Hotwire Interactive
A blog and a bit more, from PR agency HotwireTwitter & the Platform of Embarrassment
By Andy W
Although some of the early pioneers of Twitter may be claiming its star is waning, the continued growth of micro blogging seems to be providing celebrities and the general public with abundant opportunities to embarrass themselves. Everything from over-zealous statements about team selection; Australian opener Philip Hughes letting the cat out of the bag before the team for the 3rd test was officially announced, to Sion Simon, Labour MP and Government Minister joking that Susan Boyle was responsible for swine flu. It is interesting to see that the old adage of engaging brain before opening mouth stands true in today’s digital world.
But what does this mean for those companies who are either using Twitter or dipping their toe into the waters of Twitter as part of corporate communications? There’s a dichotomy between the controlled and often dull nature of corporate posts with the requirement to be interesting, succinct and even provocative. Used correctly Twitter builds influence, reaches into new audiences and provides opportunities to engage directly in conversation. Used inappropriately it can open up a whole can of proverbial whoop ass. One example to note is the Skittles marketing campaign that was created with the best intentions but was overrun by pranksters flooding the page with unflattering and damaging comments.
So what advice should be given to the use of Twitter as part of a communications campaign? Quite simply to think before posting and be prepared for the open dialogue it will create. Don’t blame Twitter when things don’t quite go to plan. Remember that all forms of media are open to abuse; the key is to weed out the abusers and engage with those looking for sensible dialogue. By managing it closely, abiding by common sense principles and by embracing its potential, Twitter continues to have its place in the corporate communications armoury. Just engage that brain before tapping out those 140 characters.
Is a press release only for the press?
By Alexis D
One of my colleagues, Drew Benvie, tweeted a link to an article from Journalism.co.uk about how to write a press release. First off everyone should read it, it is full of press release advice goodness. The only other one I remember liking was from Danny Bradbury many years ago.
However, it was the opening title that grabbed my attention; How to: write the perfect press release for journalists.
Now let’s ignore the fact that it is called a ‘press’ release, I suspect that ‘news release’ could be easily substituted, and I’ll let you in to a secret. Press releases (or News Release if you are going to be picky) are not just for the media! Hard to believe I know but it’s true.
In this very modern age of websites, email, tweets and blogs, the humble release has gone from being a tool to solely communicate with the media to one that is also used to communicate with customers and the wider industry directly. Make no mistake coverage from a news release is often a primary goal but it isn’t the only one.
I have lost count from the number of times a client has asked me about a competitor release which has received zero pick-up and the answer is because it is seen as an important official public statement. It also shows how releases can be just as useful when they ‘bypass’ the media to speak directly with the end target audience. Alternatively, a release can be issued to make a statement to a prospect, client or regulator. Not that I am going to give any examples of this….
So the morale of this post: read the guidelines and take them to heart but remember a press release is not just for journalists….
Have that conversation
By Elle OG
On Thursday, Hotwire’s annual Boot Camp took place in London. Each year we get our European offices together in one of the cities where we’re based (London, Madrid, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan) for two days of team building and getting to know one another a bit better.
This year the first day of Boot Camp was hosted by the Institute of Ideas to create our very own Battle of Ideas. Three sessions dealt with key issues around the theme of embracing innovation in an age of risk aversion, with speakers from across a range of industries giving us their opinions – and provoking some very interesting debates. As a technology-focused agency innovation is a topic close to our hearts as the response from the audience clearly demonstrated. 120 impassioned Hotwirers can spark quite a debate!
The three sessions of the day were risk aversion, surveillance society and the world at their fingertips.
The guest speakers for each session ranged from top bloggers (and I’m not just talking about our in-house talent) and industry authorities to clients like Tiscali and ipVA, each of whom offered their own perspective on their sessions. Rather than go into the detail of each one (although I’m more than happy to do so over a pint – I’m easy to find!) I wanted to highlight the one thing that stood out most for me during the day – the importance of the conversation itself.
It jumped most strongly into my mind when we talked about the impact of the internet on the next generation. The audience split instantly into parents and the childless and at first we stood on opposite sides of a fairly hefty divide. We talked about the importance of looking after our future, and how we can protect and educate children in the present without hiding them from the truths of the world that they’ll have to face one day or, equally, over-exposing them to too much information at too young an age. And in the end we came to a kind of agreement: whatever we do, we have to do it together.
This is just as true of the challenge of innovation. Some of the best ideas in the world may come from that eureka! moment in the bathtub, but there are far more that come from us working together and combining our different opinions and perspectives to knock down the barriers and find a new, better solution.
After all, if you don’t have that conversation, you’ve only got yourself to rely on for the answer. And nowhere is this more true than in PR, where the variety of people, opinions and ideas is what creates great work and award winning campaigns.
The value of trade shows
By Stuart W
With budgets tighter than ever it’s hardly surprising IT vendors are questioning the value of trade shows. They’re expensive, involve a huge amount of work and are often difficult to justify in terms of the number of sales leads generated. Despite this, having recently attended the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) in Hamburg it’s clear to me trade shows still have an crucial role to play, especially when it comes to the most important part of business – building relationships.
The first ISC took place back in 1983. Back then it was a small affair with around 80 participants. This year, the event attracted around one thousand five hundred participants and is widely regarded as one of the most important supercomputing events in the calendar. Vendors exhibiting at the June event included some big players including AMD, Dell, IBM and Intel with a keynote speech given by legendary co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Andreas von Bechtolsheim.
Some would argue that trade shows are nothing more than an opportunity for a lot of vendors to plug their latest products. This view, however, does not convey the real value of such events. For vendors, they are an opportunity for a whole community to get together, discuss industry issues and share ideas. For potential customers they are a chance to meet the people behind an organisation, speak to senior executives they might not normally get to meet and ask questions face-to-face. And for the media they’re an opportunity to meet a lot of vendors in a short space of time and catch up with executives they might normally only get to interview over the phone.
The common theme running through all of these points is that industry get-togethers present a valuable opportunity for vendors to build relationships with people in a way that just would not be possible through other forms of communication. Given the popularity of trade shows like ISC, I guess it’s more a question of can you afford not to attend.
Don’t forget to off-set!
By Alex M
One of the great things about working in PR is the opportunity to travel. Whether you’re in-house or agency side, there is always a marketing summit or awards do to attend, or an essential meeting that requires an overnight bag and a passport. Admittedly the airport-hotel-meeting room-airport sequence does lose its shine after a while, but if you are the sort of person that thrives on getting to know your international colleagues and experiencing different ways of working, you could do far worse.
Of course there is a fine balance between when travel is essential as opposed to just ‘nice to have’, and particularly when you’re trying to be environmentally friendly it is important to evaluate each opportunity carefully before booking that trip. But I am a firm believer in getting to know people face-to-face, whether they’re colleagues, journalists or clients – and no matter how skilled a communicator you are, a phone call, email or even a tweet is never going to be a substitute for catching up over a coffee or visiting a client’s offices. How else can you really get under the skin of a business, understand the cultural landscape or local issues? Building relationships takes time and effort, and if that means jumping on the Eurostar or catching a plane every now and then, so be it. Just don’t forget to off-set!
Switching on to opportunity
By Becky H
There are two big events scheduled for 2012 in the UK. The first one is the Olympic Games and the second is…? Here’s a clue: it started last year and will almost definitely affect you personally.
Still nothing? Well, you’re not alone. Almost half of UK consumers did not know that our good old analogue TV signal will be switched off in 2012 according to the results of a recent survey by MoneySupermarket.com which we saw yesterday.
It seems amazing to the team at Hotwire that this can possibly be true. Working in technology and with clients in this space, it sometimes feels as if we have been talking about the switchover for years already!
There’s no shame in not knowing the intricacies of the digital switchover. We appreciate that most people won’t ever need to know that the switchover to digital is vital to free up radio spectrum for new wireless services and technologies. We’re even more aware that ‘everyman’ will not necessarily want to know the minutiae of those behind the scenes – the infrastructure providers, test and measurement companies, signal assurance businesses or performance management providers. You don’t need to know everything about every service in order to use it.
No, the switchover will be deemed to have been a success when everyone in the UK switches on the TV in 2012 and…it just works. Seamlessly and as simply as flicking on a light switch, and all because of the range of service providers, test and measurement firms, service assurance providers and many more, have all been diligently working behind the scenes to make it happen. While confident that this will be the case from a technical point of view, there are two sides to every story.
From a PR point of view, the real shame, and threat to a successful switchover, is that these backstage contributors are leaving a very obvious space upstage in the spotlight. That vacancy is glaringly evident when reading headlines like, ‘UK still in the dark about digital switchover’ two years into the process.
As someone once sang, “this is your moment”. There is a huge opportunity for businesses involved to raise awareness of the process, educate the potential users and propel themselves into the spotlight. The real question is who will switch on to this opportunity first?
