Social Web | PR and the Social Web

Ryanair and The Art of Bad PR

17 10 2013

Ever since PR people first started talking about social, we have shared warning’s of the dire consequences of allowing negative stories to spin out of control online.

The first really big one was ‘Dell Hell’ when tech blogger Jeff Jarvis wrote a damning post and told the PC manufacturer to “put that in your Google and smoke it”. That online PR train wreck contributed to Dell losing 25% of its value in the 12 months that followed.

So why would a company actively seek to create an online shit storm? This week Ryanair announced on Twitter that it wanted suggestions for improving customer service, it even used a hashtag #TellMOL (that’s Michael O’Leary). Nigel Sarbutts of Brandalert described it as a “social media car crash” waiting to happen. Bear in mind O’Leary who summed up his take customer service thus “people say the customer is always right, but you know what – they’re not. Sometimes they are wrong and they need to be told so.” Most companies accept that really poor customer service should ultimately lead to some form of recompense. Not so MO’L who said; “you’re not getting a refund so f**k off. We don’t want to hear your sob stories. What part of ‘no refund’ don’t you understand?”

There is little doubt that O’Leary wants controversy. Mark Pinsent, Social and content lead at Metia summed it up neatly; “If there was ever a company happy to invite and handle consumer vitriol, it’s Ryanair.” The Ryanair boss is very much of the “no publicity is bad publicity school”. Here he is again; “Short of committing murder, negative publicity sells more seats than positive publicity”.

That said people aren’t really going to waste much time asking Ryanair to provide comfier seats and in-flight entertainment. I also don’t think that too many people will be lulled into venting their spleen through such a bogus campaign. It will probably turn out to be a shit storm in a teacup. There aren’t many people that can pull off the trick of turning bad PR into profit but O’Leary is a master so far. His Ratner moment may be yet to come.

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Tags: Michael O'Leary, Ryanair, TellMOL
Categories : Brands, Social Web

LinkedIn and the Meaning of Connections

6 03 2012

I’ve just passed the 500 mark on LinkedIn and it feels wrong. Let me explain. I can’t possible know 500 people. I’m fascinated and largely persuaded by the work of British anthropologist Robin Dunbar.

His theory known as ‘Dunbar’s number’ is a limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable relationships. That’s the sort where I know someone, they know me and we understand our relationship. It is commonly held to be around 150. Dunbar says the “limit is a direct function of relative neocortex size”.

So how did I get here, my LinkedIn group was a list of people who I knew well personally or more commonly had worked with as colleagues, client, supplier or partners in various projects. So what went wrong? Why don’t I really know all of the people who I purport on-line to be connected to? Here is my list of ways in which I think it’s gone wrong.

I’ve been on LinkedIn for around five years. Some people I knew well then, I don’t know well any more.
In building up my initial contact list I was probably over enthusiastic about finding and adding people.
A desire not to offend. I wrote a note to someone a couple of years ago politely declining an invitation to connect as we had no previous connection. I received a vitriolic reply. I still decline these invitations but accept others where the connection is tenuous.
Confusion. I think many people have a different view to mine on the nature of LinkedIn and networking on-line in general.

It may not matter but my network is clearly, to me and anyone that looks in, now a loose one. LinkedIn doesn’t annotate my actual number of connections any more. I’m like many other people a 500+.

Is there something I should do differently? There probably is. I should regard my online network as the loose association that it is and concentrate more on my real world network. Obvious when you think about it.

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Categories : LinkedIn, Social Networks, Social Web

Seven Predictions for the Future of PR

10 02 2012

It’s usual to post predictions for the year ahead in the first week of January rather than well into the second month. Convention also dictates that thoughts for the future should come in nice round batches of ten.

My main reason for not posting earlier in the year was that I was holding back my ‘Mystic Meg’ style musings on the direction of PR for the Insight Twelve event brought to you by those wonderful people at Don’t Panic. Now that’s a mere memory, I’m sharing them here.

There’s no science behind the number seven. That’s all I could muster, there are also no guarantees attached but the insights fall into three categories: no brainers, highly probable and debatable. The last of these doesn’t indicate that I’m not convinced, more that others disagree. You decide which is which.

1. Social Media will vanish

Strictly speaking I mean the description rather than the ‘thing’ itself. The notion that social media marketing or PR exists in isolation of other channels will quickly disappear. So called mainstream media is becoming more socialised, so I see the distinction evaporating and we’ll talk about media again not social or conventional.

2. The link between PR & Search will become more significant

The top results on Google are the most important single influence on the reputation of any organisation or individual. Search engines are also in a constant battle to promote natural search elevating real news and information. That’s where the enlightened and educated PR person comes in.

3. The dymamics of the journalist and PR relationship will alter

This isn’t my prediction is was made by the hugely insightful journalist and blogger, Tom Foremski. He has said “PR people … are pitching stories to journalists who have very much smaller pageviews on the stories they write, and far smaller Twitter/Facebook communities to which to distribute their stories, than the PR people.” He also saw this trend over two-years ago. Read his full post here.

4. The decline in print and in newspapers will accelerate

No-one could have predicted the closure of the UK’s biggest selling newspaper in 2011. It was prompted by scandal but owners NewsCorp know that they have to reduce their exposure to print. Circulation, pagination and title numbers will all fall in 2012.

5. Video content will become more evident in PR campaigns

The growth in video consumption is astronomical. Apple TV will demolish the wall between web TV and current broadcast platforms. Cost of production is in free fall. You do the math.

6. The definition of PR will change to reflect the reality

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is leading a global campaign to modernize the definition of public relations. It is addressing the prevailing confusion about public relations’ role and value and it is doing so in an open and engaging way.

7. The reality of PR will change to reflect the impact of social channels on reputation

At the Think 11 conference last May, Colin Byrne, CEO UK and Europe, Weber Shandwick and Robert Phillips, CEO (EMEA), Edelman, both identified that the practice of PR was changing and that reputation was now built on action not spin. We would do well to heed the brightest leaders in our profession.

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Tags: natural search, pr person
Categories : Social Web, Top Five, Top Ten

Why’s X Factor’s Amelia Lily on hmv.com?

6 12 2011

When Amelia Lily returned to X-Factor a strange thing occurred. News of her selection to replace the disgraced Frankie Cocozza appeared on the STV website before the public vote had ended. The X Factor PR machine claimed that site had prepared four stories to cover each of the contenders being voted back in by the public – but I looked at the time and I could only find Amelia’s. No-one on twitter appeared to find the others at first either.

Earlier today Amelia’s winners’ single appeared on the HMV website, five days before viewers are asked to part with cash in order to take part in the big final public vote. I can state categorically that as of 18.19 on Tuesday 6 December the other finalists don’t have winners’ singles for sale at hmv.com.

Ten days ago the X Factor M&S advert also appeared with a newly edited version giving Amelia the starring role in place of Misha B. So what is going on?

Accusations of fixing are rife, but if the outcome is fixed it would be difficult to keep under wraps. My best guess is that this is a cynical publicity stunt aimed at boosting the volume of column inches and pixels devoted to Amelia Lily because more interest=more votes and Cowell and his company think she’s the act that they can make the most money from. Here are my reasons.

The Amelia Lily PR machine has been in overdrive in recent days
The title of the song doesn’t appear on the website – that’s a big reveal kept for the final
The single was removed from the hmv site at around 18.30 – but only after the Mirror published the story and the leak started to trend on twitter

Fix or not the X Factor bosses seem to have as much regard for a fair and free vote as the Russian prime minister.