I have moved!
Thanks for visiting this blog…I have decided to move over to Word Press.
My latest blog, Social Web Thing can now be found at:
I look forward to seeing you over there!
Ben.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)What does the death of print media mean for PR?
In recent weeks Rupert Murdoch et al have been hinting towards charging for content as newspaper advertising revenues continue to dwindle. The industry has been described as dying by many commentators and it is clear that newspapers need to move away from a business model that is so intrinsically linked to advertising spend. It remains to be seen if this is the way forward.
For starters, we are a generation used to getting stuff online for free – from films to music to news. We are a generation who have been brought up on a diet of piracy and perceived entitlement which may dent Murdoch’s plans, although the examples of the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times suggests people are willing to pay for premium content.
The way people consume their news has evolved with many people now getting it online as opposed to the print. This in itself has thrown up an interesting challenge to PRO’s and has spawned a whole host of digital PR agencies.
But as people have gone online, so has advertising and online advertising lends itself to analysis and can be targeted much more effectively in such a way that hard copy cannot even begin to compete. All this raises the question of how much blame must be attributed to Google for the current situation. Has traditional advertising spend been diverted away from newspapers to the worlds most loved search engine? It certainly offers some explanation.
We all need a strong, healthy and independent press, but as the industry weakens, journalists are enlisting the help of PRO’s ever more frequently. I know of overworked journalists at troubled newspapers who regurgitate press releases almost word for word due to their lack of time. This is not a great situation.
It also appears that many newspapers are grappling with the twin costs of printing their publication, as well maintaining a full web presence. I wonder how long until one of the early adopters – the Guardian or Telegraph go the whole hog and goes solely online? Or perhaps it will be one of the other newspapers that needs to cut costs and goes this way. San Francisco is likely to become the first American city to lose its daily newspaper, I wonder how long until the UK suffers the loss of a national? The failing ones cannot all be taken over by Russian oligarchs.
With more and more newspapers in trouble and journalists being laid off, I’m sure one of the direct consequences of the death of print media will be many hacks migrating over to PR.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)AVE…anachronism or valuable tool?
It was nice to see PR Week (8 May) and Brand Republic (6 May) focus on the worth of Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) as an evaluation tool. It is a debate PRO’s the world over have been having ever since press cuttings were kept.
This blog has previously questioned the value of AVE and how it is an anachronism, an outdated method of evaluation in the these times. Surely an industry that has come so far over the years and prides itself on innovation and being at the forefront of new trends could come up with a better evaluation tool. And by better, I mean clients don’t just want to know about column inches and AVE, but they want (in fact, demand) a much richer analysis that includes tone, key messages and who said it to name but a few. The world of social media opens up a whole host of opportunities and makes look AVE even more redundant. Organisations want to know what is being said about their brands on Facebook, Twitter and the like. AVE just does not cut the mustard.
I can see the argument to use AVE in the current financial climate as a way to demonstrate ROI to under pressure Finance Directors who do not ‘get’ PR, but it does not scratch beneath the surface. AVE may offer a huge return in comparison to advertising, but with falling advertising revenues, surely these often quite outlandish figures are going to shrink and as an industry we need to ask ourselves why are we comparing ourselves with advertising? After all, advertising is a very different beast and a wounded one at that.
With a couple of universities leading the way in PR education and research, perhaps the CIPR could commission some top PR academics to carry out research and come up with a solution to this age old problem. Who knows, they could even come up with some guidelines for best practice that could be adopted as industry standard. After all isn’t that what being chartered is all about?
Uncategorized | Comment (0)
Essex Comms…innovative or ill-thought?
PR Week (24 April) recently threw up a very interesting debate. Essex City Council has launched Essex Communications, a brand new PR agency specialising in public affairs and lobbying. The venture looks set to recruit 11 new staff and aims to be making a return within three years.
Having worked in the public sector, I’m all too aware of the need to generate third streams of income and for years, the public sector has been told to be run more like a business. Hey Presto, by following the lead of Westminster City Council, Essex is doing just that. However, there have already been rumblings from agencies that have had their nose somewhat put out of joint by Essex Comms.
I’m confident the agency will provide a very specialist service and have great contacts in Westminster Village. But all of this begs the question; should a council stick to what it does best? Namely, charging exuberant council tax rates for little else, other than providing hard pressed residents with a ridiculous array of recycling bins and subsequently fining them if the wrong material is placed in the said bin?
It will be fascinating to see how all this pans out, but Essex CC is leaving itself open to accusations of using public money to prop up a private enterprise. What is public sector’s raison d’être? Are they there to make money? Or are they meant to be above all that and provide public services? In these troubled times with the press jumping on any hint of public money being squandered, this venture could be a PR disaster. I’m sure the irony would not be lost on Joe Public, but guess who will pick up the tab once again.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)