Media Evaluation

Tennis to have an image coach

2008-07-16T11:22:00.003+01:00

I was interested to read in PR Week that Max Clifford has been hired to ‘help shed tennis’ middle-class image.’ Having been the lucky ballot winner of front row seats at the spectacular final recently I can safely say that he will have a tough job with tickets such as mine at £90 a head and the price of a salad at around £15. I’m not complaining; it was worth every penny (perhaps not the salad) but being a ticket holder at this prestigious event for the first time I was struck by the difference in experience between the determined member of the famous queue and the honored ticket holder. For anyone who has stood in that queue, and I have done my fair share of queuing in the past, you can wait for hours on end, generally in the rain (if you’re me) and then you can queue again once in the grounds in the blind hope that you will get a return for one of the main courts. It takes about as much determination and willpower as it does to win Wimbledon. The class divide is then further emphasized by the Debentures who pay a high price for guaranteed tickets and their own exclusive restaurants.

The suggestion that tennis could be used to coax children off the streets and get them fit is a great idea and also good public relations spin as it fits the agenda of tackling obesity and crime in young people; topics which regularly feature in our media industry analysis. Whilst I’m all in support of making tennis free of charge at local authority tennis courts there is a long way to go to tackle the image of exclusivity which is propelled by events such as Wimbledon. Champagne and strawberries anyone?

Terminal 5

2008-07-04T14:54:00.003+01:00

I had the misfortune to fly out of T5 in the midst of the chaos of the opening week. Although painfully delayed and some shocking incompetence I resisted to turn the knife via the blog - I thought that others were doing a pretty good job in creating the latest case-study in how not to handle crisis communication. It was therefore with some trepidation that I arrived for my flight to Geneva this week.

The whole experience was nigh on perfect, passing seamlessly through security to the gate, with time to buy a couple of items from smiling shop assistants. The return leg proved equally impressive, taxiing on to a stand in good fashion to sailing through passport control without a hint of a queue. As a media evaluator it got me thinking, well you would expect nothing less. Where were the good news stories about the turnaround of the terminal? - have the good ladies and gentlemen of BA and BAA been told to keep their own counsel for fear of reminding the potential customer of the previous 'challenges'. Or is it the media are simply not interested in a good news story and would rather sharpen their knives on another victim (another slice of M&S anyone?).

Media analysis on Murray

2008-07-01T14:06:00.002+01:00

Andy Murray’s image has suffered some blows in the past particularly for his jokes deriding England and his emphasis on his Scottish heritage. In the build-up to the tournament two years ago he joked he wanted "anyone but England" to win the World Cup which didn’t go down too well south of the border and this jibe at Henman was misrepresented in the papers. A little media training would have been helpful here and indeed Andy took on a PR agency earlier this year.

Public relations in sports are notoriously precarious as reputation is based on a concoction of personality and results. It was Murray’s seemingly dour personality which has been criticized in the past as many commented that he doesn’t smile enough. There was a glimmer of a grin as he turned the match around last night beating Richard Gasquet and as he started to make his long comeback suddenly the crowd had something to cheer about. It seems the fickle public are backing him now he’s winning because let’s face it if he makes it to the semis we’ll see him as British and, as Murray commented: “once I got ahead they got behind me more than they ever have before.”

This was in stark contrast to reports earlier in the tournament that there was “hardly a painted face, union jack, Saltire or ill-advised red, white and blue ensemble in sight.” They may go as far as to put it down to his strong Scottish determination if he continues to do well, which would prove that a message can be turned on its head. It just goes to show how reactions can change overnight based on performance, which is something we often find when measuring PR impact.

As for Murray’s image it’s been said that he’s been advised to be more like McEnroe than Henman yet one spectator commented: “I preferred Henman’s personality. He belonged to a time when Tennis was a little more refined.” Henman fitted in as he was more the English gent, though he was at times criticized for being just that and labeled “boring.” The firey Scot is slowly rallying the crowd as Boris Becker remarked: “the whole country is now expecting greatness from him.” I’m backing him, but then I am half-Scottish!

A few words say it all

2008-06-30T15:37:00.004+01:00

To mark Gordon Brown’s first year in office, The Guardian published the article ‘Brownspeak: the year in words’ which takes a look at his statements in response to key events throughout the last, shall we say eventful, year. As experts in media industry analysis we are naturally adept at evaluating key messages and have identified a telling change in tone during this ‘year in words’. What starts as a confident, determined, moralistic tone becomes progressively more apologetic and uncertain as times goes on with the latest comment regarding the elections starting on the vague note “perhaps”.

Perhaps it’s time for Gordon to employ some tactics of crisis public relations as his reputation is in trouble and therefore strong, honest statements are called for. As journalist Jackie Ashley comments: “Inside No 10, they are planning for a new autumn offensive. Brown's core theme will be pared back to "fairness" and he will try to admit his mistakes more openly and, in effect, ask for a second chance.” Let’s see what he has to say as his second year in office unfolds.

In May 2007 on announcing his taking over of the premiership
My father was a minister of the church. For me, my parents were - and their inspiration still is - my moral compass.'

In Downing Street as prime minister, June 27
'On this day I remember words that have stayed with me since my childhood and which matter a great deal to me today, my school motto: "I will try my utmost."

First speech to Labour conference as PM, September 24
'This is our vision: Britain leading the global economy by our skills and creativity...drawing on the talents of all to create British jobs for British workers.'

On the election that never was, October 9
'I considered an election but my first instinct is always to keep on with the job of governing and to set out my vision for the future.'

On the nationalisation of Northern Rock, February 18
'The right move at the right time for the right reasons'

On the U-turn over scrapping the 10p tax band, April 23
'I don't think I've been pushed about at all. What I've done is listen and made the right long-term decision.

On disaster in the local elections, May 4
Perhaps I've spent too little time thinking about how we can get our arguments across to the public.

To the suggestion he might step down, May 4
I am resolute and determined, and I've got convictions and ideas, and I'm not going to be put off by a few days' headlines.

Event Timeline Launched

2008-06-06T15:55:00.000+01:00

As we recognise the importance to our clients of being able to monitor events, we have developed a nifty new tool to view the impact of these at a glance. Following much hard slog in our IT department we are proud to launch the ‘Event Timeline’ which can be viewed alongside the overall volume and favourability chart on our online system.

This enables you to view the top ten events which are having an impact on your reputation, and our event coding covers your proactive work as well as unexpected influences on your coverage. By simply hovering over the bars you will see the event description and you can click through to see the headline listing for any event you might be interested in. As it sits below the overall chart, you can see at a glance how the events have affected the overall outcome.

Welcome Jenni!

2008-02-05T09:24:00.000Z

We are delighted to welcome Jenni Mitchell to Mediatrack Research. Jenni joined as an Account Manager at the beginning of the year and has already proved a huge asset to the team, putting her experience of PR and digital media to effective and immediate use.

New additions at Mediatrack Research

2007-11-26T14:41:00.000Z

Our congratulations to the two proud providers of the latest Mediatrack offspring. Account Director Janet has had a little boy to go with her daughter. Whilst Mike Matthews, Head of Data Operations, has become a dad for the first time. We are thrilled for them both, and hope that the disturbed sleep does not go on for too long.

Bluetongue - evaluating the latest threat to civilisation

2007-09-25T15:29:00.000+01:00

How the media love a story that contains all if not any of the following...cuddly animals, politicians desperately trying to appear knowledgeable, a threat to the nation's health, a chance to rehash an old story. All of these came together in the latest animal health scare: Bluetongue.

The media, as one, pronounce this as yet another cataclysmic assault on the livelihoods of the farming community. Yet the facts seem to be far less interesting. The outbreak has been predicted for some time as the virus has been carried by midges across Northern Europe, and there are several approaches that can be taken to ensure the continued wellbeing of cattle, as well as milk and meat supplies. So what is the fuss all about? Well from where I sit, not a lot. The real threat to the farming industry remains Foot & Mouth and Bluetongue whilst still an unpleasant and unwelcome arrival is of considerably less significance, I would be surprised to see it appearing in the mainstream media again next month.

Evaluating the media at the Rugby World Cup

2007-09-12T18:49:00.000+01:00

Last Friday the 2007 Rugby World Cup kicked off with a bang... on the head for Les Bleus. Overnight an exuberant, vital and excited Paris bursting with gallic pride turned to the blues (the other type) as a sense of national gloom descended. As the second half progressed and the final whistle approached the whole idea of "Mais c'est impossible!" loomed larger and larger until the nightmare turned true as Argentina defeated France, the host nation, on the opening night of this most magnificent, stylish and thoroughly comprehensive festival of rugby.

The media spotlight was intense with rugby heroes, past and present, parading before the sell-out 80,000 crowd in the imposing Stade de France, one of the best rugby stadia in the world, and in a tinge of dramatic irony also the home of the Argentinian fly-half Felipe Contepomi who tore France apart with his lethally accurate goal-kicking, for he plays his club rugby for none other than Stade de France.

But that was not the only reason why the media spotlight was intense. For a Jonah Lomu size row between the press and the RWC organising committee had erupted in the build up to the biggest day in modern rugby. Interestingly this ruck and maul has been characterised throughout as a dispute between the press and the RWC, when in reality it was nothing of the kind. In the modern world television audiences for the third largest global sporting event make or break the economics not only of the event but also of the sport itself for the sponsorship, marketing and advertising investment ploughed in pay for the development of the sport, particularly in the developing world.

Naturally, when television has paid such extraordinary sums for the exclusive rights they expect to be taken pretty seriously. And so when the new kids on the block - press media experimenting with every conceivable digital and online format - try and horn-in on the action, it seems like time for a yellow card and a ten-minute sin-binning. The RWC organising team - pressured by the broadcasters - had asked for a fixed limit on the number of digital pictures that could be transmitted from the ground which seems not unreasonable. From the reaction of many notable newsprint organisations, you could be forgiven for thinking it was time to storm the Bastille all over again. The shouts of "liberte, egalite, fraternite!" could be heard all the way from from one side of Paris to the other. The barricades were up and the tumbrils rolling over the cobbles. "It's about the freedom of the press," cried the mob, "our freedom to go wherever we want, write what we want, take pictures of what we want, in a totally free and unfettered way, so that the rights of all the free peoples of the world are protected...to buy our newspapers!" And of course it's advertisers who support newspapers and journalist jobs just as television and sponsors support the RWC.

On second thoughts, perhaps a red card would be more appropriate. Of course there are vitally important principles at stake in the true and genuine freedom of the press, but this ain't it! This is just so much cant and hypocrisy.

The battle between the social networks

2007-09-06T11:53:00.000+01:00

Many users have chosen sides when it comes to two of the most popular networking Web sites today, Facebook and myspace.

Both sites aim to serve the same basic purpose: creating communities and connecting people with common interests. Users on both sites can benefit socially, professionally or even romantically due to the availability of information on the large population of users.

Although some users are members on both sites, many have a favourite among the two. The fight to find which site will start to lead the race has taken a distincy PR shift in recent times with the hiring of PR practitioners in an attempt to position their offerings as the safest, coolest, fastest, most accessible etc. Let us hope that they put some solid evaluation principles in place to measure their efforts.

However the time for these sites might have already passed...will we see the growth of more specific networking sites. I have so far not signed up for either MySpace or Facebook, instead I have recently joined MyRagan the network for communication professionals. Although having only dipped a toe into the site it clearly has bags of potential, with forums and offers that will certainly enhance our combined understanding of the issues facing communicators. I look forward to playing an active part in this latest forum.

Rain, Rain go away

2007-07-26T14:04:00.000+01:00

Sitting looking at the monsoon descending outside one is tempted to think the only meaningful mearsurement right now would involve a bucket and a ruler.

What can we as evaluators suggest that could add to the debate? Well we can start on the speculation on who will be the long-term winners and losers after the deluge abates. For starters, it appears not to have been the most sensible move by the Leader of the Opposition to go to Africa when parts of his own constituency is ankle deep in brown (Brown?) water. The rumblings of his own party have contributed to a pretty poor week. Maybe someone would like to commission us to see how the media is being challenged/led by the unnamed discontents?

Meanwhile the PM looks suitably glum and adept at invoking the blitz spirit, ensuring that the Brown Bounce continues for a little longer.

As yet we have seen little coverage that suggests any ineptitude at the water companies, and the calling for the help of the army by Severn Trent may be an extremely clever move from a PR perspective. Please note I am not suggesting that this was their motivation!

In the aftermath of this I suspect that it will be a battle between Government and the Environment Agency over who feels the heat from the media.

Evaluating the blogosphere

2007-06-08T09:38:00.000+01:00

This is currently the hottest of topics for many communication professionals.

In recent weeks we have visited several clients to discuss the impact that the blogosphere may be having on reputation and how we can effectively assist them to monitor and evaluate this for them. While there is no formulaic response for each client we have identified some key questions that need to be answered before we can deliver a solution.

Among these would be:

1. Which online media key journalists use to source information/stories?

2. Which sites people who don’t read newspapers use to find their news information?

3. How much information can organisations reasonably be expected to assimilate? (The enormity and speed of the online world makes it unlikely that all coverage is required)

The response to each of these, and numerous other, questions, will assist in forming a basis for further discussions on how projects can be shaped. Together we are then in a position to work towards a model that allows companies to effectively develop their online reputation management.

Spreading the word against AVE

2007-04-30T13:37:00.000+01:00

Following a correspondence with another blogger, it became clear that we (the media evaluation industry) were in some way being viewed as partly responsible for the continuing use and acceptance of AVE as a measure.

As I am happy to once again restate: For the leading evaluation companies AVE is something that we do provide, but it is (for most) a by-product of the main analysis. Therefore we can, and occasionally do, respond to commercial demand.

We note with interest that while the PR industry bodies are clear in their disdain for the practice, we are still seeing AVE figures still being used in the PRide awards. Until such contradictory positions are rectified, we suspect that the demise of Ave's will be slow and lingering.

No doubt we will be returning to this subject again!

How big is your carbon footprint?!

2007-03-19T12:05:00.000Z

Last year witnessed the explosion of the carbon debate and, since then, there has been a lot of speculation about how the UK will address this, most recently in terms of taxes on car and air travel.

We’re working with a lot of our clients at the moment to incorporate their current company position on their ‘carbon footprint’ and how to capture this in our evaluation of their media profile. Clearly, there is a huge amount of interest in this issue, particularly from the ever increasing online forums and discussions.

However, it’s not just our clients’ viewpoint that we need to be clear on and, as a company, we are currently working with the Carbon Trust to look at our own emissions and the impact that our busy little office might actually be having on the environment. Of course we’re doing all the usual things that other companies are doing; energy-saving light bulbs, turning off our computers (and screens) at the end of each day, relying on public transport or biking to work, limiting our use of air con and heating, but is there more we could be doing? Recent findings have revealed that wasted energy costs companies millions of pounds every year and means that power stations are burning more fossil fuel than necessary. ‘Energy & environment’ is now a regular agenda item on our internal strategy meetings and we’re sure we’re not the only ones stepping up to respond to this issue…

Bring out your dead

2007-03-05T11:50:00.000Z

Ancestry.co.uk’s recent announcement that it is making British army pensions records available online is evidence of the explosion of interest in family history research, and the power of the internet to penetrate all levels of society. Further proof is the success of the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? series, which recently transferred from BBC2 to BBC1, ITV’s recent purchase of the Genes Reunited website, and various petitions on the 10 Downing Street website relating to the release of the 1911 census.

The Internet has undoubtedly played a leading role in encouraging people to research their roots. Before the Internet age genealogy involved visiting local libraries, the National Archive (or the Public Records Office as it was once known) or county records offices around the country and spending hours scouring numerous dusty records, often fruitlessly. Now it is possible to research your heritage back to around 1800 without even leaving your desk.

Ancestry.co.uk has become the first port of call for many budding genealogists. In addition to the new army pensions records it also features all the English and Welsh censuses from 1841-1901, birth, marriage and deaths records from 1837-2004, phone directories and much more. It has even recruited popular TV host Tony Robinson to act as a spokesperson.

The drawback with Ancestry.co.uk is that you have to pay to access the records, but there are some free alternatives, notably FreeBMD, where most English and Welsh birth, marriage and deaths records from 1837 to around 1920 are available, and FamilySearch, the website of the Mormons.

The interest that the Internet has generated in family history was demonstrated when the 1901 census was made available online in January 2002. Around 1.2m people attempted to access it every hour, resulting in the website crashing. The site was withdrawn and relaunched seven months later (source BBC.co.uk 14 Nov 2003: “Census website was 'overwhelmed'”).

The nations’ interest in researching their family tree shows no sign of abating, and those of us who have been bitten by the genealogy bug look forward to finding out what records will appear online next.

Virgin - Do they ever miss a trick?

2007-01-26T09:15:00.000Z

Do Virgin ever pass up the chance to steal a march on British Airways?....Probably not!

Driving home last night, I was interested to hear that on the day of the planned strikes by the BA cabin crew those passengers suffering cancellations will be able to travel free to their destinations (where possible) on Virgin trains. And to add even greater impact to the story would be put in first class if available!

I have to feel some admiration for the bright spark who came up with this idea, especially as the cost to Virgin is negligible, I can't imagine they will be overrun with disgruntled, but now grateful, airline travellers. Yet they gain highly favourable national media coverage, and who knows they may even convert a few people to the benefits of travelling up the East Coast Mainline.

I have no doubt that the evaluation of the press for this simple exercise will prove once again what gains can be made from a quick piece of thinking, as well as illustrating how a company with great PR awareness can act together to create a great story.

Cynical? Opportunist? Or just good old fashioned PR? I think most of us will agree that it might just be all three!

Happy New Year

2007-01-03T14:18:00.000Z

So shall we do the predictable Happy New Year blog entry from Mediatrack? Ok, if you insist here goes.

Well, all is back to what passes for normality in the office as we start on the first round of reporting of 2007, however we have decided to have a few New Year resolutions to keep us on our toes.

Handling AVE requests

Of course we will continue to offer this service, however we promise to try even harder than we have before to help our prospective clients (and their colleagues) to understand the limitation of this measure. We appreciate that most people understand this, but really it is our job to go forth and spread the word as forcefully as we can.

Only deliver insights that make a difference

It is clear that over the last few years our reporting style has changed dramatically, however we have to keep producing reports that actually make a difference to a business.

Try not to use the word 'strategy' fifty times in a single presentation

My personal failing. The client (or prospective client) appreciates that we are there to assist in developing and measuring their strategy, therefore I shall try to use as many alternatives/synonyms as possible - 'plan', 'scheme', 'policy' or 'approach' might just stop the repetitiveness.

Think before getting on the circle line

Is it just me, but why is it that every time I am travelling to a meeting in London that the use of the Circle Line invariably results in a stressful journey, which bears little resemblance to Transport for London's 'Journey Planner'.

...And finally

To continue enjoying what we do

We know it sounds cheesy, but we do actually rather enjoy working with our diverse set of clients, offering our thoughts and helping improve and protect their reputation.

Happy New Year from all of us at Mediatrack

Dreaming of a white Christmas?

2006-12-15T10:27:00.000Z

It's that time of year again when office Christmas parties are in full swing. With all the negative press that’s been emerging about managers being held responsible if things go wrong, it was a very brave decision by our boss to let the Mediatrack Massive loose last night!

‘White Christmas’ was the theme of this year’s bash and, rather than host the party ourselves and run the risk of clashing with all the other festivities taking place, we got together with a number of other companies at the salubrious British Empire & Commonwealth Museum in Bristol. If you haven’t managed to pay a visit, I’d definitely recommend it. We were housed inside Isambard Kingdom Brunel's 19th century railway station - apparently the world's first purpose-built passenger railway terminus with an integral link using Brunel's railway and ships to connect London with Britain’s overseas colonies and America. But enough of the history, let’s get back to the subject in hand…

Once inside, the venue had been transformed into a Winter Wonderland. We began with après ski in the Ski Lodge, followed by a delicious three course meal (how they managed such fine dining for 500+ people I will never know), all topped off with a white Belgian chocolate fountain. If that wasn’t enough, ‘sexy santas’, casinos, live music, and the all-important dance floor meant there was something for everyone. Apparently the photos will be coming soon – watch this space…

Naturally, the ‘skeleton crew’ in the office this morning are nursing sore heads (whose idea was the tequila?!), and are still somewhat disturbed by the lasting image of our great leader wrapped up in that white feather boa…

The Value of Awards – Part III

2006-11-22T14:35:00.000Z

So was all that effort worth it? The answer: definitely. The AMEC awards dinner was a success both in terms of the event itself, but also in recognising the excellent work being done across the industry by all member organisations.

As a company we won a record number of awards this year and feel very proud to have had our work recognised in this way. Thank you to all our clients who helped to put the award submissions together and we look forward to further developing our projects to ensure that we continue to deliver award winning evaluation.

So what were the highlights of the evening? Apart from the obvious collection of awards, for me personally it has to be helping Katie Paine find the girl with the ruby shoes…although it sounds difficult, and a rather bizarre undertaking, they did belong to the person sat next to me at the dinner. My reward for this was to be whisked around the dance floor by Ms Paine who noted that the Brits seem to be losing much of their famed reserve. I suggest that the hearty toasting of success may have played some part in this. I look forward to reading her take on the evening at http://kdpaine.blogs.com/. Hopefully the picture she took of the shoes will make it to a wider audience.

So we shall be back next year, ready to again challenge the best of the measurement industry, and hoping that our wall will be able to take the additional weight of more awards.

The Future of New Media

2006-11-15T09:48:00.000Z

And so the great and the good from the evaluation community descended on Portland Place for the second in a continuing series of AMEC lectures.

Two speakers gave their insights into the latest trends in social media. Philip Young from the University of Sunderland kicked the proceedings off with an interesting race through all the different social media that is out there, and how they effect the reputation of organisations and individuals. Blogging is one area (obviously) close to my heart, and whilst I would like to think that it has an impact on the thinking of others - from an evaluation angle it is difficult to measure true influence against the traditional media. Ultimately our clients often want to know how far away are we from being able to quantify the impact of a blog compared to the power of the FT? (Philip - perhaps you can let me know what you think, as I know you will be checking out my comments on your performance).

Philip finished by asking the audience to help him in looking at the trends in the use and experience of social media by taking part in an online survey....so please visit www.euroblog2007.org/survey.

Our second speaker was Kevin Murray, Chairman of the Bell Pottinger Group. Dipping into his extensive experience Kevin ultimately threw down the challenge to the evaluation industry to step up and develop innovative approaches, particularly in respect of the new communication landscape, to help his companies prove to their clients how their activities are improving reputation.

We already deliver much of what Kevin was asking evaluation companies to provide, including the interpretation of findings beyond face value, the recognising of the key influencers and the emphasis on takeouts rather than message inputs. We look forward to continuing our work with Bell Pottinger!

Act of goodwill or PR stunt?

2006-11-07T10:33:00.000Z

With the news this morning that Sainsbury's are to donate 25% of the value to those that lost their Christmas savings at Farepak we have been considering the motivation behind this generous offer.

In these days of a cynical public and, perhaps, an even more cynical press, will the offer be viewed as an opportunity to hitch a ride on a bandwagon promoting the 'caring' credentials of this recovering consumer giant. In our limited office qualitative survey (myself and one colleague!) we believe and hope that this is not the case.

There is an obvious battle among the supermarkets to position themselves as the most ethical, and even if this is only being undertaken to win market share why should we care, for ultimately we should all benefit. Let us hope that this latest salvo from Sainsbury's motivates their competitors to make similar offers and that we will be able to evaluate the media response in the run up to Christmas, but more importantly it will deliver a better Christmas to all those that have seen their careful budgeting come to nothing.

Keeping ahead of the game in Media Evaluation

2006-10-19T12:37:00.000+01:00

Our industry is heavily dependant on the inhouse applications that we use to produce our summary data and charts. The development of those applications is partly dependent on the quality of the tools that our developers have at their disposal.

Keeping abreast of the latest development tools and technologies when Microsoft have such a prolific release rate can be something of a challenge. That is why we spent the last two days at the Visual Basic Users Group (VBUG) Annual Conference at Microsoft in Reading.

It might not sound like everyones cup of tea, but it was a fantastic event, with great speakers on a wide variety of topics from best practice with the latest available software, to sneak previews of the next versions.

All in all a very useful and thought provoking two days that will allow us to maintain our position at the cutting edge of Media Evaluation.

Managing reputation in leafy Berkshire

2006-10-13T13:35:00.000+01:00

Today is a bright new day. Today is different. No more beating through the rush-hour crowds, the swirl and the bustle of busy London. Instead a welcome and refreshing change of habitat, driving through the early-morning mists and rural autumnal backwaters to the illustrious Henley Management College (www.henleymc.ac.uk), impressive in its fine white buildings, its calm serenity and green, green lawns rolling down to the river’s edge.

For today’s seminar is all about reputation, that elusive but much sought –after, that vital and all-important quality, that which takes years to build and seconds to lose. That which too many business leaders dismiss because they feel they can’t control it, that they’re not quite sure what it is, and that the bottom-line says it all anyway. “No, lad,” I remember being told once when urging a CEO to engage in some serious communication , “I let the facts speak for themselves”

But not so them all. Step forward, Paul Walsh, CEO of Diageo (www.diageo.com), the world’s largest drinks business who, in a few short keynote sentences, cut a swathe through the undergrowth and made it bluntly clear that reputation is a key long-term driver to financial success… and not an inconsequential tick-box along the way to some kind of politically correct irrelevance.

Never mind the text-books he might have said, “reputation is everything we say, everything we do and everything others say about us”. And there were more gems to follow. A better reputation gives you “a better operating environment, the benefit of the doubt from investors, a lighter touch in regulation, more balanced media coverage…in short it pays a Trust Dividend.” But it gets better still. Building a commitment to and careful management of your corporate reputation is not “a soft touch, it’s not about being nice to people”, it’s about positioning the company to do more and better business more easily, it’s about expanding the intangibles on the balance sheet and it’s about securing a better return for shareholders on any disposals.

Wow! So, there you have it in a nutshell. But, “how do you get started on all this?” he was asked by one, who was impressed but a little overwhelmed, and how do you deal with the sceptics? “Start!” came the blunt, but not unsympathetic reply. Find the one key issue, make a small plan, set targets, make your heros when they succeed, reward them. And then ultimately, if people don’t buy in to the new culture where reputation is so important, and everything they do is so important…you fire them!

This was one of the clearest expositions I’ve heard for the need for business to engage very thoroughly with all its audiences, and that’s where the strategic thinking necessary comes into play. And the distinction looms large between those who merely play at PR and those who know what they’re doing and why. Often that distinction is easily seen in those who systematically set their targets, and then review and revise. “If you don’t measure it, you shouldn’t be doing it” said one FTSE100 CEO rather provocatively a few years ago. Food for thought! No, that has to be a feast for thought…and all from the green and quiescent backwaters of rural Berkshire, too!

The Value of Awards II

2006-10-04T12:05:00.000+01:00

Following our earlier blog on the Value of Awards (19/07), we were delighted to receive the news that five of our submissions have been shortlisted for an AMEC (Association of Measurement and Evaluation Companies) award.

We would like to thank our clients for giving us their permission to submit our work for them and for sharing their thoughts on our entries. It seems that this hard work has paid off. While being shortlisted is no guarantee of success, we are hopeful that following the awards dinner in November we will be able to be able to share even better news.

Bad luck for a celebrity can be good news for your image

2006-09-29T11:31:00.000+01:00

One of the side-effects of working with BUPA and Strategic Health Authorities is that our analysts get to read all about the treatment received by wounded celebrities. Following on from the recent press interest in Wayne Rooney’s broken metatarsal, for which he received treatment at BUPA’s Whalley Range hospital in Manchester, we’ve now seen both BUPA and the Yorkshire & Humber SHA come under the media spotlight as a result of Top Gear presenter Richard ‘Hamster’ Hammond’s crash in a jet-powered car at a Yorkshire airfield. Hammond was flown by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to the Leeds General Infirmary where he received treatment for what was described as “a serious brain injury”. He has now been transferred to BUPA’s hospital in Bristol, near his Cheltenham home, where he will continue his recovery.

It will be interesting to compare the response of the respective PR teams and how Hammond’s misfortune will impact on the profiles of the two organisations, especially given that one is private and the other funded by the public. At first glance, the real ‘winners’ appear to be the Air Ambulance service and, provided Hammond continues to make good progress, one would imagine that publicity will be good, proving that while an injury might be bad news for a celebrity, it can be good news for those helping their recovery.