Your public relations program could encounter deficiencies if it is not redesigned for the digital era.

Digital public relations requires rethinking and restructuring on conventional public relations techniques, not just a digital overlay.  Several high-tec companies have attained industry visibility that is not necessarily justified by their market position or technical leadership, but rather by their ability to leverage the concept of digital public relations. You should be one of them.

However, when adopted in the political sphere attention to detail and hightened care must be taken.  This is evident in the latest spin conjured up by the Tories, with quite funny consequences. 

It was supposed to display how the modern Conservative Party could harness the power of the internet, yet instead, the Tories’ latest attempt to engage the web backfired outstandingly. 

They launched the “Cash Gordon” website over the weekend as part of an internet campaign to highlight links between the Prime Minister and Unite. The Party then invited the public to contribute through social networking websites Facebook and Twitter.

Things somewhat went array in their plan when this morning, the website had been flooded with mocking and abusive messages.  In the end, hackers infiltrated the page so that visitors to Cash Gordon were redirected to the Labour Party website, porn sites and an infamous video of Rick Astley singing on YouTube.  In a matter of hours the Conservative Party was forced to take down the site, saying it was due to “techinical problems.” 

Cash Gordon had entered the digital world as a slick webpage, using the latest features of Facebook and Twitter in an effort to gain public interest in the campaign but exited in a much more bashful manner.

Silly silly silly.  Key to the Tories’ strategy for Cash Gordon was to invite the public’s comments.  It published all tweets that included the phrase #cashgordon.  This meant that the Cash Gordon website would feature comments praising the campaign, but also, as was more the case, those criticising it.  Clever hackers also wrote tweets that included simple computer codes, meaning that visitors to the site were automatically redirected to toher pages.

It is clear that the Conservatives had built the website in haste and had not learned from the mistakes of others.  Avoid this by teaming up with an effective digital PR  team.

Insurance companies have come out last week warning against advertising holiday plans on social networking sites, as criminals are using them to identify targets.

This follows Google’s announcement that its Street View service now covers many rural areas, not just urban centres, potentially helping thieves identify vulnerable homes.

Legal and General, one of many insurers now aware of this potential problem, said last week that burglars were getting tech-savvy and “farming” such sites for information.

Whilst this is the case, there are fears that insurers could start to reject claims if there is evidence that policyholders have been using social networking sites. 

The AA, an insurance broker, said publishing details of when your house is empty could “be regarded as a breach of your duty of care and would be seriously considered by an insurer”.

Garry Skelton, marketing director of Legal & General’s general insurance business, has highlighted that as “the world has changed drastically with the advent of the Internet and the amazing array of social media sites now available to contact people, always be aware that a lot of time, talking on social media sites, such as Facebook, is like talking out loud in the street or down the pub: You are never sure who might be listening in.”

The Association of British Insurers, however, denies that the use of social networking sites was being factored into premiums but added that the issue was a growing concern for the industry.

 Therefore, take note. Don’t brag!  Informing everyone that “the old painting found in the attic turns out to be worth £30,000″ may not be such a great idea.

The Conservative Party has launched a high-profile online ad campaign to reinforce pledges made within its technology manifesto.  The manifesto, unveiled by shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt last week, outlines plans to ensure 100Mbps broadband across the UK, create 600,000 jobs and make the UK a leading digital economy. 

If this is the case and the predictions for the forthcoming government win are correct, businesses have no option but to seriously consider introducing forms of digital pr into their operations.

The Tories are in full swing, having placed ads on sites including The Register, Mumsnet and CityAM to highlight core areas of the manifesto to key voters who might not understand how it affects them. 

Nma highlights the Tories understanding that the plan will stimulate economic growth, with the country already ahead of the rest of Europe in terms of digital innovation.  As well as enhancing broadband speeds, proposals focus on increased transparency by government in its digital operations, such as setting up an online app store so digital content created for government departments can be reused by others, and the capping of government IT projects at £100m to allow a fighting chance for smaller suppliers bid.

This pledge follows the Labour governments plan to wire up UK homes with super-fast broadband as it is “the electricity of the digital age,” says the PM.    

So there you have it, the digital world is continually expanding into almost every aspect of life, whether that be business, personal or political.  It’s not enough to say you’re merely aware of it, it’s time to get involved.

Disputing the popular view that it is a discipline that should be standalone channel or function in the marketing mix, Jonty contends that rather than being simply another channel, social media has taken on a platform role alongside traditional media such as television or print.

Neatly summing up the nub of the matter, he puts it thus:

“Let’s be frank, before the term ‘earned media’ became a buzzword amongst the social media crew, it’s essentially exactly what PR agencies have been doing for decades. Public relations (much wider than media relations alone) is all about connecting a brand to its audiences, using media pitching to create free publicity (earned media), events and one-to-one interactions to drive word of mouth and brand engagement (sound familiar?), the influencing of opinion leaders (ditto) and the creation of public campaigns to educate and affect perception of target consumers about the brand (still with me?).”

Back in sunny Scotland, that’s precisely the line of thought we followed when setting up Revolver. Whatever you call it (from digitally-enabled public relations to plain old Digital PR) the practice of engaging with the social media has to be driven by the same communications principles and techniques you’d apply to any PR campaign.

That social media is different kind of animal is true. That it requires a slightly different approach and skill set is also true. Apart from that the old school media rules still apply, and any organisation that loses sight of that essential principle runs the risk of blundering into a PR crisis of their own making.

Says blogger Toni O’Sullivan: “There’s no doubt that online communication tools such as Twitter, social networking and blogs are all part of society today, but so are conversations at bus stops, in coffee shops and in people’s homes. These face-to-face conversations are driven by information from print newspapers, TV and word of mouth news and views. We’ve got to remember that not everyone spends their day connected to the Internet.

“The distinction between web-based and more traditional information sharing sources is definitely blurring. PROs and Marketers must remember that it’s essential to understand the target audience you are trying to reach and ensure you include the correct media channels in order to reach them. That means being aware of all online and offline channels, and with increasingly rapid technology advances there’s plenty to keep up to date with. It’s an exciting time and one that PROs should embrace in its entirety rather than focusing on one area alone.”

Hats off to Ms O’Sullivan for spotting this one. We’ve always believed that while crucially important, Digital PR is only part of the public relations mix. In a multimedia world, good PR must work across all channels.

The world’s biggest food company is reportedly set to launch a campaign to defend its reputation amid stinging criticism on social media sites.

PR Week reports that the Swiss firm is eager to address a range of issues, from long-standing concerns about its formula milk to a more recent hijacking of its online marketing services by critics.

The publication reports that in 2009, Nestle suffered a social media crisis after its invite to influential parenting bloggers in the US on Twitter was taken over by activists and turned into a “highly visible” anti-Nestle campaign.

While there has been no official comment on the online PR push, PR Week said a company source had told it the firm is keen to counter criticism because “stories don’t die online”.

Whether you like it or not, consumers will research and talk about your company online. If you want to be in a position to monitor, manage and respond appropriately to that, then you’re going to have to invest in Digital PR.

Responding to recent calls from industry figures for the range of qualifications available to both aspiring and current public relations practitioners to be more digitally orientated, Scotland’s leading Digital PR agency has challenged communications firms to invest more heavily in training staff on the job. The company, with offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh, believes that organisations must be prepared to put time and resources into providing staff with the support required to get to grips with the digital media.

“While there is a need for existing PR qualifications to encompass digital issues in order to meet the growing demand from agencies for digital PR practitioners, there is a limit to what you can expect such course to achieve. The digital media moves at the speed of light and is in a constant cycle of evolution and change, meaning that formal course materials are at risk of falling out of date before they’ve even been written,” said Revolver PR Managing Director Iain Bruce.

“In our experience new staff benefit far more from on-the-job Digital PR training than they do by following a course-based syllabus. While this requires more time and resources to be focused upon each individual, it’s a process that ultimately produces far greater returns.”

A number of industry commentators have recently stated their belief that young people need to be more digitally oriented in their qualifications in order to meet agencies growing demand for trained digital PR individuals. They suggest that recruitment consultants are now struggling to find suitable candidates and have call for potentials employees to be formally taught the foundations of digital knowledge.

Revolver PR, conversely, calls for employers to invest in youth through a process of in-house digital PR training, whereby employees are given instruction on the job as opposed to studying through external educational institutions.

“There is far too great a number of wasteful media courses out there that do not prepare young people for the future as it is” says Bruce. “On-the-job training is much more beneficial when considering that public relations companies require young individuals who pay attention, are keen to learn and who take direction without hesitance.”

Whilst the benefits of this are disputed somewhat within the industry, Revolver is of the opinion that internal training in digitally enabled public relations consultancy and social media usage benefits the company just as much as the individual.

The Prompt Communications research claims that while phone calls remain the most common method of communication – with 99% of respondents regularly using the phone to connect with friends and family – Facebook (96%) is now the next most popular communication tool. SMS came in third at 93%, followed by email with 91%.

The Digital PR and social media consultancy’s statistics revealed that overall, people appear to believe that advances in technology have created a negative effect on their lives and interpersonal communications in several ways. The majority (60%) believes that it relies too much on technology, while 71% believe social media is making communication less personal.

Despite these reservations, people are still using social media regularly. Some 28% of respondents claimed that they could only go one week without using social media, with a further 24% worried about just a few days. These figures compared to just 27% who felt they could live offline indefinitely.

Devised as a sneaky way of blowing our own trumpets and filling up the blog, this prestigious honour will be presented to the Revolver staffer who most ably demonstrates quick thinking, inventiveness, self reliance or downright animal cunning – the qualities we believe to be the absolute bedrock of a successful online PR campaign. Cool huh?

So without further ado, I’m delighted to announce that the first ever winner is Iain Andrew (Mr A), who last week used the drive home to place a well-worded call to Radio Clyde’s popular drivetime request show. Resulting in a plug that coincided with a trebling of our average search traffic that evening, the panel (Mr B), felt this slick piece of guerrilla marketing best represented the brand of fleet-footed creative thinking that Slick Move of the Week was created to honour.

Congratulations Mr A, the statuette is on your desk …