DNNZ09....Digital Now New Zealand
This half day workshop was a bit of a catch all and update of digital goings on – social networking, trends, blogging, content, engagement and reputation …. all words and terms that are part of our daily vocabulary in PR and Comms.
So much of what all the presenters focused on is PR101 – what is the objective, understand your audience, do the research, develop a clear strategy and work within the resources that you have available to you.
New Zealanders are wedded to the web but not so much to mobile web – a reflection on the lack of public transport, which is when a lot of the mobile interactivity generally happens according to Russell Sinton of TNS Research. The iPhone is still a bit of a status thing but unquestionably a tool that we PR practitioners can use to our advantage. Videoing or capturing images to enhance a story, or as part of your research is one very cost-effective use.
Interesting that one of the biggest growth areas is the sale of ‘apps’ but generally the stats show that the use of them is very limited and they are more of an impulse purchase – unless you want to turn your iPhone into a trombone CLICK HERE. One of the most successful and a great case study is the Kraft app, which is actually a recipe book and is still growing a year after its launch.
Certainly from a PR perspective this technology be it texting, twitter or email is a great ‘push’ tool and can generate very good response. The trick with social networking is engaging – or connecting and sharing, whereas in fact many of us are ‘voyeurs’. Most of us read blogs but very few of us actually participate – interesting that Apple, indisputably one of the world’s leading technology businesses does not have a corporate blog.
Blogs which are successful contain material that people want to consume, or at least make them curious enough to check them out. Stats show that word of mouth continues to grow as the most powerful voice and influence of buying decisions – scary isn’t it, word of mouth is about as traditional as it gets. The internet is our most accessible research tool, and provides enormous amounts of information and gives us the opportunity to continue to learn and educate ourselves. Yet despite having the facts, a negative or positive review is most likely to influence our decision.
Isn’t that what PR is all about? Advocates, endorsers, recommenders, two way communication ….. Social networking is yet another channel to use.
David Rose from G2 showed a range of examples of the use of video within the digital toolbox, and again demonstrated that it is all bout content – perhaps branded content.
Gain trust through careful and well executed strategy.
And every organisation must have Social Media Policy, examples can be found on www.blogcouncil.org
And by the way for all you movie buffs – if you’ve had a wine and think you might need a toilet break, check out www.runpee.com before you go (to the movie)!
A seminar of lots of useful information!
Well done to Julien Leys and the team at JML Communications for DNNZ09.
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