Monday 29 June 2009

Hill & Knowlton: Using blogs as part of PR strategies to influence MEPs

On EurActiv, Elaine Cruikshanks, the CEO of the PR agency Hill & Knowlton, talks about the loss of influence of the Tories in the new European Parliament and about the future strategies to influence the many new MEPs:
"[T]he inauguration of the new European Parliament will bring "a lot of work for consultants," because "some 40% of MEPs" are new.

"Flagging a problem, proposing a solution and trying to generate support amongst decision-makers both in Brussels and in member states is as the heart of each lobbying campaign," the Hill and Knowlton chief explained.

In doing this, "communication channels such as blogs or social media have to be considered" to involve a wider audience and provide politicians with a platform to profile themselves.
"
So please, MEPs, be careful when you read us - we could be part of H&K's strategies!

(via eurosocialiste on Twitter)

4 comments:

Steffen said...

"Blogs OR social media?" Consultants getting to terms with the terminology would be a good start!

To Ms Cruikshanks's credit though, I suspect she is refering to social media as a tactic to be used by organisations (and politicians) for outgoing communications and then engagement, rather than blogger relations (i.e. treating bloggers like media and plugging stories to them.) Although I may be wrong.

Having said that, can you imagine a scenario where you're approached by consultants where you think you'd be interested in co-operating?

Elaine said...

Thanks for picking up on the EurActiv interview, Julien. Hill & Knowlton is more than happy to join the conversation!

We’ve watched the growth in the use of social media – by EU policymakers and the wider stakeholder community – with professional and personal interest. Professional as we naturally follow online discussions of interest to our clients; personal as our passion is EU politics and the digital age has clearly arrived in Brussels. After all, we can now follow the tweets of Swedish presidency staff as well as those of increasing numbers of MEPs.

So of course we will follow your blog and others like it. Digital communication is about two-way engagement and when we have something to contribute we will seek to join the conversation. At H&K we believe – and advise our clients as such – that by engaging with online communities in an open way, we can promote informed discussion and transparency. This shouldn’t be anything that MEPs – or the wider blogging community – should be afraid of.

Toby - Northern Light Blog said...

"At H&K we believe – and advise our clients as such – that by engaging with online communities in an open way, we can promote informed discussion and transparency. This shouldn’t be anything that MEPs – or the wider blogging community – should be afraid of."

To non-PR professionals, H&K are most (in)famous for their role in the setting the scene for first Gulf War so you can imagine a slight degree of scepticism on the part of many bloggers.

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