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Wildfire PR jumped on a plane to Barcelona last month, with a number of our clients who were taking part in Mobile World Congress (MWC).

MWC is without a doubt the largest mobile phone trade show on the planet, with some of the biggest names in technology competing for attention.  But despite the array of shiny new handsets, we noticed many of the journalists weren’t in the throngs of the crowds, but chained to their laptops in the press room.

It got me thinking: what do journalists really want to get out of a 21^st century trade show when they make the effort to attend?

I spoke to Gareth Beavis at consumer electronics website TechRadar and Andrew Lim from Recombu to get the inside scoop into what really gets them going about trade shows, and how digital media is changing the job they do before, during and after the event.

Instant information

The immediacy of the web and use of social media platforms like Twitter has changed trade show reporting for good.  Gone are the days when roving reporters spent their time gathering information from exhibitors on the stand, collecting press packs and returning to the newsroom to report on the event.

Instead, they are focused on getting the big stories written and filed at the show, in a race to get their news to the eye of the consumer first.  Social media tools mean they can quickly and frequently check the exclusivity of their stories in an environment where news is quickly out of date.

For online publications such as TechRadar and Recombu, news has to be posted online instantly. “This adds a lot of pressure,” Gareth told me, “Twitter basically lets you know how much further ahead everyone else is.”  With this in mind, it seems almost inevitable that fewer journalists are spending less time on trade show stands and a lot more time tapping their stories out in the press room.

Getting hands on

Gareth assured me that events like Mobile World Congress remain firmly on the radar for the tech journalist, giving them a great opportunity to get up close and personal with the latest gadgetry on offer:  “Trade shows are ace; they offer so many hands-on opportunities and interviews with key execs, which are pivotal to us.”

New, new, new

Product launches hold ‘hard news’ value and the most appeal for journalists. Andy told me: “I’m looking for a good product launch, and I’d advise companies to wait for the show to announce it, with no pre-briefs.”  So, having new devices on display (that haven’t been seen or announced before), backed up with a good hands-on interactive stand experience is absolutely key, giving journalists the opportunity to develop their own unique take on a launch.

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So, The Times and Sunday Times will be launching new websites in May and will be the first UK newspaper to charge for their online content.

Their parent company, News International, is going to start charging £1 a day for access or £2 if for a week’s subscription.

Well, maybe you, but – if it wasn’t for my job in the PR industry – I’m not convinced I’d be one of the 5% of visitors to news sites that the industry reckons will pay for content.  I heard the news about The Times on the radio driving into work so when I arrived at my desk I did a quick Google search on the story, which delivered 222 news results.

So why – when there are hundreds of free sources reporting on the same story – would I want to click through to a site that charged me for reading their version?

Challenging times for publishers, but it’s still all about value

I’m sure the publishing industry will be watching to see how The Times rises to the challenge of producing online content that readers are willing to pay for.

In a world where an ever smaller number of journalists are trying to get out more and more news, maybe the paywall will mean The Times can fund more in-depth ‘investigative’ reporting rather than churning out news stories in a ‘me too’ fashion.  That would definitely put more ‘value’ into the end product.

But it’s in stark contrast to speculation that the new owners of The Independent may make the newspaper a free one.

The FT is able to charge because its audiences are willing to pay for the unique content it provides, giving them valuable insights into the financial world.  But to persuade readers to pay for generalised news content in the digital age?  That’s going to take some serious marketing efforts.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting this publishing business is an easy one; and I understand that without revenue – and profit – I may well face the prospect of sitting down with an 11am coffee on a Sunday, without a physical paper.  God forbid.

But for the time being I’m happy with the Everyman crossword on a Sunday, and engaging with a national newspaper that recently set out how it wants its website ‘to be very open’ and do the ‘opposite of putting it behind a wall’.

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The US Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) has just produced its annual report on the ‘State of the News Media’, taking stock of what has happened to news organisations during the previous 12 months and providing a look into what lies ahead.

Whilst the results are US-biased, there are still some really interesting themes that are probably just as relevant for us on this side of the Atlantic. So we’ve pulled out some of the issues that caught our eye.

There’s life in the old dog yet: social media is really just a new distribution channel

This is something we bang on about all the time, but a major theme to emerge from the report is that, despite the rise of social media channels, ‘traditional media’ still dominates the media landscape. 80 per cent of links from blogs and social media sites are to US legacy media.

The report warns: “when it comes to audience numbers online, traditional media content still prevails, which means the cutbacks in old media heavily impact what the public is learning through the new.”

Social media helps us discover new sources of news

However, social media is changing the way we access news, with most consumers becoming less loyal to specific news brands. Only 35% of online news consumers have a favourite news site, with most using multiple sites on a regular basis. What’s more, we seem to be moving away from reading articles in-depth, with 44% of visitors to Google News admitting to just scanning headlines and not actually clicking on the articles.

Could this be because we are increasingly valuing the recommendations of our peers?  The vast majority, 75% of online news consumers, say they get news forwarded through email or posts on social networking sites and 52% say they share links to news with others via those means. Just over half of social networking users (51%) say that on a typical day they get news items from people they follow.

News is social!

According to Pew, it’s not just brands that need to engage online, consumers are keen for news organisations to do the same. Some 37% of internet users have been involved in the creation of news, commentary about it, or dissemination of news via social media. They have done at least one of the following: commented on a news story (25%); posted a link on a social networking site (17%); tagged content (11%), created their own original news material or opinion piece (9%), or Tweeted about news (3%).

As the democratisation of news continues and the barriers of entry to blogging or micro-blogging are lowered, the focus is on creation and debate rather than just passive reading.

What does this mean for PR?

PRs need to bear in mind that despite the opportunities presented by the new, shiny social media channel, traditional media remains an incredibly powerful medium.  The irony is that falling advertising revenues means competition for editorial space is more intense than ever.  So the knack for PRs is to create compelling stories that people actively want to share.  Plus ca change!

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Famous for her bold fashion statements, risqué music videos and expletive lyrics, Lady GaGa certainly didn’t disappoint when her latest music video ‘Telephone’ was unleashed.

Sticking two fingers up to convention, GaGa’s sensational, ‘Telephone’, at 9 minutes and 27 seconds long, leans more towards a short film format than music video, mimicking a similar style to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video. A professional censor would have a heart attack after watching this lengthy tune. The video contains swearing; nudity, a lesbian snog and there’s even some mass murder thrown into the equation to create an explosive video designed to shock and be noticed.

And noticed it has been. Released on March 11^th 2010, the video has become an internet sensation and is about to pass eleven million hits on YouTube.

But despite this, it wasn’t the imagery that caught this Generation Y’s attention the most, but the lyrics. Telephone is all about miscommunication (and in fact its release follows a Lady GaGa and Beyonce Knowles duet ‘Videophone’). Both songs reflect the technological society of today, commentating on our ever-changing environment, where people seldom have time to talk.  People are actively choosing whether or not to take your call or engage in a conversation with you.

The same is true for brands. It would be a lot to ask your target audience to actively listen out for the information you are broadcasting to many. And even when you do create a ‘direct line’ to your customer, what’s to say they’re even going to take your ‘call’?

The answer is simple; it’s about building a relationship with them that will keep the lines of communication open. Let’s face it – you’re much less likely to answer the phone if it’s a call from somebody you barely know, or don’t know very well, but if it’s your best friend on the line that’s a different matter.

If brands take the time to build relationships with their target audience, to understand their thoughts and behaviour, they can increase the number of meaningful interactions with them through positive, two-way conversations.  Boosting loyalty and respect for a brand in this way can help to keep the communication channels well and truly open.

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I’ve written a lot recently about what I feel is a movement by Facebook to increase their hold on the social media world and become the hub for all that we do online.

So I was interested today to see a quote from CNN’s US president Jonathan Klein suggesting that although rival Fox is currently winning the ratings war in the US, their real threat comes from Facebook:

“I’m more worried about the 500m people on Facebook versus the 2m on Fox. The people you’re friends with on Facebook or the people you follow on Twitter are trusted sources of information. Well we want to be the most trusted name in news. That’s a challenge and we have to rise to that challenge.”

In many ways, CNN probably shouldn’t see Facebook as a threat, more an opportunity. But, with AP already making strides in the direction of the western world’s most popular social network, it’s now time to act.

And if this is an opportunity for traditional media, then it is most definitely an opportunity for PRs and brands too…

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