Only five percent think it’s relevant to their business

Gerry has teased out the precise comments I get from propestive clients testing out the noton of entering the social media space. I am learning to tailor my arguments against these notions and sometimes but not always succed in geting through, often I get a headache wondering why they find it so hard. Just have to keep on chipping!!

Mark Bradley, APTUS Strategy

Luckily the blogosphere is about dialog and conversation!!! Thanks for acknowledging that we do get this stuff but a couple of points…..first off the new web site goes live in August….thank goodness…..we’ll be looking forward to your feedback/ criticism

You call into question our web 2.0 credibility here in Asia/Oz so wanted to give you some stats that hopefully show that we don’t just talk about this stuff – we get it and we are doing it locally. Approx 25 per cent of Texties across APAC have their own blogs and most of us are reading and participating in blogs daily (does Perez Hilton count?). All of us have Facebook profiles here in Oz and I estimate more than 80% of us globally do.

We also think we are doing some cool work with clients here in Oz, including blogging projects with Symantec and Adobe, we have used a blog to manage a crisis issue with our pro bono client – White Ribbon Campaign and are incorporating Youtube, Facebook, search engine optimisation techniques, social media releases and a wide range of other peer media tools and tactics throughout our client campaigns. Working with social media is now embedded and integrated with traditional media as part of all our campaigns where it adds value. Be happy to fill you in on these campaigns next time you are in Sydney or on Facebook 

G’day Mark — thanks for continuing to chip away, chap!

And a very large welcome to the wonderful Antonia — I figured if I baited you hard enough you’d come in and bite!

I’d LOVE to showcase what you guys are doing, both for yourselves and your clients!! Give me details and I’ll make a showpiece of it on this blog.

Bit disappointed to read, though, that despite the furious blogging of the APAC staff there’s no links to them from the main website, or even the corp blog (where it is best they blogged, after all!) And you’ve been teasing me about this new website for AGES now!! Come on, let me in for a sneak peak — I won’t tell, honest! {grin}

But my point still stands about the rest of the mottly bunch of stragglers that pass themselves off as major PR agencies in Shanty Town; sorry, that should read ‘Sydney Town’. Where are they? What have they been up to? Is that Nero I hear tuning up his fiddle in the background?

Hi Lee,

Couldn’t agree with your more about Australian prs still not getting it. You might recall my piece about this in March during the Ad:Tech Conference:

http://www.digitalministry.com.au/component/option,com_myblog/Itemid,41/show,Brand-marketers-still-looking-for-digital-marketing-solutions.html/

As one of the few Aussie PRs in the social media space (with clients in wine, entertainment and travel) we would be happy to talk to you about our experiences.

Cheers,

Interestingly, I had an email from Anthony Hasluck, the head of Perth PR agency Clarity Communications (a client of mine) about this issue and he says that his team are flat out talking about web2.0 to their clients and all of the clients are very interested.

Anthony makes some very salient points and I’m going to ask him if it’s okay to repost his email to this blog (I’ll make a new post to encourage conversation).

In light of the private emails I’ve had about this, I reckon that some of the PR industry’s own inhabitants need to be better at promoting themselves and their agencies.

As I have replied to a number of them, I am VERY happy to promote what they are doing for their clients — it all helps us get a far more accurate picture of what ‘the state of web2.0 play’ is in this much-loved wide brown land of ours.