There are plenty of people rushing to judge Eurostar this weekend. The headline on TechCrunch is almost comical – “As hundreds of Eurostar passengers languish, Eurostar ignores Twitter.” On the face of it, it’s rather like saying “As shelves run dry of food, Tesco ignores Susan Boyle.” It’s quite random. TechCrunch’s view of the issue is pretty narrow (as this post from We are social shows.)
The whole communications effort could have been better, and the speed of the social media response is just one symptom – hopefully Eurostar will take some lessons away from this weekend.
Where did Eurostar go wrong?
It’s worth saying that when it comes to PR, Eurostar were unlucky – as ever there’s not a lot of news around at Christmas, and this is a big story which is relatively low effort / low cost to cover. Dramatic though it is, is it really a bigger story than a vulnerable toddler being abducted from a police station? Personally I don’t believe so – but there are unfortunately a lot of angry passengers in the Eurostar story who are able to keep the story running.
It sounds like there was confusion in Eurostar HQ – We are social’s Robin Grant describes grabbing the chief executive for a minute “in between various crisis meetings”, and being sat alongside the Sales and Marketing Director. In a situation as fast moving and high profile as this, the key people could have worked better together if they had been co-located in one room. It would have been good to see Eurostar’s crisis team validate or update their corporate message every thirty minutes, while managing the operational challenge.
I think Eurostar could have picked a better core message – the explanation offered about changes in temperature affecting the trains left more questions than answers. Over time it looked like the company didn’t know what was causing the breakdowns, so it would have been more credible to say “we don’t know what’s happened to the trains, but we’re working as fast as possible to understand it.” There was also an attempt to move too quickly to the final stage of the comms plan – the review and compensation line – when practical operational comms to passengers was needed. Continued…
Google is currently testing a new search interface, which could among other things have an impact on recruitment to metropolitan universities.
One of the major factors for students who choose to study at a metropolitan university, particularly those living in London, is the proximity of the University to their home. These students are more likely than most to search for a specific institution by name, as they may be familiar with it having been exposed to the brand through advertising / signage / events.
If you search for the University of Westminster on the current Google interface, you will see a first hit that looks similar to this:
It’s impossible to answer that question without first defining what an “Internet election” is. Traditionally to my mind there have been two possible definitions:
An election where a stasticically significant number of seats, ten or more, change hands either as the direct result of online campaigns by political parties candidates, or because positive online campaigning was a critical factor.
An election where any number of MPs, as low as a single MP, is undeniably ousted from their seat by a negative campaign either by political opponents or independent critics, mustered online.
But a third possibility is emerging.
My belief is that when we look back on the General Election of 2010, for all the effort poured in to them the defining story will not come from My Conservatives, or the Liberal Democrats’ soon to be launched competitor, Act.
It could come from a signature pre-planned campaign. If, for example, the TaxPayer’s Alliance aren’t working right now on a postcode searchable system in which voters can see what their sitting MP has claimed on expenses, and what their opponents have said their approach to expenses will be, then they need to sack the person responsible for their digital effort and re-hire quickly.
More likely, the defining online moment of GE2010 will come from Twitter. Watch this short video before you go any further:
For as long as I can remember – probably about the age of six or seven – I’ve attended Remembrance Sunday, either as a young chorister or later as a face in the crowd. Each year I also privately mark the two minute silence for Armistice Day, and I have to admit to some sadness that it’s seven years since I worked for a company which stopped the whole place at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
As Armistice Day continues to somewhat inevitably fade from the public consciousness, the two conflicts in Iraq and the conflict in Afghanistan have made Remembrance Sunday ever more relevant and prominent. Today we have no choice but to look the human cost of political decisions directly in the eyes – it must be deeply sobering for those entrusted with national leadership.
Anyway, without wishing to be maudlin, whatever your reason for remembrance and reflection today I hope Perotin’s Beata Viscera helps you along your way.
To the Church of St Peter, Chillesford today. There’s always a slight moment of apprehension when you try the door of a rural church – you never know whether or not it’s open to the public. This church had an approach which was simple, but put the visitor at ease straight away.
I’ve been looking for an opportunity to try out the video camera on my new phone (HTC Hero), and though I’m a bit disappointed with the recording quality, here’s the resulting vlog on that church, and some thoughts on opening up public buildings.
“Rob Fenwick genuinely knows and understands online campaigning” – Iain Dale
Until January 2010 I was Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the University of Westminster, before taking up new challenges in the education sector.
My background is in print and web work for the Royal Society (the UK’s 300 year old fellowship of leading scientists), [...]more →
