Category: Blogs

Who are you? And what’s your job at Whiteoaks?

I’m Ollie Horsley, which rolls off the tongue more easily with a silent ‘H’, but that makes me sound like a character from EastEnders. Fortunately I’m not a character from EastEnders, I’m a content creator here at Whiteoaks.

 

What does your daily to-do list look like?

My daily to-do list is compiled by our effervescent senior account manager Mary Fitzgerald and a quick conversation about my schedule first thing in the morning combined with a strong black coffee is an effective double-pronged approach to snapping me awake. The ensuing to-do list usually comprises writing various articles, blogs, press releases and other tech related content.

 

What made you want to get into PR?

I had been working in in-house B2B and B2C roles writing about everything from e-cigarettes to digital music software and even adult-oriented gadgets that come in all sorts of weird shapes and sizes. Eventually I decided to jump the fence and experience life in a PR agency. It felt quite daunting, being a bit of an outsider to the industry, but after meeting the team at Whiteoaks I knew this was a move I wanted to make.

 

Who is your favourite brand and why?

Skittles. I’m probably a little old for sweets, but I love the eccentricity that they convey. I’ve always had trouble deciding whether the TV ad in which everything the guy touches turns into Skittles seems like a complete nightmare or something that I really envy.

 

What’s your top tip for someone who wants to get into the PR industry?

As a newcomer to the PR industry after many years out in the cold (ok, just out there doing in-house roles), my top tip is to start out with the understanding that you’re not just going to land on your feet right away.

You have to put in the work and sometimes it may feel like a struggle, but it’s all part of the journey. Along the way you’ll learn stuff that will become invaluable.

My first writing gig was unpaid and secured through an ad on Gumtree, but you might have better luck finding paid experience here at Whiteoaks!

 

How do you unwind after a day in the office?

If the weather is nice I like to cycle or tinker with my car, usually while listening to a comedy podcast. If the weather isn’t so pleasant I can be found sipping red wine in front of the latest Netflix drama or rehearsing with my band in a converted cowshed, far away from anyone who can be offended by the cacophonies we create.

 

What’s your favourite anthem suggestion for Friday’s Whiteoaks Power Hour?

Speaking of cacophonies, it’s probably a blessing for everyone at Whiteoaks that I’m located in the tranquil writers’ room (where every hour is Power Hour, just without the music) because I’d probably choose something noisy by The Replacements or Japandroids.

 

If you could be any character in any film, what would you be?

Marty McFly. Always Marty McFly.

 

What’s your ideal getaway location?

Barcelona is the perfect destination. It’s a vibrant city that has everything you could wish for, including beaches, mountains and bodegas where you can cure (or extend) your hangover with a shot of vermut (vermouth). Whose round is it?

 

What’s your go-to party trick?

Sneaking off home without saying goodbye.

 

And finally, cheesy chips?

Chips and gravy, please and thank you.

The clocks have gone backwards, the mornings are frosty and pumpkin spiced goods are everywhere you turn. The month of November has begun and the nation is on the edge of its seat in anticipation for the release of 2017’s Christmas adverts. But what makes a successful Christmas Marketing campaign?

Invest

The investment that retailers make in their Christmas adverts provide the opportunity to not only create short-term commercial success, but develop the brand over the long term. John Lewis is an excellent example of this. In 2007 its Christmas adverts returned to the screen following a three-year break and ever since the retailer has raised the bar year on year, demanding competitors follow suit.

Its 2014 campaign told the story of a little boy called Sam and his loyal penguin friend Monty who is craving a penguin companion. On Christmas morning, his wishes come true as waiting for Monty under the tree is Mabel! The spell is broken when Sam’s parents enter the room and we realise that Monty and Mabel are not real penguins, but Sam’s toys. It’s adorable, heart-warming and, importantly to John Lewis, extremely profitable. Cuddly toys of Monty the Penguin sold out just hours after being released. The RRP? £95!

Connect

 Cute animals, thoughtful children, doting partners and dream-like worlds are abundant in adverts throughout the festive period. An effective Christmas campaign creates an emotional connection with the audience and offers the chance to build brand fame, create customer bonds, implement strategic PR and ultimately drive long-term gains.

Discount supermarket chain Aldi is growing rapidly and as it continues to compete with the ‘Big Four’ a successful Christmas advert will be a top priority for the marketing team. Last year Aldi stepped up to the (Christmas) plate with its festive advert depicting Kevin the carrot’s perilous journey to the fireplace where he hoped to meet Santa, but instead ended up precariously dangling from Rudolph’s antler, flying high on Santa’s sleigh. The advert was a resounding success and the internet was flooded with comparisons between it and John Lewis’ offering, many favouring the budget supermarket. In response to this Aldi later released a tongue-in-cheek video featuring the carrot as he sat down to watch the much-hyped John Lewis advert.

 Engage

Social media has become an increasingly integral part of festive campaigns. Marks and Spencer’s Mrs Claus advert last year launched the social media tag #LoveMrsClaus, which proved hugely successful. The advert reminded the nation of Mr Claus’s often forgotten other half and supported the movement of female empowerment. In 2014 Sainsbury’s, in partnership with the Royal British Legion, created a thought provoking campaign on the Christmas Truce of 1914. Due to the political nature of the topic there was potential for a PR crisis. However, the advert was widely received positively and achieved 24,000 mentions (the vast majority of which were positive) within the first week of it airing.

Last year before John Lewis first aired its Buster the Boxer advert a 10-second clip was posted by an account named @Bouncing2016. Although this year’s campaign remains a closely guarded secret, eager-eyed Twitter users have spotted an account named @UnderTheBed2017 who have posted a video showing the eyes of a creature in darkness. The account encouraged followers to tweet the hashtag #UnderTheBed creating a stir online before even being aired!

Many of this year’s Christmas adverts are expected to air this week so be prepared for hearts to melt and Twitter to go crazy!

As Terry Wogan’s producer used to say about on-air mistakes: “nobody died”, but translate this into the social media realm and its instantaneous capabilities can cause upset, reputation damage and even create a brand crisis with just one single post.

There were hundreds and thousands – pun intended – of disgruntled Great British Bake Off fans this week when new judge Prue Leith accidently revealed this year’s winner on Twitter just hours ahead of the finale’s airing. While this caused an uproar among the British public, I’m sure no one felt as bad as poor Prue, who probably cost Channel 4 millions in revenue and lowered those all-important viewing figures for the channel’s first series of the £25m culinary show.

In this instance, Prue owned the error in a timely matter, explaining the situation and held her hands up to fans and followers – the best thing to do in any situation, especially when mediating a potential PR crisis. Even though she swiftly removed the post when she realised her blunder, of course, the news went viral and the three-month, tightly wrapped secret was unfortunately revealed further.

Gone are the days where an individual or brand could have a few days to create a press release or set up a media briefing to explain the situation, and with all the positivity it brings, social media can also act as an accelerator of a bad situation. Followers want instant answers when someone puts their foot in it and brands must adhere to this need if they want to salvage their reputation.

Like Prue, brands need to immediately confess to any errors they may have made. If they aren’t open and honest at the soonest possibility, speculation starts to occur and other people will start to paint another story of the situation they have found themselves in.

It’s also important not to downplay the situation; your audience won’t appreciate this kind of tactic. Address the error, and inform people what steps are being taken to ensure that the company is doing its best to make sure the mishap never happens again.

Even though there is a smaller chance of a public airing, being aware of your social actions still applies in the B2B arena. Think of Prue as a company selling cloud services or perhaps a data centre provider who gives away some serious business insights on a company page. If a supplier, investor or partner witnesses this error, it could result in a serious financial backlash. You’d hope a company facing this kind of scenario has a stringent crisis plan in place before the calamity so that, when things do go wrong, stakeholders know who to go to and for what. And businesses, if you don’t have something like this in place, you might, and by might, I mean definitely, want to incorporate this into your overall business protocol as soon as possible.

Ultimately, while it does fall to a company or person to own their error, it’s also worth us, the general public, just remembering that mistakes can happen. After all, we are human.

Our relationship with Sprout Social started back in July 2016. We took them up on their offer for a 30-day trial as we were in the market for a new platform that would help us manage and grow our clients’ social media channels. As soon as the trial ended, we knew we had to roll the tool out across our client base so they can start benefiting from the improved monitoring, publishing and reporting functionalities that the dashboard offers. Since then, our relationship with Sprout has only grown stronger. In May 2017, we become a Founding Partner of Sprout Social’s brand-new Agency Partner Program, and in October 2017, we flew out across the pond to attend the company’s first ever Sprout Agency Partner Day.

The Sprout Agency Partner Day was an exciting opportunity for us to gain valuable insight into the trends and future of social media and mingle with over 100 other industry leaders in the digital space, all of which are avid Sprout Social lovers like we are here at Whiteoaks! The day had a packed agenda with some exciting speakers lined up. Some of which included Twitter’s Eric Martin shining a spotlight on the future of Twitter as a social network; Fifty & Five’s Lucas Vandenberg sharing his insights into social KPIs; as well as a great discussion from B Squared Media’s Brook B. Sellas who discussed how she successfully scaled her agency to accommodate its continued growth.

One element I noticed as a recurring theme is the importance of listening to your followers and social audiences. Monitoring has always been key on social media, something we focus on here at Whiteoaks, but it’s becoming a priority for businesses that want to see success from their social efforts. Another exciting trend is social advocacy, where Social Compass’ Jared DiVincent shared his experiences with Bambu by Sprout Social, a tool which helps organisations to get their staff more involved with sharing company content on social media. Both trends are something that agencies and clients need to stay aware of as the social landscape continues to evolve.

As well as presentations from Social Media Unicorn, SSPR and Friendemic who shared their best practices to managing high-performing agencies in a panel, we had a peak into what’s next for the Partner Program, and the Partner Value Awards were announced (one thing we didn’t want to miss in this blog!).

We were thrilled to have received the #SproutPartner MVP award which recognises the partner that’s the most involved in the online Sprout Partner community! Congratulations to both Sarah’s Best Strategy and B Squared Media for being named in the top three. Also, a huge congratulations to Cosmitto, Social Compass and Digital Natives Group for taking home awards on the day too.

The day was a clear success, even without the award we would have left Chicago happier than we when we tasted our first bite of Chicago deep dish pizza. It was an absolute pleasure to meet and learn from our fellow industry professionals about all things social. It provided us with the perfect opportunity to learn where the social media industry is at the moment and where it’s heading — and we’ll be putting a lot of what we learnt into practice going forward.

I also wanted to thank the team at Sprout Social (Christine, Luke, Tara, Buck, Vera, Sarah and anyone else who I might have missed) for giving us such a warm welcome to their offices and for making us feel at home.

 

There is much doom and gloom in the media about robotics, automation and artificial intelligence stealing jobs, sending hundreds of thousands of workers onto the breadline while Skynet and the rest plot our ultimate downfall.

Fortunately, there is an alternative viewpoint. I was at an event last week where the issue of AI (and the data needed to drive it) was a prominent feature. The speaker in question, a prominent UK broadcaster, talked at length about the requirement for humans to set creative questions in order to make the most of the volume of data we as a society are now creating.

He quoted Dr Richard Oram – and the line has stayed with me ever since: “The room for creative questions using this resource (data) is mind blowing.”

The speaker (whom I am deliberately not naming) went on to argue that artificial intelligence and the like shouldn’t mean the traditional workforce is seen as a cost to be cut, but rather for humans to be more aspirational. Let the mundane be automated by machines, leaving humans to work on more complex tasks. In short, being creative.

And I like that as a premise.

Rather than being fearful of data driven technology, we should be more trusting. Another stat that caught my eye was the trust we have in mobile technology. There are seven billion people on the planet, of which 2.5 billion have no bank account. However, there are more than 7 billion mobile phones.

Given we would all consider a bank account as fairly fundamental, it is amazing to consider that the humble phone is comfortably considered as more essential. Particularly in areas of Africa, where mobile banking is the norm and, in many cases, these areas are blazing a trail in connected finance.

I would like to see more positive stories on the impact these three mega trends will have on the workforce of tomorrow. Let’s hope someone is listening!

 

 

Who are you? And what’s your job at Whiteoaks?

My name is Jonny Kerr but if you ask certain people my name is ‘Intern boy’ or ‘worky’… When Whiteoaks F.C was in full swing I picked up the nickname ‘Dave Batty’ as a reference to my ‘competitive’ approach but I think my style of play is more cultured.

As you can probably guess from my nicknames my role at Whiteoaks is PR and Marketing Intern. I am here on a placement year as part of my Business and Law Degree.

 

What does your daily to-do list look like?

In my first four months at Whiteoaks my daily to-do list has been extremely varied. Mornings usually begin with reading the papers for any interesting stories. The rest of the day can include anything from client calls and writing social posts, to driving round Basingstoke and Reading in a bright orange ice cream van with my best mate, Dave! This was completely work-related, I assure you!

 

What made you want to get into PR?

I have always wanted to pursue a career where there is a lot of variety and I can be creative. This, in addition to the fact that I have always been business minded, meant that PR was an obvious career choice to explore.

 

Who is your favourite brand and why?

My favourite brand at the moment would have to be Myprotein. I like everything about the brand from the simplicity of their logo, branding and product design, to the quality and diversity of their products.

 

What’s your top tip for someone who wants to get into the PR industry?

I would recommend gaining as much experience as you possibly can! I have found it incredibly useful and insightful learning from everyone here at Whiteoaks, so finding a placement or work experience opportunity is a great place to start.

 

How do you unwind after a day in the office?

A day in the office is always followed by a gym session or game of 6-a-side football, followed by an episode or two of Suits.

 

What’s your favourite anthem suggestion for Friday’s Whiteoaks Power Hour?

My taste in music is all about variety! I am tone deaf but that wouldn’t stop me singing my heart out to anything from The Smiths, to The 1975, to Eminem. However, when there is work to be done, nothing makes me more productive than Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks (Don’t knock it until you try it!).

 

If you could be any character in any film, what would you be

Great question! One of my all-time favourite films is Dodgeball so I would have to say Peter LaFluer as we are both witty and have similarly terrible filing systems!

 

What’s your ideal getaway location?

If it’s for a few days I would have to say the Lake District where I’d go for long walks with the dog followed by a pub lunch in front of the fire. If it’s for a week or two it would have to be somewhere tropical so I can top up the tan.

 

What’s your go-to party trick?

I have never been beaten in a drinking race. I hold the Fishponds Town F.C record for the 5 halves challenge (half pints of Guinness, Bitter, Cider, Lager and Lemonade) with a time of 32 seconds. If anyone wants to challenge me I can usually be found in the Wheatsheaf at 4.30 on a Friday evening. Can you tell I’m a student?

 

And finally, cheesy chips?

Only on the weekend.

At one point or another, it’s likely all businesses will face some sort of disaster, be it large or small. But don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom – as long as there’s a crisis communications strategy in place, organisations can be ready to ride the storm, whatever that may be.

However, if companies don’t follow certain rules and prepare, then any crisis may be a recipe for disaster. Ryanair, for example, is the latest brand we love to hate. It’s fair to say the airline may not have dealt with its flight cancellation debacle in the appropriate way. The airline’s boss, Michael O’Leary, recently admitted the airline messed up in its scheduling of staff holidays, forcing it to cancel two per cent of its flights through to the end of October, impacting up to 400,000 passengers.

It was quite clear that this wasn’t a well-handled media story – O’Leary failed to appear in front of the media for at least a few days, which is one of the most important rules when it comes to handling a crisis. Business leaders must take action and be responsible, and avoid trying to cover up the crisis – this will only worsen the damage. Instead, they must take control of the situation by owning up, reacting immediately and responding to feedback. Getting in front of the media is key, whether that be through a press release or posts on social media, or a good old-fashioned press conference. Customers are more willing to forgive the brand if they hold their hands up to their mistake.

It’s also vital that brands tell their customers the bad news all in one go, rather than ‘warn’ them about the news they are going to find out. Ryanair made the mistake of telling their customers that thousands of flights were to be cancelled, but didn’t tell them exactly when. It’s vital that businesses are in a position to tell their customers the full story straight away, and how they are going to handle it.

The Ryanair scenario was bad as it affected such a large number of customers. In the B2B space, however, in might not be vocal consumers affected, but it’s still just important to make those businesses’ customers aware of what is going on as they still have the power to kick up a fuss and ultimately affect your reputation and bottom line.

The worst thing a brand can do is completely ignore the fact that a firestorm may well light on social media following the disaster, especially the smaller businesses that aren’t as active on Twitter as others. Just because they may not be active on social does not mean their customers won’t kick up a fuss here — this applies especially to the B2B space. Therefore, they should continue to monitor it and plan a response, if need be.

When it’s all over, businesses can then take the time to discuss what learnings have come from handling this crisis, and think about how they are going to handle any ongoing negative publicity. Post-crisis communications strategies should present a careful tone – positive but also proving to customers they’re listening.

If businesses make sure they follow the above rules and make sure they’re prepared, they’ll avoid the risk of not only financial loss, but significant brand damage and also run the risk of alienating business partners.

International PR can prove to be a tangled web for tech companies, particularly with the lines spun by many multinational agencies that look to bamboozle and confuse rather than offer clarity.

We see things differently; international PR is really rather simple. What you need are the right boots on the ground, and a consistency of experience anywhere in the world.

It is in this regard that the Whiteoaks International Network excels. We are a partnership of over 70 likeminded, owner-managed agencies that understand the local media market, the tactics and channels that will generate most impact, and – importantly – any cultural sensitivities that must be taken into account. A one-size-fits-all approach simply fails in this regard. Above all else, the client lacks flexibility. There are countless occasions we speak with prospects who are locked into global contracts, unable to free themselves to scale up investment in certain regions, or to take a fresh approach with new activities.

The assumed trade off with the Whiteoaks International Network, then, is that you lose a single experience, creating a headache for already stretched marketing teams. A core pillar of our network, however, is that when agencies engage on an international account, they budget in the same way, report in the same way and are committed to measurement in the same way.

This guarantees a best-of-both approach; local knowledge and expertise with one look-and-feel to international PR.

Content is a classic example. It will always remain hugely important for content and messaging – at a high level – to be managed centrally by head office. This, of course, makes perfect sense. How else will you build a powerful and consistent image for your brand if it is being portrayed numerous ways in numerous regions? Take a global research project as an example. While an active and relatively contained media market like the UK might put forward a roundtable press event to launch the results, on the assumption most target media will have a London base, this tactic simply won’t work in more dispersed areas such as the US or Asia. As we said before, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. Towing the line and trotting out the same tactics will not yield results. It is here that the Network and its flexible approach pays dividends.

There are a host of major multinational tech companies benefitting from this approach, taking away what has proved for many to be a painful process. The continued success of the Whiteoaks International Network lies in its ability to offer clients freedom, flexibility and, above all, expert PR consultants across the globe.

Traditionally, when considering how best to design and deliver impactful multi-territory PR campaigns, there have been two predominant models:

• The Multinational ‘One Agency’ Model – typically offered by large multi-national PR consultancies
• The Local Best of Breed Model – either with or without a lead agency

Both are popular and widely used, however, both also have a mixture of advantages and disadvantages:

With the large multinational approach, clients benefit from the ability to access the primary point of contact (lead agency), fully integrated planning, budgeting, implementation and ‘like-for-like’ reporting/evaluation methodologies.  However, this has to be balanced against the inevitable differences in the quality of the PR team in different regions across the world and a lack of flexibility to change.

The local best-of-breed model is effectively the opposite of this. Clients benefit from having the flexibility to make changes, thereby ensuring that they have the best possible solution in place in each individual country. They may suffer, however, from a lack of consistency in terms of strategies and approaches and more labour-intensive and unwieldy administrative processes.

The good news is that at Whiteoaks we have developed a ‘third way’ of managing international PR campaigns for our clients which, we believe, cherry picks the best elements within each of the traditional models and combines them into one solution, while at the same time eliminating the disadvantages inherent in each original method.

This new model, which we call International Performance Management (IPM), sees Whiteoaks adopt a lead-agency role where clients receive all the benefits they would expect from a large multinational in terms of global reach and resources; fully integrated and centralised planning; budgeting; implementation; reporting and quality control processes; a single point of contact; and a consistent service experience.  However, it also has the flexibility to leverage ‘best-of breed’ agencies in countries and/or use our local WIN Group partners where required, or where it is the most appropriate solution in a particular territory. The local agencies’ exposure to risk/accountability drives performance and clients also have the option to change non-performing agencies should they wish.

IPM provides a range of compelling benefits. It is about creating a system that allows the client to track and manage the performance of PR agencies across all territories; measure and increase return on PR investment (RoPR); achieve transparency and clarity; and gain an understanding of how each agency is performing with the help of reports which measure against key criteria.  Clients also receive feedback and recommendations based on levels of agency performance and the opportunity to select (and replace where necessary) the right agencies in the right country.

This all sounds good in theory, but how does it work in practice for a client using the IPM approach?

From the outset of the relationship, Whiteoaks works with the internal client team to set a benchmark for agency performance across the board and to familiarise itself with any existing areas of concern or poor performance.  This is then communicated to the agencies so that all parties have a clear understanding of the expectation levels.

Each individual agency’s performance is then tracked on an ongoing basis against pre-agreed targets (both activity levels and results), reported to the client’s regional team on a quarterly basis and supported by replacement strategies for under-performing countries where applicable.

Underperforming agencies are replaced with partners from the Whiteoaks International Network or, if appropriate, alternate third party agencies (these would typically be recruited via a traditional search and select process led by Whiteoaks).  In doing so, the client retains its best-performing local agencies and adopts new ones to fulfil any shortfalls across the region.

So when implementing international PR campaigns, we urge clients to  move away from using a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and/or thinking of it primarily as a management/coordination function.  Instead, we provide a model that leverages all the best elements of the two traditional approaches (while eradicating the negatives) and focuses on driving higher performance levels which, ultimately, provides better return on investment for clients investing in PR across multiple territories.

James Kelliher, CEO

Tell Us Your B2B Tech Story

It’s true. Writing good copy, words that excite, provoke, fuel the imagination and trigger deep thought, is an art. It is the perfect combination of style, language and relevance that forms a narrative designed to sell, persuade, inform or delight. This applies to any piece of written content, from a 140 character tweet or an email, to a thought leadership article or a 4000-word whitepaper.

Of course there is no magic formula; there is a hefty dose of instinct, skill and inspiration that goes into the process. Writing impactful copy is not like baking a cake where just having the right ingredients and following instructions almost always guarantees a good result.

However, there are a few basic elements that writers of great copy get right.

 All about the basics

Today, in a world dominated by social media and the instant gratification generation it is easy to forget one of these fundamentals: good grammar, supported by its companions spelling and punctuation. This is especially important in the B2B environment where you are far less likely to get away with using emojis. Of course this doesn’t mean you need to use old-fashioned words or adhere to grammar rules from the 1950s because language is a living thing that adapts and evolves over time; no, it simply means that in a professional environment it’s good to start with the right foundation.

Know your audience

As consumers we’re bombarded with millions of messages each day, with every word fighting for our attention and time. In the B2B arena the same is true. As a result, you need to spend time understanding your audience, the challenges they face, what appeals to their interests and also what types of content will appeal to them in order the make sure the content is actually read, the message heard. Once your audience is identified and understood, it’s down to your goal.

Define your intent

The aim of written communications in PR, marketing or advertising is to convey a message. Sounds simple, right? Often the purpose of the piece can get lost, making the rest of the elements a little murky and the outcome underwhelming. At the outset of writing, be sure of what you’re actually trying to achieve. Great copy sets out a narrative that the reader wants to follow, is compelled to follow. And that doesn’t just apply to long form copy, but to tweets, posts and blogs, too.

This goes hand in hand with relevance; often we’re a little blinded by what we want to say that we lose track of what audiences want and need to hear. Great copy resonates because it’s appropriate; it is addressing a need, desire or opinion that is relevant to your audience. And it’s not just the content, but the way that it’s written. Clear, concise language, short sentences, avoiding jargon or words you would not normally use in conversation.

It may seem like there are too many things to consider, why aim for great when mediocre will do? The truth is, there is no shortage of content in the media, online and in the social sphere. The immediacy of 21st century life means you can easily write something, anything and get it out there with a simple click of button. The true value of great copy is that it lives in this instant world surrounded by hundreds of thousands of competing messages, but stands out because the writer got the fundamentals right.

Susan Richter, Head of Content

Deliver Integrated Campaigns