Veda enlisted Howorth to develop and execute a two-week media strategy to release the results of its 2011 Credit Management in Australia, a report providing insights into how global and local economic factors are affecting the credit management processes of Australian businesses. Veda conducted the survey amongst 220 credit managers from a cross-section of Australian industry. Veda works closely with a large proportion of Australia’s credit professionals which gives the company a detailed understanding of local credit management issues within a national and global context.

Our approach:

The hot topic in Australian media in the week and days leading up to the launch of the report was the announcement by the Reserve Bank of Australia to drop interest rates in December and whether the big banks would pass it on – which was seen as a welcome relief to businesses – especially small and medium sized enterprises – and consumers.

The Howorth team spotted the opportunity to capitalise on the announced rate cuts by linking the credit management report to the topic. We worked closely with Veda’s spokesperson Moses Samaha, Head of Commercial Risk, to craft an interesting story for media on these topics. We also advised Veda to bring in a third party spokesperson, and as a result were able to work with Terry Collins, CEO AICM to strengthen our story even further.

The results:

We targeted selected business and financial media for a preview on the report setting up two interviews with Sky Business News and AAP ahead of the official launch. This resulted in 29 pieces of editorial across TV, newswires and online in the week following the release of the Credit Management in Australia 2011 report. Articles reported on the results of the report as well as giving Veda’s view on the state of credit management in Australia.

Highlights included:

• An 4 minute interview on Sky Business News with Moses Samaha;

• Moses Samaha and Terry Collins featured in tier one media targets including AAP, Daily Telegraph, The Australian, Herald Sun, The Age, etc.

• As a result from our outreach, Veda received a number of requests for more information from government agencies such as the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, and from Credit Managers across a wide range of industries in Australia and New Zealand.

In October 2011 four technicians from Canon Australia and New Zealand flew to Shanghai to compete for the title of Canon’s undisputed top technician at the Asia Pacific (APAC) Cup.

The APAC Cup is a Canon technician’s version of the football grand final, but instead of battling it out on the footy field, they’re troubleshooting business imaging equipment. It’s a highly skilled and very competitive series of practical and theoretical tests.

It’s also a way for Canon to provide its technicians with opportunities to build their skills by sharing ‘tricks of the trade’ with colleagues from around the world.

Howorth spotted an opportunity to get involved in the hype that surrounded the Rugby World Cup – from one international sporting event to another.

What started as an internal competition in Australia caught the imagination of the media and became one of Canon’s biggest corporate stories for 2011. In total there were 23 pieces across Australia of coverage around the APAC cup including The Today Show, Herald Sun, News.com, MX, ABC 720 Perth, 2GB Sydney, 4KQ Brisbane and Adelaide Now.

The Daily Telegraph even made this online video to accompany its story about the competition.

“Forget Cadel Evans, forget Sam Stosur and forget that guy who won the Nobel Prize for discovering what the universe was made of – Australia has a new hero.” –The Daily Telegraph

“Got a paper jam? Can’t get your printer working? Mt Gravatt based technician Daniel Leong is the man who knows how to solve your printing woes.” – Southern Star

“O’Brien is a paper jam’s worst enemy.” – The Daily Telegraph

“Newing, a specialist senior engineer with Canon, earned his spot in the four-man Aussie squad to compete at the Canon Asia Pacific Cup.” – MX

Shane McClelland, marketing and communication manager of Canon Australia, said it was great to be able to recognise the technicians for all their hard work and enthusiasm.

“We were very pleased with the coverage we received around the APAC Cup and the media hype was fantastic for the finalists – Paul O’Brien even mentioned that he was stopped on the street once and asked if he was “the Canon technician from the TV?,” said Shane.

The Canon APAC Cup showed that the right story angle can make a niche story go a long way.

Did they bring home the cup? Although the four-man Australian squad wasn’t successful in bringing home the APAC Cup – they did prove that good old Aussie sportsmanship is alive and well – on and off the footy field.

Back in 2009, Howorth developed a PR campaign positioning Hitachi Data Systems as a thought-leader in the information management space by providing a first perspective on the ‘Information Glut’, a report examining the impact of the sharp growth in information.

Two years on, Hitachi revisited the topic to see if attitudes had changed, expanding the scope by commissioning Deloitte Access Economics to assess how the information glut was impeding business productivity, and the benefit of improved information management on performance and the broader economy.

A collaborative Ogilvy project involving Howorth, Impact Communications and Ogilvy Illumination, Hitachi commissioned an independent study conducted by AMR, which found that 40% of organisations in Australian and New Zealand are suffering from too much information, up 5% from 2009. Almost every respondent (95%) admitted they experienced some degree of glut, with a quarter reporting significant impact on organisational performance.

Analysis by Deloitte also found the information glut is affecting Australia and New Zealand’s GDP and therefore their global competitiveness – estimating mismanagement of information is costing Australia’s economy at least $3bn per year and New Zealand $400m per year.

Hitachi has called for businesses to start acting in order to manage the growth of the glut, stressing that Australia can no longer afford to be a nation of business bystanders. This ‘information intervention’ requires organisations to take a big picture look at existing systems and strategically align information management with business imperatives.

Howorth conducted a series of embargoed media briefings with business and technology media to amplify the amount of quality media coverage. A broadcast strategy was devised to help communicate the high-level business messages and impact of the information glut on Australian productivity. The human interest story was communicated via an interview with AAP to extend the conversation through syndications across the regional news websites. The provision of both Australian and New Zealand specific stats also enabled the ANZ publications to customise the content. In addition, the infographic on the 2011 stats supported the content and made the report more visually appealing.

The launch of the report received significant media interest, with eight embargoed interviews, two broadcast interviews and over 20 unique articles appearing in traditional print and online media.

Highlights included:

-              Neville Vincent, VP and general manager, was interviewed by ABC Lateline Business on launch day, outlining the key findings from the report. A six minute interview with Vincent was also broadcast on Sky Business News’ Tech Report programme.

-              40+ articles appeared in titles such as AAP, News.com.au, Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, Technology Spectator, iTWire, Computerworld, Computerworld NZ, Computer Daily News, Channel News and The Channel, more than doubling 2009’s coverage.

-              The quality of the story was reflected in further reactive enquiries and additional articles by other organisations referencing the Information Glut report to leverage their own product offerings.

You can download a copy of the Great Information Glut 2011 report here

Ever been struck by a great idea, but kept it quiet, just in case it sounds more wacko than wonder-child? After 10 years around the traps at Ogilvy PR and 14 in the PR business, I’ll share a secret: wonder-child is overrated.

But for those that err on the side of better safe than sorry, let me give you a quick filter for the big idea that you can implement between brain and mouth.

Last week I attended a MasterClass at ci2011 with famous physician, inventor and author of 82 books, Dr Edward de Bono. He took us through some concepts from his books ‘Think! Before It’s Too Late’ and ‘Six Thinking Hats’, but for me the most compelling part was the last 30 minutes of each session when he answered audience questions and entered into general discourse on the role of creativity within an organisation.

 Creativity often gets a bad rap. Corporate clients might sponsor the arts, but get a whiff of it in the boardroom and it takes a brave leader to grab it by the horns and see how they can apply it to their business.

 A key differentiator de Bono applies is creativity versus ‘crazy-tivity’.

Creativity is creating something new. According to de Bono, all valuable creative ideas will be logical in hindsight and have obvious benefits. In fact, when you are using creativity to create something new for an organisation, it’s often referred to as innovation.

Crazy-tivity has its place – in the realms of fantasy and entertainment – but it’s not the valuable business tool PR peeps need to employ in their bag of tricks.

 So getting back to this checklist between brain and mouth.

 This is not a de Bono list – it’s Aunty Van’s interpretation of de Bono – so take or leave it depending on where you think I sit on the scale of wacko to wunderkind.

 Before you make your suggestion, answer the following questions:

1. With hindsight, is your idea logical?
2. Does your idea have the potential to deliver obvious benefits?
3. If so, list two-three benefits that would support your idea.
4. What’s your gut saying? Is it a winner? Intuition doesn’t give you creative ideas, but it does help you judge the ideas you come up with. Trust yourself when you think you’re on a winner.

 Now I’m not saying you need to do this with every single idea. In some brainstorming environments it’s perfectly OK to switch the dial to wacko – in fact de Bono’s ‘Random Word’ tools might be considered in this category.

 But if you have time for the filter – run your idea through it – and it might help you articulate your thinking a little better.

 Dr de Bono has a number of ‘deliberate thinking techniques’ that I’m just starting to learn about. He’s number one on my reading list right now, so if you want to borrow a copy, go to www.bookdepository.co.uk .

He signed my copies so you can all PO! (BTW, that last comment was a de Bono in-joke … read his latest work and you’ll get it.)

Australia’s ABC, affectionately known as ‘Aunty’, is often regarded as an institution that is slow to embrace innovations and technologies –almost a relic of bygone times.  Aunty has a certain old school feel about her, whether it be the familiar faces of its presenters or its consistent programming. However, in reality, a more fitting name for the ABC of today would reflect that the ABC has broken down barriers ahead of its commercial cohorts.

Last month, about 150 guests crammed into a small room at the UTS Aerial Function Centre to hear Mark Scott, the managing director of the ABC, outline how the ABC was responding in the era of digital information, as part of the UTSpotlight series for the university’s alumni.

Scott reflected on a time when the ability of audiences and readers to quench their news thirst was at the mercy of the country’s news editors and newsagents. For example, if your newsagent wanted to, he could sell you a nine day-old copy of the New York Times; if you made it home in time, you would watch Richard Morecroft read the news, and if the head of news at Fairfax thought you might be interested, you could read an article from The Washington Post.

However, times have changed and while many see the ABC’s charter, structure and funding to be constraints holding it back, Scott believes innovation loves constraints and he’s taken these constraints by the horns. His view is the ABC should be more innovative, more relevant and more responsive to Australians than any other network.

Since taking the helm in 2006, Scott has expanded its services and the ABC now provides news, information, entertainment and other content across an expanding array of platforms: four television channels; digital radio channels to complement the four national and 60 local services; an elaborate online operation and customised material for mobile and other new media devices.

It’s fair to say the ABC is leading the digital charge. Its iView product, developed on a typical ABC budget of ‘as little as possible’, was the first to unlock audiences from their nightly 7pm social contracts with newsreaders to view their news. It meant they could view the news, and their favourite TV shows, at any time, from anywhere using the device of their choosing – iPhone, iPad or iMac. The ABC has realised the importance of digital and online in helping it to engage and maintain its audience.

Even the stalwart ‘old school’ bastions of the ABC have moved into the digital age – Four Corners has a Facebook page to interact with its audience, and Q&A regularly generates more than 30, 000 tweets in a single hour. The ABC has revolutionised the content Australians are seeing on their screens, centering it around them and what they have to say.

According to Scott, the role of the ABC is no longer that of a news teller but as a news host — a place where people can tell their own news and stories. The ABC is about Australian content and stories, stories for Australians by Australians. It provides a platform that allows them to do so. And where better than in their own world – online.

Guest post by Dorea Lau (@dorealau)

It’s been a huge news week. Between Steve Jobs, Amanda Knox and Kyle Sandilands’ imaginary love child, the press must have bruised fingertips by now. Well, about the first two stories anyway.

But beyond the gushing memorials and the frothing controversies, I think an important point has been missed.

Steve Jobs was many things to many people. He was a visionary, he changed the world, he was – and I quote here – the “greatest inventor since Edison.” But he wasn’t always first.

He wasn’t first to the MP3 player. He wasn’t first to the touchscreen smartphone. He wasn’t first to the tablet.*

But, more importantly, he got those designs right.

He took good ideas and made them into better products. He didn’t rush things out before they were perfect, which is why he was seen as a genius by the authors of his obituaries.

That lesson can be learned by the media.

This week, the verdict of Amanda Knox’s trial for murdering Meredith Kercher was handed down. It acquitted both her and Raffaele Sollecito (whose name barely gets a mention in most press – being ‘foxy’ gets you headline billing it seems) of the killing. But several media outlets, in their haste to be first, published articles stating their appeals had been rejected and they had been sent back to jail.

A couple even engineered reactions and quotes from the hypothetical situation.

Now, I understand many articles are pre-written – obituaries being a topical case in point. But when the rush to be first on the scene sees media miss the target this spectacularly it calls into question the credibility of their entire masthead. They need to learn from Mr Jobs – getting it right is more important that getting it first.

I am an admirer of the slow food movement as an alternative to fast food junk. Maybe it is high time for a slow news movement also?

*(I’m ignoring the PC because it doesn’t help my point at all!)

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/americanistadechiapas/6219215378/sizes/z/in/photostream

The challenge:

DHL Express enlisted the Howorth B2B team to develop and execute a media strategy to release the results of the 2011 DHL Export Barometer, the annual survey into the health of the Australian export economy.

Conducted by independent researchers and supported with analysis from Tim Harcourt, Chief Economist of Austrade, the Barometer provides insights into factors impacting Australia’s exporters by conducting in depth research across range of industries including agriculture, manufacturing, mining, tourism and professional services.

Our approach:

Hot topics in the Australian media in the weeks leading up to the launch of the Barometer were the negative impact that the strong dollar and online retailing were having on Australian businesses.

The Howorth team spotted an opportunity to capitalise on this by linking the Barometer findings to these topics but adding new elements to the conversation – the growth opportunities that online commerce was presenting Australian businesses and highlighting that exporters were maintaining employment levels despite the challenges presented by exchange rates.

The results:

Over 60 pieces of editorial across TV, radio, print and online were generated in the two days following the release of the Barometer.  Highlights included:

• An eleven minute interview on Sky Business News with DHL’s Gary Edstein and Austrade’s Tim Harcourt.

• Gary and Tim featured in tier one media targets including The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph in addition to news.com.au, SBS news online, yahoo7 and ninemsn.

• International coverage across the London Stock Exchange website, NASDAQ.com and the Dow Jones international news wire.

Issue: Ogilvy PR (OPR) was engaged by the Department of Innovation Industry, Science and Research (DIISR)  to get the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) public behind the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) bid to bring the world’s biggest telescope to Australia. With the bid element of the project nearing crunch time (early 2012), it was time to ramp up public awareness, build excitement and most importantly gain the public’s support.

Challenges:

OPR had to overcome several challenges in order to successfully execute the campaign objectives:

-          Creating the news hook: Given there were no new bid milestones during the campaign activity period, OPR had no timely news hook to engage media around.

-          Making a complex message relevant and engaging for the public: The SKA is a technical scientific feat had previously only received interest from the science community. The radio astronomy jargon had to broken down and the question “why should I care about a telescope?” had to be answered before gaining the support of the ‘man on the street’ for the project.

-          Overcoming negative perceptions such as the project cost and environmental impact:  The SKA will cost the international community over $2 billion to build – to some, a perceived waste of tax payers’ money. Many Australians were also feeling uneasy about the way in which 3,000 dishes would change and impact the Australian landscape.

PR Strategy:

To create mass awareness and gain the support of the Australian public, OPR developed a number of media opportunities to feed to the media over the three month campaign period. In order to build these opportunities, OPR:

• Put a personal face to the story

Science commentator, author and radio presenter, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki was engaged as the campaign ambassador; a spokesperson which the Australian public could relate to and who transcends the science community, taking the story out of  the “geek” world and into the everyday. Dr Karl took part in a media tour supported by additional spokespeople relevant to different audiences and media outlets

• Created a unique media experience

To provide media with new and exclusive content, OPR coordinated a media visit to the proposed SKA site in Western Australia. TV, online and print journalists attended capturing photographs and footage of the site coupled with interviews with various key spokespeople

• Generated tailored stories that would spark interest with the different audience groups

OPR created a number of different angles to bring to life the bid for different media. This ensured the SKA message reached everyone from school children to young males, from the working professional to the tech savvy individual.

On the back of continued growth, Howorth has appointed three new employees across its specialist practices. Robin Clark joins in the position of account director in the technology team, Tegan Knight in the position of account manager in the consumer and lifestyle team, and Steven Reilly in the position of senior account manager in the corporate and business-to-business team.

Howorth’s managing director, Graham White, said: “Howorth experienced a record year in 2010 and we’ve seen continued growth and momentum in 2011, adding a number of new clients and further organic growth within our existing portfolio. As a result, we’ve had to further expand the teams and we’re delighted with the new talent coming into the agency.”

Clark (pictured left) is relocating to Sydney from Weber Shandwick, London, where he has spent eight years working his way through to the position of account director, leading a number of international technology and corporate accounts including Capgemini, Microsoft Research, Microsoft EMEA and Monster Europe. Clark’s first role in PR was at Apple in 2002, when he was offered a role as a PR assistant following a successful internship. At Howorth, Clark will be working on clients that include Telstra, Intel and Hitachi Data Systems.

Reilly (pictured middle) joins from the Sydney Opera House where he has been working as a communications specialist for the past five years. Two key highlights include the Oprah Winfrey Show with Tourism Australia and the YouTube Symphony Orchestra with Google, which gained 33 million viewers, overtaking U2 as the most viewed live performance on YouTube. Other key events included APEC Australia and the FIFA World Congress.

Reilly started his career in his native Scotland and prior to coming to Australia held communications roles at organisations including the UK Film Council, Scottish Screen and marketing agency 2Fluid Creative, At Howorth, he will be supporting the management and growth of Howorth’s B2B/Corporate practice, working on a range of business-to-business and corporate clients and including reputation, sustainability and CSR-focused programs.

Knight (pictured right) has been freelancing since arriving in Australia in September 2010, including TMTE Group, Hausmann Communications and Hill & Knowlton. He has also worked as a trade marketing assistant at ninemsn.  In London, Knight was a senior publicist at Romley Davies Publicity managing PR campaigns for Universal Pictures and 20^th Century Fox, as well as press management of the BAFTA Children’s Awards and the EMPIRE Film Awards. At Howorth, he will be working on a number of accounts in the company’s Digital Lifestyle Group including Microsoft.

Howorth is part of Ogilvy PR Australia, the country’s largest and most awarded public relations agency, which has scooped more than 50 Australian and global trophies in the past two years. In 2010, Howorth took top honours amongst all WPP-owned worldwide PR agencies, winning best PR campaign of the year.