pr is dead, long live public relations - thriving in the digital economy

© PRecious Communications 2017 1

Lars Voedisch

Principal Consultant

[email protected]

@larsv

Thriving in the digital economy

PR is dead – long live Public Relations!

When it comes to telling your brand s story what are your main challenges?


Is it okay to make a (political) statement in PR or do you even have to?

It s necessary to Rethink Public Relations!


PR is dead… • Digitalization changes media, audience and

companies

• “Old school” PR like traditional press releases alone for print publications don’t work anymore

Long live Public Relations! • To rethink PR and create new opportunities

• To use technology and creativity to thrive in

a changing and fast moving world

Lars Voedisch


• Over 15 years of industry experience

in public relations

• Based out of Asia for more than 10

years

• Former Executive Director at global

agency Hill+Knowlton,

• Worked with brands across industries

and territories including AT&T, Citi,

DHL, Panasonic, HRS, Porsche or

Yahoo

• Regional Director of international

measurement firm Commetric


PRecious Communications

• Independent, re tionalcommunications

consultancy

• Based out of Singapore, at home in Asia and

beyond

• Satellites in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and

the Philippines and partner in Hong Kong,

Vietnam, China

• Partners around the globe


What is PR? To shape and maintain the

image of a company,

organisation or individuals in

the eyes of the public

Strategic communication

process to build beneficial

relationships between

organizations and their

audience

The way organisations,

companies and individuals

communicate with the public

and media


• Important to know your audience’s needs, instead of just creating generic content

• If you know what your

audiences are seeking from you in terms of the product or service you offer, you’re more than halfway there.

What is PR?


Key Trends in PR Challenges & Opportunities

trend 1

Less is more!

• Journalists get less but PR professionals get more

• Results: Less time and attention of the journalists!


To gain the attention of journalists

by catchy headlines

Provide high quality and interesting

content to make it easy for the

journalists

Establish media relations – on a

personal and professional stage

trend 2

Mobile as a lifestyle

• Mobile overtook worldwide fixed internet access already

in 2014 and the gap is growing

• Especially in APAC the trend

is strong

• What does that mean for media

content?

• Content has to be short

• Content and headline has to be catchy

• Audience prefers multimedia content


trend 3

Online over offline

• Who still flips the papers anymore?

• What matters are links, SEO and

shareability

• Connection between narrative and multimedia

content

• Every offline story, events, gatherings, etc. need to have a

connection to online

• Social Media as a source of relevant corporate information (Twitter,

Facebook, LinkedIn)


trend 4

Faster news circle

• Digitalisation brings up

new information faster

and faster

• Attention spans decline

more and more

• Always be up to date

and follow the

happenings


trend 5

Newsjacking riding the wave


Leveraging trending news to elevate your brand’s message

• Choose the right story and be timely

• It’s all about being relevant


Managing on- and offline platforms to reach the right

audience

Managing a portfolio of opportunities


• Earned – classic PR

• Owned – Website,

Blogs

• Paid – paid content,

placement, influencer

• Shared – By

customers and

interests

Earned

Owned

Paid

Shared

Who is your target?


• What is your main target group?

• What do they consume?

• How do they consume media?

What is your USP? • Find key differentiators

• Define your postion in the market/industry among other

competitors online as well as offline

• Your communicated USP should be unique,

measurable and defendable

To bring all your channels together, you have to know:

Create your content/message sharable to boost awareness


Message

/ Story

Links

SEO

Multimedia

Online Publications

Blog

Social Media


Corporate journalism and branded content


It s about compelling, editorial (= non advertising) content by your brand that adds

value to readers.

The biggest opportunity and challenge is ensuring that consumers discover the content

You can not NOT communicate


• What is your brand

promise?

• Do you have a

personality?

• How do you earn

trust?

Branding is first and foremost about gaining trust.

Humanizing your brand in the digital age


How to Humanize Your Brand?

1. Think Like a Social Network

2. Start With Staff

3. Create Access

4. Treat Customers as Partners

5. Reach Out To key Individuals

6. Own Your Mistakes

7. Put Your Fans To Work

8. Be Open to Debate

9. Be Present

Humanizing of your brand in the digital age



Targeting and segmentation

Targeting and segmentation


What is your message?

What is your target group?

What are the relevant channels for

this group?

What is the right format?

Find the right channels to reach your target group


Channels

Events

Newspaper

Broadcast

Video Online

Publications

Blog

Social Media

• What are you selling?

• What’s your ultimate PR objective, the end goal?

– The outcome

– The “So What” ?! • Do you know how your PR

strategy is contributing?

• Are you optimizing vs. (re-)

targeting your efforts?

• Do you want to drive awareness

or gain leads?


Sales Funnel

Focusing on the Why


People buy products not only for their function but how they feel and associate with the product, e.g. Apple – Simplicity Harley Davidson - Freedom


WHY

WHAT

HOW

Focusing on the Heart


What?

Commodities, features,

price

How?

• Start with WHY to describe

your product/service

• Communicate facts – but

reach people by their hearts

• Tell a story and trigger feeling

and desires

Catch the HEART

of the people

Why?

Product


Tracking and business goals


Taking PR Seriously Align Corporate Communications to Achieve Business Goals

What is your desired outcome?

How would success look like?

What is your message?


Goals and

objectives

Strategy

Communication

outcomes

Researching,

planning,

implementing

activities to

communicate

with stakeholders

3 generic PR goals


• Improve company’s reputation within industry. • Enhance and strengthen status. E.g.: Leader for…. • Reinforce organization’s image.

Reputation Management

• Promote better appreciation of the company among stakeholders.

• Enhance relationship between company and its customers

• Maintain a favourable relationship amid changes, such as social or organizational.

Relationship Management

• Increase public support.

• Impact public behaviour on matters associated with organization’s mission.

• Advance social change on a particular issue (activism).

Task Management

3 Levels of Objectives


Awareness

Information and knowledge

Attention Comprehen-

sion Retention

Acceptance

How people react to information

Interest Attitude

Action

Desired response to information and

feelings

Opinion Behavior


Optimize your strategy

• Moving past the notion that PR people are purely

creatives - It requires a hyper analytical mind able to

quickly dissect products, competitors and markets.

• Have to adapt this new mobile and social web that is

global and real time

• Innovate – adopt digital technology & big data

strategies


Measurement for new PR SCIENCE, DATA AND ANALYTICS


Measurement for new PR Examples

UTM Codes / Bitly

• “UTM” stands for “Urchin tracking module.” – Track link sources

Google Analytics

• Understand your contribution, impact and opportunities


6 PR Mistakes to Avoid in 2017

#1 Not having an online/mobile PR strategy

• Just 19 percent of PR/communications people are involved when companies plan

their marketing strategy

• I’s essential to have a documented PR strategy with goals, tasks, executive style and what to do in case of a crisis


#2 Not having a share-worthy story

• Only if your story is share-worthy you can stand out in a world full of busy journalists

• Rethink your angle and do something unusual!

#3 Only aiming on big shots

• Big name journalists get pitched by dozens of people every day

• Also reach out to greenhorns – they have access to the same platforms and maybe

are more likely to find your story interesting

#4 Taking an Impersonal Approach

• Automation can harm your PR!

• Personal your emails, that can increase responses up to 303 percent


#5 Not blogging

• Blogs are one of the most trusted sources of accurate information

• You actually can control that channel by yourself and keep your users in the loop

#6 Ignoring your email game

• Subject lines are one of the most important factors that determine whether journalists

open your email – or not


SUMMARY It s all about your Story

Kevin Spacey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJnP2wsgnoA





Questions?


Lars Voedisch

Principal Consultant

[email protected]

@larsv

pr is dead, long live public relations - thriving in the digital economy

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