European Public Relations
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” – Mark Twain
Stats
I moved to the UK in January of this year, it is the first time I have lived in the UK, and it is interesting to see that the Guardian have written an article about something both I and two of my housemates (also not from the UK) had noticed “Somebody, somewhere, is selling you fear”.
It is referring to the prevalence of CCTV camera’s and the belief held by many that ‘big brother’ is watching our every move. the following video is the one referred to in the Guardian article above.
Lucy Barrett from the Guardian claims that:
“there are also brands that use the fear factor to push their product. Car brands, for instance, regularly use crash test dummies to show how effective their machinery is in a crash. And Vicks, formerly a product to suppress a cold, has created a whole new category on chemists’ shelves with its brand First Defence. How many of us had a pump-action dispenser of “protective hand foam” on our desks, before the First Defence ads informed us it wasn’t just people with coughs and sneezes we need to avoid, we can also catch a cold through touch? An ad that made us afraid of catching colds by shaking hands. Brilliant”
There is an saying that “Sex Sells”, has fear replaced this. Are companies exploiting our worst fears in order to sell their products….. take a look at this and make up your own mind.
I would say defiantly, and it is nothing really new, politicians have been doing it for years and the advertising companies have finally caught on. take for example the now infamous Hillary Clinton 3 am add.
Over the last number of weeks I have been researching Social Media Marketing (SMM)for an assignment, and it is really interesting to see the impact it is having in the world of web 2.0 and the tactics and strategies being employed to use SMM to its full potential.
“Social Media Marketing is a form of internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in various social media networks such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, YouTube, Dailymotion. “
I found this SMM campaign that was conducted in America, for SeaWorld San Antonio, who were trying to promote their new rollercoster ‘Journey to Atlantis’. The SMM campaign that they initiated did the following:
- Reached out to roller-coaster enthusiasts and bloggers and invited some of them to the Journey to Atlantis media event held the day prior to the ride’s public launch.
- Made Journey to Atlantis content available on YouTube, Flickr and other social media websites.
- Created a micro-site for Journey to Atlantis, which linked to the content on social media websites.
The campaign is discussed by the team involved in its creation in the following video, Just CLICK HERE to watch.
According to Fran Stephenson, director of communications for SeaWorld San Antonio, during the launch phase of Journey to Atlantis, amongst the visitors who participated in an exit survey taken prior to leaving the park, the number one answer to “Where did you hear about the ride?” was “On the internet.”
Social Media Marketing is certainly becoming a force to be reckoned with, and it will be interesting to see how it evolves.
In recent years the popularity of Social Networking has exploded, giving birth to an array of new opportunities for online communication. For the most part social networking is positive but there are time’s, as the title suggests, when social networking goes bad.
The following clip shows what happens when social networking gets slightly out of hand. An American girl was attacked by a group of friends over comments she allegedly posted on her myspace account. the entire attack was filmed and posted on Youtube. Huge debate has followed, with the parents of the attacked girl, blaming sites such as youtube for allowing this content, and calling for censorship of material available on such sites.
Silicon Republic reports on the darker side of Social Networking, going so far as to say it can cause ” Damaged careers, fraud, industrial espionage, ruined reputations and destroyed relationships are emerging from the social networking scene, as individuals are learning the hard way that delving into these forums could have an adverse affect on their professional and personal lives.”
Concerns about privacy of personal information held on these sites are also beginning to emerge. How can PR help this influential sector?
Silicon Republic reports that the new Iphone is being used primarily as a web browser by users. ” The iPhone owner spends just 46.5pc, preferring instead to use the handset for surfing the web and listening to music”
After seeing an iphone in action, companies need to be aware that certain features on web pages will not display correctly on the iphone unless configured correctly. It is essential for companies to make sure their web presence is compatible with the latest technology.
I thought this was particularly important in light of research I have been conducting into Social Media Marketing. As a PR professional it is essential to keep abreast of new technology and how it can be used as a PR tool.
Anyone keeping an eye on the news over the past number of weeks will have heard about the disastrous launch of the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and the ensuing PR nightmare faced by the terminals operators.
British Airways chief of PR Richard Goodfellow shut himself inside a staff rest room in the face of pursuing journalists after a particularly harsh press conference during which the director of operations at the terminal, refused to take questions.
This is hardly good PR for a company which as Max Clifford says in the Guardian, will be reliant on the media in the coming months for favorable coverage of the improvements at Heathrow.
There is an interesting article on the guardian web site (Just Click here) that highlights the importance of having a effective crisis management plan in place for an organization and the importance of effective communication strategies to ensure the smooth running of operations.
I often see things on youtube that I would like to save, and until today I did not realise you could dowload them. Sometimes when you go back to look at these videos again they are gone so this is a way to save them.
Public Relations and Journalism are something that go hand in hand, so I have found since starting my PR education in September 2007, And after seeing this video on youtube for Apple:
I noticed another video about PR Vs Journalism:
after watching them I decided to investigate the tentitative relationship the two professions appear to sometimes have with each other.
I found a really interesting Pod cast on the PRWEEK web page just click to launch it.
The relationship between the two professions is discussed from the perspective of two former journalists who have moved into PR.
MTV and Myspace the popular social networking website have announced that they are to join forces to present a weekly music chart show.
The two organisations have collaborated on projects in the past. MTV has a Myspace page featuring Blogs with regular news updates etc.
“The daily vote list – refreshed on a weekly basis – will consist of 35 to 40 videos drawn from the MTV TWO playlist as well as videos from its specialist slots. Each week, in addition to the vote list and in support of new music, MTV TWO will champion and highlight five hot new videos, which will feature on both the MTV TWO web page and the MTV MySpace profile www.myspace.com/mtvtwo. .”
This renewed collaboration between these two organisations shows the increasing relevance of social networking in all aspects of Media. Myspace is the biggest on-line community of musicians and bands where users can share music, upload videos, Blog, enter tour dates etc.
Dom Cook, marketing director and head of music of MySpace UK comments: “The way that consumers are accessing music is changing and the MySpace Chart on MTV TWO brings together two of the most important forces in this evolution. MySpace is the world’s largest on-line music destination connecting bands and their fans and it will be exciting to see how the community will contribute to the show.”
Social networking is becoming a powerful Media that has become a part of peoples everyday lives. It is interesting to see the new and varied ways that companies are using it to market their particular product or service.
I Found this Video on Youtube today, its actually quite a good documentary on Edward Bernays the so called “Father of Public Relations”
you can watch the 1st part below and the remaining ones on you tube at the link below, my favourite part is the section dealing with the American Tobacco company’s lucky strike cigarette campaign.
