The Future of PR?
Disclaimer: I have a tendency to make broad and sweeping statements.
This is the future of PR, via Brian Morrissey of AdWeek. Continue reading
Category: Online PR
Bullet PR looking for online-literate Account Manager
If you are driven, motivated and like working in a flat management structure, this could be the role for you.
We are excited by the possibilities and challenges that digital media brings and passionate about using social media to complement ‘traditional’ PR. We wouldn’t claim to be social media experts, but we know our stuff and love learning more. Our new team member should have some knowledge of online PR, digital influence, social media and how they interrelate.
As an Account Manager at Bullet PR, you would be expected to have some PR or relevant marketing experience – probably one to three years in an agency setting. But, more importantly, you would need a self-starter attitude and a determination never to give up.
You would also be comfortable picking up the phone and pitching to journalists as this will always be part of what PR is all about.
The office atmosphere is very open and everyone’s ideas are heard.
If you thrive off responsibility and like the idea of joining the team, please email your CV to jenniferd@bulletpr.co.nz
Not mobile optimised? Then you’re not in business
Research giant Nielsen recently released a study that confirmed what we have all probably known for some time: optimising your site for mobiles is the next game-changer for global business. The research features on Australian SME website, Smart Company and highlights several salient points, notably the relevance of Google maps via smartphones. As Matt Bruce, managing director of Nielsen’s online business, says:
“Google is making big plays in mobile, both in terms of maps and mobile search. I think businesses need to pay attention to local business listings, and that type of activity, because people are increasingly using these tools to get around.” Continue reading
Targeting YouTube for marketing campaigns
People often refer to YouTube as the world’s second most popular search engine, but is it really a search engine? People don’t search for ‘builder in Auckland City’ or ‘movie times in Wellington’ like they do on Google or Bing. Most people tend to be pointed to YouTube via another source, be it Facebook, Twitter, word-of-mouth or even (shock horror) email. I would personally call YouTube a video sharing platform. Continue reading
Let battle commence: Facebook vs Google is about to get serious
There is an interesting guest post on Social Media news site Mashable about the ‘billion dollar battle’ between Facebook and Google to be your default social profile.
It highlights how the talk around location based services and group purchasing tools hasn’t yet gone mainstream, despite the hype. The real questions are whether Google Buzz and Wave are going to reach their much vaunted potential and if social commerce (the ability to buy ‘direct’ from within Facebook) is the way forward for retailers. Check out sites like Payvment to see what this is all about.
Not all about Gen Y: why age is just a number in social networking
Check out an interesting breakdown of the different demographics from online monitoring company, Pingdom (via BrianSolis.com). It details how, despite a similar look and feel, the multitude of social networks have a very different make-up in terms of participants.
PR and Marketing thought-leader Brian Solis highlights a few interesting findings. For instance:
“The 45 to 65+ group, those who are usually considered laggards in the technology adoption cycle, symbolize almost one-third of total users of social networks. They’re equally connecting with not only each other but also the younger generations.” Continue reading
Interesting survey – how Global Fortune 100 is using Social Media
I recently came across this survey by PR agency Burson-Masteller on London-based Social Media agency, Fresh Networks blog.
In my opinion, many of the best examples of Social Media leverage are by small to medium businesses. Perhaps this is due to their nimble nature and the entrepreneurial skills of the staff or it could be they are more likely to look for cost-effective marketing tools. Whatever the reason, this survey shows it is pretty rare for Global Fortune 100 companies not to be using Social Media. A whopping 88% of the European companies surveyed are using one, if not more, of the following: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and corporate blogs. However, in the Asia-Pacific region, this figure is just 50%. Continue reading
An engaging online strategy doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in bottom-line revenue
I’d never really noticed it before, but Burger King has a really cool homepage.
Take a look for yourself, but the website has three volume bars (‘Fun’, ‘Food’ and ‘King’), which control how big the central icons are.
For example, if you max out the ‘Fun’ bar, and minimize ‘Food’ and ‘King’, it makes it easier to see all the advertorial video content on the site. Continue reading
Creating online communities: the journey doesn’t stop there
Working in PR, marketing, advertising etc, we need to pull ourselves back from situations and realise that we don’t all spend the entire day behind a computer screen engaging with Social Media.
We should always, at the very least, ask how the offline is being influenced by the online. Jeremiah Owyang recently alluded to this in a post on his Web Strategy blog. If we don’t, then we can end up with a campaign overflowing with clever ideas that create dynamic online communities, but build limited relevance for the company in question and, as a result, limited revenue and ROI. Continue reading
Defining ‘success’ in Social Media
Nobody has the definitive solution for how to measure the success of Social Media. At least not yet.
Sure, you can talk about online ‘buzz’ created by how many blog posts, tweets, videos, status updates etc. that occurred for a certain brand, person or topic, but what’s ‘buzz’? Virtue, a company which does ‘technology solutions for social media marketing’ has just released its second annual list of the ‘most social’ companies in the world on this basis. I was interested in the result, which was, unsurprisingly, the iPhone, but took it with a pinch of salt. Of course, Apple, and others on the list, have built strong online reputations, but ‘buzz’ doesn’t necessarily mean success and it certainly doesn’t guarantee revenue as the mentions could as easily be negative as they could be positive.
Marketing in NZ: Where’s the Experience?
Experiential marketing is about bringing the customer closer to the brand and, by its very definition, creating an experience. It’s fair to say New Zealanders love experiences like anyone else; tons of graduates take an OE and the country is full of different tours, promising the ‘Kiwi experience’.
In addition, there are plenty of campaigns that tap into Kiwiana and play on the strong sense of national identity. You only have to look at the extremely successful ‘Tourism Paeroa’ campaign by L&P and the newly launched ‘Get Some Kiwi in Ya’ concept from Kiwi Bacon to see that we all love engaging with a brand that feels alive.
Google Opts For Word-Of-Mouth News Announcement (Again)
With news that Google has just announced the next step in its plan to take-over the world , one tech sector at a time, it seems like an apt moment to highlight how it does PR/marketing. Continue reading
The Importance Of Face-To-Face Networking
With the huge increase in the role of online in the media world, in particular social media, it’s easy to forget the importance of face-to-face networking. It’s great to ‘connect’ with people on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like, but nothing beats having a drink and chewing the fat in person. Continue reading
Is it a trend or is it a ‘megatrend’?
In the media we are always speaking about ‘trends’. Twitter was/is a trend; Google Wave is a trend; apps that drive core business revenue also seem to be an increasing trend (just take a look at the Pizza Hut app )…but what’s a ‘megatrend’? Well, according to Adam Kleinberg , CEO of a Traction, a creative agency out in San Fran, it’s something that transforms society as we know it; “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” and all that malarkey. Continue reading
Social Media to bring world peace?
At what could be described as its ‘beta’ stage, social media was a tool for people to stay connected within restricted groups (think Facebook’s origins within American colleges). It obviously widened considerably after that and is now on a par (or even beyond) with us checking our emails everyday. It then became a tool for businesses to have a stronger online presence; one where they could communicate better with their customers and potential customers. In even more recent times, social media has evolved into an almost catch-all term for digital marketing. While those in the know will tell you there is more to digital than purely social media, it certainly plays a large part in today’s media landscape. The advent of Twitter has meant social media is now an information swapping super-highway and full-on customer service portal, in addition to all its other guises. Continue reading
The ‘socialisation’ of the internet
SEO and SEM specialist First Rate recently pointed out how data from Hitwise (the online data monitor) shows that Facebook has overtaken TradeMe as New Zealand’s second most popular website (after Google, of course).
With the rising popularity of other social media such as Twitter and Flickr and the further news that Facebook has just signed a deal with market research company Nielsen to boost its credentials as a genuine advertising platform, businesses in NZ need to be aware of how these events are changing the way they need to work. This ‘socialisation’ of the internet is not simply a way for people to stay in touch; it’s bigger than that. The use of social media tools to speak to potential and existing customers has broken down the traditional barriers between businesses and the man on the street.
Telecom chooses Twitter for big announcement
Today, New Zealand telco Telecom gave its voice on Twitter the big job of unveiling the launch date for its long awaited new 3G network, the XT Network (brought forward to 13 May).
It’s interesting that such a significant announcement was entrusted to Twitter as the first channel of dissemination – such is Telecom’s confidence in its growing and influential Twitter followers. And it didn’t take long for major blogs to take note with Geekzone leading the way, slightly ahead of mainstream media such as the New Zealand Herald.
Definitely a sign of the times; not that long ago, the media release would have been the largely undisputed means of communicating such a major company milestone.
Spreading the message via Twitter – provoking re-tweets of great content
When the National Business Review interviewed me recently on the role of Twitter, I told marketing reporter Hazel Phillips that those companies contemplating Twitter shouldn’t get too distracted by the early adopters who may appear to dominate the conversations with endless updates of banal goings-on. The fact remains that there is a remarkably high level of serious communication taking place on Twitter and, more significantly, much of this is exclusively taking place on Twitter. So my first comment to our clients is: if you are not there in the first place, how can you take part? Continue reading
PR and social media observations on the demise of Ferrit
The news that Telecom is folding its online retail outlet Ferrit has come as little surprise to most commentators. In the pick of the blogosphere’s musings on the story, Lance Wiggs lays out the reasons he believes Ferrit has failed. I agree in particular with his third point about Ferrit’s poor business case. From a consumer’s point of view, it was always a somewhat confusing proposition, while to retailers it will have seemed a rather questionable channel to opt for – a commissioned intermediary over direct trade with the customer. Continue reading
Facebook groups – Why some flourish and others fail
Facebook groups cover seemingly everything, from people’s pet hates to their political views. However, the relative success or failure of such groups varies greatly. Why do some groups fail to take off, while others go viral and spread across the planet accumulating millions along the way?
Here are my observations on Facebook groups and some tips for success:
The four key groups:
Latest YouTube development enables users to get specific with video clip links
YouTube’s newest trick might not be a giant leap forward, but it’s a handy step for those wishing to share YouTube clips. In the past when you linked to a video, or embedded a clip in a blog post you were stuck with the clip playing from the start (unless you also employed additional tools liked Splicd). However as Jason Kincaid on TechCrunch explains, by adding a small extension to the link, you can now control the point at which YouTube starts playing.
In other words, rather than link to an entire speech, or full video clip, you can now add ‘#t=2m15s’ to the end or the URL in order to set a specific start time. In this case, 2 minutes and 15 seconds in to the clip. Particularly handy if you wish to refer to a specific point in a YouTube clip, or even simply to skip advertising or opening credits.
For an example of what I mean, just compare the two links below…
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VIPS73z5_UY&feature=related
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VIPS73z5_UY&feature=related#t=3m22s
How NOT to use social media part 2
I blogged a few weeks ago on National Australia Bank’s dodgy use of comment spam to promote its services on Aussie Rules-related blogs. If you thought that was shoddy behaviour, have a look at this example from the US.
As with the NAB case, the consultancy’s social media practice here is astoundingly unethical. Have a read of the excruciating way 5WPR VP Juda Engelmayer attempts to wangle his way out of it. Amusing, and extremely embarrassing for a consultancy that supposedly prides itself on its online PR savvy.
The future of public relations in New Zealand
I spoke on a panel at the PRINZ Annual Conference last week on the future of the PR industry in New Zealand, alongside Pip Tschudin of Trustpower and Sharleen Pihema of Manukau City Council. It was a lively hour, lots of interesting questions from the floor.
One of the main topics of discussion was the role of technology in the industry, new media in particular. It’s obvious that we are a good few years behind the US and UK in how we utilise new media channels, but it was heartening to see that, on the evidence of some of the questions we received, NZ practitioners are becoming more aware of the potential of social media.
It has taken so long for the idea that blogs and user-generated content are incredibly powerful communications tools to filter down to this neck of the woods. I spoke on blogging at a PRINZ event in June last year, and the lack of awareness in the audience was surprising. Clearly, in the year since that event people have become much more clued up, and the next 6-9 months should see more and more organisations employing new media as part of their comms strategy.
Corporate Blogging & Online PR ? Bullet PR presentation at Search Engine Room
Here are some edited video highlights of our presentation at Search Engine Room in Auckland November 2007.
There were more that 100 attendees at this inaugural event, mostly from the search industry as opposed to public relations.
Online Reputation Management Tools
Sarah Perez at Read Write Web gives a useful overview of some of the tracking tools currently available for online reputation management, from the well known and widely used (and free!) Google Alerts, to Trackur, the latest offering from Internet marketing guru, Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim. Of course there is more to effective ORM than these tools alone. For instance, some of them may not be timely enough for the exigencies of doing business today; and without specialist knowledge and counsel, companies may be deluged with unqualified reports.
Then there is the active role an online public relations specialist should play in ensuring your share of voice online.