2017 – Letting The Numbers Do The Talking
Although the PR industry has developed remarkably over the past few decades, one thing that hasn’t changed is our compulsive need to use bizarre jargon to sell our wares. Incubators for influencers, accelerators for thought leaders, alignment for holistic viewers. Surely it’s time to de-layer the ecosystem?
While some may argue that the many faces of the digital revolution has necessitated an explosion of terminology in PR, it also threatens to overcomplicate what are often very simple objectives. Brands seldom approach us with such terminology in hand, so are we not doing them a disservice by adding waffle to their brief?
Here at 72Point we achieved a record-breaking year in 2017 by going back to basics. We have expanded into areas such as social media while solidifying our national media base by sticking to the basic principle that good stories perform well on any platform. And the proof is in the pudding.
We generated over five thousand print and digital cuts for our clients across the year, landing on an average of 15 publications for every story we put out. Add social media engagement statistics to that – a total of 635,000 shares across the year – and you get a decent picture of how our clients are getting serious bang for their buck.
But the highlight of 2017 was how we took our traditional press offering and applied it to social media. With a new social team in place – including UNILAD hires and a new social media management structure – we were able to generate a succession of viral campaigns, one of which was aired on Good Morning America with Will Ferrell and others which garnered a reach of hundreds of thousands of people across our social media suite of platforms.
Along with our national media offering and regional publication package we were delighted to introduce the Breakthrough Package in 2017 which delivers unrivalled cut-through for clients looking to get national exposure as well as touching the regions and getting traction on social media with the people who really matter to them.
The inflatable sanctuary project run for Hotels.com is a classic example of this. The project, featuring a mock ‘sanctuary’ for left-behind animal inflatables, was a huge hit with the national media garnering 29 pieces of organic coverage on titles such as The Telegraph, Daily Mail and Fox News. It also ran across over 170 Johnston Press regional titles and was distributed to tens of thousands of people on social media who are interested in travel or thinking about booking a holiday – a remarkable result all told.
It is a package we look forward to delivering more of in the New Year, quite simply because it delivers what it says on the tin without getting bogged down in meaningless jargon. It guarantees national exposure, it guarantees regional hits and it guarantees a targeted social boost or your money back.
That’s a straight-talking package from a straight-talking agency.
2017: The Digital Media Trends that you should have followed
In the first of a two part series, Jack Granard looks back at the digital media predictions of 2017 that you should have followed.
A year can seem like a long time in the media business these days.
Just last week, Facebook announced changes to its algorithm that effectively turns the industry on its head, with many publishers and comms agencies forced to reverse well-worn practices to ensure they don’t get slapped by the updates.
But as the common saying goes, those who do not learn from their history are doomed to repeat it, and with that in mind, we take a look back at the PR trends that caught our eye in 2017.
1) The Fake News Blues: The Focus on Personal and More Reliable Content
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you will be aware of how often the term “fake news” has been used this year. In fact, so worn has the phrase become that it was officially crowned the ‘Word of the Year’ by Collins Dictionary. Even Theresa May weighed in, announcing a whole unit to combat the rise and spread of the media's phony phenomenon.
In 2017 we saw PR take on the role of becoming a more reliable source for media outlets. Rising scepticism amongst consumers and greater diligence required from journalists as a consequence of “fake news” acted as a catalyst for a renewed focus on reputation management from content production to the individuals involved in its creation.
Ultimately, this gave rise to third-party research being essential to the success of pitches. At 72Point we utilise the partnership with our market research arm at OnePoll and with our brands’ own studies when compiling stories to ensure they meet exceptionally high standards.
2) Social media domination: Video and Live In the Moment Content
A common theme of my commute to work involves reading up on the news or if I am in need of a laugh, watching the latest viral video on my phone. Whether you agree with it being a good thing or not, you can’t disagree that society has become addicted to their mobile phones. Furthermore, at a breakneck pace we have become more interested in visual and video content as a subsequent result of our social media use. As early as 2013, it was found that the average person watches 32 videos per month, and interestingly, there’s a 74 percent increase in understanding when someone watches a video. Subsequently, our 2017 objective was to increase our video content production and utilise our talented design team to create more infographics and animations for customers. The importance of having an early lead on this is strengthened by the 2017 report from Cisco which predicted that 75% of the world’s mobile traffic will be video by 2020.
Now, with Facebook live, Periscope, Youtube Live, Instagram and Twitch exploding in interest, 2017 highlighted the applicability of creating content that could gain immediate responses.
3) The Traditional Media Press Release Is Dead
The old method of writing press releases for the media has been overtaken by posting on a website in conjunction with emails and Tweets to customers and journalists. This more direct focus has streamlined the process and has created a faster turn-around. Significantly, 2017 marked for most firms the reduced significance of press releases with media channels concentrating on becoming more visual and creative. A good example of this is Manchester United’s recent announcement of new signing Alexis Sanchez which was utilised by a cinematic Twitter video.
4) Evolution of the PR role
The PR individual of past would struggle to adapt to today’s requirements. Previous demands focused on being capable or understanding the processes of writing content, event planning and maintaining relationships.
However, success is now dependant on having these things on top of a broader skill set applicable to a digital focus whilst utilising social media, content marketing and content strategy. The rapid shift in PR becoming more data driven in every process has resulted in greater pressure to respond to real time events by reacting with the correct responses to PR trends from days to now minutes. Data collation and the utilisation of the correct software to gain results has long been implemented by 72Point to highlight the success of a campaign and where improvements can be made for the future.
5) The rise of the influencer
Long gone are the traditional use of media relations, 2017 marked the year of the social media influencer. This is supported as a recent survey highlighted that youngsters would rather aspire to be social media superstars than musicians or actors.
Subsequently, media relations have advanced from merely pitching media to actively working with these individuals who are more accessible and willing to work in all forms of social media. It has directly linked PR to marketing and has influenced the methods of earning media to just paying for it.
Conclusion
Whether you had kept abreast of these new developments in 2017 or not it would hold you in good stead to follow these principles for the future. PR has dramatically changed in the past year and is constantly evolving to new pressures and technologies. At 72 Point we constantly monitor these developments and attempt to adapt to stay on course as a market leader.
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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.