Category: PR Skills

Digital by default – mind the generation gap.

I recommend everyone,  from comms strategists and policy wonks to the merely socially curious,  take a look here  for a fascinating overview of British social attitudes in 2012, compiled by Ipsos Mori.

The research was presented at the Government Communications Network  last week and generated a flurry of startling factoids on Twitter – like this one:

more children between the ages of 2 and 5 can use a smartphone than can tie their own shoelaces.

There’s a mass of useful information for planners in the report.  I’ve  gathered together some of the insights revealed during the debate which highlight some important trends and generational differences:

  • On average each UK household owns 3 different types of Internet-enabled devices
  • For the 1st time, over half (52%) of all calls are made via mobile phones
  • Big differences in methods of communications: 16-24s heavily text reliant. Over 65s opposite, voice-based
  • 1/3 of 16-24 year olds live in a mobile-only home. More than double UK average of 15%
  • 8/10 people in UK have Internet access. Figure drops for over 55s
  • Implication is of increased polarisation between young and old. Rise of the smart phone. Texting as a mass medium.  TV remains strong. Young people are switching off the radio. Post is still v important to older people
  • BT and Virgin’s superfast broadband services were available to around 60% of homes by March 2012

It’s clear  that a broad mass of people of all ages are perfectly comfortable in an online world and have multiple means of accessing it.  The generational divide isn’t as clear cut as you might think – here are some more statistics, from the Forster Company’s overview of age in the UK:

  • 47% of 55 – 75 year olds connect to their friends with either Skype or instant messenger services
  • 45% of 55 – 75 year olds spend up to 30 hours on the internet a week
  • 33% of over 55s use social networks
  • The fastest growing group of Facebook users is aged 50+

We’re not all digital natives yet

But it’s  also  clear that while many of the over 55s are fine online,  a significant minority aren’t – yet.  That’s an important issue for policy-makers.  Time will eventually iron out the difference until everyone left standing is a digital native , but we’re not there yet.  This makes the government’s strategy of making public service delivery “digital by default” by 2015 look slightly optimistic.

If people have to access the services they need online, what happens to those (currently 20%+ of the over 55s, according to the Ipsos Mori research)  who don’t have internet access?

If people over the age of 65 are more comfortable with having a conversation than dealing in “text-based communication”, how easy will they find negotiating an online application form for vital services like pensions or social care?

The recent story about the shortcomings of the helpline for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections didn’t inspire confidence:

[A whistleblower]  who is working at an Electoral Commission call centre dealing with queries about the election, told the Guardian that he spoke to hundreds of older people every day who could not access the information online. They were referred to a “very temperamental automated phoneline” at the Home Office, and then were only given a list of names and no real information”

And how long will it take before superfast broadband is available everywhere so that online applications can be done speedily even in remote rural areas?

London 2012 – the tyranny of choice

Olympic Park in simpler times

When I was a student and used to go to the Edinburgh Festival every summer, there was generally a point halfway through when I knew, with absolute certainty, that everyone else in the city had tickets to much better shows than I did – the ones that would win awards but were now sold out.  They were going to cooler parties than I’d been invited to, were having the unforgettable “Edinburgh experience” I craved, while somehow I was trailing behind, too late to join in.I thought I’d grown up and out of that particular anxiety, but I’m starting to get the same feeling about being in London this summer.  Partly this is due to the fact that there’s so damn much going on – most of it within walking distance of my front door.  How can anyone do it all?  How can you even know what’s out there so you can choose the best bits?

But also (I’m rationalising this to myself to find an excuse for being so immature) it’s because every experience I could be having this summer is instantly available to me on my phone.

Via Twitter and Facebook I can see pictures of all the events, hear the music, watch the video and share the reactions of all the people who are out there doing the stuff that I’m not.

This is not making me feel as though I am sharing the experience.  It’s not multiplying the pleasure.  It’s just making me feel uneasy about what I’m missing.  The duty to have an “extraordinary day”, to make the most of this “once in  a lifetime opportunity” – and make sure my children have an unforgettable summer too –  is becoming another chore to fit in along with de-fleaing the cats.

There is a recognised body of academic research into the paradox that having more choice  tends to make people more dissatisfied with their lot.  And there’s a growing number of studies about social media anxiety (this one by Anxiety UK) – though they’re usually focused on the anxiety people feel when cut off from social media, rather than as a result of using it.

For the record I don’t think I have an anxiety disorder, I think I’m just a ludicrously over-competitive person who really needs to calm down a bit.  But as an experiment I’m going to give up on Twitter and Facebook for the duration of the Olympics (or maybe we’ll see how it goes after the opening weekend…)  I managed to resist temptation during last night’s magnificent opening ceremony with nary a twinge. Let’s see if it makes me a more contented Londoner.

Are social networks the best tools for charity PR?

Here’s some fantastic advice for charities (though any small business could use it) about delivering successful PR on a budget.  As you  might expect it focuses solidly on digital channels – Twitter, Facebook, blogging and audioboo.

The low entry costs compared to the potential impact of social media make them obvious channels for organisations without marketing budgets or press officers to command.   An effective social strategy costs in terms of time – those blog posts don’t write themselves, and the price of success on Twitter is eternal vigilance.  But as the example of the Never Seconds blog shows, a simple piece of online communication can  have extraordinary repercussions.

However, nothing is ever simple.  Recent experience suggest it’s worth treading carefully before the evangelising can commence.

Lesson 1: don’t assume that people know what this stuff is or how it works

I did some training recently with a charity whose Chief Exec wanted her staff to understand the role that they could all play in raising profile through the smart use of tools like Twitter.  Explaining the potential of Twitter took second place to explaining what it is and how it works.  A minority of people in the room had accounts and used them enthusiastically.  Most displayed a degree of scepticism.

Lesson 2: don’t assume that people have enough time, technical confidence – or kit.

Most people didn’t feel comfortable about communicating online or able to do it, partly because they lacked equipment – many didn’t have smartphones, for example (today’s figures from Ofcom suggest that only 39% of people do). There was concern about losing time from already busy days to servicing more communication, and about how a small organisation could meet the increased workload that a successful strategy might generate.

Lesson 3: just because you can see opportunities don’t assume others share the view.

My group assumed that Twitter would be time-consuming (“don’t you just get streams of stuff to read and respond to?”); full of trivia (“isn’t it all about what people had for breakfast?”); and slightly creepy (“following people and having them follow you?  It sounds like stalking!”).

Lesson 4: charities may have particular concerns about social channels that PRs should respect

Many felt uneasy about talking about what they do online because they work with vulnerable people in difficult circumstances.  There was a lively discussion about the danger of forfeiting clients’ trust, the limits of what was and was not acceptable and how to raise attention – and funds – without exploiting people.

Eventually we agreed that it was better to make a cautious start with social media than avoid it for fear things might go wrong; that there are plenty of voluntary sector organisations using social media effectively and their experience offers lessons to be learned; that while client confidentiality trumps all other considerations, there is much else that can be discussed online.

But there’s still convincing to be done before some organisations feel confident enough to look for advice on what to put in their multi-media toolkit.

101 words of advice – find out if you’re talking to yourself

“The biggest single problem in communications is the illusion that it has taken place.”  Read that last week and cheered.

The notion that the simple act of delivering a press release or conference speech means “communication” can be struck off the To Do list is as common as it’s deadly.  It’s why outputs (number of releases/ size of events) are often used to measure success when it’s outcomes (changing behaviour/ converting enquiries into sales) which matter.  I’ve written before about how difficult proper evaluation is, but without it you don’t know if you’re actually communicating or just talking to yourself.

The language of customer services

 One way or another I’ve spent a lot of time with customer services departments recently.  Banks and internet providers and router-repair people and others.  It’s painfully obvious which companies have had the customer service police in and which ones still allow their staff to speak like human beings.  Inevitably the ones who talk to you in Human are much more approachable (even if no more able to resolve a problem)  than the ones sticking to a script that says they have to start every phrase with the words “Yes Ma’am”,  which just makes me feel that they’ve mistaken me for the late Queen Mother (TalkTalk, I’m looking at you)

The language gets even more baroque when they’re apologising for something – even for something that isn’t their fault.

I recently forgot to cancel an automatic renewal on some virus protection software.  Entirely my fault for being slow – and the company gave me plenty of warning that the payment would be taken.  When I finally woke up to the deadline and asked to cancel the renewal it was as though I’d caught them climbing out of a ground floor window with a bag marked swag:

Dear Penny , kindly accept my sincerest apology for the inconvenience this matter has caused you. Rest assured that this matter will be taken in consideration for the improvement of our process and policy…  Penny, we regret losing you as our valued customer… we’d like to let you know that the only reason why your subscription renewed automatically is because we wanted to make sure that your computer does not become unprotected even for a day … Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist you … we look forward to being of further service to you in the future…”

and on and on.  It’s not that I don’t appreciate being treated politely by the companies I deal with. It’s just that either they’re taking the piss (not impossible, I’ve had jobs that made me hate the public too); or they’re completely unable to communicate like normal people and need to get a better script.  I can’t be the only person who reads stuff like that and is reminded of one of the great villains in English literature – probably not the effect they’re after.

“They taught us all a deal of umbleness—not much else that I know of, from morning to night. We was to be umble to this person, and umble to that; and to pull off our caps here, and to make bows there; and always to know our place, and abase ourselves before our betters. And we had such a lot of betters!…‘Be umble, Uriah,’ says father to me, ‘and you’ll get on. It was what was always being dinned into you and me at school; it’s what goes down best. Be umble,’ says father, ‘and you’ll do!’ And really it ain’t done bad!”

101 words of advice – resisting vanity projects

Countless wild-goose chases start with a CEO saying: “I’m not a comms expert, but I think we need a video (or a new microsite, or a leaflet, or an event).”  This translates as: “I’ve had an idea worth sharing with the world.  Make it so.”

Unless it is a good idea and you’re resisting out of pique because you didn’t think of it, refuse.  Firmly.

It won’t fit the strategy, will generate work, deplete your budget and be forgotten by everyone – including the CEO – within a week.  Tell them straight (maybe not the last bit).  You are the comms expert.  They should listen.

101 words of advice – what Star Wars teaches copywriters

Discussing the shortcomings of the Star Wars films over breakfast (we’re a cultured family) my husband claimed that Harrison Ford once waved his script at George Lucas snarling: “you know George, you can type this stuff, but you sure as hell can’t say it.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is as good a definition of bad writing as I’ve heard.  It’s stuff you can’t say when you read it out.  Dense and knotty, sprouting jargon in every dangling clause, bad writing defeats good actors and casual readers alike.

Write it.  Cut it.  Cut it again.  Read it aloud.  You’ll be amazed.

Five business terms to ban in 2012

Loved this Freelance Switch post on Words which should be banned in 2012.  Pedants click on the link and agree – but not before you’ve added to my own top 5 candidates of business terms which should be retired this year:

  • Robust meaning ‘effective’ or ‘thorough’ – as in “we need to design a robust process for dealing with this issue”.  Oddly it’s a public service favourite which doesn’t yet seem to have made the leap to the private sector, where they seem more concerned with…
  • Granular/ granularity  meaning ‘specific’ or  ‘detailed’- as in: “we need to get to a really granular level of detail on this”.
  • Thought leadership – unacceptable in any circumstances, ever.
  • Engage with meaning ‘speak to’
  • Stakeholder – incredibly ugly and much over-used.  Irritatingly it’s also incredibly useful.  Work to do to come up with a better alternative.

Passionate and Solution have been dealt with elsewhere on this blog, as has Mumpreneur, but sadly all three persist like Japanese knotweed.  It’s almost as if no-one pays any attention to what I say…

The value of proof-reading

From the email jobs board (names suppressed to protect the guilty):

Acting as an ambassador for the Group Communications function you will work across a wide range of internal and external communications. You will be working with some of the most talented and influential figures in the publishing field with the opportunity to create ties with the company’s impressive global afflictions.

Whatever that client is paying that recruitment consultancy is far, far too much.

And now, something for the laydeez

I did some work last month researching gadget-review blogs and new technology sites for a company poised to bring a new product to market.  The world of the self-confessed geek and the gadget-obsessed is still overwhelmingly male,  but I did stumble across one blog, aimed squarely at the fairer sex, which boasted an array of stories designed to tempt us into the boys’ lair:
  • Pink moisture glasses keep your eyes refreshed
  • Versetta iPad handbag doubles as a workstation
  • Ultimate beauty iPhone app saves you time in Selfridges
  • Jawbone wristband tracks your diet, exercise and sleep
  • Burg 5 watch, even in pink, fails to tick right boxes
  • HTC set to release Glamour smartphone just for women
  • Microsoft reveals the Comfort Keyboard
  • iPad kangaroo pouch coming soon

I guess this either makes you laugh hysterically or it doesn’t.*

It reminded me of an old piece by Alan Coren about a new car aimed at the “typical female” customer  which failed because:

at 35mph the linkage connecting the hairdryer to the eye-level grill snapped, disconnected the telephone and threw the crib through the windscreen.  Upon applying the brakes the driver inadvertently set the instant heel-bar in motion and was riveted to the wardrobe by a row of tin tacks.

I suppose at least he had the excuse of writing in 1974, some time before feminism got into its stride (and of being a comic genius who rarely put a foot wrong).  Not sure what the bloggers’ excuse is.

* these are real stories from a real blog, which I’m not linking to because it doesn’t deserve the traffic