Hill+Knowlton Strategies

I know – twice in one week. Strange times.

This is just to share a really interesting edition of Radio 4’s In Business which looks at how some simple ideas about cleanliness and hygiene could fundamentally change lives around the world – and how the techniques of business, marketing and communications in particular, are making them happen. Inspiring stuff. And shows just what communications can do  – turning simple ideas into practical actions that make the world a better place.

What do you think of when you someone asks you about the country of Turkey? For most Europeans, the country is defined by the blue Mediterranean, summer holidays in Bodrum and one of the world’s leading cuisines. My first opinions of the country were shaped by a Channel 4 TV series back in the late 1990s by the archaeologist John Romer, who marvelled at the ancient civilization of Byzantium through the modern metropolis of Istanbul. It took me ten years to visit the city but it was definitely worth the wait – anyone who has gazed upon the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, two of the world’s most distinctive and well-known religious buildings can attest to the enduring marvels of the East.

In recent weeks, the media has shifted considerable focus on Turkey. David Cameron’s visit to the country this week (see below) highlights its strategically important role for Britain politically, economically and as part of the NATO alliance. This week’s Newsweek argues that the country is forging a ‘unique, centrist role in a divided world’. For some time, there has been a perceptible Turkish rapprochement with its neighbours in the Arab world. Turkey has also forged strong business links in the Caucasus and with fellow-Turkic language speakers in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Yet, for fifty or so years Turkish foreign policy has consistently oriented itself towards union with Europe.

Its politicians and economists have done the sums – it’s much more advantageous to be part of the world’s largest economic bloc than left on the sidelines particularly when the country’s main export markets are Germany, France, the UK and Italy. Strong links to much of Europe are solidified by a large and vibrant Turkish-minority in Germany, which has shaped the cultural and economic life of many of the country’s major cities.

Turkish accession to the EU would bring a number of key benefits for the trading bloc and for the inner dynamics of the Union. Most interesting of all, Turkish accession to the EU will effectively decide the future of the world’s most powerful trading bloc. With Turkish accession, the EU would look very different to how its original founders envisaged.

Whether Turkey joins the EU within the next 10 or 20 years, it is evident that the country has an enormous amount of positive things going for it including a favourable geographical location between East and West, a young and mobile workforce and a growing and diverse economy. Whilst images of Bodrum beaches may remain for some, Turkey is redefining Europe’s future. It may also come to define the futures of its near neighbours in the East at the same time.

So ‘healthy social connections’ with relatives, friends,workmates or neighbours can improve our survival rates by 50% according to a study from Brigham Young University. (Let’s leave aside the fact that 50% seems pretty high and that I’m not sure I necessarily want to improve my survival rate by that much.)

This is not the first time we’ve heard about the positive impact of human interaction on health and it does all make sense. Life seems a little better when you’ve got people to talk to and people who listen to you. Surely this bodes well for the long-term impact of the Big Society – if it all works out and our positive interactions increase, then we’re all happier and living longer. (Let’s deal with the impact on the health budget later.)

Then there’s the whole issue of how the internet shapes our interactions. It’s already connected us and now we’re beginning to understand how these  new interactions are evolving. We’ve heard about the emptiness of Facebook friendships and the loneliness created by social media but while online relationships may be no substitute for actual human contact, they can facilitate it, ultimately strengthening and expanding our human interaction.

Interestingly this study doesn’t take into account the quality of the relationship – grouping together the healthy and unhealthy interactions – so, in theory, the impact of the healthy relationships could be even greater. I’m pretty sure I’ve felt my life ebbing away during some ‘unhealthy interactions’.

To be slightly contradictory and go off on a tangent, here’s a book  – The Man Who Planted Trees – that’s light on social interaction but just beautifully simple and inspirational and there’s even video content for those of you who prefer your action online.

London indeed whole of the UK is buzzing about 2 yrs to go, hear what Andy Sutherden, Head of Sports at Hill & Knowlton London has to say on both old and new Olympic sponsors, the opportunities that the 2012 Games is creating for so many and what  their lasting legacy will be .

A commitment to deliver an annual energy statement ‘to set strategic energy policy and guide investment’ was a key plank of the coalition government’s energy policy. In a flurry of new consultations, calls for evidence and publications, the first statement was delivered today.

The final day before the start of the summer parliamentary recess would be the perfect occasion to rehash and reannounce old initiatives – so is that what has happened, or am I being over-cynical?

Well, there are certainly some elements that we have heard before – for example a review of the role of Ofgem, and a drive to greater transparency in consumer energy billing have both been hinted at in recent months. That said, the additional level of detail and timelines announced today are both new and very welcome.

Both of the above will certainly generate coverage tomorrow, as will the genuinely new announcements, such as the initiative to identify additional CCS projects worthy of public sector investment.

And of course, all of the detail announced today contributes to creating a more stable environment for investment in the energy sector, stability which is desperately needed in both the newer and more ’traditional’ energy sectors at the moment.  

The mixture of more detail on existing policy, together with some completely new initiatives, seems a good one. Too much of either would not be credible. Here’s hoping that future statements follow the start made today.

Coaching my colleagues on their presentation skills recently I’ve been thinking a lot about good and bad narratives.

 And two more 80s remakes hitting the box office, Karate Kid and The A Team, brought this into perspective; in particular the relationship between content and delivery.  C.C. Colton couldn’t  possibly have imagined the negative impact of his aphorism ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’.

To be fair I’ve not seen either of these movies, but in my experience most remakes simply don’t work (and I’m being polite here). They are never as good as the original, in fact they don’t even come close. Usually they’re just a case of form over substance.

Of course that only annoys oldies like me, or younger retro fans.  After all, for those who haven’t seen the previous movie isn’t ‘my’ remake ‘their’ original?

And yet I’m not against adapting stories. One of my favourite guilty pleasures is Cruel Intentions, the almost verbatim teen adaption of Dangerous Liaisons.  It’s clever, witty, has a great cast and tells the story in its own compelling way.  And that’s the clue.

A great story can be retold thousands of times, depending on how you tell it.  Take Shakespeare, an inspiration to narrative makers the world over. I’ve seen everything from toe-tapping musicals to a gangster movie (Joe Macbeth) based on Will’s works.  The quality may have varied, but I’ve found something in them all.

Where so many ‘take two’ blockbusters fall down is that they try to tell the same story in the same way.  No amount of special effects can cover that up.

And that’s where so many pitch narratives fall down, failing to achieve a more individual, compelling, and memorable way to take the audience on a journey. Adaptation, not imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Not to get all Freudian, but to understand bloggers, it is good to start with our motivations for blogging. There is such an amazing mountain range of blogs, yet there is a common thread. (Hint: it’s Passion.)

I asked this question at H&K’s recent Demystifying Digital client symposium. Two of my favorite star bloggers, Jory Des Jardins, founder of BlogHer (the largest network of women bloggers), and Mascha, founder BeautyGloss.nl (one of the top blogs in the Netherlands), shared their view.

I wake up and one of the first things I usually check is Facebook to see who has done what and when around the world in the past 7hrs while I’ve been sleeping. I have an eclectic mix of friends including my partner, close friends, family, ex-partners work colleagues and just a smattering of friends-of-friends. Then there are my fan pages… ok, the pages ‘I Like’ I think they are called now, which include such a mix of music, drag queens from Ru Paul’s famous ‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race’, shops, magazines (like ValenciaCity), restaurants, cool pages (like CoolHunter) and travel!…. I don’t have thousands of friends, just the people I actually know, or have met. I’m a bit fastidious about my security settings and only allow my friends and network (Hill & Knowlton of course) to view my updates and uploaded pictures.

Then I worry about tweeting…. OMG! What can I possibly say in 140 characters that will be of interest to my pitiful 97 followers who have read my 1,113 tweets… or increase my sad following?  (The stress increases one hundred fold when tweeting on behalf of the agency!)  In fact I cheat a little and link my personal Foursquare and Facebook accounts to my twitter account so that there is at least an update a day! Even if it is only suggesting where I am eating, drinking or working out! … are you still with me? Sound familiar?

Then there is my LinkedIn account (which again I have linked to the wider H&K LinkedIn network). Should I link to my twitter and Facebook accounts so that my 131 immediate connections linked to my network of 5,048 connections get updated as and when I eat or work out? But then I would have to be a tad more professional in my wording and try to use casual text speak a little less that is acceptable on Facebook. Would they be interested? I doubt it. And then there is Dopplr for tracking my travelling. Should I link this to Facebook and Twitter too or does my Worldmate account that I think I have linked to my LinkedIn account do that already!? Read the rest of this entry »

I awoke this morning feeling wonderful – the weather was a bit pony, admittedly, but it was FRIDAY and I had 2 days of pseudo-freedom to look forward to before reapplying the shackles of gainful employment. Things were looking good, webmongs…and then I had an 8:30am conference call which pretty much screwed my day entirely. It’s hard to explain its effect without resorting to cheap hyperbole, so I shan’t try; suffice it to say that it was the psychological equivalent of making a series of small but well-placed papercuts between each of my toes and then taking a saline foot-bath; of flaying the skin from my bones and then rolling across the great Salt Lake Desert.

But! It’s not just about me (it is, actually, but let’s pretend). What’s been going on in the world since we last spoke? Oh, loads of stuff. Old Spice did THE BEST THING ON THE INTERNET EVER – or at least that’s what a bunch of generic media idiots think; real people, on the other hand, remained utterly oblivious to the fact that a man with his shirt off was massaging the egos of a host of people on Twitter. They also remained reluctant to purchase the frankly horrifyingly-scented product in question (though a note to all the PR/marketing gurus/ninjas/mavens (*vomits*) who are running around shouting FAIL! – let’s look at figures in a year’s time and then judge the campaign, eh? And frankly I’m sure that the fine folk at W&K will be crying into their vintage Veuve at Cannes this time next year when they’re hoovering cocaine from the tanned midriff s of teenage models whilst clutching multiple Lions of varying hues).

What else? Paul Gascoigne made a late bid for a post on the UN Security counsel as he demonstrated his peacekeeping skills; The Times revealed the IMMENSE SUCCESS of its paywall policy; the Spanish won a fight; lots more people got a Facebook account; and I went to see this man doing stand-up and fell a bit in love with his genius. But! You don’t care about that! In fact, you probably don’t care about what is to follow either, but no matter. On with the LINKS and INFORMATION and STUFF.

Read the rest of this entry »

 Now this is clever. Get the actor most associated with oil to front an ad campaign for solar energy.

J.R.Ewing

Launching last week, SolarWorld make quite a splash with an ad fronted by Mr Oil Baron himself, J.R. Ewing. The ad campaign, with Larry Hagman’s most famous alter ego, has proved a coverage generating hit getting a largely positive and amused response to his perceived u-turn. http://tinyurl.com/33rxxa7

The knowing nod to the bygone days of ‘glamorous’ oil  made me think how hard it actually is for most big energy companies to reconcile the traditional parts of their energy business with the new energy side.

We should be celebrating investment in the world of solar energy and I find it extremely rewarding to work with companies who can communicate positive achievements in renewables. However, the hard fact is that on their own renewables don’t yet provide the solution to all our energy needs. Whilst it would be great to decrease our dependance on the traditional energy sector and completely embrace solar, wind, geothermal etc. etc. we do have to accept that energy companies need to provide energy for today as well as tomorrow. Sadly, renewables don’t yet have all the solutions.

Perhaps instead we should be doing more about our own energy consumption habits so that we can be in a better position to deliver the energy we need to tomorrow.

Perhaps.

It would be good though to know what J.R. has to say about that.