Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Marketing trade press set for shake-up
February 12th, 2009
Stories of journalist and newspaper cut-backs are rife, and over the past few days the UK marketing trade press has been the latest casualty.
Centaur has made the decision to close its magazines Precision Marketing and Brand Strategy, while Marketing Week is undergoing a major staff reshuffle. New journalists to be joining the Marketing Week team are rumoured to be Ruth Mortimer, formerly editor of Brand Strategy and Branwell Johnson, former editor of Mad.co.uk, while some existing staff will be leaving.
According to the Precision Marketing website, Centaur is avoiding placing any blame on the current economic situation. The announcement reads:
“Centaur Media is to shift the coverage of direct marketing from Precision Marketing to Marketing Week, reflecting the transformation of direct marketing from a niche function to a mainstream operation…Precision Marketing, which had a circulation of 12,000, is therefore to cease publishing from the February editon onwards.”
Arguably Centaur is paying the price for not evolving its marketing titles quickly enough. A re-design for Marketing Week is on the cards, but this is long overdue. Interesting that little mention has been made of it increasing its digital marketing coverage, or delivery of news through social media. While NMA and Marketing Week are both placing increasing editorial focus on features, I question whether this is really what readers want or need. Subscription-only content is going to have to work harder to keep its reader-base in my opinion…
PR is not online or offline, it’s through-the-line
December 10th, 2008
Social media and online PR have been the hot topics of discussion in the PR industry for some time, and the temperature is increasing as we approach 2009, which is seen by many to be the year of social media.
However, when it comes to offline or traditional PR, which is often wrongly labelled as simply media relations, the excitement dies and the level of conversation follows a similar downward spiral.
But why is this? Is traditional PR slowly dying? Are we moving online at such a rate that offline communications have become devalued? Put simply, no, that’s very far from the truth.
Don’t get me wrong, at Liberate Media we’ve been talking about the benefits and necessity of online communications since our inception, and that hasn’t changed. But neither has our vision that online and offline are in fact the mechanisms through which we deliver good PR, not the definition itself.
So what happens when we blur the lines and combine offline and online PR? “Not a lot” I hear you say, “It’s hardly a revolutionary thought”. Very true, but how many case studies are you aware of that are combining the two areas successfully via a seamless strategy? Sure, many brands engage in both online and offline PR, many via separate agencies or specialists, but the links, although evident, are rarely maximised.
Let me give you an example. There have been instances in recent new business meetings where we’ve been informed that the PR to date has been handled offline by agency X and online by agency Y, and when we try to explain that Liberate Media offers a joint strategy, not one bolted onto the other, we are met with quizzical looks and a degree of disbelief.
So why is this? I think that we, the agencies, are mainly to blame. PR agencies that offer online, or social media consultancy, have usually differentiated this offering through their online or digital department/division/individual, making it appear as though they are specialists operating separately to give credence to their capabilities. Furthermore, there are also a growing number of specialists that do a great job of offering online consultancy but rarely offer traditional PR services as well.
So we’ve divided the two specialisms and that divide, we believe, should not exist. Not just because our company offers both services but because the customer journey may begin online or offline and switch between the two. So how do we engage communities effectively where ever they are, if not by meeting them of their own turf?
The simple truth is, at the moment we’re still taking a channel approach, ring-fencing online away from the rest of PR.
There is no real reason why the two shouldn’t co-exist and in fact aren’t better suited to co-exist through a purpose-built strategy, not two strategies coming together and then being revised to fit.
The fundamentals of good PR work equally well online as they do offline. The rules of open and honest two-way communications aren’t particularly new, but enforcing these rules through brand communications is.
So what I am asking is for is a shift in thinking: as we evolve PR and continue to develop new campaigns that encapsulate core business objectives, please don’t compartmentalise thinking into offline or online. Simply state your objectives and look to your agency/contacts/internal PR department to develop a clear through-the-line strategy.
Let’s break free from the online vs offline thinking trap now and avoid revisiting it in a year when the dye is cast. Let’s break free from the mistakes of the past, when we waited until the market as a whole was comfortable with seperate offerings before pulling together delivery. Instead, let’s embrace PR in all its forms and simply develop brand communications that engage our target communities at their point of interest.
November 26th, 2008
Don’t worry, this isn’t a post about the economic slow down, I think we’ve had quite enough of that for now. No, this post comes as a result of Jon Henley’s article on Guardian.co.uk today titled: ‘The bloggers who take it one post at a time’. It’s a great piece, based in turn on a recent article from the New York Times titled: Blogging at a snail’s pace.
As you can probably gather, both pieces overview a more relaxed approach to blogging, quality over quantity if you like, where the object is not the first to get a post published on a breaking issue, but the one that can add most value.
Both of these pieces refer to Todd Sieling’s ‘A slow blog manifesto’ written in 2006 by the technology consultant from British Columbia, who formulated a structure for the slow blogging movement, saying: “Slow blogging is a rejection of immediacy, it is an affirmation that not all things are worth reading are written quickly.”
Having digested these articles, I felt it was worth pointing out that they have a lot of relevancy in the communications industry, and would be good advice to take on board for any blogger. In fact it’s something that I recommend to my clients: don’t try to be the first on the scene, try to add to the conversation.
It’s still true that blogging, and the wider circle of social media, moves quickly. The last few years have seen a constant push to get more information out in as short a time frame as possible. Twitter is an example of the success of quick fire candid comment, but blogging gives us the opportunity to add more than just news or speed to an issue. It gives us the opportunity to put our opinion across and delve deeper into the discussion, or at least look at a different angle.
It’s too easy to forget that blogging isn’t a race; we need to listen to our community and understand what would be most useful, to be relevant in a conversation. If that’s speed and constant availability, Twitter is probably a much better outlet for you.
If your subscribers read your posts because they appreciate your knowledge or like your take on issues, then that’s what they want to hear, whether that’s an hour or two days after the issue has broken. I myself often like to sit back and see how an issue develops before posting or commenting, it makes sense to get the whole picture before joining in, and simply joining in shouldn’t be a key motivator.
So, what have I taken from the slow blog theory? Well, affirmation of a belief that time isn’t the key factor in blogging, it is important, but it isn’t the issue we should focus on. Offering something to the debate should be the focus.
This isn’t an excuse for those that like to post every few months to say that they are using their time to think - we know that isn’t the case, and it isn’t supposed to be a mantra that every post should be an epic, short posts are very useful and relevant, it’s just confirmation that slowing down and adding value is something that will be appreciated by your subscribers and wider community.
Kerry Katona: When a PR relationship is tested to the Max
October 24th, 2008
Showbiz-holics out there will have been following the PR backlash around the chaotic live interview that Kerry Katona gave to This Morning on Wednesday.
For those who missed it, the 28-year-old mum slurred her way through an interview with hosts Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton. Her strange behaviour caused a series of viewers to phone in, raising concerns over her welfare. A repeat of the interview can be viewed here on the MailOnline website.
The PR sadist in me has been keenly watching the aftermath, to see how Kerry and her publicist Max Clifford would respond.
First off, Kerry spoke out the next day claiming she had been “stitched up” by This Morning. In an interview with Heatworld, she said: “I’ll never go on that programme again, I’m extremely annoyed at how they made me look. They’re meant to be nice people and I’ve been interviewed by them many times before.”
From someone who I suspect has received plenty of media training, I’m sure Kerry was not advised to fight back in this way. Not only were her PR advisors absent prior to her stepping onto the This Morning set in an unfit condition for interview, but similarly where were they in advising her how to limit the damage done?
Today on Sky Showbiz, top story is an exclusive interview given by Kerry’s rep Max Clifford, and what’s interesting is that he doesn’t defend his client. Instead he takes the side of Phillip and Fern, denying Kerry’s claims that they made her look bad.
He says: “Kerry turned up late to the interview, she didn’t have time to be briefed, and then she was slurring. It’s understandable (Fern and Phil questioned her) - any good journalist would do.”
Max Clifford has a reputation of his own to protect, and unlike most PRs, enjoys a similar public profile to that of his celebrity clients. Rarely is a PR forced to protect their own profile over their client’s, but in my view Max’s response is questionable from a professional standpoint.
Kerry’s interview was car-crash TV, and embarrassment to any PR, but it begs the question at what point can a PR be justified in abandoning their client, particularly in a time of crisis? Arguably that’s what Max Clifford has done here. It will be interesting to see whether Kerry keeps him as her publicist.
Introducing a new(ish) member of the team
August 8th, 2008
At Liberate Media we’re always on the look out for consultants that can add a new dimension to our team, and Tim Greenhalgh has been a breath of fresh air since he joined last year. It may seem like an odd time to introduce him, but as we’ve taken the decision to divide our blogging power into separate focuses, now seemed like the right time to put Tim firmly in the spotlight.
Personally, I’ve known Tim for many years, having first introduced him to my clients when he was working for The Times. Tim has gathered a vast amount of experience in various roles, including 20 years as a national journalist, specialising in technology and education for The Times and Observer, and also launching several technology start-ups, including a VC-backed virtual world company.
As you can imagine, Tim’s experience has been invaluable to us not only in terms of his journalist instinct and contacts, but with the real world business knowledge that comes from running your own company. Something that our clients appreciate.
We hope you’ll enjoy Tim’s blog, which is focused on virtual worlds, mobile’s move into social media and digital education as well. You may have already seen a few of Tim’s posts on the central blog, and I’m sure he will build up a following of his own pretty quickly.
Best of luck Tim.