Nov
11
Ignorance aint bliss in Social Media
Filed Under Blogs, Business, Internet Public Relations, Online, Public Relations, Services, Technology | 3 Comments
I can’t keep it in any longer!! Speaking at a conference fairly recently, I was asked a question from the floor that near left me speechless…in a room full of PR professionals, someone basically challenged the validity of my assertion that Social Media would become/is becoming increasingly influential in issues and crisis management campaigns. The person said (and I precis) “How is a blog different from a website and why would anyone in business or an organisation bother with one?” I think I bristled and sounded irked when responding. But how can modern comms practitioners not know the whats, whys and hows of the blogosphere????
I welcome any other pearls of wisdom you blogtypes may have heard of late…?
Nov
8
Online monitoring key to avoiding Facebook PR disasters
Filed Under Business, Corporates, Internet Public Relations, Online, PR Disasters, Technology | 1 Comment
Employees undermining the corporate brands (via Facebook) of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic; that’s the subject of the above article from The Economist. http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12566818
As the publication reports: “On October 31st Virgin fired 13 of its cabin crew who had posted derogatory comments about safety standards and passengers on Facebook. On November 3rd, BA began investigating the behaviour of several employees who had described some passengers as “smelly” and “annoying” in Facebook postings. From a Reputation Management viewpoint (a topic I discussed at a Crisis Summit in Sydney this week), it raises three important issues: 1) Today’s corporations need a rigorous Social Media engagement policy. 2) All organisations must regularly educate staff about acceptable use of the internet. 3) Effective online monitoring systems must be engaged to alert orgs as to the conversations taking place about them, in the online space.
Nov
6
BBC PR disaster as PR Week flames inept crisis management
Filed Under Botched PR jobs, Corporates, PR Disasters, Public Relations, Public Relations practice | Leave a Comment
Over at The Guardian, the editor of PR Week is giving the BBC’s PR team a sound thrashing, by jove.
Oct
29
Gerry McCusker delivers keynote at crisis conference
Filed Under Business, Campaigns, Internet Public Relations, Online, PR Disasters, Public Relations, Public Relations practice, Public Speaking | Leave a Comment
http://www.frocomm.com.au/cc2008/program.php
Wednesday next week, I’m delighted to be giving the opening keynote address at an Issues and Crisis Summit in Sydney. I’ve also be invited as a panelist for a highly-interactive Q&A session. The focus of my keynote will be the new rules of reputation management and exploring the impact of Web2.0 and Social Media on issues and crisis management. Glen Frost has put together another sterling program, and I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing some of you up in Sydney.
Oct
23
PR disaster: Labour minders threaten journos will be shot
Filed Under Botched PR jobs, Government, Media, PR Disasters, Politics, Public Relations practice | Leave a Comment
This unbelievable piece suggests that Scotland is a tough place to practice PR. The UK PM’s wife Sarah Brown (a former PR at Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications), was allegedly involved in a PR photo-op where govt PR minders seemed somewhat over-zealous in protecting their client interests. The messengers threatening scribes with a bullet; there’s a new twist on a theme.
Oct
17
James Hardie disaster; PR head says ‘I didnt do it”
Filed Under Botched PR jobs, Business, Corporates, PR Disasters, Public Relations, Services | Leave a Comment
Standing in court the other day, corporate PR Greg Baxter, ex PR Head at James Hardie says he didnt insert the words “fully funded” into a 2001 press release about the firm’s asbestos compensation trust; with an amnesia onset, he’s not sure who did, either. Surely tho, as the head of PR he would’ve been aware of the weight of this statement and the PR/reputational implications of it? Strangely, as Crikey reports, this story hasnt played strongly in News Ltd newspapers where Baxter is now Head of Corp Affairs…aaaahhh, dontcha just love media transparency and ethics?
http://www.watoday.com.au/national/hardies-minutes-fail-to-jog-memory-20081015-50xm.html
Oct
16
NAB (again) flamed over Social Media ineptitude
Filed Under Corporates, Marketing Public Relations, Online, Technology | 8 Comments
While I’ve been Interstate, web designer pal David McDonald sent me this case of suspicious Social Media marketing. Surely NAB (no strangers to social media flak) couldn’t have buggered up a fresh attempt to ‘engage’ online stakeholders? Maybe it was their expert social media agents, Loaded? I’ll investigate this in more detail later. hat tip, David. Go Cheryl Gledhill, savvy IP-sleuth-ess (read her comments!). If its a shill, this is further proof why Social Media ‘Marketing’ is a somewhat flawed premise even in spirit. http://www.moltn.com/blog/2008/10/09/nab-tries-to-pull-a-swifty/