Articles published in June, 2010

1. All Whites get media communications spot on

   Published on Friday, June 25th, 2010
   The All Whites, and football, have won more than the hearts and minds of the public with their greater than expected performances at the World Cup.

   They have also won the admiration of the media for the way players, the coaching staff and top officials have readily made themselves available for interviews – regardless of the difficulties created by the time difference between South Africa and New Zealand.

   In our prime news time of 6am to 8am this morning, some two to four hours after they had failed by the narrowest of margins to ‘achieve the impossible dream’ and when emotional and physical exertion would have been taking its toll on body and mind, they repeatedly fronted, answering the same set of questions with enthusiasm and a fair degree of articulation as every news outlet sort their views.

   It capped an impressive media performance they have maintained throughout the tournament.

   The media loved it, and was not slow to compare the difference between the All Whites and the attitude of the ‘other two’ football codes.

   It is a timely reminder to all sports (and to business) of the importance of the media to them, and the promotional power generated by good media coverage.

   In the space of a few weeks we have learnt, and can recall, the names of the All Whites with the same ease as we can the nation’s top rugby and league players, and the beautiful game has moved from the wings to centre stage.

   If on a regular basis football received the same level of coverage as the other football codes, it’s possible it too might not be as media friendly.

   However, let’s not allow scepticism to tarnish a media performance that ranks alongside their playing performance.

   Well done the All Whites, you got your communications spot on.

   Posted in PR Matters

2. Never mind the lost productivity. It’s a rich educational experience

   Published on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
   There have been many calculations of the lost productivity arising from the Football World Cup from tiredness due to late night games and time spent on the internet chasing match reports.

   Aside from the drama of the games, I believe the educational and cultural insights to be gained from the Event far outweigh the potential downturn in personal and collective productivity.

   Take, for example, the editorial in a French newspaper on the ignominy faced by their national team.  The sheer prose:   “To have the worst soccer team at the World Cup was almost unbearable. To also have the most stupid is intolerable.”

   This is Churchillian stuff.

   Politics and sport must mix.  How otherwise could we gauge the depths of misery being plumbed in France. 

   After the team’s boycott of practice, and only hours before their game with South Africa,  the French Sports Minister, acting on the instruction of her President, rebuked the players and told them:  “The government has to intervene as the reputation of France is at stake in this case”.

   There are lessons here for Murray McCully and John Key, that should have been applied to Andy Haden.

   But there is more.  While Phil Goff assesses Chris Carter’s sincerity as he presses ahead with a letterbox drop in his constituency of Te Atatu,  the French opposition, are laying responsibility for the players’ behaviour at the feet of President Sarkozy, whom they call the president of Bling Bling for his flashy style.  

   “It’s all about individualism, egotism, everyone for themselves, and the only way to judge human success is the cheque you get at the end of the month.”

   Only sport and war deliver such passion.  Let’s enjoy the rest of the World Cup. And go the All Whites.

   Posted in PR Matters

3. All associated with the BP oil spill are acting incomprehensibly

   Published on Friday, June 18th, 2010
   From a communication perspective, it’s impossible to make sense of what is taking place with the BP oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico.

   The BBC describes the issue as a ‘PR disaster’ for BP while international financial analysts talk about it undermining the competitive advantage of the world’s 5th largest company ‘into the foreseeable future’.

   It’s inconceivable that BP is not employing the best PR professionals in the business, so why on a daily basis are they staggering from one communications blunder to another? Why is there no belief BP has answers? Why the apparent indifference to its corporate reputation?

   For all his ‘tough talk’, President Obama is struggling. Political commentators from the left, middle and right are calling his performance inadequate and lacking leadership.

   Even American media is questioning why the American administration is not putting its national resources into working alongside BP to minimise the damage being done to people’s lives and the environment; why an administration that poured unlimited money into the American banking system during the financial meltdown is now insisting that it’s ‘BP’s problem to fix’.

   Perhaps it’s all about money. Remember, while Exxon was ordered to pay billions in compensation for the Exxon Valdez spill, American courts eventually capped the payout to $500,000 because ‘it was an accident’.

   Could it be that BP is gaming the US administration, with the lawyers running a strategy based around taking the heat on corporate reputation in the short term while preparing for the inevitable 15 to 20 years of litigation in the American courts as claimants try to get their hands on the $20 billion in the compensation fund.

   Given BP’s actions to date, it certainly hard to believe it’s the communications people that are in charge of strategy.
    
   As for President Obama, he may well be the ultimate loser if this adds to the belief that he is a talker rather than doer.

   Postscript. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is not the world’s largest – not yet anyway. That dubious honour is vied for by the 1910 Lakeview Gusher (USA) and the 1991 Gulf War. To take the number one spot the BP spill needs to eclipse 9 to 11 billion barrels.

   Posted in Brand, Crisis Communications, Politics, PR Matters

4. Can Social Media Turn the Tide for the Obama Administration?

   Published on Thursday, June 17th, 2010
   Ariana Huffington, Editor in Chief and Co-Founder of the self-named Huffington Post, wrote an interesting piece last week on how the US government is looking to develop social media channels to enable the public to be more closely involved in the decision-making processes of government. 

   Possibly it’s part of the Obama Adminstration’ s move to address concerns that Pres. Obama is not hearing what the people want. But it is also a sign of their very real understanding of the need to integrate modern communication mechanisms into the traditional communications mix.  
    
   The Obama administration’s appointment of the first ever Chief Information Officer demonstrates its awareness that this space should be developed, managed and protected, just as any other major piece of the nations infrastructure needs to be handled. So perhaps this next move will in fact highlight some of the underlying traps that businesses currently face.

   Presumably with access to the best tech brains in the US to help refine and fashion social media as an effective communication channel, the outcomes should be very interesting.
    
   While the premise of public input into law making via the news channels is  refreshing, almost inevitably there is a high risk of issues being captured by lobby groups who may use such  anonymous forums as a way of promoting their version of what  real Jo Public thinks  – which may not be correct. On the other hand, any such attempts at manipulation may be so obvious as to not be an issue, and the forum will prove to be a more modern means of truly allowing public participation in government. 
    
   Delivery of, and access to information through technology is an area that potentially requires a whole new set of guidelines, regulations and laws. Undoubtedly they will come and offset the wild-west dimension to what some people continue say and do in the new media. Examples abound of rogue sites, blogs and facebook postings. Here’s hoping that an initiative by a really tech savvy government will create some outcomes that will prove beneficial for the rest of the world.

   Posted in Media landscape, Politics, PR Matters, Social Media, Technology

5. Probing whether the media is observer or creator

   Published on Thursday, June 10th, 2010
   A question those of us involved in communication often debate is whether the media reports news, or creates it. It’s one of those circular discussions, as we all have countless examples we can table that support our point of view.

   I was intrigued therefore when a report from Media Monitors* crossed my desk which sought to answer the question “what role the media played in creating or reinforcing” views around the global financial crisis.

   While the report drew no clear cut conclusion, what it did demonstrate was that media in different countries throughout the Asia/Pacific media put a different emphasis on the crisis during the critical months of April to August 2009.

   For example:

   • In New Zealand, 25% of our coverage focused on ‘excessive greed’ in proportioning blame for the crisis, compared to 5 percent for the Asia/Pacific region.

   • The Region saw the blame lying squarely at the feet of ‘weak regulations’ (close to 30 percent) whereas we rated it in second place, with 18%.

   • When focusing on the main indicator showing that the economic downturn was continuing, our measure was GDP (26%). The Region focused on exports (30%).

   • When looking for signs of recovery, our coverage focused on retail sales (18%), the Region on economic growth (22%).

   • Our media was the only one to that saw rebalancing the global economy as the main future challenge, whereas across the Region the main future challenge was seen as unemployment.

   My conclusion was that the report clearly shows that nationally the media collectively forms a view, and that its coverage then focuses on aspects that it believes are the most relevant.

   It would have been interesting if a parallel piece of research had run at the same time to measure whether the public bought into the media’s views, or held different opinions.

   Armed with that we would have been able to get closer to answering the question as to whether the media reports, or creates news.

   *The Global Financial Crisis Report, Media Monitors, v5, January 2010

   Posted in Journalism, Media landscape, PR Matters