Social Media’s USP: Its Novelty!
February 3, 2011
Everyone has a lot to say about social media nowadays, so I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.
I for one am a keen advocate of the use of social media because of its ability to connect anyone to everyone. Sites such as Twitter have enabled me to network with industry professionals and peers instantly for free.
Facebook allows me to keep in touch with my close friends and acquaintances. LinkedIn has enabled me to display my CV online which can be accessed by potential future employers.
Youtube users can upload unlimited videos which can be viewed instantly (most of the time!) by anyone with a computer or smart phone. I use it all the time to listen to new music and can share these tracks with my Facebook friends at the click of a mouse (or tap of an iProduct).
This blog has allowed me vent my thoughts and opinions and open a dialogue with others. I guess what I’m trying to say is that social media empowers people. It’s a natural territory for PR by definition – its allows anyone and everyone to relate to their publics (or stakeholders).
I wrote a blog on anti-social media outlining my opinions on the negatives of usage of social media. But on balance, social media has far more positives.
For me, the unique selling point of social media is its novelty. It conveniently connects us to the people in our lives as well as allowing us to meet new friends and handy contacts.
Social media isn’t just the future, it’s the present.
“Be Confident, Not Arrogant” – Seb Mysko
January 30, 2011
Sebastian Mysko is the Managing Director of the social media and word of mouth marketing consultancy – Rising Digital, with clients the likes of Deadmau5, Swedish House Mafia, Chris Lake, Gorillaz, Mauro Picotto, Miss Dynamite, Sander van Doorn , Simon Patterson to name a few.
Seb stud
ied Marketing Management at Northumbria Uni. It was at the music festival Sonar when he landed his first Comms Job when one of his uni friends (who’d graduated a year before him) offered him the opportunity to work at Harrison Cowley (now Grayling ).
“I got in early and left late, made the tea, but also developed good relations with the team and three weeks after my graduation, I was offered a position as Account Executive. Looking back, I’m really glad I started near the bottom and worked through all the stages – I feel it’s given me a much greater understanding and sense of compassion for the whole team network.”
Seb’s role as MD at Rising Digital consists mostly of meetings, phone calls and pretty much constantly talking digital strategy. Getting 200 to 400 emails a day, of which about 30% need dealing with there and then, Seb is a big advocate of the phone!
“I’ve worked more campaigns than I can think of, the most obvious being that of the Swedish House Mafia; eighteen months ago they started with no Facebook fans and no online presence. By Q4 of 2010, well… I think you know the rest. But, I have to say, it’s all well and good working on a campaign when you’re a part of it, but it’s much more exciting when you’re actually leading and controlling it.”
Some of his most memorable clients include the Gorillaz, who Rising has supported since they started, Radio One’s In new DJs we trust and Alex Metric - “he continues to educate me in quality and eclectic sounds. But, really I love them all – Axwell’s team is just fantastic… honestly, I could just go on and on.”
Seb admits he wasn’t the most studious student, but he is an excellent people person. When he landed that first PR job, he absorbed so much information about a topic he really had no knowledge of. Coming from an expat background, he didn’t listen to radio, read the UK papers or really ever watch the news. He didn’t read any trade magazines other than music industry stuff, which for the most part, he ‘only bought for the free CDs.’
“At Harrison Cowley I was surrounded by so many personalities that I guess I had real access to, even the MD. I was like a sponge, mopping up every single piece of advise and theory they could throw at me.”
Seb’s advice to current students is to treat the business world like a new client proposal; do your research and set your objectives, the strategy and treat the industry as your target market. Be confident in your approach, not arrogant, but believable.
“ In our first two years of trading, I’m confident we’ve won 99% of our business because people like us. The fact we do the work well is the bread and butter.”
“Don’t Flake Out!” – Anna Wilson
January 29, 2011
Anna Wilson graduated from Leeds Met in 2009 with 1st honours. Having started on the HND Business & PR course, Anna excelled in her initial years, switching to the BA Public Relations course in year 3. Anna is now the Digital Junior Account Manager at Tangerine PR.
Having grown up Birmingham, Anna chose Leeds Met because of its great integration of practical work experience into the course, which she found to be invaluable throughout her degree.
Anna secured her final year placement with Hatch Communications, where she was able to work as part of the team managing the Ocean Gateway Challenge and the launch of the Alea Casino in Leeds.
“I had a great time working on these projects and I learned so much, met some wonderful people and the experience was invaluable. Winning the Trimedia prize was fantastic, the late nights and all the work that went into our pitch was well worth it!”
Anna relished work experience with Ptarmigan PR (know as Bell Pottinger today) where she worked on clients such as Yorkshire Bank, Lemsip and Diageo. She was also part of a team that ran the Northern Journalist Awards where she met some great contacts and even got to meet Greg Dyke! Keen to gain journalistic experience, Anna wrote regularly for the student newspaper ‘The Met.’
Anna’s advice to current students is if you’re going to do something and do it – don’t flake out when it gets hard. Ask for help, the lecturers aren’t just available during your lectures/seminar’s –e-mail them, book appointments and ask for help, advice and guidance. But most importantly don’t say no and don’t make excuses – If you get the chance to do work experience go for it, if you’re sat stuffing letters in envelopes or writing PO forms (as she did at her first day at Ptarmigan!) then do it and do it well – that way you’ll be invited back.
Anti-Social Media?
January 18, 2011
In my first semester at Leeds Met, it became increasingly evident that social media was the future of PR (and Advertising, Journalism, Marketing & Networking for that matter). I realized the magnitude of social media when Richard Bailey not only allowed, but encouraged live tweeting throughout his lecture, with the hash tag #prlecsm.
Social media allows PROs to communicate and coverse with their publics instantly from the comfort of their office. It bypasses the traditional journalistic ‘middle men’ and puts power in the hands of of anybody and everybody. Communication has never been easier, with awesome smartphones and super-fast broadband, the power of social media is constantly growing, ushering in a ‘Golden Age’ for the PR industry.
However the revolution in social media, could lead to 
devolution in the real world. The most popular social media platform is without a doubt Facebook, which is currently valued at $50 billion. Over 500 million people worldwide have a Facebook account (including my nana!). However what can be a vibrant and entertaining platform can be abused and turn into anti-social media.
People seem to be so engrossed with their Facebook account that they neglect their offline lives. I actually overheard two girls the other day bickering over who had more friends on Facebook, as if it’s an accolade to have more friends added than someone else.
Some of my Facebook ‘friends’ post some insulting, childish, pointless and baffling status updates. I have actually starting removing people from my friends, because of their annoying updates on my so-called ‘news feed.’ I noticed that I didn’t even know some of the people on my friend list!
Without ranting too much
, seemingly innocent things, such as uploading and tagging photos of people in a drunken mess can have disastrous consequences. Many employers have been deterred from hiring candidates because of embarrassing and unsavoury photos
It’s not just Facebook, Paul Chambers’s tweet in November last year read “Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!” This tweet may have been a joke, but Chambers was still sentenced to a £3,000 fine!
The Liverpool footballer Ryan Babel was fine £10,000 this week by the Football Association Regulatory Commission because he tweeted a picture of referee Howard Webb wearing a Man Utd shirt following their 1-0 defeat. It’s worrying how social media has the power to become anti-social.
Although, social media is predominantly useful and entertaining. It allows friends, family and colleagues to communicate and network instantly across vast distances. Social media can and does empower people.
Just look at Linkedin, which allows people to connect with past and present colleagues as well as advertise themselves to prospective employers in a fair and objective way.Other social sites such as Foursquare allows you to tell your friends where you’ve been, where you’re going and the quality of that experience. Path is the opposite to Facebook, limiting you to 50 friends so you stay connected with the people that really matter in your life.
Moreover, after reading ‘Social media lessons from the year I spent in bed’ by Jennifer Kane, you realize the amount of benefits social media bring.
Generation Unto Generation
November 30, 2010
Justin McKeown, now Regional Director of the global public relations consultancy Grayling, graduated with a first class degree in Public Relations in 1997.
It was fascinating to listen to his view on the changes in the PR industry over the last 13 years.
Justin McKeown (centre) with CIPR student reps
He started with an icebreaker activity, his own version of ‘The Generation Game,’ asking students to identify pictures, nostalgic and current. The message was to point out how cultures change over generations and to demonstrate the need to keep up-to-date and well-informed or be left behind.
Speaking more specifically of the changing world of communication, Justin said ‘YouTube is a mere five years old and is the most watched media channel in the world.’ He then discussed the demise of traditional print media with the example of how Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper The Times runs at a loss and may be scrapped by his likely successor James.
Justin then reminisced about the age of the fax machine and the inevitable end of the day queues to use it, outlining the constantly changing world (and the need to keep pace with it). In contrast, in the quiet early days of Twitter, Justin convinced Jonathan Ross to make a donation for a charity auction by simply suggesting so in a tweet.
Evaluation methods are changing too, with Justin describing the decline of AVE (advertising value equivalency) in favour the number of ‘retweets’ or ‘likes’ an article or blog post has received. Measuring online consumption is much more quantifiable than consumption of print media. He also commented on the growth in platforms of ‘mass coverage’ consisting of thousands of online outlets, the key point being you cannot stop information flowing.
PR today is much more about engaging in dialogue with customers and key influencers than the old style of: ‘I have something to say, you listen.’
“How engaged would you feel with someone who only spoke in press release format?”
Justin concluded by pointing out the transformation of media and the way it is distributed, noting that information flows in every direction (a far cry from Shannon & Weaver’s model) as well as advocating that the opportunities have never been greater for the PR profession.
Why I Chose to Study PR
November 28, 2010
The importance of interpersonal relationships and communication management fascinates me, and indeed has influenced my behaviour and conduct from an early age. The way in which we communicate can make or break our relationships regardless of their significance; after all ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know!’
Having been elected Secretary of the Student Council and Treasurer of the Social Committee at Durham Sixth Form Centre during my A-levels, I soon realized that how we relate to our public affects the success of any project, policy, initiative or social event. This is when I began to understand the intricacies and influence of Public Relations. After studying Philosophy, Psychology & History at A2, I had noticed a profound relationship between my (and my peers’) interest in topics and they way in which they were taught and how well the teacher communicated with me and the class. This was when I began to realize the power and value of solid communication and began my research on PR as a future career.
An affluently growing industry, taking precedence over other communication outlets such as advertising and traditional press journalism is too irresistible for someone such as myself, hungry for a challenge, persistent in the face of rejection and eager to learn from others. The concept of ‘pray for play’, central to the world PR (increasingly so in terms of online PR) is very relevant in the current economic climate with budgets and funding being slashed left, right and centre. The importance of excellent dialogue between disparate parties cannot be underestimated and the catalyst for efficiency, creativity and ingenuity has never been greater.
Maintaining positive representation and reputation is growing more challenging and difficult, especially with new transparency policies being adopted by both private and public sectors. The perception that PR is all about ‘spin’ is redundant in the 21st century. The boundaries of PR are growing and blurring with other disciplines such as Marketing (hence my choice of PR & Marketing) and Journalism. The pandemic of social networking and blogging in many ways has allowed PR to bypass traditional print media, presenting new opportunities for the way in which PR is conducted. Utilization of these new outlets remains dubious; however I find it vastly interesting and novel that anyone and everyone is an ‘online expert’, with tweeters and bloggers having huge influence not just online but in the real world, providing impartial and reliable advice and reviews that many read and trust. Identifying and harnessing this new online media phenomena is a perfect example of why I chose PR, the ever-changing environments, platforms and methods in which we (seemingly without relent) communicate with our publics interests me far much more than a life of monotonous routine ever could.
Leeds Metropolitan University has arguably the most sophisticated and respected Public Relations department in Europe. This was ideal for a Durham boy, a mere hour and a half on the train. The rose bowl campus is intrinsically impressive (as is all of the university buildings) and the lecturers on the open day conveyed a real passion and expertise for PR. I felt at home before I had even been accepted! From then on I was confident I had chosen the right course, university and city for me.
There is a very long and arduous journey ahead of me before I can be confident, experienced and educated enough to be a professional PR practitioner, however this is one a look forward to embarking and hopefully mastering. Despite obstacles and criticisms from other professions, I am confident that I have chosen the right course for me and am very optimistic for the future and relish the challenges ahead.
