How mentoring can further your PR career
With the A level results and intern opportunities on the rise in the PR industry I wanted to take the opportunity to write about a topic which is very close to my heart, mentoring.
We all start with some form of dream, goal or expectation of how life should be.
In the school of life all experiences either move you towards or away from your goal.
I believe the difference lies in the people you have around you.
Yes, you will ultimately have to put in the ground work but it is invaluable to have people around you who can give you advice and support along the way.
I was very lucky to have a mentor early in my career, which meant I accelerated quickly through my early twenties. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to work close with someone who understood what I wanted to achieve in my career and understood where I was in my learning curve.
Another useful tip I was given was to surround myself and reach out to people inside and outside my industry. People who either have the same job as you, have done the job you currently have or are doing the job you aspire to do. Which I did and still do.
Little did I know I would have the biggest mentors right in front of me – my mum and my grandmother. Even though we all work in different industries and span three generations, business is still business, and I have not come across a single situation that they haven’t experienced themselves.
Mentors and role models are everywhere, you just have to look for them.
The PRCA and PRWeek recently launched their own mentoring scheme. The ‘Fast Track in PR’ scheme is ‘aimed at inspiring the next generation of PR leaders’ and sees 9 fellows of the PRCA offer a 6 month period of mentoring to those looking to achieve their goals and further their careers.
If you are lucky enough to have a mentor at work, embrace this opportunity! If not, don’t fear, take what you can get from people around you, go to networking events, read books, articles, use linked in and social media, talk to people and ask questions! We are all people, most of us are very friendly and helpful. If not, then you probably don’t want them as your mentor in the first place!
Successfully managed to find someone you believe can help? The key to get the most out of your mentor relationship is to be clear on what you want to get out of it. That will help steer the questions you ask, help you know advice you are looking for and will ultimately shape what you talk about when you speak with them.
Not sure about how to reach your goal? Here are 10 questions that helped me through process.
- What do you want to achieve in the future?
- If you achieve this goal what value will it bring to your life?
- How will you know when you have achieved this goal?
- Is achieving this goal within your control?
- What are the positive consequences of achieving this goal?
- Do you have all the resources you need to achieve this goal?
- What time frame do you need to achieve this goal by?
- What are the consequences of not achieving this goal on time?
- What steps need to happen to achieve this goal?
- If you could take those steps now, are you ready to do it?
Although these questions look a little formal, answering them made it very clear to me what I needed to do.
Yes, I am very goal driven, and I leave very little down to chance. But there is one thing I wish I could have done differently and it is something that I’m still learning to master, and that is to enjoy the journey and to trust the process. Know what you want to achieve, do things every day that will get you closer to your goal, surround yourself with the right people but remember to enjoy the ride.
Breakfast News: How Media Consumption Has Become Routine
Most mornings I’ve looked at my phone before I’ve even had a chance to open both eyes.
Swiping off my alarm, I’ll immediately raise the handset above my hideously scrunched face and, with one gunky eye half-open, allow the glare to bring me round to full consciousness.
First, I’ll deal with push notifications. Not thirty seconds awake and I’ve been pushed by my own technology. My bastard phone has the audacity to wake me up and then it bosses me around.
That’s how it is now, to get read, heard, noticed it takes a good old-fashioned holler in your face. Not a nice ‘here we are, how about a little read of this, in your own time of course’ but a loud, playground-style shove.
Following the alerts, usually BBC or Sky news updates, I’ll deal with emails. A scan of the work inbox is followed by the familiar barrage of living social deals, Metro’s news stories of the day, the Buzzfeed newsletter and, would you know it, Amazon have more stuff for me - I love stuff! Also Zizzi are still cooking food, Spotify have music and ASOS have a clothes sale.
Next, the mandatory Facebook check. First, it tells me I have memories (Facebook tells me what to remember now). Then I’ll browse the timeline because I may have missed a vital update in someone’s life in the seven hours since I last checked.
It’s only at this point that I’ll get out of bed and address the basic issues of hygiene (shower), nudity (clothes) and sustenance (cereal). But while shovelling heaps of Coco Pops (When ‘grown up’ cereals turn the milk chocolatey I’ll consider switching) I’ll be reading BuzzFeed. I’ll jump onto Vice and then back to Facebook probably ending up lost in an article a mate’s liked, posted or commented on.
The commute sees more consuming:
Road crossing. Red man. Loads of time, I’ll just look at my phone a bit quick.
Train platform - sure as hell won’t be making eye contact with anyone, phone out.
Carriage – I’ll grab a hard copy of the Metro- cover-to-cover scan.
Even when finally at the desk, I’ll still do a whistle-stop tour of the basic sites, a few news aggregators, a few football sites, another look at Facebook because I may have missed a vital update in someone’s life in the 46 minutes since I last checked.
Then I’ll try and do the work I’m paid to do in between my non-stop news consumption. But, as we all know, when we’re sat with access to the big everything machine that is the internet at our fingertips, we’re never far from a quick scan of a few sites, a sneaky minimized window behind the work, a few more push notifications from our attention-seeking smart-arsed phones.
The way we take in stories is changing and, as research shows, we read more, we read mobile and we’re pickier because of the volume available. Whether it’s at the desk, on the commute or in the toilet even, we’re editing our own constant stream of news and consuming in spaces we didn’t before. We’re watching more videos and curating our own news from what friends are posting, liking, moaning about.
As ever though, story is king and no matter how much something is pushed to a publication or an audience, knowing your content will set tongues wagging or have the strength to cut through the noise remains more crucial than ever.
Now, a quick look at Facebook, because I may have missed a vital update in someone’s life in the 22 minutes since I last checked.
Apple's Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR
Yesterday, in an unexpected turn of events, Apple caved after receiving a bold request relating to its new franchise, Apple music. The most successful and valuable company on the planet submitted to an open letter from a 25 year old ex-country singer from Reading, Pennsylvania. But Taylor Swift isn’t any 25 year old. With over 100 million followers on social media, a back catalogue of annoyingly catchy tunes and millions of YouTube views, Taylor Swift had the power to go head to head with the $700 billion company with the support of other artists.
Swift’s open letter on Tumblr requested that Apple do a U-turn on their decision to not provide artists with any royalties from the first three months of the new Apple Music streaming service. Apple responded via social media within a matter of hours agreeing with Swifts stance and undergoing a complete U-turn on their original trial period policy.
Three things strike me about this story. First how quickly Apple responded; second that they gave into the request, and third how much decent exposure (sorry to steal 72Point's marketing slogan here) this has given both parties involved.
Firstly, let’s look at the speed of the response. I truly believe this is the key to what has ultimately led to such good public relations for both Swift and Apple. The rapidity of the response shows a total commitment from Apple to get things right and to emphasise the fact they want to be on the side of the artists from day one. It’s a shame they didn’t make this decision initially, but I don’t think going from bad cop to good cop has harmed their latest venture. In fact I think it’s done them every bit of good.
Perhaps the response was quick because Apple was already expecting it. Also, there’s a case to be made that Swift’s record label (Big Machine Records) may have been a driving force, as contractually, record labels generally have at least some power over what artists can do. The cynical side of me thinks that this publicised agreement could have been a pre-planned way for Apple to publicise Apple music, especially because Swift has previously indicated that she’s not keen on streaming, making her the perfect candidate to make this story viral.
Similarly with Swift, had this episode drawn out over a few weeks, we may have forgotten all about the fact it was her that complained in the first place (further promoting the idea that it's one big PR stunt). However, the pixels on news sites had only just loaded onto our iPads and iPhones with the news that Swift had taken Apple on,when almost immediately, Apple had backed down. Swift went from being a manufactured pop star to a guardian of the music industry in a matter of hours, with her partner Calvin Harris and other artists showing their support across social media.
Secondly, Apple backed down without any sign of a struggle. Apple are famous for holding firm with their commercial decisions, especially in the early days of digital music, as they were offering music artists a new way to sell their music to millions of people across the world. Apple created a digital space that artists weren’t ready for. The late Steve Jobs knew this and didn’t buckle for requests to increase the cost per song on iTunes.
Fast forward to 2015 and here we have a music streaming market that is competitive, established, and where artists are starting to flex their muscle to protect themselves financially. Apple is new to the game, and they appear to understand just how important it is to come across fair and on the artist’s side. So whereas in the early days Jobs could put his foot down and that was that, now it’s the turn of the artist to regain some power within the changing face of the music industry.
Lastly, let's discuss image. After all as we’re a PR company so we should probably talk about PR. Apple historically has sold products, with the obvious exception of music or films on iTunes. Because of that, they can control our experience and attitudes towards those products. In the music streaming business, this is the first true service that Apple will be proving to millions of people. We’ll be paying a monthly subscription in return for music and an experience with Connect and Beats 1.
Apple knows that it's vital that they start Apple Music with the right footing. The saying “you only get one chance to make a first impression” really rings true here. Apple knew this was their chance to project a positive, collaborative, respectful and caring image onto Apple Music. They grabbed it with both hands. Sometimes in business you can under promise and over deliver. Apple hasn’t over delivered here, but they have certainly projected an image of being understanding and on the artist’s sides.
As for Taylor Swift, we can’t underestimate how huge the impact of this coverage has made to her current image and her future career within the music industry. Not only her image towards fans and the general music loving public, but her music peers and other influential figures within the industry. The biggest news story I’ve seen to date on Taylor Swift was her dating Harry Styles (among others), so I find it noteworthy that she is now achieving column inches by taking on (and beating) the most valuable company in the world.
Swift put her neck (and possibly reputation) on the line to go head-to-head with Apple. Particularly risky bearing in mind how stubborn Apple can be when meeting opposition over their business decisions.
However, she has come out on top and many in the industry are calling her a shrewd businesswoman after this episode. Already recently named in the Forbes power women list, I’m sure she’ll be moving up the charts in more ways than one after this victory.
Reinventing the Wire
In 1978, a small news and pictures agency was founded in Bristol providing news and pictures to local and national press.
Almost 40 years on, SWNS is the biggest independent news wire in the UK supplying some of the world’s most hard-hitting content to major newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and websites employing more than 100 editorial staff across offices in London, Plymouth, Cambridge, Birmingham, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Yorkshire.
The commercial success built on the back of SWNS’s growth is evidenced by the wealth of coverage secured for our clients on a day-to-day basis. Using the first campaign as a case in point, Harris Brushes were able to secure coverage in the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and the Mirror, among others, because national and regional press trust our content and trust that we can supply them with material that works across all their platforms.
But the digital generation has shaken up the media industry. Our research revealed 76 per cent of people now consume media ‘digitally’ and almost one in ten consume more than 16 stories a day, with the average Brit consuming 5.9 media stories a day.
Our thirst for media and our ability to digest various forms of media - 95 per cent of respondents said they consume media on multiple platforms 48 per cent take a multi-channel approach to media - has given birth to a wealth of new digital platforms that aren’t easily serviced by the traditional news wire.
Which is why we reinvented it.
Bloggers, vloggers, digital editors and influencers can now source content on our new digital news wire that caters exclusively for online publications. The emphasis is on rich, visual content and news releases that encourage social sharing, with news copy, images, audio and video bundled into one downloadable file.
The wire has been launched as a one-stop-shop for editors on the hourly hunt for news, with a simple, four-click solution to capturing the story and publishing it. This ensures that we appeal to time-poor bloggers, editors and influencers by delivering content in a timely manner.
Since its launch, hundreds of users have registered with the Digital Hub for survey news, lifestyle content and releases from across the web and social media. With a target to get that number into the thousands in the near future, the hub is steadily becoming the go-to place for digital media outlets.
For 72Point clients, that means that not only do they have a pick of the national press, but also of the increasingly influential online publications that have surfaced in its wake. With the lion’s share of media consumers taking a ‘multi’ approach to media, having all the bases covered is a surefire means of receiving unparalleled coverage.
To find out more about the Digital Hub, click here.
To download our Generation Editor report, click here.
The Social Media Election. Was this it?
Five years ago, at the time of the last general election, I was studying for my undergraduate degree. For the first time ever I felt the election buzz. Although I personally wasn’t that interested, I found myself surrounded by people who couldn’t shut up about it, and everyone, of course, was voting Lib Dem.
This time around things are different. I’m back at home, fully employed and paying attention due to my own genuine interest. This is in no small part down to the role of Social Media (and hours of TV satire and a determination to not let full time muppet and general pain in the arse, Nigel Farage have any sort of power). The role of social media in this election has been much anticipated. We’ve already seen how social media can be used to reflect the way votes are likely to go in our own light-hearted infographic. However it is the use of social media to attract and persuade voters and to promote the campaigns of individual parties which has stirred up all the fuss.
The 2015 election has been dubbed ‘the social media election’. This was partly due to the speculation and anticipation due to the rise in Social media’s popularity over the last five years. 5 million people have joined Twitter alone in the years since Britain last went to the polls. This has been key for political parties. It meant that parties and politicians had a direct way of speaking to people without having to trawl the streets. This was good for two reasons. Firstly it meant that the powerful elite of our society didn’t have to go into areas where people shop in Aldi rather than Fortnum and Masons. Secondly, it meant that they could target specific demographics at the touch of a button. In particular they could target youths, or as they’re known in Westminster, ‘bloody hoodies’. Youths are not a group politicians normally go near for fear of being mugged or stabbed but now they could talk to them without fear of physical contact.
The televised debates in the last election boosted turn out by 65%, but only 44% of young people (aged 18-24) turned out to vote. It would therefore be amiss of parties not to take advantage of a primarily young person’s medium to reach this audience. It was revealed fairly early on that our current lord and master, Mr Cameron and his Conservatives had spent £100,000 pounds on Facebook advertising, ten times that of Labour and 1000 times that of UKIP. A recent article in the Guardian stated that Facebook has the potential to reach 9.2 million young people with one post and with UK adults spending a minimum of 1.33 hours on social media, spending obscene amounts on these platforms isn’t exactly a bad idea.
But it’s not just paid promotion and it’s not just Facebook. Politicians have taken to Twitter to personally promote key party policies (or at least their social media managers have). This means for the first time in living history, politicians have been forced into giving short concise answers and policy announcements.
Parties have also embraced the ways of YouTube. As you can imagine this means a lot of clips of speeches and cringe worthy videos of politicians looking to camera giving heart felt speeches “to you, the voter” *VOM*. The Conservatives channel is particularly bad for this. The video of David Cameron welcoming you to the channel actually makes me physically look away as if I were watching a man on Embarrassing Bodies with some disgusting skin complaint. Labour’s channel is marginally more watchable. It displays a great deal more personality. For example the featured video is of Miliband playing pool with snooker favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan. In fact celebrity support is something that Labour play on quite heavily with their channel featuring videos from people such as Martin Freeman, Steve Coogan and Jo Brand. The Lib Dem videos on the other hand focus very much more on the general public. Their featured video is the Clegg Meister visiting a school, followed by a video of him visiting animals. Everyone together now…awwwww.
Despite this use of social media many say that the ‘Social media election’ never came to fruition. The build-up has even been described as ‘routine, predictable and over cautious’. If that weren’t bad enough much of it has been unpleasant.
This is particularly evident on Twitter . Twitter as a PR and marketing tool can be and has been successful. For example a recent Twitter campaign prompted the petition to get leaders from smaller parties involved in the leaders’ debates. However much of the party campaigning consists of mocking and bitching about other party leaders. A perfect example of this is the Twitter feed of the one and only Boris Johnson. Bo-Jo’s feed consists mainly of jibes at Miliband, with his tweet referring to Miliband’s wall of policies being a personal highlight (see image). 
Obviously all parties’ campaigns feature a certain number of put downs but this election is being referred to as one of the ugliest campaigns in history. One therefore has to wonder whether Twitter is doing nothing more than making things worse. After all with Twitter you get trolls. The only thing that gets met through the Twitter bitching is the hope that there is a Malcom Tucker figure behind the scenes taking control of people’s mobiles and blasting them with a particularly taboo outburst.
I think, on reflection though, social media has played a huge part this time round. Yes it might not have been ‘the Social media election’ that we were all promised but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. If nothing else, it has shown how seriously we should take social media as a platform and the benefits of social media advertising. That’s something businesses can take out of this election regardless of the outcome. If Twitter promotion and campaigning is good enough to get you to run the country it’s good enough to get you some business and get your message out there.
Furthermore Stephen Coleman, professor of political communication at the University of Leeds, commented that traditional methods of party promotion, primarily newspapers, are being disregarded time and time again by readers who are desensitised to it. This also applies to the mounds and mounds of party leaflets we get through our doors which seems to have reached frankly ridiculous levels this year. Therefore it makes sense that other methods of campaigning should be introduced, if only to pump a little fresh blood into the election build up. Remember the last election, the so called ‘TV election’ that saw the first ever live TV debates that boosted voter turn out by over half? What I’m essentially saying is that when it comes to getting your message out there you can no longer just rely on one platform to do so. It’s very much a multi-platform world that we live in and as a result campaigns, political or not, can only benefit from multi-platform content. Just remember to make it nice. The place for trolling is in fairytales. Not the internet. Or the Hopkins residence.
(All of the above views are mine, not the company’s…or are they?! Yes, they are.
Lessons in Storytelling: Aesop, Samuel Johnson and Prehistoric Life
Storytelling isn’t new – as a form of communication, it’s existed for over 40,000 years.
It’s been a durable format, fulfilling its purpose from rock painting to hoop dancing, mythology to fables - all the way to the printing press and our current marriage of mobile tech and social media.
However, the core principles of telling a good story haven’t changed in all this time, and it’s worth raiding this 40,000 year legacy to see what we can learn from the best and boldest storytelling practitioners
Here are three such examples, with my thoughts on how to apply these creative lessons from history to modern news generation, branded content and publishing strategies.
Cave paintings
Cave paintings date from prehistoric times – the oldest examples, found in Indonesia and Australia, were created over 35,000 years ago.
Though they may have religious or ceremonial connotations, the primary purpose of these paintings were to communicate news, warnings and stories of heroism to the next group of settlers in the area.
In spite of being distributed disparately throughout Europe, Asia and Australasia, most cave paintings are remarkably similar and share characteristics such as drawings of animals, depictions of weather patterns and the use of human handprints.
Cave paintings weren’t always located at the mouth of the cave – they were sometimes found in less accessible locations were only the initiated would know where to find them.
What brand storytellers can learn from prehistoric culture:
Universal truths and commonalities will resonate – young vs old, heroic deeds, the weather, health warnings….certain story angles will always get people talking and sharing. Any story that creatively incorporates these angles will attract more readers, greater shares, higher ad revenues and most importantly, the approval of journalists and editors.
Only stories worth telling are worth sharing – impact stories were written in the caves, there was no chit-chat or filler! If you’re three paragraphs into your story and starting to run out of steam, then it’s probably not worth telling. Consider handing it over to a journalist instead, who could help to provide that newsworthy edge.
Identify your audience then locate them – stories were left in caves for future generations, while tailored stories were painted only in areas where specific people (perhaps the young and agile, or the strongest) were likely to go exploring and find them. Before telling your story, think about who you’re talking to, where they are and which of their behaviours you’re trying to affect – then shape and distribute the story to meet these criteria.
Aesop
Aesop was an ancient Greek fabulist and storyteller - a body of work attributed to him is famously collected as Aesop’s Fables.
His existence has been questioned as none of his work survives, but numerous tales credited to him have been gathered across the centuries in a storytelling tradition that continues to this day.
The fables, morality tales that originate from the 5th century BC, have enduring qualities such as relatable characters (often animals with human characteristics) and universal, everyday dilemmas that still form the backbone of many modern movies/novels.
They also provided us with numerous maxims, such as ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ (The Fox and the Lion), ‘one person’s meat is another’s poison’ (The Ass and the Grasshopper) and ‘slow and steady wins the race’ (The Hare and the Tortoise).
Lessons we can learn from Aesop:
Relatable characters endure – find archetypes, case studies and relatable majorities (65% of Brits prefer ketchup to brown sauce) that mirror your target audience and your stories will be shared in greater volume and travel further.
Great stories outlive their sell-by date – uncover a story with a major hook or unearth a new, universal truth that a crowd can agree with, and your story will outlive its shelf-life and earn you more residual coverage.
The joy of the substantiated myth – Aesop may or may not have existed, but tales of his existence were substantiated by some fairly heavyweight sources – not least Aristotle and Herodotus. When creating your story, give some thought to who will endorse it by word-of-mouth in offices, shops, buses and over the garden fence – then shape the story to their taste and publish it in a place they’ll find it
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson – the most distinguished man of letters in British history – was the poet, essayist and moralist whose nine years of research gave us the inaugural English dictionary in 1755.
Though a sufferer of what would now be diagnosed as Tourette’s Syndrome, Johnson, a powerful orator, critic and quick-witted raconteur, attracted many pretenders to his throne.
Each week, Johnson and his entourage would meet at gentleman’s clubs to participate in what was essentially the earliest form of a rap battle, where a crowd would watch fellow academics go anecdote-for-anecdote with Johnson and try to outdo his stories for flair, originality and wit.
However, with payoffs such as ‘a man who’s tired of London is tired of life’ and ‘love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise’, Johnson always retained his crown us the ultimate literary end-of-level boss.
How we incorporate Johnson into our comms strategy:
Wit wins – there’s no two ways about it, the ability to make someone laugh is a powerful tool. Add a little humour to someone’s day with your story and you take a significant step towards engaging them with the brand associated with the story.
Original stories travel – with a proliferation of stories published daily, your angle needs to be unique – uncovering a new trend/behaviour or simply putting a new spin on a familiar tale will give your story cut through against the daily noise.
Great storytellers draw a crowd – Johnson drew a crowd based on reputation alone – tell consistently entertaining stories to the right audience in the right location and they will begin to proactively seek you out in the news.
Advertising Isn't Dead
In marketing and PR circles you are constantly hearing prophesies of the demise of one or the other. Advertising is dead! PR is finished! It’s a little like Monty Python’s renowned parrot scene:
“I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.”
“Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's, uh...What's wrong with it?”
“I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!”
“No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.”
“Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.”
“No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!
The debate over whether advertising is dead and PR is set to take over is one I recently presented to delegates at the PR360 summit. Although I disagree that advertising is done – predictions are that ad spend in the UK will reach £20 billion this year – I do believe that it has had to adapt to digital, whereas PR has found it to be more of a natural fit.
Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, said at the IoD’s Annual Convention back in 2012 that in today’s crazy world strategy is dead, the big idea is dead and management is also dead. But that doesn’t mean marketing is dead. It just means marketing as we know it is dead.
Traditionally the ad world was obsessed with paid and owned, maximising media opportunities and activity on brand-owned channels. It gave co-creation and influencer outreach short shrift - or anything outside of the sanctity of the brand – and has thus fallen out of touch with the conversational, interactive nature of digital media that has been significantly influenced by social.
But that doesn’t mean marketing is dead. It just means marketing as we know it is dead.
That means explicit sales messages seldom work, there's no one-size-fits-all solution and provenance and the brand's values have become massively important, making PR a natural fit. Through its reliance on media relations and making connections with journalists, PR has organically recruited skills that met the need of outreach to bloggers, vloggers and influencers, and it owns this area as a result. But ad land is playing catch-up and is catching up fast.
So here’s the big idea.
It would be remiss of PR firms to rest on our laurels and not to learn from the evolution advertising is currently undergoing. We have to take note of what is happening across the pond and learn, else risk seeing the tables turn. PR is winning the race, but advertising is playing catch up. In a digital world, we have to be constantly adapting in order to survive.
Sledgens and Legends: The 2015 Cricket World Cup in Tweets
At the risk of sounding like a bitter Englishman, the 2015 Cricket World Cup has been a bit of a laborious affair. Ever since that fateful day in Adelaide when England failed to overcome Bangladesh (BANGLADESH!) to reach the knock-out stages I have been huffing and puffing about the long-winded nature (irony of ironies for a cricket fan) of a tournament that has served only to draw attention to the gulf in class that divides India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand from the rest of the world.
But despite there being a distinct lack of momentous games, there has been no shortage of momentous moments. New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori defied the laws of physics with a spectacular one-handed catch at the boundary this weekend, Windies all-rounder Chris Gayle mirrored Sachin Tendulkar with a double century, Pakistan's Wahab Riaz bowled a mesmerising innings against the Aussies and Martin Guptill’s 237 runs from 163 balls are just a few of many moments that match the gravitas of a World Cup.
And this year Twitter has been there to capture all the action after signing an agreement with the ICC to launch a host of innovative and interactive features. The move, which sets a precedent for future tournaments, positioned the social media platform as a central hub for match commentary, expert analysis and fan insight, transcending geographical and time limits to make the cup a truly ‘world’ affair with fans at the heart of the action.
In true cricketing fashion the Twittersphere responded with admiration and tactical intimidation in equal measure. Old rivalries re-born, fierce competition re-lived and passions personified as the highs and lows of The Imperial Game were played out across Australasia, all of which made great fodder for social media channels.
Here’s a review of how the Sledgend and the Ledgend lit up this year’s tournament on social media.
The Sledge
Australia (gotta love ‘em) initiated the sledging (a form of verbal intimidating) with a campaign by an online bookmaker advertising two cricket balls with the slogan: “Missing, Pair of Balls – if found please return to the English cricket team.” The ad ran before the home nation’s game against England in Melbourne and immediately became a social media success with the hashtag #MissingBalls trending in a matter of hours.
Our Digital Hub team picked up the social media movement and were quick to publicise. The first sledge of the tournament was soon up on the Telegraph, the Mirror and various other online titles who published the story as a good-natured exchange of banter.
But it doesn’t always work out so well. A club cricket final in New Zealand has recently made national headlines after it was abandoned due to one team refusing to play on, citing "bullying" from their opponents as the reason for pulling stumps. As the national team prepare for a feisty encounter with South Africa tomorrow could we see a repeat of the feisty 2011 World Cup quarter-final, or will the intimidating exchanges be left for the Twitterati to administer?
The Ledge
One thing we are sure to see as the semi-finals commence is a good dose of admiration for World Cup legends. The one day format differs from test cricket in that it propels individual performances into the limelight more than the team as a whole, a trait which is conducive to the 140 character limit on Twitter.
This year’s semi-finalists demonstrate this well. Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc is at the centre of social media hype in the run-up to their clash with India who have every chance of upsetting the host nation in their own backyard if the likes of MS Dhoni, Mohammad Shami and Ajinkya Rahane can repeat their heroic performances. And if New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill can #Guptill South Africa tomorrow he will become a social media saint overnight.
With three of the best games of the tournament yet to come, prepare to see a frenzy of social media activity kick off as the sledgend meets the legend.
Lack of Female Role Models for Girls in the Media
It’s painful just how hugely teenage girls obsess over beautiful celebs, isn’t it?
Even more painful is remembering being exactly the same way.
As an awkward pre-teen, the waist of my trousers still that bit too high, I directed all my adolescent envy towards two TV babes: Holly Valance (Neighbours fan – weren’t we all) and Frankie, of the highly-regarded eight-piece ensemble, the S Club Juniors. Pause for emphasis.
They were older than me; I guess around 14 - slim, clear-skinned and so unbearably good-looking.
Call me a shallow kid but if someone had said to me, ‘What do you want in life?’ I’d have thought, ‘Flick Scully’s complexion’ without pausing. I didn’t know what else to put my energy towards. School?
Perhaps it was a blessing then, that my only exposure to these girls was through music videos, CBBC and my monthly Sugar mag, so I was only mildly hateful of myself. Imagining what my life would have been like if I were 11 years old today….to endure the social media noise that teenagers have now… well that’s too stressful to think about.
It’s likely I’d be drip-fed a continuous stream of Holly and Frankie through their Twitter feeds; lapping it up as they churned out duck-faced selfies, holiday pics strewn with product placement, bikini mirror shots - at a Kardashian regularity. In a misplaced brainwave I’d probably have uploaded a ‘vlog’ of myself re-enacting a Fast Show sketch with a toy panda or something, which, years later, I would almost kill myself trying to remove. I might have even… enjoyed Zoella. It’s frightening, what might have been.
Imagining what my life would have been like if I were 11 years old today….to endure the social media noise that teenagers have now… well that’s too stressful to think about.
But the next generation – the millennials (apparently I might be a millennial, a fact I’d rather hide away from)- live each day in this media frenzy, which is barely being contained. We’re only beginning to see the dark side developing from this parallel world - the Instagram culture, the trolling, cyber bullying, revenge porn – and what an obsession with narcissistic, selfie-addicted reality stars might do to a teenager’s sense of self.
The problem lies in the fact that the really cool women – the explorers, zoologists, scientists, entrepreneurs, are NOWHERE to be seen. And the Kardashians, the Jenners, the cast of Towie - who are solely famous for publicity and looks, are EVERYWHERE. They aren’t particularly admirable, aren’t representing a viable career move and are spreading their own message of ‘you don’t look good enough’ to their young fans like a disease.
It’s mostly ‘the Kylie Jenner effect’ (the influx of girls getting lip fillers due to her sudden enormous pout) that made me write this post, as it got me thinking about idols. Aside from their own family members, not to be downplayed, and a stock list of historical figures like Marie Curie that are churned out in school, there are just reams and reams of glitzy celebs. Throw in a Karen Brady, a Michelle Obama and a Mary Portas and that’s it, really.
A space-travelling woman going to Mars may be mentioned in the news one day, or an athlete on another day, or a CEO on another And then she fades into obscurity as a ‘What has she done to her face?!’ story dominates the air time for weeks.
Put simply, there is no PR for the real idols girls need. No scientists, world explorers, chemists, psychologists. No web designers, charity workers, astronauts or business owners. And if we, as adults, don’t know anything about the women making real changes in the world but constantly seeing Kim Kardashian’s blonde mop gets a news headline, no wonder girls are chasing their goals right into the cosmetic surgeon’s office instead.
There is no PR for the real idols girls need
I want to hear about women that are worth looking up to and emulating, who have made something of themselves based on more than their cheekbones. Who have seen a problem and looked to solve it, through hard graft and innovation.
And we should research them, and talk about them, and share them, and give them the PR they deserve – but also (cue the Miss. World bit) because it’s what young girls deserve. The scope of what women are achieving isn’t bleak; they’re just humble enough not to be yelling about it. It’s up to everyone else to yell about them instead. It’s up to us change the situation.
International Women's Day is the 8th March. Don't forget to join the conversation using #IWD2015
The 2015 Media Consumption Report: Prepare for MPC
If the minefield that is contemporary media has taught us anything it is that a ‘multi’ approach is the next big evolution for the PR industry with arguably more sticking power than any media shift in the past.
Not only do media consumption habits transcend channels (print, broadcast, online), they also transcend platform (smartphone, tablet, desktop) and the way in which we interact with media has changed irreversibly as a result.
To understand how the digital landscape has impacted media consumption 72Point has commissioned a survey of 7,500 people in the UK exploring what types of content the modern media consumer is likely to read, watch, share and like on which platform(s). The report, due for release in March, looks in detail at how to prepare for the challenges and opportunities presented by multi-platform content (MPC).
Media Platforms and Channels
Generation ‘Multi’ is about capturing large audiences with campaigns that transcend platform and channel, but this offers opportunities and challenges in equal measure. We look at what channels and platforms people are consuming media on and how this impacts the way in which they consume media.
Mainstream media confronts digital
The migration of mainstream media from print and broadcast formats to online platforms has revolutionised the media landscape, but pertinently, it has reformed the way in which mainstream publishers convey news. We look at how.
The rise of Specialist Publications
In the digital age everybody carries a digital news stand in their pocket. Their interests dictate what they read from a seemingly endless bank of media titles which eschew ‘mainstream’ objectives of catering to a wide audience in favour of specialisation. We look at what sort of specialist publications are popular.
Social Media: Traffic and Consumption
Not only has social media altered the way in which media conveys news, it has also altered the way in which people find news, creating a more consumer-led news industry that harks back to the rise of specialist publications discussed in the previous chapter. Some of our results have been published in an article on PRWeek.
In the report, we also discuss the rise of ‘lists, gifs, pictures and posts’ in media and how mainstream media has adopted a social media-led approach and new sites have been born from it.
Organic and Sponsored Posts
Finally we discuss our attitudes towards sponsored posts vs organic posts.
The full report will be published and available to download from this site.