Hi. I am James Crawford, a PR man. Media relations is my specialism, but public relations is changing and the internet is at the heart of it.
I'm a Manchester dweller and lover of the media. I have too much music, support Manchester United and adore all things French.
I currently work for a Citypress, Manchester's biggest and best PR consultancy, but all the thoughts on here are my own and nothing to do with my employers.
PR crisis communications is never dull. It is the part of the job that most public relations consultants love, because handling an issue can become a roller coaster ride and practitioners never know what type of crisis they might be presented with. Over the years I’ve worked on my fair share of crises – from date rape to ‘poo’ in swimming pools – and this video illustrates the variety of problems that can come your way.
This video is an interesting case study. The question is whether this video is a media relations opportunity or a threat.
On the face of it this video is obviously of a negative tone and therefore a threat. However when dealing with any crisis one must recognise that coverage of this nature is part of a wider narrative, and like any story there will be twists and turns along the way, and what was an isolated issue can be turned into something positive, or it can morph into something, much, much worse.
The test will be how Hewlett Packard handles and responds to the video. I am sure there is a very simple explanation, such as the fault being a one off technical error. Whatever happens, I am sure their handling of the issue will win them friends in the long run as HP are a good, solid company with an excellent track records.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for their response. Good luck to them! The first response I can find is here on Wired.com . Maybe that will be the end of the matter?
On the day that actress Brittany Murphy died from what reports suggest to be drug abuse, the DJ Brandon Block is fronting a new Government anti-drugs campaign. The results, I feel, are exceptional and you can watch it here.
Everyone has seen a public health campaign which takes the wrong tone or, worse still, could motivate youngsters to do the opposite – after all, adolescence is all about rebellion. The Brandon Block video should put people off cocaine and congratulations should be given to Mother, the agency behind the campaign.
The only small worry about the message is perhaps it won’t resonate that well with the young because many won’t know Brandon Block, as his career peeked at some point in the nineties. I remember him and his music ‘wasn’t to my taste,’ but he was a famous self-styled “nutter”, and hopefully the scale of his lifestyle can be put across to those under 30 years of age. Using the Pablo Facebook campaign I am sure this generational problem can be overcome.
For those of you who are under 30 and don’t remember Brandon Block, then perhaps the following video of him in action at the Brit Awards, is just as strong a message about “Just Saying No.” Looking back at the clip now, it is both funny and sad, and it is this complex picture of drugs, the highs and the lows, which this campaign gets across so well.
Here is an over view of my top ten Twitter feeds of 2009. This is a completely arbitrary list of my own making and I welcome any suggestions of additions in the comments section of this blog. I might open this up and include more Twitter users, and as you can see I am undecided on number 10.
1 – If you care about the world as we know it, then @newscientist is for you. Their coverage of the Copenhagen climate talks were a breath of fresh air. I’m no scientist but their coverage is always refreshing.
2 – @theeconomist forget boring features on fiscal policy, keynesian economics and Milton Friedman’s monetarism. The Economist brings to life why economics matters. As does @freakonomics
3 – If you care about crap journalism then @tabloidwatch is for you as is @badjournalism
4 – @Bloggerheads and @wikileaks are perfect for those interested in the dirty underbelly of media. Wikileaks can get a little dark for me…
5 – For random acts of internet giving you can’t beat @popurls, @shitmydadsays. Oh and then there is @thedailydust
6 – For everything social media @econsultancy is up there with the best. It’s not easy reading like Mashable but it certainly is a thought leader
7 – Forget Obama @jonprescott is clearly the number one politician on Twitter. You might not like his views but can’t argue with his application of technology which is open, honest and direct.
8 – If, like me, you like to keep up to date with what is happening in the US, the The Huff Post is great reading. @huffingtonPost . The same goes for @time
9 – @boingboing is the work of genius. Uncategorisable brilliance. Maybe this is an obvious choice as it is one of the biggest blogs in the world and nearly didn’t make it onto the list for that reason. However I do love it so…
10 – ? I can’t think of a ten. So I am opening it up to suggestions. What Twitter feed should I be following? Answers on a postcard please.
I have deliberately missed of the big Twitter hitters because with a little Google Searching it is very easy to find the likes of @mashable, @scoblizer @guykawasaki @techcrunch, @bbcnews etc as there are plenty of posts on the most popular Twitter feeds.
I also haven’t included any Twitter users focusing on my home town of Manchester, because so many readers of this blog are from further afield
There have been over 700 complaints about the airbrushing in a Procter and Gamble advert for Olay Definity.
Now there are calls for regulation against misleading advertising because, complainants say, the touch ups on Twiggy show her appearing more youthful than perhaps she is in real life. You can read about the complaints here.
I’m not here to comment on this case study or the morality of using Photoshop. I want to look at what any changes in regulation might have on the marketing industry.
Will increased regulation on the use of Photoshop techniques clamp down on airbrushing? Could regulation impact on the advertising industry and, instead, play into the hands of the PR practitioners?
PR consultants will still be able to provide touched up images of models both via print publications and social media, (largely) regardless of the advertising regulations, by editorialising their key messages, using subtle media relations techniques and third party endorsement.
Media outlets clamour for access to ‘property’ such as Twiggy and it is very easy to negotiate the inclusion of PR messages into major interviews.
Likewise, the same messages could very easily be editorialised in, say, a Youtube.com clip interviewing Twiggy, or whichever model it might be next. And her image can be used in countless other ways using this medium. The upshot is that ‘airbrushing’ is very difficult to regulate outside of the advertising world.
The outcome is that increased regulation on airbrushing in advertising will have a beneficial impact on the PR industry which can work loopholes in much more subtle and nuanced ways.
In this post I am testing a publishing bot on Google Wave.
If you have a Google Wave invitation, you should be able to log on to this Wave and write what you want in the Wave. I have made the Wave public so anyone can join it, so please be polite when commenting.
The tool is useful as it is a quick way to publish a chat via a blog, and in fact the bot has many more uses than just conversation, as the Wave could have anything in it, even a video conference. Anything.
The frustrating thing is that if you don’t have an invitation then you can’t see the Wave, then you’ll have to get an invitation.
If you want to use this bot yourself then the instructions are here: http://completewaveguide.com/guide/Wave_Bots
In a slight deviation from the usual business focus of this blog, I would like to name the winner of the Biss Lancaster cook off.
I guess it is no secret that I am leaving this Biss Lancaster at the end of the week and this event, the brainchild of @JonWelsh, was created to be a mini celebration of all the fun times I’ve had at Biss Lancaster, but which doubled as a charity event to raise money for Whizz-Kidz, which is a charity that is all about giving disabled children the chance to lead a more independent life. http://www.whizz-kidz.org.uk/
So we all donated our hard cash (Brian Beech promised to double it), and our very own Frenchman Jerome Foucart took on Max Wild, a Blackburn born Ramsay wannabe in a kitchen based fight to the death.
The challenge was simple. Each create a dish, the Biss Lancaster team all eat it and I judge the winner.
Before announcing the winner, I would like to point out that it was a close contest. In a snub to his French culinary heritage Jerome chose to pursue a stir fry option. My French girlfriend thinks you are a traitor, but I admire your confidence to turn your back on such a rich pedigree of cooking excellence.
Max on the other hand created a skilfully crafted Warm Asian Beef Salad. Wild reached for the top draw and really surpassed himself.
And, without further ado I can now announce that the winner is…..
MAX WILD with what was an incredible dish full of balance. poise and finesse. Subtle spices, set against sweet honey and pepper. Extra points were awarded for serving the beef very rare in an office full of “cautious eaters”
Here is his recipe:
Warm Asian Beef Salad.
Take one fillet steak, a whole fillet for a party but individual fillets is fine for fewer people, rolled in toasted and crushed coriander seeds, black peppercorns and salt, then pan seared in a very hot dry pan on all sides ’til very rare (blue) and taken out of pan to rest on plate. Beef, DONE.
Infuse half a star anise in two tablespoons of soya sauce, one tablespoon of honey, one chopped fresh red chilli and a half inch piece of ginger. Warm in microwave for 30 seconds to amalgamate. Once cool add juice of one lime. No, bottled stuff will not do… You’re looking for a classic balance of salty, sweet and heat. Dressing, DONE.
Take a large clean plate, strew and scatter with a few leaves, ideally say mizuna but roquette or spinach is fine. Then lay on the beef, which you’ve thinly sliced on the diagonal across the grain, then strew with finely sliced spring onions, toasted and crushed cashew nuts and perhaps some finely sliced batons of cucumber. Dress generously with the dressing and put a few spots of wasabi on the side for those that like a little kick. Serve with little gem lettuce leaves for scooping up the lovely grub.
And you can mix this up a bit by using duck instead of beef, orange instead of lime, pistachio instead of cashew, etc. etc.
This blog is not interested in the morality at the heart of the Tiger Woods’ case. Tiger can have ten wives if he wants, plus another ten gay lovers, for all I care.
At the same time British media law has been under the spotlight for the ease at which the lawyers can be brought into play.
For me, using a lawyer in this instance is like trying to use a sledgehammer to dodge a bullet: a disproportionate use of energy and ineffective. PR professionals are who Tiger needs to be turning to, not over paid letter writers who will be charging through the nose for ineffective correspondence.
Don’t take these words the wrong way. Use of a lawyer have a time and a place.
However, even if this gagging order had worked, the international nature of media today would have led to the allegations coming out.
Not only has the letter been leaked online, but the correspondence outlines exactly what Tiger wants to keep out of the media (have a read if you want to find out the sordid details). I am sure before the day is out the content will leaked online and the whole problem will be blown further out of proportion.
Had Tiger turned to a PR professional then a whole host of other, tactics and negotiations could have been brought into play.
I feel sorry for Tiger as worse things have happened at sea. What should have been a small problem for him and his family is now being played out in full view of the world. The problem for Tiger is that every twist and turn is just so interesting because of the way it has been handled. Badly.
Forget Brian Solis, Robert Scoble and Steve Rubel. If you want to know about the future of PR ask Graham Lancaster, Chairman of Biss Lancaster.
Graham has worked in the PR industry longer than I have been on plant earth so I should think he could teach most people a thing or two about Public Relations.
This article, via the link below, is from the latest edition of PR Week. There is a video interview somewhere which I will be posting a link to at some stage too.
Google Goggles takes SEO out of the hands digital communications and into that of the product designer or anyone involved in the built environment.
The concept of functionality for a designer could in the future also mean consideration must be given to any design being recognisable by Google Goggles. A designer must no longer worry solely about form and ergonomics. Their remit will change to include SEO.
If a design is unrecognisable to Google Goggles, there will be in some cases problems, especially if the world becomes as reliant on Google Goggles as it is on Google Search.
And as a result the role of SEO experts will also change. So far SEO is a digital expertise which broadly falls under marketing or communications channels. However, will this in the future, and how will current SEO experts react?
This campaign which last week was launched by @johnprecott seems in principle a populist move to try and attract grass roots voters from the working and middle classes. It sits nicely alongside Brown’s criticism of Cameron’s privileged Eton background.
No one wants to see huge, vulgar bonuses being paid when there are millions unemployed but on the other hand the remuneration is fair if this is what the market is willing to pay.
There is a sense that the ship has sailed long ago at the G8 and now just picking on one bank would be handicapping an organisation which every taxpayer in the UK wants to see succeed, so it can payback the money it owes us.
For these reasons, doesn’t the Government’s “send a letter” sound wayward and shortsighted?
Even this concept of a windfall tax is insignificant. The amount raised would be next to nothing, but talk of a windfall tax plays the populist card and will perhaps attract ill-informed voters to the Labour Party, at least in the short term.
I hate to see short-termism in PR campaigns. In fact I hate to see short-termism anywhere. Unfortunately, this is what this campaign represents.
Hi. I am James Crawford, a PR man. Media relations is my specialism, but public relations is changing and the internet is at the heart of it.
I'm a Manchester dweller and lover of the media. I have too much music, support Manchester United and adore all things French.
I currently work for a Citypress, Manchester's biggest and best PR consultancy, but all the thoughts on here are my own and nothing to do with my employers.
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