Thanks!

Mel

So over the past two weeks or so Mike Sharman and I have had the pleasure of working on the Nando’s CEO campaign.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably caught the hilarious TV ad or, along with over 100,000 people, have watched it on YouTube.

It’s spread faster than a peri-peri flattie chicken on a braai.

If you’re familiar with social media PR, marketing and strategy you may have questions however about why the approach seems slightly ‘cart before horse.’

If we’ve ever chatted about social media, or you’ve heard me blabbing at a conference, you’ll know that I constantly push the importance of ‘Content / Conversation / Community.’

Honestly, if I were not involved in the campaign I would have been throwing my two cents in from the sidelines, questioning why Nando’s wasn’t totally ‘owning’ the social media aspect of the campaign more, and pushing the communication and community prospects further.

Bottom line: In this instance there was no time or money to build a ‘cart’ so Mike and I chose to jump on the horse and ride it like crazy cowboys.

We happened to be in a meeting with Nando’s a week or so before the CEO campaign was due to go live. We were pitching ourselves and discussing the potential Social Media had to harness the love of the Nando’s brand on the web. We were discussing the importance of a long-term strategy and the potential of the online Nando’s community.

Midway through our meeting, the Nando’s execs sensed our excitement. They had a brief pow-wow and suddenly we were signing NDA docs and were shown the initial cuts and scripts for the CEO campaign. Our brief was thus very last minute and the objective was simply to get as many people as possible to watch, and talk about, the ad online.

We knew the content was great. (Props to the main creative agency Black River FC) It was the perfect campaign to test the social media water; and the potential to strategically pitch it to key online influencers, and personally ‘manage’ and shape the online conversation was exciting.

In terms of basic numbers, it has been mind-blowing. I have never heard of a local TV ad being viewed online (voluntarily) over 100 000 times* within a week. *(NandosADs, Memeburn and a user named koerie’s video posts combined)

The interest is there, and the case for social media is being made…. let’s see what happens next.

Back in 2005 I was part of the team who conceptualised the annual Big Blue Makhulu Polane t-shirt design competition. Makhulu Polane (loosely translated means: Big Idea) is an annual design talent search brought to you by the awesome peeps from SA’s coolest, quirkiest fashion retailers – Big Blue.

We launched the first competition in 2006, it’s now 5 years on and going strong!

Check out the info below – forward it to all the designers and arty farty mates you know….shout about it on Facebook and tweet it from the rooftops. We’re looking for big numbers this year – bring it!

Big Blue’s 5th annual Makhulu Polane design competition is open

Big Blue’s annual Makhulu Polane t-shirt design competition is open for entries via www.bigblue.co.za. Makhulu Polane (Big Idea) is a t-shirt design competition that was started in 2006 by Big Blue as a mission to find and support the coolest design talent in SA.

This year’s design theme is ‘Propaganda’ – Big Blue is looking for t-shirt designs that depict this powerful theme, as always with a strong SA flavour. Entries are open to absolutely anyone who feels they can produce an original t-shirt design. The winning designer receives R20 000 in cash and their t-shirt will be sold in all Big Blue and Kitsch+Kool stores nationwide for two months.

Designs do not need to be digitally created but they do need to be submitted via the Big Blue competition website http://competition.bigblue.co.za/ illustrations can be scanned and uploaded. Competition closes for entries on 1st October.

Check out these links for more info:
http://competition.bigblue.co.za
@BigBlueSA on twitter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BigBlueSA

It makes sense that the more people and brands use twitter, the more the dynamics and ‘rules’ of the platform change. From a brand point of view, the strategy behind the how, why, and if, you should use Twitter has also shifted.

In my opinion a lot of brands are feeling pressured to have a twitter account, it’s the ‘everyone’s doing it why aren’t we’ mentality. They stumble onto twitter without a plan; with no idea of who to follow, or why, no content plan, no objectives and no link to their overall business objectives. They then pump out a few self-promotional tweets, and wait…..and wait, while they listen to the crickets.

In short, it often falls flat and this ‘social media’ stuff is then labelled as a crock of sh*t. These kind of interactions cheapen the medium and aggravate the industry.

I had a very brief conversation with Andy Hadfield a week or so back during which we questioned the validity of ‘service’ brands being active on twitter (think insurance and banking as a start.)

Consider this; most service brands are necessity / grudge purchases….you don’t want to actively follow these brands because (for the most part) it’s likely that they don’t really have content to tweet that will add value to your life. Admittedly this is a generalisation, and perhaps a cue (poke in the backside) for some local brands.

For service type brands if they’re on twitter it’s likely that the only @ replies they’ll get are customer complaints….and the occasional ‘thanks’ if they’ve acted proactively or responded swiftly. Is it worth for them? Consider that at this stage it’s likely that their call centre tech doesn’t track / log social media interactions, and twitter users are probably a drop in the ocean when compared to their total client base.

Add to this the fact that you may grossly underestimate the volume of customer complaints you get via twitter, as a result your response times and quality suffer, you waste time and valuable resources, do yourself an injustice and head back to square one.

The ‘rules’ that many of us applied to twitter a year back have started to become a bit blurry.

As a brand (and I’m talking about service brands in this case) is it perhaps better then to ‘listen’ to twitter and respond via traditional (phone / email) methods rather than have an active account? Most times, you’ll still receive the twitter kudos: Tweet 1: ‘ I hate xxx bank’ Tweet 2: ‘omg xxx bank just called me in response to my tweet #brandplus.’

Here’s another challenge: we sometimes moan about brands who do not follow back, but if people @ your brand, or if you’re tracking relevant search terms, you receive the tweet and can respond and then choose to follow. Following random people builds goodwill (and demonstrates etiquette) but does it make good business sense? Most of the biggest local ‘celeb’ users on twitter only follow a handful of people for this reason, following masses of people clogs the feed and conversations (value) become lost.

On a wider note, FB+Twitter does not = a social media strategy, there are other, interesting, brand appropriate ways of starting brand conversations online. Just because a brand does not actively tweet (I’m choosing the social network of the *moment* as an example) doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ignoring social media.

I’m merely voicing some of my own observations and posing some questions….I have plenty more to say on the subject, I just felt the need to post this as a start.

I am South African.

Ok, hang on, if you’re going to get ‘technical’, then no, I am not South African…not even close in fact. Barring my parents and my brother, my entire family (all 60+ of them…ok, not accurate but very close) live in Scotland. My folks are charismatic, proud Scots who, for work reasons, chose to move to England just prior to my birth. Yes, I was born in England, and my folks, brother and I emigrated to South Africa in 1985 when I was 10 years old. I admit that my Scottish / Irish blood and heritage runs deep in my veins, but the past month has affirmed my feeling that I’m not ‘English’, I feel no ‘pull’ towards the English cause, whatever it may be.

After 25 years here, I am most definitely a South African, and I’ll tell you why.

To be honest, a year back, I was not without my doubts that we could actually pull off this World Cup gig to our maximum capabilities. I am happy to say that I have never been so wrong, the night I attended a World Cup game at Soccer City it all fell into place. The stadium is breathtaking and everything just worked; it was a seamless world-class experience with a kick-ass nation-building vibe to boot!

The spirit and emotion I’ve felt over the past few months, and especially during the past month, has been emotionally overwhelming at times, I’ve never felt so privileged and so proud, to be part of something so that has been so important on both a national and global level.

Voting in our first democratic elections in 94 was an amazing feeling, the Rugby World cup hosting and winning experience was incredible, but this, this has a been an authentic nation building experience at a time when I feel we needed it most. For me it was about the fact that it didn’t matter who you were, what you did, what colour you were or where you came from, we were all connected through our proud, patriotic glances and wide, welcoming smiles. There was a combined sense of spirit and we all felt that we were part of something bigger, something greater, something that has put us on the world map. That has been incredible.

I’m not naive enough to think that it spirits away all of our issues, but for a month at least we were all united towards a common goal. It hit home for me when I attended a game at Soccer City – there was the most amazing sense of peace…no issues, no racism, no xenophobia, no kak…just a common sense of pride and excitement. It was like someone had waved an invisible flag and for a moment we were all ‘still’…. It was a glimpse of the country we can be, the country we should be.

It goes without saying that, as a nation, SA has been through an inordinate amount of strife. Thankfully, democracy has meant that the experience of my generation, and that of my younger friends, has been emotionally richer and easier. One of the the most amazing things I realised during the World Cup is that my parent’s generation has experienced a democratic SA for possibly the first time.

This country touches you, it embraces you. Even the stresses, anxieties, madness and energy feed you….I choose to live here, I am African, my children will be African. I’m savvy enough to know that one month of jubilation will not solve our problems, but it took an event like this to show the world what we’ve got, as JZ says ‘SA is open for business.’

The World Cup spirit allowed us to really LIVE, and for at least one month we relaxed and experienced our country in ways we’ve never dared to, we exposed ourselves to people and places and situations that we perhaps wouldn’t have…that is progress.

Most importantly it’s given us HOPE, and a renewed sense of purpose…long may that continue.

It’s about DigiPR, social media and how the web has (or hasn’t) changed things….my 2 cents.

*DigiPR, OnlinePR, WebPR, PR2.0

1. Has your understanding of the role and nature of PR changed in the last few years?

The basics of PR (That’s PUBLIC relations btw) haven’t changed. However, we went through a period of time where, for customers who wanted to make a public statement, brands were only accessible via the media (letters to the editor etc.)

As a result, Public Relations became Media Relations for a while. What has changed over the past few years is that the web; social media specifically, has provided the public with platforms upon which they can praise or slate brands….quickly.

So it’s gone full circle in that PR professionals now need to understand that they’re dealing with the ‘media’ on one hand and the ‘public’ on the other. (This also starts another debate as the web means that I now classify many ‘public’ people as ‘media’.)

2. I’ve read discussions that Social Media falls into the realm of PR – how do you view this relationship?

In its simplest form, social media is people talking to people….they talk about services and brands and products, so how does this not affect ‘public’ relations?

In terms of functionality and development of digital campaigns, social media tools need to be integrated from the outset. In order for a campaign to ‘spread’ and have longevity online then PR needs to manage, moderate, monitor and ‘feed’ the conversation going forward. I see this as a symbiotic relationship between competent PR and digital agencies.

3. Who should be running a client’s Twitter account? The client themselves?

I’m of the ‘hand-holding’ variety when it comes to Twitter. Twitter appears to be a simple platform but in my experience it is very difficult to get right. It requires its own strategy. For me, I like to teach people how it works; the rules of engagement, the problem areas, the quick wins….and hold their hands while they incorporate it into their own communication strategy and daily life. They then take ownership and buy into the channel as they see the feedback and rewards. It’s a long-term method of working with clients.

4. How has the online space affected the kind of content that a PR practitioner would create?

This is the coolest opportunity; content is king, and now we have the ability to create, share and spread multimedia content. PR professionals need to open their minds and create video, pictures and audio in addition to the standard written content.

5. Arguably a large part of public relations has always been in relationship building – do you use social media and digital tools to maintain relationships? If so what tools do you use?

Relationship building is about people. Some digital tools make it easier to keep track of what people are saying or sharing; this is valuable in terms of identifying interests and ‘beats’. At the end of the day it’s about you connecting with people, that hasn’t changed – we’re not robots, why act like one?

6. Has the rise of social media and digital communication changed the nature of relationships between PR professionals and journalists? Has it changed the role of journalists?

Bottom line: newsworthy is newsworthy. I’ve always been of the opinion that if you can give a journo good quality info when they need it, and how they need it, then you position yourself as a key ‘go-to’ PR person. If you spray n pray lousy stuff it’s still lousy online…..the basics don’t change. What has changed is that certain online ‘loudmouths’ – influential people need to perhaps be treated as ‘media’.

7. What are the first questions you ask a client wanting to partner with your agency – and how do you approach their overall campaign? Are there certain spaces that are essential? Newspaper stories vs. online press rooms for example? Do you have a process for deciding this?

If they want to pursue an online strategy then it needs to fit in with the existing business, sales, marketing and communications objectives. It must add value, also they need to be ‘ready’ to manage and understand it. DigitalPR is not a ‘quick win’, just because the nature of the web is quick it doesn’t mean that the results happen as quickly.

8. Are there elements that make for good content and elements that make for bad content? Can you outline these?

You’ve got to know your audience and know your product. At the same time don’t be afraid to step out of your content comfort zone in order to associate yourself with something that may be current or ‘sexy’. Just don’t push it too far, for the most part consumers know your offering better than you do, don’t try and make a mundane / grudge purchase sexy, keep it real. Case in point; there’s a reason banking and insurance companies attach themselves to sporting and lifestyle sponsorships.

9. Some argue that it’s easy to publish anything online and so content standards have suffered – would you agree with this?

As a brand you have control over what you put out, you can then ‘influence’, not control, what happens online. Be mindful of this when creating strategies and campaigns. Moderate, don’t censor. Nuff said.

10. Do you think every brand should have a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a blog – is it important to be available in every space?

There seems to be a lot of pressure on brands to do everything, ‘they’re all doing it, why can’t we?’. Fools rush in. Do your homework and LISTEN for starters. Assess the channels available; look at your current content, your potential content, and the content you can create on a sustainable basis. Social media is great in that you can talk to people in an environment they’re comfortable in but always have a solid online base or ‘home’ you can drive customers back to. I believe that social media is about creating and nurturing communities, communities that you can ultimately springboard your next initiative or campaign off…it’s a long-term plan.

11. I’ve heard differing views on whether or not awareness of the latest digital communications tools falls under a PR practitioner’s job description, what is your view?

If you’re a PR practitioner you need to be aware that there is a conversation going on online. People are chatting and sharing opinions and recommendations – in real life they always have, the bonus is that now you can follow that Word-Of-Mouth online. In my opinion the rules of engagement are more important than the actual platforms, any monkey can create a Facebook page or a Twitter account…. it’s how you make it work, manage it, and add value that counts.

12. Anything that you think should be added?

Do your homework. Assess online platforms as you would any other media. Does it add value? Can you add value? Listen, monitor, engage, listen, moderate, manage, listen. Make sure your efforts are sustainable….long-term approach.

Projects and clients that are really giving me the ability to flex my marketing, PR and social media ‘stuff’… This is a key point as my background for the past 10+ years is in advertising, branding, marketing and PR – I started to research and experiment with social media / digitalPR tactics late in 2005. I’ve made mistakes, learned from them and moved on – always learning and trying new approaches. I’ve got the branding ‘smarts’ to backup my new media skills and I reckon this is what makes a difference to the people I work with.

Anyway….this year I’m continuing to work for 5FM as their content and social media person It’s a great brand to work with and I think we’ve made some real inroads for them using their website, twitter and facebook specifically to add value to their on-air activity.

I’m also working with OgilvyPR Johannesburg as their preferred DigitalPR consultant. This is great as it gives me the opportunity to work with some exciting brands while I share the social media / digitalPR luuurve with the PR team.

I’m sure I’ll be chatting to the Big Blue team again this year (been with them since 2006) – I’m also doing some planning with some clients in the travel industry and have some other big projects in the pipeline.

All in all I’m positive, it’s been just over 2 years since I went it alone and I’m looking forward to what 2010 throws at me.

If you ever want to chat about marketing, social media, PR, branding and how it all fits together in this new, connected world then feel free to give me a shout

May 2010 rock for all of you!

These days the picture is quite different, I often discuss the concept of ‘who is the media?’. Consider that most bloggers, social networking ‘heavyweights, forum leaders, industry opinion leaders and online loudmouths have an instant, accessible soapbox from which to scorn or praise. Any smart marketer or PR person then realizes that these people sometimes need to be included as part of the ‘media’.

Over the past few weeks the Southern Sun group has been investigating and getting involved with social media and chatting to various people in the space in order to know more. They appreciate the value that online ‘Word of Mouth’ can add to their brand and have been careful to explore the new media space with smarts and strategy.

I recently spent some time chatting to Alison Mills who is Southern Sun Manager: eCommerce and MIS. I tried to give her some insight into what is happening in the social media space and we discussed some thought starters on how the Southern Sun group could start to integrate this ‘stuff’ into their existing marketing campaigns.

I guess I must have said something right as a week later I received an invitation to a dinner to celebrate Southern Sun’s 40 years in food and hospitality. So, together with a few other far more important experienced food and travel journalists, I enjoyed an exclusive meal served by the some of the group’s executive chefs at the restaurant at the Sun Square, Montecasino.

Priya Naidoo, General manager Southern Sun communications kicked off the evening by showing a video of the groups major TV commercials from the 70s 80s 90s and 00s – iconic ads that stirred up memories and made me think we really should have more dancing in today’s TV ads Everyone was so happy and choreographed in the 70s and 80s, I miss that…

The obvious focus of the evening was the food. The four course menu celebrated food through the decades. Iconic dishes like prawn and Avo ritz, banana split, beef wellington were remixed and personally introduced by the exec chef responsible. It was exquisite, we enjoyed fantastic, delicious food and the perfectly matched wines; as a bonus the four different decades on a dessert plate was chocolate heaven!

We were treated like media royalty, it was a really special event I’ll always remember and have chatted about a lot since. But naturally I’m not an expert foodie journalist so I’ll leave the real food reviews and wine pairing details to the real journos I met.

Thank you to Southern Sun for having me – I’m definitely watching and listening to your online conversations and lusting after time to take advantage of your killer 40th BDay SunBreak specials.

Follow Southern Sun on twitter here @SouthernSunNews or on Facebook

I’ve been working on some solutions to perhaps ease this stress, so when Encyclomedia launched an added-value service called Media Alerts in May I was naturally keen to see what it was all about.

Media Alerts is a free tool to help journalists, producers and bloggers source content for the stories they’re working on. You either sign up as a PR or Journalist. I signed up with a PR account to check out how the service works.

A daily email is delivered to me with very specific requests from Journalists in different sectors / beats. This means that hopefully only the right content is fed through to busy journalists. Obviously when I refer to ‘journalists’ this could also apply to specific industry bloggers also, it’s the whole ‘Who is the media’ debate. I’ve also been able to pass on hot, relevant leads as a favour to the other PR and marketing professionals I know.

The key to Media Alerts’ success is ‘Relevant content only.’ PR subscribers have been given one rule – to only ever send content that is directly relevant to the journalist’s request. Any abuse of this rule will see them being removed from the service. This keeps it professional and effective.

I rate this service highly, it’s simple, uncluttered and accurate – if you’re a journalist, blogger, marketer, small company owner (looking to secure niche publicity opportunities) or PR professional I’d recommend you sign up.

Journalists can submit requests here and PR practitioners can subscribe here. It’s an added-value Encyclomedia service, so there’s no charge for either side.

For more information have a look at www.mediaalerts.co.za.

This annual initiative from Big Blue is targeted at anyone and everyone – graphic designers, fashionistas, daydreamers, students, illustrators and frustrated corporate workers who dream of design fame and winning the Makhulu Polane title.

Big Blue’s annual Makhulu Polane t-shirt design competition is open for entries until 15 Sep 09. This year’s design theme is ‘Love-Africa’ – Big Blue is looking for designs that creatively celebrate Africa as a continent.

The winning designer receives R20 000 (nothing to scoff at) in cash and their t-shirt will be sold in all Big Blue and Kitsch+Kool stores nationwide for two months.

T-shirt designs do not need to be digitally created but they must be submitted via the Big Blue website www.bigblue.co.za, hand drawn illustrations can be scanned and uploaded.

Show us your Makhulu Polane and we’ll make you famous!

Disclaimer: I’ve been involved with this campaign since 2005….but how can I not be – it’s cool