360DigitalInfluence

Now that “blogger engagements” are becoming ever-so popular among brands wanting to establish a long-term relationship with influential opinion leaders in the blogosphere, the public is seeking ways to avoid becoming victim of this new phenomena of brand-to-blogger bribery game.

Personally, my take to this question would be a “NO”. And Why?
First, one of the reasons blogging came about was because of distrust in the press. Before Web 2.0 we grew up believing that the journalists job was to defend our interests. But given that many journalists work for a privately-owned publication their outputs would in one way or the other be determined by the company CEO. Probably because too many people heard about the bad examples set by Rupert Murdoch that brought about the rise of “blogs” as the new watchdogs of society. “Bloggers” are basically “freedom writers”.

Bloggers wouldn’t RISK their reputation for a few bucks from brands because:
1. Bloggers take full ownership of the content in their blogs, thus they are liable of any fraud or inaccurate information on their blog.
2. Bloggers don’t want to drive away readers
3. A blog’s success is built on credibility (and building a successful blog is as hard as building a successful career)
4. Bloggers would not give away a forest in return for a tree.
5. A blog is probably the greatest establishment of a blogger. Bloggers can’t be bloggers without a blog. No one would kill their own babies.

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide was awarded Best Use of Digital at the PR Week Awards held last night in Hong Kong for a campaign with Pond’s Age Miracle in China.

One hundred and fifty beauty bloggers in Shanghai participated in a blind trial pitting Pond’s Age Miracle against their existing prestige brand and the results worked overwhelmingly in favour of Pond’s. Nine out of 10 women said they would recommend Age Miracle to a friend and the same number said it is better than their prestige brand. For more about the case please read recent write-ups in AdvertisingAge in China and the USA.

Credit for this exciting win is shared between Marion McDonald, Rebecca Simpson, Liza Levy, Stephen Ma Haiming, yours truly … and of course our wonderful friends at Unilever in Singapore and Shanghai.

This is the second time in three years we have held this honour, following our triumph in 2007 with a case for South China Morning Post shared between our 360° Digital Influence teams in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Ogilvy PR was also recognised with a Certificate of Excellence in the Technology Campaign of the Year category for the recent Intel Blogathon in Singapore.

Moreover Ogilvy PR was named Network of the Year and took home 13 honours; three times as many as the number two agency.

Pat Law, a digital strategist based in our Singapore office, was recently featured in Her World Magazine as a leading “digerati diva” in Asia Pacific. It’s a great article and, in a five-page spread, it shows why we’re pretty lucky to have Pat on the Singapore team. You can read an excerpt of the article on Pat Law here.

I thought the end of the week would be a good time to start winding down from the mania of work, take stock of what’s been achieved and what I can look forward to in the week ahead. For me this week, it’s about going back to basics and cutting through the fluff in the way we communicate.

No matter how many times it’s been said, I still continue to come across dire examples of communications folks who seem to rapidly lose the plot after “Dear [Editor name]” or “Dear [Blogger name]“. Maybe it’s because we’ve gotten too used to pitch templates, or there’s a false sense of security that the mention of a big brand name/spokesperson equates to instant interest. Or maybe some folks simply get scared when trying to reach out to bloggers and forget how to speak to the human being at the other end of that email.

A few oldies-but-goodies that I will be closing my week off with:

Thou shalt not blast the world and their mother

It all boils down to relevance. Has the journalist/blogger written something of relevance recently that you can reference in your opener? You won’t know unless you read. Read the papers, read blogs, follow smart people on Twitter and read what they link to. Doing so makes you a smarter communicator…for yourself and for your clients. And for goodness sake, address your email recipient by name.

And your point is..?

Anyone out there a fan of The Big Wiffle Waffle? Not me. You’re reaching out for a reason right? So state what it is. Spending the first 5 lines talking about your client’s history/milestones/messages will get you nowhere fast…except maybe the “Delete” button.

The worst blogger “outreach” emails I’ve come across actually go on to tell the blogger what to do. Example: “In exchange for XYZ, you will write a weekly post about XYZ in your blog and create a YouTube video.”

Think about emails that you personally receive that get your attention. They tell you right up front in the subject line what you’re going to get, and it’s based on understanding what you like and what you want. The same principle applies.

Who said so?

Saying your product/contest/event is cool or exciting usually makes it come across as anything but. Especially if you’re fond of using exclamation points in every other sentence!

Again, go back and focus on the individual at the receiving end of your email. One size does not fit all and that’s the surest way to getting you some solid blogger backlash…online or behind your back.

Lastly AND firstly, listen

Nervousness and insecurity can drive us to be verbose, repetitive and fluffy. So I say stop talking for a minute (or more). Take a step back, look straight at whom you’re talking to and really listen to what they’re saying. Set aside your urge to sell your message and instead try to understand what THEY are looking for. You’ll be surprised how far this simple exercise gets you.

Have a great weekend. And while you’re at it, check out:

• 7 Things to do to Avoid Being Killed by a Blogger in a Pitch
• The Real Difference Between Journalists & Bloggers

During my recent trip to Singapore, I had the opportunity to grab coffee and have a chat with Ben Koe, Employee #3 of JamiQ, a new social media monitoring service which is currently in beta.

I’ve asked Ben a few quick questions about the state of social media across Asia Pacific, what companies should do first before jumping in, and how JamiQ will be different from the array of social media monitoring services currently on the market:

Q. How would you characterise the digital landscape here in Asia Pacific?
Asia Pacific contains some of the most densely connected communities in the world which makes it one of the largest opportunities for digital marketing. However, marketers are still undecided about the effectiveness of engaging online. But this is understandable, while we are certain about the large population that connect online, there is no one best way to reach them.

In order to engage successfully online, marketers need to flip their logic around. Instead of the traditional method of identifying the best media to communicate through, brands can now be their own media. Corporate blogs, community forums, YouTube channels, etc. are all affordable means for companies to establish their presence online and build communities around them. 

Q:  Across APAC, we are seeing an increased interest in social media. Before jumping in, what should organisations do in order to generate real results from their efforts?
Organisations need to take a step back from the hype and observe their brand online. Listening to what’s being said by their customers in the region is the most critical exercise one can perform. The ability to listen gives you the intelligence required to craft an effective communication strategy. Just like how you wouldn’t bother selling in-car stereos to people who take the bus, you need to know what your customers want; and most of the time your customers will not tell you directly, they’ll be telling their friends online.

Too often, marketers are communicating what’s on their agenda completely overlooking the “truth” being talked about on forums or being ranted on blogs. Once you know what your customers or the industry is talking about, you then can make better judgment and strategy for engaging them for your brand before consumer-driven perception takes over.

Q:  How will JamiQ be different from some other social media listening services?
JamiQ’s chief advantage is its reach. This is the foundation of social media monitoring. Just like a search engine, the more web pages the engine can cover the better a service it is. If you read the fine print on some social media monitoring services you’ll find that some claim to have indexed 12 million blogs, another 20 million, and others 100 million. So who’s giving you the full picture?

continue reading

The Singapore Law Society broke ground this week by fining a lawyer S$1,000 for giving his views on an ongoing case on his blog.

As reported in The Straits Times:

Mr Alfred Dodwell was taken to task by the society for ‘publicly promoting his view of the witnesses and the merits of an ongoing court proceeding, albeit through the medium of blogs’.

The action, reflected last week in the Government Gazette, was taken as Mr Dodwell ‘had failed to meet the standard of conduct befitting’ a lawyer.

Although no names were mentioned, Mr. Dodwell’s blog entries had enough key details for affected parties to recognize the case, the newspaper reported.

In a follow up story, journalist Serene Luo The Straits Times highlighted that Social Media policy is a new area of concern, well beyond lawyers and doctors, with many companies hastily creating new media guidelines for employees.

Speaking personally, I have had my own fair share of run-ins with new media. In the first instance Facebook ended my marriage and in another Twitter scooped my new job announcement.

Neither one had dramatic consequences on my life, but they served as reminders of new media’s power.

On Wednesday I am participating in a Lunch+Learn Webinar hosted by Citrix Online.  The focus of the Webinar is how organizations can participate on Twitter and meet business objectives. You can register for Webinar here.

I will be sharing the Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence strategy and approach for using Twitter (Follow, Create, & Engage) and talking about how Twitter can be used to help address seven business objectives, ranging from managing a crisis to promoting products and services. I hope you can join, here is the Citrix email message:

Social media tools like Twitter are redefining how your customers and stakeholders interact online. Isn’t it time to see if your business can leverage the power of this microblogging platform?

In this interactive, one hour Lunch+Learn Webinar, you’ll get a step by step breakdown of how the Twitter service works and how to get started using it. Moreover, you’ll be able to engage with industry experts on practical ways to integrate Twitter into your business.

Attend this one-hour Webinar to learn:

• How to get started using Twitter
• Twitter do’s and don’ts
• How businesses of all sizes use Twitter to gain an advantage
• And more…

Lunch+Learn Webinar
Using Twitter to Gain a Competitive Advantage
Wednesday, 8 July
12 noon Australian EST

Speakers:

• Brian Giesen, Director of Digital Strategy, Ogilvy PR
• Jonathan Crossfield, Marketing Manager, Netregistry
• Josh Melman, NETT Magazine Nett Editor, NETT Magazine

My colleague Pat Law in Singapore recently offered a Twitter-torial. It has some great tips, comments and amusing style. (Pat: That was 121 characters)

AdvertisingAge released their Power150 recently and I’ve pulled together a list of 40 Australian and Asian blogs. These are great people to follow if you’re interested in getting a pulse for what’s happening in social media across Australia and Asia-Pacific.

The list is organized into three columns:

• Read: click-through to the blog directly
• Feed: right-click and copy the RSS feed URL and plug it into your aggregator
• Follow: click-through and visit their Twitter profile to follow them

As a follow-up to our first-ever Asia 360 Digital Influence monthly team call, we did a quick survey of our teammates across the region.

We asked everyone to share a link to a favourite social media site or tool from their country and provide a brief explanation of why they think it’s notable. Since the feedback was so interesting and valuable, I wanted to package the links and reasons together in a quick blog post to share here on the Asia Digital Map. The links follow in no particular order:

YuMe - http://yume.timnhanh.com
This has gradually becoming more popular than the current Yahoo360 Blog for Vietnam. Hot bloggers are migrating to this site. It has many popular entertainment features such as music sharing, blogs, pictures. Functions of site are most user-friendly, allowing Viet to upload videos fast, and making the sharing experiences easier more than ever.

continue reading