I am following a variety of communication projects and numerous campaigns from time to time.

What I am really surprised at lately is how many social media consultants will actually run a campaign as if its content has to . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]>

I am following a variety of communication projects and numerous campaigns from time to time.

What I am really surprised at lately is how many social media consultants will actually run a campaign as if its content has to represent their own quality and beliefs.

How can I put this politely? This is not about you!

Your customer comes first
Your customer’s customer also comes first.
It’s really a tie. You design a communications project to satisfy audiences, NOT (and this is important) to show how great you are as a person and a professional. This is not the time to sell yourself – it is time to show how great your WORK is. There is a balance between personal communications on behalf of a client and personal communications period. Find it. Protect it.

Design a campaign according to the customer and the audience, not according to you
You may think that some types of communications are degrading or the audience is stupid. Heed my advice. Don’t take the project. There is someone out there who understands the customer and the audience and will do a better job than you. Move on. Find another client.

Take a leaf from the policy development book
Policy development might at times seem slow and arduous. What it does really well though is taking soundings from a multitude of stakeholders and balancing their needs with those of the audience (or the end recipient of the policy). That is, IF policy is developed in a coherent and normal manner. Anyway, I digress. When communicating on behalf of a client there is a little bit of “you” in there but balance the priorities. You should not be applying your own principles and ethos to the campaign.

The next client should understand what you do
You are not an actor, you will not be typecast. Just because you are communicating for a children’s summer camp does not mean you cannot communicate for a church. Obviously it’s better to specialize but it can be done. If you fear that a client will not get this and thus you end up promoting yourself too much be advised: You are degrading and destroying the market even further. Instead of helping to establish a true image of social media comms you are just reinforcing the inaccuracies out there.

True professionals understand the need for balance
I see this in good policy development projects all the time. Good professionals sit around a table, exchange opinion, show evidence and try to INFLUENCE the process. They NEVER accuse another policy professional on a personal level, nor do they try to theorize why their approach sucks. In a policy meeting room we are all doing a job and we all have priorities and stakeholders. The point is not to embarrass other people (by the way, when you do this you are a twat and everyone in the room knows it) but to make sure that the job gets done.
In exactly the same way, a true professional in communications or social media understands that you have priorities. They will critique, advise and offer alternative ideas. But when they personally attack you they probably have an ax to grind (or they pitched for that project and didn’t get it).

You see, I believe that the priority should be to get good projects out there, to educate new clients, to develop the market. The priority should not be to destroy everyone else.

You are not Highlander, get over your self.

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I sometimes wonder what people did before the web, before easy access to information, before the dream/ nightmare of 24/7 engagement and content. (I’m not that young. I remember the yellow-y library index cards)

I have heard that this constant ‘on’ mode is distracting and I concur. . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]>

I sometimes wonder what people did before the web, before easy access to information, before the dream/ nightmare of 24/7 engagement and content. (I’m not that young. I remember the yellow-y library index cards)

I have heard that this constant ‘on’ mode is distracting and I concur. I takes a lot of discipline to keep on doing your job and retain high levels of concentration.

At the same time there is method in the madness.

Anybody who works in policy (like yours truly), public affairs, parliamentary communications and the like, knows that without a great big influx of information, extended engagement with stakeholders and serious analysis their job can become a true nightmare and the value people see in it dwindles. Only to be expected.

Whenever I finish a project now, whenever a new idea dawns, whenever I create something, I know that a lot of the good work done has been done by other people.

Inspiring journal articles published for the world to see and not sold for astronomical prices behind some academic journal’s pay-wall.

Blog posts from passionate and wonderful people who watch, learn and share.

Art projects from collectives of people who believe in participation and sharing.

and above all

finding all of those things through the community!

Without the people who search and share, without the wisdom of the crowds I wouldn’t even get wind of half of what I currently do. Alas, the crowds are not always very wise – my recent question of who is Justin Bieber on twitter was spurred by too much discussion about said person on said service. (The crowd decreed that I live in a well)

I know it takes time but there are two tricks that I use.

1) Trust the network

2) Do the analysis

Just getting the information is silly without doing the analysis, it’s like looking at a data chart without having the little signs telling you what each colour represents.

It’s constant, it’s mad, it’s informative, it’s exciting and perhaps a bit frightening when you realise that you are the sum of all the people. It’s not just about your university connections anymore, not just about how good your library was, not just about where you lived, how you lived, who you know. There are people out there – you’ve never met them, you never will, who can teach you something every single day.

And if that doesn’t create a rich environment for more creation and good work I don’t know what does.

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Beer O'Clock Uploaded by Ben Harris-Roxas on 24 Feb 06, 4.44PM BST

Stan Schroeder reports over on Mashable that the poor bloke who lost that iPhone has been offered a free trip by Lufthansa. (Original story on CBS news)

In . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]>

Beer O'Clock Uploaded by Ben Harris-Roxas on 24 Feb 06, 4.44PM BST

Stan Schroeder reports over on Mashable that the poor bloke who lost that iPhone has been offered a free trip by Lufthansa. (Original story on CBS news)

In a few words this is how it went. Gray Powell, Apple engineer, goes for a drink at a German beer place and looses an iPhone prototype. Apple being legendary for its secrecy you can realise that all hell broke loose. On a completely unconnected note (you would have thought), Lufthansa opens up a Bavarian Beer Garden Business Lounge in Munich.

Enter the brilliance of the Lufthansa staff in terms of communications, engagement, marketing, beer, life, the universe and everything.

They actually write to Gray Powell in a very very nice tone and offer him a free business class trip to Munich so that he can enjoy his German beer and relax from all the onslaught.

Now if that is not an epic win I don’t know what is.

Why can’t companies be as innovative as this and as engaging as this more often?

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UPDATE: Thanks to my twitter chums (@fotious and @larios) for asking some questions after publishing this for giving me an opportunity to clarify a bit more what I think about this one.

1. Lufthansa was nice
Their letter was lovely and polite. They didn’t make fun of him, just offered a break in a lovely and friendly way.

2. Lufthansa realised the opportunity that a disaster represented
And they took advantage sensitively and with good humour (unlike others in the recent volcano disruption)

3. Lufthansa let others do the talking
From what I understand (correct me if I am wrong) the company approached Powell and he chose to make the letter public. Kudos to the big bad corporate monster for keeping quiet in the meantime.

4. Lufthansa made a brilliant connection
Between geeks, bloggers, travellers and the social media world. A lot of people who will discuss this and write about it and advertise it and and and…

5. Lufthansa created value
Let’s say Powell never made the letter public. Lufthansa has given away a flight but gained a happy customer – who’ll probably chat about it to some of his friends. Let’s say Powell made it public (he did). Lufthansa effectively gives a free ticket and gets a free, huge, self-perpetuating marketing and communications campaign. Which strikes people as basically smart, funny and honest.

In the meantime other companies are trying to discuss return on investment and other management speak gobbledygook. While the true value comes from real actions with real people.

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UPDATE 2 (24 April, 14:45):  I initially read that Powell made the letter public but I now found this - from Lufthansa – which shows the letter as an Open Letter. Disregard all my comments on privacy – I still think it was a stroke of genius but a touch cheeky if they really did put it out there as an open letter.

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Jump on the social media bandwagon Uploaded by Matt Hamm on 15 Oct 08, 10.07PM GMT.

We had this discussion the other day with Stavros Kontaksis (blog in Greek) -  @stakon on Twitter – the fact that . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]>

Jump on the social media bandwagon Uploaded by Matt Hamm on 15 Oct 08, 10.07PM GMT.

We had this discussion the other day with Stavros Kontaksis (blog in Greek) -  @stakon on Twitter – the fact that parties in government seem to be a lot less quick on the Social Media front.

I have blogged in the past about the differences between the two main parties in Greece. PASOK – then the Opposition, now the Government – is seen by some as gearing down its engagement, particularly compared to its professional and organised comms strategy before the election. Me, I kinda doubt it. At the very least they are the first government in Greece to open up consultation processes on-line - not in a very organised way but that’s a matter for another post. Secondly, they do still have an admirable history and policy of engagement online.

However, if speed is becoming a bit of an issue I can’t say that I don’t see why that might be the case.

Take the UK example.

Having worked in the UK Civil Service in the past I know first hand how many rules and regulations exist and some of them for very good reasons. Systems are vast, databases sometimes old, processes outdated. However you get exciting projects,  people who believe in what they do and a vast array of stakeholders who discuss things with Whitehall. And everyone increasingly wants to know NOW what government is thinking.

Having said that, what is frequently forgotten is that government has extreme responsibilities when it comes to creating policies and at the same time protecting commercial interests in a competitive market, ensuring data protection, being mindful of national security etc. For example, a government cannot communicate vague thoughts on a new policy as speculation might completely destroy a whole market. In other words – with great power comes great responsibility.

Government engagement is a different beast than political party engagement and the two need to be running concurrently. Government is an institution, with executive branches, it should be an authority that can ensure continuity irrespective of the political party in power (ah… dream on Sofia). A political party on the other hand has completely different needs.

Hence – Communications 101 – different needs and different audiences mandate different types, styles and content when it comes to communication.

I understand we are undergoing a paradigm shift. But I’m hopeful. I think governments are getting better at this and people are getting better at demanding what they need rather than everything in one big chaotic jumble.

—
Stavros blogged about similar stuff following our chat in Greek: Εγκαταλείποντας τα Social Media

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After nagging endlessly about the abysmal search facility on twitter I can’t resist being very enthusiastic about Google Real Time Search.

Now, immediately after conducting a search, you can see live updates from people on popular sites like Twitter and FriendFeed, as well as headlines from . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]>

After nagging endlessly about the abysmal search facility on twitter I can’t resist being very enthusiastic about Google Real Time Search.

Now, immediately after conducting a search, you can see live updates from people on popular sites like Twitter and FriendFeed, as well as headlines from news and blog posts published just seconds before. When they are relevant, we’ll rank these latest results to show the freshest information right on the search results page.
(via)

I had a chat with some friends yesterday on this (they did me the honour of inviting me to their podcast #NoNameCast – sadly only available in Greek) and we had a bit of a debate on whether this is a gimmicky thing for Google.

I certainly don’t think it is  gimmicky even though I am looking at it from the point of view of Communications, Public Affairs and Policy professionals rather than users in general.

Immediate access to what is going on
It might not give me time to truly analyse but I’ll know on the spot. Invaluable if a big story is breaking and you work in a Press Office.

Immediate access to blog posts
You won’t have to wait for your press mentions service to report to you once a week. If you need to know now you can find out now.

Getting a ‘feeling’ for what’s going on
Do not underestimate how important it is for comms people to have a ‘feeling’ for what is going on out there. Sometimes it’s equally important with the more substantiated view that serious analysis can give you.

Be on top of the ‘now’
Sometimes it’s important to understand what is going on now. This is not to underestimate the value of good analysis and substantiated research. It’s just that you may be on your way to a meeting or a brainstorming session and you’d like to understand the ‘now’ of the equation.

Can’t wait to see how this will develop.

————————-
Read on:
Relevance meets the real-time web by Amit Singhal on The Official Google Blog
Google finally gets real-time by David Meerman Scott on Web Ink Now

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I cannot find it in my heart to truly sympathise with Members of the UK Parliament (MPs) who might now hit a spot of bother with their twitter account – but . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]>
Westminster at Sunset
Uploaded by DMoutray on 29 Dec 08, 2.34PM GMT.

I cannot find it in my heart to truly sympathise with Members of the UK Parliament (MPs) who might now hit a spot of bother with their twitter account – but I do understand how this might have happened.

You see we are about to go onto a general election and the rules state that MPs become Prospective Parliamentary Candidates and are not allowed to refer to themselves as MPs at all. Apart from new stationary this could very well mean a problem with twitter accounts of the @(name)MP format. If clarification is sought and the House decides this goes for Twitter as well I wonder if all of their names are still available without the MP suffix.

I would expect the House to be sensible about this and ask them to by-pass or re-direct to a campaigning account e.g. @(party)in(constituency) for the duration of the general election process. There certainly are ways around the issue.

However I can’t really make my mind up on whether this is a technology or a communications problem.

First of all Twitter services are admittedly quite abysmal. Being a verified user has been a long time coming and it’s still not widely available. I assume most MPs thought that the best way to communicate it’s really them would be to append MP after their name (there are actually quite strict rules about this so people – in the UK – do not misuse it generally).

On the other hand MPs don’t remain MPs for ever. I would normally do a boring list of how they should have done it here but really I think it might have happened kinda naturally. I might not sympathise but I understand it. This sort of problem usually comes up due to lack of initial planning. The ease with which one can open a social media platform account (and the fact that they are free) may some time lead to not thinking things through and not checking the rules. However we’ve all seen it before (usually when a website is delivered and it’s well and truly wrong just because the company never gave a proper requirements document).

This is a learning process for all existing and new candidates and I’m eager to see what lessons they will take (and hopefully share) out of this general election and their digital communications processes.

———
Read On:
MPs Could Be Forced To Change Twitter Usernames Before Election by David Singleton, PR Week UK, 25 November 2009

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I don’t know why but as comms people we frequently get over-excited by the latest shiny thing. In that respect I think we are a little bit like academic researchers – go crazy . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]>
Anti-Social Media?
Uploaded by Intersection Consulting on 23 Apr 09, 6.48PM BST.

I don’t know why but as comms people we frequently get over-excited by the latest shiny thing. In that respect I think we are a little bit like academic researchers – go crazy over something and think it has an application absolutely everywhere.

These days it’s social media. We just stick it into whatever comms strategy comes to mind as if the awesomeness of twitter and facebook (which are either way disputable) is enough to elevate a campaign and make it relevant. Which is of course ridiculous.

I seem to recall that the same thing was happening a few years ago when it came to campaign micro sites and website design with heat maps and eye-tracking technology. The whole world went mad over trials that were expensive, thorough and in some cases completely unnecessary.

There is a question that comes before social media. There is a question that comes before design. There is a questions that comes before heat maps.

There is a question of substance that comes before appearance.

Who are you and what do you want to do?

This question addresses the two fundamental aspects of an online digital strategy. Your identity and your goals.
Without them we can give you all the shiny tools in the world. And you will – sadly – still be struggling to make sense.

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Following a database meltdown (long live the server move processes) this post and the comments were uploaded again manually.

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It’s time for the Greek elections (again – they seem to happen more and more often) and I am watching with more interest than it . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]>
Kostas Karamanlis – current Greek Prime Minister
Uploaded by Νέα Δημοκρατία on 26 Sep 09, 10.19AM GMT.

It’s time for the Greek elections (again – they seem to happen more and more often) and I am watching with more interest than it can possibly be good for me.

As always my interest revolves around political communications (public affairs will do that to you) and I have been watching digital communications attempts by the Greek political parties especially closely. Not to mention that I can’t vote (you can’t vote for Greek national election from abroad).

I will leave PASOK (Greek Socialist Party, currently the opposition) aside for now, I’ve mentioned before that in terms of online engagement and digital communications they have a well thought out strategy and seem to be innovating every day.

The current government party, ND (Nea Dimokratia/ New Democracy) has been lagging behind for quite some time in terms of online communications and engagement for quite some time with the possible exception of some of their most prominent members like the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dora Bakoyanni.

It seems that the upcoming election has nudged ND out of its traditional comms position and onto some engagement projects. The most talked about in the Greek blogsphere these days is what the party calls LIVE with the President, which quickly became known as #askND, due to the Twitter hashtag they have asked people to use when they are submitting questions to their Party Leader (usually called President in Greece) and current Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis (pictured).

The process is quite clear. Users can submit any number of questions they like via Twitter using the relevant hashtag. These questions will then go on to the ND blog and a voting process will begin. Kostas Karamanlis will answer the 10 most popular ones via “LIVE streaming video” (capitalisation theirs – as if answering live to a set of pre-set questions is some sort of an achievement which – duh – it’s not!).

As you can imagine all hell broke loose. Sure there were a lot of questions but let’s look into some worrying trends for a bit.

• Some questions were serious and legitimate
• More questions were a bit on the humorous side (well, quite a lot)
• Some questions (and here is the fun part) came from Twitter users with 0 friends and 0 followers

And here lies the problem. By seeing quite a large number of questions submitted by newbies on Twitter the Greek Twitter community started asking uncomfortable questions. Who are these people? Are the questions planted? How can we trust the process? How can we know for sure that the voting will be honest? (nikan visualised some of these – blog post in Greek)

New users posing questions is obviously quite legitimate. They might have seen the project on ND’s website and decided to start a Twitter account in order to participate – nothing wrong with that.

Leaving the Greek love of conspiracy theories aside, the problem is with how ND is actually running the process.

There is nobody to answer concerns
See, if PASOK had done the same and the same questions were raised they have a team of quite recognisable people (let’s call them Community Engagement Managers even though it’s an inaccurate term for what they do) who would step in and answer any concerns. The PASOK people would have been largely believed because they have been present for years and they have built up their credibility. There is nobody from ND doing the same and even if they did they are an unknown quantity – why should the community believe them?

Last minute engagement counts for very little
It’s a bit worrying that ND jumped onto the online engagement bandwagon so late in the day. It looks as if an election simply forced them to talk to people. Not cool with hardcore Twitter users and bloggers (and in Greece the majority is hardcore)

Discuss the process – be there
It’s a lovely idea and hats off to them for organising it but they are underselling it massively by not actually being there to fight for it. It’s too late for them to build credibility now but something could have been done if they nominated one of their comms people to handle this campaign and defend it to the online world.

If you’re doing it for traditional media exposure you’ve won
It all depends of course. This kind of project can be marvellous for getting you some exposure into traditional Greek media who might not understand the subtleties of online engagement. A tv news report into the wonderful project by ND will actually communicate an air of ‘we are here for the voter – we are listening to your problems’ instantly. So from that perspective I would count this as a short – term win.

The point of course is there is nobody to ask about all this.

Such a shame.

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Following a database meltdown (long live the server move processes) this post and the comments were uploaded again manually.

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I recently heard from a newspaper man that Twitter is definitely a fad but one which cannot be ignored. It kind of reminded me the old Nielsen study (back in April) which was much touted as a ‘twitter is a fad’ research (even though it . . . → Read the rest of this entry...]]>

I recently heard from a newspaper man that Twitter is definitely a fad but one which cannot be ignored. It kind of reminded me the old Nielsen study (back in April) which was much touted as a ‘twitter is a fad’ research (even though it was nothing of the kind).

What experience has taught me so far is that it is definitely not about the tool. Whether Twitter is a fad or not is irrelevant. If it dies something else will replace it. Another tool. Until that one dies to be replaced by the next one and so on.

The real question here – the important question – is about the NEED that makes people use tools / social media.

If Twitter died tomorrow would people stop communicating, reporting, connecting, debating? I very much doubt it.

It’s all about the conversation - and that’s what brands should care about, not whether the tool is a fad or not.

So, underestimate the tool as much as you want. Just don’t underestimate the real need.

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Following a database meltdown (long live the server move processes) this post and any comments were uploaded again manually.

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[slideshare id=496437&doc=whatthefissocialmedia070208-1215026815612657-8]

—————— Following a database meltdown (long live the server move processes) this post and any comments were uploaded again manually.