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

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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?

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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?

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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 »

Bullet PR looking for online-literate Account Manager

Posted by: bulletpr

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

Wave goodbye to Foursquare and Gowalla

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

It had to happen. It was inevitable. Rumours are abound on Mashable and Advertising Age that Facebook is adding location features this month, which probably means the end for existing location-based services like Foursquare and Gowalla. Facebook’s huge critical mass allows it to get to where its smaller rivals could only dream of being and at the flick of a switch. Read the rest of this entry »

Social Media Myths

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

Edelman Digital recently interviewed Brian Morrissey, Digital Editor of AdWeek at the Marketing 2.0 Conference in Paris.

Morrissey gave a rundown of his ‘Social Media Myths’, which included:

• Social Media isn’t just about listening
• You can sell, you just have to do it right
• You can buy friends (Microsoft recently did it for its Facebook page by offering free ‘Farmville money’)
• Sponsored links. incoporated advertising can work with Social Media and is going to be the future

Some good points there, but what do you think? Are we going to continue to see the Social Media landscape evolve and will it one day come full circle and be just like TV and other media that talks to the consumer, rather than with them?

Targeting YouTube for marketing campaigns

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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 »

Not all about Gen Y: why age is just a number in social networking

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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.” Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting survey - how Global Fortune 100 is using Social Media

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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%. Read the rest of this entry »

Mashable declares “Google’s got a monster on its hands” with Buzz

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

Social Media site Mashable asked its community what the number one reason people found themselves using Buzz (and therefore why it had gained traction so quickly). The summary?

· Easy to use

· Accessible

· Convenient

· Closer social circle

· Moves in real-time

· Engaging

While one might argue this is a list that any Social Media platform would be aiming to achieve, it’s easier said than done. Read the rest of this entry »

An engaging online strategy doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in bottom-line revenue

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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 »

The rules of social media

Posted by: Paul Matthews

Rule number one:

There are no rules.

Sure there are ways that you should do things and a lot of ways that you shouldn’t, but for all intents and purposes social media and the law by which it is governed, is not too dissimilar to how we live in the real world. ‘Do unto others…’, build relationships, show respect and generally be nice; all of these social etiquette practices apply online and act as a guide to how we should behave.

If understood, the success of campaigns, initiatives or ideas that people/companies have will rise and fall on the response of the desired recipients: the community you are looking to engage with.

Read the rest of this entry »

Marketing in NZ: Where’s the Experience?

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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 »

The Importance Of Face-To-Face Networking

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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’?

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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?

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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

Posted by: Alex Erasmus

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 »

United Airlines and online reputation - responding to Sons of Maxwell ‘United breaks guitars’

Posted by: Paul Matthews

Check out this YouTube effort by Canadian band Sons of Maxwell who have been fighting United Airlines since March 2008 over compensation for damaged guitars while touring. Clearly, the band felt they weren’t getting a satisfactory response from the airline, so after a frustrating 12 months or so, they finally took matters into their own hands. The  video was loaded onto the Sons of Maxwell YouTube channel on Monday, and after only three days it’s already had 640,000 views!! It’s certainly not doing any harm to the band’s reputation at the moment, with loads of coverage both online and offline. Read the rest of this entry »

Corporate blogs level the playing field for small businesses

Posted by: Nicholas O'Flaherty

In the latest issue of b-Innovative, the publication of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, writer Catherine Slogrove sought my views on the opportunities that social media provides small businesses. As I am often asked this question,  I thought I would re-publish some of those thoughts here.

Social media is a leveller. Traditionally, small businesses can’t compete with large corporates which enjoy vast advertising budgets in traditional media. But due to the low costs of new media, a small business can have an equal, if not greater online presence than larger  companies. And when an online presence  is planned, executed and managed well, the benefits flow. These include attracting new customers, engaging more effectively with existing clients, and stimulating relevant media coverage. Read the rest of this entry »

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

Posted by: Nicholas O'Flaherty

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 »

Telecom chooses Twitter for big announcement

Posted by: Paul Matthews

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.

PR and social media observations on the demise of Ferrit

Posted by: Thom James

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Using Twitter for business

Posted by: Thom James

Kipp Bodnar of the excellent Digital Capitalism blog posts about the value of Twitter for corporates. He lists 6 ways in which companies can utilise the microblogging tool. The immediacy of communication via a Tweet makes it a potentially highly effective relationship management channel, one that is more direct and inclusive than a blog. The only caveat would be that Twitter is probably not quite popular enough yet, in New Zealand at least, for its potential to truly be maximised.

Banning Facebook altogether is not the answer

Posted by: Nicholas O'Flaherty

The Virgin Atlantic and British Airways examples of employees misusing social networking sites (both on Facebook) have attracted widespread media coverage. While some corporates may now be considering baning the use of such sites, as Jason Ryan warns, this may be ultimately counterproductive:

The implications of blocking will likely be far more deleterious. First, for many skilled and connected professionals, a disconnected workplace will be the equivalent of a career backwater. Second, from an organizational point of view, you are effectively abandoning what is now a competitive advantage and will soon be the industry standard.

US elections: Online playing its part, but ad spend short of expectations

Posted by: Thom James

It was widely assumed that one of the chief battlegrounds of the 2008 US Presidential elections would be online.

While various social media channels have provided fertile ground for debate and engagement with the political process, online ad spend itself has fallen well short of predictions, as reported by ClickZ. Media research firm Borrell Associates estimates that, of the $2.27 billion total spent on political advertising, less than 1 percent of that has gone towards online.

I’m curious to know what the breakdown is for election ad spend here in New Zealand, where Kiwis will go to the polls four days after the US, on 8 November. We’re seeing online channels (see TV One’s YouTube debate, Google’s ‘08 Election Gadget) play a much more prominent role than in the last general election in 2005, but banner advertising has been minimal, and parties don’t seem that savvy to the use of AdWords. Google ‘tax cuts’ or ‘education’, for example, and only Labour pops up in the sponsored links.

There are, of course, a myriad other ways of utilising online channels. But for all the talk of how the fractured media landscape has diminished the effectiveness of traditional above the line, it still seems that in the election campaigns here in New Zealand and in the US, parties are still putting their faith in traditional advertising over online.

How NOT to manage a crisis: ‘when all else fails, try bribing search engines!’

Posted by: Paul Matthews

There are many recommendations Bullet PR would make regarding online reputation management, especially during a time of crisis. These would not include however, a recommendation to bribe search engines to exclude negative content! Read the rest of this entry »

Best practice social media; the Public Sector leads the way

Posted by: Paul Matthews

We?ve talked about both the benefits of good, quality use of social media and the repercussions for abysmal practice throughout this blog.

An organisation that seems to be embracing the use of social media is the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), especially surrounding the Digital Strategy it is formulating for New Zealand. In fact, in some ways the Public Sector is leading the charge in this arena. I was curious to find out exactly how successful they have been.

I asked Zara Lynch, Digital Strategy Communications Manager a couple of questions on how she had felt the conversation was developing.

• Would you say the use of social media tools in formulating digital strategy has been successful?

• As a result of your experience, do you have any practical tips for those looking to use social media?

Zara:

Being the first time we had a go at using social media tools, the digital strategy wiki was very much a learn as you go experience. In terms of success - we didn’t get thousands of comments like the Police Act wiki last year! But the comments that people made on the wiki were informative and helpful to the consultation process - both in terms of comments for the draft and suggestions for the wiki itself. Some great ideas have come through the wiki that will be reflected in Digital Strategy 2.0 which is due out in the next month or so.

In terms of tips - the best advice we can give is have a go! Web 2.0 is all about talking, sharing knowledge, participating and trying out new gadgets!

Some other great examples of public sector online participation are:

The Couch - the Families Commission online panel

Safe As - the Ministry of Transport Road Safety Forum

ParticipatioNZ wiki - State Services online participation community of practice

Blogging in the NZ Public Sector; slowly but surely

Posted by: Paul Matthews

I recently attended a seminar in Wellington on the use of social media in the Public Sector, organised by the Network of Public Sector Communicators. There were attendees from a variety of state agencies including the IRD, Ministry of Economic Development, State Services Commission, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Although it appears to be early days so far for public sector blogging, clearly the momentum is building if the level and intensity of discussion is anything to go by.

One of the attendees, Matthew Lane at the State Services Commission, alerted me to ?In Development?, a multi-author blog the Commission has just launched this month, for an initial six month trial period. As the blog explains, ?it?s an experiment for us to practice what we preach as we provide advice and guidelines to other agencies that are considering use of Web 2.0 tools to achieve their goals.?

The sector as a whole has been cautious. As Matthew Lane told me ?keep in mind the real purpose of this stuff. It is not valuable in and of itself to have a wiki or a blog. Are these things doing what we always wished we could do better than before? Sometimes wikis and blogs can be a waste of time?? I agree wholeheartedly. However, I do believe social media, if implemented correctly, can provide a level of responsible transparency that the Public Sector constantly seeks under its statutory obligations.

Incidentally, for a good explanation as to why Government Departments have been slow on the uptake, read Jason Ryan?s overview on his excellent blog. Jason is Communications Manager at the State Services Commission.

Currently, there is not a large number of agencies visibly raising their heads above the blogging parapet; though as one seminar attendee said, ?everyone is experimenting, and often people do not like to announce that due to fear of failure.?

Some public sector blogs appear to be little more than short-term experiments. Take this blog by the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC); a few posts in December, and then nothing.

Blogs with sporadic posts can nevertheless provide valuable insights. The NZAID Field Blog is a case in point. But I guess the nature of that blog merits some leeway as NZAID staff ?update the blog as they travel to the field to visit NZ-funded programmes and projects;? and this is from places as far ranging as Tonga, the PNG Highlands and Sri Lanka!

One of the most impressive and successful blogs by the New Zealand public sector has to be Lively, part of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage?s online portal NZLive.com. It?s just marked its first year online and the multi-authored blog is contributing to a significant footprint of valuable online resources.
We know there is much more to come. I will return to this topic as more social media initiatives come to the fore.