I have been always an experimenter so to speak with basic applied technology (that is to say, I use what I am comfortable with) for the past 10 years and found it pretty effective.
Ryze, Blog, Linkedin, Facebook & finally Twitter used it all. Some good, some bad but it all balances out.
And it was in 2009 that I kept hearing this “Social Media” being used very often. Gentleman from a company that I was consulting about their Online foray kept throwing it to me and soon enough their agency got into the act, giving me the whole nine yards.
Trying to understand the entire social media jungle, I started delving deeper into it – reading about it, meeting people, trying my little experiments that I have chronicled on this blog.
After having joined my current organization, I was bombarded by everyone (except the peon, receptionist & driver) about online strategies, social media (there again) & how PR would help.
In a bid to get away from all these I finally caved in & agreed to meet the shortlisted PR agencies (three in number). And there began my nightmares…
All of them came in with the CEO/VP; Account Director; Account Executive and practically the same Power Point Presentation of 30 plus slides which could be broken up as:
1-10 About their company & our company (straight lift from brouchere)
11-20 About PR snapshots – how it works, value vs straight advertisements etc.
21-30 Social Media – snap shots – print screen of some clients
None of them could answer the following basic questions that should have been internally prepared at their end:
1) Why have you not studied the client? (not even googled it properly)
2) Do you think the client 106 years old has no clue of PR
3) Did the PR brief not tell you client expectations? In which case where are they on any of the 30 slides
4) Social Media – nice meaning from a host of sites etc. But do you think we need it? What should be our strategy? (Answer was FaceBook, Twitter & mind you our Ecommerce site is yet to go up)
5) How would PR work keeping in mind the recommendations? (Sir, worked for our other clients)
Nowhere during the course of the three meetings was the work complete integration, interaction with old, new consumers, commitment used anywhere. Retainer mila, bus kaam ho gaya. And YES they are yet to get back on the questions asked.
I guess this may be one of the reasons that some of my agency friends, acquaintances avoid talking shop with me, which actually may be a good thing.
But that leaves one with a Question – Is PR harnessing the power of social networking sites & blogs to help businesses generate strategic mind share & presence. and If so how many Indian Brands have enjoyed the fruits till now.
I sure would welcome suggestions, criticism, inputs, thoughts on the above….it does not matter whether you understand social media or not; whether you are an agency or client.
I write, review, rant, rave, on a variety of personal things. Call it Mindcasting. The written word has been my long time friend – jotting down thoughts based on what I read, heard, saw or recording my own experiences for later reference.
That was a very honest rant! Most agencies do have that 30-slide-syndrome.
The point here is, how and why do you think social media would be good for your business. Answering this is what is better known as making strategy for a client, in its simplest of all forms.
Getting 300 odd fans on facebook or followers on twitter is not the key, we know. Then why do we do that! The idea shall probably be to build a long term relationship with the customers using these tools. Be it Facebook fanpages, Ning-like communities or whatever. It’s only when people get engaged to a model, the objectives can be met. Take the example of Bell Bajao campain, Pink Chaddi campaign or now the Kingfisher Royal Challenge Club campaign.
To me this is how an existing brand or business can harness Social Media to optimum results. PR is no different for this.
Just, my 2 cents. 🙂
Sir,
As per my knowledge, There is only answer to your question..& that is a simple “NO”.
Sometims I really wonder how come the creative minds are clueless or coming up with those same stale ad/PR strategies when it comes to Social media. There is not a single brand except Bingo(bcoz its very recent) that left a sign on my back of mind..there is not a single thread discussion i can recall.
yeah, even I am clueless “how creatively the social media can be used for branding”.
To answer your question, sort of.
Let me tell a story about a major brand in Australia and it’s use of social media. They have PR folks looking at social media and marketing looking at social media. However during a conversation with the community manager he indicated that they are continually required to justify their activities. I suggested he approach things slightly differently, ignore ReTweets, Fans, Friends, and Followers. Instead look inside the organisation and think Cluetrain as I know for a fact that the employees who are “allowed” to use social media are benefiting from the fact. To quote one of their employees who I interviewed “From an employees point of view we do feel more engaged. We are giving the ‘faceless corporation’ a face and are showing that we do care about what people say and think about us. Its not always an easy task, but it is one that we enjoy. Honestly, I look forward to coming into work and interacting with the twitterverse.”
Now given the replacement cost of an employee runs somewhere in the order of 50-150% of their salary for every employee who feels more engaged and inspired because they can humanise a faceless corporation is an employee who will not just up and leave. In fact they will be more productive!
So while PR is figuring out how to control social media to enhance the brand they are missing the big picture.
(Sorry for the rant.)
I think what a number of agencies miss out on is listening. As PR pros, you are expected to learn about your industry, as social media, you need to do the same for your customer. You should know who my customer is,what my customers think of my brand, what are they buying, where are they buying from etc. Social media platforms give you the opportunity to identify, customize and engage with an individual or a group, only if you pay attention to what they are saying and not just keep pushing your content on to them.