Osney Media reaffirms its relationship with Cognito for flagship event

31 January 2012 – Cognito, the specialist communications firm for the financial sector, is continuing to work with OsneyMedia for the third consecutive year to raise the profile of TSAM 2012, the biggest event in Europe focused on improving buy-side services, performance, operations and technology. Cognito will utilise both traditional PR and social media to increase awareness of the event and encourage attendance from key players across the industry.

TSAM 2012 takes place at The Lancaster Hotel, London on 7th March and will bring together over 500 attendees and deliver a fresh perspective with over 70% of new speakers this year.

Read the full release here: http://www.cognitomedia.com/Company/News/44.php

“There's none so blind as those that will not see” goes the old adage, and nowhere is this more true than in the boardrooms of B2B firms during budget season.

Unlike major B2C organizations where PR takes its natural place inside the communications mix, for B2B firms PR represents one option among many that must be consistently measured to ensure an effective return on investment. But what happens if the effectiveness of a campaign is hampered by the very people who are doing the measuring: a firm’s own C-suite?

Having worked with hundreds of clients I have witnessed a very powerful selection bias (what I call The Faith Effect) wherein those senior executives who believe in the power of PR often see the greatest results and those who don't almost always end up with the negative outcomes they predicted from the start. I am not simply speaking of their perception of the results but of objectively poorer results than those who believed in PR. How do we explain this phenomenon? Is it that the power of faith creates brilliant media coverage? That simply by wishing for it, a CEO can make a journalist write better stories? The answer is, of course, no and the reason has to do with the difference between causation and correlation.

In the book Freakonomics, by University of Chicago economist, Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist, Stephen J. Dubner, the authors point to a study in which having books in the home is shown to improve a child’s educational prospects. What’s surprising about the study is that reading to children is proven to be no more effective than simply having the books lying around the house unread. It’s as if the books’ contents somehow wind up in the child’s head via a process of osmosis while they sleep. We think this, Levitt and Dubner point out, because we don’t understand the difference between causation - something which directly impacts something else - and correlation - a mutual connection between two things. The kids are not smarter because of the book collection (causation), but because of what the book collection says about their parents and the way their parents raise children (correlation).

In exactly the same way, CEOs who believe in Public Relations often derive better results from it not because of the power of faith but because those CEOs also happen to be taking a series other actions that help PR programs deliver amazing results. Below is a list of some of things ‘faith-based’ CEO’s often do:

• They generate content – believers in PR also tend to actively engage their community with dialogue (articles, whitepapers, blogs etc) and through listening (surveys, polls). The most effective CEOs were already doing this long before a ‘formal’ PR process was put in place to leverage it.
• They perform better – CEOs who want PR to work tend to prepare better for media engagements, listening more intently during media training, offer more value to journalists and invest more of their time for interviews and briefings. Naturally this results in better conversion rates of interviews to coverage and better relationships with key influencers.
• They favor Closed Loop Marketing – CEO’s that believe in PR also tend to be active believers in marketing and sales, and specifically in the connection between all three. They try to connect the sales team and the marketing team and they feed the results of a PR program directly into a well-oiled sales and marketing machine, hosting great coverage on their website, sharing reprints with sales staff for use in the sales process and at industry events
• They are positive opportunists – Senior executives that believe in PR are the same executives who have jumped at every opportunity to insert themselves in to the industry conversation in the past. They happily speak at conferences when other drop out, they take a reporter’s call at 5 minutes before deadline, they stay up late to blog about market–moving news.

If it sounds like I'm suggesting CEOs often doom their own PR programs to failure it’s because that's exactly what I'm saying. Is it really so surprising that the most influential people within a company have the power to make a program fail if they believe it will fail?

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said “If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim.” Anyone can look at success and perceive failure, and if a CEO or a board walks into an engagement with a negative mindset it is probably an indicator that they undervalue the other, related aspects of their business which might help a PR program succeed. However, if you choose to believe that PR will help raise profile where it matters, improve client relationships and drive recruitment and retention then, more often than not, I have found that this exactly what turns out to be the case.  

Conversations about social media are numerous and varied, but we recently came across an interesting article that touches on an aspect of social media that most people don't talk about - monetization.

On the 23rd of January, Chinese worldwide celebrate one of the most important occasions of the year - the welcoming of Lunar New Year, more popularly known as the Chinese New Year.



This year's celebration marks the arrival of the Year of the Water Dragon, a mythical animal bringing good luck and prosperity. According to legend, the dragon brings in the Four Blessings of the East: wealth, prosperity, happiness and longevity. The dragon has had 8,000 years of rich and colourful history among the Chinese, and is the most special mythical symbol amongst the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac.

The Asia-Pacific region symbolizes similar qualities to the mythical dragon – it is seen as a powerful, influential symbol of prosperity. During the challenging global economic times Asia is anticipated to lead the way for a new growth throughout the course of the Year of the Dragon.

This year also has the elements of water and yang, representing a flowing river rather than a stagnant lake. This is expected to bring flowing ideas and creativity, potentially booming economies and cultural and political changes. Associated with thunder, lightning and awakening, the Water Dragon personalises inspiration at its best.

Cognito Asia is committed to support our clients to achieve success and prosperity during the Year of the Water Dragon, with creativity and excellence to enhance the potential of this promising Lunar Year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Rounding off the year in style, over 200 industry peers attended Cognito’s exclusive holiday parties. 

Cognito New York held their Holiday Party at the Polar Bar, a fantastic arctic-inspired lounge underneath the Marcel Hotel in New York City. Clients had a great time networking with one another and mingling with journalists as they sipped on one of our signature finance-themed cocktails, like The Vodker Rule.

View full photo gallery here: http://marcoms.cognitomedia.com/cognito-ny-holiday-party-2011

Cognito London kicked off their Christmas Party in the heart of the city, at the impressive venue Pacific Oriental in Bank. Clients and journalists celebrated the start of the festive period with canapés and a special winter treat, the bespoke finance-themed cocktail ‘The Rouge Trader’.

View full photo gallery here: http://marcoms.cognitomedia.com/cognito-uk-christmas-party-2011/

We’d like to thank all of our clients and friends who attended the event, and for all the great work over the last year. We’re looking forward to continued success in 2012!

NPR this morning ran an interview with Sydney Finkelstein, of Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business and author of "Why Smart Executives Fail." He has compiled a list of some of the worst management decisions of 2011 and singles out, among others, the CEOs of RIM, HP, and Netflix for harsh criticism. Some of the cases he points to are simply bad corporate decision-making, such as releasing faulty products or failing to give strategies an adequate amount of time to work. What struck me, however, is how many of these 'blunders' were in fact not much more than poor communication. In the case of RIM's joint CEO's for example, Finkelstein argues that this unconventional structure leads to slow and conflicting communication and may be at the heart of the firm's inability to innovate as fast as its competitors. In the case of Netflix's botched product split, Finkelstein suggests that the idea of dividing the company in two was actually sound but that the communications around the split was handled so poorly that it confused and ultimately alienated Netflix's customer base. 
Based even on this very simple analysis, it would appear then that CEOs looking to avoid costly mistakes could do worse than to ensure they have sound communications strategies in place before doing anything else.

Famous for his bold predictions and provocative views, China-based independent economist Andy Xie kicked off his keynote speech at TradeTech Asia in Singapore by declaring that the Eurozone debt crisis is becoming a political crisis.

“European Central Bank has strong power during the crisis time and it is trying to force political changes in the region.” Just four days before Andy’s speech, Italy’s longest-serving post-war Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, resigned due to the European debt crisis.

“Developed western countries are facing severe competitiveness and expenditure problems. The western lifestyle is not sustainable.” Andy, the former Morgan Stanley star chief APAC economist, explained to a room of buy-side traders, senior representatives from the major exchanges, regulators, brokers and technology experts, “The bottom line is Europeans need to work more and spend less.”

Andy, who had been bearish on China since the 2008 financial crisis, has recently changed his views on both China’s growth outlook and its equity markets. He pointed out that in 2012, China is gearing up for an unusually tough year, as it sees a top leadership reshuffle. How Mr Xi Jinping and his team handle China’s transition from an export-driven economy to domestic-consumption focused is going to reshape the Chinese economy, as well as the world economy in 2012.

Cognito Asia was selected to support the media activities for TradeTech Asia 2011, held at Grand Hyatt Singapore on November 16^th and 17^th, with more than 600 attendees, 112 speakers from 26 countries. Sixty percent of the attendees were buy-side representatives. 

PR practitioners are constantly asked to demonstrate 'results'. Be they media hits, search engine optimization or actual inbound leads, the trend in the online age has moved away from trusting the effects of PR towards pushing PR people harder to come up with the demonstrable outcomes of their efforts. For the most part this has been a positive force in the industry. Gone are the days of Rolodex Man (who I never much cared for) and talk of the 'dark arts' of the relations public.

But are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Are we, in our quest for only measurable outcomes, leaving other - crucial - areas of influence on the sidelines? As a PR director I know that I am much more fond of selling a program with definable and measurable results than one with unpredictable payoffs. So going after the traditional media or research analysts would be a good place to start over work with influential industry consultants, respected academics, or conference organizers where the outcomes are opaque and largely unmeasurable.

For the most part this doesn't seem to trouble clients who are very happy to pay a fixed amount for a known-quantity of influence. And quite right too. But it troubles me. In fact, it keeps me awake at night. What is the value of a private conversation between a consultant and a prospective client which we may never see published or hear about? Might it be worth 100 website hits? Or 15 feature articles? Would, I wonder, PR practitioners do a better job if they were told to focus on the entire universe of influencers among a client's constituencies rather than just on those that produced a quantifiable output. Would, in other words, public relations be more effective if we cared less about measuring the outcomes? I am well aware how sacrilegious this statement sounds.   

In an ideal world, of course, we would be able to measure everything; the known and the unknown, and it may be that the ubiquity of social media will enable us to square that circle and measure the previously unmeasurable. We are starting to see this as certain consultants  and event managers become active Twitter posters and reposters, but what about those key influencers who are still effectively operating in the dark? The invisible hand of the market if you will. Might there be a case yet for a little less measurement and a little more trust? 

We are excited to share that we have been named one of the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in 2011 by Achievers!

We were selected by a panel of judges that evaluated North American companies based on key elements of employee engagement, including:

1. Leadership
2. Culture
3. Rewards and recognition
4. Professional and personal growth
5. Vision and values
6. Corporate social responsibility

Other firms listed in the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces include: 3M, Aflac, Alcoa, HubSpot, KPMG, Siemens, Sybase and Zappos.com.

Cognito recently visited the Occupy Wall Street protest that is being staged a couple of blocks north of our New York office. Since it looks like this protest is going to go on for some time, Cognito thought maybe those camping out will have time on their hands. Why not read a book or 14? Loretta Mock, Vice President at Cognito, talks to CNBC about Cognito’s proposed reading list as well as some of the messaging issues within the protest. 

Cognito’s Reading List for Occupy Wall Street Protestors, as featured on CNBC:

• The ABCs of the Economic Crisis: What Working People Need to Know by Fred Magdoff and Michael D. Yates
• The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank (from Jane: A sure way to end the protest because demonstrators reading this will be bored to death.)
• The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences by John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff
• Keynes Hayek: The Clash that Defined Modern Economics by Nicholas Wapshott
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying by Shepherd Mead and Stanley Bing
• Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
• How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Organizing For Dummies by Eileen Roth and Elizabeth Miles
• Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail by Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward
• Protesting Power: War, Resistance, and Law by Francis A. Boyle
• Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin (from Jane: Watch him on Squawk Box instead.)
• Your Dream Career For Dummies by Carol L. McClelland and Richard N. Bolles
• When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein Dealbook.nytimes.com
• Eight Days: The Battle to Save the American Financial System by James B. Stewart , The New Yorker, September 21, 2009