What you are asking has this to do with PR? Well there have been several high profile instances where the media have got hold of Word documents that have contained hidden information from earlier drafts. One of the best known examples was perhaps Downing Street's so-called dodgy dossier on Iraq. The Microsoft Remove Hidden Data add-in does exactly what it says on the tin.

The Register has a quite an old story about a tech PR company being caught out like this. Several things about this story surprise me.

Firstly, what on earth was a tech PR company doing sending out a news release as an attachment. The first lesson of PR 101 should surely be to always send news releases as plain text email.

Secondly, is The Register's take on this. Nearly all of the amends that they make fun of are about IMPROVING the news release to make it more journalistic and less marketing hype. The Register's motto is "Biting the hand that feeds IT" and it is never slow to take the proverbial out of companies that send out releases with marketing hyperbole.

The Register excitedly claims that "Sometime between the authoring of the draft and publication of the press [sic] release, EMC decided it was NOT the world leader in information storage". Well I'm sorry but phrases like "the world leader in" are exactly the type of hype that I fight to persuade clients not to use. What does "leading" really mean? Usually, whatever the marketing department wants it to mean.

One of the other sins was removing "unbreakable" from the description of an Oracle database server. I've been there before. I'm guessing that this is one of Oracle's 'key messages'. It's always difficult when putting together news releases involving several companies or 'partners' to get them to tone down some of there more extravagent marketing claims.

The final, shock horror, revelation was that the PR company had drafted a quote before deciding who in Microsoft it should be attributed to. I don't think I've ever done a news release where I haven't drafted the quotes and then attributed them to the most appropriate person.

The Yes4Yorkshire campaign finally has its campaign website up and running. And frankly I'm very, very disappointed. It looks very nice, with a bright fresh design but the content and structure is extremely weak.

This is in stark contrast to the No Campaign, which apart from an idiotic splash page (why do PR and marketing people let designers get away with it?) is an excellent site. It is well designed and full of convincing propaganda and half (or no) truths. A quick look at the Yes campaigns in the North West and North East both reveal better sites than Yorkshire's Yes campaign.

The site doesn't yet make any attempt to really use the internet for campaigning. Howard Dean's White House attempt may be floundering but he has shown how successfully the internet can be harnessed to run a grassroots campaign. Now that more than 50 per cent of households have internet access it is foolish not to be using even the most basic techniques.

Come on folks get your act together. There are some excellent people running the Yes campaign. Start showing 'em how it's done.

Over at Tom Watson MP there is an interesting discussion that once again highlights why blogs are an increasingly important PR tool. Tom tried searching Google for "Worst MP in the UK" and guess who pops up. What's worse is when you type "Worst councillor" and my council blog pops up. But this and the other examples that Tom cites do highlight how easy it is for internet campaigners to lead searchers to sites that are quite different to the ones that some companies would hope for.

Let's see what happens if I blog about NetworxPR being the best Leeds PR company, if not the best Yorkshire PR company. And it should go with out saying that we are the best public sector PR company, and the best social housing PR company, as well the best regeneration PR company.

I could also go on to say that we are the best marketing communications company...

... or that Stuart Bruce is the best independent PR consultant.

Apologies, if this is the first time you've seen this blog. I'm really much more modest than this, but I'm experimenting with a crude Google bomb.

This post is just one example of why corporate PR people should be savvy about blogging and internet campaigns in general. It shows what can happen when a disgruntled customer decides to write a blog about sloppy customer service.

Nationwide Building Society Insurance Claim

This morning we had an accident at home which means that our front door is irreparably damaged. I phoned the Nationwide Insurance Claims line and a friendly lady offered me the choice of sorting it out ourselves or letting their supplier (Highway Glass) sort it out. I took the easy root and said that Highway Glass could do it. The lady at Nationwide Insurance Claims said Highway Glass would call within the hour.

About three hours later I called Nationwide back to ask why Highway Glass had failed to call. No apology was given and I was told Highway Glass had left a message on our answerphone at about 12:00. Several problems with that answer. First of all I was slightly hacked off that no apology was offered. Secondly, the number we gave them is a business line which is answered all the time during the day and has no answerphone! Thirdly, 12:00 was sometime after the promised one hour.

When they put me through to Highway Glass they inform me that they can't even give us a quote for the job until next Monday. Now I realise that it might take some time to order a door and arrange a day for it to be fitted, but to wait almost a week for a quote is ridiculous. 

When I call Nationwide Insurance back they are as unhelpful as ever. Still no apology but a litany of excuses and a veiled threat that if we get an alternative supplier they have to approve the quote first. The operator appeared to think almost a week to provide a quote was fine. She even had the nerve to say "It's only three business days". A load of claptrap as most local suppliers actually work weekends, it's only Nationwide's preferred supplier that is unable to provide even that simple service.

I find this attitude a little rich as they'd originally touted Highway Glass as "making it easier". Personally I'd love for it to be easier, but my only experience of Highway Glass was failing to make a promised phone call and then saying it would take almost a week simply to provide a quote.

Getting our own quotes turned out to be much easier then dealing with Nationwide. This afternoon we already have two very competitive quotes for replacing our door. Both from friendly, local family businesses. 

PR lesson coming up

Now none of this would have mattered if the Nationwide operator and done one very simple thing. Apologised. That's right all it would have taken to make me happy was a simple apology.

Companies trying to safeguard and enhance their reputation must never forget that their most valuable asset is the colleagues that work in the team. I use that phrase deliberately, because if you've got employees or staff that work for you then you've already a long way down the road to failure.

The result of this incompetance is that Nationwide has lost us as a customer. We've already had an alternative quote, it's a shade more expensive but it's from a supplier that has a reputation for friendliness.

Given short time and I suspect that this blog will appear in Google if you search for something like Nationwide Insurance Claim. Not exactly the online reputation they should be looking for.