Wednesday, December 5. 2007
The PR agency behind the Antarctic cruise ship sunk by an iceberg last month has warned PROs to ensure their clients are media trained for any crisis situation.
‘Even if you do not think you will have a crisis, make sure your most senior person in every country is media trained,’ warned Mulberry Marcoms CEO Chris Klopper.
Klopper said the Explorer accident had been a ‘lesson’ for him and the account team working for travel client G.A.P Adventures. He said he was relieved that UK sales and marketing director John Warner had been taught to deal with the media, after the ship’s disaster and passenger evacuation sparked a worldwide press frenzy over the weekend.
‘We put John on every TV and radio station, and he was able to calm and reassure,’ said Klopper.
The account team at Mulberry worked all Friday and throughout the weekend. It handled a 24-hour press office, dealing with international media and with foreign offices and embassies trying to track down passengers.
Klopper also told how he used a coincidence as positive PR leverage during the crisis. ‘A Danish guy proposed to his girlfriend in a lifeboat,’ he said. ‘This was like manna from heaven and, with the couple’s knowledge, we then majored on this to give a positive twist to the whole rescue management story.’
Mulberry will now work with G.A.P Adventures to ¬rebuild its reputation and prevent travellers who have booked trips from cancelling.
While the crisis was handled well there are a couple of additional lessons that should be taken from this episode. First is to ensure clients also have a plan of action in readiness of any potential crisis. Secondly it should have been highlighted that the travel company had commendably ensured that their website was also well managed with daily updates and contact points for press and friends and relatives of passengers. However, as part of the process to rebuild the company’s reputation it’s worth considering interviewing (video) the passengers who were involved to see them talk about their experiences and how G.A.P Adventures handled the whole incident.
Certainly a company living up to its name although this may not be one for the brochure!
‘Even if you do not think you will have a crisis, make sure your most senior person in every country is media trained,’ warned Mulberry Marcoms CEO Chris Klopper.
Klopper said the Explorer accident had been a ‘lesson’ for him and the account team working for travel client G.A.P Adventures. He said he was relieved that UK sales and marketing director John Warner had been taught to deal with the media, after the ship’s disaster and passenger evacuation sparked a worldwide press frenzy over the weekend.
‘We put John on every TV and radio station, and he was able to calm and reassure,’ said Klopper.
The account team at Mulberry worked all Friday and throughout the weekend. It handled a 24-hour press office, dealing with international media and with foreign offices and embassies trying to track down passengers.
Klopper also told how he used a coincidence as positive PR leverage during the crisis. ‘A Danish guy proposed to his girlfriend in a lifeboat,’ he said. ‘This was like manna from heaven and, with the couple’s knowledge, we then majored on this to give a positive twist to the whole rescue management story.’
Mulberry will now work with G.A.P Adventures to ¬rebuild its reputation and prevent travellers who have booked trips from cancelling.
While the crisis was handled well there are a couple of additional lessons that should be taken from this episode. First is to ensure clients also have a plan of action in readiness of any potential crisis. Secondly it should have been highlighted that the travel company had commendably ensured that their website was also well managed with daily updates and contact points for press and friends and relatives of passengers. However, as part of the process to rebuild the company’s reputation it’s worth considering interviewing (video) the passengers who were involved to see them talk about their experiences and how G.A.P Adventures handled the whole incident.
Certainly a company living up to its name although this may not be one for the brochure!
Friday, August 17. 2007
The second announcement in a fortnight from Mattel for the recall of toys due to safety concerns has had to create global awareness of the problems instantly while trying to avoid mass panic amongst their consumers. In addition to taking out full page ads in the national press Mattel also took the opportunity to video their Chairman & CEO Bob Eckert making an impassioned statement on behalf of the company.
If anyone had any doubts about the increasing use and value of video through the Web than this is another fine example of how a brand can communicate to the media and its audience simultaneously. With an anticipated 18.5m products recalled globally (2m in the UK alone), the need for a swift response from Mattel has been essential to avoid long term damage to the company’s reputation. Showing the compassion of Eckert, a like-minded concerned parent, through the video shows an individual who is prepared to face up to errors and explain how they are overcoming them. The video personalises the issues and looks to build empathy and trust with the viewer. The footage from the Mattel website has subsequently been featured on traditional TV news bulletins such as the ITV news at 22.30. By their swift response and acknowledging the benefit of the Internet to deliver their message in a personal and timely fashion, Mattel may live to fight, or play, another day.
If anyone had any doubts about the increasing use and value of video through the Web than this is another fine example of how a brand can communicate to the media and its audience simultaneously. With an anticipated 18.5m products recalled globally (2m in the UK alone), the need for a swift response from Mattel has been essential to avoid long term damage to the company’s reputation. Showing the compassion of Eckert, a like-minded concerned parent, through the video shows an individual who is prepared to face up to errors and explain how they are overcoming them. The video personalises the issues and looks to build empathy and trust with the viewer. The footage from the Mattel website has subsequently been featured on traditional TV news bulletins such as the ITV news at 22.30. By their swift response and acknowledging the benefit of the Internet to deliver their message in a personal and timely fashion, Mattel may live to fight, or play, another day.
Friday, August 10. 2007
Using the Internet to watch TV programming is now pretty much everyday practise for almost all broadband users and we anticipate we'll be using it even more and more to watch video online as demand increases even further. In one new release it has been stated that Broadband subscriptions across the globe will surpass 536m by 2011, and DSL will account for half the market. The research forecasts that broadband service revenues will exceed £74bn in 2011. In a separate piece of news from Which? it has been revealed that despite internet service providers promising broadband speeds of up to 8Mbps, the average download speed is 2.7Mbps. The consumer magazine found that the lowest speed was just below 0.09Mbps and the highest was 6.7Mbps.
So now that we are watching more TV on the web the appetite to replicate the TV broadcast standard online is growing. Watching webTV is already an excellent experience if you have a good broadband connection - just try any of the on-demand shows that we've produced ourselves at www.webchats.tv to see what I mean, but we still strive to replicate that TV experience whereby the minute you push the on button, or change channel, the picture is there, and there is not even a second's 'buffering'. With the accelerating growth in rich media isn't it about time the service providers lived up to the definition of their title by upping their game to provide broadband of a high and consistent quality while proving they value their customers through improved service levels? The customer is always right, even online.
So now that we are watching more TV on the web the appetite to replicate the TV broadcast standard online is growing. Watching webTV is already an excellent experience if you have a good broadband connection - just try any of the on-demand shows that we've produced ourselves at www.webchats.tv to see what I mean, but we still strive to replicate that TV experience whereby the minute you push the on button, or change channel, the picture is there, and there is not even a second's 'buffering'. With the accelerating growth in rich media isn't it about time the service providers lived up to the definition of their title by upping their game to provide broadband of a high and consistent quality while proving they value their customers through improved service levels? The customer is always right, even online.
Friday, July 27. 2007
Today has seen the launch of BBC's on-demand TV service, BBC iPlayer which lets you download a wide range of BBC television programmes for free from the last seven days.
The programmes you choose to download are stored in your BBC iPlayer Library on your computer for up to 30 days (once you download the iPlayer). You then have up to seven days to watch them. Once you download them you don't have to be on the internet to watch them when it suits you.
The viewer is now taking control as they start to dictate what they watch and when they watch it.
The programmes you choose to download are stored in your BBC iPlayer Library on your computer for up to 30 days (once you download the iPlayer). You then have up to seven days to watch them. Once you download them you don't have to be on the internet to watch them when it suits you.
The viewer is now taking control as they start to dictate what they watch and when they watch it.
