Ever wondered where good ideas come from?
Chance favours a connected mind says Steven Johnson, author of 'Where Good Ideas Come From - The Natural History of Innovation'. Take the 1st step: create a space where ideas can mingle and swap and create new forms Then the 2nd: Be brave, reach out and connect. And keep going... With today's tools and environment, radical innovation is extraordinarily accessible to those who know how to cultivate it
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In my travels around the internet and with clients I come across all manner of great ideas that claim to promote sustainability. At worst it's a matter of greenwashing where an organisation proclaims a 'commitment' towards achieving some nebulous goal... at best it's something that is easily implementable and can create massive impact and change.
I recently came across one such service. Ridevu is an open platform that makes it easy for event goers to carpool to the events they're going to, and for organisers to set up a carpooling facility and communicate it to their audience. When helping clients plan events or festivals I'll definitely be recommending it and enjoy seeing more people able to attend, less expensively, and with less adverse environmental impact, Win win win! Share a ride with like-minded people • Save driving and parking costs • Access carpooling lanes and other benefits https://ridevu.com/ When faced a business or economic crisis, a competitor challenging your turf, a fast-changing environment or particularly tough negotiations, business owners and entrepreneurs have a unique opportunity to demonstrate greatness and inspire confidence. However the approaches that work when waters are calm differ significantly from those that inspire when seas are choppy. This post was inspired by an article in the Harvard Business Review about why people pick leaders with deceptively simple answers (see link below). Today I've seized upon a number of the themes raised by the author to create "4 Proven Ways to Lead (and Communicate) during Uncertain Times" To thrive not just survive in uncertain times, a great leader: 1. Identifies and articulates the fears, concerns and ideals of those they lead In my media and messaging coaching, I tell my clients that the 1st Rule of Communications is 'Know your Target Audience'. And there's no more critical time to be tuned into your customers, clients, staff and stakeholders than during crises and periods of uncertainty. Communications based on guesswork can easily worsen the crisis as your words do not resonate as strongly with your audience and you risk losing credibility and/or time. 2. Place greater emphasis on inspiring and emotive appeals While a great leader's decisions must be underpinned by rationality, increasing the number of inspiring and emotive appeals is likely to resonate more during tough times. In his piece in HBR.org today Gianpiero Petriglieri writes, "Freud observed that 'groups are eager to follow not those who present the most accurate picture of reality, but those who most clearly reflect group members’ cherished ideals. And the more distressing the group’s reality is, the more those ideals became divorced from it.' 3. Promotes a vision that - while somewhat idealised - can be delivered The people-who-matter to your business are looking to you for inspiration and confidence. While, in uncertain times, rationality holds less of an appeal than during times of stability, being overly-bullish is equally a recipe for disaster. "... the leaders who inspire the most enthusiasm by catering to powerful wishes also provoke the most disillusionment when those wishes do not materialize. And when that happens we hardly ever blame ourselves for being irrationally hopeful. We blame the leader for not being good enough — or for not being good any longer", reports the Harvard Business Review. Getting this balance right comes with careful planning and with experience. 4. Keeps followers abreast of changes as they occur In a fast-changing environment what was planned yesterday may not be appropriate today. Promoting and maintaining a culture of open and timely dialogue, provides stakeholders with a greater sense of assurance and trust that you have their interests at heart and that your finger is on the pulse of the changing-environment. This increases confidence that you are the leader with the appropriate skills to navigate them through the choppy waters. 5. Prepares for success during tough times With 20 years experience in issues and reputation management, here are my top tips for the preparation that separates the pros from the rest.
Ultimately, very few crises spell the end of a business. Sure they present a challenge but ultimately they also provide a great opportunity to learn and to improve our leadership style and skills and our preparedness to deal with whatever may come. References: Harvard Business Review, 9 May 2016 'Why We Pick Leaders with Deceptively Simple Answers' 'Thriving through Tough Negotiations' on our It Works page Today the subject of 'ethics of online media relations and sponsorship' has reared its head in mainstream media once more with a whole segment on Channel 7's Morning program devoted to the topic.
In a world in which companies can turn to high profile individuals online to seek positive coverage, all organisations need to ensure that in their quest for third party or celebrity endorsement that they don't cross over the line to become misleading to their customers. The scale of fees typically start around $150 per post for high-profile Instagrammers with 100,000+ followers locally. The likes of Roxy Jacenko are said to net $200 per sponsored post. The highest profile models Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevigne, and Gigi Hadid can net anywhere from $125,000 to $300,000 per post. Such figures were inconceivable back in 2009 when I headed the online pr and communications team at Network Communications. Even then my recommendation to clients (see the post I wrote on the topic for our company's FreshChat blog) was the same as it is today. To avoid confusion, organisations must clearly differentiate between whether online commentators are independent media, or whether this is a commercial sponsorship. So, whether you're interested in working with bloggers and online influencers to attract more interest in your brand or not, my advice remains that in the long run authenticity and transparency will win out over sleight of hand. And if that's not enough incentive, Australian organisations who try to play in the grey zone may be targetted by the ACCC for misleading consumers. And let's face it no one wants a $1.1 million fine!. ARCHIVED POST FROM FRESHCHAT BLOG BY NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS The ethics of online media relations, it’s not sponsorship February 27th, 2009 by Lesley White · 3 Comments There was some controversy last week about a YouTuber who had allegedly accepted something from a company and then posted a video without declaring any kind of vested interest. It’s all detailed on www.mumbrella.com.au and is an important part of the ongoing discussion about what is ethical or unethical in the worlds of paid vs earned social media ‘coverage’ or at least commentary. So… just a quick list about what we here at Network will and won’t do with online contacts. We will treat online commentators with as much respect as traditional media warrant What does that mean? Well where the budgets and our access to information and materials allows we will:
We will also provide opportunities for the ‘publications’ those media represent to offer some value-adds in the forms of prizes to their readers/viewers communities, again within the client’s means. To what extent do we mean value add? Well it’s impossible to be prescriptive given that we haven’t seen every type of client, product or service imaginable. However, and in general, it means:
What we will not do: Make any inference to our contacts that this is in any way related to a specific attitude, review, or result. All we are seeking is their attention, with the hope they would like to broadcast their opinion within their own channels. We will not promise to clients a specific, let alone positive, outcome for this access. At the same time, in keeping with usual public relations client briefing practices and based on our knowledge of contacts, we are likely to have an educated view about how that person may react, since we enjoy getting to know bloggers, social media commentators, reviews, web site owners, moderators, online media etc. We will equally not allow any online contacts to use editorial coverage as a means of lobbying for advertising spend by our clients, however we will be happy to put them in touch with the relevant agency or department who makes those independent decisions. We would not then contact the advertising people with any recommendation that in any way links editorial favour to advertising spend. And, should one of our online contacts write a negative report on a product or service, we will neither overtly nor subtly discourage that independent voice or opinion. To summarise, Network Communications Australia and its consultants/advisors do not do cash for comment. We never have, and never will. In line with our rules of engagement, when we do engage with online media, commentators and networks, we will always seek to understand first what our clients can add to them in terms of value, rather than what they can do for our clients. As early as 2014, Facebook was the one network that people used less. In the same year that Pinterest activity increased by 97% and Tumblr by 95%, Facebook was the only big network to experience a drop in active usage, by 9% Close to home the slide was most acute in Asia Pacific, where the rate of active Facebook users declined 12% Now a study released today by Information.com (and reported by Forbes) revealed that we're sharing original (personal) information on Facebook far less these days. The intimate and personal space that was Facebook is morphing towards more professional content. But when when professional content can be more-easily accessed elsewhere, Facebook faces a big challenge. Can it retain some of its original intimacy and keep its users engaged? |
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Lesley's news and views. Here I talk about trends in business, marketing and communication. I'll highlight news and stories that inspire me and trends that I'm following. Archives
August 2016
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