Are you missing something?

Having been around media monitoring and analysis for quite a few years I sometimes wonder if a tipping point has been reached and you can achieve a picture of coverage by considering just the online sources.

However, is there a possibility you are missing something by taking the web exposure as a proxy of all exposure?

For the last couple of months I have been comparing the online and printed output for a couple of trade publications to establish how much is original to each medium. Although this is a limited sample the results seem quite startling.

In essence, if you only consider the online coverage you are missing almost half of the picture. Please note this is quite unscientific and I would hasten to add much dependant on the titles. With some, their online coverage almost mirrors the printed coverage, while others are apparently quite different. If I were to offer a broad observation on which types fit into these, the more frequently published titles (daily & weeklies) will often more closely resemble the online offering, while the less frequent (ie. monthly magazines) tend towards greater unique online and printed content.

That said, I am sure many of us have found it difficult to find a printed article in the online version of a daily press title.

Obviously press is in decline and online is the future, but we would appear to not quite be there yet. I would be very interested in if this matches with your experiences?

The iPhone in the media - a chartist approach

Apples stock price has fallen some 40% in the last six months and its fair to say the iPhone 5 experiences have been mixed. So is the media still fixated with what in the past was called the 'god device'?

This charts sets out the relative use of the term 'iPhone' for the 3 main markets. There is an unmistakable drop in use over the last 2 years or so.

Who is the ascendancy? This next chart takes the world-wide media use of the terms Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy.

The Samsung Galaxy, like many other devices use the Android operating system. Interestingly this is referred to far more than any handset.

Staying with the Apple iPhone comparison theme, where is its standing compared to the newest device to hit the market, the Google Glass?

The iPhone is very strong brand and largely made Apple into (depending on how you measure it) the worlds largest company. The tide is undoubtedly turning; the media are talking, but about other things and Apple will have to try hard to regain the media momentum lost over the last 18 months.

*Data Source: Factive, Inc

New Facebook page for Media Evaluation Research

I just created a Facebook page for Media Evaluation Research which was a mixture of easy & difficult. Pictures required a bit of re-gigging and I have been trying to get a blog button link beside the number of Likes (currently 1...!). Not figured that yet and this is an issue when you try search Google for tips. So often do they seem to tinker with the structure of Facebook that any walk-through's are problematic to say the least when it related to an old version. Just take Badges...where are they?

PR Standards - Social Media Measurement & Monitoring Conference London 2013

This event has been going for a few years now and I last attended it 2 years ago. This year many of the same faces were there, taking sessions and filling the audience. I wanted to see how things had moved on in the past years. I know there has been a lot of behind the scenes work on PR measurement standards and new to me was hearing from Katie Paine talk about the latest stage in the standards discussion - the conclaves to gather detailed opinion and gain (final?)consensus.

While PR measurement standards may not be the most sexy of subjects it is widely acknowledged as key to the development of PR and in particular how it addresses the issue of success in the digital age. I asked Katie about the need to police standards and she indicated it was a pertinent next step following consensus on standards being reached.

I would like to see a combination of carrot and stick. On the one hand a clear reference to the success queues, the gold-standard methodology; and on the other hand possibly a mechanism to name and shame!

I have mixed feeling on the need to audit research companies, for them to have their processes scrutinised. Very capable smaller media researchers might be dissuaded by the bureaucracy and cost. The industry needs to think very carefully about anything which looks like a hurdle to entry into the market. Get this wrong and providers 'passing' the test could start looking like a cartel, repelling new entrants, new ideas and no doubt putting up the costs for their work.

I strongly believe it is feasible to introduce PR standards and uphold those effective

providers of measurement services. In summary, I should explain where I would like the market to get to. My hope is that those looking for research suppliers will be able to easily invite proposals from conforming providers; knowing clearly what methodology will be used, and very importantly eliminating any suspicion of smoke and mirrors around their processes.  

As a postscript, if you are interested in knowing more about the current measurement standards debate look at http://smmstandards.org/

Tax loyalties

Image credit: Brandwatch
Like many UK consumer I have been dissuaded from purchasing goods, refreshments and services from the multi-national organisations implicated in the parliamentary investigation into corporate tax avoidance. As a small business operator I don't understand how there is such a chasm between the rules governing a small coffee or book shop from their bigger rival.

I have watched with interest and growing incredulity as organisations like Starbucks try to reinstate their social credentials through their voluntary tax donation and (the massive car crash that is) the  #spreadthecheer sponsored Twitter hashtag.  Google take a different tack and suggest its just entrepreneurial; seeming to run counter to their corporate motto 'don't be evil'.

I am no crisis communications specialist, but the organisation caught up in this I am sure can relatively neatly side-step much of the negativity surrounding this issue. After all, if they were each football teams and were criticised for the rules they play under, that would seem unfair. However, if they do decide to take my approach they will need to be to be brave; as it does not come without risks. Some organisations may have (in part) taken this approach and, if so, I am sorry for my ignorance.

Possibly the multi-national organisations need to acknowledge that the days unceasing growth and consumer ignorance are over. If they get found out doing things they they shouldn't their reputation is toast...just ask the banks. The public does not like to be treated like ignoramuses and the public now have through social media the instruments to propagate their disquiet.

In short, they need to admit the game has changed and offer to work fully with the authorities both nationally and internationally to create a corporate tax structure fit for all types of organisation. They also need to improve their organisational transparency, particularly regarding their finances. Multi-national organisations would also do well to actively push the international  tax regulatory authorities like the OECD to sort this out sooner than later, for as long as this goes no they are vulnerable.

CIPR Webinars

I have known about the CIPR webinars but not had the time to fully explore them. I have been looking at an interesting presentation all about sentiment measurement with Andrew Smith (@andismit). In particular it takes a couple of online tools and works though how they work and present their results. Interestingly the 3 tools chosen are Social Mention, UberVu and a high-end Nasdaq OMX tool. I think the low cost Social Mention is a suitable first place to start but wonder a little why UberVu and the Nasdaq tool where chosen? I can think of much more representative and wide-known tools.

Unfortunately this hour-long webinar is only available to CIPR members, but worth a look if you are interested in this area.

Gmail uses

I have used Gmail as my main email client for quite a few years and always found it rather useful. Aside from the fact that it might start costing me money to use I have been exploring some of additional abilities not least its ability to provide a preview pane to the right or bottom of your browser page.

Go to your browser settings and select the Labs tab at the top of the page and then in the search box start typing preview panes. It should come up as an option; enable it and then go back to your inbox screen. I have only been using it a day but like the way you can work on an email as the same time as monitoring your inbox. It is just a shame Gmail has not sorted a more interactive way to understand a conversations flow.

BT / Openreach 'half job'

My understanding was BT/OR was introducing fibre to cabinet  broadband to my town (Deal, Kent). This would make a massive difference to my work. Only last week I had to wait 2 hours for a client file to download. I also find that using tools like Brandwatch are somewhat ponderous with my current 1.5-2mb link.

Back in  August I got excited when my Exchange said it was accepting FTTC orders. This was quickly followed by disappointment when it became apparent that the cabinet I am connected to (P38) (below)
View Larger Map has not been upgraded to FTTC because it does not have a suitably large catchment. The cabinets up and down the road have all been enabled. I realise they have to make an economic decision but the fibre actually passes up the road past my cabinet. The neighbours I have contacted are all of the opinion that it is a short-sighted move.

I approached BT/OR and gained this reaction:

“Our deployment is based on the commercial criteria for each cabinet and number 38 on the Deal exchange has not met these. This is because the cabinet is unable to provide a return on the Fibre to the Cabinet investment after construction and on-going running costs. Where cabinets are not commercially viable Government funding is available to Borough and County councils to improve fibre coverage and it is worth contacting your Council in relation to this.”

I will continue to push BT/OR to reconsider, and with the help of my neighbours, will be taking this argument to the county council and my local MP, Charlie Elphicke. Without this facility relocation is a serious consideration.

I need saving from National Savings

I occasionally comment on matters outside the media and measurement and this is one of those occasions.

Midway through last week I transferred some money from my bank current account to my Premium Bonds account. At the point of 'transaction' the computer hung on the page and eventually timed out. I called National Savings (NS&I). and was told they could not confirm if it had gone through and I should log on in 24 hours to see if the funds had appeared on my account. I did so and noted the funds were still with my bank.

In the meantime I had resolved that if the transaction had not gone through I would use them for another purpose. I attempted a transfer out of my bank account, but it would not comply; then finding that although it did not indicate anywhere, the transaction to NS&I was 'happening'.

I called both the bank (Lloyds) and NS&I trying to find out what was happening, with the latter saying I would 'in 4 hours' be able to reverse the transaction from their website. That was last Thursday and currently the funds are indicated as being in me NS&I account but 'not available'. Having made a number of calls to NS&I I am under no illusion that they are going to be returned any time soon...'it takes 7days' is the latest I have been told, not 4 hours!

I have lodged a complaint over this erroneous advice and have been assured that they will be investigated. They have indicated that they will replay my conversations with NS&I staff to verify that I am talking the truth; but none of it points towards getting the money back any time soon.




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