Communications, Connections, Coalescence

Quantity vs Quality & Activity vs Results

Browsing along blogosphere, my attention got caught by a PR blog writer's lamentation alluding to shortsighted managers who are keen on measuring quantity and activity in PR exercises but fail to establish innovative measuring tools for the quality and results of the same. This set me thinking, and finally sharing my thoughts on social media PR exercise goal and implementation processes.

Social media's success lies upon " Community-building". It achieves little success through individual targeting. We see so many lone advertisements or mentions about products and services in our day to day life they mostly go unnoticed. We are much rather to give in to " community-endorsed brands" rather than lone brands.

Now how do we go about building communities that would endorse our brand? It is an extremely demanding activity in a real world but virtual world makes it doable. Facebook, Youtube, Flickr and blogging...... facilitate an orbit of fans, friends, sympathizers, users, empoyees, ghost commentators to evaluate a product/ service and crown it or trash it. It is so much possible to establish your brand's fiefdom only if you can get your staff/ employees and agents to start blogging. Those with loftier ambitions actually organize competitions, announce prizes and utilize other innovative paraphernalia to keep their social media sites busy and, in demand.

However, one must not loose site of the process of "community-building" or else, this will remain a "virtual PR activity success" rather than real success. In order to build communities, you need to cater to the "needs" of your target audience, not stuff them with what you deem fit for them. This fact holds a lot more importance with the non-profit organizations' communications framework.

One good example is Canada's growing multicultural advertising industry. Canadian Communication experts not only talk multicultural but also multilingual!

To build a community, we need to touch the hearts of people around us. Its not about churning loads of communications material, its about establish a connection. And once, we have established connections, coalescence is only one step away. Coalescence is the combination of quality and results.

The challenge here is to pin-point a strategy that envisages Coalescence as its goal!

A bien tot!

Business Communications -1

In this modern technological world, when you are surrounded by a dozen different channels for communication at work, do you ever have to wonder whether to call, email or discuss face-to-face with a colleague? Here's a quick usage suggestions guide for corporate communicators.

One-on-One Conversation: If your message is personal, a not so good news, a complicated matter orone that asks for persuasive discussion, this is the best option.

Telephone call: Telephone works best when a quick Feedback is required but non-verbal cues are not necessary; a face-to-face conversation isn’t feasible; or, when there is a need to establish rapport in a long distance setting.

Voice Mail message: In case the receiver is absent, you still need to leave information that could be important/ confidential or just routine. Make sure you are sure how many people have access to that voice mail in case of confidential information. Avoid leaving passwords or important account numbers on a voice mail.

Email: Life, today, is unthinkable without Email. Email can be used for routine information delivery; information pertaining to non-deadline driven matters; information exchange needs to be documented; targeting multiple receivers or a large, dispersed audience

Instant Messaging( SMS): Mobile messaging works best for routine info exchange; discreet info exchange during meetings or conferences or quick announcements. Many companies are using Instant messaging for marketing/advertising purposes too.

Memo: If a written record explaining policies or changes or collecting information within the organization is required, Memo is a good tool.

Letter: When a written record of correspondence is required, letter is most preferable. It can be emailed, faxed or sent by post.

Fax: Fax is a great vehincle when targetting varying time zones and international boundaries in minimal possible time; written/ signed documentation is required; or, graphical data difficult to reproduce electronically.

Report or Proposal: Annual or quarterly reports, project reports or project proposals are an important part of organizational communications. It is popularly used when data is usually intended for group or multiple receivers; needs to be documented; or, when conveying intense/ comparative data.

Group meetings: Face to face group meetings work great when requiring immediate decision-making, multiple channel feedback , persuasive discussion, or making critical announcements. It facilitates a better group understanding because of non-verbal cues and immediae reactions from group members can be observed easily.

Teleconferencing/ Webinar: Use these tools when time or distance doesn’t allow information exchange through other channels.

Press Release: A public announcement is being made and you are requesting media coverage.

Website Posting: If the information is intended for dissemination within the organization, use intranet; if the information is targeted at a general audience, post it on the website.

Social Media ( Blog/Twitter): This is the ultimate gen Y tool! Use it when targeting a certain audience who is part of your social media group or following your tweets. Remember, this information, once posted cannot be withdrawn without having considerable influence.


This was just a " Beginners to Communications" post. I look forward to your comments so that I know what is most needed. Please feel free to email me any interesting anecdotes related to the above information.