I must have said the line ‘more change in the last 12-months than the last 12-years’ dozens of times in the last 12-months. It’s still true.
There are rare chances to assess just how much change. One such opportunity is Ofcom’s Online Nations report which takes a chalk mark and compares it to previous years.
I’ve read it so you don’t have to.
Perhaps more has stayed the same than you may think but there are clear signs of movement around the increase in AI for search.
As a former journo, I’m comforted that news consumption has stayed largely the same.
The top 18 UK social media channels
Why 18? It’s an arbitrary number that allows me to capture BeReal which was top 10 a few years ago and has now dropped out of fashion.
YouTube is still largest. Some things don’t change. YouTube remains the largest UK platform reaching 66.9 per cent of the over 18 population. Facebook & Messenger is again edged into second place.
WhatsApp is huge. WhatsApp is in third place reaching 63.4 per cent of all adults with Instagram reaching more than half of all adults.
Reddit is what? Now the surprises. Reddit has moved up into 5th place growing 88 per cent over the last two years. However, as you go and Google what that platform actually is, the data shows people spend a mere four minutes a day there. Compare that to the 51 minutes on YouTube and almost three quarters of an hour that’s thin gruel.
X keeps falling but not as fast as you may think. Also worth a raised eyebrow is the decline of X. It’s been falling for several years but the surprise is that its only six per cent down year-on-year reaching 27.8 per cent of the UK population.
X rivals have not really taken up the challenge. Bluesky has plateaued atlas than three million users – that’s 3.9 per cent of the UK population. Meta-owned Threads still remains the largest X competitor but their numbers have levelled out at just over five per cent.
Elsewhere…
AI is having an impact on search. While Google is pre-eminent on three billion UK searches AI-powered ChatGPT has emerged as its rival with 252 million searches.
AI search is growing. Almost a third of all search has an AI summary. This includes Google and the AI providers. This wasn’t measured two years ago.
The internet continues to be everywhere but we’re alive to the fact it may not be always positive. We spend on average 4.5 hours a day online in our own time. A third of us think the web is overall good for society.
Almost four in 10 people have seen something upsetting online in the previous month. This includes misinformation, abuse or violent content.
We’re still using the web for news. Overall, 97 per cent of people have visited a news site. The BBC is the largest share with eight in 10 visiting it in the previous month. The Sun is in second place with The Guardian third. We spend 10 minutes a day consuming news online.
WhatsApp is trouncing its messaging rivals. Ninety per cent of people who use the internet use the platform. This is almost double Messenger in second place.
WhatsApp is the most widely used app. Nine in 10 have used the tool beating Facebook into second and Google Maps intio third.
Children are spending time on the internet. A 13-year-old will spend four hours a day. That’s twice as much as an eight-year-old. You can read the full report here.
My son Joe is studying anthropology at University. I’m really envious of this.
He looks at how people behave and organise.
But its not just remote cultures in Papua New Guinea that are subject to anthropological study. Office cultures are too.
In one such study, British, American and Japanese workers in the same Tokyo office were observed. Where were the most misunderstandings? Between Yanks and Brits, surprisingly. Why? Because the two nationalities thought their common language was enough but they knew they had to explain with clarity to Japanese colleagues.
I was surprised just how animated people were this week when I asked them about their own working from home practices and in particular how they stayed switched on.
More than 600 people took part in the unscientific study in Public Sector Comms as to what they use to get in the zone at home.
Almost half listen to nothing, a quarter listen to music, seven per cent the radio and four per cent listen to podcasts with the same number listening to natural noise like rain or the sea.
So, we are all of us different.
I started work in a noisy newspaper office with phones ringing, chatter and the sound of keyboards being typed. I never thought I’d be working as I do in an office by myself listening to Radio Lento for the natural noise when I’m having to think with podcasts and audiobooks when I’m doing admin..
The pandemic drove a coach and horses through so many different things and when people left the office in March 2020 with laptops under their arms and Teams newly installed.
We have never really gone back.
But what works best? The office or working from home?
When I was a kid Dad would take us to see my Gran and Grandpa in the Lake District where he was born.
At one end of Derwentwater, he’d point up at a rockface where little human specs with orange helmets could be seen hundreds of feet up. Trailing brown ropes trailed behind them. As we’d stop and watch those figures would carefully manoeuvre themselves and stretch an arm for a new grip on the crag in a slow motion drama.
“They’re rock climbers,” Dad would tell us. “They’re all a bit mad.”
Years later I would go on my own reading binge of rock climbing memoirs. Climber Joe Simpson whose climbing career was fired by such books tells of overcoming the deep fear by technique, clear thinking and process. Where any sane person would panic a climber would overcome their terror by calmly going through a check list and balance the risk.
In the climbing community, there is special respect for the climber who turns round just short of the summit because they can see from their check list it is the only safe thing to do.
With AI, like rock climbing it is perfectly acceptable to be both terrified and excited at the same time.
Thankfully, good ropes, carabiniers and orange helmets are now being supplied by UK Government. They can help keep communicators safe. Yes, it is scary. Yes, it can be done. There are risks and there is a checklist.
The latest piece of equipment to keep the AI Alpinist safe is the UK Government’s Government Communications Service generative AI policy. It is a profoundly useful addition to your rucksack of comms safety equipment.
When social media emerged in the public sector it was done through a band of militant optimists. I’m proud to be one of them. Our mantra was that it was better to ask forgiveness than permission. With AI, I think it’s now more demanding permission. These documents will help you climb safely.
This will keep you safe
The most important thing about the GCS generative AI policy is that it will help keep you safe if you’ve got common sense.
At no stage is this a green light to go charging ahead with AI in any way you may dream of.
Firstly, the brass tacks. Generative AI basically means the tools that use AI that will help you create something. This includes text and images.
Let’s look at the key points.
Always use generative AI in accordance with the latest official government guidance.
This part of the policy links itself safely by a piece of climbing rope to the UK Government Generative AI Framework. I’ve blogged on this here. By securing it against Government policy this gives you an unbeatable scissors paper stone option.
Uphold factuality in our use of generative AI.
You can’t use AI to create something that misleads. This is a really important piece of policy equipment to be guided by. I can see this being useful to a communicator being put under any implied pressure to try and spin something that isn’t there. It’s also a public declaration of how to use it.
Engage with appropriate government organisations, strategic suppliers, technology providers, and civil society, around significant developments in generative AI, and the implications for its use in government communications.
It’s important that a dialogue is created and maintained to show the wider world how AI is being used. There is no doubt that doubt creates fear and misinformation which can damage hard won reputation.
Continue to review reputable research into the public’s attitudes towards generative AI and consider how this policy should evolve in response.
Government Communications may use generative AI where it can drive increasingly effective, and engaging government communications, for the public good, in an ethical manner.
This is an absolute winner of a paragraph. Print it out and memorise it. It is the starting pistol, the green light, the permission granted and the opening of the door. In days to come people will look at this and be baffled that there was a time before this technology.
Interestingly, the document refers to first draft text visuals or audio. It can also be a useful tool in making content more accessible. Note that isn’t waving through the final draft sight unseen. To borrow the title of the CIPR document, humans are still very much needed in this process.
Government communications aims to build trust in our approach through acting transparently.
In this section, GCS say that permission will be sought before using a human as an avatar. In plain language, an avatar is a computer generated representation of a person. This can be entirely off-the-shelf and created using some of the tools that are already available. The problem with this is that they can have an American accent or come over as being insincere.
What this particular line also tackles is seeking the permission of people to have their likeness converted into an avatar. This could be useful for HR to create a training avatar to talk you through processes. Tools such as veed.io can do this although the cost of doing so is price on application.
The benefit of having a human avatar is clear. If you’re in the Black Country, a Black Country accent will land better with the local audience. It can also speed up and cut the cost of training video production. However, while I can see this working in HR if it is marked as AI.
I’m really not sold on the idea of an avatar spokesperson tackling a thorny issue.
We will clearly notify the public when they are interacting with a conversational AI service rather than a human.
This is essential. People have mixed views about AI and feel far happier when they are told they are speaking to a robot. This chimes with EU regulations that to me is common sense. We generally don’t mind talking to a customer service live chat pop-up if its marked as AI asking some basic questions a human operator can then use to help you.
Government communications will not apply generative AI technologies where it conflicts with our values or principles.
This makes sense but its probably worth spelling it out. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Government communications will not use generative AI to deliver communications to the public without human oversight, to uphold accuracy, inclusivity and mitigate biases.
Again, humans are involved with this process.
A useful template for communicators
Of course, this is handy if you are a government communicator but its also useful if you are in the public sector or even third sector.
So much hard work I’m sure has gone into this. It would be daft not to take advantage of the learning. To tie what you are looking to do in your own team to these principles or to base your own version on them is common sense.
It’s August 2024 and a number of foreign countries are posting travel warnings after the outbreak of rioting – let’s not call it protest – across England and Northern Ireland.
What started with the murder of three children in Southport became a riot fuelled by misinformation and then disorder in more than a dozen towns.
The Civil Contingencies Act requires UK police, council, fire and rescue and NHS to warn and inform.
I’ve gathered toghether some content that has lanfded. It’s important to stress that it’s not always the eye catching that works. Yes, there’s some arresting footage of police body-warn cameras but there’s also some very straight forward meat and potato communication that scores well because it is timely.
But alonngside the messaging, don’t forget media relations.
The conviction and sentencing of those accused of taking part in disorder is now an important part of the process.
Justice must seen to be done to deter those who could take part in future disorder.
Here’s some that’s caught my eye.
Communicating the incident
X, formerly Twitter, still has a role in a breaking news situation. Wisely, Merseyside Police limited who can reply to the original message. A similar message on Facebook has been shared 350 times in seven days.
LATEST | Emergency services are in #Southport after a major incident this morning (Mon). One man has been arrested and a knife seized. There are casualties.
After the deaths of the girls in Southport comes remembering and honouring their lives. Mersey and West Lancs Teaching Hospital NHS Trust.
And also Sefton Council on Instagram lighting up a civic building.
Communicating disorder
But as the situation spread to a far right-inspired riot in Southport and to other towns in England the situation became more charged. Merseyside Policeshared some shocking bodyworn camera footage.
Communicating condemnation
In other towns there was condemnation of the trouble caused such as here, Rotherham Council. Sometimes, attractive content isn’t needed. The simple text of it works here.
Communicating arrests
Putting through the door of one of the suspects accused of taking part in the rioting in Sunderland. Face obscured to not jeopardise a future trial from Northumbria Police.
And body worn content showing the arrest of suspects – with faces obscured so as not to jeopardise their conviction.
Communicating recovery
It’s important to show the recovery phase. Here, the people of Sunderland turned out to help with the clean-up operation in the city centre after violence. This post from Sunderland City Council.
And here, Liverpool City Council didn’t hide the deep impact of the violence. Here, library staff on TikTok talk of their shock after their building was targeted.
Mark and Debbie who work at #Spellow Hub, express their sorrow after the destruction of their community hub. The service gives vital support to the community and the devastation caused by the appalling criminal actions of a minority has left people in shock.
Again, residents taking part in the clear-up posted by Hull City Council.
A simple picture of gifts thanking Cleveland Police officers who tackled trouble in Middlesborough gets huge reactions.
Communicating recovery from the residents
As much as the content from official channels is important – and it is – there’s certainly something to be said for sharing other recovery content. After all, this shows powerfully that the community are on the side of law and order.
Here, a Southport football player Jordan Lussey offers free coaching to kids from the town.
If there are any parents on here from Southport who’s children are distressed after todays events.
Please DM me. I am hosting a Football Camp this week and your children can attend free of charge.
It’s also important to remember the role that traditional media plays in these moments and that their content is shared back online. Here, a Liverpool Echo piece is shared back into the Southport Community Facebook group.
And this from South Yorkshire…
And court reporting which is an important part in the process…
On the subject of media relations…
Alison Hernandez, police and crime commissioner for Devon gives a masterclass in communicating restrained anger and praise on BBC TV. It’s five minutes but worth the watch.
When I was a younger man than I am now I loved mustard.
Our local Sainsbury’s had a choice of four and I would buy them to experiment. After all, what mustard would taste good on a ham sandwich was quite different to a barbeque sausage.
So, when our Sainsbury’s moved to a new site four times as big the mustard choice also expanded. There was now 16 different types of mustard. There wasn’t just one type of Dijon mustard. There was four. And English, spicy beer mustard and three types of American burger mustard.
Choice now paralysed me and the first time I went I left without buying any.
What I’d come across in this is something academics call ‘choice overload bias’. This means that when there is too much choice your satisfaction can actually decrease. We are tormented by the fact we may be buying the wrong thing.
Communicators who are looking to reach a local audience are faced with choice overload bias on a regular basis. What channel to use when there are so many?
When I started my career in local government the channels were a hard to use website, the local paper, local radio and quarterly residents magazines.
Social media obliterated all that and there are so many more places to get information.
I’ve gone through their 36,000 lines of data for you so you can better navigate the metaphorical supermarket shelves.
Key findings
Local newspapers are in an existential crisis. This time they really mean it. Print weekly paper readership across the UK has dropped 19 per cent in 12-months. Regional dailies have dropped 15 per cent in the same period.
Not only that, but there has been a loss of 271 titles between 2005 and 2022.
We already have news deserts. There are boroughs in London without a newspaper circulating and the same can be found in other parts of the country.
We don’t want to pay for local journalism. Not only do we not want to pay we don’t want to pay for ads. Digital or otherwise. Ad revenue is pouring out of the hole in the newspaper’s bucket.
There are experiments with local news. A spate of email-first news services that cover cities have taken off but all attempts at building a new form of journalism over the past 20 years has struggled. There are hyperlocal independent sites across the UK.
Struggling journalism is bad for democracy. The Government’s Cairncross review into local journalism and other academic research all point to this. There is a link between voter turnout and newspaper circulation.
Yet, the demand local news as an entity is surprisngly strong. Be that local politics, events, weather, sport or traffic, weather and travel we want to know about it. All of us. Not just the over 50s.
Local news and current affairs is surprisingly of interest. Almost half – 49 per cent – of 16 to 24-year-olds are interested in local news in their area. I know. I’m shocked as you are. This rises to 73 per cent of over 55-year-olds. This may be the roads that are being built, the cuts to the leisure centre or the event in the park.
But local campaigns not so much. One in five 16 to 24s is interested in a campaign on somethinmg like crime rising to a quarter of 55 to 64-year-olds.
And yes please to weather. Maybe its because we’re British but the category of local weather updates was the most popular with people. Six out of ten of younger demographics were interested rising to 80 per cent of over 65s.
But how we’re accessing this local news has splintered more than I could have imagined. If its not local newspapers then what?
This is where this handy illustration comes in.
I think of it as a dartboard with your street at the centre radiating out to your neighbourhood, city, town, village then your county then your nation.
In your street, it’s WhatsApp and Nextdoor you plug into then as you go wider its social media, newspaper’s social media and then as you approach the region and country its TV and radio too.
I like how they’ve made this visual.
In your street or neighbourhood, WhatsApp and the neighbourhood site Nextdoor are important. As you move towards the town or village and up through the country to the region or country then other platforms become important.
We often forget about TV and radio. There are 39 BBC stations and 250 commercial radio stations and in Wales the Welsh language S4C station plays an important regional role. But broadcasting only comes into play on stories that will reach broad audiences on the edge of the dartboard.
Local news is being consumed by social media with local groups like Facebook community groups now the biggest single place. The secret to good data, I find, is that it can challenge your own experience. I’ve been an advocate for Facebook groups for a long time but even I’m surprised to see that nationally it is now in pole position for local news.
The BBC. I often say in training that making friends with your BBC local democracy reporter (LDR) is essential. They are a trusted channel and that single LDR can shape content for multiple outlets.
Delve deeper and you’ll find newspaper’s digital footprint is important. The data shows 17 per cent for websites and apps of news outlets. Confusingly, it adds 9 per cent to other nmews websites such as Reach plc’s Birmingham Live. Reach fill prettty much all the top 10 for web pages with the highest audience.
People have left print for the web but sill trust local journalism.
Younger people consume through social media. The stat given is 16 to 34s are consuming news twioce as much on the socials compared to adults aged 55 and above.
Podcasts locally? Nah. Podcasts have enjoyed a boom in the 2024 General Election coverage but with five per cent using them for local news this isn’t a factor locally just yet.
While it breaks down into age demographics it also breaks down if you drill deep enough into regional differences. So, if you’re Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, West Midlands, South West, London or wherever a bit of time spent to refine the data would be time well spent.
A word of warning.
There is a top level summary of 56-pages and the data sets of 36,000 lines you can plough through.
When you break it down
I’ve selected one of the many data tables to include in its entirity. As you’ll see, there are some surprises.
Q: What sources do you get your local news from? By percentage (source: Ofcom)
Channel
16-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Social media (FB, Insta, X)
63
63
59
56
44
36
TV
29
43
50
54
64
69
Word of mouth
45
46
41
49
54
59
Radio
27
32
32
34
32
29
Print newspapers
17
15
17
20
24
32
Newspaper websites & apps
14
19
23
21
26
23
Messaging or neighbourhood apps (WhatsApp & Nextdoor
14
19
23
21
26
23
Email newsletters
15
22
16
18
20
18
Local news websites
22
22
23
19
20
18
Search engines
34
37
39
31
29
24
Conclusion
I thought the local news landscape was fractured but I had no idea it was as fractured as this. Of all of iot, I love the dartboard graphic that shows how local news can feel very different depending on your perspective.
So, if its your street or neighbourhood its one thing – WhatsApp or Nextdoor – but as you move out its social media then TV and radio.
Given that there is this change none of us can take things for granted.
Have you noticed? There’s some campaigns that lights the blue touch paper with some people.
During Pride events supported by fire, NHS, council or any organisation there’s often a minority of trolls.
‘Why are you doing X’, they’ll ask. ‘It’s a waste of money, it’s the Metropolitan elite, it’s the wokerati and you can’t say anything nowadays.’
But, let’s be honest, its not just the rainbow event is it? There’s a shortlist that triggers the easily triggered events that can include Christmas, International Women’s Day, Eid, Ramadan, Easter and any religious holiday.
If anything doesn’t look exactly how they look then it’s a problem.
The decision for a public sector comms person is quite tricky. Do you post about it or don’t you? I’ve heard of people actively not posting because they’re so worried at the response.
I understand that but I don’t agree with it.
So, what do you do?
Well, the first thing is to get a set of social media house rules. I’ve blogged about this before and it’s good to see these becoming more mainstream.
However, there is something else you can do. Think of it as a planned response list.
Basically, this list brings together all the things you can say in response to explain what you are doing. But the important thing is to get your broad response signed off so you know where you stand and you’re not
Forward planning for the win
West Midlands Police plan ahead on their socials. They’ve been doing this this since the English Defence League’s first trip to Birmingham. Then the extremist group sewed misinformation about a knife attack by a gang of Muslims on a white teenager. It never happened but the fall out raised tension.
So, next time the far right protestors came there was an officer armed with Twitter in Gold Control seeking and destroying the information. It worked effectively and became part of their regular response.
The result was, a duty press officer could shoot down rumours in real time without having to go through the lengthy process of getting each tweet signed off.
Royal British Legion have been excellent about this in the past. Poppy Day can bring out the bigots with evergreen disinformation around poppies being banned. They plan ahead and take a careful look at the comments on their channels.
Often, I find that the Police are the most on the front foot of all against trolls. NHS people are the most reticent.
Timing when you make the post
Help is at hand. The answer is to plan ahead.
When the Pope came to Coventry about a decade ago the council posted the news late on Friday. When they returned on Monday morning war had broken out over the weekend between the factions of people.
Nick from Leeds City Council has spoken about posting at 7am. Thinking about it, there’ll be a moderator around for the first few hours. People will be sober, too.
Leaving it to a passer–by
Leaving it for a member of the public to step into has worked in the past.
However, sometimes there just isn’t a member of the public around who can be like the Green Cross Code Man and save the day.
This should be a bonus rather than your whole strategy.
Draw up your own list of lines to take
If you are looking to post a campaign on a topic that may spark a needlessly unpleasant reaction here’s an approach to take.
Ask yourself these questions ahead of time:
Have you done this in the past?
If you have, what comments have been said about this in the past and what did you learn?
Has an event like this been done by others and what did they say in response?
If you haven’t, what’s the worst level that people can potentially stoop to and what would we say and do?
What tone do you want to set?
What key points do you want to make?
Do you need to make some assets in advance?
If you have a set of social media house rules, under that, what comments do you allow and what don’t you allow? And where’s the line that if crossed you can start blocking people?
Once you ask yourself these questions you can start to build a list of responses that acts as your armoury ahead of the event.
In particular, deciding the tone in advance is useful. It gives you the confidence to operate on the day. Inevitably, comments like these can land outside office hours or when senior people aren’t around.
Do all this and you can better navigate choppy waters.
General Elections in the UK used to be so simple. It was a party political broadcast, poster sites and leaflets. Not any more.
In 2024, there will be no defining ‘Labour isn’t working’ ad poster on every roadside poster site.
What’s happening instead is 14,000 tailored social media ads in the six weeks before the first three days. Each of those will be delivered to you based on your age, habits and beliefs as you scroll.
Much of what will drop through your timeline will be video. That’s certainly the message of an analysis of Labour and Conservative ad spend so far.
As a communicator, elections are rather like the World Cup for football fans. Stories are told and new heroes and villains are made. But most of all I love that they are a petri dish for new communications tools.
In 2008, it was a creative use of email that gave the edge to Obama and social media that took him back to the White House.
But what will 2024 bring?
It’s absolutely not all about the posters
In 1979, analysts pointed to one single comms tool that made the difference for Margaret Thatcher. It was a roadside poster. Saatchi & Saatchi’s clever play on words ‘Labour Isn’t Working’ poster captured a national mood.
Even in 2010, the poster was still a vital part of the election armoury. Strategists of the governing party would book key poster sites to get a headstart and squeeze out the opposition.
The poster ‘We can’t go on like this. I’ll cut the deficit not the NHS’ was the defining image as Labour lost power. In the image, there is the fresh faced David Cameron. The Brexit vote was still ahead of him and everything seemed possible.
But in 2024, where are the posters?
Have you seen any?
It’s all about the troll
Social media has democratised the information process.
When Rishi Sunak called the snap General Election 2024 in Downing Street he did so in a downpour. Umbrella-less his words were drowned out by a soundsystem playing the 1997 Labour anthem ‘Things Can Only Get Better.’
Of course, the footage of the Prime Minister being drowned out went truly global and truly viral. It’s noticeable that none of the main leaders have gone anywhere near members of the public. There have been no walkabouts through home countries shopping precincts. No wonder, with smartphones everywhere a heckler can command the news headlines.
This audio trolling only reflects the trolling and noises off that are posted across the broader internet. Sometimes this is good natured heckling. Sometimes it is abuse.
It’s absolutely all about the meme
Bleeding in from the Rishi Sunak announcement it’s clear that the internet meme has become a key way to shape opinion.
There were many memes marking the damp Downing Street moment.
This one inspired by the cult British classic ‘Withnail & I’ caught my eye.
In the film, a bedraggled Withnail, the unemployed actor flags down a passing farmer on tractor. “We’ve gone on holiday by mistake,” he says before begging for fuel and wood. He is the piteous city dweller out of his comfort zone and suffering from his lack of planning.
In the meme, it pokes fun at the Prime Minister’s rained on appearance.
It’s fascinating to think that in 1979, it was ad execs who were capturing the mood visually. Now, its being done for free by a battalion of people armed with smartphones.
Indeed, it’s not just people who are looking to tap into this instant and ephemeral way of communicating. They are not built to last. They are built to click.
But, wait. The main parties are at it too.
Here’s a piece of content from the Conservative Party that steals from the Scoobedoo meme where someone is unmasked as the real culprit.
I’d say it saves on the bill for creatives. However, I’d expect that the sentiment captured in the meme will have been shaped by focus group feedback. Then the feedback will have gone through the creative process. The answer is different because we as media consumers consume differently.
But stopping to think about it, this isn’t just a preserve of a political party. I’ve started to see this tactic used in other places online, too. TikTok is to blame. The platform is all about taking content and then remixing it. TikTok’s own editing tool Capcut allows you to do this easily by giving you a library of memes to work with. What may have taken hours now takes seconds.
It’s about the email to supporters
Each political party uses a variety of channels. For supporters, the parties are using email to motivate the troops and encourage them to get their credit cards out.
Every message has a call to action to donate. Which can be wearing.
It’s about the screen grab
This is bad news for the Prime Minister but the launch image of the wet politician in Downing Street feels like it has the makings to be epoch-defining. The screen shot taken from the armchair is out running round the world before the rebuttal team have got their boots on.
It’s not about the party political broadcast
Before the internet, the only way a political party could get a film in front of people was the party political broadcast.
The main channels were obliged to carry a short film from the main parties. Like this on in 1997 by the Liberal Democrats featuring John Cleese.
They were, looking back, almost universally loathed. The words from the channel announcer ‘there now follows a party political broadcast by…’ prompted mass channel switching. The themes of these films were more of interest to political correspondents than the average punter.
Ofcom still regulates them under the Communications Act 2003 but I’m struggling to see the point.
It’s absolutely about the social media ad
The battleground for political messaging has never been stronger than with the political ad.
However, Facebook’s ad library shows that this is not about one image to rule them all. This is about creating and posting multiple pieces if tailored content for different audiences.
I run a report of the Conservative Party’s ad library. In less than two months they have created a staggering 2,887 ads across Facebook, Instagram and interestingly WhatsApp. Each one has a tailored audience and a tailored message. Some were aimed at 18 to 24 while others were marked 65+.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party have posted five times as many ads in the same period with 10,405.
Annoyingly, there isn’t an easy way of seeing the level of spend as the data just gives upper and lower levels of ad spend. But a trawl through the data shows each ad is often supported by a few hundred pounds.
The construction of such an effort requires science, money, research, ad creation skills and more money.
It’s possibly about AI
The smart money talks about elections being especially vulnerable to bad actors who may use tools to create fake content that can derail a campaign. Fake audio will be the biggest threat. But with the pace tools are developing it will be interesting to see how they may arrive.
Conclusion
Things are changing and continue to change. That’s just how it is. Communicators would be well served to be watching how the political parties use the platforms. What was once experimental can quickly become the norm.
But while our eyes are taken by the new approaches and new tools there remains an army of foot soldiers who are out delivering leaflets and knocking on doors. The actual landscape of streets, houses and flats is mapped and logged into supporters, don’t knows and absolutely nots. This off-line battle will be taking place alongside the online one.
There are only two types of football manager, the famous line says, those who have been sacked and those who are about to be sacked.
Add to that is a rare third type of manager who calls time on himself.
In that gravity-defying list is Jurgen Klopp who has left Liverpool after nine years with a Premier League, Champions League and five other cups.
He is an astonishingly good communicator but what makes him so good?
I thought I’d look at two set piece pieces of communication that bookend his time at Anfield. His first press conference and the Instagram post he made before leaving.
The new manager press conference is one of the traditions of football. An introduction to the new man at the wheel and a mix of easy and hard questions. Brian Clough used to talk about making all the hard decisions in the first three months because that’s when you are most powerful.
Let’s look at what Jurgen Klopp said in his first press conference.
“I’m not a genius. I don’t know more than the rest of the world. I need other people to get perfect information,” straight away he was calling from help from those inside the club.
“It’s important that the player feels the difference from now on. They have to think they can reach the expectations. You have to change from doubter to believer,” he addressed the players.
“It is the biggest honour I can imagine. It is one of the biggest clubs in the world. It is a good moment to come here. How the people live football here. It is not a normal club it is a special club,” straight away identifying the fans.
“I’m a football romantic. I love all the stories and the histories. Anfield is one of the best places in the football world I thought about how it would be. We start to play emotional football. That’s important at Anfield, it has to work together,” he was sealing the deal with fans and those who love the club.
Merseyside is an emotional city. My Mum was from Liverpool, so I know this. It is also a city where community is at the heart. You work for each other not for yourself. Their club anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ underlines this.
A Hillsborough disaster campaigner described their fight for justice as ‘they picked on the wrong city.’ It points to the emotion and working together to support in adversity as well as success.
“I’m the normal one. I was an average player, I was a trainer at a special club in Germany,” in perhaps his most famous line.
Football clubs are weird. Some managers fit and some don’t. I was a student on Tyneside when Kevin Keegan first became Newcastle United manager. His success was built on football knowledge plus the foundation of knowing how the fans thought. They were passionate and wanted a fighting spirit.
Barcelona’s slogan is ‘more than a club,’ because it represents Catalonia.
Same for Newcastle United and Tyneside.
Keegan got this. Others haven’t.
The end: The Instagram post
It’s telling that one of his last pieces of communication was an Instagram post on a freshly created @kloppo account. He wanted to create an account to stay in touch, he said, and gained more than a million subscribers in less than 24-hours.
He shot the video as a selfie alone in his office overlooking the training ground surrounded by boxes of things he was moving out.
“So, here I am. Last day in the office. Last session done. It was kind of strange, I would say. A few coaches got emotional. I didn’t. I told myself ‘tomorrow is a game and then it is holiday.’
“Obviously, I decide what I think until I get overwhelmed tomorrow. So, I will leave this place today which is… an interesting experience I would say.”
There is a pause as he dwells on the emotion of leaving Liverpool.
“Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye… See you tomorrow.”
The audience is primarily those who love Liverpool. He addresses those inside the club but makes it far wider. It’s the merging of the audiences here that’s most powerful. The fans and the players and the board are as one.
He sets up the game ahead beautifully. He hints at bigger emotions and a bigger message but first there is a football match to play and a job to be done.
Without him knowing it, Klopp has actually mimicked an earlier Liverpool manager in his pioneering use of communications channels. When he was starting out as a manager at Carlisle United in the 1950s Bill Shankly would use the tannoy to address the crowd to tell them what his plans were.
For all Jurgen’s Klopp’s communications skills, it’s important to say that he also needed a football brain and an ability to communicate to his players and coaches what he wanted.
The announcement of his departure three months before the event was made by an emotional video.
In his first press conference he spoke about the stories, the histories and the emotion of playing at Anfield and now it has come full circle and he is part of those legends.
If you can learn anything from Jurgen Klopp it’s the emotion and the story telling.
When I was a reporter I would spend two seconds working out whether that letter, email or fax was worth looking at.
Yes, I know a fax. Well, I am very, very old as my daughter keeps reminding me. It’s not the only thing she’s right about.
The two seconds I’d spend as a reporter would be looking to see if there was an answer to two questions:
Is this my patch?
Is this a story?
Now, the email inbox is the place where interesting stuff lands. If you are looking to send out email marketing then the subject line is the key to the door.
I’ve blogged about Democratic Party subject lines before. I’m returning to them because I find rhythm absolutely fascinating.
In an election, channels can be a petri dish for communications. In 2008, Barack Obama’s campaign made a real difference by using email. Before this, political campaigns had email addresses that were never monitored that would send the same message from the candidate.
The joy of Obama’s 2008 campaign was that multiple emails were tailored to multiple types of supporters.
Here’s a week in subject lines
17.5.24 The Democrats / New Senate Polling
17.5.24 Team Joe / $1 before midnight.
16.5.24 Democrats.org / Less than six months out
16.5.24 Democrats.org / to flip the House blue?
16.5.24 Joe Biden / One thing my grandpop used to say
15.5.24 Team Biden-Harris Alert / Show President Biden you have his back
15.5.24 The Democrats / By the numbers…
15.5.24 Barack Obama / Sweetening the deal for you
15.5.24 DNC Headquarters / We cannot overemphasise how critical this is.
14.5.24 Sam Cornale, Team DNC / An explanation
14.5.24 Joe Biden / I am inviting you to an event with some special guests
14.5.24 DNC HQ / You’re invited: May Supporter Briefing
14.5.24 Democrats.org / You (yes, you!) have a role to play this November
13.5.24 Democratic HQ / A special day:
13.5.24 Joe Biden / Because you’re a member of this team, we wanted you to to be the first to know about our new contest
12.5.24 DNC HQ / 23 states
11.5.24 Team DNC / The good, the bad and the…
11.5.24 The Democrats / Four quick sentences about the work we’re doing
11.5.24 Team Joe / Any amount you can pitch in today
What this can teach you
In seven days there’s 18 messages. Yes, you can contact supporters more than once ina blue moon. However, to lessen the repetition, there are several senders.
They’re not always direectly asking for money. They’re showing that yes, you are part of this campaign too.
The routine admin is things like Democrats.org or Democratic HQ. The more personalised messages are from Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
The Joe Biden messages are especially interesting. They’re longer:
16.5.24 Joe Biden / One thing my grandpop used to say
14.5.24 Joe Biden / I am inviting you to an event with some special guests
13.5.24 Joe Biden / Because you’re a member of this team, we wanted you to to be the first to know about our new contest
7.5.24 Joe Biden / Humbly asking, can you contribute $25 today?
3.5.24 Joe Biden / Me + Jill + Dan + ice cream
They’re not just longer but they’re the kind of messages you can imagine him hearing.
They’re human. You can sign-up for Democrat email alerts here.
There’s a moment when I’m delivering training that I tell people they’ll like the first part but they’ll hate the second.
The first part is talking about what makes people share with examples that show emotion and story telling. It’s joyous and people enjoy it.
Then comes the second part when I go through the algorithms and show how much all the platforms really hate links and will actively penalise you if you post links. Hey, it’s a real mood killer. People shuffle uncomfortably. There’s almost a thought bubble hovering over people’s heads with the words ‘but that’s what we do.’
Yet for all the uncomfortable feelings its important to know this.
Data shows link traffic from Facebook to news sites has collapsed
Those are the numbers from Facebook itself. The numbers from publishers themselves are also bleak. Data from Chartbeat publisher by the UK Press Gazette show that referrals are a quarter of what they were in 2018.
In basic terms, there’s been a 75 per cent fall in people navigating away from Facebook to news sites.
That’s a huge number.
Yes, news sites are feeling extra pain after Facebook has fallen out of love with news. But public sector people shouldn’t just hurry past and think this has got nothing to do with them.
Why?
Because if you are STILL posting links on Facebook then this has got everything to do with you. Facebook have told you that this is a bad idea. Now publishers are showing you that they weren’t messing about.
Firstly, this means a period of intense innovation in news sites. It’s reached a point of change or die and it’ll be interesting to see how this pans out.
A new generation of subscription email first sites have been attracting attention if not yet swathes of readers, for example.
But there are lessons to draw closer to home.
Stop posting links.
No, really. Really stop posting links.
The phrase ‘drive traffic to the website’ is as obsolete as ‘answers on a postcard.’
There are ways to change your strategy. Tell the story on the platform itself so people don’t click away. Or if you absolutely have to have a link put it in the comments. Or support the post with a Facebook ad.
