Paradigm lost

Further to my earlier comments about print and online media colliding I read an interesting article in the RSA Journal by Tim Jones of Innovaro.

In his piece he looks at paradigm changes in the economy and points to the BBC as it seeks to compete with the likes of Google TV, Wikipedia and flickr during the second digital wave. Having been at the forefront of the first digital wave, the BBC is pursuing an alternative option for the emerging space.

As well as focusing internal resources on key new technologies, the BBC Innovation Team has embraced the principles of open innovation and made much of its content available to outside user communities. Through linking to Google’s freely available programming interfaces, initiatives such as backstage.bbc.co.uk - I never even knew this existed - have enabled core BBC content to be used by online developers so they can build new applications and integrate them into other websites.

Jones says that the BBC, fully aware of probable disruptions likely to affect the media sector, it is acting as a catalyst for disruptive innovation, whether generated internally or externally.

As disruption occurs at an ever faster rate, more companies seeking to play a role in delivering or exploiting the potential from major disruptions are recognising that they require better insight in order to do so. The approaches used by the BBC and Rupert Murdoch mesh nicely with the open source media.

Journos, bloggers and citizen journalists

Just been reading the following post on Getting Ink - Can citizen journos be trusted? – basically arguing the point that bloggers and citizen journalists will not replace “real journalists”.

To a degree I do think that is true – journalists are trained to question everything (or they used to be) and, as result, they carry an authority that Doris from Dorset probably doesn’t. They check facts, and re-check facts and ensure that what they write is as accurate as possible.

They cut through the hype and translate the jargon that the politician and big business might use into a language that the layman can understand. Indeed, they are professional laymen and women with well-tuned bullshit detectors.

However, I do wonder whether they are a dying breed and that they will eventually be replaced by an online community of citizen journalists – albeit NCTJ trained journalists. Visited The Sun’s website recently? Obviously Mr Murdoch knows where print media is headed as he appears to have invested millions in the new site. Same is happening at the Telegraph.

And I will tell you for why. Circulation decline and the growth of online advertising. It's economics and business. The Sun sold 3,154,881 copies in early 2006, (compared to USA Today, the best-selling US newspaper at 2,281,831). The daily readership is just under 8,500,000. But… it is declining.

I’ve done a quick search on the British Newspaper Society website of the regional press – the most web-averse titles in the media – and it’s not looking good. At my old newspaper - the Yorkshire Post sells just 54,730 a day. I left in 1997 and circulation was just touching 100,000 – 120,00 at the weekend (and know the two things are not related).

And look at the Northern Echo, another old stamping ground of mine, circulation is 53,481. In Birmingham, England’s second largest city the Post sells 13,000. I repeat 13,000!! The Manchester Evening News sells 128,445. The Liverpool Daily Post, my alma mater, sells just 18,741 in the city and 39,595 for its Wales edition. In Scotland the Aberdeen Press & Journal sells 84,612 and the Scotsman (a national newspaper?) just 66,462. And, finally, in London the Evening Standard’s circulation is 313,181 – for a population in excess of seven million.

So, where does this leave the journos and all those media-wannabes at university studying Media and Journalism? Well I don’t think they are going to be writing for the printed press – the economics just don’t add up. Which leaves the web – but can the journalists take control of it now. I don’t think so because as YouTube, Wikipedia, MySpace and others have proved the lunatics (citizen journalists?) have already taken over the asylum.

Discuss. I'm off to put my kilt on (Irish of course) for tonight's annual dinner at Bradford Amatuer Rowing Club - where I don't think anyone takes the Bradord Telegraph & Argus.

Wikipedia and social marketing

Over at Greenblog Simon Collister has added an interesting post on social media. Here's what he says:

Picked up quite a mind-blowing stat highlighting the power of social media.

According to research carried out by search engine marketing firm, Spannerworks social media site Wikipedia appears in Google's first 20 results for 88% of the top 100 global brands."

This figure is based around Business Week/Interbrand's 2006 brand survey. Heavy stuff! It reinforces two things for me.

Firstly, organisations that think Wikipedia is just a handy reference tool are overlooking its vast SEO potential. Just think of the link-love and the frequency with which it is updated. Secondly, there have been many discussions on PR blogs about the first steps in developing a social media strategy.

Blogging godfather, Microsoft Ireland's Tom Murphy, suggested that if nothing else, SEO would be a good place to start. Obviously Spannerworks have a vested interest in pushing SEO but even beyond pay per click and organic optimisation look at the power of Wikipedia in doing the job for nothing.

Obviously given its omniscience Wikipedia needs to be managed effectively, but then that's where PR people come in!

Do we need new words?

Over at GREEN we have a regular competition among colleagues and clients. They have been challenged to come up with some new words. My business partner Andy believes new words are desperately needed to ensure modern-day communications can keep abreast of shifts and changes in our world. I'm not sure about this but would like to know what "Braaaapp" means - a Yoof word, apparently!

However, unless we expand our vocabulary our collective abilities to make ourselves understood and avoid abuses of power through communications could be severely hampered.

Here are some new words, we have discovered, and their meaning for your consideration:

Impropaganda - An untruth where both parties are happy to go along with, or a publicity act or media story which uses a flexibility with the facts, the half-facts and the objective focus of a situation, which is sustained by a shared value between the communicator and the audience

Punk PR - A publicity act or communication not in accordance with good sense or taste

Pseudo Relations – A communication lacking any substance (rather than the expression, ‘This is just a public relations exercise’).

Horseshit - Similar to bullshit but is defined as unjustified, flawed, or extravagant extrapolation in using a statistic to substantiate a case. Inspired by the Victorian mathematician who predicted that if the then volume of horse traffic continues London would be under nine feet of horse manure by 1970.

Flashturbation - Excessive use of flash animation techniques in design, particularly on web sites. Can also refer in general to excessive use of techniques in design which do not assist the communication process.

Hibris - The effective harnessing of positive arrogance to generate self belief in support of achieving your goals. Hibris is the opposite of hubris - excessive pride leading to nemesis. It should be noted that both words sound similar and are closely related.

A jomoore - Managing information such as with the timing of an announcement so that its significance is masked by other major, possibly negative, events. For example, ‘let’s jomoore the timing of this story’. Derived from the media exposure of the UK Government adviser whose memo was leaked advising colleagues to immediately issue bad news in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attack.

Wimbourne - To inadvertently create something new by juxtaposing two different elements. Derived from UK Press Gazette where newspaper sub editors inadvertently create humorous connections through two unrelated stories developing a common synergy by being next to each other.

Crook suckers - Created by writer Julie Burchill to describe people in authority with liberal tendencies who place greater emphasis on showing tolerance to and supporting the needs of criminal elements rather than their victims.

September 10th - Used in the context of, “that’s so September 10th”. Used to dismiss anyone with a perceived petty issue, or behind the times. Obviously derived following the terrorist attack on the subsequent day which has been described as a defining moment in the 21st century.

Face off and ‘prosopagnosia'

Face blindness! Good piece about this in Management Today.
I’ve suffered from this since I left the womb – admittedly I’m also dyslexic too (had to do the spell check on that one!) and always see the glass as half full rather than half empty, which a suprising number of people also see as a handicap.
Also known as ‘prosopagnosia', face blindness means the inability to recognise faces even though your eyesight is perfectly good, However, when I’m introduced to Jim at a party – I continue to address him variously as Tim, Tom, John and Abdul.
We know it all too well from the PR party circuit, and everyone suffers from it, especially when the really important person is heading your way. At this point I break into a sweat and can't see their face at all.
The Yanks describe it as 'cutting people dead' but I am English and I prefer to think we are just being polite and, by avoiding any embarrassment, we pretend we're suddenly developed a deep fascination in the flower arrangements.
Prosopagnosia is best treated with American sang froid (do they have that?) by asking “how are you?' then moving on before they can respond.
Anyway… who are you?

From Gaping Void

Ladybank Company of Distillers Club

I was in Scotland over the weekend to meet some of the members of the Ladybank Company of Distillers Club at their wonderfully eccentric headquarters in Fife, between St Andrews and Edinburgh.

It was a lively meeting – I was there as a neutral observer – but it was wonderful to see how this disperate group of people sparked off each other. It was a cross between a union meeting and the local bowling club all resolving around a shared passion and vision.

The brain child of whisky entrepreneur James Thomson, who has been a communications consultant to some of the largest brands of Scotch, Ladybank turns business convention on its head.

It is very much a real world manifestation of the online social media that my colleagues and I get so excited about. Imagine a manufacturer owned by its consumers – everything produced by the distillery, when complete, will be produced only for the members, by the members and to their exacting standards.

This is reminiscent of the original building society or co-operative movements, whereby only those with a passion for James’ vision will benefit from the success of the business (indeed, business may be a misnomer –it’s more of a movement, albeit apolitical).

James believes that the only way for people to fully indulge their passion for whisky would be to build a distillery for a limited membership who would have the opportunity to be involved with the development of the distillery, single malt whisky production and, of course, enjoying an exclusive dram or two!

Ladybank is like MySpace for the whisky lover – they even have a blog and an online boardroom where members can swap ideas. But they are also sharing something in the real world – excellent single-malt whiskies.

The Ladybank Distillery Club is a club unlike any other in the world. At its heart is the formation of a traditional craft-scale distillery near St Andrews in Scotland, an establishment that is set on producing some of the finest—if not the finest—single-malt whisky made in all of Scotland, from the best ingredients that can possibly be obtained.

Production will be intentionally small—a fraction of that produced by Scotland’s existing and world renowned single-malt distilleries—so that meticulous care can be taken throughout the entire process. The whiskies are destined not for general sale but to become prized possessions and collectors items, available to those that take up ownership through the membership programme.

Its members are also its owners, and are therefore entitled not only to receive their allocation of whisky from each vintage, but only they can visit the distillery—which will be private and exclusive in its romantic setting amongst some of Scotland’s most beautiful and tranquil countryside—so they may, as owners, discover the magic and mystique behind the creation of Scotch Whisky and be kept closely in touch with the secrets of distilling that are rarely shared with other whisky enthusiasts.

With all the privileges of an owner, they can come to witness, and even assist, in the entire whisky-making process, have their visit personally organized by the distillery manager, and sample their whiskies from different casks as they mature over the years. They can bring their family and friends, and use the distilleries private rooms for lunches and private celebrations – as well as enjoying the myriad other activities that can be enjoyed in the surrounding area.

Ladybank was founded in early 2003. Membership, which now stands at more than 300, will be capped at 1250 and thereby guarantee that membership value will increase in time. It is likely that memberships will be passed along from generation to generation within families.

The trick now is to encourage further membership. Curiously, the bulk of the current membership is outside Scotland. James has asked me to look at this and I will be seeking to mash-up the old and the new by mixing old-fashioned media relations with online social media.

What do you think? How would you approach this task?

Another Banksy Post

Sassenach on tour

Heading off to Scotland tomorrow - Fife via St Andrews.

Very excited. Watch this space. Because the client I am meeting has created a business model based on what we are all doing now, ie. being open and exchanging ideas and having a coversation. Fantastic! Moreover, creating a community of good and like-minded people.

More to follow... I think you will like it.

British transport - bad for business?

Have been invited up to Scotland for a new client meet on Sunday! More details to follow on this, as it captures everything to do with social media, social marketing and... social business. My lips are sealed for now.

The nature of the company means that we can only convene the requisite members of the "board" in Fife on Sunday afternoon.

Fine book a train from York. Erm. No. Unless, I leave at 6.30 in the morning (on a Sunday!) it will take GNER more than five and half hours to get me to Waverely and then I've got to get to Fife. Impossible.

Okay let's fly. From Leeds-Bradford I can get a flight. Great. How much? £300. I took the whole family to Prague a couple of weeks ago for just £60 each. It's not the cost to the business that annoys me - it's just the ridiculous price. Sunday can't be their busiest day surely.

Try Manchester Airport. It's a bit cheaper but I still have to drive to Manchester!

Solution: Make a weekend of it and drive up to St Andrews and stay with friends. Attend meeting in Fife and drive home.

I don't resent it because, although I haven't met the client yet, I like him as he sounds really passionate about what he is doing.

My main question is: British transport - bad for business?

Wensleydale Cheese & Cranberry

Congratulations to Andy on new award

Congratulations to my business partner at GREEN Communications - Andy Green - who has just been awarded a medal. Stranger still he's never been in the armed forces and if had been he would probably have been in the ranks RASC or, Run Away Someone's Coming.

Andy has been awarded the 2006 Stephen Tallents Medal by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. The Medal is awarded at the discretion of the CIPR President and recognises outstanding achievements in, and contributions to, the development of public relations.

With more than 20 years' experience in public relations, Andy began his career as a Public Relations Officer for South Yorkshire County Council. Since then he has worked in-house and in consultancies, for both public and private sector organisations. In 1993, he set up GREEN.

Andy is author of two CIPR 'PR in Practice' titles: Creativity in Public Relations, the worldÂ’s first book on the subject; and the recently published Effective Personal Communication Skills for Public Relations. Amongst his many achievements, Andy is the driving force behind the Wakefield Media and Creativity Centre, which houses the Art of Propaganda Gallery - an exhibition space on how perceptions are shaped and moulded.

Sex and blogging

Here's an interesting take on social media. We received this today from a freelance journalist via Response Source. We've had many weird requests in the past but this one is actually quite interesting. It throws up a few intriguing scenarios about how journalists now use the internet and bloggers, in particular, as a source for new stories.

Anyway, this is what we received -

QUERY:
Hi everyone,
Am working on a great commission - but do need your help a tiny bit too!
I am following four couples who already have web logs (blogs) set up about their relationships and sex lives. Each couple has written about the dilemmas and everyday goings on in their sexual relationships but want feedback and postings from people going online, sharing their stories (anonymously too if you want!) and giving the couples advice.
So all I'm looking for is for people to go online, check out the sites and get posting!

The Agony and The Sextasy
Our Sex Secrets
Martin & Louise's Sex Diaries
Lauranben: Our Sex Life

All the (sic) need is your advice on how to improve thier (sic) sex lives as that's what they are looking for. Any questions please don't hesitate to give me a call or drop me an email!

I make no comment, other than to observe that it is curious how bloggers are become news events in their our right. It also begs the question whether these are genuine bloggers.

From Ad Buster

GREEN launches Greenblog

Over at GREEN Communications we have launched Greenblog – regular visitors will guessed that something like this was on the way.

We have been planning this for some time using our own software – named Juice - from sister company Lime Brand Design. It's early days and we believe our blog will evolve over time and will be a very diffent beast from what it is today.

It has integrated feeburner, Technorati ping etc. Tags and trackbacks will appear shortly. Social marketing in the blogosphere is a now a service that we offer our clients and have already created two blogs - one for Wensleydale Creamery and another for Elmfield House, with more to follow.

We believe all companies will blog in due course if they are truly committed to an open and honest dialogue with their employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. With that in mind we thought we really should have our own. It’s just taken is more than three months to get the software right.

Everyone at GREEN now have their own blogging account and can post their views to the site as they wish. No pressure guys!I think consumers increasingly turn to the internet when discussing companies and products and companies cannot afford to ignore the online conversations that are taking place on message boards, web sites and blogs .

The point is the media of the internet means that it's not good enough to use the web to simply push out your message and hope that people get it. The web means entering into a conversation you're your customers. Greenblog.co.uk will provide a comprehensive range of services including corporate blog strategy, hosting and implementation, blog monitoring, blogger media relations and a complete editorial service.

Watch out for comments from the rest of the team. From managing director Andy Green and account managers Lindsey, Liz, Abi, Kerry, Lisa, Alessandro, Dan and Simon. Simon our latest recruit is the most experienced in the field of social media and marketing and you can check out his thoughts at his own blog at Simon Says.

As always we welcome your comments - what do you like or dislike about the site? What to you think about our comments? My view is that blogging is all about having a conversation. As Hugh MacLeod likes to point out, the best way to manage a conversation is by improving the conversation and making it more interesting.As communications moves from traditional one-to-many channels to a one-to-one conversation, it's important that companies are informed and involved in the discussion. Our blog services are designed to help our clients ease into this critical new area of communications.

We’re more than happy to invite any one to join in our conversation at Greenblog.

YouTube Challenge

This comes via Simon’s blog and a debate about the future of YouTube which has been at the forefront of social media – sounds a bit sad (in a geekish way) when you put it like that.

The question being: What are you all time fav five tubes? This is a tag game so pass it on. For the record these are mine:

1. Strictly speaking this is not YouTube - but they have a site there - but I love this so much as it reminds me of my kids and friend’s kids. So joyful. So life afirming. God I wish I was 30 years’ younger. Better than X-factor or Pop Idol any time of the day. You go girls: Pomme & Kelly from Holland

2. If only because I’m an Mohammed Ali fan. The fact that the bear does the Ali Shuffle is woth it. Confused? Check out Salmon Fight.

3. I’m old. What can I say this is what rocked me in my teens. The Clash.

4. I laughed so much when I saw this in the 1990s I dislocated my jaw: Cup Final.

5. Serious for bit now – we locked down the office when this happened and wondered what the hell was going on in the world. 9/11 and 9/11 revisited. I realise I am cheating with two – but heh, it's not an insignificant event.

Finally, and recommended by my son Frank, which I am rather proud of. I’ve done something right in his upbringing for him to bring this to my attention: Monkeys

Tag - you're it - pass it on.

From Ad Buster

Astra's new online journal

Another experiment begins today in social marketing.

My good friends Astra and Ian Towning sold up in Leeds about two years ago and bought a large rambling home at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park with a vision of running a guest house near Bedale, Wensleydale called Emfield House.

At the time it seemed a leap of faith but they are thriving. Acres of land with two horses, a flock of sheep, a clutch of hens - Hetty and the Girls, as they are known - an amiable, if over enthusiastic, German Shepherd called Ozzie and lovely wood with pond and resident kingfishers. We're so pleased for them and visit as often as time permits. The picture shows a Green Gathering get together at New Year 2006 - that's Ozzie hogging the limelight.

Recently Astra asked for my advice (rather foolishly I thought) about her website and I suggested we build one with a journal - not a blog - and an online guestbook where guest's could recount their experiences. It's now gone live and I genuinely believe it will win them more business. This could be a double-edged sword as, with two teenage daughters, they need to balance there life with the business but as I pointed out they can always turn the business away!

Social marketing is all about starting a conversation with your customers. Those wary of the theory always complain that people will say bad things about you but as the wonderful Hugh MacLeod likes to point out, the best way to control the conversation is by improving the conversation.

The site was built with a CMS programme developed by Phil Smith at our sister company Lime Brand Design (shameless plug) - the same that's being used by Wensleydaleblog and, I have to say, I am rather pleased with the results.

Astra is no journalist but she is a very good writer and I suspect over the coming months there will be some real gems in her journal. I would be interested to know if there are any other guest house-cum-B&B-cum-hotel bloggers out there.

And yes, I can recommend Elmfield House and the full English breakfast.