exclusive items are also on sale. 

The combination of value, consistency and doing the unexpected invites people to talk about their COSTCO experience with passion and keenly recommend it to others.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if others we routinely deal with, used the same highly effectively marketing mix to generate positive word of mouth.