Engage ORM

Internet more influential that TV; press lags far behind

Gerry McCusker — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:06:36 +0000

A study by USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism found that “only 56 percent of Internet users surveyed agreed with the statement that newspapers were an important or very important source of information, while 68 percent said that television was, and 78 percent said that the Internet was.” Worse yet, more people think papers are boring. A mere 29 percent said they’re an important source of entertainment, down from 32 percent in 2008. (Ta to Ragan for the alert)

Australian retailers losing out online

Gerry McCusker — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:01:58 +0000

The Australian eCommerce Market 2010 report (by Frost & Sullivan) which surveyed 1,000 online consumers about their purchasing behaviour online, revealed Australia’s $12 billion eCommerce market was three years behind that of the US and UK. Of the people surveyed, 21% plan to spend more on online goods over the next year, while 16% said they would spend less. The survey covered five product categories including electronics, computers, books and CDs/DVDs, jewellery and fashion accessories, and clothing and accessories. The report concluded: “The number of Australian shoppers using international retail sites confirms that there is a large untapped potential for Australian retailers to develop a local online customer base.”

25 Aussie adverts that inflame stakeholders

Gerry McCusker — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:17:51 +0000

Arachnophobics, anti-pimping campaigners, antsy American-Indian protectors - our stakeholders are an alert and sensitive lot. Managing reputation in today’s multimedia age is very tricky; especially when we understand how fickle some stakeholders can be. Over at Mumbrella, site founder Tim Burrowes has put together a quick compilation of 25 mad complaints made to the Australian Advertising Standards board. Phewwww…some folks are obviously watching advertising communications a little too closely…

More companies seeking “how to do Social Media”, study suggests

Gerry McCusker — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:06:19 +0000

The number of Australian organisations using social media has almost doubled in the last two years, a study of 347 business entities has found. A Nielsen 2010 Social Media Business Benchmarking Study found that 70 per cent of all Australian businesses intend learning how to do Social Media activity this year, compared with just 40 per cent in 2008. More than three quarters of large businesses (100 or more employees) plan to engage in social media in 2010 compared with just over half two years ago. Budgets for Web2.0 were largely prized from print media (47 per cent) and direct marketing (33per cent) spend.
Melanie Ingrey, research director of Nielsen’s online division said: “Australian organisations cannot afford to overlook social media as a highly effective means of engaging with their customers and stakeholders,” she said.

How to evaluate Web2.0

Gerry McCusker — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:40:14 +0000

So I’m here in Hong Kong to present on ‘Crisis Management for a Web2.0 world’ at IABC Asia Pac. One of the benefits of attending this kinda event, is to mentally stimulate yourself with different perspectives on how other business communicators work in the field. Jim Macnamara of UTS (Australia) gave his rundown on Social Media ROI and evaluation. Though he didnt detail all ’softer’ forms of evaluation - the value of a conversation, the usefulness of debate - the key points I took from his speech were:
Always, research should be about understanding and insight, rather than data
(Jim insists) Strategy without research is just lucky guessing
Common evaluation outcomes are attitude formation, behaviour change and awareness shift.
Jim’s formula for Social Media evaluation were similar to typical/old Web eval, but with two additional points (9 & 10). Here’s Macnamara’s Top Ten:
1) Unique visitors
2) Duration of site visit
3) Links
4) Views
5) Missed this one
6) Return visits (stickiness)
7) ‘Next’ clicks
8 Ratings, reviews, recommendations
9) Comments
10) Conversations

I asked if he saw ‘Viral spread’ and ‘Mash-ups’ as additional evaluation tools. While not clearly on his list, he concurred with their use as evaluation indicators.

Australia’s most popular social media sites

Gerry McCusker — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:01:33 +0000

Courtesy of Neilsen Research

And a story on how one corporate’s Facebook moves have catalysed an online PR disaster.

Is Social Media the same in the East as in West?

Gerry McCusker — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:35:37 +0000

Gerry McCusker, online PR specialist

In just under a month, I’ll be speaking at the IABC Global Conference for Asia Pacific in Hong Kong: Loads of great sessions and speakers! As well as my good pal Adrian Cropley leading the charge on Internal Comms expertise, Aussie evaluation specialist Jim McNamara from UTS will be giving updates on how the world of ROI is changing. IABC honcho Mark Schumann is presenting on employee engagement in the new media environment. Sharing a session time with me (Gerry McCusker), Kathleen Slaughter of the Uni of Western Ontario looks at ‘Talking and Texting’ (managing Communication today). Lots to look forward to, so definitely a conference worth a visit.

Web2.0 crisis management at IABC, Hong Kong

WordPress — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:13:18 +0000

Engage ORM’s Gerry McCusker is confirmed to speak on “Crisis management for a Web 2.0 world” at the IABC Global Conference in Hong Kong 7-9 April.
In his PR textbook ‘Public Relations Disasters’, Gerry wrote that the first 24 hours of any PR crisis usually defines how the issue plays out. Well, he’s changed his tune on that one: In the world of Web 2.0, he now insists that the first 2–4 hours are absolutely critical. Reputation can now be affected instantaneously and globally, and communicators must be able to mobilize speedily and appropriately when issues morph into PR crises. At IABC Hong Kong, Gerry will be staging a practical, intensive training session to help you quickly learn:
Free instant monitoring tools to prevent digital reputation threats
Your 10-step Issues Handling Plan for Web 2.0 issues management
Instant web production skills to defend your digital reputation

Client satisfaction; sealed with a kiss

Gerry McCusker — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:37:19 +0000

We’ve just created -strategy, design and content - a stakeholder social media portal for an industry body. The client was so happy with the result, I got a kiss for our endeavours! Now the hard part; passing that kiss on to my co-workers:)

Digital Media to dominate in 2010

Gerry McCusker — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:51:36 +0000

Sydney Morning herald scribe Julian Lee, peers into the digital future to predict big challenges and changes in store for Aussie marketers and communicators.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/as-we-emerge-from-shelter-look-whats-in-store-for-2010-20091126-jumm.html