Phillips D., Young P. Online Public Relations

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Part 3

Building blocks for online PR

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Communications

platforms

In Chapter 2 we discussed a range of channels for communication, and

we deal with channels in greater depth in Chapter 17. In this chapter we

explore the nature of the platforms those channels use.

There are many ways that people engage with the internet and, naturally,

they are available to practitioners too. As well PCs and laptops, devices

like television or radio sets, mobile telephones, game machines (yes, Xbox

and Play Station are included too) and static and mobile VoIP sets (let’s

call them Skype phones for ease of understanding) are all platforms for

communication.

We use communications channels such as e-mail or blogs on platforms,

and we o�en use a range of platforms to deploy diﬀerent channels. For

example we can send SMS messages (using the SMS ‘channels’) from a PC

or laptop as well as from a mobile phone.

We need not stop there. There are many other platforms available to

the consumer, including, for example, e-Paper, a ﬂexible sheet that can

be digitally updated, which has a place alongside newsprint and books,

and internet-enabled e-posters (posters that can be digitally updated),

which have a place alongside posters, signage and even computer and TV

screens.

It is not unusual for platforms to oﬀer capabilities they were not designed

for. SMS messaging from mobile phones was added for occasional use. The

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Practitioners with the imagination to deploy platforms in new ways will

be among the most eﬀective communication pioneers. Such applications

might come from technologies such as near-ﬁeld electromagnetic ranging

(NFER), real-time location systems (RTLS), radio-frequency identiﬁcation

(RFID – the most sought-a�er tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies

at the Beĳing Olympics were RFID-enabled) and contactless ‘smart’ cards

(like the Oyster card used by London Underground). They allow small

amounts of data to be transferred between smart devices and receivers.

These channels mean that there will never again be a need to register at an

exhibition because the embedded technology in the tickets will have all the

information and can transmit it to computers for visitors to gain admission.

In retailing, such technology will mean that the supermarket checkout is,

well, on its way out.

extraordinary success of SMS was not anticipated and yet has become one

of the most widely used of all modern communications channels. It has

evolved too. It is now possible to send photos by SMS. Until very recently

PCs were not designed to deliver video or television programmes but today

this is one of their most common uses.

It’s actually quite easy to turn your Sony PlayStation into a fully ﬂedged

PC, which is great for adding media and productivity and ﬂexibility to

the black box beneath your TV. If you dig into the Settings, then System

Settings menu you’ll ﬁnd an option to Install Other OS. Then by following

some simple instructions (at http://psubuntu.com/wiki/InstallationInstruc

tions) you can download a copy of the operating system, burn it to a CD or

DVD, and then install it onto your console’s hard drive.

Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for the

information society and media, at the 2008 OECD Ministerial Meeting

on the future of the internet economy in Seoul, Korea, noted that: ‘RFID

and sensor technologies embedded in products will not only signiﬁcantly

impact on business organization and efﬁciency, but also impact our daily

life.’

There are new platforms on their way. The mobile phone is due for a major

revolution, with iPhone and its more advanced cousins already in the

shops.

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Speakers at the 3rd Mobile Pricing Symposium, organized by research

ﬁrm Tariﬀ Consultancy in 2008, forecast that mobile data services will

continue to be the main driver of growth in the mature markets until 2012.

Mobile broadband pricing declined by more than half in real terms between

2004 and 2007, with more broadband capacity being available for the same

price.

The recent availability of easily portable mobile data connections (such as

the USB modem – usually called a ‘dongle’) means that mobile data services

have become a mass market consumer item.

MOBILE PHONES ARE PIGGY BANKS

Two hundred Manchester City season ticket holders trialled a system

through which they ‘show’ their Nokia 3320 handset to an automatic

reader to get into a game, instead of handing a card to a gate attendant.

In Estonia mobile phones can be used in a similar way to pay taxi fares

and bar bills. Many people use satellite navigation in their cars. These

devices can also be used to provide a wide range of information about

routes, local restaurants and beauty spots, and already ‘talk’ to mobile

phones and thence to the rest of the internet.

These platforms can be linked using internet protocols by traditional phone

cables, by radio in many forms, including wireless local area networks

(WLAN – o�en known as WiFi), infrared (o�en used in phones and the

cable-free computer mouse), Bluetooth, cellular telephony, broadband over

power lines (BPL) using the grid and domestic power cables, and the simple

Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices and cables.

Microso� Surface is a new platform that oﬀers web and internet services

without a keyboard or mouse but with ﬂat touch screens.

A ring, necklace, watch and earring set announced by IBM will look like

standard jewellery but has a difference. The ring ﬂashes to alert you to

an incoming call. The caller’s number is displayed on your watch and you

can answer the call by pressing a button on the same watch. You can hear

the caller through a tiny speaker in the earrings and the necklace holds a

microphone to speak into. From almost any organisation except IBM this

would sound far-fetched. The company is also working on emotion sensing,

monitoring body temperature, heartbeat and moods. This information can

then be transmitted over the internet and others can gain access to it.

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Practitioners can think of these platforms in the same way that they might

think of newsprint, magazines, radio, television, ﬁlm and other platforms

for communication.

For PR practitioners, the use and application of communications plat-

forms is limited only by the extent of their creativity. Imagine a satellite

navigation device that oﬀers a story about a company as the driver passes

by – such devices are already being deployed at the hi-tech end of online PR

but one can imagine a wannabe celebrity broadcasting her presence in the

street to mobile phones nearby, and shops oﬀering discounts to passers-by

when footfall drops oﬀ in store.

We are all used to ge�ing money from an ATM on the street. These internet-

enabled platforms and the information kiosks to be found on many a street

corner are part of this mix of channels.

Most people, for the most part, do not notice these changes taking place.

They are gradual and quickly form part of daily life. How many Londoners

now ﬁnd the Oyster card strange or think of it as a channel for commun-

ication? Oyster cards are ge�ing very clever.

Working with Transport for London, researchers at the Imperial College

Internet Centre are using tag devices, a technology used in Oyster cards,

to process and send information about delays and engineering works to

commuters to aid them in their travels. This tag technology can be em-

bedded into items such as railway posters or billboards at tube stations, so

travellers can access the latest transport information wirelessly transmitted

to their mobile phones. The same technology can be used for transmission

of other PR messages, of course.

Ofcom predicted in May 2008 that the Bluetooth wireless technology

that allows people to use a hands-free earpiece while making a mobile

telephone call could soon alert the emergency services when someone has

a heart attack. The communications regulator said that sensors could be

implanted into people at risk of heart attack or diabetic collapse that would

allow doctors to monitor them remotely. If the ‘in-body network’ recorded

that the person had suddenly collapsed, it would send an alert, via a nearby

base station at their home, to a surgery or hospital. A similar application

can alert carers when people have forgotten to take medication.

However, Ofcom also gave warning in its report, Tomorrow’s Wireless

World, that the impact of such technology on personal privacy would

require more debate.

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Is there an appetite for all these platforms? A 2006 Best of Stuﬀ survey

suggested that 60 per cent of UK consumers spend £5,000 on gadgets every

year, with 30 per cent of those surveyed saying that they have 15 gadgets

in total.

What is really big about these devices? It’s unnerving. Many of them

can be used for a range of two-way communication. We know this of the

ubiquitous PC and mobile phone, but what of an e-poster? One that can

interact with a mobile phone. In Japan a user can already ‘pull’ information

from them! Progressively, this interconnectedness of these platforms will

engage the consumer in ever more one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-

many and many-to-one forms of interaction. And while we are pondering

these developments (and sending an e-mail from an Xbox games console

as one of the authors did when writing this book – and got a reply!), it

is worth noting that many of these platforms do not have a keyboard or

even a mouse; many do not use text, but use touch, pictures, graphics and

sounds.

The creative practitioner may ﬁnd applications for voice-to-text in ap-

plications such as Twi�erphone that allow the user to make a phone call and

dictate a message that will almost immediately appear on the Twi�ersite,

a blog, web page or wiki, and can of course be downloaded to a mobile

phone.

Many practitioners will imagine that these platforms are not part of the

PR repertoire; many of them were doubtful about PCs; the mobile phone

was not considered a PR channel and the BlackBerry was thought to be a

toy until each in turn became a more or less essential part of working life.

Mobile devices like the iPhone have morphed away from being a tele-

phone to become fully ﬂedged hand-held computers.

Between the ﬁrst edition and the time of writing this book many new

platforms have emerged. We cannot predict what will happen in the coming

months and years but we can stay in touch with developments.

Constant evaluation of platforms is a structured activity. It should be one

of those activities that are the subject of investigation and brainstorming at

regular intervals. There are 10 practical measures practitioners can apply

to do to keep up to date with the current, emerging and new platforms for

communication:

 Assess whether current campaigns can be executed on most relevant

platforms.

 Decide what current activities can be enhanced with developments in

platform technologies.

 Watch out for new channels and be a li�le curious about them.

 Keep an open mind about these platforms.

 Use imagination and creativity to seek relevant, sometimes innovative,

applications for these tools of our trade.

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 Re-examine who is using diﬀerent devices (fashion changes).

 Old platforms should always be considered. Is fax really dead?

 Watch out for evolution such as photos and the web on mobile phones

(PCs being used like televisions).

 Be aware of existing and emerging multiple applications like voice and

e-mail for games machines, near-ﬁeld applications for mobile phones,

applications run from USB sticks, CDs, DVD and MP3 players, and

many more devices.

 Reach. Some devices are only used by a few people and some are used

by many. Is the fashion for use changing?

IN BRIEF

 Information is transmitted and received using a wide range of

devices.

 These platforms can broadcast and deliver information using a wide

range of channels.

 Delivery of information on different channels can be interpreted

differently by the receiver.

 Many internet communications-enabled devices can be harnessed for

use with the internet.

 The range of applications that evolve and can be used for different

communication purposes is largely untapped.

 The range of platforms is growing all the time.

 Evaluation can be structured and should be ongoing.

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Channels for

communication

In the previous chapter we brieﬂy described some of the devices people use

to communicate and build relationships online. We touched on the many

forms of communication that can use these internet-mediated platforms

Once upon a time, communication channels were le�ers and news-

papers, conversation and the town crier. The platforms were paper, ink,

meeting places and the market square. Now, there are many more channels.

The most common are e-mail, websites, instant messaging (IM) and recent

entrants like blogs, and photo and video-sharing sites.

The old channels have not gone away. Most communication channels

don’t. People still even use fax! As the American internet PR guru Shel

Holtz puts it: ‘New media does not kill oﬀ old media, but it does inﬂuence

and change it.’ Online PR is not an alternative to other forms of relationship

building, communication and interaction; it is an extension of what has

gone before.

Very few people use all the modern channels for communication. In fact

there is doubt as to whether anyone could. But most people use a few. They

will probably use SMS on a mobile phone, e-mail, websites and then some

others. This does not mean that communicators can only focus on these few.

The professional communicator needs an understanding of a very much

wider array of channels and needs to be able to deploy most of them directly