Archive for October, 2007
October 30, 2007 at 7:01 pm · Filed under Issues Management, Public Relations
The world loves headlines about the Royal Family. Today Australian media reveals the son of the late Princess Margaret was the subject of a blackmail attempt. Seems two ne’er-do-wells had incriminating video of the man - with another man. (Click here for The Sydney Morning Herald story.)
It was the right thing to do to involve police, even if the outcome is a global outing. I applaud his actions - it shows bravery and an adherence to principle.
The next act will really demonstrate royal behaviour or not. English media laws forbid the naming of the person involved. So this Royal can go right back under the covers (or in the closet). Yet there are ways the unfortunate outing can be turned in his favour using smart media and public appearances.
What would your counsel be to this royal?
October 30, 2007 at 6:47 pm · Filed under Public Relations, Australia
We were in Queen Bee Party Store yesterday selecting invitations for my son’s fourth birthday party. One excited girl said she was dressing as a witch for Halloween. It seems the holiday is slowly taking hold in Australia.
Never mind it won’t have the same feel as in America. We’re in late spring and yesterday it topped 35 degrees celsius (about 90+ Fahrenheit). I remember wearing a long top under my costume as a kid because of the early onset of cold in New Jersey.
Ten years ago I worked at Edelman Worldwide in Australia and the firm responded to a request for public relations services from the Confectionery Manufacturer’s of Australia. Their goal was to have Halloween celebrated in Australia. Prior, no one had heard of the holiday!
While Edelman didn’t win the business the successful firm has been making inroads. What a great way to build sales! Use public relations to introduce a holiday into a country where it’s never been celebrated! And of course candy sales sky rocket.
What’s next? We’re hosting a dinner on the last Thursday of November for our American friends (okay, we’re letting two Canadians attend). It’s to celebrate Thanksgiving. Wouldn’t the Turkey Manufacturers love to get that holiday underway in Australia!
What other holidays are ripe for transport? If we want sales of VB to sky rocket we should take Australia Day global - kind of like Cinco de Maio boosts Mexican beer sales in New York City every May.
What holiday from which country would you export - and where would you send it?
October 30, 2007 at 6:23 pm · Filed under Issues Management, Public Relations, Australia
Interesting correspondence this week about development in Leichhardt Council. Yesterday a community action group dropped leaflets suggesting neighbours actively write to state and local government to oppose the development plans lodged by Balmain Tigers Club.
If you live in the area you can’t escape the debate over these plans. In one moveBalmain Leagues Club hopes to redevelop a large swathe of Rozelle. This will provide much needed retail and is a large investment in an otherwise under-funded area. Today the largest retailers in the strip are second-hand clothing and thrift shops. The only grocer isn’t clean and when I tried to buy ice cream cones there the use by date on the pack had expired two years earlier.
I live in the area and am delighted with the plan.
Yet the wonderful thing about democracy is the ability to profer opposing views. I support the rights of opponents of the plan, and am glad they are able to offer their views. Sadly that support is not reciprocated!
The letterbox pamphlet directed people to a site where locals were implored to click a link and launch a mass email. I did just that and wrote in support of the application. This morning Michele McKenzie of Lechhardt Council sent a reply (copying Frank Sartor, Sydney’s lord high on all matters relating to development):
Dear Mr. Jennings,
How kind of you to send me your views. You will be surprised to know that in the entire time that I have been working on this issue: The Tigers overdevelopment, I have not received one email in support until now. I can truthfully say that you have a unique view. The Tigers club has been avidly seeking positive submissions for its overdevelopment from its members, supporters and business associates and I suppose this is one of those.
Public transport is a very good thing but the university takeover is overwhelmingly not a good idea and will sensibly be opposed by many people.
Kind regards,
Michele McKenzie
I know I have a thin skin - it’s my greatest weakness. But tell me - does that come across as snide? I found the tone and approach insulting, especially given the letters to the editor in The Sydney Morning Herald that same day:
Your article on the Tigers development paints an inaccurate picture of strong community opposition to the proposal (”Towers row heightens fears for Balmain terraces”, October 25).
As a proud life member of Balmain Leagues Club, I can assure you that many local residents actually support the Tigers’ redevelopment. This is reflected in the overwhelming number of supportive submissions that have been made to Leichhardt Council
Why do we support the redevelopment? It will revitalise a dilapidated shopping district and allow the club to continue its 100-year role of contributing to this community and its social fabric. The plans are outstanding, and it will be most pleasing for myself and many other local residents and members to see this go ahead.
John Stapleton Leichhardt
My advice to Michelle McKenzie of Leichhardt Council is to take a letter writing class - or get out of public service if you can’t handle dissent.
Go Tigers!
October 28, 2007 at 2:35 am · Filed under Public Relations
This weekend I met Greg Smith, a public relations professional who writes on the industry. I use the term “met” loosely because Greg could be standing next to me as I type and I still wouldn’t recognise him. He read my blog, dropped a note, and now I’ve read his blog.
The PR Lab is a great site to subscribe to if you want to track evolving issues in public relations in Australia.
The doctor will see you now…
October 27, 2007 at 8:52 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
We just got back from the first real holiday in 4.5 years. Two weeks in Thailand is just what the doctor ordered. That’s not such a cliche when you know my doctor did order a vacation! Seems stress was building and building and building until it became like a marble lodged under my shoulderblades.
Ten days on a Thai beach certainly flushed the toxins from my system. I’m finding it hard to wind back up again. Is that the sign of a great break?
Thankfully we did Bangkok first - nothing quite destroys the calm like a ride on a Tuk Tuk…
October 17, 2007 at 9:53 pm · Filed under Globalisation, Climate Change
We’re staying two weeks in Thailand for family holidays. After a few days in Bangkok we’re beach-side in Phuket. Our room is 10 metres from the beach on the ground floor. It was re-built after the tsunami as this hotel lost everything on the ground floor.
It’s hard to forget the tsunami when you come to Phuket. There are few visible signs any more - that was three years ago. What are new are the signs showing tsunami evacuation routes and the towers with loudspeakers on the beach.
My first night I dreamed of the giant wave. By the third day it was hard to remember anything ever happened. Does lightning strike twice in the same place? I go to LA and still think of earthquakes. Maybe it’s the oddity of massive natural forces.
Adjacent to our hotel is a hillside. (Note to self: This flight has one emergency exit.) On top are a series of road-side shrines. These don’t commemorate automotive fatalities. When we drove by all the adults in the car noticed and one began to say something. The rest cut them off with nods of the head and wise “I know”s. We didn’t want the children to hear.
This morning we walked the length of the beach. On our return lap I noticed the waves had wiped away all our footprints. Yet every once in awhile I found sand-ground tiles or concrete chunks. The ocean took away great segments of Phuket and is now offering them back bit by bit by bit.
October 10, 2007 at 8:23 pm · Filed under Globalisation, Social Media
No matter where you go they follow. Emails and phone calls that used to wait for your return now join you pool side. In discreet restaurants you hear the jangle of old telephones and hip hop millionaires - ring tones tell you a lot about the person with the phone.
Yet it also makes life easier. No waiting to get home to see what’s happening. Constant contact with clients during important projects.
And even better - immediate slide shows of the side trip that morning, then a posting on YouTube of the your friend singing Madonna while on her iPod.
And when I look across Bangkok I can only wonder - what happens when every single person is equally connected?
October 4, 2007 at 8:10 pm · Filed under Learning to Blog, Social Media
This morning I woke to an in-box filled with updates from global friends gathered through FaceBook. There were notes and photos and puzzles and games. It would easily take two hours to respond to each and participate.
The social media revolution is creating a pound of bacon each morning!
Bacon is a variant of Spam, that wonderful in-box filler offering Viagra from Thailand or promises of fortune from Nigeria. But instead of being unsolicited like Spam (I really did NOT request the Viagra emails - promise!), Bacon is from friendly sources.
Someone added a photo to Flicker. You’ve got a message on Facebook. Someone was up all night on MySpace and now you have 27 messages from the same person - really!
Social media companies are quickly trying to develop a “daily digest” option so you’ll receive one update versus dozens and dozens. They better act quickly because too much bacon did in poor old Mr Atkins. And if the protein diet king couldn’t survive on bacon, I don’t like our chances!
October 3, 2007 at 6:15 pm · Filed under America, China, Australia
Support for America’s foreign policy reached new lows today, as polls reveal Australians hold the USA in similar regard as China. (See today’s editorial in The Sydney Morning Herald.)
I admire many aspects of China and its rich culture. Foreign policy is not one of the country’s achievements. And as an American by birth, my home country was always respected and admired around the world. Until now.
Thankfully Australians recognise the difference between a country and its temporary Administration. Yet the damage done to the image of the USA will take a decade to repair - or longer.
China rising?
October 2, 2007 at 10:42 pm · Filed under Globalisation, Public Relations
This morning over breakfast with a prospective client I was asked to name my strengths. I’ve been lucky enough to work and live in a number of countries and the greatest lesson learned also leads to my greatest strength.
We’re all born with strong cultural biases - it must be a survival mechanism because it’s common around the globe. I grew up in a small farming town in New Jersey called Flemington. I was always suspicious of the kids who came from Somerville - it was a faster, looser town just 12 miles down the road.
Expand that protected thinking and suddenly you’re an American suspicious of Europeans, or an Aussie looking sideways at a Kiwi.
Communications is only effective when it is relevant to the target audience. If it sounds foreign we’ll reject it outright - and it’ll heighten our suspicions of the authors. PR mythology is rife with tales of multinationals who got it wrong - the GM’s Nova car failed in South America because the name means “No Go.” Or when “Coke Adds Life” was translated to read”Coke brings your ancestors back from the dead” in one Asian language.
To succeed, you need to suppress your cultural tendencies and adopt a neutral stance. Then let the nuances of the host country surround you. In time you’ll pick up the rhythm. If time allows learn the language (unless you’re an American in Australia like me - I have no hope of ever learning proper English!). Read the papers and go to local hang-outs.
I work to find my “inner chameleon” - that chilled, neutral little lizard that adapts to its local environ. Then I can take on the colours that surround me and be an effective, unbiased communicator.
In time I may even trust a kid from Somerville.
Next entries »
What would your counsel be to this royal?
