Get ready for the upturn – effective PR campaign just £499.99

Times they are a changing – or so said Bob Dylan in 1963. From an economic perspective times have been changing in cycle ever since. We are currently in the nadir of on an economic downturn, which tells us is that there will be an upturn soon enough. As a result, Stone Junction is offering a limited number of Sustain PR campaigns for £499.99, per month, to help you maintain a presence in the media during this slow period.

It’s inevitable that during lean times marketing budgets are cut. However, businesses that reduce investment in marketing lose customers to those that market aggressively. In history, during lean times, farmers starved rather than eat the crops they needed for the next year’s seeds. UK industry should learn from this example when considering marketing budgets.

The sensible thing to do is invest wisely. If your strategy is to maintain what you have during the downturn, then Stone Junction’s Sustain PR campaign, priced at £499.99 per month, might be exactly the cornerstone your marketing function needs.

The premise is simple, you are provided with a number of credits in exchange for your fee, which can be allocated during planning meetings to a series of PR tactics to suit to the stories your company is actually generating. There is no money wasted on non-essential activities, instead we seek to focus on only those tactics that will generate the optimum return.

“Stone Junction’s objective is to build relationships while times are hard. We hope these will then blossom when the economy returns to positive growth,” explained Richard Stone, managing director of Stone Junction. “Sustain PR will help businesses make it through to the other side in better shape as a result of maintaining a media presence. Like the rest of the economy today, Sustain PR is all about reality.”

So, if times are changing in your business, contact Richard Stone on 020 8699 7743 or e-mail richards@stonejunction.co.uk to talk about Sustain PR.

Healthy and unhealthy ways to invest in PR in a downturn

I really didn’t want to write about the credit crunch in this article. I wanted to write about why I think marketing is a bit like brick laying. And, while I was at it, I wanted to give my views on the best ways to build an integrated industrial marketing campaign. But the downturn/recession/global depression (delete as appropriate) is simply too dominant in the news agenda to ignore. So, I struggled against it but in the end, I couldn’t avoid it. Here goes nothing...

There are healthy and unhealthy ways to invest in PR in an economic downturn and I’ve been reminded of both in the last couple of days.

The unhealthy way is to cut all other expenditure and just buy more PR, ‘because it’s cheaper and it means you don’t have to advertise’. I was reminded of this on Friday, when attending one of those champagne and caviar parties us industrial PR types spend all of our time at. I was chatting with the director of a celebrity and consumer PR agency. He happily assured me that they are booming, because all their clients are slashing their advertising budgets and having to rely on PR. I asked which magazines and Web sites he will target when the current ones he uses have all shut down due to lack of income from advertising. He walked off to talk to a former division one footballer without answering.

Now, I know I can be a bit loud at times, but I thought I was as at least as interesting as a former division one footballer. Obviously not a current division one footballer...

I was also reminded of the healthy way to invest in PR last week, when I read about a presentation British Airways delivered at the annual Travel Conference, organised by ABTA. I would have gone myself but my tickets were with XL.

Martin Broughton, the chairman of British Airways, said, “In these testing times, cutting marketing spend is not the answer. Distinctive brand positioning is crucial at such times, because customers feel more secure with strong brands.” He went on to outline a range of marketing techniques in which he plans to invest, including product marketing, Web and mobile based marketing and innovation, advertising and PR. In short, he outlined a sensible and healthy plan, tailored to achieve his company’s objectives, even in an unhealthy climate.

The key to the strategy is investment across the board in a number of marketing tactics, of which PR is one and advertising is another. The two things go hand in hand – without advertising there will be no media for your fleet of shiny shoed PR executives to influence. In turn, without PR it will be much more difficult for journalists to find the right stories for their publications. After all, the best PR people are facilitators; nothing more than a junction in the road, where the business being promoted and the journalist can meet.

Most MBA’s will tell you that a healthy business is one that is using ten separate marketing tactics at any given time and I would passionately argue that this is the case. It’s the variation of voice as well as the repetition of message that helps to achieve the objective. Simply cutting all other marketing tactics and investing in PR alone will not work – unless that is literally the only budget available. Even in these cases, you might be better served by a mixed media campaign, incorporating the lower cost tactics in a holistic and targeted way.

Perhaps the best way to think about this is to imagine building a house. Each layer of bricks is dependent on the one beneath it and provides purchase for the one above it. In the same way PR, advertising, SEO, direct mail, e-mail, exhibitions and any other marketing tactic you care to name, support each other.

Many engineering firms report that, when asked why they have made contact, their own customers simply respond, “your Web site”. However, that’s a little bit like saying the reason that your walls stay standing is your house. Every customer is influenced by every marketing tactic they have been exposed to, just as each wall stays standing thanks to the combined efforts of each brick. No one simply lands on your Web site by accident and then finds that a need is created instantly.

But the question is, ‘which layer of bricks to put down first?’ Which marketing tactic should form my foundations, to horribly over extend my metaphor? The only honest answer I can give is that every marketing business in the world will say something different. PR consultancies will say publicity; ad men will argue for advertising, search gurus will say SEO and so on.

Ultimately, there is no one size fits all answer. I believe that the written and visual content produced during the PR process makes a great foundation for other elements of a marketing campaign. I offer that as honestly as possible, speaking as the owner of a consultancy from which you can buy a number of marketing tactics, including PR. If you want to chat while making up your own mind, give me a call on 0208 699 7743 or drop me an e-mail. I promise not to mention the global financial situation. I swear.

Another joke about engineering

This joke is taken from the unfailingly funny jokes page on the Web site of a materials handling consultancy called Infection Point.

“Two mathematicians, Joe and Richard, were having dinner in a restaurant. They were arguing about the average mathematical knowledge of the American public. Richard claimed that this average was woefully inadequate while Joe maintained that it was surpassingly high.”

"I'll tell you what," said Richard, "when I get back from the bathroom we'll ask our waitress a simple calculus question. If she gets it right, I'll pick up dinner. If not, you do, okay?"

They agreed, but once he'd left Joe called the waitress over. "When my friend comes back," he told her," he's going to ask you a question; you should respond 'one third x cubed' no matter what the question is; got that? There's twenty bucks in it for you." She happily agreed to the gag.

Richard returned from the men's room and called the waitress over. "The food was wonderful," he stated, "incidentally, do you know what the integral of x squared is?"

The waitress looked startled, then pensive, almost pained. She looked around the room, at her feet, made gurgling noises, (Joe was starting to sweat) and finally said, "Umm, one third x cubed?"

Joe beamed in relief as an astonished Richard paid the check and a clearly irritated waitress muttered under her breath, "...plus a constant."

It's called epMotion

Sometimes a piece of B2B marketing is so great that I have to write about, even though I had nothing to do with it. This is one of those times:

http://www.eppendorf.com/int/hawkpopup.php?contentid=13

Follow the link, watch the video. It's truly great.

It's not a recession yet! Why business should come out fighting to beat the slowdown!

When the economic odds are stacked up against you, there are really only two options. The first is to retrench; cut costs wherever you can and simply outlive the negative economic environment. The second is to come out fighting, to communicate the benefits you offer and to win as much sustainable business as possible. I’m offering you the chance to do the latter – by requesting a complementary initial PR consultation now.

The PR services offered by Stone Junction represent a way of talking to your customers through a media that they trust. Your customers all read the trade press, the local press and the national media and they are all influenced by them. In a slow economic environment, people with purchasing authority turn to authoritative sources like these to help with decision making. If you aren’t in the media, your ability to influence those decisions is reduced.

Early this year there were signs in the press that engineering was going to be the industry least touched by the slowdown. However, since then there has been a lot of talk about recession, stagflation, rising costs and businesses reporting a slower rate of sales.

The fact remains that there hasn’t been a recession just yet. There hasn’t yet been a single quarter of negative growth, let alone the two consecutive quarters required for us to be in recession. In plain English, the economy has grown for the last six months but it hasn’t grown enough to satisfy us – hence all the talk of the economic slowdown.

So, if the current rate of growth in your business isn’t enough to satisfy you, it’s time to come out fighting. You need to make your public aware of what you have to offer, you have to reinforce in their minds your status as a thought leader and you have to positively position yourselves against your competition. An economic slowdown is a time for action, so contact Stone Junction now on 0208 699 7743 or e-mail richards@stonejunction.co.uk.

Robotics firm sees success in English and German

TM Robotics has been growing consistently as a force in the industrial robot market across Europe since its inception in 2000, when current MD Nigel Smith set up the company to act as the European sales partner for Toshiba Machine.

The last two years have bought particularly concentrated levels of expansion, with a large increase in the number of robots sold each year, both in the UK and across the continent. The company has worked with Richard Stone; the MD of Stone Junction for most of its lifespan, becoming a Stone Junction client a few months after the PR agency was established in early 2006.

However, as TM Robotics' contribution to the industrial robot market improves, so must its marketing efforts and 2008 has been a year of increased activity so far. The company has attended both the Automatica and CeMAT trade shows, increased its direct marketing efforts and launched several new products. The crux of the campaign has been to encourage customers to request promotional CDs, which feature details of a key product. This campaign has been trailed in advertising materials as well as PR and was the central tactic at the trade shows.

Stone Junction has supplied a successful PR campaign in 2008, with coverage appearing in fifteen different trade publications and on countless industry Web sites. It has also provided graphic and new media design work for advertising, trade shows and interactive content. This has included graphics boards for exhibition work, interactive video CDs, a new brochure and a series of adverts all produced in English and German.

The overall response has been outstanding, with several hundred promotional CDs despatched to customers already. Nigel Smith, managing director of TM Robotics said, "The campaign has dovetailed together very effectively, with both creative ideas and Toshiba Machine's corporate style working in unison in all of the visual material, while the tactics intended to generate leads have worked well."

Contact Stone Junction straight away and request a free guide or complimentary initial PR consultation now.

Free guide to PR in the economic slowdown

Stone Junction, the specialist engineering and technology PR firm, has issued a guide to PR in the economic slowdown. It is aimed at companies attempting to make the best use of their marketing budgets, big or small. This move is intended as a rallying call to UK business currently talking itself into recession.

Marketing budgets are often the first to be cut in hard times. However, this always results in less incoming business. Thus, the promotional advice includes both how to attract customers and how to improve a company's profile. The guide covers PR and online reputation management as well as effective agency handling. In addition, there is particular focus on taking advantage of the, often free, opportunities provided by Web 2.0 Internet technology.

"Branding, advertising PR and other forms of push marketing are all slashed during hard times," said MD Richard Stone. "Indeed, reducing marketing budgets can salvage profits in a poor financial year. However, the damaging impact of such reductions comes in the years that follow."

"Those businesses that cut their marketing investment lose market share to those that don’t," continued Stone. "There are countless examples throughout history of businesses emerging from periods of economic slowdown having grown substantially. In many ways this kind of bear market is an opportunity for quick thinking, aggressive businesses."

Free copies of the guide are available from Stone Junction. Simply email richards@stonejunction.co.uk or call 0208 699 7743 and ask for Richard Stone.

More Friday videos about engineers

Two professional engineers illustrate the proper care and practical benefits of cats. None of the cats, humans, or engineers were mistreated in the making of this film. They were however, slightly annoyed.

Hartmut Pannen, the recently appointed managing director of Trumpf's UK Company, told ManufacturingTalk this morning he had recently toured some 100 UK companies that have sheet-metal working shops. He said he was astounded by the new equipment in use; also, that much of the equipment seen was under five years' old. He added he was also impressed by these companies' enthusiasm for getting things done. What Pannen could not understand was why none of this news was being published in the UK's national media.

As a PRO working in manufacturing I can wholeheartedly reaffirm Pannen’s comment. Coverage of manufacturing and engineering in the dailies is very poor.

Clearly, if you are a British, listed manufacturer it’s easy enough to get coverage. However, it’s slightly harder to get clippings that mention both the share price and the technology, although there are plenty of companies that do – Renishaw for instance do a great job.

However, there are opportunities for national coverage for everyone involved in Manufacturing - listed or not. It’s just that they are far more limited now than ever before. It takes a real nose for them to be honest, you have to dig out every column that could cover engineering and address them persistently. Of course, because you are then talking to columns that aren’t always about manufacturing, the number of engineers reading them is far fewer than they would have been on, say, the old FT technology page. That said Peter Marsh, the FT’s engineering correspondent, still does a great job of including case studies from all sorts of manufacturers as ‘contextualising’ pieces.

Anyway, rant over, I would be interested to know your thoughts.

Ladies are requested not to have children on this Blog

Fair enough, I admit to being the sort of person likely to pass on jokes in an e-mail. Especially if they are funny. I know, it's so very 1999 in these days of Wikis, social media and erm, other techy things. Anyway, my translation partner, a fine firm called Softtalk, has the following mistranslations on its Web site. I think they are really quite good:

In a Norwegian cocktail lounge: "Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar."

In an Acapulco Hotel: "The manager has personally passed all the water served here."

In Krakow station toilets: "It is forbidden to steal the station's towels. Please if you are not a person to do such a thing do not read this notice."

By Krakow ticket office: "We take your bags and send them in all directions."

In a Tokyo Bar: "Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts."

On Zakopane street stall: "SPECIAL TODAY.....NO ICE CREAM"

In a Zurich Hotel: "Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose."

In a Zakopane Dry Cleaners: "Men drop your trousers here for best results." and "Ladies leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time".

In Witow mountain Pass: "Take one of our horse driven mountain trips...We guarantee no miscarriages."

Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand: "Would you like to ride on your own ass?"

Outside a Paris dress shop: "Dresses for street walking."

In a Krakow hotel bedroom: "You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid."

In an advertisement by a Hong Kong Dentist: "Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists."

In a Bangkok Temple: "It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man."

In a Tokyo Shop: "Our nylons cost more, but you'll find they are best in the long run."

Thought you might like those.

The Swan of Tuonela

There was a thought provoking editorial in this morning's Manufacturingtalk newsletter. Indeed, I think there have been a fair few of these of late, from Mike Page the editor. This month, he wrote, on the subject of the UK's manufacturing economy:

"Ever listen to the piece of classical music, 'The Swan of Tuonela', Op.22 No 2 by Jean Sibelius? The scene pictured in the music is that of a contented swan gliding on the surface of a beautiful, placid lake, while all the evils of hell are busy in the lake's depths. One could make a comparison with the UK's manufacturing industry riding on a buoyant market, while the service industry, sub-prime bank lending difficulties, credit squeezes, declining services fortunes and other ills, which are festering below, may soon grab manufacturing and pull it down with them! Only a thought! "The UK's Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reported at the end of February, 2008, that manufacturers were having the 'longest run of sustained demand for 12 years'. The CBI reported that orders were making their strongest showing since 1995 and that a big influence was the growing demand for capital goods. Also, the minor slowing in manufacturing demand in the UK could be offset by support from a weakening Pound Sterling - particularly against the Euro."

I would be inclined to agree with the second paragraph I've quoted here. I have a number of clients reporting booms; with one showing 100% growth in the last year and another so busy they are building a new plant. However, I've not convinced of the dangers to manufacturing mentioned in the first paragraph. The sub prime lending incident is a structural problem in the economy; it doesn't necessarily mean business is in the doldrums. The service economy is another matter, I'm unsure about my position on this. Certainly lending is continuing to rise indicating spending is still up. Furthermore, in our corner of the world, where only techy engineering related things really matter, service is booming alongside manufacturing.

Overall, the economy is a little nervous, but there are certainly reasons to be confident this year. I suspect that as in the opera, our swan will continue to safely swim on the surface. I for one am not talking myself into recession for the time being.

Build a second life scooter

Here at PRefect Towers we haven't yet recovered from Mod flick Quadrophenia and are still fantasising about owning a scooter. Probably a Vespa. Probably black with silver trimmings. Anyway, those boffins over at Siemens PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) have created an interactive tool to create a custom 3D Razor scooter in mass online game/lifestyle choice Second Life.

This morning, Electronic Product Design wrote, "There are over 12million residents of the 3D virtual world in the computer game Second Life. Siemens PLM Software, part of Siemens Industry Automation, uses its island in Second Life to collaborate with customers and partners in testing designs with end consumers in real-time." Spot on really, but are there any Mods? That's the real question. And we don't mean moderators.

Shout louder despite the cutbacks

The quarterly Bellwether report, which measures marketing spend, has been released and it paints a gloomy picture of the end of 2007, with a slightly brighter 2008. Indeed, marketing spend fell by more in the last quarter of 2007 than any time in nearly two years. However, it also shows that almost half of all companies plan to spend more on marketing in 2008 than in 2007.

But is this likely to make much difference to you and I? Marketeers and PROs in technology and engineering companies may not find their budgets rocketing up in 2008 quite so quickly. You see, much of the planned marketing spend reported by the Bellweather Report can be accounted for by the forthcoming Olympic Games and European football Cup. The sponsorship for these events is phenomenal and dwarfs most budgets. I wonder how the figures would look without these factors.

I would certainly expect it to be lower than the last quarter of 2008. However, there is also real danger of the economy talking itself into recession. This is particularly true of the element of our economy made up of marketing revenues. Our budgets are often the first to be cut in recession, despite the fact that they should be near the bottom of the list of spending decreases. You can only reap in sales next year the seeds that you sow in marking this year.

The Bellwether Report author, Chris Williamson, said: "Some positive news was provided by 2008 marketing budgets being set higher than actual spend in 2007, but we interpret this with caution." The Bellwether Report is compiled quarterly by NTC Economics on behalf of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.

The report for the fourth quarter of 2007 showed that budgets were revised down for the first time in a year, and that it was the steepest decline for nearly two years. It blamed weaker-than-expected sales revenues, disappointment profits and concerns about the economic environment.

Main media advertising, which includes television, press, radio, posters and cinema, was hit by downward revisions to budgets in the fourth quarter of 2007 -- the biggest since spring 2006. All other marketing, which includes direct and sales promotion, also saw an above average cut. Even internet advertising, which has been a powerhouse of growth, is showing the weakest rises in budgets since the autumn of 2003.

My own conclusion is that if you are operating below the level of cinema advertising and the Olympic Games, like most tech and engineering PRs are, things are going to get tight. As a result, you may have to work harder and make your marketing budget work harder. But don’t cut it. Come out fighting or they may be no fight left in you by next year.

Genius and very, very naughty marketing videos

I've noticed that several companies have been producing brilliant, but naughty, marketing videos to promote their products of late. The videos are proving to be a hit on You-Tube. Here's a great example to promote self cleaning toilets. Honestly.

Beating the colour separation trap

As a public relations junkie, sorry practitioner, I’m often approached by firms who want to generate publicity for their products or services but have become tired of issuing press material only to be confronted by a request for payment before it is used.

Right: "Some magazines. No reason they are here really, except to look pretty. And the post is about magazines, albeit not these ones specifically," explained PRefect.

Often a regional or local newspaper or trade magazine will ask for something called a ‘colour separation’ before publishing an article or news story. Consumer magazines will often suggest that a business uses advertorial as a vehicle if it doesn’t feel that the story is right for publication as it stands.

The former practice isn’t great for publishing, but as pragmatists we have to accept it. I believe that if magazines and newspapers ran only editorial that had been selected or written by the editor or another journalist, the value of the magazine would be greater. Readers would give it more credence and ultimately it would be able to charge higher rates for its advertising. As a result, it wouldn’t then have to charge colour separations for editorial. However, I’m not here to argue with the business case of individual magazines – I’m sure they have a better understanding of their business models than I do.

But that still leaves plenty of businesses out there facing the dilemma of what to do if they can’t get publicity without paying colour separation requests. So here’s my practical advice to them:

- Make it interesting: The main reason a journalist will not run the material you send them in the news or features pages for free is that it isn’t interesting enough. The best thing you can do is make sure that your press releases aren’t short adverts for your company but rather news stories you could envisage one of your customers finding interesting enough to read.

- Target the magazine individually: It’s much better to generate one really strong piece of well targeted coverage than several poor quality pieces of badly targeted press. To this end, read the magazines you want to appear in and make sure the copy you send them is appropriate to their readership.

- Tackle every opportunity in the magazine: You should be producing news for the news pages, features for the features pages and letters for the letters pages - and so on. Don’t simply presume that a press release about your new widget will be perfect for the front cover. Instead find a home for it in the right part of the right magazine.

Finally, as a caveat, advertise. Most magazines that charge to run editorial do so because they can’t generate enough revenue through advertising. By choosing the right magazines for your advertising spend, no matter how small it is, you will find that the magazine is much healthier when you come target it via PR. This doesn’t mean that, by advertising, you gain the right to appear in the news pages - merely that those news pages will still be there when you have the right story for them!

I would like to conclude this month’s rant by inviting your stories and anecdotes, advice and complaints about the worlds of publishing, promotion, journalism and PR. I would love to hear about your experiences – so leave a message and get the debate going.

Exactly what I do all day

I've just found this lovely video about Hollywood PR people. This is exactly what I do all day long. Definitely this and definitely not writing press releases about engineering and stuff. Oh no...

Reputation management in Blogs, chat rooms and message boards

Many of you may know I enjoy shooting my mouth off every now and again, particularly in the virtual world of the Inter-Super-Highway, where no one can really challenge you. Or can they?

I’ve recently encountered a number of instances where a reputation, either mine or my clients, has needed some delicate online handling. One instance was a reference to me on a PR industry Blog called TheWorldsLeading. The author had taken exception to a post on my own Blog, where I argued that the business world needs more people to act like rock stars. There is more to the argument, which can be read here if needs be, although it’s not essential to make sense of this post.

Without going into the debate that then ensued on TheWorldsLeading, there was a decision to make. Should I post on the Blog where I had been criticised, justifying my original argument, or just ignore it on the basis that probably very few people would come across it? I felt that the former option was the braver, and so that’s what I did. The end result was a short debate with the Blog’s author, during which we finally agreed that certain creative principles were fundamental to business but that not enough people actually employ those principles any longer. I felt that the right step was to stick my head above the parapet and in the end this was probably justified.

Another instance arose recently with a client, an online retailer of mobile phones called mPhone. A poster, on the message boards of a Web site called MoneySavingExpert.com, asked whether it was a good idea to buy from the client. Now, as many of you may know, there is a serious ethical issue with PR people posting things online about their own clients. At present, it’s frowned upon to not disclose who you are and your relationship to the client. There are moves afoot to introduce European legislation to stop non transparent posting happening at all. So, I duly reported the posting to my client and left a message, disclosing who I was and pointing the user to a series of testimonials on the mPhone Web site. It would probably have guaranteed my client more sales if I had registered a number of different user names and left messages saying how great the client was. But, it wouldn’t have been ethical.

So, my question is about managing reputation in the social media. Have you ever encountered instances, either fair or unfair, of your reputation being tarnished online? How did you respond? Did you respond at all? All thoughts are welcome… As long as you don’t tarnish my reputation online of course, if you do I will be round your gaff with the lads any minute now.

(Post originally produced as an article for Business Link for London).

Very amusing Friday video about engineers...

Can I still have my 25%?

I’ve been watching Ricky Gervais’ Extras recently and the role played by his co-writer, Stephen Merchant, particularly interests me. Merchant plays the agent of Gervais’ out of work actor – perhaps the ultimate contractor, entrusted with a performer’s entire career. I can often see the parallels between what Merchant spectacularly fails to do and the role of a contractor in any area of industry.

One particular episode was a bit too close to the bone for anyone who has ever had to consider whether a contractor’s bill is actually worth paying. Merchant was attempting to convince Gervais that he has won him a role with the BBC. Gervais patiently explained that he knew Merchant had had nothing to do with the success. Merchant replied, “Even if that is completely true, can I still have my 25%?”

As a PR consultant the role of contractors is close to my heart. Not only am I a contractor myself but those sub contractors that I employ in turn are absolutely vital to my business.

For my part, I attempt to integrate as closely as possible with my client’s companies. In doing so I sometimes take on a little more work than I’m actually paid for (a universal problem in the PR industry, but that’s another topic) but in exchange the familiarity and understanding bred makes the working process a hell of a lot easier.

Naturally, I look for similar traits in my contractors, who provide translation, design, web design, clippings facilities and media databases. In some cases this isn’t possible – one simply doesn’t get that kind of service from a large company. However, in other cases the relationship works well from day one. I hope that by integrating like this, we all get a bit closer to understanding how to avoid the traits of Stephen Merchant’s useless agent in Extras.

Plumbing solutions

I thought you might like to hear about something I saw on the M6 the other day. It was a plumber's van, featuring an sign that described it's owners service as 'plumbing solutions'. To compound the error, he went on to proclaim that he offered 'more than just plumbing'.

I wonder what exactly it is he offers that is more than just plumbing? Maybe he’s referring to tea drinking? Perhaps he means harshly sucking air in through his teeth before telling you that what he is about to do will necessitate a re-mortgage?

The point in this case is not the jargon. It's that the jargon has led him to say the opposite of what he means. Instead of, “we do really good plumbing” he is telling the world, “we do something that might be plumbing but in addition we do something else that we regard as more important. As a result, we could well screw up your plumbing while we are focusing on 'more than just plumbing’, which is what we really care about.”

I’ve been counselling my clients against putting random nonsense into their company names for years. Happily, they have listened but there are plenty of companies out there who haven’t listened. I hear Phillips Semiconductor is changing its name to NXP. The old name told everyone what the company did and the new one tells everyone precisely nothing.

However, jargon itself isn’t a bad thing if it comes to mean something useful. Without it we wouldn’t have most of the words in the English language. As a result, I don’t object to the phrases like ‘blue sky thinking’ anymore than I do Shakespeare creating words or phrases. After all, I think the world would be worse off without the words barefaced, critical, leapfrog, monumental, castigate, majestic, obscene, frugal, radiance, dwindle, countless, submerged, excellent, fretful, gust, hint, hurry, lonely, summit, and pedant for instance. We also owe Shakespeare phrases like ‘tower of strength’, ‘rhyme nor reason’ and ‘apple of my eye’.

So in my opinion let’s keep coining new words and phrases and discarding the useless ones. We would have difficulty using this ‘social networking’ software to ‘post a comment’ on a ‘Blog’ otherwise! I think the important advice is that no matter what language you are using to express yourself, make sure that what you are saying is what you intend to say.

Should we 'symbolically' ban the words bitch and ho? - Report from New York

A New York City lawmaker is pushing to symbolically ban the words, 'bitch' and 'ho' to discourage their use in rap and pop music and among young people. Councilwoman Darlene Mealy, D-Brooklyn, suggested the non-enforceable ban, designed after a similar ban of the word nigger was passed by the New York City Council in March.

Apart from the fact that I'm not convinced about the idea of a symbolic ban, I don't think there is anything unique about the word bitch, when contextualised amongst other insulting words that relate particularly to a social certain grouping.

Words gain meaning as a result of the way they are used - this applies to both the word bitch and the word nigger, which has already been banned. All are acceptable in certain contexts but considered to be abominations in other contexts.

Coincidentally, both examples are insults that have been linguistically reclaimed by elements of the groups they apply to, in the same way that prominent gay men, like William Burroughs, reclaimed the word queer in the last century.

However, my real problem is that the process of language development will manage itself - it doesn't require intervention on a legislative level, even symbolically. If the word were universally regarded as abhorrent it simply wouldn't be used. At present, its common social use demonstrates that at present it isn't thought of in this way.

Of course, changing the way we speak changes the way we think. Without insulting words we would find it much harder to argue and fight for instance. I'm positively in favour of biasing people against violence and abusive behaviour towards women. However, I intuitively believe that language will win out against our attempts to control it.

Business book reviews: The seven habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey

Ok, first things first, I listened to this on audio CD and didn't actually read the book. This is because I'm highly effective and I was saving time... Sorry, what I meant to say was, "this gave me an unusual insight into the overarching structure of the book; allowing me to consider the entire concept in a single sitting."

The thing that struck me most about Covey's system of self management was the first of his seven rules - be pro-active. This seems obvious but Covey's analysis of what make a pro active person was fascinating. He defines it as someone who has responsibility. He further breaks down the word responsibility into its two elements - response and ability. His point is that you have the ability to respond.

I'm not convinced from an etymological standpoint, but from a self help perspective it’s interesting. The idea that you are responsible for your own effectiveness is unusual. Most books of this nature start from the position that you are ineffective and have no choice over the issue. Instead they argue that you should adopt whatever system of management they espouse. Covey is much more of a traditionalist - he simply argues that you need to have the character to be able to take action to achieve your goals. This is empowering for those of us weighed down with managerial mumbo jumbo.

So my advice is to be pro-active and buy the audio CD straight away - it's much more effective than the book. And you can listen to it while walking the dog too…

Are you my friend on Facebook? No, I'm your friend in real life...

So opined a comedian on the ill advised News Knight with Trevor Macdonald. He has a point. I wonder about the value of such networks on occasion, despite being a regular and avid user of Facebook, the procrastination tool über alles, and LinkedIn, the identity theft staple.

I can't claim to have generated any genuine business out of either, although I have got in touch with lots of lost colleagues and friends. Indeed, this very morning I accepted an invitation from a former colleague. When we worked together, very briefly, we didn't really have much to do with each other. However, he was a nice guy and, quite frankly, a bit of a genius; so I accepted the invitation. However, the chances are it will remain just that – a link on a Web site. I doubt if we will actually get in touch again, although I would be happy to do so.

However, my next e-conquest will be Trevor Macdonald, I think. Now there's someone worth being friends with on Facebook. Is there a space for a Knighthood on your Facebook profile though?

Buy me a pizza, or the account gets it!

There has been much furore in the financial press recently about the need for big businesses to fire their worst performing staff on an annual basis. This may well be true and indeed it works for General Electric, the most outspoken advocate of the policy in the press of late. However, I’ve never run a big business – I’ve only run comparatively small PR agencies. The one thing I’ve learnt in doing so is that if you could keep every member of staff forever, your client turnover would be very low.

However, it seems that a lot of agencies do precisely the reverse. My experience is that a PR agency losing only ten per cent of its staff a year is doing incredibly well. Rather than keeping staff, many firms allow them to leave at a rate of knots.

“Attrition rates in PR vary, for a number of reasons,” explained Steve Mallison-Jones, managing director of executive and PR recruitment consultants Indigo Red. “The higher up the tree an individual goes the more likely it is that they are tied in with equity, offers of partnership and hefty pay outs should the agency be sold out to one of the bigger groups, which encourages loyalty. In a female dominated industry, there are often some other factors which encourage staff retention. The opportunity of flexi-time and part time working encourages mothers to return to work and stay loyal to their firm,” he continued.

“The most commonly quoted reasons we hear for why a candidate wants to leave their current jobs are; a new challenge, a better work life balance, and the opportunity to freelance. There is also a trend of a “quarter life crisis” where 25-30 year olds want to make a difference and a better world, so are tempted by opportunities which allow them the freedom to achieve more philanthropic aims,” went on Mallison-Jones.

In previous roles I have seen agency management teams heave a sigh of relief when employees perceived to be ineffective have resigned. I’ve even done it myself! However, those same people are then shocked when clients follow the individual out of the door.

On the subject of clients following staff, Mallison-Jones had this to say; “You can never guarantee someone can bring business with them. However, as a recruiter I always say to candidates that they will be surprised which accounts don’t follow them to a new job. Of course it does happen – some accounts do follow. If a candidate says they can bring business to a new job I always try to ask some probing questions regarding contractual obligations and so on. It’s only when you are effectively employing a one man band or small agency that you can guarantee they will bring accounts,” he continued.

The crux of the issue is listening to the client and finding out what they actually value in the agency staff they work with. It’s a safe bet that many of the things we all value would be near the top of the list. Attention to detail, creativity, writing skills and contacts are sure to be in there somewhere. However, the relationship they have built up with their account manager may well be top of the list, presuming they are happy with the agency.

I’ve known clients follow staff out of an agency because the old account handler used to send them a birthday card on their birthday - and always bought the card from their favourite football club’s shop. I’ve known clients follow staff out of an agency because the old account handler used to take them to the all you can eat buffet at Pizza Hut after every meeting.

These are humorous examples but there is an ounce of truth in them. In both cases they left because the staff member that understood their motivations also left. From the agency perspective, in both cases, the staff member was failing in certain key areas. But as far as the client was concerned, they were all that was required.

In both instances, and in many others, I was against losing the account manager. One left for more money elsewhere and the other was fired. The agency lost two to three times their annual salary in fees over the next couple of months and more in the long run. So, no matter what the financial press says, I’m in favour of keeping staff wherever possible – they may well surprise you.

I haven’t bought a newspaper for months

At PRefect Towers we recently found out that 93.2% of people making B2B buying decisions go online to research their purchases*. Furthermore, I personaly haven’t bought a newspaper for months. Actually, that’s a lie. I work in PR, so I at least scan most of the nationals everyday. But as a believable statement it’s not bad. How many people do you know who could easily do their jobs without getting newsprint on their fingers? Working in technology PR, I meet software engineers who could get by with Silicon.com and The Register alone. And Blogs of course, we would all die without Blogs now wouldn’t we?

This creates an interesting problem for B2B media relations specialists. We know we must continue to address the trade, national and regional print media and take advantage of the growing influence of the online media. After all, decision-making is a highly complex process and the print media remains part of it. A range of factors can influence how we buy on a B2B level, from the number of people involved in the decision to how close to the point of purchase we are. We also have to consider what kind of buyer we are selling to (visionary, mass market etc), what level of education they have, knowledge of the product and any factors unique to the commercial sector. To have any influence through media relations requires some serious thought about how these factors can be effected by our efforts with the print and online media.

When we decide which media to address with which message, we should consider how the customer group interacts with that media, if at all. To address the entire spectrum of the decision we need the print and online media. But each serves a different purpose at a different stage and requires different tactics and content. This is true not only because some of the people working on these sites have different agendas but also because the medium on which they publish is fundamentally different

Today a good campaign has different pro-active and re-active strategies for influencing the online and print media and in turn influencing their readers. As its foundation this involves providing the right content to attract professional and influential non-professional-communicators who work in the online media. By non-professional communicators I mean both Bloggers and administrators of genuine online communities. These online communities could simply be news groups; Engineeringtalk’s UKEPR (United Kingdom Engineering Public Relations) community for technology PR practitioners is one such group. Alternatively, they might be groups of people referring to a single point of information when making buying decisions. In the food and pharmaceutical industries a good example is RSSL’s (Reading Scientific Services Limited) e-mail newsletter service. This appears to be impartial and doesn’t feature extensive news from the company itself, instead focusing on news from the industries it serves. In doing so it has established itself as a sufficiently influential point of reference that, as a PR person, I am often referred to it by clients who perceive it to be a media outlet like any other.

As Blogs become more and more influential, particularly over early adopters and visionary customers, good PROs adapt their techniques for approaching Bloggers. A straightforward product press release isn’t going to be all that effective, indeed many Bloggers will regard a traditional elevator pitch sell-in as ‘too-professional‘. Many will not be available during working hours because, for most, Blogging is a hobby.

Bloggers love their subjects and are inspired by them, so the best way to communicate is with passion. You need to share the passion and be able to discuss honestly your client’s relationship to the rest of the market. If it’s a technology Blog it helps to provide products for evaluation, just as one would with a consumer technology magazine. It is also well worth remembering that the coverage you obtain isn’t going to remain at the top of the Blog for long, so it will be of value to your client to suggest ways of maximising its value while it is there.

In contrast, many other online communities are run as marketing tools. The two organisations I mentioned above, Engineeringtalk and RSSL aren’t charities. They are profit-making companies who, very intelligently, incorporate a community creation element into their marketing plans. And because the plan is working, for both of them, it will always be difficult to convince them to incorporate PR material into it. However, because it is a marketing plan, offering them something to further that plan, in the shape of material that is genuinely useful to their online communities, should be a compelling proposal.

Once we have attracted the journalist, Blogger or community administrator we must ensure our content is optimised in such a way that it is influential to our two online audiences - readers and search engines. The key to attracting the former is interactivity, either literally, in the form of downloads, or intellectually, in the form of useful information that will get repeated. The same research that tells me that 93.2% of buying decisions are researched online also states that 36.8% are researched and completed online. Given that many purchases can’t be completed online, this suggests that a