Under Strict Embargo

So I was asked by PR Week on Monday for my views on Gordon Brown’s Ask the PM initiative on YouTube. This was the latest foray into the online world by Downing Street, following its recent embrace of Twitter. My assessment that Ask the PM “smacks of gimmickry and desperation” led the article and there was a clear consensus from other industry commentators, that this project was a typical case of ‘too little, too late’.

I had a couple of interesting conversations on Friday in response to the piece. These boiled down to the argument that as a Social Media evangelist I should have welcomed the initiative, however imperfect, as a step in the right direction. Sorry to disappoint.

I have come to a view, which has hardened in recent months, that high profile examples of digital tokenism such as Ask the PM, are actually devaluing the real potential of Social Media. They are feeding a scepticism which makes the pioneering work we are doing unnecessarily difficult.

A couple of years ago, the medium was the message when it came to organisations adopting Social Media. This was typified by those endless stories in the national press, with leading youth brands like IBM and PA Consulting opening virtual offices in Second Life. Today, the filter I always use when assessing Social Media initiatives, my own and others, is whether the communication objectives and creative approach are actually more interesting than the digital platform(s) being utilised.

Using this filter, Ask the PM just doesn’t cut it. It’s not a genuine attempt by Gordon Brown to reconnect and really start listening to a disillusioned electorate. His comment at the end of his welcome video, where he states, “I’ll be back to talk to you at some point…” betrays a total lack of understanding of the two-way conversation that Social Media enables. You may as well write a letter and stick it in the post - you’d probably get a quicker reply!

In my mind the YouTube channel, the Twitter feed and whatever online gimmick is announced next, is primarily about metaphor, the hope that some shiny digital zeitgeist will rub off on an increasingly lacklustre Prime Minister. Equally, it’s a clumsy attempt by the new Downing St communications team to ‘get with it’ and reduce the gaping void between their digital approach and that of the Opposition.

As I have been saying a lot this week in new business pitches, Social Media is not a magic wand. Ultimately whatever Stephen Carter and his team try to do, Gordon Brown at heart, will always remain an analogue politician in a digital age.

Neil McCormick at the Telegraph has written a great piece looking at the phenomenon of Will.i.am’s Yes, We Can video on YouTube in support of Barack Obama. The video has already attracted 13 million views with that number growing at a rate of 1 million hits a day.

However, Seth Finkelstein at the Guardian has a word of caution arguing that great online campaigns do not always translate into political success and it’s all too easy to conveniently forget Internet campaigns that haven’t worked. Having set the standard, Will.i.am is already spawning imitators like the No, You Can’t video below attacking John McCain.

It will be fascinating to watch whether the Republicans have the creativity and Internet-savvy to effectively retaliate.

6. PCTV wins the battle with IPTV
Early next year we are likely to see both 02 and Orange join the battle with BT Vision and others to displace the Sky, Virgin and Freeview set-top boxes in our living rooms. As they spend big to each attract at most a few hundred thousand subscribers, millions of consumers will instead top up their TV viewing online. The implications of the Kangaroo initiative, which will bring together the on-demand services from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 shouldn’t be underestimated. Kangaroo has the potential to bring PCTV into the mainstream via a single application and EPG. But it will need to quickly become compatible with all those Vista enabled PCs people will have got for Christmas.

In fact one of 2007’s most exciting moves for both online broadcasting and social networking, was Bebo’s landmark deal with the likes of the BBC, Sky, Channel 4 and Endemol to allow users to embed TV programmes in their profiles. A fundamental shift in taking TV to specific communities rather than trying to attract specific communities to TV. The implications of the deal for much hyped but little used services like Joost should be keeping their investors awake at night.

Finally, as millions stream TV content to their desktops, the spotlight will again turn to the performance levels of broadband providers. Download limits and throttling connections will be exposed as the disingenuous excuses for poor service they really are. ISPs and telecoms companies will need to think carefully about where they direct their infrastructure investment, or face a very public consumer backlash.

7. DIY Social Networking
Want to create your own social networking site? Of course you do and so will everyone else, well maybe. As I wrote recently vertical social networks are gathering momentum. With so many categories currently un-catered for, it will be a boom year for the software companies providing off-the-shelf solutions. Many firms will also see the benefits of creating their own social networks as a replacement or as an alternative to expensive and cumbersome corporate intranets and extranets. Whether they will give their staff enough time to use them is of course another question.

8. Traditional media decline accelerates
David Crow at The Business has a great analysis on the seismic shifts in the media landscape this year and the likely developments in 2008. To reverse the general declines in newspaper circulations, more national newspapers will need to follow the example of the Daily Telegraph and invest in their digital operations. The amalgamation of the BBC’s offline and online news operations could lead to a decline in both the quantity and quality of online content, allowing other news organisations to catch-up. The Wall Street Journal liberated from a hefty subscription by Rupert Murdoch, will also be a new force to be reckoned with. Crow also looks ahead to the growth of DAB radio with Channel 4 launching a number of stations to compete directly with the BBC. He concludes by saying, “The firms that succeed in 2008 will be those that focus on the needs, desires and interests of their consumer in the contemporary marketplace – and discard their archaic, elitist prejudices born of a different era. For those still referred to as the “traditional” media, 2008 will be the make or break year.” Couldn’t agree with him more!

9. The Press Release’s condition becomes terminal
In response to the traditional media going increasingly digital, the demand from journalists for well packaged multimedia content will be stronger than ever before. The SMNR and Social Media Newsroom will become the industry standard for modern communication with press and bloggers. The days of four pages of double-spaced waffle will thankfully be nigh.

10. Google struggles with the forces of darkness
Once one of the most loved of internet brands, ordinary internet users will begin to reassess their warm relationship with Google. As with its recent announcement to obliterate Wikipedia, the brand will behave in a way that challenges Microsoft for its evil empire crown. While doing little to damage revenues at first, the loss of public goodwill will prompt a harder line from the competition authorities and legislators, curtailing the extent of Google’s long-term growth. In 2008, while its takeover of Skype gets through, its hostile bid for Apple is seen as a step too far.

I noticed that the Department for Children, Schools & Families has created a great looking channel on YouTube. While obviously welcoming the fact that the government is using YouTube to communicate with voters, it’s a shame that they seem intent on that communication being one way. Most of the videos currently featured on the channel, including the latest on the launch of the new Children’s Plan have had the comments function disabled.

It looks like another missed opportunity to actively engage with the very young people, parents and teachers covered by the Children’s Plan, via a medium they are all increasingly using.

There is the obvious irony of a ‘no comments’ policy while the clip highlights the importance of listening to and consulting voters. It also begs the question whether the DCFS really understands the new rules of communication when using social media channels. Thankfully it seems to be an error that the Lib Dems and the Conservatives have avoided.

My advice - don’t be afraid Mr Balls, turn the comments on, read them and then really engage.

Fascinating afternoon with the breaking news that Gordon Brown will not be calling a general election. Political blogs like Iain Dale and ConservativeHome have been quick off the mark as has the BBC, with the news leaked first to BBC Political Editor’s Nick Robinson’s blog.

With the news breaking at just after 3pm today, what’s slightly puzzling is that with this decision widely expected this weekend, that the online sites of most of the major papers as of 5pm have still not got the news up, unlike England’s Rugby victory. Then again they may simply be reflecting the British public’s real priorities this weekend…

David Cameron is a Hottie - not my view of course but the name of a Facebook Group which David Cameron cited in his make-or-break conference speech this afternoon. Facebook and MySpace were both name checked in a section of the speech discussing change and growing personal freedom, you can see the specific clip here.

Apparently the Hottie group had 74 members when Cameron came across it, but this has increased to 170 and growing so far this afternoon. In his defence he does also mention one of the many anti-Cameron Facebook groups which seem to be far more popular…

With continuing speculation about a possible snap October election, the Conservative Party has today launched the UK’s first online only political advertising campaign. Promoting the new Tory slogan, ‘It’s time for change’ the banner adverts will be running on Facebook as well as major newspaper websites in the run up to the party conference in October. They are part of a continuing initiative alongside Webcameron to reach out to younger voters and professionals. It will be interesting to see how well the party takes advantage of click-throughs once the adverts go live…

A survey by the Lib Dems has surprisingly found that the Lib Dems are the most prolific users of good old Facebook. 40% of Liberal Democrat MPs have Facebook profiles, compared with just 12% of Tory MPs and 13% of Labour MPs. In real terms if my parliamentary arithmetic is correct that’s 25 Lib Dem MPs vs. 24 Tory MPs, a stunning lead indeed. The research was conducted but Steve Webb, MP for Northavon who claims to have over 1000 Facebook mates. The results shouldn’t really come as too much of a surprise, as Mark Oaten would attest the party has always been at the forefront of taking advantage of the Internet to reach new audiences.

YouTube seems to be enjoying a PR triumph with the first of its US Presidential Debates. Broadcast on CNN last night, YouTubers were asked to submit questions in the form of 30 sec videos, with the best put to Clinton, Obama and the other Democrat hopefuls. The use of the site has become a key political battle ground. Not being a Soprano’s fan the Hillary and Bill Clinton parody broadcast was slightly lost on me, but again the simple fact that a video-sharing site was being used in such a way resulted in global headline news. 

The attractions of YouTube seem pretty clear. Firstly there is the direct channel to an increasingly apathetic section of electorate and secondly the association of youth and modernity which rubs off on the 50+ candidates. However, I tend to agree with the BBC piece that importance of the site on the eventual result is being over-hyped. For YouTube it’s a very clever piece of positioning which goes someway to downplay the site’s car-surfing, tomb-stoning, homemade softporn associations.        

There’ve been a lot of YouTube imitators but Friction.tv setup by Text 100’s very own Andy West is one of the better ones. The site’s mission is to start and engage viewers in debates and there is some great content which is worth a watch. It’s probably fair to say the site hasn’t made a huge impact in PR terms which perhaps explains why Cohn & Wolfe have been given the boot after just a few months. With a General Election potentially just a few months away there may be potential for Friction to use its partnership with Five News to perhaps hold a similar debate of its own? I’m sure David Cameron would be very keen…    

For anyone who’s watched Gordon Brown’s recent performances at PMQs its obvious that charisma is in short supply in British politics these days, so being invited to join the “I’m Backing Boris’ group on Facebook put a smile on my face. In the space of a week the group is up to 800 members and growing and yesterday afternoon somebody created the inevitable ” I’m Backing Boris” application which basically sticks this delightful poster on your profile. The introduction of applications has transformed the Facebook experience, I know they’ve not been universally welcomed - if anyone else tries to turn me into a Zombie I may well have to go on a crazed killing spree through the streets of West Hampstead!

It will be interesting to see how brands look to take advantage of the Facebook Platform and how the sites community reacts to the covert/overt commercialisation applications represent. I was sent a great link a few weeks ago to a keynote delivered by Mark Zuckerberg to over 800 developers talking about his vision for the Facebook Platform. There is a perhaps unsurprisingly a whiff of global domination in Zuckerberg’s presentation (albeit from a CEO wearing what looks like a hoodie), but his plans for creating new advertising platforms and a Facebook payments system is certainly going to be exciting. As for Boris, I think we’ll have to wait ’til Monday to see if he’s going to take on Ken!