Social Media is about storytelling

At the Media Relations in the Digital Age today in Singapore, distinguished and experienced speakers spoke about how the world of media relations is changing with the advent of social media.  Or is it?

Many speakers felt that media relations is about relationships.   Social media is a different way of maintaining relationships, just as the phone or email is.

Andy Oliver, SVP of Lewis PR in Asia Pacific talked about the vital importance of good content in the social media space.  It remains important to create compelling stories, and it's the most powerful way to make social media work for you.

A great example of this was the viral campaign for Tippex, the correcting fluid, a pretty everyday product that doesn't really change much and definitely lacks glamour.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE

Meanwhile, Lars Voedisch, Managing Media Consultant at Dow Jones Asia Pacific, a brand and social media expert, talked about why consumers "unlike" brands on Facebook:

44 per cent said the company posted too frequently

43 per cent said their wall was crowded with marketing "stuff" and it was time for a clear out

24 per cent said the posts were getting too promotional

17 per cent said the posts were too "chit-chatty" and weren't focused on giving them real value for their time.

Lars Voedisch (left) discusses his presentation with a delegate from Kuala Lumpur at the Singapore Conference.

As Warren Buffett said, Lars reminded the delegates, "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.  If you think about that, you'll do things differently".


(Posted from Singapore)

Celebration for Boeing, Crisis for Tiger

" 787 is about 15 minutes from Tokyo. @boeingairplanes will tweet as soon as practical after landing."

"Hello Tokyo, from the crew of 787 ZA002. We just landed at Haneda Airport, home of ANA, our launch customer"

These two simple tweets from Boeing (@boeingairplanes) are part of a steady campaign building excitement for the eventual arrival of its latest aircraft - the Dreamliner.   Boeing is a B2B company.  None of us pop into the local store and buy a commercial airliner.  But airlines want to buy aircraft the public want to fly in.   You still feel something when the Airbus A380 lands at Heathrow.  Partly amazement that something so big can land so gently.   The 787 and A380 were the star turns at the last  Farnborough Air Show.

Boeing's use of social media on the 787 is exactly right. It's almost like listening in to the ATC radio.

Both the 787 and the A380 are delivering something else airlines want - fuel efficiency, quieter planes and more environmentally friendly operation.

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Whilst Boeing celebrates, Tiger Airways Australia, the low cost airline, has a crisis on its hands.

As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, the Australian Civil Aviation Authority has suspended Tiger's rights to fly over and land and take off in Australia for 5 days amidst safety concerns.  The regulator says Tiger's aircraft have twice flown below the permitted minimum height in the last month.  It follows the issuing of a "show notice" to the airline in March over other concerns.   It had to be said that (reports the Singapore Times) the regulators in Singapore say they have had no such concerns with the airline's sister company based there.

However, the core element of every reputation is trust.   And in the case of an airline, the fundamental driver when you buy a ticket is simple: you believe that when you walk down an airbridge to depart, you will walk up another one at your destination.  If you don't believe that, you don't think about buying the ticket.   It's a big ask of customers.  Airlines ask you to trust them with your life.

This is a crisis for Tiger.

How have Tiger responded?    So far, it looks like a textbook response.

They got out there quickly.  "Safety has and will underpin our operations at all times" is the key message. They put their full statement on the front page of their Australian website.  The CEO, Tony Davis, goes on ABC TV News Australia - on the front foot.  He rejects the charges, reiterates that safety comes first in the company and says they will work with the regulator.   Extra call centre staff are brought in to help customers.   Tiger apologies to them for the disruption.  No quibble full refunds or credits.   Virgin brought on board to help customers affected by flight cancellations.  Media are told when the next statement will be issued.

However, there is no doubt this is a critical moment for the company.   First they must persuade the Australian regulators.  But after that they will need to rebuild their reputation with passengers.  After a crisis, that must be seen as a long term and continuous task.   But Tiger have started well.



(Posted from Singapore)

If you're fat, you should be told

Landed in Singapore this morning and as usual no clean shirts left so went shopping.  Wonderful staff and great service in this wonderful city.  I held up a purple shirt, asking the mature Chinese assistant if I could try it on.

"No Sir", she replied.  "Slim fit.  You too fat."   Albeit the Chinese are blunt, they are also unfailingly courteous when serving you, so the nuance of the sentiment got lost in the translation!

I wasn't offended.  She went on to show me shirts for fat people.

I've been doing a series of crisis workshops with communicators from the Chinese national and regional governments and organisations.  They are visiting London in groups to study media relations in the UK.  The visits are organised by the China Media Centre at the University of Westminster, London.  The visits have aroused interest and some of London's leading PR people are coming to meet them.  It's a brilliant dialogue and we're learning from each other.  What's clear is that what we intend our statements to convey in a crisis do not always cross cultures.

We sometimes see the Chinese statements as a little cold and lacking feeling.  The Chinese sometimes view ours as a little gushing and lacking hard facts and actions.  Certainly citizens in the Chinese world want a list of everything the government is doing in a crisis - how many troops are being sent, how many helicopters, how much food.  Then they judge whether the Government really cares.  

Our statements sometimes lead (rightly for Western consumption) on our care and concern for the victims and their relatives.    That's absolutely right, but we need to remember also to give as much detail as possible on what we're doing to alleviate the crisis or incident.  Even small things matter.

There's a feeling that given English is a common global language and social media is breaking down cultural barriers that we all understand each other now.  

My dialogue with the Chinese has made me rethink this.  How what we say is perceived in other cultures matters a lot in a crisis, and it's an area that needs further study.   We're continuing to explore it with more seminars with Chinese delegations later this month.  

Meanwhile it's a topic we're going to discuss at the Media Relations in the Digital Age conferences this week in Singapore and then Hong Kong.


(Posted from Singapore)

Train them and you might not have to fire them!

What is it about some employees who use social media at work?  Engaging brains doesn't seem to be part of the process.

We all know the story of the two Domino's Pizza employees in the US who made a mindbogglingly disgusting video in their store and posted it on You Tube.  A million people saw the video and Domino's reputation was badly damaged.  The incident cost the company millions of dollars in costs and lost sales and although by their own admission a little slow to react, they put into action a plan which delivered record profits later that year.   The two employees, of course, were fired.

In the UK,  supermarket shelf fillers did astonishing things with chicken breasts (you don't want to know).

Now, news in from the excellent CommCore (their President Andy Gilman saw J&J through the very serious Tylenol crisis).  In their monthly briefing, they highlight another employee gaffe in the USA. This time at a social media agency working for Chrysler.

Chrysler decided to spend millions of dollars on a campaign promoting the regeneration of Detroit, a city they are obviously closely associated with.  The people of Motor City have suffered badly in the recession, and Chrysler wanted to lift spirits.

In the midst of the campaign, an employee of the social media agency hired by Chrysler accidentally tweets on the Chrysler twitter account: "I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the motor city and yet no one here knows how to ******* drive."  The tweet causes great offence in Detroit (as if they haven't had enough knocks).  The employee thought he was tweeting on his own account.

Chrysler seem to have done a great job handling it.  They fire the agency, of course.  The agency fires the employee.

But what on earth was the employee of the social media agency thinking of when tweeting such a disrespectful message on any Twitter account?  He damages the reputation of the client who is paying his wages and hurts the people of the city they are trying to promote.   At best he is guilty of arrogance and gross disrespect.

Domino's learning from the You Tube incident was that you need to engage more with your employees and explain the boundaries required of their behaviour and the consequences of getting it wrong on social media.  There are sensible new rules about the use of cellphones in store or in uniform.  Domino's took it further and used the incident to deepen employee engagement, and certainly in London you can tell it from the great service you get.   Very few employees of any company come in to work wanting to do a bad job.

I was discussing the incident with the manager of one of Singapore's top restaurants recently.  He said that as soon as cell phones arrived many years ago they saw the potential problems and set immediate rules for staff.  No cellphone use on duty.  Cellphones are surrendered on arrival and locked up.  Employees are free to use the house phone for urgent personal issues.   His concern was primarily the privacy of his celebrity guests.  But his view is that the staff like it when they are clear about the boundaries and no-one wants to put their jobs or the future of the restaurant on the line.

Many financial institutions and other companies who process sensitive data ban cellphones on duty for security reasons - to avoid screens being photographed.

Companies need to have conversations with their staff about the use of cellphones at work and be clear about the boundaries and risks.    Some companies have discovered that the camera-enabled cellphone is as potentially deadly to their reputation as any prohibited weapon.

As Domino's have demonstrated, it can be done without finger-wagging and used as an opportunity to get staff on board.

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On another crisis topic, and as I am in Mumbai, a picture last night of the fully restored and magnificent Taj Hotel, the scene of a terrorist attack in 2008.   Lovely to see it very much back in business, but very visible tight security.

(Posted from Mumbai, India)

Not such a Weiner

At the Click 5.0 Digital Marketing Summit I raised the topic of the Anthony Weiner scandal in the United States.   With care, of course.  The issues the matter raises, if you will pardon the double entendre, are not suitable for polite conversation.

The scandal reminded me of a fundamental truth - that the core element of every reputation is trust.   (The recent Edelman Trust Barometer reinforces, with evidence, that trusted companies and organisations fare better in a storm).

And so it was with Congressman Weiner.

If you don't know the story, here it is in a nutshell.  Mr Weiner is a Democrat Congressman.  He's married.  His very beautiful wife is an adviser to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and she's expecting a baby.  He was planning to run for Mayor of New York, a huge political office. Mr Weiner is chatting to a young woman online.  He tweets directly to her an indecent picture of himself, or so he thinks.  But to his horror, he realises he's tweeted it to all his followers, and tries to get it back.  But it's out there, and it's a story.   He gives interviews, such as this one, in which he denies sending the picture

The problem is that he is not telling the truth.  And in an instant, he has changed the central focus of the story: from whether he sent an indecent picture of himself, at best a misjudgement, to whether he is a truthful person.  In other words, can he be trusted?   And as a legislator, that is a very important question for the American public.   It is about his core reputation.  Who votes for someone they don't trust?

As the days go on, Mr Weiner clings on to his version of events and to his seat in Congress.  He makes enemies of the media by berating them for daring to keep raising the subject (it's impossible to write this summary and avoid double entendre throughout, you will have to stay with me, please).

Of course, the inevitable happens and more evidence of chats online with other women and even more explicit pictures come to light.

Mr Weiner decides to hold a press conference in which he confesses to sending the picture and to other incidents, some before he was married and some after.  It is a humiliating and degrading spectacle.  Watch how he breaks down after he says the words "I haven't told the truth....".

By now, this major US story has become a global spectacle and the press conference is packed and the atmosphere frenzied.  It's carried on all the news networks.

Mr Weiner still tries to cling on to his seat, and when the controversy refuses to die down, he announces he is seeking treatment.  Given that the central issue in this story is that he has not been telling the truth, it is not clear what he is to be treated for.

There are multiple calls for his resignation, but then finally the President is asked in a press conference if he thinks Mr Weiner should resign and Mr Obama says if he were him, he would.  Mr Weiner resigns and gives another press conference (he appears by now to be addicted to press conferences).

Here is a good timeline  of the crisis for the Congressman (warning: contains image and material of an adult nature).

There has been much nonsense written about the quality of the PR advice Mr Weiner was given.

 Here is my summary.

1.  It's a fundamental rule when you are in trouble that you must be open and tell the truth.  That way, you might survive, and people might accept you've made a mistake but still trust you.

2.  If you don't tell the truth, you are entirely to blame for the consequences.  Not your advisers.

3.  Failure to tell the truth changes any issue to one of your integrity and that is potentially fatal to your reputation.

4.  Think very carefully about whether you should give a press conference if you are likely to be questioned about phone sex, your genitals, or people in the audience are likely to shout out insults of a sexual nature at you.   Keep your dignity.   Can you imagine preparing your client for questions about his underwear and what's underneath it?   It should make alarm bells ring very loudly.

5.  The public on the whole are generous when you make a mistake, if you apologise and tell them what you are going to do to put it right.   That generosity evaporates when they realise they are not being told the truth.

The saga has been a gift to American comedians.  My favourite line was this from a comedian in New York (sadly I can't find the clip): "Have you seen the Weiner pictures.  Oh!....  Oh!.... (think of the way Joan Rivers says Oh!... to get the picture).  I want a man like that running my city."

Finally, Mr Weiner made some terrible mistakes and he has paid a heavy price.  But he eventually did the right thing.  His wife appears to be standing by him.  She is an extraordinarily generous and loving person.   I wish him well.


(Posted from Mumbai, India)

Quotable quotes from Click 5.0

There were so many great quotes at the Click 5.0 Summit in Dubai this week, I couldn't write them down quick enough.

Probably my favourite - "Twitter is not a strategy, it's a tactic" (When your client tells you he wants to be on Twitter, the first question is why?) - Meredith Tugan, Head of Digital, Action Global Communications Group, UAE (video from Meredith being posted later).

"Not everything can be responded to in 140 characters, sometimes it's better to pick up the phone"  - Ashish Panjabi, COO of Jacky's Electronics, UAE.  Ashish said that if a customer tweets they are unhappy, it's a good idea to talk to them if you can, not tweet back!  That way you can achieve excellent customer service.  Customer are often shocked you respond that quickly (that was a common theme at Click 5.0).

Another Ashish pearl: "Don't go around saying you're the best. Let your actions talk to the customer, and show them."

"Only 1 per cent of people in Iraq are online, but they may be the 1 per cent you want to reach" - Mike Evans, Head of Marketing, flydubai, UAE.  flydubai started 3 1/2 years ago with two aircraft and two routes.  Then they went shopping and bought another 50 planes.  (Do you think Boeing ever do Buy One Get One Free promotions?)  So they have a lot of routes now.  But they are a low cost airline and they keep every cost down and they want results from all their marketing spend.  flydubai is an amazing success story and an airline, like Emirates, to watch.

And finally a quote attributed to William Arthur Wood:

"Before you speak, listen.  Before you write, think.  Before you invest, investigate."

Don't miss Click 5.0 in Cairo, details to be announced soon.




(Posted from Mumbai, India).

PS: The Times of India reports today that a man from Kerala needed some cash to buy a drink - so he sold his wife for 250 GBP.  He's been arrested.   It doesn't say what happened to his poor wife, or whether he bought a drink before he was arrested.

Analyse your CEO

At Click 5.0, the Middle East's leading annual digital marketing event, the opening keynote was given by Yasser Al Kharobi from Saudi Arabia.  Yasser was a wise choice to open - he's a guru on social media in the MENA (Middle East &North Africa) region and has got the habit of pulling amazing statistics out that dispel your preconceptions.

This time he took on the big challenge people face, not just in MENA.  How do you persuade your CEO, who may be in the older age group and not a social media or even internet user, to invest in social media?

The best way to approach this, says Yasser, is to look carefully at your CEO's background to work out what is going to persuade him or her best.  In other words, analyse them!

Here's Yasser's CEO "types":

1.  Strong marketing background.  Welcomes new ideas. Charisma. Great leader.  You're on to a winner here.

2.  Financial background. May have previously been CFO.  Numbers driven.  Believes marketing is a support function and any new ideas must be driven by evidence of ROI.

3.  Background in logistics.  May have been COO or Head of IT.   Priority is financial and risk management.  Tough leader.  Wants IT department to lead digital activity.

4.  Company veteran.  Long server.  Came from lower ranks.  Can be quite insulated, especially to new ideas.   Historically driven and doesn't see need to change what is already working.

5.  Product driven.  Great products don't really need much marketing.  Relies on in house marketing and suspicious of external advice.

6.  CEO with no power to make decisions.  Nervous and constantly seeking and needing approval of board or Chairman.

What are some of the views CEOs hold about social media?  It's a fad.  I am too old for this.  I have no idea what you are talking about.  We don't need it, we have a website.  We are B2B and too boring for social media!    Its an issue for the IT department, not me.  The printed media has always worked for us, why change?  Our customers don't use social media (common view in luxury upscale brands), the traditional media is what is important, we don't socially relate to our customers offline, why do it online? We have nothing to say!

Yasser's prescription is to study what will be persuasive for your type of CEO.  But never over promise. Don't try to make your CEO LIKE social media or go "wow".  It's not going to happen.  Give your CEO solid data.  Give examples of what your competitors are doing successfully especially if it is making them money.  Above all, offer to start small and show them what you can do.

And you could also show them the Old Spice campaign or even the sneezing panda on You Tube (over one hundred MILLION views!)

(Posted from Dubai, United Arab Emirates)