3 posts tagged “graham white”
Heading off to the Social Media Club Sydney Inaugural Event in the next 10 minutes. The tickets were snapped up very quickly and people have been encouraged to give the organisers a heads-up if they can't make it so they can open the availability up to other interested parties.
I am heading there tonight with my own posse - Graham White (Managing Director, Howorth), Brian Giesen (our digital guru at Ogilvy PR in Australia) and my colleague, Jonathan Nguyen.
See you all there! I'll make sure to update my blog tomorrow for those of you that can't make it tonight.
Cheers!
The hot topic at the moment is the uncertain economic environment - something that is rearing its head in all industries and all walks off life today. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am keen to explore over time what impact this changing landscape will have on the PR industry next year, particularly in Australia.
As PR budgets are typically the first to get stripped in organisations, will we see PR evaluation and measurement become an even more crucial tool for reporting in this uncertain economic time? Will we increasingly use it as a means for us, as PR professionals, to justify our worth?
And as my MD, Graham White, put it nicely: "More than ever we need to be accountable and in a recession, PR has to be part of the effectiveness mindset."
I'll be interested to see if the big agencies create, brand, package and sell PR measurement methodologies unique to their businesses and to their clients. If PR agencies are not already using PR measurement as a fundamental tool for measurement and follow-through on client campaigns and projects, surely it is something they will look to in the coming year.
Despite the importance of PR measurement and evaluation in this uncertain time, I would have to agree with many wise people before me that historically PR measurement has been (and still is) elusive. The complexities of measuring PR are never black and white.
I am interested in your take on this topic. Will we iron out the problems we have historically had with PR measurement? Will evaluation become second nature for PR professionals (if it isn't already)? Will PR take a hit from the economic downturn?
So it's the official day one at the Frocomm New Media Summit in Melbourne. However, yesterday we did attend a session on the 'A-Z of Social Media'. The session was a bit of a social media 101 session and warmer for what's to come over the next couple of days.
There were some interesting speakers on last night's panel session including our very own Howorth MD, Graham White, who made some really interesting comments about social media and its implications on the comms. industry today. He did a great job as the first panelist to be put on the spot.
Some of the key points from the A-Z of Social Media:
Graham White, Managing Director, Howorth
- Content is KING
- Content needs to be engaging and something that people are compelled to actually share on [this is the conversational aspect of social media]
- Increasingly, the lines between PR and Digital Marketing are blurring. It is important that practitioners in both of these fields have access to people sitting on the other side of the fence as well. Clients don't want just PR or just marketing, they want an integrated mix so it's important to be able to bring both into the fold for clients
Cameron Reilly, CEO & Founder, The Podcast Network
- You used to talk at the marketplace. It was a one way stream of communication. This has since changed
- Now - you talk with the marketplace
- Markets are conversations!! [just read Cluetrain Manifesto if you don't believe this]
- The fascinating thing about social media is that it allows you to eliminate the gatekeeper!
- Social media allows you to tell your message or story yourself - instead of relying on a journalist
- The really interesting thing about this is that we often forget that this is at the core of what we do as PR practitioners. It is our job to tell the stories - and now we can do it ourselves
Con Frantzekos, Edelman Digital
- Internet has always had a conversational approach since its inception. This is nothing new
- The model used to be pray for space (hoping a journalist would write your story) or pay for space (by spending on advertising)
- It's about picking the right channel and means to target your audience
Laurel Papworth, Director, World Communities and Social Networks Blogger
- We are currently seeing a ripple effect thanks to social media
- It is bloggers (or citizen journalists) versus "heritage media" [thanks for that term Laurel] and both are impacting the others world. For example, we are seeing instances of where journalists are picking up stories from bloggers and vice versa
- Some forward thinking companies are even releasing news via social media ahead of heritage media [e.g. Harry Potter]
Overall, some really interesting points came out of this session. Stay tuned for more update today!
