Articles published in May, 2011

1. Success Never Comes Easy

   Published on Monday, May 30th, 2011
   Many have a rather jaundiced view of industry awards, seeing them as no more than self congratulatory back slapping.

   My personal view is rather different.

   Having been in the PR industry for most of my working life, I know just how fiercely competitive and hard it is to win PR awards in New Zealand.

   At first hand I’ve experienced situations where work we have done has won international acclaim, but it has failed to impress New Zealand judges. I’ve always taken that verdict as a reflection of the high calibre of PR work produced here.

   It therefore gave me great pleasure when our name was called out four times at Friday’s 2011 PR Awards function in Rotorua.

   There is a real sense of satisfaction in having your peers and competitors judge and acknowledge the quality of your work.

   As I’ve said on more than one occasion, ‘when you get great clients working with great PR people, then you’re not surprised when you get great outcomes’.

   For the record, our successes were

   • ChildFund New Zealand, Spinning a Yarn – promoting Gifts That Grow

   Marketing category, Clare England and Megan Green

   • National Heart Foundation, HeartSAFE – Reducing New Zealanders’ Sodium Footprint

   Not for Profit category, Emma Davidson and Donnell Alexander

   • New Zealand Blood Service, Celebrating World Blood Donor Day 2007-2010

   Sustained category, Paul Hayes, Megan Green

   • The Hyperfactory, Strategic sale of the business to the USA

   Corporate category, Clare England

   Posted in PR Matters

2. Where do some of the big issues sit on your Relevance Index?

   Published on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
   Even without realising it, relevance dominates our thinking every day.  The more relevant the communication, the more likely we are to first become engaged and then respond.

   My personal Relevance Index (RI) is based around

   • Do I have a choice in the matter? Who ignores an IRD letter or one from the Ministry of Transport? 

   • Is it something I need or want? Not always in that order either.

   • Is there something in it for me?

   • Should I be paying attention to this? Which is influenced by my values, beliefs and ‘norms’.

   Human nature means there are also a mass of confounding factors that influence where something sits on the RI , and some are ranked well outside what common sense suggests. 

   Look at Princess Beatrice’s wedding hat which offers no benefit other than entertainment, but there it was again on the morning news and featuring in today’s Herald cartoon. 

   Given the host of different demands on our relatively short attention spans, the ability to establish relevance is one of our greatest challenges. For example, for those of us who don’t live in Canterbury, how long will the rebuild be top of mind. 

   As we go about our lives we should make a conscious effort to ensure some of the big issues facing the nation (such as child abuse or the fair sharing of the pain caused by the global financial crisis) make it on to our RI.

   And if we are in the business of communicating we should take every opportunity to put the big issues up the rankings – just as I have done here.

   Posted in Brand, PR Matters

3. Let’s not allow the Grinch to steal our Rugby World Cup (RWC)

   Published on Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
   You’ve got to agree – we can occasionally be a bunch of whingers and whiners.  When something amazing happens there are always those who will find fault and plenty more who will then jump on that particular band wagon. 

   I have a feeling the RWC will go that way too. But does it need to be that way? How can we reap the most benefit from this event? Certainly not by criticising and complaining about every misstep or perceived “issue” that the public probably didn’t really need to know about.     

   Putting aside the actual games, there could be plenty of negatives to highlight if we go looking, and are that way inclined – crowd control disasters, ticket collection nightmares, bully boy RWC officials clamping down on people breaking the major event legislation, shocking service by international standards or maybe even visitors’ bawdy behaviour, bad weather and of course sub-standard stadium facilities. All of this will be played out to a contingent of international visitors, including media, who will then share these stories throughout the world.  Not to mention ear bashing those of us to listen to local news. 

   So right here right now I propose we put a ban on being unnecessarily negative about the RWC.  Unless there is very good reason to raise potential issues, we should leave the criticism alone and focus on the good stuff. If you share my view then share these thoughts with others and put the brakes on the negativity. 

   My advice to the doom-sayers is to think of the Cup as being a bit like Christmas! Love it or hate it, the 25th of December will always be Christmas day and for many it is the happiest day of the year. If you’re a knocker, keep your bar-humbugs to yourself. 

   So, let’s approach RWC as a great opportunity to celebrate and enjoy one of the many things we are passionate about in New Zealand.

   Posted in Media landscape, PR Matters

4. Something to tweet about

   Published on Monday, May 2nd, 2011
   We are told that the level of digital traffic around the Royal wedding last Friday surpassed that of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the uprising in Egypt.

   According to the trackers of such trends, the greatest volume of activity came from the monarch-starved USA.

   Between all this buzz and the much argued global television audience figure of two billion viewers, there is clearly still an appetite for a fairy tale in this cruel and cynical world.

   This is no bad thing, as it reinforces for us all that while one week we can argue over the merits of giving Easter, fundamentally a religious–based feast, a more commercial edge, we can wile way several hours watching the pomp and splendour of a Royal wedding. Proving, I think, that even the toughest nuts have a soft centre.

   Since Friday, I often heard it said that more than anything else, William and Kate gave us respite in what have been some tough times. Hopefully the upcoming rugby world cup can give us all another infusion of good cheer and tweeting on the back of a fairy tale outcome.

   Posted in PR Matters