Comments on: PR, Soc Med, the SME and ethical conflicts http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/ innovative communication for innovative communicators Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:39:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Lee Hopkins http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-7315 Lee Hopkins Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:58:38 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-7315 I agree with you, Robin, about ghost speaking on behalf of individuals, but in my experience having the company's PR agency speak on behalf of the company leads to delays that are no longer acceptable, as well as too many 'I don't know the answer, I'll have to get back to you' responses. I agree with you, Robin, about ghost speaking on behalf of individuals, but in my experience having the company’s PR agency speak on behalf of the company leads to delays that are no longer acceptable, as well as too many ‘I don’t know the answer, I’ll have to get back to you’ responses.

]]> By: Robin Dally http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-7312 Robin Dally Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:26:00 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-7312 I don't believe we should be speaking on our clients behalf if they are an individual. Not without it being very clear that we are speaking on their behalf. Speaking on behalf of a Brand, as a paid representative of that brand is different. I don’t believe we should be speaking on our clients behalf if they are an individual. Not without it being very clear that we are speaking on their behalf. Speaking on behalf of a Brand, as a paid representative of that brand is different.

]]> By: Creative Concepts - Goldilocks and the 3 Social Media Strategies http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-3614 Creative Concepts - Goldilocks and the 3 Social Media Strategies Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:06:36 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-3614 [...] agency should (or even can) manage the social media efforts for a client’s company.  Debates abound over efficiency, ethics, customer service and business strategy.  To us, the answers are simple: [...] [...] agency should (or even can) manage the social media efforts for a client’s company.  Debates abound over efficiency, ethics, customer service and business strategy.  To us, the answers are simple: [...]

]]> By: David Jones http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-3571 David Jones Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:31:10 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-3571 I'm not funding squat. Dominoes is still in business. Dell is still in business. American Airlines is still in business. Sony, Wal-mart, JetBlue, Motrin...you get the idea. Bad online coverage hasn't had a tangible effect on any of these poster children so far. Maybe some reputational damage in the short term, but nothing that has hurt the bottom line. Consumers as a whole aren't paying as close attention to what brands are doing or having done to them online. I'm sure if you asked, they'd say they prefer actual company people, but in reality they just want honesty and credibility. I’m not funding squat.
Dominoes is still in business. Dell is still in business. American Airlines is still in business. Sony, Wal-mart, JetBlue, Motrin…you get the idea.

Bad online coverage hasn’t had a tangible effect on any of these poster children so far. Maybe some reputational damage in the short term, but nothing that has hurt the bottom line.

Consumers as a whole aren’t paying as close attention to what brands are doing or having done to them online. I’m sure if you asked, they’d say they prefer actual company people, but in reality they just want honesty and credibility.

]]> By: Dave Jones http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-6985 Dave Jones Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:31:00 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-6985 I'm not funding squat. Dominoes is still in business. Dell is still in business. American Airlines is still in business. Sony, Wal-mart, JetBlue, Motrin...you get the idea. Bad online coverage hasn't had a tangible effect on any of these poster children so far. Maybe some reputational damage in the short term, but nothing that has hurt the bottom line. Consumers as a whole aren't paying as close attention to what brands are doing or having done to them online. I'm sure if you asked, they'd say they prefer actual company people, but in reality they just want honesty and credibility. I’m not funding squat.
Dominoes is still in business. Dell is still in business. American Airlines is still in business. Sony, Wal-mart, JetBlue, Motrin…you get the idea.

Bad online coverage hasn’t had a tangible effect on any of these poster children so far. Maybe some reputational damage in the short term, but nothing that has hurt the bottom line.

Consumers as a whole aren’t paying as close attention to what brands are doing or having done to them online. I’m sure if you asked, they’d say they prefer actual company people, but in reality they just want honesty and credibility.

]]> By: Dave Jones http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-6986 Dave Jones Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:31:00 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-6986 I'm not funding squat. Dominoes is still in business. Dell is still in business. American Airlines is still in business. Sony, Wal-mart, JetBlue, Motrin...you get the idea. Bad online coverage hasn't had a tangible effect on any of these poster children so far. Maybe some reputational damage in the short term, but nothing that has hurt the bottom line. Consumers as a whole aren't paying as close attention to what brands are doing or having done to them online. I'm sure if you asked, they'd say they prefer actual company people, but in reality they just want honesty and credibility. I’m not funding squat.
Dominoes is still in business. Dell is still in business. American Airlines is still in business. Sony, Wal-mart, JetBlue, Motrin…you get the idea.

Bad online coverage hasn’t had a tangible effect on any of these poster children so far. Maybe some reputational damage in the short term, but nothing that has hurt the bottom line.

Consumers as a whole aren’t paying as close attention to what brands are doing or having done to them online. I’m sure if you asked, they’d say they prefer actual company people, but in reality they just want honesty and credibility.

]]> By: Lee Hopkins http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-3554 Lee Hopkins Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:44:46 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-3554 I wonder what the sentiments - unconscious, even - of the consumers of such messages from agency staff are. I'm not aware of any behavioural research into whether that 'one level removed' effects buyer behaviour over the mid-long term. Fancy funding some research, Dr Jones? I wonder what the sentiments – unconscious, even – of the consumers of such messages from agency staff are. I’m not aware of any behavioural research into whether that ‘one level removed’ effects buyer behaviour over the mid-long term. Fancy funding some research, Dr Jones?

]]> By: Lee Hopkins http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-6983 Lee Hopkins Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:44:00 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-6983 I wonder what the sentiments - unconscious, even - of the consumers of such messages from agency staff are. I'm not aware of any behavioural research into whether that 'one level removed' effects buyer behaviour over the mid-long term. Fancy funding some research, Dr Jones? I wonder what the sentiments – unconscious, even – of the consumers of such messages from agency staff are. I’m not aware of any behavioural research into whether that ‘one level removed’ effects buyer behaviour over the mid-long term. Fancy funding some research, Dr Jones?

]]> By: Lee Hopkins http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-6984 Lee Hopkins Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:44:00 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-6984 I wonder what the sentiments - unconscious, even - of the consumers of such messages from agency staff are. I'm not aware of any behavioural research into whether that 'one level removed' effects buyer behaviour over the mid-long term. Fancy funding some research, Dr Jones? I wonder what the sentiments – unconscious, even – of the consumers of such messages from agency staff are. I’m not aware of any behavioural research into whether that ‘one level removed’ effects buyer behaviour over the mid-long term. Fancy funding some research, Dr Jones?

]]> By: Lukas Picton http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/comment-page-1/#comment-3477 Lukas Picton Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:37:13 +0000 http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/09/29/pr-soc-med-the-sme-and-ethical-conflicts/#comment-3477 Hi there Lee, Good post! Definitely something that I know many PR folk have encountered, including myself. I'm not going to repeat the former statements of some of my peers here except to say that it's good to see social media 'best practice' permeating both agency and in-house roles. From our (Text 100's) perspective, we would always encourage someone client side to be the person engaging in these conversations. And we've found that this doesn't necessarily have to be someone in senior management. Sometimes the best person to be out there commenting on forums or on Twitter is one of the geeky product guys who is incredibly well educated on the specs of the product/gadget/software/service etc but is usually engaged in social media already. When this simply isn't possible, as your problem suggests, then the agency must take on this role in an authentic and transparent fashion. We frequently outreach on behalf of our clients but always preface our communication by clearly indicating where we are from and who we are representing. In my experience, this can sometimes work better in some situations. If the agency is actively involved in these online discussions, can identify, act on and resolve a problem in a timely fashion it's my experience that this can be done quicker than alerting the client social media spokesperson and having them jump into the conversation. Either way it all comes down to authenticity, both on the client and agency side :-) L. .-= Lukas Picton´s last blog ..<a href="http://text100sydney.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/text-100-wins-pria-award/" rel="nofollow">Text 100 wins PRIA award!</a> =-. Hi there Lee,

Good post! Definitely something that I know many PR folk have encountered, including myself. I’m not going to repeat the former statements of some of my peers here except to say that it’s good to see social media ‘best practice’ permeating both agency and in-house roles.

From our (Text 100′s) perspective, we would always encourage someone client side to be the person engaging in these conversations. And we’ve found that this doesn’t necessarily have to be someone in senior management. Sometimes the best person to be out there commenting on forums or on Twitter is one of the geeky product guys who is incredibly well educated on the specs of the product/gadget/software/service etc but is usually engaged in social media already.

When this simply isn’t possible, as your problem suggests, then the agency must take on this role in an authentic and transparent fashion. We frequently outreach on behalf of our clients but always preface our communication by clearly indicating where we are from and who we are representing.

In my experience, this can sometimes work better in some situations. If the agency is actively involved in these online discussions, can identify, act on and resolve a problem in a timely fashion it’s my experience that this can be done quicker than alerting the client social media spokesperson and having them jump into the conversation.

Either way it all comes down to authenticity, both on the client and agency side :-)

L.
.-= Lukas Picton´s last blog ..Text 100 wins PRIA award! =-.

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