Articles published in February, 2010

1. Has our media diet become unhealthy or are we being fed what we are asking for?

   Published on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

   Is there a disturbing trend towards tabloid style news items taking precedence over the real news?  Just a few weeks ago the possibility that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had broken up was in our six pm news bulletins.  Don’t get me wrong I have been known to read the odd gossip magazine but a good diet is all about balance, variety and moderation. 

   Dee Dee Myers’ piece in Vanity Fair discusses trivialisation of news as she examines the Tiger Woods story.

   The entire country stops for Tiger yet when President Obama makes more important announcements the country barely pauses for breath. Her article concludes with the fact that finally the National Enquirer has been deemed eligible for a Pulitzer Prize. Now that is real news.

   The Tiger Woods saga highlights the potential crisis we are facing in the world of news – that of tabloid style stories stopping the real news stories taking center stage. Rosemary McLeod’s column in the Sunday Star Times was right on the money.   

   Today’s Toyota story relating to their faulty vehicle accelerators is as important as the collapse of Enron, yet was second or third in the morning news items.  The bigger story was a claim that Air New Zealand has a culture of excess drinking despite facts to the contrary being communicated clearly by their CEO. (Declaration of interest here, we do provide PR support to Air New Zealand.)

   Given Tiger’s speech and Robin Brooke’s Close Up interview, is Performance Media a new art form?  For audiences this is something we can watch and critique more easily than substantive news? In Tiger’s case we seem entirely focused on how he, and his team, is handling this crisis and how genuine the apology is.  All know his speech was scripted, rehearsed and stage managed. 

   If the media and public know this, then who is to blame – why did the media cover it?  For the simple reason they knew they could get an audience because it is just the sort of thing we love to watch.  In today’s commercially competitive environment what will sell is what will make the news.

   How can we make sure our media diet is balanced without it being so boring we simply gorge on junk or become undernourished and miss out on essential news and information that could be more relevant to our lives?

   

   Posted in Brand, Journalism, Media landscape, PR Matters

2. Plenty for the Commerce Commission in the holiday homes market

   Published on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

   Last week the Commerce Commission issued a “warning” to the bookshop chain, Borders, over a misleading voucher scheme which the retailer promoted before Christmas.

   This promotion offered $20 in vouchers for every $75 spent at Borders until Christmas.  In the small print, however, it was specified that the customer could redeem one $10 voucher in January and the second $10 voucher in February. The Commission received complaints from consumers saying they felt mislead, and the Commission agreed.

   After another Christmas holiday experience, perhaps the Commission could turn its attention to the rental market for holiday homes.

   Do you expect a road in front of your Northland cottage, when the promotional site declares “absolute beach front”, and it is clear that all the photos studiously avoid showing the road?  Do you expect the advertised “Sky TV” in your Napier pad to be restricted to the sports channels only? 

   And then, there is the $460-a-night Waikehe property… Do you expect access to this non drive-on property, which you’ve been told is a “short 25 metre walk” to the beach, to in fact be 151 metres from the very closest carpark on the street?!  And do you expect this same premier rental to require cleaning, and for the charcoal barbecue to have only one fixed wheel and no charcoal?  If you are interested in this property, we suggest you contact Waiheke Unlimited which promotes itself as the only personalised specialists in self-catered holiday accommodation on Waiheke.

   Yes, there is plenty that could occupy the Commerce Commission in this sector, which is crying out for an independent evaluation and assessment vehicle in order to protect our reputation as a tourism destination. When it comes to holiday home rentals, there is too frequently a gap between the blurb and the reality. And of course, prices of these homes well exceed the value of the Borders voucher.

   

   Posted in Economy, PR Matters, Trends

3. Government showing deft communication touch

   Published on Friday, February 12th, 2010

   The Government’s handling of the tax changes to be announced in the May budget show a masterly understanding of managing long term communications.

   Delegate the task of putting forward ideas to a third party (a commission) and then immediately reject the most controversial (phew, it’s not going to be as bad as it could be!); talk up some of the remaining unpalatable ideas, and then in the first formal statement of the year reject them too (saved again!).

   Now we have a pretty clear understanding of what will be in the budget some three months in advance, even if we don’t have the detail. By the time the announcements are made in May all the best emotional and rational condemnations from opponents will be out in the public domain, and Government can fine tune its final decisions to ease back on those that will upset us most.

   By the time the changes are finally introduced in October (10 months from raising the issue to their implementation) we will have mentally adjusted, and rather than outrage we will take them in our stride.

   It is good strategy, and the Government’s media managers are demonstrating a deft implementation touch.

   Cast your mind over some of the other contentious issues – mining in conservation reserves; fundamental economic reform to ‘catch up with Australia’ and even the national standards for primary schools have been on the agenda for months.

   When the going started to get tough over national standards, Key & Co showed their ability to up the game aggressively with a ministerial realignment, Key personally entering the confrontation, and outspoken challenges to the teacher’s union and boards of trustees.

   Labour will undoubtedly have the skills to win a few skirmishes as we move into the year, but they are going to need to be at the top of their game to outmanoeuvre National.

   

   Posted in Economy, Journalism, PR Matters, Politics

4. Annual Conferences, key communication events or commercial craftiness?

   Published on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

   Annual industry conferences are key communications events for most sectors. The opportunity to hear directly from people who have particular insight or influence in your sector is a particular draw-card for delegates and sector commentators alike.  With this in mind, a small story in The Press last Friday bears some reflection.

   Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee elected not to be the keynote speaker at the Power & Electricity World summit, an annual industry conference, albeit organised by a commercial conference operator.

   Brownlee said that with major reforms going through the select committee process, he did not want to be forming any positions. While there may be a sinter of truth in the Minister’s explanation, the parliamentary process hasn’t stopped the minister boxing Meridian’s ears several times over its comments on the proposed reform, including in his op-ed piece in yesterday’s edition of the Otago Daily Times.

   As if to bolster his reasons for not speaking at the conference, the Minister also complained of the registration cost and commercial nature of the conference to which he was invited, as well as claiming he was being used to promote it, as “part of their product”.

   Mixed messages, indeed, from our Minister of Energy.  A reluctance to engage in debate while the reforms are before the select committee is not unreasonable.  But why then take to Meridian via the media on the same reforms?  Ministers will often specify entirely valid no-go areas when speaking at events, but it does not preclude an appearance.

   While the Minister may now be reticent about involvement in “commercial” conferences, what was his disposition when National was seeking to extricate itself from the Opposition benches? As I recall, any forum was a good one for National MPs, commercially-based or otherwise. 

   The realities are: Ministers are expected to deliver speeches almost anytime-anywhere, and although we may bridle against them, commercial conference arrangements are a reality for most industry sectors, largely due to the organisational and associated costs such as venues, catering and speakers’ travel.

   Politicians use these forums when it suits them, and it is a bit rich to be railing against such conferences once comfortably seated in a ministerial chair.

   

   Posted in Crisis Communications, Media landscape, PR Matters, Politics