Clever communication is key to future success

At the heart of what all PRs do lies creativity, not only in terms of content but approach. Whether you’re writing an engaging press release or a short and snappy tweet, the aim of the game is to attract interest in your story and your client.

At a recent PRCA National Conference, executive director of government communications Alex Aiken said ‘the press release was dead’ during his speech on the future of PR. Aiken argues that this method of communicating with journalists, which dates back to the early 1900s, has become too ‘cosy’ for press officers, and they should be using multiple channels to distribute news.

He refers to a new era of communications, where press officers should be content creators; ‘You should not start with three pages of A4, but a tweet, an infographic or a video. If you are writing more than 200 words on any subject, you’re probably in the wrong place.’ But as PRs, are we not content generators by nature?

Before the invention of email and social media, PRs posted (in the traditional sense) press releases or issued them by fax machine. While the ways in which we present and distribute press information may have changed, we still use some form of ‘press release’, just perhaps not in its ‘traditional’ guise. A press release enables us to deliver information in a concise, engaging and factually correct manner; it has benefits especially when delivering sensitive information and when part of a clear strategy, it can be one of the most successful means of communication.

I think what Mr Aiken is discussing is a change in approach to communications rather than the literal sense of the press release being ‘dead’; what is dead is the traditional, fragmented process of just sending out a lengthy document. Communications should be issued in a way best suited to the individual/sector/audience you are trying to reach; whether that is a 140 character tweet, a cleverly placed direct mail campaign or a press release. Now more than ever it is about thinking outside the press release and developing strong media relationships, only then will PRs be able to determine the best way to reach the journalists.

I believe the press release is, and will remain, a classic form of communication. However, you can’t deny that communications is evolving; readers are receptive to broader information and far less detail, 140 characters rather than 600 words. The skill here is tailoring the content as well as the means by which it’s issued. I keep a personal media database where I note the quirks and interests of a journalist; rapport is just as important as a direct email address or mobile number.

With stringent budgets, PRs not only need to be innovative in the delivery of their communications but also consider cost-effective solutions for their clients. Social media does have its perks as it requires little ‘funding’ however what it does require is time and a good understanding of the platform you are using.

Yes, the rules of the game are changing, but press releases are still very much part of the communications mix. If your story is worth reading, it will be read. But what the press release should not do is supplement a good PR/journalist relationship.

Kalli Soteriou

Account Executive

Be careful what you tweet for...

Twitter is all about sharing news and opinions.  Therefore, it’s understandable that many of us turn to the real-time online network to vent our frustrations when services, products or providers let us down.

Even I’ve done it – as a sporadic tweeter – when left stranded in my car with poltergeist windscreen wipers that were determined to either burn a hole in the glass or drain my car battery.  It didn’t get me anywhere though; the tweet went unnoticed, or ignored, by my ironically termed ‘roadside rescue’ service. And so I was left, un-rescued, to juggle with the car handbook, fuse box and torch to end the squeaky misery.

For post grad law student Mark Leiser his complaint on Twitter this week certainly prompted a reaction.  Waiting for a delayed easyJet flight and feeling sorry for an armed forces passenger, Mr Leiser turned to Twitter: “Flight delayed 90min. Soldier going to miss last connection & @easyjet refusing to help pay for him to get to Portsmouth. Get right into em!”

The 113 character tweet resulted in airport staff approaching Mr Leiser, as he waited to board the plane, and telling him he couldn’t fly.  The staff claimed it was because of that tweet – did they deem it as disruptive behaviour or was the ‘get right into em’ threatening?  Eventually, Mr Leiser was allowed to board, but only after pointing out his right to free speech and referring to his status as a law student.

easyJet’s response to the incident certainly begs questions, particularly around staff protocol on social media.  Companies and their staff need to brace themselves for criticism and be on hand to respond quickly and appropriately.   

But here is a lesson also for Mr Leiser and other tweeters out there – be careful what you tweet for, the written word can all too often be misinterpreted.

Sam Kandiyali

Director

Ecobuild 2013: reflections

There can be no disputing the relevance of ‘energy efficiency’ as a theme central to the construction industry at large.

But as we pursue the business of designing, producing and selling products, materials, systems and technologies that will deliver energy efficiency, do we sometimes get lost in the detail – how often do we pause for reflection?

Is the Green Deal creating or meeting market demand?

There’s a lot riding on the success of the Green Deal. But in the melee of voices explaining, questioning, lambasting and championing, are we confusing the market driver with the vehicle for delivery?

Are we trying to sell a clever new treatment for an ailment that the patient hasn’t yet asked their trusted GP about (they just moan every time they get a twinge), by telling them that the clever new treatment may be really expensive but we can help them to finance it?

In an interesting panel discussion on the opening day of Ecobuild, Rt Hon Ed Davey MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, was predictably buoyant about the first few months since the Green Deal’s birth. He spoke about the importance of the ‘energy efficiency market’, not just within the UK marketplace but also as an export market. ‘Green growth’ already accounts for 136,000 jobs in energy efficiency, with a forecast/ambition that this could grow by 5% per year. Broadly, Davey saw the scope for Green Deal to create a market.

Paul King, Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC), followed Ed Davey on stage with a positive but more measured tone: ‘Green Deal is not a panacea, it is a finance mechanism’. He spoke about the need for competition, welcoming Nationwide’s alternative funding product for energy efficiency retro-fit projects, and called on the government to develop ‘incentives for the many, not just the few.’ In essence, King presented Green Deal as an opportunity to meet a need, solve a problem, satisfy a market.

As I see it, energy efficiency is a market driver and Green Deal is a vehicle for delivery.

It’s natural that much of our time in recent months has been spent addressing the ‘nuts and bolts’ of what the Green Deal mechanism is, how it works, what’s included, what it will cost, how it will be assessed, and what role each part of the industry will play.

So, Green Deal is here, we’re ready. What next?

The persuasive power of communities

Both Paul King and Ed Davey passionately identified the need for industry to work together with each other, and with government, to deliver Green Deal successfully, but Richard McCarthy, Executive Director of Capita Symonds, struck a real chord when he spoke of ‘neighbourhood’ delivery. He made the point that not enough people understand Green Deal at the moment, and questioned how we could move from focusing on individuals towards neighbourhoods who can support, influence and encourage each other to take action. In doing so, McCarthy brought the customer back into the discussion.

‘Neighbourhoods’ speak of people like us, people we know and trust. They embrace our local tradesmen and the small businesses that are part of our communities; the micro-businesses and installers who will be central to delivering Green Deal. Thinking in terms of neighbourhoods could allow us to bring the customer in closer synergy with those able to meet their energy efficiency needs.

Customer communications

To return to my simplistic health analogy, we’ve developed a complex but effective range of treatments, understood that our ‘patient’ is feeling pain that these treatments can relieve, identified the obstacle of cost and invented a solution. But where’s the trusted family doctor in this scenario? Where’s the mum that says, come on love, time to act? The mate down the pub that tells you his experience and persuades you to take action?

Our challenge is to tune into the needs of customers, understand what energy efficiency means for them, their motivators and drivers, their ‘pain threshold’ and to be ready with the solutions.

The industry has been preparing for Green Deal; preparing to meet market demand for energy efficiency in our homes. We’re ready to go, but are our customers? Are we talking their language, or ours?

Communications will be the next big step in making Green Deal successful, but we should be cautious about focusing too hard on ‘selling’ the Green Deal product, and instead concentrate on helping customers to recognise the remedies we offer for their energy efficiency ailments.

Local installers, contractors and heating engineers are well placed to deliver these messages with trust and credibility, which means that the industry must make a mission of engaging more thoroughly with this key group.

Sarah Bryars
Chief Executive

“The role of imagery has always been central to PR”

That line comes from the recent rising power of images article on PRWeek.com and those ten little words have given me much food for thought over the past few days.

It’s safe to say that images have had a close relationship with many communication disciplines over the years: not just PR, but marketing and advertising too; semiotics has always played an important role in influencing public opinion and reinforcing brand recognition.

In fact, here’s a quick pop quiz to reinforce that point. Take a look at the following images – I’d eat my hat if you didn’t get all of them correct.

What’s more, with the advent of social media, the bond between images and public relations has grown even stronger. It began with Facebook and Twitter as the sharing sites of choice, but as consumers’ need for simplicity has expanded, so has the number of platforms available with Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest fast becoming big contenders in the ‘content is king’ boxing-ring.

But “what does this mean for PR practitioners?” I hear you say. It means now is the time to become even savvier when spreading the word - or sharing the picture. We’ve all heard about the rise of the citizen journalist, but what about the rise of the citizen paparazzo? According to The Daily Telegraph Picture Editor, Matthew Fearn, “Ten years ago, The Daily Telegraph received about 5,000 images a day. Now, it can receive up to 50,000 on a busy day”.

This speaks volumes about the public’s need to interact and be a part of the news stories that are generated on a daily basis. PR practitioners need to embrace this and realise the benefits of having an even bigger capability than before to spread awareness about a particular brand or product.

This is something that we at Target PR have taken on board and used as a PR tactic for our client Specsavers in a competition called ‘Life Thru the Lens’. The competition, which has been running for many years, sees both print and online newspapers across the country teaming up with Specsavers to invite members of the public to capture the essence of their hometown - whether it’s the sun shining on a local landmark or simply capturing the local hustle and bustle – entries continue to flood in year on year, with a host of prizes up for grabs for the cream of the crop.

So, as you can see, there is huge room for added authenticity by engaging the public, but the onus is on PR practitioners to provide the credibility while ensuring imagery remains the focal point of this marvellous mix.

Zainab Rahman

Account Executive

P.S. Logo answers: L-R Reebok, Nike, BMW and Levis. I hope I don’t have to eat my hat!

People power

The global brand that is Starbucks took a bit of a battering at the end of last year as they came under fire for not paying ‘enough’ UK corporation tax. Under huge pressure from its customers, the coffee giant agreed to pay £20m in tax over the next two years. 

When the story first broke, protests outside Starbucks shops were reported, and its scores on YouGov’s BrandIndex plummeted to a four year low. This was clearly something the public felt very strongly about and wanted their voices to be heard. 

So it was no great surprise when Starbucks announced its ‘Monday promotion’ offering any tall latte for £1.50 before 11am on a Monday from 7 January – 18 February. Although this is by no means the first promotion Starbucks has run, it is a first for the coffee corporation to communicate an offer via a TV ad in the UK. Paired with precision timing and slick execution, this is surely a clear indication that Starbucks is trying to build bridges with its customers.

For PR professionals, the importance of audience is one of the earliest lessons to learn, and when your audience can have such a significant impact on your brand, it’s essential to listen to them.

From what was a crisis situation, Starbucks did indeed listen to its audience and acted quickly to prevent the story escalating further. Kris Engskov managing director of Starbucks in the UK, in a speech to the London Chamber of Commerce, sums it up perfectly, ‘We've learned it is vital to listen closely to our customers – and that acting responsibly makes good business sense.’

Hear, hear!

Bethan Simkins
Account Manager

Back to the Future

The new year is often a time when you find yourself reflecting on the previous twelve months; whether it’s the highs or the lows, the people we met on the way, or the monumental events that took place. Some may say we can learn from the past and face next year’s opportunities with a new perspective. But is there something to gain from reflecting back 100 years ago...to 1913?

Technology and censorship

On the 1st January 1913, the British Board of Film Censors (later to become the British Board of Film Classification, BBFC) was given the authority to classify and censor films. Like the press, it endeavoured to become a self-regulating industry, and it is a structure that successfully remains in place today.

As cinema became a ‘socially powerful mass-medium’, governments once feared its effects as some nations famously produced propaganda films. This is a fear that can easily be related to the present day usage of social media. The current mass-medium tool which has no official regulator, policing system or governmental control, other than ‘The Twitter Rules’, continues to instil fear in some.

The ever tricky tightrope act between ensuring freedom of speech, without breaking the law or abusing its power, will more than likely be a debate we continue to see trending in 2013. However, from a system that was put in place 100 years ago and still remains as effective today, we can perhaps derive some hope that this debate resolves in a fair, just and ethical way, contributing positively to the changing face of 21st century PR.

Alexandra Underwood
Account Executive

A way with words

It’s been a busy few weeks here at Target PR, from organising our upcoming ‘One Day Wonderland’ pop-up shop and balloon race in aid of Sue Ryder, to our everyday work, great things happen at 105-107 Bath Road and we'd like to share it with the world. Well, the world wide web to be precise!

In recent weeks you may have noticed that we’ve done more than just dip our toes into the social media swimming pool, we’ve been going all out giving you daily insights into what goes on here at Target HQ. But we didn’t just dive straight in, oh no, we put together a list of hints and tips to make sure everyone in the team was on the right track.

So if you’re stuck for words, or need help deciding whether that tweet about what you had for breakfast is really necessary (it’s not), why not take a look at our favourite top tips and let us know what you think:

1.    First and foremost be yourself, but be cautious. It sounds obvious but don't reveal information that you feel could be potentially sensitive or confidential – you don’t want to let the cat out of the bag!

2.    Internal issues can arise and disagreements do happen, but public arenas, including Twitter, Facebook and blogs, are not the place for these to be aired. Enough said.

3.    The best posts are the ones that signpost information available elsewhere and encourage conversations. Content is king and stuff that works includes: a behind the scenes look at a day in your shoes, insight on and responses to the latest and greatest industry news, or even a guest post from a client that’s benefitted from your help.

4.    If the post is related to a news story, link to it and respond to it, don’t spend time repeating it. After all, people are coming to you for your opinion and insight. As Baz Luhrmann once said, “Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off and recycling it for more than it’s worth”.

5.    Enjoy it!

Zainab Rahman

Account Executive