Posts Tagged ‘New Zealand’

1. 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.

2. Is stubborn pride and political correctness stunting New Zealand’s Growth?

   Published on Monday, December 6th, 2010
   One of the first rules of communication is to ensure you don’t insult or criticise your audience.  When it comes to things related to Gods Own we are brilliant at making sure this rarely, if ever, happens.

   Remember John Cleese and his comments about how forgettable Palmerston North was?  It made national headlines and most likely put the fear of god into future visitors who might think to offer some constructive insights.

   The second question most visitors are asked by media is invariably: “and what do you think of New Zealand?” This is invariably in anticipation of a glowing response.

   But surely we need some constructive criticism in order to rattle the cages of the decision makers so shortcomings can be addressed and, where possible, we get ahead of the curve in core areas.  For example, our ride on the knowledge wave has slowed markedly, and we seem to be settling for a lot less and are content with simply being ‘a good place to live’, compared with other countries. 

   In reality though, we are now officially behind in some key areas which has been reinforced by leaders in internet, mobile marketing, food, the retail sector and communications, who’ve all shared this view at different forums in the past month. 

   In the food space, at a recent food industry conference, a keynote speaker referenced research that shows our retail offering in food is viewed as lacking in excitement and interest. How can this be possible when we produce some of the best food in the world?  Yet it seems people are bored and treat shopping for food as a chore, unlike our European counterparts who enjoy the rich experience of food shopping.

   Move on to consumer engagement with mobile technology. At a recent Marketing Association event, Derek Handley, co-founder of mobile marketing company The Hyperfactory*, told the audience of senior marketers that we need to go out into the world and see what is going on.  Being laggards in the internet and mobile phone space has serious ramifications for us locally and abroad.  When computers, cell phones and Eftpos came to market we proudly talked about how we were early adopters. Guess what? Our broadband charges, speed and accessibility means we are now way behind.
    
   One major step forward will be the move from “trickle” band to broad band and making it super cheap.  Derek Handley, who stated the next 24 months will see a total internet overhaul globally, went so far as to suggest that the companies offer free broad band for a brief period so that people can experience its potential. This would speed up our adoption of technology, and means that in 24 months time, we have a fighting chance of being in these critical conversations, rather than left out forever.

   I firmly believe that there are two key factors at play here.  First, we don’t like to be criticised and see it as either unfair or malicious. Second we rely on virtual connections to experience the rest of the world – partly understandable given the cost of travel. 
   But travel is an investment people need to make in business if they want to move forward, so they truly experience other markets and can apply those experiences back here.

   Another option could be for Air New Zealand to help more kiwis get out into the world to experience it for themselves, and I don’t mean the Pacific Islands or Australia.  Finally we communicators need to build a culture of more direct and honest communication within companies and organisations. Of course, one can go too far as Paul Henry discovered.

   * The Hyperfactory is a client of NetworkPR

3. 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.

4. Does end of the global Swine Flu Pandemic mean we’re better prepared for next time?

   Published on Friday, August 13th, 2010
   The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this week officially declared an end to the pandemic concerning the influenza H1N1 virus, popularly known as swine flu. 

   However WHO Director-General Margaret Chan recognised that here in New Zealand we’re still experiencing the effects of a second wave of H1N1.
   “In the post-pandemic period, localised outbreaks of different magnitude may show significant levels of H1N1 transmission. This is the situation we are observing right now in New Zealand,” Mrs Chan said.

   The outcome of this for some has been particularly tragic.  However, as recently reported in NZ Dr, this year’s weekly rate of flu consults is well down on last year.

   Communications before, during and after were to my mind a great example of how to get it right.  Unfortunately not everyone has seen it that way.  As the predicted apocalypse did not occur, many people say the whole thing was a money-making venture by pharmaceutical companies.  While these theories make for great headlines they also significantly diminish the genuine efforts of public health protection teams globally, who potentially saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

   We will never know how bad it could have been had the level of alarm not been raised.  After all only 450 people died in the UK compared to the predicted 65,000 which surely proves it all an unnecessary scaremongering exercise?  Shame on the health experts for saving some lives.  When dealing with statistics it is easy to forget that only one number matters to people – the one that affects them. 

   Closer to home our own public health protection specialists implemented a textbook case of how to effectively contain a highly contagious and potentially deadly disease.  You can read about it in the BMJ’s May 21st edition. 

   Dr Craig Thornley, Medical Officer of Health at Auckland Regional Public Health Service shared with us a brief overview (below) of the basics of the response in New Zealand which highlights the complexity behind some very simple messages.

   • The pandemic response in New Zealand had several partly-overlapping strategic phases, all of which had been previously laid out in the New Zealand Influenza Pandemic Action Plan.
   • The first phase was termed ‘keep it out’, and was about delaying introduction of the virus into New Zealand to give healthcare services time to mobilise their plans. This initially seemed critically important as reports were being received from Mexico that suggested that the illness had a high mortality.
   • We were concurrently running a ‘stamp it out’ phase: when people with swine flu were diagnosed in the community we launched a rapid response to “ring-fence” spread by distributing antivirals (mainly Tamiflu) to those they had been in contact with. Again, this strategy was also intended to try to delay spread.
   • We moved into the ‘manage it’ phase when it became clear that swine flu was widespread in the community. During this phase a range of groups mobilised to support those who were unwell to ensure that those with mild-to-moderate illness could be managed away from the hospitals; hospitals re-allocated capacity to deal with the increased workload, particularly in intensive care units (who experienced high demand with sick young people requiring very aggressive life support); public health units focused attention on outbreaks in residential institutions; and a variety of strategies were applied in primary care to help cope with the influx of swine flu patients.
   • Throughout each of these phases, there were intensive health education campaigns on ways to prevent flu spread, protective equipment was distributed to healthcare workers (the healthcare workforce being one of the most-exposed groups), and systems for testing and making treatment available were streamlined.
   • All of this was designed to “flatten the curve” to try to delay the peak of the outbreak, reduce the overall number of cases and spread the caseload across a period of time instead of having a massive early epidemic peak that could have jeopardised provision of healthcare and many other services. As the nature of the illness caused by swine flu became clearer, strategies were tailored around protecting those that were most vulnerable.

   Communicating risk so people take action to protect themselves appropriately is a tricky thing, and when people are protected from the risk it can be tempting for people to think the risk wasn’t there in the first place.  Unfortunately even one untimely death is one too many though. Best we not get complacent about the next infectious threat that comes our way.

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

6. The News Truce

   Published on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
   In Ypres, 1914 a Christmas Eve ceasefire became the stuff of yuletide legend.

   The truce began when German troops decorated their trenches, the soldiers placed candles on trees and sang Christmas carols. Not to be outdone British troops responded singing their own carols back in English. In no time the two sides were shouting greetings to each other, there were calls for visits across No Man’s Land where small gifts were exchanged. Whiskey, jam, cigars and chocolate was shared and the artillery in the region fell silent that night.

   This exceptional outbreak of peace reminds me of the news over the summertime here in New Zealand, it’s as if our world stops speaking for a month. Could this outbreak of ‘nothing happening’ be because all of us in the information exchange business have waved a white flag and sent the news on holiday?

   The news goes soft. Not a peep is heard from the courts or councils, the lobbyist and legislators languish. Business leaders too are mute, our captains of industry have headed off in the caravan and so have the agitators and activists. The Beehive itself is silent. Even the sports reporters have given up the ghost.

   The papers are scrawny and the news bulletins truncated. They will contain stories from the seaside, teens running amok, cute kiddies frolicking, kooky animal stories, a freak storm perhaps, sunscreen warnings, surf beach rescues and the road toll.

   The lifestyle pages will be chocka with recipes for leftovers, anniversaries of other things, musings on the future or the past from famousish New Zealanders and book reviews. The news in other words – will be nice.

   This is not a global news-truce, the Northern hemisphere draws a breath for Christmas but their news-machine barely misses a beat. It is us who have a full hiatus of real news and maybe that’s just the way we like it.

7. A Fish Supper

   Published on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
   I love my neighbour, I’d be stupid not to. His name is Greg and he cleverly caught the pictured four and a half pound snapper on the Hauraki Gulf on Sunday.

   He and his cousin went out at dawn, apparently pausing somewhere about 40 minutes from our houses, to pull up ten fish and casually make their way home again.

   Yesterday, on Labour Day Monday, Greg made a fragrant bed of manuka shavings, rubbed the biggest of the catch with brown sugar and salt, and smoked it.

   We ate the fish still warm from the smoker with dill potatoes, bread and butter and a salad of greens from my garden.

   It was a wonderful meal; the fish was moist, perfectly flaky with just the right hint of smokiness.

   In New Zealand we are so close to where our food comes from we sometimes take it for granted.

   We shouldn’t, we are blessed with the best food in the world. Wild, farmed or cultivated, we have enviable standards of production, a stunning range and seasonal freshness.

   But one doesn’t just have to hunt and gather for the good stuff, our supermarkets, green grocers, butchers, bakers and fish mongers are a treat.

   For a comparison and a reason to thank our lucky stars go and see Food Inc, an American documentary that seeks to highlight the underbelly of US food production and agricultural processes. It’s a frightening portrayal if indeed it is a fair and accurate one, well worth a look.