I'm back and the sun is shining!

I have gained permission from university that I'm allowed to start writing again on my blog!  Received a decent mark for my blog, so I'm happy.  Thank you to all who contributed to my blogs.  I really rather enjoyed doing it.It is dissertation time and it is going pretty well.  Mine is based on how Northern Ireland can use public diplomacy of the "soft" variety to promote itself better as a tourist destination. 

I have lined up a few interviews with various key people who work in communications within the tourist trade in Ireland.  I have also engineered a survey, which is where I ask you to answer.  It doesn't matter if you have never been to Northern Ireland or not.  Answer the questions as fully as you can!  I've received some surveys back and already see patterns which are causing Northern Ireland to lag behind other destinations. 

Even though I'm a native of "Norn Iron", I'm very critical of it and compare it all the time with other countries.  However, I do see the potential of Northern Ireland being a competitive tourist destination, even with our political instability (hey, look at Spain, Mexico, India, Thailand).

If you are doing a mixed-methods approach to your research, what books are using to help you framework your research?  I've been using Bryman, Daymon & Holloway -pretty useful!

Please complete my survey as soon as you can!

Google Analytics

Well this is my last post for my Digital PR module. Hopefully I can continue this blogging when I go out into the big bad world of work in PR.  For the past few weeks I have been using Google Analytics and been watching YOU, yes YOU and how you search for my blog and how you access it.  It has been interesting...

Many arguments from the "old" media camp quite rightly argue how Public Relations can measure campaigns that use digital media  or online communicating.  It is all well and good if we have a web counter, which just gives us the number of visits that this blog has had.  That is just a number, we don't know WHO was looking at the website; WHERE they were looking at the website from; WHEN they looked at it and for how long; WHAT system they were using to access the interent; and WHY they were looking at the blog.

From a PR perspective all these factors are important.  When doing a PR campaign with online resources such as social media websites, Google Analytics can show us the answers to the who, what, where, when and why!  It is important to analyse the findings to gain a better understanding of who the PR campaign wants to target and who is interested in the campaign in the first place.  I was surprised when I had a look at my Google Analytics personal page to see that my blog was being watched not only by people in UK and Ireland, but also Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Greece, Canada, the USA and Australia.  You can see how many times and the exact location where these viewers are, which quite frankly is a bit strange to see at first.  There is an important lesson here, Curtin and Gaither (2007) in "International Public Relations: Negotiating Culture, Identity and Power" commented on how cultural differences should be addressed when promoting PR in different countries.  "...glocalization emerges as a productive way to ease the tension between global and local."  Therefore, it is important to keep in mind audiences from other countries and cultures.

Many of my viewers have been members of my class and my friends from outside the university bubble.  However, there have been many visitors who have visited that are new to me!  It is thanks to promoting my blog on Twitter that has helped new visitors click onto my web page and I say thank you to them for bothering!

So, do I highly recommend using Google Analytics for PR purposes? Yes!  It is a tool, like I said before, that can measure the people who visit your website and also gives you an insight as to how people search for your website and how they use it.  It can also give you nice percentages, that all PR people like when trying to promote campaigns!  Therefore, it is very useful!

Here are some of my stats that maybe of interest:
87.65%  of viewers to my webpage via Blogger, Twitter or Facebook
I had 22 North American hits.
I had 216 hits from the UK and Ireland.
I had 13 visits from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe
I had 8 visits from Bahrain and 1 visit from Australia.

(please note that these numbers would be larger had I worked out how to use Google Analytics properly, so I'm missing data - I'm being honest!!)

So there we have it, the end of my blog for university...
Good Morning, Good Day or Good Night  - wherever you may be viewing from! Thanks to everyone who has had a look at my blog and many thanks to those who have contributed and commented on my blogs.  Hope you have enjoyed my blog, as much as I have enjoyed creating it!

Keep those comments coming :)




Pictures from blogspot. and vquence

Mobile Technology PR campaigns

I've talked a lot about how PR has and is using social media as a way of communicating to many people.  My main concentration was on Twitter and Facebook.  A couple of weeks ago, as part of our digital media module we had to give a presentation on how mobile technologies can be used for a PR campaign.  Today I shall talk about it today and see what you think!

With 3G incorporated on many mobile phones and the recent news of 4G it is only a matter of time that mobile phones will be many people's source of information (whether it is their primary source is one to argue about).  This phenomena will evolve in time (sounds like a sci-fi movie) and maybe you are sitting there slightly sceptic, but already Public Relations are using mobile technologies in the following ways:

Funnily enough the best uses of mobile PR seem to be from mobile brands, according to PR Week.  Threepipe's "Cut it Out" campaign for Vodafone aimed to reduce mobile phone bullying.  The agency devised a film-making competition.  300,000 cinema goers have downloaded the winning film via bluetooth on to their handsets.  The co-founder of Threepipe, Jim Hawker, pointed out that the mobile channel is under-exploited by Public Relations.

Health agencies have used mobile technologies as a way to make people aware of campaigns and to let them interact.  For instance, the FSA last year developed a mobile salt calculator app to better monitor salt consumption.

Using text messages is another way for Doctors or health professionals to remind patients to attend appointments or come in for checkups has already become routine in PCTs and hospitals, such as Addenbrooke's Hospital NHS Trust and Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill.  It is a problem for people missing their appointments and costs the NHS a lot of money so this can help alleviate this problem.  It also helps communication between the patient and the doctor.

In politics, the most obvious campaign was Barack Obama's presidential campaign.  He embraced the mobile technology and arguably brought the candidate closer to the people.  It certainly created more people getting involved in politics and more enthusiasm amongst the voters.  Unlike the traditional methods of campaigning during an election, Barack Obama can communicate a vital piece of information to the over 260 million US mobile subscribers.  In his presidential campaign over 3 million people subscribed and opted-in to stay in touch.

Charities, especially considering January's Haiti Earthquake has made non-profit organisations take note of how important text-donations are.  Red Cross and dec.org received enormous publicity and generated well over $30 million dollars, according to CNN.  This is blatantly a strategic tool for fundraising. 

These are only a few examples and there are many more apps and other ways for PR agencies to incorporate mobile technologies into their work.  Diffusion Mobile who work primarily concentrate on mobile technologies,

For firms pioneering new mobile marketing disciplines and channels, PR has become the most important tool to educate and influence brand owners and marketing directors and to showcase success and ROI.

In my opinion, from researching this topic is that many PR consultancies or indeed PR practitioners are not using mobile technologies to their advantage.  There is a lot of commentary on the web of how organisations could use mobile technology to their potential and progression, but as of yet many are not using it.  As commentators predict we'll all be using smartphones by 2015.  This means that PR should embrace mobile technology now to keep up with news or developments.  According to PR Week a survey of 28 technology and business journalists, 57% of them said that mobile technologies are not useful in PR.  So, what do you think of PR using mobile technologies successfully - is it really a worthwhile tool?

I think so, if not now then definitely in the future.

Pictures:
1.Ref: Tecu
2Ref: mobileshop
3.Ref: smallwire
4. Ref: mobileshop

You are being watched!

Here is a video to help you PR students or people wanting a career in Public Relations!

Enjoy it and look forward to hearing some of your feedback or other factors that can help us look good online
...

Is Twitter the new Soapbox? If so, will it work in British Politics?

Ref: Malcom Guilte

Well folks, I'm back again with another new post!  Had a fantastic time in Barcelona and Dublin (thanks for asking), but it has truly wiped me out and furthermore I need another holiday to get over the fun times that was had in those wonderful cities! While I was away No.10 Downing Street finally announced that we are indeed having a General Election on the 6th May 2010 - surprise, surprise! In the past few weeks my Twitter account is being followed by quite a few MPs/election candidates and the main political parties.  I'm following the three main parties - Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats just in case you didn't know - on Twitter, just to see what they are saying. The Conservatives are bombarding my twitter feed, especially when the Prime Minister's Question Time is on!  However, as the media use the term "internet election" to describe this election, is it really working as a way to communicate to the masses?

As my Twitter feed is being  regularly filled with what Nick Clegg is saying about Gordon Brown or David Cameron, or vice verse it makes me think who is actually reading all of this and thinking "hmmm maybe I'll vote for them?" The Guardian's Emily Bell had an interesting article about how many MPs are embracing the worlds of Twitter and Facebook but she also questioned the justification of them using it.

The Obama campaign is often held up as a model of "internet politics" in action.  But while the web was expertly exploited by it as a tool for fundraising and organisation, since the election there has been a lack of insight into how to deal with the genie in all its forms once released from the bottle.  Hence the deep disappointment of supporters who felt included by the campaign but ignored by the government. 

Only last week, we saw the negatives of MPs using Twitter and this is a classic case of how NOT to use your social media networking sites... if only he went to our lecture about how to protect your reputation online!  But then again, he was up to mischievious for over 16 months.

As soon as the election campaign officially started the leaflets started pouring through the letterbox.  I haven't seen any in Scotland yet, but Northern Ireland have their campaign posters up already.  In the next couple of weeks we'll probably have politicians coming around our doors asking who we'll be voting for and how they will change things for that area.  These are all traditional tools that politicians have used for years. to woo voters  Their main issue for the past twenty years is apathy.  The young first time voters are their main targets this time and with the overload of politicians Twittering and Facebooking, does this make them attractive to the young voter? Time will tell!  I agree with Emily Bell and think that this is a so-called "internet election" we have a long way to go to fully understand and implement it in future elections.

Ref: Chicken Yoghurt

Cutlip et al. (2006:411) argues that,

In a real sense, the purpose of democracy itself closely matches the purpose of public relations.  Successful democratic government maintains responsive relationships with constituents, based on mutual understanding and two-way communications.

Robert Leach (93: 2009) "... democracy requires open government and freedom of information, which provides massive opportunities but creates some problems for those engaged in PR."  He puts it nicely in a nutshell!

Do you think politicians (those who do not slag voters, that is) should use Twitter or other social networking sites to communicate to prospective voters? Or is it just a gimick for politicians to be seen using the recent social networking fad to look cool in front of the kids?

Ref: Twitter

The moral of this general election story is not to ignore or annoy the old people as they are the ones who'll be out voting on 6th May 2010!  This should be an interesting election and I personally look forward to the next few issues of Private Eye - bring it on!

A "Cheeky Warning"...

Every day I look through the BBC news website and see if there is anything else that the TV news fails to report.  Yesterday, I found Jane Elliot's article on a 41 year old Chris Crawley who died of bowel cancer.  According to this report, bowel cancer diagnosed in people under the age of 30 has doubled in the past 10 years. Unfortunately, Chris Crawley was misdiagnosed and his bowel cancer had spread to his liver by the time it was diagnosed. As the BBC reported, his wife was angry that her husband's cancer was not picked up sooner and says there is ignorance among some medics who assume it is an older person's disease. "They are too ready to dismiss things in that region. Chris had clear symptoms of bowel cancer."

The 1st April 2010 sees the launch of Beating Bowel Cancer's "Bowel Cancer Awareness Month".  This charity provides support to bowel cancer patients and their families, raises awareness of symptoms and promotes early diagnosis.  What got me interested in this article was the fact they are launching a "Cheeky Warning" campaign and will be using social networking sites to spread their message.

Hilary Whittaker, chief executive explained to the BBC article that "Cheeky Warning" is a fun campaign with a very important message.  I think this will be a very good way to make young people aware of symptoms of bowel cancer and also should get them involved with fundraising too.  It does seem that more and more people before they go to a doctor, will check up on the many websites dedicated to health on what their symptoms could be the result of.  These websites and the ever growing number of Web 2.0 sites will probably result in a lot of people getting early detections and higher survival rates, which would be a fantastic outcome for this campaign.

I found other examples of how organisations have used their health campaigns to spread their message to certain audiences. Ariel Klein wrote about "8 Great Public Health Campaigns Using Social Media" which showed how government agencies were using Web 2.0.  The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (USA) has a YouTube Channel and created widgets, such as the Adult BMI Calculator.  This is a great way for people to check up on diseases such as Swine Flu and an interactive way with the use of widgets.

Even in remote areas of the world are using social media websites. "NGO International Forum for Rural Transport and Development have been working with an indigenous community in the northern Amazonas region of Peru" as reported in the Guardian Weekly.  Treatable diseases such as Diarrhoea are killing children in this area. It can take up to three days to get to the nearest clinic and transport is expensive.  This organisation has introduced them to modern technology and they are now connected to the outside world via Facebook and YouTube. They have access to mobile phones also, so they can contact clinics for help. This will make people like me and you become aware of their grievances and hardship, as well as them being able to contact the outside world for advice on illnesses.

IceNews has reported that the Finnish suicide rate had reduced through social networking.  Professor Jouko Lonnqvist (The National Institute for Health and Welfare) commented that the "decline is due to an improved understanding and knowledge of suicide symptoms and depression." He went onto explain that they used Facebook, MySpace and Twitter and felt that these websites made "People feel less on their own than before.  A person can always contact someone thanks to contemporary social networking." 

Jacquie L'Etang (2008) gave a definition of a public communication campaign,

"is that one agency, in this context [health] usually a government (publicly funded) or medical establishment or medically sponsored charity, seeks to change attitudes/behaviour which they believe to be damaging to the fabric of society, or to the health and welfare of citizens."

To get the word out to the people, these organisations have to use mass media and Web 2.0. The use of Web 2.0 as a way of communicating health issues can only be a good thing:
- Early detections of illnesses.
- Less people going to the Doctors for unnecessary visits.
- Reassurance for patients, families and for all involved by communicating with medics or indeed people who are going through the same thing.
- Easy way to gain medical information.
- To monitor findings in different diseases e.g. the spread of swine flu.
- It is a cheap way for PR practitioners to communicate with stakeholders.

I think that the Beating Bowel Cancer should be successful as they are targeting the youth and many young people under-50 are on Facebook and Twitter.  I wish them good luck with their "Cheeky Warning" campaign!

Here is a video from KruResearch about e-patients in the USA ... some interesting data.  Keep healthy folks and don't eat too much chocolate over Easter!!

World in Union

Alas, another Six Nations Rugby tournament has ended. I never know what to do (apart from do work) with my weekend when the tournament ends.  However, 2011 is a year to look forward to if you are a fan of Rugby Union!  We have the Six Nations 2011 and then Rugby mad New Zealand is hosting the Rugby World Cup September 2011.  Already, they have set up a Facebook and Twitter page and YES I have joined both ... in the hope that I'll be in New Zealand (possibly the best country in the world) for it.

"Social media provides the perfect platform for RWC 2011 to engage with the global Rugby family. Through the latest content, including video, news and discussion topics, fans will have a fully interactive involvement in the Tournament like never before," said Rugby World Cup Limited Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

Indeed the official website for the 2011 Rugby World Cup is very detailed and professionally done.  The tournament itself does not start until Friday 9th September 2011, yet the organisers of the Rugby World Cup 2011 have embraced social media to its full potential.  In December 2009, they announced that they had created a Facebook page.

Social media isn't a new thing when it comes to rugby or indeed sport.  On the IRFU's website they have a forum for fans to discuss games, what type of scrum cap should one buy and how bad the referee was.  Unlike commentators on BBC like Keith Wood, who criticise and analyse the games with usually a cool head; sometimes on online forums you can get a heated discussion about how bad a certain player was or why was Ronan O'Gara not put on earlier on Saturday (not my opinion). Basically, you hear what fans think of what is happening in rugby, that would've only been heard in the pub.  For some reason, people let go and are very open to feelings and emotions on these online forums!  This free and easy attitude to air frustrations or opinions online is a trend in social media, which can sometimes cause issues with reputation management with organisations.

Theses online forums have been around for quite a while; it is the Facebook and Twitter that has changed the way fans are communicating with each other and to the organisations that are involved in Rugby Union.  The Rugby World Cup 2011 will see an increase in use of social media as it is a global event and therefore will create "a virtual community across continents" (Beresford and Fawkes in Tench:2009).  As New Zealand is hosting the World Cup, it will bring many people to the country and it seems that the organisers were not slow to involve potential stakeholders who will take advantage of the audiences.  Already there are companies within New Zealand tweeting to fans about rugby world cup package trips and selling official world cup merchandise.  As L'Etang (2006: 243) says, "Sport is necessarily political as well as commercial, and sports organisations at all levels require communications expertise to achieve their political as well as economic goals."

I am pretty impressed by how organised Rugby New Zealand are.  They are ensuring that they build relationships early with all stakeholders, shareholders, publics and audiences. With the increasing numbers joining their Twitter and Facebook pages, I think it will prove to be an excellent campaign.  It is whetting the appetites of all Rugby fans by having a YouTube Channel and social media is getting the fans involved more so than ever before.  I shall be following the pages the next(as of today) 533 days until kick off ... If anyone know can spare me a travel package to New Zealand in 2011, please feel free! 

Who do you want to win (if you care that is)? I, of course want Ireland to win, but if they play like they did in 2007 then the All Blacks are always the team for me!  Are there any sport campaigns that have impressed you? Enjoy the below YouTube video.

References: Picture from the RWC 2011 Official Website

Irish Supporters page