James Crawford's PR and Media Blog
Thoughts on Public Relations (PR), Media Relations, Journalism, Social Media and the World
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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Posted by jameswdcrawford on May 10, 2010 under Facebook | 
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Posted by jameswdcrawford on April 26, 2010 under Public Relations | Be the First to Comment
The general election is an interesting case study for PR professionals and this post which I wrote for the Citypress blog illustrates how many people involved in public relations consider digital and ‘old media’ separately. As a result they work with each media channel (e.g. print or online) in silos of isolation.
There are many negative issues related to splitting digital and traditional campaigns. The two channels aren’t mutually exclusive because the media is one single ‘entity’, and as a result I think all PR people should be fully trained in traditional and digital communications.
Digital sites like Twitter, Reddit, Digg, Delicious and Facebook are as much as part of a PR campaign as old fashioned print news titles.
Posted by jameswdcrawford on February 25, 2010 under Facebook | Be the First to Comment
An interesting debate is rumbling about Facebook and its role in news. Some voices are evangelical about the social network, while others doubt why news organisations are putting Facebook at the heart of their digital strategy.
Earlier this week, Techcrunch recently criticised US news agency Associated Press (AP) for diverting Twitter users to their Facebook page. The blog couldn’t comprehend why AP would want to drive traffic to Facebook and not to their home page.
Of course, you need to understand this story in the context of TechCrunch’s on going dispute with AP. The two parties are not the best of friends.
To the common onlooker, diverting their users to Facebook and not your home page, does seem a little odd. On the other hand, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Social media, Steve Rubel, thinks that Facebook could soon “swallow the internet!” There is data to show that Facebook is now the number one source of news on the internet, greater than Google News.
Facebook news traffic
He sees a day when there could be a “siteless” internet and thinks AP’s move is ‘visionary.’
In the short term, it is the role of the Public Relations professional to decide how best to integrate social media, such as Facebook into PR campaigns. While Facebook is a great tool for brands, using it to make news sharable can be seen as more difficult than using Twitter, Digg, Reddit or other such sites.
However, in the future as more and more realtime services are integrated into Facebook, the changes Steve Rubel talks about could become a reality.
Or, of course, a new unexpected technology might come along and change things again! Nothing in the world of web 2.0 happens as expected. However, it is worth keeping an eye on Facebook – it is not just a place to update your friends on what you had for lunch.
Interesting further reading:
You can create your own personal news channel in Facebook. I still prefer Twitter, but it is possible and people are using it
Slowly and surely Facebook is adding to its news functionality, such as this social search tool
How else is Facebook spreading news? The Daily Perfect is a classic example.
Posted by jameswdcrawford on December 21, 2009 under Online | Be the First to Comment
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.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l3ZVrRS9o4
Posted by jameswdcrawford on October 6, 2009 under PR | Read the First Comment
Fernando Rizo is the Head of Digital at a PR agency called Ketchum. I met him today at a PRCA event and he talks a lot of sense.
I am sure he’ll correct me if I get the details wrong here, but he is the man behind a campaign in America which saw Stride Gum try to stop German director Uwe Boll from producing film franchises based on video games.
I think we can all safely say this genre is crap but his films are nothing to lose any sleep over. To gamers, however, a poor film franchise can kill all that was good and great about their Nintendo-packed-pastime.
If the petition gets to a million Uwe has said that he will never make another film again.
The motivation for Stride Gum, of course, was publicity in one of the biggest blogging communities on the internet – gaming. And I am sure that there were cinematic reasons too.
There are more details here:
http://kotaku.com/388018/uwe-boll-vs-stride-gum
and here:
I not only love this campaign for its simplicity but for the brave way the Stride Gum bit the bullet without fear of a lawsuit.
It was also fascinating because the case study reaffirmed three key things and gave me a greater focus. These points were:
1. Beg, borrow and steal your audience. In Stride Gums’ case the gaming communities (but don’t do a Habitat and hijack the Iran Elections).
2. Topicality is king. Even for corporate blogs topicality, speed of reaction and quick stunts can pay dividends. You don’t need to have a “wacky” theme like with Uwe Boll.
3. Find your niche and rinse it! Don’t dabble in a Facebook page here, a Twitter account there. Find one tactic and make it the best out there.
Visit Fernando’s blog @ http://fernandorizo.typepad.com/
Posted by jameswdcrawford on September 7, 2009 under PR | Be the First to Comment
The Daily Telegraph, 5th Sept: Currys and PC World staff to be investigated after abusing customers on Facebook
Around 3,000 people have become members of the Facebook discussion group in which past and present employees post messages about customers. Some of the discussion boards were titled “A******* customers!”, “Really Stupid Customers!” and “Some customers are really really stupid” in which customers are branded “retards” and “t****”. Other discussion boards had names such as “Chatting up customers” and “The sale of goods act (as amended by customers)” and included posts which said customers deserved a “punch” and asked whether staff should be allowed to “cattle prod” customers. DSG International, the shops’ parent company, is understood to have launched an investigation into the abuse after some staff posted messages under their real names.
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