Social media: The implications for the public relations practice

Guest speaker Darren Wilcox delivered a refreshing and highly engaging lecture on social media as a strategic communication channel, as well as touching on other areas. We were presented with the opportunity to ‘tweet’ our notes along with the hashtag #smthefuture creating an interactive experience that was very enjoyable. In addition, it demonstrated how effective social media is as a communicative platform and reinforced its importance within the public relations (PR) industry.

Every aspect of how we exchange information is feeling the impact of the technological revolution (Brown, 2009).

Today, anyone with access to a computer, an Internet connection and basic literacy can make his or her voice heard to a global audience (Phillips and Young, 2009). Brown (2009) advocates, “We are seeing the democratisation of the means production, distribution and exchange”, through the rise in user-generated content, as social networks are transformed into vast public spaces and word of mouth drives influence. Web 2.0 has made our conversations increasingly digital. This has profound consequences for the PR industry.

More than four out of five marketing and PR bosses plan to increase their investment in social media during the next year (PR Week, 2010). This transition shows that PR now considers social media an important medium for communication. However, does the industry understand how use to this new medium successfully?

Social media tools such as blogs, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and Facebook allow the average person to create content that can be shared with a worldwide audience (Lewis, 2010). The use of social media Web sites has increased exponentially, to the point where Facebook.com has in excess of 350 million active users (Econsultancy, 2010). According to Grunig (2009), these new media have the potential to make the PR profession more global, strategic, two-way and socially responsible.

Sheldrake (2008) argues that the social web has taken us back to the original definition of PR; “the building of relationships and the management of communication between organisations and its publics” (Thomsen, 1996). This can be argued because social media provides unique opportunities for PR professionals to engage actively and directly with consumers (Clapperton, 2009). Furthermore, it represents a powerful, and additional, channel to first listen to publics, and in turn, build two-way paths of conversations with them (Sheldrake, 2008). Hence, social media fits coherently into Grunig and Hunt’s model for two-way symmetrical communication (1984).

Facebook is the most recognised social media service (Vorvoreanu, 2009). It is a micro-website that allows people to exchange interactive, user-submitted content among a network of friends through personal profiles and comment discussion lists (Phillips and Young, 2009). The Web site introduced Facebook pages in 2006; “distinct, customised profiles designed for businesses, brands, celebrities and more to represent themselves on Facebook” (Pearlman, 2008). This created a direct, innovative platform where brands can generate and respond to content in a personal manner (Scott, 2010). Moreover, a user must tick the ‘like’ box to be able to access a Facebook fan page. This automatically means “you are not spamming people with information that they are forced to read” (Robertson 2008, cited Scott, 2010). However, companies must be mindful of Facebook culture, and their communication with the public must conform to Facebook social norms (Vorvoreanu, 2009).

Organisations shouldn’t be on Facebook just for the sake of it, as there will be no direction or consistency in their existence. PR practitioners must formulate a specific strategy before ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ and creating a Facebook page. This notion is echoed by Richards (Econsultancy, 2010), who argues that putting a page up onto Facebook, with no coherent social media strategy, is unlikely to do anything for an organisation. Regularity is also seen as an important factor whilst using Facebook as a communicative tool. If an organisation is on Facebook, but they aren’t updating their page frequently, this may damage reputation.

For an organisation to be seen positively within the online world, PR practitioners should facilitate social activity through the use of interactive content such as mobile applications, games and events. This is reiterated by Kent and Taylor (1998) who believe both organisation and public should contribute equally and with the aim to build relationships.

The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project is a great example of an organisation that utilised Facebook to create a social community which appealed to a mass audience. The social media campaign used a voting system that united people and made users interact with one and other. Not only did Smirnoff put on a fantastic nightlife experience, they also took the time to interact and create a more competitive atmosphere. Thus, social media campaigns have the potential to positively engage consumers and consequently, enhance organisational perception on a large scale.

However, numerous practitioners remain rooted in the traditional paradigm of PR, in which cognitions, attitudes and behaviours of publics are influenced through asymmetrical communication (Grunig, 2009).

"Many practitioners are using new media in the same ways they used old; as a means of dumping messages on the general population rather than as a strategic means of interacting with publics and bringing information from the environment into organizational decision-making" (Grunig, 2009).

Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg (2006, cited Brown, 2008) reiterates Grunig’s viewpoint saying, “for the last hundred years media has been pushed out to people, but now communications professionals are going to be a part of the conversation and they must do this by using the social graph in the same way our users do”. Thus, social media has the potential to revolutionise PR but only if a paradigm shift occurs in the mind of practitioners (Grunig, 2009).

In conclusion, social media holds the potential to make PR more symmetrical. Thanks to Web 2.0, there is now space for PR practitioners to engage and in turn, influence consumers in a way that is personal and authentic. However, communications professionals must be wary of the strong cultural values that lie within social media. Messages should not be invasive or ultra-frequent to the point of annoyance. Inside the social web, PR campaigns should seek to facilitate social experience by creating information, events or products that are desirable. This will help to stimulate brand loyalty, awareness and reputation – assets that are highly attractive to an organisation.

Public spheres and activism inside the online world

This reflective blog post will outline and analyse the concept of a public sphere, contextualising it in relation to the digital world. An example of contemporary activism will be provided to identify and externalise the existence of online public spheres and the impact they are having on the modern world.

The German social theorist Jurgen Habermas founded the idea of a public sphere in 1962. His work focuses on the “literate bourgeois public” and defines the public sphere as a space which gives voice to those who were previously not included in issues of governance (Habermas, 1989). The discussion-based concept is often mediated and includes open debate with the intention of changing policy. However, critiques point out that Habermas’s ideology is restricted in terms of class and gender, only middle class men could participate (Fraser, 1992 cited Poor, 2005). This is somewhat ironic as the purpose of a public sphere is to be democratic, not exclusive. Subsequently, the concept developed into accounting for the “public at large” which can act as critical counterbalance to the state (Jary and Jary, 2000).

Media content is becoming increasingly biased and controlled as news corporations become more dominant and authoritative. Rupert Murdoch’s controversial merge with BSkyB will further decrease market competition and add to a divide of power. The public is regarded “not as democratic citizens but simply as a mass of consumers” (McNair, 2006). Therefore, implications for democracy of this concentrated, conglomerated and hyper-commercialised media are entirely negative. As a result, “The public sphere has become anarchistic, vulnerable to conversions and communication disturbances” (Eriksen and Fossum 2000, p.189).

With regards to public relations (PR), Habermas (1989) argues that the practice “invades the process of ‘public opinion’ by systematically creating news events or exploiting events that attract attention”. We can say PR has the ability to set agenda and thus intervene, disrupting the bottom-up flow from citizens to those in power.

The offline public sphere remains gloomy and distant from its ideology. The UK’s so-called ‘Big Society’ lacks commitment and can be seen merely as a false act of corporate social responsibility, a delusive tactic to attract conservative votes. We are currently living in an information environment dictated by the elite. Our government likes telling our population what is ‘right’, but without democratic consultation. However, does the Internet change prospects for the public sphere? Are the ideals of democratic participation within reach as communication becomes more inclusive and less controlled?

The rapid development of Internet technology has made the public sphere more expansive, to the point where it can act more effectively. The rise of Web 2.0 has seen the fall of media gatekeepers, decentralising the information available. Furthermore, it has made communication instantaneous, globalised and accessible. Thus, the online world holds great potential for capacitating democracy, due to its participatory nature.

The direct connection between the Internet and the public sphere is that both hold the capacity to connect the previously unconnected, so ideas may be discussed to reach new understandings, often involving democracy (Poor, 2005). Dahlberg (2001) believes the Internet has formed an extension of the public sphere of rational-critical citizen discourse-discourse autonomous from state and corporate power through which public opinion may be formed that can hold official decision makers accountable.

Information regarding matters of importance such as public affairs can be easily stored online, making it accessible to a global audience. This entitles our population to a complete understanding of subjects that have previously been blurred by media conglomerates. Thus, the general public can become more informed and in turn, participate in discourse. Online space such as discussion forums, blogs and social media has triggered autonomous communication that is self-regulated. Our collective ability to share information has been drastically empowered through the development of interactive media platforms. Moreover, the Internet “can augment avenues for personal expression and promote citizen activity” (Papachrissi, 2002). However, individual opinion is of minimal relevance to a public sphere. For opinion to be democratic, it must be united with others and debated in a way that is fully interactive (Rafaeli, 1988).

One can agree the Internet facilitates democracy and holds the potential for the existence and extension of public spheres. For example, Slashdot is a web-based bulletin board which meets the criteria detailed by Poor (2005) for an online public sphere. It has several mechanisms promoting democracy such as allowing users to filter content and the ability to judge comments (ideas) on their own merit.

The UK’s public sector is currently witnessing an array of cuts in light of its unstable economic climate. This has triggered the birth of UK Uncut, a contemporary activist group and online public sphere that was brought about by a trend on Twitter. The phrase “social media for social change” is becoming increasingly realistic as the group gather mass support and a frequent supply of media coverage.
UK Uncut predominantly rebels against large corporations who don’t fully comply with tax laws and often give payments which are hugely below requirements. For example, Barclays paid the UK treasury £113 million in 2009, only 1 per cent of its profits (Treanor, 2011).

Video: A new age of protest: UK Uncut in their own words.



As detailed by Joyce (2010), UK Uncut is embarking into a space of ‘Meta-Activism’, “the practice of using digital technology for political and social change”. The movement has been driven by a consensus of ideology and the effectiveness of the Internet as a foundation for action.

PR professionals should monitor the public environment to identify and enhance strategic opportunities. Campaigns that have emotional meaning at their forefront are often highly successful. Obama’s “Vote for Change” campaign is a fantastic example whereby a public issue has been exploited to gain mass support. Public spheres are harnessing the Internet to voice opinion and gather strong support. Therefore, PR practitioners must understand this shift of influence and always consider public trends during the preliminary stages of a campaign strategy. A message which engages consensus has the potential to gain significant following and thus, attract brand loyalty and enhance reputation.

In conclusion, public spheres are becoming increasingly more influential, thanks to a rise in Internet use and understanding. Publics are able to voice consensus through various forms of digital platforms, reaching out to a global audience immediately. I believe the Internet is most effective as an extension to the public sphere; providing accessible information, space for mass participatory debate and a network for efficient organisation. Activist groups such as UK Uncut need to demonstrate consistency and relentlessness in the fight for democracy.

Viral Marketing

The Internet is a physical and electronic network. It is also a network on a much more human scale (Phillips and Young, 2009).

It was the reading based on viral public relations (PR) which caught my eye this week, slightly off topic from the lectures but an eye-opener nonetheless. I have always been intrigued as to what makes something go viral online and if there are specific criteria or techniques which can be followed. Thus, this post will firstly define and explain the term ‘viral marketing’ and secondly, contextualise it into the online communications practice, providing relevant examples of choice.

Viral marketing is a technique whereby information about a product is passed electronically from one Internet user to another (Oxford Dictionary, 2010). Viral campaigns are stemmed through ‘word-of-mouth’ or more appropriately ‘word-of-mouse’, credibility that links directly to the origins and existence of PR.

However, from carrying out wider research, I believe the word ‘viral’ is not most appropriate for defining the concept. Instead, we can describe the idea as a memes - a cultural unit, often a video, an image or a story that spreads rapidly across the web, passed mainly from person to person (Brown, 2009). The content is usually based around humour, rumour or insight. Interestingly, the term was originally coined to describe how Darwinian principles could explain the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Dawkins (2006) argued that memes propagate themselves in societies in a way that is similar to the behaviour of a gene or virus.

Memes depend on voluntary action, in the sense that people must find something either; interesting, entertaining or shocking enough for them to pass it on to others through social media, email, blogs and so on (Horton, 2002). In any event, the meme peters, but if successful, it reaches thousands if not millions of people.

Thanks the introduction of social media, sharing has become incredibly easy, often at the click of a button. For communications professionals, it is this instantaneous nature that is most attractive. If and when an idea takes off, it can propel a company or brand into never seen before fame and fortune, for free! The challenge is for marketers and PR practitioners to harness the amazing power of a meme. There are people who preach about ‘viral’ campaigns and agencies that even specialise in the area. However, the reality is most organisations that set out to go viral, fail. The few that succeed can be described as “happy accidents” due to their unpredictable nature.

A meme includes randomness. Its success cannot be predicted and neither can whom it goes out to (Horton, 2002). I believe it is a mistake to enter into a campaign with viral marketing as the central feature. That is not to say that it is impossible to deliver, but exceptionally difficult. A PR campaign’s duty is to deliver return on investment, this must be guaranteed. To imply that a piece of material or video clip will achieve viral status at the outset of a campaign is similar to guaranteeing that the campaign will be of national award-winning quality before ideas have even been brainstormed (Brown, 2009).

The ideas espoused by Malcolm Gladwell (2000) in his book The Tipping Point are interesting to say the least. Some people are ‘hubs’, they are well connected. On the other hand, some people are influencers (respected bloggers, journalists, key figures). Therefore, to spread an idea, one that is ‘sticky’, PR practitioners must target the 'influencers', who are gatekeepers to the mass market. However, the content must be appropriate and relevant to the influencer. It is a PR practitioner’s job to get the content published, classic case of media relations.

A ‘viral’ identified:

Incredibly, if you chuck a Mentos sweet into a bottle of Diet Coke, you get a ‘marketing’ explosion. Scientifically, the mint/cola combination triggers a geyser that sprays ten feet or more. The phenomenon was popularised in video experiments produced by Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz on their eepybird Web site. The initial ‘hype’, stimulated by online interest, led to a final creation by the pair titled “What happens you combine 200 litres of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints?” Web audiences were mesmerised by the result, causing a classic viral sensation. In a mere 3 weeks, four million people viewed the video and hundreds of bloggers had written about it. The footage also attracted a wealth of media attention with Grobe and Volz appearing on Late Night with David Letterman and The Today Show.



The brand exposure for Mentos was astronomical and even more so considering there was no cost involved. The price tag to get results of this scale from traditional marketing and PR might have accumulated to tens, if not hundreds of million dollars (Scott, 2010).

Things for communications professionals to consider when devising a campaign which aims to go viral:

- Quirkiness: People like things that are different and slightly offbeat. For an idea to be meme, it must turn heads and attract attention on a mass scale.
- Humour: Ideas that make people laugh are those to be treasured. They have the ability to spread like wildfire, through email and social media as well as many other digital platforms.
- The shock factor: As humans, we are forever demanding substance that goes beyond what we have witnessed before. An idea that is truly shocking is one that millions will want to be a part of.
- Home made: It is often the natural, low budget work that becomes most popular. Authenticity should be at the core of an idea if it is to become viral.

In conclusion, memes or ‘viral marketing’ should be dealt with a degree of scepticism and taken with a pinch of salt. Digital PR specialists will often be asked by clients to assist them with online viral marketing and whilst we cannot promise to deliver memes as part of a PR campaign, we should be able to recognise them and to facilitate their development. However, one must always bear in mind that like the Mentos/Coca Cola example, something may go viral that an organisation didn’t start and it may show products in a positive or negative light. Take United Airlines for example. No thanks to the ‘viral effect’, they are now known as the airline that breaks guitars. Thus, a meme can be detrimental as well as positive for organisational reputation.

Search Engine Optimization

Introduction

Search has become integrated into the fabric of our society (Battelle, 2009).

There are hundreds of search engines that people use to find Web sites, from Bing to Yahoo and many more. However, none come close to Google in terms of success, usability and relevancy. Microsoft’s Bing is growing fractionally, however Google still has the lion's share of the UK search engine market with a staggering 90.36 per cent (Perrin, 2011) (see Figure 1). The phrase “Google it” is known to pretty much everybody who has used the Internet, and even holds a place inside the Oxford English Dictionary (2011). People have become used to having information at their fingertips and company’s need to take advantage of this surge in Internet use, by implementing search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.

Figure 1:

During July 2009, it was noted over 1 billion searches were being performed each month (Lipsman, 2009), a communicative channel which certainly requires attention from public relations (PR) professionals. However, what are the methods available? How can practitioners increase clientele reputation and ultimately drive Web site traffic? SEO holds the secret.

SEO is the method by which Web sites can gain prominence in the organic listings - the results found on the left of the search results page in major search engines (Phillips and Young, 2009). To be successful, an SEO strategy must have a long-term approach, as it requires patience and investment. Organic search is essentially free – you don’t pay for clicks, but companies will need to invest in other areas (for example website improvements, content and copywriting, link building and PR) to get to the top of the search engines (Econsultancy, 2011).

Battelle (2009) describes Google as a new, technologically mediated economy of conversation between those who are looking for products, services, and information, and those who might provide them. Thus, PR professionals have a responsibility to unite clients with relevant users, ones whom are interested in their content, services or products. SEO practices can achieve this goal when they are implemented correctly.

What can SEO achieve?

- Higher visibility
- Achieve business goals
- Advantage over competitors
- To help people find a site
- Measurable results

First of all, it is important to optimize Web content though the use of keywords. Keywords are essentially words that are searched most frequently by Internet users. Thus, Web site managers and PR professionals need to use keywords in all of their online content, to maximise outreach. Google has a free keyword tool that provides search results for any word necessary along with words associated around the subject matter.

However, link building is arguably the best method of SEO which has the potential to provide astronomical results (McGaffin, 2007). Hence, this is what we will be focusing on. Link building is an external form of SEO which only takes place after content has been optimised.

PR agencies and communications professionals must own the skills to improve client visibility, in a way that is measureable. Thus, link building is ideal because you can track how many external links you have and contrast this figure to Web site activity.

Relationship between link building and PR

Goodall (2009) comprises that “SEO PR is the use of genuine and ethical dialogue-driven PR strategies to improve a brand’s organic search engine rankings”.

Having lots of links to a Web site tells search engines that it is an important site, one that people want to view. Therefore, Google is a form of peer recognition, as it counts the number of sites that links to another, on the assumption that if lots of people link to it, it must have some added value (Phillips and Young, 2009).
Link popularity is the main factor that major search engines use to rank Web sites. This makes link building an integral part of any effective search engine optimization strategy (SEO, 2009) because incoming links will help a Web site to rise in the search engine rankings. However, how does PR relate to SEO and how can it contribute to effective link building?

PR is the practice of shaping and projecting a company’s reputation, largely through the use of positive media coverage.

Link building is the process of building a web site’s ‘reputation’ by getting links from relevant and respected web sites (McGraffin, 2007).

Thus, PR and the online practice of link building are naturally suited. Both demand similar dynamics and when implemented together and with keywords in mind, they can produce excellent results. PR is seen as the practice to generate hundreds if not thousands of quality links, due to its communicative nature. A link must firstly be accepted by a reporter and then secondly by an editor. Who better to get such valuable links than PR professionals?

In conclusion, SEO is an important tool for today’s PR practitioner. The online world is crowded and highly competitive. If people can easily find a Web site using search it enhances reputation and increases usability. It is clear SEO holds the potential to unleash staggering results in terms of Web site activity however 41 per cent of firms are still failing to recognise this, according to Fasthosts (2011). For those PR practitioners who are unfamiliar with the powers of SEO, I recommend they dedicate time for research and even consider a workshop on the subject.

Lastly, I did try searching for my blog in Google but unfortunately couldn't find it. Looks like I better start putting into practice what I have learnt on SEO.

Seamless Branding

This house believes that brands are about people.

For this weeks post, we have been asked to write about seamless branding, a marketing concept that relies on the continuity and consistency of brand messages and values across all platforms of communication. Up until now, deeper meaning of the subject has been unfamiliar to me - I understood the idea behind the term but lacked the knowledge of how to apply it to a product or service.

Defining a brand

As I am a public relations (PR) student, I thought it would be fitting to briefly explain what the term ‘brand’ actually means because I had not studied it prior to this task.

Kotler et al (2002) offer a basic definition of a brand, describing it as “a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or combination of these which is used to identify the goods or services of a seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors”. However, from conducting research, I believe this is a very distanced and under developed explanation of what a brand stands for. It lacks deeper meaning and the role in which the public play in brand composition. Graphics, logo and the image associated with the brand do not create the brand (Sterne, 1999); they merely help to accelerate recognition.

Keller (1998) on the other hand says “A brand is a set of mental associations, held by the consumer, which add to the perceived value of a product or service”. Therefore, a brand is defined by individual perceptions. Brand designers can only ‘shape’ a product or service into what they see most fitting. The consumer will decide the external meaning of a brand, making it crucially important to be “real” in order to be believed (Maxwell, 2010). Ries and Ries (2002) reiterate this notion saying, “The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity”. Numerous tactics from video content to language tone are being used to achieve public acceptance and brand genuineness, as you will discover later on.

Brand configuration

Brand building is becoming increasingly important in providing continuity and customer commitment in a fast moving marketplace (Rowley, 2004). In other words, a brand that is ‘seamless’ and ‘customer focused’ will positively stand out from rivals and as a result attract more business.

The current economic climate is restrictive and poorly suited to retail. Moreover, we live inside a ‘digitally dense’ environment, crowded by a mass of online material. Therefore, a brand’s unique selling point must be attractive and recognisable, but so must its messages and values. De Chernatony and McDonald (1998) emphasise this notion by describing a brand as, “an identifiable product augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant unique added values which match their needs most closely. Furthermore, its success results from it being able to sustain these added values in face of competition”.

Rowely (2004) identifies three key aspects of a successful brand:

1) A brand is dependent on customer perception.
2) Perception is influenced by the added-value characteristics of the product.
3) The added value characteristics need to be sustainable.

Online branding – Web Sites

Web sites communicate messages about the brand through both their design and functionality.

The logo is shorthand for everything the brand stands for. It is displayed on the homepage as well as any other place where it adds value.

Graphics such as pictures and background images help to indicate the nature of the service.

Text and copy sets the tone of voice, and determines whether a message is intelligent, comprehensible and relevant. Text helps to define the brand's personality and to reinforce brand values consistently.

Currency must be shown in the form of regularity. If a Web site is not updated frequently it will devalue the brand and act as a traffic deterrent.

Colour theme can communicate a range of meanings from brand personality to reason for existence.

All of the characteristics listed above should be communicated ‘seamlessly’ in conjunction with a robust, multi channel strategy, so that the brand remains consistent in what it has always stood for, offline.

Seamless practice

“An organization can only ‘walk the talk' when its managers deliberately shape its internal reality to align with its brand promise…(the brand's) values must be internalized by the organization, shaping its instinctive attitudes, behaviours, priorities, etc.” (Mitchell, 1999).


Some argue that in the online world of information overload, a strong and consistent brand becomes ever more important, because it saves the customer time, by reducing their search efforts. A brand that is vivid and seamlessly concurrent will succeed more than one that is not, especially whilst online. Ward and Lee (2000) confirm this idea as they found that consumers used brand names as substitutes for product information when they made online purchase decisions.

The mass economy has been replaced by a “customer economy” which calls for customer-to-customer communications built on trust. PR plays a very powerful role in harnessing such a relationship (Brand Channel, 2003).

Therefore, a PR practitioner must understand their client’s values inside out if he/she is to succeed in seamless communication. To do this, they must always adhere to a brand’s ethos and personality, whether it is writing a press release or a piece of Web site copy. Remember, every interaction held with publics either builds or damages a brand.

The way people perceive a brand is strongly affected by how it appears on the Internet. For example, 60 per cent of Americans say they can judge a company’s values by it’s online presence (WebMetricsGuru, 2008).

Internet video is on the rise. PR pracitioners are able to develop brand personality and authenticity as senior executives have the opportunity to reveal themselves to their publics, instead of remaining behind closed doors. Yes this will lead to an increase in transparency however, will we witness the ‘dumbing down’ effect that is well known within the political industry?

A fantastic example of a brand using Internet video to great effect is Blendtec. It introduced a viral marketing campaign in 2006 called “Will it Blend?” Here is the founder of the company Tom Dickerson testing his product out on the iPad 2.



We can argue that the campaign idea is a mild form of “design driven innovation” (Verganti, 2009) because it has utilized a product in a way that nobody else has. Yes it was implemented purely for promotional value however one can say the reason behind its success and popularity is due to the unfamiliar nature.

Web pages must be designed to accommodate different generations of technology if they are to promote seamless branding. Download speed, screen resolutions, number of colours and mobile screen compatibility should all be catered for.

Finally, here are some key brand qualities that are a must for online success:

- A unique brand name will make searching much easier for customers.

- Search engine optimization will help to create a 'seamless' connection between online users and a brand. Rising in the search engine rankings can reduce competitive 'noise'. Thus, include key words wherever possible, in headings and text. This will maximize reach and drive traffic to content.

- Buy a domain name that is the same as the brand name, no abbreviations, no extras.

- Ensure that even your 404 error page fits ‘seamlessly’ with brand values and messages.

Mobile technology within the public relations industry

Introduction

During the renowned Mobile World Congress in 2010, Google CEO Eric Schmidt asked the audience to think “mobile first” (PR Week, 2010). This is surely a strong inclination for where the public relations (PR) industry must head.

Mobile phone uptake has increased at such a rapid pace that the penetration of cellular phones has now overtaken that of landline telephones and even exceeds the level of televisions. But why is this? What makes mobile phones so popular and why have we become so attached to them? More importantly, how can PR professionals use them to meet objectives?

I’m not going to bore you with tedious discussion about the history of mobile phones and countless stages that it has been through. Instead, I have selected a fantastic video clip which illustrates the growth of mobile technology with some rather mindboggling statistics.



Mobile telephones are becoming more and more a part of people’s everyday life, a necessity to have with us at all times. I myself encounter a feeling of emptiness when I don’t have my phone with me, especially when alone. This is because a phone is a very personal item, one that holds great attachment to its owner. In contrast, when I have my phone with me, there is a sense of comfort because all my friends and family are at the touch of a button. Isn’t that magic?

There are now over 5 billion mobile phone connections globally (BBC, 2010). That is approximately 71 per cent of the world’s population. Not only is this staggering, it also presents the PR industry with a wealth of opportunity, governed by mass consumption.

Mobile communications within PR campaigns

As last weeks lecture discussed, the Internet has made PR campaigns more interactive. Mobile phones on the other hand have the potential to make campaigns more direct, through mobile websites, RSS (really simple syndication) feeds and blogs.

The rise of mobile Internet, stimulated by the omnipresence of devices such as the iPhone and Blackberry, is drastically affecting the way people access information and communicate. Thanks to smart-phones we now live in a ‘hyper communications environment’ where we are constantly in touch with one another through a range of different media platforms. Mobiles are always switched on and users carry them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Thus, ‘always on’ media, offers more opportunities for communication when other methods are not available (Balasubramanian, Peterson, and Jarvenpaa 2002). However, as mentioned earlier, the mobile phone is a personal tool. Therefore, PR practitioners must be careful not to include tactics which are seen to be invasive. From my own perspective, I know how irritating it is to receive text messages from organisations in the form of advertisement. Nonetheless, mobile Internet has presented the PR industry with a goldmine of opportunity.

607.5 million mobile users will be using social networks by 2013 (Maxwell, 2010) which means that PR practitioners will have to start making their online campaigns mobile friendly. Content aimed at mobile devices should be customised to the correct specifications to allow for easy access and use. This can be achieved in a number of ways:

- Purchase a .mobi domain name and create a mobile website to launch your PR campaigns from.
- Develop Apps for smartphones.
- Launch a mobile website blog using text messaging (SMS) to directly interact via your site.
- Conduct surveys to gain insight into market trends and important customer opinion. Websites such as surveymonkey.com are compatible with mobile and feed nicely onto social media sites such as Twitter.
- Incorporate messages onto social media sites to keep consumers informed and interacted.
- RSS feeds.

Journalists and their mobile

Journalists are accessing content such as press releases from their phones, whilst on the way home or to a lunch meeting. Therefore, “PROs need to change the way they write releases. They must be shorter, with bullet points rather than long descriptions” (PR Week, 2010). How are PR practitioners supposed to inject flare, charisma and fluency into bullet pointed information? Moreover, press releases serve to provide reporters with a rounded, almost complete story, one that is already ‘framed’ and ready for publish. Remember it is said that around 70 per cent of news articles are originated from press releases! This certainly poses a challenge, and one that needs to be addressed and re-thought purposefully. If PR professionals begin losing their influence over client information it will be a serious problem for the practice.

On the other hand, according to a survey by PR Week, 71 per cent said mobile communications had made PROs more responsive to their needs (2010). For example, picture yourself at a big opening for client A, and you get a call from client B who tells you one of its products is being recalled. They demand that you stop the media from running anything about the recall until all communication points are written and approved. Imagine the consequences if you weren’t able to send emails from your mobile device? PR demands constant connectivity and mobile phones support this requirement (in particular smart-phones).

Foursquare for PR

The geo-based mobile application Foursquare is one that stands out as an obvious PR tool, due to its conversational nature. Most suited to events, restaurants and bars, it can be used to reach numerous objectives. For example, Foursquare is great for identifying and in turn rewarding brand loyalists with discounts and freebees. Starbucks are implementing this strategy by offering ‘mayors’ a $1 discount on a Frapucciono. We can describe this as a system of give and take. The customer receives benefits in the form of discount whereas Starbucks gain exposure in the form of brand awareness. When a user ‘checks in’ they reveal their location to friends either on Foursquare or through Facebook and Twitter. Ultimately, ‘checking in’ or posting a review on Foursquare is an online form of peer recommendation. Thus, it is a great way to connect with a target audience or even reach new consumers (Olson, 2010). In addition, Foursquare has the ability to gain direct customer feedback on products and service through its ‘tips’ option. Therefore, it can be incorporated into listening strategies (Bakshi, 2010) in gaining concise, to the point and instantaneous information.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the popularity of mobile phones and especially smart-phones is increasing by the day. By 2014, mobile Internet should take over desktop Internet usage (Mashable, 2010). Thus, the way people excavate information and communicate is changing, and the PR industry must follow suit. PR practitioners must recognise the great potential of mobile phones and incorporate them into their traditional PR campaign strategies to achieve maximum outcome. Simply, it is time for PR to get mobilized.

Exploring the "digital divide": Mobile adoption across the developing world

Adoption of mobile phones has accelerated globally during the current decade, but has the “digital divide” been lessening as a result? Researchers are desperate to discover ways in which mobile technology can stimulate economic activity in poorer countries, creating a better standard of living. Hence, this post will firstly, analyse the "digital divide" and secondly, identify how mobile phones are being used to great effect across the world.

The emphatic “dot-com bubble” spanning between 1995 to 2000 created a revolution as well as a worrying proposition. As people in the rich world embraced new computing and communications technologies, people in the poor world became stranded on the wrong side of the “digital divide” (The Economist-Technology, 2005) (see figure 1). Goggin (2006) notes that low-income countries have little more than 4 per cent mobile penetration in comparison to higher income countries which are nearing 77 per cent.

Figure 1:

In response, the United Nations launched a “Digital Solidarity Fund” (DCS, 2008) in 2005 to fund projects that address “the uneven distribution and use of new information and communication technologies” and “enable excluded people and countries to enter the new era of the information society” (The Economist-Technology, 2005).

However, the “digital divide” has often been questioned as a myth brought about by a misunderstanding. Plugging poor countries into the Internet will not help them create economic growth because the “digital divide” is not a problem in itself; it is a derivative of other divides such as income, literacy and development (The Economist-Technology, 2005). These symptoms are at the heart of the problem and thus, need to be tackled with integrity.

This leads us nicely onto mobile telephony and it’s rapid expansion across the world. It is this form of technology that holds the potential to drive development in poorer countries both economically and socially (Peterson and Malhotra, 1997). Mobile phones do not rely on a permanent electricity supply and can be used by people who cannot read or write. Therefore, mobiles are very well suited to people living in poor environments.

Across the world, mobile phones are becoming increasingly used as a payment method. For example, the local Coca Cola distributor in Zambia’s capital city pays for a shipment using his mobile phone. A full load costs 10m Kwacha (about $2,000) and in cash, this is a difficult amount to get hold of and takes time to count. Moreover, this sum is ten times the average wage and therefore, a temptation to thieves (The Economist-Economics Focus, 2005). All it takes is a text message to the driver and a receipt is issued.

This is just one of the dynamic ways in which poorer countries are using mobile phones to progress. Fishermen and farmers can check prices at different markets before selling produce, people can look for jobs more effectively and wasted journeys can be prevented. We have to remember that travel is expensive and extremely time consuming. A quick phone call can be the difference from a trip that would normally take a day to one that takes an hour. It is said that in a typical developing country, an increase of ten mobile phones per 100 people boosts GDP growth by 0.6 percentage points (The Economist-Economics Focus, 2005).

In conclusion, mobile holds the potential for developing nations to leapfrog technologically since they are able to bypass the development of landline telephone systems (Stump et al, 2008). It also holds the potential for creating economic benefits thus, restricting the “digital divide”. Yes the divide is still a significant problem, but with projects such as the “Digital Solidarity Fund” there is evidence that mobile technology has the ability to improve living standards for the poor and in turn, tighten the digital gap. As we speak, mobile phones are the world’s most widely distributed computers (The Economist, 2011). Even in poor countries about two-thirds of people have access to one (see figure 2).

Figure 2:

What interactivity means for the communications practice

The introduction of Web 2.0 has made the Internet more interactive, but what does this mean for the communications industry? How can interactivity be used to achieve objectives and goals? What is the formula for something to be classed as interactive? These are the questions I seek to answer throughout this blog post.

Background

Inside the digital world, interactivity can be found within mediated communications settings across a number of different platforms, channels and contexts. This is a radical transition from its origins of face-to-face conversation. Social interaction, and hence interactivity can be described as the geometric spiral metaphor for communication: Everyone is familiar with it (Rafaeli, 1988).

Research on public relations (PR) and the Internet has stated that interactivity between the public and the organisation is an issue of high relevance. Interactivity is one of the main characteristics of the Internet, and has been the subject of a number of studies in the field of communications (Capriotii, 2006).

Interactivity explained

In order to fully understand what interactivity is, we shall look at Rafaeli’s study in 1998. He describes interactivity as part of a responsiveness model and states that communication is not fully interactive unless specific criteria are met.

Interactivity is quintessentially a communication concept which comes in three different forms (Rafaeli, 1988). The distinction called for is between interactive, quasi-interactive (reactive), and non-interactive communication sequences. Quasi- and fully interactive sequences differ clearly from non-interactive as they offer two-way communication as opposed to one-way. The complete absence of interaction is marked by jolting, incoherent conversation (McLaughlin, 1984).

The difference between quasi- and full interactivity lies in the nature of the communication responses (Rafaeli, 1988). Interactivity requires that communicants respond to each other. The conditions for full interactivity are achieved when later stages in a message sequence depend on the reaction to earlier transactions, as well as on the content exchanged (Rafaeli, 1988). During a press conference, a journalist might say to a member of parliament “It is clear you do not agree with the public sector cuts, but do you believe there is room for compromise?” If an open response is delivered from this question, it is deemed fully interactive. A situation or medium remains quasi-interactive when previous interactions are unacknowledged. Quasi-interactivity is none the less a very important form of communication, especially when online.

Interactive content

Numerous organisations are using creative and interactive material to engage users and offer a more active and participatory experience, where both parties are contributing equally and with the aim to build relationships. Starbucks have used interactivity to great effect within their Web site statbuckscoffeeathome.com. A user can discover the coffee taste he/she is most suited to by taking a simple ‘Find My Perfect Coffee Quiz’(see figure 1). A user can view the different types of coffee available by moving the cursor over the coffee packets as shown in the image and ultimately discover which is their ideal coffee.

Figure 1:

The Internet enhancing democracy

The Internet is mainly about the exchange of information, and so is PR. Ordinary people are interacting with each other and a whole range of institutions 24 hours a day, but to what extent? The Office of National Statistics reported in 2010 that 73 per cent of households had Internet access and 30.1 million adults used the Internet every day or nearly every day, almost double the estimate in 2006 (see figure 2).

Figure 2:

We can say the Internet is creating its own society, one that has the potential to be exceedingly democratic. It offers public discourse to mass audiences and small groups across many cultures. Ideally, new media will facilitate public discourse that is free from what Habermas calls the imperatives of the systems world, i.e. money and power (Habermas, 1981 cited Shultz, 2000).

The Internet is revolutionising the ways in which companies do business with their customers, pushing the idea of markets as conversations and how the Internet unlocks the ability for businesses to engage in a new and instantaneous manner (Bright, 2010).

Friedland (1996 cited Shultz, 2000) suggested that the Internet gives people a fine tool for ‘electronic public journalism’ that is independent from professional media organisations, resulting in a more democratic system. This can reduce complexity of content, help users make judgements about what is important, and build shared beliefs. tripadvisor.com is a fantastic example of how an online citizenry can create credible opinion, and one that has the ability to significantly influence others. People are now saying that the percentage rating of a hotel on tripadvisor.com is more accurate than its ‘star ranking’.

However, the achievement of democratic consensus is related to opinions that are not merely announced but also discussed openly and free from distortions/gatekeepers (Shultz, 2000).

Web 2.0 provides space for this form of interactivity. Hacker states: “the more democratic a communication system, the more it will accommodate interactivity over mere connectivity” (1996 cited Shultz, 2000). Hence, we can say Web 2.0 holds the potential for what Habermas describes as the ideal speech situation (Gonzales, 1989 cited Shultz, 2000). For details on these criteria see Wikipedia.

Interactive journalism

Web 2.0 has changed the way journalists publish articles online. Readers are able to comment on news stories and interact with professional journalists. Internet sites of well-established media (e.g. the Economist) can play a decisive role as forums of valid information and serious debate, because they fall back on professional editors.

However, the problem of professional mass media going online is that their economic strategies often do not coverage with such a plan. Instead, their interest is to keep a tight rein on the advertising market (Shultz, 2000). Newspapers such as The Times have begun adding pay walls (see figure 3) to their Web site’s in order to fund online projects as well as the fight against free news service. This provides journalists with more time to monitor online articles and respond to reader comments creating more of a participatory, dialogic discussion.

Figure 3:

Conclusion

From my research, I believe online interactivity plays a significant role in aiding user satisfaction. As demonstrated throughout this blog entry, there are many ways in which interactivity can help create positive outcomes such as public discourse and equality of opinion. Engaging users online by making them feel apart of something is a great way to cultivate new relationships and provide a more interesting online experience. PR practitioners can use interactivity to formulate feedback response on their clients' products and services.

As always I will leave you with a question that is sure to make your brain tingle. At what point does interactivity become irritating?

Nokia partners with Microsoft in hope of revival

The world's largest phone manufacturer, Nokia, has given up on creating its own smartphone software in order to challenge Apple and Google. The Finnish mobile giant has made bold move by teaming up with Microsoft's Windows Phone as part of a new venture and major shake-up in Nokia's 145-year history.

The deal aims to form a "broad strategic alliance" to challenge Apple's iPhone and Google's Android operating system. The announcement of the partnership has come only a day after Mr Elop (Nokia's Chief Executive) warned that Nokia risked being engulfed by "burning flames" unless it underwent "radical change" (Daily Telegraph, 2011).

Mr Elop's memo to staff was brutally frank and to the point. He described Nokia as a company in crisis and said how the firm is yet to even provide a product that matches the first i-Phone. "The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience". He added, "Android came on the scene just over two years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable."

However, the leaked statement has been deemed by analysts and bloggers as a clever piece of Public Relations (PR), which oozes honesty and realism. Elop has demonstrated to the media as well as shareholders that he means serious business, and that the mobile market is now a "three horse race" (Fierce Mobile Content, 2011).

I shall leave you with a short YouTube clip that gives a concise video summary of the news story.

Analysing blogs within the public relations industry

As our task is to write a blog on a weekly basis, I thought it would be fitting to examine the use of blogs within the public relations (PR) profession. Although there is little academic research on this subject, I have gathered as much credible content as possible. Away we go then …

Key facts and figures

·       It is known that the term “weblog” was created by Jorn Barger in 1997 arising from the   amalgamation of two words “web” and “log” (Kaiser et al., 2007).
·       1999: The year that the free blogging platform Blogger was launched, which then went on to be bought buy Google in 2003.
·       More than 14 million people worldwide keep a personal diary on the Internet and a further 100 million (one third of the active Web universe) read blogs habitually (Gordillo, 2007, cited Xifra and Huertas, 2008).
·       Ninety per cent of blogs are interactive (Lenhart, 2006, cited Kent, 2007).
·       Blogs promote the notion of “thinking by writing”
(Nardi et al., 2004, p. 45).
·       Hundreds of blogs are weeks ahead of the mainstream media when reporting stories in their own industry/profession.
·       153 million+: Is the estimated number of blogs identified as of January 11, 2011 (BlogPulse).

Introduction

The traditional role of media gatekeepers is experiencing drastic change (Pavlik, 2008) in the age of consumer-generated content.

Interactive blogs and other forms of social media were derived from the introduction of Web 2.0, described by Phillips and Young (2009, p. 12) as a space for symmetrical communication: a platform that aids the transfer of knowledge and conversations and a place where people can easily mix and match both. Hence, blogs provide organisations with an effective environment in which to create dialogue and communicate directly with publics and stakeholders, without the mediation of traditional gatekeepers. Therefore, they allow users, clients, opponents and competitors to communicate freely with each other, with the potential to create a discourse that is largely outside the control of the subject (Phillips and Young, 2009, p. 7).

Blog characteristics

On the one hand, blogs enable professionals to analyse the online market and ascertain the opinions of their audience in order to measure public perception of a business, product or service. On the other, they are a major technique for organisations to actively participate in symmetrical communication, either by posting comments on other blogs or creating one’s own (Xifra and Huertas, 2008).  

Figure 1 - Key elements of blogs (Baxter et al., 2010).

Conversation is key

It is the “conversational nature” (Lee et al., 2008, cited Baxter et al., 2010) of blogs that makes them appealing for individual’s to exchange views and opinions about issues of mutual interest.

Blogs employ threaded dialogue, creating an environment where individuals, groups, and organisations can interact. Therefore, blogs facilitate ‘dialogic relationships’ between users (Kent and Taylor, 1998). This exists when all parties involved in the communication process are contributing equally and with the aim to build relationships. Furthermore, dialogic communication requires open pubic discourse and a commitment from PR practitioners to place a high value on public opinion (Kent and Taylor, 1998).

Surfing the ‘blogosphere’

Blogs are useful for research, issue monitoring, and environmental scanning. When unanticipated issues, legislation, or events emerge, organisations can search through the archives of blogs for information, reader sentiment, links to other useful information, and so on, just as an organisation might examine relevant scholarly information, conduct interviews or search other archives and databases for information (Kent, 2005).

Monitoring blogs can be one way of coming to understand the world-view of diverse individuals and publics. Organisations are able to discover how people are interpreting and responding to organisational events, messages, and activities before such information reaches the mainstream media and news outlets. This means PR professionals can formulate better, more compelling responses.

There are software applications called ‘aggregators’ that will automatically gather data from blogs and other Web sites. Aggregators are very easy to use and anyone who can use e-mail can figure out how to use one.

Many blogs are produced using “Really Simple Syndication” (RSS) feeds. RSS uses a programming language called XML to convert Web content into an easily viewed text-based format. Aggregators collect RSS feeds so that content can be read more efficiently.  The principle of RSS is a lot like having a personalised newspaper, one that only provides content that you want to read. Using an RSS aggregator allows PR professionals to quickly sort through information from many media sites, organisations, and bloggers. Aggregators give professionals the ability to monitor what is being said by hundreds of sources, individuals, and publics on a minute-by-minute basis (Kent, 2007). Thus, aiding the crisis communications process to provide messages that are densely formulated and in turn, more effective.

Reputation is at stake

The ‘blogosphere’ is a force that needs to be paid close attention to by organisations. Bloggers can wreck havoc on reputations, like when Jeff Jarvis posted repeatedly on BuzzMachine about his faulty Dell laptop, known as the ‘Dell-Hell’ saga. On the other hand, they can create ‘the next big thing’ like when the immensely popular blog BoingBoing covered a product called “InstaSnow” leading to drastic increase in traffic and sales. 

Insta Snow - YouTube Video.



The ‘power of the people’ has become the ‘power of the bloggers’ (Spencer, 2004).

Influencing publics

The power of blogs stems from the network effect. When an expert blogger makes a point that has value to a wider audience, the word spreads (‘word of mouse’) and the topic can be significantly blogged about (Phillips and Young, 2009, p. 12). This has profound consequences for organisations and PR professionals.

Blogs bring homogenous groups of individuals and publics together. Thus, from a PR standpoint, blogs represent the ultimate in public segmentation: coherent groups of individuals/professionals who share a common interest.

Reaching the choir is useful when an organisation is trying to influence opinion leaders, innovators and early adopters (Rogers, 1995, cited Kent, 2007). Blogs offer organisations another route for sharing their positions in a somewhat controlled fashion and many mainstream businesses such as Nokia, Ford and HP have taken advantage of the medium (Kent, 2007).

Using blogs as a way to influence individuals and publics is one of the most frequently mentioned characteristics of blogs by PR practitioners (Edelman, 2005, cited Kent, 2007).  Allowing or encouraging visitors to an organisation’s Web site in order to participate in how online news is framed is possibly the greatest strength of blogs and the feature of the most importance to PR practitioners (Kent, 2007).

Blogs promote democracy

Hiebert (2004, cited Xifra and Huertas, 2008) believes that blogs foster democracy because they restore dialogue and participative communication in the public sphere, in turn, preserving the role of PR by means of two-way communication. Brown (2009) advocates, “We are seeing the democratisation of the means production, distribution and exchange”, through the rise in user-generated content, as social networks are transformed into vast public spaces and word of mouth drives influence. Web 2.0 has made our conversations increasingly digital.

Corporate blogs

As social media is about talking and not selling, blogs are a great way to include personality within a cold, corporate website.

Organisational blogs can be categorised into five different types: employee blogs; group blogs; executive blogs; promotional blogs and newsletter blogs (Lee et al., 2008, cited Baxter et al., 2010).

With Google and other search engine sites favouring sites that are regularly updated, blogs are very likely to boost a company’s presence in search rankings in a way that a traditional corporate website will not, and therefore the idea of a corporate blog can be very compelling. However, businesses are often nervous about naked conversations that take place in and around blogs and there have been cases where careless comments have hit a corporate share price.

A lot of companies are making the mistake that blogging is publishing. Blogging is two-way and crucially, it’s the audience that decides what’s read, what gets linked to and in turn, what is deemed successful. Therefore, it makes sense to listen to the conversations which target consumers are having and then shape a blog around them.

PR practitioners should never set up a blog in favour of a client by pretending to be someone unconnected with the organization (Brown, 2009). Apart from being unethical, this practice, along with posting comments and contributing to forums whilst cloaking your identity or not declaring an interest is often referred to as ‘astroturfing’. It is likely that you will get found out, leading to significant damage to a brand or organisation. It goes without saying that you should also avoid the more extreme version of this, known as ‘sock puppetry’, the practice of posting entries under several different false names to make something appear more popular than it is.

In 2005, part of the L’Oreal cosmetics empire produced a fake blog called ‘Journal de ma Peau’, to promote an anti-wrinkle product called Peel Microabrasion. It was a testimony of a woman called Claire, who had great experiences with the product and claimed it improved her skin. Claire had been invented by an advertising agency. The company received so many complaints in just two months it was forced to replace the made up Claire with real-life bloggers who described their genuine experiences. 

Blogger engagement

The social web provides us with tools for engaging with bloggers that were unavailable to us in our dealings with journalists. A good example of how we can do this is by using a micro-blog like Twitter to pitch our story (Brown, 2009). On the other hand, I believe that PR practitioners can also engage with bloggers in the same way they do with journalist contacts – by email and telephone and on the odd occasion by actually meeting. However, the most popular bloggers receive over 300 hundred emails a day from PR people and unless they are targeted, interesting and appropriate, they are more than likely going to be blocked forever.

Conclusion

This post identifies blogs as an essential part of any PR practitioner’s toolkit. They have numerous uses from monitoring ‘word of mouse’ to information sharing to influencing key publics. Their rapid and continuous rise in popularity means they are becoming increasingly more important within the PR industry and building relationships with expert bloggers is becoming critical, especially for digital agencies.

The power of the ‘bloggosphere’ is not to be underestimated and many organisations have learnt the hard way. Organisations shouldn’t be tempted to jump on the blog bandwagon before learning exactly how to use them and establishing what the goals and objectives for using them are.

Remember, do not blog for the sake of it, blog for a reason.

I will leave you with a question that is sure to get you thinking. At what point does an innovation (in this instance blogging) become an everyday business practice, such as the Internet or wireless telephones?