Don’t Be Invisible – The Most Important Business Lesson From the ScotRail and ‘Big Man’ Case

Remember when social media was shiny, new and exciting – or to some people ominous, threatening and scary?

Now it is totally embedded in our daily lives to the point where we no longer think of it as anything other than normal.

In fact, this morning on BBC Breakfast two prominent stories summed up this fundamental shift.

Firstly the Beeb featured a Scottish story about a fare-dodging, foul-mouthed passenger, who was thrown off a busy train by a burly traveller.

The entire incident was videoed on another passenger’s mobile phone and has now gone viral on YouTube. That’s the only reason it even made local news services – let alone the might of the BBC’s flagship morning news show.

Secondly, the Beeb also reported how increasing numbers of winter callouts place pressure on the volunteer mountain rescue teams in the Lake District.

Those getting into trouble often use sat navs, apps on smartphones or even print outs from Google Maps to plan routes – while the old-timers in the rescue squad were urging walkers to stay low-tech, by carrying a basic OS Map, a compass and a torch.

This wasn’t a case of some grizzled outdoors type missing the tech bus – the rescue service spokesman cheerfully urged walkers to get themselves on YouTube and check out the treasure trove of videos with advice on how to stay safe in the hills and mountains over winter. Video again.

Why is this important? One reason worth considering is that put forward by Clay Shirky, the author and New York University professor, who says:

“Communications tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring.  It’s when a technology becomes normal, then ubiquitous and finally so pervasive as to be invisible that the really profound changes happen.  For young people today, our new social tools have passed normal, are heading to ubiquitous and invisible is coming.”

With these thoughts firmly on my mind I was on my way into work today, while listening to a another social media expert, Shel Holtz, one half of the superb For Immediate Release podcast.

Shel’s latest offering was a talk on a subject he is passionate about – why businesses should stop blocking employee access to social media (have a listen to the podcast here – the case is compelling).

He mentioned how one giant car maker took steps to block access to social media channels like Twitter and Facebook, amid fears it would cause worker productivity to dip. However, the company kept open access to YouTube – because of the huge wealth of training videos and material available there. YouTube again.

We may not yet have reached the invisibility of social media mentioned by Clay Shirky, but there’s little doubt we’re getting close when viral mobile phone videos are a mainstay of the BBC news, ageing mountain rescuers advise walkers to get safety tips from YouTube and car manufacturers name the video platform as a vital training resource.

Here’s the thing, though: while consumption of YouTube video is now entirely mundane, the production of video, particularly useful and informative video by business, is still in its infancy. Companies of all sizes are still nonplussed by how to use this powerful medium – or need convinced that they should use it all.

The grainy, wobbly fare dodging video has now achieved more than 775,000 views, been featured by the national broadcaster and provoked debate across the country on whether the burly do-gooder was right or wrong to take the law in to his own hands.

However, where is the response video from ScotRail (there isn’t even a written respone on their website media page)? The company has issued a carefully worded corporate statement  which could have been far more impactful if delivered by a genuinely concerned company executive. Of course, that may be just too sensitive at the moment, with the police investigating the incident and imminent legal action likely.

Even if that is the case, where is the video explaining the company’s advice for future passengers who may be confronted by an abusive or troublesome travellers? Should they sit tight and say nothing? Or should they step in to offer verbal support to harassed train staff?

Let’s not forget the foul-mouthed teen who was ejected from the train, who has variously claimed he had misplaced his ticket, was sold the wrong ticket or was half asleep (and as a result confused and disorientated) when confronted by the inspector.

This reinforces how ScotRail would benefit from easy-to-find videos aimed at passengers –  advice on purchasing the correct  ticket; how to use the ticket vending machines;  or how to resolve a situation if you find yourself on a train having lost a valid ticket and without the funds to pay for a replacement.

The reality is that ScotRail has no presence on YouTube (in fact, this claims to be the Scotrail (sic) channel, but I assume is a fake). No videos at all that I could find.

Video - but only for adverts.

That’s also true for the company’s corporate website, where the only video I could find was a link to a TV advert – and disappointingly that ad was on the FAQ page, the exact place that might most benefit from easy to follow ‘How To’ videos.

This all seems even more of an irony, when you consider the company has a page on its website dedicated to giving advice to rail enthusiasts who want to shoot pictures or videos on ScotRail stations and property.

No slight intended on ScotRail. The  majority of businesses of all sizes still seem painfully slow to recognise and benefit from the power of video as part of the communication mix.

So what lessons can your business learn from the ScotRail fare dodge video? How about this: The technology which delivers video is now so pervasive as to be invisible – which means that your business can no longer afford to be.

Your customers now expect to find at least some kind of visible, useful and relevant presence on YouTube or other video platforms. Many customers will go to YouTube as the first place they search for information,  making it a massive search engine in its own right, just like parent company, Google.

If you want to find out what affordable, online video could do to benefit your business, give me a call.

Is it news? Is it PR? No, it’s a flagrant shill by three ailing brands.

Schill-y Billys

Nobody wants to see a successful Microsoft Windows smart phone more than I do.

There are many reasons for this, but the simplest is financial.

My business is built and runs on Microsoft and a smart phone which synced seamlessly with that tech while also giving intuitive and simple access to the web and social media would be a boon.

I am about to start a month-long trial of a Windows phone and will be blogging about that, warts and all.

This week the launch of the new Nokia Lumia 800 phone with the Windows operating system has been a much-anticipated tech story – and it’s easy to see why.

it signals the first joint foray into smart phone market by two ailing giants  – Microsoft and Nokia – which once dominated their sectors, only to be rapidly eclipsed and roundly confounded by Apple and Google.

Be in no doubt, both are badly in need of a success story.

There may still be more Nokia phones on the planet than any other brand. But that is because its basic handsets are cheap and affordable in the developing world. In the developed world its  sales have gone off a cliff, with Apple, Android and Blackberry dominating the profitable smartphone market.

Meanwhile, Microsoft may still be raking in huge profits, but it is in danger of missing the mobile revolution in the same way it lost search to Google. PC sales are dwindling as customers move to mobile devices and despites its profits it is now dwarfed by arch-rival Apple and has so far failed to come up with a decent tablet PC.

Analysts and commentators say both Microsoft and Nokia may have left it too late to make a real impact on the smartphone market. They may be right. However, just five years ago neither the iPhone nor Android existed. They’ve had a meteoroic rise, so it should be possible for Windows and Nokia – with a good enough product, well enough marketed – to still become a player.

Positive PR around the joint Windows-Nokia phone launch is critical. So far the tech experts I follow have all praised the Windows operating system as being a pleasure to use, yet still distinct different from its rivals. Nokia’s reputation for excellent hardware means the quality of the device is almost a gimme.

What about word of mouth? The woman who provides IT support to us at Holyrood PR is not your typical geek and doesn’t fit the stereotype of sullen, malodorous, socially inept basement-dweller. She’s outgoing, glam and funny. She is also an Apple Mac aficionado. When discussing the new Windows phone she told me: “It’s supposed to be brilliant.”

In fact, everyone I’ve spoken to about the new Windows phone says something similar. The tech reviews and user comments have all been positive. The buzz in the early adopter community has been upbeat. All of this gives Microsoft-Nokia the right platform to build on.

Here’s the thing about PR success though – it is also known as ‘earned media’. This is because newspapers, bloggers and news sites are notoriously protective about what graces their pages.

You have to earn your way in – by being interesting, relevant or newsworthy. If you want a carefully varnished plug for your product, the way to do that is to pay for advertising.

No-one knows that better than the newspapers. You can pay for an advert which looks like a news story – but it will always say ‘advertorial’ or ‘advertising feature’ across the top.

As a former journalist I value that even our newspaper with virulent political agendas still draw the line at shameless product placement. I’m even prepared to look the other way when Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers plug his Sky TV shows – or when Daily Star and Daily Express owner Richard Desmond does the same to promote Channel 5.

So I was left speechless by this affront to journalism which appeared in Wednesday’s Daily Express. Knowing my interest in the subject my missus thoughtfully cut it out and kept it for me.

Read it and weep. I showed it to my business partner and he shook his head sadly and said he’d never – in 25 years – seen such a horrendous case of an advert masquerading as a bona fide news story. I have to agree.

Full page ad

I suspect it is not coincidence that the back page of that day’s Daily Express was taken up by … drum roll … a full page, colour ad for the Nokia Lumia 800 with Windows.

I don’t know which saddens me more about this horrible media Frankenstein.

That the once proud and mighty Express cheapens its legacy by plumbing such depths.

Or that the PR people with Microsoft-Nokia would tarnish genuine, positive ‘earned media’ success by grafting on this gratuitous and groveling promotion.

Whatever way you look at this, it treats the reader/consumer as  imbeciles, suggesting ordinary people are too stupid to see through a flagrant shill.

Maybe execs with  each of these three companies – all diminished giants in their chosen arenas – should consider that at the next crisis meeting to discuss why their brands seem to be on a relentless down slope.

A Peek Inside Googleplex 2 Tells us the Boss Loves Irn Bru

Google Boss Loves Irn Bru?

Trendy tech companies in Silicon Valley are renowned for their hip and funky office spaces.

Typically staff with the big players like Google, Facebook and Apple go to work in sprawling complexes where they are surrounded by artwork, fun stuff like  ping-pong tables and where colleagues zip around on roller blades, scooters or Segway machines.

Google in Mountain View, California was probably the biggest trendsetter. Staff perks at the ‘Googleplex’ include free access to fine dining, laundry services and on site hairdressers.

In the heady tech bubble in Silicon Valley, the plentiful and exciting new start ups seem just as often to be judged on how cool their offices are, as much as how useful their software or hardware is likely to be.

However, the grandaddy of office cool remains Google, which has managed to export its love of quirky, fun and colourful workspaces to its New York base, the search giant’s second biggest global office.

Tech-followers have been salivating over the latest picture from inside Googleplex 2 - which seems to include a passionate love affair with the multi coloured plastic building bricks from Danish toy mesiters, Lego.

What really caught my eye was the Lego portrait of Google Chairman, Eric Schmidt (see photo at the top of the page) who ran the company as CEO for 10 years, before passing over the reins to co-founder Larry Page earlier in 2011.

Schmidt was right here in Edinburgh during August, when he became the first person from non-traditional media to give the keynote speech at the Edinburgh International TV Festival, known as the MacTaggart Lecture after Scots TV producer James MacTaggart.

You can watch the speech on YouTube or read it at the Media Guardian among the huge selection of online coverage. From that commentary you can quickly tell that Schmidt talked about the UK education system, media regulation and the convergence of TV broadcasting and the internet.

What this wonderful Lego portrait tells me, though, is that  Schmidt’s Edinburgh visit must also have turned him on to Scotland’s ‘Other national drink’, Irn Bru, which must surely explain the use of ‘Phenomenal’.

The Irn Bru ‘Phenomenal’ campaign was the work of Scotland’s best-known ad people, the Leith Agency.

Funny thing about ad agencies is that they also favour funky offices populated by trendy young things is artfully-frayed street chic who play ping pong, adorn their walls with self-ironic artwork and spend their days admiring each other’s Apple  Mac products (at least, that’s what I imagine!).

Indeed, I blogged about the Leith Agency‘s nearest rival, Newhaven, way back in 2007 – and I suspect the two agencies spend considerable amounts of creative time and effort trying outdo each other on the ‘coolest offices’ front (maybe the Leith Agency could purchase the Lego portrait to steal a wee march on their rivals?).

Perhaps it’s a bit of whimsy on my part to imagine the smart and erudite Mr Schmidt developed a taste for Scotland’s favourite sugared water hangover cure during his whistlestop Scottish sojourn.

Whether or not Scotland’s orange coloured fizzy drink is available in Google’s near legendary canteens, the Google Offices seem pretty Phenomenal.

A social media SNAFU by Scottish Shopping Mall

As a dad took a photo of his daughter eating an ice cream in a Scottish shopping centre, little did he realise the social media snafu and #PRfail he was about to unleash

Chris White was accosted by security staff after photographing his five year old daughter in Braehead Shopping Centre, Glasgow.

The police were called and he was warned his actions fell under anti terrorism legislation.

He took to Facebook to complain about his treatment:

Boycott Braehead Boycott Braehead – Father confronted by police for taking a photo of his daughter in a shopping arcade – Description: Dear Evening Times Newsdesk Around 4pm this evening I took the attached photo of my 4 year old daughter looking cute on the back of a vespa seat at an ice cream bar inside Braehead shopping centre in the middle of a shopping trip.

Among the first mainstream media to pick up on the story were sister titles The Firm (legal magazine) and The Drum (marketing, advertising and digital communicatiion). Each published reports on Sunday, October 9.

News : Facebook campaign to boycott Braehead gains momentum as Terrorism Act cited against dad and 4 year old daughter : THE FIRM : SCOTLAND’S INDEPENDENT LAW JOURNAL A campaign to boycott the Braehead Shopping Centre on the outskirts of Glasgow has gained momentum over the weekend after an account of an incident in which the Terrorism Act was cited against a father who took a picture of his 4 year old daughter on a novelty motorbike was posted to Facebook on Saturday night.

Facebook campaign calls for boycott of Braehead Shopping centre over photography restrictions – News A social media campaign calling for people to boycott the Braehead Shopping Centre has begun to escalate, after its organiser was detained by security for taking a picture of his daughter.

Followed by STV news, which also published a story on its website on Sunday, October 9.

STV had been working on the story from the previous day, but took a clear editorial decision not to run the story until they had actually spoken to Mr White – the only reason they published slighly later than The Drum and The Firm:

Shopping centre guard calls police over father taking ‘illegal’ photographs of his daughter | Glasgow and West | STV News A father who was allegedly questioned under the Terrorism Act after taking photographs of his four-year-old daughter enjoying an ice cream at a shopping centre has demanded an apology from Strathclyde Police. Chris White claims a security guard told him that the pictures, taken at the Braehead centre near Glasgow on Friday afternoon, were "illegal".

As the incident gathered steam online, Braehead used its official Twitter Channel to help spread its reaction – with a promise to ‘set the record straight’.

“	Braehead would like to set the record straight on an incident involving a man taking photographs of a child in the mall http://bit.ly/pHSql5
	Braehead October 9, 2011

Judge for yourself whether the tone was right for social media – or any other media platform:

Braehead Shopping Centre Following various postings on social media websites and stories in the traditional media, Braehead would like to set the record straight on an incident involving a man taking photographs of a child in the centre, on Friday October 7.

“	RT @thelifecraft: The Boycott Braehead page now has nearly 2100 likers. Epic PR fail, @Braehead #BraeheadFail Do the right thing and apologise! Profusely!
	tartancat October 9, 2011

By Monday, October 10, a slew of other mainstream media picked up the story, including the Daily Record, the Scottish Sun – and most notably the mighty BBC:

Row over photo in shopping centre A Facebook campaign is calling for people to boycott a shopping centre after claims a man was questioned by police for taking photographs of his own four-year-old daughter. Chris White took a picture of Holly eating an ice cream in the Braehead shopping centre, near Glasgow.

Arount this time, a dedicated Twitter hashtag started to take off – #braehead fail – although it was started some time earlier on the weekend.

“	If you’re angry at this FB post about shocking treatment of a mum and young daughter at #Braehead today on.fb.me/pYwSBy pls RT #Braeheadfail
	tartancat October 8, 2011

“	Top read story at the moment I see. RT @virtualewit: I see #braehead #fail has made the BBC http://t.co/08ANfIR6
	ColinMackay October 10, 2011

Among the most active people criticising Braehead was communications specialist Michelle Rodger – who saw several of her Facebook comments removed from Braehead’s Facebook page (a real social media no-no):

“	@ScotExpress Sure. My tweet from yesterday: here’s my post yfrog.com/h8pxhcqj and then it vanished yfrog.com/h71y5wsj
	tartancat October 10, 2011

Luckily Michelle caught images of the comments on the site before and after they were deleted:

Now you see it:

yfrog Photo : http://yfrog.com/h8pxhcqj Shared by
Photo by yfrog.com on YFrog

Now you don’t!

yfrog Photo : http://yfrog.com/h71y5wsj Shared by
Photo by yfrog.com on YFrog

Michelle also shared details of other Facebook users who were blocked or deleted trying to express their displeasure at Brahead Shopping Centre

“	@ScotExpress Others experienced deleted FB posts – @stephenwill was actually blocked, @rachelhair said they were deleting every neg comment.
	tartancat October 10, 2011

On Monday morning the story became one of the main talking points on BBC Radio Scotland’s phone-in show – Call Kaye. One woman (around 53 minutes) told how her child was photographed/filmed by two strangers the day before the Chris White incident. There was no intervention by security staff.

Call Kaye: 10/10/2011 Kaye Adams brings a human touch to the stories making the news, seeking out the personal stories behind the headlines and inviting her listeners to help shape the agenda. Kaye Adams brings a human touch to the stories making the news, seeking out the personal stories behind the headlines and inviting her listeners to help shape the agenda.

At lunchtime I pitched in with my own blog take on this:

Braehead Row Puts Scotland on the Map for PR and Social Media Disasters Some people shouldn’t be let loose on PR and social media. Particularly during a crisis or a major reputational issue. Today giant Scottish retail outlet Braehead Shopping Centre finds itself at the centre of a damaging controversy. A father photographed his daughter eating ice cream and was accosted first by security staff and then by police.

And it wasn’t long before the satirical p***-taking started:

Scottish police praised after foiling Al Qaeda toddler ice-cream plot Strathclyde police have been praised by Government officials after foiling a plot by Al Qaeda terrorists to take photos of a three year-old eating ice-cream in Glasgow’s Braehead shopping centre. The plot, which detectives suspect might have been in the planning stages for up to eight minutes, would have seen a photo of the small child circulated to literally dozens of Facebook users.

One of the early movers on the story – The Firm online – revealed how it had covered a similar story a year earlier, with a different outcome.

“	@scottgdouglas The Firm broke a similar story last year. http://t.co/8hjATsUV
	TheFirmOnline October 10, 2011

“	@scottgdouglas Interestingly, in that case the shopping centre involved offered an apology. http://t.co/S8gawIz6
	TheFirmOnline October 10, 2011

Before 3pm on Monday the parodiy/satire was spreading, as the first spoof Twitter account appeared:

“	Young man subdued after loud bang heard in vicinity. Turned out to be bubblegum. #bettersafethansorry #braeheadfail
	MI5Braehead October 10, 2011

“	CODE BLUE – all agents to information stand, they are handing out MAPS that could be used by terrorists. #bettersafethansorry #braeheadfail
	MI5Braehead October 10, 2011

As well as the first tongue in cheek blogs:

Massive ice cream-related terror attack foiled in Glasgow shopping centre | BitterWallet The war against terror is a serious business and intelligence is one of our most powerful weapons. We need to be vigilant about any potential threat, no matter how small and insignificant it seems. You know, like little girls eating ice creams in shopping centres.

Meanwhile, more bloggers began to express their opinion on the matter:

WHY IS SORRY SO HARD TO SAY? A shopping centre’s worst nightmare is happening now live at Braehead. Over the weekend a man taking a photograph of his daughter on the mall was stopped by a security guard – the situation escalated and the police were called. The reason? You are not allowed to take photographs on the mall.

Now the story gets the gravitas treatment, as a blogger from the high brow Telegraph weighs in:

Family photos, paedophile scares and the Stasification of Britain — Telegraph Blogs No doubt you’re as shocked as I am by the story of the photographer in Scotland questioned by police after taking pictures of his 4-year old daughter eating ice-cream in a shopping mall: Staff at an ice cream stall in Braehead shopping centre, near Glasgow, became suspicious when they saw Chris White taking pictures of his four-year-old daughter Hazel with his mobile phone at around 4pm on Friday afternoon.

This blog has recorded that the number of Likes on the protest Facebook page have far exceeded the number on the official Braehead page:

A tale of two social media outcomes | Florizel Media Ltd I’ve seen two very different experiences of the power of social media this weekend. One I experienced personally and the other I’ve witnessed over several channels. The first took place in Notting Hill, London. I’d been down on a business trip and had some free time on Saturday morning before I took the plane home to Scotland.

Well known Scottish media trainer and crisis management specialist, Paul Murricane, blogs about the situation:

Take one customer, call him a pervert, then a terrorist. Result? Instant Hero. « Media Training | Realistic training courses from Media Mentor Today, Monday 10th October, started like any average Monday for the head of PR at Breahead Shopping Centre outside Glasgow. Dull. As I write this at 4 pm the sky is lit up, metaphorically, with the flames of a classic PR disaster highlighting the wreckage of their reputation.

Almost 48 hours after breaking, the story gets the BBC treatment again – this time on the 6pm news

“	Oh dear oh dear the @Braehead story made the BBC News at Six. Over 10,000 backing his Boycott Braehead group too.
	journodave October 10, 2011

“	Another 2,500 boycotting Braehead in the last hour. Now up to 13,500: very definition of a PR crisis. @Braehead
	TheFirmOnline October 10, 2011

It was only a matter of time before the inevitable apology (had this been issued 36 hours ago, might a lot of bad PR have been avoided?)

Braehead Shopping Centre We have listened to the very public debate surrounding our photography policy and as a result, with immediate effect, are changing the policy to allow family and friends to take photos in the mall. We will publicise this more clearly in the mall and on our website, and will reserve the right to challenge suspicious behaviour for the safety and enjoyment of our shoppers.

And here’s the resulting coverage – on both the BBC and STV:

Photo row centre issues apology The shopping centre which called in the police after a man took photographs of his daughter eating an ice cream has apologised for any distress caused. Braehead Shopping Centre, near Glasgow, also said it was changing its policy on photography. In future, it will not try to prevent family and friends taking pictures of each other in the mall.

The dad at the centre of the entire row is still pretty fed up and says: “we’ve lost all perspective on common sense”:

Braehead apologises to father at centre of ice-cream storm | Glasgow and West | STV News The shopping centre near Glasgow says it has changed its policies to allow photographs of friends and family. Braehead Shopping Centre has issued an apology to a father who was asked to leave its premises for taking photographs of his four-year-old daughter.

The story even made Newsnight Scotland – the BBC’s flagship, show for heavyweight analysis of the day’s biggest news stories.

If you have access to the BBC iPlayer, you can watch the report here (from 10 mins 35 secs):

Newsnight Scotland: 10/10/2011 Comprehensive coverage of the day’s important national and international news stories presented by Glenn Campbell. Comprehensive coverage of the day’s important national and international news stories presented by Glenn Campbell.

At this point the story was also being talked about by communications professionals globally as an example of a public relations and social media misfire, including this article on the PR Daily

Father-daughter ice cream date ignites a social media firestorm | Articles Facebook has turned Chris White into a folk hero and vilified the Braehead Shopping Centre in Glasgow, Scotland.

A report about the Brahead situation also featured on the highly-respected podcast, For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report.

This weekly podcast looks at the biggest communications and PR stories from across the world.

You can listen to the Braehead section in Episode 620 (from 48 mins 15 secs):

For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report Content summary: New FIR content posted: Speakers & Speeches Google+ Hangout panel discussion with Chip Griffin and Jennifer Wah on Steve Jobs and Apple, Speakers & Speeches with Shel on content curation, FIR Interview with SunLife of Canada’s Darin Diehl is up, FIR Video Interview with Toby Ward on IABC intranet study is up; no report this week from Michael Netzley in Singapore; News That Fits: posting your own terms of service on Facebook; Dan York reports on Apple announcements and Steve …

By this point, moving into Tuesday, October 11, international news organisations began to pick up the story. Here are a few examples, including Fox News in the US:

Mall apologises for ‘no photo’ policy after scrutiny Published: 7:44AM Tuesday October 11, 2011 Source: ONE News Copyright © 2011, Television New Zealand Limited. Breaking and Daily News, Sport & Weather | TV ONE, TV2 | Ondemand It appears that public outrage has forced a mall to apologise to a Scottish man who was reprimanded for taking a photo of his daughter in the shopping centre.

UK man harrased at Braehead Shopping Centre questioned under ‘anti-terror’ laws by police A FATHER was harassed by police and a security guard under "anti-terror legislation" after taking pictures of his own child.

Dad Taking Pics of Daughter in Mall a Terror Threat? A father taking pictures of his daughter at a shopping center near Glasgow, Scotland, says he was banned from the mall and threatened with having his camera phone confiscated in the interest of preventing terrorism when he refused to delete the photos.

As the heat began to die out of the issue, The Drum (one of the publications which first broke the story) helpfully published a series of tips on crisis management for the management at Braehead Shopping Centre

10 crisis PR tips following Braehead Shopping Centre social media boycott campaign | The Drum Much has been written, blogged, tweeted, broadcast and picked through about this weekend’s explosion of publicity at Braehead. There are lots of complex points but for me, the main leaning points are simple and the crisis could have been averted before it made the local paper, never mind social media commentators in the Southern hemisphere.

To rub salt into the PR wounds, The Independent’s diary section points out that Brahead Shopping Centre is supported by four PR agencies and asks: “What were they all doing?”

Business Diary: Drinking with the sharks We’re big fans here of BrewDog, the Scottish brewer with an eye for a marketing gimmick (it recently sold shares in itself to its customers). Still, is Sunk Punk, its latest new brew, just a gimmick too far?

Police say Braehead photo row father complaint ‘has no basis’ | Glasgow and West | STV News Police have taken the unusual step of issuing a public denial of accusations made by a father who claimed he had been questioned for taking pictures of his young daughter at a shopping mall. Chris White said police interviewed him at Braehead Shopping Centre near Glasgow because they thought he may have posed a danger to children.

Mr White responded to the police statment by claiming the force is conducting a smear campaign against him and promising to sue.

Photo row father to sue police Chris White last night vowed to sue Strathclyde Police A FATHER at the centre of a row over taking a picture of his daughter at a shopping centre is to take legal action against Scotland’s largest police force.

Braehead Row Puts Scotland on the Map for PR and Social Media Disasters

Facebook Campaign

Some people shouldn’t be let loose on PR and social media. Particularly during a crisis or a major reputational issue.

Today giant Scottish retail outlet Braehead Shopping Centre finds itself at the centre of a damaging controversy. A father photographed his daughter eating ice cream and was accosted first by security staff and then by police.

Tracking the fallout from this has been an exercise in watching, incredulous, between fingers (I started a Storify link here). Poor judgment was compounded by heavy-handed authority, institutional arrogance and stone age customer relations. A toxic blend.

A lack of understating of digital and social media created a bone try tinder mix, so that all it took was a relatively minor flashpoint to set it smouldering.

But it was breathtaking PR naivety and crisis comms ineptitude  which acted as the most powerful accelerant  and turned this into a genuinely incendiary situation.

Read this response from Braehead Shopping Centre, issued as the commentary started to gather pace. This served solely to worsen the situation in every possible way:

Where did it all go wrong?
The photograph which sparked this incident looks for all the world like exactly the kind of happy family image any shopping centre would be thrilled to see associated with its name.
It is – or at least should be – a positive by-product of a world where there’s a camera in every pocket, a publishing platform on every mobile phone and 800 million souls with a penchant for sharing their lives publicly.
So how come when Chris White, 45, caught this happy snap of his daughter he unwittingly set in motion a personal ordeal, a public campaign - and a PR disaster?
First he was detained by security staff and made to feel like a pervert. Next he was questioned by police and made to feel like a terrorist. Thirdly he was interviewed by traditional media and portrayed as a victim. Now he is being championed by social media and becoming a cause celebre.

Blocking isn’t the answer.
This all starts with Braehead’s blanket ban on photography: a red flag if ever one was needed that this is an organisation failing to grasp the modern, connected and untethered world.
Photography does not belong to terrorists and paedophiles.
Even the most basic, dumb, feature phones come with powerful cameras which allow virtually anyone to take pictures virtually anywhere. And people do.
So Braehead’s ‘no photography’ policy ends up being exposed for exactly what it is. A heavy-handed, over officious exercise in what the Americans call CYA – cover your ass.
In its statement Braehead claims to use ‘discretion’ when dealing with photography.
So how does that square with a blanket ban?
It doesn’t. In fact, a blanket policy banning photography means the starting point in Braehead is that ALL photography is dodgy.
Understandably then that security staff end up confused and behaving in such an overbearing way.
From a PR perspective the Braehead shopping centre also poured petrol on the flames when its staff started deleting angry Facebook comments from customers.
This isn’t just blocking – it is an exercise in hamfisted censorship which shows an utter lack of transparency and a contempt for customers.
In the past three years there have been dozens of examples of brands making such ill-advised attempts at ‘moderation’ only to end up with their reputation in flames.
I don’t know if the centre management had bad advice from their PR people – or simply rode roughshod over good advice.
Either way it was a catastrophic PR fail.

Shopping is intrinsically a social past time.
Braehead’s photography ban seems even more ludicrous in light of this.
Fashionistas are urged to try on clothes then send photos to each other for opinions.
Brands on Facebook urge customers to share images of their latest purchases.
Smartphone scanners encourage shoppers to snap product barcodes to compare prices online.
Location services like Foursquare encourage shoppers to ‘check in’ at their favourite outlets to earn rewards (and yes, to upload pictures).
Beyond the marketing, there are simple, shared human moments.
One of the most popular shops in Braehead is its Apple store. The iPhones, iPod touches and iPads flying off its shelves are built to let people share photographs anywhere, anytime, just like the image of wee Hazel White grinning over a spoonful of shopping centre ice-cream.
How is it possible that a centre dedicated to promoting around 100 retail brands could so singularly fail to grasp this is now the era of the social shopper?

A Social customer is a vocal customer
While being questioned by police and security staff, Chris White insists he made it clear his photographs had already been uploaded to Facebook.
Whether he did or did not may be disputed by those other parties.
What is beyond doubt is that within hours Mr White had most definitely taken his complaints to Facebook, setting up a Boycott Braehead page.
No brand or business should have a gun put to their head just because a disgruntled customer can now take to social media.
However, there is a fine line to be walked. The simple reality is that customers most active on social media are more likely to be more vocal – and more influential.
This isn’t rocket science.
In every area of life we see examples of ‘Pareto’s Law’.
Simple reality is that you do have to treat the noisiest customers with a bit more care and attention.
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that had this been handled with more care, understanding and tact, Chris White would actually be online commending the staff at Braehead.

Don’t turn a drama into a crisis.
I understand there are still people in PR getting to grips with social media: how fast it moves; how unpredictable it  can be.
I understand it can seem terrifying; how unbiddable social media is; how it fails to follow the same rules of influence as the traditional media which used to be all we had to work with.
So I can still sympathise  (to an extent) when PR people are caught out by social media. Like so many industries we are playing catch up.
However this story quickly made it into mainstream media – and at that point, with negative coverage both on and offline, it should have been moved onto a crisis footing. Immediately.
That should have meant:

• Acknowledging the public disquiet (we hear your comments which are overwhelming negative – so we’re taking a look at all our policies and procedures)
• Apologising to Mr White (we’re sorry that in this instance our efforts to safeguard children resulted in distress being caused to father and daughter)
• Moving on positively (we are going to work with police and child protection specialists to work out better ways of doing things)

Instead Braehead issued one of the worst responses to an incident I can recall. It manages to be patronising, badly written, contradictory and inflammatory all at once – giving the whole crisis fresh impetus and winding up more and more  people.
As the old  Legal & General adverts would’ve put it – Braehead managed to turn a minor drama into a full-blooded crisis.

For the past two years I’ve collected PR and social media snafus, from the likes of Nestle, Urban Outfitters and Kenneth Cole. It’s a shame Scotland now has a bona fide example of its own.

The Killing, The Filling and Top PR Billing.

Danish TV thriller, The Killing

Television doesn’t get much better than 20-episode Danish crime drama Forbrydelsen, which aired in the UK earlier this year as The Killing.

I don’t say this lightly, since normally I can hardly bear to watch anything with subtitles and the vast majority of TV cop, crime and whodunnit shows leave me cold. But this was different.

• No clichéd, maverick detectives with tragic love lives or alcohol problems
• No credulity-defying plot twists involving unlikely, unrealistic villains.
• No ludicrously advanced science labs or intuitively-gifted detectives with Sherlockian powers of deduction.
• No glamorised serial killers or faceless and instantly forgettable victims.
• No explosions, car chases, gunfights, impossible stunts or other Hollywood fripperies.

What Forbrydelsen/The Killing offered in spades was believable characters, superb dialogue and a tight, relentless plot showing normal cops doing realistic spadework.

The murder investigation plays out against the parallel and intertwined stories of a knife-edge political battle and the unravelling of the victim’s grief-stricken family.

The show, quite simply, is superb. So I was both cautious and curious when I learned it was being remade in the US.

This week I started watching the new, all-American version of The Killing. While I feared the worst, the Seattle-based remake is also shaping up to be brilliant.

Outright copies rarely win admirers. But remakes like The Killing, which take an impressive original and refashion it with the right amount of reverence and a dash of difference, can be a hit in their own right.

Of course, there are also times when reworkings or retreads of a previously successful formula are ill-advised.  No-one has successfully repeated the now-legendary Old Spice advertising campaign which spanned television, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, winning global praise and admiration in the process.

It was such an innovative outlier it’s likely to be some time before another brand will have the bravery, panache and opportunity to produce something similar-yet-different enough to be a success.

This week I also witnessed an example of inspirational PR ‘repurposing’ courtesy of Craig McGill of social media agency, Contently Managed.

On Tuesday I recorded a Skype chat with Craig for my weekly Quiet News Day podcast (find it on iTunes or via your PC). Top of our agenda was the buffoon who tried to splat a foam pie into the face of Rupert Murdoch during a parliamentary hearing.

On Wednesday Craig was presenting at an all day conference called Twitter in Scotland. At the last minute, one of the speakers pulled out and Craig gamely stepped in to present someone else’s material.

That’s a big ask at the best of times, but more so when the subject matter is one of the most contentious in social media: measuring and evaluating return on investment (ROI).

Part way through his presentation, Craig pulled a master stroke. Shortly before taking the stage he had secretly used Twitter to liaise with one of his clients, the Illegal Jacks restaurant in Edinburgh, to arrange a delivery of food to the venue.

The timing was perfect as Craig’s presentation neared its end Jack and one of his team arrived laden with bags of burritos, chilli and other goodies, perfectly demonstrating smart use of Twitter.

What’s more, Jack was then able to hold the floor while he explained exactly how he measured ROI for his business:  at any given time a THIRD of his customers are from the loyal and passionate fan base he has built on Twitter

Effectively Jack provided the filling for the event – figuratively as an emblematic example of real social media ROI and literally as the huge spread of food he provided for free was quickly demolished by the delighted delegates

But the real kudos goes to Mr McGill. When he’d waxed lyrical about the events in parliament and the likely repercussions for the media and lessons for PR people, he was actually planning a wee remake of his own.

Shortly after Jack’s arrival sent the 50 delegates at the Twitter in Scotland conference into a whirl, the bold McGill winked at me and grinned: “That’s my Murdoch pie moment.”

Pure genius – and one of the reasons Craig  always enjoy top PR billing.

If Something Seems to Good to Be True, It’s Probably Not True. So What About Groupon?

Groupon: Runaway Success

Just a few short months ago the online discount service Groupon famously turned down an offer from Google.

The news raised more than a few eyebrows because of the amount of money the search giant offered to acquire the online group coupon service – a mind-boggling  $6 billion. Yes, that’s billion. With a B.

If you don’t already know what Groupon is, it works like this:

1 – A business offers a deal for its products or services with at least 50% off (thought discounts can be up to 90%).

2 – Groupon sends the offer round its database of users and they are asked to share it widely on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

3 – The business sets the number of customers needed to make the deal worthwhile for it – and the offer is only valid when that number is reached.

4 – Bargain hunters flock to your store/restaurant/business in an intensive, short period to redeem their vouchers.

The service so far is an astonishingly successful, runaway success story.

Baby faced boss man Andrew Stone decided not to check out with a hefty chunk of Google change in his hipper. Which suggests  he is super confident the service has a long-term future.

Perhaps unsurprising, since Groupon had revenues of $760 million in 2010; it’s headed for $4 billion in revenues this year; and has 70 million global subscribers.

The latest news on Groupon is that it is going to float on the US stockmarket – what is referred to in the states as an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Bloomberg has reported Groupon is speaking to bankers about an IPO valuation of $25 billion (yes, the B-word again). That’s higher than the $23 billion Google achieved when it  went through an IPO and became a publicly traded company, subject to market regulation.

On a recent episode of This Week In Tech podcast, online luminary Jeff Jarvis asked a live crowd of tech lovers at The South by South West event: “How many of you use Groupon?”

His question was met with silence and Jarvis added: “Then why is it so big? I don’t get it.”

I share his bafflement. I struggle to understand how businesses can sell product at a fraction of the usual price and from what little money they take, then have to pay Groupon.

I also have doubts about how many of those bargain-hunters will convert to long-term customers.

When news of the Groupon IPO broke I put a question out on LinkedIn asking if other people shared my suspicion that it was grossly over-valued and likely to pop. Turns out quite a few long term web watchers and smart people whose opinion I value are equally bemused by Groupon’s success.

Maybe we have a shared cyncisim? Certainly I’ve always adhered to the view that if something appears too good to be true, then it almost certainly isn’t true.

I can’t shake that feeling about Groupon – but then, I’ve never used it, either as a business or a customer.

So I’d love to hear from companies or businesses which have used the service repeatedly and found it a great way to  build a new, engaged and loyal customer base.

Likewise I’d be keen to hear from any business owner or operator who has used Groupon – and definitely won’t be hurrying back to use it again.

If you have any thoughts or experiences to share, the comment section below awaits you!

Space Junk, Defensive Laser Strikes and Conspiracy Theories

Picture: ESA (European Space Agency)

It’s been a bit of a space-fest at Douglas Towers recently.

Mostly because my daughter  is learning about planets and the solar system at school this term. Other parent will knows how such projects (Romans, Vikings etc) play a major role in family life.

So with my telescope firmly trained on the virtual heavens, a couple of stories have leapt out at me during my scan across the constellations of content out there.

These three I thought worth sharing:

ONE – Wired has reported  (http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-03/16/space-junk-lasers) how NASA is poised to become the garbage crew of low earth orbit – deploying suitably hi-tech methods to rid near space of manmade rubbish.

Not content with polluting the planet itself, we are now creating a hazardous ring of waste in the near space just beyond our atmosphere.

Bits of broken satellite, tools discarded or dropped by spacewalking astronauts and thebooster rockets and other stuff which is ejected while spacecraft are being propelled into orbit. The image you see here is from the European Space Agency which is working with NASA to map every piece of space debris.

All of this garbage is forming an increasingly dense and dangerous junk belt around the planet. It poses an ever growing risk to future space flight and a threat to the communications satellites we rely on for everything from mobile phones and TV shows to sat-nav and web access.

Now NASA is considering employing lasers. Not to blast the garbage out of existence, but to  gently nudge it farther away from our dear ‘Blue Marble’.

Once any piece of space junk is pushed out of the way, it is less likely to ever collide with other space junk – the main reason the amount of dangerous debris is multiplying at an alarming rate.

TWO – Talking of garbage, pollutants and unsavoury junk swilling about where it is unwanted but where nobody is really sure what to do with it – let’s move over to the reader comments section of The Scotsman.

Sadly what could and should be a forum for informed and reasoned debate has been turned into juvenile place for the exchange of playground insults. These mostly seem to be traded by Labour and SNP policy wonks.

However, alongside the cringeworthy peacocking of the politicos, you can occasionally find musings of the harmlessly obsessed or deluded. I reckon this next sites falls pretty much into that category.

I found this link (http://sites.google.com/site/raisdebris/) while following a reader comment thread on a Scotsman story about the escalating nuclear disaster in Japan.

What is clear is that commenter (and the man behind this website),  John Hall has spent an awful lot of time worrying about space debris. His comment on The Scotsman site suggested the Japanese quake may have been triggered by falling space debris. No. Really. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he doesn’t really believe that and he was exaggerating for linkbaiting effect

He also seems to suggest a possible link between falling space junk and the Lockerbie disaster and, as he puts it, he is: “convinced that space debris has impacted our planet far more times than both the scientists and authorities care to disclose.”

Indeed, his site includes plentiful links to stories suggesting space junk is the cause of many worldy woes – from inexplicable fires to irradiated sheep. While Mr Hall may be a tad obsessive about the subject, he is fastidious in pointing out that his particular conspiracy theory has nothing to do with aliens or little green men.

THREE – He should try telling that to Radivoje Lajic who has his own X Files-style explanation for why  his home in Bosnia has been hit six times by falling meteors – all confirmed as space rock by Belgrade University.

This brilliant story (http://www.europics.at/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=47880) is from my NAPA colleague Michael Leidig and his team at the Central European News agency.

Radivoje believes the hits on his home (which only happen when it is raining) are the work of aliens who have got it in for him.

Aw bless. With that kind of nutty thinking and outspoken attitude, he should get himself straight over to The Scotsman reader comments section. I’m sure he’ll be made very welcome.

The Ancient and Noble Art of PR – It’s In My Genes!

 

Heart crest of the Douglas clan

I’ve just discovered that public relations is in my genes.

 

Who told me so? None other than the BBC, in the shape of Paul Murton who presents the excellent series, Scotland’s Clans.

Turns out the Douglas name was a byword for PR excellence as far back as 1329 when legendary Scottish warlord King Robert the Bruce died and asked for his heart to be taken into battle as part of the Crusades.

The Bruce’s right hand man was Sir James Douglas, who was known as either the Good Sir James or the Black Douglas after making a name for himself during the wars of independence with England.

A great national Scottish hero, Sir James was knighted on the field of Scotland’s greatest every victory over the English at Bannockburn.

The PR credentials of the Douglas clan were assured when Sir James agreed to take The Bruce’s heart – sealed in a silver and enamelled casket and worn round his neck – into battle against the Muslims occupying the Holy Land.

THE REST OF THIS POST CAN BE READ AT THE HOLYROOD PR BLOG, HP SAUCE

It’s all PR Isn’t It? Or what public relations and PageRank can teach each other.

G is For Google. What does PR stand for?

For my money PR professionals – certainly in Scotland – haven’t paid anywhere near enough attention to search engine optimisation.

Known as SEO, this is the “dark art” of ensuring a website ranks well on a series of key words.

For most people ‘search engine’ actually means ‘Google’. And ‘ranking well’ means that when they type something into the search box and hit return, they will only look a the first page of returns. In fact  in most case only at the top two or three results.

What’s that got to do with PR? Well for most public relations professionals, very little.

The focus of PR work is still dominated by earning client coverage in traditional media. Increasingly it may also include a social media element, via Facebook or Twitter – and those remain the focus at my own PR agency in Scotland. Holyrood Partnership.

In my experience only a handful of PR people really  understand how to build SEO benefits into media coverage and into social media activity.

Shame really, because while it may not be as shiny and exciting as Twitter, a basic grasp of SEO principles can really impress potential clients and deliver tangible results.

With that in mind, I’d guess that most people working in public relations in Scotland would look at me blankly if was to tell them that PR is also a common abbreviation for PageRank. Few, I’d wager would be able to readily explain PageRank, or its importance in today’s internet.