Should PR ever be free?

The Earthrace powerboat team (www.earthrace.net) is a charitable attempt to circumnavigate the globe leaving a net zero carbon footprint – and it’s been scanning the horizon for free PR agency support Is this a good strategv? Can you really get value for nothing? Or will coverage be in the doldrums? Experience from a similar pro bono event reveals that, even with experienced staff members on the account, other paying work, vital for the agency’s bottom line will take priority. This is a lose-lose situation for everyone involved. Surely, good PR is an investment, where a committed consultancy will generate coverage and help generate funds or achieve other objectives, covering the initial outlay many times over.

Quick and green

The SMMT’s Sara Lee highlights the UK average C02 figure for new cats sold in 2007 was down 1.3 per cent to I64.8g/km. The team at SMMT have also been speed-dating organising a quick fire briefing for 50 CV Show exhibitors and 31 journalists in January where stories and plans for the event were discussed.

Online outpaces paper

We note the Daily Telegraph website readership is now about 12 times that of the “traditional’ paper- ABC figures have it as 12.8m unique users, vs 9O0k circulation for the paper.

Just discovered

The Cardiff Business School publication, Synergy has some interesting articles on motoring in the Spring edition, check it out at http://www.cf.ac.uk/carbs/news_events/synergy/synergy5.pdf

Psst!! Bet you didn’t know this about MIPAA’s Executive Committee

Whether being speed camera shy, having a penchant for Route Napoleon, demonstrating the motorcycle skills of Evil Knieval, or longing to be the next Simon Cowell, there’s plenty you won’t know about the Fab Four MIPAA directors.

Steve Carman
Managing director of NoBull Communications and business development director of MIPAA Ltd
What was your first car? A Ford Fiesta 1.1 with a spoiler on the back but I dreamed of a Lancia Delta Integrale in Martini livery
Any motoring confessions? My first crash was on a petrol station forecourt where I demolished a wall
Best motoring memory: Driving one of the last old style Audi Quattros in a Welsh forest on one of Peter Newton’s press launches
Favourite driving route: Anywhere in the middle of nowhere without speed cameras
Most embarrassing PR moment: Doing a live TV news interview for the BBC on a motorway bridge over the M4 on a very cold, windy January morning – you could actually see my teeth chattering
If you weren’t in PR what would you be doing? A garden designer

Phil Hale
Senior media strategist, PRISM and membership director of MIPAA Ltd
What was your first car? A beige Austin Metro, with a CD player worth more than the rest of it
Any motoring confessions? I almost rolled an Explorer on the Ml (nothing to do with tyres, honest..)
Favourite driving route: Goodwood circuit, fast, but intimidating (no beach-sized gravel traps between you and scene of the accident). On the road, N85 Route Napoleon, just perfect-as long as you’re not in a people earner
Most embarrassing PR moment: A tie-break between a Mail on Sunday ‘expose’ of an Autocar concept car drive (apparently, if s shocking to find they sometimes need a push) and getting stuck on a train on my way to a live radio interview for RAC, then having to do it over a mobile phone, with a full train carriage as audience.
What you’d be doing if you weren’t in PR? A photographer

Mark Harrison
BMW UK PR manager and Chairman of MIPAA Ltd
What was your first car? A Renault 18 (I was duly dubbed ‘The Cabbie’ at University). My adolescent dream car was a Lancia Stratos
Any motoring confessions? My first crash was in my mum’s Nissan Micra – afterwhich my dad’s lecture was that “me and your mother have been driving for a hundred years and have never had a crash.”
Best (early) motoring memory: Eating fish and chips out of the paper in the late-70s in the front seat of my Dad’s van every Saturday.
Favourite driving route: The old B1172 between Spalding and Crowland
Most embarrassing PR moment: In the paddock at Oulton Park and in front of a crowd of motoring press on my first BMW press launch forgetting that, when coming to a halt, the BMW C1 was a bike, not a car and only had two wheels. You can guess the outcome.
If you weren’t in PR what would you be doing? In reality, a landscape architect, and in fantasy, planning a comeback tour with my old band

Gabi Whitfield
Communications director Nissan Motor (GB) Ltd and Deputy chairman of MIPAA Ltd
What was your first car? A K-reg dark blue Golf Driver 1.8 purchased in 1999 – I was almost 29 when I bought my first car!
Earliest motoring memory: Going camping to Scotland and being packed, with my sister Kirsten, into the back of dad’s Ford Cortina estate – this involved my parents packing absolutely everything into the rear of the vehicle and then simply laying the two of us on top of the lot so our noses were practically brushing the roof lining. Longest 10 hour car journey of my life!
Most embarrassing PR moment: I was organiser and event MC for an all-employee conference with Carlos Ghosn at Nissan’s European HQ. Covering every detail to the nth degree I gave everyone hell to ensure all mobiles in the audience were turned off before the big entrance. Ghosn arrived, and as I led him in to a silent and expectant auditorium my mobile rang and I got a round of applause. Mr Ghosn didn’t smile and I never found out who stitched me up!
Proudest sporting moment: Winning Clwyd’s Most Promising Female 1986 – for Shotokan Karate that is!
If you weren’t in PR what would you be doing? In reality, probably working for the RSPCA or some other animal rescue organisation. In fantasy, it’s a toss up between living on unlimited means between Colorado and Hawaii snowboarding and surfing my life away or searching out new bands for a major record label

Revolutionaries

It was the year of revolution, 1968, following the Summer of love, when thirteen young men about town came up with the idea of creating a motoring PR association. MIPAA Life President, Gethin Bradley remembers how the group got off the starting grid:

“Back in 1968 in the hospitality suite of a PR company, owned by Ivor Penrice, on the Hagley Road in Birmingham, the name Spoke ‘n’ Wheel was coined Norman Milne then group PR manager for the Automotive Products Group. The gathering of motoring PROs also came up with a mission statement (although I’m sure we didn’t use that term), of Communication and Co-operation.

Various planning meetings took place at venues such as the Playboy Club in Park Lane. Later in 1968, at the Steering Wheel Club, a popular London watering hole for those involved in motoring, we chose our first Chairman, Trevor Hoskins, group press officer for Lucas Industries (who later became senior vice president public affairs Bridgestone/Firestone based in the States).”

Gethin has been compiling “bioglets” of the founder members – check out www.mipaa.wordpress.com

The original thirteen and their functions back in 1968:
•     Jeremy Barrett (first secretary). PR director of the Road Transport Industry Training Board
•     Gethin Bradley FCIPR, deputy chairman of Good Relations Ltd, consultant for Jensen Motors; Smiths Industries, Radiomobile, Triplex Glass and Alan Fraser Racing
•     Patrick Fitz-Gibbon, press a public relations manager. Smiths Industries
•     Kevin Gover, partner in the consultancy Nicholas Mendes ft Associates and chairman of the fledgling IPR Midlands Group
•     Trevor Hoskins (first chairman), group press officer for Lucas
•     Dennis Miller-Williams, publicity manager Rolls-Royce car division
•     Norman J Milne, group PR manager, Automotive Products Group
•     Ken Moyes, press and public relations officer, SMMT
•     Simon Pearson, MCIPR, PA to director of PR, Leyland Motor Corporation
•     Alan Powell, company secretary /director, Good Relations Ltd
•     Laurence Sultan (deceased 25 August 2005 aged 87), publicity manager, Castrol Ltd
•     Alan Treweeke (first treasurer), chief executive advertising & public relations Lombard Banking & Lombank Ltd, responsible for Sponsorship of RAC Rally of GT Britain; Circuit of Ireland and Scottish Rallies PR for Group and world wide advertising
•     Keith Webb Dip CAM. MCIPR. Trevor Hoskins’ assistant in the Lucas Group press office

Forty and not out

Since its early days. MIPAA has maintained strong relationships with the Guild of Motoring Writers, so the occasion of the retirement of Graham Macbeth as honorary secretary of the Guild was celebrated at the Spring MIPAA Halcyon lunch on 1 April at the Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street.  As well as sharing memories, such as the retirement lunch of MIPAA member Dick Herdegen (photo), the lunch paid tribute to Graham’s friendship and support of MIPAA and its members.

Honorary MIPAA member, Mike Imeson, reports from the lunch:
The phone rang deep inside the bowels of the Cheshire Cheese and MIPAA life president Gethin Bradley volunteered me to answer it. 

The call epitomised the depth of feeling that exists for MIPAA (and its Spoke and Wheel predecessor) for it was Dick Herdegen, in 1968 the GM PR director in the UK, speaking from Detroit before breakfast time there.

He had located the Cheese’s phone number (bet he didn’t call any UK directory services!) to pass on his fond memories of a similar lunch 40 years ago also in the Cheshire Cheese.

His was one of many faces peering out from a scrapbook kept by our non-stop life president, which was passed around the couple of dozen Halcyons and others at the lunch, including past chairmen and officers of the Guild. Jeremy Barrett, a founding member, paid tribute to Graham’s attributes. And many there were, known and unknown, as became dear during the lunch and afterwards. Graham had certainly come a long way since he was the country’s youngest motoring correspondent down there on the south coast.

As Gethin reminded us, Halcyons doesn’t imply old, but reflects wisdom and achievements. We all enjoyed a toast to Graham who was presented with a bottle of Graham’s port in honour!

The second Halcyon’s lunch in 2008 will be a Presidential affair, taking place in London on Thursday 16 October. Reserve your place (price to be confirmed) online at www.mipaa.com or contact Heather Yaxley: hyaxley at supanet dot com

Motoring matters – 1998

1.  August 1998 saw the last traditional annual number plate change
2.  There were 21.6 million registered cars and 70% of households owned at least one car
3.  Over £650 million was spent on car advertising, but the ASA upheld complaints that an Audi TDI advert featuring a squashed toy rabbit could cause offence
4.  Alfa Romeo 156 was European Car of the Year with 40 out of 56 Jury members giving the model their top points.
5.  Ford Motor Company bought Volvo Cars for $6.45 billion and Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler Corporation to form Daimler-Chrysler
6 Exxon announced a US$73.7 billion deal to buy Mobil; creating Exxon-Mobil, the world’s second-largest company by revenue
7.  The price of oil fell to £10 a barrel – that’s compared to over $100 today
8.  The Belgian Grand Prix was marred by a massive accident involving thirteen of the twenty-two cars at the first comer
9.  The DVLA began issuing photocard driving licences
10. Google was launched – enabling lists of factoids like this to be created easily!!

In the Backseat with ING’s F1 director of PR

How does a major international bank use PR to benefit from its motorsport sponsorship? We asked Jon Tracey, Director of Press and PR for ING’s Formula One programme.

Why is ING sponsoring Formula One?
ING is ranked as a top ten global company by Forbes Magazine, but our brand perception lags behind the size and scope of our business. We’re particularly interested in reaching consumers in emerging markets, such as India and Asia, where F1 has a rapidly growing profile.

How do you evaluate success?
The key objective of our sponsorship is improving brand awareness and willingness to do business with ING. We track and monitor all our F1-related activities – during 2007, we surveyed 16,000 people in 32 countries before and after the GP season across 27 different metrics. The results exceeded our expectations, for example, we saw a 25% increase in positive perception of ING, and more importantly, 29% of non-ING customers surveyed were now willing to do business with ING as a direct result of our sponsorship.

Do you have a plan for how long the sponsorship might last?
For ING, this has always been a three year story – year one laid foundations through improved brand visibility and perception; year 2 will build on this with more Fl-related business activity and year 3 will be about making sure the whole ING Group is using F1 to sell ING services.

How do media relations support your sponsorship?
It’s essential for us to have a strategy to ‘activate’ our sponsorship in all 60 markets we operate in. That includes local media relations, hospitality programmes at races, special events, reports and research and most importantly, creating the specific key messages for our sponsorship that are communicated in everything we do.

Do you do anything away from Grand Prix races?
Yes – from city centre events and displays, to F1-themed product promotions, our focus is on doing business using F1, rather than getting deeply involved in the sport itself. I prefer to conduct most of our media interviews and activities away from the restrictions of a race weekend, particularly if it involves the Renault F1 team – they have other things on their mind on race day!

In these environmentally-conscious times, are the occasional negative impressions of motorsport of concern to you?
It’s something we considered very carefully before starting this sponsorship. All sports and businesses have a carbon footprint. To me, the good ones are those trying to understand it and minimise it For our part, ING is a carbon neutral 1 company and the FIA has ensured F1 is carbon neutral for the past 10 years. The Renault F1 factory also has robust waste management and recycling programmes in place.

What’s your biggest challenge in this role?
Probably finding time away from it! With 18 races a season, once it gets going, it can be difficult to find a good work-life balance.

Issue 3 – Chairman’s column

Perhaps surprisingly the challenges facing PR in the motor industry had never been discussed jointly by MIPAA and SMMTs Public Affairs Committee (PAC) until September, when general secretary, Heather Yaxley and I attended a PAC meeting.

One of the areas we discussed was the role of our respective bodies. The PACs remit is to guide and inform SMMT’s communications strategy on matters affecting the industry. MIPAA aims to help its members work more effectively. Members who are responsible for communications on behalf of a wide variety of industry organisations.

Although our purposes may differ, we have a lot of common interests. So, as well as agreeing to meet regularly, we’ve asked PAC to update MIPAA members via Revolve on key initiatives, such as its latest environmental campaign.

Extending understanding of the value of PR in the motor industry will be a theme of MIPAA’s 40th anniversary celebrations in 2008. We are planning a number of special events, culminating in a high profile conference taking a tough look at the future of the motor industry and how public relations will play a vital role in addressing the communication challenges ahead. If you have any suggestions for key note speakers, potential sponsors o topics of interest, please drop me an email.

Undoubtedly the way we work will need to adapt even more in the next 40 years than it has done over the past four decades. The editorial team from PFPR Communications behind this edition of Revolve consider some current changes in the main features, “To blog or not to blog” and “What’s the point of motor shows?“ 

We also acknowledge the need to work more closely with groups whose views may not always coincide with our own – such as Friends of the Earth, whose senior campaigner on transport and climate change, Tony Bosworth, talks about his work in the Backseat profile.

Thanks go to the editorial team, and other contributors, for another great issue. I hope you agree Revolve is proving to be a really good read. Remember, we welcome your views on any on the topics covered via this online ezine version of Revolve.  Members can also volunteer to edit the next edition, which will kick off MIPAA 40 in January.