By Leigh Andrews

More communication platforms are in use now than ever before, with more on the way. This may well mean that while the mantra of ‘the customer is always right’ is still clung to by businesses, it is now potentially instilling fear into organisations as the consumer does not rely on what is in the media to form an opinion. While publicity is still publicity, the nature of the typical communication model and PR distribution platform has changed, as has the nature of the consumer.

Earlier this year, Publicity Update’s Lindsey Kin wrote about the rise of the i-Consumer, based on the worldview that ‘the now’ is more important than the past or the future. This means that while Generation G cares about the impact of our actions and wants to assist where possible, the i-consumer want to live for the moment, as is evidenced by the fact that information flows so freely and communication has become a given part of most functioning – while at work, we check on news feeds to make sure we haven’t missed breaking stories; we share our interesting online finds through email and social networks; and we instantly upload our photos online, creating a community that is more connected and part of each other’s lives than ever before. These are not necessarily two conflicting masses to send messages to - we can be both ‘Generation G’ and ‘i-Consumer’ simultaneously. But how does the PR industry cater to these new consumer characteristics?

One method which I have written about at length recently is the embracing of social media, as this is where the consumer spends much of their time, both at home and at work. This has lead to a rise of shorter, snappier PR activity that communicates not just a call-to-action, but also a new way for consumers to get involved; spread the message; and show they care.

There’s a plethora of clever wordplay out there that has engaged with the changing perception of what exactly it is that PR and generating publicity for a cause actually entails, ranging from media relations, which emphasises the importance of the media in getting a message across to the public; back to emphasising either the ‘public’ or ‘relations’ aspects of PR, in turn highlighting the importance of the public or consumer, that the message is intended to reach, and the essence of developing strong relationships with one’s audience and chosen media channels, which ultimately brings the loop back to the public.

Ally Cooper, joint-MD of AllyCats PR, states: “Capturing consumers' attention by directly engaging with them enables them to more readily absorb the advertising message and remember the product or brand name when they are next in the market for that particular product. Not all consumers are in the market for the same products at the same time, but by interacting with them, you make them aware of their options and in essence, your own brand for when they have the budget or inclination to buy.”

The fact that PR activity can now effectively skip out the ‘media middle man’ with the popularity of mobile and social media and networking emphasising this, most obviously with the move toward crowdsourcing aspects of a campaign and message dissemination. My favourite way to explain the need for crowdsourcing is that from a campaign mindset, the same ideas tend to go round and round the proverbial fish tank, meaning we end up with ‘much of a muchness’. It’s when these ideas are opened up for the public to expand on that we reach something truly creative and ‘different’.

There’s no doubt that web 2.0 has put the ‘public’ back into public relations, which is moving away from spray and pray and the ‘thud factor’, to now engage in more direct conversations with the people PRs want to communicate with. PR has thus stepped out of the shadows, and away from merely communicating with gatekeepers, to getting the message directly across to its target market.

These are all indications that the communication model has definitely evolved over the years when interaction was kept to the bare minimum and ‘feedback’ was oftentimes even left out of the loop. This is no longer the case, with interaction and responses now forming a key part of the campaign criteria, and communication professionals would do well to incorporate more feedback channels with their audiences to ensure the message that is sent is one that will be well accepted. Cooper agrees, adding “As long as you are able to break through the clutter long enough to actually engage with them in the first place. Consumer engagement and interaction seem to be the new communication buzz words!”

Thoughts? Leave them on our blog.

By Lindsey Kin

Lesley Ann van Selm, Founder and Managing Director of the Khulisa Crime Prevention Initiative, was recently presented with the accolade of Woman of the Year for 2010. Since its inception in 1997, following research into the comparisons between African culture and indigenous cultures around the world, which lead to the introduction of literacy-based oral tradition placed back into schools and prisons, the Khulisa Crime Prevention Initiative has gone from strength to strength. 80% of Khulisa is funded by the government – more specifically, by the Department of Social Development. The other 20% is funded by international donors, such as the United Nations (UN); European Union (EU) and the American Government. Publicity Update’s Lindsey Kin, met with van Selm to find out more about her successful Khulisa initiative; thoughts on her much-deserved award; and plans for the future.

Khulisa is a Zulu word, defined as ‘to nurture’. “Taking the whole meaning of the word, which means nurture; strength; support; and encourage; reflects what Khulisa as a company stands for, whether it be nurturing a family, or ending an abusive relationship after 50 years, that is really what we do,” says van Selm, adding, “Everybody has to become a nurturer in order to have a fulfilled environment.”

The aim of the Khulisa Crime Prevention Initiative is to educate and direct vulnerable, at-risk youth and ex-offenders away from crime by teaching them skills; attitudes; and behaviours that will help them to become responsible and self-sustaining members of their community, all of which is achieved through over 22 programmes created by Khulisa. Due to the new law that has been passed in South Africa, stating that a child who commits a petty crime or who is a first time offender cannot go to a prison, these children are referred to either a non-custodial programme, or they are referred to a residential facility for children. “Last year, we had over 6 000 children referred to us by the Department of Development, together with the courts,” says van Selm.

Another successful programme, is the Ubuntu Clubs – Khulisa reached over 360 000 people through its clubs last year, according to van Selm - which are structures created for young people to rekindle their sense of ubuntu, and also identify projects where they can go and make a difference. “We have over 300 in the country, and the reach of the Ubuntu Clubs is huge, where a group of 32 children, through their outreach activities, can reach up to 5 000 to 10 000 people.” The club offers a formal curriculum which lasts generally a year, and brings together people with common interest groups, such as pregnant women; ex-offenders; or unmarried mothers, and through a creative process, facilitated by a trained person, ‘remember to forget groups’ are started – providing a safe place to tell their secrets. “We have just done research that proves 72% of the children in one of our Ubuntu Clubs, were being abused at that time by their family and they have no-one to go to, so though the solidarity in this club, they then start a very strong support group, and this support group gets taught skills in peer education and how to get in touch with their ubuntu values.” From these Ubuntu Clubs, the youth then go into their community, where they themselves will do a community scan in that area, and find out where they can go out and practice the skills that they have learnt. “Some Ubuntu Clubs have started vegetable gardens; other clubs have stared granny soccer clubs; and some have created literacy and library reading groups; started HIV/AIDS victim support centres; whilst others have started creches.” In their latest development, the Ubuntu Clubs receive funding and are now able to become businesses, in turn creating NGO’s where Khulisa helps them to get funding and become sustainable in the future.

Khulisa uses scientific measurement tools that are built into all of its programmes, where improvement of behaviour, through relationships that people have with themselves and with their external environment, can be tracked. “The outcomes found that we have an over 80% success rate in terms of offenders not relapsing back into prison. With young people who have gone through our court programmes, we have just done research that proves 92% have not re-offended or gone through the prison system after they have gone through our programmes,” articulates van Selm. “With the ‘Silence of Violence’ programme, the course deals with violent behaviour; helps people come to terms with their violent mannerisms; and helps find alternative ways of communicating, and in turn, has also had a huge impact, as the programme is now running in a number of sittings in the UK, and is now our flagship programme.”

Khulisa has now re-strategised and re-positioned the company so that there are three different pillars: crime prevention; community development; and enterprise development. “With the enterprise development component, we are training young people to make ‘top-of-the range’ furniture out of recycled materials - this is very exciting as people have not only gone through a personal development process, but now they are able to engage in something that is very stimulating that links to income generation.”

“What is also very exciting, is that Vodacom is now the first company to develop special software and fund the Ubuntu Clubs, ensuring that we will be connected through cellular technology, so we will now have online peer education; support groups; all sorts of skills such as online communication skills with our cell phones; able to do research; pre- and post-assessments; and attitude surveys, which will put us in a totally different space. We will also be developing special software for ubuntu,” van Selm says.

She continues that she has been lucky to have had a very strong relationship with the police force since the Khulisa initiative started. Most recently, she says, “We have had a meeting with them at their headquarters last week, with their crime prevention unit, and are now looking at at least five different strategic ways in which we are going to engage with them. One of the ways is through our Ubuntu Club, where the involved youth are now being trained as puppeteers, and together with the police, are going out into the communities and talking about issues such as rape; domestic violence; victim empowerment; and drug abuse.”

Van Selm says that when she first went into a prison in 1997, she met the most unbelievable young men. “When I have ex-offenders in our company, I see them as being more special than those who have not offended, because I know the journey that they have travelled. I don’t ever judge people by what they have achieved, I rather look at the distance that they have gone and what an offender has to undo, and the learning that they have had to un-learn; to actually talk about his offence and go and apologise to his victim, I think that these are exceptional people. Having gone through so many hardships, and overcoming them I think is phenomenal, however all is not a smooth road,” van Selm adds, “There is always work required and a lot of support that you need to give.”

On the ‘Re-invent innovations’ involvement with the Khulisa initiative and Decorex, van Selm says, “With our third pillar, enterprise development, Re-invent innovations is an enterprise within our enterprise division, and we are now training groups of young people who are either graduates of our prison programme; youth leadership programme; or our ubuntu club members, on making furniture from recycled materials. She adds, “We have booked positions at all Decorex shows, and will sell these items at these shows, as well as at other trade shows; to corporates; individuals; and shopping mall exhibitions. Also, various businesses have invited us into their display areas and malls to sell via these; and game lodges have approached us – quality control, however, plays a very important part in this.”

Moving onto van Selm's award for Woman of the Year, she says that the nomination came about from one of her staff members, and that she was not aware of the nomination until they told her she was a finalist. “It was quite interesting, as when the person phoned me, I thought it was someone trying to sell me insurance, so I was very rude to her as I had just burnt my face very badly and, and I was at the plastic surgeon having dressing bandages put all over my face, so I was very irritated that they were trying to sell me insurance at the time – but as soon as I heard that I was a finalist, I knocked all the nurses, syringes and bandages all over, and started dancing in the hospital ward.” Van Selm admits that she is a person who likes to keep a low profile, and tends to always look at the places that she wants to make a difference in, instead of being in the limelight. However, she says, “This has been the most incredible opportunity, and I am so grateful and privileged to have won Woman of the Year award, and especially in the Good Neighbour Category, which has been the most amazing accolade for me, but also for all the staff in this company.” For van Selm, knowing that one can never do anything on their own, she distributed her R30 000 prize money equally amongst every single staff member. “I gave them R100 per year of service in this company, with some being able to receive R1 000, it was fantastic.”

It just shows that if you give one life a chance, and you follow him and you support him, what can be created. Van Selm’s dream is, “in the next few years for social entrepreneurship to become a formal part of the syllabus for young people, so that they can start thinking about solutions to their own problems, because right now they don’t, if they are taught otherwise and taught how to solve a problem, I think that we will fashion a whole new culture of innovators who will start.”

Van Selm concluded, “I’m in a hurry to change the world, I don’t let one minute go past and waste it”.