‘Word of mouth’ marketing is social media, PR and all of the above

Media types sometimes refer to ‘word of mouth’ marketing as the most powerful form of communications. Social media is intrinsically tied into this as it is based largely on the fact that personal recommendations are the most powerful; certainly more powerful than a brand talking at you.

However, word of mouth marketing isn’t purely about social media. It can be embodied in ambient/experiential marketing, promotional stunts and also PR.

The slight difference with PR is that it’s a third party recommendation/endorsement from a journalist or blogger rather than a personal contact.

So, essentially, social media is very closely aligned with PR. Read the rest of this entry »

The missing link: when sales, PR and advertising are disconnected

Apparently, the recent Old Spice ad has been right up there in terms of ‘talkability’, ‘buzz’ and ‘engagement’. This much is true, proven by the fact that the video, and the personalised re-incarnations (which was a great idea, by the way), have been viewed by approximately one zillion people around the world. They have been watched and passed on to friends and family because they are very funny; it’s that great content thing again.

But is this ad going to sell more product? I would never buy OId Spice, nor would my Dad, my brother, my boss, my flatmates…I’ve questioned them all and nobody I know buys it and the ads have, if anything, simply re-enforced this notion. Read the rest of this entry »

Beyond the guff, is all this social media stuff just advertising and PR in disguise?

I went to an NZ Marketing Association event this morning that featured the head of Facebook for Australia and New Zealand as well as the Online Editor team at Rugby World Cup 2011.

It was interesting to get an update on what Facebook can offer and it was also good to hear the inside story on how the Rugby World Cup is being promoted.

The talk did, however, raise a few questions in my mind about the ongoing role of social media.

Social media is all about sharing and it’s all about user-generated content (70% is the target according to Facebook) and…you’ve heard this before so I won’t bang on about what it is.

Driving Facebook followers or ‘likes’ is mainly achieved through advertising. Seeing as social media’s based on non-advertorial pledges, isn’t this oxymoronic? Read the rest of this entry »

Change the PR channel, ‘Google Me’ is about to start

People often talk about social media being just a channel for content, as opposed to it being the content itself. Which is true, but that perhaps doesn’t tell the full story.

The common idea is that social media should be used just like any other PR or marketing channel. I would disagree with this notion as each channel must be dealt with differently. As this blog post by Tim Sanders so rightly refers to, you should never move away from the brand strategy when incorporating social media into your marcomms efforts. Read the rest of this entry »

Online public relations and the privacy debate

There have been lots of conversations recently about privacy, specifically in social media. Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and head-honcho at Facebook, got very sweaty when discussing the topic recently. If Mark Zuckerberg, one of the pioneers of the share everything world we live in is getting sweaty about ongoing privacy concerns, then perhaps we should all be worrying.

But I don’t think it’s really about privacy. It’s actually about money. And egos. Read the rest of this entry »

Are location based services the next wave of social media or just hype?

Interesting guest post here on Mashable from Chris Treadway, about the future of location based services.

It raises interesting and salient points around, say, the number of people using LBS only manifesting itself into relatively small groups of people in individual areas.

The article also touches upon an ongoing, but rarely discussed, issue for PR and Social/Digital Media: are we just talking into an echo chamber? Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Brands battling it out as World Cup looms large

The FIFA World Cup is the biggest event in the world and therefore seen as the biggest branding opportunity known to man.

In terms of global reach, it knocks spots off The Olympics, Super Bowl or the Rugby World Cup. Almost every country in the world will be watching.

Here’s Nike’s effort. Is it over-produced and slightly ridiculous? Yes. Did it cost an enormous amount that could have gone to any number of charities? Undoubtedly. But is it a lot of fun? You betcha. Read the rest of this entry »

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

Communicating Creatively

Think outside the box for a minute. Let’s have a brainstorm and do some blue-sky thinking. You know,  a whiteboarding session.

Working in public relations, we’re straddling the line between the creative and business fields, often being pulled strongly in both directions. Clients want new, fresh ideas that bring original thought and perspective to help reach their audiences, while the realities of budgets and billable hours mean that the grandest, greatest, most original ideas are often ones that get cut first. It’s easy to therefore fall into the trap of complacency and do the same set of standard tactics that worked before and will work again. But that does little to advance the brand and reputation of clients, and frankly, they deserve better. Agencies are engaged for their creative nous just as often as for their business acumen, writing skills and media contacts.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.” Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

New Zealand Public Relations and Journalism in an online world - are the lines blurring?

I was interviewed this week by business journalist Melanie Cooper for an article published today in The Independent which looked at the alleged blurring of the lines between journalism and public relations in New Zealand.

The article discussed the role of well known site, Scoop, which publishes media releases as well as news. In addition, the National Business Review, has recently launched a service, ‘From the Horse’s Mouth‘, which publishes unedited media releases.

I made a number of points to Melanie which, for space reasons, could not all be published. So I thought I would post in more detail, here on BulletPoints, my thoughts around some of the issues she raised: Read the rest of this entry »

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? Read the rest of this entry »

‘Where the bloody hell are you?’ - I’m going to miss you!

Yes, the now ditched Aussie tourism slogan grew on me! Maybe it’s because I’m Kiwi; we have that much more cultural affinity with Australia than just about anyone else - I think it appealed to us. And of course, it spawned a whole bunch of amusing variations, particularly so at Bledisloe Cup matches!

The images on the TVC were simply spectacular - that mouth-watering variety of visual slendour from the great vastness of the Australian continent. It certainly made me want to visit Oz!

But apparently Canada and the UK didn’t like the language or something; Tourism Australia ditched it… and now the Aussie PM himself is having a go!

Ultimately the slogan fell victim to the tighter travel market - there was little or no discernible increase in inbound travel from specifically targeted countries.

But maybe Australia doesn’t need a one-size-fits-all global slogan - after all, what attracts New Zealanders, for example, to visit Australia may be entirely different to that of Japanese or Germans. What happened to targeted marketing?

So, bloody hell, whatever they come up with next, I hope for their sakes, it isn’t treated as a sacrificial lamb should greater macro-economic forces once again take their toll on tourist numbers.

Why public relations matters in a changing media landscape

Interesting article in The Australian last week. Nick Davies’ book Flat Earth News cites research finding that 80% of stories in British newspapers were rewritten wire copy and press releases, or “churnalism” as Davies puts it.

It’s true that newspapers around the world are cutting costs and trimming editorial staff. But the selected findings of Nick Davies don’t tell the full story. In a post-Enron world, the likes of Sarbanes-Oxley and equivalent laws in other jurisdictions, mean there is an increased demand for greater corporate governance in the private sector, and greater statutory obligations for transparency in the public sector. The reality is that many organisations must use PR tools by necessity in order to ensure full disclosure and regulatory compliance.

At the same time, the media has a greater need than ever for content due to the demands of their expanding online channels. The NZ Herald, for example, frequently runs material on its site that is not replicated in the print version. It is an unfair expectation on already stretched journalists that they fulfil this demand themselves, which is where PR-driven content comes in. As long as the content that’s provided is newsworthy, relevant and of interest, then PR serves a valuable purpose to the media.

The public relations industry has long been an easy whipping-boy for media commentators like Davies, who would have you believe that PR is responsible for devaluing or undermining journalistic standards, that in some way the industry is corrupting the integrity of the media. Well I’m sorry Nick, but that’s nonsense - it’s simply up to publications to ensure they cut the wheat from the chaff, and ensure that what makes it into print is relevant to their readers.

Avoiding pitfalls to ensure Corporate Blogging success

Following on from my previous post re the benefits of blogging, it?s also appropriate to point out the pitfalls to avoid in ensuring long-term blogging success. There is no better source to turn to than US Search Engine Marketing and Online PR guru Lee Odden of Top Rank Online Marketing and the excellent Online Marketing Blog. I had the pleasure of meeting Lee at Search Engine Room Australia. Check out his five very salient points in ‘5 reasons why business blogs fail’.

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.