Category: PR

Too much information Mr Hague...

03-Sep-10 15:56

Flicking through the Daily Mirror yesterday I was surprised to see such an honest admission from a political figure; William Hague's statement defending his sexuality was one of the more awkward articles I have read in quite a while!

The statement is an attempt at defending himself against rumours of a relationship with special advisor Christopher Myers (which surfaced after it was revealed they once shared a twin room and an "unfortunate" photograph of the pair dressed casually, which Tony Blair's spin doctor justifies as "most politicians are poor at casual clothes"). However, rather than just sticking to one defence he then proceeded to disclose highly personal information about his battle for him and his wife to start a family.

Today, the Daily Mail reported that the wife of the Commons Speaker Sally Bercow believes he was given "duff PR advice" in making this statement and had merely elevated an internet rumour into a matter for the national media by being so candid.

I very much agree with Bercow; although the sexuality rumours were documented in the national press, it is safe to say that they could still have been missed by the majority of the nation. However, yesterday's statement is sure to change that. Hague now faces the public questioning whether he is now simply looking for the sympathy vote or in fact whether it is all one big bluff to further cover up his sexuality.

Dealing with negative press coverage comes with the territory when we think of high profile figures, but even businesses on the very odd occasion may have this to deal with at some point as it is in a journalist's nature to uncover any dark secrets. Our advice is always straight-forward;

1) try not to have any secrets that you would not want potential customers to know about

2) don't say anything unless you are asked directly; whether the negative coverage is true or false you may be digging yourself a deeper hole by issuing statements that could end up being taken out of context or picked apart

Unfortunately in the case of William Hague, it looks as though these stories are going to take a little longer than usual to become tomorrow's chip paper.

Louise

New PR plan for Ashley Cole – Is he worth it?

23-Aug-10 17:17

Saturday brought a tale of two contrasts. The new series of X-Factor saw with it the return of "The Nation's Sweetheart" Cheryl Cole to rapturous applause from the live audience. While over at the DW Stadium her estranged husband Ashley Cole drew boos and jeers from the Wigan crowd as his status as the nation's favourite pantomime villain continues to hold firm.

Cole's image is clearly in need of a PR boost after his marriage woes and fallout from the World Cup failure and it appears his club has recognised this as well. Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck has publicly stated that the club aims to restore Cole's battered image by lowering his profile and making sure his name occupies the back pages of newspapers rather than the front.

From a PR perspective this would seem like a sound plan. Cole is a gifted footballer who rarely let's anybody down - on the pitch. But quite how Chelsea will manage to lower the profile of a player who can sometimes be his own worst enemy is another story.

Perhaps Cole can take PR advice from Cheryl. Only a few short years ago she was best known as the gobby one from Girl's Aloud that picked fights with Lilly Allen and toilet attendants. Her image transformation since then is nothing short of astounding.

If Cheryl can turn around her image to such a degree then maybe Ashley Cole can do the same. I will watch Chelsea's and Cole's PR plan with interest to see if the pantomime villain can turn himself into a Disney prince.

But I won't hold my breath...

Mark

The power of the fan club

11-Aug-10 14:16

One question that I am repeatedly asked in new business meetings is ‘Will PR give me direct sales leads?' And the question is absolutely justified, after all, why would you do any kind of marketing if it didn't contribute to business success.

The answer to the question is less clear. PR, if done well, can help to raise awareness of a brand, give a company credibility and put you front of mind when customers are making buying decisions. But the element that's harder to articulate is how PR (and the word of mouth that results) helps to build a group of advocates; people who will talk about you (or your product, or business) without being prompted.

At best they may sing your praises or recommend your products, or they may simply point you out as someone they know or have heard of. They are your unofficial fan club. And as the word spreads, sales benefit.

An article in yesterday's Telegraph (via @GuyClapperton) examined the near ‘addiction' which consumers have with the Apple brand. What's striking about this is that Apple boasts almost as many ‘fans' as customers; advocates who are talking about the brand and ‘selling' the concept even when they don't always own the product.

A local SME is not going to demand the kind of attention afforded to Apple by its cult following, but the concept remains the same. People that talk about you are as powerful as people that buy from you.

Helen

When the papers break the PR rules

02-Aug-10 10:44

The public outrage at the treatment of Clare Balding by the editor of The Sunday Times has this week again shown the power of Twitter as a tool for expressing public opinion and gaining support.

Following a complaint made by the BBC broadcaster about a review of her upcoming show ‘Britain by Bike', Balding received a response from the Sunday Times editor, which then fuelled her to write to the Press Complaints Commission. Balding, who made her debut last month on the social networking site, tweeted about the experience and later commented that she was ‘truly stunned' by the response.

What is perhaps more surprising about this debate (at least from a communications perspective) is how The Sunday Times reacted to the complaint. Whatever side of the argument you fall on, it is fair to say that the response to the initial complaint broke all the PR (and customer service) rules; rather than acknowledging, showing some empathy, then stating his case, the editor appeared to launch straight into his own political views, serving to fuel anger around the debate, rather than calm the situation. And all this in the knowledge that the response would, at the very best, be judged by fellow journalists, and at the very least be scrutinised by the wider online community.

Publishers are not exempt from the examination of the wider public and need to consider the reputation of their brand in their communications; and, like any business, this could mean getting some good PR advice.

 

Helen

The social media debate

03-Jun-10 17:16

A recent survey by Econsultancy and bigmouthmedia has found that a massive 31 per cent of companies do not set aside any budget for social media activity in their PR campaign. A further 34 per cent said that they had spent money on social media, but only a fractional five per cent of their budget.

Whilst these findings don't shock me (as I have witnessed a fair amount of hesitation from clients and prospective clients over the years) it does highlight that as an industry, we should be doing more to encourage clients to "dip their toe in the water".

I believe, and I think others will agree with me, that social media is not for every business and some companies that are currently engaging in social media may be doing it because they feel they have to, rather than because of any real benefits it will bring their business. Having said that, the response we often receive after mentioning our online PR services in a new business meeting is, "What can Twitter and Facebook actually do for my business?"

The answer is that social media can bring real marketing and relationship building benefits that go hand in hand with a traditional PR campaign. We are strong advocates of Twitter and manage around 50 per cent of our clients' twitter profiles. Each client has a different objective for using Twitter, some clients have asked us to focus soley on building relationships with the press so we are involved in researching relevant journalists and "tweeting" about interesting news and opinions on topical events. Other B2C clients are interested in widening their reach with consumers and our remit would be to run competitions on Twitter and let followers know where they can read about the client in the press. Both methods have been successful and it is a great way of easing new clients into social media slowly. We also manage blogs for some clients and help to track down influential bloggers to build relationships with, as we would a journalist.

The online world is changing at a rapid pace and we are constantly suggesting new ways of utilising the Internet to widen the awareness of our clients. Whilst some companies are understandably cautious about trying something that is still new to many people, we have a range of services that allow our clients to get a real taste for it and to allow them to see if it's right for them.

Louise