Defining the new communications agenda

Issue 01 | 2015

Traditional media have either responded to the technological challenge or ceased to exist. Meanwhile, creative and media agencies have invested vast sums of money to meet the challenge of change head-on. And yet, if you analyse what a brand or organisation needs to deliver marketing success in a digital age, the result is a long list of PR outputs: the sustained production of informative, editorially oriented long-form content; the generation of influencer advocacy; organic search optimisation; the ability to respond to direct engagement in real time; agile creativity; messaging suitable for multi-stakeholder audiences; social activation and online community management; the need to seamlessly embed complex specialist messaging into a broader business narrative; internal engagement and the amplification of positive third-party commentary. The list goes on. In fact, the only things to add to the modern marketing mix are paid media capabilities and a higher standard of creative production quality. In the new communications agenda, *everything* is PR.We maintain that communications remain the most powerful weapon in an organisation’s marketing arsenal. This isn’t wishful thinking; it’s based on our experience of working with some of the largest, most dynamic, exciting and complex businesses in the world. Today’s communications directors – and their teams – need to be as adept at social media strategy as at media relations, as comfortable maintaining an always-on website as managing employee engagement, as au fait with brand publishing as with issues management. Because in the new communications agenda, *everything* is PR. If that’s the case, what does it mean for communications directors? In this publication we explain the new communications agenda and make the case for the communications director to direct all the other marketing disciplines, to be the nucleus around which all other functions rotate. Indeed, we believe the CMO of tomorrow won’t come from an ad or media background, but from communications. In order to do this effectively, what are the necessary capabilities and attributes? Which skill gaps need to be filled and new alliances forged? While the fundamentals of our discipline remain true and more relevant than ever, PR and communications professionals must expand the scope of their ambition and influence to exert more control over all marketing activity. In the pages that follow we analyse the requirements for success in the new communications agenda, outline the attributes that communications directors need to possess, and share insights from MSLGROUP consultants around the world about how to focus on what matters most.

James Warren, Head of Digital, UK and EMEA

It’s a tired refrain, but the internet has changed everything. We all know about the impact of digital publishing, social media and associated developments on the communications industry, and technology continues to evolve at an ever-increasing pace.

ARE YOU READY FOR WHAT’S NEXT?

Issue 01 | 2015

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Reputation. An analysis of reputation from EMEA President, Anders Kempe. Derived from MSLGROUP’s upcoming global study of over 25,000 people, the insights demonstrate the importance of fulfilling corporate promises in an ethical way.

Now you see it, now you don’t.Paid amplification is now firmly part of the necessary communications skillset. And SEO has become less of a dark art and more of an organic PR output. But very few communications functions have successfully integrated paid media and SEO expertise into their day-to-day activity. Lucy Cording, Digital Associate Director, shines a light on how communications has to come to terms with paying for it.

Brand publishing. Disintermediation, social engagement and good old search have combined to create an environment where businesses can narrate stories and publish their own content. Kinda Jackson, Head of Digital and Content, gets you started.

Data, data everywhere. Head of Planning, Dominic Payling, and Lead Consumer Digital Consultant, Sara Beirne, share how to interpret data to gain real insight.

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Empowering the reputation makers or breakers. Effective communications must start from the inside, out. Jason Frank, Global Co-Director of the Employee Practice, outlines the role communications should play in engaging millennial employees and ensuring they make, rather than break, your reputation.

Creativity will amplify. A cerebral, beard-scratchy communications strategy is all well and good, but if it looks poor and fails to engage, all that genius goes to waste. MSLGROUP in the UK’s Lead Creative Director Al Baird, explains how to use creativity effectively in your communications.

Game changers. How can communications professionals stay on top of the latest developments in technology to stay ahead of the game? Head of Technology, James Klymowsky, outlines some of the most exciting developments you need to know about, now.

Putting your website centre stage. Brand and business websites have become the stage on which your communications must perform. And the demands are high across a broad spectrum of criteria: technology, content, visibility, user experience and design. Digital Consultant, Dean Parker talks through the necessary steps to put your website at the heart of a high-impact digital communications ecosystem.

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The reputation of a corporation is its licence to operate. It has a decisive impact on the success of the organisation and is generally regarded as one of its most important assets. But how important is a brand or an organisation’s reputation to consumers today? Next month, MSLGROUP will launch our findings from a new global study which asks the general public what they think about corporate reputation. Here Anders Kempe, EMEA President at MSLGROUP, gives his take on what matters most when it comes to building and maintaining a reputation.

Reputation

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Why carry out this survey into reputation now? At MSLGROUP, we believe there is clearly a need for a much deeper understanding of the multifaceted elements that contribute to corporate reputation than currently exists today. I think there needs to be a move beyond simple rankings, or analyses of ‘drivers’ of reputation alone, to a more holistic look at how a company must act to build a strong reputation that can facilitate success over time. It is only by doing this that our industry can create deeper knowledge and more effective tools for our clients to better understand how they can influence their reputation.

Why does this survey focus on the views of the general public?We are particularly interested in how the general public view corporations. Both as consumers and as citizens, the public has a substantial and increasingly important impact on how other audiences evaluate organisations. We also canvassed people from around the world in order to get a more comprehensive understanding of attitudes. We live in an ‘always on’ and ‘on-demand’ world, where different audiences are constantly connected to each other and therefore able to influence each other.

What headline findings can you share from the report?Among many new findings, the study will confirm a long-held assumption: that actions speak louder than words. As the graph opposite shows, the factor with the largest impact on an organisation’s reputation is simply how well it delivers its products and services, and if they are delivered in an ethical manner (you can of course follow rules and legislation, yet still fail in the court of public opinion). In short, the study confirms that being perceived as a company that consistently delivers high-quality products and services in an ethical way is what matters most when it comes to building and maintaining a reputation.

If actions speak louder than words, is communication relatively unimportant in building corporate reputations? No, on the contrary, communication has a very significant role that should not be underestimated. Underlining our commitment to a more holistic view of corporate reputation, in the study we analysed how people retrieve the information that they then use to form an opinion about a company. We found that this is largely an intuitive process, and that abstract knowledge about a company is not enough to engender a strong reputation in the public’s mind. A significant part of a company’s reputation is a matter of instinct, based on how ‘relatable’ that company feels. We refer to this as the ‘Mind Space’ the company occupies. Companies with overwhelmingly positive associations

receive a significantly greater reputation score (60% higher) versus those with neutral sentiment. Clearly a more qualitative approach to brand awareness, building positive associations that are easily accessible in the minds of stakeholders is therefore key to a strong reputation. An organisation needs to engage with its stakeholders to build these associations with the organisation in the minds of its audiences. And the more closely this ‘Mind Space’ is linked to a company’s products and services, the better.

Which communications strategies are most effective in building reputation?The findings underline that a more qualitative approach to brand awareness is key to establishing a robust reputation. And authenticity and engaging storytelling are undoubtedly at the heart of any such approach.

What are the implications of these findings for corporate communications?Although we found that reputation is shaped most by intuitive, gut-felt pieces, this does not mean that reputations can be quickly built. Instead, it means that we have to think in advance; always think about how you will communicate the news when making business decisions.

What else should we look out for in the survey?The study is an important attempt to dissect corporate reputation, examine its component parts and take a holistic view of how they impact on reputation at both a global and industry level. We’re excited about the findings and look forward to sharing the in-depth details soon.

A significant part of a company’s reputation is a matter of instinct, based on how ‘relatable’ that company feels.

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The Impact of Different Dimensions on ReputationActions speak louder than words as products and services are the strongest driver of corporate reputation among the general public.

Research Methodology

Understanding Public Perception

FinancialPerformance

.000 .100 .200 .300 .400 .500 .600

Relationship

CorporateBehaviour

Productsand services

Qualified respondents from across the world were surveyed.

26,467

2,500Minimum number of interviews per country.

To request a copy of the MSLGROUP’s Reputation Research please contact victoria.sugg@mslgroup.com

Overall correlation to final reputation score

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Data,

Data,Are you deluged with data? Dominic Payling, Head of Planning, and Sara Beirne, Lead Consumer Digital Consultant, reveal their strategies for how to get a grip on the information that can make the difference between your campaign’s failure or success

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Get to grips with data-driven insightBig data, small data, smart data – ‘data’ has been the buzzword of the communications industry throughout these turbulent teens – and for good reason. The deluge of available data in recent years has enormous potential for businesses, but has arrived at an unprecedented speed and volume. It can seem daunting to bring data into your communications and business strategies but the benefits will make it all worthwhile.

Use existing data wisely – do you really understand your consumers?Your organisation gathers an incredible amount of useful data from a variety of sources, including your website traffic, social media fans and followers, and customer feedback. But, interestingly, much of this valuable insight remains locked up within the sales and direct marketing department. While sales and marketing teams usually jump at the chance to access insights about consumers, communications and PR teams rarely embrace this data in the same way. One reason for this apparently counterproductive approach is historical. Before the digital revolution, we could only access consumer information through our organisation’s media gatekeepers, who also labelled and categorised our audiences. However, in 2015, things are very different. It’s time to step up and see what data is available and what it can do for you. It could mean the difference between your next campaign being a triumph or a flop.

Avoid assumptions and offer solutionsIt may seem obvious to say that the right insight is key, and yet many companies still regularly find themselves in the middle of a Twitter storm when their latest campaign misses the mark. Don’t make assumptions, and don’t base your campaign on ill-informed or outdated stereotypes. Assume only women buy household products? The growing number of stay-at-home millennial dads would tell you otherwise.

As so much data is now available and consumers are often willing to share it, they won’t put up with mistakes. They expect increasingly personalised customer service, brands that understand their needs and campaigns that really speak to them. Who are your consumers? What human insight will resonate with them and what problem can your product help them solve?

Use data to inform your campaign management Data isn’t just a way to help you evaluate your campaign, it’s also a key tool to help you react efficiently to what you learn while the campaign is live. Here are a few questions to consider. How are consumers reacting to your campaign? Are you getting more engagement on certain platforms? If so, should you transfer paid support to the weaker platforms? Which content formats are getting more traction than others? Does your video have a dramatic drop-off rate at a particular point? Could you replace it with a shorter edited version to ensure viewers don’t miss the call to action? Are you getting poor feedback via social media on a piece of content? Is there any way you can change it?

Be data hungry, not data greedyConsumers, particularly the younger generation, are increasingly willing to share their data with companies in exchange for personalisation and other rewards. However, as they become more open with you, they expect the same in return. Don’t be caught out. Ensure you carry out due diligence in the way you both collect and use people’s data. Data is a hot topic for consumers and savvy shoppers will not be impressed with unsolicited targeted texts or daily emails that are hard to opt out of. Personal data is about understanding your audience and building a lasting relationship. Once you lose that trust, it’s lost forever.

Everywhere.

Issue 01 | 2015

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SynthesioHelps companies listen, analyse and engage with consumer conversations

across social and mainstream media within

one platform across over 50 languages and

200 countries.

BrandwatchEnterprise-level social media analytics and workflow platform. Extremely powerful and customisable.

Google AnalyticsA free web analytics

service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic and is the most widely used web analytics service

on the internet.

Deep CrawlWebsite crawling tool

to help you identify and monitor all aspects of a brand’s website that

could be affecting its SEO performance.Sysomos

Social media listening and analytics covering conversations, themes and sentiment analysis

and identifying key influencers. Fairly decent

on language coverage compared to competitors.

HootsuiteSocial media management system for brands whose user interface takes the

form of a dashboard, and supports social network integrations for Twitter,

Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, MySpace, WordPress, TrendSpottr and Mixi.

Great for multi-platform campaign management.

Good data-wrangling resources

Here are some tips on getting hold of the data you need.

If you don’t have useful internal data, why not? With direct access to your consumers, from CRM to direct feedback requests, it is now possible to gather insights directly from the horse’s mouth. What’s more, consumers expect you to. Over 40% of US millennials can identify the data that brands are using to track their behaviours – and expect a personalised shopping experience as a result. Also, 54% of this group are willing to provide more personal data if it means more relevant offerings.

Make the most of media gatekeepers Just as brands have increasing access to data, so too do the media. Ensure you are accessing the real insight you need through your media partnership or competition.

Think about what other data is out there Including consumer trends and audience behaviours. Consumer behaviour can change with terrifying speed – as many once-famous, now-forgotten brands could testify. Make sure you’re up to pace with the latest thinking.

Make the most of internally available dataWhat can your online sales teams tell you about consumers’ behaviour? Are you using your social media community activity beyond evaluating campaigns?

Social listening and web analytics There are so many social media monitoring and listening tools out there that allow you to assess

what is being said about your brands, competitors, or a certain topic, individual or product. Most offer multiple functions and cover a number of countries – make sure you try before you buy. Make the most

of free tools but remember that for quality data and additional functionality, you will have to pay.

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Mintel Global market research firm delivering regular

trends, B2B and consumer insights, reports and

intelligence.

EuromonitorBusiness intelligence research delivering data on industries,

countries, companies and consumers.

Global Web IndexMarket researcher dedicated to digital

consumer behaviour. Particularly good for

global consumer profiling and platform insight.

Google Search TrendsKey to understanding online user behaviour, popular content and

what your consumers are searching for.

TweetdeckSocial media dashboard application for managing

Twitter accounts. Like other Twitter applications

it interfaces with the Twitter API to allow users to send and receive tweets

and view profiles.

Google AdWords A system Google has developed to assist

brands in marketing their products/services in the Google Search Engine

and its affiliate sites, via the use of a placed text ad that appears when

people search for phrases related to the brand’s offering, appearing as

a ‘sponsored link’.Google Analytics A free web analytics

service offered by Google that tracks and reports

website traffic and is the most widely used web

analytics service on the internet.

TraackrInfluencer analytics suite designed to help brands

understand their audience in an effort to support successful influencer marketing strategies.

Dynamic Signal An employee advocacy platform for marketers that curates approved branded content to be

distributed and tracked through employees’ own

social channels.

Lissted Through human

knowledge/experience and the power of

technology, the company finds and monitors

thousands of influencers online using real-world

authority.

Google Alerts Content change detection and notification service that sends emails to the user when it finds new results – such as web

pages, newspaper articles or blogs – that match the

user’s search term.

Trends and insightsOld school meets new school. Most marketing

research providers have upped their game recently to provide excellent online tools for research and future gazing across a number of sectors. From tech advances, consumer habits, business and industry

trends to global market stability and emerging consumer groups, start your campaign

planning with real human insight.

Influencer mapping, tracking and management

Many tools will try to sell you the dream of being able to map, track and manage

influencers with a single platform. In reality, influencers still work within complex platforms, relationships and histories. Nonetheless, some good tools can still help brands and agencies manage and measure multiple and complex

influencer programmes.

Campaign managementHarness data during your campaign not just at the end of it. There are a

number of great tools which are free for small-scale management but cost

once you get to a certain number of profiles or campaigns.

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An insider’s tips for successHere at MSLGROUP we’ve had plenty of experience of how to make brand publishing a success, including lessons we’ve learned through a few hard knocks along the way. So here are a few of the tips we share with our clients.

Don’t underestimate the challengeYes, there can be quick wins, but effective brand publishing involves meaningful change to the way people, processes, technology and creativity work together.

Have a clear and measurable objective Determine the business challenge. If it’s about driving sales, raising awareness or changing perceptions, then tailor your stories so they are fit for that purpose. Stories need a reason to exist in the digital space.

Start and keep listeningAlways keep your ear to the ground; listening gives you valuable insight into your audience to allow you to construct stories that will resonate. So know who you are targeting. Understand who’s engaging with you, where. And be conscious that someone who is engaging with you today may decide tomorrow that they no longer care.

Be strategic Brands need a reason to publish. Stay true to your brand, be distinctive, and tell simple stories that resonate and inspire. This will ensure you produce relevant content that people will actually care about.

Create content that travelsMake sure your content can bend, flex and flip into a multitude of forms for different channels so you can maximise its potential. What’s the point of spending hard-won budget on a piece of content that only a few people see? Think multi-channel. There is a whole digital ecosystem out there that wants content. Think about the spaces you own first as this is your base, the place consumers will seek you out first. Then think about paid and earned content, and use them all. Of course, quality is paramount. Your content will live forever and you’re competing with everything and everyone, their high-jumping dachshund and their grumpy cat. Make your content insightful and you can make people laugh, cry and throw buckets of ice-cold water over themselves.

Trying to define brand publishing is almost as difficult as answering the question, ‘What is marketing?’ There is no definitive answer as it’s scalable, moveable and constantly evolving; there’s no ‘one size fits all’ solution. But there are some key elements every company can adopt in order to begin their journey on the brand publishing super highway.

So, let’s start with the basics. Brand publishing is when organisations engage their prospects and clients with entertaining or informative content that is usually editorial in style. The content can be anything from videos, blogs and longer articles to social media feeds, infographics, quizzes and podcasts. Just like a traditional magazine, it blends a mix of information that keeps the reader engaged – with the crucial difference that it encourages instant online interaction and feedback too.

Curing the content headacheThere is a clear shift towards brand publishing, as we discovered in our recent MSLGROUP survey ‘Curing the content headache’. We found that 94% of respondents consider brand publishing an effective way to engage with their audience and 91% of companies are producing more content now than they did last year. So companies are investing more, producing more and actively putting what can be broadly described as ‘content marketing’ at the heart of their communications strategies. However, the report also sheds an interesting light on the challenges faced by communications professionals in large organisations as they evolve towards more digital and content-led communications methods. The research demonstrated how hard it is to find, curate and publish good content both inside and outside of large organisations. And very few companies have the right organisational structure or the knowledge to promote, measure or use content effectively, even if they have it.

SABMillerhas created a corporate website fronted by warm, authentic human stories.

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Brand publishing provides you with the opportunity to control and craft your own narrative, bringing clarity and purpose to your communicationsStephanie SmithChief Editorial OfficerMSLGROUP North America

Key aspects of brand publishing:— Telling the brand’s story across

the digital ecosystem— Establishing a brand’s

personality & tone of voice— Using online media and content

to create a holistic approach to communications

— Building & engaging with communities and influencers

— Boosting brand visibility online

AmplifyContent needs to have authority for people to be even remotely interested, so give it a boost and get it above the parapet to be visible to audiences. It’s noisy out there! Paid media is an important element of getting your content seen by the right people. Also consider who your influencers are. There are a host of people who will want to share and possibly tell your stories in their own way. Seek them out.

Organise for successTake tips from traditional publishers. How would a real-life publisher plan, source and schedule their magazine? Get the right team in place to mine insights, write editorial, tell stories visually and bring content to life in a powerful, creative way. When you do it right, brand publishing gives you a better opportunity than ever before to influence the right people in the right way and in the right place. A press release is a flat, one-way piece of content. But brand publishing can help you reach a multitude of different audience groups, bringing your story to life, generating valuable interactions and ensuring your audience engages more with your brand.

AlwaysThe now ubiquitous ‘Like a Girl’ campaign epitomises what can be achieved with great branded content.

Sainsbury’sdemonstrated they live their values every day with a series of authentic and fun short films featuring employees.

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With Google releasing variations of their algorithm almost every week, the ‘search’ playing field has become increasingly complex for publishers who want to drive more purchasing decisions. Lucy Cording, Digital Associate Director, guides you through the pitfalls and opportunities of search today.

Google’s Knowledge Graph is the manifestation of semantic search, i.e. the aggregation and display of relevant information pertinent to the current user’s query. Knowledge Graphs now appear in approx 25% of search results and are reported to have coincided with a 21% decrease in traffic for WikipediaNarendra NagAsia Practice Leader, Digital and Social MSLGROUP India

SO, WHAT’S CHANGED?

In the last two years, brands have faced the growing need to fully understand how their customers and audiences can not only find, but also engage with and share, their content, products and stories.

Search has changed, and it will continue to change as technology gets smarter and consumers become more intelligent in the way they display, look for and find the things they want. Whether people want to find a blogger review of their favourite beauty product, annual business performance stats or details of a job vacancy, a search engine such as Google is no longer the only place they look. So, brand owners and publishers need to be able to manage their content and messages effectively across all of their owned, paid and earned channels.

Think beyond the website Firstly, it’s not enough simply to consider search in the context of how a website performs in Google. Although the website remains an important element of the communications ecosystem, it needs to work alongside other channels. The visibility (and ranking) of a LinkedIn company page, blog, sponsored post or press release are just as important.

Content must be engaging Search, whether paid or organic, has always been driven by messages, but increased penalties for spammed or low-quality content as well as the need for authoritative sources leads to a fundamental requirement for a communications strategy with interactive, channel-agnostic, visually engaging content at its heart.

Audience behaviour is driving change The major influences behind the majority of Google algorithm and product changes are driven by end users. Interactions on social media result in the need for brand content and messages to have social currency. The rising use of mobile devices means branded content needs to be responsive. And the increased number of questions being asked online and the trend of conversational search has led to Google rolling out Knowledge Graphs to display search results more effectively. All these trends mean a step change for communications.

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Top Tips for SEO

Understand your audienceDo on-going research to map your audience’s search journeys. Ask yourself the following questions. What are they looking for? Which keywords do they use? Where do they get their information from? What else are they seeing? Knowing what to optimise for and what content to create will aid creativity and ensure efficiencies. Use Google’s Search Volume tool and Google Trends as well as listening tools to help with quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Consider tactics to amplify contentBoost visibility through a number of targeted tactics. Benefit from relevant curation of content by sourcing from the wider web and hosting on an owned platform or channel. Use a paid-for content syndication supplier to amplify content on relevant external, high-profile business and news publication sites. And identify suitable internal stakeholders and external influencers (or eAdvocates) to amplify content items.

Remember your housekeepingOn-page and technical optimisation is still required and historical Google ranking signals still contribute to visibility. Use keyword research to meta tag copy and assets, run user experience and performance audits on your channels, and validate your calls to action.

Keep on top of Google changesStay abreast of Google algorithm updates to not only better understand how your content can be displayed, but also to avoid unnecessary penalisation. In a year Google can release between 500 and 600 updates. 2014 alone saw major releases for: Pigeon (location-based results); Authorship (removal of); Hummingbird (conversational search); In The News and Knowledge Graphs (display of results) as well as on-going updates for Penguin and Panda (quality and links). Follow sites such as Moz.com to keep up with important changes.

Optimise for social The role of social media optimisation is ever prevalent, so it’s key to think and act like a publisher. Consider how your editorial and visual assets can and will travel. Understand the role of linkable, likeable, shareable content (your content’s social currency) and plan your communications with this in mind.

Track and measureBefore embarking on any search or paid activity, remember to record current performance (so that you have your benchmark) and to challenge your objectives to set yourself achievable goals. Be realistic in terms of content performance (ranking, visibility and reach) and factor in potential future ranking signal fluctuations such as competitor or Google changes. Leverage learnings gained from paid activity and keep colleagues informed to avoid performance scrutiny. (Learn how to use Google Incognito to track real-time performance.)

Native displayThis is the type of online advertising that matches the form, function and topic of the content with the platform on which it appears. So it means, for example, working with a content recommendation platform such as Outbrain to present a piece of video content next to a related article on the same subject.

LinkedIn advertisingExtend the use of the LinkedIn platform beyond recruitment ads and recruiter licences. Leverage sponsored posts and InMails for wider content amplification. Target by geography, experience and seniority.

Shopping adsFor those supporting an eCommerce function, whether through Google’s Channel Intelligence product or Twitter’s ‘Buy’ button, shopping ads need consideration. They respond to growing consumer demand (and confidence) by removing the number of clicks to purchase, using an engaging visual approach.

Promoted tweetsSupport a live product launch or an event in real time with Twitter’s promoted tweets. Target relevant Twitter users by details not only provided in their @ bio, but also by insights into who they follow and what they engage with.

Digital advertorialsThe co-existence of a piece of ‘editorial’ and an ‘advertisement’ lends itself well to the current world of content marketing. This approach combines the reach of advertising with the engagement of editorial copy.

Behavioural & retargeting offerAnd don’t forget search engine marketing. Google’s behavioural and retargeting offer remains an important player in the mix of any paid activity. Challenge ad performance and test ad copy, creative and destination to maximise results.

Six opportunities for paid activity

01Native Display

05Shopping Ads

03LinkedIn Advertising

02Promoted Tweets

06Behavioural

& Retargeting

04Digital Advertorials

‘Channel Agnostic’ content is contagious, versatile and can be adopted across multiple platforms.

Issue 01 | 2015

PUT YOUR WEBSITE CENTRE STAGE

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Whichever way you look at it, your website is the most powerful weapon in your communications arsenal. It’s the communications environment with most reach and most potential impact that you control, entirely. Your website is the digital manifestation of your brand, the place where you can explain what you do, how you do it and why, without being diluted or disrupted by external factors. It’s a home for all the fascinating stories your organisation has to tell and an informative destination for anyone questioning your role in their world. It’s the perfect platform to create and sustain an emotional connection with your audiences.

Brand and business websites have become the stage on which your communications must perform. Digital Consultant Dean Parker talks through how to put your website at the heart of a high-impact digital communications ecosystem.

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The benefits of a high-performing websiteA high-performing website can help you deliver value to your organisation across a wide range of communications areas.

Improve your reputationThe corporate website is the first place most key stakeholders will go to find out more about the business’ journey and ultimate destination. As such it delivers huge strategic value as a clearly navigable source of information. Tone of voice and design impact can also work wonders in terms of shifting perceptions and demonstrating intent. Our corporate website development for NATS resulted in an increase in positive sentiment towards the organisation from 4% to 27%.

Articulate your role in the worldCorporate websites are particularly effective as storytelling hubs, where you can shine a light on the points that bring your corporate ambitions to life. These stories are powerful articulations of how your business operates, your values, staff, philosophy and your role in the audience’s world. As an example, our work with SABMiller has resulted in a +619% increase in views to the most popular stories versus their previous site. Build relationships and increase visibility The corporate website is no longer an online brochure – those days are long gone – but very few organisations use their sites effectively to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholder audiences. Providing opportunities to interact with your business via your website ensures that critical relationships are either established or strengthened. The site must be designed as the central asset within an inter-related ‘ecosystem’ of other appropriate channels. For example, SABMiller’s use of web content on and off-site has seen a 77% increase in referrals to the business from LinkedIn. Through effective use of digital content via social channels, our work with EY has seen an increase in engagement with content (compared to previous posts) of 400%.

Catalyse better internal integrationBuilding an effective, best-in-class website requires the entire organisation to collaborate, in order to effectively and optimally represent the entirety of your business. We have developed tools, techniques and protocols that are designed to ensure all necessary elements of your organisation contribute to the creation of the site. This integration helps many other internal initiatives, not least employee engagement around site launch.

SABMillerA best-in-class responsive corporate website that uses its homepage as a hub for a steady-stream of high quality, authentic and emotional stories that bring the personality of their business and world of beer to life – acting as a springboard to more ‘liquid and linked’ content and conversations in the social sphere. Beyond the storytelling approach, the new site also makes it incredibly straightforward for investors, journalists, NGOs, governments, partners and job seekers to find the information they are looking for.

RocheA beautifully simple site that strikes the perfect balance between form and function. It excels across all parameters but is particularly noteworthy for the way it uses modest layouts – filled with great writing, photography, video and infographics – to tell powerful stories about their business and its role in the world. It has also been designed in such a way that it facilitates quick and easy navigation throughout – always encouraging seamless user journeys through the site.

GEA stunning and distinctive site that performs well across all parameters but particularly stands out in the ‘design’ and ‘visibility’ categories – making the most of some wonderful assets to tell stories that bring their core proposition to life – including video, social feeds, photography and interactive features. The site also does a good job of serving the needs of job seekers and journalists.

Sites we rate

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SiemensA more traditional corporate website that does a fantastic job of meeting the functional needs of traditional corporate website audiences (investors, journalists and job seekers), but where video also plays a star role in bringing their corporate narrative to life. Interactive features like 360-degree virtual tours create engaging experiences and social media is well integrated with the site and its content.

Coca-Cola CompanyAn ‘all guns blazing’ online magazine called ‘Journey’ dominates this site and does a fantastic job of immersing different audiences, including consumers, into the world of Coca-Cola – using a constant stream of interesting stories and user-generated content related to their business initiatives, history, innovation, brands and jobs. This is all supported by a clear promotion strategy and powerful use of supporting social channels.

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Gaining control of your site’s performance It’s extremely important to have a website that works hard on your behalf. Yet very few communications departments assign sufficient commitment to excellence in website performance. Often, an organisation’s web presence is tightly controlled, with limitations and restrictions on what can and cannot be done. Also, sites are often administered by someone from a technical rather than communications background, who’s more interested in site stability than catching an audience’s attention.

So how do you assume the necessary degree of control over this critical communications vehicle? You need to understand the five core elements of successful site creation that form the basis of MSLGROUP’s Benchmarkdotcom website diagnostic tool: user experience, design, content, technology and visibility (promotion). As custodian of your organisation’s reputation and relationships, it’s your job to ensure the website operates at the top of its game against each of these criteria.

How does your website rate?Let’s take each of these areas in turn. Ask yourself how your website matches up.

Design– Does the design have a distinctive style?– Does the design enhance the content

and the way people can use it?– How good is the overall quality of visual

assets (typography, colour, photography, video, graphics)?

Technology– Coding standards: how well has the site

been developed?– Performance standards: how optimal

is the site performance, how secure is it and how resilient?

Content– How good is the overall quality of

messaging?– How well does the site serve the specific

informational needs of: customers, investors, NGO’s, the media and job seekers?

User experience– How easy/intuitive is the navigation?– How good is the functionality and how

interactive is the site? – How easy is it to search and filter the site? – How responsive is the site across different

devices?

Visibility (promotion)– Is there evidence of an SEO keyword

strategy?– Is there evidence of a sitemap, metadata

and schema mark-up to improve search indexing and display?

– Is social sharing available? – Is there evidence of paid promotion?– How well do the owned social channels

support the brand narrative and identifiable campaigns?

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Common mistakes Here are some of the most common mistakes we come across when we’re evaluating websites.

And finally…Optimally, your website should be a beautifully designed and engineered publishing platform, capable of showcasing the very best of your organisation, presenting your people, products and perspectives in an engaging, compelling and impactful way, delivered with a consistent tone of voice. It must be adaptable, so it addresses your communications priorities as they change over time, and it must work on different devices and deliver information efficiently to diverse stakeholder audiences. In today’s hyper-connected world, it’s particularly important to remember that no website operates in isolation. Your site must co-exist within an ecosystem of other paid, owned and earned platforms and channels, acting as the nucleus around which all other digital communications activity rotates: the ultimate destination for anyone seeking a better understanding of what you do.

1. Not understanding both sides of the coin – Right now, it’s more vital than ever to cater for the functional and informational demands of website audiences as well as the softer side of influence and creating relationships through storytelling.

2. Getting the balance wrong – There’s a danger of either ignoring conventions, especially in relation to navigation, that can cause anxiety with many audiences, or not being innovative enough and creating a bland site that doesn’t excite the viewer.

3. Prioritising looks over function – Some of the problems we encounter are related to designers or users not working alongside other experts and creating a site that looks beautiful but doesn’t perform very well from a technical or promotional perspective.

4. Leaving the editorial process to chance – One of the biggest headaches for corporate communications directors is finding a steady stream of story ideas for content from different parts of the business and managing it properly. The answer is setting up a cross-functional editorial team to manage the process.

5. Not bothering with guidelines – Many sites suffer when different teams go off and create their own online presence without following best practice guidelines relating to design, content or user experience. This creates a disjointed or ineffective experience.

The top five most common mistakes

1. Not understanding both sides of the coin

2. Getting the balance wrong

3. Prioritising looks over function

4. Leaving the editorial process to chance

5. Not bothering with guidelines

Your website needs to sit at the heart of an inter-connected, always on and always relevant digital ecosystem, each part working towards a common communications goalStephie AgrestaGlobal Director of Social Media and DigitalMSLGROUP North America

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What are the most exciting and potentially game-changing developments you need to know about tech right now? MSLGROUP’s Head of Technology, James Klymowsky, picks the top trends currently shaking up the digital world.

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The reality of augmented and viral.

In early 2013 we funded a wildly popular Kickstarter project called Oculus Rift. It’s a virtual reality platform that provides 3D stereo vision, allowing its users to be immersed in a virtual world. A year later we read that Palmer Lucky, a community college student and creator of Oculus, had done a deal with Facebook for $2bn – without even having a commercial product.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are exciting – really exciting. With Oculus and Google’s Magic Leap receiving eye-popping pre-launch evaluations and new AR products like Technical Illusions’ castAR and Microsoft’s Hololens coming to market, we believe 2015–2016 is going to see AR and VR headsets new markets and disrupt existing ones. VR and AR headsets both have 3D stereo vision in common, but their core technology is different and so is their application. Whilst VR, like the Oculus Rift, provides a closed immersive experience, AR headsets augment the user’s real world with high-fidelity overlays. VR is great for gaming and 3D films. It can also be used to provide experiential marketing solutions. We have already used it to provide interactive 3D walkthrough of a new student accommodation complex. While AR can be used in similar applications, it could also have the potential to play the same role as our mobile devices. This implies that AR’s market can extend itself into the same types of applications – from productivity apps, gaming and augmented commerce to advertising and messaging. The VR and AR industry is predicted to hit $150 billion dollars by 2020, so our advice is to start thinking how you can leverage these technologies for your business. Thousands of start-ups already are – whether they’re using them to enhance existing content, generate state-of-the art experiences or extend market reach.

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Last year you may have launched a brand new responsive website. But while you’ve won the internal battle to set up a team to create great content for your site, you still face the challenge of connecting your audiences with that content. Good information architecture, user experience and content hierarchy will get you a long way, but you should be thinking about how to leverage similar technology used by Amazon or Google to directly market or re-target products and get the most relevant information to your users. This is where marketing automation and personalisation comes into its own. Historically used in the e-commerce sector to provide dynamic recommendations and improve customer conversion rates. There are new tools, some directly built into your CMS, that enable you to understand your audience’s interests based on the content they consume and to directly influence their user journey. Ultimately, the goal is to improve user engagement across all your channels and optimise the content created for your site. We all use powerful analytical services such as Google Analytics to track our users, their frequency and source. These metrics are often limited to aggregated data sets rather than presenting

and predicting individual user behaviour, or repeat and group (persona) behaviours. (Google’s Universal Analytics is, however, showing promising progress towards achieving this goal.) Tools such as Idio, KissMetrics, Sitecore DMS and Sitefinity DMP provide real-time intelligence on content, channel engagement and users. They do this by creating dynamic profiles of users and the type of content they are interested in, even using ‘machine learning algorithms’ to predict which content types your business should focus on and where to place them in your site or social ecosystem. These platforms commonly integrate with CRM tools and campaign management systems so you can distribute and collect all the data you need for your support, sales or engagement pipelines. If you’re not already doing so, you may want to have a closer look at marketing automation tools in order to gain efficiencies, reduce costs in your content creation strategy and focus on what really engages your audiences.

Focus on what your audience is really engaging with using marketing automation.

The adoption of marketing automation and personalisation.

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If you are already dealing with online advertising such as Google AdWords or work in the digital realm you will probably have heard of terms such as RTB (real-time buying), programmatic or DSP (demand-side platforms). They are all related to programmatic media buying which, in its simplest terms, is the use of technology and user profiling to automate the buying process of advertising space online.

The Internet Advertising Bureau identifies (for the time being) two types of programmatic buying forms: real-time bidding and programmatic direct buying.

Real-time bidding is where the ad owner bids on advertising space using an ad-exchange. The ad-exchange has a vast collection of websites with available ad-space and when a user visits a page on one of those sites, his or her profile is passed on, along with the page information. The ad-space is then auctioned off to the highest bidder in a matter of milliseconds, i.e. real time. Each ad-space made available on every load is known as an impression and this is what you purchase on the ad-exchange. The cost is determined by demand, the popularity of the site and relevance. Demand-side platforms are used to assist in the decision making and buying process of impressions. They automate the purchasing and remove the need for negotiating and time-consuming manual ad placement processes.

Programmatic buying means that advertisers no longer have to purchase display ad-space for a set amount of money over a set period of time.

Programmatic direct buying is very similar to the real-time bidding process. However, here the space is guaranteed ad-space rather than auctioned. The process is inherently automated and secures ads based on a number of different parameters such as relevance, profile and target website. Programmatic buying means that advertisers no longer have to purchase display ad-space for a set amount of money over a set period of time, or use an agency to research space and go on price-discovery missions. Instead ads can be specifically targeted to relevant people across a wide range of sites, and budgets can be managed in real time. Automated media buying has reached $1.6 billion in revenue during 2014 and is projected to take 34% of all display advertising revenue by 2017. If you haven’t used programmatic buying before, it’s important to research the different DS platforms and the breadth they provide in terms of exchanges. Programmatic may not completely replace manual media buying, but if you apply similar due diligence to quality (programmatic doesn’t push remnant inventory but you should be vigilant), creativity and most importantly select the right programmatic partner, you should quickly see better conversion rates and a better ROI.

The relevance of programatic media buying.

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2014 saw the Internet of Things (IoT) become a reality. Thousands of start-ups and many larger tech corporates like Samsung, Philips and Google have already brought to market devices that disrupt everything from retail, healthcare and transport to consumer electronics. IoT is a paradigm shift. No longer is a computer limited to that thing on your desk used to write a document, send an email or browse the web. Instead, everything around you is now a computer: a network of connected embedded devices, sensors and software that integrate into your everyday life, autonomously performing tasks we would have had to manually perform. Whether it’s a fit-band, light bulb, thermostat, Smart Pot, smart TV, water bottle, fridge, dishwasher, shoes, glasses or even a self-tightening belt, many of them will be internet-connected and therefore capable of collecting vast amounts of data about you! And as ‘you’ are at the centre of these devices rather than a discrete application or ‘thing’, it reverses the process of technology. Rather than deciding to take out your phone and launch an app to find what you want, the technology understands the context you are in and provides you with the service or data you need – leading to ‘the internet of you’.

Everything is a computer Building the internet of you.

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According to Gartner, in about four years more than 26 billion devices will be connected to each other. Devices that are too small to make an easy internet connection commonly bridge this boundary by using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. 2014 saw 500 million NFC-enabled devices and the trend to embed NFC is growing so fast we will literally see everything with an NFC tag providing contextual information with just a simple tap. The Internet of Things gives marketers the opportunity to create applications designed to work with IoT devices, leveraging data or providing an added-value service. The big data IoT provides already allows companies to understand their consumers better and provide a more valuable, personalised experience and service. Marketers will have to engineer new approaches that can leverage this intelligence and these tools, while remaining sensitive towards users’ privacy. However, used in the right way, the IoT will inevitably be a vital part of the marketer’s toolkit.

To find out more about emerging technology trends in communications, request a bespoke bootcamp session by emailing victoria.sugg@mslgroup.com

2014 saw 500 million NFC-enabled devices sold and in 4 years’ time more than 26 billion devices will be connected to each other.

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Empowering The Reputation Makers Or Breakers

Tapping into the true power of employees in your communications.Business success is increasingly built from the inside out. Jason Frank, Global Co-Director of the Employee Practice, provides guidance on how communicators can harness the power of employees.

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With that in mind, here are our top five tips for turning employees into reputation makers.

Remember the foundation is ‘engagement’ and you have a big role to play in shaping itEmployees simply don’t become reputation makers unless they reach a certain threshold of ‘engagement’. In simple terms ‘engagement’ is the propensity of an employee to strive beyond their job specification to help their employer succeed. It’s about discretionary contribution rather than old-fashioned concepts such as satisfaction and loyalty. The body of research demonstrating the link between employee engagement and business performance is growing and increasingly irrefutable. The most definitive summary of evidence showing this link can be found in David MacLeod’s ‘Engaging for Success’ report for the UK Government. So what makes an employee engaged? In truth it’s a subtle, shifting algorithm of line management, leadership, culture, working environment, pay and career prospects. And depending on which survey you look at, anywhere from 50%–75% of employees are actively ‘disengaged’. Of course, many of the factors above will always be beyond the remit of the communicator – even if you have specific responsibility for this audience. However, it is critical that you recognise and embrace the defining role you and your team have to play in shaping culture, relationships, employee perception and – ultimately – behaviour.

Just as free, ubiquitous technology has put the consumer more in charge and undermined the traditional gatekeepers of information and influence, it is having similar democratising and empowering effects for employees. Employees are becoming the ultimate reputation makers or breakers in a world where every organisation sells experiences rather than products and where the truth is more accessible and shareable than ever – particularly by those on the ‘inside’.

Get inside the millennial mind – why a lot of employee communications can be counterproductive, and how to avoid this trapThe majority of the workforce is now from the much-maligned millennial generation (Gen Y) – born from anywhere between 1980 and 1984 depending on what you read. By 2020 this cohort will constitute 75% of the global workforce. In the last 18 months we’ve conducted two major global surveys into millennial attitudes to business and the workplace (‘Millennial Compass’ with Ashridge Business School and ‘The Future of Business Citizenship’ with Research Now). The studies have thrown up some fascinating nuances and confirm what other studies on the subject have demonstrated. To cut a long story short, the emotional contract between employee and employer has changed beyond recognition. Employers are primarily seen as ‘enablers’ who can help an individual to get further, faster and make a bigger impact on the world. Institutional loyalty is now highly conditional loyalty. Above all, millennials want to develop, to progress and to see the corresponding rewards and recognition – faster and more frequently than ever before. We summarise this attitude as ‘Up, On or Out’ – the minute they stop moving on or up they’re potentially out. As the old saying goes, you need to recruit your people every day. Above all, there are two vital implications that communicators must understand here. The first is that communications with employees have to answer the question ‘What’s in it for me?’ Most employees don’t get out of bed to make corporate visions and strategies happen, not unless they can see the resulting personal and professional benefits for them. Make those benefits more explicit, link the vision to the specific value for the employee, tell them why they should care, and ultimately how they will go further by embracing that new initiative, vision or strategy. Otherwise it’s more self-serving corporate noise that demonstrates you don’t ‘get them’ and that you don’t have their interests at heart. The second critical point is that Gen Y employees expect an enormous amount from their leaders and managers (As can be found in our ‘Millennial Compass’ research). They want managers to be sources of information and expertise, coaches, mentors and even friends. To make your communications work, accept the importance of leaders and managers and make sure your ‘cascades’ really work or there will be an uncomfortable disconnect between leadership, management and employee.

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Embrace the role of employees at the heart of the shift to content-led communications and conversations As if there weren’t already a big enough imperative to move employees up your priority list, another seismic shift is increasingly putting the employee at the heart of communications. This is the move to more direct conversations with stakeholders through a blurring spectrum of paid, owned and earned channels. The vast majority of organisations we work with, from behemoths like SABMiller and Standard Chartered to smaller professional services organisations, are all trying to find ways to meet the demand for a greater flow of insightful stories and opinions. Employees hold the key to this and ‘disengaged’ employees are not going to be providers of great stories and opinions. Disgruntled employees now have a public stage to creatively vent. In order to succeed in today’s dis-intermediated world, organisations must actively engage employees in finding, telling, writing, filming, publishing and sharing their stories and opinions, or those of the brand/organisation. Our research demonstrates that people believe what other people say much more than what brands or corporations say. Only 15% of people trust messages from companies compared to 90% who trust recommendations from people they know. Again the foundation stone is a certain threshold level of engagement, but above all else it’s about creating a process and culture that permits, educates, enables, rewards and recognises the principle of creating and sharing content with the outside world. And going back to our observations on millennials, that means you need to explain what’s in it for them – how they can build their own brands, networks and ‘market value’.

3 The debate on social advocacy is over. Employees are digitally connected to 10x more people than brands – their messages have greater reach, greater speed, and greater influence than official channelsBrian BurgessGlobal Co-Director Employee PracticeMSLGROUP North America

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Make advocacy simple We’ve already talked about the fact that people believe other people more than brands and companies. Research also shows that people are much likely to engage with and pass on this ‘peer-to-peer’ content. In fact, brand messages can actually be shared 24 times more frequently when distributed by employees, versus official brand channels alone. Opinions, tips and stories pass quicker and further through personal networks. We’ve touched on the fact that the tools and channels for ‘badvocacy’ are now free and ubiquitous, but you don’t have to be a zealous rogue ex-employee any more as reviewing your organisation is becoming a much more acceptable mainstream practice. Visit Glassdoor and you’ll find a league table of CEOs as voted for by employees. It would be easy to underestimate how this kind of commentary will increasingly build or undermine the value of an organisation in a world where CEO reputation is a primary driver of market valuation. We need to make the tools and channels simple and available if we are to turn engaged employees into regular, active advocates. Remember, this activity goes beyond their ‘day jobs’. Software companies have jumped on the opportunity and created tools that make it easier for people to share content that is served up to them through the social networks of their choice. The employer is in control, but to give Gen Y a little more incentive these systems have built-in ‘gamification’ elements such as league tables that quantify people’s contributions and make sharing content competitive and fun. We’ve seen pretty spectacular results from implementations of our own ‘Employee Impact’ system with major organisations.

4 Find out moreMillennial CompassMSLGROUP in the UK study in association with Ashridge Business School on insights into what millennials want from the workplace.

The Future of Business CitizenshipA roadmap to connecting business needs and millennials’ expectations in conjunction with Research Now.

5Above all, think empowerment rather than simply engagementYes, employee engagement is fundamental to ensuring employees don’t become potential ‘Reputation Breakers’. Yes, it underpins business success and you have a big role to play in creating an informed, engaged, inspired and enabled workforce that willingly gives discretionary effort, based on shared interests, values and rewards. But in order to truly and fully harness the reputational power of employees – to ensure they are ‘Reputation Makers’ – we like to think beyond engagement to the more dynamic concept of empowerment. Let’s assume a certain level of engagement: what do you do with it? How do you turn it into positive reputational impact embodied in continuous participation, contribution, sharing and advocacy? The answer to building business and communications success from the inside out lies in allowing, educating and empowering employees to take a growing role in your communications. And this will only happen if you take it seriously, make it easy, even make it fun. You need to make it something that employees recognise as good for them and their careers, rather than something that primarily benefits their employers.

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ContextIt’s offi cial: audiences have a lower attention span than a goldfi sh, according to Edward Boches and the Statistic Brain ‘In 2000, the average person could concentrate on a task without being distracted for a full 12 seconds. By 2013, that number had dropped to eight. Goldfi sh are better at concentrating than we are.’

LeadershipIt is more important now than ever before. According to a study by IBM, it is now the most important leadership quality required in a CEO for success in business.

Creativity will amplifySo, as communicators, how do you grab attention and cut through the apathy caused by overload? You need to disrupt, get creative and amplify your message by creating experiences. There are endless possibilities using digital channels. You just need to fi nd the right formula.

What’s the role of creativity in communications? How do you get attention in a fast-moving world? Al Baird, Creative Director, shares his ideas...

and amplify your message by creating experiences. There are endless possibilities using digital channels. You just need to fi nd the right formula.

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Creativity is at once both the lifeblood of communications and the sparkle. Rooted in a deep human insight, brilliant creative ideas were never needed more to help clients’ voices be heard and their messages matterTrudi HarrisChief Communications OfficerMSLGROUP

How? ‘Don’t talk – do!’ According to Edward Boches, actions most defi nitely speak louder than words. Don’t take your audiences for granted. Do your research; understand their behaviours, their motivations, and where they go to get their kicks. Give them something they love and they’ll love you back. Bring your message to life by giving people an experience, invite them into it, seduce them, surprise them, tell them a story and get them involved.

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ConclusionShare people’s passions, draw them in with clever techniques and distribute shareable content through all channels. If you do it right, you will create a community who will be happy to have a conversation both with you and about you. Just make sure you grab their attention in the fi rst eight seconds…

The Magic BlendThere are successful formulas – the trick is to take tried and tested principles and remix them in new and diff erent ways. Go where you know your audiences are, whether that’s in the real world or the digital world, and deliver the experience in an appropriate format (from experiential, to immersive storytelling, to videos that go viral, to stunts, to creative technology) to give them a great experience.

Getting the blend just right isn’t easy. It takes a lot of work and courage. Sometimes it’s worth thinking in a diff erent frame of mind, in a completely diff erent place or as a diff erent persona. Here I’ve curated a few classic and current campaigns to inspire:

The IllusionistThe Illusionist uses sleight of hand to distract and disrupt. British Airways used juxtaposition and technological trickery to great eff ect.msl.gp/MagicFlying

The ProvocateurP&G’s Always picking a fi ght with a cliché and beating it to a pulp.msl.gp/LikeAgirl

The Rebel With A CauseCharity Water Is Life raising awareness by making the self-obsessed First World look like idiots.msl.gp/HashtagKiller

The TwistA favourite of ad men the world over: that tried and tested technique, the twist. They fl ip the story just when you think you’re  in on their gag, but you forgive them for duping you because it’s made you feel all gooey inside.msl.gp/TicketToVisitMum

The StuntYou can’t beat a well-rehearsed bit of mayhem to make people stop and gawp.msl.gp/PushForDrama

The AnchormanAnd now, the news. In real time, via a biscuit (sorry, cookie).msl.gp/DailyTwist

The StorytellerAre you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. As we all know from childhood, you can’t beat a great story brought to life in a rich and engaging way.msl.gp/Makers

The Long PlayerSometimes it’s okay to defy convention and just do whatever it takes. In this instance, using the time and space the story warrants.msl.gp/BlackHawkDown

The Magic BlendThere are successful formulas – the trick is to take tried and tested principles and remix them in new and diff erent ways. Go where you know your audiences are, whether that’s in the real world or the digital world, and deliver the experience in an appropriate format (from experiential, to immersive storytelling, to videos that go viral, to stunts, to creative technology) to give them a great experience.

Getting the blend just right isn’t easy. It takes a lot of work and courage. Sometimes it’s worth thinking in a diff erent frame of

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Zoom, Swipe, Press, Tap, Pinch… The ubiquity of touchscreen devices means the good old-fashioned click is becoming just that: a thing of the past. Is your communication content touch sensitive?

For the cover of this issue we asked graphic artist Sam Coldy to examine the gestures that enable digital exploration. Here we breakdown the diff erent marks that went into the fi nal artwork.

Tap

Zoom

Drag

Press

Track

Pinch

Swipe

Rotate

Contributors James WarrenHaving started his career at IBM, James blends strategic consultancy, creative thinking and digital nous to help clients solve their communications needs. As Head of Digital he has overall responsibility for the delivery of truly integrated content-led digital solutions.

james.warren@mslgroup.com Sara BeirneSara is a strategic planner with 10 years’ experience in the communications industry. Working across global, regional and local campaigns, she specialises in digital, content, social media, consumer insights and analysis, influencer identification and engagement, and integrated and multi-market creative campaigns.

sara.beirne@mslgroup.com Dominic PaylingDominic is MSLGROUP’s Director of Planning and Insight. His obsession is changing behaviours through the ‘magic’ and ‘rigour’ of storytelling and the most influential techniques available to communications. He is the editor of the recent MSLGROUP book ‘On Influence’.

dominic.payling@mslgroup.com Kinda JacksonKinda is an ardent content marketer with a passion for insight-driven creative content, visual storytelling and video production. In her role as Head of Content she helps brands build and manage a digital presence through creative, insight-driven storytelling, contagious content creation, e-influencer, platform and content strategy.

kinda.jackson@mslgroup.com Al BairdAl passionately believes that creativity is fundamental in influencing audience behaviours by building communities through emotive storytelling and interactive experiences. He is MSLGROUP’s Lead Creative Director and has over two decades’ experience of delivering powerful brand and business impact through creative communications.

al.baird@mslgroup.com

Matthew ShannonMatthew’s multidisciplinary approach enables him to bring brands to life, engage workforces, and deliver strategic change and business strategies. In his role as Creative Director at MSLGROUP, he adds value by creating innovative solutions and a different perspective for some of the world’s largest organisations and those individuals that interact with them.

matthew.shannon@mslgroup.com

James Klymowsky A previous winner of the IPA Young Talent of the Year Award, James has 10 years’ experience designing and developing enterprise digital solutions. As Technical Director, he leads the development team at MSLGROUP with a culture of creative technology that allows them to push boundaries on behalf of their clients.

james.klymowsky@mslgroup.com Dean ParkerDean is passionate about developing creative solutions that help organisations solve reputation, behaviour and revenue focused challenges. He leads MSLGROUP’s expertise in digital strategy and communications and has over two decades’ experience in interaction design and user experience.

dean.parker@mslgroup.com Anders Kempe Anders is a keen advocate of an entrepreneurial spirit in the industry and at MSLGROUP. Anders has headed up the EMEA region as President since 2007, and has almost 30 years’ experience in the industry, with a particular interest in public affairs and corporate communications.

anders.kempe@mslgroup.com Lucy CordingLucy’s raison d’etre is using digital to reach and influence audiences. Her wide-ranging expertise ranges from mapping landscapes and understanding user journeys to planning and executing multi-platform campaigns. She is a leader in search, social engagement, content strategy and influencer engagement.

lucy.cording@mslgroup.com Jason FrankJason is fascinated by the relationship between people, performance and reputation, and believes that brand and company success start from the inside out. He is Joint CEO of MSLGROUP and is passionate about building an agency that is recognised as a ‘go-to’ both for clients and as an employer.

jason.frank@mslgroup.com

Front Cover IllustrationSam Coldy

Photography pages 4–7Jamie Long

Illustration pages 26–31Owen Davies

Illustration pages 32–35Enora Thépaut

DesignMSLGROUP in the UK

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We are MSLGROUP in the UK.We’re a communications agency with digital, insight and creativity at its heart. We help organisations to build and maintain their reputations and relationships. As part of the global MSLGROUP network we have more than 3,500 colleagues in over 100 offices across 22 countries. Get in touch:Victoria SuggBusiness Development Directorvictoria.sugg@mslgroup.com+44 (0)20 3219 8838mslgroup.co.uk

Keep up to date with our latest research, events and training by following us @MSGROUP_UK or by joining our closed LinkedIn group, MSLGROUP Sphere of Influence. ©MSLGROUP 2015