Aunty Van’s wacko filter for wunderkinder

Ever been struck by a great idea, but kept it quiet, just in case it sounds more wacko than wonder-child? After 10 years around the traps at Ogilvy PR and 14 in the PR business, I’ll share a secret: wonder-child is overrated.

But for those that err on the side of better safe than sorry, let me give you a quick filter for the big idea that you can implement between brain and mouth.

Last week I attended a MasterClass at ci2011 with famous physician, inventor and author of 82 books, Dr Edward de Bono. He took us through some concepts from his books ‘Think! Before It’s Too Late’ and ‘Six Thinking Hats’, but for me the most compelling part was the last 30 minutes of each session when he answered audience questions and entered into general discourse on the role of creativity within an organisation.

 Creativity often gets a bad rap. Corporate clients might sponsor the arts, but get a whiff of it in the boardroom and it takes a brave leader to grab it by the horns and see how they can apply it to their business.

 A key differentiator de Bono applies is creativity versus ‘crazy-tivity’.

Creativity is creating something new. According to de Bono, all valuable creative ideas will be logical in hindsight and have obvious benefits. In fact, when you are using creativity to create something new for an organisation, it’s often referred to as innovation.

Crazy-tivity has its place – in the realms of fantasy and entertainment – but it’s not the valuable business tool PR peeps need to employ in their bag of tricks.

 So getting back to this checklist between brain and mouth.

 This is not a de Bono list – it’s Aunty Van’s interpretation of de Bono – so take or leave it depending on where you think I sit on the scale of wacko to wunderkind.

 Before you make your suggestion, answer the following questions:

1. With hindsight, is your idea logical?
2. Does your idea have the potential to deliver obvious benefits?
3. If so, list two-three benefits that would support your idea.
4. What’s your gut saying? Is it a winner? Intuition doesn’t give you creative ideas, but it does help you judge the ideas you come up with. Trust yourself when you think you’re on a winner.

 Now I’m not saying you need to do this with every single idea. In some brainstorming environments it’s perfectly OK to switch the dial to wacko – in fact de Bono’s ‘Random Word’ tools might be considered in this category.

 But if you have time for the filter – run your idea through it – and it might help you articulate your thinking a little better.

 Dr de Bono has a number of ‘deliberate thinking techniques’ that I’m just starting to learn about. He’s number one on my reading list right now, so if you want to borrow a copy, go to www.bookdepository.co.uk .

He signed my copies so you can all PO! (BTW, that last comment was a de Bono in-joke … read his latest work and you’ll get it.)

Ogilvy PR Australia Lays Down Gauntlet; Invests in First Strategy & Planning Director

New leadership at Ogilvy PR Australia

Case Study: Australia – Who Do You Think You Really Are?

Issue: As the generation gap widens and the population ages rapidly, Australia is in the midst of an identity crisis. Traditionally, family history has been passed down by our grandparents, however, as they pass away, so does their knowledge and many adults now know surprisingly little about their family history. To assist in closing the gap, Ancestry.com.au has worked over the last four years collating the Australian, Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes.

For the first time ever online, the records of those who were born, married or died in Australia from 1788 through to 1985 have been assembled into one fully searchable database.

Challenge: Researching a family tree has typically been a difficult process, involving long hours poring over microfiche in libraries and requiring a significant financial investment to obtain the necessary records. Additionally, this activity has traditionally been the activity of older generations. The launch of this collection makes it easier to research your family tree, and because of the depth of information included generates  mainstream appeal.

Insight: Through research it became clear that Australians did have a passion to discover where they came from and who their ancestors were. However many did not know much, if anything on their family tree pass their grandparents.

Creative Idea: With the information available in the collection and results from the research, the campaign idea focused on asking Australians to rediscover “who they really are”, in order to drive a renewed interest in genealogy.

To bring this theme to life, we dug through the collection to uncover multiple human interest stories which would resonate with modern day Australians. We also used the allure of ‘celebrity names’ to help Australians understand the depth and breadth of the type of records available.

By asking ‘who you really are’, it encouraged speculation on famous connections. Including the Murdoch Family (Head of News Corp), Sir Donald Bradman (Famous Cricketer), Henry Lawson (Poet) & Edmund Barton (Australia’s First Prime Minister).

Campaign:  The campaign featured a strong overall communications programme which included a digital and online strategy, backed by strong radio and print coverage to help drive discussion about family history and to set the news agenda on launch day.

Under embargo, we negotiated a series of radio, print, online, TV and newswire exclusives with Australia’s most prominent and influential journalists. Additionally, Ancestry.com.au actively used Twitter and Facebook to promote where and when you could hear Ancestry.com.au speaking about family history – either at events or on radio. This included posting coverage and links on when they could listen to live radio interviews.

Outcome: Overall, the campaign generated over 70 pieces of coverage (including 15 radio interviews) and reached over 5 million Australians during the two week campaign.

The collection launch resulted in Ancestry.com.au receiving its highest number of unique browsers to the site in one day. After the campaign, the website continued to receive a high volume of browsers and registrations – with registrations for the free trial membership increasing by 348 per cent from the previous year, and paid membership by 246 per cent.

The campaign has firmly placed family history back at the forefront of conversations  and at the same time established Ancestry.com.au as the leading authority for family history.

Ancestry Gillard/Abbott Family Trees

Challenge: To capitalise on the interest and broad media attention surrounding the 2010 Australian Federal Election, Ancestry.com.au set Ogilvy PR’s business and technology public relations agency, Howorth, the challenge to find an opportunity to get the family history website into the debate.

Idea: Research the family history of the two main candidates to discover their family pedigree and to investigate if there was anything in their family history that may have formed the basis for their political ideologies. This would create an interesting news angle, with human interest, and quite different from the traditional election coverage.

Insight: Research undertaken by Ancestry.com.au unveiled that for the first time in over 87 years, Australia’s elected Prime Minister would not be Australian born, with both Gillard and Abbott both from the UK.

Campaign: Working closely with Ancestry.com.au to research and pitch this unique insight to the media, Howorth negotiated an exclusive opportunity with Channel Nine’s Today Show. This was followed by both print and radio outreach, with many interviews conducted under embargo.

Results: The media outreach resulted in more than 44 ‘on message’ stories, including radio, television, print and online. Highlights included a five minute live-to-air TV interview on Australia’s highest rating morning show, the Today Show. The team also secured a full page feature article in The Daily Telegraph and an 18 minute interview with 2GB radio in Sydney.

In total the public relations campaign reached more than 3.4 million Australians, highlighting the value of taking a topical news issue and finding a related new insight.

Ogilvy PR Australia welcomes Steve Dahllof to Sydney

Steve Dahllof (right), Ogilvy PR’s recently appointed Regional CEO of Asia Pacific, and John Studdert, the managing director of Ogilvy PR Australia, before a dinner at Sydney’s Bennelong Restaurant.

Prior to taking up his new role, Dahllof was the managing director of Ogilvy PR’s Global Strategy+Planning Group. He replaces Christopher Graves, who has taken over as Ogilvy’s Global CEO.

Dahllof, who is based in Hong Kong, was making his first visit to Australia since assuming the position in January. At the dinner he spoke of the pivotal role Ogilvy PR Australia was playing in the worldwide organisation, pointing particularly to the exporting of intellectual property like Ogilvy Earth, the sustainability communications practice established in Australia which has now become the model for Ogilvy worldwide, and Ogilvy Illumination, Ogilvy Australia’s research firm which is similarly being seen as a global template for the company.

Ogilvy’s Asia Pacific network spans more than 30 offices in Asia, India, Southeast Asia and Australia. The region was recently named as Asia PR Awards’ 2009 Asia Pacific PR Network of the Year. ?

Samantha Allen appointed MD of Global Consumer Marketing

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide (Ogilvy PR), an integrated global communications firm, announced today that Samantha Allen has been appointed Managing Director of the agency’s Global Consumer Marketing practice, effective July 1.  With nearly 20 years of experience, Allen brings strong expertise in building effective and award-winning consumer marketing campaigns for her clients and leading multi-national teams.

“One of the most  powerful things a large agency network can do is rejuvenate and refresh its thinking by moving great talent around the planet,” said Christopher Graves, chief executive officer, Ogilvy PR. “Samantha has the guts and resiliency of an entrepreneur, the professionalism of a world class practice leader, and the creative leaps of imagination of an inventor. She has won some of the top awards in the world for her creative work connecting people and ideas in ways no one else could.”

Allen will relocate to New York and report directly to Graves. She founded Pulse Communications as a consumer PR agency in Australia, which is part of the Ogilvy PR network. It’s one of Asia Pacific’s most awarded and successful consumer PR agencies with a client base that includes LG Electronics, Tourism Australia, Fosters CUB, Rolls Royce, Ford, Unilever and more. Pulse was awarded the Best New Consultancy in 2004 (Asia Pacific PR Awards), Campaign of the Year (2008 Asia Pacific PR Awards), and has gone on to win over 50 Australian and global awards including the top honour for all WPP-owned PR agencies worldwide.

In congratulating Allen on her appointment, Ogilvy PR Australia’s Managing Director, John Studdert said:  “This appointment formally recognizes the outstanding leadership that Australia has shown in the field of consumer public relations. Samantha knows how to build brands through creative programs and is a talented thinker who delivers strong results for clients.  We’re proud and excited to have her move to this role, and look forward to working with her in the future as she takes up global responsibilities.”

Allen said she was both honored and excited to be appointed to the global position, which she said would be “an undoubtedly challenging, but rewarding role.”

“Since joining Pulse, I have had the chance to work with this country’s most outstanding PR practitioners on some of the most interesting and exciting client projects available, and achieved my wildest PR goals.  As a result it feels bittersweet to be leaving this behind, but it’s time for my next challenge.  I’m looking forward to making the global consumer marketing practice a living, breathing community, full of the most talented consumer PR people in our industry,” she added.

Prior to joining Pulse, Allen worked in various agency roles in London and San Francisco.  She also founded Chocolate Communications, a full-service consultancy offering consumer, corporate and business-to-business public relations, attracting companies such as Ben & Jerry’s and Diageo. While in the UK, Allen led campaigns for a variety of consumer brands including Nokia, Packard Bell, Dualit Homewares and Nescafe.  She earned a bachelor’s degree in business from RMIT (Melbourne) and a post-graduate diploma in accounting and finance from Guildhall University (London).

Ogilvy PR Australia is a joint venture between Ogilvy PR Worldwide and STW Group, Australia’s leading marketing content and communications services group.

TED Prize: What Does Compassion Mean to You, Australia?

Australians on Compassion from TED Prize on Vimeo.

Technology, Entertainment and Design are the three words that make up the acronym TED so it’s likely the founders of TED would agree that Ogilvy Public Relation’s new campaign on behalf of the organisation had fulfilled the purpose behind the name.

The TED organisation, a small non-profit group, began in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from the worlds of technology, entertainment and design. Since then it has grown to a major disseminator of ideas, conducting regular conferences in Europe and America and awarding the annual TED Prize, which grants the ‘’wish’’ of its recipient. In 2008, religious scholar Karen Armstrong’s wish was for the world’s major religions to come together in recognition of the principle which is at the core of all faiths – compassion.

At the heart of the campaign is the Charter for Compassion, a document crafted by people of all religions which was launched in November with the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond TuTu as its first two signatories. It is intended that people will access the website to join the charter and show that the overwhelming voice in all religions is one of compassion – not negativity or violence.

In Australia in mid-November, the Ogilvy PR 360^o Digital Influence team created a 3 minute video featuring prominent Australians saying just what ‘’compassion’’ meant to them. Those giving their thoughts ranged from celebrity chef Neil Perry through to influential food and marketing bloggers. The video was completed in a day and a half and was sent to around 200 bloggers and Twitterers. It was picked up by news.com.au and run on its Web sites throughout Australia.

Showing the pervasive reach of social media in Australia, to date more than 20,000 viewers have seen the video, driving traffic to the Charter for Compassion Website – charterforcompassion.org – and getting people to affirm the charter. And, hopefully, helping to make the world a more compassionate place.

Marcia Silverman Inducted into the PRNews Hall of Fame

On Tuesday 1 December at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Marcia Silverman was inducted into the PRNews Hall of Fame.   Ogilvy PR is proud to see Marcia’s accomplishments recognised on a national stage as she joins a group of the most influential and respected professionals in the industry’s history.

Marcia has worked with Ogilvy since 1981 and took on the role of CEO in 2002.  During that time she has increased staff retention and revenue growth and has demonstrated admirable leadership.

Congratulations Marcia!

http://post.ogilvypr.com/UserFiles/singleFilePosts/Marcia_Lifetime.mov

Australian Research Reveals the ‘One Kilometre Phenomenon’

Consumers set the research agenda in ‘concern and control’ measurement study

A lack of respect for both other people and public property are two of the most common concerns raised by Australians in a new suite of research released today.

Conducted by advertising and communications group Ogilvy, the study was designed to discover what issues were concerning Australians, rate the level of concern and measure how much control we felt over those concerns. The study uncovered a spectrum of concern spanning relationships, juggling work and life, ageing, health and wellbeing, technology, food, finances, security and government.

Titled ‘What’s Keeping Australians Up at Night’, the research revealed that as a nation it’s the concerns closest to our daily lives that we have in common.

“We’ve coined the term one kilometre phenomenon – we read the headlines and know what’s happening on a global and national scale, but it’s those issues that are closest to us – people in the street and our community – that’s keeping more of us awake at night. It’s interesting these concerns are equally high across the demographics. Even younger generations feel concern about damage to public property and the lack of personal respect,” said John Studdert, managing director of Ogilvy PR.

The one kilometre phenomenon

As a nation, it’s the concerns closest to our daily life that we have in common. The top six most commonly shared causes for concern were:

• 67% How disrespectful people are of public property (littering and vandalism)
• 65% The growing lack of respect and consideration for others
• 61% That companies are charging me to pay my bills
• 60% That children today are exposed to things prematurely as a result of the internet and TV
• 58% The poor customer service from international call centres
• 57% The rising cost of groceries

About the concern /control methodology: Australians set the research agenda

“Measuring both concern and control delivered a new layer of insight that basic polling rarely uncovers,” said Mike Daniels, managing partner Ogilvy & Mather.

“We found that if a respondent was feeling under financial pressure, every other issue in their lives became both more concerning and less under control – even if it wasn’t directly related to money. Personal relationships, community and security worries – even concerns about their wellbeing – all rated more concerning and less controllable for this group. If a respondent reported their financial situation as ‘getting by’ or ‘doing well’ their general levels of concern fell and feelings of control increased,” said Daniels.

“Every issue of concern in our study was fed to us directly by participants in the focus groups across regional and metropolitan Australia. We ran a series of twelve focus groups across the country and asked – without pre-conceived ideas – what they were concerned about. We then asked them to rank their concerns and rate the level of influence they had over each issue. We then took that research to our partners at ORU and asked 1015 Australians in an online poll about how they felt about those same issues,” said Eugene Catanzariti, head of strategic planning, BADJAR Ogilvy.

Relationships: Men and women back on the same planet

It seems Australian men and women feel the same when it comes to relationship concerns and the level of control they feel over them. Almost a quarter of respondents reported ‘that I constantly feel as though I have to please other people’ (22%) which was the highest response for a relationship concern. Across the survey, 18% were highly concerned that ‘I feel I have to try and fit in with people all the time’.

“As a nation, the Ogilvy research shows we generally feel we have a high level of control over relationships. In some cases – like making sure we don’t leave it too late to start a family – the feeling of control actually increases with household income. This is consistent with other research which shows cost is a key issue for Gen Y when deciding to start a family,” said Anne Hollonds, CEO Relationships Australia NSW.

The Work / Life Juggle

More than one-fifth of Australians are highly concerned they will never have a good balance between work and play. About the same proportion don’t know if they will ever find the ‘right job’. People aged 18-24 are particularly concerned with employment issues and more likely to say they have less control over these issues.

Ageing

Despite the boom in Botox, it’s not losing our looks which are causing us the most concern when it comes to ageing.

• 47% of Australians are highly concerned about ‘how getting old will affect my physical ability’.
• 41% are highly concerned about ‘how getting old will affect my mental capacity’.
• 29% are highly concerned about ‘care for my ageing parents’.21% are highly concerned about ‘how getting old will affect my personal appearance’.

Health & Wellbeing

Almost half of all Australians are highly concerned about preservatives and artificial ingredients in food, obesity and not exercising enough. “Women are more concerned than men about most health and wellbeing issues and those with children in the household are more concerned about not exercising enough than those without,” said Graham Edwards, managing director of Ogilvy Healthworld. Respondents aged 18-24 are more likely to say they have less control over these issues than others.

Government: high concern, low control

Australians are concerned about the way they’re governed and the quality of public services, but feel little control over these issues. The sense of disconnect between Australians and their governments is very high. More than seven million Australians say they are highly concerned about the quality of public health care in Australia, only exceeded by the 8.3 million who are concerned by politicians’ broken promises. The level of control felt over these issues is lower than for almost every other set of issues assessed in the study.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, Australians feel they have relatively more control over environmental issues like climate change and drought than other government issues despite having similarly high levels of concern about them.

Concern over the drought is the same among Liberal and Labor voters, however Labor voters are notably more concerned about climate change than Liberal voters, demonstrating the political partisanship of this debate extends well into the community.

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