Re-Shaping Today and Tomorrow - Dr. Bill Nichols

Re-Shaping Today
and Tomorrow
Key Trends in PR Practice
and Thinking
Dr. Bill Nichols
Senior Lecturer PR/MarCom; Deputy Director, CHCR; Director – Astrophel LLP
BNU School of Business and Management
Kozara, Bosnia – 23-24 May 2013 Author: Dr. Bill Nichols

1. Welcome To The
Borderlands
Author: Dr. Bill Nichols

Join me on the
border
Academia and Practice

They’re Very Different Languages
Quel est le futur des
relations publiques?
公共关系的未来是什么？

Sometimes more
like a war…

But breaking down
barriers is the heart of
PR… Let’s call it.. Author: Dr. Bill Nichols

Successful interaction!

Dobrodošli na moju
prezentaciju

Today’s Agenda
• The Borderlands
• Triumph and Expectation
• The Empire of Spin
• Spin Overwhelmed: Forces of
Change
• Consequences: Tomorrow in
PR – Theory
• Tomorrow: Seven Trends:
One Narrative
• Final Thoughts: A New
Practitioner

2. Triumph and Expectation

.
It’s A Great Time for PR

On The Up…
• Industry growth = 5-10%
annually even in recession
• Multi-billion business
 £1.7bn consultancy UK (2005)
• Practitioners up X4-5 in 30
years (=48K in the UK)
• University courses globally (31
UK vs. 1 in 1980)
• Diversifying and winning
control of social media.
Author: Dr. Bill NicholsSource: CEBR (2005); Gregory (2011).

And PR Won That War – 5:1
PR
Traditional
Media
Citizen
Media

There’s Lots On The Menu
• Media relations
• Corporate comms
• Community relations
• CSR
• Issues & crisis management
• IR
• Public affairs
• Internal comms
• Digital PR
• Branding
• Event management
• Comms strategy
Author: Dr. Bill NicholsSource: CEBR (2005); Gregory (2011).

.
So Where Now?

3. Context: The Empire of Spin
(1980-2000s)

End of an Era: Triumph of Spin and Control

The Spin Game
• Era of ruthless news managers
• ‘Bury bad news’
• Clearly defined news agendas and
schedules
• Message, message, message…

Key Words
• Persuasion
• Advocacy
• Control

How It Worked: 1980-2004
• Theory of Social Exchange:
• Negotiated relationships
• Everything has a price.
• Relationships 1.0:
• Network power
• Who you know.
• Perceptions Management:
• “Convince key audiences that messages
delivered… are true”.
• Expectations control
• Synonym for advocacy and persuasion.
Author: Dr. Bill NicholsSource: Golomb (1995); Ferrara (1998); Vargo and Maglio (2008); Latane (1981); Leaf (2012:271) .

Driven By Functionalism: All Very Logical
• Dominated teaching
• Focused on process, causes and
effects
• This is PR ‘inside-out’ – founded on:
• Systems theory
• Commitment to situational theory
• Ideal of symmetrical communication
• Aspirations of excellence and effectiveness
• Role structure (manager-technician)
• Quantitative research (e.g. evaluation).
Source: L’Etang (2008: C1, 12); Grunig (1984, 2001). Author: Dr. Bill Nichols

All About Measurement and Results
Inputs Outputs Outcomes
* Budget Compliance
• Resource Compliance
• Timeline
• Contacts/Media.
• Exposure
• Coverage/Clipping Count
• Readership/ ‘000s
• AVE (Advertising Value Equivalent)
• Advertising Page Rate Multiplier
• Message Count/Weighting
• Cost Per Message
• Proprietary: e.g. Wordsworth.
* Tracking Study
• Behaviour/Purchasing
• Attitudes
• Intentions
• Analytic Relationships.
High
High
Low
Low
Accuracy/Value
Cost
Source: Watson and Noble (2007);
McNamara (1992)

.
This is the road to
Barcelona…

.
Just A Moment: We’re
Human…

Three Variables: Not One
Personality
Motivation
Change
Perception
Source: Schiffman and Kanuk (2007:90ff)

.
AND Change… Always
Change…

4. Spin Overwhelmed:
Forces of Change

1. We Went Digital: The Mechanism
Sweden (1996) Now The #1
Hard-wiring the potential for co-creation.

Obama vs. Romney (Election Night - 2012)
• Facebook 32m vs. 12m
fans
• Twitter 21m vs. 1.7m
followers
• YouTube 260K vs. 29K
views.
Co-creation AND Social Influence.

.
4. AND our culture is
changing rapidly

The Waning of Attention
• “It is only lately that the
pursuit of distraction has been
embraced as the meaning of
life”.
John Gray
Philosopher
(2013)

The Writing of the Elite
• “Writing today is like Latin on
the eve of the Renaissance,
the language of a scholarly
elite.”
Prof. Elizabeth Daley,
Uni of Southern California
(2013)

The Age of The Image
• “While our culture still relies
on words, they are
increasingly wrapped up with
images. And it is images that
people remember”
Stephen Apkon
Cultural Historian
(2013)

5. Consequences:
Tomorrow in PR - Theory

• Authenticity vs.
Perceptions:
• The degree to which one is
true to one's own personality,
spirit, or character
• Co-creation vs. simple
Relationship Management:
• Value in use rather than in
exchange… Therefore…
• Social Influence vs. Social
Exchange (SET):
• Physical and virtual impact
upon another’s emotions,
opinions or behaviours.
Shaping Theory: A New Paradigm
Source: Golomb (1995); Ferrara (1998); Vargo and Maglio (2008); Latane (1981). Author: Dr. Bill Nichols

Key Words
• Reputation
• Relationships
• Social
Interaction.

.
Reputation and
Relationships are two
sides of the same coin..

.
By managing social
interactions which
create a web of
relationships, we
sustain and develop
reputation.

People-Centric Communications Wheel
Grounded in
Insight
Target
Right
Segments
Aim for
Behaviour
Change
Develop
Engaging
Propositions
Manage
Complexity
Best ‘Total
People
Experience’
Interface
and
Collaborate
Open and
Accountable
Source: GCN (2010); CHCR (2013).

6. Tomorrow in PR
Seven Trends: One Narrative

Media Convergence – real world and in
the classroom

1. Media Convergence: One Focus
Paid
EarnedOwned
This is the ‘New Secularism’ (Nichols and Davies 2010)

Rolling up social media as a core
component…

2. Convergence Integrates Social Media
Paid
•Digital Ads,
Banners
•Overlays,
Adwords
Promoted
•In-stream or
•Social paid
promo
vehicles
Owned
•Created or
•Custom
content
Shared
•Collaborative
platforms
•Vehicles
Earned
•Brand-related
conversations
•User-
generated
content.
Author: Dr. Bill NicholsSource: Giles Peddy, Hotwire (2012)

Powered by Big Data (when enough
people are trained to manage it!)

3. Integrated Seamlessly Via Big Data
• Only just begun
• Clearing ‘smoke
and mirrors’
• Transforming
understanding
• Feeding:
 New business
measures for PR.
Big Data
Analytics
Insights
Creative
Ideas
Multiple
Platforms
Business
Performance
Source: Giles Peddy.Hotwire (2012)… .

Creating intelligent real-time customer
interactions and relationships…

• The use of social media requires
organisations to not just use these tools,
but to have a mindset that embraces
immediacy
• Some brands have caught on engage
quickly though social media – Eurostar,
Gatorade, Dell
• Brands need to be part of the
conversation and decision making
process – if not, they are forgotten
• Social intelligence creating social capital
• RoI advantage = +3%
4. Powering Real-Time Marketing
Source: David Meerman Scott (2013) .

Supporting intelligent real-time
community interaction and
engagement…

5. The 3Ts: Community Engagement
Source: Bowen et al (2010); CHCR (2013)
Transactional CE
One-way
Controlled
Compliance-focused.
Transitional CE
Building bridges
Dialogue and
consultation/ Town
Halls
Cause-focused
Frequent
Transformational CE
Achieving shared
value
Relational
Permanent joint-
teams
Co-creation/co-
ownership.

Direct contact leaves no hiding-place…
Applies a high-value to authenticity…

6. Corporate Character:
Reputation’s Gold Standard
• “Character is like a
tree and reputation
like a shadow. The
shadow is what we
think of it; the tree
is the real thing.”
Abraham Lincoln
Source: Giles Peddy.Hotwire (2012)… .

Which are the building blocks of the
most crucial trend of all… the creation of
narrative…

5. Helping Us Create Master-Narratives
• Organisations are good at
messaging, identifying stories
and weaving messages
• BUT:
• Many forget the master narrative
– the red thread that binds these
stories and messages together,
day in day out
Source: Peddy/Hotwire (2012)

It’s Human: The Master Storytellers
• The way we’re
wired
• Dream, believe,
internalise
• Evolve
• Re-define.

7. Tomorrow: The New
Practitioner

What We Do
• Weave
our
stories,
weave
our
magic…

Working As Influencers
• Traditional media outreach is
subsumed by:
 Influencer outreach.
• The world of engagement and
new emerging models.

Engaging Live As Brand Journalists
• The creation of videos, blog posts,
photos, charts, graphs, essays, ebooks,
and other information that deliver value
to your marketplace..
BJ
•
• A product pitch
• An advertorial
• An egotistical spewing of gobbledygook-
laden, stock-photo enhanced corporate drivel.
Not
• Marketers using the tools of digital
publishing and social media to speak
directly to consumers.
BJ or Content
Marketing
Source: Meerman Scott (2010); Forbes (10 March 2012)

Leading on Customer Service…
• Customer service
• Empowerment
• Social media
management and
execution.

.
It may be a great time…
But here comes the
scary bit…

• His time is fading…
• After Leveson in the UK, we will be
next in the spotlight..
• How will they seek to regulate the
‘hidden manipulators‘?
• Are we ready?
• Are we professional enough?
We Are The Publishers Now…

Who Will Win The Next War??
PR
Trad
Media
Citizen
Media

Thank you for listening.
Any questions?

8. References

References 1
• Apkon, S. (2013), The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in a
World of Screens. New York NY: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
• Bowen, F., Newenham-Kahindi, A., and Herremans, A. (2010).
When Suits Meet Roots: The Antecedents and Consequences of
Community Engagement Strategy, Journal of Business Ethics, 95
297:318.
• CEBR (2005), The Economic Significance of Public Relations. London
UK: CIPR.
• Cornelissen, J. (2008). Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory
and Practice. 2nd Ed, London UK: Sage.
• Daley, E. (2013). Unpublished Lecture. USC.
• Ferrara, A. (1998), Reflective Authenticity. Rethinking the Project of
Modernity. London UK: Routledge.
• Fruchter, G.E., and Sigue, S.P. (2004). Managing relational
exchanges, Journal of Service Research, 7 (2), 142:154.
• Golomb, J. (1995), In Search of Authenticity: From Kierkegaard to
Camus. London UK: Routledge.
• Gordon, A.E. (2011), Public Relations. Oxford UK: Oxford UP.
• Gottman, J. (1998). Psychology and the study of marital processes.
Annual Review of Psychology, Vol.49, pp. 169-197.
• Government Communications Network (2010), Engage Handbook for
the Communications Community. London UK: Cabinet Office.
• Gray, J. (2013), The Silence of the Animals: On Progress and Other
Modern Myths. London UK: Allen Lane.

References 2
• Gregory, A. (2011). The State of the Public Relations Profession in
the UK, Corporate Communications, 16 (2) 89-104.
• Grunig, J.E. and Hunt, T.E. (1984), Managing Public Relations. New
York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Wilson.
• Grunig, J.E. (2001). Two-Way Symmetrical Public Relations: Past,
Present and Future. In: Heath, R. (ed), Handbook of Public
Relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Kelley, H.H., and Thibaut, J.W. (1978), Interpersonal Relations: A
Theory of Interdependence. New York, NY, John Wiley and Sons.
• Latané, B. (1981). The psychology of social impact, American
Psychologist, 36, 343-356.
• Leaf, R. (2012), The Art of Perception. London UK: Atlantic.
• L’Etang, J. (2008), Public Relations: Concepts, Practice and Critique.
London UK: Sage Publications.
• McNamara, J. (1992). Evaluation of public relations: the Achilles heel
of the PR profession, International Public Relations Review, 15 (24),
17-31.
• Moorman, C, Zaltman, G., and Deshpande, R. (1992). Relationships
between providers and users of market research: the dynamics of
trust within and between organisations, Journal of Marketing
Research, 29, August, 314:328.
• Moss, D and DeSanto, B (2011), Public Relations: A Managerial
Perspective. Los Angeles CA: Sage.
• Oliver R.L., (1997), Satisfaction: A Behavioural Perspective on the
Consumer. New York, NY, McGraw Hill. Author: Dr. Bill Nichols

References 3
• Oliver, R.L. (1999). Whence customer loyalty, Journal of Marketing,
Vol. 63, Special Issue, pp. 33-44.
• Schiffman, L. and Kanuk, L. (2007), Consumer Behavior. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Spreng, R. and Page, T. A. Jr. (2003). A test of alternative measures
of disconfirmation, Decision Sciences, 34, (1) 31:62.
• Tench, R and Yeomans, L. (2009), Exploring Public Relations. 2nd Ed,
London UK: Kogan Page.
• Vargo, S.L., and Maglio, P.P. (2008). On value and value co-creation:
A service systems and service logic perspective, European Journal of
Marketing 26 (3) 145-152.
• Watson, T., and Noble, P. (2007), Evaluating Public Relations: A Best
Practice Guide to Public Relations Planning, Research and Evaluation.
2nd Edition, London UK: Kogan Page.

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