Archive for February 2012

Managing a social media micro-crisis

29 February 2012 admin Communications, News, Nottingham, Social Media 3 comments

The social media communications revolution is already happening and organisations need to ensure that they are reacting efficiently to this important development in communications.

While in many cases we can take advantage of the opportunities that social media offers, there are also some significant disadvantages including the micro-crisis. Take for example the case of Beeston Wilkos, in summary the shop is due to close shortly due to redevelopment and the local community is upset due to the loss of jobs and one of the town’s favourite shops. Previously for a situation such as this a letter to the local paper and small petition would suffice, but today we see blogging armies and social media swarms. And this is how a micro-crisis is caused.

In the case of Beeston, local blogger Beestonia has taken up the campaign, taking charge of updating the local community of developments not only of his campaigning but those of the local council and Wilkos Head Office. This has resulted in huge local community support, with 3000 signatures on the petition, and coverage from local media.

How should Wilkos be responding to this issue? I would guess that they did not anticipate such a fight back from the local community, and we cannot expect a large organisation to understand the significance that they have in each of their stores, it is not practical. However, I dare say their reaction to this case is not ideal. For example at the moment the most reliable source for information on on the situation is Beestonia, in fact while trying to search for a statement from Wilko’s Head Office I found myself on the Beestonia blog! Other than finding a quote about their commitment to their Beeston store, there is very little official Wilkos presence.

It is important to remember that while this situation may feel like the end of the world for Beeston residents, it is just one of many issues Wilkos will currently be dealing with, however there are actions that they can take to improve relations in Beeston. For example, I would suggest that they work with the Beestonia blog to release information, correct any speculation or incomplete information on the blog and engage with their consumer. An example of an organisation doing this well can be seen on Michael White’s blog, he wrote about his dissatisfaction with the services of CIPR student membership, the CIPR promptly replied, reacted to his opinions and as a result have already increased their student membership numbers. All of this occurred while the Wilko’s story has been happening, which shows just how quickly social media allows you to react.

Dealing with a micro-crisis requires much of the skills of dealing with larger crisises, here are five steps that can be used to help manage the situation:

  1. Anticipate a crisis and be proactive. This is the ideal situation, although not always practical. However if your organisation is about to carry out an action that may have adverse reactions (think Tesco workforce) then it is best to already be prepared to explain your actions before people react negatively to them.
  2. Monitor social media. Use the wide range of tools that allow you to see what is being said about you online, this means that you will be able to get an idea of current issues and how your customers’ currently think of you. As a result you can spot micro-crisises in their early state and quickly react.
  3. React quickly. If you can help it do not allow a situation to escalate, try and deal with it at an early point.
  4. Communicate with bloggers. Bloggers have a lot of power online and this means they can be your best friend and worst enemy. In many cases bloggers like to share stories that will interest their readers so they will often be open to hearing from your organisation. You can also use their comment section to engage with their readers, by reacting to their comments.
  5. Have a social media presence. Social media has become the first place many people turn when looking for local news, as a result it is important in a micro-crisis to use this platform to engage and react to your local consumers. This can help avoid the dangerous speculation which is likely otherwise.

Consumers now expect organisations to have a social media presence and to react to their problems, something Claire Hodson wrote about recently. I think it is important not to disappoint them in this respect, never underestimate how powerful social media is and it can be used for the good, and bad of your organisation.

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The importance of branding for sports teams

29 February 2012 admin Communications, Marketing, Ultimate Frisbee One comment

Fivestar Frog Splash (Leeds Met) Logo

If you are looking for examples of strong branding the sports industry is the place to look. Teams rely on having strong brand identity to engage their fans and give them the opportunity to feel involved in their team, and ultimately support them financially. This is achieved through team colour, a strong logo and a team identity to which fans are able to relate. The passion that sports fans provide is magical, they are loyal to their teams and would fight to defend them.

What about small sports teams? If your team’s fan base consists of parents, friends or at most your university, is branding still important?

The single most important part of a team is the team. It is impossible to be successful if you cannot work together as a group to support and develop to reach your results, whether they are to win competition, or have a lot of fun trying! To gain this team spirit requires a strong brand identity, team members need to be able to relate with their team, feel involved with it and be able to engage with it.

While helping to run Leeds Met Ultimate Frisbee Team (Fivestar Frog Splash) this has become all the more apparent to me. The club is very new and facing many of the challenges which come in this early stage of life. What has been important however is that all the members feel that they own their club. They get a say in decisions, they understand what is going on and they have influence.

We are still trying to find our identity, but the foundations are there and in time the identity will grow stronger as the club continues to adapt and grow. What was important in the early days was establishing the initial image, this included naming the club and creating a logo. The whole team was given the opportunity to contribute to this ensuring that they were satisfied and involved in the decision.

We recently acquired sports kit and this is another important step in our development, playing in the team colours is a reminder that we are part of a team and we need to work together to achieve our aims. As the club grows undoubtedly the brand identity will continue to be important as we purchase merchandise, such as branded discs, host tournaments and get better known throughout the Ultimate world.

I have been able to see the importance of brand identity within my small sports club, and understand how these principles can relate to other clubs. Your team’s image needs to reflect your team members, this will ensure that as you develop you can ensure that you are growing in the right direction to achieve the most appropriate aims. It also helps attract future members who suit the culture of your club.

The world of sports branding is fascinating and offers brilliant case studies to show how branding can be effective.

Fivestar Frog Splash (Leeds Met Ultimate Frisbee team) demonstrate branding through kit

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All students should gain internships

28 February 2012 admin Career, Placements No comments
A degree

Is a degree enough? (Image via Wikipedia)

A government report says that all students should gain a minimum of 12 weeks work experience while studying for a degree (read more here). As internships, voluntary and compulsory, are a common theme on my blog I could not ignore this article.

I am passionate about increasing people’s employability, and as a student I am well placed to understand the opportunities and challenges that we face trying to obtain a career. As students we choose to make an investment in university, this does not just include the significant and rising tuition fees, but also the cost of living for 3/4 years, and the loss of a potential wage in an alternative job. We make this investment in the hope that it will be advantageous to us in the future and help us to get a great job. However with the huge number of unemployed graduates something is simply not working. Undoubtedly the current financial situation is a huge contributor to these numbers, but another common reason is that graduates are not suitable for the workplace, whether they are unable to do the basics, or do not have the global knowledge required.

The idea of including internships within a degree enables students to gain the skills that are required for their graduate jobs, it also has the advantage of letting them experience their career and decide if it is what they wish to pursue, and allows them to gain a certain type of maturity which is only learned through real work. I talk from personal experience for all of those points.

In my degree we are actively encouraged to gain work experience from our first day on the course! We also benefit from a brilliant placement service which offers us short and long term opportunities, but I was interested to see what it was like at other universities. I spoke to an Engineering student from  University of Warwick, an English and History student at University of York and an employed graduate of the TV Production degree at Bournemouth University. Each of them had a different experience of internships at university, from compulsory placements required at Bournemouth University, to encouraged internships at University of Warwick but very little help in gaining such opportunities. In conclusion it appears that universities do encourage students gaining experience, however the support they provide can vary considerably.

I can see a strong argument for making placements a part of degree courses, and I have previously written about compulsory placements, how can you claim to be qualified if you have never experienced the job you want to do? I also believe that the strongest students will already have obtained placements without being pushed by their university, and currently a full CV can separate the weak from the strong. I would recommend you read the comments on my compulsory placements post as they contain lots of interesting opinions from students on this subject.

The report also considers the financial implications on students from poorer backgrounds, concluding that universities ought to use their (Office for fair access, the universities access watchdog) fund to support those who may struggle to afford long internships. With the current financial situation and universities being required to cut spending and tighten their budgets, is it practical and fair to put this additional strain on universities?

Overall I would say that there is no right or wrong answer, but if internships became a requirement of degree courses I would not consider it to be a bad thing. In fact it can only be beneficial to employers and future graduates, however whether it is a practical solution, or now, is another question.

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How Oxfam use QR codes to tell a story

27 February 2012 admin Communications, Interests, Marketing, News No comments
oxfam_logo_big.jpg

oxfam_logo_big.jpg (Photo credit: net_efekt)

Customers love a story. We often do not make purchases for merely their utilitarian properties, but for a plethora of reasons from how it makes us feel to how it makes our peers perceive us. It can be as simple as buying a branded energy drink because you believe it will do a better job than a supermarket version, or buying an iPhone because you have been told by friends that it is the best phone on the market. We rarely analyse the individual functions of a product objectively in order to make a buying decision.

From a marketing communications point of view this means that selling a story can be an effective way of selling the product. From convincing a consumer that owning your product will make them feel a certain way, to letting them know how it will improve tasks they perform in their life.

Another story is one which connects with a consumer emotionally, and this is where Oxfam are spot on with their latest Shelflife scheme. The scheme uses the QR code technology, something I have written about before, and a tool which I can see has an awful lot of potential, but currently is not being used to maximise this. However every so often a creative usage of the technology comes along which I commend, Shelflife is an example of this.

By scanning QR codes browsers in Oxfam will be able to read about the personal history behind an object. It may have lived a previous life in another country, or perhaps it once held significant sentimental value. The aim is to turn every Oxfam shop into an interactive social museum according to contributor, Andrew-Hudson Smith.

I love the idea because it takes advantage of the unique selling point of charity shops, in essence second hand goods are meaningless, but by giving them their story they can gain consumer interest. What appears to be a simple dining set suddenly becomes a wedding present for a lovestruck couple, that beautiful broach was received as a leaving home gift.

On the other hand, do people care enough? I volunteered in an Oxfam shop several years ago and not one person ever expressed an interest in an item’s previous life, they were usually looking for a bargain or unique item. This may simply have been because the information was not previously available, and perhaps this scheme will offer a new lease of life to the Oxfam experience.

Another potential problem is the technology. QR codes require customers having the software and hardware to be able to scan the codes. Again, from my experience in Oxfam, many of our customers were of older generations and did not have access to this technology. In this case Oxfam is targeting customers who do have access to information but are they making a mistake in neglecting those who do not?

It will be interesting to see how the scheme works out, it is being trialed at 10 shops in Manchester with the expectation of it being extended to all shops if it proves successful and to add value to the items they sell.

What is your opinion? Would you pay more for a product with a story?

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Leeds Met SU Elections

27 February 2012 admin News, Student Life No comments
English: Ballot Box showing preferential voting

Leeds Met students, now is the time to share your opinion and let the university know what you want by voting for your student union officers. Voting only takes a moment and is available via this link.

This year we are spoilt with a wide range of talented, passionate and capable individuals campaigning to be your officers for the year. They are offering a range of objectives, aims and goals to improve your experience while at Leeds Met.

The elected roles include:

  • Students’ Union President
  • Vice President Education
  • Vice President Welfare
  • Vice President Student Activities
Details of what each role involves are available here.

Usually I try to keep my blog relatively neutral, but today I make a slight detour from this route by sharing the video campaign for one of the candidates who I believe would do a brilliant job as SU president.

Ultimately the decision is yours. All the candidate manifestos are available here and I would recommend considering their objectives carefully. These officers are working for you, so make sure they achieve the things that you believe are important and make sure you vote, it only takes a minute! You can vote via this link.

Voting closes at 16:00 on 29 February 2012, with results announced that evening at 19:00.

Five considerations before working for free

23 February 2012 admin Career, Placements, Student Life No comments
Bookstand with large textbook
This article features a popular theme in my blog, that on unpaid placements and work experience. Rather than ask whether or not it is ethical or moral, today I ask you as a student or graduate looking to gain valuable experience to consider important factors before you accept working for free.
1) Would someone else pay me to do this job?
If you were offered an identical position at a similar organisation tomorrow would they be likely to offer you a salary? By accepting an unpaid position are you undervaluing your skills and allowing employers to exploit you and take advantage?
2) Can you afford to work for free?
The demands of work experience can result in significant costs, from travelling to food and even accommodation, not to mention lost salary from alternative work. If you cannot practically afford to carry out your work experience you may need to ask your employer to offer a financial incentive, if only to cover travel expenses. If they are not willing, do they value you enough to offer you a good placement?
3) Is the organisation in a position to pay you?
Some organisations simply do not have the human resource budget to offer you a salary, perhaps you are working for a small charity or new company. Maybe you are doing a favour for a friend who simply is unable to offer you financial remuneration. However if they can afford to pay you, ask yourself, why aren’t they?
4) Do the benefits outweigh the costs?
Through your placement are you gaining skills that you simply could not gain elsewhere? Are you receiving valuable training that could further your career? Are you building up a portfolio to wow future employers? You need to ensure that any potential sacrifices you are making to complete the placement will be worth it in the long term.
5) Will you enjoy the placement?
Most importantly, if you are working for free, you need to enjoy the placement. You need to learn, develop your skills and have a great experience.
Some organisations are seen to take advantage of students and graduates who are willing to take unpaid placements, but the majority of opportunities will allow you to apply theoretical knowledge and build skills that will be invaluable to you in the long term. And if that dream placement turns out not to be what you were expecting? Consider an alternative placement.
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Internal communications on a global scale

22 February 2012 admin Communications, Internal Communications No comments

The purpose of internal communications includes creating company pride, helping people to live the values and supporting organisational change. I wanted to investigate how this process worked efficiently when a company is based over a range of regions globally.

For any organisation based over multiple units ensuring cohesion between the business components can offer challenges, but this is significantly escalated when trying operate over different countries.

In our recent guest lecture, Aakriti Kaushik briefly mentioned the impact of global operations on internal communications. She noted that it is extremely important to remain aware of culturally significant events within each of your regions. For example being aware of Chinese New Year, Ramadan among other events. Through neglecting these you are not only at risk of offending your employees but potentially seeing other detrimental effects.

When your operations are based over multiple regions it is particularly vital to ensure that your internal communications works to involve employees, and make them feel part of the organisation, despite the physical distance.

We do have the advantage of instant technology allowing us to communicate in real time with employees around the world through video or instant messaging. We can also adopt social media strategies to improve the effectiveness of our internal communications. There are a multitude of tools at our disposal to help us with the challenge however they do require being used so to benefit the organisation. Possibly the most important requirement of internal communications is research. Research what your employees expect, what they are not getting, how they want their information, what has been successful in the past. The limit for research is not set low and it can make the difference between a bad internal campaign and a good internal campaign.

As we continue to embrace globalisation I believe global internal communications is going to grow in importance. Organisations employ staff across the world and to that they run effectively it is important they concentrate on each of their staff to ensure they are all working to the same values.

Global internal communications is an area which offers challenges but rewards and I am keen to continue my education within this area.

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Tesco abandon scheme following slave labour claims

21 February 2012 admin News, Public Relations 3 comments
Tesco

Image via Wikipedia

Stores including Tesco and Argos have expressed concerns over a government work experience scheme which has been derided by critics as “slave labour”. BBC News

After criticism from rights activists Tesco has turned its back on unpaid placements for job seekers and is now offering a paid placement scheme.

Activists claim this is a victory for fair pay and young people, whereas the Government has declared that the victimism of organisations offering this scheme is reducing targets for young people gaining life changing opportunities and routes into employment.

I wrote about the Tesco placement scandal yesterday and wanted to bring attention to a comment left on my post from Heather Yaxley:

From a PR perspective, it shows that such decisions need to go through a “what if?” filter that allows expert public relations insight into the possible consquences of such schemes should a brand wish to get involved. In particular, there are issues around cohesion with values and responsibility claims as well as the potential for stakeholder backlash, media negative interest and emeging crisis situations. In the latter case, these can be the result of direct action or as collateral damage – either way, something that environmental scanning and PR due diligence should anticipate.

There is very little I can add to this comment, it does reinforce the need for understanding social values and opinions. I would also say that this case is potentially an interesting case-study for current PR students and practitioners.

Do you think Tesco did the right thing? Or is it too little too late? How would you react to this situation?

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Cross cultural PR

21 February 2012 admin Communications, Internal Communications, Public Relations, Social Media One comment
English: Blank globe, focus on Africa. Deutsch...

Image via Wikipedia

 A common theme over my blog is the importance of gaining experience while studying a degree. As important as this is, our degree would count for nothing is we were not receiving world-class education from intelligent and informed tutors. I would like to say we are quite lucky in this respect, but what is particularly great is when our university invites guest lecturers in to teach us. This semester one of our modules includes a series of brilliant guest lectures, which so far has included crisis communications and digital communications. Today it was the turn of Aakriti Kaushik, PR Manager for Global and European PR at Premier Farnell. With an impressive CV Aakriti came to lecture us on cross cultural PR, something which seemed coincidentally relevant to me after my recent article on understanding cultural sensitivities.

Key things that I brought away from this lecture included the importance of understanding what works in one region may not work in others. Aakriti brought up the example of the Ben Heck show, something which had been a huge success in the USA but did not manage to translate to other cultures.

It is important to research local cultures before designing communications schemes, she highlighted this with the examples of the Ford Pinto, meaning penis in Brazilian slang. In reference to Premier Farnell she explained how their new brand name, Element 14, did not translate into Chinese and as a result they had to find an alternative.

Finally, an interesting point was raised about social media. This platform has changed the way we communicate, and allows messages to flow instantly around the world. It is important that while using social media that we ensure our messages are suitable for all of our audiences across all cultures.

Recently I have been taking a huge interest in global communications and how we respect cultural differences, so this lecture was perfectly timed and has upped my interest in the subject.

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Claire Mascall PR prize

20 February 2012 admin Education, News 2 comments

Image from behindthespin.com

I am very honoured to be among the winners of the Claire Mascall PR prize. This is a fantastic award in memory of Claire Mascall and the experience was challenging but interesting.

We were tasked with writing a letter to London Mayor, Boris Johnson, analysing the damage caused by the London riots and financial crisis in relation to the London Olympics, we were then required to suggest strategies to improve London’s reputation.

I am particularly proud to be associated with my fellow winners, Lauren Sizer who won first place and Adele Roberts who took joint second.

My winning letter is available below.

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