What PRs can learn from the US Super Bowl final….

Earlier this month America was taken over by the frenzy of the Super Bowl final -  the biggest annual sporting media event. With the final attracting more than 100 million viewers every year, it was no surprise that brands were fighting for every chance to get media exposure during the event. However, paying $4 million for a 30 second TV ad is a luxury that very few brands can afford. As brands were fighting for the attention of the Super Bowl fans, many companies turned to social media to tap into the huge potential of the event.

According to CocaCola’s marketing team  more than 60% of the Super Bowl viewers were expected to have a smartphone, tablet or laptop device nearby, while watching the game. Not surprisingly, brands were quick to respond with engaging social media campaigns that enabled users to interact during the game. CocaCola’s TV ads for example directed viewers to CokePolarBear.com, where people could watch two Polar Bears supporting different teams. The popular ad characters were also tweeting during the game, voicing their comments and sharing their experiences from the Super Bowl final.  Similarly, Chevrolet launched a free mobile app that allowed users to interact and answer trivia questions related to the game, giving them the chance to win a car and other prizes that were given away during the show.

The creative use of social media during the event didn’t stop there. The hosts of the Super Bowl event in Indianapolis created the first Super Bowl social media command centre that allowed staff to monitor social media activity around the event and proactively offer assistance to visitors at the stadium. What’s even more interesting is that the organisers used cutting edge search tools and analytics to detect potential customer issues based on specific key terms and requirements. So, for example, if a visitor is complaining on Twitter that he cannot find a parking space, the analytic tools will detect the issue and will alert the social media command centre prompting the team to provide personalised guidance and advise.

As social networks are changing the viewing habits of audiences, brands have plenty of opportunities to engage with their customers in a new and proactive way. The strong integration between social media networks, traditional media platforms and hand-held devices is heralding an era of interactive multimedia experiences. This, coupled with advanced analytics of users behaviour, can offer huge opportunities for marketers and advertisers to engage with their audiences in a more personalised and creative way. However, with social networking websites increasingly looking to feature ‘sponsored stories’ based on users’ interests, the line between social networking and brand engagement will be increasingly blurred.

PRs can use this opportunity to start meaningful conversations with their audiences. However, this communication has to be centred around the needs of the consumer rather than on commercial interests. Putting consumers first is the key to building a good relationship with the brand. And in the long run this is the only relationship that matters….

#McDStories – stop the #hype!

I have recently become a vocal defender of McDonald’s which is rather unexpected.  A couple of weeks ago, as you may have heard, they started part of a campaign with the sponsored hash tag #McDStories.  Their idea being a way to share their growers’ stories.  For those who have somehow missed this story: the tag was quickly jumped upon to share negative McDonald’s experiences.

So campaign going wrong, what did McDonald’s do? Within two hours they pulled the campaign, they also quickly rolled out their social media director Rick Wion to explain and comment to interested media.  His quotes are down to earth and reasonable. The campaign refocused on another hash tag they were working on #meetthefarmers.   The result?  McDonalds claims only 2% of the tweets were actually negative and it didn’t even make it into the top ten trending topics.

So what went wrong? 1.0 media met 2.0 social media.  And apparently 1.0 doesn’t understand 2.0. So ensued a coverage storm way bigger than the initial story one could argue.  A central principle of social media is opening up to ALL conversations – you have too – not just the version the brand wishes to broadcast.  Accepting you are not perfect and listening to your detractors is all part and parcel of this new world.  You are not going to like everything they say but at least you can listen and learn.  And your wider audience will respect you for it if you do this well.

Now, don’t get me wrong, no-one plans for a campaign to go wrong but if McDonalds did not instigate a campaign with any potential for negativity (given the size of this brand, not everyone will be a fan), the reality is they would either have to quit social media (to jeers of ‘Dinosaur’ no doubt) or reel out campaigns so orchestrated and non conversational (you know who you are some of you juggernaut brands) that they defy the very game changing opportunity that social media has bought.

The real shame is the #fail bandwagon some of the so called social media experts jumped onto.  Trending topics give rise for opportunities for self promotion.  The McDonalds bashing that ensued underlined the lack of understanding of a central social media principle.  And to add to this most detractors had nothing to offer regarding a fail safe system that would have prevented this – because there isn’t one.

Nobody truly active in social media is invulnerable to a failure like this is the real bottom line to this one. The higher the profile the brand the more likely it is to happen.  McDonalds did pretty much everything right.  It had no lasting effect on its sales, share price or brand – seriously, who’s not heard all these stories before – and if you don’t like the food, you don’t like the brand anyway so no loss there either.  What this example really shows us is to be prepared for the media and social media storm that follows the initial mistake.  Until the world view catches up with 2.0 that is.

The PR Internship Debate

Here at onechocolate we believe that interns are a valuable commodity and they should be paid and treated fairly. Most of us have done our fair share of internships and I have to say that mine were an invaluable insight into the industry and helped me realise that PR was the career for me. I was always treated fairly (though not always paid) and since joining this agency I’ve loved our interns –they tell me this is reciprocated. They help us and we try our best to impart our pearls of wisdom whilst letting them experience what it’s like to be in a busy and bustling agency. PR is not always the glamorous ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ world portrayed in some TV sitcoms, and there is a lot of hard work which goes into the smooth running and maintaining momentum of campaigns and brand building. Granted, a lot of an intern’s work will be administrative but, if they show aptitude they are very often allowed more responsibility and help with anything from placing competitions and writing copy to product placement and talking to media. Obviously, interns do have to prove that their ability before being unleashed onto the big wide world of media first.

Sadly, there isn’t always the opportunity to offer interns a permanent job once they’ve finished, but it does help wannabe PR peeps get their foot on the job ladder by giving them experience and a taste of what it’s like. It’s not just that, they also build contacts (I still have some great ones from my time as an intern) and, more often than not, receive lots of help, advice and support for their next move. If you’re an intern reading this, don’t be despondent if you don’t get a permanent job after your first couple of internships, trying out a few different agencies will let you experience different types of PR, whether it’s consumer facing or B2B, and also shows your determination to potential employers (everyone knows now’s a tough time to get a job, anyway).

Whilst there are many fantastic internship programmes out there, what is disturbing is that some companies take advantage of interns, not only financially, but also by treating them poorly. Companies that do not pay their interns, and give them a poor learning experience, really ought to hang their heads in shame. It devalues the valuable contribution that interns can make and is also, potentially, illegal. It’s unfair to expect someone to work for months for free and it also means potential PR stars of the future are being priced out of the market or put off by the few companies that, quite frankly, aren’t behaving as they should. This, to us, is something that should never happen. In fact, we’ve signed the PRCA intern charter which means that we commit to paying our interns at least minimum wage – as we have always done – and we fully support the PR Week campaign launched in October of last year. There are quite a few agencies who have signed the charter and we hope very much that all companies across all industries come together to eradicate this practice.

Social Media: Friend or Foe to the Job Seeker?

From being caught out whilst pulling a ‘sickie’ to posting negative comments about your employer, there has been a plethora of example where social media use has proved to be detrimental to the career prospects of the social media savvy.

According to a recent survey by social media monitoring service Reppler, 90% of recruiters and hiring managers have visited a potential candidate’s profile on a social network as part of the screening process. Whilst many may put this down to natural curiosity, an alarming 69% of recruiters admit rejecting a candidate based on content found on his or her social networking profiles.

However, it’s not all bad news for the next generation of workers, that same survey found an equal proportion of recruiters (68%) have hired a candidate based on his or her presence on those networks.

Profiles on business social networks, such as LinkedIn and Xing for example, have a variety of tools that support the recruitment process from both sides of the table. However, it’s not just these professional sites that appear to be getting people into interview room.

A recent article from Mashable.com showed that approximately 18,400,000 Americans say that they have got their current through Facebook. This is in fact more than both Twitter and LinkedIn combined, with 8 million and 10.2 Americans, respectively, stating they have gotten their jobs through social platforms.

There are also other fantastic examples of the creative use of social media being used to grab the attention of potential employers, from social CVs to entire campaigns.

Whilst social media contains pitfalls for the potential job seeker, and potentially employers as well, it has also allowed people to break the pen and paper CV mould, fostered creativity and opened up global opportunities to the next generation of workers.

Unsure of whether your online persona matches your professional ambitions, check out this article on jobsearch.com for some helpful hints.

Google+ for Business: Exploring the Digital PR opportunities

Google+ now offers a social networking service for brands prompting  thousands of businesses to set up profiles. However, to optimise brand exposure, businesses need to understand what differentiates Google+ from its competitors and tap into its full potential.

Although it looks quite similar to Facebook, there are some features which really set Google+ apart. One of the greatest advantages of the new social networking service is its integration with Google Search. Google Search provides brands with exposure to a search base allowing access to reportedly 50% of global websites. Furthermore Google+ enables brands to streamline social media content easily across multiple platforms including Android, Google Chrome and YouTube. This could offer exciting opportunities to businesses to improve audience engagement and explore innovative ways to create and distribute marketing content.

To make its service more appealing to brands, Google+ launched its Direct Connect feature, which makes it simple for users to find and follow brands on Google+ by just typing a “+” sign in front of the name of the brand on Google Search. Another step towards strengthening the integration with Google’s search engine is the brand verification procedure at the initial registration stage. As Google+ permits the registration of multiple users with one brand name, it allows organisations to appear at the top of the search results by verifying their brand identity and linking their profiles to the company website.

As Google+ is looking to further integrate with the rest of Google’s products, the appearance of the website and its features are going to change. At the CrushIQ conference this week, Google’s spokespeople announced that they were planning to integrate Google+ with AdWords and enable multiple administrators to handle the brand pages on the website.

A further integration with products like Google Shopping and Places could open exciting opportunities for brands and advertisers to deliver micro targeted campaigns based on users’ interests, location and shopping habits. This has huge potential for brands. Furthermore they will be able to tap into Google+ features such as Circles and Hangouts to segment their Google+ followers and create targeted campaigns for engagement.

However, as social networking websites emerge almost on daily basis, a question is beckoning of how many social media profiles users can tolerate? With 40 million users worldwide Google+ is still far behind Facebook and Twitter in terms of popularity among brands and consumers.

To expand its reach, Google+ have to differentiate itself from its competitors and get the most of its integration with Google’s products to create an innovative, intelligent and pervasive social media product.