n2n communications

Monday night saw the first episode of McDonald’s Gets Grilled documentary aired on Channel 7.  If you didn’t see the program, it’s likely you still heard about it.  The show, which involved giving six members of the public an all-access pass to McDonald’s, has attracted plenty of debate regarding its blurring of advertising and documentary.

That debate’s interesting but what really caught my attention was the social media strategy McDonald’s put in place to deal with the fall-out when the show aired.

Here’s three things I noticed the company did well…

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We’re only a couple of months into the year and there’s already no shortage of brands taking a bashing for their handling of social media campaigns.  Whether it’s negativity in the media over comments posted to Facebook Pages or poor handing of social media competitions, there’s no shortage of critics out there.

For businesses yet to dip their toes into the social media water you can almost forgive them for staying shore-side.  Surely it’s better to keep dry and monitor from afar?

Well, not quite.  In fact, if there’s one country ripe for social media engagement it’s Australia.  Here’s why… Read the rest of this post

Many have been left perplexed, wondering how Australia’s much-loved children’s entertainment group could be so ruthless.

In a recent interview, the Wiggles were lost for words when questioned on the fate of ousted singer Sam Moran. As one of the most awkward interviews I’ve encountered; you can see the group stumbling over their words, taking long pauses between questions, muttering the whole way through and showing no consideration to Sam.

The interview raised several questions to me as a public relations professional regarding the communications strategy in place for the announcement. The most important one being, did the Wiggles receive any communications advice prior to the announcement?

With this in mind, here’s how some PR counsel could have helped the Wiggles… Read the rest of this post

Running a competition on social media can be a great way to build brand awareness, attract new fans and generate buzz.  But like any communications activity it’s worth spending time upfront assessing the potential risks with your campaign.  Competitions played out on social media are available for all to comment on, share with friends, and as we’ve seen this week with Qantas and Nissan, open to public criticism.

If you’re thinking about running a competition on social media here’s some brief pointers to keep in mind… Read the rest of this post

The launch of a new technology or social media platform is usually hailed as “the death of (insert competing media platform here)”. However, many social media platforms provide an extension, and development, of existing communications tools. The most recent example of this is Facebook’s new ‘send’ button and already questions are being raised about the impact on email marketing (see Marketo blog post here).

By adding this button to your website, you allow web site visitors to share content directly with their online connections by sending a Facebook email straight from your site.
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Telstra’s social media engagement policy marked one of the first corporate (public) forays into staff guidelines for the online world. Where are Australian businesses one year on?

At n2n we have been helping to create social media corporate policies for a growing number of clients. This involvement shows that the last 12 months have moved social media policy from a marketing wish to a boardroom issue to a PR action. Read the rest of this post

It was my birthday last week and I received a small parcel from my lovely mum in the UK. As it’s a football world cup year, the parcel was full of footy paraphernalia including some monthly football magazines. Flicking through one of them, I was immediately struck by the impact of online on print media content.

There was an article praising Manchester City’s new manager, Roberto Mancini, acknowledging his success in turning the team’s fortunes around with four straight wins and suggesting his appointment was a long overdue masterstroke. The trouble is that since the article was written his side has been on a dismal run of form and he’s now widely predicted to be on the way out at the end of the season. Read the rest of this post

We were recently involved in a stakeholder relations campaign to help overturn local government plans to build a Truck Depot under a park overlooking Bondi Beach.

Social Media emerged as one of the most powerful communications tools in an integrated campaign that spanned letter box drops, Web, photo shoots at the site, media relations, lobbying, advertising and events. Read the rest of this post

Recently an interesting question was posed to us by a client regarding online content, specifically, “what is the lifespan of content posted online?”

Whilst it is interesting to consider the lifespan of content, were not totally convinced it is the right question to be asking, at least in isolation. Our view is that to change behaviours, build brand and influence an outcome you need to be involved in ongoing dialog and/or content generation, whether this is online or offline. Read the rest of this post