On Wednesday 21st October at 4pm BST, Firefly’s Europe experts are hosting a free webinar that will cover everything you need to know about how to ensure success in multi-country PR and comms campaigns.
As a taster, here are a handful of the key challenges that must be considered when running campaigns across Europe. The solutions to these challenges will be covered on the webinar.
It’s understandable if communications professionals that have primarily operated in one country fall into the trap of thinking that the communications landscape operates in a similar way in different countries. Most of the time, that’s not the case. They may be close on a map, but there can be major differences when running campaigns across borders.
This graph shows exactly that. It reveals the variation in media attitudes across a range of different criteria in France, Germany and the UK.
There will be times when a tactic and content can be used with minimal localisation for multiple countries. However, on most occasions this won’t be the case. There are a wide variety of hoops that you may need to jump through to make a plan or content suitable for multiple countries.
The important point to note at this stage is that a strategy/tactic/piece of content can’t simply be duplicated and expected to perform highly in different countries. Accept early on that certain activities will do well in some countries and not perform as highly in others.
Now, as the points above emphasise, taking a one-size-fits-all approach to comms across Europe won’t work. Neither will spreading resources too thinly. Trying to stretch a pre-determined, non-flexible budget to cover as many countries as possible is a common error.
It rarely works out and often leads to starting again 6-18 months down the line. During this time, competitors may have further established themselves.
Fortunately, there are many different financing options that are more sustainable than spreading a budget too thin.
Even if the differences between countries is understood, tactics have been localised, and budget is assigned effectively, there’s still the challenge of getting every country to sing from the same hymn sheet. It can be challenging.
Each country can interpret instructions differently, will have different questions, and will have to adapt to apply instructions/requests to their country. As a result, managing different countries can be time intensive. There’s also the possibility of teams going off in different directions, failing to align on strategy, tactics, and desired outcomes.
So, that’s the taster. A carefully chosen selection of the many common problems you need to know about – or may even have experienced first-hand. To get solutions to the above challenges in Firefly’s full rundown of PR and comms in Europe and how to ensure success in multi-country campaigns, register to attend the webinar on 21st October 2020 for free here: https://fireflycomms.com/en/pr-in-europe-webinar/.
There’s something satisfyingly symbolic about a new year: a fresh start; a blank page on which to inscribe a long list of self-improving rules and resolutions. Whether giving up chocolate or alcohol, or swapping lie-ins for 6am workouts, it seems no one is free from the ‘new year, new you’ mantra that takes hold each January 1st.
But how often are such punishing promises kept– or even remembered? If January is supposed to be the most depressing month of the year, why are we going out of our way to make it even worse?
That’s why this year, Firefly isn’t advocating the throwing out of the biscuit tin, nor the ditching of post-work drinks on a Friday. Instead, we’ve come up with a list of positive, proactive habits which we think all communications professionals should commit to in 2012. Here they are:
It’s getting so close to Christmas that here at Firefly, we’re straining our ears for Santa and in true, highly- organised fashion, we’ve made a list of the top 12 gifts that should be on every well-behaved PR boy and PR girl’s list this year.
1. Emergency Phone Charger: you’re at a conference and pick up your phone, only to realise that you forgot to charge it. Panic hits, the sweats start. “What if (insert name of your most elusive, top tier journo here) is finally returning my call??” Never fear: this little helper means you’re just a fully-charged battery away from total PR world domination.
2. The iPad: multi-tasking is the ultimate PR skill, enabling you to email a colleague, phone your client, finish a press release, or Tweet (work-related, of course), whilst drinking your body weight in caffeine. The iPad helps you do nearly all this, from one device; and they’re probably working on a coffee barista app, already.
3. Lie Detector Kit: to be used on clients to make sure they will stick to deadlines, or on journos to ensure the (good) story will run when they say it will. Also handy for cheating partners.
4. Cross Townsend Rollerball Pen: iPads are all very well, but you can’t use them to deface your client’s no. 1 competitor’s glowing coverage in the Metro on your commute to work.
5 The iPhone 4S: because it’s top of the range, darling.
6. An iPhone Cover: would you turn up naked to a client meeting? Didn’t think so. Hence, imbue your iPhone with modesty via a classy cover-up. It also comes with a handy notepad for those brilliant ideas you’re constantly coming up with.
7. Vivienne Westwood Derby Laptop Holder: you’ve covered your iPhone, so why should your laptop not be draped in luxury, too?
8. USB Computer Laptop Vacuum Keyboard Cleaner: for hoovering up crumbs from all those Tesco sandwiches you inevitably end up eating whilst sat in front of your computer for lunch…and dinner…and breakfast.
9. Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Mask: working all day and partying all night really do take their toll. On your face. Pop a couple of these on and no one will ever know you slept under your desk all week.
10. An iTunes Gift Card: ever wanted a motivational coach right in your pocket? (Not literally, of course.) Rehearsal 2, the iPad or iPhone application, will make sure you are pitch-perfect for that new biz presentation.
11. Massage Chair: dreading that conference call? Recline on this and provide counsel in pure pleasure…just make sure you’re on mute if using one of the noisier settings.
12. Hangover Kit: team drinks, client drinks, Christmas parties, networking dos: life’s hard for a PR pro. But this kit will erase the tell-tale signs of too many nights propping up the bar. But then again, how would you know?
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