the story of brand anarchy

Image by Vikki Chowney

The story of Brand Anarchy

Reviews and commentWhat is Brand Anarchy?Changing mediaLife on the insideAuthentic communicationPlanning and insightShift to participationNew skillsAcknowledgements

“This is a really good book for anyone involved in journalism, marketing or communications. Unlike so many books on the subject, it is grounded in common sense, properly analytical and supports its propositions with instructive case studies and anecdotes.”

“It’s also well written.”

“I agree with a lot of the thesis that these guys have put together.”

“Anarchy obviously is just a word to try to get a bit of attention, but actually, in terms of the communicator and what it means to have this phenomenal kind of change sweeping through not just the PR industry, but every industry in the world, I think it is a really exciting time.”

A brand is a connection between and organisation and its audience. Brands are running scared because those connections are multiplying beyond their control.

Source: Flickr/jamescridlandhttp://wadds.co/RRXN8x

But brands have never had control of their reputation. Perception of a brand has always rested on building a relationship between brand and audience.

You Can Stick Ithttp://wadds.co/RRY37n

Public relations is a catch-all term for the craft of publicity, and the business of strategic communications

Source: Flickr/anniemolehttp://wadds.co/RRYn68

Communicators face two challenges: an adjustment to media that cannot be controlled and organisational structures that prevent decisions from being made quickly.

Source: Flickr/electricincahttp://wadds.co/RRYwXg

Daily and weekly deadlines are an anachronism of print. Today a deadline is simply as soon as someone types their opinion and hits publish.

Today’s business executives don’t just need to be comfortable communicating in front of traditional media. They need to be comfortable in front of the world.

For now, a print source has authority over the Internet. But it is changing fast. Broadsheet and tabloid print audiences are declining by 10 per cent per annum.

Source: Flickr/NS Newsflashhttp://wadds.co/RRYKxG

The news business no longer resides with a small number of newspaper publishers and TV channels. Disintermediation makes it difficult to make money.

Storyfulhttp://wadds.co/RRYXB5

Our appetite for media is insatiable. UK consumers spend more than seven hours per day consuming media. 20% of this time is spent using more than one form of media.

Print maybe in trouble but video is booming. The Internet disconnects content from a schedule, enables anyone to share content at low cost, and makes TV social.

Anyone with a web browser and an Internet connection can become a publisher, and sometimes enjoy more success than a traditional publisher.

Huffington Posthttp://wadds.co/RRYXB5

User generated content is not journalism. It has an important role to play in newsgathering but lacks the authority, neutrality and verification of traditional media.

Sichuan Earthquake

Source: Flickr/pestanaruihttp://wadds.co/PUx1J4

Every man should have a built-in crap detector operating inside him – Ernest Hemmingway.

Source: Wikipediahttp://wadds.co/RS0jMb

The reconstruction of traditional media is a work in progress. Digital editions, pay walls, clubs, and advertising are all attempts to build a viable business model.

Owning the audience channel is the big game to play for in the media and technology industries. It’s where Amazon, Apple and Google are focussing their efforts.

The media is no longer a brick wall between brands and their audiences. Now you can go straight to the people, onto their mobile phones, right into their kitchens.

The internet gives employers an opportunity to whip up and maintain excitement but the people at the top need to cede control.

The Asda Green Room

http://wadds.co/QBXPw3Via Rachel Miller

Original content can be orchestrated to entice comment from employees, encourage sharing, and take on a life of its own as part or a cohesive communication plan.

Target Ovarianhttp://wadds.co/QBY8a1

Via Rachel Miller

Innovative brands are using social media to engage employees in conversation and information sharing about what’s going on at the top of the organisation.

Greater Manchester Police

http://wadds.co/QBYtJT

Banning social media in the workplace is futile and has the potential to backfire spectacularly. The separation between personal and professional is blurring.

Dean Royles, NHShttp://wadds.co/QBYM7v

Via Rachel Miller

Brands that talk at staff rather than engage are bores. Brands must first engage, and then actively encourage participation by learning and listening.

RBShttp://wadds.co/QBZ1zo

Via Rachel Miller

Media planners need to consider four types of media in a bid to engage with their audience: bought, owned, earned and social.

DoubleClick Adplanner

http://wadds.co/RS0y9R

Brands need to recognise that media has become a two-way street. The audience play an active role in how a story is communicated and develops.

#EssexLionhttp://wadds.co/RS1iff

Social networks mean that organisations can have a far more accurate and immediate barometer of customer opinion about themselves and their activities.

Sprout Socialsproutsocial.com

Conversations are visible to anyone with a connection to the Internet. You can’t stop conventional media picking up on shared content.

Never SecondsSource: JustGiving

http://wadds.co/MaI11b

It’s no longer possible to control a media agenda. The digitisation and speed of media has changed the game forever – Alastair Campbell.

Alastair Campbellalastaircampbell.org

The Business of Influence reframes influence flows around an organisation. It brings a refreshing perspective to organisational communication.

Organisation Market Competitors

The Internet has laid bare the fact that transparency is the only possible form of organisational communication. Ask the US Government.

WikileaksSource: Flickr/acidpolly

http://wadds.co/NVQwhX

James E. Grunig and Todd Hunt’s Four Models of Public Relations are as relevant today as they were when they were first published in 1984.

Model Name Type of Communication

Characteristics

Press agent / publicity

One-way communication

Uses persuasion and manipulation to influence audiences to behave as the organisation desires.

Public information model

One-way communication

Uses press releases and other one-way communication techniques to distribute organisational information. The public relations practitioner is often referred to as the in-house journalist.

Two-way asymmetrical model

Two-way communication (imbalanced)

Uses persuasion and manipulation to influence audiences to behave as the organisation desires. Does not use research to find out how stakeholders feel about the organisation.

Two-way symmetrical model

Two-way communication

Uses communication to negotiate with the public, resolve conflict and promote mutual understanding and respect between the organisation and its stakeholders

While social media allows organisations to engage with their audiences, for now very few are actually doing so. Organisations remain wedded to propaganda relations.

Cadbury Daily MilkSource: Facebook

The majority of press releases (1.7 billion issued per year) do not contain news. They are general purpose documents used to satisfy multiple audiences.

Source: Flickr/jameswesthttp://wadds.co/RS2kYx

Audiences are holding organisations to account by brandjacking, and for now it places an organisation in a difficult relationship with its audiences.

David CarrollSource: YouTube

http://wadds.co/NVP2El

Everyone working for a brand is a spokesperson. But that always been the case. The difference now is that thanks to the Internet everyone has an audience.

Source: YouTubehttp://wadds.co/RSgLMd

A conversation that begins between a brand and a consumer can escalate in minutes to involve thousands of comments from around the world.

NestleSource: Facebook

Conversations about your organisation and its market are almost certainly taking place on the social web right now. Are you listening?

Twitter SearchSource: SproutSocial

During the Deepwater Horizon crisis BP had 50 people working 24/7 to counter inaccurate information on the social web – former CEO, Tony Hayward.

Deepwater HorizonSource: Flickr

http://wadds.co/PmLLy4

Social media enables a crisis to be monitored at grass roots before it breaks. Anyone can share or comment on a crisis but proven management techniques hold up.

Source: Risk Issues and Crisis Management in Public Relations1. Develop a positive attitude towards crisis management2. Bring the organisation’s performance into line with public expectation

3. Build credibility through a succession of responsible deeds4. Be prepared to act on opportunities during a crisis5. Appoint appropriate teams to act on opportunities during a crisis

6. Catalogue potential crisis situations and devise policies for their prevention

7. Put the plan in writing8. Test, test and test again

Tools are helping brands make sense of the massive amounts of online data. Consumers are no longer defined by demographics but their online history.

Google Analyticshttp://wadds.co/RS2Plq

Peer metrics are a shortcut to calculate an individual’s influence in a social network. Organisations are starting to use them to prioritise customer service responses.

Kred Storykred.com

The judiciary’s attitude to social media is to treat it as any other form of media. New legal definitions are a work in progress. It’s booming business for lawyers.

Source: Flickr/bensutherlandhttp://wadds.co/RS6qQx

Social networks have well established processes and deal quickly with trademark infringements and cases of deliberate misinformation.

Twitter Help Centrehttp://wadds.co/RS6NdQ

Reputation is a sod of a thing to measure. The public relations industry has become preoccupied with counting outputs rather than linking investment to outcomes.

Source: Flickr/sterlichttp://wadds.co/RSoGsR

But organisations have access to more insight than ever before to assess the value of their reputation. Yet this largely remains guess work.

Admin PageFacebook

AVE was finally buried as a means of evaluation in June 2010 by AMEC as part of the Barcelona Principals. It has subsequently developed the Valid Metrics Framework.

Valid Metricsamecorg.com

History is repeating itself. We’re heading back to the Two-Way Street – Eric Goldman. The public relations industry faces dramatic upheaval in a bid to modernise.

Search marketing is part of that change. Search is giving way to social networks as a means of discovery.

Google+plus.google.com

As the fragmentation of media continues apace, organisations are creating their own media products.

Northumberland CCSource: Facebook

Savvy organisations are starting to harness the conversations taking place about them, and their markets, and develop their own communities.

HeinzWe Are Social

Shifting from traditional forms of corporate communication to social forms of communication requires a change in language and style.

Source: Flickr/cmakinhttp://wadds.co/RS7e85

The public relations industry is locked into a workflow that has its origins in the 1950s. If the industry is to have a future that must change.

Lisstedlissted.com

Participation based on two-way communication between a brand and an audience is the future of organisational communication.

Yet distributing irrelevant content and calling journalists to ask did you get my press release arethe industry’s primary activity – Andrew Smith.

Inconvenient PR Truth

inconvenientprtruth.com

The modern practitioner needs to understand media and networks, how brands develop their own forms of media and content, and develop communities online.

CIPR CPD Dashboard

http://wadds.co/RSmv8F

1. Branded media – curate or generate content and share it directly with an audience as a means of engagement.

Northumberland Social

http://northumberlandsocial.co.uk

2. Engagement and conversation – develop personal networks, and engage with your peers, competitors and markets online – in an appropriate tone of voice.

@wadds Twitterhttp://twitter.com/wadds

3. Speed – deadlines no longer exist. Everyone needs to be able to engage in a real time conversation online and offline.

Source: Flickr/Kris Hoethttp://wadds.co/TjR56d

4. Planning – use tools to understand an online audience and what influences its motivation.

Google Keyword Tool

http://wadds.co/RSmIc8

5. Monitoring – the clipping book is dead. Organisations need real time data to respond and adapt programmes.

Bit.ly Dashboardhttp://bit.ly

6. Integration – social media democratises communication. Functional departments must work together because the audience expects it.

@ASOS Twitterhttp://twitter.com/asos

7. Measurement – AVEs are dead. Investigate modern measurement frameworks that connect investment with outcomes.

Valid Metricsamecorg.com

8. Technology –a willingness to try-out new platforms, products and services is critical to anyone wanting to stay ahead.

Finally, manage your web footprint. It will increase your connections and access to opportunities. It will make you more lucky – Antony Mayfield.

AcknowledgementsMark Adams (@cluetrainee); Richard Bagnall (@richardbagnall); Richard Bailey (@behindthespin); Charles Bell (@thistoomustpass); Rob Brown (@robbrown); Dominic Burch (@dom_asdapr); Alastair Campbell (@campbellclaret); Lisa Carden; Michael Chaplin (michaelchaplin2); Neil Chapman (@najchapman); Margaret Clow (@executivetyping); David Cushman (@davidcushman); Greg Dyke; Cliff Ettridge (@cliffettridge); Russell Goldsmith (@russgoldsmith); Andrew Grill (@andrewgrill); James E. Grunig; Dan Howe (@danhowe); Neville Hobson (@jangles); Dan Ilett (@danielilett); Francis Ingham (@prcaingham); Peter Kirwan (@petekirwan); Howard Kosky (@howardkosky); Quentin Langley (@brandjack); Barry Leggetter (@barryleggetter); Antony Mayfield (@amayfield); Rachel Miller (@rach_miller); Adam Parker (@adparker); David G. H. Phillips (@davidghphillips); Michael Regester; Howard Rheingold (@hrheingold); Phillip Sheldrake (@Sheldrake); Jonathan Simnett (@westfour); Andrew Bruce Smith (@andismit); Jeremy Thompson @jeremycthompson; Mike Walsh; Sally Whittle (@swhittle); Will Whitehorn; Daryl Willcox (@darylwillcox); Ross Wigham (@rosswigham); Heather Yaxley (@greenbanana); and Philip Young (@mediations).

About the authorsSteve Earl (@mynameisearl) and Stephen Waddington (@wadds) worked together since the popular rise of the Internet and the dawn of digital media.

They’ve helped brands such as the Associated Press, Cisco, The Economist, IBM, Tesco and Virgin Media to manage their reputations. Their views are formed from 20 years spent working in one of the most competitive media and public relations environments in the world.

Steve Earlmynameisearl.eu@mynameisearl

Stephen Waddingtonwadds.co.uk@wadds

the story of brand anarchy

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