PR FROM THE BEACH

Heartbreak and horror that should never have happened

The utter heartbreak and horror of this week's tragedy at Grenfell Tower in London beggars belief. This should never, ever have happened. We live in a world where buildings can and must be safe, fires can be contained and danger properly averted. It should not have been possible for such a fire to rage through a newly refurbished building. Residents should not have been told to ‘stay put’ in the event of fire - what incompetence led to that instruction? And laws governing basic building and fire safety should have been passed - and enforced - years ago.

On the slaying of dragons and Brexit's headless chickens

In business, we have a wealth of information available to us on leadership. From Harvard to Oxford there are tomes filled with guidance designed to develop those in leadership positions. Yet here we are. Brexit vote complete and a whole country is now 'steered' by a coop of headless chickens.

At a time when true leadership is vital, the UK parliament is peopled with buffoons and xenophobes fighting like rats in a sack for power and position rather than turning their attention to their job of serving the country and the people they represent. Cameron's last act - putting everything into a holding pattern and neatly avoiding triggering Article 50 - was probably the only thing he could do the morning after the results came through.

Wouldn't it have been tremendous if, at that point, his colleagues turned their attention to the good of the people, rather than immersing themselves in the machinations of a leadership battle, leaving the populace facing the ineptitude of  jumped-up journalist Johnson and the glacial Gove. As for the spectacle of Farage speaking at the EU Parliament - once again I had to step away from the keyboard for a while so as to not write in anger.  His behaviour, demeanour and words were utterly shameful and, wittingly, unwittingly or simply half-wittedly, echoing an infamous phrase attributed to Adolf Hitler.

The 'Leave' campaign presented the UK with a dragon. The beast was supposedly responsible for all the ills of the country and the suffering of the people and, once slain, all would be well in the kingdom. Pens would be drawn at the ballot boxes. At a stroke a new day would dawn. The beast, though mythical, was slain. But there were no knights to rally the people. Instead, the dubious and incompetent squires bickered their way into new battles of their own making and there they remain, squabbling, self-serving and divisive, ripping out the heart and cutting off the head of the country they were - and are - supposed to serve.

There isn't a single leader among them. Not one capable of stepping up to the mark and healing the bitter division that this process has caused. And it is the division, hatred and prejudice that this process has created that truly breaks my heart because those are the things that will take the longest to heal - scars that will take decades to fade.

A leader needs many qualities - listening, empathy, understanding, foresight, courage, wisdom and tenacity to name but a few. In business, leaders are nurtured, trained and the best of them understand they must learn continuously. The headless chickens of the Westminster coups say much, know little and apparently care less.

St George, a Syrian immigrant born of Greek parents who ended up a Roman soldier, was named England's patron saint by King Edward III in 1327. A patron saint is named not because they come from the country that chooses them but because they embody the characteristics the kingdom wants to project to the outside world. On current form, those in charge in the UK - and I use the term 'in charge' loosely - should perhaps take a moment to look at the legends and behaviours of this quintessentially 'English' saint who also stands as a nominal spiritual guard over other countries in Europe. Perhaps then they might realise that the characteristics they are currently presenting to the British people and the outside world belittle and shame us all.

*Image - wikicommons - Mummers  of St Albans enact St George and the Dragon

Up Periscope or Down Meerkat - will public relations dare to win?

I can honestly say I haven't been this excited about a new network or app since Twitter launched. With the advent of live streaming video apps, Periscope and Meerkat, a whole world of possibilities opens up for public relations and communication professionals - if they dare. And, the chances are,  these apps will be the tipping point that shifts us even further away from text to total visual communication.

In case you haven't caught them yet, Meerkat and Periscope have been slugging it out in the live streaming space for the last week. Meerkat, launched to much tech joy earlier this year, allows you to broadcast live to your community - and the world at large - as well as schedule and tweet the fact that your doing it.  So far there have been AMAs (Ask Me Anythings), people's breakfast, dinner and tea, think pieces, observations, kids, cats, dogs and camps. I've developed a liking for a few seconds of sunrise and have shared the sun coming up over Rangitoto with people around the world still struggling through the night before.  Meerkat was the tech darling until (key change) Periscope, bought by Twitter, was launched five days ago. It does the same thing, except your footage is saved for replay. As a Twitter product it's fast gaining traction, so much so that the tech world is predicting the death of Meerkat, even though it is still in its infancy. Personally, the Mark Twain quote (or misquote)  'reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated' could be applied here as there's life in Meerkat yet.

So, that's the scenario - what's the potential? For public relations and communication management, simply enormous. Live stream your story to your community as it happens.  Let them see inside your place warts and all. Manage your crisis comms as it unfolds. It is the ultimate tool for organisational transparency and, if you don't build it in to your communications, someone else will. Whether they stream their conversation with your receptionist, broadcast during a factory tour, or filming their hospital dinner, this new 'live tv' will become our reality and our norm before you know it.

At a PR training course I delivered in 2006, I introduced newly launched Twitter as an essential communication channel - and lifeline - for PR.  News, crisis, issues, customer care - you name it, Twitter had the potential to deal with it all and for the first time you could use a network from anywhere. Sadly, those attending found it hard to believe and were reluctant to experiment.  The video apps launched this year have the same potential for good - and for bad. Periscope is already proving to be the harsher, more unkind environment. Meerkat has the better quality streaming but then you can only save your stuff to camera roll. There are ups and downs with both. Whatever happens to them as businesses, as a channel, network or communications tool, together they've changed the game. Let's hope PR isn't so slow to get on board this time.  Go on, I dare you - get out there and experiment.

 

Good behaviour - the X Factor that keeps your licence to operate

Links to media.nzherald.co.nz

There's been a huge furore in the last 24 hours over New Zealand's X Factor, thanks to some ill-considered comments by husband-and-wife judging duo Natalia Kills and Willy Moon. Now, New Zealand On Air has announced it is withdrawing funding from the show, although they suggest they made their mind up about this before the controversy. Both judges will be replaced because of their remarks - and currently face a tirade of abuse themselves on their social accounts - much of it absolutely despicable. Elsewhere, the discussion rages around whether the whole thing was a hoax designed to boost the show's flagging ratings and we are left with a million suit-and-hair memes littering the web. All in all, it's a shambles. So who is to blame?

Je Suis Charlie - Nous Sommes Charlie

 

The murders of 12 people at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in France yesterday have left 12 families bereaved and bereft. In Egypt, Al-Jazeera journalists are still held in jail.Worldwide, in 2014, 61 journalists were killed. Everyday, around the world, people are being killed for speaking out, for not agreeing, for holding a different opinion or belief. 

The magazine satirises everyone - religions (of all kinds) politicians (of all kinds) and any topic, person or subject deemed worthy of lampooning. Since the murders, debate on the perceived 'rights and wrongs' of Charlie Hebdo content has been heated - here in New Zealand, remarks by a former broadcaster have prompted a storm of social protest.

But the focus should not be on debating the rights and wrongs of content. Instead, words and images that accurately describe the evil men who perpetrated this crime should be chosen with care. They are not fighters for a cause, warriors in a war or any other of the descriptors assigned to them.

They are murderers, pure and simple, who took the lives of 12 people and injured seven others. Their actions contravene civil and religious laws. They will be caught and granted a fair trial.

As for the rest of us, such murders should not constrain our thinking or our speech. The spontaneous vigils held throughout the night of the murders showered sparks of hope on a dark day - would that such vigils continue for the thousands upon thousands around the world currently at the mercy of other ruthless murderers.  

I would urge you to use your words to affect change - write on behalf of those, like the Al Jazeera journalists, imprisoned for doing their job. If you don't know where to start, then Amnesty International can guide you. Write to your politicians and media urging them to do what they can to encourage, rather than suppress freedom of speech and the spread of ideas. Speak out when someone is hounded on social media for an opinion or idea that contradicts, satirises or challenges convention. 

As Edmund Burke possibly remarked: 

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

Nous Sommes Charlie - nous devons tous parler.

 

 

Ebola: Drafting crisis road maps for roads we have never walked before

 

Picture: Link to BBC shot of Ebola community information poster

There is an inevitability to the spread of misinformation. When threatened, we grasp at shadows of information, rumoured half-truths, glimpses of intelligence - or seeming intelligence - that might simultaneously warn and protect us. 

For many months the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa gained little, if any, traction in global mainstream media. Small pockets of coverage would break out sporadically but only in recent weeks has the spread of information reached epidemic proportions. Sadly, much information is 'misdiagnosed', harmful rather than helpful to those currently and potentially involved.

Seven handy hints for hashtag help

Hashtags are interesting things - one minute they look cute, cuddly and amusing and the next they roar into life, turn around and bite you. I thought this post would be helpful to those wrestling with the way in which they use hashtags, with public relations and communication professionals uppermost in my mind. So below you'll find seven handy hints to help avoid hashtag horror.

Never release a hashtag into the wild - New York Cops weather social media storm

The New York Police Department walked straight into a social media storm today with the launch of their #myNYPD hashtag - proving once again that failure to analyse risks, issues and reputation before a social media campaign, then adjusting behaviour accordingly, leads to significant problems.

The Storify below is just a small taste of the backlash unleashed following the hashtag launch and it isn't showing any signs of improvement any time soon.  Some on social media who have had more positive experiences with the NYPD have rallied to their defence but analysing the tweets the commentary has been predominantly negative.

The moral of the story: Never release a hashtag into the wild without thinking about why you are running it in the first place and understanding that you have absolutely no control over its behaviour.

 

Fonterra's crisis competency falls whey short

There's been much commentary on the Fonterra botulism scare and the subsequent reputational meltdown since the company broke the news of the contaminated whey just a fortnight ago.

Heads have started to roll - first Gary Romano and now two other managers - and there will probably be other management team members looking for a new job before things settle down. 

What I have found unbelievable is the lack of unpreparedness apparent in New Zealand's biggest company. As the scare unfolded it was evident in every public interaction - and inaction - that nobody at Fonterra had ever thought to plan for a crisis. Whether this was due to arrogance or incompetence we will never know.

Given the Sanlu scandal of 2008, I would have thought that Fonterra (renamed Fonterror during that scare) might have learnt a lesson or two. But it would seem not.  

What we got this time around was a display of complete incompetence, misinformation, misinformation leading to panic, damage to the country's global reputation and the image of all manner of individuals - from the Prime Minister to small scale baby-food manufacturers - running around like headless chickens attempting to correct things but in reality making it all a lot worse.

No company or organisation can deem themselves to be 'above' a crisis. I only hope that the executive team now realises the importance of crisis planning, effective communication and the value of reputation which, to be frank, were things that they seem to have felt beneath their consideration.  I also have some sympathy with Gary Romano who from the outset was let loose on the media without - it would seem - proper preparation or support. Seldom have I seen such a shambolic performance from a such senior player.

Alongside the inquiries into how the contamination occurred, I hope Fonterra is forced to scrutinise its crisis planning and communication - it has little remaining social capital here or abroad and another bungled crisis could mean the end of the road for this farming conglomerate along with New Zealand's ability to export food products to global consumers.

The Hunger Games ahead: will governments offer social protection or social jeopardy?

Earlier this month, the United Nations Committee on Food Security met in Rome. Among the many grave warnings they issued was one concerning the effect of extreme weather on the United States' crops and grain reserves - extreme weather that, when described, was a lot like today's Hurricane Sandy.

 

A combination of rising food prices, extreme weather, falling grain stocks and overconsumption has led to the warnings that we will all face a global food crisis in 2013. The UK's Guardian newspaper had the most rounded report but there was slim coverage of this critical subject to be found elsewhere.

The official reports from the CFS meeting - here - include strong recommendations that governments must ensure that social protection is available for citizens to ensure an adequate supply of food and nutrition. All well and good - but social protection measures need planning now, not when we get into 2013 and find our cupboards bare or discover that the price of basic foodstuffs is so high it cannot be purchased.

Over the last four days, we have seen presidents and candidates, mayors and congressmen urge people to safety, told them to listen, told them that danger was coming. Hopefully, the result of the warnings will be that loss of life and injuries are kept to a minimum. Without the warnings - and the necessary actions being taken - it would be a very different and far more tragic story.

Here, on the doorstep of 2013, should there not be similar warnings about the oncoming problems with food pricing and availability? Will we see social protection programmes established to help those who will, without doubt, find themselves in direst need? Somehow I think not.

In New Zealand we currently have a government that has a slash-and-burn approach to any policy or provision that smacks of social justice or social protection, with disenfranchised young people unable to get the support they need and families struggling in difficult economic circumstances faced with losing what little support they have.  We are not alone in this with millions around the world dealing with austerity measures, hardship and - right this minute - food crises of their own. 

A long time ago, politics and government became about power and holding on to power. Protecting power so political parties could continue on their particular ideological way.  If, as a global society, we are going to tackle the real and common problems we all face - this year, next year and the years beyond - then political protectionism has to stop and be replaced with social protection for the people, by the people.

In 2008, I highlighted some of the problems ahead with regard to food poverty and food shortages. That's four years ago and nothing has improved. My very real concern is that it is starting to look like it's too late to take cover on this one.