PR Conversations

It seems that, during his first year in office, President Obama is progressively losing control of his narrative.

It also seems that Italy’s Berlusconi is, instead, holding on to his narrative with success.

Is the ‘cuckoo’ public relations model more effective than the ‘social media’ public relations one?

Last Sunday two very different articles from the New York Times made me think about this issue and attempt to suggest a rational (if at all possible..) explanation. (more…)

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This week, five francophone public radio journalists (one Belgian, one Canadian, one Swiss and two French) are evaluating new media. Isolated in a cabin in a rural region of France, they have vowed to consult only Twitter and Facebook the entire week. The point of the exercise is to evaluate how well these two media reflect what is actually going on in the world.  The journalists are reporting back to the five participating radio stations throughout the week and are keeping a blog.

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Public administrations have a reputation for inertia, so it’s always refreshing to see innovative counterexamples. The French Office national d’information sur les enseignements et les professions (ONISEP) is tasked by the Ministry of Education to help students, parents and educators to learn about existing professions and various opportunities for training or further studies. ONISEP has been making a number of changes to increase their appeal to a generation of students for whom connectivity is a natural state. This is a great example of knowing your publics and adapting to their needs.

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This morning’s edition of the New York Times carries on it’s front page an enligthening article by Alissa Rubin on the Taliban’s public relations campaign in Afhganistan, casting a well informed and brilliantly reported portrait of how the Taliban’s are increasing in their effort to gain the support of the people.
In reading the description of the policy paper (code of conduct) and particularly in the sentence ‘Creating a code of behavior is one thing, enforcing it another’, I was instantly reminded by how many times we public relators involved with professional associations around the world have echoed a similar thought.
Very interesting and excellent food for thought.

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The story concerning the man who joked on Twitter and subsequently found himself under arrest caught my eye yesterday, particularly after the story a couple of months ago involving the US police officer who ordered a showbiz agent to send a tweet.

This latest incident highlighted the consequences of microblogging - not to the masses, but to a modest group of followers. More importantly, it raises many questions regarding free speech. In the case of the Doncaster tweeter, someone on Twitter apparently alerted the ‘authorities’ who turned up on his doorstep, presented him with a print out of his tweet and hauled him in for questioning.

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My good friend Warren Feek, from the Communication Initiative, has sent the following message…very relevant in general, but even more specifically for our professional community. Please read and, where possible, participate. Thank you.

Dear Drum Beat network participant,

On behalf of all connected with The Communication Initiative network, we wish to express our support for and solidarity with the people of Haiti as they struggle to overcome this massive disaster.

We have received some requests, and need your help. We also want to provide some connections for people and organisations hoping to relate to organisations in Haiti - when communications become possible. Plus, we all know from previous times like this that spaces to communicate, debate, and struggle with the meaning and implications of are vitally important. Consequently, we have created these spaces through The CI and include links to these spaces here below. (more…)

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Guest post by Olivier Cimelière, Vice President Corporate Communications, Ericsson France

The boom in blogging has precipitated a radical change in external communications techniques deployed by corporations and institutions. Companies are having to switch from a conventional and comfortable “top-down” model to incorporate “bottom-up” contributions from individuals who are able to openly question, criticise and contradict their views. And then there are the social networks that allow information to spread like wildfire before companies even have the time to issue a classic defensive Q&A. Faced with the challenges posed by blogs and social networks, should communications professionals adopt a bunker mentality, or seize the opportunity to engage with their target audiences?

In France, Ericsson has taken the proactive step of opening channels of communication with its various different target audiences. Since June 2009, the French subsidiary of the world’s leading supplier of telecommunications and multimedia equipment and services has provided interactive content encompassing company news as well as statements on issues like sustainable development, human rights, and its commitment to bringing broadband communications to communities irrespective of their location.
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Read the paper? Nah - that’s old news. Watched the broadcast? No need, we were there when it happened. Tracked Twitter trends to spot what’s unfolding? Didn’t bother, we saw it coming because we know and work directly with the community. How did you tell people? We operated a Living Story.

If 2010 sees the battle for power and influence rage between old media - with the charge led by Rupert Murdoch - and the web (defence by Google?) then the other battle we, as practitioners, are likely to be deeply involved in, is the battle for ‘real-time’ relationships on the real-time web.

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You might have read these last few days of the serious social crisis developed in the southern Italian city of Rosarno in the region of Calabria, where an exasperated local community took to the streets and violently attacked the growing community of African migrants (may of whom illegal, so to say..) and leaving many wounded.

The Government decided to send additional police to bring the situation under control. (more…)

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 Co-authored with Mike Klein

In the later part of the year that ends today, much attention has been paid to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. But another wall seems to have been definitively torn down this year with much less brouhaha: the distinctions between social, political, commercial and employee communication. The Public Relations model of defensive “representation” is thus beginning to give way to the political campaign model of proactive “mobilization”. Whether this will be obvious today or worth celebrating tomorrow is anyone’s guess, but that makes it no less true.

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