Do clouds really have silver linings? Some PR thoughts as we stutter out of recession

Hmmm. There’s an odd smell in the streets of Hong Kong. And no, it’s not stinky tofu. It is the smell of optimism and I’m cautiously inhaling. After what seems like an eternity of dark headlines, budget cuts, market “re-prioritization” and other tales of woe, we appear to be bouncing back from the recession or, if you prefer, financial tsunami.


Whether it is W, L, U, V (or pear) shaped, a recovery is inevitable. While I’m not an economist, indicators such as new business demand, increasing client spend and calls from recruiters tell me that change is afoot.


While this certainly sends my financial team into raptures of accountant joy, from a consulting perspective, I wonder what clients and agencies have really learned from the recent unpleasantness? Have we changed behaviours for the good of companies’ communications programs? Has the mantra of doing more with (even) less created positive change and delivered genuine return on investment? Or are we back where we started with lower budgets and higher expectations? Hong Kong is, after all, the land of best service, lowest price.


A straw poll of twitter followers provided some clues. One told me: “What we learned from the recession? Nothing is the same - PR is changing, and the challenge is to heard above all the noise.” 


A second optimist summed it up nicely: “Recessions just speed up trends. Clients have been wanting more for less for more than 20 years. Now they want EVEN more for EVEN less. So clients need to understand how to get better value from agencies, and agencies need to work out how to deliver that value and remain profitable.”


From my POV, the recession has brought us both positives and negatives. Let’s look at this from client and agency perspectives. Firstly, the client. I’ve seen some of my clients positively change their business models in response to tougher times. In one company’s case, this meant creating teams that cross over marketing, communications and sales lines. What’s especially encouraging is that they now assess every communications activity on its ability to generate business leads. The term “demand generation” is certainly now a part of every good PR consultant’s vocabulary. Those smarter companies have also looked at refocusing their marketing programs to include social media outreach.


I’ve also seen many companies that were forced to dramatically cut their PR spend. In many cases, their agency partners shared the pain through reduced retainers, fewer projects, and an expectation that even more could be done with a smaller PR investment. I also found that in China in particular, these requests were sometimes accompanied by a similar expectation that pre-recession service levels could continue “...in the interests of the relationship.” 


From an agency point of view, the pressure of the past 12 months has been enormous. Many agencies have reduced headcount, cut salaries and made other significant compromises across their businesses.  We’ve had to find efficiencies where none existed before, especially challenging given the very tight margins within which most PR agencies work. Tactics have included refining business processes, empowering junior staff to take on senior responsibilities at an earlier stage in their careers, offering services for well under industry rates to acquire business, and conceding to sometimes unrealistic client demands. 


The smarter agencies, though, will realize that in making these concessions they’ve become more efficient businesses. Similarly, clients will realize that agencies are, in some cases, able to provide greater service than budgeted for. I’m hoping now that things are picking up again, there will be meeting of the minds on these points. Yes, agencies can be squeezed, but agencies are businesses and need to generate profits. They also depend largely on the well-being of their staff and the siege mentality of last year is unsustainable. 


As my twitter friend pointed out, doing more with less is not a new thing – it is business as usual. So from an agency side, we’ve had to tighten belts that were already very tight. Given this, is it fair for us to expect a return to the heady pre-1987 days of three martini lunch PR as we bounce out of recession? Clearly not.  But I am confident of a couple of points. Firstly, that agencies coming through the other side of the recession are fundamentally better at what they do. Secondly, that those savvy clients that have reprioritized their communications programs to focus on demand generation are going to reap the returns. For those that find a balance between these two complementary realizations, perhaps that odd smell is the sweet smell of success...

- Jeremy

This article first appeared in Marketing-Interactive

Answered - Four social media questions you were afraid to ask

Recently, I ate peanuts aboard a Dragon Air Airbus 33A, while sitting on the tarmac at Shanghai’s Pu Dong Airport. My “first in the queue” plane to Hong Kong had idled for three hours. As I bit into the peanut (musing on the packet’s stern warning “Caution: contents contain peanuts”), I started thinking, as one does, about social media marketing.


I’d spent the previous two weeks discussing social media and public relations with audiences in Shanghai and Beijing. As my brain began to file away the conversations, I started to doodle the questions I’d been asked on my Dragon Air napkin (“Caution: contents contain dead trees”). It seemed that four things were on the minds of the multitude of marketers (try saying that three times quickly!) I’d met with over the past couple of weeks. 


In the interests of the greater good, I thought I’d try to tackle them in this column because I think they frame the necessary next steps that many companies are still struggling to take.


Question 1: Should my company get into social media?
First, you should understand what you’re trying to sell, who you want to influence, and what influences them. If the answer is, in part, social media, then that needs to be part of the marketing program. The fact is, your brand is probably already a topic of discussion across social media channels. Realize also, social media isn’t a trend, fad or buzz. It exists because Web 2.0 tools have enabled everyone to publish. Quite frankly, the people have spoken. The underlying social media principles of openness, collaboration, participation, conversation, community and real time are woven into the fabric of communication. 


Question 2: OK. So I should do this. How do I start?
Start by understanding the social media landscape around your product or service offering and associated themes. This ‘mapping’ exercise will help you set priorities, strategies and tactics. Once you understand the most influential channels and influencers, then representatives from your company can start to play active and authentic roles in these communities. Their mission? To help drive conversations within the communities, and also drive discussions back to you company webpage, blog, Facebook fan page, or other ‘owned’ media channels. A great way to start is to empower your 800 number helpdesk team to play their role in online communities. Why? They are already trained to manage 1-1 discussions with your clients and prospects. 


Question 3: So I’m already “there”. How do I control my message?
Sadly, you can’t. The presumption of controlling messages is a hangover from the old days of PR 1.0. Many companies in China in particular been able to exert a significant degree of control over traditional media. In social media, however, not responding to the inevitable negative comments means that they become part of the digital record forever. By having company representatives in social media communities, you can ensure you’re across relevant discussions, presenting your point of view and adding value to the community. If you can manage this, discussions will be more balanced. And by driving the discussion back to your company blog, for example, you’ll have time to offer your point of view (and improve SEO in the process).


Question 4: OK. So I have some semblance of control. How do I measure this?
Social media is infinitely more measureable than traditional media. In media relations-based PR, we’ve relied on the collective leap of faith that says an article on page 42 of Ming Pao will be read from beginning to end, absorbed, and will play a key role in a business decision. I have nothing against Ming Pao, but surely this is an output, not an outcome. 


By having company representatives contributing to social media communities, you can create measurable action and demand generation. If your representatives are compelling and people click through to your web landing page for more information, to book a place at an event or buy a product, then you’ve hit the jackpot. 


Web analytics tools such as Google Analytics can show you precisely where those inbound links came from. Your SEO goes up, but more importantly you can make a direct correlation between social media activity and consumer behaviour.


It all sounds deceptively simple. The reality is there are places to start and the point of entry isn’t so challenging. But this is a long-term commitment that fundamentally changes the way your company will interact with its audiences. Social media continues to take many marketing managers in Asia out of their comfort zones. Through more conversation, active participation, and handfuls of Dragon Air peanuts, this is an opportunity you, as a marketer, can’t afford to ignore.


- Jeremy

Honour amongst thieves

As I put fingers to keyboard, I’m angry. I keep telling myself this shouldn’t sound like sour grapes. I keep telling myself, that in these tough times, businesses have to make tough decisions. But one thing really gets my goat. And that’s PR companies that try to win business by attempting to steal clients away on the basis of pricing alone.

Now of course price is a key component of most purchases. PR firms, like many professional services companies, may choose to be flexible with pricing to win a new client over. They also frequently struggle to secure annual increases or adjust agreed rates in a timely fashion. You’ll hear the pricing question come up most often during a competitive pitch. Especially true in North Asia where in a game called “you show me yours and I won’t show you mine”, budgets are all-too-frequently not disclosed during the critical pitch process. The agencies simply have to apply the tried and true “finger in the wind” theory of financial modelling combined with an all too common patchwork of services and tactics. If all of the planets come into alignment they’ll hit the magic number and the relationship begins.

But I digress. Pricing is undeniably important and most companies are putting considerable pressure on their suppliers to do more with less. Over the past 12 months, I’ve had everything from retainer cuts, project spends drying up, complete shifts to project only work and immediate cancellations of agreements, in spite of agreed contract terms. That’s an unfortunate business reality and agencies are typically accommodating. I guess we, in some karmic fashion, acknowledge that such concessions and acts of goodwill will be rewarded at some magical point in the future (hopefully not too far in the future).

The other key factor is relationship. Fundamentally, no relationship is perfect. PR agency / client relationships are frequently like marriages – they have their ups and downs. But what really gets my goat is when competitors come a-knocking on my “partner’s” door and sell on price alone. “We’ll provide the same service at half the price,” they whisper into all-too-willing ears. Certainly, it sounds like a compelling proposition. But is it grounded on reality – or desperation? Sure, we’re all under pressure to make our numbers. But this type of behaviour brings our industry, which already struggles with its own PR challenges, into further ill-repute.

Naturally, these approaches raise questions in our clients’ minds. Am I getting real value for money? Did my procurement team push hard enough in the original negotiation? Can the work be done for less? But these questions need to be balanced with a few from the other side of the brain. Such as…has my agency been a loyal supplier for many years? Do they continue to provide me with valuable insights? Has the account team gone above and beyond the call? My fear is that price alone has become a weapon all too frequently used in the competitive arsenal. We’re not selling fish at the market here. Long term business relationships surely count for something, even in these unsettled times.

I had a situation several years ago in Australia where a client was approached with a similar offer. It had been a challenging relationship for many reasons, but the account team persevered and was making considerable progress supporting a tough proposition in a tough media market. Then we got THE call. A competitor had offered to provide the same level of support for half the fee. While we could be flexible, we couldn’t compete to the same level. And so the hard work of two years was cast aside and we parted ways. Four years later, my former client is now working with its third agency partner as it continues on its search for the holy grail of a perfect balance of best service and lowest price.

The other consideration is the question of the greenness of the grass on the other side. While these types of approaches may sow seeds of doubt, the decision to review or change agencies can’t be taken lightly. Certainly, agencies need to continually add value and nurture their client relationships. Taking clients for granted is a cardinal sin. But next time the price question raises questions, a conversation with yourself – and your agency – is in order.

To my clients I ask that if there are nagging doubts regarding service – or pricing – have the conversation with your account team. And to the unscrupulous agencies that choose to use the price lure – may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits forever.

- Jeremy

This article appeared in the August 2009 issue of Marketing Magazine Hong Kong

The Top 10 Essential Social Media Stories This Week

The Top 10 Essential Social Media Stories This Week: "

From an image editing disaster by Microsoft to Yelp’s augmented reality application to a rehab center for Internet addicts, it’s been a busy week in web news.

We were blown away by Facebook’s latest iPhone app and shocked by a new ad campaign that informs drivers of the dangers of texting while driving. Less shocking: a new study suggested that social media users are somewhat narcissistic.

In Mashable news, meanwhile, our Summer of Social Good conference was a hit…and ended on a high with an unexpected marriage proposal.

Without further ado, here are the top stories in social media this week.

1. Microsoft Apologizes for Photoshop Trainwreck – Microsoft edited an image on its Polish website, replacing a black person with a white one. An apology was issued for the mistake.

2. EASTER EGG: Yelp Is the iPhone’s First Augmented Reality App – Yelp sneakily launched an augmented reality iPhone app this week. We take it for a test run.

3. First U.S. Rehab Center for Internet Addiction Opens Its Doors – America’s first Internet addiction center opens. A sign of the times?

4. How Facebook Can Ruin Your Relationships [VIDEO] – A recent study showed that Facebook increases jealousy in relationships. Now we have video evidence.

5. STUDY: Social Media Is for Narcissists – are social media tools used for narcissistic ends? A new study appears to confirm it.

6. Apple Censored the Snow Leopard: Now With 100% Less Blood – Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system arrives…with the blood stains removed.

7. IT’S HERE: Facebook 3.0 for iPhone Has Arrived – Facebook’s latest iPhone app is here…and it’s awesome. We look at the unique features in this innovative new social app.

8. Texting While Driving Video: Will Graphic Imagery Change People’s Behavior? – A graphic new ad uses shock tactics to warn of the dangers of texting while driving. Will it work, asks Adam Ostrow.

9. Dual-Screen Laptops?! Yes, They’re Real (and Coming Soon) – One laptop screen not enough space for all your applications? Ben Parr clues us in on a new dual-screen laptop that provides oodles of screen real estate.

10. Don’t Want to Let Go of Your Ex? Yes, There Are Apps for That [Video] – A parody iPhone ad offers to help stalk your ex.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AndrewJohnson

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Reviews: Yelp, facebook, iStockphoto

Tags: social, social media

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Shock! Horror! 40% of tweets on twitter are pointless babble!

Sigh. In the biggest Twitter story of the week, Pear Analytics research report concludes that 40% of tweets are - drum role - actually pointless babble. Outlets such as Computerworld, InformationWeek, Cnet and The Daily Telegraph have gleefully reported the twitter = babble story.

But, I fear they are missing the point. This study reflects analysis of 2,000 English tweets from the public timeline. This is akin to measuring a minute of radio commentary from 2,000 radio stations. Babble will feature highly, because there's a lot of babble out there.

Perhaps I'm unique in my Twitter usage, but I certainly don't spend time watching the public timeline for my news and information. Seems a rather inefficient way to use twitter if you ask me.

With tools such as TweetDeck allowing you to manage twitter searches via people, groups, or topic, there are rather easy ways to avoid the babble - and rather meaningless research reports!

Dear spammers – can we have our social media back?

I’ve spent much of the past month meeting with social media monitoring companies to find a supplier that can manage searches and analysis in Asian languages. I’ve been geeking out on some of the applications, and, without the hint of apology, challenging a lot of what I’ve seen. I hope the folks I’ve met with have enjoyed the discussions.

While I’ve been quite impressed with how far Asian language buzz, sentiment and share of voice dashboards have come, the spectre of “social media marketing” raised its head in three of the discussions.

Naturally, as an inquisitive fellow, I pushed them on this point. With the innocence of a new-born lamb, I asked them precisely what they meant by “marketing” in a social media context. The response? “Seeding”. Now, for the uninitiated, “seeding” has little to do with the planting seeds in fertile soil and nourishing them to grow.

Sadly, it seems, “seeding” has a lot to do with spamming forums and blogs with often inappropriate commercial messages.

This is akin to arriving late (and uninvited) to a party that’s in full swing. Then strolling casually into the middle of an intense discussion and yelling “buy a car from Chan’s Auto Yard!” Next step is to run out of the party, never to be heard from again.

Now come on people (and seeders). Who are we kidding here? Is this behaviour acceptable in any community in which you operate? Is this “marketing”? No. It is spamming pure and simple. And what makes it worse, is that as corporates discover the genuine influence of social media discussions, they’re defaulting to these sorts of tactics and running the risk of doing their brands considerably more harm than good.

I understand the good folks that are paid to “seed” in this way are referred to as “gunners” (in traditional Chinese cheng churn meaning, literally, hired guns).

So, let’s break this down. You identify a forum like Uwants or DiscussHk as an influential channel where discussions relevant to your brand, product or service are taking place. People care enough (or, at least are passionate enough) to share their feelings and ask probing questions. Instead of joining the conversation in a meaningful way by replying to posts or establishing a contributing and helpful role within the community, you instead hire a gunner to spam inappropriate comments at this influential audience.

I can only assume that this approach is based on the assumption that at least a “key message” is “placed” in the discussion; therefore this somehow constitutes marketing success. And perhaps using the direct marketing logic, maybe a 1 or 2 percent response rate justifies the expenditure. Whereas an unsolicited email can be deleted or captured by a spam filter, the gunner’s handiwork lives on in the digital record. Ideally forum moderators or bloggers block such comments, but if they let them remain, they are nothing more than a reminder for most netizens that the offending company has no understanding of social media conventions and should be at best ignored, and, at worst, flamed.

Companies need to realize that there really is no such thing as spamming your way to social media influence. Influence is established through trusted relationships built over time. It appears that for many companies in Hong Kong, these types of relationships aren’t worth the investment required. I fear that until we reach a stage where the communities voice their objections, however, our forums are blogs destined to be the playground of these digital gate-crashers.

It does raise the question of how else to engage in these vital channels. The answer is pretty clear. Like any community, you need to understand the discussion, so spend time researching and reading. Determine which forum threads or blogs focus on topics you’re interested in. Look at the language of discussion and analyse the nature of comments and posts. Consider how you can meaningfully join the conversation – how can you add value? Can you answer a question? Point people to new information? Introduce a new topic that the community will value?

And remember, by starting down this path, you’re making a commitment to the community. Once you’re in, you should stay in. And through this, you’ll develop the relationships marketers only dreamt of a decade ago.

Finally, a call to action. For those who really value the digital communities they’ve helped build and increasingly see as a preferred place for discussion, debate and research, now is the time to take back the night. Next time you see a post that’s clearly “gunned”, make it clear that they’re not welcome in your ‘hood.

- Jeremy

Note, this article appeared in the June 2009 issue of Marketing Magazine Hong Kong

It Aint Yo' Daddy's Crisis Communications

Great grand-daughters and great-grandsons of P.T. Barnum. An apology for not posting. Things have been manic. Some thoughts on crisis communications that struck me as my Marketing Magazine deadline approached. Read on, enjoy (and comment!)... 

At some point in a darkened room, a wise and learned soul sat down and created the original PR crisis communications course. Much like a cherished family heirloom, this course has been handed down through the generations and across the agencies, tweaked occasionally, but it essentially says the same things.

It tells us the first 24 hours is the only 24 hours. It tells us (and misleads us slightly) that the Chinese character for crisis is a combination of the characters representing "danger" and "opportunity".

It reinforces that crises can smoulder or be sudden, that understanding the news cycle is critical.  It also instructs that candour is one of the best tools in an executive's arsenal.

It is a sad reality that this document too often dusted off once a crisis has hit - or following a poorly managed crisis. The challenge is that today the dynamics of crisis have changed. Social media has turned some of the old rules on their heads. While we happily extol the virtues of social media's ability to enable business through (jargon alert) appropriate community engagement, the darker side of social media is often glossed over even ignored.

Several recent events have hopefully slapped the collective faces of companies that happily employ the "ostrich approach" to crisis management. The first relates to Domino's Pizza. This decades-old global brand reinforces an image of fresh, hot food prepared by happy, enthusiastic workers. It received a wake-up call on April 12 when two employees felt compelled to post a video to YouTube showing them performing various unsavoury acts on food products. See the video (TV news coverage here); you'll know what I mean. 

What's interesting is that prior to the age of YouTube, such a thing may have been limited to a video cassette played at frat parties. But within 48 hours, the offensive video had been viewed millions of times. Domino's did many of the right things in responding - it posted its own YouTube video, and replied directly to the blogger that broke the story.

The company - and hopefully others like it - learned a lesson in how easy it is for idiots with video cameras to cause a brand considerable damage. 

Another topical crisis that has raised questions over the role of social media in a crisis is the recent Swine Flu / H1N1 outbreak. Social media flavour of the month Twitter came under fire for spreading misinformation. Such was the level of incorrect tweets, that mainstream media saw it as an opportunity to quite rightly raise questions over Twitter's credibility.

On the positive side, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) has used Twitter as a force for good to spread reliable and accurate information. Its followers have grown from 2,621 (April 23) to 249,940 (June 6).

A third example of social media's ability to amplify a crisis comes from the god-mother of e-commerce, Amazon.com. In April, social media channels were full of the news that sales rankings and search results for gay and lesbian books had disappeared from Amazon's website.

Amazon did itself no favours by telling the Associated Press two days after the fact that the error had been caused by a glitch in the system. A new Twitter hashtag (#glitchmyass) and twitter user quickly appeared - symbols of the community's distain over Amazon's actions and response.

So, what to do? Traditional media channels are increasingly feeding on crises and issues that break through social media. Channels such as facebook, twitter and YouTube have become trusted sources - but their ability to misinform or mislead is as powerful as traditional media's historical ability to credibly inform and lead. 

There are three fundamentals that all companies need to take on board

today:

Be vigilant: Understand the social and traditional media landscape and monitor for issues in real time. This is commonsense, but companies are still being surprised. Make sure employees' actions in social media channels are also under review.

Fish where the fish are: Ensure you have a credible presence in key social media channels in advance. Just as with mainstream media, a crisis is the worst time to make a first impression. Companies need to be part of key communities if they hope to secure support in times of crisis. 

Change plans: Unlike the crisis plans of old, don't wait until the crisis to bring it out of the drawer. Crisis preparedness needs to be part of the daily communications mix - starting with something as simple as listening to the conversation that's already going on 24x7. 

- Jeremy