New Media, Trust, PR

Web 2.0: Building Consumer Trust What should corporate communications do about the social media

Web 2.0: Building Consumer Trust and Killing PR? What should corporate communications do about the social media

The Platypus Case To many people, the platypus is a proof that God has a sense of humour

The Platypus Case To many people, the platypus is a proof that God has a sense of humour To Russian bloggers, it is a second name for bad PR in the blogosphere

The Platypus Case (continued) Decemb er 2008

The Platypus Case (still continuing) • ‘Utkonos’ (platypus) has become the internet slang for poorly disguised advertising on the Russian blogs. • This ploy has brought the chain under scrutiny, and all of its drawbacks are cheerfully discussed on blogs (with its overall image being quite poor now).

Where has it all gone wrong?

What is Web 2.0 from a PR point of view?

What essentially is Web 2.0? • Networking (vs. broadcasting) • Users (vs. publishers) • Collaboration & participation (vs. consumption)

What does this mean for the media • Instant dissemination of information • Multiple angles to every story • 360° scrutiny on coverage • Real competition to conventional media

Enter New Media

How does the new media compare with the old? Conventional Media New Media • Big audiences • Segmented audiences • General topics • Narrow topics • ‘Industrial scale’ • Customised publishing publishing • Hobby • Professional

How does the new media compare with the old? Conventional Media New Media • Big audiences • Segmented audiences • General topics • Narrow topics • ‘Industrial scale’ • Customised publishing Sells audiences publishing • Hobby to advertisers • Professional

How does the new media compare with the old? Conventional Media New Media • Big audiences • Segmented audiences • General topics • Narrow topics • ‘Industrial scale’ • Exchanges Customised publishing Sells audiences publishing • Hobby content with to advertisers • Professional peers

How does new media compete with the old? • Hardly any blog can really compete with any major traditional news outlet in the long run. • Not that it needs to… • Aggregation services and social bookmarking give everyone easy access to audiences bigger than one would expect

What about trust? We need to trust our sources of information to a certain degree Conventional Media New Media • Based on our knowledge of • Based on our emotional link procedures and practices in to the writer the media. • Inseparable from our trust Institutional • Separated from our trust for particular writer Personal Trust for personalities Trust • Centralised • Decentralised

What about trust? We need to trust our sources of information to a certain degree Conventional Media New Media • Based on our knowledge of • Based on our emotional link procedures and practices in to the writer the media. • Inseparable from our trust • Separated from our trust for particular writer Personal Trust for personalities • Decentralised • Centralised

What about trust? We need to trust our sources of information to a certain degree Conventional Media New Media • Based on our knowledge of • Based on our emotional link procedures and practices in to the writer the media. • Inseparable from our trust • Separated from our trust for for personalities particular writer • Decentralised • Centralised

Trust 2.0 • End of authority, expertise and certiﬁcation • Availability and exposure to peer opinion • Small world networks are becoming ‘big’ • Availability of alternative sources and background info

Social Media & Trust • Utilises existing ties • Builds new links • Facilitates exchange • Creates new knowledge • Makes access to information easy and efficient

Social Media & Trust • Utilises existing ties • Builds new links • Facilitates exchange • Creates new knowledge • Makes access to information easy and efficient Web 2.0 and & the social media generate trust

How does Trust 2.0 work?

How does Trust 2.0 work? Shared media, Hosted media

How does Trust 2.0 work? Shared media, Hosted media Joint projects carried out by online communities (Wikipedia)

How does Trust 2.0 work? Communities & Social Networks that plan ‘offline’ activities Shared media, (charity) Hosted media Joint projects carried out by online communities (Wikipedia)

What about trust? Trust 1.0 Trust 2.0 Advertising, product PR, marketing communications

Dante’s Inferno • Dante’s Inferno distinguishes between the two types of trust when punishing the fraudulent ones. • So do social media: hidden advertising may be a part of the media, but not of peer-to-peer relations

So what was wrong with Platypus? An old-fashioned attempt to ‘exploit’ personal trust in the way you would use the institutional one

Old-school PR • No trust involved • Authority assumed • Audience is passive • No feedback expected

Old-school PR • No trust involved • Authority assumed • Audience is passive • No feedback expected Leading the blind

Why is new media ‘dangerous’ for PR?

The End of Spin • PR used to rely on a scarcity of channels and an ability to impose its own ‘spin’ through these channels. • With channels multiplying, our ability to impose spin becomes pretty limited.

• Public Relations have virtually turned into Media Relations, since the media used to be the most obvious and cost-effective way to reach your audiences. • It no longer is… • PR has to adapt and meet ‘the public’ Press-relations Events Social Media Relations

What can be done?

Web 2.0 ‘Merits’ • Create • Quote • Share • Link back • Connect • Comment • Collaborate • Participate

Web 2.0 ‘Merits’ • Create • Quote • Share • Link back • Connect • Comment • Collaborate • Participate What can we do with them?

Public Relations 2.0 • Engage audience • Build communities • Expect and inspire feedback

Public Relations 2.0 • Engage audience • Build communities • Expect and inspire feedback Deal with people, not with the media

Social Media Rules

Social Media Rules • Nothing is boring

Social Media Rules • Nothing is boring • Nobody is unimportant

Social Media Rules • Nothing is boring • Nobody is unimportant • Go after your audience

Social Media Rules • Nothing is boring • Nobody is unimportant • Go after your audience • Give them content

Social Media Rules • Nothing is boring • Nobody is unimportant • Go after your audience • Give them content • Give them voice

Social Media Rules • Nothing is boring • Nobody is unimportant • Go after your audience • Give them content • Give them voice • Listen to them

In other words • You can always ﬁnd an interested audience • You never know what will be BIG tomorrow • Public services can be better than your website • Make sure you participate • Make sure you interact, not broadcast • Learn from your audience

Bring Wispa back • Chocolate bars that are no longer on sale are not a story • Even a new chocolate bar is not a story BUT • Every newspaper wrote about re-launch od Wispa after thousands of people demanded Wispa back in blogs and social networks

ZaZhelezo [‘about hardware’] • Data-centres are boring • The media does not cover every step of a project • IT people don’t trust advertising BUT • A community blog about the launch of Troyka- Dialog’s new data-centre has become one of the most successful blogging PR projects.

Press Club • Journalists don’t trust PR people • Journalists like to keep their blogs private BUT • The Telecom Press community, built by Beeline, has become the biggest media-club in the industry.

So is Web 2.0 the death of PR?

Yes, if you don’t change

No, if you really ‘ride’ the wave

But be careful what you ride

Thank you! arseniy.rastorguev@mmdcee.com www.mmdcee.com www.mmdblog.com

New Media, Trust, PR

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