Posts Tagged ‘communicators’

1. Some French madness – surely?

   Published on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
   How can I be so naïve?  How could I have missed this, especially when I’ve read so many books about Stalin and his “ism”, as well as Nazism.

   I read in today’s Dominion Post (Telegraph Group report) that the Smurfs are racist!   Yes, none other than those little blue comic figures with the elf-ist hats.

   Apparently one Antoine Bueno, 33, sociologist and lecturer at the eminent Sciences Po political sciences school in Paris reckons the Smurfs represent an “archetype of totalitarian society imbued with Stalinism and Nazism”.

   Surely the lesson in this for those of us who are communicators, is that we must pay more attention to potentially obscure and hidden messages least we or our clients or organisations are found to be guilty of the same outrage.

   But perhaps there is another explanation: Monsieur Bueno spent too much time sitting in the sun or wind at Roland Garros over the past two weeks.  Or is it just another way of getting publicity for a recent book?

2. We express our deepest sympathy to the families and friends of the 29 men lost in the tragic Pike Mine disaster

   Published on Thursday, November 25th, 2010
   Along with all other elements of this tragedy, such as the cause of the explosion and the stalled rescue effort, communications will become a focus for examination and commentary. As fellow communications professionals we salute the efforts of those involved and acknowledge the many challenges, most of which would be unknown to the outside observer, faced in providing the communications “support” necessary in this awful situation.

   We have all heard the words “PR Spin” used in relation to the frequent briefings on the status of the planned rescue attempt, and know the scene commander came in for some heavy and very personal criticism. 

   Any organised attempt to communicate in such emotionally-charged circumstances is likely to come under fire. Also, communicators are an easy target when the messages fall short of what people want to hear. We’ve personally worked with some of the communications advisers involved in this crisis. They are senior professionals who we respect for the job they and their teams did. Most have previous and unfortunately extensive experience in dealing with tragedies that have also involved loss of lives.

   Surely there will be things that could have been done better (they will be their own greatest critics), but as the people behind the scenes, their efforts at Pike River have set a bench mark for best practice communications in New Zealand.

   Superintendent Gary Knowles, as the conduit for a plethora of technical perspectives, many of which he would have been unfamiliar with, did a fine job in a situation where he could never meet all of the expectations of the diverse audiences he was talking to. Far more than a country cop, he had the job no-one would ever choose to do and he did it as well as one could ever expect.     

   As for Pike River CEO Peter Whittall, he was an outstanding spokesperson. We will remember his clarity, calmness and staunch presence for many years to come. 

   All communicators should embrace any lesson they can from this difficult and ultimately devastating operation.

3. Rewriting the crisis management template

   Published on Friday, April 30th, 2010
   Corporations not convinced of the role that social media can play in crisis or issues management communication need only study its role during the recent Iceland volcanic eruption to change their position totally.

   As you read this, the template for managing a crisis is being rewritten.

   In the recent airline crisis, experienced as a result of the Icelandic volcano eruption, twitter proved itself a frontline communication tool, sitting alongside the more traditional first responses such as call centres, hotlines and websites.

   According to Mashable, The Social Media Guide, the use of twitter during the crisis started as a self help tool among stranded travellers.

   Also immediately, airline communicators picked up on what was happening, and started to update flight status and provide service information on twitter through hashtags (devices for tracking specific topics). This initiative alone was credited with taking a significant level of pressure off call centres that were close to being overwhelmed.

   The more innovative airlines extended their initiatives down into their Facebook pages, providing general information and also engaging in one-on-one real-time conversations with customers, including seeking to re-book stranded passengers on alternative flights.

   Meanwhile, back on twitter the public started to lend a hand to stranded travellers – offering rides, places to stay and food.

   If you want a more detailed overview of social media’s role in the crisis please click here.

   The key learning to emerge from this for those involved in crisis management is the need to include in the management plan an important role for social media.

   A significant proportion of the public instinctively look to twitter and Facebook for information, and as communicators we need to reach out to our audiences, rather than require them to come to us.

4. Corporate communications fact number one – perception is reality

   Published on Friday, August 28th, 2009
   You can’t change reality with facts even if your facts are more pertinent than the other persons.  To their own detriment too many people have ignored public opinion on the basis that it’s just plain wrong thinking, and all that’s required is to state the facts. I am not talking about the smacking law – that ship has sailed and can be visited in another blog another day.  
    
   I am talking about consumers relationships and experiences with products and brands, and how changes imposed on the consumer by companies need to be thought through carefully.  Now you’re with me – Cadbury of course took a wee while to realise this, but they did eventually acknowledge the error of their ways and reverted to their original recipe.  But only when they recognised the power of public opinion. 

   Never mind the results of any blind taste testing or solid reasons of corporate social responsibility, people genuinely believed the new palm oil-containing product tasted inferior to the original recipe.

   But now that the heat is off, I wonder if people are complaining about the taste of the very same chocolate still available in supermarkets at a discount as we wait for the new original stock to arrive. And now the campaign is over I dare anyone to swap the packaging at home and see if anyone notices the difference.

   Recently I have been eating a whole lot more chocolate than usual.  Our household’s normal adult intake of zero has rapidly increased because my children’s school (which I won’t name for fear of the critics coming down on us) has been selling Cadbury product by the box-load in one of its annual fundraising drives. 

   Not one person I have spoken to has rejected the product on the basis that it contains palm oil.  In fact, we are all complaining that the neighbourhood is overrun with chocolate and there are competing stalls on the road in the weekend as enterprising kids try to convince me that their chocolate is nicer than the box my son brought home.

   Of course, ours is nicer because it is his chocolate – and are there no calories in school fundraising chocolate either? Okay I am joking, except in this respect: we can all find ways to justify our actions, and those perceptions are real.  At their own peril communicators will forget that perception is reality.

    

5. NASCAR* Blindness

   Published on Thursday, November 20th, 2008
   We all have a natural tendency to surround ourselves with people who are like us. It makes sense that we would want to fill our lives with people who think the way that we do and like doing the things that we like doing, because we naturally find them more enjoyable to be with.

   But as PR practitioners, this can be a fatal trap. Failure to recognise the enormous range of class, lifestyle, cultural and ethical differences that shape and drive individuals’ thoughts and behaviours puts us at risk of ending up as ineffective one-dimensional communicators.

   US advertising creative director and social media consultant, Alan Wolk, calls this “NASCAR Blindness.”

   *In case you’re suffering from it, let me explain that NASCAR stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and it’s one of the most popular sports in America today.

   Read on to learn about the pitfalls of this all too common affliction …