Disruption, disruption, disruption
May 15, 2013 § 2 Comments
For those of us that work in digital communications, it can be easy to forget there’s a whole world out there that are welded to an historical/traditional mindset and approach.
In itself that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just because there are newer ways of doing things, doesn’t mean you have to throw out the baby with the bath water (so to speak)
Except there are instances when it’s clear an overhaul is needed.
Which brings me to my experience last with Nissan. Firstly I just want to say I don’t have an issue with Nissan or the person who was in charge of their twitter handle who I was sparring with. (Or even the leasing company ALD who still haven’t responded).
It’s more to do with the industry as a whole. I’ll explain.
I leased a brand new car about 18 months ago. It was a Nissan Qashqai (I’ve been teased about its Dad-status but that’s besides the point)
Haven’t not owned a car for 10 years prior to that, the responsibilities that come with owning a car (such as services it) had passed me by. Hell I was just excited to have a new toy.
18 months later I realise I should take the car in for a service. The service attendant at the Nissan Garage in Leyton informs me I’ve missed the first year service.
The conversation went as follows:
Nissan service attendant: “You realise you were meant to have serviced the car last year. Did you just forget?”
Me: “Well not really. I never got a reminder telling me it was due. In fact other than being sent a tax disc 6 months ago, I haven’t had any communication for Nissan or anyone.”
Nissan service attendant: “That’s pretty bad. I’d have thought someone would have got in touch with you somewhere down the line.”
So with that, I went through the formalities of booking the car in and as one who works in digital Comms, sent a tweet to Nissan saying, it’s not on that I haven’t heard from then since I brought the car 18 months ago.
The following exchange ensued:
^DPNow as someone who as worked with car brands I understand the complexities of the supply chain. However, in the day and age we live in surely the guardians and owners of the brand have the responsibility to ensure that partners aren’t unduly treating their customers and ultimately potential advocates. (Ok I’m being a bit pedantic. At the end of the day all that happened was that I didn’t get a reminder. It’s not the end of the world).
My point is brands spend lots of money trying to connect with customers and influence them to buy into their product or services. But when someone does the systems behind the scenes more often than not, don’t live up to what is being portrayed.
After my twitter exchange with the guy he actually called me up and we had a good chat about how to avoid situations like this for other customers. I appreciate where he is coming from and also the challenges of trying to connect a company that has systems that aren’t designed for the digital age.
It boiled down to the fact that despite being a Nissan advocate, Nissan’s social media team have no way of knowing who I am or linking my online public persona to their customer data.
Nissan are certainly not unique. This story sums up this issue facing many organisations. While their is a lot of effort putting on a public face, things aren’t necessarily working that well behind the scenes.
And this is why a lot of social media efforts are viewed sceptically by the public. Many lack authenticity. And why? Because they aren’t a true representation of the company culture.
Even though social business is becoming another buzzword that’s being banded around, for me this is a real live example of the disruptive power social technologies and thinking will have on many industries.
FYI – I actually really like my Qashqai.
The times they are a-changin’
May 3, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Observing the way people communicate has always fascinated me. The process by which organisations, companies and the people who make decisions within them take their ideas and explain them to others is what prompted me to enter a career of PR rather than one of engineering.
I’ve had the privilege of being at the forefront of the evolution of the change that has gone on within the PR sector. Social media has forced organisations to re-evaluate how they communicate with those they seek to influence.
In the same way the industry has grown up, so have I. Using the power of communication to help organisations achieve their goals has always been professional mission statement. The tsunami that is social media allowed me to flex my communication skills in ways I never could pre the ‘twitter days’.
It’s time now to take what has always been my strength to the next level. We are now in a world where actions and conversations taken on social networks have the potential for real implications for the way a business operates. Social business is the ‘cool’ trend but in reality we’re witnessing the genesis of the way businesses will look like in the future. For me the challenge of helping businesses both big and small through this metamorphosis is genuinely exciting. Looking at how organisations such as IBM (who I’ve been fortunate to work with) have truly taken a social approach to they work them operate, I believe it won’t be long before other companies start to truly appreciate what it means to ‘be social’.
So with this in mind I’ve joined the Dachis Group (who I’ve admired for some time now) where I’ll be focused on helping brands fully exploit the power of adopting a social approach both to an internal workforce and external customers.
Interesting times lie ahead.
Creativity + content + speed = future of comms
January 15, 2013 § Leave a Comment
It’s fascinating observing the way the comms industry is changing. I got into PR by accident. Then into ‘social media’ because of morbid curiosity about the way the industry was changing. All this time, I’ve been watching an industry being shaken to the core by its players, funders, detractors and stakeholders alike. It’s scary but good.
Then just when you thought you’d figured it all out, it changes again. (The debate as to whether social media has any relevance within a corporate armoury is largely done. If you don’t think it does, I’m sorry I can’t help you). Now we’re on to the debate about content marketing, brand journalism and transmedia storytelling.
We’ve moved past the why to the what. And in all honesty that’s the hard part. Using a crude analogy. It’s like you’re at a party and you’ve debated and decided with yourself that you like that girl (or guy). Well now you actually have to go up to them and say something. Gulp.
Working out what to say, how you’re going to say are one thing. Then there’s the timing. When’s the right moment to approach?
This is the new paradigm for the modern marketer or communicator. We live in the attention economy. You got one shot so you’d better make it good or I’m off to the next thing.
Creativity isn’t new. Ad men have been doing it and doing it well for years. What’s changed is the speed in which it can be delivered. Coming up with brilliant ideas takes on a whole new dimension when you have to do it under the pressure of the clock.
Those in the know will have heard of the great examples from the likes of Smart, Bodyform and of course Old Spice.
While it’s not a science in predicting how to get a ‘social media home run’, there are a few tips I’ve come across over the years that should help:
- Brainstorm different scenarios for your and create responses to be delivered that scenario (like a comedian does) when creating a content calendar
- Make sure you know the entire history of the brand (warts and all). It help you tell the story better.
- Have a listening team on hand to pick out trends that can be acted upon
- Make sure your team has a real web geek (you know the kind of guy that spends a lot of time on Reddit or 4Chan). They’re invaluable in understanding the obscure channels to help get the content seeded out as well as the ‘next big thing’ on the web
- Don’t be afraid to use a bit of paid action to get content seen. Expecting things to ‘go viral’ organically is one of the biggest misconceptions around social media marketing
I truly believe this is future of communications (note I did not say PR). Coming up with a concept in the morning, developing it the afternoon and publishing it in the evening. Scary. But then again scary is good right?
Thinking about social, luxury and China
June 10, 2012 § Leave a Comment
I attended a fascinating conference in Paris a few weeks ago. (I meant to publish this then but work and child got in the way). It was the L2 thinktank. A research firm I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of before particularly because of the quality (and honesty) of the research work they produce is really insightful.
The crux of the conference was about how luxury brands could take advantage of markets like China where the online world is vast compared to Blighty or the good ol US of A. I was even allowed to throw in my two penith in about what to consider when building an integrated global campaign.
I’m not going to lie. It was a stats fest but in a good way. Here’s some of the key nuggets that I jotted down.
- Only 8% of luxury companies localise their social presences for language
- Household incomes of over $30k is considered luxury in China
- Russians spend on average 10 hours per month on social networks compared to a global average of 4.5 globally
Other things I was impressed by:
- The presenter of the Digital IQ stats ability to deliver a great presentation despite someone snoring, very loudly, in the audience. (I believe he took advantage of the ‘drink wine with lunch’ policy).
- The cookies served in the coffee break
- Me spilling an entire cup of coffee but managing to miss the lady I was speaking to
If you’re into the luxury market scene, I’d highly recommend checking out the L2 guys
What social means in a business
May 13, 2012 § Leave a Comment
A few thoughts on what it means to be social in a business from a few people in the know.
Grad life sure ain’t easy
April 27, 2012 § 1 Comment
It must be tough being a grad looking for work. On a day when the UK officially entered back into recession, I was invited to attend a session to speak on how to get into PR.
The panel included a broad spectrum of people from different backgrounds and was organised by Ignite – a firm dedicated to promoting cultural diversity within PR.
A few things stood out for me:
1) Getting a job through the grad process isn’t easy. When you’re competing against 1000 applicants you have to be amazing to stand out
2) Although employers love to see confidence in a potential recruit, it ain’t easy being confident as a grad when you have no experience about anything
3) Networking should be taught as part of a PR degree. I spoke to a few attendees but not one asked for my business card nor had one when I asked
4) Although the event was about getting people from diverse backgrounds into PR, I genuinely think that in this day and age getting a job is more about your attitude than where you come from.
5) With the 24 hour access to information about anything and everything, there really is no excuse for grads not to have a basic understanding of an industry sector or news agenda.
All in all it was an enjoyable event. Just a shame we got turfed out of the bar early. Then again on a school night that was probably for the best.
The law catches up with Twitterers
April 24, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Not a day goes by now when some footballer doesn’t get into trouble for posting something they shouldn’t have on Twitter (or some other form of blogging platform). Sometimes it’s relatively harmeless such as Ryan Babel, other times it takes on a more sinister tone. Sheffield United’s Connor Brown and his alleged comments on Twitter over the Ched Evans conviction is the perfect case of footballers not really understanding the power of the publishing tools they possess. In fairness, to footballer it appears that many don’t understand the laws of the land when it comes to publishing. After the whole Giggs incident, it seems the law is finally getting a hand on policing the internet by arresting Twitter uses who named the victim as well as investigating Sky who accidentally amplified matters.
Maybe sites such as Twitter need users to download and read a code of ethics or idiots guide to publishing law before being allowed to sign up.
