Virtual Reputation

   Internet may destroy your reputation just over a night.

   I found two pieces of articles from recent newspapers. One is the story about a Chinese restaurant, China Rose, in UK which faces closure of their business after bad rumour spread through internet. The rumour says the restaurant was serving a dog meat, introducing a story about a woman customer who choked on a dog's identification chip. At first, the owner laughed at the rumour, but soon realized it is hard to defend against the urban myth after he received tons of cancellation. It seems that the same comment downgrading the restaurant had been copied over and over again, which finally moulded social proof.



   The other case is about a UK hotel, Riverside hotel, listed in the travel review website Trip Advisor. The owner was accused of writing fake positive reviews for her hotel and then posted "red flag" by the website. She denies the allegation and claims she lost revenue by 75 % and was forced to cut the rate by half. According to her explanation, a positive comment from a customer using the hotel's Wi-Fi network prompted the Trip Advisor's action.
   I just remembered my first trip to Amsterdam in September.  I completely relied on a travel website which gave me lots of clues about which hotel is safe, reasonable, clean, kind, and with nice hospitality. Especially for foreign travellers, it is easy to click on the site and make a reservation without talking over the phone. If I saw red flag on the hotel, I would not have stayed there.

   So, how reliable are travel websites? How biased are they? The article cites the comment of the co-founder of the reputation management company, pointing out that one fifths of the reviews could be fake. It would be better to double-check the content by hitting primary source i.e. calling the hotel directly or reading several guidebooks.
   From the point of view of PR practitioners, they need to know how to make use of social media to counter fake rumours.

References

Alleyne, R., 2011. Dead greyhound myth threatens to close Chinese restaurant. The Daily Telegraph. 14 October. Also available at: < http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8824481/Chinese-restaurant-bankruptcy-fear-after-false-dog-meat-rumour.html >
Kenber, B., 2011. Hotelier damned by TripAdvisor for 'fake praise' sues for thousands in lost business. The Times. 25 October. p.11. (The same content of the article is available at Mail Online at: < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2053221/Hotelier-sues-TripAdvisor-accusations-wrote-fake-positive-reviews-causes-revenue-plummet-75.html >

Winter is coming

    Winter is almost right here. It was eight o'clock in the morning I saw the nice gradation of the sky in Greenwich. Turning back to the Cutty Sark DLR station, there are pale brown buildings with little mist. People did jogging with their iPod in the ears, which reminds me of the days I trained myself every early morning for judo competition.

    Today I set back my clock by one hour. Hopefully I will see the same gradation at around eight o'clock, but soon the sun won't rise until late morning. Well, getting prepared myself for brutal season.

Police PR

   British police is very active in getting media coverage.  A public relations officer from Metropolitan Police in London gave a lecture at the University of Greenwich last week and introduced an example of producing a news story.
   After Rio MacFarlane, 18, was shot to death in September last year, the police released on YouTube a video message by Rio Ferdinand, a British famous football player, asking for information and witness.  MacFarlane was a talented football player.  The police worked with the Sun which gained an exclusive interview with Ferdinand.
   It is surprising for me that the police are working like a journalist, except that they would not report anything negative to the police.  When I worked as a crime reporter for six years in Japan, police looked passive.  I can't imagine Japanese police would ask murder victims' family or friend to appear in public.  They are very careful not to become too intimate with a particular media, while they seem to hold the traditional way of thinking that their duty is to arrest the criminals.  They officially give journalists minimum piece of information and repeat, "no comment on that because of privacy of the victim".
   As social media has developed, why don't all the police take advantage of its power to disseminate the news more?  Are you afraid of social media or the criminals?

The Metropolitan Police in conjunction The Sun Newspaper have released a unique murder appeal from footballer Rio Ferdinand.  Available from YouTube.

Samsung:why keep silent about new smartphone?

   Since the Apple founder Steve Jobs died on 5 October, Samsung and Google has not issued any comment about long waited new smartphone on their official site.  Instead, they let TV, newspaper, and internet news report their short statement; "Samsung and Google decided to postpone the new product announcement at CTIA Fall. We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product. New date and venue will be shortly announced."  Why do they not access to the customers directly through internet or other means?

   It seems that Samsung and Google wanted to avoid negative coverage about their new product, as well as became more prudent of the timing of the release.  Ann Gregory in her book, Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns (2000) introduces Pilkington PLS corporate public relations policy, one of which says; "Public comment, in the press or elsewhere, must relate to historic or current activities.  Comment about future plans and/or prospects must be avoided so far as is practicable."  Even though some media have reported that the event to introduce Nexus Prime is re-scheduled on 19 October in Hong Kong, Samsung has not officially confirmed yet as of today.  On Facebook, it only answers customers' inquiry saying "unfortunately, there is no information available about the Nexus Prime as yet."
   I suspect that Samsung or Google are leaking information little by little toward friendly media.  By avoiding an official announcement, they could lessen the damage in case they would have to postpone the release of the product again.  Isn't it irritating for customers?  How long do we have to wait?  The scarce information we have, the more we expect.

Lost&FoundPR

My friend, Fujitsu Lifebook, is back to my room again.
I left my laptop at a class room yesterday morning.  It was when I was having lunch with my friends from the same programme at my residence that I noticed there is something wrong...  My laptop had gone!  I ran back to the campus and searched through all the places I dropped by.
First, I talked to the security guards at the east gate of the university where all the items of lost & found are supposed to be collected.  I explained the situation how I lost my laptop clearly.  I also used my body language to express how upset I am and how crucial it is for my study.  He promised to check through CCTV and see if anybody had sneaked in the building.
This morning I felt sort of lost and went to the computer lab on campus to access to online shop for a new laptop.  I happened to see a student from the same residence and started talking about my laptop.  He goes, "My professor from financial course said she found it.  Blue one?  Yeah, it's blue".

I immediately sent email to the professor.  She told me to come to her office at 3 p.m.  However, this is not the end.  She asked me what kind of folder is in the computer.  I identified some of the files and clicked the photos of myself.  Then she knew that I am the one who lost it.  "Be careful with your belongings.  You'll never get it back", she warned me again.
This incident reminded me of important elements for public relations officers.  Ethos (reason), Pathos (emotion) and Logos (credibility).  I presented a good reason to the security guards and talked emotionally.  The professor required me credibility.  Plus, I was able to catch the information about the professor because my antenna was kept working sharply.
I thank all the people who helped and worried about me.

Branding Judo Club

A local judo club in Greenwich picked up a Japanese word for its name.  The name "Subarashi"(すばらしい) means fantastic or very nice.  Even though kids do not know what it means, they can see it's a Japanese word, or they might think "oh, I can experience real Japanese culture here".
Bret, the teacher of Subarashi, uses Japanese words when he wants the kids to stop and listen, by saying "Mate"(待て).  In terms of public relations, it is one way of branding.  He happened to find a Japanese English translation book, from which he came up with the brand.
As kids grow up, this environment will help them learn different cultures.

Party PR

Monika was so happy and surprised to have more friends at her birthday party than she expected on Sunday.  Her good personality as well as good timing and situation helped people come around and get together.

She had informed only a few of residence mates including me of her birthday party which would take place at the kitchen of her flat.  The student from her flat and other flat got the information about the party by word of mouth.  There was no public relation strategy or persuasion used to invite people, but we seemed to be looking for an opportunity to meet new people and have drinks with somebody.  Most of us in the residence came from other countries by ourselves.  The same as me.  I sometimes wonder what to do in the evening sitting at the desk in my room.
Well, if a PR officer take advantage of such timing and situation, it would be possible to earn great publicity.