Practical PR Tips

Apologies and new location

2010-06-08T17:15:00.000+08:00

Hi there

I am so sorry for not updating this blog in such a long time. A complete cardinal sin. I have been busy setting up my own PR and marketing communications company in Hong Kong - CRED Communications. And then I completely forgot my log in details for this site! So as well as introducing you to my new blog, here's a practical tip for you - write down the password details for your old blogs, especially when blogger defaults to Chinese in Hong Kong! Thanks for visiting. And I look forward to seeing you over at my new blog, also called Practical PR Tips.

Mandy

Women are dominating social networking

2009-12-02T12:21:00.000+08:00

According to data collected by Pingdom from Google's US Ad Planner, women (in the US) use social media web sites more than men. The data states that:

59% of Twitter;
57% of Facebook; and,
52% of LinkedIn users are female.

Slashdot, Digg and Reddit are more popular with men. The full results are in the image below.

It's all about me! Actually no it's not.

2009-11-22T17:08:00.001+08:00

Here is another great tip. This one comes from a company called Future Now. They have created a brilliant test, the we we calculator, which calculates the we's versus the you's in your copy to ensure that your text is customer-focused. Your customers are the most important audience so it's vital to ensure that you talk less about how great you are in your copy and more about how you will meet your customers needs.

Try the calculator out for yourself. You will be surprised by the results! Here's the link.

Fight the bull

2009-11-22T16:39:00.000+08:00

Here's a great website where you can download software that will test for "bull" or jargon in your copy. This great software supplements the tips I've given on using plain english and avoiding gobbligook.

Marketing art online and how it could help you

2009-11-22T13:40:00.004+08:00

I've been taking some time out from work recently. I've returned to a great passion of mine, which is drawing. I was pretty good at art at school but never made anything of it because I didn't practice enough. I've dabbled back and forth over 20 years, doing night classes in Hong Kong and at Edinburgh Art College but didn't really put my heart and soul in to it or went to classes every week due to work commitments. So I eventually gave it up. But with time on my hands just now, I've started classes on Lamma Island where I live, and love it. So what has this got to do with this blog? Well, I've also recently learned a few practical PR tips from the art world in the past six weeks that I'd like to share with you

While researching advice on how to draw better, I came across thousands of artists who integrate blogs, websites, Facebook, trade magazines and Etsy (online craft mart similar to ebay) to market their art. Press coverage on their work is featured on their blogs (and websites) together with exhibition details, videos of their work and tips/advice to other artists. Visitors to their blogs can register for updates via email and RSS, so maintaining engagement with their audiences. Some artists have their own shops too. The artists integrate all these communications channels and methods to produce powerful, and reasonably priced, campaigns.

One such artist who has embraced new media and social marketing is ADEBANJI ALADE, from London, England. You can find his blog here. He has had the blog since 2006 and it includes video tips, links to his website, his drawings, magazines he likes, other artists he likes, exhibitions, his awards and links to work he has done with third parties. Alade''s biography is fascinating too.

One of Alade's sketches from his blog

Alade at work

The internet has given artists an amazing portal to reach their audiences, build their reputation and sell their work. Small businesses everywhere could learn a lot from them.

Nearly 5,000 articles on the net dedicated to David Letterman

2009-10-05T10:10:00.002+08:00

Anyone who doubts whether what you do, what you say or what others say about you doesn't impact your reputation should key in "David Letterman" on google news. Married TV show host Letterman is the big news story of the weekend after confessing live on air that he had been blackmailed for US$2m for having affairs with women who work on his show.

Nearly 5,000 articles can be found on the net from various media outlets and blogs commenting on his live confession, which involved him saying he did "creepy things" with employees. Will it kill his multi-million career that spans 20 plus years? Will the man who routinely jokes about everyone else's private lives, especially politicians who have done similar things, lose his job, his career and his family? Is his credibility ruined? Has he become the joke? Is his reputation in shatters?

Unless more revelations come out about the said "creepy things" he did, and they are truly apalling, I think Letterman will be okay. Letterman is a comedic talk show host, not a politician. He interviews celebrities, sports heroes and even politicians about their lives. While at the same time keeping his life extremely private. And because he is not known as a fabulously squeaky clean family man he will largely avoid being pillorised for double standards. Yes. Many people will find him a turn-off now, especially women. But his ratings will probably soar in the coming weeks as people turn on to his show to find out what he will say/do next. Even in highly conservative America.

Great ad for EA produced by my friend Cat

2009-09-21T21:48:00.000+08:00

Just a quick post to show you the brilliant EA ad produced by Cat Reynolds (my friend) for Dutch agency Wieden + Kennedy.

Gobbledygook manifesto

2009-09-14T21:46:00.000+08:00

I have been wanting to share this ppt with you for ages. But I've been in internet hell for a month i.e. no broadband since August 14. Anyway, all sorted now. And now I can share this great "manifesto" by David Meerman Scott. It's a must-read for anyone responsible for writing copy for marketing materials or PR. And a great addition to the plain English campaign.

David aims to ban words such as "best-of-breed", "solution driven" and "world-class" from our writing as they are absolute drivel and mean nothing. His advice is similar to the plain English campaigners in that he recommends that we use simple language to describe our products and services. Language that everyone understands. He also highly recommends that we start with our buyers, not our products, when writing copy to show that we understand what our customers need. Complete common sense.

David's recommendations are, as you would expect, short and compelling. Click here to read his manifesto.

Lost in relocation

2009-09-02T13:53:00.000+08:00

Apologies for not writing any posts for a few weeks. We've moved house and we're having difficulties with the internet providers. Their customer service and technical assistance has been ridiculously poor. We are currently questioning whether we should continue to use them. And have been lambasting them through WOM (word of mouth).

It's a reminder that while WOM can be great for spreading the word and promoting your products and services, it can also cause lots of damage to your brand. It's incredibly important to protect your brand every step of the way through excellent customer service and quality communications.

p.s. thanks to all the followers on Facebook. There is an extremely great new application called Network Blogs, which allows you to link your blog to your Facebook page. You can find more info at www.networkedblogs.com.

What form of media/advertising do consumers trust the most?

2009-08-04T23:08:00.000+08:00

Sixty-nine percent of consumers still trust editorial content in newspapers more than most advertising including mobile ads, tv and radio ads, billboards, ads in search engines etc. Editorial content was fourth in the trust table behind recommendations from people I know (90%), brand websites (70%) and consumer opinons posted online (70%). The least trusted form of media/advertising was mobile ads at 24%.

The study was carried out by Neilson Online during their 2009 Global Online Consumer Survey.

Companies looking to build their reputation among their publics should aim to focus on the most trusted forms of media/advertising.

A good local example of PR

2009-08-01T16:13:00.000+08:00

My favourite restaurant on Lamma Island, The Waterfront, had a kitchen fire a couple of months ago. Thankfully, no one was hurt but they had to close down the kitchen for a while. Meantime, they tried to keep business going by grilling steaks and salmon using an outdoor barbecue unit. This helped keep the interest of some of their loyal customers but about 75% of their diners disappeared.

They recently installed a new kitchen but diners did not return.

So last wednesday they decided to do something different to entice diners back. They had a curry night.They promoted the event on the island community blog http://www.lamma.com.hk/ and through word of mouth. Subsequently the restaurant was jam-packed on Wednesday. On the night, the owners also revealed that they were revamping their menu including introducing a regular bbq night on Monday's. And the owner, who we rarely saw before, came to each table and personally thanked everyone for coming back to the restaurant.

The Waterfront Restaurant through PR got their customers back. In simple terms, they had a crisis. They averted this crisis by making changes, they researched what customers wanted and delivered it. They then used the local online media tool read by their target audience to promote their new offering and thank their loyal customers. And then the owner engaged positively face-to-face with his audience on the night.

The food was delicious too.

WTF is Twitter and why should I care?

2009-07-19T22:27:00.001+08:00

A really good presentation on Twitter for those who want to know more. That said, use Twitter carefully as a social marketing tool and make sure your target audience use it too before you embark on a campaign. Manage your reputation by keeping an eye on what is being said about your company on Twitter too..

WTF is Twitter and why should I care?

View more presentations from 3w pr .

Twitter is not for teens, Morgan Stanley told by 15-year-old expert

2009-07-19T22:00:00.000+08:00

I love this story http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/13/twitter-teenage-media-habits. It's about Matthew Robson, a 15 year old boy, who while working for Morgan Stanley as a summer intern did a report on how teens use media.

Many people have questioned whether we should be listening to what a 15 year old says. But I actually think we should be listening to what 15 year olds are saying - they are after all a key audience for many marketeers and the drivers of future trends. (However, I do question the methodology used i.e. how many of his "friends" did he interview in order to make his research scientific)

The most controversial part of his research, which has got so many social media gurus knickers in a twist, is that he said that teenagers don't like, or use, twitter. Matthew says that most teenagers have signed up for the service but stopped using it when they realised no one really cared what they were tweeting! However, teenagers love facebook, and use it over four times per week, because it is highly engaging. Exactly how communications should be.

Read the actual report here http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2009/07/TEENAGERS1.pdf .

PR agencies in UK failing in online media

2009-07-18T17:58:00.000+08:00

Great at doing PR. Just not very good at PRing themselves!

Bigmouthmedia’s 2009 online PR survey recently revealed that most of the UK’s leading PR firms have failed to get fully involved in online media.

According to Bigmouthmedia's latest survey of Britain’s 100 leading press and public relations agencies, the number of PR firms offering online PR and social media services has undergone a sharp rise over the last year, with 40% now providing a range of internet services. A 90% year-on-year increase.

However, 60% of agencies said they had yet to include online PR as part of their offerings. And only 45% of the group who claim to offer online media publish their own blogs despite widespread recognition of the value and importance of blogging as a media tool.

So in total, only 22% of UK PR consultancies currently use blogs to communicate with clients, colleagues and the wider marketplace. London agencies take the lead.

Although this is a UK story, I wonder if HK suffers from the same infliction.

The cardinal sin of blogging, and the opportunities lost

2009-07-18T17:23:00.000+08:00

I've created the cardinal sin of blogging. I haven't been able to update my blog properly or put anything of great value on it for a while due to being super busy in a new job.

Not having regular updates on your blog can drive visitors away. It's important to build a valuable site for your audience, which they find engaging and useful. Continue to review your blog to make sure it still reflects your objectives. And keep it updated. Otherwise it is a lost opportunity.

A corporate blog is a great way to keep your customers up to date with your company, products and services in an informal and entertaining way. It can build a sense of community. You can engage customers through feedback and even earn money from advertisers if your blog is read by a highly targeted audience. You can easily measure its impact too (although I'm frustratingly unable to measure my blog at present).

Many PR agencies now offer blogging as a communications service. They can help you to come up with a strategy for blogging, assist you with the design and also write and edit your blog.

A blog can be a great internal communications tool too. A weekly blog by your CEO is a fantastic way to motivate employees. It shows the human side of the top man or woman and keeps employees abreast of what's happening in the company on a regular basis. The CEO can also use it to reaffirm the company's mission during tough times. It's also a great tool for reaching people around the world if your employees are stationed in many different countries. Continious communication with employees, such as blogging, is extremely important during these challenging times.

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival launches first PR award

2009-06-24T20:50:00.000+08:00

On June 22, the Cannes International Advertising Festival announced the winner of their brand new category for PR. This is another boost to the PR industry which is continually becoming more and more important worldwide.

Cumminsnitro in Brisbane, were the winners of the inaugural PR Grand Prix for Tourism Queensland’s ‘Best Job in the World’. In its first year the PR category received 431 entries from which the jury also chose to award 17 PR Lions from an initial shortlist of 37.

The International Advertising Festival - Cannes Lions - is the largest gathering of worldwide advertising professionals and advertisers as well as the most prestigious annual advertising awards. More than 10,000 registered delegates from 94 countries and around 12,000 total visitors from the advertising and allied industries attend this event to celebrate the best of creativity across all media mix, discuss industry issues and network with one another.

You can find out more about the winners and the awards at www.canneslions.com.

Things to measure

2009-06-20T12:17:00.000+08:00

It is important to carefully evaluate your PR efforts to find out whether your campaign was a success. Items you should measure include:

1) The details of the newspaper/website/radio/tv including circulation and readership (usually 2.5 times the circulation), page views/followers for online or audience for radio and tv.
2) Size or length of article/clip
3) Whether the article/clip was positive or negative - measure the percentage if possible
4) Whether your key messages were featured in the article/clip
5) Whether your company was mentioned
6) Advertising value equivalent i.e. if you had paid for that space in the media how much would you have paid? A bit contentious BUT it adds a value to the campaign. This tends to work better for print, TV and radio and less so for online.

If you used a spokesperson or a celebrity in you PR campaign, it is important to measure how many times they were mentioned in the media. Measuring the celebrity mentions will help you to evaluate whether you should hire that celebrity again. If possible you should aim to do some market research first to find out the public's opinion on the celebrity before you invest in them..

All of these measurements will help you to evaluate the success of the campaign. They will also help you to set a benchmark for your next one.

I used to measure all of these factors, and this along with clear objectives and creative ideas, contributed to my campaigns winning awards from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

The beauty of branding, and Facebook

2009-06-11T22:04:00.000+08:00

Hitwise reported that the majority of searches on Bing were brand-led.

Facebook was the number one search.

Why reputation matters

2009-06-11T21:36:00.000+08:00

A couple of stories that really show that reputation does matter.

First up is the adorable rogue, Gordon Ramsay. I can't believe I'm mentioning him twice in my blog. But here goes.

He's been up to no good again. Upsetting TV presenters and the prime minister of Australia. But worst of all, he upset his mum! Actually the mum part possibly helped to save his backside. He was perceived so rude and offensive to a favourite Australian TV presenter that the country's prime minister waded into the argument causing bad press worldwide for Ramsay.

Perhaps his type of sense of humour doesn't work in Australia, or he hadn't realised just how fiesty Australian women are. But either way he should have thoroughly checked their culture before he started using his style of "charm" on the Australians. With his reputation at risk, he needed to apologise. And quickly. And so he said sorry. On Australian TV. It was the best thing to do. We'll soon see whether this recent episode affects sales of his books, TV series or restaurant attendence.

The second story is about the expenses crisis happening in the UK. The story below is from the CIPR's PR Voice blog - http://http://prvoice.typepad.com/. It's written by Kevin Taylor, CIPR President.

"The crisis caused by the exposure of the expenses of many MPs threatens more than just the political future of some of those individuals whose claims were highlighted and criticised.

Because if anybody ever doubted the importance of reputation, the current crisis is evidence of just what can happen when reputations are destroyed.

It is worth stating again that whether you are talking about an organisation or an individual, reputation is largely determined by three factors: what you say, what you do, and what others say about you. I’m afraid that – at different times in this crisis – various MPs and their representatives have failed on all three counts.

And where we stand now, is that the reputational damage is so great – it threatens Parliament itself. The collapse in voter confidence could very well see even lower voter turn outs in the next round of elections, which in turn could favour minority and extremist parties.

And it is hard to see where all this is currently heading. Until you go back to those factors that affect reputation and look closely at the first two – what you say and what you do. Parliament – not one party or another but the institution itself – needs now to be seen to be putting its House in order, it needs, more than ever before, to communicate clearly what it is doing, and some individuals need to either explain, apologise, or stand down – in some cases all three.

The media has played a crucial role in exposing some of the worst excesses; and – when the right actions are being taken – can also play a role in helping to rebuild confidence. I do worry, however, that the media opinion will likely divide into party political lines and that’s one reason why I feel that the organisation leading change needs to be seen to be Parliament and not necessarily Government.

There is an opportunity for party heads to show leadership, but Parliament needs to unite around a series of changes and measures that have all-party support. The issues at stake here are, I feel, too big for party point scoring."

Facebook no1 website in UK

2009-05-14T12:03:00.000+08:00

Social networking site Facebook is now the number one website in the UK according to global research company Nielson. MSN/Windows came second. Twitter failed to make the top ten.

Alex Burmaster, European communications director for Nielsen Online said: “Between just the two of them, the two most heavily used web brands - Facebook and MSN/Windows Live - account for almost 11 billion of the 48 billion minutes that Britons spend online,”

“That’s over one in every five minutes and highlights just how competitive the online space is for both publishers and advertisers when it comes to capturing consumer attention,” he added.

In April this year, the average Briton was online for 22 hours and 20 minutes, up from 34 per cent last year.

The top ten websites in the UK are

1 - Facebook (market share 12.7 per cent)
2 - MSN/Windows Live (9.2 per cent)
3 - Google (5.3 per cent)
4 - eBay (4.1 per cent)
5 - Yahoo! (3.5 per cent)
6 - AOL Media Network (3.0 per cent)
7 - BBC (2.3 per cent)
8 - YouTube (1.9 per cent)
9 - Microsoft (1.5 per cent)
10 – Apple (1.5 per cent)

Good quote from Amazon

2009-05-14T12:01:00.000+08:00

"A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well."
- Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

Very exciting developments in Hong Kong's PR industry

2009-05-04T12:22:00.000+08:00

The Hong Kong PR Network was established by YeeLim Lee (Weber Shandwick), Emma Jenkins (EBA) and Jeremy Woolf (Text 100) in June 2007. The key objective of the Network was to make the Hong Kong PR industry an exciting place to be and help PR professionals to connect and network with peers. Starting off with just a handful of people attending its monthly events, the Network has grown quickly. Its most recent outing at Fong Underground in Lan Kwai Fong last week was extremely well-attended by the young and older stars of PR in Hong Kong. And featured some great speakers.

The latest event is also worthy of a mention because the Council of Public Relations Firms (cPRf) announced that it will now back the Hong Kong PR Network. This is fantastic news. I can’t wait to find out what new and exciting activities will result from this relationship.

The Hong Kong PR Network now boasts 900 members on its Facebook page. This is pretty amazing if you factor in that the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in the UK has less than 400 members on Facebook. It also shows you how important social networking sites are to people in Hong Kong.

Jackie Chan is having a very bad day

2009-04-26T16:08:00.000+08:00

Recently Jackie Chan has been trying to get away from his comedic roles and get into more serious edgy films. Perhaps that's why he decided to be controverisal last week when speaking at a the Boao Forum on Hainan Island:

"I don't know whether it is better to have freedom or to have no freedom. If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now... it can get very chaotic (and) could end up like in Taiwan.. We Chinese need to be controlled."

Not only did this comment offend the Taiwanese, he also offended the Chinese and the people of Hong Kong. And possibly ruined his career in this side of the world.

His reputation has taken a battering and the people and the media have been mauling him across Asia for the past week. And by looking at today's online stories, it looks like there is no sign of the negative publicity easing off.

In the past week the Hong Kong Apple Daily has called on him to apologise and the Hong Kong Tourism Board has been plagued with calls from the public asking him to step down as their ambassador. The People's Daily has criticised him and over 12,000 people on Facebook have joined a group to (jokingly) send Jackie Chan to North Korea. The story hit the New York Times on Thursday showing how quickly a local story can become global.

It will be interesting to see how he recovers from this amazing faux pas and how he will build up his reputation again.

Sorry isn't the hardest word

2009-04-15T10:43:00.000+08:00

Elton John once sang "Sorry seems to be the hardest word". It might be the "hardest word" but in some cases, such as in business, it's best to say it. If you want to manage your reputation after a negative incident, the best route is to regret what you've done, and then tell your stakeholders how you plan to resolve the issue.

In today's South China Morning Post there were two articles about regret and remedy that attracted my attention and highlighted how apologising and being honest can kill a story.

The first article I read was about the Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo admitting that he was the father of a child conceived while he was still a Catholic bishop. Journalists who were probably ready to go for the President's jugular were shocked when the President admitted that he had in fact fathered the child. They were probably stunned even further when he assumed all responsibilities and recognised the paternity of the child. This, I believe, was the right way to handle the situation. His credibility is still tainted but by being honest he has escaped complete ruin and a mauling by the media.

The other story was about Amazon apologising for a 'glitch' that caused sales rankings on gay-themed books to disappear. A spokesperson for the company apologised for the issue, said it was an "embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloguing error" and that they had fixed the problem and intended to implement new measures to make sure it didn't happen again.

Media interest should subside in both of these cases because the President/Amazon admitted their mistakes, regretted the situation and said that they would take full responsibility for resolving it and making sure it won't happen again.

The good news about PR keeps on coming

2009-04-14T21:44:00.000+08:00

The following article has just appeared in Business Week magazine and was highlighted to me via facebook via twitter. Now what was I saying about social networking???

Why PR Is the Prescription
The right story told at the right time can bring valuable attention to your business, even during a downturn....

...The world of the news media is continually changing, and the sooner you get started with a smart, disciplined PR program, the sooner you can enjoy its benefits. It doesn't cost a lot of money and it need not cost a lot of time. All it takes is thoughtfulness and a commitment to respecting both journalists and the audiences they serve.

Read more here.

This could be the right time to speak to a PR agency and launch a PR campaign....

Portraying a positive image

2009-04-12T12:31:00.000+08:00

I love seeing pictures of Obama smiling. The feeling I get from him is that everything is going to be okay. His positivity is totally infectious as you can see from the shot above. His reputation around the world is getting stronger and stronger and his million watt smile is exactly what is needed during these tough times. Many business leaders in Hong Kong, and beyond, could learn a lot from Obama.

Remaining positive, hopeful and professional combined with sustained marketing and PR will help to see you through these tough times.

Using the internet to promote your products & manage your reputation

2009-04-06T12:47:00.000+08:00

Consumers and businesses' buying behaviour is changing as many countries enter into recession. Buyers are increasingly using the internet to research a product or service before they buy it. They want to make sure that they are buying a quality product or service that will last a long time. And they are being heavily influenced about what others are saying. Word of mouth or WOM is king in the current times.

To support this, a recent survey by Synovate in conjunction with Microsoft Advertising, found that consumers rely on the internet for researching what to buy with 55% referring to the internet before making a purchase.

So it is important that you integrate the internet into any PR and marketing plans.

What's more, you can manage your company's reputation by keeping an eye on what consumers are saying about your company and then tackling any negative coverage. If lots of consumers are saying your company's customer service is bad because no one returns calls. Then do something to improve your customer service response timelines then promote the new and improved service. If a journalist criticises your products then make the appropriate alterations and call him up to invite him to your factory, for example, to see the great changes you have made.

What's great about the internet is that you get the chance to see what people are saying about you. It is open. You can either view this is a challenge or an opportunity. But it is better to know what is being said, and tackling it, rather than putting your head in the sand and ignoring it altogether.

Social media – how impactful is it?

2009-03-27T12:45:00.000+08:00

I’ve watched with some interest as many of my peers have got very excited about social media.

I'm intrigued by social media's power and ability to spread information. I especially like the fact that it is global. I’ve been a member of facebook for nearly two years, Linked-in and blogger for three. And I joined twitter a couple of months ago. Currently I am following Obama on twitter. Yesterday I joined Xing. You can probably tell that I’m a little obsessed with it. And it seems that everyone else is too judging by all the headlines in the marketing and PR magazines/blogs. But who is using these applications? And should PRs and marketers consider them?

You would think the whole world was at it from the miles of media coverage on social marketing in traditional media, online and in PR and marketing literature. But not everyone is using social networking. While nearly all my friends use facebook, and even their parents in some cases, not everyone is logging in as regularly as I do. Busy mums log in about once or twice a month. Only 1% of my friends are using twitter. About 5% use Linked in. And a handful of my friends have a blog – mostly about traveling or living as an expat. We're in our thirties so perhaps we're not the target audience. And this is why I don't consider it as the "white knight" that everyone else does.

I believe that social media can complement traditional communications channels but will not replace them, for now. We should not rely on social networking sites entirely to promote our brand especially if our target audience is not using it (which goes without saying). However, PRs and marketers should consider it, investigate it and find out whether it fits their company's objectives and is used by their target audience. Time will tell though and you never know, the majority of people over 40 might be on facebook and tweetering daily by the end of 2009. But as yet, I'm not convinced.

Celebrities - tips on how to use them to boost your media coverage

2009-03-23T12:30:00.000+08:00

Using celebrities to front your PR and marketing campaigns can increase your media coverage immensely and can get you into the leading newspapers, websites, radio and even on TV. But there can be some pitfalls. This article explains the great benefits. What can happen when things go wrong. And also what to look out for when hiring a celebrity.

One of the best and most professional people I've worked was Gordon Ramsay. He was incredibly professional and enthusiastic about the job we hired him for. He used our key messages in the interviews we set up for him, he worked overtime to do an interview for Channel 4 news and he had everyone who worked with him eating out of his hand because of his graciousness. And he got us hundreds of positive articles in the media all over the UK. He was well worth the money that we invested in him to boost our brand and campaign.

But hiring celebrities does not always give you positive results. You have to be very careful when choosing the right one. Celebrities who are late, demanding, go off message and generally upset your company can cause incredible damage to your and your company's reputation. This damage can take a long time to resolve. So it's important to try and prevent a huge mistake before it happens.

Would I hire Gordon Ramsay today? Probably not. His brand is currently generating a lot of negative media. So he would not be the ideal person to front a campaign. He would become the story, rather than the product. (I strongly believe that Gordon Ramsay will be able to rebuild his reputation over time. This is because his brand does not involve him being a "good boy" so it will be much easier for him to make a comeback.)

So my top tips for using celebrities for campaigns include:

Does the celebrity fit the campaign e.g. use a celebrity chef to front a food campaign.

Is his/her reputation currently good? Make sure you do your research on the celebrity.

Is he/she relevant in the current market.

Do your target audiences like this person? Would they buy something from them? Is he an opinion leader?

Produce a contract with the celebrity's agent detailing exactly what you expect the celebrity to do and for how long. Make sure that the agent is clear that you will expect something in return if the celebrity does not complete his contract.

Brief the celebrity on exactly what you need them to say and do. Ensure they understand your key messages. Continue to monitor the situation throughout the contract period.

Remember you are hiring them to do a job so you need to ensure that they boost your company's reputation not hurt it.

Be accountable - make sure you show your value

2009-03-13T12:22:00.000+08:00

When I first started my career I worked for a global company who had huge budgets for luxury events, sponsorship and PR. We organised some fantastic activities that were well attended by journalists and key stakeholders such as big buyers from the nation's biggest supermarkets and wholesalers. One day we got a new director. He asked me to present our activities to him. While very impressed with our activities, his main questions were:

What value are we adding?
What is the return on investment?
How do we measure the success of our campaigns?

I was embarrased. We'd spent thousands. And yes they were great activities but what was the impact on the bottom line?

Many companies are run by financial leaders. So you have to make sure you speak their language when presenting your PR strategy to them. You need to present the value you add to your company. If you don't prove the value of your work then it could be seen as "non-essential". Common sense tells you that "non-essential" work is likely to be cut during difficult times, like recessions.

PR industry still going strong and employment expected to increase by 18%

2009-03-10T16:42:00.000+08:00

"Employment of public relations specialists is expected to grow by 18 percent from 2006 to 2016, faster than average for all occupations..." US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This is fantastic news for PR professionals or people wanting to enter the industry.

Also according to a report on Reuters today (10 March) PR is still going strong despite the recession in the US.

Nick Brien, a senior executive of advertising giant Interpublic Group said: “U.S. ad budgets could be down 20 percent, although spending on marketing, like special promotions or public relations, should hold up better”.

One of the reasons that PR will hold up better than advertising is because editorial is not paid for. However, you still need to have the skills to sell a good package to the media. But this does not cost thousands of dollars/pounds. What you need is a good story, a good promotion, an innovative product, something relevant, creative and of interest to the readers of the media you are trying to get coverage in. And you need to be able to sell this to the editorial team.

Developing your brand

2009-03-09T12:09:00.000+08:00

When developing your company brand, you must consider your vision, mission and core values.

Who are you? (Mission)
Where do you want to be? (Vision)
What core values will take you there?

These are the questions you need to ask yourself when developing your brand. Then you must go back to these clear values for everything you do. Your vision, mission and values should be reflected in the imagery associated with your organization, the words you use, the actions you take and the type of employees you hire. Think about how you want to be perceived by your audiences.

E.g. If you claim to be a dynamic and creative organization – then your employees must reflect this. If they’re quiet and interested in details then they won’t fit your brand. This is not to say that people with these attributes are not needed in your company. In fact a good mix of personalities and skill sets makes the perfect team. But you should consider who will be handling the client facing work and whether they reflect your mission, vision and values.

PR is essential during a recession

2009-03-04T12:39:00.000+08:00

Good news. More and more companies are seeing the benefits of investing in public relations. According to the February issue of B2B magazine, many organisations during the recession are investing more or maintaining their budget in PR. ,

During these tough times PR specialists will be heavily involved in employee communications, media relations, developing copy to attract prospects and utilising online PR. Getting good positive messages out to your external stakeholders remains essential. While, honest regular communication with employees is a must. If you don't communicate openly, your stakeholders will make it up.

PR is now seen as an essential tool during the worldwide recession. And with little overheads but a huge amount of skills, the industry is finally being recognised for what it contributes to business and ultimately the economy.

Plain English - not for dummies

2009-02-27T17:57:00.000+08:00

This is a touchy subject. Some people think you’re dumbing down if you use simple language and short sentences. Not me. Think about it. Do you want your customers to completely understand your new service or products? Of course you do. So use simple language appropriate for your audience.

We’ve all read material then scratched our head because we don’t know what the author is trying to say. I tend to shut down when faced with gobbledygook! I turn off and I choose another supplier. I do the same when faced with too much information e.g. a 100 slide powerpoint presentation. But companies make this same mistake again and again. And in the process you could be turning thousands of customers away.

About five years ago, one of my ex-colleagues introduced me to the Plain English Campaign http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/. It changed my life, seriously. And I’m not the only one who thinks they’re great. Their members include Abbey National, Bupa, BT, British Heart Foundation, Co-op, Glasgow University, HBOS, the Home Office, JP Morgan, London Underground, NHS and O2 (UK) to name but a few. These great brands can’t be wrong.

Plain English tips include:

Keep sentences short
Use “you” and “we”
Keep language active
Choose words appropriate for the reader
Remain positive
Use lists

The Plain English Campaigners are based in the UK but their principles can be used all round the world. The site has some fantastic free downloads including an A to Z of alternative words which includes replacing “acquire” with “get” and “purchase” with “buy”. The site also has free guides on how to write in plain English, how to edit materials and how to make the most of your brochures and leaflets.

Invest in a good photographer

2009-02-24T18:35:00.000+08:00

A picture of your products or company activities can have more impact with your audiences than just words.

Many people think they can take a good photograph. Well apart, from me. I am pretty useless at taking photographs. So for business, I always hire somebody that is excellent and who understands what I need.

It is worth investing in a good professional photographer to take shots of your product launches, events, conferences etc. The difference is astounding. I’ve worked with both good and bad photographers and it is something that is absolutely worth spending money on. Bad photography will be more expensive in the long run. Trust me. Blurry, badly lit and unprofessional images will turn off clients. While good, clear, well lit images can attract clients and sometimes be the main focus of your communications.

Make sure you see a photographer’s portfolio before you book him or her. Many portfolios are online. And always make sure that the photographer that turns up is the same one who took the photographs in the portfolio.

Tip: I hire freelance photographers used regularly by the newspaper I want to get my launch photocall into. These photographers already have a good relationship with their photo and news editors and know what works for the newspaper.

To ensure that your photographer understands exactly what you need, you should prepare a brief for him detailing exactly what you are looking for and when you need it by. The brief should include details on how you are going to use the photographs, what you are trying to communicate, whether you need black and white or colour images, the format and so on. Also consider showing him samples of the work you like.

Remember to make sure that both you and your photographer agree on what you need. I always check the photographer's work during the shoot to make sure he is following my brief because if he isn’t, it could be an expensive mistake.

Invest in a good photographer. Your eyes are the windows to your soul and photography is the window to your business.

Photo source: AFP

Don’t lose face

2009-02-17T12:12:00.000+08:00

Mistakes do happen but can be avoided. We’ve all made mistakes. Unfortunately, this is one of these areas where you learn from experience. I always ask at least one person, if not two, to check my work for errors. Asking for help from one of your colleagues, is not losing face, it ensures that your company’s reputation remains intact.

It’s important that you thoroughly check all agency work too. Don’t rely on your PR agency to get it right. I’ve had experiences where they have got it very wrong! But remember as the client, it is your company’s reputation on the line if your agency messes up. Ok. You can fire the agency for the mistake. But it was your company’s name that was attached to the mistake. No one will remember the PR agency. So check. And double check.

Reputation – can take years to build, minutes to destroy

2009-02-17T12:08:00.000+08:00

First and foremost, a company must tell the truth. One of the key principles of a good PR practitioner (and company) is for them to be honest with their stakeholders – from their employees to their clients. It’s important to check the reliability and accuracy of information before you send it out. And never knowingly mislead clients, employers, employees, colleagues and fellow professionals.

I go to painstaking lengths to ensure that my communications do not mislead. I have strongly opposed the writing of letters to newspapers or issuing statements that I believe to be unethical. Okay, this has not always gone down well BUT a company’s reputation is the most valuable aspect it has (next to its employees) so it is vital that it is well managed. You must also try to stand by your beliefs as the impact to both you and your business can be catastrophical.

A business or individual can spend years and years working hard to build up positive relationships with its stakeholders but all this time and effort could be destroyed in just a few minutes of bad judgment. So it is important for you to ensure that everyone in your company understands that you will not willingly use data which could challenge the company’s integrity, not to mention your own.

The PR industry has had its ups and downs and its reputation has been called into question many times, mostly due to journalists being fed misleading stories, untruths, unreliable sources and so on. PR practitioners also have a responsibility to ensure that the industry is respected. Otherwise we too can destroy the whole industry’s reputation in just a few minutes.

Getting started - The Chartered Institute of Public Relations

2009-02-17T11:59:00.000+08:00

So. Where to start? And why am I doing this?

I have worked in public relations and marketing for over ten years and I am extremely passionate about the industry. This blog will feature lots of practical tips to help others starting out in the industry, or small businesses, who want to tackle their own PR and marketing. There are lots of books on communications theory but not many on the practicality of doing it yourself or how to hire an agency to do it for you. This blog is aimed at helping you do just that!

Anyway, back to my first entry. Well, I think the best place to get this blog started is by presenting you with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations' (http://www.cipr.co.uk/) definition of PR and their code of conduct. I was a member of this great institution when I worked in the UK and I am now a global affiliate.

CIPR's definition of PR

Public relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.

Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.

PR is not just about writing press releases for the media. It is a great deal more and I will discuss this in more detail in later entries....

Meanwhile, take a look at this. The CIPR code is essential reading for anyone who wants to do PR successfully and professionally.

Members of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations agree to:

Maintain the highest standards of professional endeavour, integrity, confidentiality, financial propriety and personal conduct;

Deal honestly and fairly in business with employers, employees, clients, fellow professionals, other professions and the public;

Respect the customs, practices and codes of clients, employers, colleagues, fellow professionals and other professions in all countries where they practise;

Take all reasonable care to ensure employment best practice including giving no cause for complaint of unfair discrimination on any grounds;

Work within the legal and regulatory frameworks affecting the practice of public relations in all countries where they practise;
Encourage professional training and development among members of the profession;

Respect and abide by this Code and related Notes of Guidance issued by the Institute of Public Relations and encourage others to do the same.

More on reputation, integrity and accuracy in future entries....