56-58 PR:SPN Master pages 12/9/08 23:20 Page 4
spnfeature
“OUR PR IS NOT ABOUT REELING OFF
PRESS RELEASES SINCE MOST OF
THEM ARE NEVER READ, IT IS MORE
ABOUT PROVIDING WRITTEN AND
PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL WITH
UNUSUAL TOPICS TO GET THE JUICES
FLOWING WITH THE PRESS”
‘What’s on the Web’ he shows that correctly and grows with our development and think a little – every time photos of
www.londonswimmingpools.com came as a company in the market place. pools and spas are published with the help
out top of 322,000 results and he goes A progressive business has many key of association monies, you too enjoy the
on to say that we have made a very sectors for operating including Human spin-off as images are portrayed in the
valuable achievement in the virtual world Resources and Financial Management public domain which lodge in the
of e-business…and he was looking at our which are crucial for expansion and consciousness of consumers.
old website!! success, however, I have to admit that PR So why not follow our example by
We have access to a detailed monthly is a favourite area since I understand just joining SPATA or BISHTA to reap those PR
nine page summary for our website traffic how powerful it is as a marketing tool if benefits together with your own PR
showing us what search engines are used, used properly. It is not by chance that activities to portray a strong image of your
number of unique visitors and pages London Swimming Pool Company is company and the industry as a whole.
looked at, total hits etc from within the UK achieving more media coverage and Our PR Manager, Helena, insists that all
and worldwide. website visits than perhaps anyone else in contact between the company and the
The statistics show us, for example, that this sector. outside world is PR, anything from a casual
unique visitor figures for June 2008 have We did plan for these results although it chat between a member of staff with the
increased 45% over June 2007 and are up is fair to say that the returns are beyond “bin men” out the back, to assisting a
65% for July 2008. Someone, somewhere my wildest dreams. demanding high profile architect with free
from practically every country on the The message then is to use PR as part of advice over the telephone. Communication
planet is looking at our site every hour of your strategy not only to stay in business needs to be positive and confident at all
the day…who knows where this can lead. but also to help your business grow in the times in order to achieve and maintain the
Importantly, we know and understand that direction that is right for your company. good reputation required for success, and
the website has become the first point of To those who find fault with the generic that attitude and way of working becomes
contact for our business and it is BSPF PR fund on behalf of SPATA and second nature to all employees who are
paramount that it reflects our services BISHTA members, I just want to say stop committed to their company. spn
Advertising value no longer the criteria to use
Where should the pool industry go when that the Daily Star, is the news outlet most spokesperson. “High message delivery
trying to pitch a story? And how should likely to run a favourable article. and spokespeople mentions suggest the
companies value the benefit of getting a BBC Radio 4 comes next, ahead of a emergence of a copy and paste
consumer story published? whole series of Scottish newspapers who publishing trend in online media,” says
It may not be just a numbers game seem to adopt a less than critical approach. the report.
but increasingly finding the right media At the other end of the scale are the The analytical approach of Metrica,
outlet which will provide a positive spin Daily Mail and the Sunday Times, as the and other companies such as Echo
on the trade. titles most likely to run a hostile piece. Research, Media Measurement Limited,
In the last issue of Swimming Pool It finds that newspapers such as The Sun, Media Evaluation Research and Precise
News PR consultant John Grahame said; the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express are Media, is challenging the traditional PR
“The bigger the prize the bigger the more likely to take a positive angle than measure of advertising value equivalent
risk. If you are going to go on delivering quality titles such as The Independent and (AVE), which compared a piece of
quality national coverage then you take the Financial Times. It also reports that, editorial to the cost of a similarly-sized
the risk that someone will write contrary to notions that some business advertisement.
something you don’t like” chiefs might have, the overwhelming Claire O’Sullivan, Metrica’s Associate
The increasingly sophisticated majority of coverage is positive. Director, says: “Using an AVE to
science of tracking and monitoring The report states that: “This evidence measure how effective PR has been is
media coverage has been revealed by flies in the face of general anecdotal like using a thermometer to measure
a Media Evaluation and PR feeling that the media tends to promote speed – it’s the wrong tool. The
Benchmarking Report by Metrica, an more “sensationalist” coverage which by appropriate way to measure PR is to
exercise that reflects the increasing its nature is more likely to be negative”. assemble a dashboard of measures
sophistication of the public relations But the growth of online news has led to relevant to an organisation’s
industry in tracking the impact of its a trend that Metrica terms “Haste and communications objectives – for
collective efforts. Paste”, where time-poor websites will example, which key messages are
The organisation shows an in sight into automatically publish an organisation’s reaching which audience and how
who is likely to be supportive and reveals message and a quote from its many times.”
58 swimming pool news OCTOBER 08 Digital edition available at www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk
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