Context Public Relations

Social media has completely revolutionalised the way in which people communicate and more and more we are seeing sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook being used for PR and marketing communications, but how do you know when it is right to use these channels?

The most important thing to think about is what do you hope to achieve from your PR campaign and who do you hope will be reading your marketing communications? The answer to this completely depends on the area of your business. If you are a consumer brand, then you should be utilising major social networking websites such as Facebook to interact with potential customers and build brand awareness. However, if you are a specialist technology company, then a Facebook presence is far less of a priority. 

Developing a PR and marketing campaign is not about ticking boxes and return on investment is not guaranteed by having an active Twitter account. Think about who your target audience are and what communication channels they are likely to be using – these are the communication channels that you need to be using. Whether this is purely related to the online world of social networking websites, blogs, forums, etc. or spills over into face to face contact and events such as exhibitions, conferences and seminars, you need to know where your potential customers are in order to target them in the most effective manner.

If you’d like to discuss developing a PR and marketing campaign strategy that’s right for your business then why not give Context a call?  

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With Easter coming up thousands of travellers will no doubt have made plans to go abroad over the break- especially as it’s the school holidays. However for many it may be a time of uncertainty, as once again strike action by British Airways cabin crew is threatening to ruin many peoples’ trips.

A cabin crew strike is inconvenient for passengers at the best of times, but a cabin crew strike at Easter is a passenger nightmare. It is estimated that around one million passengers could see their travel plans ruined if the union organises a 12-day strike during the school holidays in April. Unsurprisingly  the situation has been attracting a great deal of media attention, especially after the much publicised BA strike announcement over Christmas. To ride out the storm, British Airways need to be openly communicating with the press to ensure that all affected passengers are aware of what is going on, as well as trying to limit further damage to their reputation.

Good crisis management relies on a stream of open communication that is well planned, covering the facts of the situation and telling people what is being done to improve things. When done well crisis management can save your company’s reputation, but when done badly it can become a complete disaster.

Unfortunately, a crisis can’t always be avoided, so if one should happen to your business, don’t add fuel to the fire – have a crisis management plan in place and be proactive about speaking to the relevant media. If you have no experience in crisis management, then seek advice from those who do…it could be crucial to the reputation of your business.

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There has been some debate around whether the methods which helped Barack Obama into the White House will arrive here and transform British political campaigning.

Will it be a Twitter or Facebook election, and will candidates abandon old-fashioned practices like knocking on doors in favour of sending the voters a ‘poke’ or Youtube video?

Ok so it may not quite come to this, but a survey conducted to gauge public perceptions and attitudes towards the use of social and digital media by the leading political parties in the run up to the election has shown that more than three quarters of electors would choose to vote online.

Social media wasn’t really an option during the last election as the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube either didn’t exist or weren’t yet popular, but with social media now being the number one way people communicate, politicians are seeing the importance and benefits of online communications, and are making the most of channels such as as Facebook and Twitter to convey their message.

So with many believing this will be the UK’s first Internet election, will you be making your vote online?

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Establishing trust has always been important, but now more than ever politicians need to regain the public’s trust. Throughout the current political campaigns leading up to the election, the evidence of public mistrust has been evident.  You don’t even have to mention expenses to the public without engaging in a heated debate.

Building trust is more important than ever in increasing a good reputation, so why haven’t the political parties realised this fundamental element to success. There has been a significant public relations effort under Cameron that has sought to modernise the Conservatives image, but by not discussing the party’s policies and being transparent will hardly win over the masses. David Cameron himself proclaimed the Conservatives will bring back ‘openness and trust’, but by trying to discredit Gordon Brown will he achieve this?

Meanwhile the PM is having to answer questions about bullying and the Iraq war, having a negative impact on his public relations campaign.

The importance of trust in PR is crucial to success, from building trust and managing relationships you then in turn gain credibility with your audience.

The two fundamental steps to building trust:

• Be open and honest in business practices

• Communicate more clearly and honestly

These steps are the basics of any good public relations. It’s about time the political parties started putting them into action and there wouldn’t be a need for crisis communications, as a result of huge amounts of negative publicity.

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It’s that time of year again when businesses need to start thinking about preparing for upcoming trade shows and exhibitions.
 
As well as allowing exhibitors to promote their products and services, reaching new customers and generating new sales, these specialist market places also provide business people with the opportunity to network and make useful contacts with other people working in their industry.

Therefore attending or exhibiting at a trade show can prove extremely worthwhile. But to reap the full benefits of a show it’s important to make sure you are fully prepared.

However, as well as keeping potential customers up-to-date on what you have to offer, trade shows and exhibitions also give the visiting press the opportunity to find out about the latest products and industry innovations. So in addition to checking whether the equipment is working before you go ‘live’, or making sure you have plenty of promotional leaflets for visitors, you need to ensure you get noticed by the press.

But how do you do this? Get your PR agency involved from the outset.

Firstly they will be able to work with the event organisers to identify the press attending. Once they have a list they can get started on pitching to journalists, offering them an interview with a company spokesperson, or demonstration of the product – all proactive methods of helping to ensure your business grabs the headlines instead of your competitors.

Secondly, to get a good write up, it’s important to have relevant information about who you are and what you are doing available at your stand or in the press office. Your PR agency will be able to develop a good press pack with press releases of any new products and services you are launching or want mentioning. Keeping press releases informative yet concise will help keep a journalist’s attention.

So if you don’t yet have an exhibition strategy in place why not get in touch to find out more about how PR can help you stand out from the crowd to make the most of your presence?

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“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” ….. Winston Churchill.

Next time you get a new prospect ask them if they searched for you on Google. Googling is now one of the most common ways people will check out your business. It provides instant access to both your own PR as well as comments from current and past clients and if the feedback is poor the prospect is unlikely to contact you.

Many tech PR clients are now asking our advice on managing their online reputations so here are a few tips to get you started:

• Get your house in order - if there is a problem get it sorted before you try and say there is no problem
• If a comment is totally untrue approach the webmaster or publisher nicely - if someone is calling your service a scam and it is not the webmaster should happily take the comment down
• Accept the criticism and don’t rant a response online - responses in CAPITALS are often seen as very negative. Think about what you are writing as it will be there permanently
• Actively engage with your critics - answer their concerns and once it is sorted ask them to post about the resolution. Turning a negative into a positive shows that you will resolve problems as they occur and gives a great deal of confidence to your customers

Finally make sure you continually feed good news to media sources. The more your own story appears the more likely any negative posts will never be seen.
If you’re looking for more advice on managing your online reputation give us a call.

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A survey carried out by PR Week has found that 52% of people believe John Terry’s affair with a team-mate’s ex-girlfriend is dragging down the reputation of football. Add to this the media storm chasing Ashley and Cheryl Cole and regular reports of bad-boy behaviour amongst players, and it would seem public perception of premiership football is getting lower and lower…… and lower still.

It just shows you how individual actions or comments can potentially damage the reputation of an entire organisation. And when is comes to business, your reputation is key to your success.

Reputation management means a lot of hard work. It can take years to build up, and as John Terry has shown, one “mishap” can bring it all tumbling down around you. In business, you need to invest time and money into maintaining your reputation through consistent and targeted PR campaigns, and if it all goes wrong and you find yourself faced with a crisis, you need experience to turn your negative PR around.

This is where the professionals will help. Your PR agency can help you manage a comprehensive crisis management plan to ensure that your company is seen to do all the right things. In a crisis you need to act fast, stay visible to the media and be well prepared. Follow these rules and you might just salvage the reputation you spent all those years working to build…. Fail, and you could see public opinion of you and your business start to dwindle  - and fast.

For more information on PR programmes and crisis management plans, why not give us a call?

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The media love a good acronym nickname and unfortunately for those countries facing economic turmoil – Portugal, Italy or Ireland, Greece and Spain, the less than complimentary farmyard animal has become theirs.

The Guardian discusses how these countries are considering support from PR professionals to help manage their financial reputations in an uncertain climate, but also raises the very important point that a country, just like any business, does not have to be in crisis to take advice.

If faced with a crisis then it is more than unwise to try and manage the media without any PR experience – say the wrong thing and what was a fairly sizeable problem will end up being a total nightmare. Any crisis needs a thorough and comprehensive management plan and unless you truly know what you’re doing, then it is always best to seek assistance from those who do. However, as the old adage has it; ‘prevention is better than cure’.

Any country or business has a reputation to manage and it takes a lot of hard work to build a good profile and even more hard work to keep a good profile, but profile maintenance is still far preferable to profile repair.

Reputation is one of the most important factors in achieving prosperity and so surely it is worth investing a bit of time and money in? If you’d like to know more about reputation management then why not give Context a call.

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For the first time in 23 years Pepsi has chosen not to feature in the US Super Bowl ad break – which usually costs the company millions of dollars for a 30 second slot.

Instead they are launching an online social-networking campaign, which will involve social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, allowing customers to interact with the soft-drink giant.

For those who don’t buy into social media, this may seem a bizarre business decision. But with Facebook campaigns such as the Wispa comeback and Rage Against the Machine campaigns demonstrating the full power of social media - then spending millions on a 30-second ad slot doesn’t seem as valuable as it once was.

Social media encourages consumer participation and can open new doors, and having thousands of followers on Twitter is a great way to target consumers with your latest products and deals, creating a favourable opinion of your brand and ultimately leading to a sale.

So why not speak to your PR and marketing agency to find out more about how to integrate social media into your marketing mix?

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There was a lot of confusion in the media last week, which brought with it a fair amount of worry for Toyota owners…… is it the brakes causing the problems or are the accelerators faulty? And is it affecting all hybrids or just the Prius?

Toyota’s handling of the crisis left both consumers and journalists surrounded in uncertainty.

So what can we learn from this? How can you contain a disaster before it spirals out of control, shreading your reputation into tatters on the way?

Act Fast – a slow response can make you look apathetic and have a severe and disastrous effect on your reputation. It also makes you look guilty as charged, so get in there quick before it’s too late.

Stay Visible – staying in the public eye is even more crucial in times of crisis. The public will expect a response and will want to see that you are taking control of the situation personally. Hiding away will only act to confirm negative rumours and take away any confidence the public may have in you.

Be Prepared – it’s well worth investing in media training to prepare yourself for such an event. If you appear nervous and unconfident, you may as well not bother appearing at all. Body language says it all and people will ignore your positive messages if you sit nervously scratching your neck wishing the ground could swallow you up!

Good crisis management relies on consistent, well-prepared open communication. Cover all the facts and tell the public exactly what you are going to do to rectify the situation.

Often there is little that can be done to avoid a crisis, but when the worst happens, don’t add fuel to the fire – have a crisis management plan in place and be proactive about speaking to the relevant media. If you have no experience in crisis management, then seek advice from those who do.

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