Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

A weekly news round up on media monitoring, PR and social media news, analysis and measurement.

If you work in PR and are interested in the latest thinking on media monitoring, PR planning, media analysis and social media measurement, these are the must read stories from the last week....

...So why, if the facts are on industry's side, and our president stands among natural gas' supporters, has the reputation of Marcellus Shale taken such a hit? The rationale I presented at the conference is that while facts are important, emotion is what wins the hearts and souls, and public opinion. I explained that while many in the room had philosophical differences with the ways in which so-called "fractivists" have dominated the story, there is still much to learn from their techniques.

At the meeting, I provided six out-of-the-box ideas for humanizing the face of the natural gas industry, along with the precise tactics, terminology, and language that needs to be used, alongside fact, to tilt public opinion in the favor of smart, respectful development that will tap an estimated 100-year supply of cleaner burning, domestically produced energy -- one that requires no risk to human life to develop and one that can and is being produced with limited environmental impact....

[Solid strategic PR analysis by Greg Matusky - JD]

In public relations, narrative offers a way to enable ideas, opinions, values and meaning to be expressed within a broader framework than the concept of “key messages”, which tend to reflect slogans, headlines and other contrived statements. Key messages can be part of the organizational narrative but too often are simply BS corp-speak lacking any real human connection.

Narrative draws on various literary and cultural principles, methods and practices; it is woven into the fabric of society and joins together our interpersonal relationships. It can be abused by PR practitioners...

[Excellent storytelling insight from Heather Yaxley - JD]

More than ever before, venture capitalists are digging in. To stay competitive and top-of-mind, VC’s are no longer loaning their advice and their capital, but actual “core” services that portfolio companies need.

This shift isn’t necessarily new. For example, top VC firms like Kleiner Perkins and Greylock play a hands-on role in helping recruit talent. Recently, we’ve seen firms roll up their sleeves for another core competency: public relations....

[Leena Rao shares valuable strategic PR insight - JD]

In PR one of our guiding principles ought to be: You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all...

In fact we increasingly live in a world – fuelled by the ease of expression offered by social media – in which publics can be outraged about everything and anything at the click of a Tweet.

Not only are PR practitioners faced with an increasing number of digital grumpies, but they demand instant gratification. If it has taken them just a few minutes to set up a Facebook group, organise an online poll or start a Twitterstorm, then the clicktivists expect a positive PR reaction in nanoseconds....