Top four media relations’ tips for live TV

An insiders look into Live TVI’ve always found live television a little mystifying.

The inviting set, complete with cushy furniture and a pleasant background, presents to the nation just one frame of what is otherwise a chaotic studio.

The wire cobwebs of tech equipment are almost always out of camera shot on live TV. A mess of tangled cords would look out of place on a ‘perfect set’ – besides it would ruin the magical illusion that is television.

Recently, I had the experience of watching TV One’s Breakfast from a front row position inside the TVNZ studios. A conversation with the presenter of the weekly gadget segment, led to one of our clients, Asnet Technologies, debuting their clever new VGo ‘telepresence’ robot on national television.

While the VGo robot was on-screen for less than five minutes, it took a lot of planning to get it there. Here are some key learnings.

1. Make it as easy as possible for your client/product/story to be covered.
Producers are inundated with PR pitches every day and therefore have numerous choices when deciding what to cover. Once they decide to cover whatever it is you are pitching, it is vital to be prompt, efficient and helpful in your communication. Be sure to give them all the information they require in a timely manner. TV works to tight deadlines and at a quick pace – if you cannot get them what they need quickly enough, they will ask somebody who can, which could mean your client misses out.

2. Accept it might not all go to plan.
Just as boy scouts are ‘always prepared’, a PR pro should always have a back up plan. In our case, the expectation of a ‘live’ product demonstration was, for various reasons, not an option on the day. Luckily we already had some great footage of the VGo robot in action and were still able to show off everything viewers would have seen in a live demo. Sometimes you’ll find that nothing goes to plan, so be ready to think fast and find solutions.

3. Be flexible.
You need to be aware of the requirements and constraints of television. Don’t be too difficult or demanding. Producers understand that your job is to put forth your client in the best light, but it is important that you are also sympathetic to their obligation to make television engaging. Listen to the suggestions made to you by the producer – they know what does and does not work on-screen. Pitch your ideas and angles by all means, but understand that you cannot control exactly what happens on air. Focus your energy on preparing your client, if they will be appearing on camera.

4. Build relationships.
As in all areas of PR, cementing good relationships with those who have influence or control over the program content is a very effective way to gain future media coverage. Just by talking to the producer in the studio, I was able to find out about upcoming features, which may be suitable for our clients. It also gave me the chance to tell the producer more about the clients we work with.

Check out the VGo Robot’s debut on TV One’s Breakfast here.

See ‘The Gadget Guy’ blog where John Buckley talks about VGo here.

10 Top Tips for Successful Event Management

Huawei Event

Recently, Bullet PR was asked to organise an ‘Old Hollywood’ themed cocktail and dinner event for multi-national telecommunications giant, Huawei, for their Asia-Pacific CTO Forum at Auckland Museum’s Event Centre.

The purpose of this occasion was to provide Huawei’s 150 international guests with a sophisticated welcoming taste of our local Kiwi culture, along with a few other treats. Because this event was such a success, we thought we would share some of our Event Management secrets:

1. Decide on a theme: Choosing a clear theme always makes your job easier. In this instance, we recommended Old Hollywood because it was elegant, glamorous, and easily understood by different cultures. When choosing the theme for your event, you should never feel limited to picking something like ‘Old Hollywood’. A theme could be anything from an era in time, to a chosen colour scheme. Both of which can be just as effective if done well. Continue reading →

The growing role of apps for PR

Auckland, NZ

The recent Nielsen Real Estate Market Report, based on a survey sponsored by our client Realestate.co.nz, has revealed how New Zealanders search for property online. It’s also highlighted a trend in the real estate market that holds a lesson for the PR industry.

The survey report found nearly a third of New Zealanders with Internet-enabled mobile devices who research property online have accessed property information websites from their device. It also discovered that real estate researchers online were much more likely than the national population to own an Internet-enabled phone or device, with 48 percent compared to 34 percent of the overall population. Continue reading →

Great PR ideas often come from making connections

steve

As this blog post attests, Steve Jobs has come up with some great quotes in his time. This one particularly stands out for me:

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.” Continue reading →

Public Relations and Voyeurism 2.0

voyeuristic zebra

The PR ideas that get the most award-winning attention tend to be experiential/ambient/stunt related. There is, of course, plenty of great PR work that intentionally flies under the radar, but that’s for another discussion. Continue reading →

Social media for retailers

Google Wallet

I recently spoke to the Dominion Post for an article about social media for retailers. The full article is here, but my expanded comments are below.

In New Zealand, social media has enabled retailers ranging from House of Travel to Hell Pizza to local coffee shops to demonstrate a point of difference and stand out from the crowd. Do retailers have to be on social media? Well, they’d be missing a trick if they didn’t. But, in addition to being properly resourced, it has to be relevant to the target audience. If you’re looking to talk to the business community, it might be wise to set up a blog where the senior management can lay out its strategic point of view about the industry it operates in – like national retail chain dtr has done with talkingshop.dtr.co.nz. If you’re simply wanting to stay in the minds of your customers then Facebook activity and competitions like those of House of Travel are good options. Like any marketing, getting it wrong happens sometimes; just make sure you learn from it and never lie as this has a way of magnifying itself online. Continue reading →

Defending your brand online: why fruit trees need social media

New Zealand fruit growers are branching out into social media

I had the opportunity this week to travel to Napier to do a presentation to the Summerfruit NZ conference about social media. The question I was asked to address was whether their business could survive without it.

Questions of survival are particularly to the forefront of the minds of this industry, especially when you realise that they live with the potential of crop disease affecting their harvests every day. Consider the attention that the Kiwifruit vine-killing PSA bacteria has received in the media over the past year and you’ll understand the concern is justified. Continue reading →

When any PR is good PR

Double Down

Following last week’s media storm over KFC’s new Double Down “bunless burger”, one thing resonates: sometimes the old adage is true; all PR is good PR.

We all know that not all PR is good PR, but sometimes it doesn’t matter if everyone is slating a product as people just can’t help the temptation to give something new a try. Fast food is probably one of those sectors – either you know it’s bad for you and don’t care, or you just don’t think about health risks when you decide what you are going to eat. I’m not sure which group my flatmate falls into, but he has already eaten five Double Downs, three of which he queued over half an hour for! Continue reading →

PR, advertising and marketing: what’s the difference and why does it matter?

man-and-woman-at-bar

Prior to the interview that got me my first job in PR, I remember researching why PR was different from marketing and advertising.

I did a few hours of my own reading and thinking to get a grip on the comparisons, but it was when I was in the interview itself that the interviewer told me this old analogy: “Imagine you’re in a bar and see someone you like the look of … Advertising is you telling her you’re great in bed; marketing is getting your friend to tell her you’re great in bed; PR is getting her friend to tell her you’re great in bed.” Continue reading →

What PR agencies can learn from the problems caused by freedom of information

Noise

Any Tom, Dick or Harry can set up a Twitter account or blog and start spouting off. The difference between what’s interesting to others and not just to the author is insights. It’s all about content, as we all should know by now.

But that’s not what I want to spout about. What I want to discuss is why so many people these days have such a limited general knowledge and what this means for marketers, PR people and advertisers. We are in a rapidly spiraling decline in terms of our abilities to process and disseminate information and this is of huge importance to anyone selling a product or service. Continue reading →

The Future of Social Networking is Smaller. But what does this mean for PR?

Trust

There is a growing realisation that smaller groups are the future of social networking. Sure, Facebook is a behemoth and isn’t going anywhere in the short-term. But, working on the social media principle that you are trust/are interested in what your friends say, surely there is a place for smaller social network groups where conversation flows more freely.

This seems like it will be the theme of this year’s SXSW. Companies like GroupMe are banking on us wanting to be part of these ‘private chat rooms’ and it could be the differentiator in terms of location-based services genuinely hitting the global mainstream. ‘Acts of Sharing’ is a different beast in that it’s more about sustainability and not purchasing stuff that someone else can lend you, but it still supports the notion that online sharing is changing. Continue reading →

Culture Vultures and the PR Agency Hygiene Factor

Culture Vulture

To begin with, colleagues are the culture and vice versa. It surely all starts with the senior management and how they interact with each other and those below them. It’s also got a lot to do with what being inspired by people around you who possess complimentary talents. The more I work with designers, for example, the more I’m amazed by what they do. It gives me a buzz to see someone do something I never could. I grew up being told to try and be good at everything (why did we have to learn Pythagoras’ theorem?) and not focusing on my strengths. I now believe that once you realise what you’re good at, you should stop everything else and focus on being the best at whatever that is. Continue reading →

Lessons from the PR frontline – what I’ve learnt so far

Lion

With the recent rise in social and digital work, it has been easy to forget the fundamentals of modern PR. As this blog post from social media monitoring tool Sysomos says, some brands don’t lend themselves to being social. But every brand needs PR because they all have a public, be it the traditional kind of mass market or something more niche like a group of investors. Every company is looking to influence/engage (choose which word you prefer; they both mean the same thing) with a group – that’s the fundamental bridge of making business work. It’s why the old phrase ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ still rings so true. And it’s why PR is still at the core of every business, whether they call it by that or another name. Here’s a recent example of how a PR disaster can decimate a business almost over night – in this case, social bookmarking service, Delicious. Continue reading →

Will Facebook enter banking and why is it important for PR?

facebook-money

As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, I’m not the world’s biggest fan of geo-location services like Facebook Places and Foursquare. I can see the value, but it’s not great enough for me to be bothered about doing it for myself. I enjoyed the novelty factor of it all when it first came on to the scene, yet I struggled to stay interested in it as people started to spam each other with their irrelevant location.

Anyway, there is a buzz on the interwebs at the moment that could change the way we all see location. In very broad and sweeping terms, Facebook could be on its way to becoming the world’s biggest bank. It makes total sense when you think about it. As ‘The Next Web’ informs us, savvy brands are already facilitating some purchases through their Facebook pages. However, this is still pretty limited in its scope. It would be relatively simple for Facebook to allow its 600 million or so users to start buying all kinds of products and services directly on Facebook. It would go from being the facilitator to the transactor and suddenly start making infinitely more money. Continue reading →

Alistair Helm, Realestate.co.nz talks iPhones and homebuying

As a frequent scouter of open homes, I have found the new Realestate.co.nz iPhone app absolutely invaluable. I love the fact that I can go for a walk around the neighbourhood on a Saturday or Sunday morning and see all the open homes in my area on my iPhone. It makes sticky-beaking through other people’s houses an absolute doddle! And I’m not just saying this because Realestate.co.nz are our clients.

iPhone apps are about making life easier for people, and this one delivers this for homebuyers (or nosy people like myself) in spades.

I thought I’d share this little clip from Alistair Helm, CEO, Realestate.co.nz as he talks to Newstalk ZB about this awesome new Real Estate app.

#markchat Summary: Personal Authenticity vs Professional Brand – Where Do They Meet & Diverge?

Crossroads

This week’s #markchat was all about the blur between personal authenticity and professional brand. How do you ‘keep it real’ online while at the same time not losing professionalism?

I personally tend to steer clear of talking about my personal life online, especially on Twitter, LinkedIn and on blogs like this that are to do with work. This isn’t because I am worried that a client will sack me if they knew I was hungover from too many mojitos last night. It’s more to do with whether people in my overlapping yet different networks would be interested in what I’m saying. For example, I assume most people following me on Twitter do so because I discuss marketing, PR, social media and media in general. They mainly have shared interests to me, in some way, shape or form. This is why I re-tweet stories I find useful about media stuff or ask questions I think have relevance to my community. Continue reading →

#markchat : Personal Authenticity vs Professional Brand – Where Do They Meet & Diverge?

I want you!

We all have perceptions about ourselves that aren’t necessarily what we would want them to be. Think you’re known for being really creative? Maybe you are. Or maybe you’re known for being really resourceful, but lacking the spark that generates relevant ideas.

Either way, how others perceive you is, ultimately, very important when it comes to your business life. Whether you like it or not, your personal brand impacts heavily on your business brand, whatever sector you’re operating in. This is especially true for those of us who operate at least part of the time in the online marketing world.

So, have you ever gone back and re-read your personal tweets, Facebook or LinkedIn updates from the last month? And, if you blog, have you taken a look at what the content of the few months of blog posts has been like? No? I hadn’t either so I thought it wise to take a look and see whether it gave the impression I would want to project.

To use the example of Twitter, I separated my updates into the following categories:

· @’s where I was asking or answering questions to people in my network

· Re-tweets

· Independent updates where I wasn’t asking or answering questions (this consisted mainly of my own, self-absorbed musings)

· Sharing personal links (i.e. those related to Bullet PR or other associations I’m involved with like Social Media Club)

· Sharing other links to sites on the web with which I have no relationship

NB – I excluded #markchat updates as there were so many and I felt this would skew the results Continue reading →

Two Ears, One Mouth: Social Media and Continuous Dialogue

cocktail party

I’ve heard or read that many marketing types believe that one of the themes of social media next year will be continuous dialogue with customers. For a while I thought this sounded great; ongoing dialogue means more opportunities for marketing. And this is all synonymous with social media, or so they have us believe…

Having mulled it over, I’m not convinced that ongoing dialogue is the right way forward for most brands. Let me quickly clarify something. I feel that, broadly speaking, there are two types of brands when it comes to social media and online marketing: those that I call ‘utility brands’ and those that aren’t. Utility brands are those in the utility sectors themselves, along with pseudo-utility brands like telcos, banks and public sector organisations. Utility brands are those where we have few opportunities to switch (think long term contracts with electricity companies or telcos). Non-utility brands are those that we can pick up and discard easily. If a restaurant is rubbish, we just won’t go back, for instance. Continue reading →

Brothers in marketing: does collaboration between creative agencies work? #markchat

First things first, it would be wise to list what I deem to be ‘creative agencies’. The following fields are what I am principally referring to:

PR; advertising; marketing; design; web development.

So, in the broad modern world there are lots of creative entities ready and willing to promote a brand. But can marketing agencies really work collaboratively with design agencies and can media agencies work in blissful unison with advertising agencies? And what happens when a PR agency has to work alongside a web agency to deliver a project? From experience, this is sometimes a very rewarding process as you get input from people with different skill sets. That said, it can also be a frustrating process when the other party doesn’t understand, or doesn’t want to understand, how your contribution fits in. Continue reading →

Does a smaller budget increase creativity? #Markchat tomorrow at 12.30pm

I’ve often heard people say that a smaller budget increases creativity. They argue that because you have less money and fewer resources, you have to think harder. The brain working on overtime produces better results because you don’t have the option of throwing cash at marketing without much forethought. I certainly agree that massive budgets often breed lazy marketing; however, I’m not sure the opposite is a truth that can be confidently stated.

Sometime it’s true that a smaller budget increases creativity, but smaller budgets just as often deliver rubbish ideas. For me, it’s a bit like the kids at university who claimed that doing their papers on the night before they needed to be handed in was preferable as they ‘performed better under pressure’. I didn’t buy that line then and I don’t now. How can necking copious amounts of Red Bull and coffee and staying up for longer than anyone should be awake deliver your optimum effort?

Anyway, we digress. Tomorrow, at 12.30pm NZ time, we are doing #markchat and we want to hear your opinions on the topic above.

To kick-start your thinking, I had a look for great examples of small budgets delivering great creativity. I didn’t come up with a huge selection; partly because I wasn’t sure what people would define as a ‘small’ budget (I would guess it is relative to the competition). That said, this guy has done some very cost-effective marketing over the years, despite a large personal fortune. And these guys have long driven an idea/campaign I love, which hasn’t been expensive compared to others in the market.

On the other end of the spectrum, here is one terrible piece of marketing that would have cost a fair wedge of budget and here is another, more recent example that has received a fair amount of criticism. Oh, and here’s another for those of you who want more.

Does NZ ‘ness’ matter for brands? #markchat

nz_fern_flag

Is there a New Zealand quality to New Zealand brands? Does it truly come through and is it useful? Should we express New Zealand ‘values’ to brands?

These are the questions we kicked off today’s #markchat with and it stirred lots of useful debates.

The general feeling seemed to be that a Kiwi flavor to the brand is useful and relevant so long as it isn’t forced. The brand is partly responsible for fostering this ‘NZ-ness’, but the consumer will ultimately decide whether it feels right and whether it sticks. Speaking of brand perceptions, the consensus was that people have long memories. Both Bullet PR’s Jennifer Duval-Smith and Gen-i’s Chris Quin had interesting points and questions on this subject. Continue reading →

PR talking point: Size does matter, just not in the way you think

Rousseau

Excuse me while I get slightly philosophical. 18th century Swiss philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, said that true democracy couldn’t survive in states of more than 50,000 people. I would argue that effective social media, and by that I mean social media that holds real value and meaning for both the consumer and the client, cannot be achieved in communities bigger than 50,000 people.

Hell, I’m not sure that, for most brands, it can be achieved in communities bigger than 40,000 people. If you are one of those brands that appeals to just about everybody, like a telco or a retailer that sells all and sundry, then it’s probably a little different. But how can you communicate with a group any bigger than 40,000? How can you possibly expect to have the kind of conversations that social media is meant to facilitate? Continue reading →

Does branding enable B2B business? #markchat

Does branding enable B2B business?

This is the subject for tomorrow’s #markchat. And here are a few questions and points to get you thinking in advance.

Perhaps senior decision makers choose partners and suppliers based on existing relationships. But these relationships could also have started due to intelligent B2B branding. There may have been a moment in time, perhaps before the decision maker was senior or even in the position to make these choices, when a brand got the message right and established the connection. Or maybe not. Sometimes these business to business agreements are a case of circumstance, such as when two offices are located near each other, for example. This could be the main reason why a business uses a printing company. It may have nothing to do with their logo.

Speaking of logo, to what degree does design of a logo contribute to the credibility of the business? I’d wager that it’s quite influential, although it’s up for debate how much of a factor this is. It’s been suggested, for instance, that the new BNZ logo was a result of a need for a more serious symbol in the corporate side of the banking operation.

And when it comes to the differences between consumer focused and B2B branding, what about websites? How does the choice of what information we share contribute to branding? Taking it one step further, in this amalgamated world of information we all live in, how much of a difference is there between consumer and B2B branding these days?

Please join us at 12.30pm tomorrow for #markchat; we’d love to hear your opinions.

Bullet PR speaks on ‘Social Media for Professional Networking’ at Social Media Club

Networking

We were part of an interesting Social Media Club on Tuesday night. The topic was ‘Social Media for Social Networking’, an important topic for us all.

Our speakers were:

Linda Coles, trainer and speaker on building and maintaining relationships online (www.bluebanana.co.nz; @bluebanana20)

Jane Kennelly, Company Director of frog recruitment, industry veteran and innovator (www.frogrecruitment.co.nz; @frogrecruitment)

And me, Alex Erasmus of Bullet PR (www.bulletpr.co.nz; @AlexErasmus)

Linda mainly discussed LinkedIn and we can all use it for establishing and strengthening business relationships. I think her talk reminded everyone of the points of difference that LinkedIn has over the likes of Facebook. The most pertinent point for me was that it only takes a few minutes a day to keep your online profile looking good. In many ways, it’s simply a ‘hygiene factor’ for when you’re looking for work, but it’s a good habit to get into.

Jane Kennelly of frog recruitment showed she is one of the few in her sector who is embracing social media. There is certainly a sea change in recruitment, where employers are now often looking at LinkedIn profiles and not CV’s. This is especially true for those working in media, but will surely be true of many more jobs in future. This is, like a lot of social media related subjects, heavily tied in to faster broadband, free wi-fi zones and smart phone adoption. Jane gave the example of MOTAT, who produced a great recruitment video, which beats traditional methods.

I finished the evening with a quick run-through my take on online networking. My opinion is that you should start by being interested in what others are saying and listen to their responses. It also pays to have a clear understanding of what you are looking for from the relationship. Networking for networking’s sake doesn’t do any of us any favours. Moreover, are you actually adding value online? Rather than trying to connect with as many people as you can, why not try and do something different from others in your field so that people want to connect with you? This is a much better way of approaching it. Continue reading →

#Markchat: social media engagement is fine, but how do you evaluate and define ROI?

twitter

To those who are new to this #markchat business, it’s a weekly Twitter conversation at 12.30pm (NZ time) every Thursday. Each week we have a different topic and encourage new people to join us. We started it as a way for people to have a conversation around a relevant topic amidst all the clutter we see online. We co-host it with one of our clients, Michael Holt, CEO of gardyneHOLT design. To follow the conversation, simply search for the hashtag #markchat using TweetDeck, Seesmic or a similar tool. Alternatively, you can go to www.wthashtag.com/markchat

This week we will be talking about how you take social media beyond engagement to the point of evaluating ROI. This is also the over-arching topic of the conference we are hosting - Social Media Junction – on November 16th and 17th. This time, we will look to focus more on B2B brands, rather than the typical consumer brands people reference in these conversations (Apple, Coca-Cola etc.) Continue reading →

Do we need Twitter as a Mini-Facebook? What PR Consultants need to be aware of

New Twitter

What with the launch of the #NewTwitter, it seems apt to speak about what the changes are going to mean for the social space in terms of PR. Twitter’s changes are all with a view to making it more responsive so that you work less for more information. The increased functionality could herald some worrying times ahead for the various applications like TweetDeck, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this pans out. In terms of looks, it’s moving towards an iPad feel. Read more about it here and here. Continue reading →

Missed Social Media opportunities – When Men Speak ‘Woman’

sensitiveman
Hello my name is Jennifer, and I am an addict. Like most marketers I’m a true sucker for a good campaign in any medium. But I have a secret thing for radio, a seriously underrated channel in its ability to deliver a sucker punch to a self selected audience. Great creative, well executed, particularly with finely judged humour is a win/win/win for the client, the station and the listener. Tremendous cut through can be achieved, setting the brand apart in the minds of listeners driven nuts by endless ads for “Wet and forget”.

So kudos to the folks at South Pacific Timber for their radio campaign playing to a primarily female audience on More FM.

With a few notable exceptions, the woman of the household is not the primary timber purchaser. However, a significant number of renovation design decisions are made by women. So with a product such as timber mouldings, which occupy a gender no-man’s land so to speak, the lumber muffins really do have to speak ‘woman’. Continue reading →

The Complexities of Social Media Monitoring for PR Agencies

measuring-jug

I’ve been doing a lot of research recently on online monitoring case studies. They all talk on about how the monitoring tools reduce the time it takes to track mentions, buzz and sentiment for their brands.

While this is certainly true and useful, I haven’t read many people who mention how the requirements of a tool vary dramatically from client to client.

This is especially important in New Zealand. For some brands, it is interesting to monitor global trends. For example, a coffee company locally can be ahead of the curve by watching trends from the North American market around the pick-up of geo-location services.

On the other hand, for some brands it is near-irrelevant what’s happening abroad. Kiwi supermarkets should be primarily focused on comparative online activity locally, for instance. This is magnified by the duopoly in this market. Continue reading →

Music, Social Media and PR

Music

I gave a talk the other night to the NZ Music Managers Forum. Broadly speaking, it was about how music can benefit from social media. However, I tried to focus on how to engage, rather than the tools.

The overarching points I made were:

· Have a goal

· Get everyone on the same page

· Choose the platform wisely Continue reading →

Communicating online – why good manners still count in social media

good manners

With the rise of technology and lives lived increasingly online – are manners a thing of the past?

TV3 Nightline’s Kim Choe interviewed me recently on this very question in a fun segment on the lost art of etiquette. UK research suggests that the British have lost some of their quintessential British courtesy, blaming technology and the increasing pace of life. But have the wheels fallen off our manners here in New Zealand?

Manners are constantly evolving aren’t they? We don’t speak to each other as the Victorians did. And we can always expect to see conflicts between the expectations of one generation and another. If you think the next generation is particularly bad, you can take it from Socrates: “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise”.

But what is different now however is the rate of change. The means and manner of communication via technology have advanced much faster than the etiquette which should accompany it. The human, cultural process of manners lags behind. Continue reading →