PR Practitioners Talk Punk...

PR analyst Gerry McCuster has an analogy: "Social media is like punk rock." It's about breaking rules, about being heard, about being noticed..."The best campaigns are the best that take a risk"...and risk Gerry did by showing this campaign (warning: not for the faint hearted) at the recent PRINZ conference. It captured many eyeballs around the room (and globe thanks to YouTube and bloggers) yet most importantly, achieved the goal of changing undesirable behaviour.

Plain old search engines don't exist any longer either; they're "reputation search engines" according to Gerry.

More ORM (online reputation management) handy hints followed:

- Use the free tools on the web "manage your intelligence, it will save you."

- Monitor and track the trends.Fact check.Gauge reactions for tonality and tenure.

- "Word of mouse" is being used to spread "word of mouth."

- Own the first 30 search finds about you/your brand on Google/Yahoo.

- Engage your audience but be prepared for push back if it's edgy like this campaign!

- In a crisis, the benchmark for responding is within 2-4 hours.

- "Managing a social media crisis is like talking to a punk rocker."

- Think of yourself as a "broadcast centre."

- Editorialise, entertain and keep it "REAL."

PR MD Jenni Raynish once said: “Advertising is what you say about yourself and Public relations is what others say about you.” Bearing that in mind, it's safe to say that if you're not actively familiar with Web 2.0 and social media, how can you know what's being said about you, not to mention; where it's being said about you?