Celluloid Cowboys and PR People

Yesterday's Hollywood cowboys - Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers - thrilled a generation of kids at Saturday matinees.  

Every week we cheered wildly as we watched them on the silver screen bringing villains to justice. To us kids they were authentic - plain talking and fast acting heroes living by simple frontier values where you helped neighbours and those in trouble. 

Hopalong, Gene and Roy never sought out trouble but they were quick to act if trouble found them. They used their horse riding, gun toting, two fisted skills to right wrongs and restore things to how they should be back at the ranch or in the town. Often they fought outnumbered when those around them had given up.  Yet week after week they prevailed and then rode quietly into the sunset. 

These 50s Hollywood portrayals of good versus evil were highly romanticised and politicised. Yet while the myths of the Old West are no longer be relevant, the essential message of these cowboy heroes - having simple values and sticking to them - are as valid now as when they rode the range.  

Honesty, promptness, balance and a willingness to listen and act in others' as well as our own interests should be our compass points

Solid, positive values underpin all enduring relationships with the people who matter most to us.  That applies especially to professional communicators.  Honesty, promptness, balance and a willingness to listen and act in others' as well as our own interests should be the compass points that guide our communications efforts in the coming year.  

In 2014 there may be circumstances and individuals who challenge our ideas of right and wrong.  Perhaps the silver screen examples of Hopalong, Gene and Roy might help us decide how we should act. 

PR Posters For Your Boss' Office

Abbott Ranks # 26 on Twitter's Leader Board

The December 2013 report of the Digital Policy Council shows 123 out 164 countries or three out of four heads of state have now embraced Twitter.

The biggest mover in the Twittersphere was US President Obama.  He occupies # 1 spot and gained 16 million followers this past year.  This pushed the number of people who follow him north of 40 million. 

Starting with the 2008 Presidential Election Obama has always been comfortable with social media but a noticeable upturn in his numbers occurred when the US Government shut down in September 2013.  Obama joined other politicians and citizens to tweet his frustrations about the situation.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) made the most spectacular debut onto the Twitter stage. SBY only joined Twitter in 2013 but 4.2 million followers quickly followed him. 

The Indonesian leader is a quick leaner. 

 He strategically took to Twitter to chastise Australia over allegations the Australian Government spied on Indonesian officials.

The Australian Prime Minister comes in at # 26 in the global Twitter rankings, a drop from his # 20 ranking the previous year.  Abbott has been tweeting since November 2011 and has 270 000+ followers. The PM is an infrequent tweeter.  Recent posts serve up mainly feel good content with little apparent effort to interact with others or converse on issues.

Still our PM is streets ahead of leaders from China, Denmark, Sweden and some Gulf countries who are yet to get on to the micro blogging platform.

While the adoption rate among some world leaders may have slowed, the number of people following political leaders continues to grow.  In 2013 83 million people  followed a world leader up from 10 million people just three years ago.
 

Read the Digital Policy Council's 2013 report.

A Special Lions Project

Branded Journalism: Texas Style

Branded journalism is standard in content marketing yet it's not new. Over 70 years ago it was being used to sway Texas voters.

In 1941 Lyndon Johnston (LBJ), later to become the 36th US President, was campaigning to become a Senator in his native state of Texas.  The election was hotly contested and the battle for the attention of voters was fierce.

The only source of news for many voters in rural Texas was the 25 newspapers that published weekly in farming and ranching communities across the State.  Few publishers were professional journalists and most were often short on cash and short on news to fill their pages. Some were prepared to print articles provided by the candidates in return for advertising. Payments for this political advertorial were small, because at that time local merchants could buy an ad for 50 cents or a $1.

Johnson had poached accomplished newspaper men for his campaign.  In an early example of branded journalism, these reporters provided the small rural outlets across Texas with packaged news stories and pictures of their candidate. Content could be a copy of a recent speech, a favourable item from the campaign trail or an endorsement by a local identity. And the content kept coming - edition after edition - throughout the campaign.

The payments paid off and Johnson received massive coverage throughout the State.  His team never rested, recycling particularly good print coverage as radio content in the numerous broadcasts Johnson's campaign arranged over the 10-week long campaign.

Ironically Johnson was beaten in the Senate race by then Texas Governor Pappy O'Daniel.  Pappy, himself a savvy media operator, used his popular, weekly hillbilly radio show to champion his claims for the Senate seat. 

Winning only by around 1000 votes, it seems Pappy's down home style and branded journalism out manoeuvred LBJ's more polished efforts. 

Which proves that many of today's communications approaches we hold up as new, someone somewhere has tried before. 

(Source - Johnson:The Path to Power by Robert Caro.)