Podcasting on the move
By Rich Baker
This morning I thought I would have a go at embedding audio into my blog. After all, digital engagement is more that about the written word isn’t it. Problem is, if you, like me, use WordPress.com to host your blog (rather than doing it yourself using .org) then it becomes rather difficult.
You can’t just embed audio or video into your post as you might think from any site. It supports Youtube and some other sites but that doesn’t help if you are creating your own content.
I took the route of buying the space upgrade ($20) and uploaded the mp3 I recorded earlier using the ipadio iPhone application. I know that kinda defeats the objective of mobile podcasting so if you have any ideas on how to do it better please let me know.
By the way, the ipadio app is a joy to use. I just can’t get it to automatically update my wordpress.com blog like they promised.
Dagnamit.
[audio http://lazymagic.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/ipadio_15009_phone_blog_experiment.mp3]
A PR Crisis for Eurostar?
By Rich Baker
UPDATE: SINCE this post went out Eurostar are running trains again, there has been a very public slating of their agency on twitter (no need, really) I got a call from Channel 4 about the incident and this was my most visited post ever. Wow!
Eurostar have also announced they have cancelled new marketing activity and are having a rethink about their approach to Twitter and other social media. At the moment, their twitter feeds are providing information on train running. Nice one.
Interestingly, Eurostar stated in the Brand Republic article that ‘the longer-term plan is to get Eurostar’s contact centre in Ashford, which handles customer service and traveller care, set up with the ability to interact with people online through Twitter, Facebook, and “wherever the conversation is being had”‘.
This is absolutely the way to go and something I began whilst at Virgin Trains. A word of advice; their strategy needs to be aligned with a broader HR remit to involve and engagement internal people.
I totally understand their initial, commercial approach and sympathise when Emma Harris (Sales & Marketing Director) said the ‘business wasn’t ready.’
Few companies (unless they were born ‘digital’) are ready. That’s the challenge for 2010.
Rich Baker 22/12/2009
Firstly, an admission. I hadn’t been following the Eurostar ‘crisis’ much over the weekend. I had seen comments on Twitter and reports on news channels. It wasn’t until this morning and I read this that I felt compelled to to put ‘pen to paper’.
If you haven’t been following it let me share the headlines;
On the 19th December it appears that a number of trains bound for the UK failed in tunnels as a result of the poor weather. up to 2,000 people were stranded inside trains for 18 hours. (source: techcrunch europe).
You can read in detail news about what went on by looking on Google (for now at least). Eurostar did a great job of using traditional media to talk to customers and offer apologies.
However, it entirely missed the point of social media.
Most of you will know I used to work for Virgin Trains. As you will also know, I was a regional manager primarily responsible for customer service. I set up a Twitter account early in 2009 as a way of engaging with customers and in May of this year things really began to take off. My account @Richard_Baker was featured in a number of articles and spoke at Media140 in London, a conference about Twitter and Brands. (Shortly afterwards I set up @VirginTrains and am pleased to say it is still talking to customers about their journeys.)
The problem is this; Twitter is unlike other types of social media and as a result people misunderstand it. In times of crisis what people want is information. They want to know what people are doing to fix the situation and how long it will take. That’s the best type of PR Crisis Management and digital engagement. In my time running Twitter for Virgin Trains I did just that on many occasions. The reward for the company was that the travelling public felt that;
- Someone cared.
- Someone was doing something about it.
Customers don’t want to know how they can give a continental gift when they are stuck on a train for hours without food and drink.
The best PR Crisis Management isn’t about excuses, it’s about giving people information, and giving them access to information. That’s true digital engagement.
That’s why Twitter doesn’t belong in the hands of traditional marketing departments or their agencies. It belongs to everyone in the organisation who cares a jot about their customers. That requires more fundamental changes inside organisations to make sure departments are talking to each other.
That requires someone with a greater understanding of the challenges faced internally in organisations to help build a cross functional solution that supports Customer Service, PR,HR and Marketing.
An admission; I have a soft spot for Eurostar and other transport operators. I understand that when running planes, trains and automobiles things can go wrong. In the UK things go wrong regularly (although things are much better than they used to be) which is why it’s important to talk to your customers and explain why.
So Eurostar – or any other company/agency who doesn’t want a similar situation hitting the headlines – get in touch if you want to chat about how you should be integrating social media into your business to engage with your internal, as well as your external, customers.
It won’t happen overnight, and it requires courage to accept that things aren’t working the way your customers expect.
It requires change.
