Archive
Year: 2012
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Death to PR
October 24, 2012
“Rise and rise until PR becomes reputation management” Earlier last week I had the privilege of attending the IMC 2012 Conference. And I say privileged as there were certainly some clever people sitting in the room. The content ranged from the latest trends to successful campaigns with a focus on digital and social media. Many of the keynote addresses included case studies of successful digital (or what they termed integrated) campaigns and one of the...
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Taking your Digital Strategy from Good to Great
October 22, 2012
“Everything that can be digital, will become digital and everything that can be connected will be connected”. This was the headline message as Joshua Ross opened his keynote for Fleishman-Hillard at the IMC conference last week, defining what it could possibly mean to be great in digital activities. From fridges to light bulbs, every industry is seeing a digital revolution. It is in this context that it comes as no surprise that organisations are placing...
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Who Should Own Social Media Within an Organisation?
October 16, 2012
Depending on who you pose this question to, will depend on the answer. More often than not, the question reignites the possessive debate between marketing, communications, and brand departments on who should own the social media of a business or brand. The answer? Anyone. Anyone who represents the brand and who interfaces with the stakeholders of the business should have a vested interest, and be given the opportunity to contribute to the social media footprint...
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Learn to Blow Your Own Horn Mr. President
October 12, 2012
South African president Jacob Zuma last month defended the ANC government’s performance track record, saying it had made “substantial progress” in delivering services to the poor. Having lived in both apartheid South Africa and in what we love to call the New South Africa, I can attest to the truth of what Mr Zuma says. Millions of people, especially in the rural areas, now have electricity and access to telephones. Between 1996 and 2010, the...
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Your Reputation Precedes You – And What Does It say?
October 8, 2012
Someone meets you in person for the first time, and they say: “I’ve heard a lot about you.” What’s your instant reaction? “All good, I hope.” Often with a nervous giggle. That, in a nutshell, is the current state of reputation management. As individuals and companies, we know that people think certain things about us. We may even want to change that reputation. But all too often, we don’t do much to manage the process...
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When Does a Blogger Become an Influencer? Where Is the Line When Paying for Their Voices?
October 2, 2012
In the PR industry, a new trend is to “create” ambassadors sometimes with well-known South Africans and more often now bloggers. The objective is to drive conversation online among the targeted audience. Much like pitching a story to the news editor, we relay these stories to the identified influencers, who have strong social networks, with the aim that they will in turn tell the story through their own personal experience. And so the new form...
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Give Me Technology, in Simple Language
September 22, 2012
So it seems technology is taking over our lives, and making us anxious and depressed. That’s only half true: technology is indeed taking over our lives – but we’re loving it. And once technology companies realise that people don’t so much care what’s inside the gadget as what it does for them, and market their goodies accordingly, then the takeover will be complete. We’ll have computers for everything from walking the dog to brushing our...
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Are We All Slaves to FOMO?
September 19, 2012
Fear Of Missing Out or FOMO is an all-consuming uneasy feeling that you are missing out on something your peers are up to. The concept of FOMO is nothing new. It crosses gender, cultural and generation boundaries - no one wants to miss out. Logging into Facebook and realising you’re missing a party taking place just around the corner is sure to leave many with a sinking feeling. In a business environment, it could be...
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2010 FIFA World Cup™ & London 2012™ – Bad Press and Jubilation
September 18, 2012
The parade of champions from Mansion House in London took place on Monday 10th September, offering the last chance for the United Kingdom to share in the glory that kept the world entranced during London 2012. I was particularly interested to experience the tone of reporting and media sentiment in the lead up to London 2012. I was surprised at how negative, and even brutal, the UK media were before and on the eve of...
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Lonmin – When the House Is on Fire It’s Too Late to Install Smoke Detectors
September 13, 2012
The mining industry in South Africa is currently experiencing significant setbacks as strike action at the Lonmin Marikana mine continues to spread to surrounding areas; this is over and above the falling commodity prices worldwide and the closure of five platinum mines in almost as many months. In terms of crisis communications the initial Lonmin saga is an ideal case study highlighting the importance of not only understanding the market and being realistic about challenges...