Influencing the influencers

Influencing the influencers

As corporate communicators, we think we know a lot about which media social and traditional are well read and highly trusted by opinion formers. But do we? We often talk about the death of the newspaper and exaggerate the influence of social media. But do we really understand which media are influential and who opinion formers trust? We spend a lot of time and effort trying to reach opinion formers. And rightly so the people who influence the media, business and political agenda are powerful advocates for an organisation s reputation and interests. We set out to define which media are really influencing the influencers. And we asked a consumer panel the same questions to draw out any contrasts. We found that the media our influencers (or opinion formers) consume most frequently were different to the media they really trust. Media consumption has changed with the proliferation of digital media, but influencers continue overwhelmingly to trust traditional media. Influencers get news as it breaks from faster, digital sources, but often from the online version of a newspaper or broadcaster. Two pieces of advice for corporate communicators as a result: invest in your company s website people use it more than you think and are surprisingly likely to trust the information they find there; and also to harness the power of the BBC its commentators remain the most respected for influencers and consumers alike. Our research among senior business people, journalists, civil servants, NGO executives and MPs shows social media making inroads, particularly among last year's new intake of MPs, but national print media, radio and television remain the three most trusted sources of information whether opinion formers use digital media or not. This is as true among the public as it is amongst decision-makers. In fact, it is overwhelmingly the BBC and its correspondents that dominate. Interestingly, the people and outlets that are trusted on Twitter are by and large the same individuals and organisations that are trusted offline. In perhaps the ultimate test of the new media s influence, half or more of the most digitally engaged would respond immediately to a story about themselves, their organisation or their party if it appeared on national TV or radio or in a national newspaper, whereas only a quarter would do so if it ran on Twitter or a blog. The public is far less likely to get their news from social media outlets. In fact for a story to impinge on the national consciousness it remains the case that it has to be prominent in the newspapers or the TV news. Embracing social media is a good thing but in the rush to have a greater digital presence, organisations shouldn t forget that it is traditional media outlets to which the public still turns. Traditional media rule the waves Our panel of senior business people, journalists, NGO executives and MPs most frequently cited journalists from traditional media outlets as the most respected economic and business commentators. Perhaps it s no surprise that, whilst bloggers are increasingly influential in consumer industries, respected business commentators tend to be employed by a national broadcast or print outlet. Comparing opinion former responses to those of a nationally representative consumer panel shows some interesting contrasts: Which commentator on economics and business do you most trust? Areas represent count, grouped by organisation Four of consumers top five most respected business commentators are BBC journalists. In fact many respondents simply named the BBC itself as their most respected commentator it was the second most common answer. The top five, in order, were: Robert Peston, the BBC, Andrew Marr, Martin Lewis and Evan Davis. Martin Lewis, founder of moneysavingexpert.com was the fourth most respected commentator amongst consumers, reflecting the reach and influence of his website and email newsletters. He was not named by a single opinion former in our poll. Rebecca Reilly, Director, Open Road Rick Nye, Director, Populus

Respect and the long tail Robert Peston topped both opinion former and consumer polls as the country s most respected economic commentator. In addition to regular broadcast appearances on BBC channels, he has a strong digital presence through his award-winning blog. How often do you get information from each of the following? % answering often i.e. most days or several times a day Opinion formers% (Consumers%) But this is where the similarities between opinion formers and consumers end. Opinion formers respect a disparate collection of commentators, with more than one fifth of opinion formers nominating a commentator not mentioned by anyone else. This shows that, whilst journalists are still the people that matter when it comes to trusted analysis of business and the economy, it s important to have as many of the commentariat on side as possible not just the high profile few. Radio 89 (61) TV 88 (90) National newspapers in print 86 (49) Google 82 (65) National newspapers online 65 (30) Specialist media online 44 (22) Specialist media in print 39 (12) Wikipedia 34 (21) Company websites 33 (21) Blogs 31 (12) Twitter 29 (12) Facebook 25 (33) Which commentator on economics and business do you most trust? Length represents count Google stands alone as the digital influencer Radio, TV and printed newspapers remain the most accessed information sources by a significant margin. Radio coming top in this area reflects the continuing dominance of The Today Programme. More people get information regularly from company websites than from Wikipedia. Hot on the heels of Radio 4 and the FT is a 12 year old search engine that 82% of opinion formers (and 65% of consumers) say they access at least once a day. We often don t include Google in corporate communications plans because it doesn t produce editorial and we think we can t influence it, but Search Engine Optimisation, adwords and Google News rankings could be an important way of influencing opinion formers. What the image above doesn t show is the polarised response to Twitter; while almost a third of opinion formers use it every day, almost half never use it at all.

Newspapers fight back When looking at opinion formers trust in different media, two distinct groups emerge: the digitally connected and traditional communicators. Digitally connected influencers get information from blogs, Facebook or Twitter on a daily basis and are more likely to trust these sources than traditional communicators. However, both groups are united in their trust of traditional media. While radio is consumed most, newspapers have emerged as the most trusted, with 57% of all opinion formers naming print newspapers as the most trustworthy source of information for work-related issues. For consumers, television is the most trusted. Company websites were cited as a trusted source by 13% of influencers more than the scores for Wikipedia, blogs and Facebook combined. This makes a clear case for businesses to keep websites up to date; opinion formers are more likely to believe what is written on your site than what they find on Wikipedia. There is a conversation between broadcast, print, online and social media, so you ignore any of them at your peril. Robert Peston Which do you most trust as sources of reliable information about work-related issues and the people and businesses you deal with in your professional life? Peaks represent count

If you do get information from social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, blogs), which of the following do you find that these media best deliver? Out with the old, in with the new Digitally connected opinion formers get their information from Facebook, Twitter or blogs on a daily basis and are more likely to trust these online sources of information. Traditional communicators check social and online media less frequently or not at all and are less likely to trust information they receive via digital media. Members of Parliament elected at the last General Election (in May 2010) are more likely to be digitally connected than those MPs elected previously. In fact this younger generation of MPs is so much more likely to be digitally connected than their older peers that they skew the results from the panel overall. Without these, our opinion formers would be less digitally savvy than appears. Digitally connected Traditional communicator 49% Total panel 51% 52% MP panel 48% Social media delivers speed but not much more There is a lot of talk about the power of social media, but our data suggest that this can be overstated, certainly where opinion formers are concerned. Interestingly, more than a third of opinion formers (the largest group on the chart) aren t using social media at all. 67% MPs elected post-may 2010 33% A quarter of opinion formers use social media for delivering information quickly which is where Twitter stands out. Arguably, social media s biggest influence is in informing news articles in more mainstream media. During the London riots, broadcasters and newspapers devoted a lot of analysis to the use of Twitter to both mobilise rioters and keep the public up to date on events. People trust journalists and politicians less than they did, but they trust each other, which is why social networks have taken off. Yet conversely, though social networks may start and ventilate a story, it is still when the mainstream media pick them up that they go whoosh. Alastair Campbell Digitally connected or traditional communicator?

Choose your battles Another way to gauge how much people trust (or even fear) different media is by analysing how they would respond to negative claims made about them via different media channels. What s most interesting from the results is the difference between the opinion former panel (business and NGO leaders, communications professionals and journalists) and the MP panel in every case, the opinion former panel is more likely to respond to a negative comment. Whether this is because businesses are more sensitive to negative comment due to the potential impact on share price, or whether MPs are more resilient to criticism than business leaders, is up for debate. If you saw or heard something negative about you / your organisation / your Party through one of the following channels, would you respond immediately if... Which political commentator do you most trust? Areas represent count

Methodology Populus interviewed 232 Opinion Formers online or by self-complete postal questionnaire between 27th April and 24th May 2011. The Populus Opinion Former Network consists of four categories of Opinion Formers City & Business, Media & Communications, Politics & NGOs, and the Public Sector and each category is weighted equally. 102 Opinion Formers responded from this panel. The Populus Parliament Panel draws respondents from across the House and is weighted to be representative of the party make-up of the House of Commons. We received 130 responses from this panel. Populus interviewed 2047 adults aged 18+ online between 17th 19th June 2011. Interviews were conducted across Great Britain and data has been weighted to be representative of all adults aged 18+. Populus is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. About Open Road Open Road is an award-winning corporate communications and public affairs agency. We have grown rapidly and work for some of the world s leading brands because we deliver exceptional results for our clients. In 2011 we were named one of the top five Medium-Sized Consultancies by PR Week and one of the best agencies to work for by PA News. We were Consultancy of the Year at the Public Affairs News Awards in 2010. Our core services include: Corporate reputation management Corporate public relations Issue and crisis management Digital and social media engagement Public affairs Employee engagement Healthcare public affairs Corporate responsibility Our website, blog and Twitter feed are at: www.theopen-road.com For further information, please contact Rebecca Reilly rebecca.reilly@theopen-road.com 020 7484 5373 About Populus Populus delivers research that makes a real difference to our clients in the worlds of business, culture and politics. Through our stakeholder audits, parliamentary and stakeholder panels and a weekly omnibus Populus gets inside the mind of the general public or the influencer and reveals what they are really thinking. Our team has an enormous wealth of experience in media, politics, business and civil society. Our informed insight gives business leaders a better understanding of their organisation s reputation and helps identify strategies to improve and sustain that reputation. Populus can be found at: www.populus.co.uk For further information please contact Jo Gibbons jgibbons@populus.co.uk 020 7553 4141