1. The role of the social media
in corporate PR practice
using the Ukrainian context
as a case study
Research Results
October, 2011

2. The world has changed and the dynamics of the PR profession have
changed with it. Organizations find themselves in an increasingly
complex environment and most of them are worried about the need
for active engagement with the social media.
One category of professionals were very fast to adopt the new tools
and started to engage with the social media really having a little
understanding of what and why they were doing. Others, more
sceptical, decided they would wait to find a compelling argument
in favour of active involvement with the social media. Then there are
those who take a more balanced approach engaging progressively,
implementing a few campaigns to get a feeling of what works and
then move on to a more strategic engagement plan.
Increasingly, the world of communication is moving toward digital
channels. With the proliferation of the social media, PR is once again
at the centre of an organisation’s communication efforts, which also
comes with a great responsibility.
Keeping this in mind, this research will try to analyse how the social
media relates to PR, what challenges and opportunities it brings into
PR practice and how PR practitioners should react in order to do their
job more effectively thus achieving overall business goals.
Oksana Hoshva
HOSHVA PR director
UAPR Board Member

3. 3/27
Social media and PR:
Ukrainian context
The Ukrainian Public Relations Association report (2011) on the
practice of Public Relations in leading companies in Ukraine
in 2010 reveals that there is a tendency toward a shift to
online and the social media, namely in terms of instruments
used in PR practice. However, traditional media (press at 92%
and web 1.0 sites at 83%) are perceived as main channels
of communication. Social media is rather new to Ukrainian PR
practitioners. Those professionals who already practice social
media PR choose to work with forum-based platforms or
launch their company’s and brand profiles at social networks.
Attention paid to online PR by Ukrainian practitioners can be
explained and supported by the findings of the TNS Ukraine’s
‘Ukrainians in social networks’ report (2011) which revealed the
following: the use of traditional media used by the population
in Ukrainian cities has been consistently decreasing since
2007 and is now estimated at 7 to 11%; penetration of the
Internet has grown by 20% in the same time period while the
time of usage of various Internet services and sites as a media
resource increased to up to 119 minutes per day.

4. 4/27
Social media and PR:
Ukrainian context
According to the Internet Association of Ukraine report
(2011) the number of Ukrainians aged 15 and older
who use the Internet at least once a month has increased
to 35% compared to 33% at the end of 2010. The largest
age group among the social network users are young
people ages 14 to 24 — at 36%.
The Universal McCann Wave 5 report (2011) mentions
the growing number of users in the social networks and
services among the recent trends which is attributed
to increased mobility. The report also observes a shift
from official company websites and blogs to the pages
of companies in social networks where young people
expect to see their favourite brands on social networking
sites to learn more about the new offers on specific
products and find out more about the brand in general.

5. The research 5/27
· The aim of this research is to analyse how the social media relates to PR,
what challenges and opportunities it brings into PR practice and how
PR practitioners should react.
· This research comprised 21 30-minute interviews with PR practitioners taking
place between July 12 and 21, 2011.
· Only PR professionals holding senior PR positions were interviewed.
· Primary qualitative research was chosen as it was necessary to compile
a rich data set to answer the questions of the ‘how’ and ‘why’ type in relation
to the research topic.
· The sample was build upon the list of top 200 advertisers for 2010
provided by GfK Ukraine. The companies were further segmented into
industries they represent, taking into account their origins — purely Ukrainian
or foreign-owned.
· The following industries and companies were selected for in-depth research:
FMCG (Obolon, SABMiller Ukraine, Unilever Ukraine, The Coca-Cola Ukraine,
Ltd, Procter&Gamble Ukraine), retail (Comfy, Foxtrot, Metro Cash&Carry
Ukraine, McDonalds Ukraine), consumer electronics (Samsung Electronics
Ukraine, Philips Ukraine, LG Electonics Ukraine), telecommunications
(Kyivstar GSM, Astelit, MTS Ukraine), pharmacology (Sanofi-Aventis Ukraine
LLC, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ukraine), finance (Erste Bank Ukraine,
Raiffeisen Bank Aval, VTB Bank) and IT (Microsoft Ukraine).

6. The research 6/27
· Personal in-depth interviews were selected as a primary research
tool. A personal interview approach was taken in order to develop
a dialogue between the interviewer and the respondent, creating
opportunities to extract as much information as possible.
· Most of the interviews were conducted face-to-face and one
interview was taken through Google Talk. To gain a better perspective
and to allow for a more detailed insight, interviews were conducted
in such a way as to explore the reasons behind using the social
media for communication purposes and to obtain communication
professionals’ thoughts on the impact of the social media on PR
practice in general.
· The questionnaire included 14 open-ended questions. Areas for
questioning were split into two categories, each designed to support
the interviewer in extracting different levels of information and
to simplify the analysis, one related to the use of the social media
in PR practice and second – to the impact of the social media
on PR practice.
· The research was conducted as a part of CIPR Diploma
in Public Relations study program.

7. 7/27
Findings >
· How professionals perceive social media
and relate it to PR
· How the use of the social media has been
evolving among Ukrainian companies
· Social media — both challenge
and an opportunity PR
· Social media opportunities for PR practice
· Challenges for PR created by the social media

8. Findings > Howrelate it to PR perceive social media
and
professionals 8/27
Most PR managers perceive the social media in two ways:
→ Firstly, as an environment that changes the world.
→ Secondly, as a set of tools.
PR practitioners believe that it is not wise to ignore this new
environment, even if they still should not really understand
what to do with it or might not have necessary resources
to fully engage with the new medium.
“ I think that PR is a kind of a mirror of the level of the social development.
If a certain phenomenon is developing in a society – it affects PR practice
directly. No matter what this phenomenon is. For example social media,
digital television, the democratisation of society. You can call it ‘fashion’
or something else. But society is evolving towards digital dissemination
of information, so it’s inevitable that it will be a part of our job.
We constantly monitor the social media for developing social processes
in the world, Europe and Ukraine; we analyse those, and take time to develop
”
our strategy of reputation management in response to those evolving issues.
Janna Revnova,
Head of Corporate Affairs ‘Kyivstar GSM’

9. Findings > Howrelate it to PR perceive social media
and
professionals 9/27
In general, to communicate effectively in the social media
PR function within the companies should be strategic;
management and colleagues need to be open to advice
and PR managers should have direct access to the top
management in order to form a working relationship
between departments and functions within the company.
“ Many professionals themselves do not understand the value
of the social media, saying that ‘my publics are not there’ or that
‘I have no time for it’ and if they themselves do not understand
the value of the social media, then ‘selling’ the idea to the senior
”
management becomes unrealistic under such circumstances.
Yaryna Klyuchkovska,
PR, Citizenship, and Community Affairs Director ‘Microsoft Ukraine’
“ At the moment, the value that PR function creates for
the company already justifies the need for presence
”
in the social media as opposed to the other way around.
Yaryna Lukan,
Head of Communication Department ‘Erste Bank Ukraine’

10. Findings > How hasamong Ukrainian companies?
evolving
the use of the social media been 10/27
· Respondents in their majority note that the social media
is an interesting, but not a priority activity for them,
yet it is seen as promising.
· The level of the social media engagement can be characterised
as ‘progressive involvement’ and ‘organic growth’.
· Companies are gradually trying out different tools and
platforms and are beginning to develop the social media
engagement strategies.
· Many started to realise that they do not have sufficient
internal resources for consistent involvement with the social
media, or that something they had tried before did not work
and now they are at a stage when they analyse why this
happened.
· Many start their social media presence as a part of the
crisis communications process or reputation risks situation
management which arises, for example, as a result
of the negative brand mentions in search engine results.

11. Findings > How hasamong Ukrainian companies?
evolving
the use of the social media been 11/27
“ I would say we are getting more mature in social media
by having a dialogue with our fans. Now we understand
better what our fans need and start thinking about
the conversion of our fans to our consumers.
In other words we’re moving from infotainment and having
fun together to being useful. Here comes more personal
”
approach with main focus on the quality of communication.
Olga Royenko, Communications Officer ‘COMFY’
“ In Ukraine, we are really making first steps. For us this is
a continuous process — organic growth. The more the need
”
for our presence will be felt, the more we will be integrated.
Inna Derkach,
Reputation Strategy/Corporate Consumer PR Lead for North Africa,
Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, ‘Uniliver’

12. Findings > How hasamong Ukrainian companies?
evolving
the use of the social media been 12/27
· The main focus of the social media currently lies in
product PR and consumer engagement.
· For many, involvement in the social media is more
about listening and generating minimal response,
and not so much about proactive work mostly due
to the main challenges which are identified as lack
of resources and lack of understanding of how
to integrate this new medium into the company’s
processes and connect it to the company’s overall
business goals.
· Many companies are launching their social
media presence with great caution, afraid of the
prospects of negative comments or a multitude
of questions that might go unanswered due to lack
of in-house resources.

13. Findings > How hasamong Ukrainian companies?
evolving
the use of the social media been 13/27
“ We do a lot, but probably a little slower than I would want to, but it is
okay for a big brand like Coca-Cola. Moreover, I do not think that Ukraine
”
is ready for active massive consumer engagement through social media.
Olesya Zhulynska,
PA&C Manager ‘ The Coca-Cola Ukraine, Ltd.
“ In social networks one should be very careful; we started out with
support of charity campaign and created ‘McHappy Day’ Facebook
page. In other words we started our presence from the projects
that has minimum risks for negative perception.
After we felt more confident and looking back at our previous successes,
”
we launched official social media page for McDonald’s in Ukraine.
Mikhail Shuranov,
Communications director ‘ McDonald’s Ukraine’

14. Findings > Social media — bothfor PR
and an opportunity
challenge 14/27
The fact that the social media are being perceived
as a great opportunity is balanced by the numerous
negative references about companies and brands
generated through this medium.
Negative comments are always a challenge,
but the company gets a unique chance to convert
those into an opportunity.
“ I recall a consumer who had left a very negative feedback on the
Facebook wall about beer of an inappropriate quality he had purchased
which left him very disappointed. Representatives of the company
immideately followed up with the person, clarified the issue, and having
investigated and identified the cause of the problem, reimbursed
the customer with a case of beer. The consumer was struck by such
”
attention and left a highly positive comment about his experience.
Marksym Kushnir,
Deputy Corporate Communication Marketing Director ‘Obolon’

15. Findings > Social media — bothfor PR
and an opportunity
challenge 15/27
“ McDrive reconstruction in one district of Kyiv resulted
in problematic passage to the subway for the local
community while was done according to permissions
from local authorities.. One of the district’s inhabitants
posted on his blog that there is an issue with the
reconstruction describing how it is causing problems
for pedestrians.
The company responded immediately. We had number
of meeting with local community to investigate situation
and finally came with changes to the McDrive design.
Residents very satisfied that the company heard
them and was willing to make an additional $20,000
investment as was detailed in the subsequent posts
in the blogosphere. As a result, McDonald's converted
”
its critics to active brand ambassadors.
Mikhail Shuranov,
Communications director ‘McDonald’s Ukraine’

16. Findings > Social media opportunities
for PR practice
16/27
Practitioners mentioned the following opportunities for PR
that are being created through the use of the social media:
· Receiving quick feedback on the communication from the company;
being able to assess what kind of content you would need and which
content would interest your audiences.
· Social media as a source of information, a tool for environment analysis and
for identifying the issues; understanding what people are saying and what
issues worry them, which allows to make subsequent business decisions.
· Improving services or products through reviews and recommendations
of social media users.
· Distribution of content that is ‘not appropriate’ for traditional media
outlets — the types of information very rarely picked up the mass media
(CSR news, various educational materials).
· Rapid dissemination of information, especially in the situation
of crisis communication.
· Targeted communication to different publics, as compared
to mass communication.
· Ability to build trusting relationships.
· ‘Easier’ process of communication — no need to create sites
or incur development costs.

17. Findings > Social media opportunities
for PR practice
17/27
Distribution of content that is ‘not appropriate’
for traditional media outlets.
Practitioners mention that they have a lot of content
that due to different reasons cannot be shared with
publics through the traditional media.
In the west ‘positive’ company news are not immediately
discarded by the media, unlike in Ukraine.
“ CSR projects in Ukraine do not have adequate coverage in the media
as such information is considered ‘commercial’. Therefore, companies
are looking for alternative platforms to communication about their
”
CSR initiatives and the social media platform offers a perfect match.
Nadiya Lubnina,
Head of Corporate Communications ‘ Metro Cash&Carry Ukraine’

18. Findings > Social media opportunities
for PR practice
18/27
“ The ‘Touch of Hope’ project was a great success with the users
of the social media. Social media provide an opportunity for building
trusting relationships. It is an invaluable channel of communication
with consumers on in their territory. Social networks have allowed
professionals to get to where the consumer ‘lives’, where they
”
communicate with each other, and this is seen as a big advantage.
Oksana Bakalenko,
PR manager ‘Foxtrot’
“ This year we began to actively involve social media for social projects when
we had the ‘Donor Day’ project. We had various activities on our Facebook
and Twitter pages during blood collection drive. 30% of all the people who
we managed to involve in the project came from the social media and
”
that’s taking into account that we had both radio and print advertising.
Kateryna Popova,
PR manager ‘ LG Electonics Ukraine’

19. Findings > Challenges for PR created
by the social media
19/27
Practitioners mentioned the following challenges for PR
that are being created through the use of the social media:
· Lack of human resources due to the need to provide fast
response, create interesting content, engage in conversations
individually because each person has their own questions
and specific concerns to which they expect individual answers.
· Listening to conversations is not such a simple task: software
is not perfect and can give a distorted picture; difficult to
prioritise and evaluate the importance of comments, a lot of noise.
In addition, many PR managers simply do not know how to listen
since they are not used to doing so.

20. Findings > Challenges for PR created
by the social media
20/27
· Lack of understanding of how to integrate the social media into the
company’s processes and PR managers appear to be unanimous about
this. Every company is different and should look for a format that will
work best for them.
· The issue of the role of PR function considering the fact that various
company departments should be involved in the process of managing
the social media.
· No understanding of the long-term implications – many are actively
involved in the beginning, but no one appears to be able to predict
what will happen in a few years’ time.
· Difficult to relate to business results.
· Audience coverage is not great, not all stakeholder groups are present.
· Information spreads faster which creates challenges in times of crisis.
· No means of control since the information is created by users
and does not depend on the company’s communication plan.
· Negative information coming from the public is predominant compared
to positive or constructive, which creates a risk of transforming
the social media presence into a ‘book of complaints’.

21. Findings > Challenges for PR created
by the social media
21/27
Lack of human resources
The majority of PR specialists noted that work in the social media puts
a great strain on human resources — and not only in terms of time
of PR specialists, marketing managers or customer service staff.
After all, when a company creates its presence in the social media,
communication goes beyond the realm of the PR department.
“ People might be interested to communicate with a technical specialist in charge
of creating products, a store manager; in other words people are interested
in talking to specific specialists in an certain area of expertis; it is not easy for
companies to involve their employees in content generation and interaction, since
this creates an additional workload beyond their professional responsibilities.
Nadiya Lubnina, Head of Corporate Communications ‘ Metro Cash&Carry Ukraine’
”
“ Initially, PR department would take on every social media activity in the
company, but now we are responsible only for key strategic initiatives,
like the corporate blog delegating responsibilities of product promotion
”
and customer communication activities to the marketing department.
Oksana Rudyuk, Head of External and Corporate Relations ‘Astelit’

22. Findings > Challenges for PR created
by the social media
22/27
Lack of understanding of how to integrate the
social media into the company’s processes
Many companies already experimented with the social media
and seek to understand how such activities should be integrated
into communication of the company.
“ PR cannot stand ‘above’ this process. PR is not self-sufficient in the company;
PR does not approve all decisions; PR does not generate all the information. PR can
be the mediator the driver of this process, but others still need to be involved’.
It’s like saying that handling incoming calls is only the receptionist’s responsibility
— company receptionist only picks up the phone to direct the call and it is
different company departments that get involved in dialogue. Microsoft Ukraine
now established a working group for company social media activities to which
”
representatives of various company departments are being invited and appointed.
Yaryna Klyuchkovska, PR, Citizenship, and Community Affairs Director ‘Microsoft Ukraine’
“ I am convinced that PR should still oversee the process. In the end of the day,
it passes through the funnel of one department – PR, as it should be; if many
departments start communicating different issues through different messages
and in different styles, it becomes unprofessional.
Olesya Zhulynska, PA&C Manager ‘ The Coca-Cola Ukraine, Ltd.’ ”

23. Findings > Challenges for PR created
by the social media
23/27
Difficult to relate to business results
PR managers note that it would be easier to allocate
additional investment and human resources for a more
active social media involvement provided such actions
could be proven to directly influence the company’s
business performance.
PR managers say they now operate with a term that
there is ‘an intuitive feeling’, that there is progress,
or even a breakthrough. Some experts believe that this
challenge can be neutralized through regular reputation
audits, which should include blocks of questions about
the social media.

24. Findings > Challenges for PR created
by the social media
24/27
“ Last year we implemented a project in the social media, counted
impressions, which were half a million; but the real challenge is that
we could not calculate how these impressions impact the company’s
”
financial performance – and I think this is a problem for social media.
Marksym Kushnir,
Deputy Corporate Communication Marketing Director ‘Obolon’
“ The key question is whether it affects how the company
achieves business results in the end, and if it does
— then it is of high priority. Any company function operates
”
to fulfil a business strategy within its scope of activities.
Zhanna Revnova,
Head of Corporate Affairs ‘Kyivstar GSM’

25. 25/27
Conclusions
· Tactical short-term campaigns are gradually being replaced
with strategic approaches to social media involvement.
· Since the social media PR is a rather young topic, there still is not
enough knowledge, understanding and experience on how to build
long-term social media engagement initiatives.
· Internet penetration and social media coverage will increase; people will
continue to ask more questions and will create more content on topics
that are important to them and now PR managers have to understand
how this will work in the future and plan for necessary resources,
keeping in mind the fact that this investment still needs to be directly
related to the overall achievement of the business objectives
in the companies they represent.
· Today we hear phrases like ‘Let’s tell the company story’, when
PR professionals need to learn to listen more. Listening and analysing
the insights they get from the social media is essential in order to build
lasting relationships with the publics that are based on trust.
· The online environment has opened up great potential for
communication research, as it is a great depository of the various
interactions taking place in the form of blog posts and responses
to those which offer a great resource for study and analysis.

26. 26/27
Agency in brief
HOSHVA PR agency was founded in 2005 and
is one of the top PR agencies on the Ukrainian market.
Today HOSHVA PR has the largest Digital PR Practice
among PR agencies in Ukraine.
Digital agency team is the winner of PRAVDA Awards
2010 with projects ‘HTC Android Developers Contest’
and ‘HiPP Organic World’ and PRAVDA Awards 2011
with ‘Watsons Ukraine Facebook Community’.
HOSHVA PR successfully launched Peugeot Facebook presence
(No 1 in ‘Auto’ category for the period 1.09 — 31.12.2010)
and Watsons Ukraine (№6 among all pages in Ukrainian
Facebook by Advermap rating as for September 2011).

27. Contact:
Oksana Hoshva
director
+38 050 384 71 78
hoshva@hoshvapr.com.ua
http://www.facebook.com/hoshva
http://ua.linkedin.com/in/oksanahoshva
graphic design for business
studio@bastarda.com.ua