This month has seen the French government continue to try and push through the controversial ‘three strikes’ file sharing law. The law aims to coerce internet service providers into monitoring their customer’s internet usage to check for signs of copyright infringement. If anyone is suspected of illegally downloading pirated material on the internet then they will be sent a letter reminding them that they have broken the law. If they continue to illegally download then they will receive two more letters, the last of which will inform them that they have been suspended from the internet for up to a year and their internet connection has been cut off.

This month has also seen the creators of the world’s biggest bit torrent tracker, Pirate Bay, sentenced to a year in prison and forced to pay a fine of over 2.5 million euros. After two years of building legal pressure from a consortium of media and entertainment companies the sentencing represents yet another feeble attempt to stamp authority on an uncontrollable ‘problem’. The result, like usual, is that nothing has happened: People are still illegally downloading and, in what must feel like a kick in the teeth for the prosecutors, Pirate Bay has continued to stay in service.

When will governments and the music industry see that they are fighting an impossible fight! The democratisation of the internet means that they are not just fighting a few key perpetrators but instead squaring up to anyone and everyone who has an internet connection. Instead of concentrating on trying to dam an ocean, they need to be spending their time working out ways to work alongside this phenomena and use it their advantage.

Big file sharing sites and torrent trackers could be used as highly effective marketing channels. The people who are downloading music aren’t criminals, in fact they’re usually huge music fans and exactly the people who record companies should be targeting; connecting with, building relationships with, introducing to other fans, making them obsessed with their artist and then getting them to come to gigs, buy the artist’s merchandise, spend more money on limited edition releases, purchase souvenirs and enter into a long term beneficial interactions.

Times have changed and the music industry has to realise that its never going to revert back to how it was. They have to embrace change and change themselves, not enter into a war against their own customers!

Check out this article which describes piracy as a litmus test for authentic culture

The two-way symmetrical model of public relations has long been seen in academic circles as the ‘holy grail’ of public relations best practice. This normative perspective of the public relations function was proposed by Grunig and Hunt (two of my all time favourite people) in their ‘4 models of public relations’ in 1984. When I learnt about these models I will admit that I was somewhat sceptical about how realistic the model of two-way symmetry was to put into practice in its purest form, especially at the time it was proposed. With the other three models steeped in public relations’ history it was hard to see the forth as anything else but an idealist perspective. However, although its formulation might have been premature, the emergence of social media in the last decade might have at last provided the historical context for its roots to grow.

Grunig and Hunt’s four models each link directly to different periods in public relations’ short but controversial history.

They are as follows:

Press Agentry – A model which is based on generating publicity by any means. Accuracy and credibility do not need to be exercised. . The press agentry model is firmly rooted to the early 19^th century when characters such as Phineas Barnum, a famous circus promoter, would stage weird and wonderful stunts to draw attention to his show.

Public Information – The name says it all; purely aimed at providing the public with accurate information in a very one-way asymmetrical fashion. The public information model comes from a period just after the press agentry model. It was a time when organisations started to get attacked by ‘muckracking’ journalists who tried to capitalise on anti-corporate sentiment. In defence, organisations released information to the public detailing their activities.

Two-Way Asymmetrical – Involves a basic two-way flow of communication between an organisation and its publics involving research and feedback. However, the aim is to influence the publics without changing the organisations objectives. This model was taken from 1920s when Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, became the first practitioner to draw ideas from the social sciences and apply them to manipulating public opinion.

Two-Way Symmetrical – A continuous dialogue between an organisation and its publics with a view to create a mutually beneficial relationship. When proposed, this model was connected less to a period in time and more to a normative vision of how public relations should be practiced. Now, however, its period in time might have come.

The emergence of social media has not just facilitated the two-way symmetrical model but it has also made it essential that organisations practice communications in this way. As Brian Solis states in his blog PR 2.0, ‘the best communicators start as the best listeners’. Social media has brought with it an age where monologue has to give way to dialogue; Communication must be done ‘with’ people not ‘at’ people and the danger now lies in NOT engaging in the conversation rather than doing so.

No longer can organisations use excuses for not practicing their communications in a two-way symmetrical fashion. More importantly though, they can no longer afford to not do so.

As the 2009 Formula One season springs into action this weekend in Australia, a brilliant viral video created by McLaren and Blackberry has been causing quite a stir online. Check it out (make sure you watch to the end):

As a follow up to my post ‘10 tips for good blogger relations’, I have found a campaign which I feel is a shining example of how best to conduct good blogger relations.

Molson is Canada’s oldest and most successful beer company. In 2008 they decided to launch a blogger relations campaign after recognising that the majority of their customers were online. The aim of the campaign was to connect with social media aficionados and influential bloggers throughout Canada in order to reach a broader customer base and to create more awareness of Molson products.

Their main objective was to build strong personal relationships with key bloggers in the Greater Toronto Area. They identified different groups of bloggers to target including consumer bloggers, lifestyle bloggers, marketing bloggers, food and drink bloggers and bloggers in the ‘magic middle’ that link to the more influential bloggers.

The tactics were to invite a select number of bloggers to an event at the Molson brewery: Brew 2.0. The event would consist of a full tour of the brewery, a food and drink tasting session, a sneak preview of new Molson beers and just a general shindig.

The targeted bloggers were sent e-vites by Molsen’s PR agency who had already built initial relationships with them. They were written in a conversational and personal way in order to make sure the bloggers didn’t think they were being ‘pitched’ anything. Twitter was then used as a follow up to the e-vites as a means to connect and introduce the attendees to each other and to the Molson team.

The event was a great success with all bloggers that attended being sent a complimentary crate of Molson beer the following day. Twitter was again used alongside follow-up emails to thank all of the attendees for coming. Links were placed in Tweets to direct bloggers to pictures and videos of the event which they could use if they wished to write about it.

As a result of the Brew 2.0, Molson was widely written about by bloggers in Canada, the USA and in the UK. It also created a lot of discussion on social network sites such as Twitter. A lot of the coverage was a celebration of Molson beer or a portrayal of Molson as a forward thinking, dynamic company.

What I really liked about this campaign was that there was no ‘pitch’ by Molson. The bloggers were left to write about the company if they wanted to and at no point did Molson apply any pressure to do so.

The campaign was completely built upon the idea of building relationships and that is why it worked. As a result, personal relationships with influential bloggers have been built and perceptions of the company within the blogosphere are favourable.

A campaign like this is beneficial in the long term and is a good example of how to practice blogger relations most effectively.

Additional Information:

Case Study

Blogger Relations – Brian Solis

For a presentation next week i’ve been researching the best ways to conduct blogger relations. I have compiled these points from a range of different blogs and articles, some written by professional bloggers and some written by PRs. Here are 10 tips for good blogger relations:

• RESEARCH:
• Find out which bloggers are writing about the field you’re interested in.
• Keep track of what they’re saying through RSS feeds.
• Use services such as Technorati or Techmeme to identify the key bloggers and others that it would be beneficial to get in touch with.
• Don’t just focus on the top 100 blogs. Also take into account the ‘magic middle’ – the blogs with between 20 – 1000 people linking to them.

• READ BLOG: It sounds obvious but it’s essential to read the blog that you will potentially be engaging.
• Don’t just read the latest post but read a load of their previous posts to gain an understanding of the blogger’s views and interests.
• Read comments that have been posted by other people.
• Check out the ‘about page’ to learn more about the blogger.
• Look at the blogroll to see which blogs they have linked to.

• JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
• Leave comments.
• Use links and trackbacks
•  Engage with bloggers on social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook etc.
   
• Find out what the blogger’s preffered method of contact is and try and enter into a dialogue.

• SEND FREE STUFF: There is no harm in sending some schwag to a blogger to get reviewed or just as a token of appreciation.

• SOCIAL NETWORKS: There are other ways to engage with bloggers than just on their blog: Follow and speak to bloggers on social network sites such as Twitter or Facebook etc. Use social bookmarking tools such as Del.icio.us or Digg to collect links that might be of interest to the blogger.

• BE Personal: Never send impersonal group emails to the bloggers you are targeting. Also, never write two sentences about their blog and then just attach a press release. It is all about building relationships and engaging bloggers on a personal level.

• BE Honest: Be transparent about who you are and who you work for.

• BE Relevant: Make sure that what you have to say is relevant and will interest the blogger that you are saying it to.

• DON’T ‘Pitch’: Bloggers are not journalists. People don’t like to think they are being sold a product or being pressurized to do something. As Brian Solis says: ‘The pitch is dead’. Use the relationship that you have built up with the blogger to find out how you can help each other out.

• Add Value: When you leave a comment, make sure what you write adds value to the content. Engage in the conversation which means not leaving a meaningless comment on a post just for the sake of it.

Related Posts:

Brian Solis

Online Marketing Blog

Intuative Systems

Web Pro News

Its Not a Lecture

Blogger Relations Survey

At the moment, everywhere I turn someone or something is talking about Twitter. It was around the same time I started this blog that I also decided to sign up to Twitter to see what all of the buzz was about and to dive head-long into the world of web 2.0. I think that according to the hardcore ‘Twitterati’ that would probably make me a late adopter.

I will not lie; my presence on Twitter still has a lot to be desired. I have 8 followers, 2 of which are my mum and dad, I’m following 12 people, hardly any of which ever actually ‘tweet’ and I average about one post every two weeks. However small my initial splash into the Twitter ocean has been, I have still become fascinated by the concept of it all – Especially with relation to PR.

It seems to me that the jury is still out for some PRs when it comes to Twitter’s relevance to the field even though the majority of the PR industry seems to now be embracing it. Personally I can’t understand why anyone would not see the potential or the importance of Twitter in terms of PR.

Speaking and Listening:

The underlying function of Public Relations is the building and nurturing of relationships. Whether PR is being used to promote a new product, manage a company’s reputation, change people’s perception on a certain issue or deal with a crisis, speaking and listening is at the crux of each function. Twitter is all about speaking and listening. The conversation is 24/7; it never stops.

Speak: In the current online social environment whatever you do can be seen by everyone. Consequently, it is very important for an organization to appear as transparent as possible. Entering into the conversation rather than staying silent is much more beneficial in order to cultivate a good reputation, develop a wide network and build strong relationships. Twitter gives an organization an opportunity to constantly keep all stakeholders and any other interested publics informed and up to date with what it is doing. This makes Twitter an excellent tool for implementing transparency.

PR Tweets could be used for – company news, announcements, promotion, networking, crisis communications and administration.

Listen: The context of PR in 2009 makes it essential for PRs to tap into any conversation they can, even if it’s just to listen. The accountability and governance of organizations is greater than it has ever been before. The internet means that the court of public opinion is no longer adjudicated by the print and broadcast media. Anyone can make their thoughts or views public. This rise of the so called ‘citizen journalist’ has meant that it is more important than ever for organizations to pay attention to what is being said about them. Keeping an eye on Twitter is a very effective way of finding out people’s perceptions of a company or even just general moods or trends.

Listening to Twitter could be useful for – monitoring brand/company reputation, identifying noteworthy bloggers, spotting and anticipating potential trends/threats and researching.

The longevity of Twitter is still under question and will continue to create interest. For now, embracing Twitter and trying to understand it better can only be beneficial. I better start practicing what I preach and try to broaden my Twitter presence. Maybe I’ll ask my sister to start following me!

Check Out the following links for more knowledge:

Twitter for PR

Punch Blog

HubSpot – Twitter for PR and Marketing

Drew B – PR and Twitter

Student Blogs:

Jennifers Blog

Postmodernpr

Last week I found myself contemplating the age worn question: How high can a nine-banded armadillo jump in the air? Luckily, at the time I was sitting in the vicinity of a computer and a quick search on Wikipedia revealed that the answer is in fact: 3 – 4 feet. After letting this newly acquired piece of knowledge sink in, my thoughts turned to the speed at which I managed to find the answer and the way in which knowledge can now be instantly accessed by anyone who chooses.

We now live in an age where new lands can be discovered, not by sailing great ships into un-chartered waters or endlessly trekking across the most inhospitable corners of the globe, but instead at the click of a button in the safety of your own home by using Google Earth (see this). An age where to become an expert in something you no longer have to spend time and money studying in a learning establishment, instead you can kick back in a comfy chair and turn on your computer. An age where you can find out exactly what happened to Dave last Friday night after he had one too many tequilas, not by actually having a conversation with him but just by quickly glancing at Facebook.

Knowledge is no longer locked up in dusty books in unpopulated libraries. Instead it can be accessed by anyone in the blink of an eye and without the slightest bit of difficulty. The dissemination of knowledge is no longer elitist. Knowledge is power and in this new age of instant knowledge, power can be potentially gained by anyone who wants it. I wonder what implications this will have for society in the future. Surely having all of this knowledge at our finger tips can only create a more informed and consequently a more intelligent society and this can only be seen as a positive thing? Maybe I’m being too much of an idealist here.

This brings me on to talk about the providers of the knowledge such as Google. Google’s mission statement claims that its main objective is to organize all of the world’s information and to make it accessible for all. In a recent post I read entitled ‘The Brave New World of Knowledge’, Steven Stralser (the author) refers to Google as being in the business of “knowledge mining”. I thought this was an interesting concept. If knowledge is power then Google must surely be one of the most powerful organizations in the world. In effect you could say (in grand terms) that Google has the potential to control the world’s knowledge. Is this too much power for one private organization to have? So far it seems that Google hasn’t taken advantage of its position and have generally acted responsibly (read this) but I guess only time will tell…….

Recently I discovered a whole new world that I previously didn’t know existed. I want to call its existence into question and thought that I might find some answers by blogging about it.

The new world that I’m referring to is the world of ‘Unpacking’ videos. It’s the new phenomenon, which is seemingly sweeping You Tube, of people uploading videos of themselves unpacking their newly purchased electronic devices. I say it’s a ‘phenomenon’ but by doing so I might be attaching to this new genre of video much more credibility than it actually deserves. To illustrate what I am talking about check out this video:

What is going on here? Okay, obviously I can see that there might be one or two over-excited people who want to share their brand new ‘whatever it is’ phone with the world and therefore post a video of them opening the packaging and lovingly caressing their new possession. I can also see that it’s in the interests of the companies that sell these products to have these kinds of videos on You Tube – no doubt some of the videos are probably implemented directly by the companies themselves. What I can’t understand however, is the sheer scale of the ‘unpacking video’ scene. If you go on You Tube and search for any model of phone you will more than likely find a video of it being unpacked or ‘unboxed’ as some ‘unpacking’ aficionados call it.

So many people are now posting these kinds of videos that it seems to have turned into some kind of modern art form. ‘Unpacking’ enthusiasts leave comments under each others videos evaluating how well they thought the product was unpacked and maybe offering some helpful tips on how to improve performance for next time.

After watching a few of these videos I started getting that strange feeling of guilt you acquire when you become aware that you’re watching something you shouldn’t be. Obviously, it’s stupid feeling like this because all I’m watching is a phone being unpacked but that’s exactly the point – ALL I AM WATCHING IS A PHONE BEING UNPACKED!

It is amazing how the new world of social media can connect people from around the world in the strangest of ways. Someone who likes to film themselves unpacking their newest electronic toy can realise that they are not alone and that in fact thousands upon thousands of other people share their insanely weird interest.

I would love to know peoples thoughts on the subject and for anyone to enlighten me as to why this world of ‘unpacking’ videos actually exists!