Digital Networking - Adapt or die?

Call me old fashioned, but I have always believed successful PR is all about building good relationships. Relationships with the client, relationships with the media and of course with the community.

It’s a recognised fact that one of the best ways to build relationships is to network, become part of a community and exchange information and ideas. The advancement of technology and the introduction of social networking have transformed the way we interact and share information. Online is now one of the fastest and most impactful ways to connect with people and build communities.

The tools that power the exchange of information and networking online are constantly evolving and this begs the question: Do the basic principles of relationship building still apply or have they, like the web and those that use it, had to adapt or die?

Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr have been readily embraced and are fast becoming assimilated into our lives with more and more of us receiving information and networking via social media. Even the Mayor of London has been using phlogging social media technology to promote his trip to Seoul last week via ipadio.com!

Essentially networking, if done correctly, is about making connections with individuals, finding common interests, sharing information and ideas with the aim of establishing mutually beneficial relationships. If used correctly social media can be the driving force behind developing strong business communities and effectively promoting your organisation. The web is all about accessibility and the introduction of social media gives individuals, business and even products an active, immediate and responsive voice. We are also no longer just receiving news, we are making it. We’ve become independent distributers of news, as well as broadcasters, promoters and opinion leaders all in one.

So to answer the question, yes the basic principles of networking still apply; but in order to build lasting relationship we have to actively embrace all forms of networking. It’s no longer an activity we schedule in the diary it’s a way of life. In short: we as individuals and businesses have to adapt, innovate and contribute or risk disappearing all together.

Social networking, Surrey style!

Last night thebluedoor was networking both on and off-line at a fantastic event at Surrey University. Co-presented by Surrey Chambers of Commerce and SCEPTrE, the evening kicked off with short talks on networking by Avalon Solutions and an introduction to Web 2.0 by Casey Cohen from meterorite. After this excellent informative introduction, we were able to join other local businesses and put the networking tips into action, as well as watch demonstrations of social networking technology by local students.

From podcasting to interactive video, through Flickr, YouTube and Twitter, the many tools available were brilliantly presented by students. Talking from their perspective about how they interact with these technologies, they also outlined the potential these tools present companies to develop their business.

In a spooky coincidence, the reality of the use of social networking in business was the discussion topic on Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme today. Heather from Wiggly Wigglers, a small farm in Herefordshire, explained how her farming business won the Dell Small Business Excellence Award for its use of podcasts, Twitter and blogs.

Her comment that, "markets are conversations, and conversations are markets" really struck home to me and echoed the talks from last night's event.

Social media can be a huge influence on a business - to build a brand and gain access to the thoughts and desires of your target market. The overriding advice - take a bit of time to do some research, listen to the conversations taking place, then engage. The key being to share information in the same way you would in face-to-face networking. The results can be astounding.

We wish the students at the University of Surrey well with their studies and future careers. I'm sure everyone who attended came away with something valuable - and I'm sure are spending a bit more time online today than usual!

Surrey PR agency (that's us) awarded industry standard for excellence

As we move into our second year of business, thebluedoor is celebrating! Last week we were awarded the Consultancy Management Standard (CMS) by the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) – an internationally recognised gold standard of excellence. Of the UK’s 2,000+ PR agencies, only 109 agencies have passed this rigorous external audit which examines standards in management, communication and service delivery.

Since our launch last April, thebluedoor has defied the economic slowdown. thebluedoor works with a variety of national and international companies, delivering strategic, creative and valuable PR consultancy and services from press office function, crisis communication through to copywriting, growing in size and client base every quarter.

The timing of the company going live has been interesting to say the least! - the global economy has been extremely turbulent. However we are weathering the storm: we’ve doubled in size, increased our client base, are growing the team, and have begun our second year by achieving an industry standard that is recognised globally.

And in the words of Francis Ingham, director-general PRCA: “Well run businesses consistently deliver the results clients are looking for. The Consultancy Management Standard was developed specifically to ensure that PRCA members have the systems and structures in place to meet and exceed clients’ expectations. The Standard has been so successful that it has now been adopted in 14 countries around the world.”

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The curious story of Twitter, Eurovision and me

I thought I hated Eurovision. However on Saturday night I watched it and loved it. Actually, I didn't really watch it - it was on in the background - however what I really watched was the brilliant and highly entertaining feed of #eurovision tagged tweets coming through my BlackBerry's TwitterBerry app.

Tweople who I know and those who I haven't yet met (maybe never will) but are in my Twitter network, were on fantastic form. Even the BBC host of the evening, Graham Norton, was outdone by an amazing stream of hilarious and risqué witticisms from @Wossy (aka. Jonathan Ross) including:

#eurovision Please God let Andrew LW be dressed as a phantom or a cat.
and
#eurovision He is an even worse dancer then I am. And I am bad.

Interestingly, some of the most enthusiastic Tweeters were not even watching the show - but just following the hilarity through their iPhones during an evening out. As the ever-spot-on blogger Alan Patrick wrote, this mix of Twitter into the evening's entertainment made a significant difference to the Twitter-sphere's viewing experience of Euro-pop.

So, I'll be definitely joining in with the Eurovision-fun next year - even remotely via phone. It was great, it enabled me to get to know my Twitter 'social network' of 'friends' and 'followers' better (well those who were online on a Saturday night anyway - I'm sure there is a Daily Mail headline there!?) and I woke up on Sunday morning still chuckling over some of the more unique entries......

PR Measurement - Is Advertising Value Equivalent an effective solution?

A recent article in PR Week tackled the AVE (advertising equivalent value) debate, using Metrica Numbers data and produced some interesting results. Ultimately it remains clear that the obstacles to effectively measure PR are many, varied and constantly under scrutiny. PR has long struggled to demonstrate its value in pounds and pence.

AVE has served its purpose over the years and is, essentially, an easily understood way of demonstrating the value of PR and the ROI to people within an organisation that may not have a media and marketing background, but who are very significant decision makers.

According to the findings of the latest PR measurement report from Metrica Numbers: “as advertising budgets have declined over the course of 2008 so advertising rates have fallen and the value of adverts have declined in turn. For the many organizations still forced to use AVEs as a measure of their PR success, this means it has been a very bad year as the targets they were set become unattainable. On the plus side it has provided the perfect case in point for why the PR industry should not employ AVEs to measure its performance.”

Despite the obvious failings of AVE what remains clear is the immense impact PR has on an organisations’ perception, reputation and ultimately its success.

What is evident is that PR is measurable on some level but a universal measurement tool that takes into account every possible element is not within reach. What we do know is that PR needs to measure:

-How many individuals have seen the coverage, more importantly a profile of who has seen the coverage.

-How many times the coverage has been seen.

-How many different mediums has the intended target audience used to engage with the message and or organisation?

-Which medium generates the most response / reaction either positive or negative?

-The relevance of the publications / mediums featuring the communication?

-The importance of the message to both the organisation and the intended target audience?

-The influence the ‘conversation’ has on the consumer

-Volume and favourability of coverage

-Reaction to communicated message – positive / negative/neutral

-Relevance and delivery of key messages

-The number of articles achieved

-Competitor analysis

-Analysis of industry trends and issues

The only real solution is to assemble a collection of ‘measurables’ relevant to the organisations communication objectives. This can be achieved by cohesive collaboration between the organisation and its PR consultancy. Understanding the impact of PR is vital to any business therefore agreed measurements should be in place before an organisation embarks on a communications campaign.

Digital Media, Online PR, Social Networks: is measurement just a giant red herring?

I’ve been a busy bee recently: up in the smoke 8 working days out of 10.

Highlights? Loads of them, but particularly the FreshNetworks gig on Tuesday looking at Social Networks with a specific focus on monetisation, and last night’s inspiring Digital Britain Unconference (organised by @billt and @kcorrick) in London. And, as an aside, if anyone still wonders about the magic of Twitter, just the very fact that a diverse group of 80 to 100 people turned up to the ICA to provide a response to Lord Carter’s Digital Britain 2012 says it all. Similar important events are happening across the country, all mobilised through Twitter, blogs and networks and organised in just 2-3 weeks.

Forgive the nascent nature of my ramblings but I’ve got a collision of thoughts stacking at the moment. I’ve got to get them down, and would love any feedback and opinions that might help me make some logical sense of it.

PR and measurement

• PR: PR has long struggled to justify its existence through our clients’ evergreen, and justifiable challenge to demonstrate the value in pounds and pence.
• Equivalent Advertising Spend: Yes there are many ways – Equivalent Advertising Spend, share of voice, circulation – but they are all flawed for one reason or another.
• Influence of PR: PR impacts (or perhaps ‘influences’ – tricky word I know) behaviour online and offline, over a period of time – and this human behaviour cannot be measured. Also sustained PR can positively impacts the way people feel about a company – again, how do you measure that, particularly if money isn’t plentiful to carry out before and after attitudinal surveys.
• Brand Effect: That bluebottle-sized fly in the ointment called ‘Brand Effect’ is notoriously hard to track, measure or quantify.
• PR Measurement: Recently I have often heard my peers and colleagues waking up to online (at last!) and greeting it with the grateful and hopeful cry ‘And it’s measurable!’

Is it? I personally find this justifying statement worrying. Yes it is certainly more measurable, particularly if realistic metrics are built into campaigns from the start. However these can run the risk of turning people off, making the conversation unnatural and doing quite the opposite of the end goal.

Social Networks and monetisation

• Similarly, there is a huge amount of talk about monetisation of Social Networks – Facebook, Twitter – at the moment. Can they be? Should they be? After all companies have to see a bottom line return on investment, don’t they?
• As Joanne Jacobs was saying on Tuesday, Social Networks perhaps should not be seen as purely a vehicle to see a return on investment, and if they cover their costs that’s fine. People go shop later, online or offline – and if the network just serves to build that feel good factor (that many hard nosed marketers call ‘fluffy’) that’s significantly fine too.
  
  

Digital Britain Unconference

And then on to last night’s Unconference. Without sounding too much like I’m on a soap box at the moment perhaps monetisation, value, ROI of everything that needs to happen in the run up to 2012 should all be seen in a different light. Dare I think that perhaps ‘Brand Effect’ thinking should be woven in? Yes, infrastructure, education, technology etc etc all costs hard cash and those providers naturally want to see a return, particularly when all our pockets are not particularly deep at the moment. However, look at the steaming pile of compost we’re in now due the hard-nosed greed of the banking sector. Surely inspiring Digital Britain to become Digital Britons (as one of the attendees shouted) is key to this. And by communicating the benefits using everyday language and real world on the ground examples could be key to driving this revolution. Perhaps bottom line measurement should be seen for what they are: a diversion that steers us away from what really matters.

Am I barking up a tree, going down a blind alley? Any thoughts that you could add to this would be very gratefully received!

The answer to life, the universe and everything ... Google?

We all know the importance of education and going to college can be an amazing opportunity. We get to spend time learning about topics that really interest us, taught by specialists in those areas. It also gives a good insight into what the real world is like, learning to look after ourselves rather than relying on our parents.

Why should it be a surprise that Google, the company whose mission is to organise the world’s information and make it accessible to everyone, will shortly be opening its own university? However, Singularity University is no ordinary college.

It’s not just that it will be located on the Silicon Valley campus of Nasa or that each nine week course will cost £17,000. Singularity University will bring together some of the best minds in subjects ranging from nano-technology through to artificial intelligence. The focus of its 40 students will be to address such small issues as climate change, world poverty – even the answer to everlasting life.

Singularity University is named after a key theory of Ray Kurzwell. This man is an inventor, board member of MIT, New York Times bestseller author and regarded by Bill Gates as the best person he knows “at predicting the future of artificial intelligence”.

Kurzwell believes that with the completion of the human genome, “we have now the software of life – the code that underlines it.” However, unlike our laptop or iPhone, we don’t upgrade the software running in our bodies – so we’re effectively out of date.

Kurzwell predicts that by 2029 computers will be able to pass for humans in conversation. Shortly after that, we’ll reach the point at which artificial intelligence will so far exceed the human brain that we won’t be able to keep up – the point of ‘singularity’.

Five years further on and the human brain will start to merge with computers – nanobots allowing us to control our senses by computer and live in a ‘real’ virtual reality.

I’m not sure about you, but I find that more scary than reassuring. What happened to finding solutions to our energy crisis or world hunger? Is this the sort of university to really solve our world’s problems? I’ll let you decide as I’ve got some homework to do!

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