One of the most interesting, thought provoking and humorous Australian public relations blogs is justanotherpr, the product of the wild, fearless and intelligent Karalee Evans. I say one of the best Australian PR blogs, but really it’s one of my fave blogs on a global level.

One of the most notable characteristics of Karalee’s writing is its forthrightness. You won’t die wondering what her opinion is on any of the topics she covers. You get it right between the eyes. Public relations professionals included. Read the serve she gives the profession when she writes that we have a responsibility to be the guardians of authenticity (i.e. truth/reality) rather than arbiters of spin.

Taking responsibility for public relations

You get the idea – loud and clear – that Karalee wants the profession to take responsibility for its own development. This will only occur when it provides counsel in the best interests of an organisation, which means that it needs to take into account the best interests of an organisation’s stakeholders as well. What works for all parties? Without addressing and working with the potentially conflicting needs and wants, the relationship – the relations – will not be meaningful or sustainable.

Marketers, and those who espouse an inaccurate and outmoded perspective of what constitutes PR (you the type, media relations = PR), also get a drilling. As Karalee rightly surmises, what a load of bollocks. But each of her posts exhibits a wry sense of self-deprecation, as well. Karalee and I both fight the good fight on the ‘PR is a strategic business discipline’ front, but we realise it’s a Sisyphean challenge at worst, and a long, slow haul at best.

The forensic detail Karalee attacks some of her topics with is positively, um, media-like. Well, in the days when Rupert etc provided their flacks with resources, anyway. I don’t have the patience myself, but read the way she talks about the evils of public relations astroturfing or her discussion of iSnack public relations ‘disaster’. I ‘apostrophise’ disaster because I am pretty sure Kraft went on to make a motza from the product anyway and at the end of the day why would it care about anything else?

Reputation? Sales? You pick the KPI its executives and shareholders are most concerned with.

Strategic thinking

Inherent within each of Karalee’s posts is a strategic public relations/communication management aesthetic. You can almost hear the gears clanking. Even her superficial-type rants are clearly underpinned by big picture thinking. This is articulated more transparently in posts where she talks about strategy being the most important part of public relations.

She says that, ‘A good strategy seeks to preempt your tactical failures.’ It’s an illustration of that holistic thinking I mentioned. Most strategies are focused on success, but without considering the alternative possibilities occurring as a result of best intentions, has the situation being fully, and ‘strategically’, considered? A further implication of this is the flexibility and fluidity that should be inherent within any strategy.

Research, conceptualise and plan, by all means. Everybody needs to have a direction and responsibilities. But the world is a surprising, delightful and quirky place. Message: get ready to go with (and respond to) the flow!

Karalee is a social media devotee. And no, just because you run a blog it doesn’t mean you know what you are talking about social media-wise. But whilst she recognises and espouses the force of the medium(s), she also writes about it not so much changing what best practice PR is, so much as being an acceleration and almost ideal manifestation of it.

I like the social awareness and corporate social responsibility principles which inform Karalee’s professional stance and writing as well. She is no wowser, but organisations and communication professionals have a responsibility to society as a whole. And as marketers seem to have a HUGE problem with incorporating a social responsibility into the work they do and advice they give, it looks like its left up to the saintly PR folk to deliver!

I was going to tell you something of Karalee’s background, but you can read that for yourself. More important is what she writes about, what she delivers. In summary, these are two things:

• An extremely important contribution to the public relations profession through her tireless, thoughtful examination of issues, trends and case studies. PR folk who don’t read her posts are missing out (on professional development AND fun). She is helping public relations ‘get’ strategic
• An enhancement of Australian culture. She frequently writes on Australian issues and, sometimes, icons. Her work is in Australia. Her humour is Oz-larrikin. Her rapier is pure Antipodean. She does not suffer fools gladly (but she will allow them to buy her a drink).

justanotherpr: spread the word.

Have you read Karalee’s blog? What do you think? Which of her ideas and opinions do you agree or disagree with? What other PR or marketing bloggers do you rate highly?

PS. I’d welcome you joining networks with me through my LinkedIn profile. Send me an invite!

Tweet This Post

There are a number of contenders for the most eye-rolling, can-you-believe-it dumb marketing and/or PR moment of 2009: loser marketers, the GFC and social media amongst them . But, thankfully, there have been plenty of inspirational examples of best practice professional communication too. Most importantly, what have we learnt during the year and how will it make us better communicators?

This post explores these dimensions with the input and assistance of two of the globe’s most astute public relations minds, Craig Badings and Sean Williams, both of whom provide plenty of insights on their own estimable blogs.

The ugly communication canards

Starting with the eye rolling, it never ceases to amaze me what some wankers in the advertising/marketing world come up with and their justifications for it. Australian readers will be familiar with the Toyota debacle, where a sexist, incest-implying entry into an advertisement competition was repeatedly justified by marketers, then needed to be pulled out of the fire by public relations experts.

Arguably even more devastating due to the impact it is literally having on people’s lives, is how one of Australia’s largest banks, Westpac, raised home loan interest rates way in excess of our Reserve Bank’s guidelines (unlike some of their competitors). This was bad enough (avarice, completely contradictory to the Westpac’s supposed – and now obviously shot to pieces – CSR positioning) but it was made worse by an ill-judged video using banana smoothies as an analogy for the excessive interest rate hike…unbelievable.

Craig Badings found the GFC tiresome (hey, and who can blame him! It got me retrenched, so I know what he means). “The impact of the GFC on communication service companies has had a profound impact in many respects,” he says.

“I am nervous that some of these will become de rigueur moving forward. For example, some companies have become extremely process driven in their approach to comms. This is all well and good when used to measure outputs and impact on ROI but when it comes as the expense of innovation and creativity I start fearing for the relationship. These approaches, if taken too far, inevitably kill the passion.”

Sean Williams, on the other hand, took the other major elephant in the room over the past year to task. “Crap social media claptrap. There is a ruling class in social media consulting who regurgitates the same old, tired canard of gobbeldy-gook that makes social media out to be the reinvention of the structure of society itself, declaring the End of News Media and accusing anyone who disagrees of being stupid, corrupt or worse.”

Examples of best practice public relations

On a more positive note, Craig looked back with satisfaction on a campaign he had worked on with law firm Henry Davis York. This…“resulted in the government of New South Wales settling with a family whose home was situated on an old radioactive waste site.”

Sean pointed out an excellent campaign by The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, called ‘Drawing Board’. “They are my client for measurement, so I can’t take credit for the single best and simplest explanation of financial regulation I’ve ever seen [unintentional banking and video connection noted...!]. They’ve also done a follow up video on the consumer price index…”

Getting better (at communicating) all the time

There is nothing that we all can’t get better at, but Sean and I would love to win more new business for our consultancies and I am sure Craig empathises with this as well. I question whether really profound, organisation-changing work can be done from the consultancy position, as opposed to working in-house in a PR capacity, but there are certainly plenty of exceptions to this position.

Sean, like most of us, had a big social media learning and ‘doing’ time in 2009. “Twitter and blogging make up a huge part of my day/week,” he says. “And the amount of information (some good, some not) I’ve gleaned from reading others in our field has been great.”

Plenty of us would have the tools to get better at our jobs by reading Craig’s book, Brand Stand; seven steps to thought leadership, which was published this year, whilst professional communication blogs by the likes of Karalee Evans and Trevor Young make an ongoing contribution to professional PR learning.

Incorporating the perspectives of others into my work and approach is always one of the more interesting and enriching dimensions of a professional life. Of course, embracing the views of others is analogous to public relations so it’s hypocritical not to bring such a mindset to our work.

And for 2010?

“I think more and more executives and communication professionals are beginning to understand the true power of good thought leadership and, if done properly, it’s ability to impact sales,” postulates Craig. “The biggest battle, however, is getting some people to understand that the focus of thought leadership doesn’t have to be on the product or service and that it is perfectly OK to ‘give away’ or share information and insights.”

The ‘giving away’ of information is similar to social media best practice. But social media still remains a war zone, according to Craig. “Many of the large corporates are still battling with the concept of engaging online. Speak to Dell, Walmart, Kryptonite locks, Pizza Hut and a host of others to find out just how important it is, if only as an early warning device for issues and a way to help manage crises.”

Sean says, “2010 could well be the Year of Measurement – that means doing long-delayed internal comms research, reducing dependence on ‘more more more’ in media relations in favour of better targeting and generally looking critically at how communication affects the business.”

It was reinforced for me during 2009, and I’ll be applying this in 2010 and beyond, how important flexibility and believing in yourself is. I was retrenched during 2009, I started my blog, I was forced to start my own business and now juggle a permanent role, my own business and this demanding blog baby.

An upside out of this was meeting, networking and collaborating with a wide range of public relations professionals, many of whom provided me with a great deal of support, inspiration and professional education. It reinforced to me what a rewarding, worthwhile profession I work in.

 So tell me, what were the highs, lows and ‘learnings’ of 2009 for you – and what do you think the professional business communication world will bring in 2010?

Tweet This Post

Why blog about public relations? Well, for me it is because of the discipline’s inherent drama, aptitude for telling interesting stories and constant shape-shifting. Public relations, marketing and their many strategic (e.g. corporate and marketing communication etc) and tactical permutations are the grist for my mill.

The goals for this blog that I started mid-2009 have stayed pretty much the same: to expand knowledge on professional communication, especially public relations, and stimulate vigorous debate. Hopefully, an outcome of this is enhancing the conceptual and practical awareness and skills of communication professionals so they become better at their jobs.

A major motivating factor behind the blog’s inception was (and is) to raise awareness of the strategic importance of public relations to business and how its best practice application leads to a more equitable society.

At the core of the blog’s aesthetic is honesty and integrity; expressing opinions in a frank, sometimes provocative manner, that truly encapsulates the perspective of those, including myself, who use the blog as a platform and an opportunity for dialogue.

I view taking a sometimes ‘edgy’ approach, rather than a softly-softly mind-your-manners one, as being more likely to engage with professional communicators and involve them in the blog’s discussions.

Another factor was to help raise the profile of my ‘personal brand’ as part of a marketing strategy to get work after being a ‘GFC (woe is/was me…) retrenchment’ in April. This seems to have worked, as it definitely helped me gain a permanent role, as well as clients for my own business.

Since starting the blog in June, the blog has:

• featured the perspectives of numerous industry leaders
• had customised versions of its posts syndicated in Mumbrella, Frocomm’s PR Report and the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s e-newsletter and website
• provided a free, extensively resourced PDF report on crisis communication and social media, featuring the views of numerous PR thought leaders
• enhanced the vigour with which professional communication has been discussed in this country, adding to media and influential blogger commentary
• been ranked number one when undertaking a Google search for ‘public relations bloggers’ on 20 November (okay already, I admit Google must have been having a freak day).

The diversity of perspectives and voices the blog represents is analogous of social media and public relations, a key tenet of the latter being to represent the plurality of perspectives relevant to organisations. This is manifested not just in readers’ comments, but in posts that specifically discuss the views of others, either in the manner of ‘reviews’, interviews or guest posts. Topics covered include:

• market research
• crisis communication
• social media
• corporate social responsibility
• positioning.

There are a number of posts which encapsulate the blog’s aesthetic. They include

• the primacy of the two-way symmetrical communication model of public relations to the discipline’s best practice implementation
• how public relations is a critically important business discipline that is helping the world become a better place
• public relations’ responsibility to transform organisations so that they are more aligned with their stakeholders’ needs and wants
• the gratifying and inspirational aesthetic that underpins the culture of public relations.

It’s been a fun ride and has certainly enhanced my enjoyment of public relations.

Working in a consultancy environment, all too often you find yourself ensconced in the tactical rather than the strategic end of PR, way too frequently do you end up focusing on media relations alone and, finally, new business isn’t what I would call the sexiest characteristic of PR agency life (it’s not what I did a Goddamn Masters for, put it like that!)

So it’s fulfilling, at least, to discuss best practice and interesting dimensions of public relations whilst you are working to get that that killer client walk in the door…

Tweet This Post

An organisation needs to understand the core values of its stakeholders and customise communication processes in respect of, and in response to, those values, asserted       Rupert Hugh-Jones (right-below) from Scaffidi Hugh-Jones at Frocomm’s Crisis Communication & Social Media Summit 2009. This assertion was made in the context of crisis communication, but it could equally be applied to all aspects of an organisation, both communication and non-communication related.

This perspective is a manifestation of the guiding principle of strategic public relations, two-way symmetrical communication, where organisational perspectives, processes and, yes, values, do not come about in isolation to stakeholders, but through an organic, mutually respectful process.

The responsibility of business
Craig Badings, of Cannings (right-below), took the same approach in his presentation at the summit. Craig wielded the hatchet to Milton Friedman’s dictum of “The business of business is business…” Craig said, “This no longer cuts it. Companies know this, the public knows it and so do NGOs, regulators and government.

“This is the era of the ethical consumer,” Craig continued. There is nowhere for organisations to hide. This reinforces the responsibility that public relations practitioners have to influence organisational behaviour. This will help organisations develop more mutually beneficial relationships with their stakeholders, at the same time impacting positively on society.

Craig posed the question, can CSR or thought leadership lessen the impact of a crisis or lead to a faster recovery? He asserted that these days companies are not only, “expected to come up with products that are good for the bottom line, they also need to be good for society.”

CSR, of course, is fundamentally about aligning an organisation with society and stakeholder expectations. Operating at its optimum level, it is not ‘bolt-on’, it is fully integrated and part of the organisational culture, as SR|7’s James Griffin implied at the summit. Being socially responsible, then, is just about the best form of reputation enhancement and crisis preparedness that an organisation can undertake.

“CSR in the truest sense is about conducting a thorough risk analysis and aligning programs with your company values that best mitigate those risks in a collaborative a manner as possible,” said Craig. Integrating CSR within the values of the business, as Rupert also implied was necessary, enhances the integrity of the organisation and its approach to business.

Reputation matters – financially
Craig discussed the findings of the Reputation Index, which corroborates that, “a well-regarded company is more likely to be trusted, liked, admired and esteemed than others – all strong mitigating factors when a crisis hits and all likely to afford you, for a while at least, the benefit of the doubt.”

Importantly, Craig provided data that strongly suggests organisations with an enhanced reputation withstand crises markedly better than those that do not have a good reputation. There are also plenty of academic studies supporting this assertion.

The drivers behind CSR adoption
The dialectic that determines why organisations adopt CSR is an interesting one. As Craig pointed out, it is not unusual for the ‘adoption’ to be driven by a desire to placate stakeholders, rather than be truly aligned with the way a business operates or its values. Philanthropy does not = social responsibility or true two-way symmetrical communication. It is a superficial gesture, no matter how big the handout. Giving money to a worthy cause hardly mitigates the fact that you might be slashing rainforests and paying workers a pittance so that you make enough money for the hand out.

Similarly, producing a flashy CSR report (printed on recycled paper…) does not constitute social responsibility.

However, if the reporting and the philanthropy help peel the scales from the organisation’s eyes as to the benefit and payoff in CSR, then who cares? It has a purpose. Sometimes, the cart does come before the horse.

A further extension of this is an organisation’s use of social media. Utilising social media implies an organisation is applying a CSR/two-way symmetrical communication approach because social media means it is…

• listening, talking to and trying to understand its stakeholders (or is it?)
• open to altering its processes, products, services, behaviours and approaches to stakeholder engagement, so it is more in line with stakeholder needs and wants (or does it?).

The answer to both questions is no. But if the use of social media means some of those stakeholder messages are filtering their way up to the boardroom…then maybe, just maybe, that social responsibility will come.

CSR and public relations
CSR, then, is really public relations operating at its most strategic level, applying the methodology of two-way symmetrical communication. This is clearly an excellent way of minimising the likelihood of a reputational crisis impacting on an organisation as well as minimising the impact of a crisis when it does occur.

How do you feel about the parallels that are drawn in this post between public relations and CSR? What is the public relations professional’s role in encouraging an organisation to be socially responsible? Do you have examples of CSR in business ‘doing good’? And this could mean financially (for the organisation), socially or in another dimension.

This post is part of an extended series covering the summit. All the coverage is also available in a free PDF report that you are welcome to share with your colleagues and peers. As a return favour for providing this resource, and only – of course – if you think the content is worthwhile, perhaps you could tweet about it or flag it on one of your social media networking sites, such as LinkedIn.

Tweet This Post